Got the following statement from Toyota’s Media Centre :

TOYOTA MOTORSPORT GmbH STATEMENT
Monday 15 November 2010

COLOGNE, Germany – Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) confirms that all cooperation with Hispania Racing F1 Team (HRT) has been terminated and will not resume.

TMG retains all intellectual property rights to its current F1 car and is completely free to pursue other projects and support new customers for its high-performance engineering services.

TMG regrets that HRT has not met its contractual payment obligations and will pursue all available options to reach a satisfactory conclusion to this matter.

Doesn’t look like Happy Days ahead for Hispania, no more HRT in 2011, so will Toyota be woo-ing other constructors with their engineering services ?

Image courtesy : Hispania HRT F1 Team Media

To start winning all you have to do is head on over to the website and register yourself. After registering you will be asked to choose the top ten drivers and that’s it.

If you score high then you get to take home the prizes. I am playing too

Contest Ends 15-November-2010 !

Register for the Race To Finish contest here

Thanks to them we will also be holding a giveaway for some cool Vodafone McLaren Mercedes sometime in the future. Stay Tuned for that !

The Indian Grand Prix which is scheduled to be organised from the 2011 season is very much on track if the officials involved with the track, its construction and operation are to be believed. The Indian Grand Prix circuit which is coming up in Noida near New Delhi in the NCR region has been marred by hiccups with the sports ministry refusing to recognise formula one as a sport and refusing to sanction tax breaks and incentives for the same. The company incharge of the track and the race isnt worried though. The Jaypee Group, one of the leading conglomerates of India is the company entrusted with organising formula one in India for the next ten years.

Mark Hughes who is the former boss of operations at the Bahrain Grand Prix is the man incharge of the Indian formula one circuit. He is very optimistic about the Indian Grand Prix race in 2011. Addressing a section of the media, he was quoted as saying :

“We fully expect the race to go ahead next October,” vice president of JPSK Sports, a Jaypee Group subsidiary, Mark Hughes said.

“The circuit is part of a sports city being constructed 35 kilometres outside the Indian capital on a 2,800 acre site with areas set aside for the Formula One track and a 100,000-seater international cricket stadium,” Hughes added.

“Jaypee Group head Jaiprakash Gaur is passionate about sport and he has a dream to develop Indian youngsters with talent and prospects to progress,” Hughes added. “The sports hub is part of that dream.”

“We expect to complete construction by July 2011 and once the FIA has given its approval we can finalise training for marshals, track officials and medical staff in time for an October race.”

He also revealed details about the track and that formula one teams were sent simulations of the Indian Grand Prix track and asked for their inputs to the same.

“We sent the details to all the teams and they programmed the information into their simulators and gave us feedback on where we could make improvements and add overtaking opportunity points.”

P.S. The logo above is not the Official logo, its a fan logo designed by us.

Apologies for no photo of the winning driver, apparently Red Bull’s media department is not approving our application to use their photos for editorial purposes.

Red Bull really did give Sebastien Vettel and Mark Webber wings with the duo grabbing a 1-2 at the 2010 formula one Malaysian Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg was third for the Mercedes GP formula one team (erstwhile Brawn GP) while his teammate Michael Schumacher was unlucky yet again as a nut came off his car’s wheel and he was forced to retire. Before that Michael Schumacher in a strong start had made up 2 places.

Sebastien Vettel proved that if you are good enough and if you drive good enough, victory will come and luck factor will diminish. After 2 unlucky races, Malaysia proved to be third time lucky.

Lewis Hamilton was another the start performer of the day though, the Briton made his way up from 20th on the grid to sixth place. His teammate Jenson Button was 8th at the finish line.

Meanwhile Spaniard and Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso called the Malaysian Grand Prix the toughest race of his life. He suffered a gearbox problem and apparently no clutch in the race.

“Right from the start things went wrong. On the formation lap, my gearbox broke, and I had no clutch during the race,” Fernando Alonso said.

“So I had to brake in a weird way. I had to first gear down and then push the throttle hard so it would engage the gear for that corner.

“So it was probably the hardest race of my whole life in terms of driving, because I had to improvise for every corner.

Final Classification of the Malaysian Grand Prix 2010

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts

1 5 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 56 1:33:48.412 3 25

2 6 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 56 +4.8 secs 1 18

3 4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 56 +13.5 secs 2 15

4 11 Robert Kubica Renault 56 +18.5 secs 6 12

5 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 56 +21.0 secs 4 10

6 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 56 +23.4 secs 20 8

7 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 56 +27.0 secs 21 6

8 1 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 56 +37.9 secs 17 4

9 17 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 56 +70.6 secs 14 2

10 10 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 56 +73.3 secs 5 1

11 16 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 56 +78.9 secs 13

12 9 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 55 +1 Lap 7

13 8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 54 +2 Laps 19

14 25 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 53 +3 Laps 24

15 20 Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 53 +3 Laps 22

16 21 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 52 +4 Laps 23

17 18 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 51 +5 Laps 18

Ret 19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 46 +10 Laps 15

Ret 12 Vitaly Petrov Renault 32 +24 Laps 11

Ret 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 12 +44 Laps 10

Ret 3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 9 +47 Laps 8

Ret 23 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 8 +48 Laps 9

Ret 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2 +54 Laps 16

DNS 22 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 0 +56 Laps 12

Its raining pullouts after the last round desert race at Abu Dhabi. It seems the 2009 formula one season might very well be the last season of many teams. Toyota was the latest to bite the dust and announce that they would no longer be participating in formula one from next season. The decision comes at a time when people were discussing Toyota’s long term commitment to formula one and praising it.

The FIA has asked Toyota to legally confirm its position on participating in formula one so that it can make arrangements for the 2010 season. Toyota it is believed did not give enough of notice to the FIA.

Bridgestone meanwhile has announced its departure from formula one.

The next casualty might be Renault who havent been able to rescue their team after the controversy regarding Briatore and Symonds. Even Fernando Alonso couldnt rescue the Renault F1 team. In this situation pulling out of the sport might just be the best (and only sane) option available to them.

An official statement from the Toyota team read :

TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announces it plans to withdraw from the FIA Formula One World Championship (F1) at the end of the 2009 season.

TMC, which had viewed its participation in F1 as contributing to the prosperity of automotive culture, remained dedicated to competing at the pinnacle of motor sports, even in the face of the abrupt economic changes that started last year. However, when considering TMC’s motor-sports activities next year and beyond from a comprehensive midterm viewpoint reflecting the current severe economic realities, TMC decided to withdraw from F1.

TMC leaves F1 having compiled 13 podium and 87 point finishes over eight challenging seasons since 2002 with Panasonic Toyota Racing, a full-constructor team. It views its time in F1 — in which teams put forth their best efforts to fiercely compete at racing’s highest level — as an irreplaceable experience that provided an opportunity to develop both human resources and its R&D operations. TMC expresses its deepest appreciation to its F1 fans and others for their warm support.

TMC also wants to express its heartfelt gratitude to all Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers to date and to all Toyota Motorsport GmbH employees who have helped make the team’s achievements possible. TMC intends to do its best to find a solution for those parties who will be affected by any inconvenience this decision may cause.

Drawing on its experience in F1 and other motor sports, TMC intends to move forward in developing exciting production vehicles, such as the Lexus “LFA” supercar and compact rear-wheel-drive sports cars. In motor sports, it will not only race in various categories, but will also actively contribute to further development of motor sports by supporting grassroots races and planning events in which it is easy for people to participate.

Ferrari in an official statement of its website as well as media area threatened to quit formula one and not enter its cars for the 2010 formula one season if the arbitrary rules regarding F1 budget caps were implemented despite its and certain other manufacturer’s protests. In doing so Ferrari has become the third team after Red Bull and Toyota to threaten pullout. An official statement on their website really cements those intentions.

On a personal note, Ferrari have been the team that i fell in love with the first time I saw formula one and are my favorite team

To see Ferrari going out of formula one would be heartbreak. Ferrari has given a lot to the sport of formula one, money, merchandise sales, champions and most importantly millions of fans all around the globe. Hopefully the matter would be sorted out between the 2 parties and scarlet wouldn’t let the world of F1 pale for many more years. Another industry that shall be very adversely affected would be the sports betting industry. I guess most will move over from formula one betting and move onto NASCAR betting for more excitement. Speaking of NASCAR and (losers ?) , a post on Juan Pablo Montoya is due.

On the other hand, it might just be a bluff from Ferrari, but a well played one at that, lets see if the FIA can choose to ignore alleged most powerful team in F1.

The official statement from their media area follows :

FERRARI’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS APPROVES

THE FIRST QUARTER RESULTS:

TURNOVER 441 MILLION EURO

TRADING PROFIT 54 MILLION EURO

FERRARI CONFIRMS ITS OPPOSITION TO THE NEW

TECHNICAL REGULATIONS ADOPTED BY THE FIA AND DOES NOT INTEND ENTERING ITS CARS IN THE 2010 F1 CHAMPIONSHIP

Maranello 12 May 2009 – Ferrari’s Board of Directors, chaired by Luca di Montezemolo, today analysed the first quarter results for 2009. Despite the current international economic climate, which has hit the automotive sector in particular, Ferrari’s figures were in line with the record levels reached in 2008.

Turnover for the first three months was 441 million euro compared to 455.7 million euro over the same period in 2008. The first quarter closed with a trading profit of 54 million euro compared to last year’s 59 million euro.

These results reflect the introduction of new models, in particular the success of the Ferrari California and the Scuderia Spider 16M, the constant growth in activities linked to the brand (e-commerce, licensing, merchandising and retail) and the company’s continuing efforts to maximise efficiency.

The Board of Directors also examined developments related to recent decisions taken by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile during an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council on 29 April 2009. Although this meeting was originally called only to examine a disciplinary matter, the decisions taken mean that, for the first time ever in Formula 1, the 2010 season will see the introduction of two different sets of regulations based on arbitrary technical rules and economic parameters.

The Board considers that if this is the regulatory framework for Formula 1 in the future, then the reasons underlying Ferrari’s uninterrupted participation in the World Championship over the last 60 years – the only constructor to have taken part ever since its inception in 1950 – would come to a close.

The Board also expressed its disappointment about the methods adopted by the FIA in taking decisions of such a serious nature and its refusal to effectively reach an understanding with constructors and teams. The rules of governance that have contributed to the development of Formula 1 over the last 25 years have been disregarded, as have the binding contractual obligations between Ferrari and the FIA itself regarding the stability of the regulations. The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of the FOTA’s endeavours to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula 1 are the priorities for the future. If these indispensable principles are not respected and if the regulations adopted for 2010 will not change, then Ferrari does not intend to enter its cars in the next Formula 1 World Championship.

Ferrari trusts that its many fans worldwide will understand that this difficult decision is coherent with the Scuderia’s approach to motor sport and to Formula 1 in particular, always seeking to promote its sporting and technical values. The Chairman of the Board of Directors was mandated to evaluate the most suitable ways and methods to protect the company’s interests.

Photo : Copyright Ferrari SPA

It is alleged that at the post race hearing of the Austalian Grand Prix,  David Ryan had asked Lewis Hamilton to slow down to let Jarno Trulli pass him. Initially it was thought that the Toyota had committed an offence. Trulli was handed a penalty after the stewards heard Lewis’s testimony. However audio evidence later proved that Lewis Hamilton had lied and hidden important data from stewards just to gain one point more. He was disqualified and McLaren were excluded from Race results.

The statement released by FIA read :

“Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has been invited to appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Wednesday, 29 April, 2009, to answer charges that, in breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, it

- on 29 March, 2009, told the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix that no instructions were given to Hamilton in Car No. 1 to allow Trulli in Car no. 9 to pass when both cars were behind the safety car, knowing this statement to be untrue;

- procured its driver Hamilton the current World Champion, to support and confirm this untrue statement to the stewards;

- although knowing that as a direct result of its untrue statement to the stewards, another driver and a rival team had been unfairly penalised, made no attempt to rectify the situation either by contacting the FIA or otherwise;

- on 2 April, 2009, at a second hearing before the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix, (meeting in Malaysia) made no attempt to correct the untrue statement of 29 March but, on the contrary, continued to maintain that the statement was true, despite being allowed to listen to a recording of the team instructing Hamilton to let Trulli past and despite being given more than one opportunity to correct its false statement;

- on 2 April, 2009, at the second stewards’ hearing, procured its driver Hamilton to continue to assert the truth of the false statement given to the stewards on 29 March, while knowing that what he was saying to the stewards was not true.”

In response McLaren released the following press statement on its Media website :

McLaren acknowledges receipt of an invitation to appear at an FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on April 29, received this afternoon.

We undertake to co-operate fully with all WMSC processes, and welcome the opportunity to work with the FIA in the best interests of Formula 1.

This afternoon McLaren and its former sporting director, Dave Ryan, have formally parted company. As a result, he is no longer an employee of any of the constituent companies of the McLaren Group.

Toyota had their rear wings marked illegal by F1 Stewards due to too much flexibility

Who in their right minds would have bet their money on Brawn GP, a team which until a few weeks ago didnt exist, the erstwhile Honda team whose fate was uncertain after a disastrous season and on Jenson Button who has often been called just another British driver and has been thoroughly overshadowed by McLaren’s own Brit Lewis Hamilton.

Wee this Saturday at Melbourne was not the place to make informed guesses and preditctions, because things didnt go as expected. The McLarens and the Ferraris werent the forces to be reckoned with, but it was the Brawn GP car of Jenson Button which took the pole position. And as if that wasnt enough, forgotten Brazillian driver and Jenson Button’s teammate at Brawn GP Rubens Barrichello was 2nd and will accompany Button in the front row.

Sebastien Vettel was a cool third in his Red Bull Racing car. While Robert Kubica (whom i had considered a favorite) was only 4th fastest. The Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Raikkonen were 7th and 9th respectively. The McLarens were even more pathetic in 15th and 16th place with world champion Lewis Hamilton 16th.

Force India continued their dismal run despite more marketing efforts (that doesnt work, does it ?). Meanwhile Toyota were banned from the qualifying and relegated to last places after their wings were found to be too flexible. In a statement sent to use by their media team, they claimed :

Toyota Motorsport has been informed that the rear wing of the TF109 has been found to demonstrate “extreme flexibility” by the Australian Grand Prix stewards.

The design has passed our own internal test procedures which are designed to reproduce twice the proscribed official load tests. In light of this decision it is clear we must review these procedures to ensure there is no repeat of this situation and we will also review our production processes to ensure there is no variation between parts.

We naturally accept and respect the decision of the race stewards.

We intend to modify the components overnight and we are confident these modifications will not result in any performance drop.

2009 Australian Grand Prix Qualifying result :

Pos Driver Nationality Team Time

1. Jenson Button Britain Brawn GP-Mercedes 1:26.202

2. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn GP-Mercedes 1:26.505

3. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1:26.830

4. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber 1:26.914

5. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 1:26.973

6. Timo Glock Germany Toyota 1:26.975

7. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 1:27.033

8. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota 1:27.127

9. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari 1:27.163

10. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1:27.246

11. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 1:25.504

12. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault 1:25.605

13. Kazuki Nakajima Japan Williams-Toyota 1:25.607

14. Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.726

15. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes No Time

16. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.508

17. Nelson Piquet Brazil Renault 1:26.598

18. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Force India-Mercedes 1:26.677

19. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1:26.742

20. Sebastien Bourdais France Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.964

Read this post race Q&A with Timo Glock :

Did you realise the significance of Lewis Hamilton fighting with you on the final lap?

To be honest I was racing for Toyota and my place which is the correct thing to do. I didn’t even know that Lewis was directly behind me. The team told me that Sebastian Vettel was catching me and they kept me updated on his position but I was concentrating so hard on keeping the car on the track. I didn’t even know that Lewis had overtaken me until after the race. I was passed by three or four cars on the final lap and it was not easy to keep track of what was going on.

What kind of a pathetic idiot is Timo Glock ? , we were discussing in college about him and now it really seems that there might be something fishy in the pass. No doubt he is one of the biggest no-bodies of formula one. It really seems as if he didnt defend his position and sort of gifted Lewis Hamilton the championship.

In related news, the British media are as biased as ever in the reporting of this incident. I was shocked to read some quotes on a UK newspaper’s website :

Formula One being the cynical sport it is, it did not take long for Hamilton’s critics to suggest Glock had pulled over to let the McLaren driver through at the last.

Hamilton is a hated figure in Spain because of his infamous row with Fernando Alonso, the former double world champion, while the pair were team-mates at McLaren last year.

Just to add a little to the above quotes, we are an unofficial news source so we can write our opinions, but the level of bias of the British media is too much. And Hamilton is a hated figure in India also, but he didnt have any row with Narain Karthikeyan

Lewis Hamilton came one step closer to winning his maiden formula one driver’s title by winning the 2008 formula one Chinese Grand Prix from pole. His closest competitor Felipe Massa was second in his Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton was fast from the start pulling away easily and making the Ferraris look gasping for pace. What is interesting though is that Kimi Raikkonen had slowed down to let Felipe Massa through much like a lot of the other formula one teams do within their teams. So when are team orders prohibited ? It did affect the outcome of the race. The swap reduced the damage to the Massa championship campaign but may just prove to be futile in the last race.

Fernando Alonso put in another strong(er?) performance to get a 4th place finish. The BMWs were 5th and 6th with Heidfeld finishing ahead of Robert Kubica this time.

The Red Bull of David Coulthard was 10th while teammate Mark WEbber was way back in 14th place.

Force India were as dismal as ever with Adrian Sutil not finishing the race and Fisichella finishing in 17th place (last).

The top 8 drivers were :

1 L. Hamilton  Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
2 F. Massa      Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
3 K. Raikkonen  Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
4 F. Alonso    ING Renault F1 Team
5 N. Heidfeld  BMW Sauber F1 Team
6 R. Kubica    BMW Sauber F1 Team
7 T. Glock      Panasonic Toyota Racing
8 N. Piquet Jr. ING Renault F1 Team

So the title fight goes down to Brazil now, stay tuned for a post on that

Image: McLaren.com Media