Formula-1 news

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel will start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix just where he wants, on pole position. But there was a major disappointment for team mate Mark Webber who managed only fifth place and will be separated from Vettel by Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.

Hamilton already held second place, but trimmed his time down to demonstrate to Vettel that he may yet have a race on his hands on Sunday…

Four men could become world champion in Abu Dhabi this weekend. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton has only an outside chance, but Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel are all real contenders

For the four remaining title contenders, qualifying for this weekend’s title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a fraught affair. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was the quickest when it counted, taking pole position for the tenth time this season, but his team mate Mark Webber seemed to crumble under the pressure, managing just fifth on the grid. In between were the Red Bull duo’s remaining championship rivals McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, as well as 2009 title holder Jenson Button in the second MP4-25. The scene is thus set for a storming race. We take a team-by-team look at qualifying

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel has sealed his place in the F1 history books as the sports youngest world champion after a dominant win in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. Vettel led home the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

The men who had been ahead in the standings, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Mark Webber, lost out on the ultimate prize after ill-timed pit stops, finishing seventh and eighth…

A couple of months back many had ruled him out of the title fight. Fernando Alonso maintained he could still do it and after his faultless drive to the top of the table in Korea – his third win in four races – his doubters are now eating their words.

The Spaniard’s brilliance in Yeongam’s testing conditions, combined with a disastrous day for Red Bull, means that with just two rounds to go he heads the standings by 11 points…

Fernando Alonso comes to Monza under the greatest pressure to deliver a strong result to keep Ferrari in the hunt for the world championship. And yesterday he admitted here that this race, and the next in Singapore, will have a crucial effect on his and the Scuderia’s chances…

As expected, it rained in Spa on Friday morning. And rained. At one stage nobody was out on the track as a torrential downpour kept all 24 cars and drivers in their garages.

But everyone went out at one time or other as full wet Bridgestones remained the order of the day, and Fernando Alonso set the pace all the way through with Lewis Hamilton hot on his heels…

After all the rain in Belgium on Friday morning and through lunch, it was dry for the second practice session during the afternoon, which was halted for a few minutes with a quarter of an hour to run because spectators were suspected to be in a dangerous area.

Adrian Sutil set the pace throughout for Force India, only to be upstaged right at the end when Fernando Alonso bettered him by 0.125s in the Ferrari. The Spaniard lapped in 1m 49.032s, compared to the German’s 1m 49.157s.

As he showed to great effect at the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, Mark Webber in a Red Bull is a winning combination. And at the start of this month’s summer break the Budapest victor has sent out a warning call to his rivals that he plans to be just as strong at the season’s remaining seven races.

Although Webber missed out on pole in Hungary – it was claimed by his team mate Sebastian Vettel – the Australian notched up his fourth win of the year, crossing the line almost 18 seconds ahead of the chasing Ferrari of Fernando Alonso.

Ferrari will appear before the FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) next month following their controversial one-two result at July’s German Grand Prix.

The Italian team were fined US$100,000 by the Hockenheim race stewards for breaching sporting regulations after Felipe Massa, who had been leading the event, moved aside to allow team mate Fernando Alonso past. The stewards also forwarded their report to the WMSC for further consideration.