Robert Kubica wins rally race on return to motorsport

Robert Kubica has completed his first motorsport event since his horrific crash in February 2011.

The Pole competed in the Ronde Gomitolo di Lana Rally yesterday, and dominated the entire event, winning by nearly a minute. At the end of the first stage alone, he was 11 seconds ahead of his rivals.

Kubica’s car was modified for him, with the gear lever on his left instead of the right, to compensate for his damaged arm.

While Robert made it clear that he would prefer to be racing in Formula 1, he is still happy with returning to competitive racing:

"Obviously I would have preferred to come back somewhere else, but this is a more 
active phase in my rehabilitation path.

The hope is to be able to return where I was before [F1], and it's already a nice 
goal for me. But to be here in Biella is obviously emotional after 20-21 difficult 
months.

Let's hope we can enjoy ourselves, without looking at stage times because in the 
end it's a matter of re-establishing the way of driving and helping the arm to 
recover better.

Having been a driver for 20 years, my body is accustomed to certain things, and I 
can feel these things only while I drive, so we'll see."

Not content with a one-off rally, Kubica is expected to race in the San Martino di Castrozza rally next weekend.

Alonso problem revealed as broken rear anti-roll bar

Fernando Alonso struggled to make an impression in today’s qualifying session.

Later, the Ferrari team revealed on Twitter that the problem had been caused by a broken rear anti-roll bar:

It looks like there was a mechanical failure on the rear of Fernando's car, possibly 
the rear anti-roll bar.

Later, team principal Stefano Domenicali noted that the fault occurred during Fernando’s first lap in Q3.

Alonso will start 10th on the grid, with teammate Felipe Massa up in 3rd.

Reduced DRS zones for Monza

The FIA has decided to reduce the emphasis on DRS for this year’s Italian Grand Prix.

While two independent DRS zones remain, they have been shortened in length, particularly the zone exiting the Lesmos to the Ascari chicane. Here, the activation point has been moved down the track by 50m, and is now 210m from the exit of Lesmo 2. The detection zone has been moved back slightly, in between the two Lesmo corners. This slightly reduces the likeliness of a driver being able to use DRS in this area.

The main DRS zone, on the start/finish straight, has had a more conservative reduction in length – by 5 metres. Drivers can now activate their DRS systems 115m after the start/finish line. The detection zone for this area is 20 metres before the turn-in for the Parabolica corner.

As well as this, the straight from the Ascari chicane to Parabolica has been resurfaced. This is not expected to have much impact.

Qing Hua Ma to become first Chinese F1 driver in Monza first practice

Qing Hua Ma will drive a Formula 1 car for the first time next weekend, in a HRT at the Italian Grand Prix.

It will be the first time ever that a Chinese person has driven a Formula 1 car in an official session. Ma will take the place of Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan for FP1.

Earlier in the year, he drove for HRT in a one-day Young Driver’s Test in Silverstone.

The 24-year-old has previously driven in A1 GP, Formula Renault 2.0, Spanish F3, British F3 National Class and Superleague Formula without success, but last year won the 1600c China Touring Car Championship. He came to the attention of the press in July, after crying after completing his first laps in the HRT F112:

He is not the first Chinese person to drive an F1 car, however. Ho Pin Tung completed a test drive for the Renault F1 team back in 2009.

Jerome D’Ambrosio confirmed as Grosjean’s replacement for Monza

Jerome D’Ambrosio will get another shot at Formula 1

Jerome D’Ambrosio will take the place of Romain Grosjean for the Lotus team for the Italian Grand Prix.

Romain was banned for one race by the stewards, after causing a serious crash in Spa, which eliminated several frontrunning cars. The Frenchman turned in on Lewis Hamilton, who collided with the Lotus, and speared into Fernando Alonso, Kamui Kobayashi and Pastor Maldonado.

D’Ambrosio is Lotus’ test and reserve driver this year, having been sacked from the Virgin/Marussia team last year.

Maldonado penalised twice, Grosjean banned for Spa incidents

Grosjean was deemed to have caused the accident

Romain Grosjean has been handed a 1-race ban from the Belgian Grand Prix stewards, after he caused a miniature pile-up at the start of today’s race.

At the start, Romain swerved to the right-hand side of the track, inadvertently clashing with Lewis Hamilton. The two cars then speared into Fernando Alonso, who had to be assisted out of the car, presumably from shock.

Sergio Perez, Alonso, Hamilton and Grosjean were all eliminated, while Kamui Kobayashi and Pastor Maldonado’s races were ruined. This is the seventh time in 12 races that he has been involved in first lap incidents.

As well as the 1-race ban, Grosjean has also been served a €50,000 fine.

Meanwhile, Pastor Maldonado has been handed two 5-place grid penalties for the next race in Monza. The first penalty was for an ill-judged jump start, while the second was for causing a crash with Timo Glock’s Marussia, although Pastor’s car was the one eliminated.

It was his third penalty in that race weekend alone.

Webber penalised for another gearbox change

Mark Webber will drop 5 places on the Belgian Grand Prix grid – the second time this has happened in three races.

The Red Bull RB8 requires a new gearbox, and since it has not completed the required 5 races, Webber has been dealt yet another penalty. This occurred two races ago as well, when he was forced to change his gearbox in Germany.

Spa-Francorchamps future secured with 3-year deal

The fate of the historic Spa-Francorchamps circuit has been secured for the time being, with circuit organisers penning a new 3-year deal to host Formula 1 through to 2015.

The deal was agreed with Bernie Ecclestone and Formula One Management a month ago, but has only recently been confirmed by chief race promoter Etienne Davignon.

The Belgian government has stated that it is to inject less funds into the venue, according to economy minister Jean-Claude Marcourt. However, he reiterated that the Grand Prix will continue to be used as a touristic event for the region.

In recent months, rumours have persisted that the track was to alternate races with the Ecclestone-owned Paul Ricard circuit in France. However, after a change in French government, this prospect quickly deteriorated, with Bernie citing politics as the reason for the change in plans.

Hamilton storms to Hungary pole position

Lewis Hamilton has taken his 22nd career pole position, and the 150th for the McLaren team. He will start the Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of Romain Grosjean, who qualified 0.3 seconds behind.

Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button were 3rd and 4th, while the Ferrari drivers struggled for pace, while Webber and Schumacher didn’t even make it into Q3. Here is what happened:

Q1

With a scorching 45 degree track temperature, the Lotus cars were unsurprisingly the first out. Kimi Raikkonen’s 1:23.273 was the first fast lap of the day. Fernando Alonso was set to pip that time, but was held up by a Marussia.

Raikkonen soon improved by another half a second. Second-placed Jenson Button could only manage a 1:23.3 for the time being. However, teammate Lewis Hamilton took another 3 tenths off the fastest time.

Felipe Massa made several attempts to set a lap time, but on each occassion was held up by Michael Schumacher. On the fourth lap, he managed to move into 5th, but was held up again on his subsequent lap.

Lewis was the first to move into the 1:21 zone, after 6 laps on the medium tyre. Bruno Senna continued on his good practice pace, taking second position. Oddly, Fernando Alonso was struggling, and was forced to take on the softer tyre to continue into Q2, even if he was beaten by Paul di Resta.

With only a few minutes left on the clock, Button, Perez, Vettel and Webber all were teetering above the drop zone. All but Sebastian went out again to improve their lap times. Vettel was very nearly caught out by a charging Kamui Kobayashi, but survived in 17th place.

Drivers knocked out in Q1:

18) Daniel Ricciardo – 1:23.250

19) Heikki Kovalainen – 1:23.576

20) Vitaly Petrov – 1:24.167

21) Charles Pic – 1:25.244

22) Timo Glock – 1:25.476

23) Pedro de la Rosa – 1:25.916

24) Narain Karthikeyan – 1:26.178

Q2

The Mercedes drivers were the first out on track, Michael Schumacher abandoning his first lap after a mistake at turn 4. Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Massa quickly went into the 1:21 zone, spurring a stream of fast laps from other drivers.

Again the Red Bulls struggled, initially going 5th and 6th, while the Lotuses took first and second. Soon after, Hamilton slashed another 0.5 seconds off the fastest time.

The Ferraris improved to 2nd and 3rd, Alonso finding it difficult to beat even Massa. After a flurry of activity, Mark Webber was left in 10th place, and Bruno Senna pushed him even further down the order. A dust cloud pulled up by Pastor Maldonado distracted Michael Schumacher, leaving him in 17th place.

Mercedes concluded a dismal afternoon, with Nico Rosberg 13th, and little prospects for the race.

Drivers knocked out in Q2:

11) Mark Webber – 1:21.715

12) Paul di Resta: 1:21.813

13) Nico Rosberg – 1:21.895

14) Sergio Perez – 1:21.895

15) Kamui Kobayashi – 1:22.300

16) Jean-Eric Vergne – 1:22.380

17) Michael Schumacher – 1:22.723

Q3

After an impressive Q2, Nico Hulkenberg was straight out on track for Q3 – albeit on the medium tyre compound.

Lewis Hamilton was set to go fastest, but a massive slide at turn 8 ended his lap. In the first 5 minutes, only Raikkonen, Grosjean, Hamilton and Button set times, the other drivers waiting in the pits.

Sebastian Vettel was set for provisional pole, but lost 0.2 seconds in the final few corners. Pastor Maldonado had to carve his way past both McLarens and Vettel, but still managed 4th place for the moment.

Vettel gave up rather quickly in Q3, leaving the Lotuses, McLarens and Alonso to battle it out at the front. The Ferraris found themselves down in 6th and 7th place, Alonso managing to pip Massa. Kimi Raikkonen was only 5th, but teammate Grosjean nearly beat Hamilton, taking 2nd place. Vettel remained in 3rd, with Button close behind in 4th.

But nobody was able to topple Hamilton’s lap. Despite Grosjean’s final attempt coming close, the McLaren had already set another lap, 0.3 seconds faster than his Lotus rival. The race is Lewis’ to lose tomorrow, but the weather may play a huge part in proceedings…

McLaren and Button set world record with 2.31 second pit stop

A new world record has been set for the fastest pit stop in history, achieved by the McLaren team, with the help of Jenson Button.

Button’s second and last stop at the German Grand Prix took only 2.31 seconds, an absolutely incredible record.

The previous record was believed to be held by Ricardo Patrese, at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1993. His Bennetton team apparently did the stop on 3.2 seconds, but there appears to be no footage of the pit stop itself.

However, this time around, the cameras were waiting to capture this record. At the moment, only a low-quality video is on YouTube, but the sheer speed is still clear to see: