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Archives for May 2010

Pressure of F1 battle beginning to tell

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Andrew Benson | 17:33 UK time, Sunday, 30 May 2010

One of the stories of the Formula 1 season so far has been how , despite having the fastest car in the field, have not been able to get out of their own way. In , that proved to be literally the case as their race fell apart in the most extraordinary circumstances.

and collided when the German tried to pass his team-mate for the lead on the 40th of 58 laps and another race they should have won - the third this season - slipped through Red Bull's grasp.

I have to say that I read the incident the same way as and did during the race - and , and agreed afterwards. Vettel moved right towards Webber at a time when, although he was nosing ahead, he was still alongside his team-mate.

had not left very much room on the inside - as was his right. But the Australian did leave his team-mate about the width of a car - which is hard but fair, as you would expect of Webber. But when they were side by side it was Vettel who deviated his line when there was no room to do so.

It was a racing incident, certainly, but there seems little doubt that Vettel deserves the larger share of the blame.

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Webber emerges as major F1 force

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Andrew Benson | 06:00 UK time, Thursday, 27 May 2010

For the first time in his life, is looking down on the 1 world championship table from the top.

It is quite a change for the man who, for the first seven years of his career, was known as F1's unluckiest driver, and who before l hit their stride last year only very rarely had a car capable of competing at the front.

This season was expected to continue where 2009 left off - with Webber's team-mate as Red Bull's lead driver and Webber picking up the odd win here and there.

But that is not the way it has worked out.

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Your classic grand prix

Andrew Benson | 06:00 UK time, Wednesday, 26 May 2010

The 1985 European Grand Prix at , the scene of maiden Formula 1 victory and the first of Alain Prost's four world championship wins, is our highlighted race for the latest edition of our classic grand prix series.

You can watch the full highlights programme for that race below, as well as edited highlights of all the choices - the 1981 San Marino Grand Prix, the 1982 US Grand Prix West, the 1982 Swiss Grand Prix and last year's Turkish Grand Prix, plus the full hour-long highlights programme of the latter broadcast on 91Èȱ¬ Three last year.

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Pick your classic grand prix - race seven

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Andrew Benson | 06:00 UK time, Wednesday, 19 May 2010

The , like all the newer races on the Formula 1 calendar, creates a bit of a problem for our regular forage through the archive.

Usually we choose five great past races from the country which is holding the forthcoming grand prix, and ask you which one you would most like to see.

We then use the views of respondents on this blog to help inform our choice of which event to highlight in the run-up to the race - which means we broadcast the full 'Grand Prix' highlights programme of the time, as well as the shorter video packages we cut for all the choices.

But Turkey has only been on the calendar since 2005, and we used all the previous races there last year.

So for this year's event we will continue with the approach we took for Bahrain and China this year - namely to choose four races from tracks that are no longer on the F1 calendar and add last year's race in Turkey as a fifth choice.

And we have a very tasty selection, which is as follows:

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Why Schumacher broke the rules in Monaco

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Andrew Benson | 11:26 UK time, Monday, 17 May 2010

What is it about and Monaco?

The German legend will forever be inextricably linked with the principality and, to some extent, it is for all the wrong reasons.

For all the brilliance Schumacher has displayed around one of Formula 1's most demanding circuits throughout his career, it is the controversy he has created there that makes the headlines.

In 2006, the final year of his first spell in F1, he was involved in when he deliberately parked his at Rascasse corner, clumsily trying to make it look like he had made a mistake, and prevented his title rival , then at Renault, from beating him to pole position.

Now back in F1 after a three-year retirement, and driving for , Schumacher was again at the centre of controversy in Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix. Just a few metres further on from his infamous 2006 stunt, he snatched sixth place from Alonso, now Ferrari's lead driver, into the final corner of the race.

That move was later by the race stewards, a decision that Schumacher's Mercedes team have decided to appeal against.

In the best traditions of F1, that decision itself has generated enormous controversy.

And there was a delicious irony that one of the four stewards was Damon Hill, Schumacher's former arch-rival on the track.

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Alonso over-reaching in fight with Red Bull

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Andrew Benson | 15:48 UK time, Sunday, 16 May 2010

drove superbly to take a dominant victory in the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday but it is hard to escape the feeling that the only man who might have beaten him crossed the finish line seventh.

After a typically combative drive, and with help from the safety car and excellent strategy by , salvaged more than he might have expected after starting from the back of the grid following his practice.

But Alonso will be leaving Monaco with more regrets than satisfaction - and they will have nothing to do with the way 's snatched sixth place from under his nose as the safety car pulled off with just one corner to go, by the stewards.

Before Alonso's practice crash, the Ferrari had looked especially fast in Monaco and I understand he was very confident of taking pole position had he not had his mishap. From there, the race would have been his to lose.

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Your classic grand prix - race six

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Andrew Benson | 10:25 UK time, Wednesday, 12 May 2010

The 1984 Monaco Grand Prix is our selection for the latest edition of our classic races series, and it fits the description on every level.

It was not only a superb race, but it was also packed with controversy and in addition marked the emergence of two stellar talents, and , both of whom were later to die in racing cars.

It was a wet race, ultimately won by in a , one of seven victories by the great Frenchman that year. But behind that rather banal statistic lies a compelling story.

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Webber's win leaves title race wide open

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Andrew Benson | 18:31 UK time, Sunday, 9 May 2010

The Spanish Grand Prix was not as bad a race as many had feared, although it was certainly a bit of a comedown after the highs of and .

Nevertheless, has left this year's world championship battle as intriguingly poised as ever.

Webber's win was arguably the best of his three career victories so far. He was utterly comfortable in the lead throughout the race and had the measure of team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

But, while the Australian was undoubtedly driving only as fast as he needed to, it does nevertheless seem to be the case that the Red Bulls were nowhere near as dominant as they had been in .

It is no exaggeration to say that Red Bull's electrifying pace on Saturday had left their rivals reeling - after all, the last time one team had such a huge margin over their rivals at the start of the European season was Williams in 1996.

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F1 set for fascinating weekend in Spain

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Andrew Benson | 06:00 UK time, Thursday, 6 May 2010

Four races down, and the Formula 1 season is shaping up nicely.

There have been three different winners, driving for three different teams. The championship is fascinatingly poised. And the numerous story threads that always promised to make this season so fascinating are delivering all that was expected and more.

Because rain has influenced three of the four races so far, so many questions remain about how the season might develop - and Spain, if it's dry, should begin to provide the answers.

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Your classic grand prix - race five

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Andrew Benson | 06:00 UK time, Tuesday, 4 May 2010

The latest edition of our classic grand prix series features the Spanish Grand Prix, and we have chosen the 1994 race to highlight in the run-up to this year's event - you can watch the full 'Grand Prix' highlights programme from 16 years ago, alongside the shorter package we cut for all the other contenders.

In this blog, I will also give you the five choices for Monaco, which is only a week after Spain this year. More on that later.

The 1994 Spanish race was memorable for two reasons - 's first victory for since a month before; and 's remarkable drive to second place, despite being stuck in fifth gear for much of the race.

Schumacher's problem occurred while he was in the lead. It initially delayed the German, but once Hill had built a comfortable lead, Schumacher began to find a way to drive around it, and he began to match the Englishman for pace. It was a quite brilliant drive, one of the best of Schumacher's career.

To Hill and Williams, though, it mattered little that they had effectively inherited the win, their first of 1994. More important was the breakthrough it provided. Because of his calm approach to the aftermath of Senna's death, Hill had played an important role in keeping the team together, and this victory provided a kind of catharsis, a chance to start again.

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