F1 Breaking News

Michael Schumacher signs for Mercedes F1 for 2010.

Michael Schumacher, the 7 times World Champion, has signed a multi-million pound deal with the new Mercedes GP team. Michael, who will be 41 early in 2010 will partner another German, Nico Rosberg also new to the team.

Mercedes GP (formerly Brawn GP) will run from the Brawn factory in Brackley, Northants the home of the dmised Honda team. So there will be 2 German drivers in a German team to mirror the same at Mclaren where Lewis and Jenson are of course both British drivers in a British team.

Michael's return is great news for F1 and he will of course be back with his great friend Ross Brawn, the man who engineered his 7 world championships. His return will not be good news for the other drivers as he will be hungry for success after his 3 year break in competitive motor sport.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC he added: "I'm very motivated, thrilled and excited. He commented "I want to have fun out there and I feel as fresh as ever. I've recharged myself after a three-year break. The challenge is what I look for - I want to know it."

Michael's initial comeback in 2009 to replace Felipe Massa was thwarted by a neck injury sustained in a motor bike accident last February.

Recent medical checks confirmed he is back to full fitness and he is confident, after serious training all will be well.

Michael has been released from his revised consultancy contract for Ferrrari enabling to drive for the "Silver Arrows".

Schumacher revealed that it was Ferrari's request for him to fill in for Massa that sparked a desire to make a permanent return to the cockpit. He must have found it very difficult to leave his beloved Ferrari team but things change as this is a great opportunity for him and the new Silver Arrows team.

Obviously the Mercedes team will be competitive from the flag in Bahrain and will be building on the winning formula base which won Jenson the championship.

Good luck Michael on your return and the world will be watching with huge anticipation, eagerly awaiting a competitive season in 2010.

F1 News

May I take this opportunity of wishing the Teams, Drivers, Fans, Marshall's and all those connected with Motor Racing generally all over the world a very  

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous 2010.

Updates and General News
Silverstone has at last been granted an extended license for an unspecified period (albeit 17 years has been mentioned) to host the British Grand Prix at its rightful home. This will give Damon and his team the opportunity to make the required investment in the circuit with guaranteed return. Well done the BRDC and about time too.

Points System for 2010
Changes to the points scoring for drivers and constructor championships come into operation for the new season as follows: 

1st - 25, 2nd - 20, 3rd - 15, 4th - 10, 5th - 8, 6th - 6, 7th - 5, 8th - 3, 9th - 2, 10th - 1.

That will make a big difference to the spread of points across the drivers and teams. Points for 
 9th and 10th will make a difference to the lower places as they are still achieving points for their efforts.

New Rules 
New rules come into force relating to race day incidents. There will be a permanent panel of stewards who iwll go to each GP along with an additional local steward for each circuit. These 4 stewards will also be accompanied by an experienced former F1 driver to add to the decision making process. These may well help iron out some of the anomalies which have hindered drivers and teams over the past couple of seasons.

New Driver Appointments 
The appointment of drivers is now changing by the day and once the places are all filled I will publish the full driver/team line up. This will finally update the last one I published a few weeks ago. News from this last 2 weeks.

I am pleased to hear Kobayashi has been given a drive with BMW Sauber for 2010 and we all wait their place on the grid to replace Toyota. Kobayashi sprung into the limelight for the last 2 races in 2009 replacing the injured Timo Glock at Toyota. He drove 2 fantastic races in both Brazil and Abu Dhabi and is without doubt a talent for the future.

Virgin Racing (Manor Grand Prix) have announced Lucas Di Grassi and Timo Glock and that sounds an interesting partnership for a new team.

Lotus have also announced their driver line up with Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalinen. Let us all hope the resurgence of Lotus can match the talent of both drivers, if it can they should be up and around mid pack.

It was also nice to hear Felipe (Massa) is back in winning ways after winning the 500 Miles of Granja Viana Kart race in Cotia, near Sao Paulo. Felipe had team mates of Lucas di Grassi and Julio Campos and crossed the line first after 644 laps - or just under 11 hours of racing. Welcome back Felipe and all the best for 2010.

That's all for now and I will continue with the updates and any important news after Christmas.

F1 Calendar 2010

The 2010 F1 Race Calendar sees 19 races with the introduction of Korea. Also the great news that Silverstone is to retain the British GP for the foreseeable future. The start race for 2010 has also changed to Bahrain and replaces Australia which is now race 2.

So here goes.

12 to 14 March Bahrain GP (Sakhir)
26 to 28 March Australian GP (Melbourne)
2 to 4 April Malaysian GP (Kuala Lumpur)
16 to 18 April Chinese GP (Shanghai)
7 to 9 May Spanish GP (Catalunya)
13 to 16 May Monaco GP (Monte Carlo)
28 to 30 May Turkish GP (Istanbul)
11 to 13 June Canadian GP (Montreal)
25 to 27 June European GP (Valencia)
9 to 11 July British GP (Silverstone)
23 to 25 July German GP (Hockenheim)
20 July to 1 August Hungarian GP (Budapest)
27 to 29 August Belgian GP (Spa-Francorchamps)
10 to 12 September Italian GP (Monza)
24 to 26 September Singapore GP (Singapore)
8 to 10 October Japanese GP (Suzuki)
22 to 24 October Korean GP (Yeongam)
5 to 7 November Brasilian GP (Sau Paolo)
12 to 14 November Abu Dhabi GP (Yas Marina)

Can't wait for the start of the new season as I am bored without the adrenalin rush already.

F1 Drivers Line up 2010 - Update

Things are getting a little clearer as the year moves on with the driver line up for 2010.

As of today the following drivers / teams are confirmed for 2010

Jenson Button
Lewis Hamilton
Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes

Nico Rosberg
Driver 2
TBA Brawn GP F1 Team Mercedes

Sebastian Vettel
Mark Webber
Red Bull Racing Renault

Felipe Massa
Fernando Alonso
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

Rubens Barrichello
Nico Hulkenberg
AT & T Williams Cosworth

Robert Kubica
Driver 2 TBA
Renault F1 Team

Adrian Sutil
Vitantonio Liuzzi
Force Indai F1 Team Mercedes

Sebastian Buemi
Driver 2 TBA
Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari - TBA

TBA
TBA Lotus F1 Racing Cosworth

Bruno Senna Campos F1 Dallara Cosworth
TBA US F1 Team Cosworth

Timo Glock
Driver 2 TBA
Virgin Racing - Manor Grand Prix Cosworth

So we have some notable additions for 2010. 12 teams are shown above but to date Toyota, who are still bound by the Concorde Agreement to enter still have the 13th slot.

The return of Lotus is an evocative name in the sport and along with Cosworth I am sure they will both do an excellent job as they have proved in the past.

BMW Sauber have not yet had their slot finalised but I am sure we all wish to see Peter Sauber back in his rightful place on the pit wall as owner of his own team again. Well done Peter and all the best for the 2010 season and we all hoper to see you there.

That's all for now and I will keep updating the entries until we have the final grid line up.

(Image courtesy of www.turkeytouristline.com)

BTCC Championship 2009

2009 BTCC Awards

By way of a change this time it is appropriate for me to mention the BTCC. This series has provided we armchair enthusiasts with thrilling racing for many a year and I have watched every race avidly. The British championship offers the thrills and excitement tin tops have provided we enthusiasts with for ever. Having been there myself I suppose I will always have an affinity with the sport.


This year has seen the emergence of Colin Turkington in his BMW 320si run by West Surrey Racing headed by Dick Bennetts. Throughout the year Colin has provided we TV viewers with some outstanding drives and none more than the last race of the season at Brands which must have been the closest and most thrilling for many a year.


I was happy to see him overcome the season long challenge from Fabrizio Giovanardi and Jason Plato who again both drove brilliantly throughout the season. I was also pleased he played down the threat from Matt Neal in the last race who was there to stop Colin winning!

So Colin won the 2009 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship and it couldn't have gone to a nicer guy or a nicer team. In all the interviews we heard through the season he was pleasant, informative and above all completely realistic. Congratulations Colin on a job well done and more of it in 2010 would be appreciated.

Behind every good driver has to be a team dedicated to achieving ultimate glory. That team was Team RAC, the West Surrey Racing ran team headed by Dick Bennetts who were confirmed as Independents Team Trophy Champions for 2009, winning 348 points.

At the recent BMW Awards 2009 staged in Munich's Kesselhaus, Saturday 7 December Colin was also recipient of the BMW Sports Trophy title, presented to him by none other than Mario Thyssen of BMW F1 fame.

2009 saw 198 drivers from 24 countries score points towards the overall Trophy standings in 29 international racing series. As in 2007, Colin's performance earned him the trophy and we should all be proud of his achievement. The last time a BMW driver won the award was 16 years ago in the hands of Joachim Winklehock.

Colin's 6 victories in 2009 culminated in the final race of the season at Brands and any 1 of Colin, Fabrizio or Jason could have won. Whilst things didn't go as well as expected he scored enough points to take the championship.






2009 Autosport Awards
Staged for the 28th time in the Great Room at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane the event was sponsored by the 2010 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

Jenson obviously took centre stage after his epic drives in 2009 in becoming our second F1 World Champion in a row after Lewis's title triumph in 2008.

The second award of the night went to Colin Turkington who was rightfully named as National Driver of the Year. Saturday in Munich and now Grosvenor House on Monday, will he ever come back down to earth ready for 2010! The award was presented to Colin by none other than Tom Kristensen and our very own Andy Priaulx.

Dick and the WSR team are obviously very proud of their achievements in 2009 and so they should be. Colin & Stephen (Jelley) provided a formidable partnership and supported the team's car building efforts throughout the season. No DNF's is a quite remarkable achievement in what is a very strenuous event for the cars.

There were other notable award winners including:
Sarah Moore - Club Driver of the Year - Ginetta Junior Champion
Kris Meeke - Autosport Rookie of the Year
F1 in Schools - Autosport Pioneering and Innovation Award
Brawn BGP001 - Racing Car of the Year
Adrian Newey - John Bolster Award for Technical Excellence
Citroen C4 WRC - Rally Car of the Year
Mikko Hirvonen - International Rally Driver of the Year
Enzo Ferrari - Gregory Grant Award
Ron Dennis - Gregory Grant Award for Lifetime Achievement
Jenson Button - British Competition Driver of the Year
and finally and the highlight of the evening
Dean Smith - Mclaren Autosport BRDC Award Winner

Congratulations to all all the drivers, teams and marshalls during 2009 and we look forward to it all starting again 2010.