We all probably expected this to be a quiet week. It all turned out a bit differently.

BMW decided to pull the plug on F1. They surprised not only the public but also their drivers who had no idea such an option was even on cards (at least that is what Heidefeld, Kubica and Klien said). The focus of BMW debates is now shifting from “Why they decided to quit ?” to “What is next ?”

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What a bizzare day in F1 this was. It started with BMW pulling out, it ends with news that Michael Schumacher is coming back.

Ferrari has confirmed that Michael Schumacher will replace Felipe Massa in Valencia. Hm, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen as team mates …

“The most important thing first: thanks God, all news concerning Felipe are positive. I wish him all the best again.

“I was meeting this afternoon with Stefano Domenicali and Luca di Montezemolo and together we decided that I will prepare myself to take the place of Felipe.

“Though it is true that the chapter Formula 1 has been closed for me since long and completely, it is also true that for loyalty reasons to the team I cannot ignore that unfortunate situation. But as the competitor I am, I also very much look forward to facing this challenge.” – Michael Schumacher

Obviously he forgot to tell his manager who was only a day or so ago 200% sure Schumacher would not jump into Massa’s seat …

Mario Theissen distancing himself ?

There have been speculations about more manufacturers following Honda out of F1 but the teams talked about were Toyota and Renault. The sudden (?) decision of BMW to end its involvement in Formula One came as a surprise or a bit of a shock. So why have they decided to quit and why so suddenly ?

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BMW to exit F1

About eight months after Honda pulled the plug on Formula One another manufacturer announced its F1 exit. Here is the full news as published by BMW short while ago:

The BMW Group will not continue its Formula One campaign after the end of the 2009 season. Resources freed up as a result are to be dedicated to the development of new drive technologies and projects in the field of sustainability. BMW will continue to be actively involved in other motor sports series. The landmark decision to restructure BMW Motorsport’s activities was made at the Board of Management’s meeting yesterday.

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BMW has called an emergency press conference for Wednesday. Dr. Norbert Reithofer, the chairman of the BMW board, Dr. Klaus Draeger, the director for development, and Mario Theissen, BMW motorsport director will be present. There hasn’t been any confirmation what will the press conference be about other than we can expect imporatant news. The fact that BMW is sending its top brass to attend indeed suggests that we are in for some big news.

We will see more when the BMW top guns assemble in Munich later today and tell us what is on their mind. But the expectations are that BMW is about to follow Honda and pull out from Formula One …

Nico Rosberg

With all the attention focusing on Red Bull, Jenson Button (or Lewis Hamilton in Hungary) Nico Rosberg does not get too much TV time during the races. His moments of fame usually come during the free practice sessions. But after 10 races of the season Nico Rosberg is 5th in the drivers championship especially thanks to recent string solid points scoring finishes. The most impressive perhaps is his climb from 15th on the grid to 4th at Nurburgring.

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Earleir yesterday there were some reports suggesting that Felipe Massa might have sustained serious (and perhaps career threatening) eye injury. However later on yesterday there were more optimistic news coming from Colonel Dr. Lajos Zsiros, the chief surgeon of the Hungarian Defence Forces.

According to the doctor Massa has woken up and the doctors had no immediate plans to sedate him again.

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Here are the results of round 10 of our prediction game. This was rather low scoring round with the top score of 17 points (Fantoci and Kudlakova). We had few predictions for Webber’s lap and Lewis Hamilton’s win but nobody guessed the pole position for Fernando Alonso.

Wil is now at the top of the provisional standings with 5 points lead.

Round 10 results:

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Renault team suspended from European GP

Kimi Raikkonen escaped without penalty following the investigation of an incident at the start of the race. While I do not wish any driver loosing his podium finish I would welcome some explanation from stewards while this incident was investigated after the race while two weeks ago similar incident involving Mark Webber was investigated right away (and resulted in drive through penalty).

Red Bull was reprimanded for the unsafe release of Mark Webber during a pitstop when he almost collided with Kimi Raikkonen.

Renault team was not that lucky. The team has been suspended from the European GP for Fernando Alonso wheel loss incident. Here is the stewards decision:

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First win of the season for Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton won his first race of the season ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber. Jenson Button only managed 7th place, Sebastian Vettel retired. (Kimi Raikkonen will be investigated after the race for the incident after race start.) The rookie Jaime Alguersuari came home in 15th, 1 place ahead of his team mate Sebastien Buemi.

Mark Webber climbed ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the driver’s championship and cut Button’s lead to 18.5 points.

2009 Hungarian GP – Race result

1. L. Hamilton – McLaren – 1:38:23.876
2. K. Räikkönen – Ferrari + 11.529
3. M. Webber – Red Bull + 16.886
4. N. Rosberg – Williams + 26.967
5. H. Kovalainen – McLaren + 34.392
6. T. Glock – Toyota + 35.237
7. J. Button – Brawn GP + 55.088
8. J. Trulli – Toyota + 1:08.172

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Here is a short video (using some older animations) explaining the design and structure of F1 helmet and showing examples of helmet testing. Short feature on HANS device is also include. The final part of the video shows the damper and the spring – the part that is suspected to have hit Felipe Massa during Hungarian GP qualifying session.

The Hungarian GP post qualifying weights have been released by FIA. Fernando Alonso is very light with. Jenson Button on the other hand is quite heavy probably also because of his limited running in Q3. It looks pretty good for Red Bulls if they can keep Hamilton with his KERS behind …

2009 Hungarian GP – post qualifying weights

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