F1 Silverstone Race

Welcome to race day at the home of the British Grand Prix. In glorious weather this is going to be a hot day and we Brits must be a little disappointed with Lewis in fourth and Jenson a lowly fourteenth after commenting his Mclaren was undriveable during qualifying.

It was great to see Sir Stirling being interviewed by the BBC team and wonderful to see his recovery after falling down the lift shaft at his home. The fans came out in force and it is a feature of the British GP and the drivers were in awe of their presence. It was also nice to see Lewis with his Dad and that there is no animosity between them.

The new look Silverstone will add to the challenge for the drivers and this weekend Nigel Mansell is on the FIA Stewards panel in case of queries or problems. Silverstone is a wonderful spectacle and has never looked better and a compliment to Damon Hill and his development team.

After the problems in Friday pre qualifying Mclaren removed the blown diffuser as it didn't work which made it difficult for Lewis and Jenson as they didn't get the running time in the changed trim.

A lot of controversy again at Red Bull after they came with only two new front wings and after Sebastian's broke they took Mark's off and put it onto Sebastian's car. That would suggest Red Bull have made a decision to support Sebastian which has caused condemnation in the pits.

Nobody seems to be giving anyone a chance against the Red Bull's but I think Lewis will have something to say about that and obviously ring the neck of his Mclaren at his home grand prix. The season suggests the red Bull's have had reliability problems for one or both of the cars and nothing can be taken for granted.

We have an interesting start to look forward to with conflict between Sebastian and Mark on row one after the spoiler issue, needle between Fernando and Lewis after they didn't hit it off as team mates on row two and Jenson staring fourteenth. Michael had a good qualifying session and is close to Nico compared to recent results and accepting one wants to first beat your team mate that could add a little spice. Throw in Robert in the Renault and Rubens in the Williams and all is set for a great race.

The tyre blankets come off and the warm up lap starts as the fans in the grandstands are flying a mix of flags flying around in the somewhat breezy conditions. Back to the grid all cars managed the warm up lap without hitch and we are ready for the start.

Charlie Whiting has a fantastic view over the pack and off they go. What a start, Sebastian went off with a puncture, Lewis moved into P2 as he launched past Fernando who went backwards after a bad start and when the two Ferrari's came together Felipe finished up with a puncture, Jenson came up to eighth at the end of lap one and Robert up into P3.

Mark then stabilised the position between himself and Lewis up in front and what else can happen as Sebastian is now dead last after this tyre change from the soft to the premium tyre, will that play out through the race.

After ten laps it was Mark out at the front and moving two and a half seconds away from Lewis, Robert comes next but one and a half seconds off the pace and in front of Nico, Fernando, Rubens, Michael, Jenson and Kamui in ninth.

Then we had the first round of tyre stops which benefited Jenson up to fifth whilst Mark and Lewis retained their positions out front with now five seconds between them. Now we had Nico in third followed by Fernando who then received a drive through penalty for an overtaking move on Robert who subsequently had to retire with a broken diff.

Then we had a safety car period to pick up debris from the circuit and this will negate any gaps between the field. When the safety car came in Lewis set off behind Mark and as Fernando went in to serve his penalty it brought Jenson up to fourth and accepting Nico has a barge board missing Jenson could finish up on the podium, we keep our fingers crossed.

Adrian passed Michael who obviously didn't like it and he lost a front wing end plate in the process of trying to stop him. Sebastian was now up to twelfth place after he was helped by the safety car.

After his penalty Fernando was not out to take prisoners from his now lonely sixteenth and sent an instruction to the pits he didn't want any more radio communication as he was to run his own race to the finish. On new tyres he put in some stunning laps and managed the fastest lap of the day on the now rubbered in track.

Mark managed his pace out front with a five second difference between him and Lewis albeit they are trading fastest lap after fastest lap in the mid 1.32's. Sebastian is still coming but his move forward was slightly held up by Adrian in his Force India.

Rubens was still driving well and running in fifth behind Mark, Lewis, Nico and Jenson and in front of Kamui, Adrian and Sebastian. The Mclaren team then confirmed Jenson is running short on fuel and hence the reason he wasn't able to close in on Nico.

So at the chequered flag Mark had driven from pole to finish and we didn't see a great deal of either him or Lewis finishing in second and a great result after all for Mclaren. Some great drives throughout the field including Jenson going from fourteenth to fourth, Sebastian who went from last after lap one to seventh but a bad day for Ferrari who weren't in the points for all sorts of reasons.

When Christian Horner spoke to Mark on his slowing down lap after the flag Mark commented not bad for a number two driver as he just proved a point. As the drivers met prior to going onto the podium they donned their promotional hats and watches and chatted happily after a great grand prix. So it was a win for Australia, a second for Great Britain and a third for Germany albeit all the cars are built in the UK.

The winners trophy was presented by the Duke of Kent who always officiates at the British Grand Prix and Sir Stirling presented the trophy to Lewis to the sounds of tumultuous applause from the crowd, presumably for both of them.

Whilst it was little processional at the front there were some great drives behind them. Well done Mark and poetic justice after the insult of the spoiler change yesterday.

Fernando is not well pleased again after his penalty and latter puncture even to a point he was furious enough not to talk to anyone after the race. All he needs now is for Spain to lose the World Cup Final tonight and his day will be complete!

After a great British GP the drivers left with Lewis still heading the chart on 145, Jenson 133, Mark 128, Sebastian 121, Fernando 96, Nico 89, Robert 83, Felipe 67, Michael 36, Adrian 35, Rubens 29, Kamui 15, Vitantonio 12, Sebastian B 9, Vitaly 6, Jamie 3, Nico H 3 and finally Pedro 1.

In the constructors championship Mclaren left Silverstone with 278 points followed by Red Bull 249, Ferrari 163, Mercedes 125, Renault 89, Force India 47, Williams 32, BMW 16, Toro Rosso 12 and Lotus, HRT and Virgin still left without a single point.

So not a lot changed at the front of the drivers and constructors and only Mark moving ahead of Sebastian was of any consequence. The battle at the top still rages with all the teams trying to match the pace of the Red Bull's and when they get it right they are pretty unstoppable. It was only Lewis who offered spirited resistance today and one feels he is the only one who can maybe apart from Jenson.

Now we are off to Hockenheim and the German Grand Prix in two weeks and "if" Mclaren can get the blown diffuser working properly we may see them approach the speed of the Red Bull's. What is unusual is that Red Bull always seem to have something that affects one or both of their drivers and I suppose that is a blessing or it could become boring at the front of the field.

Bye for now and enjoy the great spell of weather we are experiencing.

F1 2010 and the New Teams

The grid for 2010 is still not settled albeit there are now entries from the existing teams in 2009. McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota and Brawn have entered on mass as FOTA (Formula One Team Association) but the entries are subject to them lifting conditions they placed on their entries by next Friday, June 19. What those conditions are is for Max Mosley and FOTA to know.

Williams, Force India and Ferrari are not a part of that and their entries are secure. Williams have had their membership of FOTA recinded until final agreement has been reached between FOTA and F1 but I haven't heard that about Force India or Ferrari!

So, after a lot of speculation we now know we have 3 new teams on the grid for 2010 and they are Campos Grand Prix, Team US F1 and Manor F1. Accepting the current 20 cars are on the grid that will give us a full 26 car grid for 2010 and should introduce some interesting racing.

No one is sure what the full regs will be but maybe we will know after 19 June. The new teams in brief.

Manor F1 Grand Prix. Former single seater champion, John Booth established Manor in 1990 when he decided to form his own team. Their successes include 171 Race wins and 19 Championship titles in formulae such as Formula Renault and the F3 Euroseries.

Based in the UK they have 2 sites, one in Sheffield and the other in Bicester. Its technical innovation is characterised by the fact that the race cars are designed, tested and refined entirely in the digital domain using the processes originally developed by Wirth Research Limited (WRL).

As Technical Director of Manor Grand Prix Racing, Nick Wirth founded WRL (Wirth Research Limited) in 2003, a company specialising in research, development and manufacturing in the high technology sector. Their designs won both the 2004/5 Indy Racing League (IRL) championships as well as being instrumental in producing winning designs in the American Le Mans series.

Nick Wirth has an impeccable background initially with March, Simtek F1 and Chief Designed for the Benetton F1 team. To compete in 2010 an engine deal has been agreed with Cosworth and it will be great to see them back on the grid.

Campos Grand Prix. Launched in 1998 Campos was launched in 1998 by ex-Formula One driver Adrián Campos. Campos has won six driver championships, five team championships and currently holds the GP2 Series 2008 title.

Their HQ is in Madrid where the marketing and admin are run. The technical centre is based at Campos Racing’s current headquarters in Valencia, 25km from the Ricardo Tormo race track.

As part of its application to compete in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, Campos has also agreed an engine supply deal with Cosworth and technical partnerships with Dallara Automobili and Xtrac.

Team US F1. With 30 years of motor sport experience, team Principal Ken Anderson including designing and constructing multiple Indy 500 and IndyCar Series-winning race cars. This is a real departure for F1 bringing an American Team into F1 as it has been proved Indy 500 and the Indy car series are a different ball park to F1.

Fellow team director Peter Windsor is known to us all having worked in F1 for over 35 years as team manager for Williams-Renault team, manager for Ferrari’s F1 chassis and suspension departments and as a consultant for F1 drivers Nigel Mansell and Carlos Reutemann.

As part of its application to compete in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, US F1 has agreed an engine supply deal with Cosworth.

Cosworth. I don't think Cosworth need any introduction to we petrol heads after 50 years in engine design for most racing teams at one time or another throughout the world. It is a name synonymous with motor racing and has been missed from the recent grids. All the new teams to F1 have opted to use Cosworth engines and I have no doubt the parterships will flourish.

I am sure we all wish the new teams every success. One has to congratulate Max Mosley on his management of this process and hopefully pre Silverstone all will be known about 2010 and beyond.