Statistically, the Chinese grand prix raced straight into the history books as one of the most exciting formula one events of all time.

“For me, we are having some of the best races in formula one history,” agreed Jenson Button after finishing Sunday’s Shanghai race behind Nico Rosberg.

Finland’s Turun Sanomat newspaper reports that only three grands prix in the history of the sport played host to more individual overtaking moves.

The report said there were 72 passes in total on Sunday, not including the first corner of the race. Seven of the moves were on Kimi Raikkonen on one lap, after the Lotus driver’s Pirelli tyres gave up the ghost.

Last year in Shanghai, there were 63 passes. So far in 2012, there were more overtaking moves in China, Malaysia and Australia compared to the same races last season.

Canada 2011 still stands as the site of the most passes during a single grand prix, at 89.

In second place are the 1983 US grand prix and the 2011 Turkish grand prix (79 passes), followed by China last weekend.

McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh is celebrating the spectacle of the 2012 season so far.

“Who’s going to predict who will win?” he said, referring to this weekend’s grand prix in Bahrain. “I won’t.

“We’ve had three very different races and I think we are going to have potentially 20 very different races this year.”

Monisha Kaltenborn will become F1′s first ever female team boss.

That is the revelation of Peter Sauber, who at the age of 68 has hinted he might call it a day before his 70th birthday.

Indian Kaltenborn, 41, is already Hinwil based Sauber’s chief executive, while Peter Sauber remains the team principal.

“I have always said that I will not be sitting on the pitwall as a 70 year old,” Sauber told Der Sonntag newspaper.

“With certainty, my successor is Monisha Kaltenborn. That is for sure. When it (the handover) happens is still open.

“She will be the first female team boss in formula one history,” Sauber continued. “She’s been with us for 13 years, always with leading roles. I’m sure she will do the job very well.”

Sauber, in fact, has already departed the pitwall once before, when he sold his team to BMW and handed over to Mario Theissen.

Somewhat reluctantly, he returned in 2010, having rescued the Hinwil based employees in the wake of German carmaker’s sudden withdrawal.

“I could not jump into the breach a second time,” smiled Sauber, hinting that his retirement this time around would be final.

Red Bull is the only team in formula one with a perfect reliability record so far in 2011.
An analysis by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport shows that the team is not only dominating the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, but its two cars were the only ones in the field to complete the maximum 1,362 laps.

“Over the years it has been said that Adrian Newey’s cars were always fast but not always reliable. Those days are over,” read the analysis.

Team boss Christian Horner is quoted as saying: “We are now better at knowing how to deal with Adrian’s extreme cars.”

If Red Bull can maintain its perfect reliability through to November’s Brazilian finale, it will be the first team in formula one history to do so.

In a surprising second place – with 96 per cent of the total laps complete – is Force India, who source technology from McLaren and race with a Mercedes engine.

Ferrari is third, with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa completing 89 fewer racing laps than the leading Red Bulls, closely followed by the works McLaren.

Matching McLaren’s 92.6 per cent reliability record is Toro Rosso, followed by Renault, Sauber, Mercedes and Virgin.

Williams’ tenth place represents a reliability record of just 84.2 per cent so far, or 215 fewer laps than Red Bull as Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado failed to finish a combined 7 races.

HRT and Lotus bring up the rear.

A veteran journalist has linked GP2 driver Jules Bianchi with the Williams seat currently occupied by Rubens Barrichello for the 2012 season.

Brazilian Barrichello, the most experienced driver in formula one history, is waiting to have his contract renewed by the famous British team.

But his countryman Livio Oricchio, who writes for the O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, has said this week that the 39-year-old’s seat is in doubt because “Frank Williams needs money”.

He said Williams’ main revenue streams are Pastor Maldonado’s sponsor PDVSA, F1 television income, and minor backers like Randstad, Reuters, ATT and Oris.

Altogether, struggling Williams’ budget is about $100 million, with Barrichello costing the team about $5m.

“And there are young drivers on the market with a similar amount of money ($5m) to spend to make their formula one debut, like the Monegasque Stefano Coletti, Italian Davide Valsecchi, Briton Sam Bird and Frenchman Jules Bianchi”, said Oricchio.

“Bianchi is in the Ferrari school but he needs to show what he can do before he can dream to compete for the Maranello team. Williams would be a good entry point,” he added.

Bianchi, 22 and handled by Felipe Massa’s manager Nicholas Todt, has had a difficult GP2 season but is still highly regarded by Ferrari.

Meanwhile, Germany’s Speed Week reports that Force India driver Adrian Sutil’s key sponsor Medion has suffered a sharp decline in revenue in the first half of 2011.

Rubens Barrichello has scolded the FIA for refusing to ban the adjustable rear wing overtaking system DRS for the Monaco grand prix later in May.

Some teams and drivers, including Grand Prix Drivers’ Association chairman Barrichello, pushed for the ban on safety grounds for the uniquely narrow and twisty street layout.

But Charlie Whiting ruled out a regulation change, informing the teams in Turkey on Sunday.

“It is wrong,” Brazilian Barrichello, the most experienced driver in formula one history, is quoted by the Daily Express.

“I would love the people at the top to sit in the car and try to do the tunnel at Monaco with the DRS open,” he reportedly said.

“They are waiting for something bad to happen. And when it does, they will just say, ‘Oh, next year we won’t have it for Monaco’,” added Barrichello.

Jun.17 (GMM) Recent championship leaders Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton disagree about the likely direction of the 2010 season.

After winning the Turkish and Canadian grands prix in the wake of Red Bull’s earlier dominance, McLaren driver Hamilton said the fight for the title is “tight”.

The statistics so far appear to support his argument, given the five different race winners and the fact they are all separated by just 19 points.

“So it’s the ultimate challenge I’ve experienced in formula one, perhaps in formula one history,” the Briton added.

Australian Webber, however, predicts that the current five-driver championship fight will ultimately become a more regular head-to-head as the season winds down.

“Last year,” the Red Bull driver told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, “Jenson won many races at the beginning. But that’s not usually what happens.

“It is more often the case that until mid-season there are three to five drivers all together.

“70 per cent in there will probably be only three or so in it, and with a few races to go it becomes a duel,” Webber predicted.

“Perhaps the champion will even be known before the last race.”

The 33-year-old also played down suggestions that, given the outcome of the Montreal race, McLaren is now the pacesetter.

Red Bull had predicted after Turkey that the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve would not suit the RB6.

“Valencia is another track on which we might not be so good,” said Webber. “But we surprised ourselves in Canada when we were more competitive than we thought we would be.”

Epsilon Euskadi has a better chance of winning a spot on the formula one grid now that Max Mosley has departed.

That is the suggestion of Carlos Gracia, the head of Spain’s motor racing federation.

He told the Marca sports newspaper that the Spanish outfit has the “best facilities” of the other hopefuls but still missed out on a 2010 debut to HRT, Virgin and Lotus.

“When the old FIA granted the licenses to be in formula one it was done with haste and with not accurately assessing the infrastructure.

“I think and I hope that now it will be different,” added Gracia, referring to the appointment of Jean Todt as the new FIA president.

1996 world champion Damon Hill, who acted as a steward in Monaco last weekend as part of a Todt initiative, also backs the sport’s new regime.

“I think we’ve come through a phase in formula one history that has been quite turbulent,” he told GP Week.

“Now things seem to have settled down and we’re focusing again on racing.  That’s the way it should be.

“Before, it was like having a film director who wanted to be in his own film,” added Hill.

(GMM)

Ferrari formula one racing is the best in the formula one world. Ferrari fans around the world watch Formula one every week. What makes Formula one so special? It’s hard to say. But Formula one gains more and more interest in public.
Scuderia Ferrari is a division of the Ferrari automobile company, which is concerned with racing. Scuderia means “stable” in Italian and Ferrari is after the name of Enzo Ferrari, the founder of the brand. Scuderia was formed in the year 1929 and consisted of 40 racecar drivers including Enzo at that time.
Ferrari achieved great success in the Le Mans Races. The team made its debut into Formula One at the Italian Grand Prix with the model 125F1. Since then the team has been involved in the Formula One Racing and is one of the best racing teams in Formula One history.
Few of the finest drivers such as Niki Lauda, Phil Hill, Lorenzo Bandini and Michele Alboreto have contributed towards the success of the Ferrari Formula One team over the years. Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen are the current contracted drivers for the team. Both the drivers have been signed for three years contract after the retirement of “Michael Schumacher”. Michael Schumacher was the one of the best race drivers in the history of world racing.
Marlboro was a major sponsor for the Ferrari team since 1984. They backed the team till 2005, but had to withdraw, as tobacco sponsorship was made illegal in the European Union. Acer was one of the sponsors for the company till late 2008. Acer also sold laptops with Ferrari badges. Vodafone was also one of the sponsors till 2005, however they too withdrew in favor of the McLaren team.
Many others played the part of sponsors for the Ferrari racing team. FIAT is a major sponsor of the team including others such as Bridgestone, AMD, and Martini. Ferrari also saw sponsorship from the Gulf, such as Mubadla, an investment company of Abu Dhabi and Etihad Airways.
The Ferrari racing team has achieved great success over the years particularly in the Formula One racing championships. The team and its drivers have won the “Mille Miglia”‘ 8 times, the “Targa Florio” 7 times and the “24 Hour Le Mans”, 9 times. Formula One achievements for the team are still marked distinctly.
Most Constructors Championship: 15, Most Drivers Championship: 15, Most wins (all time): 208, Most wins (season): 15, Most podiums (all): 617, Most podiums (season): 29, Most points (all): 4,887.27, Most points (season): 262, Most pole positions (all): 201, Most pole positions (season): 262, Most fastest laps (season): 262, Most fastest laps (all): 215, Highest winning percentage: 26%
The Ferrari team also managed to lead over Ford as the most successful F1 engine manufacturer with 182 wins compared to Ford’s 176 wins.
With years of hardship and trial, the Ferrari team still continues to dominate the Formula One racing world with its unmatchable endurance. The team has witnessed a massive fan following over the years. Italian fans for the team are known as “tifosi”. Recently, the Ferrari Formula one team saw its first win of the year 2008 at the Malaysian Grand Prix.