The Mole welcomes back BBC F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz to the blog to give his inside line on the Singapore Grand Prix.
Brawn
The last few laps of the Singapore Grand Prix were agony for Ross Brawn and his engineers on the pit wall. As Lewis Hamilton crossed the finish line, they sat, expressionless, for a full 30 seconds until Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello crossed the line fifth and sixth, with next-to-no brakes. Only then did anyone say a word.
Strangely enough, telemetry sensors were reporting that the wear was acceptable, but the amount of carbon dust coming out of the front wheel spinners told a different story.
The Brawn team knew from first practice that their Brembo brakes were an issue. They were running very hot, so much so that the rear wheel fairings had to be removed to aid cooling.
It was a mark of how seldom Brawn feels the need to talk to Button during the race that he had to identify himself on the radio before telling his driver to bring the car home.
Button would have understood the subtext of that soothing voice: Brawn would be issuing the same instruction to Barrichello behind him, so Button knew he could back off and would not be challenged by his team-mate.
Barrichello may look back on Singapore as the race where his championship challenge ended. When he came in for his second stop, he couldn't engage neutral on the gearbox.
Read the rest of this entry
Lewis Hamilton was the fastest man in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix - whether that be on the grid, or once the weights of the cars are taken into account.
The top 10 drivers in qualifying are not allowed to refuel before the race, so their pace is dictated by the amount of fuel on board, which also defines when they will come in for their first pit stop.
Once the weight of fuel in the cars is published, it is therefore possible to calculate a fuel-adjusted grid, and work out who is theoretically in best shape for the race.
Taking that into account, BBC Sport's fuel-adjusted grid, with projected first pit stops, looks like this:
Read the rest of this entry
Singapore may be infamous as the scene of Renault's race-fix scandal but what Formula 1's organisers had in mind when night-racing dawned here in 2008 was the spectacle - high-speed racing through the streets under the beam of floodlights and the electric glow of an eastern metropolis.
Such scenes are best viewed from above and so The Mole boarded the largest ferris wheel in the world, the Singapore Flyer, for a bird's eye perspective of practice.
From up high, it was fascinating to see the street circuit weave its way alongside the marina and under the city's flyover as every so often an F1 car darted beneath eight lanes of meandering traffic.
F1 in Singapore is a spectacular sight - but it plays havoc with the brains of those involved
While 15,000 white spheres light the drivers' way, beyond them the night sky is broken by the neon of Singapore's skyscrapers and the yellow glow of the city.
To put it simply, Singapore's night race is a stunning sight.
"It's the contrast that makes it so exciting," says Getty Images photographer Mark Thompson, who reckons all the snappers relish the chance to be creative in Singapore.
"It's about capturing the balance between dusk fading into night; the blurring movement of the lights and the cars and the totally unique environment of a race in the heart of a city."
Despite its visual appeal, Singapore's night racing requires the whole F1 circus - from the drivers, to the cooks and the media - to alter its thinking. Or, more accurately, to delude itself.
Read the rest of this entry
The Mole welcomes BBC pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz to the blog to give his inside line on the Italian Grand Prix at Monza
Brawn
Following Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button's one-two in Monza, it was significant that team boss Ross Brawn wanted to stress how his drivers are sharing information on their car's set-up.
His words sounded like he had recently had to bash the drivers' heads together: "I demand they do it fairly and openly... Everything has to be on the table... They have to work together properly", Brawn told us after the race.
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
It is a difficult balance to strike, and not one he ever had to worry about at Ferrari, where Michael Schumacher's position was pre-eminent.
One regularly hears stories in the paddock about Button 'stealing' Barrichello's set-up - a subject Button discussed in Mark Hughes's column on this website this week - but it's only now the championship is getting tight that the two drivers have started to discuss it publicly.
Read the rest of this entry
McLaren were always expected to be strong at the Italian Grand Prix and the fuel-corrected qualifying times emphasise just what good shape they are in for the race.
The drivers who are in the top-10 shoot-out are not allowed to refuel after qualifying, so once the weights of the cars are revealed it is possible to work out who was genuinely the fastest man in qualifying - as well as the lap on which they are likely to make their first pit stop.
At Monza, that honour went to McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen. Having qualified an impressive fourth with a heavy fuel load, the Finn is therefore in theoretically the strongest position to win the race. But the Brawn drivers also look to have a very strong chance - and if the Mole was to stick his neck out and make a prediction, it would be to make Button the favourite for victory. But we'll come back to that in a minute.
BBC Sport's full fuel-adjusted top 10, with predicted first pit stops, is as follows:
Read the rest of this entry
The journey through Milan's beige industrial suburbs accompanied by the chug of disgruntled traffic was not exactly the most auspicious start for the Mole's first visit to the fabled Monza circuit.
But once the car turned into the gates of the royal park, the landscape completely changed and all the talk about the magic of Monza suddenly made sense.
So, this is why the Milan Automobile Club defied conservationists in 1922 to build a track in the middle of a wood. This is why Italians call it "La Pista Magica" - the magic track - and why Ferrari's tifosi flock to see the majestic red cars fly round the fastest circuit in F1.
It is hard not to feel a sense of time and space, past and present becoming blurred under the camouflage of the trees.
Ferrari's Giancarlo Fisichella glides over a Monza circuit which carves through woods near Milan
Read the rest of this entry
The Mole welcomes back BBC F1 pit-lane reporter Lee McKenzie to the blog as she reports from Fernando Alonso's fan-pleasing trip back home.
More than 170,000 people flocked to see the return of Oviedo's favourite son in his beloved Spanish hometown at the weekend. And they were not to be disappointed.
Fernando Alonso put on a great show and looked like he was enjoying himself as much as anyone in the crowd.
I was lucky enough to be there for two days to interview the double world champion and, more specifically, to witness him giving something back to the area in which he grew up.
It was intriguing to see Alonso away from the track. He was extremely relaxed and a true gentleman, giving time to all the wide-eyed fans who had come out to see him. It must have been a relief to have some fun and escape all the controversy haunting Renault and the swirling, persistent questions involving his future.
Read the rest of this entry
The Mole welcomes BBC pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz to the blog to give his inside line on the European Grand Prix at Valencia
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen has done what he said he would do all season - win a race. One has the feeling that, in his mind, his targets have been achieved for the season.
The win was a massive relief for Ferrari. To have not won a race all season would have been unacceptable.
Read the rest of this entry
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~38~RS~)