This wouldn’t have been nearly the big deal that international media made it out to be, had it not been Lewis Hamilton at the wheel. Still, the C63 AMG in question has attracted quite a lot of attention from interested would-be buyers.
It probably also wouldn’t have been such a big deal had Lewis not fired his manager and father, Anthony Hamilton, last month. Add into that the fact that Lewis hasn’t hired a new manager yet, and people are starting to wonder what’s up—including David Coulthard, writing for the Daily Telegraph.
We don’t know what’s up with him either. But when we do, you can rest assured we’ll be sure to post about it.
On a tangentially related note (at best), the second installment of Cooking with F1 is now up. My 2010 Formula One Qantas Australian Grand Prix menu featured broiled catfish served on a bed of tabbouleh. Yes, it was as good as it looks. Just wait till Malaysia. :9
This would be the last time Herr Vettel would smile at the 2010 Australian GP. Just as two weeks ago in Bahrain, his Red Bull car would give up the ghost and cost the talented Teuton another race win. This time though, his RB6 car also robbed him of any points, as a brake failure would send him into the gravel, rendering him unable to finish. Red Bull looked set to dominate this weekend’s Grand Prix with Vettel and Webber qualifying 1-2. The usual suspects of Ferrari’s Alonso (Q3) and Massa (Q5) and McLaren’s Button (Q4) and Hamilton (Q11) were also near the front of the grid. Another strong contender was Renault’s Robert Kubica, who found himself on the top of time sheets in practise Friday, but stumbled in qualifying into 9th on the grid. After a tumultuous start to the race that saw Schumacher’s front wing damaged, Kubica jumped up to 4th and Alonso and Hamilton were sent further back. Kubica would finish the race is a solid 2nd.
The race started with a wet track, but warm weather was on the way. Button used his gut feeling to pit early on lap 7 for dry tires and used this strategic manoeuvre to vault past other cars still on wet tires. Using his characteristically smooth driving style, he didn’t need to pit again and would go on to win the Australian GP for the second consecutive year – also marking his first win with McLaren. Hamilton used a two-pit strategy and made for a very interesting second half of the race as he closed in on the two Ferraris ahead of him who were on older tires. Hamilton closed a 20+ second gap in no time but couldn’t get past the cunning Fezzas. Massa and Alonso would stay ahead of Hamilton for the duration of the race and finish in 3rd and 4th, respectively. Naturally, Hamilton started whining over the radio to his pit crew about how Button had only pitted once and he had pitted twice. Boo hoo. Hamilton ended up in 6th despite a late race spill with Mark Webber’s Red Bull. Webber would finish in 9th.
Away from the drama at the front of the pack, both Virgin cars, Sutil’s Force India, Petrov’s Renault, Senna’s HRT, Buemi’s Toro Rosso, Hulkenberg’s Williams, and Kobayashi’s Sauber all failed to finish the race.
Schumacher snagged a 10th place finish after spending about 30 very frustrating laps stuck behind Toro Rosso’s Alguersuari. Mercedes GP teammate Nico Rosberg finished in 5th, once again ahead of his 7-time World Champion teammate, proving that he isn’t afraid of a challenge.
It was also a big day for Force India, who secured crucial Constructor’s Championship points after a 7th place finish by Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Those who were concerned that the 2010 season would lack drama and excitement quieted down after this morning’s race. It turns out that it was the Bahrain event itself that was lacking. All the season needed was a little rain.
The full gallery of haps, mishaps, and candid driver moments is below.
Get it? Boosted? Because Hamilton’s McLaren uses KERS? Knee-slapping, I know.
Winning from the pole position by a triumphant 9.634 second margin over Toyota’s Timo Glock and 16.624 seconds over Renault’s Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton won for the second time this season and is now in 6th place in this season’s Driver Standings. Speaking of Driver Standings, let’s take a look at how Button, Barichello, and Vettel are standing now that the night-race dust has settled over the Pacific island city-state.
After a crucial misstep by the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes pit crew with reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton’s front right tire, the 2009 European Grand Prix at Valencia officially became Barrichello’s to lose. So did he disappoint?
Sky Sport recorded drivers up and down the F1 paddock offering messages of encouragement to Felipe Massa and have posted them on YouTube. While most fans are doubtless aware that drivers generally speak at least two languages, I’m fairly certain you’ll be surprised at least once during this video.
After a rather worrying start to the Hungaroring weekend for the Formula One paddock, Lewis Hamilton managed to stage a stunning upset in winning his first race this year. Unfortunately, celebration of such a fantastic victory was somewhat muted due to Felipe Massa’s accident. More below.
Today, the Austrians (Red Bull GmbH) and the Germans (Sebastian Vettel) teamed up today to re-enact the Second World War air raids on London. Although instead of bombs there was a dominant car, instead of London it was Silverstone, and instead of the Second World War it was the 2009 British Grand Prix. Ok, so it was exactly nothing like those notorious air raids.
Get it? Boosted? Because Hamilton’s McLaren uses KERS? Knee-slapping, I know.
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