The 2009 Macau GP provided some great racing action in all the events. It also produced lots of minor, major and spectacular crashes. Safety car was called to action in all Sunday races, two of those (the 2nd WTCC race and the Formula 3 race) were even red flagged. There were no serious injuries but lots of debris and some seriously damaged cars. Here are photos of some of the Macau crash fest action from the Lisboa bend. There were more seriously looking crashes and pile ups but those occurred at higher speed corners, away from the lense of my camera. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images:

For the record Edoardo Mortara (Signature) won the Formula 3 race ahead of Jean-Karl Vernay, Sam Bird, Marcus Ericsson and Valtteri Bottas. In WTCC Robert Huff (Chevrolet) won the first race and Augusto Farfus (BMW) the second one while Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT) clinched the 2009 title.

2009 Macau GP – Crash photos from the crash fest

Bits and pieces of the Lambo

The GT Cup race (part of 2009 Macau GP program) today produced a massive crash of Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 driven by Luis Artiles. The front and rear of the car was totally ripped off, debris all over the track… The driver walked away but it will take some serious repair job before that Lambo can race again … Here is a short video featuring that crash.

2009 Macau GP – Video – Massive Lambo crash in GT Cup

The 2009 Prediction Game ended about 2 weeks ago. The prize this year went to the 2nd on the podium, psychy as I somehow could not imagine presenting the prize to myself . I can’t understand why the wine shop delivered different champagne than what they were supposed to but at the end it is all bubbles and I hope psychy will enjoy it ! Here are few photos psychy sent back after receiving the prize.

This formally concludes the 2009 edition of this little F1 prediction game . Join us next year, we will kick off about a month before the season starts with the usual champion predictions ! For now we can go back to enjoying the eventful off season …

The prize for the 2009 Prediction Game has been delivered

Mistakes are costly in Macau ...

It is less than 2 weeks to go to 2009 Macau Grand Prix. The highlight of the weekend has been since 1983 the Formula 3 race often featuring future F1 drivers. The list of former Macau GP winners includes names such as Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, Takuma Sato. Several drivers on 2009 F1 grid raced in Macau in the past – Sebastian Vettel, Adrian Sutil, Kamui Kobayashi, Robert Kubica, Kazuki Nakajima, Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Nelson Piquet jr, Jenson Button, Sebastien Bourdais, Mark Webber, Nick Heidfeld, Jarno Trulli, Giancarlo Fisichella, Rubens Barrichello, Sebastien Buemi, Romain Grosjean and as recently as last year also Jaime Alguersuari. We can also add the 2010 F1 rookies Bruno Senna (Campos META) and Nico Hulkenberg (Williams) – both raced in Macau in 2007.

So, let’s have a look and the provisional entry list for 2009 Macau GP Formula 3 race:

(Driver, Nationality, Team, Car, Engine, 2009 Season Result)

1. Marcus ERICSSON – SWE – Tom’s – Dallara – Toyota-Tom’s – 1st Japan F3
2. Takuto IGUCHI – JPN – Tom’s – Dallara – Toyota-Tom’s – 2nd Japan F3
3. Jules BIANCHI – FRA – ART Grand Prix – Dallara – Mercedes-HWA – 1st F3 Euro Series
4. Valtteri BOTTAS – FIN – ART Grand Prix – Dallara – Mercedes-HWA – 3rd F3 Euro Series
5. Sam BIRD – GBR – ART Grand Prix – Dallara – Mercedes-HWA – 6th F3 Euro Series
6. Daniel RICCIARDO – AUS – Carlin – Dallara – Volkswagen – 1st British F3
7. Brendon HARTLEY – NZL – Carlin – Dallara – Volkswagen – 11th F3 Euro Series
8. Max CHILTON – GBR – Carlin – Dallara – Volkswagen – 4th British F3
9. Henry ARUNDEL – GBR – Carlin – Dallara – Volkswagen – 9th British F3
10. Kei COZZOLINO – ITA – Toda Racing – Dallara – Honda-Toda – 4th Japan F3
11. Mika MAKI – FIN – Hitech Racing – Dallara – Volkswagen – 6th F3 Euro Series
12. Wayne BOYD – GBR – Hitech Racing – Dallara – Volkswagen – 12th British F3
14. Jean-Karl VERNAY – FRA – Signature – Dallara – Volkswagen – 5th F3 Euro Series
15. Laurens VANTHOOR – BEL – Signature – Dallara – Volkswagen – 1st ATS Formel 3
16. Edoardo MORTARA – ITA – Signature – Dallara – Volkswagen – 14th GP2 Series
17. Renger van der ZANDE – NED – Räikkönen Robertson – Dallara – Mercedes-HWA – 3rd British F3
18. Alexander SIMS – GBR – Räikkönen Robertson – Dallara – Mercedes-HWA – 4th F3 Euro Series
19. Kevin CHEN – TPE – Räikkönen Robertson – Dallara – Mercedes-HWA – 20th British F3
20. Michael HO – MAC – Manor Motorsport – Dallara – Mercedes-HWA – 5th Formula V6 Asia
21. Carlos HUERTAS – COL – Manor Motorsport – Dallara – Mercedes-HWA – 7th British F3
22. Roberto MERHI – ESP – Manor Motorsport – Dallara – Mercedes-HWA – 7th F3 Euro Series
23. Yuji KUNIMOTO – JPN – NOW Motor Sports – Dallara – Toyota-Tom’s – 3rd Japan F3
24. Koki SAGA – JPN – Le Beausset Motorsports – Dallara – Toyota- Tom’s – 6th Japan F3
25. Victor GARCIA – ESP – Fortec Motorsport – Dallara – Mercedes-HWA – 14th British F3
26. Daniel MCKENZIE – GBR – Fortec Motorsport – Dallara – Mercedes-HWA – 1st British F3 National Class
27. Jake ROSENZWEIG – USA – Fortec Motorsport – Dallara – Mercedes-HWA – 18th F3 Euro Series
28. Stefano COLETTI – MON – Prema Powerteam – Dallara – Mercedes-HWA – 10th F3 Euro Series
29. Daniel ZAMPIERI – ITA – Prema Powerteam – Dallara – Mercedes-HWA – 1st Italian F3
30. Stef DUSSELDORP – NED – Kolles & Heinz Union – Dallara – Volkswagen – 2nd ATS Formel 3 Cup
31. Alexandre IMPERATORI – SUI – Kolles & Heinz Union – Dallara – Volkswagen – 3rd Japan F3 National Class

Edoardo Mortara and Stefano Colleti raced in the main GP2 series this season while several other drivers listed above are competing in the current GP2 Asia series – Max Chilton, Sam Bird, Marcus Ericsson, Jules Bianchi …

Besides the Formula 3 race the 56th Macau GP program includes FIA WTTC race (featuring Yvan Muller, Andy Priaulx, Tiago Monteiro, Alex Zanardi etc), Formula BMW Pacific, GT Cup (featuring among others also the former Minardi F1 driver Alex Yoong) as well as the Macau Motorcycle GP.

56th Macau GP is on from 19 – 22 November 2009.

Here are few 2008 Macau GP posts:

On board footage (GT Cup) , Formula 3 video highlights and some photos.

Photo: F1Wolf.com

2009 Macau GP – Formula 3 Entry List

The final race of 2009 F1 season is over and that means also the end of the 2009 Prediction Game. The final round was not very high scoring one. The main reason seems to be the fact that lots of usual suspects failed to make it to top 8 in Abu Dhabi. With McLaren, Ferrari, Williams, Renault all out of the points lots of points correctly guessed teams in top 8 were lost. Those who had BMW, Toyota and Toro Rosso drivers among their top 8 scored big …

Here are the results of the final round of the 2009 prediction game:

18 – Dank, F1Wolf
17 – Jose Arellano, psychy, bmwf1guy, Saigon56
16 – Klokan, Luis Miguel Sainz
15 – zblkhwk, velvet demon, pk_dude04
14 – Kotenok
13 – mcw3, ncngrr5, sky, Nic B 205, daniel, Blazena, Aaron Mullan
12 – Ozzi, FISHEYE, Flying Dutchman, nieuwe
11 – Queen Bee, Steve Robertson, jc
10 – Clive.Einkamerer, shaggy

Now, the final results after the the elimination of the worst score and bonus points for the correct pre-season prediction of 2009 F1 champion. Same as last year the deciding factor was the champion prediction. The bonus was only 15 points this year (rather than 25 last year). Still it was enough to catapult me to the top of the standings, 2 points clear of psychy. So after fatfish in 2007 and Steve Robertson in 2008 it was my turn this year…

The prize will of course not stay with me but will go to the second in the standings – psychy, who also recorded the highest score of the season – 27 points for the British GP round ! Congratulations ! I will need psychy to contact me by email in order to make arrangements for the delivery of the prize.

2009 Prediction Game Final Standings

Ch – 15 points bonus for correct pre-season 2009 champion prediction
De – deduction of the worst score

I want to thank everybody for joining in this season ! Prediction Game will return next year – about 1 month before the start of 2010 season.

2009 Prediction Game – Final Results

There were no drivers changes at all during 2008 Formula One season. Of course if we do not count Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson, two drivers left without seats after Super Aguri pulled out of the sport.

It was a different story this year. Injuries, performances and perhaps also personal disagreements resulted in rather different line up during the photo ops in Melbourne in late March and Abu Dhabi right at the beginning of November:

2009 Formula One Drivers - March

Bourdais, Buemi, Fisichella, Sutil, Webber Vettel, Nakajima, Rosberg, Barrichello, Button, Glock, Trulli, Heidfeld, Kubica, Raikkonen, Massa, Hamilton, Kovalainen, Alonso, Piquet

2009 Formula One Drivers - November

Alguersuari, Buemi, Liuzzi, Sutil, Alonso, Grosjean, Heidfeld, Kubica, Trulli, Kobayashi, Rosberg, Nakajima, Raikkonen, Fisichella, Barrichello, Button, Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Kovalainen

How many of them will we see back next year ?

2009 F1 drivers – What a difference 8 months made

Top three in Abu Dhabi qualifying

The FIA has released the Abu Dhabi GP post qualifying weights. Lewis Hamilton is lighter than the 2 Red Bull cars behind him on the grid but will probably stop on the same lap as Mark Webber and perhaps only a lap earlier than Vettel. The lightest car on the grid is Robert Kubica. The heaviest among the top ten is Nico Rosberg but he still only has about 2 laps worth of fuel more than Hamilton.

There are some very heavy cars at the back of the grid, especially Kazuki Nakajima and both Renaults.

2009 Abu Dhabi GP post qualifying weights:

Lewis Hamilton – 658.5 kg
Sebastian Vettel – 663.0 kg
Mark Webber – 660.0 kg
Rubens Barrichello – 655.0 kg
Jenson Button – 657.0 kg
Jarno Trulli – 661.0 kg
Robert Kubica – 654.5 kg
Nick Heidfeld – 664.0 kg
Nico Rosberg – 665.0 kg
Sébastien Buemi – 661.5 kg
Kimi Räikkönen – 692.0 kg*
Kamui Kobayashi – 694.3 kg*
Heikki Kovalainen – 697.0 kg* (will get 5 place penalty for gear box change)
Kazuki Nakajima 704.0 kg*
Jaime Alguersuari – 696.5 kg*
Fernando Alonso – 708.3 kg*
Vitantonio Liuzzi – 695.0*
Adrian Sutil – 696.0 kg*
Romain Grosjean – 710.8 kg*
Giancarlo Fisichella – 692.5 kg*

2009 Abu Dhabi GP – Post qualifying weights

Lewis Hamitlon at Abu Dhabi track

Lewis Hamilton will start the final race of 2009 from pole position after dominating the Abu Dhabi qualifying. Sebastian Vettel will line up next to Hamilton on the front row. Webber and Barrichello will form row 2, Button and Trulli row 3.

Q3:

1. Hamilton – 1:40.948
2. Vettel – 1:41.615
3. Webber – 1:41.726
4. Barrichello – 1:41.786
5. Button – 1:41.892
6. Trulli – 1:41.897
7. Kubica – 1:41.992
8. Heidfeld – 1:42.343
9. Rosberg – 1:42.583
10. Buemi – 1:42.713

Q2:

Lewis Hamilton was fastest also in Q2, about 3 tenths ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Jenson Button finished Q2 in 3rd place.Hamilton’s Q2 time – 1:39.695. Raikkonen, Kobayashi, Kovalainen, Nakajima and Alguersuari were eliminated.

Drivers eliminated in Q2:

11. Raikkonen – 1:40.726
12. Kobayashi – 1:40.777
13. Kovalainen – 1:40.983
14. Nakajima – 1:41.148
15. Alguersuari – 1:41.689

Q1:

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver in Q1, 0.505 quicker than Jenson Button in 2nd place. Both Renaults, Force Indias as well as Giancarlo Fisichella were eliminated.

Drivers eliminated in Q1:

16. Alonso – 1:41.667
17. Liuzzi – 1:41.701
18. Sutil – 1:41.863
19. Grosjean – 1:41.950
20. Fisichella – 1:42.184

2009 Abu Dhabi GP – Qualifying – Hamilton on pole

And this is it. The 2009 Formula One season will conclude this weekend in Abu Dhabi. The final round of 2009 prediction game is here.

As usual you can wait till the last moment before the qualifying or make your prediction right away to make sure you do not miss the round (and change your prediction later if you feel like doing that). But do remember, the deadline is the start of the Saturday qualifying session !. The qualifying begins on Saturday, 5pm Abu Dhabi time. So, go ahead and make your prediction for the pole position, fastest lap and top eight finishers in the comments below this post.

Do not forget that Timo Glock will not race in Abu Dhabi due to his injury. Kamui Kobayashi will take his place again.

The results of round 17 and final results of the 2009 prediction game will be published on Monday after the race.

Good luck !

2009 Prediction Game – Round 17 – Abu Dhabi GP

Both 2009 Formula One championships were decided yesterday in Brazil, Jenson Button and Brawn GP can celebrate their titles. The prediction game however still has one more round to go. The winners of the penultimate round are nieuwe and Kotenok with 18 points, Ozzi keeps the provisional lead.

18 – Kotenok, nieuwe
17 – Nic B 205
16 – Jose Arellano, Mitch, ncngrr5, James, Blazena, Amrit
15 – pk_dude04
14 – Ozzi, Queen Bee, FISHEYE, mcw3, Klokan , Flying Dutchman, Dank, Aaron Mullan
13 – psychy, zblkhwk, Saigon56, GTR
12 – F1Wolf, sky, daniel, Steve Robertson
11 – bmwf1guy
10 – Clive.Einkamerer
9 – velvet demon, Luis Miguel Sainz

2009 F1Wolf’s Formula 1 Prediction Game – Standings after Round 16 (provisional):

248 – Ozzi
246 – Jose Arellano, psychy
245 – zblkhwk
244 – Queen Bee
241 – velvet demon
237 – pk_dude04, FISHEYE
236 – mcw3
235 – Mitch, F1Wolf
234 – ncngrr5, Klokan
232 – Flying Dutchman
229 – Dank
226 – sky
224 – James
219 – Nic B 205, daniel
218 – bmwf1guy
217 – JR
214 – Blazena, Steve Robertson
212 – Kotenok
210 – nieuwe
204 – Clive.Einkamerer, draconte
203 – Chobi
201 – Aaron Mullan
197 – Kudlakova
190 – Luis Miguel Sainz
187 – Wil
177 – Saigon56, alicotero
175 – shaggy
152 – Fantoci
142 – Rich
135 – dibsmjf
131 – pawelf1
125 – osama
118 – brabhamburger
89 – Arun Srini
71 – GTR
69 – Timmie
67 – Marinaxxx, Cruz Gonzalez
66 – Amrit
64 – Ex-race-marshal
40 – Monty
38 – vectra
29 – danpickles
21 – Sriram
14 – Lolol
12 – Emo
10 – Ben
8 – Rhysee, Shawn
7 – Blue42

(these are provisional standings as each player will have the worst result erased at the end of the season)

2009 Prediction Game Round 16 Results