Sebastian Vettel has taken pole position for the European Grand Prix in dominant fashion. Vettel, 24, set his lap time of 1:38.086 at the end of the ten minute Q3 session to beat Lewis Hamilton by three tenths of a second during a qualifying session that was the closest since the current format was introduced in 2006. Such was the intensity of Q2 that both Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were knocked out and will start eleventh and thirteenth respectively, despite setting a time less […]

As F1's 'silly season' shifts into a high gear in Valencia, the cameras snapped with glee on Friday when Sergio Perez and his manager Jaume Sallares walked calmly into Ferrari's hot-red motor home. Mexican Perez, of course - whilst undoubtedly linked with Felipe Massa's race cockpit for 2013 - is also the cream of Ferrari's driver development programme. So Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni was able to joke when he answered to Spain's AS newspaper: "He has signed ... he has come to sign." Another rumour […]

Michael Schumacher did not become F1's seventh winner of 2012 in Canada, but his boss Ross Brawn is hoping Valencia is a case of 'lucky eight' for the seven time world champion. Brawn, Mercedes' team principal, admitted it is possible the sport's unprecedented run of new and different winners this season could continue on Spanish streets this weekend. "I'm thinking of Michael in our car," said the Briton, "but the Lotus is good and they haven't won, while Sauber have put in some great results […]

Lotus' driver duo looks set to survive beyond the 2012 season, but Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne and Kamui Kobayashi at Sauber could be in trouble. At Lotus, Romain Grosjean has looked quick on his return to F1 following his abortive 2009 debut, but the reigning GP2 champion has also faced criticism for getting involved in too many incidents. Kimi Raikkonen, meanwhile, initially impressed in 2012 after two years off the grid, but more recently he has struggled, is reportedly at odds with his engineers over […]

2012 has been described as 'topsy-turvy' and a 'lottery' that has ended the domination of Formula One's usual greats. But according to a detailed analysis by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, F1's old guard is still at the very top of the timesheets. The analysis shows that McLaren and Red Bull, respectively, have been the best teams overall when it comes to pace in the all-out 'Q2' qualifying segment, and the actual grands prix. The second best team in qualifying, however, has been Mercedes, whose […]

Michael Schumacher's run of bad luck in 2012 is hard to fathom, according to Peter Sauber. Team boss Sauber, who was instrumental in bringing the seven time world champion into F1 in the early 90s, said that in the third year of his comeback with Mercedes, Schumacher is finally at the wheel of a worthy car. "But I have to say that Schumacher's bad luck is incredible," Sauber told the Swiss newspaper Blick, referring to yet another technical problem for the 43-year-old in Canada. In […]

Sebastian Vettel has taken the 32nd pole position of his F1 career after setting the fastest time in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton completes the front row, ahead of Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa. Romain Grosjean, Paul di Resta, Michael Schumacher - who felt he was compromised on his fastest lap - and Jenson Button round out the top ten. It was a disappointing session for Kimi Raikkonen; the Finn could manage only twelfth as he failed to […]

McLaren on Friday continued to play down criticism team flaws are hurting its drivers' chances of winning the 2012 world championship. The latest criticism comes after Lewis Hamilton dominated Friday's proceedings at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. In total contrast, his teammate Jenson Button managed only a handful of laps, with a double gearbox failure. "We had an oil leak so we had to take the gearbox off then put it back on," revealed the 2009 world champion. "And then we found another problem, so they […]

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the opening practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix. Hamilton set his quickest lap time on the prime tyres fairly early on in the ninety minute session and his time was not bettered by his rivals, despite their efforts on the option tyres. There was a fifteen minute red flag period after Heikki Kovalainen crashed at Turn 9. The Caterham driver slid wide exiting the corner and over corrected, resulting in the right hand side of his car […]

Still at the back of the grid, Timo Glock is nonetheless heading towards the middle of the 2012 season in a better mood. Earlier this year, still struggling for the third consecutive year to pull Marussia from the back of the pack, the highly rated German appeared out of sorts. He was at war with his Cosworth-powered car, and being genuinely outpaced by his rookie teammate Charles Pic. "It was oversteering brutally," Glock told Auto Motor und Sport, "and after only a few laps the […]

Vitaly Petrov has expressed how he prefers racing in wet conditions, and is hoping the Canadian Grand Prix on Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will be wet which would enable Caterham to be more competitive with the midfield teams such as Toro Rosso and Force India. Last years Canadian Grand Prix was struck by torrential rain, which red flagged the race after 25 laps. The race was eventually able to continue, and was undeniably the race of the season as Jenson Button took victory on the […]

Heikki Kovalainen has tipped Fernando Alonso to win the topsy-turvy 2012 championship. Alonso is just one of the six race winners after the opening six races of the season, but despite a difficult start for Ferrari the Spaniard is now leading the drivers' standings by 3 points. "Alonso's lead...yes, he will take the championship this year," Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat quoted Caterham driver Kovalainen as saying. "Whatever the special circumstances or the weather conditions, there is always a common variable, and that is Alonso being […]