Squire's First Release

Ever wondered what a Formula 1 driver does, when they're not busy racing, testing, or entertaining sponsors?

Well Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari has an alter-ego, Squire, a house DJ with a number one selling single (admittedly in his home Country of Spain).

Check out Jaime Alguersuari Presents Squire - Organic Life below - good video too!



Buy the album from iTunes

2011 Predictions - Round 11, Hungary

Just one week since the German Grand Prix which signalled the half way point in the 2011 season, Formula 1 visits the Hungaroring circuit in Budapest, Hungary.

Germany didn't prove very fruitful for the Formula 1 Results Predictor, which did not manage one correct prediction! Considering that it only acheived one prediction at Silverstone, a definite improvement will be required this weekend! To see for yourself how badly the F1RP did last time, click here.


For this race, we are pleased to introduce as our Guest Predictor, Ewan Marshall. Ewan writes for GPFocus.com, and has appeared as a guest writer for FinalSector Magazine. I have reliably been informed that Ewan is no relation to Gary Marshall, who was our Guest Predictor a couple of weeks ago!

GPFocus.com is a site with news, blogs and information - and they also run their own podcast!

You can also follow Ewan on Twitter @EwanMarshall

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Guest Predictions - Round 11, Hungary

1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing
2. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
3. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren
4. Mark Webber - Red Bull Racing
5. Jenson Button - McLaren
6. Felipe Massa - Ferrari
7. Vitaly Petrov - Renault
8. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
9. Sergio Perez - Sauber
10. Nick Heidfeld - Renault
11. Michael Schumacher - Mercedes
12. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber
13. Adrian Sutil - Force India
14. Paul di Resta - Force India
15. Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso
16. Rubens Barrichello - Williams
17. Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso
18. Pastor Maldonado - Williams
19. Jarno Trulli - Team Lotus
20. Heikki Kovalainen - Team Lotus
21. Timo Glock - Virgin
22. Jerome D'Ambrosio - Virgin
23. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Hispania
24. Daniel Ricciardo - Hispania

Ewan has suggested that we may once again see three different teams on the podium. He is also expecting a return to form of the Renault team.

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F1RP Prediction - Round 11, Hungary

1. Mark Webber - Red Bull Racing
2. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing
3. Felipe Massa - Ferrari
4. Jenson Button - McLaren
5. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
6. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren
7. Vitaly Petrov - Renault
8. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber
9. Nick Heidfeld - Renault
10. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
11. Sergio Perez - Sauber
12. Michael Schumacher - Mercedes
13. Rubens Barrichello - Williams
14. Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso
15. Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso
16. Adrian Sutil - Force India
17. Pastor Maldonado - Williams
18. Paul di Resta - Force India
19. Heikki Kovalainen - Team Lotus
20. Timo Glock - Virgin
21. Jarno Trulli - Team Lotus
22. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Hispania
23. Daniel Ricciardo - Hispania
24. Jerome D'Ambrosio - Virgin

Although Red Bull seemed to struggle last weekend, the Formula 1 Results Predictor is expecting this to just be a small blip. It is also expecting strong performances from Felipe Massa and the Renault team.

Both Ewan and the F1RP agree on the positioning of Vitaly Petrov (7th) and Jaime Alguersuari (15th).

If you would like to make some predictions, feel free to do so by commenting below!

Buemi's Qualifying Times Void

Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Buemi has been disqualified from Saturday's qualifying session due to a fuel irregularity.

Buemi, who had qualified 16th, one place ahead of his team mate Jaime Alguersuari, was disqualified from the session following standard post-race checks.

The Swiss driver will be able to compete in Sunday's Grand Prix, but will start from the back of the grid.

An FIA statement read: "The stewards, having received a report from the FIA Technical Delegate that the fuel sample taken after Qualifying from Car 18 showed an increase in one given GC (gas chromatography) Peak Area of an absolute amount greater than 0.1 per cent for the component present at a concentration below 0.8 per cent, and having heard from the FIA Formula One Analytical Chemist and the Team Representatives and examined the fuel test graphs, determine this to be a breach of Article 19.8.3 of the 2011 FIA Formula One Technical Regulations and decide to impose a penalty of exclusion of Car 18 from the results of Qualifying."

Toro Rosso confirmed that Buemi had been struggling with fuel pump issues all weekend: "During Friday's FP1, Buemi's car had a fuel pressure problem, which then got worse at the start of FP2 which is why he did not do a timed lap in that session," Toro Rosso said in a statement on Saturday evening.

"After FP2 the entire fuel system on his car was changed. When the fuel sample was taken from his car after qualifying, it did not match the one provided to the FIA prior to the start of the season.

"The team believes that some part of the new fuel system contained a chemical that contaminated the fuel and caused the non-conformity."

For more details on this story, visit www.autosport.com

European Grand Prix - 26 June 2011

After recording the longest ever Formula 1 Grand Prix last time out in Canada, new records were broken at today's race in Valencia, Spain.

All 24 cars finished the Grand Prix, only a handful of times in the sport's history have all cars made it to the end of race, the last time being USA 2005, where all six starters managed to finish!
There have also never been 24 cars finish a race - not even in the '90's when 26 cars participated. Narain Karthikeyan took the dubious honour of the lowest ever clasification of 24th. The previous record is 23rd, acheived at the 2011 Chinese Grand Prix by, err, Narain Karthikeyan.
Another interesting fact is that the only non-scheduled pit stop in the race was Michael Schumacher's after he dislodged his front wing after a small tangle with Vitaly Petrov who was exiting the pits.

The race was certainly not the most exciting of the year, with few overtakes, and the usual suspects leading the field.

Was it therefore easy to predict? We asked Pat from I Watch Too Much Racing to have a go at predicting the results.

Provisional Race Results:

1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - Pat's (TMR) Prediction 1st - F1RP Prediction 2nd
2. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - TMR 2nd - F1RP 5th
3. Mark Webber - Red Bull - TMR 3rd - F1RP 4th
4. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - TMR 5th - F1RP 1st
5. Felipe Massa - Ferrari - TMR 7th - F1RP 9th
6. Jenson Button - McLaren - TMR 4th - F1RP 3rd
7. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - TMR 6th - F1RP 8th
8. Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso - TMR 22nd - F1RP 16th
9. Adrian Sutil - Force India - TMR 24th - F1RP 15th
10. Nick Heidfeld - Renault - TMR 12th - F1RP 10th
11. Sergio Perez - Sauber - TMR 13th - F1RP 13th
12. Rubens Barrichello - Williams - TMR 14th - F1RP 6th
13. Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso - TMR 15th - F1RP 12th
14. Paul di Resta - Force India - TMR 10th - F1RP 17th
15. Vitaly Petrov - Renault - TMR 8th - F1RP 11th
16. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber - TMR 11th - F1RP 7th
17. Michael Schumacher - Mercedes - TMR 9th - F1RP 14th
18. Pastor Maldonado - Williams - TMR 23rd - F1RP 18th
19. Heikki Kovalainen - Team Lotus - TMR 16th - F1RP 19th
20. Jarno Trulli - Team Lotus - TMR 17th - F1RP 20th
21. Timo Glock - Virgin - TMR 18th - F1RP 21st
22. Jerome D'Ambrosio - Virgin - TMR 21st - F1RP 23rd
23. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Hispania - TMR 19th - F1RP 22nd
24. Narain Karthikeyan - Hispania - TMR 20th - F1RP 24th

First of all many thanks to Pat for taking part this week - hope it was fun!

It looks like Pat was closer to the correct position than the Formula 1 Results Predictor overall, but the F1RP got more correct predictions - six in total - which I believe is our best ever result!

The F1RP has not yet managed to predict the podium, yet Pat managed to on the first attempt! Good work!

Finally, the joint Performer Of The Day - based on both the F1RP and Pat's predictions - goes to both Jaime Alguersuari and Adrian Sutil.

For more information on the race, visit www.formula1.com

Visit Pat's website toomuchracing.com and follow him on Twitter @toomuchracing

Alguersuari's Career Saving Drive

Scuderia Toro Rosso, the sister team of current World Champions Red Bull, are well known for not appreciating poor performances.

The team replaced the struggling Minardi team for the 2006 season, with the apparent intention of being a feeder team for primary Red Bull Racing outfit.
However, only one driver, the reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel, has made the jump from STR to RBR.

The team have had seven different drivers in their six years in the sport, and are not afraid of replacing an under-performing driver mid-season.

Toro Rosso recently announced that an Abu Dhabi based investment firm have bought a stake in the team, and with rumours circulating that the team may be for sale, this stake may turn into an outright purchase of the team in the near future.
Often when changes are made behind the scenes of a sports team, changes are made on the surface, as the new shareholders want to make their mark.

Are the STR drivers ready, if needed, to make the move up to RBR? Are they ready to win races?
Sebastien Buemi is now in his third season with the Italian team. His best result is 7th place, which he has acheived twice, both times during the 2009 season.
Jaime Alguersuari is in his second full season (having replaced Sebastien Bourdais midway through the 2009 campaign). Alguersuari's best result is 8th, which he has acheived only once - at the Canadian Grand Prix yesterday.

Swiss driver Buemi, however, has scored points in four of the seven races so far this season. The young Spaniard Alguersuari, on the other hand, has only finished in the top 10 once this year.

Alguersuari, despite participating in over 30 Formula 1 Grand Prix, is still the youngest driver in the field. Whether this will be considered in his advantage if STR do reconsider their driver line-up, only time will tell.

The following is a comparison between the performances of the two Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers who have been replaced mid season, with the performances of the two current drivers:

Scott Speed (2007): Ret / 14 / Ret / Ret / 9 / Ret / 13 / Ret / Ret / Ret
Sebastien Bourdais (2009): 8 / 10 / 11 / 13 / Ret / 8 / 18 / Ret / Ret
Sebastien Buemi (2011): 8 / 13 / 14 / 9 / 14 / 10 / 10
Jaime Alguersuari (2011): 11 / 14 / Ret / 16 / 16 / Ret / 8

It is clear that Speed struggled with retirements during his final season with the team. Bourdais, however, managed some reasonable results before being replaced.
Of course, there may have been additional factors leading to a driver leaving a team, other than just results.

Based on these results, if the team did wish to make alterations to their driving arrangements, Alguersuari would appear to be the driver most likely to be cut. However, his strong performance in Canada is sure to have bought him a bit more time.

Drivers Spared Barcelona Penalties

It has emerged in the wake of the Spanish Grand Prix that several drivers were reprimanded for not slowing sufficiently under yellow flag conditions.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, Red Bull's Mark Webber and Toro Rosso's home favourite Jaime Alguersuari all failed to slow sufficiently after Team Lotus' Heikki Kovalainen ran wide and crashed.

The divers were spared penalties, which has angered some critics, who claim that the penalties awarded by the FIA do not appear to always be consistent.

For more on this story, visit uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

Chinese Grand Prix - 17 April 2011

Another early start this morning, with the third round of the 2011 Formula One World Championship.

The drama started before the warm-up lap even began, as Lewis Hamilton's McLaren failed to start in the garage. The mechanics frantically set to work removing the engine cover and air box, as it appeared the engine had been flooded. It was a race against time to get the car running, and Hamilton eventually took to the track, less than a minute before the deadline. Any later, and he would have had to start the race from the pitlane.

As the lights went green, pole-setter Sebastian Vettel got an uncharacteristically slow start, being passed by the McLaren's of Jenson Button and then Hamilton, and almost lost another position to Nico Rosberg's Mercedes.

Vettel managed to overtake Button in the first round of pitstops. As Button led the German into the pitlane, he mistakenly drove into Vettel's pit box which was situated directly before his own. The confusion didn't lose the Briton much time, but it was just enough for Vettel to get the jump on him.

Vettel's team mate Mark Webber, who had started in 18th after a poor qualifying session, started the race on the prime (hard compound) tyres. He didn't make as much ground as expected due to a lack of KERS once again, and at one point dropped as low as 20th. However, as he hadn't used any option (soft compound) tyres, he had three brand new sets in his garage. Eventually, once he had pitted and switched to the options, he started to feel more comfortable with the car and began to move up the order.

There was only one retirement in this race; the youngest driver on the grid, Jaime Alguersuari, had recorded his personal best qualifying result - 7th - but didn't get a great start and lost a few positions. Leaving the pits with a fresh set of tyres, it soon became clear his right-rear tyre was not properly attached, and it came off completely shortly afterwards. The Spaniard was unable to return to the pits and had to retire.

As the race entered the final stages, the drivers with fresher tyres began to gain a significant advantage. Vettel, who had regained the lead thanks to a two-stop strategy, began to lose time to those chasing him. Button, in fourth place, was at one point catching the leader by as much as three seconds a lap. Hamilton drove supremely well in the second half of the race, passing his team mate, Nico Rosberg and then, eventually, the leader Vettel.

Webber was continuing to move well up through the field, and managed to catch Button who was holding the final podium position. Using the DRS to the best of his advantage, Webber was able to catch and pass Button, meaning he had gained a highly impressive 15 places since the start!

This result shows that the pairing of Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull are not unbeatable, which is good news for the rival drivers and teams, and should make for a more exciting season.

Provisional race results:

1. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - Prediction 3rd
2. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - Prediction 1st
3. Mark Webber - Red Bull - Prediction 4th
4. Jenson Button - McLaren - Prediction 2nd
5. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - Prediction 11th
6. Felipe Massa - Ferrari - Prediction 7th
7. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - Prediction 5th
8. Michael Schumacher - Mercedes - Prediction 13th
9. Vitaly Petrov - Lotus-Renault - Prediction 6th
10. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber - Prediction 10th
11. Paul di Resta - Force India - Prediction 18th
12. Nick Heidfeld - Lotus-Renault - Prediction 8th
13. Rubens Barrichello - Williams - Prediction 9th
14. Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso - Prediction 12th
15. Adrian Sutil - Force India - Prediction 14th
16. Heikki Kovalainen - Team Lotus - Prediction 19th
17. Sergio Perez - Sauber - Prediction 15th
18. Pastor Maldonado - Williams - Prediction 17th
19. Jarno Trulli - Team Lotus - Prediction 21st
20. Jerome D'Ambrosio - Virgin - Prediction 22nd
21. Timo Glock - Virgin - Prediction 20th
22. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Hispania - Prediction 23rd
23. Narain Karthikeyan - Hispania - Prediction 24th
DNF Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso - Prediction 16th

A bit of a mixed result for the Formula One Results Predictor. Not too many results were spot on, but most results were there or thereabouts. It appears to have been the surprisingly strong showing from Mercedes GP which made the difference!

Buemi Explains Penalty

Sebastien Buemi received a 10 second stop-and-go penalty during the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday for exceeding the pit lane speed limit.

The Swiss driver explained after the race that he thought the speed limiter in his Toro Rosso had not activated, and so pressed the button again, inadvertently disabling it.

Usually, speeding in the pit lane will be penalised by a drive-through penalty rather than a stop-and-go, but the decision was probably made due the driver exceeding the 100kph speed limit by as much as 20kph. A decision Buemi described as "a bit severe".

Had it not been for the penalty, Buemi would probably have been challenging for points at the end of the race, but instead he came home in 13th place, one position ahead of his team mate Jaime Alguesuari.

For more on this story, visit www.f1fanatic.co.uk

2011 Preview: The 'Bottom Half' Teams

Part two of our 2011 preview focuses on the bottom three of the established teams.

Admittedly all of these teams have only existed in their current guises for a few years, and have had much to learn in a short space of time, but all of them will be looking to improve and try and break into the top half of the table.

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The first team to consider is Scuderia Toro Rosso. Classified ninth in 2010, this Ferrari-powered team are regarded as the feeder team for current World Champions, Red Bull Racing (Toro Rosso is Italian for Red Bull). The team have had success in the past - they were very quick in their first season, as they were the only team allowed to run V10 engines as part of an agreement made between the FIA and the struggling Minardi team, who Toro Rosso replaced.
The cars were initially designed by master Red Bull designer Adrian Newey, but legislation introduced for the 2010 season has meant that the teams must be separated, and Newey no longer has direct input into the building of the car.
It is worth remembering, however, that Toro Rosso acheived their first Grand Prix victory before Red Bull did, courtesy of a faultless Sebastian Vettel drive in Monza, 2008.

The team's number one is the young Swiss driver, Sebastien Buemi. Buemi acheived the team's highest position in 2010, eighth place in the Canadian Grand Prix, although as the season progressed, his performances began to be matched by his less experienced team mate, Alguersuari.

2010 was Jaime Alguersuari's first full season, after replacing Sebastien Bourdais part-way through 2009. The keen DJ (who is due to release a single later in the year) did not have the greatest introduction to Formula One, suffering several accidents - although this is not overly surprising, as due to the restrictions on mid-season testing, Alguersuari entered his first race weekend with virtually no prior experience of the car.
He showed visible signs of improvement in 2010 as the season progressed.

Both Buemi and Alguersuari must continue to improve during 2011, as the team have previously shown that they are not adverse to replacing drivers mid-season, with replacement Daniel Ricciardo having already proven in an earlier winter test that he is a very capable driver.
The 2011 car does look very competitive, with Lewis Hamilton commenting following one pre-season test "the Toro Rosso looks ridiculously fast".

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The second team to assess is the Sauber F1 Team. Finishing eight last season, this team, like Toro Rosso, are also powered by Ferrari engines.
The team was branded as BMW Sauber for the 2009 season, but because BMW withdrew from the sport very shortly before the commencement of the 2010 season, it was too late for the team to formerly change their name. Therefore they also ran in 2010 as BMW Sauber Ferrari, despite BMW having nothing to do with the team.

Sauber's first driver is the very exciting Kamui Kobayashi. The young Japanese driver made his first appearance in a Formula One car as a replacement for Toyota's injured Timo Glock for the final few races of the 2009 season. Kobayashi quickly gained lots of attention due to his very aggressive driving style and apparent lack of fear, as he overtook several much more experience drivers and refused to yield to anyone! Kobayashi will be the least experienced number one driver on the grid this season, so he will have to support his rookie team mate whilst still learning himself.

Sergio Perez is the team's new recruit. The Mexican driver is known to have brought sponsorship with him from his home Country, including famous tequila brand Jose Cuervo, but Perez will want to show that he has the talent to establish a long career in the sport.

Sauber have confirmed that their cars in Australia will feature a message of support for the Japanese people, following the Country's devastating events of recent weeks.

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Finally, Force India. Finishing seventh last season, eventually losing a hard-fought battle with the Williams team for sixth place, it is easy to forget that 2011 will be only the Mercedes-Benz engined team's fourth season in the sport.
The previous three seasons have seen mixed fortunes for the Silverstone-based team, with the highlight surely being Giancarlo Fisichella's magnificent pole position at Spa-Francorchamps in 2009.
The team will certainly be looking to improve and acheive a top six finish this season.

The team's number one driver, Adrian Sutil, has driven for the team in all of their seasons in Formula One. Rumours emerged during the 2010 season that the German driver was looking to move away from the team, but despite this he has been re-signed for 2011.
2010 also saw Sutil's relationship with team mate Vitantonio Liuzzi stretched, with the pair seemingly unable to see eye-to-eye on occassions, including near-misses and holding each other up on qualifying laps.
It will be interesting to see how Sutil copes with his new team mate, who has looked quick in pre-season testing.
Sutil, however, has admitted that the team seem to lack pace compared to some of their rivals, and may face a struggle at the beginning of the season.

Force India's second driver for the new season is another rookie, Scotland's Paul di Resta, who spent last season as a test driver for the team, but also participated in - and won - the DTM Championship.
Di Resta (cousin of star United States-based drivers Dario and Marino Franchitti) talks a good talk, and is happy to remind Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel that he has beaten them both in the past in lower formulas. Whether this ability will be shown in 2011 will remain to be seen, but Di Resta's initial aim will be try to match the pace of his experienced team mate.

Like Toro Rosso, Force India have a proven test driver in the form of Nico Hulkenberg, who qualified on pole in the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix for Williams.

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It will be interesting to see whether any of these teams can break into the top six this season. Especially considering the three new teams behind them look to be slowly reeling in the rest of the field.

Testing Day 2 & News

Day two of Barcelona testing saw a similar result to the previous test, with Vettel once again the fastest.

Alguersuari was second fastest, with Alonso third, however they were within a second of the reigning World Champion, unlike Friday's times.

In other news, Michael Schumacher has said that he believes his Mercedes team can win a race, but he doubts they have enough for the Championship.

Legendary Formula One star Nikki Lauda has voiced his concerns regarding the Bahrain Grand Prix, saying that democracy should come before sport.

For more, see www.autosport.com www.bbc.co.uk/sport and www.bild.de

Barcelona Test

The first day of the Barcelona test took place yesterday, and Red Bull seem to be re-asserting their dominance.

Sebastian Vettel's best time was over 1.1 seconds quicker than second place Alonso's, even though Sebastian has done far less testing laps.

Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari was third quickest.

For more, see www.autosport.com