Lewis Hamilton confident luck will change and wins will come

McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton says he is confident his luck will turn and he will start winning races soon.

The Englishman fought through the field to finish eighth from the back of the grid at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday after being demoted from pole because of a technical infringement.

"When things go right, we'll be in a great position," he said.

"It was a huge challenge to come from the back. This race was damage limitation," he added.

"To get a couple of points from where I was, I cannot complain."

Hamilton leaves Spain third in the championship, eight points behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who are tied on points at the top of the table.

The race was won by Williams driver Pastor Maldonado, who inherited pole position following Hamilton's grid penalty.

Hamilton was stripped of pole when his team told him to stop out on the track after he set his final qualifying time, which had put him at the front of the grid by more than 0.5 seconds.

Human error in the pits meant there was not enough fuel in the car to return with the one litre required by the rules to provide a post-qualifying sample, so the 2008 world champion was disqualified from the process and demoted to the back of the grid.

Running light on fuel gives a pace advantage, and Hamilton was given the standard penalty for a technical infringement.

"We were in the wrong," he said. "It was a subtle mistake and a very big punishment, but we just took it, gritted our teeth and turned our heads to the race."

Hamilton then drove superbly to climb back up the field at the same time as nursing his tyres - he was the only driver in the race to do only two stops.

The 27-year-old said the performance had given him a great deal of satisfaction.

"I'm proud of myself and the team," he said.

"We did a good job today. To come from all the way back there, we cannot complain.

"It was a fantastic race for me trying to manage the tyres at the same time. It was incredibly tough.

"Considering everyone is always talking about how aggressive my driving style is and how much better my team-mate is on tyres than me, today was a good demonstration that they're perhaps wrong."

And he said he had had no difficulty controlling his emotions as he sought to make up places.

"It wasn't a problem," Hamilton said. "I just put [qualifying] behind me and it was another day and another fight.

"It was just like the karting days, when me and my dad and my family went racing. That's what we sometimes had to do, and that's where I learnt to do my overtaking.

Hamilton's team-mate Jenson Button finished one place behind in ninth place after a frustrating weekend in which he struggled to find performance in his car.

"I was just slow," Button said. "To work out why I was slow is a little bit trickier.

"I'm normally very good at looking after tyres and have a pretty good consistency but I can't do that at the moment and I don't know why.

"I'm really struggling with the car and I don't know why."

Button has slipped to sixth in the championship, 16 points behind Vettel and Alonso.

Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen moved up to fourth place following his third-place finish in Spain, with Red Bull's Mark Webber fifth.

Peter Sauber transfers shares to Monisha Kaltenborn

Peter Sauber has transferred a third of the equity in his team to chief executive officer Monisha Kaltenborn.

Team principal Sauber, who has retained the remainder of the shares, said the decision "represents an important step for me in providing continuity".

The 68-year-old added: "My desire is to ensure the company continues to be led as I would want over the long term."

A spokesman said the shares were "a gift" and no financial transaction was involved.

Sauber said Kaltenborn had been "instrumental in the team's survival" followingthe decision of former partner BMW to pull out of F1 at the end of 2009 and that "since then she has been doing outstanding work as CEO".

He added: "Monisha Kaltenborn and my son Alex, who joined the company as marketing director in 2010 and has since also been a member of the board of management, both embrace this aim. It means we can offer our employees a positive outlook for the future."

Kaltenborn said: "For me this step is a mark of the greatest possible trust, which I will do everything in my power to justify."

Sauber entered F1 in 1993, initially as the works team for Mercedes engines, but continued as a privateer until they were bought by BMW in 2006.

The team achieved their only victory during the BMW era, when Robert Kubica won the Canadian Grand Prix in 2008.

BMW's withdrawal at the end of 2009 cast doubt on the team's future, but Sauber were able to raise the money to continue.

The team have generally been midfield runners but this year has seen a marked upturn in form, with the cars regularly qualifying in the top 10 and contending for points.

Sergio Perez scored their best result since Canada 2008 when he finished second to Fernando Alonso's Ferrari in Malaysia, the second race of this season.

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz says tyres have turned F1 into a lottery for teams

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz believes Formula 1's thrilling start the season may be great news for fans, but he feels it has turned the sport into a lottery for teams.

Five different drivers from five different teams have won the first five races of the season in one of the most open championship starts in the sport in recent times.

While Mateschitz acknowledges the unpredictability is great for the fans, he feels this year's tyres are making the racing a lottery, as he thinks no team has managed to understand how they work so far.

"F1 is more exciting and more unpredictable than ever before," Mateschitz told AUTOSPORT. "Obviously, caused by the rule changes before the season, the top teams moved closer together. I always had confidence in the potential of our RB8 and I still have, no doubt.

"But everyone has to learn F1 again. It has become a kind of lottery to find out the window in which a tyre works.

"And I do not believe this just happens on purpose to create more overtaking and tension in the races. I suppose no-one really understands these tyres."

Mateschitz also admitted he has been surprised by the pace of the Lotus team this year, but he reckons the squad's success across the season will depend on it being capable of staying on par with its rivals in terms of development.

"Lotus has been the biggest surprise of all. I think Kimi indeed had the pace to win in Bahrain. The question is how long Lotus will be capable to keep the pace of development work the other major outfits will show. If they can keep up with them they will be a force to be reckoned with."

Conor Daly to conduct F1 test this week

Young American racer and GP3 Series race winner Conor Daly has been chosen by the Sahara Force India F1 Team to conduct aero testing for the squad this week at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire, the team has announced this morning.

The test will take place on Thursday, and will be the 20 year old Indiana native’s first taste of Formula 1 machinery.

“Conor visited the team’s Silverstone headquarters on Tuesday for a seat-fit and to familiarise himself with the systems on the car. It was a chance to meet his engineering crew and run through the functions on a Formula One steering wheel,” the team’s website stated.

“The programme on Thursday is one of the full-size aerodynamic tests that teams are allowed to complete during the course of the season. The focus is to measure aerodynamic forces to correlate with wind tunnel data.”

Conor, son of former F1 racer Derek Daly, arrived in Europe just last year as the 2010 Star Mazda champion. After a year learning the European circuits racing for Carlin in GP3, he was chosen by the hugely successful ART squad, for 2012 renamed “Lotus”, to head up their assault on the 2012 GP3 Series in which the team is aiming for a third consecutive driver and team championship. Daly got the team’s season off to the best possible start, winning the second race of the opening round of the season in Barcelona and sits second in the championship as GP3 moves next to Monaco.

The news comes just a matter of days after a big weekend for emerging US driver talent on the path to F1. Along with Daly’s GP3 series win, current Formula Renault 3.5 racer Alexander Rossi became the first American driver to take part in a Formula 1 session for five years when he drove in FP1 for Caterham in Barcelona on Friday. Today’s news means that America’s best positioned and most successful single seater racers in Europe now both have an association with a Formula 1 team, links which could prove pivotal in returning an American driver to the Formula 1 grid fulltime.

Luis Perez Companc F2004 Laguna Seca 2011

Cheerish the thought.

Exclusive Eric Boullier Q&A: Lotus are on the up

Lotus have been one of the surprise packages of 2012 to date. With Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean at the wheel of the quick E20, the Enstone-based team have scored an impressive 84 points from five races and currently lie third in the constructors’ standings. After the duo’s impressive podium result in Bahrain and Raikkonen’s third-place finish in Barcelona on Sunday, Lotus have clearly found their stride. Team principal Eric Boullier discusses his driver line-up and reveals his hopes for the rest of the season…

Q: Eric, how are you at the moment? On the one hand the drivers, team and car are performing well, but on the other hand you’ve lost your title sponsor?
Eric Boullier: That’s wrong. We have not lost our title sponsor - not in the real sense of the word lost. We have decided to end the contract - or the agreement - we had with them at the middle of last year. We wanted to change our strategy, and actually we are, if I may say so, wealthier than we were before. We have bigger budgets this year and will keep the name Lotus under a license agreement. We have signed some big names as sponsors. If you look at my shirt, there are two new names on it. We have been able to sign deals with Unilever and Microsoft, which are two really big names. So when I said jokingly - or rather not really jokingly - that we are wealthier than before, then I really do mean it.

Q: Both of your guys made it on to the podium in Bahrain. What did that mean to the team?
EB: It was a fantastic reward for the team. We haven’t performed in that mode since 2006. The fact is we were expecting to deliver something after the first three races, but we had to come to terms with the little glitches we had. When that was done - voila - it finally worked. 

Q: Are these glitches permanently in the past now?
EB: They are gone, yes! Believe me I would love to have both cars on the podium every weekend and we are on the way there. You have to consider that both our drivers have not been driving in Formula One for at least two years, so they also needed to get up to speed and get into handling the format of the weekend. Even if you do a lot of mileage in the car you still have to get your game together and not miss any opportunities in practice, qualifying or the race.

Q: You opted to take a gamble with your driver line-up, combining an almost rookie and a has-been champion. Have there been some headaches?
EB: Yes, there have been headaches. We had a very lengthy discussion internally, which involved the technical side of the team, as well as the commercial side and of course our shareholders to make the right decision. After that we decided to take a gamble. So yes, headaches were involved, as there were very few hints about how it would develop. 

Q: Grosjean is obviously repaying the faith you placed in him. Why is he delivering now and why didn’t he during his first attempt in the sport? What’s changed?
EB: Fortunately we have not changed the culture of the team, we have just changed the way we operate a bit. The culture is the same and the people are more or less the same, but we have just changed some processes. Romain’s personality is quite complex. He is very strong on the one hand but on the other hand he is also very sensitive. So you have to find a way to balance these two ends of his personality. The last time he raced in F1, he was very young and he was not in the right place at the right moment with the right support. That sticks with someone for a long time. But now he is in the right place at the right moment with the right support and look what he can deliver!

Q: Raikkonen will always be Raikkonen. How has it been to have him in the team?
EB: I think he is fitting in quite well. We at Enstone - and I say Enstone on purpose - have racing spirit. I would say we cannot be compared with any other team, although I am aware that every team has its own culture and personality. We try to keep politics outside and try to give our drivers what they need. We know that Kimi doesn’t like PR, doesn’t like media. So why should we bother him with it? Sure we need a balance between his demands and the requests from our sponsors. But he knows that we care very much about his schedule and try to minimize his obligations. That’s it. He is a racer so he races for winning and hardly cares about the rest! Kimi is like a wild animal and you have to let him run the way he wants to go. We don’t have to tell him what he has to do because he is a professional and we want him to deliver on track first. That is his purpose. After that there are some obligations. Unfortunately for him his personality makes him very attractive to the fans, so he is famous. He and we have to come to terms with the fact that he has many fans, so to a certain degree he is playing the game. We restrict his obligations to the minimum and I see that he is fine with it. 

Q: Is he the team leader you need to fill the void left by Robert Kubica?
EB: Historically, this team has always pushed for one driver - a definite leader. But that has definitely changed. It’s a thing of the past. I want two fast drivers because that is the way you get ahead in the constructors’ championship. So both drivers have the same status. Obviously Kimi, with his experience, his character and personality, tends to have a certain degree of leadership. But in fact it is not leadership but probably more attention. On the other hand Romain is digging a little place for himself nicely and is getting a lot of respect every weekend from the team. You must not forget that Kimi has done something in the range of 160 Grands Prix and Romain has just finished his twelfth Grand Prix this weekend. 

Q: So how do the two get along? Raikkonen is the iceman, whilst you’ve described Grosjean as a bit sensitive…
EB: Well, they are very different and I don’t believe they will ever go on holiday together. But they don’t need to be friends. That’s only my opinion. What I expect them to do is to respect each other and never forget that they are working for the team. Both know that we will never favour anyone - depending on the individual strategy each of them is on. It is up to them to qualify well and have a good race result. We just give them the tools to deliver on equal terms. 

Q: Did you collect significant data at the in-season test?
EB: Definitely yes. In our position this test was perfect. We missed one third of testing in February due to some issues so these three days made up for that. So this year it was the right thing for us, but next year - with full winter testing - the situation might look different. I would say that we exploited this test to the full but I would not generally say that we need such a test in the future. 

Q: What did you take to Barcelona from the test?
EB: A lot of things. You saw it in qualifying and in the race and my guess is that we will also be able to put on a good show in Monaco.

Q: You were hoping to shine in Barcelona. Was Raikkonen getting on the podium enough for you? Or did you want more?
EB: My gut feeling was that we would maybe see one of our black overalls on the podium. And I was right. Two black overalls on the podium was more an aspiration. We also have to stay realistic - this is a highly-competitive environment and there are no podium places going for free!

Published on the official F1 site

Williams welcome home team members after fire

Following Sunday’s dramatic fire in the Williams garage after the Spanish Grand Prix, the team have confirmed that a further two team members have now been released from hospital and have returned home after receiving treatment for smoke inhalation.

One Williams staff member remains in hospital in Spain having suffered burns in the incident. He is stable and will return to the UK within the next 48 hours to receive further medical care. His family are in constant communication and he is in good spirits.

“I was pleased to welcome back to the factory the majority of our team this morning,” said team principal Sir Frank Williams. “One of our people remains in Spain for further medical assistance, but we are all looking forward to his imminent return.”

The team thanked everyone for their good wishes and support over the past 24 hours, as investigations into the cause of the fire continue in collaboration with the FIA and local authorities.

“Everyone at Williams F1 is extremely relieved that this event was contained as quickly as it was and the damage which occurred was, relatively speaking, limited in its nature,” added Williams. 

“While the incident was unexpected and definitely most undesirable, it has demonstrated the genuine cohesiveness, camaraderie and spirit of co-operation that exists within the Formula One paddock. The astonishing response from the teams and other paddock personnel was immediate, unconditional and overwhelming.”

Lee Evans on F1 - Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Road Runner

Some F1 humour from Lee Evans

Ferrari expect Massa to 'change gear'

Ferrari are expecting 'a change in gear starting right away' from Felipe Massa following the Brazilian's torrid weekend in Barcelona.

Massa was, once again, left trailing by Fernando Alonso at the Circuit de Catalunya, qualifying a lowly 16th and finishing Sunday's race a lap down in 15th. It was the latest in a series of disappointing performances from Massa this season and, in their post-race website briefing, Ferrari have made it clear they now expect an instant improvement from their driver.

'The Brazilian had picked up 49 points two years ago and 24 the following year, while so far this season he has just 2,' read the team summary. 'In Montmelo, Felipe was very unlucky, both in the race and in qualifying, but everyone, he more than anyone, is expecting a change of gear starting right away with the Monaco Grand Prix, his second home race, given that he lives just a few hundred metres from what, as from next Sunday, will be transformed into the paddock for the sixth round of the 2012 championship.'

Massa's contract with the team expires at the end of this season and the security of his position at Maranello has been the subject of incessant speculation throughout the year with Sergio Perez, Mark Webber, Paul di Resta and even Lewis Hamilton linked with a move to Ferrari for the 2013 campaign.

Article from Sky Sports news.

First Ever Monaco Grand Prix (1929)

McLaren offer to help Williams in aftermath of Barcelona fire

Williams have received an offer of help from McLaren following the fire that engulfed the Oxfordshire-based team's garage in Barcelona on Sunday evening.

A number of prominent members of the McLaren team, including the technical director, Paddy Lowe, the director of design and development, Neil Oatley, and the sporting director, Sam Michael, have previously worked for Williams, who are one of the most popular teams in the paddock.

Williams were celebrating Pastor Maldonado's maiden Formula One win, and the team's first victory for eight years, when the fire brought an abrupt end to the party. The sport's governing body, the FIA, said 31 people needed treatment, although 24 of these were soon released, having suffered from smoke inhalation. Four members of the Williams team needed treatment and the team have confirmed that the most serious of these remains in hospital in Spain, where he is being treated for burns, reportedly to 30‑40% of his body.

A spokesperson said: "He is stable and will return to the UK within the next 48 hours to receive further medical care. His family are in constant communication and he is in good spirits."

Apart from the injuries to personnel, Williams had computers and technical equipment destroyed by the fire and would not be able to replace it before the next race, in Monaco in two weeks.

Before the offer from McLaren, the Williams operations engineer, Mark Gillan, thanked members of rival teams for their assistance during the fire. He said: "We had a lot of damage and we have lost a lot of equipment, including IT equipment. Over the next couple of days we will be looking at where we are parts-wise. We will have everything we need to run operationally at Monaco but we may be missing a few of the extras because obviously we don't carry a complete set of spares for everything."

The team principal, Sir Frank Williams, a paraplegic who was wheeled to safety when the fire broke out, said on Monday night: "I was pleased to welcome back to the factory the majority of our team this morning. One of our people remains in Spain for further medical assistance but we are all looking forward to his imminent return. Everyone at Williams F1 is extremely relieved that this event was contained as quickly as it was and the damage which occurred was, relatively speaking, limited in its nature.

"While the incident was unexpected and definitely most undesirable, it has demonstrated the genuine cohesiveness, camaraderie and spirit of co-operation that exists within the Formula One paddock."

Turning his attention to Maldonado, Williams said: "We've got a real racing driver. I am just astonished by the way he controlled himself, not making a mistake at all." When asked whether Maldonado had the makings of a champion, Williams replied: "Undoubtedly, and I'll tell you why, because he is very quick and he does not make mistakes."

From the Gaurdian Newspaper

First of all I would like to congratulate this guy. I like many others thought that pastor was just a pay to drive driver. This weekend he proved everybody wrong by driving a almost flawless race. Well done.

Intro

Hi all and welcome to my F1 blog. I'm a huge F1 fan and will be posting lots of info and news surrounding F1 including videos and pictures.