Kobayashi will be racing against the best Formula One has to offer in 2010

Kamui got noticed by the fans and teams after he took the place of Timo Glock behind the wheel of his Toyota race car after Timo was injured and couldn’t make it to the final two races of the season. Timo had a bum leg and back that made him sit out, so Kobayashi was drafted in to take his place in the car and he really took the bull by the horns and showed the Formula One world what kind of talent and drive he has to win. In the first of his two races, Kobayashi was first able to finish just on the outside of the top ten, but in his second race he stepped forward and had the best result of his Formula One career, so far, with an impressive display of racing that provided him with his first Formula One points and a sixth place finish at Abu Dhabi.

Peter Sauber smiled brightly when the announcement of Kobayashi signing with his team was made and put his arm around Kobayashi in a gesture that should make Japanese fans happy to see. Hopefully, these two gentlemen can form a relationship that will leave us breathless in the coming Formula One season and increase the entertainment value of each of the races they compete in. He stated that Kobayashi showed great promise in his two races last year and that he was looking forward to seeing what he could do behind the wheel of one of his race cars.

The opening of the 2010 Formula One season is starting to look like something that no one should miss, what with the new teams, the signing of some of the brightest talent to new teams and should make for an interesting year of racing.

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Kamui Kobayashi Signs With BMW Sauber

Richard Branson hires two new drivers for his Virgin Race team

The announcement that Lucas di Grassi would be part of the Virgin Racing team was made in London on Tuesday as Virgin Racing let the world have a glimpse at their race colors, which hasn’t exactly been a well kept secret. It was announced a few weeks ago by British squad Manor GP that Timo Glock would be behind the wheel for Virgin Racing, who received their official notice of their entry into the 2010 Formula One season, just a few days before signing on the dotted line with Virgin Racing.

Lucas di Grassi smiled brightly for the camera when the announcement was made to the press and stated that he was ready for Formula One and that he has been preparing for this day for along time. He said that he always believed that this day would come and his years of preparation have prepared him perfectly for this opportunity and that he would planned on taking advantage of this opportunity to show the world of F1, just what kind of racer he is.

Timo Glock also smiled for the cameras at the conference announcing his joining of the Virgin Racing team and stated that he expected to also take advantage of the opportunity presented him by racing like a man possessed. He also stated that this proves that Virgin Racing and Lord Branson are serious about fielding a Formula One team that can win and he expects to have a great year behind the wheel of their race car.

In related news, Virgin Racing also announced that Alex Tai would be joining the Virgin Racing team as Team principal and that his experience as a leader of teams of professionals would put him in good stead at his new position.

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Virgin Racing Adds a Few Drivers

Jenson Button stops by to pick up his trophy

It was definitely a year that will go down in the Formula One history books as unusual as Button started the year by coming out of the gate and taking hold of the championship by winning six of the first seven races of the year. At the same time Brawn GP became the first team to win the constructors’ title in the first year of its competing on the Formula One grid.

Button stepped up to the podium to grab his trophy with a light step and a smile on his face and immediately located for his name on the trophy. This must have be an amazing day for Button who has been a part of racing his whole life, since he first got behind the wheel of a go cart at the age of eight he has been dreaming of this day and now he has fulfilled his dreams. At the start of the season, they weren’t even sure if he would be able to race in 2009 and if he would make it to the first race. Now, he’s the 2009 Formula One World Champion and sitting on top of the world, baby!

Ross Brawn, leader of team Brawn was there to take the constructors’ trophy in hand, and he’ll be at the reigns of the team again in 2010. He stepped before the cameras to tell the world what a great year it has been for the team and that if you had asked him before the year started if he would be where he is now, he would have checked your temperature. He thanked everyone for attending and his team for the year they had and then stepped back to let others take the limelight.
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Jenson Stops in to Pick up the Hardware

Formula one will use a different point system next year

The new system is pretty simple to understand. The race winner for each competition will receive 25 points for the win, with 20 and 15 being awarded for second and third places in their turn. The next seven places will receive 10, 8, 6, 5, 3, 2, and 1 points for their finishing in their respective spots during a race. This will take the place of the current set up for points that saw drives score, 10, 8, 6, 5, 3, 2, and 1 point respectively.

The F1 Commission also decided that the Brawn team will be allowed to make a change to their chassis name to Mercedes for the 2010 Formula One season, but Brawn will continue to receive payment based on their old name. This was allowed because of the long history of Mercedes-Benz has with Formula One and their decades of commitment to the sport.

While the Commission was at work they also took care of putting forward a number of further changes that they would like to see to Formula One next season. The changes they proposed were to the sporting and technical side of Formula One, but these changes have yet to be stated and need to go before the WMSC for final approval, which should be on Friday.
What we do know is that they apparently have strong support for the changes and the Sporting Working Group, a smaller sub-committee of the F1 Commission that is composed of FIA and F1 team members, us leading the charge to implement the changes proposed, which they hope will improve the level of entertainment for the fans coming to the races. We have also heard that FIA and FOM will be working together to increase the communication level and promotion of the Formula One championship for the media and its worldwide fan base.

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A Different Formula One in 2010

Rubens was competing against Felipe Massa on a different stage

Felipe was able to cross the finish line after a total of 644 laps and about 11 hours of continuous racing, with the help of his team mates Lucas di Grassi and Julio Campos. Lucas di Grassi is a tester for the Renault Formula One team and Julio Campos is a Stock Car Lights racer. In combination with his win last week and the birth of his new son Felipinho Massa early this week, he has had a really great two weeks and is probably wondering what is next for him. Felipe did take the time to dedicate his wins and future to his new son and told the world how much he loves his new son in enough ways to get a smile from all on hand.

The win at Granja Viana was is actually his second; he also won this race in the 1997 inaugural race, at the young age of sixteen. This year second place was claimed by former Toyota F1 racer Ricardo Zonta, while Rubens Barricello finished third this year. This win must feel pretty good for Massa, after missing the final eight races of the 2009 Formula One season, and helps to get him ready to try to win it all during the up coming 2010 Formula One season.

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Felipe Massa Racing Again

Formula One will see the return of Lotus in 2010

BMW actually announced to the Formula One world that they would be leaving the tour in 2010 and then promptly sold the team to the man that originally sold it to them, Peter Sauber, instead of the investment group Qadbak, who were originally talking to BMW about buying the team. At first it didn’t look like BMW Sauber was going to be able to grab one of the thirteen available tickets to be one of the teams for the 2010 Formula One season, when Lotus looked like they had grabbed the final berth. BMW Sauber got another chance at a ticket to the big show, after Toyota decided to withdraw their team for the 2010 season.

FIA has been busy finalizing the teams for the 2010 Formula One season and is certainly glad to get this part of the process secured and now they can get onto preparing for the season. This means that the thirteen teams that will be on the grid for the opening race of the 2010 season, will be McLaren, Mercedes (Brawn), Red Bull, Ferrari, Force India, Toro Rossi, Renault, Williams, Sauber, Virgin Racing, US F1 Team, Lotus and Campos. This isn’t written in stone just as yet, and there could still be changes to the thirteen teams that will arrive at the first race of the 2010 Formula One season, but things are looking pretty good for these teams to be the ones that will be competing for the 2010 Formula One title.

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BMW Sauber Confirmed for 2010

Will Robert be driving for Peter Sauber's new team next year

This move by Peter and BMW gives the team a secure foundation to go forward on and try to win the 2010 Formula One Championship. They’ll have to work fast to get the car and team in shape for the season, but Peter is one of the best in the business and I expect the team to be in top shape come opening day. It might be said that Peter felt a certain need to step forward to care for the team he started, when he found out that BMW wished to step into the background and let another party take the lead. It is certainly true for Peter, but his responsibilities just increased ten-fold and the expectations for the team just increased significantly with his return. It would have been a bad thing if one of the best teams and factories in Formula One had to close down because of the departure of BMW and Peter deserves a pat on the back and cheer for stepping forward to take the reigns of the team.

We have learned that Peter Sauber will be paying all of the bills for the team as it goes forward himself, so he has put forward significant financial resources in order to make the deal possible. Will he have to seek financial backing for the team to go forward, most likely, but then Formula One is an expensive sport and one that often requires multiple sources to keep the cars running and pay checks coming in.

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Peter Sauber Returns to Formula One

Is Michael coming back again

In other news, Force India will still have the team of Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi behind the wheel for the 2010 season. The duo had a pretty good year overall and I expect their results to get even better in 2010 and beyond. Adrian Sutil will be in his fourth consecutive year behind the wheel of their car and in 2009 he was able to get his first top five finish with a fourth place in Italy. Formula One is an international sport with drivers from all corners of the world and it’s great to see a team like Force India employing the best drivers they can find without regard to nationality or race. Dr Vijay Mallya has done a great job so far and at the rate he’s learning the sport, it won’t be long before he’ll be one of the best in the business doing his job.

Renault lifted the veil around their plans for the scheduled Jerez test, next week. They’ll be fielding a truly international field of drivers for the three days of testing, with Chinese driver Ho-Pin, Formula Renault 3.5 champion Bertrand Baguette, and French racer Lucas Di Grassi taking their turns behind the wheel. Ho-Pin is scheduled to have his try to impress behind the wheel of the R29 on Wednesday, just behind Baguette, and Di Grassi will go last. The three day session is set for December 1 to December 3, so mark the days on your calendar.

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Formula One News

Testing for 2010 will begin at Jerez on December 1st

The 2009 Formula One season is over but the fun is just beginning anew as the teams and drivers are already testing their cars for the up coming 2010 season. There will be three new teams on the grid next year, along with the perennial teams that have been competing for years. Lewis Hamilton will be someone to watch, along with Sebastian Vettel and of course the 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button.

Force India has been busy this week setting up their VJM02 race car to be driven by new drivers’ British driver Paul di Resta and the present Indy lights champion American JR Hildebrand. These two up and coming drivers will be competing in next week’s young driver test being held at Jerez in Spain. These two drivers were the lucky racers chosen for their strong performances in Force India’s simulator last month and one of these two drivers will land a spot as a full time test driver and will act as a backup for Force India’s regular drivers.
Dr Resta hails from West Lothian, Scotland, and drives in the German DTM touring car series; he finished third in the series last year and had one win. He did win the 2006 Formula 3 Euroseries against Sebastian Vettel and in 2004 was hailed as the McLaren Autosport BRDC young driver of the year.

JR Hildebrand comes from the sunny state of California. He has climbed the racing ladder quickly in America, with impressive showings in the junior circuits, and is the current Indy Lights champion, which is the runner up series to the American premier racing series. In 2006 he won the Formula Ford 2000 title and in 2007 was the top new racer in the Atlantic championship series.

Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India’s chairman and team principal was on hand to greet these two young drivers and he welcomed them to the Force India young driver test. If they perform well they’ll set themselves up for a chance at a Formula One career and maybe a few wins or a championship if they have what it takes.

The testing at Jerez will involve a few teams and will begin on Tuesday December 1^st and run until December 3^rd. Force India will test both drivers on separate days and then they’ll have to wait to see what they think.

Good luck to these two young gentlemen during their tests.

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2010 Formula One Testing at Jerez

Jenson Button wasn't expected to do as well as he has

Jenson Button grew up in the racing industry and with his early success, so a lot was expected of Jenson. Having so much success early in his career might have put him behind the wheel so to speak, but the expectations surrounding him were probably a little too optimistic, and may have put him behind a little in his development.

After ten years of toiling in the race trenches of the racing industry, Jenson Button has finally reached the top of his profession and it must feel good for a racer who had trouble concentrating on anything but racing as a young man. A strong will and drive has gotten Jenson to where he’s now, along with a level of driving and racing talent that’s rare. He has come along way since his first scramble bike and there’s only one thing left for him to do. Repeat as Formula One champion in 2010.

Repeating is going to be even more difficult after his first championship, because he’ll have a bull’s eye on his car every time he gets in a Formula One car.

Jenson will probably head back home after this to recharge his batteries and talk about his year with one of the inspirations of his win, his mother and father, and family. They have supported him and paid for his development during the developmental years and deserve as much credit for the win as anybody on the fringes of his achievement. They did after all help to decide his character and drive, and they have done their part to produce a man with the drive and ability to be the best in his field.

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Jenson Button Makes Them Eat Their Words