F1 Team Toro Rosso Fires Frech Driver Bourdais

Toro Rosso F1 team fires French driver Sebastien Bourdais; replacement not yet decided

Alguersuari to test Toro Rosso on Friday

Somewhere in Italy Jaime Alguersuari will adjust to his new cockpit surroundings with a test in Toro Rosso's heavily revised STR4 car this Friday...  

Hamilton storms to pole for Italy GP

• Adrian Sutil second and Kimi Raikkonen third• Jenson Button to start in sixth placeLewis Hamilton stormed to the 15th pole position of his career ahead of tomorrow's Italian grand prix. The reigning world champion saved it until the final moment as he was the last to cross the line in a hotly contested final ten-minute showdown, deposing Force India's Adrian Sutil from top spot.There was a possibility Hamilton could be penalised, though, as he appeared to impede Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi late on in the initial 20-minute Q1. However, given Buemi was never going to make it into the next session, it was hard to imagine the stewards penalising Hamilton.After claiming his second pole position of the year, and pipping close friend Sutil, Hamilton said: "It was a very close qualifying session, and I'm very happy to see Adrian up here. Since Formula Three it's been a long time since we've been in a press conference together, and on the front row. But it was such a great feeling to put a great lap together."People need to understand, you have one shot at it at the end, so to pull it off is amazing. I don't think we anticipated being just as quick as we are this weekend, so it's a bonus to everyone in the team."Behind another unusual front row, given Sutil's performance, Kimi Raikkonen again gave Ferrari something to cheer. He will start third, with the 2007 world champion joined on the second row by his fellow Finn, McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.The Brawns, clearly back in form after their recent struggles, are on the third row, with Rubens Barrichello starting fifth and Jenson Button sixth, the Brazilian out-qualifying the Briton for the third successive race.On his debut for Force India, Tonio Liuzzi gave the team another historic moment as he will start seventh, the first time they have managed to get both cars into the top 10. Renault's Fernando Alonso starts eighth, followed by the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, their title hopes fading further.BMW Sauber suffered a wretched Q2 as both Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld retired, with engine trouble. Kubica will start 13th and Heidfeld 15th, with the man to split them being Giancarlo Fisichella on his debut for Ferrari. The 36-year-old has clearly struggled to adapt to the car in the wake of his move from Force India nine days ago, notably crashing it this morning in final practice.Toyota's Jarno Trulli will start from 11th, with Romain Grosjean a semi-respectable 12th for Renault bearing in mind his car has KERS on board this weekend.Williams' fears regarding this circuit were certainly realised as both Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg failed to make it out of Q1. For Rosberg, who had qualified in the top 10 in 11 of the previous 12 races this season, the 24-year-old will start from his lowest position of the year in 18th, one place behind Nakajima.Toyota's Timo Glock was another unable to find the downforce and power required for Monza as he starts 16th, with the Toro Rossos bringing up the rear. Buemi will line up 19th, with Jaime Alguersuari 20th, the young Spaniard's five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change after final practice not counting for anything on this occasion.Positions after qualifying1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1min 24.066secs, 2 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:24.261, 3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:24.523, 4 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:24.845, 5 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:25.015, 6 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:25.030, 7 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 1:25.043, 8 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:25.072, 9 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:25.180, 10 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:25.314, 11 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:23.611, 12 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Renault 1:23.728, 13 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:23.866, 14 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Ferrari 1:23.901, 15 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:24.275, 16 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:24.036, 17 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:24.074, 18 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:24.121, 19 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:24.220, 20 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:24.951Formula OneMotor sportLewis Hamiltonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Bourdais reaches settlement with Toro Rosso

Axed Toro Rosso racer Sebastien Bourdais will not issue legal proceedings against the Red Bull-owned team...  

Toro Rosso falls behind Red Bull development

Awaiting development parts to move up the order Toro Rosso is expecting to spend at least one more Grand Prix at the very tail end of the Formula One grid...  

Vettel wins British grand prix

• Sebastian Vettel's second win of the season• Jenson Button finishes in sixth after poor startSebastian Vettel has won the British grand prix for his second race win of the season, with Mark Webber behind him for a Red Bull one-two, and Rubens Barricchello in third. The world championship leader Jenson Button started and finished in sixth, but he still holds a healthy 23-point lead from Barrichello, who has 41 points. Vettel's win keeps him in third place, now two points behind Barrichello.It was the final FIA grand prix to be staged at Silverstone, although the current stand-off between the Formula One controllers and the teams means the track could yet be called into action as part of a rebel series next year. Vettel won from pole and made a strong start, unlike two weeks ago in Turkey when an early error allowed Button into first place, a position he did not relinquish for the rest of the race. In fact it was Button who started poorly this time, boxed in and immediately slipping three places to ninth.Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso overtook each other to renew their old rivalry, but unlike the 2007 championship, the two were well down the field. Hamilton eventually finished in 16th position.2009 British grand prix results1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1hr 22mins 49.328secs2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:23:04.5163 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:23:30.4834 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:23:34.3715 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:23:35.2436 Jenson Button (GB) Brawn GP 1:23:35.6137 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:23:57.6358 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:23:58.9509 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:23:59.15110 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:24:00.85011 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:24:03.35112 Nelson Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault at 1 Lap13 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber at 1 Lap14 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault at 1 Lap15 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber at 1 Lap16 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren at 1 Lap17 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India at 1 Lap18 Sébastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 LapNot Classified: 19 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 37 Laps completed, 20 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 36 Laps completedWorld championship standingsDrivers: 1 Jenson Button (GB) Brawn GP 64pts, 2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 41, 3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 39, 4 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 35.5, 5 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 21.5, 6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 16, 7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 15.5, 8 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 13, 9 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 11, 10 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 10, 11 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 9, 12 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 6, 13 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 4, 14 Sébastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 3, 15 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 2, 16 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 2, 17 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 0, 18 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 0, 19 Nelson Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault 0, 20 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 0Manufacturers: 1 Brawn GP 105, 2 Red Bull 74.5, 3 Toyota 34.5, 4 Ferrari 26, 5 Williams 15.5, 6 McLaren 13, 7 Renault 11, 8 BMW Sauber 8, 9 Scuderia Toro Rosso 5, 10 Force India 0Formula oneRed BullJenson ButtonBrawnFerrariMcLarenRenaultForce IndiaSauberToyotaWilliamsToro RossoLewis HamiltonMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds