Youngest-ever champion Alonso crowned

Fernando Alonso has become the youngest ever Formula One World Driver’s Champion at the age of 24. He finished third in the Brazilian Grand Prix behind McLaren duo Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen to put the title beyond Raikkonen’s reach with two races remaining.
Alonso, the 27th different champion in the 56 years of the [...]

A1GP: Brazil to the max at Brands Hatch

Nelson Piquet Jnr won both A1GP rounds at the series’ inaugural double-header at Brands Hatch. He also set fastest race lap to give the Brazilian team a maximum haul of 21 points after two rounds.
Although the first ’sprint’ race did not live up to the hype of close racing and lots of overtaking, the second [...]

Brazilian Grand Prix 2005 Media Review

Before launching into this week’s media review, let us pause briefly to reflect on the magnitude of Fernando Alonso’s achievement: the youngest F1 champion ever, at just 24 years old, and the first from his country. A shame so few newspapers also paused to do him adequate justice.
Unsurprisingly, the divide between the quality Formula One [...]

Japanese Grand Prix 2005 Preview

The Japanese Grand Prix may not decide the drivers’ championship this year, but it has done on many past occasions. Even without the thrill of the showdown the challenging Suzuka circuit is an exceptional venue, which is more than can be said for its rumoured replacement in Fuji.
Fernando Alonso may be on a post-championship high [...]

Brazilian Grand Prix 2005 Review

Fernando Alonso became the sport’s youngest ever World Drivers’ Champion by scoring his 13th podium in 17 races at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Interlagos. Rival Kimi Raikkonen could only finish second behind team mate Juan Pablo Montoya.
In the end, the driver’s championship worked out just as everyone expected it to: Raikkonen just had too [...]

2005: Highs and lows

It was a topsy-turvy season, when political unrest spilled out onto the race tracks, teams were bought and sold like stocks and shares, and the form book was turned on its head. We recall the moments that made 2005 - for the right and wrong reasons.
Lows
The United States Grand Prix
Reams and reams have already been [...]

2006 Driver line-up latest

With Jenson Button confirmed at BAR for next year, the 2006 driver market has almost completely fallen into shape. The next major slot to be filled is the second Williams-Cosworth seat alongisde Mark Webber. Williams third driver Antonio Pizzonia is hotly tipped, although his poor working relationship with Webber at Jaguar in 2003 and recent [...]

Has FIA-AMD alliance scuppered McLaren & Toyota Intel deals?

Andrew Murray-Watson in the Sunday Telegraph wrote yesterday that McLaren’s remoured USD$50m deal with Intel has been thrown into jeapordy by the FIA’s recently announced ’strategic partnership’ with Intel rival AMD (article). A similar, smaller deal between Toyota and Intel may also now be off the table.
McLaren and Toyota, as non-tobacco teams, may already be [...]

BAR in Button buy-out

BAR have bought Jenson Button out of his 2006 Williams contract for an undisclosed sum and signed him to a mutli-year contract worth £10m according to Autosport (subscription required).
The news has immediate and dramatic ramifications for the 2006 driver market:

BAR have one of the strongest line-ups for 2006 with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello
Takuma Sato [...]

British Motorsport shocked by death of Park

The British motorsport community has been shocked by the death of World Rally Championship co-driver Michael Park, partner to Estonian Peugeot driver Markko Martin. Park was killed on the third day of the British round of the WRC.
Park’s death is the first fatality for a WRC competitor since 1993. Formula One’s last driver death was [...]