Fernando Alonso: 'With all the fights, this may be F1's worst year ever'

You have to love Fernando Alonso. Apart from Mark Webber, the 27-year-old Spaniard is the only star in Formula One who tells it like it is. He shoots straight from the hip, and his aim devastates political correctness. He believes that the endless politicking is killing the sport, and he says so.

Vettel pips Button to Turkish GP pole

• Sebastian Vettel beats Jenson Button on final lap in Istanbul• Lewis Hamilton suffers oversteer and finishes a lowly 16thRed Bull's Sebastian Vettel claimed pole position for the Turkish grand Prix ahead of Brawn GP's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello in this afternoon's qualifying session at Istanbul Park.The 21-year-old German driver left it until the final lap to post his fastest time of 1min 28.316secs and denied Button a hat-trick of starts from the front of the grid.It is the third pole of the 21-year-old German's career, with both his victories to date coming from the front of the grid, in Italy last year and China this season."It's quite a surprise to be quickest in all three sessions, but finally we have made it and we are ahead of the white cars," said Vettel. "It's been quite an effort by the team because we had some parts arrive late, but they've fixed them on and we've made it."The 2008 champion, Lewis Hamilton, had another afternoon to forget as he continued to struggle with his car which former constructor Eddie Jordan described as "simply hopeless, possibly the worst McLaren have ever designed".Hamilton struggled with his steering at corner eight and spun out of qualifying on the first round. He will start tomorrow's grand prix facing an uphill battle from 16th on the grid."Welcome to my world," said Hamilton in a rare display of gallows humour. "It's the car. It has got slower and slower throughout the weekend as the track has got hotter. It looked great yesterday, but this morning it didn't look fantastic."I don't think we should rush anything. It's better we take our time to refine it. It's not like we can claw back 60 points [in the championship]."Vettel's Red Bull team-mate, Mark Webber, will start the race fourth on the grid, ahead of Toyota's Jarno Trulli and the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.Leading grid positions after qualifying1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1min 28.316secs, 2 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:28.421, 3 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:28.579, 4 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:28.613, 5 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:28.666, 6 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:28.815, 7 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:28.858, 8 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:29.075, 9 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:29.191, 10 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:29.357, 11 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:27.521, 12 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:27.629, 13 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:27.795, 14 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:28.207, 15 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:28.391, 16 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:28.318, 17 Nelson Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault 1:28.582, 18 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:28.708, 19 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:28.717, 20 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:28.918Formula oneMotor sportLewis HamiltonMcLarenguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Formula One preview: Turkish Grand Prix

From the beautiful seaside and multi-million dollar yachts of Monaco, Formula One returns to a more conventional venue for Round 7 of the championship.

Vettel grabs pole in Turkish Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel grabbed pole for tomorrow's Turkish Grand Prix to deny Jenson Button a hat-trick of starts from top spot on the grid.

Renault begin appeal over European Grand Prix ban

Renault's appeal against its suspension from the European Grand Prix began today, with the French team hoping to overturn the decision so that two-time world champion Fernando Alonso can take part in Sunday's Formula One race.

Renault admits fixing Singapore GP

• Renault will not dispute allegations of deliberate crash• Team remains committed to Formula One until 2012Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds have stepped down from their posts after Renault decided not to dispute allegations that the team ordered former driver Nelson Piquet Junior to crash deliberately at last year's Singapore grand prix.The sensational move comes ahead of Renault's appearance before the governing FIA to explain their role in the crash. There has been intense speculation about the role of Briatore and Symonds in the incident, which saw Piquet's Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso benefit from the deployment of a safety car, after which he went on to win the race.The Renault team itself is committed to remain in Formula One at least until 2012, but there is nothing preventing the manufacturer and parent company from seeking a buyer for the outfit.The CEO and President of Renault Carlos Ghosn earlier told L'Equipe that the parent company would not react "in hot blood" to the allegations that were made against the Formula One team. "Above all we don't want to make a premature judgment one way or the other," he said.Yesterday a transcript of the radio conversations between team engineers and the driver was published, revealing Briatore's outburst about Piquet in the immediate aftermath of the Singapore crash. He swore repeatedly and proclaimed Piquet was "not a driver".Despite this latest twist in the affair, the extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council scheduled for Monday at the FIA's headquarters in Paris will still go ahead. The WMSC may yet choose to impose severe sanctions on the team now they have chosen not to launch a defence.The FIA charged Renault with "conspiring with its driver, Nelson Piquet Jnr, to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore grand prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of its other driver, Fernando Alonso."Alonso went on to take the chequered flag at Formula One's first night race, his first victory for two years, and at a time when Renault were considering quitting the sport. The French manufacturer will almost certainly plead for clemency from the FIA as they will claim the actions of two men should not affect the employment of nearly 700 other staff within the team. The FIA have the power to exclude Renault from the championship.RenaultFormula OneMotor sportJeremy Campbellguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds