Monaco Grand Prix 2011 – Race Report

Sebastian Vettel took his first Monaco victory around the streets of the principality in an incident-filled race. The German narrowly led fellow champions Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button in the closing stages, both of whom were running on newer tyres, when a multi-car collision triggered a race stoppage with six laps to go. The race was eventually resumed and Red Bull's number one held on to take his fifth win in six races.

Vettel came out on top in an interrupted final qualifying session on Saturday as Sauber's Sergio Perez suffered a high-speed encounter with the barriers at the Nouvelle Chicane. The accident delayed the session by a half an hour, by which point Vettel comfortably held pole from Button, his own teammate Mark Webber and Alonso. Lewis Hamilton looked the only man capable of denying Vettel pole position when the session got underway once more, but his only time, which was only good enough for seventh place, was erased as he cut the chicane while setting it. This dropped the frustrated Brit to ninth on the grid.

As the race began, Vettel and Button both made clean getaways to hold their positions, whilst Alonso made another good start to leap ahead of Webber for third place in the run to St. Devote. Behind, Michael Schumacher had a horrific start in his Mercedes, dropping him to tenth behind Hamilton. The seven-time champion then made light contact with the back of the McLaren, damaging the front wing of his Mercedes, through St. Devote before proceeding to thunder back past Hamilton later round the first tour at the unlikely location of the Loews hairpin.

It wasn't long however before both Mercedes began to exhibit signs of tyre wear - Schumacher was clearly holding up Hamilton while Rosberg, who had climbed from seventh to fifth at the start, was holding up Massa's Ferrari, the impressive Pastor Maldonado's Williams and Vitaly Petrov's Renault. Hamilton overtook Schumacher at St. Devote on lap 10 with the help of the DRS, before Rubens Barrichello too made a bold move on his former teammate at Mirabeau Haute to take tenth two laps later. Schumacher then pitted on lap 13 for fresh tyres and a new nose, dropping him to a lowly 21^st.

With a much faster car beneath him, Hamilton quickly caught up to the back of Rosberg 'train', and on lap 14, Massa and Maldonado both forced their way past the struggling German at Tabac corner. The ailing Mercedes driver pitted two laps later, dropping him behind his teammate. On the same lap, Button, running second but unable to keep pace with race leader Vettel, made his first pit stop, crucially deciding to do another stint on the super-soft tyres. Vettel and Alonso both pitted for softs in that order in the next two laps, but a radio problem actually resulted in the Red Bull mechanics equipping Vettel with the wrong compound of tyres. It was a mistake however that transpired to gift the race to the championship leader.

The confusion in the Red Bull pit garage also cost Webber time when he made his switch of tyres on the same lap as his teammate, but he was able to remain ahead of Massa and Hamilton, who made their stops later on laps 27 and 23 respectively. Maldonado and Petrov both dropped behind Hamilton, but remained well ahead of Rosberg, who was mired in traffic after his early stop. With some cars ahead not yet having stopped though, Webber, Massa and Hamilton remained nose-to-tail, unable to pass Sebastien Buemi's yet-to-stop Toro Rosso.

After being held up by Massa for several laps, Hamilton attempted a clumsy move on lap 34 at the Loews hairpin which resulted in contact being made as the Ferrari pilot took his usual line. Hamilton, however, remained side-by-side with his erstwhile championship rival to make a pass at the right hander of Portier, which saw the pair run abreast through the tunnel section. Massa then found himself in the marbles, lost control of the scarlet car and clouted the barriers with some force, giving the Safety Car its first appearance of the season.

Button came in for his second pit-stop just before the Safety Car appeared, taking another set of super-softs, whilst Alonso also stopped just after, again for softs. This meant Vettel assumed the lead as he elected not to stop. Behind, Adrian Sutil and Kamui Kobayashi timed their one and only stops to perfection to hold on to fourth and fifth places ahead of Webber, Hamilton, Maldonado and Petrov at the restart. Hamilton would drop two places though as the stewards handed him a drive through penalty for making avoidable contact with Massa.

Vettel, his tyres around thirty laps old by this stage, soon had Button right on his tail who had the benefit of fresh rubber. With Alonso closing on the pair though, Button chose to make another tyre stop on lap 49 to switch to the soft tyres. This moved him behind Alonso, who soon caught up to Vettel, but seemed unable to make a pass. With newer tyres than either of his rivals, Button quickly closed in on the back of Alonso to create a three-way tussle for glory, but he was also unable to get by on the notoriously tight streets of Monaco. With neither Alonso nor Vettel planning on making another stop, Button would now have to overtake both in order to get back into the lead.

The trio ran in formation for several laps before hitting heavy traffic on lap 69. Several laps earlier, Kobayashi made a heavy-handed move on Sutil for fourth place at Mirabeau Haute, ramming the Force India's right-rear wheel as he made his way past. After giving away a further position to Webber, Sutil was then passed by Maldonado at Tabac, forcing the German wide and into some light contact with the wall which gave him a puncture just as the leaders approached behind to lap the gaggle of cars. Sutil consequently missed the apex at the Swimming Pool and the confusion caused the lapped Jaime Alguersauri to launch off the kerbs and collide with Hamilton before plunging into the barriers, collecting the unfortunate Petrov in the process who had also just been overtaken by Hamilton at Tabac.

Alguersauri and Petrov were out on the spot, but Hamilton continued in seventh with a severely buckled rear wing behind the ensuing Safety Car. Vettel continued to lead Alonso and Button, who all safely negotiated the carnage, with Kobayashi fourth, Webber fifth and Maldonado up to an excellent sixth. With Petrov unable to leave the cockpit of his stricken Renault unaided after sustaining some bruising to his legs, the red flags were shown and the race was suspended with 72 of 78 laps complete.

Theoretically, with over three-quarters distance complete, a result could have been declared there and then, but the decision was nonetheless taken to resume the race. Unfortunately for the fans, all the leading runners took the opportunity to change their tyres, Vettel being the primary beneficiary as his were reportedly close to 'falling off the cliff' at the time of the accident. Hamilton's mechanics were also able to miraculously repair his McLaren's rear wing just in time before the race restarted under the Safety Car, which peeled into the pit-lane after one lap.

With brand new rubber, Vettel was able to easily keep Alonso and Button at bay, and the three unsurprisingly finished in that order come the chequered flag. Vettel thus took win number fifteen of his career to draw level with Hamilton in the all-time standings. Kobayashi was unable to hold onto fourth, cutting the Nouvelle Chicane on the penultimate lap as Webber attempted a move, surrendering the place straight after to avoid a penalty. For all that, fifth was still a terrific result: the Japanese driver's best ever finish during his tenure as a Formula One driver.

Maldonado would've scored his richly-deserved maiden points but for an over-exuberant Hamilton who made contact with the Venezuelan in  trying to pass at St. Devote on lap 73, sending the Williams firmly into the wall and into retirement. The irate Brit, who later undertook criticism for joking about being targeted by the stewards for his skin colour, received a 20-second post-race penalty for this incident, but had enough time in hand to stay sixth ahead of Sutil, a rather anonymous Nick Heidfeld for Renault and the sole-remaining Williams of Barrichello who took his team's first points of the season.


Buemi claimed the final point ahead of a struggling Rosberg and Paul Di Resta in the second Force India, who made contact with both Alguersauri and Jerome D'Ambrosio's Virgin at Loews, both occasions earning the Scot a drive-through penalty. The Belgian novice finished behind the two Lotuses of former Monaco winner Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen, but ahead of the Hispania pair of Vitantonio Liuzzi and Narain Karthikeyan. Joining Maldonado, Petrov, Alguersauri and Massa in the list of retirees were Schumacher, who, after struggling to make the ground he lost early on, succumbed to an engine fire just before the first Safety Car, and Timo Glock whose Virgin developed a fault with its suspension.

With Hamilton finishing sixth, Vettel's lead in the championship has now extended to a rather gargantuan 58 points over the McLaren driver, albeit with Webber, Button and Alonso now all within just 16 points of the 2008 champion. Vettel's rivals can take heart in the story of 1976 though: Niki Lauda led the championship by 33 points (87 in today's money) after six rounds, but went on to be deprived of his second consecutive title by James Hunt. 


In two weeks' time, the F1 circus visits the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada, a track where Red Bull and Vettel were somewhat off the pace last year. That will certainly have to be the case again this time around if anyone is to stop their seemingly irresistible romp towards both 2011 titles.

Monaco Grand Prix 2011 – Qualifying Report

Sebastian Vettel will once more line up on pole position for tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix after the final session of the day was interrupted by a heavy crash by Sergio Perez. The young Mexican, in his maiden grand prix weekend at the glamorous Monaco circuit, had a high speed side-on collision with the barriers at the Nouvelle Chicane after losing control of his Sauber in the downhill braking zone. The session was immediately red-flagged as the medical team extracted Perez, who fortunately was reported soon after to be 'conscious and talking'. Although he sustained no major injuries, he will spend the night in hospital and will not race tomorrow.

Q1

The Monaco weekend marks the debut for Pirelli's 'super-soft' tyre compound, which as the name suggests, has even more grip and less durability than the conventional soft tyre. However, degradation had been less pronounced in practice due to the slow cornering speeds of the tight turns at Monaco. During the first qualifying session, most of the top teams didn't feel the need to use the new tyre, with Jenson Button setting the early pace of a 1'17.1 on softs. His McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton managed a time a full eight tenths of a second faster initially, but Button retook the top spot with a 1'16.0, a time not even Vettel could beat for Red Bull on his first attempt, which was three tenths shy. Hamilton then went fastest on a 1'15.9, but the times continued to tumble as Vettel took three tenths out of the Brit, with Button then going two tenths quicker than the reigning champion, and finally Hamilton raising the bar by another two tenths. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, after topping two of the three practice sessions, was strangely off the pace with a 1'16.1, putting him behind the super-soft runners of Nico Rosberg, Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez. Out of the running after Q1 were both Lotuses, Jaime Alguersauri (whose Toro Rosso was impeded by Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber at one stage), both Virgins and the Hispanias, neither of whom ran at all after a huge crash for Vitantonio Liuzzi in practice and mechanical issues for Narain Karthikeyan. The Spanish cars will nonetheless be allowed to race on the strength of their practice times.

Eliminated – Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), Jarno Trulli (Lotus), Jaime Alguersauri (Toro Rosso), Timo Glock (Virgin), Jerome D'Ambrosio (Virgin), Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania), Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania)

Q2

After the times set by the GP2 graduates Maldonado and Perez in Q1, everybody was forced to use the super-soft tyres in Q2, though Felipe Massa attempted a run with his Ferrari on softs in the early stages. Mark Webber set the ball rolling with a 1'15.0 for Red Bull, but both McLarens were able to beat that by some margin; Hamilton by seven tenths and Button by four. Alonso matched the latter's effort to take second, but had the position snatched away by Vettel soon afterwards, who came at first less than a tenth away from Hamilton, and then just two thousandths away on his second go. Button then matched Alonso's time to go third, with Massa slotting in just behind in fifth with a solid 1'14.6. Further down the order, the Renaults both appeared to be struggling for pace as Petrov couldn't quite break into the top ten and Heidfeld languished towards the bottom of the timesheet, along with Sebastien Buemi whose Toro Rosso also seemed to be performing below-par. Maldonado and Perez both embarrassed their more experienced teammates at Williams and Sauber respectively by making the cut at their expense, whilst the Force Indias continued their unspectacular qualifying run, never really looking like Q3 contenders.

Eliminated – Vitaly Petrov (Renault), Rubens Barrichello (Williams), Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), Paul di Resta (Force India), Adrian Sutil (Force India), Nick Heidfeld (Renault), Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso)

Q3

Schumacher was first to stake a claim for pole position with a 1'15.0, but his former Ferrari teammate Massa was able to temporarily beat the five-time Monaco winner's lap by a tenth before the German improved by another two tenths later in the session. Before then though, Button proceeded to improve by another nine tenths, good enough to beat Webber, whose time was two hundreths slower than the Brit's, and Alonso who could only muster a time three tenths behind both Button and Webber. Button was then denied by Vettel, who drove another of his characteristic lightning-quick laps, and on this occasion was four tenths faster than the McLaren pilot to snatch away provisional pole. With that, Hamilton seemed the only man capable of doing something about ending Red Bull's so far 100% pole position record, but Perez's accident interrupted his flying lap and suspended the session for thirty minutes. Proceedings did then resume, but with only two-and-a-half minutes left on the clock, there was only time for Hamilton, as well as Maldonado who also had not yet gone out, to do one flying lap. Hampered by cold tyres and a possible lack of focus after Perez's shunt, Hamilton could do no better than seventh, with Maldonado ninth. Nobody who had already set a time before the red flags was able to improve, leaving Vettel with pole position number twenty of his career.


Edit - Hamilton's Q3 lap was later declared void as he cut a chicane whilst setting it. This means he drops to tenth on the grid (ninth in reality with no Perez) behind Maldonado and Rosberg.


Top Ten – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Jenson Button (McLaren), Mark Webber (Red Bull), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Pastor Maldonado (Williams), Sergio Perez (Sauber, Will not start), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)


My Prediction

The result of the Monaco Grand Prix is likely to boil down to who changes their tyres at the right time, particularly with regards to traffic with overtaking being close to impossible in the tight confines of the Monegasque streets. When it comes to strategy, there's few better than McLaren and Jenson Button, so I have a feeling it may be time for him to take his first win of the season:

1. Button, 2. Vettel, 3. Alonso, 4. Schumacher, 5. Massa, 6. Rosberg, 7. Kobayashi, 8. Maldonado, 9. Petrov, 10. Barrichello.

With Vettel's championship lead so large, I fancy high-profile accidents for the two men most desperate to close the gap: Hamilton and Webber. Mistakes are punished brutally at this circuit, and with Hamilton likely to be pushing extra-hard to make up for a poor qualification, and Webber trying in vain to match the relentless pace of his teammate, both will end up in the barriers. That will leave Alonso to complete the podium ahead of a tightly-bunched Mercedes sandwich with Massa acting as the filling. Sauber's trademark kindness on its tyres will see Kobayashi pick up another clutch of points in seventh, ahead of Maldonado who, along with Barrichello, will ensure the Williams team finally getting their 2011 underway with a well-deserved double points finish.

Even with the effect of DRS and KERS as overtaking aids nullified by the nature of the Monaco circuit, tomorrow's race should still be a fascinating one as the protagonists try to outfox each other with a variety of tyre strategies. Throw in a possible safety car, and the race is wide open. Don't forget to read all about it right here.

Spanish Grand Prix 2011 – Race Report

Sebastian Vettel eclipsed Lewis Hamilton by a mere sixth tenths of a second in an exciting duel to win the Spanish Grand Prix. The pair were in a class of their own, but ultimately the reigning champion was able to just hang on to secure his fourth win in five races. Jenson Button profited from making one less pit stop than his rivals to complete the podium.

In qualifying, Mark Webber was able to bring his Red Bull teammate Vettel's hitherto perfect record to an end to claim his first pole position of the season – with the German's KERS not functioning for the final session of the afternoon, Webber managed to set a time two tenths quicker. Both Red Bulls had around a second in hand from the McLarens of Hamilton and Button, although home favourite Fernando Alonso put in a blinder to split the British cars and line up in fourth.

At the start, both Red Bulls appeared to get away well, as did Hamilton, but none of them were counting on an even better start for Alonso. The Spaniard hugged the inside of the track, and to the crowd's delight, found himself leading the pack as the cars filed round the opening bends. Webber was squeezed out by the scarlet car and was forced to drop to third behind Vettel, whilst Hamilton was in fourth, from the Renault of Vitaly Petrov and a fast starting Michael Schumacher for Mercedes from tenth on the grid. In the meantime, Button made a poor start and plummeted from fifth to tenth, though that soon became ninth when he re-passed Sebastien Buemi on lap 5.

The top four men ran in formation until the first round of pit-stops, with the DRS appearing to have insufficient impact on the speeds down the start/finish straight for any of them to attempt a pass into the first turn. Vettel was the first to head into the pits to change tyres on lap 10, but hit traffic as he resumed in ninth. However, the championship leader made short work of the cars ahead, passing Button, the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg's Mercedes in the space of less than a lap. Predictably though, the time lost was enough to allow Alonso to hang on to the lead as he pitted one lap later.

Things weren't going much better for Webber either, who got stuck behind the same cars as his teammate, dropping a position to Hamilton who stayed out one lap longer. Petrov also gave away positions to Schumacher and Button during the stops, though the Brit made a move on the seven-time champion shortly after their first stops to snatch fifth. Rosberg then passed Petrov to wrest eighth position away from the Russian, seeming to show further evidence of Renault having perhaps been surpassed by Mercedes in the pecking order.

Vettel was once again the first man to come into the pits for the second phase of stops on lap 18, and this time emerged from the pit-lane in clear air, which allowed him to press home the speed advantage of the Red Bull. Alonso pitted one lap later, but the pit-work of the Ferrari crew wasn't enough to keep their number one driver in the lead. Indeed, Hamilton's pace was such that once he temporarily took first, he slotted back in between Vettel and Alonso after his stop, made on lap 24. Thus, the new order became Vettel from Hamilton, Alonso, Webber and Button.

It was at this stage of the race that it became a two-horse race between the champions of 2010 and 2008. For all the screams of the adoring fans, Alonso simply didn't have the speed to keep up with either Vettel or Hamilton, and gradually fell back into the clutches of Webber. The Australian quickly zeroed in on his former Formula 3000 rival, but like at the beginning of the race, the DRS wasn't enough for Webber to make a pass. He wasn't helped by a reported KERS problem either, which so far this season would seem to be the dominant Red Bull team's Achilles' heel.

Alonso and Webber made their third stops simultaneously on lap 30, both men interestingly making an early switch to the hard tyres. In similar fashion to Turkey, the Ferrari mechanics released their driver into the path of another, but since there was no contact, once more no punishment was applied. As such, Webber remained frustrated behind the slower Alonso, though he did attempt a move into turn 10 on lap 34 which failed to stick. This allowed Button, yet to make his third stop, to close in on both of them, and the Brit, on relatively fresh soft tyres, easily deprived Webber and Alonso on turns 1 and 11 respectively on lap 36.

Four laps later, Alonso made a surprisingly early fourth and final stop of the race, leaving himself a full 26 laps to complete the race on a set of hard tyres. Webber didn't come into the pits until lap 48, by which time he had built a comfortable cushion to retain fourth when he resumed from his stop. At the front, the gap between Vettel and Hamilton after their third stops was down to less than two seconds after a temporary loss of KERS on the Red Bull, and the duo made their final stops in that order on laps 49 and 50. Vettel continued to lead by less than a second from Hamilton, but the McLaren ace couldn't get quite close enough to attempt a pass.

In spite of the very best efforts from Hamilton, Vettel hung on to take his fourteenth career victory by just sixth tenths ahead of his closest championship rival, drawing level with such illustrious names as Jack Brabham, Graham Hill and Emerson Fittipaldi in the all-time rankings. Button was able to keep a faster Webber at bay to take the final podium position, leaving Alonso a lapped fifth place after such an electrifying start. Schumacher posted his best result of the season so far with sixth, incidentally beating his teammate Rosberg for the first time this year as well.

Nick Heidfeld finished close behind the pair of silver cars after a storming drive from the back of the grid. After a cracked exhaust in Saturday practice led to his Renault spectacularly igniting, the experienced German was forced to begin the race from the very rear of the grid. With plentiful soft tyres in reserve though, he gradually carved his way through the order to finish the race in a creditable eighth. The two Sauber boys of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi put in strong performances to claim the final points, the latter particularly so after he sustained a puncture on the first lap.

Petrov sunk down the order in the latter stages to a lowly eleventh place, ahead of the two Force Indias of Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil. Sebastien Buemi was fourteenth for Toro Rosso, from Pastor Maldonado who dropped from a promising grid position of ninth. Their respective teammates Jaime Alguersauri and Rubens Barrichello were next, with the finishers being rounded out by Jarno Trulli for Team Lotus, the Virgins of Timo Glock and Jerome D'Ambrosio, and finally Hispania's Narain Karthikeyan. Massa, along with Vitantonio Liuzzi, retired due to gearbox woes, whilst Heikki Kovalainen failed to make good use of his 15th place on the grid, burying his Lotus in the tyre barrier at turn 4.

While Vettel may have extended his championship lead to 41 points from Hamilton and 51 from Webber, at least on this occasion it would appear the young wunderkind most certainly had his hands full. There's only one week to wait until next time out at Monaco, which with its own unique demands, could well give us a rather different outcome from today's race. Vettel's rivals will be definitely hoping that's the case, or else the 2011 championship title will be beginning to look worryingly one-sided.

Spanish Grand Prix 2011 – Qualifying Report

Mark Webber ended the unblemished run of pole positions attained this season so far by Sebastian Vettel in qualifying for this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix. The Australian set a time exactly two tenths of a second faster than his Red Bull teammate in the final qualifying session to do so, albeit with the advantage of having fully functioning KERS. Lewis Hamilton will begin 'best of the rest' behind the dominant Red Bulls in third.

Q1

Formula one tyre supplier Pirelli announced earlier in the week that they would be bringing a harder tyre compound to the Catalunya circuit, reported by the drivers in practice to be in excess of two seconds slower than the soft compound without being much more durable. Bearing that in mind, it made for a difficult decision for teams such as Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault as to whether to use the hards in Q1, thus saving a fresh set of softs. Red Bull were easily fast enough not to have to, with Webber setting the early pace with a 1'23.9, a time Vettel couldn't initially match with an effort a full four tenths slower. Webber then raised the bar to a 1'23.6 before the Toro Rosso men of Jaime Algersauri and Sebastien Buemi demonstrated the advantage of the soft tyres by both coming within a tenth of the man they will doubtless be hoping to succeed at Red Bull. Eventually, Vitaly Petrov stole the top spot with the help of the softs with a 1'23.1, a time bested by a tenth by Michael Schumacher, who would remain atop the timesheets for the remainder of the session. Ferrari's Felipe Massa felt the need to use the softs in order to save himself from the prospect of elimination, but in the event a gearbox failure for Rubens Barrichello and a fire during final practice for Nick Heidfeld (the damage done by which couldn't be repaired in time) meant there was no real threat despite an impressive showing for Heikki Kovalainen for Team Lotus. Jarno Trulli in the second of the green cars, along with both Virgins and Hispanias, join Barrichello and Heidfeld in filling the rear seven slots of the grid.

Eliminated – Jarno Trulli (Lotus), Rubens Barrichello (Williams), Timo Glock (Virgin), Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania), Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania), Jerome D'Ambrosio (Virgin), Nick Heidfeld (Renault)

Q2

Besides the two Force India drivers of Adrian Sutil and Paul Di Resta, everybody opted for the soft tyres in Q2. A pecking order quickly established itself as Webber and Vettel set a 1'21.8 and 1'21.5 respectively, a fair margin faster than the McLarens of Jenson Button and Hamilton who could both only muster 1'22.1s. Mercedes and Ferrari were next, with Nico Rosberg, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso all within two tenths of each other in the fight for fifth, but Massa was looking decidedly lacklustre, limping into Q3 with a time just about good enough for tenth place. That put him behind both Petrov and more surprisingly Pastor Maldonado, who gave the beleaguered Willams team something to smile about by guaranteeing himself by far his best ever grid position with a place in Q3. Both Toro Rossos and Saubers failed to cut the mustard, but the Force India team realised they were too slow to challenge for anything much more than 16^th and 17^th places, and therefore elected to save the softs and only set times on the hards. This meant that Kovalainen, notwithstanding the fact he unashamedly used softs in the process, was able to reach a commendable 15^th place.

Eliminated – Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Sergio Perez (Sauber), Jaime Alguersauri (Toro Rosso), Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), Paul Di Resta (Force India), Adrian Sutil (Force India)

Q3

Like last time, Q3 was a session of two halves as only the Red Bulls and McLarens did early runs, waiting to see later on if it was worth trying to improve, with the rest posting their sole times towards the end of the ten minute window. Button, Hamilton, Vettel and Webber exited the pits in that order near the beginning of the session, and incidentally ended up in reverse order in the standings; Webber precisely two tenths clear of Vettel, hobbled by his KERS not working, with the McLarens close together but the best part of a second shy of the provisional pole-sitter. The paddock waited to see if Vettel would run again to try and keep up his perfect streak of poles, but he ultimately chose not to and settled for second on the grid beside his teammate. To everybody's surprise, Fernando Alonso was able to put a smile on the faces of his home fans by splitting the two McLarens, with Petrov and Rosberg securing sixth and seventh places. Massa could only manage a rather disappointing eighth, beating Maldonado and Schumacher who shrewdly set no time, allowing him to start on hard tyres for the race.

Top Ten – Mark Webber (Red Bull), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Jenson Button (Red Bull), Vitaly Petrov (Renault), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Pastor Maldonado (Williams), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes)

My Prediction

Last year's Spanish Grand Prix would suggest that the Catalunya circuit is one of the few where Webber has the upper hand over his teammate, so I'm going to back him for his maiden win of the season:

1. Webber, 2. Vettel. 3. Alonso, 4. Hamilton, 5. Schumacher, 6. Rosberg, 7. Massa, 8. Heidfeld, 9. Kobayashi, 10. Buemi

They say the screams of the home fans can make a tangible difference, and if Alonso could out-qualify Button, on the evidence of Turkey I see no reason why he can't out-race Hamilton if his strategy is sound. Schumacher's strategic gamble will pay off, and he'll log his best result of the season so far just ahead of Rosberg and Massa. Heidfeld will 'do a Webber' to claw his way up to eighth, with Kobayashi and Buemi rounding out the points-scorers as Button and Petrov collide (I know I predicted the same thing at Turkey, but just give it time).

Though the Spanish Grand Prix has traditionally been something of a snooze-fest, the new regulations should ensure that most definitely is not the case tomorrow. As ever, there'll be a full report of all the events right here.

Where in the World? – Part Two: Beyond Europe

The second of this two-part series on nationalities in Formula One will be focused on regions outside of traditional European dominance, covering the finest drivers from all of the other continents around the globe.

United States

The United States has a rather chequered history when it comes to Formula One drivers. It has provided two worthy champions in the form of Phil Hill in 1961 and Mario Andretti in 1978, but since then American talent has been rather thin on the ground. Despite fielding numerous race-winning drivers such as Dan Gurney, Peter Revson and Richie Ginther in the ‘60s and ‘70s, the increasing popularity of the domestic IndyCar championship meant less and less American talent crossing the pond to compete against Europe’s finest.  After Andretti left full-time Formula One at the end of 1981, it was largely left to Eddie Cheever to represent his nation throughout the 1980s, clocking up nine podiums along the way. Since then, there’s only been a frankly embarrassing attempt by Andretti’s IndyCar champion son Michael to adapt to Formula One in 1993 as McLaren teammate to Ayrton Senna, and a more recent foray by the Red Bull-backed Scott Speed for Toro Rosso in 2006-7 which yielded nil point. American interest in F1 is likely to remain extremely low until not only is there once again an American on the grid, but a competitive one.

Canada

Canadian success in F1 can be just about summarised by one word: Villeneuve. Enzo Ferrari, founder of the famous Italian team that bears his name, decided to give the young Gilles Villeneuve a shot in one his cars in 1978, faith that was rewarded with a fine maiden victory for Villeneuve in front of his home crowd at the brand new Circuit Île Notre-Dame that season. The following year, Villeneuve pushed teammate and eventual champion Jody Scheckter all the way in that year’s title chase, and was widely regarded to be fast enough to win a championship of his own before his tragic death at Zolder in 1982. Fourteen years later, Gilles’s son, Jacques, made his debut for the Williams team, finally adding the Villeneuve name to the roll of honour in 1997 after coming close on his first attempt. Circumstances conspired to prevent Villeneuve from having any real chance of defending his title though, prompting him to move to the brand-new BAR team in 1999, where he mostly struggled in the midfield until being sacked just before the end of the 2003 season. Villeneuve threw in the towel after a couple more discreet seasons with Sauber, leaving Canada with no representation since.

South & Central America

South America is the second most successful continent after Europe in terms of championship wins, starting almost at the dawn of the sport. Argentina’s Juan Manuel Fangio won an unprecedented five titles in the ‘50s, leading to several of his compatriots attempting to emulate his incredible achievements, the only race-winner among them being Jose Froilan Gonzalez. In the ‘60s, the baton was passed to Mexico, but the promising Rodriguez brothers, Ricardo and Pedro, both unfortunately died in racing incidents in 1962 and 1971 respectively. In the ‘70s, Brazilian interest was ignited by championship wins for Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972 and 1974, whilst the Argentinians were able to get behind Carlos Reutemann, though the latter never quite managed to win a championship. Three championship victories apiece for Nelson Piquet and the late Ayrton Senna during the ‘80s and early ‘90s have given plenty of expectation to current Brazilian drivers Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa, whilst Pastor Maldonado flies the flag for Venezuela in 2011, though he isn’t the first driver from his homeland; Johnny Cecotto drove for Toleman in 1983-4. Colombia has also had a recent race-winning driver in Juan Pablo Montoya, whilst Chile was briefly represented by the slightly lesser-known Eliseo Salazar. Today, Mexico enjoys its first representation in thirty years courtesy of up-and-coming Sauber star Sergio Perez.

Africa

As one might expect, the only drivers from Africa to have contested a full Formula One season are those from by far the continent’s most prosperous nation – South Africa. In all, there have been only three full-time South African drivers in the history of the sport, Tony Maggs becoming the first of them in 1962 as he began a two-year stint driving for Cooper. He scored three podiums over the course of those two years, but was generally outpaced by his teammate, Bruce McLaren. In 1974, Jody Scheckter brought the South African flag back to the grid, joining the Tyrrell team on a permanent basis in 1974 after sporadic outings for McLaren in 1973. He won a total of ten races in an illustrious career for Tyrrell, Wolf (for which he delivered their first win at the team’s first race) and Ferrari, whose car propelled Scheckter to championship glory in 1979. However, after a horrendous title defence in 1980 that yielded just two points, he decided to retire from the sport at just 30 years of age. His elder brother Ian contested a full season in 1977 for March, but couldn’t match the accomplishments of his apparently more talented sibling, failing to score any points.

Asia

Although Asia is the most populous continent in the world, it has fielded just 24 drivers in F1 history, 20 of whom are Japanese. The first full-time driver from Japan was Satoru Nakajima, who made his F1 debut for Lotus in 1987 as part of an engine-supply deal with Honda. Although he couldn’t touch teammate Ayrton Senna, he scored a respectable 16 points by the time of his retirement at the end of 1991 after two more seasons at Lotus and another two at Tyrrell. A year earlier, Aguri Suzuki had become the first Japanese driver to score a podium for Larrousse, incidentally at his home race, but that was the highlight of an otherwise unremarkable F1 career. Takuma Sato matched this feat in 2004 at the wheel of a BAR, but a lacklustre 2005 saw him moved by Honda to Suzuki’s new Super Aguri team, which died in early 2008, leaving Sato without a drive. Happily though, Kamui Kobayashi seems to have the talent to become the third man from Japan to ascend the F1 podium in the not-too-distant future. Outside Japan, Thai Prince ‘B. Bira’ contested twenty odd races in the early ‘50s, Alex Yoong became Malaysia’s only driver with a season to forget with Minardi in 2002, and India has brought us more recently HRT drivers Karun Chandhok and Narain Karthikeyan.

Oceania

Jack Brabham’s is one of Australia’s earliest F1 drivers as well as its greatest F1 driver statistically, having taken three titles in 1959, 1960 and 1966. While the first two were for Cooper, the third was clinched whilst driving for his own team, giving Brabham the unique distinction of being the only owner-driver to have won the championship. Since then, the only other Aussies of note have been Alan Jones, who became the first in a long list of men to have won the title for Williams in 1980, and current Red Bull star Mark Webber, who of course came painstakingly close to last year’s crown. New Zealand also boasts a triumvirate of celebrated F1 drivers – Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon and Denny Hulme. McLaren won several races for Cooper before following in Brabham’s footsteps and establishing his own eponymous team, which has gone on to be an enormous success story after the premature death of its founder in 1970. Amon scored eleven podiums but no wins for Ferrari and Matra from 1968-72, setting a record since surpassed by only Stefan Johansson and Nick Heidfeld, and Hulme became the first and only Kiwi F1 champion in 1967 for Brabham before going on to win more races at his countryman McLaren’s team.

Next weekend is the Spanish Grand Prix, so don’t forget to return here for comprehensive reports on all the action from both Saturday’s qualifying session and Sunday’s race.

Turkish Grand Prix 2011 – Race Report

Sebastian Vettel cruised to a relatively straightforward third win of the season ahead of his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber in today's Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park. With nearly all the leading runners making four pit-stops, there was simply no opportunity for any of the German's opponents to deny him as he put in a sterling performance at the head of the field.

Vettel continued his unspoilt record of pole positions with another peerless performance in Saturday's qualifying session. Webber joined him on the front row, ahead of an impressive Nico Rosberg for Mercedes who appeared to carry on his good form from China. Lewis Hamilton lined up next for McLaren, ahead of his perennial arch-rival and Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso. Hamilton's fellow Brit and teammate Jenson Button qualified sixth.

At the start of the race, Vettel made up for his lacklustre start last time out by making a solid getaway this time around, leading into Turn 1. Behind, Rosberg took advantage of starting on the clean side of the grid to pass Webber in the run to the first corner, whilst a few corners later, Hamilton ran wide as he also tried to pass the second of the Red Bulls. He fell behind both Alonso and Button into sixth place.

Seventh position was held briefly by Michael Schumacher who had passed Vitaly Petrov's Renault at the start, but the pair made contact at turn 12 at the end of the second lap as the latter tried a daring move down the inside of the former. The seven-time champion was forced to pit to replace his damaged front wing, peeling into the pit lane immediately, while Petrov carried on seemingly unscathed. The Russian however soon fell behind Felipe Massa who was making solid progress up the field after starting from a disappointing tenth place.

Rosberg failed to hold on to second for long as his Mercedes engine proved insufficient to keep a DRS-assisted Webber at bay. The Australian swept into second at turn 12 on the fifth lap, a move replicated two laps later by Alonso who moved into third place. Meanwhile, a heated battle between McLaren teammates Button and Hamilton commenced over fifth place – Hamilton took the position away from Button on the first corner of lap seven, but the more recent champion of the duo got the position back with a similar move on the following lap.

This intra-team squabbling allowed Massa to close on the McLarens – the Brazilian made use of the DRS to deprive his erstwhile championship adversary Hamilton of fifth on lap nine. The pair then became the first of the frontrunners to make their scheduled stops at the end of that lap, but smooth pit-work by the McLaren boys enabled their man to re-take the place, in spite of what some would consider an 'unsafe release' of Massa by the Ferrari mechanics. As it transpired though, no penalty was applied.

One lap later, Webber, Alonso and Rosberg all made their first stops, remaining in the same order in which they entered the pits. With Vettel making his first stop a lap further along, Button temporarily assumed the lead due to his three-stop strategy. He came into the pits at the end of lap 13, but with the competition all on fresher rubber, he slipped down the order to seventh behind Hamilton and Massa.

Rosberg continued his descent down the order when Hamilton made an easy move on the Mercedes pilot thanks to DRS on lap 14, with Massa and Button both following suit on lap 21 as the Ferrari driver seized the initiative into turn 12, along with the McLaren driver two turns later. It was apparent that Rosberg was unable to translate his Mercedes's qualifying pace into a similarly strong race pace, not helped by an unusually early switch to the hard tyre.

Conversely, Alonso found that his Ferrari was performing far better than his fifth place on the grid suggested. After the second round of pit-stops, in which Petrov vaulted up to fifth by making an earlier stop than those around him, Alonso was able to close up to Webber and overtake him with the help of DRS on lap 29. This meant the order became Vettel by a comfortable distance from Alonso, Webber, Hamilton, Petrov, Massa, Button and Rosberg.

The top four positions remained the same after the third round of pit-stops, with Hamilton's margin over the chasing pack large enough to survive an appalling stop during which a wheelnut got stuck, costing the Brit over ten seconds. Rosberg, back on soft tyres for his third stint, was able to move up into fifth after an early stop, whilst Button was able to leapfrog Petrov for sixth after his third and final stop of the race. Just after his stop, Massa ran wide onto the ocean of marbles at the quadruple-apex turn 8 soon after leaving the pits, losing even more time mired amongst several midfield runners.

After their fourth stops, Webber began to close the gap to Alonso and retook second position on lap 51 in almost exactly the same way that he had lost it to the two-time champion earlier. Button had assumed fourth place at this point due to his contrary tyre strategy, but couldn't maintain a particularly quick pace on his aging hard tyres. This meant he slipped behind both Hamilton and Rosberg into sixth in the closing stages of the race.

Back at the front, Vettel, with around thirty seconds in hand from the Alonso-Webber duel, opted for a precautionary fourth stop. He resumed with his lead considerably diminished but still intact, and proceeded to round off the final ten or so laps to claim a well-deserved thirteenth career victory. Webber was able to pull away from Alonso after overtaking the Spaniard for second, completing a one-two finish for Red Bull. Despite losing the runner-up spot, Alonso's third position will be encouraging for a Ferrari team that seemed on the back foot after a sub-par opening three rounds.

Both Hamilton and Rosberg appeared to extract the maximum from their respective cars on their way to fourth and fifth places, whilst Button's three-stop strategy failed to pay dividends, leaving him sixth. Heidfeld came home seventh for Renault in another solid performance, ahead of Petrov with whom he made contact during the race, prompting some uncomplimentary gesticulating from the veteran German as he was pushed towards the pit entrance by his teammate.

Sebastien Buemi for Toro Rosso and Kamui Kobayashi for Sauber completed the points-scorers after both running alternative strategies, with Kobayashi having to start from the very back of the grid after his car conked out during the first qualifying session on Saturday. Massa could do no better than eleventh after suffering a slow fourth stop, finishing just ahead of Schumacher who never really recovered from his early scuffle with Petrov. Adrian Sutil came thirteenth in an unremarkable drive in the Force India, just holding off Sergio Perez who did well to come fourteenth after losing his Sauber's front wing on the opening lap.

Rubens Barrichello came next in another unsatisfactory result for Williams, ahead of Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersauri and Pastor Maldonado in the other Williams who earned a drive-through penalty for pit-lane speeding. The Lotus pair of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen, the Virgin of Jerome D'Ambrosio and the Hispanias of Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi made up the remaining finishers. Paul Di Resta was the only retiree of the afternoon after a hydraulic failure on his Force India, and Timo Glock failed to begin the race at all when his Virgin developed a terminal gearbox fault prior to the start the race.

Vettel has extended his championship lead over Hamilton to 34 with his latest triumph, with Webber just another four behind after his second consecutive podium finish. It would seem that today's race indicates that China may transpire to be but a blip in Vettel dominance – after all, it wouldn't have made a difference whether he took three or four stops, such was the magnitude of his advantage during the race. The emerging pattern appears to be that if Vettel gets the chance to stretch his legs at the front at the start of a race, the chances are that he'll go on to win it in worryingly commanding fashion.

Of course, the points leader's rivals will doubtless be hoping to disprove that theory of mine next time out at the Catalunya circuit in Spain in two weeks' time. Before then though, there'll be next Sunday the second part of last week's 'Where in the World?' article. Hope to see you then.

Turkish Grand Prix 2011 – Qualifying Report

Sebastian Vettel's unbroken record of pole positions for this season has remained exactly that during qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix after yet another blinding lap from the German. His Red Bull teammate Mark Webber will join him on the front row after setting a time four tenths of a second slower than the reigning champion, whilst Nico Rosberg was able to continue Mercedes's promising form by lining up in third.

Q1

Vettel was the first of the pole contenders to set a time, using the harder compound tyres to set a 1'27.0. Fernando Alonso, after a series of updates for the Ferrari were made on the off-form red cars since last time out, could only manage a time six tenths slower. The Spaniard's effort was then matched by Sebastien Buemi, who made use of the soft tyres in order to do so, and was a tenth faster than Michael Schumacher's initial run on hard tyres. The seven-time champion's teammate Rosberg was able to take a provisional second place with a time two tenths quicker, but he was soon deposed by the Red Bull of Webber, who came within six hundredths of Vettel. Lewis Hamilton matched Webber at the wheel of his McLaren, with Jenson Button in the other silver-and-red car a couple of tenths further back in fourth place. Vitaly Petrov showed Renault's potential by setting a time good enough for fifth place, but after an extremely poor first lap that left him on the bubble towards the end of the session, Felipe Massa felt the need to use the soft tyres to assure himself of a place in Q2. Despite the significant advantage of the soft rubber however, he only just beat Vettel's best time which was set using hard tyres – a lucid indication of the current gulf in pace between the Ferrari and Red Bull. None of the new-team drivers could do enough to go any further than Q1, although Heikki Kovalainen came within a creditable seven tenths of doing so. Joining the six regulars at the back of the field will be Kamui Kobayashi, after his Sauber suffered a loss of power before the young Japanese charge could post a time.

Eliminated – Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), Jarno Trulli (Lotus), Jerome D'Ambrosio (Virgin), Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania), Timo Glock (Virgin), Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania), Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber)

Q2

Curiously, both Mercedes cars were sent out for their first runs on hard tyres, meaning Schumacher's initial time of 1'27.5 was blown away by one-and-a-half seconds when Webber put on the softs. Button was four tenths adrift of the Australian after his first lap, but Vettel took an ominous four tenths out of the time of his fellow Red Bull driver. Hamilton matched Webber's time to go into second, while Alonso's time was another tenth slower. After getting onto the soft tyres, Schumacher was able to relieve his former championship rival for fifth position, but Rosberg reached second after a fine lap in the sister Mercedes. Further down the order, Nick Heidfeld denied Rubens Barrichello a berth in Q3 by two tenths of a second, meaning the Brazilian joined his teammate Pastor Maldonado, both Force Indias, Toro Rossos and the sole remaining Sauber of Sergio Perez in being eliminated.

Eliminated – Rubens Barrichello (Williams), Adrian Sutil (Force India), Paul Di Resta (Force India), Pastor Maldonado (Williams), Sergio Perez (Sauber), Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Jaime Alguersauri (Toro Rosso)

Q3

Only three of the ten remaining runners in qualifying, both McLarens and Alonso, opted to make two runs in the final session of qualifying off the back of Hamilton's success in China, when the Brit conserved a set of tyres in Q3 to subsequently win the race. Petrov opened the going with a 1'26.4, a time shaded by four tenths by Button. Alonso made good use of the revised Ferrari to go another tenth faster, but unsurprisingly Webber was able to depose the two-time champion with a time that was quicker by four tenths. Hamilton later slotted neatly into second after his first run, but then along came one S. Vettel who put in another of his trademark flawless laps to lock away pole position with a time four tenths faster than Webber. After getting out of the car on his return to the pit-lane, the provisional pole-sitter watched his compatriot Rosberg reach an excellent third place, just a tenth shy of knocking Webber off the front row. Curiously, Schumacher was unable to extract the maximum out of his Mercedes during his first Q3 of the season, meaning he'll start tomorrow a disappointing eighth, sandwiched between the two Renaults. None of the three men to attempt a second run managed to improve their position, while Massa failed to even set a time at all after abandoning his one and only run of the session because of a mistake.

Top 10 – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Mark Webber (Red Bull), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Jenson Button (McLaren), Vitaly Petrov (Renault), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Nick Heidfeld (Renault), Felipe Massa (Ferrari)

My Prediction

Barring another strategic error à la Shanghai, a third win in four races for Vettel would appear to be on the cards with Webber not too far behind. Here's the rest of my prediction for tomorrow's race:

1. Vettel, 2. Webber, 3. Hamilton, 4. Alonso, 5. Rosberg, 6. Massa, 7. Schumacher, 8. Heidfeld, 9. Kobayashi, 10. Sutil

Personally, I think a podium for Rosberg is a long shot given the seemingly superior race trim of both the McLaren and Ferrari, while Massa, as a three-time winner at this track, should be able to make up a few positions. I'm going to stick my neck out and predict a controversial clash between Button and Petrov in the opening stages of the race, allowing Schumacher and Heidfeld to gain places. Behind, Sutil will surpass Barrichello, but won't quite hold off Kobayashi for ninth as the Sauber driver makes good use of his extra tyres and natural overtaking talents to scythe his way through the pack, Webber-style.

We'll discover tomorrow how events at Istanbul unfold, and if the last two races have been anything to go by, we should be in for another corking grand prix. Check back here tomorrow for a full report of the action.

Where in the World? – Part One: Europe

Formula One isn't just a battle between drivers and teams, but also a battle between nations. In this two-part series, allow me to give you a summary of the record of each of the major nations that have seen men from their borders contest the sport, beginning with the countries of the spiritual home of worldwide motorsport: Europe.


Great Britain
No British driver has ever truly enjoyed a sustained period of outright dominance in F1, but Britain's pre-eminence in the sport's history draws from the fact that we have produced by far the highest number of different champions. Mike Hawthorn was the first way back in 1958, but Graham Hill, Jim Clark, John Surtees, Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill have all been crowned since, not to current McLaren teammates Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Furthermore, British talent in the junior formulae seems to never be in short supply, so rest assured many more names will be joining that illustrious list in years to come, perhaps including 2011 newcomer Paul Di Resta. Our teams have also amassed a lofty number of constructors titles between them, Lotus, Tyrrell, McLaren and Williams standing out as the biggest success stories, making it hardly a shock that eight of the twelve teams on today's grid are based on our shores.

France
Despite strong performances in the pre-war era from French manufacturers such as Bugatti and Delahaye, it took until 1985 for a Frenchman clinch the world championship in the form of Alain Prost. He would go on to be the sport's most successful ever driver at the time, scoring 51 race wins, a record not surpassed until Michael Schumacher came to the fore. Despite that lengthy wait however, it's almost certain that the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Wimille, Alfa Romeo's number one driver just before the start of the world championship in 1950, would have taken the inaugural title but for his untimely death in early 1949. Besides Prost, the likes of Jacques Laffitte, Didier Pironi, Rene Arnoux and Jean Alesi helped to keep France firmly on the F1 map, but after the recent failures of Sebastien Bourdais and Romain Grosjean to make an impression, France has been left with nobody to fly La Tricolore since 2009. However, a number of up-and-coming drivers like Jules Bianchi and Jean-Eric Vergne look to have the necessary talent to rectify the situation within the next couple of years.


Italy
Italy is another country with an exceptionally rich motorsport heritage. Thanks to iconic names like Alfa Romeo, Maserati and most of all Ferrari, there was no shortage of fast Italians either side of the war, with Achille Varzi, Tazio Nuvolari, Giuseppe Farina and Alberto Ascari all having entered Italian motor racing folklore. Since the rise of the 'garagistas' however, the Italians have found glory somewhat harder to come by. There has been no Italian champion since Ascari in 1953, despite the continued success of the Ferrari team. The last Italian to win a race for Ferrari was Michele Alboreto in 1985, and since then, only Riccardo Patrese, Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli have secured race wins for their nation. The latter-most remains on the grid today, albeit with his best days well and Trulli behind him, as well as Vitantonio Liuzzi, whose once-promising career seems to have got stuck in something of a rut. It would be a huge shame if, as is the case now for Frenchman, F1 became devoid of Italian drivers in the years to come.


Germany    
Germany's motorsport roots lie in the runaway successes of the Nazi regime-subsidised teams of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union in the late 1930s, with drivers such as Rudolf Caracciola and Bernd Rosemeyer coming to be idolised in Germany as heroes. After the war however, German drivers became extremely scarce. The first German winner of a world championship race was Wolfgang von Trips, but his premature death in 1961 robbed Germany of its first potential post-war champion. Aside from the exception of the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, which was won by Jochen Mass, it wouldn't be until the meteoric rise of Michael Schumacher in the first half of the 1990s that the Deustchlandlied was played during a podium ceremony once more. Schumacher's seven title victories have since spurred on a wave of other German hopefuls to try and emulate his achievement, and now a quarter of the grid, including reigning champion Sebastian Vettel, is comprised of German drivers.


Scandinavia
Scandinavia's first F1 champion could have been 'Super Swede' Ronnie Peterson, who greatly impressed in his outings for Lotus prior to his tragic death in 1978. Instead, Finland's Keke Rosberg rather unexpectedly took the crown in 1982 for Williams, followed sixteen years later by back-to-back championship wins for his protégé, Mika Hakkinen. The Flying Finn's place at McLaren was taken by compatriot Kimi Raikkonen upon his retirement at the end of 2001, who after a couple of near misses with the Woking-based team finally captured the title with Ferrari in 2007. After the switch made by the 'Iceman' to rallying, Finland's sole representative is now Heikki Kovalainen, whose talent displayed at showings at Renault and McLaren has been somewhat masked by his current Lotus car. Sweden hasn't had any drivers since Stefan Johansson's career spluttered to a halt in mid-1991, whilst the last Dane to contest a full season was Jan Magnussen back in 1997; despite the potential he showed in Formula Three, he ultimately couldn't stand the heat in the F1 kitchen.


Rest of Europe
Spain and Austria are the only other European nations to have supplied F1 champions in the shape of Fernando Alonso by the former and both Jochen Rindt and Niki Lauda by the latter. Jaime Alguersauri currently assists Alonso in seeking Spanish glory, whilst Christian Klien, who made a few appearances for HRT at the end of last season, is the closest thing Austria has to an F1 driver currently. Sebastien Buemi will be hoping to become the third Swiss driver to win a race after Jo Siffert and Clay Regazzoni, whilst Jerome D'Ambrosio will be aspiring likewise for his homeland of Belgium, following in the footsteps of Jacky Ickx and Thierry Boutsen. Holland's most successful driver has been Jos 'The Boss' Verstappen, who, after a brief stint alongside Schumacher at Benetton in 1994, raced for many different tail-end teams in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Finally, the injured Robert Kubica and his Renault teammate from last season, Vitaly Petrov, are the first ever drivers from their respective countries of Poland and Russia, just two markets Bernie Ecclestone will be consequently hoping to tap into.


The three-week wait is finally over next weekend, as the Turkish Grand Prix gets underway. Don't forget to check back here for full qualifying and race reports on Saturday and Sunday, as well for part two of 'Where in the World?', which will be arriving later this month.