A short apology.

I’m sad to announce to you that this week’s roundup of the fake championships won’t be wrote this week. The reason for this is that my first GCSE exams are now only a few days away and therefore I need to spend as much time as possible revising. This also means that there will be very little activity on this blog until the Monaco GP, which falls at the start of a week without exams.

As well as that I won’t be able to write about the Canadian GP due to having 3 exams in the 3 days after that.

I hope you return to this blog for the review of the Monaco GP.

Thomas

The Western Championship post Spain 12

It was the first race of the western championship this weekend and already there’s drama in the standings. The championship is scored by standings from the race and go by the pre 2010 scoring system (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1). Here are the drivers standings:

1. Pastor Maldonado              Williams            10
2. Fernando Alonso                Ferrari                  8
3. Kimi Raikkonen                  Lotus                     6
4. Romain Grosjean                Lotus                    5
5. Kamui Kobayashi                Sauber                  4
6. Sebastian Vettel                   Red Bull               3
7. Nico Rosberg                        Mercedes             2
8. Lewis Hamilton                   McLaren             1

The drivers standings are already full of oddballs, Lewis Hamilton only has 1 point, it’s led by a driver with only 1 victory, Ferrari and Sauber are beating Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren, and a team who haven’t won a race this season.

Constructors Standings:

1. Lotus                 11
2. Williams          10
3. Ferrari                8
4. Sauber                 4
5. Red Bull              3
6. Mercedes            2
7. McLaren             1

Tags: Formula 1, motorsport, F1, Pastor Maldonado, Williams, Lotus

The Qualifying Championship post Spain 12

This season may have had 5 different winners in 5 races and it’s similar in pole positions with 4 different drivers starting from the front. It takes place at every race in Q3, the driver who goes fastest gets 10 points 2nd 9 points down to 10th that gets 1 point. As well as this 3 bonus points are available for the driver who sets the fastest lap come the race. Here are the drivers standings:

1. Lewis Hamilton               McLaren            38          (last week 1st)
2. Jenson Button                  McLaren            34          (2nd)
3. Nico Rosberg                    Mercedes            28         (5th)
4. Romain Grosjean            Lotus                   28         (7th)
5. Sebastian Vettel               Red Bull              27         (6th)
6. Michael Schumacher     Mercedes            26          (4th)
7. Mark Webber                    Red Bull             25          (3rd)
8. Kimi Raikkonen               Lotus                  22          (8th)
9. Fernando Alonso            Ferrari                 15          (11th)
10. Sergio Perez                      Sauber                 13          (10th)
11. Pastor Maldonado          Williams            13          (13th)
12. Kamui Kobayashi            Sauber                12          (9th)
13. Daniel Ricciardo             Toro Rosso         6           (12th)
14. Nico Hulkenburg            Force India          2          (14th)
15. Paul Di Resta                   Force India          1          (15th)

Romain Grosjean was the pick of the drivers this weekend picking up 11 points after qualifying 3rd and driving the fastest lap, taking up 3 positions in he standings. Mark Webber lost the most places this week, after qualifying 11th he picked up 0 points and moved down four places.

Constructors Championship:

1. McLaren                 72            (last week 1st)
2. Mercedes                54            (2nd)
3. Lotus                       50            (4th)
4. Red Bull                  49            (3rd)
5. Sauber                     25            (5th)
6. Ferrari                     15            (6th)
7. Williams                 13            (8th)
8. Toro Rosso              6             (7th)
9. Force India              3             (9th)

It was a very disappointing display from McLaren who only picked up 1 point, after that it’s a miracle that they still have such a huge lead of 18 points. Lotus were the most impressive team last weekend, they picked up 18 points. Ferrari and Williams both picked up large points due to Maldonado’s pole and Fernando qualifying in 2nd.

Tags: F1, Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, motorsport

Speed Trap Championship post Spain 12

Who was the fastest last weekend? Lets find out. Takes place in FP3 and quite simply you get points for being the fastest through the speed trap. Fastest takes home 15 points, 2nd gets 12, 3rd 9, 4th 6 and 5th gets 3. Here are the drivers standings:

1. Sergio Perez               Sauber           42          (last week 1st)
2. Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus             42          (3rd)
3. Romain Grosjean     Lotus             27          (2nd)
4. Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber          21           (4th)
5. Lewis Hamilton       McLaren       15          (5th)
6. Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso    15         (9th)
7. Jean-Eric Vergne    Toro Rosso    15         (11th)
8. Nico Rosberg            Mercedes       12         (6th)
9. Heikki Kovalainen  Caterham      12         (7th)
10. Michael Schumacher  Mercedes   9          (8th)
11. Nico Hulkenburg     Force India   9           (10th)
12. Paul Di Resta            Force India   6           (12th)

The fight is on at the top between Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen who both lead over 3rd place Romain Grosjean by 15 points. It was a very good weekend for both the Toro Rosso drivers, Ricciardo moved up 3 places in the standings and Vergne moved up 4. This isn’t a competition for the big teams to compete in, Ferrari and Red Bull haven’t got any points along with Jenson Button.

Teams Standings:

1. Lotus                 69         (last week 1st)
2. Sauber               63         (2nd)
3. Toro Rosso       30        (4th)
4. Mercedes          21         (3rd)
5. Force India      15         (5th)
6. McLaren           15         (6th)
7. Caterham          12         (7th)

With each team able to pick up 27 points a weekend and with the balance of the competition constantly changing this is anyone’s guess as to which team will win. After their driver picked up 15 points Toro Rosso moved up to 3rd in the constructors championships, whilst Lotus doubled their lead from 3 to 6 points.

Tags: F1, Formula 1, Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, motorsport, Sergio Perez

Fastest Sector Championship post Spain 12

Mercedes haven’t been so good this weekend and their car appears to have fallen behind the other teams. This takes times from FP3 split into their relevant sectors. The 6 fastest sector one times get points 6-5-4-3-2-1 the same happens for S2 and then for S3. Here are the drivers standings:

1. Lewis Hamilton           McLaren            51           (last week 1st)
2. Sebastian Vettel           Red Bull             47           (4th)
3. Mark Webber                Red Bull             40          (3rd)
4. Nico Rosberg                Mercedes           39           (2nd)
5. Jenson Button              McLaren            31           (6th)
6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes            30          (5th)
7. Romain Grosjean        Lotus                   20          (7th)
8. Pastor Maldonado      Williams            18           (8th)
9. Sergio Perez                  Sauber                 11           (10th)
10. Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber                   9           (-)
11. Kimi Raikkonen          Lotus                     6           (9th)
12. Daniel Ricciardo         Toro Rosso          4           (11th)
13. Fernando Alonso        Ferrari                   4           (-)
14. Nico Hulkenburg         Force India          3          (12th)
15. Jean-Eric Vergne        Toro Rosso           2          (-)

It was a good weekend for Fernando Alonso who picked up Ferrari’s first points of the season. But it was a much better weekend for Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi who started his campaign with 9 points. It was a good weekend for Hamilton who due to Rosberg picking up 0 points managed to extend his lead by a further 3 points.

Constructors Standings:

1. Red Bull           87         (3rd)
2. McLaren         82         (2nd)
3. Mercedes        69          (1st)
4. Lotus               26          (4th)
5. Sauber             20         (6th)
6. Williams        18          (5th)
7. Toro Rosso     6           (7th)
8. Ferrari             4            (-)
9. Force India     3           (8th)

It was a fantastic weekend for Red Bull taking the lead for the first time this season, at the same time Mercedes had a disaster of a weekend, they started the weekend first but picked up 0 points which has meant they’re not 18 points behind the leaders.

Tags: F1, Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton, motorsport, Red Bull

Practice Championship Standings post Spain 12

This weekend saw the start of the European season and also saw the return of Williams as race winners. Takes place in every practice session of the weekend and in each session the fastest driver picks up 8 points down to 1 point for the 8th fastest. Here are the drivers standings:

1. Lewis Hamilton                McLaren               78          (last week 1st)
2. Nico Rosberg                     Mercedes               70         (2nd)
3. Sebastian Vettel                Red Bull                 66          (5th)
4. Michael Schumacher      Mercedes                63         (3rd)
5. Jenson Button                   McLaren                57         (6th)
6. Mark Webber                    Red Bull                  54         (4th)
7. Fernando Alonso             Ferrari                    25         (8th)
8. Kamui Kobayashi            Sauber                    25          (10th)
9. Romain Grosjean            Lotus                       20          (7th)
10. Sergio Perez                       Sauber                    17          (9th)
11. Pastor Maldonado           Williams               14           (14th)
12. Kimi Raikkonen               Lotus                      13           (13th)
13. Paul Di Resta                     Force India          11           (11th)
14. Nico Hulkenburg              Force India          10          (12th)
15. Daniel Ricciardo               Toro Rosso           7            (15th)
16. Valtteri Bottas                    Williams               4            (-)
17. Jean-Eric Vergne              Toro Rosso           3            (18th)
18. Felipe Massa                      Ferrari                   2            (16th)
19. Heikki Kovalainen           Caterham               1           (17th)

It was a good week for drivers outside the top 6 as many of them took big steps forward today, Alonso went fastest in FP1, Maldonado went second in FP3 and Kamui Kobayashi was third fastest in both FP1 and FP3. It was another poor week for Massa again, he picked up no points and has moved further back the standings.

Teams Standings:

1. McLaren          136          (last week 2nd)
2. Mercedes         133          (1st)
3. Red Bull           120         (3rd)
4. Sauber               42          (4th)
5. Lotus                  33          (5th)
6. Ferrari               27          (7th)
7. Force India      21           (6th)
8. Williams          18           (9th)
9. Toro Rosso     10            (8th)
10. Caterham         1              (10th)

The top 3 teams have continued their dominance extending their lead to 78 points and probably ruling anyone else out of contention of winning the championship. Red Bull were the pick of the top 3 teams, they gained 29 points and have really closed down McLaren and Mercedes.

Tags: F1, Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, motorsport

Hard Tyres Podcast

Last night I appeared for the second time on the Hard Tyres Podcast, also featuring Luke Smith editor of Richland F1 and ‘controversial’ Stu. Here’s the link http://www.loudyspeak.com/podcasts/hardtyres/2012/05/13/hard-tyres-episode-3-spain/