Melbourne: Six world champions on the grid for the opening Grand Prix of the season represents an unprecedented array of talent for Formula One, yet few would count on anything other than another Sebastian Vettel title this season. Kimi Raikkonen's return from a year away in rally racing has added one more former champion to F1 ranks this season, joining Vettel, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button....
02:04 PM, Mar 13, 2012
Madrid: Formula One team Marussia hired Maria de Villota as a test driver for the season, providing the sport with a full-time female pilot for the first time since the 1990s. The daughter of former Spanish F1 driver Emilio de Villota had tested with Renault last year and has single seater experience in Spanish F3 and the Daytona 24-Hours. The 32-year-old De Villota will likely get behind the wheel at...
01:33 PM, Mar 13, 2012
Melbourne: The presence of two young drivers in the side and their "healthy rivalry" will help Sahara Force India do better in the 2012 Formula One season, the team said on Tuesday. Force India promoted young German Nico Hulkenberg to the racing seat in place of Adrian Sutil. Scot Paul di Resta, who had a good debut season in 2011, is the other driver in the side. The season-opening Australian...
11:48 AM, Mar 13, 2012
London: McLaren have high hopes from Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button for the upcoming Formula One season, expecting their drivers to challenge Red Bull in the title race. Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull have won both the drivers' and the constructors' championships in the past two seasons, and last year Vettel clinched the title with four races to spare, finishing the season with 11 victories. The 24-year-old never started lower...
10:26 AM, Mar 13, 2012
Paris: Narain Karthikeyan is all set for his second consecutive Formula One season after making a comeback to the sport last year. With only five days left before the start of the season opening with the Australian GP, Narain, the only Indian driver racing in 2012, spoke exclusively to IBNlive.com about his preparations, this year's car and his expectations. The 2012 championship starts this weekend in Australia. How have your...
09:30 AM, Mar 13, 2012
London: Formula One has too many daydreamers who need to take off their rose-tinted glasses and tighten their belts by spending less, according to commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone. Speaking to the official Formula One website before the start of the new season in Australia next weekend, the 81-year-old Briton said it was time for a reality check. "There are still too many people in Formula One running around with rose-tinted...
03:07 PM, Mar 12, 2012
London: Marussia were given the all-clear to start the Formula One season after their new car passed the final mandatory crash test on Tuesday. The Russian-licensed team, who gave the MR01 its track debut in a filming day at Silverstone on Monday, said in a statement they had cleared the last hurdle. "The component in question actually passed an 'unobserved' crash test but has been performing inconsistently in the observed...
10:28 AM, Mar 07, 2012
London: Marussia gave their new Formula One car its track debut at Silverstone on Monday despite it still having to overcome a final crash test hurdle before the opening race of the season in Australia next week. The Russian-licensed former Virgin Racing team said in a statement that the Cosworth-powered MR01 had been rolled out for the first of two limited-mileage promotional events on demonstration tyres. The season starts in...
08:13 PM, Mar 05, 2012
Barcelona: Mark Webber completed his last day of pre-season Formula One testing in Barcelona on Saturday with champions Red Bull handing him an upgraded car to try out before his home Australian Grand Prix on March 18. With rivals suspecting Red Bull were keeping their powder dry for Melbourne, the Australian was eighth fastest of 10 drivers on track and played down the importance of the new chassis and changes...
05:32 PM, Mar 04, 2012
Barcelona: Sergio Perez of Sauber set the pace on the second-to-last day of testing before the new Formula One season gets under way. The Mexican driver steered his way to a fastest lap of 1 minute, 22.094 seconds at the Catalunya Circuit before rain showers slowed down the Saturday afternoon session. "I am very happy with how my final test day went," Perez said. "We did an intensive programme with...
12:21 AM, Mar 04, 2012
New Delhi: Narain Karthikeyan will have to wait till the Formula One season opener in Melbourne to get his hands on HRT's new car, with the Spanish outfit failing to get the F112 ready in time for the final two days of pre-season testing on Saturday and Sunday. Karthikeyan, who signed with HRT for the second year running, has not driven since the Indian Grand Prix in October. The first...
07:50 PM, Mar 03, 2012
London: Figures compiled by the world football governing body FIFA showed that clubs paid a total $3 billion in 2011 to sign players. The total was calculated by FIFA's new Transfer Matching System, which has been introduced in an attempt to strengthen policing of football's money flows. The new system requires clubs signing players internationally to record with FIFA their contracts and all payments they make, which must go to...
06:02 PM, Mar 03, 2012
Barcelona: Sahara Force India were done in by a "driveline issue" as the team completed just 36 laps on the second day of the Formula One pre-season testing here. Nico Hulkenberg got behind the wheels for the outfit, recording a fastest lap time of 1:23.893. "The day started well with some set-up work and new tyres runs, but we had some downtime in the afternoon, which limited my mileage. It's...
11:04 AM, Mar 03, 2012
London: Marussia will miss Formula One's final pre-season test in Barcelona this week because their new car has failed a mandatory crash test, the Russian-licensed team said on Monday. Marussia, formerly Virgin Racing, said the MR01 car had failed the final test after passing 17 previous ones. Under new rules introduced this season, cars must have passed all 18 tests before they are allowed to run in the pre-season sessions....
11:28 AM, Feb 28, 2012
London: Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone believes Sebastian Vettel's dominance could be harming the sport and wants this season's title to be decided when Brazil hosts the final race. Vettel became the youngest F1 champion in the last Grand Prix of the 2010 season. But the German Red Bull driver successfully defended his title with three races to spare in October, and Ecclestone is concerned interest could be affected if...
11:32 AM, Feb 26, 2012
Barcelona: Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado was the fastest at a Formula One testing session on Thursday. The Williams driver's lap time of 1 minute, 22.391 seconds at Catalunya Circuit was nearly a second quicker than Michael Schumacher for Mercedes. Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi was third with Jenson Button of McLaren and Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne rounding out the top five on the next-to-last day of the pre-season's penultimate session. Red...
10:26 AM, Feb 24, 2012
London: Michael Schumacher looked forward to being a contender again as his Mercedes team belatedly pulled the wraps off their shiny new Formula One car before testing at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya on Tuesday. If the F1 W03 was far from attractive, with the by-now familiar stepped nose seen on all the other 2012 cars with the sole exception of McLaren, the sport's most successful driver declared it a beautiful...
09:57 PM, Feb 21, 2012
Manama, Bahrain: Bahrain Grand Prix officials began selling tickets on Sunday for April's Formula One race in the Gulf kingdom, the latest sign that the government is determined to hold the race despite ongoing protests. Bahrain's season-opening race last year was canceled because of the unrest. This year's race is scheduled for April 22 and F1's governing body FIA has insisted the event will go ahead. There have been lingering...
08:35 PM, Feb 21, 2012
London: Jarno Trulli's abrupt departure from Formula One on Friday triggered no shockwaves around the world, but the Italian's exit was still a significant moment for the glamour sport and the home of Ferrari. Trulli had not scored a point since 2009 and the quality of the Montepulciano d'Abruzzo wines coming out of his vineyards has won more recognition than his achievements at the wheel in recent years. However, until...
11:23 PM, Feb 18, 2012
Hingham: Russian driver Vitaly Petrov replaced Jarno Trulli at the Caterham F1 team on Friday, leaving the Italian veteran without a drive after 15 seasons in Formula One. Caterham, formerly known as Team Lotus, said Petrov was at the team's factory in Hingham for a seat fitting and will take part in the pre-season testing in Barcelona next week. The 27-year-old Petrov, the first Russian to drive in F1, was...
08:38 PM, Feb 17, 2012
