Wii and PlayStation Portable gamers will be able to try the newest and hopefully the most authentic and playable Formula One simulation to date sometime in 2009, the release date is currently scheduled for autumn. The next generation of Formula One video games will include all the current racers, teams, and circuits competing in the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship (the night race in Singapore is even included in a Formula One video game for the first time). Produced by Codemasters, a top-tier developer and publisher of racing video games, in partnership with Formula One Administration Limited, F1 2009 will deliver the energy, glamour, and entertainment fans deserve, in the way Codemasters has perfected. You can view a live trailer video at www.formula1-game.com, the newest location for information on F1 2009 for the Wii and PSP.

Lewis Hamilton comes to virtual racing for the first time

F1 2009 will also be the first time Lewis Hamilton will appear in a racing simulation and you’ll be able to sit behind the steering wheel of his McLaren MP4-24 and fight to repeat as FIA Formula One World Champion. The 2009 Formula One season has been exciting and the driving tighter than ever before, thanks to the new regulations and aerodynamics. The introduction of the KERS boost system and the use of slick tires has made this F1 season one for the history books and the changes have been included in F1 2009.

Codemasters is planning on setting new standards for immersion and realistic detail for the Wii with F1 2009, by providing a variety of race modes, including a full Formula One season, a few single player arcade-type challenges, and a competitive multiplayer mode that will allow for wheel-to-wheel split screen co-op races.

The PSP edition of F1 2009 will allow players to compete wirelessly against other gamers and in challenging and satisfying single player modes that are optimized for portable game play.

Codemasters Studios also announced they will be bringing F1 2010 to the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Games for Windows, around the middle of 2010. They’ll be using Codemasters’ EGO Engine Technology to create F1 2010, which gave the BAFTA award-winning Race Driver: Grid its power, so expectations are high.

Image: Zuma Press

Jenson Button once again pulled away from the field to take the checkered flag for Brawn in Sunday’s Formula One race in Bahrain Spain and 31 of a possible 40 championship points after winning three of the first four races in the 2009 Formula One season. Button raced like a man possessed to make his way through a tough field of determined racers and was able to keep his car together and out in front for most of the race.

Jenson makes it three out of four for 2009 Formula One season

The start was the key as he was able to take advantage of Lewis Hamilton’s sudden arrival between the Toyotas in the run to the first turn to stay high and squeeze around the outside of Sebastian Vettel in Turn One, and into third behind the Toyotas. He just waited for the leaders to pit and then pulled into the front and never really looked back.

Button raced intelligently and fast, waiting his time and only losing the lead for a few laps after his stops on lap 15 and lap 37, before retaking the lead for the last time and never being threatened again by the field.

Button reported the failure of an electrical box in his cockpit that heated him up a bit, but other than that called it one of his best afternoons of racing in his career.

Barrichello decided on a pre-race strategy of three stops that didn’t work out and was disappointed to finish the race in fifth, just ahead of Raikkonen, but was still able to grab Ferrari’s first point of the 2009 Formula One season with his fifth place finish.

Vettel really lost his opportunity in the first run to Turn One, with Hamilton on the right and Button on the left he got squeezed out and stuck behind the leaders, which cost him rubber and speed. He stayed strong through most of the race and was able to race his way past Trulli to take second and continue to show the strength of his resolve and racing skill.

Trulli had a brain freeze and decided to change his tires to primes and lost time, before changing back to super-soft tires and gaining ground to finish third. A disappointing finish considering expectations and qualifying times, so the decision to change tires will certainly be questioned by many.

Image: Newscom

Formula One 2009 Pulls into Shanghai

The flag will drop on the Grand Prix of Shanghai at the Shanghai International Circuit in a week or so, and the drivers and teams have probably been contemplating the winding turns and high-speed straights designed into the amazing architecture of the circuit. The track combines a nice variety of high-speed corners and slow turns that put demands on the grip of the cars, and throws a few wrenches into the mix. The most challenging and enjoyable corners for both the racers and the drivers will probably be turns six and seven, sweeping left and right hand turns. The Shanghai circuit has always been hard on tires because of the severe lateral forces the cars will experience at speed. The track design requires a medium down-force setup for the race cars because of the two long straight stretches combined with many technical turns. The cars need the right setup to race effectively and fast with the heavy braking, fast accelerations, and constant changes in velocity.

The Shanghai Grand Prix is a technical track that Lewis Hamilton won on last year, so expect McLaren to do well, although, they probably won’t do as well as last year because they won’t have the same performance advantage they had last year. It will be even more important for Hamilton to start farther up the grid, if he’s able to do so; he might be able to finish high in the points or even on the podium, even though his car is running a little slower.

The Shanghai Grand Prix kicks off earlier this year than in previous years, so the temperatures should be a little easier to handle for both the drivers and the cars, but the chance of rain will increase, and they will need to keep their rain tires close by. The first turn should be spectacular and might be the real eye-grabber of the race as the drivers take their cars in a high speed on the throttle, then suddenly drop the car into second gear as the track tightens up.

“Images: Newscom.com”

World champion Lewis Hamilton had a tough time in the first Formula One race at the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne, finishing third in a car that appears to be fighting the track and its driver. Malaysia is the next racing venue that Formula One racers will be heading to in a few days and if the first race is any indication, it could be even tougher for the current world champion to compete on an even race-track with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello and Brawn’s amazingly fast Formula One cars.

Lewis Hamilton just warming up?

Hamilton battled through the race, showing the spirit and drive that makes him a world champion, but kept losing ground to the Brawn cars, no matter how well he drove. Starting 18th on the grid Hamilton fought through the race, narrowing avoiding trouble when Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica collided, and was happy to capture six points despite his cars problems with competing.
Give the world champion and his crew a few races to get the car back up to speed, and for him to get an idea of how he has to drive to compete, and he’ll be back strong and competing for the world championship again.
The Australian Grand Prix was an excellent learning lesson for Hamilton, he had to come from behind to reach third, along with a little bad luck for other drivers and good luck for him, but showed patience in hanging in and keeping his car in one piece and on the road. Give him time, probably by the third Grand Prix we’ll see him starting to pick up speed and momentum, and start to close the point’s gap on the fast-running Brawn offerings.
By the time the Grand Prix of China comes around expect the Formula One point’s race to be a lot closer and Brawn’s race team to be sweating a little more then they are at the moment. Hamilton will certainly not give up, despite his car’s problems competing, and its not uncommon for him to come from sixth or seventh in a race, so coming from behind in the Formula One point’s race, is just the kind of challenge the British love.
Images newscom

Formula One’s front offices must be breathing a sigh of relief. Viewers were turned off by the dominance of Ferrari and Michael Schumacher, the controversial 2005 American Grand Prix, and ironically the departure of Schumacher two seasons ago. Formula One needed stars to keep the audience glued to the telecasts, and to justify the millions of dollars spent by advertisers each year.

Enter Lewis Hamilton. This 22-year-old came out of nowhere, making an impact in such a short amount of time:

In his debut year Hamilton has set three Formula One records in quick succession. With his first start at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix, he became the first black driver to compete in Formula One. At the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix, he became the first F1 driver to finish in the top three in his first three races. After he finished second at the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix, he became the youngest driver ever to lead the drivers’ championship. Hamilton gained his first victory at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix on June 10, 2007 and became the first black person to win a Formula One race.

With such a rising young star, not to mention the establishment of previous youngsters like Kimi Raikonnen, perhaps Formula One will recover from its loss and beat back the challenges of competitors like the A1 Grand Prix.