The next series of Top Gear has been scheduled for a January 2011 airing which is a couple of months later than the usual line up. Top Gear in recent years has had a series over the summer and a series before Christmas, usually with a Christmas special thrown in to the mix. There are rumours of a Christmas special anyway for this year but the 2011 date for the new series means that 2010 will be the most barren year since 2006 when Richard Hammond had his famous crash. Top Gear will likely feature only a handful of sh0ws in the series yet again, with quality over quantity the main thinking from the BBC bosses.
Sebastian Vettel won the Abu Dhabi grand prix on Sunday as he stormed to the F1 Championship title. Leader Fernando Alonso was heading into the race in a strong enough position but could only finish 7th on the grid. The German Red Bull driver Vettel took full advantage as team mate Mark Webber also failed to impress, finishing behind the unsuccesful Alonso. Vettel became the youngest F1 winner at 23 years and 3 months old just ahead of Lewis Hamilton in 2008 (he was 23 yrs 10 mths) and Fernando Alonso in 2005 (he was 24 yrs and 4 months). It was a fantastic win for the German driver who will be considered an early favourite for next year’s Championship.
Fernando Alonso, Ferrari’s number one driver is 100% confident of winning the Formula 1 drivers’ title in the final race of the season which takes place in Abu Dhabi this weekend. The two time Champion is 8 points clear of Mark Webber and 15 points clear of Sebastian Vettel. When Alonso was asked if he thought he could win the title he said “100%. I just need to finish second. It doesn’t matter who wins in Abu Dhabi if I finish second.” This seems a negative way to look at the standings, as he could try to win the race. I guess he is being realistic. Under the new scoring system a win is worth 25 points, and 18 for second. Mathematically finishing 2nd would be enough for the Spaniard.
The Formula 1 Championship will be decided in either Brazil 7th November or Abu Dhabi 14th November. Whichever race is the decider will have a lot of attention from the world. Fernando Alonso is in pole position to win the championship ahead of Mark Webber of Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren. Ferrari’s Alonso took the lead in the Korean grand prix and will be looking to hold on to that advantage in South America and the middle east. Amusingly McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton believes having to come from behind in the title race could work to his advantage – I fail to see his logic.
Next months Korean Grand Prix is at severe risk due the issues being faced with the circuit. The Korean International Circuit is in Yeongam and should have been signed off back in July ready for use but as of yet is still waiting for its final inspection. The previous inspection date had been set for the 21st September was cancelled under the excuse of ‘long bank holiday weekend’ and a new inspection date of the 11th October has been set for the race which is to kick off on the 24th October. Race officials are debating if the race should now be cancelled.
Jenson Button won his grand prix back in 2006 in Hungary after 113 attempts and only just after another 3 years managed to find himself in a car which is capable of winning the world title. Jenson first started racing at the age of 8 by Karting and won all of the first 34 races of the year in 1991. His first taste of Formula One was after winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver award. In 2000 at the age of 19 he was picked out by Frank Williams after which followed a few not so good seasons and eventually he was replaced by Fernando Alonso. Currrently Jenson Button is 5th with 177 points on the drivers table in his McLaren-Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton is finding it harder and harder to keep up to speed in his latest races. Over the last 3 races which have been held he’s failed to score points in 3 of the events which has led him to fall behind the championship current leader Mark Webber by 20 points. Two weeks ago Hamilton crashed into Felipe Massa in the Italian Gran Prix race and it soon became apparent that Hamilton was to blame for the collision. More recently the collisions were due to a chain event which involved Kobayashi, Bridge and Seena who then ploughed into the Japanese driver, with Japan, Korea, Brazil and Abu Dhabi remaining the competition is far from over.
Current Driver Board
01 – Mark Webber = 202,
02 – Fernando Alonso = 191,
03 – Lewis Hamilton = 182,
04 – Sebastian Vettel = 181,
05 – Jenson Button = 177
In the United states a new site in Austin, Texas was amid fears that the race will be in jeopardy in 2012 due to lack of progress being made on the circuit. The team based in the states are looking to hold the next F1 United States Grand Prix and fears on the seating arrangements for the 120,000 fans expected as well as transport links to the site were being raised. Alongside this new doubts on the planning permission and the consultation with the local authorities emerged by Martin Brundle from the BBC at the Formula 1 forum in Singapore.
The media teams in Austin in the state of Texas have reported that the new site will need a sum of £9.5m worth of road and transport improvements which will allow the visitors to return home from the site within 3 hours. this is the big concern that improvements wont take place by 2012 when the F1 takes off. This year the project team from the states visited UK where the formula one Grand Prix took place in Silverstone. This venue has been known for it’s troublesome transport links until the recent road improvements took place. Organisers from the US have consulted with the senior management team for advise on traffic management for the event.
Ferrari have been fined $100,000 following their controversial one-two victory at the German Gran Prix. Ferrari were found to have given team orders following a coded message being sent to race leader Felipe Massa in which a few moments later Massa clearly allowed Alonso to move past him into first place. The message to Massa was “Alonso is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand?”. Once Alonso had passed there was another message to Massa over the team radio “Good lad. Just stick with it now, sorry.” After the race Ferrari bosses stated that it was a driver decision but following a post-race stewards enquiry Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, found that a team order had been made resulting in Ferrari being fined, however the decision does not affect the race result.