Tag Archives: formula one

Hamilton clinches first after choosing to make more stops

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As the Formula 1 crews take a well deserved breather after back to back weekends of Grand Prix action, it looks as if we may get a competitive race for the Championship after all. The win by Lewis Hamilton ant the thrilling way he achieved it will gladden the hearts of motor racing fans and journalists across the globe.

Thrilling manoeuvre

The Red Bull train has been stopped from careering away with the title for the time being, although not many drivers would have managed to do the overtaking manoeuvre Hamilton undertook without sacrificing a clean no claims bonus on their motor insurance. To say it was seat of the pants stuff is an understatement.

Spur of the moment decision

After the race McLarens ebullient racing team divulged that the plan at the outset of the race was to do two pit stops, it was only decided after the race was underway to change to three. It was intelligence sent back by the two McLaren drivers that convinced the team to go for three stops instead of two. It proved a race winning decision and left Vettell and his Red Bull team-mates wondering how they got their tactics so wrong.

Button stitched up in wrong pit lane

Not quite so wrong though as Jensen Buttons faux pas of a pit stop. It is perhaps excusable, though hardly, to pull into the wrong pit to get a tyre change but to pull into that of your greatest rival is really not on. Button, I suspect, will be having his leg pulled on that particular mistake long after this season has finished. Apparently he should have gone into the pits the lap before as well. It seems unlikely McLaren will be trusting Jensen with organising anything to do with the team next week, not even the car insurance cover.

Time for a breather

The circus now takes a three week break before they congregate in Istanbul for the Turkish Grand Prix. Hamilton won their last year with Button and Webber taking the minor placings. One wonders if Button and Webber will be ready to take the limelight away from their more illustrious team mates in Istanbul and get a little Turkish delight for themselves.

Korean leg of Formula One championship will be vital

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As the Formula One circus reassembles in Korea this weekend, the tightest race for the championship seen for many years gets closer to the finish line.

With just 31 points separating McLaren’s Jenson button from Red Bull’s leader Mark Webber the scene is set for a grandstand finish. This weekend could be particularly exciting as no-one is sure how the track will drive as it is brand new.

With just three races left, this weekend’s duel in Seoul, Brazil in early November and then the final round at Abu Dhabi in mid November it means that a maximum of 75 points can be obtained by any driver. This means that only the drivers in the current top 5 can win but also that any one of the five could easily win.

Webber, from Australia leads, Fernando Alonso from Spain who represents the Ferrari team is in joint second with Webber’s German team mate Sebastian Vettel and just slightly off the pace come the two Brits Louis Hamilton and Jensen Button.

There really is no room for error and for the two Red Bull drivers, neither of whom has ever won the drivers’ championship, the thrilling finale to the season will see more and more pressure exerted on them by their expectant team of engineers and designers in the Red Bull-Renault Pet Lane. To say nothing of the tricks the more experienced trio of drivers on their heels will try as the season culminates.

After their 1-2 finish in the Japanese Grand Prix a fortnight ago the Red Bull team must fancy their chances of emulating the feat in Seoul but the new track, which has only just been passed fit for purpose in time for this weekend’s event. It has three long straights on the circuit and McLaren’s two Brits fancy this will be in their favour.

The drivers and their cars, none of which will ever have been the subject of a motor insurance quote, will be cheered on by thousands of Korean motoring fans eager that their own Grand Prix has a definitive effect on the outcome of the championship. A win for Webber could well see him become hot favourite but the pundits feel the championship may well be decided in Abu Dhabi.

Mansell still cornering too fast

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Seeing Nigel Mansell OBE on a TV advert crashing scalextric cars and being told to search for a motor insurance quote online, reminds us that the great man is still the most successful Formula One driver the UK has produced.

Nigel Ernest James Mansell was born in 1953 and took up racing cars in the mid seventies. Before that he had been a Special constable in the Devon and Cornwall Police force and worked as an aerospace engineer in his formative years of motor sport driving. A successful spell of Kart racing saw him move on to Formula Ford racing in 1976, his early success persuaded him to pack in his full time job and concentrate on becoming a professional driver. A few weeks later he managed to break his neck in a collision and though doctors warned him he would not drive again he was behind a steering wheel within days. He won 6 races of the 9 he entered that season and the following season saw him win three quarters of the 42 races to become 1977 British Formula Ford champion.

History shows that he didn’t let the broken neck or for that matter poor financial backing hinder his progress through the ranks of Formula Three and onto his great exploits in Formula One and the Indy Car World Series. He became the only man to hold both Formula One and CART world championships at the same time.

In 2010 he eventually got the chance to take part in the Le Mans 24 hour endurance race. Apparently he was to take part in the 1982 race but his boss at Lotus at the time Colin Chapman thought it was too risky and paid Mansell the £10,000 race fee he would have earned, not to race. It was something of an inglorious debut though as he suffered a tyre blow out that took him straight into the barriers and wrote off the car.

The great pity for Mansell was that the two other members of the three man team were his sons Leo and Greg. They were hoping the car would put in a good performance to ensure backing for the project in future years. It now seems that the Ginetta Zytek car will be back with the Mansells next year and hopefully they will have better luck.