Webber Gone But Not Forgotten

As records were set by one side if the Garage, the other bid farewell to Mark Webber. The ever popular Austrailian driver was given a traditional Auzzie send off as he left the garage to take his place on the F1 grid for the last time. Unlike his previous teammate Coulhard, he was able to finish in second place securing third place in the Drivers Championship. It would have been nice if Vettel could have assisted a win, but that was never going to happen as Vettel himself was chasing records. Michael Shumacher's record of the most wins in a season was beaten and Alberto Ascari's record of nine wins in a row was equalled. This is one of F1s longest standing records and will be beaten if Vettel wins first time out in 2014.


Speaking at the weekend Webber said:

"I've done what I can, done my best but there comes a point when it's not what it once was,"
"I will leave very satisfied. I've been dealt a very good hand, (I'm) very proud of what I've achieved."

Mark Webber left his mark on the sport and you too can share in his celebration. log onto his website www.markwebber.com to get hold of a #mademymark T Shirt and to follow him as he starts a new chapter of his racing career. We wish him well.

Check back in in January 2014 for details of the rule changes and news of the 2014 Season

Weber to Leave F1 at the End of the 2013 Season

 

Mark Webber has announced that he will leave Formula 1 at the end of the season to join Porsche's new LMP1 sportscar programme. Full story at BBC Sport

There has been speculation about friction in the team but unsurprisingly Mark denies there is any link to his move out of F1. See further story at BBC Sport . It will be a sad day when Webber. We will all remember him winning his first points for the Minardi team in 2002.

 





Lotus Win in Australia

We are back for to give you all the latest news and information for every F1 race in 2013. As usual we will be concentrating on the technical and strategy stories.

Australia

The first race weekend of 2013 saw drama as the qualification period had to be stopped due to heavy rain on Saturday. The final qualifying sessions were held on race morning which could have helped the teams to get more of a feel for the track as there would be less time between Quali and the race.

The final qualifying session was in drying conditions and Mclaren took a gamble on slicks which did not way off relegating them down the grid. Red Bull’s Vettel got the timing right followed by Team-mate Webber and Hamilton in a creditable 4^th in his first outing with Mercedes. Hamilton was followed by Massa out qualifying Alonso 6^th was Rosberg and 7^th Raikkonen.

By the time the race was started it was damp but ran full distance as a dry race. Force India made the most of their qualifying position to start on fresh rubber and went for a two stop strategy which saw Sutil leading after the first set of stops. Mclaren’s race was over in qualifying with their tyres failing early on. Ferrari came out fighting and seemed to be the ones to watch as red bull seemed to be struggling. But from what seemed nowhere Kimi Raikkonen having driven a calm and calculated race won the race with Alonso second with Vettel.

This race was all about the new tyres for 2013 which were designed with a differing level of degradation for this year. Lotus and Ferrari did seem to get more out of the tyres than Red Bull. Vettel looked frustrated on the podium as his qualifying pace was not matched in the race. Three World Champions on the podium and one more (Hamilton) in fifth looking as if the move to Mercedes was not such a bad idea after all as Mclaren’s Button and Perez finished ninth and eleventh.

With just a week to go until the next race there will be a full technical round up before we head off to the Malaysian GP on 14 March.

McLaren launch 2013 car



Button & Perez unveil the MP4-28

McLaren celebrated 50 years as they unveiled their 2013 MP4-28 Formula 1 Car today (31 Jan).

The motoring media and invited guests gathered at McLaren’s Woking HQ to witness the unveiling of the 2013 car. The event was preceded by a procession of iconic Mclaren cars from the last 50 years. Last to arrive was new driver Sergio Perez driving a Mclaren MP4-12C Spider road car, and Jenson Button driving a new Mclaren P1 supercar on its first public outing.

The two F1 drivers then lifted the lid on the new 2013 title contending car. It's much too early to comment on the technical features. However, we think it looks great. Keep checking in to F1athome.com for more details of the Mclaren and other team cars as we count down to the start of the 2013 f1 season.


Perez and Button answer questions at the press launch