Alguersuari expecting Toro Rosso return

Sebastien Buemi will be staying with Toro Rosso Ferrari next season, but while Jaime Alguersuari expects to be retained, a contract has yet to be agreed...  

Alguersuari regrets continuing in WSbR

Jaime Alguersuari has revealed he is unlikely to race in both Formula One and the World Series by Renault (WSbR) next year...  

Kobayashi eyes F1 lifeline at Lotus

Kamui Kobayashi is not yet booking his flight back to his father's sushi restaurant...  

Renault rage at McLaren wing design

• Renault's Bob Bell accuses McLaren of 'starting new arms race'• Rivals angry after car gains FIA approvalRenault have accused McLaren of driving "a cart horse through the spirit" of Formula One with their new rear wing even though it has been approved by the sport's ruling body."It is fundamentally clear that the McLaren wing design is totally illegal," Bob Bell, Renault's managing director Bob Bell told the BBC after the first practice session of the season at the Bahrain grand prix today."They have driven a cart horse through the spirit of the rules and regulations," said Bell. "They have opened up another arms race, it's going to cost everybody a lot of money. The governing bodies need to be a lot stronger with these things."Renault themselves are competing under a suspended permanent ban after the race-fixing controversy that cast a shadow over last season.The McLaren car passed inspections yesterday at the Sakhir circuit and the team maintained that they consulted the FIA, Formula One's governing body, throughout the design process.Patrick Head, the Williams co-owner and engineering director, told Reuters that the rear wing had a slot that appeared to be fed by a duct that the McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton could block at will by body movement."I understand that [race director] Charlie [Whiting] is saying that article three of the regulations that would limit something like that don't apply to the driver, only to the car," he said. "But I do remember when our active ride car was banned, it was banned on the grounds that a piston in the strut was moving and by virtue of doing so was influencing the aerodynamic performance of the car. "What I'm told Charlie is saying is that Lewis or Jenson's knee, or whatever it is, is not part of the car."It is a bit of a problem because if one car is suddenly able to gain five or six km an hour on the straight then we've all got to do it," he added.He speculated that drivers might conceivably drive one-handed down the straight with the other hand covering the flow of air through a hole in the cockpit to secure an aerodynamic advantage.The Red Bull team manager Christian Horner said: "The FIA have looked at it and deemed it to be okay. It's therefore a clever design rather than an illegal design. The question is, is the driver part of the car? They deem him not to be."Inevitably now there will be a wild goose chase of all the teams chasing that loophole. We have to come up with another solution. Anything's possible."Asked if there would be a protest, Horner added: "I don't know. We're happy with the verdict from the FIA. We wanted clarity and we have that."Formula OneRenaultMcLarenMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Vettel claims Bahrain pole

• Vettel beats Massa and Alonso into second and third• Lewis Hamilton fourth, Michael Schumacher seventhRed Bull's Sebastian Vettel will start the first race of the 2010 season on pole position after edging out the Ferraris in qualifying for the Bahrain grand prix. Last year's championship runner-up put in a stunning lap in the closing 10-minute qualifying session at the Sakhir circuit to beat the Ferrari pair of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso into second and third, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton fourth and the returning Michael Schumacher down in seventh place.Vettel, who finished the 2009 campaign by winning two of the final three races, was brilliant throughout all three sessions, finishing second in the opening 20 minutes, before topping the middle 15-minute stint and then coming out on top at the end. The young German ultimately finished with a lap of one minute 54.101sec, with Massa 0.141sec adrift and Alonso a further 0.4sec down.Hamilton won his first battle of the Britons with team-mate Jenson Button at McLaren as the world champion struggled during the course of the afternoon and will start eighth directly behind seven-time champion Schumacher. The 41-year-old, on his comeback after three and a half years in retirement, was again bettered by his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, as he was in all three practice sessions.Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber starts sixth, with Robert Kubica in his Renault ninth behind Button, and Force India's Adrian Sutil a fine 10th.In the dying moments of Q2, Button managed to scrape his way into the top 10, edging out his Brawn team-mate from last season in Rubens Barrichello, now with Williams, by 0.162sec. Behind the veteran Brazilian will be Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi and the second Williams of promising German rookie Nico Hulkenberg, who was only half-a-second down on Barrichello.The Saubers of Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi will start 14th and 16th, with Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi splitting the Spanish and Japanese drivers. On his debut, Renault's Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov knows the task he now faces after seeing team-mate Kubica's performance as he will start 17th, finishing a yawning 1.7sec behind the Pole at the end of the session.It was no great surprise to see the three new teams occupying the bottom six positions come the conclusion to the initial 20-minute session. And it was Virgin who were best of the newcomers thanks to Timo Glock, and that after seeing a wheel roll off his car in final practice earlier today due to a loose nut. The German will start 19th, edging the Lotus Racing pair of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen into 20th and 21st places, with just 0.6sec separating the trio.Glock's team-mate Lucas di Grassi was a further 0.2sec adrift, leaving Hispania Racing's Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok bringing up the rear of the now 24-strong grid.Positions after qualifying1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1min 54.101secs, 2 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:54.242, 3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:54.608, 4 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:55.217, 5 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:55.241, 6 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:55.284, 7 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:55.524, 8 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:55.672, 9 Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault 1:55.885, 10 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:56.309, 11 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams 1:55.330, 12 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 1:55.653, 13 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Williams 1:55.875, 14 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) BMW Sauber 1:56.237, 15 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:56.265, 16 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) BMW Sauber 1:56.270, 17 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 1:56.619, 18 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:57.071, 19 Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing 1:59.728, 20 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus F1 1:59.852, 21 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus F1 2:00.313, 22 Lucas di Grassi (Bra) Virgin Racing 2:00.587, 23 Bruno Senna (Bra) HRT-F1 2:03.240, 24 Karun Chandhok (Ind) HRT-F1 2:04.904Formula OneMotor sportSebastian VettelRed Bullguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Vettel outshines the rest in Melbourne

• Hamilton 11th on grid, Jenson Button fourth• Vettel alongside Mark Webber on front rowThe trials of Friday night, when he was apprehended by local police for "over-exuberant driving" on his way out of the Albert Park circuit, continued for Lewis Hamilton today when he failed to make it into the final qualifying session for tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix."Where do I need to find time?" Hamilton asked his engineers over the radio as he prepared for a last desperate effort, but at the end of the Q2 session a margin of 0.062sec separated his McLaren-Mercedes from the car with the 10th fastest lap time, Robert Kubica's Renault."I struggled to get time in the last sector," he said afterwards, "and when I put new tyres on I couldn't get more out of them."Occupying pole position in today's race will be Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull-Renault was fastest in all three sessions and whose final lap, on a bumpy and slippery track, provided a demonstration of the 22-year-old's virtuosity and natural aggression. Next to him on the grid will be his team-mate Mark Webber, the local hero, with the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, the winner in Bahrain two weeks ago, and the McLaren of Jenson Button on the second row, ahead of the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa. Once again Nico Rosberg's Mercedes was faster than the similar car of Michael Schumacher, the two German cars starting in sixth and seventh places.Vettel started from pole in Bahrain and led the race with apparent ease until a spark-plug failure reduced his engine power and dropped him to an eventual fourth place. As Hamilton licked his wounds he could at least point to the accuracy of his suggestion earlier in the week that the Red Bulls are "insanely quick".The sessions were all held in dry conditions but rain is forecast for tomorrow and Vettel and Alonso both predicted a race in which accidents and the appearance the safety car will make life complicated for the drivers. As in Bahrain, the three new Cosworth-engined teams - Lotus, Virgin and Hispania - were eliminated in the first part of qualifying, along with the Renault of the Russian driver Vitaly Petrov. As well as Hamilton, Q2 saw the elimination of the Williams of Nico Hulkenberg, the Toro Rossos of Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi, the Saubers of Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi and the Force India of Tonio Liuzzi. Joining seven cars from the current big four teams in the final shoot-out were the Williams of Rubens Barrichello, Kubica's Renault and the Force India of Adrian Sutil.Leading positions after qualifying:1. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1min 23.919secs2. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:24.0353. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:24.1114. Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:24.6755. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:24.8376. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:24.8847. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:24.9278. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams 1:25.2179. Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault 1:25.37210. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:26.03611. Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:25.18412. Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:25.63813. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 1:25.74314. Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) BMW Sauber 1:25.74715. Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Williams 1:25.74816. Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) BMW Sauber 1:25.77717. Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:26.08918. Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 1:26.47119. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus F1 1:28.79720. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus F1 1:29.11121. Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing 1:29.59222. Lucas di Grassi (Bra) Virgin Racing 1:30.18523. Bruno Senna (Bra) HRT-F1 1:30.52624. Karun Chandhok (Ind) HRT-F1 1:30.613Lewis HamiltonFormula OneJenson ButtonSebastian VettelRichard Williamsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds