Jordan backs Hamilton for F1 title

Eddie Jordan believes the smart money should go on Britain's Lewis Hamilton to regain his Formula One world title this season.

McLaren shine on Abu Dhabi debut

McLaren shone in opening practice for the first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix today with Lewis Hamilton on top in the afternoon and Heikki Kovalainen quickest after nightfall.

Hamilton and Button lead in practice

• Lewis Hamilton leads from Jenson Button by only 0.096sec• Sebastian Vettel third fastest on new grand prix circuitLewis Hamilton and Jenson Button formed a British one-two in first practice for the inaugural Abu Dhabi grand prix today. Last year's world champion and the driver who deposed him 12 days ago in Brazil were separated by only 0.096 seconds after the opening 90 minutes of track action at the £800m Yas Marina circuit.If current rumours eventually prove to be true, Hamilton and Button may even be team-mates at McLaren next season should the latter fail to agree a new deal with Brawn GP. For now they remain on opposing sides and both looked impressive as they set about tackling a venue that the F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone feels will never be beaten.Naturally, there was a settling-in period for all the drivers, with Jaime Alguersuari in his Toro Rosso the first to post a timed lap of 1min 57sec. But by the conclusion of the session, Hamilton had just managed to dip under 1min 44sec, with the best of his 18 laps timed at 1:43.939, with Button in close attendance at 1:44.035.Button, admitting to feeling far more relaxed with the title under his belt, was the first to suffer a spin, although it was nothing major. The 29-year-old pushed too hard into one corner as he emerged out of the shadow of the hotel that straddles the 21-turn track.Sebastian Vettel, looking for a small degree of consolation for this season by finishing second behind Button in the standings, was third quickest, 0.214sec behind Hamilton.Button's team-mate Rubens Barrichello still has a say, though, after failing to take the title race down to the wire in Brazil 12 days ago when he finished only eighth from pole position. Barrichello finished just 0.054sec behind Vettel on the 5.554km track, and 0.268sec adrift of Hamilton, with the top four easily clear of any of their rivals.BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was fifth overall, but 0.728sec down, followed closely by Sébastien Buemi in his Toro Rosso and Adrian Sutil for Force India.The Brazilian grand prix winner Mark Webber was eighth, and the only other driver to finish within a second of Hamilton, with the top 10 completed by Alguersuari and Toyota's Jarno Trulli.The Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Giancarlo Fisichella were down in 15th and 18th places, with Renault's Romain Grosjean bringing up the rear, albeit nearly 2.5sec off the pace.Formula OneLewis HamiltonJenson ButtonMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Hamilton gives champion advice to Button

Lewis Hamilton has warned Jenson Button to expect the unexpected after taking up the mantle as the new Formula One world champion.

Vettel closes gap on Button in Japan

• Vettel wins from pole with Lewis Hamilton third• Button finishes eighth but stays 14 points clearJenson Button's slow march towards the world title took another step closer to completion in Japan, despite Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel winning from pole. Button, finishing down in eighth, saw his lead cut by a point, but remains 14 clear with just two races to go.Vettel kept alive his outside chance of winning the drivers' championship, moving to within 16 points of Button. The German crossed the line ahead of Jarno Trulli's Toyota with Lewis Hamilton in third for McLaren.Vettel's third win of the season helped to close the gap at the top, but Button's Brawn team-mate, Rubens Barrichello, remains the Briton's closest challenger having crossed the line a place ahead in seventh.Brawn could have wrapped up the constructors' title, but were denied after the safety car was brought on to the track with five laps to go. Button, however, was unhappy with Williams' Nico Rosberg, for allegedly setting his fastest sector time while drivers were under restrictions – an issue the race stewards were looking in to.As things stand, Brawn will need just half a point more to claim the crown when the teams move on to Brazil in two weeks' time, while Button could secure his first world title merely by keeping pace with Barrichello and Vettel.Race standings1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 01:28:20.443; 2 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 01:28:25.243; 3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 01:28:26.843; 4 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 01:28:28.343; 5 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 01:28:29.143; 6 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 01:28:29.943; 7 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 01:28:31.043; 8 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 01:28:31.843; 9 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 01:28:32.143; 10 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 01:28:33.443; 11 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 01:28:34.143; 12 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Ferrari 01:28:34.943; 13 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 01:28:35.343; 14 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 01:28:36.143; 15 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 01:28:38.343Not Classified: 16 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Renault +1 lap; 17 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull +2 laps; 18 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso +10 laps; 19 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso +42 lapsDNS: 20 Timo Glock (Ger) ToyotaWorld championship standings1 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 85.0pts; 2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 71.0; 3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 69.0; 4 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 51.5; 5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 45.0; 6 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 43.0; 7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 34.5; 8 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 30.5; 9 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 26.0; 10 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 24.0; 11 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 22.0; 12 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 22.0; 13 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 15.0; 14 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 9.0; 15 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Ferrari 8.0; 16 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 5.0; 17 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 3.0; 18 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 2.0; six drivers on zero pointsFormula OneSebastian VettelJenson ButtonRed BullBrawnMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Massa claim 'shocks' Hamilton

• Hamilton says there were plenty of 'what ifs' throughout season• McLaren driver believes he had a 'fair battle' with MassaLewis Hamilton today rejected Felipe Massa's claim that the Brazilian had been robbed of the 2008 world championship. Speaking after the first day of practice for tomorrow's Japanese grand prix, Hamilton said he was "a bit surprised and shocked" by Massa's suggestion that Renault's fixing of last year's Singapore grand prix had cost the Ferrari driver a victory that would have given him the title."First, I should say that it's good to hear that Felipe is recovering well and that he's back to his normal self and feeling good," said Hamilton, referring to Massa's recovery from the head injuries he suffered during qualifying for the Hungarian grand prix. "I think all we can say is that it was a tough season, things happened and there were lots and lots of 'what ifs' throughout the season. I believe that we had quite a fair battle throughout and I've always found him to be a fair driver. So I'm a bit surprised and shocked to hear him say that, to be honest."Massa was leading the Singapore race when Nelson Piquet Jr's deliberate crash brought out a safety car and triggered the sequence of events that eventually allowed Piquet's Renault team-mate, Fernando Alonso, to triumph. Massa joined the majority of the field by stopping to refuel under the safety car but a botched pit stop by Ferrari cost him any chance of a points finish. Massa lost the world title by a single point."Everything that happened was robbery but nothing has happened [in terms of] the race. The result didn't change. This is not right," Massa said in an interview with Globo television in Brazil. "The robbery changed the championship. I lost [the title] by one point."Meanwhile the battle for the 2009 championship continues tomorrow at Suzuka as Jenson Button leads his Brawn GP team-mate, Rubens Barrichello, by 15 points with three races remaining. Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull has an outside chance but Button only needs to score five more points than Barrichello to become the second Englishman in succession to win the title. Button and the rest of the field were hampered by wet conditions which limited track time yesterday."I feel sorry for the fans at Suzuka today," said Button. "But, unfortunately, we can't get any useful information in these conditions with so much water on the track. We spent the morning session working on the balance of the car with the wet and intermediate tyres to ensure that we are prepared if the same wet weather does continue over the weekend. It was important to achieve some running and it feels good to be back at Suzuka. This is a great drivers' track, so hopefully we'll get some dry running on Saturday."Hamilton was more frustrated than most since this is the world champion's first visit to Suzuka, the only figure-of-eight track in Formula One."I love the track, it's the best I've ever driven," said Hamilton. "I had a great time today, even though it was wet. We weren't supposed to be running in the second session in the afternoon, but I couldn't help it. I had to go out and have a little bit of fun. I've always wanted to drive here from the very early stages, from when I was watching F1 as a boy and I noticed this circuit then. There is such great history here. This was the one track I hadn't been to and I enjoyed my first couple of laps here this morning."It's a bit tricky for the drivers that haven't been here before. Even though we've driven it today in the wet, it's completely different in the dry. Tomorrow will be a serious challenge to see who is quickest at getting on the ball."Formula OneLewis HamiltonFelipe MassaRenaultMcLarenFerrariMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds