Formula-1 news

One of only two Italian drivers on this year’s grid, Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi is certainly better placed to take advantage of a quick car at his home Grand Prix this weekend than fellow countryman, Lotus’s Jarno Trulli. It has been 44 long years since an Italian – Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966 – won the Monza race and five since a local hero – Giancarlo Fisichella – even claimed a podium.

The question is can Liuzzi convert the VJM03′s latent pace into a real result? Sadly, recent form is not on his side. Although the car has certainly shown strong performance at recent rounds, and should do well at low-downforce Monza, the 2010 season hasn’t gone to plan for the man from Locorotondo. There have been some flashes of brilliance, but overall the Italian has struggled for results and, more importantly, struggled to match his team mate Adrian Sutil.

For many F1 experts Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel is still the hottest candidate for the 2010 drivers’ title, despite his occasional mistakes – notably his safety-car lapse at the last race in Hungary. Spa-Francorchamps, venue for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, puts intense pressure on car and driver and if Vettel can succeed here then his championship odds will shorten dramatically. But can he put those previous errors out of his mind and go on the offensive? The German believes so

Drivers: 1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1m 18.773s; 2. Mark Webber (Red Bull), 1m 19.184s; 3. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), 1m 19.987s

Q: Sebastian, 100th Grand Prix for Red Bull Racing. A front row lock-out and a commanding performance from yourself in qualifying.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it was a very good day for us. All weekend here we felt very comfortable, from the first practice session onwards with the car. I think we were able to improve it again another bit overnight. I said on the radio to the boys ‘this is your moment.’ Mark and myself

A drive-through penalty for his team mate helped seal an unexpected, but well-deserved win for Red Bull’s Mark Webber in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel took third following his safety-car rule infringement, behind Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.

With McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton failing to finish and team mate Jenson Button only eighth, Webber heads the standings going into the summer break

1st Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), 1h27m38.864s; 2nd Felipe Massa (Ferrari), 1h27m43.060s; 3rd Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1h27m43.985s.

Q: Fernando, as the team told you at the end you have indeed been very quick this weekend. Frustration though for much of the race and you said on the team radio at one stage ‘this is ridiculous’ but in the end it ended very well for you.
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, I think it was a good weekend overall. We did improve the car a lot and immediately from Friday we felt very competitive…

The two Red Bulls seemed to be in a league of their own on Saturday afternoon at Silverstone, with only Fernando Alonso coming close enough to look at their exhausts. Mark Webber was forced to grin and bear it as team mate Sebastian Vettel clocked pole position, but given where his other title rivals are on the grid, P2 is not a bad place to be – especially when you believe you car advantage should carry over to the race

The FIA have tweaked the safety-car regulations ahead of Sunday’s British Grand Prix in a bid to avoid a repeat of the recent controversy that arose at Valencia…

Mark Webber beat his Red Bull team mate Sebastian Vettel into the first corner and never looked back in Sunday’s British Grand Prix. Vettel then dropped to the back of the field with a puncture, leaving McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton as Webber’s only serious challenger.

Nico Rosberg was an excellent third for Mercedes GP, with Jenson Button fourth for McLaren after a safety-car period aided his recovery from 14th on the grid….

Red Bull’s Mark Webber says he is fit and well, and raring to go this weekend, less than 14 days after his horrendous back flip in the European Grand Prix in Valencia.

The Spanish and Monaco Grand Prix winner confirmed that there have been no ill effects.

McLaren have decided to take their blown diffuser off the car for the remainder of the British Grand Prix weekend, after inconclusive results from the much-anticipated upgrade in Friday’s practice sessions…