Forumla One 2009

[Mike]

Lewis Hamilton sets the fastest time in the Friday practice sessions. Fellow Brit Jenson Button was 13th in the same session. This will make the second half of the season good to watch!

[Mike]

Fellipe Massa suffers a 125mph crash against the tire wall after a spring broke loose from Barrichello's Brawn GP car. The spring hit Fellipe on the head just above his eye, knocking him unconsious. He then drove full throttle and full break into the tire wall. It is the most shocking accident I can remember since Michael Schumacher broke both his legs driving into a wall.

Lewis Hamilton has a surprise victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He managed to get his McLaren into first place practically at the first corner and was very strong. He is very pleased with the turn around on the car and it seems they have shaken their technical problems. It will be good to see how the rest of the season will progress, Button is weakening and Red Bull with McLaren are taking full advantage.

Fellipe Massa is now in a stable condition after his crash during Qualifying on Saturday. He has been brought out of his medically induced coma and has problems with his left eye and can not speak. If the conditions don't clear up then he may never race in Formula 1 again. Or ever for that matter.

Renault have been banned for one race for the tyre coming off their car during the race.

I wonder who will be racing for Ferrari for the rest of the season with Fellipe out. If Michael Schumacher came back for the rest of the season that would be fantastic (although ultimately disappointing I fear).

[BarcelonAl]

I wonder who will be racing for Ferrari for the rest of the season with Fellipe out. If Michael Schumacher came back for the rest of the season that would be fantastic (although ultimately disappointing I fear).

It would be incredible and not all that great of a shock as he is still on the payroll. There are doubts over his fitness as he injured his shoulder earlier this year.

Massa's accident was shocking, but 15 years ago he would have been killed instantly, just shows how good the improvements to the sport have been. However, people are talking about making even more changes, like screens or even canopys, which I personally think is a step too far...the drivers know the risk, motorsport is a dangerous occupation and there should always be an element of risk.

[mr_e]

BMW quitting F1 at end of season. Hopefully that's not already been posted. Looks like it's not the start of an exodus, as other major teams have signed an agreement to remain involved until 2012.

Good news on Massa being relatively okay, but short of having full glass canopies I don't know how they can avoid something like that happening again, rare as it would be.

[stimpsonslostson]

Schumacher to replace Massa. (Pick any major news site- they're all carrying this story).
I suspect he'll do well: whatever else he may be, the man can drive!

[Mike]

BBC and the The Guardian are running very good storys on the Schumacher return. He is not allowed to touch a Formula One car until Friday 21 August 2009 due to the ban on testing, however, he will be going through an intensive training regime to ensure that his back and neck are okay following a crash in the Bike racing from earlier this year.

This is the most exciting news from Formula One this year and I will be wanting to watch the practice sessions, and the qualifying, and the race in Valencia. Rock on Ferrari!

[BarcelonAl]

It's a no-brainer decision for me...Ferrari and Schumacher can't lose with this decision. No-one expects him to win the World Championship at this stage so he can just lap up the praise, enjoy a few grand prix and pass on his valuable insight into the car as the development for 2010 continues.

[Mike]

Schumacher has had to withdraw due to a bad neck and Renault have overturned their 1 race ban for the wobbly tire. The next race will not be as interesting as I had hoped.

[Mike]

YouTube Founder has invested in the new US F1 team. They will be starting to compete in F1 from 2010. Interesting, it will be good to have someone to replace BMW (who suck for pulling out of the competition).

Practice Sessions are now going for the European GP that will take place on Sunday. I will have to sky+ it.

[Mike]

I did not watch the race (due to being out and about) but I have seen the results from Valencia. Rubens Barrichello has pipped Lewis Hamilton to the post by a couple of seconds. It is a shame that Lewis's pit stop cost him the race (apparently) due to the tires not being ready.

Here are the standings. The good news for Jenson Button is that his two nearest competitors failed to get any points (Vettel engine exploded and Webber finished outside the points). He stands 20 points clear but with quite a few races to go he really needs to up his performance. It seems to be a two team race now with Brawn and Red Bull slugging it out for the championship, it would be amazing if Lewis could climb the rankings towards the end of this season but with only 6 races left it seems unlikely.

[BarcelonAl]

Such a cock-up for Hamilton's pit. The fueling and tyre crew were in place as Lewis came in and stopped...then came the flustered tyre guys with a set of fully heat-blanket covered tyres...he apparently only lost a couple of seconds, but at this level a couple of seconds is the difference between 1st and 2nd places.

The race wasn't exactly mega-entertainment filled. Rubens cooly did his job from third; letting the KERS fitted cars sprint ahead and then just kept up the pressure and overtook at their pitstops.

Button didn't qualify well and seems to be a little low on confidence to me...still, he DID gain two points over Webber - his nearest rival.

[Mike]

Force India manages a Shock Pole Position in SPA. This is the team's first Pole Position ever and a bit of a surprise to be honest. I wonder what the fuel loads were like this week.

Jenson Button manages to qualify 14th which is abysmal and continues his massive reduction in performance. He will be lucky to get away with any points in this race (if he is not careful). Of course if he has any super talent (like previous Championship winners) he would win from this position on the grid.

[Mike]

Amazingly Button retains a 16 point championship advantage following the mess of SPA (well in terms of his Championship hopes anyway). Button and Hamilton were taken out practically on the first corner by new boys Romain Grosjean (Renault - replacing Nelson Piquet) and Jaime Alguersuari (Torro Rosso). It was a very strong race from Force India who managed to get their first ever points and first ever podium finish out of the race, their pace was blistering and it was good to see the small outfit managing to keep a Ferrari in check (if never quite managing to beat them).

The quality race highlights is here.

[Chrissie]

Now THAT was a cracking race! Plenty of overtaking, bit of a pile-up, drive through penalty for pit lane antics and a car on fire by the end of the race! GOOD TV!!

[BarcelonAl]

Now THAT was a cracking race! Plenty of overtaking, bit of a pile-up, drive through penalty for pit lane antics and a car on fire by the end of the race! GOOD TV!!

Damnit...we saw the pile-up and then switched off and went for a walk up Arthur's Seat...a car on fire would've been cool!

(Or not, obviously, for whoever was involved...)