Button to fly flag for England in RoC

Jenson Button will carry home hopes at the 2015 London Race of Champions, it is announced.



Jenson Button has become the latest F1 driver to sign up for the annual Race of Champions later this month, flying the flag for Team England on home soil in London. 

The 2009 world champion has competed at the end-of-season RoC on four previous occasions, though hasn't done so since 2011. However, to celebrate the event's return to British soil at London's former Olympic stadium venue in Stratford, Button will be one of four English drivers flying the flag for home fans. 

Looking to go further than his semi-final placing of 2009, Button will be teamed with sportscar racer Alex Buncombe in one of two English line-ups being entered for the Nations' Cup, with Jason Plato and another unnamed driver pairing up for the other. 

Button is the latest F1 driver to commit to the RoC this year, joining Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Felipe Massa and Nico Hulkenberg in representing the championship alongside representatives from rallying, IndyCar and MotoGP. 

This year's Race of Champions will take place between the final two rounds of the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

McLaren F1 driver Jenson Button joins 2015 Race of Champions field

McLaren driver Jenson Button has become the latest big Formula 1 name to join the line-up for this month's Race of Champions event in London.

The 2009 F1 world champion will be competing in his fifth RoC, but his first since '11.

His best performance came in 2009 when he reached the semi-final of the individual event, as well as the Nations Cup for Great Britain in tandem with Andy Priaulx.

On this occasion Button will partner 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series champion Alex Buncombe in one of the two English teams, with the other comprising two-time British Touring Car champion Jason Plato and a yet-to-be-named team-mate.

Button said: "I can't wait to be back at the Race Of Champions again - and especially to be racing at home at London's former Olympic Stadium.

"It is always a very special event with a good atmosphere. You're racing against guys from your own series, plus others from all over the world.

"We get to meet friends old and new from the different forms of motorsport so we enjoy our time both on and off the track.

"It's always a lot of fun, but everyone wants to put on a good show for the fans - and of course we only pretend to be taking it easy before giving it everything when we're sitting in the car on the line.

"I look forward to partnering Alex Buncombe in the RoC Nations Cup too.

"Germany had an annoying habit of beating us at Wembley in 2007 and 2008, so it's about time we made it all the way now we'll be racing on the other side of London."

The 35-year-old is now the sixth F1 driver to sign up to this year's RoC at the Olympic Stadium on November 20-21, joining Roman Grosjean, Felipe Massa, Nico Hulkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel.

2015 RACE OF CHAMPIONS LINE-UP SO FAR

Alex Buncombe
Jenson Button
David Coulthard
Mick Doohan
Romain Grosjean
Nico Hulkenberg
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Tom Kristensen
Jorge Lorenzo
Felipe Massa
Nelson Piquet Jr
Jason Plato
Daniel Ricciardo
Petter Solberg
Sebastian Vettel
Susie Wolff.

On this day: September 14, 2008 – Sebastian Vettel becomes youngest Grand Prix winner ever

A day after becoming the youngest driver to take pole position in Formula One history, a 21-year-old Sebastian Vettel became the youngest Grand Prix winner ever by topping the podium in Monza on this day, seven years ago.

The German finished 12.5 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen in wet weather conditions. The result was also a team best for Toro Rosso, being the only podium finish it ever achieved.

Vettel said after the win: “P1 was still on the board, P1 and a plus and I was leading by quite a bit, and I thought f***, if you finish the race you will be winning – I apologise – but you know, it was unbelievable.”

Other memorable events on this day...

1968: Jimmy Ellis wins the WBA heavyweight title by beating Floyd Patterson in the 15th round in Stockholm, Sweden.

1987: Ivan Lendl wins his sixth slam by defeating Mats Wilander 6-7(7), 6-0, 7-6(4), 6-4 in the US Open final.

2002: Tim Montgomery of USA sets a world record in the 100m, clocking 9.78s at the Grand Prix Final in Paris.

2006: Tiger Woods’ five-tournament winning streak finally ends when Shaun Micheel knocks him out in the first round of the World Match Play Championship.

From jeers to cheers: Formula One is in love with Sebastian Vettel again

Two years ago Sebastian Vettel was booed at Monza. The then-Red Bull driver had just claimed his third win at the iconic Pista Magica. But the German was an outsider, a rival winning on Ferrari’s home turf.

He was also the villain of Formula One, vilified by fans all over the world for his actions in that year’s Malaysian Grand Prix when he stole victory from team-mate Mark Webber, the dominance he exerted over the sport only further feeding fans’ disenchantment with him.

But this year, standing on the second step of the podium garbed in scarlet, the crowd was chanting his name.

“Alonso, Alonso,” they had screamed two years ago, reserving only catcalls for Vettel.

But now Formula One’s Temple of Speed reverberated with chants of “Sebastian, Sebastian.” Once the sport’s blue-eyed boy, then pantomime villain, Vettel was back to being the hero of the piece.

Now driving for Ferrari, the Tifosi were always going to shower him with adulation at Monza. But warmth they heaped on him is reflective of a broader shift in the way Vettel has been perceived since he made the move to the sport’s most legendary team.

Formula One is in love with Vettel again.

Where once his dominance turned off all but the most die-hard followers of the sport – and even they found it wearying – fans are now turning to the German to create upsets in a season dominated by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, ironically, in almost Vettel-esque style.

After four years of title-winning dominance on the trot, put down by many largely to the superiority of the Adrian Newey-designed Red Bull, people relished watching him struggle last year, failing to come to grips with a car designed to radically different regulations than the ones he had spent so many years honing his driving style to make the most of.

But this year Vettel, in a car not quite a match for the Mercedes but capable of taking the fight to the silver cars, is the underdog and fans are rooting for him to take on the established order.

Vettel too has fallen back in love with Formula One. The 28-year-old is a keen enthusiast of the sport’s history. Driving for the most storied name in the sport, joining the pantheon of Ferrari greats and following in his boyhood hero Michael Schumacher’s footsteps seems to have rekindled his passion for Formula One after a year of disillusionment.

“There are a lot of fairy tales about Ferrari and how it feels to drive a red car and so on and I can only confirm all these fairy tales,” Vettel told the team’s website after his first outing in a Formula One Ferrari at Fiorano. “It is a true legend that exists and it feels really, really, special to become part of that.”

“Looking back to the years when I was 11, 12 years old, trying to look over the fence and trying to see a glimpse of Michael running on the track. Today I was on the track and I saw the Tifosi around.”

That he is driving for Ferrari and the circumstances he joined the team in are also major reasons for Vettel’s newfound popularity.

Ferrari is the oldest and most successful team on the grid. It is the only marque that has competed in every season since the Formula One World Championship was formed in 1950 and is very much a part of the fabric of the sport.

But he joined the team at a difficult time, when the downward spiral the Scuderia had seemed locked into over the past few years culminated in the squad’s first winless season in over two decades.

He has very much been cast in the role of Ferrari saviour, the man tasked with returning the Prancing Horse to greatness, a champion fighting the odds, devoted to the pursuit of restoring the lost lustre to a storied name.

It makes for a very engaging storyline.

If he succeeds, his popularity will only soar. It won’t erase the ‘bad-boy’ incidents that have blotted his copybook. But nursing Ferrari back to health, like Schumacher did, would put his claim to greatness beyond dispute.

F1 » Vettel not expecting priority Ferrari status

Sebastian Vettel says his stronger performances in 2015 shouldn't mean he gets preferential treatment from the Ferrari team.

Digsby

IM, Email, and Social Networks in one easy to use application!

http://kvors.com/click/?s=88377&c=89569&subid=21381

Vettel not expecting priority Ferrari status

Sebastian Vettel says it is not worth Ferrari prioritising him over Kimi Raikkonen in the team unless he is in clear contention for the world title. 

The German got the gap down to leader Lewis Hamilton to 42 points following his second win of the season in Hungary, though this has now swelled to 67 points on the back of his failure to score last time out in Belgium.

Despite this, Vettel never felt as though he was a clear contender for the title and unless he is, Ferrari shouldn't 'worry' about channelling its resources to him over the newly re-signed Raikkonen, despite the substantial 78 point gap between them.

“If you make a new part, you do it two times at least, that's the way it has to be. I think if you're racing for the championship and at some point later in the season it is clear that only one car is racing for the championship, then it is clear what you have to do.

“Where we are now, if you look at also the gap that I mentioned, the best thing we can do is to go racing, try to win and worry about ourselves and not look at others too much.”

F1: Lewis Hamilton Takes Pole Position at Belgium GP

Mercedes AMG Petronas was able to get back in the groove with another front-row lockout in qualifying for the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix. Today’s Grand Prix takes place from Spa-Francorchamps and has a start time of 8 a.m. ET, and can be watched online through free live stream via the link below.

It marked Hamilton’s 10th pole from 11 races this season, and with it, an unassailable lead in the race for the pole position trophy – a title which Rosberg won previous year.

With Ricciardo and Perez both pitting for new tyres after eight laps, Rosberg climbed into second place, eight seconds behind team-mate Hamilton, with Sebastian Vettel third for Ferrari.

It sent out an emphatic message to his Mercedes team-mate who left the track on Friday night believing he was “one step ahead” of Hamilton after dominating practice.

Hamilton set a new personal best time of 1m 54.315s on lap 25 to extend his advantage over Rosberg to more than five seconds.

Rosberg, who had led the championship at the same stage previous year, is 21 points behind Hamilton with nine races remaining including Sunday’s. “But as I said coming in to this weekend I want to get those pole positions and translate them in to wins, so hopefully today is the beginning of that”.

He added: “I have been working really hard on the starts to make sure I understood all the facts”. Hamilton ended the qualifying session yesterday in pole, “satisfied” with his performance, but admitted the gap between him and 2nd-placed teammate Nico had been ‘very, very small’.

They said the failure was caused by a puncture created by unidentified external debris.

“The car’s been feeling great on the circuit…”

“The problem is that we don’t really understand it. There are theories, but there is no real evidence”.

“I was never in position where I felt nervous”.

Ferrari suffered a nightmare session with Hungary Grand Prix victor Sebastian Vettel in ninth whileKimi Raikkonen’s auto came to a stop on the edge of the track in Q2.

Instead, Frenchman Romain Grosjean completed the podium for troubled Lotus.

Russian Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat mounted an incredible comeback, ending in fourth place after being in seventh place going into the ultimate laps.

Bottas started third but also messed up his start and then had a drive-thru penalty when his team put the wrong tire on one of the wheels.

The McLaren duo Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button moved up from the back of the grid to take 13th and 14th, after massive starting penalties for engine changes, ahead of Manor pair Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens.

Lewis Hamilton wins in Spa as tyre blowout denies Sebastian Vettel podium

Lewis Hamilton won the Belgian Grand Prix with relative ease as Mercedes took a comfortable one-two victory and left the fighting to its rivals behind.

Drama unfolded behind the top two on the penultimate lap when Sebastian Vettel, who was on a one-stop strategy, suffered a right-rear tyre blowout on the Kemmel Straight. It was the second blowout of the weekend after Rosberg suffered a tyre failure in Friday practice, but it is not yet clear if the two are in any way related. Vettel was attempting to hold off Romain Grosjean's Lotus at the time, who was on a more conventional two-stop strategy and tyres that were eight laps younger. The tyre failure allowed Grosjean and Lotus onto the podium for the first time since the US Grand Prix in 2013, but infuriated Vettel who slumped to 12th as a result.The victory gives Hamilton a 28-point lead in the drivers' standings, enough to retire from the next race and retain the top spot even if Rosberg wins. Hamilton never looked under serious pressure as he executed a perfect two-stop strategy and kept Rosberg, who dropped to fifth at the start, comfortably behind throughout.

At the start, Rosberg made a slow getaway from the front row and was immediately swamped at the first corner as Hamilton led on the run down to Eau Rouge. Sergio Perez made a brilliant start from fourth to second and drew alongside Hamilton as the pair closed on the chicane at Les Combes. Perez had a look around the outside of Hamilton, but backed out as soon as the Mercedes claimed the apex in order to retain second place. Vettel also made a strong start from eighth to move up to fifth by the second lap as Valtteri Bottas lost out and fell to sixth.

The first pit stops occurred on lap seven, shuffling Rosberg up to second, which he would retain for the rest of the race. Bottas' race went from bad to worse at his first pit stop after his team fitted one medium tyre and three softs. The mistake saw the Williams driver penalised with a drive-through penalty from which he never really recovered as he went on to finish ninth.

Rosberg pitted on lap 12 and Hamilton on lap 13, with Rosberg emerging 7.5s behind his team-mate. He started to close the gap, but Hamilton remained unflustered and was able to answer Rosberg's charge when the gap narrowed to four seconds. Grosjean was making moves already as he fashioned two passes at Les Combes, one on Daniel Ricciardo and one on Perez to take third. The gap between the Mercedes drivers remained stable until a virtual safety car (VSC) was deployed on lap 20 when Ricciardo's Red Bull lost power in the final chicane and stopped on the pit straight.

The VSC prompted a flurry of pit stops for Grosjean, Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen, Max Verstappen and Bottas, while Vettel opted to stay out and moved up to third place. The VSC also saw Rosberg close to within 2.2s of Hamilton when the race restarted, but once again Hamilton was equal to the challenge and quickly stretched his lead again.

Ferrari opted to keep Vettel out on his ageing medium tyres until the end of the race in the hope he could retain third place from the drivers on fresher tyres behind. The plan was working until lap 42 when his right rear tyre unravelled and exploded on the Kemmel Straight. The failure instantly brought an end to Vettel's chances, while Grosjean came over the hill at Raidillon to be faced by flailing rubber and a quick promotion to third place.

Outside the top three, Daniil Kvyat resisted the urge to pit under the VSC and instead made his second pit stop six laps later and took on on soft tyres. The decision gave him an advantage against those who had stopped under the VSC and in the final few laps he carved his way through the order to finish fourth.

Perez did well to hold onto fifth ahead of Massa, Raikkonen and Verstappen, who had a shot at seventh on the final lap but ran deep at Les Combes trying to overtake the Ferrari ahead. Bottas and Marcus Ericsson took the final points on offer in ninth and tenth.

Formula 1’s 2015 season team-by-team budgets revealed, Pastor Maldonado lashes out at media

WE all know it costs an absolute bomb to run a Formula 1 team — but the sheer size of some teams’ budgets for the 2015 season alone is almost unfathomable.

That, Pastor Maldonado’s strange tirade and more in Pit Talk.

RED BULL GIVES YOU POCKETS FULL OF CASH

FORMULA 1’s mind-blowing budgets have been published and despite failing to record a Grand Prix win in almost 12 months, Red Bull Racing remains Formula 1’s richest team.

With a budget of €468.7 million ($700m) in 2015, approximately six times that of the Manor Marussia team, Red Bull has only managed to conjure results good enough for fourth in the constructors’ championship.

Red Bull generates more income than any other Formula 1 team.Source: Getty Images

Mercedes currently runs from the second largest cash pool with its 2015 budget a cool €467.4m ($698m) while surprisingly McLaren comes in third with €465m ($695m) in its coffers this season.

Such budgets dwarf those of other teams including Williams (€186.4m/$252m), Lotus (€139.1m/$208m) and Manor Marussia (€83m/$124m).

When the budgets are broken down, Red Bull’s income of €266m ($397m) from sponsors eclipses all of its rivals, while McLaren receives the greatest contribution from partners of €216.5m ($324m).

Ferrari has been granted the largest slice of the broadcast rights pie this year, receiving €175m ($262m) for its global appeal.

Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo justified some of Red Bulls’ high cash flow with a second and third placing respectively in Hungary.Source: Getty Images

PRICKLY PASTOR SHOOTS FROM THE HIP

COME off it, Pastor.

In a desperate attempt to fight his ‘Crashtor’ nickname, Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado has blamed the Formula 1 media for his bad reputation.

His position as the sport’s most powerful pay driver means he is unlikely to escape criticism from fans and journalists for his crash-prone driving — but that’s no excuse for the constant tirade of criticism according to the man himself.

“In F1 these days it is not easy for find news,” Maldonado told Brazil’s Globo.

“It is practically always the same drivers in first and second positions. Third as well. It’s not like 10, 15 years ago when there were more battles and therefore more news.

Pastor Maldonado makes his dash from the scene of the crime.Source: Getty Images

“So it means the journalists are seeking news where there is none.”

On his controversial arrival in the sport, Maldonado said: “At first it was a huge pressure being this ‘pay driver,’ but I’ve learned to live with it because it is not just any driver who can win an F1 race without having the best car.

“Today, I still feel undervalued in F1, but only because I have not had a car that allows me to show my talent.

“There are drivers who do not deserve to be in F1, but I believe that I have demonstrated — clearly — that I deserve to have a long career.”

For good measure, Maldonado also stated that “With a car like that (Mercedes) I would have the chance to fight for victory every race weekend. I’m completely sure about that.”

Maldonado’s record at the Australian Grand Prix is zero from five completed races.Source: Getty Images

DAN BRINGS IT HOME

DANIEL Ricciardo is bringing Formula 1 to Perth.

The Red Bull driver, who hails from the Western Australia capital, will drive the RB7 car that Sebastian Vettel steered to the 2011 world championship in the Perth Speed Fest in December.

A host of Australian motorsport stars including 1980 world champion Alan Jones, V8 pilot Will Davison and MotoGP young gun Jack Miller will also be in attendance — but it is Ricciardo’s presence that will set tongues wagging.

“To see our local hero Daniel Ricciardo in an F1 car racing in Perth, as well as racing and demonstrations of motocross, rallying, bikes, drags and V8s — alongside a huge showcase of historic, classic and majestic cars — will be exciting,” event producer Emma Stenhouse said.

Daniel Ricciardo downs a swig of champagne after his third place finish in Hungary.Source: Getty Images

CAN’T WE ALL BE FRIENDS?

SEBASTIAN Vettel is upset that modern drivers don’t get along like the good old days.

The Ferrari ace, who has been criticised by F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone for his introverted personality, believes the new era of professionalism has restricted the opportunity for drivers to socialise away from the track.

“It is different times today than it was 30 or 40 years ago, when you had a lot of things happening which naturally puts the group together,” Vettel told motorsport.com..

“Now everyone has their own life much more, looking at how busy we are at the track.

“If you look at everyone’s agenda there is not much time to hang out, everyone puts their own interest before everything else. It is sad.”

Sebastian Vettel has a healthy relationship with teammate Kimi Raikkonen.Source: Getty Images

One man Vettel does get along with is teammate Kimi Raikkonen — a far cry from his tense relationship with former Red Bull colleague Mark Webber.

But with Raikkonen’s position under threat, Vettel has urged his employers to prioritise morale when deciding on its driver line-up for 2016.

“Whatever happens I think it’s important we keep the morale, the atmosphere as a team and we keep working in one direction because I think ultimately that’s what allows us to become strong again and be back on top which is all our dream,” he told crash.net.

Vettel’s relationship with Mark Webber wasn’t always smooth sailing.Source: Getty Images

GUTIERREZ IN POLE POSITION

FORMER Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez is in pole position to secure a return to Formula 1 with the new Haas team in 2016.

Team boss Gene Haas has narrowed down his shortlist of driver targets to five, with Gutierrez’s sponsorship agreement with Mexican telecommunications firm Claro believed to have given him a foot in the door.

“He’s a Ferrari reserve driver, so Ferrari would be interested in seeing how he does and it kind of helps both parties,” Haas said.

“We get a driver who Ferrari thinks has a lot of potential and we can see how he does too.”

While the identities of all five drivers are not yet known, it is believed Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg is also a high priority target for Haas.

Esteban Gutierrez lost his drive at Sauber after the 2014 season.Source: Getty Images

LEGEND RETURNS

JACQUES Villeneuve is set to return to fulltime open wheel racing for the first time since quitting Formula 1 a decade ago in next season’s Formula E championship.

The 1997 world champion has signed on with the Venturi team for the 2015/16 season, replacing another ex-F1 pilot Nick Heidfeld.

“This is the first time in several years that I will participate in a full championship. I am excited because the atmosphere while working alongside the Venturi team is great and that has a very big influence. Also I know Stephane Sarrazin well, we trust each other,” Villeneuve said.

“It had been 10 years since I had driven on that kind of track with a single-seater, but it’s like riding a bike, you never forget. It was real happiness,” he added.