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Post by paulgilb on Mar 27, 2011 12:33:07 GMT 1
They might not be for much longer: www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90294 Which means congratulations to Paul di Resta for becoming the 70th driver to score on his debut. Amazingly, Petrov is the first podium debutant since Vettel in Monza 2008!
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 26, 2011 13:16:29 GMT 1
f1rejects.com's Rejects of 2011 predictions:
•Drivers being asked to multitask - they're men, after all •Criticism of Pirelli tyre degradation •The adjustable rear wing and how its use will be policed •Lotus-Renault vs Lotus-Renault •Force India - midfield anonymity beckons •Force India without an Indian driver at the Indian GP •Of the drivers, Jarno Trulli, Narain Karthikeyan and Jerome d'Ambrosio •Anything to do with HRT •Bernie's increasingly harebrained ideas •Abu Dhabi - even with the new rules, will we see any overtaking?
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 26, 2011 11:36:54 GMT 1
Grid for Australia: 1 Vettel 2 Hamilton 3 Webber 4 Button 5 Alonso 6 Petrov 7 Rosberg 8 Massa 9 Kobayashi 10 Buemi 11 Schumacher 12 Alguersuari 13 Perez 14 di Resita 15 Maldonado 16 Sutil 17 Barrichello (no time in Q2) 18 Heidfeld 19 Kovalainen 20 Trulli 21 Glock 22 d'Ambrosio Outside 107% in Q1: Liuzzi Karthikeyan
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 25, 2011 18:53:05 GMT 1
Third QF: New Zealand (221/8) beat South Africa (172) by 49 runs
South Africa thus keep alive their record of never winning a WC knockout game. Apparently, this was NZ's first WC knockout-game win.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 24, 2011 18:46:09 GMT 1
Second QF: India (261/5) beat Australia (260/6) by 5 wickets
India thus play Pakistan in the second semi final next Wednesday. It also means that for the first time since 1996, the winning team will not be Australia.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 23, 2011 18:23:41 GMT 1
First QF: Pakistan (113/0) beat West Indies (112) by 10 wickets (175 balls remaining)
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 23, 2011 0:10:30 GMT 1
Lotus (MAL) First season: 1958 (did not compete 1995-2009) Constructors’ Championships: 7 (1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1978) Drivers’ Championships: 6 (1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1978) Races Started: 510 Race Wins: 79 1-2 Finishes: 8 Podiums: 172 Pole Positions: 107 Fastest Laps: 71 Points: 1410 Engines: Climax (1958-67), Maserati (1961), BRM (1962-67), Ford (1963), Ford Cosworth (1967-83, 1992-93), Pratt & Whitney (1971), Renault (1983-86, 2011), Honda (1987-88), Judd (1989, 1991), Lamborghini (1990), Mugen Honda (1994), Cosworth (2010) Most Races Started: Elio de Angelis (90) Most Wins: Jim Clark (25)
Established by Colin Chapman, Lotus made their F1 debut in the 1958 Monaco GP, and scored their first victory in 1960 (this was a privately-entered Lotus – Team Lotus did not score their first win until 1961). The team were renowned for their technological ‘leaps’ – however, they were also prone to producing unreliable cars. Their ground-breaking cars allowed them to win Drivers’ Championships courtesy of Jim Clark (1963, 1965), Graham Hill (1968), Jochen Rindt (1970), Emerson Fittipaldi (1972), and Mario Andretti (1978). They also won the Constructors’ Championship in each of those years, plus 1973. After Chapman’s death in 1982, the team’s performance dwindled (although Ayrton Senna gave them several wins), and collapsed before the 1995 season. The Lotus name returned to F1 for 2010 with a team backed by a Malaysian consortium. Despite only having its entry confirmed 6 months prior to the start of the season, both cars were classified finishers in the first race and the team quickly became the best of 2010 newcomers, taking the all-important tenth slot in constructor standings with Heikki Kovalainen’s 12th place in Japan.
20 – Jarno Trulli (ITA) First season: 1997 Teams: Minardi (1997), Prost (1997-99), Jordan (2000-01), Renault (2002-04), Toyota (2004-2009), Lotus (2010-date) Races: 238 (234 starts) Pole Positions: 4 Wins: 1 Podiums: 11 Fastest Laps: 1 Points: 246.5 Races Led: 16 Doubles: 1
A champion in German F3 (1996), Jarno Trulli made his F1 debut for Minardi in 1997 (having been a test driver for Benetton in 1996) before transferring to Prost after 7 races (replacing the injured Olivier Panis) and then sitting out the last 2 races of that season when Panis returned. He scored 4 points (including a 4th place at Germany), as well as qualifying 3rd at and leading the Austrian GP, to finish 15th overall. In 1998 he managed to qualify in the top 10 twice, and scored just 1 point (at the chaotic Belgian GP) to finish 16th overall. 1999 was an improvement – he qualified in the top 10 on 7 occasions, and managed 2nd place at the chaotic European GP, finishing 11th overall with 7 points. He joined Jordan in 2000, where he managed 2 front-row starts, but only scored 6 points (10th overall). In 2001 he only qualified outside the top 10 on one occasion, and finished 9th overall with 12 points (two 4th places being his best results). He moved to Renault to partner Jenson Button in 2002, scoring 9 points (including two 4th places) to finish 8th overall. In 2003 he managed 2 front-row starts, scored on 10 occasions, and managed a podium in Germany, to finish 8th overall (33 pts). 2004 got off to a good start – he scored points in 9 of the first 10 races, including a podium in Spain and a victory from pole position in Monaco. However, his performance in the latter half of the season dropped off (despite a pole position in Belgium), and he parted company with Renault with 3 races to go, and thus made an early debut for Toyota in the last 2 races of 2004. After failing to score in the last 8 races of 2004, he finished 6th overall with 46 points. 2005 also started well – 3 podiums from the first 5 races, plus pole position in the US. He managed a total of 14 top 5 grid slots. However, his performance dropped off towards the end of the season, resulting in 7th place overall with 43 points (despite being 2nd in the championship early on), behind team-mate Ralf Schumacher. 2006 was a frustrating season – he failed to score in any of the first 8 races before finishing with 15 points (12th overall, again behind Ralf Schumacher). His best finish was 4th (from 22nd on the grid). In 2007 he only qualified outside the top 10 on 3 occasions, but his race pace was inconsistent and he only scored on 4 occasions to finish 13th overall (8 pts), but convincingly outperformed Ralf Schumacher. 2008 was a much better season, qualifying in the top 10 on 14 occasions (including a front-row start in the season finale), and scoring on 10 occasions (including a podium in France). He finished 9th overall with 31 points. The 2009 Toyota was somewhat erratic – however he made the most of it, scoring a pole position, 2 podiums, and his first fastest lap in the first 4 races. Performance dwindled in the middle of the season – however he did manage further front-row starts at Belgium and Japan (finishing 2nd in the latter race). He finished 8th overall (32.5 pts). After Toyota’s withdrawal, he signed for Lotus for 2010, where he generally had the measure of team-mate Heikki Kovalainen in qualifying (his best qualifying was 15th in Belgium), but struggled to break into the top 15 in races, with 13th place in Japan (1 place behind Kovalainen) his best result (he finished 21st overall). He had 6 race-ending hydraulic failures throughout the season. This was the first season in which he failed to score.
21 – Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) First Season: 2007 Teams: Renault (2007), McLaren (2008-2009), Lotus (2010-date) Races: 71 (70 starts) Pole Positions: 1 Wins: 1 Podiums: 4 Points: 105 Fastest Laps: 2 Races Led: 12
A champion in the World Series by Nissan (2004), and GP2 runner-up in 2005, Heikki Kovalainen was an official test driver for Renault in 2006 before racing for the team in 2007. After a patchy start (just 3 points from the first 5 races), he managed to finish 4th in Canada (from 22nd on the grid), and scored 2nd place in Japan to finish 7th overall (30 pts), and only failed to be classified once (in the final race of the season). He switched to McLaren for 2008, where he was largely overshadowed by Lewis Hamilton. He did however manage 4 front-row starts (including pole in Great Britain), 3 podiums (including a surprise win in Hungary), and 2 fastest laps, to finish 7th overall (53 pts). In 2009 he again struggled to match Hamilton, only scoring 3 times in the first 10 races (and retiring 5 times). The team improved in the second half of the season, and so did Kovalainen’s results, with a front-row start and 4th-place finish in Europe being the highlight. He finished 12th overall (22 pts). He moved to Lotus in 2010, where he generally out-raced team-mate Jarno Trulli. He qualified in the top 15 twice (including 13th in Belgium), and had 6 top 15 finishes, including the crucial 12th place finish in Japan that gave the team 10th place in the Constructors’ Championship. He finished 20th overall.
HRT (ESP) First season: 2010 Races Started: 19 Best Finish: 14th (x3) Best Grid Position: 18th Points: 0 Engines: Cosworth (2010-date) Most Races Started: Bruno Senna (18)
HRT were originally named Campos until financial problems led to the team being taken over by Jose Ramon Carabante before the 2010 season. Despite no pre-season testing, the team recorded a two-car finish at round three. Bruno Senna, Karun Chandhok, Sakon Yamamoto and Christian Klien all had race drives during season. They finished ahead of Virgin on countback of positions despite not developing the car.
22 – Narain Karthikeyan (IND) First season: 2005 (did not race 2006-10) Races: 19 Points: 5
Having competed in Formula Opel, British F3, Japanese F3000 and World Series by Nissan, Narain Karthikeyan tested for Jordan, Jaguar and Minardi in the early 2000s, before making his F1 debut in 2005 with Jordan. His best qualifying was 11th, and his only points finish was 4th at the Bridgestone-only US Grand Prix, finishing 18th overall. He tested for Williams in 2006-07, and then competed in A1GP, Superleague Formula, NASCAR Truck Racing, and Le Mans. He made a surprise return to F1 in 2011 for HRT.
23 – Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) First season: 2005 (did not race in 2008) Teams: Red Bull (2005), Toro Rosso (2006-2007), Force India (2009-2010), HRT (2011) Races: 63 Best qualifying: 5th Best finish: 6th (x2) Points: 26
Vitantonio Liuzzi, having won the last ever FIA International Formula 3000 Championship in 2004, joined Red Bull in 2005, sharing the race seat with Christian Klien. He scored a point on his debut (thanks to several disqualifications / penalties) at San Marino, but his next 3 results were not so impressive (his best qualifying was 11th), and so Klien filled the seat for the remainder of the season (Liuzzi finished 24th overall). 2006 was his first full season in Formula 1 with Toro Rosso, in which he twice qualified 12th and scored the team’s only point to finish 19th overall. 2007 was a difficult season – he retired 7 times and only scored once (6th in China) to finish 18th overall (3 pts). He was dropped for 2008, and became a test driver for Force India. He remained in that role for 2009, but was promoted to a race seat for the last 5 rounds after Giancarlo Fisichella moved to Ferrari. He started 7th in the first of those races, but that was very much the highlight. He finished 22nd overall with a best finish of 11th. In 2010 he failed to match team-mate Adrian Sutil, reaching Q3 only 3 times (including a career-best 5th in Canada). He scored in the first 2 races, but only managed 4 other points finishes, including a career-best-equalling 6th in Korea (the only one of the last 5 races in which he did not crash out!). He moved to HRT in 2011.
Virgin (RUS) First season: 2010 Races Started: 19 Best Finish: 14th (x2) Best Grid Position: 16th Points: 0 Engines: Cosworth (2010-date) Most Races Started: Timo Glock, Lucas di Grassi (18)
Having sponsored Brawn GP in 2009, Virgin joined up with Manor Motorsport to enter F1 in 2010. Their car was digitally designed, however its early pace and reliability were poor, plus an undersized fuel tank necessitated a chassis re-design. Performance improved during the season, but they still finished last. For 2011 it attracted investment from Marussia.
24 – Timo Glock (GER) First season: 2004 (did not compete 2005-07) Teams: Jordan (2004), Toyota (2008-2009), Virgin (2010-date) Races: 56 (54 starts) Best Qualifying: 2nd Best Finish: 2nd (x2) Podiums: 3 Fastest Laps: 1 Points: 51 Races Led: 2
A champion in German Formula BMW Junior Cup (2000) and German Formula BMW (2001), Timo Glock joined Jordan as a test driver in 2004 and made a surprise race debut in Canada after Giorgio Pantano’s withdrawal, finishing 7th after several cars ahead of him were disqualified. He returned to his race seat for the final 3 races after Pantano’s contract was terminated (finishing 15th in all of them), finishing 19th overall (2 pts). After a season in the Champ Car World Series and 2 seasons in GP2 (winning in 2007), as well as testing for BMW Sauber in 2007, he secured a race drive for Toyota in 2008, where despite a couple of big accidents, he was impressive (especially in the second half of the season). He scored 6 times, including a 2nd place in Hungary, to finish 10th overall (25 pts), just 6 shy of team-mate Jarno Trulli. 2009 was a hit-and-miss season – both in qualifying and races. He started with 4 consecutive points finishes (including a podium in Malaysia) and a front-row start in Bahrain, but subsequently struggled. He managed fastest lap in Europe, and then managed 2nd place in Singapore, which would be his last start of the season, as he was injured in qualifying for the following race in Japan. He finished 10th overall (24 pts). He moved to Virgin in 2010, where he reached Q2 in only the team’s 3rd race (his 16th-place start would be his best of the season). Poor reliability meant that he failed to finish 6 of the first 8 races. His best finish was 14th in Japan, leading to 25th place overall.
25 – Jerome d’Ambrosio (BEL) First season: 2011
After 3 years in GP2 (best finish 9th), Jerome d’Ambrosio tested with Renault and Virgin, landing a seat with the latter for 2011.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 23, 2011 0:08:55 GMT 1
Force India (IND) First season: 2008 Races Started: 54 Best Finish: 2nd Pole Positions: 1 Podiums: 1 Fastest Laps: 1 Points: 81 Engines: Ferrari (2008), Mercedes (2009-date) Most Races Started: Adrian Sutil (54) Most Podiums: Giancarlo Fisichella (1)
Force India made its debut in 2008 following Vijay Mallya’s purchase of the Spyker team. Despite a massive improvement in pace, the team failed to score a point, the best result being Giancarlo Fisichella’s 10th place in Spain. Despite a basic lack of downforce, 2009 saw massive improvement (with a switch to Mercedes engines and McLaren transmission), with Fisichella giving the team a surprise pole position and 2nd-place finish in Belgium (the team’s first points) before moving to Ferrari. Adrian Sutil came close to another pole and podium in the following race in Monza – however, the car was only strong on these low-drag tracks. In 2010 the team were more consistent – regulars in Q3 and finishing in the points often. However, they faded somewhat in the later part of the season as Williams and BMW Sauber closed the performance gap, finishing 7th overall.
14 – Adrian Sutil (GER) First season: 2007 Teams: Spyker (2007), Force India (2008-date) Races: 71 Best Qualifying: 2nd Best Finish: 4th Points: 53 Fastest Laps: 1
A champion in Swiss Formula Ford (2002) and Japanese Formula 3 (2006), Adrian Sutil tested for Midland in 2006 before making his race debut for the team (now renamed Spyker) in 2007, where he was hailed as a star of the future. Due to an uncompetitive car, he never qualified higher than 19th (although he did top a practice session), and scored 1 point in Japan (which only came after Vitantonio Liuzzi was penalised), to finish 19th overall. Spyker became Force India for 2008, but the car was still uncompetitive. He never made it past Q1 (16th his best grid slot), and never finished higher than 13th (finishing 20th overall) – however he was looking set for 4th at Monaco before Kimi Raikkonen took him out of the race. 2009 was an improvement – he finished 9th in the season opener and qualified 7th in Germany, however the highlight of his season was at Monza, where he qualified 2nd and finished 4th (his only points finish of the season), as well as scoring fastest lap. He finished 17th overall (5 pts). In 2010 he dominated team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi for pace. He was a regular in Q3 (starting 4th in Malaysia), and was a regular points-scorer (managing 5th in Malaysia and Belgium) – however the team’s form tailed off in the latter part of the season (he only managed 2 points from the final 6 races). He finished 11th overall (47 pts).
15 – Paul di Resta (GBR) First season: 2011
After beating Sebastian Vettel to the 2006 Formula 3 Euro Series Title, Paul di Resta competed in DTM for 4 years, winning the title in 2010 with Mercedes, as well as participating in several Friday practice sessions for Force India. He was promoted to a race seat for 2011.
Sauber (SUI) First season: 1993 (competed as BMW Sauber from 2006-10 – these seasons are not included in the stats below) Races Started: 215 Best Finish: 3rd (x6) Best Grid Position: 2nd (x2) Podiums: 6 Points: 15 Engines: Sauber (1993), Mercedes (1994), Ford Cosworth (1995-96), Petronas (1997-2005) Most Races Started: Heinz-Harald Frentzen (64) Most Podiums: Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Johnny Herbert (2)
Sauber joined F1 in 1993, but not with the expected Mercedes partnership. They started in style, scoring 2 points in their first race (courtesy of JJ Lehto). They scored 4 further points that year to finish 7th overall. Heinz-Harald Frentzen gave the team their first podium at Monza in 1995, and at Monaco the following year finished 3rd and 4th (of 4 ‘proper’ finishers), and this helped them to 7th in that year’s Constructors Championship. Heinz-Harald Frentzen then moved to Williams for 1997. In that season the team secured the Ferrari-supplied Petronas engines, and Johnny Herbert gave the team another podium when he finished 3rd in the Hungarian GP. In 2000, both cars withdrew from the Brazilian GP after spectacular rear-wing failures. The team’s best finishes that year were 2 5th places, and they finished that season with only 6 points (8th place overall). 2001 was a turnaround – their best season to date, finishing 4th overall, and they managed 5th overall in 2002 (including 4th and 5th places in Spain that year) with 11 points. 2003 was a difficult season – they scored in only 5 races. Their best result was in the US GP, where Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Nick Heidfeld finished 3rd and 5th. The team rewarded both drivers by sacking the pair of them, and finished 6th overall. They matched this in a very consistent 2004 (they did especially well in pre-qualifying), where they scored 12 points. Jacques Villeneuve joined them in 2005 (the team finishing 8th overall), at the end of which the team were sold to BMW. BMW withdrew in 2009 and sold the team back to Peter Sauber, however the BMW Sauber name was retained for 2010, the team reverting to the original Sauber name for 2011.
16 – Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) First season: 2009 Teams: Toyota (2009), BMW Sauber (2010), Sauber (2011) Races: 21 Best Qualifying: 9th Best Finish: 6th (x2) Points: 35
A champion in Italian and Eurocup Formula Renault championships (2005) and GP2 Asia (2009), Kamui Kobayashi made his F1 debut in the penultimate race of 2009 (standing in for the injured Timo Glock), having taken part in practice in the previous race (due to Glock’s illness). He finished 9th and 6th in his 2 races (overtaking Jenson Button in the latter), to finish 18th overall. Toyota quit F1 at the end of 2009, which appeared to bring his career to a halt, however he signed for BMW Sauber for 2010, where raw pace and audacious overtaking made him one of the stars of the season. He qualified 9th in Malaysia (the team’s first Q3 showing of 2010) – however, he only finished 2 of the first 8 races due to reliability and a couple of collisions. Reliability improved later on in the season, and he managed a string of points-scoring finishes (including 6th in Britain) to finish 12th overall (32 pts).
17 – Sergio Perez (MEX) First season: 2011
Sergio Perez was runner-up in the GP2 series in 2010, despite 5 wins and 6 fastest laps. He tested for BMW Sauber, and landed a race drive for the Sauber team in 2011.
Toro Rosso (ITA) First season: 2006 Races Started: 89 Race Wins: 1 Podiums: 1 Pole Positions: 1 Points: 69 Engines: Cosworth (2006), Ferrari (2007-date) Most Races Started: Sébastien Buemi (36) Most Wins: Sebastian Vettel (1)
Toro Rosso were formed as Red Bull’s junior team after the latter’s purchase of Minardi in 2005. In 2006 they used restricted V10 power, and challenge Red Bull Racing’s cars. They only managed 1 point, courtesy of Vitantonio Liuzzi at Indianapolis. 2007 got off to a poor start – 13 retirements in the first 10 races, but improved towards the end, finishing the season with 8 points (7th overall), all coming in the Chinese GP. 2008 also got off to a faltering start – however they scored consistently in the latter part of the season to finish 6th overall (ahead of Red Bull Racing) with 39 points. The highlight was Sebastian Vettel’s pole position and victory at Monza. After ‘losing’ Vettel to Red Bull, 2009 was another slow start (although they did score 3 points in the first race due to the attrition rate). They introduced a major upgrade part-way through the season which allowed them to achieve a couple of points finishes towards the end of the season, but they still finished last overall. 2010 was their first season as a true constructor (with the customer cars loophole closed). They reached Q2 in most races, but managed few points finishes, with Sébastien Buemi’s 8th place in Canada being the best. They finished 9th overall, only ahead of the 3 ‘new’ teams.
18 – Sébastien Buemi (SUI) First season: 2009 Teams: Toro Rosso (2009-date) Races: 36 Best Qualifying: 6th Best Finish: 7th (x2) Points: 14 Races Led: 1
Having finished 2nd in ADAC BMW Series (2005), Formula Three Euroseries (2007), and GP2 Asia (2008), Sébastien Buemi joined Toro Rosso for 2009, the only newcomer on the grid. He scored 2 points on his debut, and another point in his 3rd race, and outperformed his team-mate Sébastien Bourdais (who was dropped mid-season). Car improvements allowed him to manage another couple of points-scoring finishes towards the end of the season, finishing 16th overall (6 pts). 2010 had a difficult start – he did not score a point until 10th place finish in Monaco (and that was only after Michael Schumacher was penalised). However, he added a few more points finishes (including 8th in Canada where he led a lap) to finish 16th overall (8 pts), ahead of his team-mate Jaime Alguersuari. In the first half of the season he was remarkably consistent in qualifying – he qualified between 11th and 15th in each of the first 9 races (best was 11th in Britain), however he started missing Q2 towards the end of the season.
19 – Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) First season: 2009 Teams: Toro Rosso (2009-date) Races: 27 Best Qualifying: 11th (x2) Best Finish: 9th (x2) Points: 5
A champion in Formula Renault 2.0 Italy Winter Series (2006) and British F3 (2008), Jaime Alguersuari became the youngest driver to start an F1 race when he replaced Sébastien Bourdais at the 2009 Hungarian GP. He only finished 3 of the 8 races that he entered, with a best finish of 14th (thus finishing 24th overall with no points), but it was enough for him to retain his drive for 2010. In 2010 he had some excellent performances in early races – 9th in Malaysia, 10th in Spain, however despite regularly outqualifying Sébastien Buemi (including qualifying in 11th place in both Belgium and Singapore), he did not score again until Abu Dhabi, finishing 19th overall (5 pts).
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 23, 2011 0:07:20 GMT 1
Mercedes (GER) First season: 1954 (did not compete 1956-2009) Drivers’ Championships: 2 (1954-55) Races Started: 31 Race Wins: 9 1-2 Finishes: 5 Podiums: 20 Pole Positions: 8 Fastest Laps: 9 Points: 353.143 Engines: Mercedes (1954-55, 2010-date) Most Races Started: Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg (19) Most Wins: Juan Manuel Fangio (8)
Mercedes first took part in the F1 world championship in 1954 (taking part in 6 of that year’s 9 races). They won 4 of their first 5 races (including a 1-2 on their debut). Juan Manuel Fangio (who had transferred from Maserati partway through the season) won the Drivers’ Championship. They continued this form into 1955, winning 5 of the first 7 races that year (including monopolising the top 4 in Britain), and Fangio winning another title for the team. However, the team withdrew from all motor racing competition that year after the Le Mans disaster. The Mercedes name returned to F1 in 1993 as an engine supplier to Sauber. They won championships with McLaren in 1998, 1999 and 2008, and with Brawn in 2009, before taking over the latter team for 2010. However, they failed to maintain the team’s front-running form, despite Michael Schumacher making a comeback (in fact he was outgunned by Nico Rosberg). They finished 4th overall.
7 – Michael Schumacher (GER) First Season: 1991 (did not race 2007-09) Teams: Jordan (1991), Benetton (1991-95), Ferrari (1996-2006), Mercedes (2010-date) Races: 269 (268 starts) Pole Positions: 68 Wins: 91 Podiums: 154 Points: 1441 Fastest Laps: 76 World Championships: 7 (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004) Races Led: 141 Doubles: 40 Hat-Tricks: 22 Grand Chelems: 5 (Monaco 1994, Canada 1994, Spain 2002, Australia 2004, Hungary 2004)
German F3 champion in 1990, Michael Schumacher made his debut in Belgium for Jordan in 1991. He qualified 7th in that race (but failed to finish), and was poached by Benetton for the rest of the season. He managed 4 points (with a best finish of 5th in Italy), to finish 14th overall. In 1992 he never qualified lower than 6th, and scored points on 11 occasions. He managed 8 podiums, including a victory at Belgium, to finish 3rd overall (53 pts). In 1993, the Benetton was again no match for the Williams, however he did manage 9 podium finishes (failing to finish the other 7 races), including victory in Portugal, to finish 4th overall (52 pts). In 1994 he was totally dominant initially – managing 6 wins and a 2nd place from the first 7 races. However, he lost ground in the middle of the season due to 2 disqualifications and a 2-race ban, and only won the title by a single point at the deciding race in Australia. Overall in 1994 he managed 6 pole positions, 10 podiums and 8 victories (Brazil, Pacific, San Marino, Monaco, Canada, France, Hungary, Europe). He retained the title in 1995, where despite failing to finish 5 races, he managed 4 pole positions, 11 podiums, and 9 victories (Brazil, Spain, Monaco, France, Germany, Belgium, Europe, Pacific, Japan), clinching the title with 2 races to spare. Curiously, he only once qualified outside the top 3 that season – when he won from 16th in Belgium. In 1996 he moved to Ferrari to try to turn the team’s fortunes around. Despite it appearing that little would be achieved, he never qualified lower than 4th (taking 4 pole positions), and 8 podiums (including wins in Spain, Belgium and Italy), to finish 3rd overall (59 pts). In 1997 he was reunited with Ross Brawn, and despite Williams having a generally faster car, Schumacher managed 3 pole positions and 8 podiums (including victories in Monaco, Canada, France, Belgium and Japan). He was leading the championship going into the final race, where he collided with Jacques Villeneuve. Unlike 1994, he only eliminated himself from the race and thus lost the title (he was also stripped of his 2nd place for causing the collision). He managed 78 points in 1997. In 1998 he was involved in a season-long battle with Mika Hakkinen. He managed 3 pole positions (the last 3 races of the season), 11 podiums including 6 wins (Argentina, Canada, France, Britain, Hungary, Italy), but missed out on the title at the final round, finishing 2nd overall (86 pts). 1999 started off well – he managed 4 podiums from the first 5 races (including wins in San Marino and Monaco) and pole position in Canada. However, in Britain he crashed heavily and broke his leg, causing him to miss the next 6 races. He returned for the final 2 races (taking pole position and 2nd place in both) to finish 5th overall (44 pts), and helping Ferrari to the Constructors’ Championship. 2000 started off well – he won the first 3 races – but had 4 retirements in 5 races in the middle part of the season, and lost his championship lead soon after. However, he had a resurgence towards the end of the season, winning the last 4 races from pole, clinching the title with a race to spare. Overall he managed 9 pole positions, 12 podiums including 9 wins (Australia, Brazil, San Marino, Europe, Canada, Italy, USA, Japan, Malaysia), and 108 points. 2001 was a dominant season – he never qualified lower than 4th (managing 11 pole positions), and finished all bar 3 races in 1st or 2nd (managing wins in Australia, Malaysia, Spain, Monaco, Europe, France, Hungary, Belgium and Japan), clinching the title with 4 races to spare (123 pts). In 2002 he was even more dominant – never qualifying lower than 3rd (he managed 7 pole positions), and finishing every race on the podium (and only finishing 3rd once). He managed 11 wins (Australia, Brazil, San Marino, Spain, Austria, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Japan) to clinch the title with a record 6 races to spare (144 pts). 2003 was a much tougher season – he only managed 8 points from the first 3 races, but fought back with 5 pole positions and 8 podiums (including wins in San Marino, Spain, Austria, Canada, Italy and USA) to clinch the title at the final race (93 pts). His domination returned in 2004 – he won 12 of the first 13 races (Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain, San Marino, Spain, Europe, Canada, USA, France, Britain, Germany, Hungary), despite only starting 7 of them from pole. He clinched his 7th title with 2nd place at the following race in Belgium, and added another 2nd place in Italy plus pole and victory at Japan to finish with 148 points. Schumacher’s domination came to an end in 2005 due to a ban on mid-race tyre changes. He did however manage 1 pole position and 5 podiums (including a win in the depleted USA race) to finish 3rd overall (62 pts). Tyre changes were re-introduced in 2006, when Fernando Alonso dominated the first half of the season (Schumacher did however manage 2 pole positions and 6 podiums, including wins in San Marino and Europe). Schumacher fought back strongly in the second half of the season – taking 2 more pole positions, 5 more victories (USA, France, Germany, Italy, China), and another podium to take the lead of the championship with 2 races to go. However, Ferrari’s usually exceptional reliability failed him, and he only managed 5 points from the last 2 races, handing the title to Alonso. He finished with 121 points (at the time a record for a non-champion). After announcing his retirement part-way through 2006, it appeared as though he would return for Ferrari in 2009 (replacing Felipe Massa), however neck problems scuppered this comeback. He did however announce a full-time return with Mercedes in 2010. This comeback proved harder than expected – he struggled with the handling of the car, was unable to qualify well (although he did qualify inside the top 10 in each of the first 7 races, with his best of the season being 5th in Turkey), and was thus compromised in races. He improved steadily, with 4th place finishes in Spain, Turkey and Korea, to finish a disappointing 9th overall (72 pts).
8 – Nico Rosberg (GER) First season: 2006 Teams: Williams (2006-2009), Mercedes (2010-date) Races: 89 Best Qualifying: 2nd Best Finish: 2nd Podiums: 5 Points: 217.5 Fastest Laps: 2 Races Led: 4
Having been champion in German Formula BMW (2002) and GP2 (2005), Nico Rosberg signed as a test driver for Williams in 2005 before making his race debut for the team in 2006. He started off well – fastest lap on his debut, and 3rd on the grid in his second race, but a combination of accidents and poor reliability meant that he finished 17th overall with just 4 points. 2007 was a better season – 10 top 10 grid slots (including 4th at Hungary), and 7 points finishes (including 4th place in Brazil), to finish 9th overall (20 pts). 2008 got off to a good start, with a podium in Australia, and got even better later on with 2nd place in Singapore – however, an underperforming car and a few driver errors meant that his only other points finishes were 3 8th places, leaving him 13th overall (17 pts). 2009 was his best season overall to date – he only qualified outside the top 10 on 2 occasions, and managed a string of points-scoring finishes (4th places in Germany and Hungary being his best) and a fastest lap to finish 7th overall (34.5 points). His best qualifying came at Singapore, where he qualified 3rd and was on course for a podium until receiving a drive-through penalty. He moved to Mercedes in 2010, and despite the car’s difficulties, managed a front-row start in Malaysia, and 3rd-place finishes in Malaysia, China and Britain. He dominated team-mate Michael Schumacher, finishing 7th overall (142 pts), almost twice as many as Schumacher.
Renault (FRA) First season: 1977 (did not compete 1986-2001) Constructors’ Championships: 2 (2005-06) Drivers’ Championships: 2 (2005-06) Races Started: 281 Race Wins: 35 1-2 Finishes: 2 Podiums: 98 Pole Positions: 51 Fastest Laps: 31 Points: 1245 Engines: Renault (1977-85, 2002-date) Most Races Started: Fernando Alonso (105) Most Wins: Fernando Alonso (17)
Renault made their debut in 1977 (introducing the turbo engine), competing in 4 races that year but scoring no points. They scored their first points in 1978 and their first win in 1979 (the first turbo-engine win), finishing 6th overall that year. They finished 2nd overall in 1983, with Alain Prost scoring 4 wins (narrowly missing out on the drivers’ title to Nelson Piquet). They withdrew as a manufacturer in 1985 before withdrawing from F1 completely in 1986. They returned as an engine supplier in 1989, and powered Williams and Benetton to all Constructors’ Championships from 1992 to 1997. They re-entered F1 as a manufacturer in 2002, buying out the Benetton team, and finished 4th overall that year. They became a regular threat to Ferrari, Williams and McLaren in 2003, with Fernando Alonso scoring 2 pole positions plus a victory in Hungary, finishing 4th overall. They managed a win in 2004 courtesy of Jarno Trulli, but dropped him towards the end of that season, bringing in Jacques Villeneuve as his replacement for the last 3 races, the team being pipped to 2nd place by BAR. In 2005, they dominated the early part of the season, and despite the superior pace of the McLaren in the later races, managed to win both titles, with Alonso scoring 7 victories. They were the first mainstream automaker to win the Constructors’ Championship. 2006 was a similar story, but this time the rivals were Ferrari (with Renault’s drop in performance being due to their mass damper system being declared illegal). Alonso departed to join McLaren in 2007, and this was accompanied by a marked decline in the team’s fortunes (also due to Michelin’s departure from F1 and budget restrictions). The team finished 4th overall, scoring 150 points fewer than in 2006. They managed just one podium finish courtesy of Heikki Kovalainen. Alonso returned in 2008, and helped to transform the car back into a race-winner, scoring 2 victories late in the season, and allowing the team to finish 4th overall. Despite Alonso staying with the team, Renault were unable to sustain this momentum into 2009, and the team’s involvement in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix crash conspiracy also came to light, leading to the departure of Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds. The team made great strides in 2010, with the car managing 3 podiums courtesy of Robert Kubica, and Vitaly Petrov putting in some decent performances (despite lacking in speed and consistency), to finish 5th overall. Renault sold all their shares in the team to Genii Capital – however, they kept supplying engines and kept the Renault name. Group Lotus became title sponsors.
9 – Nick Heidfeld (GER) First season: 2000 Teams: Prost (2000), Sauber (2001-03), Jordan (2004), Williams (2005), BMW Sauber (2006-2010), Renault (2011) Races: 174 (172 starts) Pole Positions: 1 Best Finish: 2nd (x8) Podiums: 12 Fastest Laps: 2 Points: 225 Races Led: 8
A champion in German Formula Ford 1600 (1994), International German Formula Ford 1800 (1995), German Formula 3 (1997), European Formula 3000 (1999), Nick Heidfeld made his F1 race debut in 2000 for Prost (having been a test driver with McLaren the previous year). He failed to score a point that year (finishing 20th overall), with a best qualifying of 13th and a best finish of 8th. He moved to Sauber for 2001, where he started off well with a 4th place and a 3rd place in the first 3 races, but managed just 5 further points (coming from 5 6th place finishes), finishing 8th overall (12 pts). In 2002 (after McLaren had snapped up Kimi Raikkonen instead of him) he managed just 7 points with a best finish of 4th (10th overall), and in 2003 he only qualified in the top 10 3 times and scored just 6 points (with a best finish of 5th) to finish 14th overall. He was dropped by Sauber for 2004 and joined Jordan, where he never qualified higher than 14th but did manage 3 points (18th overall), and won a Williams drive for 2005, where he managed 3 podiums and a pole position at the Nurburgring. Despite being 4th in the championship at one point, he dropped down to 11th overall (28 pts) after missing the final 5 races through illness/injury. He joined BMW Sauber in 2006 (the team’s first season under BMW ownership), where he exploited the growing competitiveness of the car to score 23 points (9th overall), with a podium in Hungary. In 2007 he was the ‘best of the rest’ behind Ferrari and McLaren, dominating team-mate Robert Kubica, never qualifying lower than 9th (including the only front-row start from a non-Ferrari or McLaren), and only failing to score on 3 occasions, managing 2 podiums, and finishing 5th overall (having been in that position since the 3rd race!) with 61 points. However in 2008, he was overshadowed by Kubica due to his patchy qualifying form. He did however manage 4 2nd place finishes and 2 fastest laps, to finish 6th overall (60 pts). In 2009 he struggled to reach the points thanks to his car’s lack of pace. However, he did finish 2nd in Malaysia (only half-points). His next best finish was 5th in Belgium (from 3rd on the grid), and a further 3 points finishes yielded 13th place overall (19 pts). Left without a race seat for 2010, he became Mercedes’ reserve driver, then became the official Pirelli test driver, before being re-signed by BMW Sauber to replace Pedro de la Rosa for the last 5 races. He qualified between 11th and 15th for each of them (his best was 11th in Japan), and finished 8th in Japan and 9th in Korea, yielding 6 points (18th overall). He was not retained for 2011 – however, Renault drafted him in to replace the injured Robert Kubica.
10 - Vitaly Petrov (RUS) First season: 2010 Teams: Renault (2010-date) Races: 19 Best Qualifying: 7th Best Finish: 5th Fastest Laps: 1 Points: 27
A champion in Formula 1600 Russia and Lada Revolution Russia (both 2005), and a GP2 runner-up (2009), Vitaly Petrov was promoted to a race seat at Renault for 2010, becoming the first Russian to compete in F1. He made an instant impression, with good race starts and wheel-to-wheel racing. His excellent results were marred by inconsistency. His best results were 5th in Hungary (where he managed a season-best 7th on the grid) and 6th in Abu Dhabi (fending off title-chasing Fernando Alonso). He also managed fastest lap in Turkey. He finished 13th overall (27 pts).
Williams (GBR) First season: 1975 (did not start a race in 1977) Drivers’ Championships: 7 (1980, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997) Constructors’ Championships: 9 (1980, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997) Races Started: 565 Race Wins: 113 1-2 Finishes: 33 Podiums: 296 Pole Positions: 126 Fastest Laps: 130 Engines: Ford Cosworth (1975-83), Honda (1983-87), Judd (1988), Renault (1989-97), Mecachrome (1998), Supertec (1999), BMW (2000-05), Cosworth (2006, 2010-date), Toyota (2007-09) Points: 2669 Most Races Started: Nigel Mansell (95) Most Wins: Nigel Mansell (28)
The Williams team endured several years of uncompetitiveness before Frank Williams joined forces with Patrick Head in 1977. The team scored their first victory in 1979 (managing 5 wins that year), before winning both titles the following year (Alan Jones won the drivers’ title). They also won the Drivers’ Championship with Keke Rosberg in 1982. Teaming up with Honda yielded constructors’ titles in 1986 and 1987,with Nelson Piquet winning the drivers’ title in the latter year. Honda left Williams for McLaren in 1988, but Williams then teamed up with Renault and Adrian Newey, and they won further titles with Nigel Mansell (1992) and Alain Prost (1993), both of whom left the sport immediately afterwards. 1994 was marred by the death of Ayrton Senna just 3 races into his Williams career – however the team still won the Constructors’ Championship, with Damon Hill narrowly missing out on the Drivers’ Championship. He did win it in 1996, as did Jacques Villeneuve in 1997, before Renault quit the sport and Adrian Newey defected to McLaren. After 2 quiet years, they teamed up with BMW, and whilst winning races in 2001-02, they could not match Ferrari overall. 2003 was an improvement, the team winning 4 races to finish 2nd overall. In 2004 the team sported their radical ‘walrus’ front wing, but ditched it after a poor start to the season. They ended the season on a high with victory in Brazil, finishing 4th overall. In 2005, the team finished 5th overall with 66 points, with Nick Heidfeld (who missed the final 5 races of that season before moving to BMW Sauber along with BMW themselves) scoring a pole position, and the team scoring 4 podiums, including Monaco (where both drivers finished on the podium). Moving to Cosworth engines in 2006, the season started well (Nico Rosberg managing fastest lap in the season opener), but the challenge quickly faded, and the team could only manage 11 points (8th overall). In 2007 (with Toyota engines) the car was much more reliable (only 7 retirements compared to 20 in 2006). They scored 33 points, with Alex Wurz scoring a podium from 19th on the grid. 2008 started well, with Rosberg scoring a podium at the season opener, but again they quickly faded (although they did manage 2nd in Singapore), finishing 8th overall with 26 points. In 2009 they were one of 3 teams to use the ‘double-diffuser’ at the start of the season, however they failed to capitalise, with the car never having podium pace. The team moved back to Cosworth power for 2010. The early part of 2010 consisted of occasional lower-end-of-points finishes, however the team improved later on, with Rubens Barrichello finishing 4th in Valencia and Nico Hulkenberg taking pole position in Brazil (before being dropped by the team). They finished 6th overall. In 2011 they became the first F1 team to float on the stock market.
11 – Rubens Barrichello (BRA) First season: 1993 Teams: Jordan (1993-96), Stewart (1997-99), Ferrari (2000-05), Honda (2006-08), Brawn (2009), Williams (2010-date) Races: 307 (303 starts) Pole Positions: 14 Wins: 11 Podiums: 68 Points: 654 Fastest Laps: 17 Races Led: 51 Doubles: 5 Hat-Tricks: 2 (Great Britain 2003, Italy 2004)
A champion in Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries (1990) and British F3 (1991), Rubens Barrichello signed for the Jordan team in 1993, only managing 1 top 10 grid slot and (despite running as high as 2nd in only his 3rd race) 2 points (courtesy of 5th place in Japan) to finish 18th overall. In 1994, despite a violent accident at San Marino, he managed 11 top 10 grid slots, including pole position at Belgium, and managed 3rd place at the Pacific GP along with 5 4th place finishes to finish 6th overall (19 pts). He managed 11 points in 1995 (including 2nd place at Canada) to finish 11th overall, and managed 14 points to finish 8th overall in 1996 (managing a front-row start and only qualifying outside the top 10 twice, with two 4th places being his best finishes). He signed for Stewart in 1997, where he managed 3 top 5 starts but only 3 classified finishes, all 6 of his points that season coming from 2nd place at Monaco (he finished 13th overall). In 1998 he managed just two top 10 starts and only 6 finishes, the best being 2 5th places to finish 12th overall. 1999 was his best season with Stewart – he only twice qualified outside the top 10 (managing pole at France), and managed 3 3rd place finishes to finish 7th overall (21 pts). He moved to Ferrari to partner Michael Schumacher in 2000. He managed 1 pole position and 9 podium finishes including his maiden victory in Germany (from 18th on the grid – ironically the only race that season in which he started from outside the top 10), and 3 fastest laps, to finish 4th overall (62 pts). Despite not winning a race in 2001, he never qualified lower than 8th and managed 10 podium finishes to finish 3rd overall (56 pts). 2002 was Ferrari’s most dominant season to date, and Barrichello only qualified outside the top 4 on 2 occasions that year (managing 3 pole positions), and despite only finishing one of the first 5 races, managed 10 podiums including 4 victories (Europe, Hungary, Italy, USA), as well as 5 fastest laps, to finish 2nd overall (77 pts). In 2003 he again played a pivotal role in Schumacher and Ferrari’s success, again never qualifying lower than 8th (managing 3 pole positions), wins in Great Britain and Japan, 6 further podiums, and 3 fastest laps, finishing 4th overall (65 pts). 2004 was another good year – 4 pole positions, 2 victories (Italy, China), a further 12 podiums, just one retirement, and 4 fastest laps, finishing 2nd overall (114 pts). 2005 was his worst season with Ferrari, as the car struggled for pace. He never qualified higher than 5th, but did manage 4 podium finishes (2 2nd places, 2 3rd places), to finish 8th overall (38 pts). He moved to Honda in 2006, where he was outperformed by team-mate Jenson Button, but still managed 3 3rd-place grid slots (only starting outside the top 10 on 4 occasions), and several points finishes, including 2 4th places, to finish 7th overall (30 pts). 2007 was the worst season of his career to date – he never qualified or finished higher than 9th, making it the first season of his career in which he failed to score a point (finishing 20th overall), despite only retiring twice. 2008 was another tough season (again never qualifying higher than 9th) – however he did manage 3 points-scoring finishes, including 3rd at Silverstone (from 16th on the grid). Honda were bought out by Brawn (who decided that Barrichello’s experience was vital) for 2009, and he was outpaced by Jenson Button at the start of the season, managing no wins (but 3 2nd places) to Button’s 6 (he did manage 2 fastest laps). His form improved later in the season, with wins in Europe and Italy, and pole position in Brazil – however a puncture in the latter race ended his championship hopes, and he only ended up 3rd overall (77 pts). He only qualified outside the top 10 once, and only failed to score twice. He moved to Williams for 2010, where he endured a tough start to the year. However, as his car improved, so did the results – in the last 11 races of 2010, he only missed Q3 once (best grid slots were 6th in Singapore and Brazil). His best results were 4th in Europe and 5th in Britain, finishing 10th overall (47 pts). In 2010, he also became the first driver to start 300 Grands Prix.
12 – Pastor Maldonado (VEN) First season: 2011
A champion in Italian Formula Renault (2004), Pastor Maldonado won the GP2 series at the 4th attempt in 2010 (winning 6 consecutive feature races in the process). He then tested for HRT and Williams, and signed with the latter for 2011.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 23, 2011 0:04:17 GMT 1
Pre-season info & stats on this year's teams and drivers (thanks to www.formula1.com and www.itv.com/formula1 amongst others): Red Bull (AUT)First season: 2005 Constructors’ Championships: 1 (2010) Drivers’ Championships: 1 (2010) Races Started: 107 Race Wins: 15 1-2 Finishes: 8 Podiums: 39 Pole Positions: 20 Fastest Laps: 12 Points: 754.5 Engines: Cosworth (2005), Ferrari (2006), Renault (2007-date) Most Races Started: David Coulthard (71), Mark Webber (71) Most Wins: Sebastian Vettel (9) Having purchased Jaguar in 2004, Red Bull made their debut in 2005 (ousting some Jaguar figures and installing Christian Horner as the youngest ever head of an F1 team), and scored 11 points in the first 2 races (more than Jaguar managed in the whole of 2004), partly thanks to David Coulthard finishing 4th in the team’s first race, ultimately finishing 7th overall with 34 points. 2006 was less good (despite Ferrari power), with the team only managing 16 points (still good enough for 7th overall). They did however manage a podium courtesy of David Coulthard at Monaco. In 2007 they recruited Adrian Newey, however it was another tough season – at least one retirement in each of the first 7 races. They improved later on in the season (managing 3rd and 5th at the Nurburgring) to finish 5th overall (24 points). In 2008 the team switched development to 2009, and as a result were overpowered by Toro Rosso, and they only finished 7th overall (29 points). The highlight was Coulthard’s podium in Canada. In 2009 they became front-runners, scoring their first pole position and victory in China and adding a further 5 victories to finish runners-up (153.5 points), unable to overcome the points cushion obtained by Brawn’s early season dominance despite having the fastest car from early-summer onwards. In 2010, the Red Bull was normally the fastest car, however due to reliability, poor wet-weather pace, driver errors and intra-team rivalry, they only moved ahead in the standings mid-season. Despite their refusal to employ team orders, they managed to win both titles, winning 9 races in the process (498 points). 1 – Sebastian Vettel (GER)First season: 2007 Teams: BMW Sauber (2007), Toro Rosso (2007-08), Red Bull (2009-date) Races: 62 Pole Positions: 15 Wins: 10 Podiums: 19 Points: 381 Fastest Laps: 6 World Championships: 1 (2010) Races Led: 19 Doubles: 7 Hat-Tricks: 1 (Britain 2009) A champion in German Formula BMW (2004) and a runner-up in Formula 3 Euroseries (2006), Sebastian Vettel joined BMW Sauber as a test driver in 2006, and made his debut for the team in 2007 at Indianapolis, standing in for the injured Robert Kubica. He qualified 7th and became the sport’s youngest points scorer by finishing 8th. He secured a full-time race seat with Toro Rosso for the last 7 races of 2007, and managed a 4th place finish in China (in the previous race in Japan he briefly led and was running 3rd when Mark Webber crashed into him). He finished 14th overall (6 pts). 2008 got off to a slow start – he failed to finish any of the first 4 races (crashing out of 3 of them on the first lap), however the second half of the season saw a massive improvement, with 2008 yielding a total of 10 top 10 starts and 9 points scoring finishes, including pole position and victory at Monza (making him the sport’s youngest winner). He finished 8th overall with 35 points, and was rewarded with a switch to the Red Bull team (who finished lower in the standings than Toro Rosso in 2008) for 2009, making him the only driver to be changing teams for 2009. In 2009 he failed to score in the first 2 races, but bounced back to score 8 podiums (including wins in China, Britain, Japan and Abu Dhabi) and 3 fastest laps to finish 2nd overall (84 pts). He outscored everybody from Britain onwards. In 2010 he was supremely fast – 10 pole positions (never qualifying lower than 6th and only twice qualifying outside the top 3) – however, a combination of reliability, driver errors, and intra-team rivalry with Mark Webber led to a struggle for the championship, which he did win with his victory in Abu Dhabi (having also won in Malaysia, Europe, Japan and Brazil), even though he was only 3rd in the standings going into that race (and had not led the championship previously). He became the youngest world champion (the 3rd driver to break that record since 2005). He managed 10 podiums, 3 fastest laps, and scored 256 points. 2 – Mark Webber (AUS)First season: 2002 Teams: Minardi (2002), Jaguar (2003-04), Williams (2005-06), Red Bull (2007-date) Races: 159 (157 starts) Pole Positions: 6 Wins: 6 Podiums: 20 Points: 411.5 Fastest Laps: 6 Races Led: 19 Doubles: 3 A runner-up in British Formula Ford (1996), FIA GT Series (1999), and FIA International Formula 3000 (2001), Mark Webber tested for Benetton in 2001 before making his race debut for Minardi in 2002. Despite never qualifying higher than 18th, he managed some impressive drives, including 5th place on his debut (on home soil), to finish 16th overall (2 pts). He joined Jaguar in 2003, where he cemented his reputation as one of the sport’s rising stars, qualifying 3rd on the grid twice and managing 3 6th place finishes and 4 7th place finishes to finish 10th overall (17 pts). He also briefly led in the US. 2004 was a difficult season – despite a front-row start in Malaysia, he only scored 4 times (best finish 6th) to finish 13th overall (7 pts). He moved to Williams in 2005 (having turned down the chance of a Renault drive), where he shined in qualifying, starting each of the first 7 races from the top 5 (including a front-row start in Spain), and managed his first podium at Monaco. However, his performance dropped off slightly towards the end of the season, and he finished 10th overall (36 pts). 2006 was another tough season, in which he only finished 7 races to finish 14th overall (7 pts), despite another front-row start (this time at Monaco) and leading 2 races. He moved to Red Bull in 2007, where he reached Q3 on 12 occasions, but poor reliability meant that these were rarely translated into points – in fact, he only scored on 3 occasions (but this did include a podium at the Nurburgring) – and he finished 12th overall (10 pts). 2008 got off to a reasonably good start, with 5 consecutive points-scoring finishes (including a 4th place at Monaco) following a DNF in the first race. However, despite his usual excellent qualifying form (including a front-row start at Silverstone and 3rd at Monza), his lack of race pace meant that he finished 11th overall (21 pts). Despite breaking his leg prior to the 2009 season, he managed his best season to date, with his maiden pole position in Germany, 8 podium finishes (including wins in Germany and Brazil), and 3 fastest laps. However, 5 consecutive non-scoring races mid-season cost him any chance of the title, and he finished 4th overall (69.5 points). 2010 got off a slow start (2 8th places and a 9th in the first 4 races), however he turned his season around with wins in Spain and Monaco (leading every lap of both races), as well as Britain and Hungary to lead the championship going into the summer break. However, an injured shoulder plus a poor pit strategy in the final race meant that he missed out on the title, finishing 3rd overall (242 pts). He only started 1 race from outside the top 6 (and that was due to a gearbox change), managed 5 pole positions, 3 fastest laps, only failed to score twice (collision in Europe, spin in Korea), and managed 10 podiums. McLaren (GBR)First season: 1966 Constructors’ Championships: 8 (1974, 1984-85, 1988-91, 1998) Drivers’ Championships: 12 (1974, 1976, 1984-86, 1988-91, 1998-99, 2008) Races Started: 684 Race Wins: 169 1-2 Finishes: 47 Podiums: 452 Pole Positions: 146 Fastest Laps: 143 Points: 3835.5 Engines: Ford (1966), Serenissima (1966), BRM (1967-68), Ford Cosworth (1968-83, 1993), Alfa Romeo (1970), TAG Porsche (1983-87), Honda (1988-1992), Peugeot (1994), Mercedes (1995-date) Most Races Started: David Coulthard (150) Most Wins: Ayrton Senna (35) Three years after Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd was founded, McLaren made their F1 debut at Monaco. They scored their first victory courtesy of Bruce McLaren in 1968 (the team finishing 2nd in the Constructors’ Championship that year), and won the Drivers’ Championship with Emerson Fittipaldi in 1974 and with James Hunt by a single point in 1976, beating Niki Lauda who would himself take the Drivers’ Championship with McLaren in 1984, winning by half a point from team-mate Alain Prost, who would then himself win the title in both 1985 and 1986, before a slightly less successful 1987. McLaren entered a period of total dominance in 1988-1991 (thanks to their Honda engines), with Ayrton Senna winning the title in 1988 (all bar one race being a McLaren win), 1990 and 1991, and Prost winning in 1989. Honda and Senna departed in the early 1990s, casting the team into the wilderness until the team’s next period of dominance in 1998-99, with Mika Hakkinen winning the Drivers’ Championship in both years and the team winning the Constructors’ Championship in 1998 (thanks to their partnership with Mercedes and the arrival of Adrian Newey). They dropped to 2nd behind Ferrari in 2000-01, and then were pushed down to 3rd by Williams in 2002-03 (Kimi Raikkonen missed out on the Drivers’ Championship in 2003 by 2 points). 2004 started terribly – only 5 points from the first 7 races – however they did stage a recovery (including 1 victory) to finish 5th overall. In 2005 the McLaren car was the quickest for most of the season, and the team took 10 victories (2 more than Renault), but poor reliability meant that they missed out on both titles. In 2006 they were a distant 3rd behind Renault and Ferrari. Despite strong pace in the latter part of the season, they failed to win a race (for the first time since 1996) – although they did manage 2nd place finishes with 3 different drivers. In 2007 they won 8 races but were ejected from the Constructors’ Championship and fined US$100 million. They also missed out on the Drivers’ Championship, with the feuding Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso finishing 1 point behind Kimi Raikkonen. Hamilton made amends in 2008 by winning the Drivers’ Championship, however they were unable to regain the Constructors’ Championship, finishing 21 points behind Ferrari. 2009 started badly, with the team struggling to score points early on – however, the car became a race-winner later on, and they pipped Ferrari to 3rd place by a single point. Their 2010 car was not as quick as Red Bull's, but was more reliable and shone in damp conditions. They were helped by the much-imitated F-duct. They led the standings for first half of season, but ultimately finished 2nd overall after five race wins. 3 – Lewis Hamilton (GBR)First Season: 2007 Teams: McLaren (2007-date) Races: 71 Pole Positions: 18 Wins: 14 Podiums: 36 Points: 496 Fastest Laps: 8 World Championships: 1 (2008) Races Led: 31 Doubles: 9 Hat-Tricks: 2 (Japan 2007, China 2008) Having been champion in British Formula Renault (2003), F3 Euroseries (2005) and GP2 (2006), Lewis Hamilton earned himself a McLaren race drive for 2007. He started the season in style, finishing on the podium in each of the first 9 races. Overall he managed 6 pole positions, 4 victories (Canada, USA, Hungary, Japan), a further 8 podiums, and 2 fastest laps, outperforming team-mate Fernando Alonso. He led the championship after 4 races, regained it after his first victory in Canada, and held it until the final race, where he lost out by a single point to Kimi Raikkonen due to errors in the final 2 races (109 pts). He made amends by winning the championship in 2008 by a single point (98 pts), with 7 pole positions, 5 victories (Australia, Monaco, Great Britain, Germany, China), another 5 podiums, and 1 fastest lap (despite being as low as 4th in the championship after 2 consecutive non-scoring races). He became the youngest ever world champion, and only the second driver to clinch the title in only their second season in F1 (discounting 1950-51). He only had 1 retirement in each of his first 2 seasons (both occurring in the pitlane). He committed to McLaren until the end of 2012. 2009 started badly – he was disqualified in Australia for misleading the stewards, and managed just 9 points from the first 9 races. However, the McLaren’s car development came good in the second half of the season, and he managed 4 pole positions and 5 podiums, including wins in Hungary and Singapore, to finish 5th overall (49 pts). In the early part of 2010, he put in some good drives that were marred by dubious strategy calls – however back-to-back wins in Turkey and Canada (the latter being his only pole position of the season) brought him into title contention. However, towards the end of the season the McLaren was increasingly outpaced by Red Bull and Ferrari (he also had 3 DNFs in 4 races), and he dropped to 4th overall (240 pts), despite scoring another win in Belgium. As well as his 3 wins, he managed a further 6 podiums and 5 fastest laps. 4 – Jenson Button (GBR)First season: 2000 Teams: Williams (2000), Benetton (2001), Renault (2002), BAR (2003-05), Honda (2006-08), Brawn GP (2009), McLaren (2010-date) Races: 191 Pole Positions: 7 Wins: 9 Podiums: 31 Points: 541 Fastest Laps: 2 World Championships: 1 (2009) Races Led: 20 Doubles: 4 Hat-tricks: 1 (Malaysia 2009) A champion in British Formula Ford (1998), Jenson Button tested for McLaren, Prost and Williams in 1999 before making his race debut for Williams in 2000. He scored a point in only his 2nd race (becoming the sport’s youngest ever points scorer). He managed 8 top 10 grid slots (including 3rd in Belgium), and 6 points finishes (including 4th in Germany), to finish 8th overall (12 pts). He moved to Benetton in 2001, where he had a difficult season, only qualifying in the top 10 in the last 2 races, and only managing 1 points-scoring finish (5th place in Germany) to finish 17th overall. Benetton was renamed Renault in 2002, and the season got off to a good start, with 2 4th places and one 5th place in the first 4 races (narrowly missing out on a podium in Malaysia), before fading later in the season to finish 7th overall (14 pts). He moved to BAR in 2003, where he consistently outperformed team-mate Jacques Villeneuve. He managed 7 top 10 grid slots, and 7 points finishes, including 2 4th places finishes (he also led 2 races), to finish 9th overall (17 pts). 2004 was his best season so far – despite not managing a win, he only qualified outside the top 10 on 3 occasions (including pole in San Marino and 2 further front-row starts), and only failed to score in 3 races. He managed 4 2nd places and 6 3rd places to finish 3rd overall (85 pts), only behind the 2 Ferraris. A contract dispute scuppered his potential move to Williams for 2005, and thus he stayed with BAR. The season started terribly – a disqualification and a 2-race ban for the team led to Button being on 0 points after 9 races (despite pole in Canada). However, he fought back strongly in the second half of the season, scoring in all of the last 10 races, including 2 3rd places, to finish 9th overall (37 pts). He bought himself out of a Williams contract for 2006, instead signing a deal with Honda. He started 2006 off reasonably well, with 3 front-row starts including pole in Australia, and a 3rd place finish in Malaysia. After a dip in the middle of the season, he bounced back with 7 consecutive top 5 finishes in the last 7 races of the season, including a win in Hungary and 3rd place in Brazil, to finish 6th overall (56 pts). In 2007 he struggled to stay with the midfield due to problems with the car, only managing 4 top 10 grid slots and 3 points finishes (including 5th in China) to finish 15th overall (6 pts). Honda’s form continued to dwindle in 2008, with Button managing just one top 10 grid slot and only one points finish (6th in Spain) to finish 18th overall. Honda pulled out of F1 at the end of 2008 – however, Button stayed with the team (who were re-branded Brawn). This decision paid off – he won 6 of the first 7 races (Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain, Monaco, Turkey), scored 4 pole positions, and 2 fastest laps (including a hat-trick in Malaysia). As his team lost their performance advantage mid-season, Button’s challenge faded, however he kept scoring (only failing to score in 1 race) to wrap up the title with a race to spare (95 pts). In 2010 he surprised many by moving to McLaren, leading to claims that he would be blown away by Lewis Hamilton. However, he defied his critics, winning 2 of the first 4 races (Australia and China). However, his results were in general hampered by qualifying struggles (his front-row start in Italy was his only top 3 start of the season) – however strong race speed and consistency yielded 5 further podiums and kept him in contention until the penultimate round (he only failed to score 3 times). He finished 5th overall with 214 points. Ferrari (ITA)First season: 1950 Constructors’ Championships: 16 (1961, 1964, 1975-77, 1979, 1982-83, 1999-2004, 2007-2008) Drivers’ Championships: 15 (1952-53, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, 2000-04, 2007) Races Started: 812 Race Wins: 215 1-2 Finishes: 81 Podiums: 643 Pole Positions: 205 Fastest Laps: 224 Points: 5353.785 Engines: Ferrari (1950-date), Jaguar (1950) Most Races Started: Michael Schumacher (180) Most Wins: Michael Schumacher (72) Ferrari made their debut in the 1950 Monaco GP, scored their first victory in 1951, and won Drivers’ Championships with Alberto Ascari (1952-53), Juan-Manuel Fangio (1956), Mike Hawthorn (1958), Phil Hill (1961), John Surtees (1964), Niki Lauda (1975, 1977) and Jody Scheckter (1979). After this, they won the Constructors’ Championship during the turbo era in 1982 and 1983, but then entered a slump (Alain Prost did however come close to the title in 1990). Signing Jean Todt in 1993 followed by Michael Schumacher in 1996 and Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne in 1997 proved a masterstroke - they won the Constructors’ Championship in 1999 (but Eddie Irvine fell short of the Drivers’ Championship), and in 2000 they entered a period of total domination, winning both titles 3 years in a row. 2003 was a tougher season, but they still managed to hold on to both titles, which they also retained in 2004 (only losing 3 races that year – 13 races were won by Michael Schumacher). However, in 2005 they struggled due to the regulations requiring one set of tyres to last a whole race. They did however manage several podium finishes, including a 1-2 in the 6-car US GP to finish 3rd overall. In 2006 they were initially dominated by Renault, but staged a second-half fightback (with Michael Schumacher scoring 7 victories) to move ahead of Renault with 3 rounds to go – however, reliability issues saw them beaten to the title by 5 points. In 2007 they managed to beat McLaren to both titles, with Kimi Raikkonen’s late surge in form bringing him the Drivers’ Championship, and the FIA effectively handing them the Constructors’ Championship. They retained the latter in 2008, but Felipe Massa just missed out on the Drivers’ Championship by a single point (despite 1 more victory than Lewis Hamilton). In 2009 they were never in title contention – they failed to score in the first 3 races, and Felipe Massa had a life-threatening accident at Hungary (with his replacements failing to score points). They stopped development on the 2009 car early in order to focus on 2010. Despite this, they still managed victory in Belgium. With Fernando Alonso now in the team, 2010 started well with a 1-2 in Bahrain, but the team fell behind Red Bull and McLaren before catching up mid-season. Despite using team orders, they just missed out on both titles (even though Alonso was favourite going into the final race). 5 – Fernando Alonso (ESP)First season: 2001 (did not race in 2002) Teams: Minardi (2001), Renault (2003-06), McLaren (2007), Renault (2008-2009), Ferrari (2010-date) Races: 159 (158 starts) Pole Positions: 20 Wins: 26 Podiums: 63 Points: 829 Fastest Laps: 18 World Championships: 2 (2005, 2006) Races Led: 60 Doubles: 13 Hat-Tricks: 5 (Great Britain 2006, Monaco 2007, Italy 2007, Italy 2010, Singapore 2010) Grand Chelems: 1 (Singapore 2010) A champion in Euro-Open Movistar (1999), Fernando Alonso made his F1 debut for Minardi in 2001, never qualifying higher than 17th and his best finish being 10th (he finished 23rd overall with no points). He tested for Renault in 2002 before racing for the team in 2003, where he was quickly hailed as the next Michael Schumacher. He became the youngest ever pole-sitter in Malaysia and managed another pole position as well as becoming the youngest ever race winner in Hungary (lapping Michael Schumacher in the process). This along with 3 other podiums (and 1 fastest lap) helped him to 6th overall (55 pts). 2004 was a strong season (if ultimately disappointing) in which he dominated team-mate Jarno Trulli (despite the latter managing a victory). He managed pole position and 2nd place at France, along with 3 other podiums to finish 4th overall (59 pts). Despite not having the fastest car in 2005 (especially in the later races), he managed 6 pole positions, 7 victories (Malaysia, Bahrain, San Marino, Europe, France, Germany, China), a further 8 podiums, and 2 fastest laps, to become the sport’s youngest champion with 2 races to spare (133 pts), leading the championship from the second race onwards. In 2006 he dominated the early part of the season – 5 pole positions, 6 wins (Bahrain, Australia, Spain, Monaco, Great Britain, Canada) and 3 2nd places from the first 9 races, before fighting off a strong challenge from Michael Schumacher in the second half of the season (including one more pole position and 5 further podiums including a victory in Japan) to retain his title with 134 points (only losing the lead once). He managed 5 fastest laps in 2006. He moved to McLaren for 2007 where he managed 2 pole positions, 4 wins (Malaysia, Monaco, Europe, Italy), a further 8 podiums, and 3 fastest laps to finish 3rd overall on 109 points (level with team-mate Lewis Hamilton and just 1 point behind Kimi Raikkonen). Only once did he start a race from outside the top 4, and only once did he fail to score in 2007. However, he fell out with the team and returned to Renault for 2008, where he helped to transform the team’s lacklustre car into a race winner – despite only scoring 13 points in the first 10 races (in spite of a front-row start in Spain), he scored 2 wins (Singapore and Japan) and a 2nd place in the final 4 races to finish 5th overall (61 pts). In 2009, his less-than-competitive Renault meant that he struggled to break clear of the midfield. He did manage a surprise pole in Hungary, and managed a podium finish in Singapore (plus 2 fastest laps) to finish 9th overall (26 pts). He moved to Ferrari in 2010, and won on his debut for the team in Bahrain. He struggled somewhat in the next few races, finding himself 47 points off the championship lead. However, he declared that he would win the title, and did indeed turn his fortunes around with wins in Germany, Italy, Singapore, and Korea (Italy and Singapore were his only pole positions of the season) – in fact, in the 8 races from Germany to Brazil, he finished 7 of them on the podium (the exception being Belgium where he crashed). Leading the championship going into the final race, a poor pit strategy cost him the title. He had a total of 10 podiums and 5 fastest laps, and failed to score on 3 occasions, finishing 2nd overall (252 pts). 6 – Felipe Massa (BRA)First season: 2002 (did not race in 2003) Teams: Sauber (2002, 2004-05), Ferrari (2006-date) Races: 135 (133 starts) Pole Positions: 15 Wins: 11 Podiums: 33 Points: 464 Fastest Laps: 12 Races Led: 29 Doubles: 8 Hat-Tricks: 4 (Bahrain 2007, Spain 2007, Europe 2008, Brazil 2008) Having been champion in Formula Chevrolet Brazil (1999), Formula Renault Italy (2000), Formula Renault Eurocup (2000), and European F3000 (2001), Felipe Massa made his F1 debut for Sauber in 2002 (competing in 16 of the 17 races that year). He managed 4 points, his best finish being 5th, to finish 13th overall. He tested for Ferrari in 2003, before returning to his Sauber seat in 2004. This season was inconsistent – he twice qualified 4th, and scored 12 points, including 1 4th place and 1 5th place to finish 12th overall (he also briefly led in Brazil that year). He finished 13th in 2005 (11 points), outscoring team-mate Jacques Villeneuve, with a best finish of 4th. He moved to Ferrari in 2006 to partner Michael Schumacher, where he managed 3 pole positions, 2 victories (Turkey and Brazil), a further 5 podiums, and 2 fastest laps. He finished 3rd overall with 80 points. 2007 saw 6 pole positions, 3 wins (Bahrain, Spain, Turkey), a further 7 podiums, and 6 fastest laps, however due to a couple of reliability problems and a disqualification, he only managed 4th place (94 pts). Despite failing to finish either of the first 2 races, in 2008 he showed new levels of speed and maturity, managing 6 pole positions, 6 victories (Bahrain, Turkey, France, Europe, Belgium, Brazil), a further 4 podiums, and 3 fastest laps, but just missed out on the title by 1 point (97 pts), despite leading the championship at one point. 2009 started badly – he did not score until the 5th race. However, he managed a string of points-scoring finishes (including a podium in Germany), as well as fastest lap in Monaco, before fracturing his skull in qualifying for Hungary. This ruled him out for the rest of the season. He finished 11th overall (22 pts). He bounced back in 2010, scoring his only front-row start of the season and finishing 2nd to team-mate Fernando Alonso in the season-opened in Bahrain, beat Alonso to the podium in Australia, and was leading the championship after 3 races (having won none of them). However, after 3 consecutive failures to score, he was forced to play a supporting role to Fernando Alonso, moving aside to let him win in Germany. He did manage a couple of other 3rd place finishes, however, finishing 6th overall (144 pts).
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 20, 2011 20:18:29 GMT 1
Group A: Zimbabwe (306/6) beat Kenya (147) by 161 runs
Group B: India (268) beat West Indies (188) by 80 runs
Quarter-finals:
23/3 Pakistan v West Indies 24/3 Australia v India 25/3 South Africa v New Zealand 26/3 Sri Lanka v England
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 19, 2011 23:18:10 GMT 1
Scotland 21-8 Italy Ireland 24-8 England France 28-9 Wales Final Standings: 1 England 2 France 3 Ireland 4 Wales 5 Scotland 6 Italy
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 19, 2011 18:41:35 GMT 1
Group A: Pakistan (178/6) beat Australia (176) by 4 wickets Australia's first defeat in a WC since 1999 means that the top of Group A finishes as follows: 1. Pakistan 2. Sri Lanka 3. Australia 4. New Zealand
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 19, 2011 11:29:14 GMT 1
Group B: South Africa (284/8) beat Bangladesh (78) by 206 runs England and India are through, and Bangladesh are almost certainly out (they will need West Indies to lose very heavily to India tomorrow).
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 18, 2011 19:26:22 GMT 1
Group A: Sri Lanka (265/9) beat New Zealand (153) by 112 runs
Group B: Ireland (307/4) beat Netherlands (306) by 6 wickets (14 balls remaining). Netherlands had 4 run-outs in as many balls at the end of their innings!
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 17, 2011 18:48:50 GMT 1
Group B: England (243) beat West Indies (225) by 18 runs Status in Group B: South Africa are through, Ireland & Netherlands are out Bangladesh will be out if they lose to SA (unless WI lose to India by a much larger margin). If Bangladesh win, they are through and WI will be out if they lose to India.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 16, 2011 18:55:44 GMT 1
Group A: Australia (212/3) beat Canada (211) by 7 wickets (91 balls remaining).
Canada were scoring very well initially - about 10 per over for the first few overs!
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 15, 2011 18:34:25 GMT 1
Group B: South Africa (272/7) beat Ireland (141) by 131 runs.
SA through, Ireland out.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 14, 2011 19:00:13 GMT 1
Group A: Pakistan (164/3) beat Zimbabwe (151/7) by 7 wickets (23 balls remaining) (D/L)
Group B: Bangladesh (166/4) beat Netherlands (160) by 6 wickets (52 balls remaining)
Pakistan thus qualify for the next stage, and Zimbabwe are out.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 13, 2011 22:25:19 GMT 1
England will win the Championship unless they lose to Ireland and Wales beat France and the combined victory margin is more than 42 points (if exactly 42, Wales will need at least 7 tries more than England).
Scotland will avoid the wooden spoon if they beat Italy.
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