Ferrari board to discuss F1 future

If getting attention was the ultimate goal of Max Mosley’s budget cap and “two tier F1″ regulations then he definitelly achieved it. Several teams (Toyota, Red Bull/Toro Rosso) suggested they will not enter “two tier 2010 F1 championship”, and even Ferrari’s board of directors is to discuss the Italian squad’s future in Formula 1 today. But how much of all this are genuine F1 exit threats and how much of it is a poker like bluffing only ?

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Round 5 results are in. Some people expected major shake up in the order with the beginning of the European season, well that gamble did not pay off . We however have the highest scores of this season – 21 points by Jose Arellano and bmwf1guy ! In the meantime I somehow managed to take the provisional lead. Don’t worry, as I know myself that will not last for too long.

If you can’t find yourself in the results and you know you placed the prediction, let me know.

Round 5 results:

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The podium, some are happy, some not that much ...

The swicth to 2 stop strategy helped Jenson Button to reclaim the lead he lost to Barrichello at the start. Button went on to win the race, Barrichello could only wonder how on Earth he lost it. The final podium place belongs to Mark Webber who leapfrogged the Massa/Vettel duo thanks to his longer second stint.

Felipe Massa scored his first points of the season although he had to sacrifice his 4th place in order to preserve fuel and finish the race (at 6th).

2009 Spanish GP Race Result

1. J. Button – Brawn GP – 1:37:19.202
2. R. Barrichello – Brawn GP + 13.056
3. M. Webber – Red Bull + 13.924
4. S. Vettel – Red Bull + 18.941
5. F. Alonso – Renault + 43.166
6. F. Massa – Ferrari + 50.827
7. N. Heidfeld – BMW Sauber + 52.312
8. N. Rosberg – Williams + 1:05.211

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Felipe Massa - P4, improved car, decent fuel load and KERS

A short while ago FIA published the 2009 Spanish GP post qualifying weights. It looks like Jenson Button will be stopping on/about lap 13, a lap or 2 earlier than Sebastian Vettel. Felipe Massa has another lap or two worth fuel on board. Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica have the heaviest cars among the top ten. The most heavily fueled car on the grid is the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton with about 10 laps more fuel on board than Jenson Button.

2009 Spanish GP – Post qualifying weights:

1. Jenson Button 646.0
2. Sebastian Vettel 651.5
3. Rubens Barrichello 649.5
4. Felipe Massa 655.0
5. Mark Webber 651.5
6. Timo Glock 646.5
7. Jarno Trulli 655.5
8. Fernando Alonso 645.0
9. Nico Rosberg 668.0
10. Robert Kubica 660.0

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2009 Spanish GP top three qualifiers

Jenson Button will start the 2009 Spanish GP from pole position, Sebastian Vettel will line up next to him on front row. There will be all Brazilian second row – P3 for Barrichello and P4 for Massa in improved Ferrari (and with KERS, the only one in top 10).

2009 Spanish GP Qualifying results – Top 10:

1. Jenson Button – Brawn GP – 1:20.527
2. Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull – 1:20.660
3. Rubens Barrichello – Brawn GP – 1:20.762
4. Felipe Massa – Ferrari – 1:20.934
5. Mark Webber – Red Bull – 1:21.049
6. Timo Glock – Toyota – 1:21.247
7. Jarno Trulli – Toyota – 1:21.254
8. Fernando Alonso – Renault – 1:21.392
9. Nico Rosberg – Williams – 1:22.558
10. Robert Kubica – BMW Sauber – 1:22.685

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Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen were the fastest drivers in the final practice this weekend ahead of Brawn GP cars of Barrichello and Button.

2009 Spanish GP Saturday practice times:

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There is a fresh version of 2010 F1 Sporting Regulations on the FIA website, published on May 6, 2009. And there is an interesting difference between this new version and the April 30 version (published after the WMSC meeting) and relates to the drivers title:

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Jenson Button, fastest in practice 1

It looks like the upgrades are working for Brawn GP. Jenson Button was the fastest man on the track in morning practice for the 2009 Spanish GP, the only driver in 1:21s . Toyota and Williams also seem to keep their good pace. A bit suprisingly perhaps both BMW Sauber cars ended the first practice in top 4. It is still early days though …

Friday Practice 1 times:

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The European F1 season begins this weekend in Spain, the predictions game continues with round 5 – Spanish GP.

You can wait till the last moment before the qualifying or make your prediction right away (and change it later). But do remember, the deadline is the start of the Saturday qualifying session ! So, as usual, make your prediction for the pole position, fastest lap and top eight finishers in the comments below this post. The results of round 5 will be published on Monday after the race.

2008 Spanish GP - The last F1 win for Kimi Raikkonen to date

The European F1 season starts this weekend in Barcelona. Many teams plan to bring updated and upgraded cars to this Grand Prix and as a result we may (or may not) see some shake up in the order. Here is very quick overview of who plans to bring what to Spain:

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There are reports circulating the web suggesting that Aguri Suzuki may be considering return to Formula One. Some sites refer to Reuters as the source while Reuters site refers to Japanese Sankei Sports. I looked up the Sankei Sports website, Google translated their article and … haven’t really found anything other than the sentence copied around by different news and F1 sites:

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As some of my readers and all my friends already know I entered the Champions Drink Responsibly competition with Bacardi. And well, I won the prize. So a week from now I will be in Spain at the Ascari track sitting in the red car driven by the guy in this video:

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