GRAND PRIX OF SINGAPORE

24th - 26th September 2010

 

McLaren Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton:

Long-time McLaren Mercedes protégé Lewis Hamilton joined the Formula One grid in 2007 alongside double World Champion Fernando Alonso. The British racer, who first met McLaren boss Ron Dennis aged ten at the Autosport Awards ceremony, got the nod for the his F1 debut on the back of his impressive GP2 campaign in which he won the title in his first season. 18 months later he repaid that faith in becoming the youngest ever Formula One World Champion.

Hamilton, whose grandfather moved to the UK from Grenada in the 1950s, started his rise to the pinnacle of the sport driving karts in 1995 taking top honours in the Masters at Bercy in 2000.

A move to single seaters followed in 2001 with Hamilton taking part in the Formula Renault Winter Series finishing fifth overall. 2002 saw Hamilton back in Formula Renault, recording three wins with Manor Motorsport and finishing third in the championship standings. The championship followed in 2003 - again with Manor Motorsport - and Hamilton was very much into his stride. Wins in the F3 Euroseries before the championship followed in 2005 with ASM.

A jump up to GP2 did not daunt the British racer as he won the title in style from Nelson Piquet with ART Grand Prix. The McLaren Mercedes squad had Hamilton under its protective wing for years and with Juan Pablo Montoya making a sudden move to NASCAR; Hamilton's name was suddenly in the frame for the race seat with the team in 2007.

Picking Hamilton, who was just 22 when he made his Grand Prix debut, over long-time test driver Pedro de la Rosa, the British rising star faced a steep learning curve. Hamilton had proven up to the task in every category of motorsport and was far from overawed in the prospect of moving up to Formula One and teaming up with double World Champion Alonso.

Never before in the history of Formula One has a driver been so well prepared for his debut season and quite a season it would prove to be.

Hamilton's Grand Prix debut in Australia saw him finish third, quickly followed by runner-up positions in Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain and Monaco. Off track, Alonso got the message and the relationship was already on a downwards spiral. Hamilton won his first Grand Prix in Montreal after a flawless drive and followed it up a week later at Indianapolis with another win.

Against all the odds, Hamilton was firmly in command of the championship at the mid-point of the season. An accident in qualifying at the European Grand Prix and then a troubled race ended his unprecedented nine race podium run but Hamilton bounced back with a commanding win in Hungary as relations between his team and team-mate became even further strained.

A fine drive in appalling conditions at Fuji Speedway brought Hamilton his fourth win of the season and with two rounds remaining, enjoyed a commanding 12 point lead in the championship.

The final two races however saw the pressure get to Hamilton and the McLaren team. The failure to bring Hamilton in for new tyres in China when it was clear that he was struggling with tyre wear was a major error and the failure to finish was the end result. Still, a fifth position in Brazil would bring Hamilton the championship regardless of what rivals Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen could achieve.

After qualifying second at Interlagos behind Felipe Massa, Hamilton found himself caught out at the start of the race allowing Alonso and Raikkonen to pass. Trying to regain the positions, Hamilton ran off track and dropped back down the order. A mechanical glitch lost him further time but it was the decision to switch from a two stop to a three stop strategy that finally ruined his race.

Taking the chequered flag in seventh position and with Raikkonen winning from Massa and Alonso, Hamilton lost the championship by one point to Raikkonen and ended his season equal on points with Alonso.

While Hamilton and McLaren Mercedes seemed to throw away the championship in those final two Grand Prix, Hamilton had a stunning debut season and soon penned a long-term deal with the team that will see him race for them until the end of the 2012 season.

In just his second season of the sport, Hamilton headed to the 2008 season finale undoubtedly feeling a certain sense of déjà-vu. Fifth position would bring him the title regardless of what title rival Massa could achieve.

Up until that point, it had been something of a roller-coaster of a season for the McLaren driver. He began the season with victory in Melbourne, adding further wins at Monaco, Britain, Germany and China. There were however errors in Spain, Canada, France, Belgium, Italy and Japan that compromised his season.

The season-long battle with Massa came to a dramatic conclusion in Brazil with Massa taking the win and Hamilton scrabbling ahead of Timo Glock in the final turn on the final lap at the last race of the season to secure the all-important fifth position points needed for the championship.

Hamilton took the title glory and completely dominated new team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, but can count himself a little fortunate that errors from Ferrari made Massa's task so much harder than it could - and probably - should have been. Hamilton has proven his skill and pace, but arguably his debut season was more impressive than his championship season.

For 2009, Hamilton has the confidence and now two years of experience under his belt as he looks to continue his remarkable career at the pinnacle of the sport.


Heikki Kovalainen:

Heikki Kovalainen burst onto the international stage by winning the Race of Champions in December 2004, taking on and beating no less than Sebastien Loeb in his own WRC rally contender in the final.

On the cusp of a drive in Formula One, the Finn rose up through the ranks of Karting before moving to the British Formula Renault series in 2001. A move to British F3 the following season saw him take five wins and finish third in the championship. Significantly, he joined the Renault Driver Development programme.

A move to World Series by Nissan in 2003 saw Kovalainen take the runner-up position in 2003, before taking the title the next year. Following his success at Stade de France at the end of the season, he joined Arden International to compete in the then fledging GP2 series.

After a strong start to the season, Kovalainen lost out to Nico Rosberg in the championship, but now under the guidance of Flavio Briatore and Renault, was busy testing for the Anglo-French team. Kovalainen took a step back from racing activities in 2006 and continued his testing role with Renault, and with Fernando Alonso moving to McLaren Mercedes, the team wasted little time in announcing Kovalainen as Giancarlo Fisichella's team-mate at Renault in 2007.

Kovalainen's debut season can be split into two and the defining moment was the Canadian Grand Prix, the sixth race of the season. Kovalainen struggled in his first five starts and then in practice and qualifying in Montreal made a catalogue of errors that at the time made the Finn look out of his depth in Formula One. It was however a turning point for Kovalainen and a solid and sensible race saw him finish in fourth position.

The result provided a much-needed confidence boost for Kovalainen who raised his game in both qualifying and race conditions. Nine straight finishes in the points followed, the best result being an impressive second position in the rain-hit Japanese Grand Prix, Renault's only podium position of the season.

Having seen off team-mate Fisichella, Kovalainen made clear he was not willing to play a supporting role for the returning Fernando Alonso in 2008. Renault duly announced Alonso and Renault tester Nelson Piquet as race drivers for 2008, but soon after Kovalainen was confirmed as Lewis Hamilton's team-mate at McLaren Mercedes.

The 2008 season was not a good one for Kovalainen who was unable to match the pace of Hamilton and ended the season a distant seventh in the standings - the same position achieved with Renault the previous year despite now having a better car at his command. Qualifying proved to be an issue and at the end of the season Kovalainen had secured just two podium positions for the team including an inherited first victory in Hungary.

Amongst mutterings of a heavy fuel load being demanded by the team in qualifying in 2008, Kovalainen knows he needs to raise his game...

Ferrari

Felipe Massa:

Peter Sauber is well known for his talent spotting abilities and at the end of the 2000 season he brought Kimi Raikkonen in to test out his F1 car. From there he quickly signed the then youngster to drive for him in the 2001 season and the rest is history. With Raikkonen opting to move on to McLaren Mercedes, Sauber was forced to look elsewhere for his second driver and once again opted to sign a Grand Prix novice.

Felipe Massa, born on the 25th of April 1982 in Sao Paulo Brazil, was just 19 years old when he made his debut in Australia. Massa spent many years karting, beginning in 1990 when he finished fourth in the Sao Paolo Micro-Kart category. Sixth the following year and third in 1993, he continued in the series until 1998 when he made his debut in Formula Chevrolet with a fifth place finish in the Brazilian championship only to clinch the title the following season.

In 2000 Massa took victory in the Formula Renault Italian Series Championship, followed the next year with yet another title to his name in the Formula Renault European Series Championship. 2001 brought a new highlight in his career when he won the European F3000 championship with one race remaining. Riding high, Massa tested with Sauber at Mugello and signed up for the 2002 season.

His debut season saw plenty of pace from Massa, but this was also punctuated with a wild streak that saw him spend a great deal of time in gravel traps. Massa secured a season best placing of fifth in Spain, albeit behind team-mate Nick Heidfeld, as well as two other sixth positions. It was not enough to keep the Brazilian in Formula One, but after spending a season as a test driver for Ferrari in 2003, Massa returned to Sauber in 2004.

Having rid himself of some of his rougher edges testing with Ferrari, Massa was keen to show he fully deserved to be in F1 full time. Massa scored points on five occasions and classifying himself 12th in the drivers' championship but could not quite match the pace of team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella over the season as a whole. The highlight of Massa's season was not his solid fourth position at Spa Francorchamps, but leading one lap of his home Grand Prix at Interlagos, the final race of the season.

Massa remained with Sauber in 2005 and was joined in the squad by Jacques Villeneuve. Undaunted by having a former Champion as a team-mate, Massa blitzed Villeneuve in the early part of the season as the Canadian adapted to life with the Swiss-based team. It was a tough season for all at Sauber however as Massa notched up just 11 points with his best result being a fourth position in Montreal.

The Brazilian got his big break in 2006 as he moved from Sauber back to Ferrari - but this time as a race driver.

Lining up with Michael Schumacher, Massa was able to show his raw speed and on occasion even left Schumacher trailing. It was a solid first season with the team for Massa. Playing the dutiful number two role to Schumacher, Massa was able to record his first Grand Prix win from pole position in Turkey and would finish the season in third position in the standings behind Fernando Alonso and Schumacher.

Massa took on another challenge in 2007 as he faced former Sauber protégé Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari. Two wins from the first four Grand Prix was a very promising start for Massa, but he would win just one more race over the remainder of the season. His title challenge was blunted by brain fade in Montreal and a mechanical failure at Monza but despite this remained a championship contender until the latter stages of the season.

Massa arguably could have been the 2008 World Champion. The Brazilian was let down by a couple of errors early in the season but more significantly by mistakes from the Ferrari team and reliability. With two wins from the first five rounds, including Turkey where he notched up his third straight victory, Massa dominated the inaugural Valencia street circuit race and then took a controversial win in Belgium following a time penalty for title rival Lewis Hamilton.

The Ferrari driver should have won the Hungarian Grand Prix but an engine failure just two laps from home robbed him of ten valuable points and gifted Heikki Kovalainen his maiden win. A re-fuelling issue in Singapore saw more valuable points lost and heading to the finale in Brazil, Massa needed the win and a little luck.

Crossing the line to take the final race win of the season it seemed that Massa had done enough to be crowned World Champion. As he and the team celebrated, Hamilton passed the struggling Timo Glock for fifth position and snatched the title from Massa by a single point.

Massa, clearly devastated by the loss, proved what a sporting star he has become, offering congratulations to his rival and saying it just was not meant to be. With six wins to his credit in 2008, Massa heads into the new season looking to the team to iron out the small mistakes that cost him the title. Under contract with Ferrari to the end of the 2010 season, Massa now has proven pace, consistency and all he needs is a little more luck to take the ultimate prize...

Kimi Raikkonen:

2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Raikkonen cut his teeth in national and international kart racing from the age of ten, before taking up single seaters in 1999. He competed in four races for Haywood Racing, finishing third in his first outing before retiring from the next three due to technical problems. Raikkonen also competed in the Formula Ford Euro Cup where he finished fifth, but his final entrance into the Formula Ford Festival saw him forced out of contention. Signing for Manor Motor Sport, he won four races out of four starts to secure the Formula Renault Winter series.

Staying with Manor, 2000 saw the Finn competing in the British Renault Championship, taking the title with relative ease after securing seven wins out of the ten races contested. He stood on the podium for every race, and took seven pole positions and six fastest laps. During the same year, he also competed in the Formula Renault series where he took two wins, two poles and two fastest laps. Out of the 23 races contested, Raikkonen had a success rate of more that 50 percent, winning a grand total of 13, making F1 team boss Peter Sauber sit up and take notice.

Raikkonen duly made his Formula One debut for the Swiss-based Formula One team in 2001, after competing in just 23 car races, none of which involved F3 or F3000. Amid some controversy, the FIA granted him the necessary Super Licence due to promising performances displayed in testing in F1 2000.

His debut season produced some superb performances and he helped the team to their highest ever finish, fourth place overall in the constructors' battle. Despite some negativity surrounding his entrance into the sport, his performance didn't go unnoticed and he was chosen by McLaren Mercedes to take the place of retiring double world champion Mika Hakkinen.

Raikkonen put in some blistering performances throughout 2002, out-qualifying his more experienced team-mate David Coulthard on several occasions. He also came extremely close to winning his first Grand Prix in France, but ran wide at the Adelaide hairpin handing victory to Michael Schumacher.

Raikkonen confirmed his potential in 2003. The Finn won his first Grand Prix in Malaysia and fought for the title until the very last race against Schumacher. 2004 promised a great deal for the Finn, but sadly it was a season with few high points.

The team started the 2004 season with the new MP4-19 chassis and before long it was accepted that the car simply was not competitive. As Raikkonen retired from race after race with mechanical failures early in the season, his dip in motivation was clear to see and also fairly understandable. This would be something we would see later in his career however in less understandable circumstances.

Armed with a much more competitive 'b' specification chassis mid-season Raikkonen raised his game and became a regular point's scorer again. With little in the way of competition from team-mate Coulthard throughout the season coupled with appalling reliability early in the year, Raikkonen managed to finish just seventh in the overall standings with one victory coming his way at Spa Francorchamps.

2005 was a complete turnaround for Raikkonen and McLaren Mercedes. Raikkonen may have missed out on the title to Fernando Alonso, but he had a stunning season let down only by some reliability issues from Mercedes. Raikkonen showed the way to new team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya, scored seven race wins and not once did he make a significant error on track.

Raikkonen remained with McLaren in 2006 hoping that the momentum would continue and he could challenge for the title. It was to be another tough season however with Raikkonen unable to take a race win. He did much better than Montoya, who departed the team mid-season and was as fast as ever, equipment permitting.

For 2007 it was all change for Raikkonen as he took over from the retiring Michael Schumacher at Ferrari. Schumacher was always going to be a hard act to follow but as Raikkonen proved in 2002, he is not afraid of a stern challenge.

Raikkonen's season got off to the best possible start with Ferrari, taking victory in the first Grand Prix in Australia, the first time a new driver won for the team at his first race. Further wins followed in France, Germany, Belgium and China ahead of the season finale in Brazil.

The odds were stacked against Raikkonen with Lewis Hamilton just needing a fifth position to take the championship, but errors from the McLaren driver and a superb victory from Raikkonen brought him the championship by one point.

With the championship under his belt, Raikkonen was expected to come out fighting in 2008 but it would prove to be a disappointing season.

Two wins from the first four races was an impressive start for the defending champion, but his Spanish Grand Prix win in April would be his last victory of the season. The Finn was unlucky not to win the French Grand Prix at Magny Cours and was taken out of contention by eventual champion Lewis Hamilton in Montreal following the infamous pit lane exit crash.

However, qualifying proved to be a major issue as Raikkonen notched up just two pole positions over the season and dropped behind team-mate Felipe Massa as the season progressed.

After crashing out of the Belgian Grand Prix, Raikkonen effectively took over the number two role at Ferrari and backed Massa in the final five rounds of the season. The question of motivation was a frequent topic of debate but Raikkonen remains under contract at Ferrari until the end of the 2010 season and starts 2009 keen to prove he is the top driver at the Italian-based squad.


BMW Sauber

Robert Kubica:



Renault

Fernando Alonso:

Unsurprisingly double Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso has a very impressive racing history starting with the Spanish Karting title at the age of 13. His determination to succeed only increased and two years later he took the title again as well as becoming the World Karting Champion.

His third Spanish Karting title came in 1997, making it three in four years. From there he was runner-up in the European Kart championship before taking the Euro Open Championship for Nissan in 1999.

In 2000 Fernando undertook testing duties for the Minardi outfit while competing in the Formula 3000 Championship, catching the attention of high profile teams such as Ferrari and Benetton. He competed for Astromega and his season highlights included a sixth in Austria, second in Hungary, and a win in Belgium leaving him sixth overall in the standings.

He progressed to the pinnacle of Motorsport in 2001 where he partnered Tarso Marques for the European Minardi team. Some impressive performances followed but he opted to sit out active competition in 2002 and concentrate on testing duties for Renault.

Following his season testing with Renault, Alonso got his big chance a year later making his debut with the team as a race driver and taking his first F1 win at the Hungarian Grand Prix just a few months later and finishing a strong sixth in the drivers' standings.

2004 started well enough with third position in Australia but Alonso then had to wait until mid-season to gain his second podium position with a fine second place at Magny Cours. Back-to-back podiums followed in Hockenheim and Hungary, but Alonso was unable to win a race in 2004.

Everything fell Alonso's way in 2005 as he recorded seven race wins and eclipsed Emerson Fittipaldi's long-standing record as the Spaniard became the youngest ever Formula One World Champion. It was a stunning season from Alonso who made best of his ultra-competitive R25 package and beat rival Kimi Raikkonen to the title by 21 points, expressing his title gain with a teary-eyed primal scream in Brazil. Alonso's on track efforts also helped Renault to its first constructors' championship.

Following his title success, McLaren Mercedes made a shock announcement in December 2005 that they had signed Alonso up for 2007 and beyond. With a year remaining on his Renault contract, Alonso kicked off his season with six wins from the first nine races.

It seemed the second title would surely fall his way but a charge from Michael Schumacher and Ferrari ensured that the battle went right down to the season finale in Brazil. Alonso needed just a single point to claim back-to-back titles and he duly finished second to take the title from the retiring Schumacher by 13 points.

Alonso joined McLaren in 2007 taking the coveted number one from Renault to his new team. What started off as a dream scenario, soon turned into a nightmare.

On track, 2007 was generally a very good season for Alonso. Wins in Malaysia, Monaco, Europe and Italy kept the Spaniard right in the title chase, but off track Alonso and the team were making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

The opening races of the season went smoothly enough, but by the Monaco Grand Prix it was clear that tensions were building between Alonso, the team and rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

While McLaren had its own off track issues due to the spy scandal that rocked Formula One, Alonso felt he was not receiving the treatment he had expected from the team and was unhappy that he had to battle with his own team-mate for success.

Things came to a point in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix where Alonso opted to deliberately block Hamilton to try and secure his own position. He was penalised by the stewards for his actions and it was clear that relations between the team and driver were more than strained.

Alonso would finish the season third overall tied with Hamilton on points and just one behind victor Kimi Raikkonen. Undoubtedly Alonso squandered chances in 2007 and it was of no surprise that he and the team parted ways one year into a three year deal.

Alonso returned to Renault for 2008 where he was very much the number one driver. After something of a shaky start, Alonso was quickly at his very best and arguably the best driver of the year.

The R28 package started the year somewhat off the pace, but from the mid-point of the season, the team had found performance from the package and Alonso made the very best of the equipment at his disposal.

Such was the gain in performance, Alonso and Renault out-scored all of their rivals in the latter stages of the season, taking back-to-back wins in Singapore and Japan as well. The Spaniard capped off the season with the runner-up position in Brazil and Alonso penned a new two-year deal with the Anglo-French outfit.

Should Renault hit the ground running in 2009, Alonso will very much be in contention as he chases his third World Championship.


Nelson Piquet:

Son of triple World Champion of the same name, Nelson Piquet started his racing career in Brazilian karting circles before moving to the South American F3 series in 2001, finishing fifth in his first half season of competition. The title would follow in 2002 and Piquet moved to the UK at the age of 17 to compete in British F3.

With his own team Piquet finished a solid third in the championship with six wins. A test with BMW Williams followed and in 2004 Piquet won the British F3 title with another six victories and enjoyed additional F1 mileage with Williams.

Piquet tested with the Honda F1 team in 2005 as well as competing in the inaugural GP2 championship. The season was a tough one for Piquet as reliability issues robbed the Brazilian of many strong race results. However a great win at soggy Spa Francorchamps proved his ability.

A handful of races in the fledging A1GP series followed with Piquet taking dominant double victories at Brands Hatch for A1 Team Brazil. Piquet returned to GP2 competition in 2006 and fought eventual champion Lewis Hamilton for the top honour.

By the time the series got ready for the season finale at Monza, Piquet had already concluded a deal to become test driver for the championship winning Renault squad. Piquet tested for the first time in September 2006 and spent 2007 gaining test mileage with the team.

With Fernando Alonso returning to Renault as its number one driver, Heikki Kovalainen made it clear he was not interested in being the dutiful number two driver. This opened the door for Piquet who made his F1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix of 2008.

With hindsight, spending the year out of active competition hindered Piquet as he struggled initially with the demands of Formula One. Being team-mate to Alonso would never be an easy task but more frequently than not, the Brazilian looked out of his depth. As the season progressed, Piquet put his string of accidents and mechanical problems behind him culminating in a fortunate but most welcome second position in the German Grand Prix.

The Hockenheim result would remain his best result of his debut season, but Japan and China brought much more assured performances, albeit with a lesser reward. Piquet remains with Renault in 2009 and should he continue his more recent gains in performance, he will become a valuable asset to the team.

Toyota

Jarno Trulli:

Jarno Trulli won multiple World and Italian kart titles prompting then Benetton boss Flavio Briatore to bankroll his German Formula 3 entry midway through 1995. Trulli won the remaining two races of the season with the KMS team and continuing on the same way in 1996 easily took the title.

His Formula One debut came in 1997, when once again, Flavio Briatore stepped in axing Minardi driver Tarso Marques in favour of his protégé. Trulli finished ninth on his F1 debut in Australia after starting from 17th on the grid but the season was hampered by mechanical failures, and lack of horsepower.

Marques returned for the French Grand Prix, and Trulli moved to Prost Grand Prix after Olivier Panis suffered leg injuries in Montreal. Trulli finished fourth in the German Grand Prix, and shocked the paddock by leading for more than half the race in Austria before his engine failed.

He signed for Prost in 1998, and his best finish was sixth in Belgium. The 1999 season didn't see him fare much better although towards the end of the season there were several strong qualifying performances, a characteristic that remains to this day.

Eddie Jordan signed the Italian to partner Heinz-Harald Frentzen for the 2000 season. Trulli had a strong season and was the only non McLaren and Ferrari driver to qualify on the front row throughout the entire year. However due to incidents or reliability problems with the EJ10, Trulli couldn't turn these strong performances into point-scoring finishes.

2001 brought similar strong qualifying form compromised by reliability issues but Trulli still managed 12 points ahead of a switch to the Briatore-led Renault team.

Trulli had hoped that he would finally get the opportunity to show his talent with Renault but finished the season with just nine points, five behind team-mate Jenson Button. 2003 saw Button leave the team and replaced by rising star Fernando Alonso. Despite finishing eighth in the championship and feeling overshadowed by his team-mate, Jarno Trulli started the 2004 campaign in style.

The Italian's 2004 season can be divided neatly into two. The first part of the season ran from the Australian to French Grand Prix in which Trulli excelled. The second part of his season was Silverstone to Monza where Trulli, an emotionally driven character, simply looked out of his depth. It was hard to explain how a driver that dominated the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position in May could be sacked by his team a few short months later.

Renault made clear mid-season that Trulli would not be with the team in 2005. Despite a pole position at Spa Francorchamps, his relationship with former mentor and team boss Briatore deteriorated. Following the Italian Grand Prix, Trulli was released from his contract and joined Toyota for the final two races of the season. Despite all this, Trulli still managed to finish in sixth position in the championship.

2005 marked the first full season as a Toyota driver and Trulli made the best of his opportunity. As was the case in 2004, Trulli had a fantastic start to the season, claiming three podium positions in the first five races, while the tail end of the season was a disappointment.

The TF105 was an impressive package and Trulli made best of his supreme qualifying efforts to help Toyota up to fourth position in the constructors' championship and until the final races of the season, Trulli showed the way to team-mate Ralf Schumacher.

Trulli would however lose out to Schumacher as the duo took sixth and seventh positions in the championship respectively. Trulli's form continued into the 2006 season and in fact it was not until the ninth round of the championship that he scored a championship point. The damage already done, the Italian soldiered on with a package that was not as competitive as in 2005 and would end the season a distant 12th in the standings.

Things got little better in 2007 with Toyota as the team struggled with its uncompetitive TF107 package. There would be few highlights in what was a dismal season for the German-based team and Trulli would score just eight points on his way to 13th in the standings. He remained with the team in 2008 and was joined by rising star Timo Glock.

Few doubt Trulli's raw pace and again in 2008 there was plenty of evidence of his impressive qualifying form. The TF108 was a much more competitive package and eight points finishes plus a podium in France vaulted Trulli to ninth in the standings with an impressive tally of 31 points.

Trulli, a fierce competitor when fully focused on the job at hand, remains with Toyota for a fourth straight season in 2009.


Timo Glock:

Timo Glock's rise to Formula One was especially rapid, and initially very short-lived. The German racer jumped from karting to the BMW-ADAC Formula Junior Cup, winning the championship at his first attempt. 2002 saw him join Team Mamerow and go on to win the ADAC Formula Championship. Glock's career took another upwards swing in 2003 as he competed in the German Formula 3 Championship with KMS Motorsport, finishing third overall and taking the honour of being the top German in the series.

Still with KMS Motorsport, Glock took three wins in the International Formula 3 Euroseries in the same year finishing in fifth position overall. Still almost unheard of in Formula One circles, Glock and his management had caught the eye of Eddie Jordan and soon a deal was in place that would see Glock join the Jordan squad as third driver in 2004. Karting to F1 in four years is an impressive feat.

Contractual difficulties between regular driver Giorgio Pantano (Glock's GP2 championship successor) and Jordan team management saw Glock drafted in to race in the Canadian Grand Prix. Glock, who had tested on Friday for the team at the famous Gilles Villeneuve circuit, qualified 16th for his debut race, right behind team-mate Nick Heidfeld, finished the race in seventh position - ahead of Heidfeld - and secured two well-deserved points.

Pantano was back in action for the US Grand Prix and Glock resumed his role of Friday test driver. He continued to perform well for the team showing good pace and following the Italian Grand Prix, Glock replaced Pantano for the final three races of the season in China, Japan and Brazil. The German had shown impressive pace but F1 options were limited for the 2005 season.

With DHL backing Glock opted to move stateside and raced in the Champ Car World Series with Rocketsports Racing. The Rookie of the Year title followed and Glock looked set to win in Montreal until a late call from race control ordered him behind eventual winner Oriol Servia. GP2 called in 2006 and Glock joined BCN Competicion before moving on to iSport. With the front-running team Glock once again showed his pace vaulting up the championship standing, and despite missing the season finale, finished fourth with two wins.

Glock's performances had not gone unnoticed by BMW Sauber who appointed the German as their second test driver in 2007. Glock returned to GP2 again with iSport in 2007, taking five wins en route to the title. Four years on and Glock returned to Formula One competition with Toyota.

His second stint of Formula One started in dramatic style with a heavy shunt in Melbourne, but Glock rebounded with midfield results punctuated with fourth position in the Canadian Grand Prix. The second half of the season saw an upturn in form from both Glock and the Toyota team with five points finishes in the final eight races of the season.

With 25 points secured in his first full season in the sport, Glock looks to build on that impressive result with Toyota in 2009.

Toro Rosso

Sebastien Bourdais:

Early in 2007 Sebastien Bourdais had all but given up on his Formula One aspirations. Having won the French F3 title in 1998 the Frenchman spent three years in the F3000 championship, culminating in championship success in 2001. Formula One was in theory the next logical step.

Bourdais tested with both Arrows and Renault in 2002, but was unable to conclude a race deal amongst rumours that he and Renault boss Flavio Briatore did not see eye to eye.

With limited options in Europe, the Frenchman looked to the US Racing scene and soon to embark on an incredible career in the Champ Car World Series.

With Cristiano da Matta moving to Toyota and Formula One, the Newman/Haas squad tested and then snapped up Bourdais for the 2003 season. Bourdais' first win came at Brands Hatch in that same year and he would go on to record another 30 wins and four straight championships between 2004 and 2007.

Despite his impressive track record, Bourdais was not making much progress in his Formula One aspirations. With Nicolas Todt taking over managerial duties in 2007, a possibility of testing with Toro Rosso emerged and this was all it took for Bourdais to finally get a foot in the door.

Bourdais faced a tough challenge in 2008 as he teamed up with rising star Sebastian Vettel at Toro Rosso Ferrari. While his team-mate held the upper hand over the season, Bourdais proved to be Formula One material.

17th position in the championship with four points does not tell the full story as Bourdais was able to challenge his highly-rated team-mate on a regular basis. Rookie errors combined with wretched luck such as at Monza where he qualified on the second row only for the car to fail, summarised Bourdais' debut season in the sport.

With no real financial backing, there was some doubt that he would get a second shot at the series in 2009 with the Toro Rosso team alongside rookie Sebastien Buemi, but in early February the team confirmed the Frenchman for the year.


Sebastien Buemi :

Swiss racer Sebastien Buemi was confirmed as Red Bull Renault's test and reserve driver for the 2008 season, a launch-pad for his F1 debut with Scuderia Toro Rosso a year later.

The youngster from Aigle in Switzerland took part in five GP2 races in 2007, standing in for former Red Bull protégé Michael Ammermuller and finishing in the points on four occasions.

In addition Buemi finished as runner-up in the F3 Euroseries. Prior to that Buemi has raced in the A1GP series and was runner-up in the German Formula BMW championship in 2005.

As well as testing with Red Bull in 2008, the 2002 European karting champion competed in the GP2 series with Arden International. Buemi proved consistent but was not a challenger for the championship, finishing the season in sixth position.

Despite a relatively disappointing 2008 campaign, Buemi will make his Formula One race debut in 2009 with the Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso Ferrari team and it remains to be seen if he can take over where Sebastian Vettel left off...

Red Bull

Mark Webber:

Mark Webber became the first Australian since David Brabham in 1994 to race in Formula One and made his Grand Prix debut in front of his home crowd at Melbourne's Albert Park in 2002.

Webber had just turned 18 when he left Australia at the end of 1995 after competing in karting and the Australian Formula Ford championship. An impressive international debut, which saw him finish third in the 1995 Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch in England, prompted the famous Van Diemen Formula Ford team to sign him for the 1996 British Championship. Webber finished runner-up in that series and scored a crushing victory at the 1996 Formula Ford Festival.

Following success in British Formula Ford, Webber graduated to the British Formula 3 Championship in 1997 with a team run by countryman Alan Docking. He finished fourth in the series despite struggling to find the necessary budget and was almost forced to quit mid-season when his funding ran out.

However, fellow Queanbeyanite and former Wallabies rugby union legend, David Campese, came to the rescue and personally financed Webber's next few races which continued to yield good results. Before long, his strong performances in the British series and international F3 events had attracted the attention of Mercedes boss Norbert Haug, who invited Webber to test for the Mercedes AMG sportscar team.

The test was a success and Webber signed with the team to compete in the 1998 FIA GT Championship, partnering former F1 driver Bernd Schneider. The 1998 season was a memorable one, with a huge test program and ten-round championship which took Webber to the United States, Japan and Europe. The Webber/Schneider combination took five wins but was pipped to the title by team-mates Klaus Ludwig and Ricardo Zonta.

Webber was promoted to his own car in 1999 but his love of sportscars came to a premature end when he was involved in two spectacular, high-speed accidents at the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hour Race. An apparent aerodynamic fault with the design of the Mercedes caused the cars of Webber and team-mate Peter Dumbreck to somersault, leaving Mercedes to withdraw its remaining car from the race and the curtailment of its 1999 sportscar campaign.

Indeed, although sidelined for the remainder of 1999 Webber was determined to get his single-seater career back on track for the following season. He began working towards a drive in the international Formula 3000 championship with Paul Stoddart's new European Formula Racing team after being introduced to Stoddart by then F1 team owner, Eddie Jordan.

In 2000 Webber contested the FIA International F3000 Championship. He took the EFR team to new highs with victory in round two of the series at Silverstone to take an unexpected early lead in the championship. Ultimately, he ended the season third overall in the drivers' championship behind Bruno Junqueira and Nicolas Minassian.

His results earned him the interest of Benetton and in September 2000 he completed a successful three day test for the team at Estoril. This led to the team signing Webber on a long-term contract, and for the 2001 season he was contracted by Benetton to race for Super Nova Racing in Formula 3000, as well as being the official test and reserve driver for the F1 team.

In 2001, Webber scored wins at Imola, Monaco and Magny Cours and finished runner-up in the F3000 series while also testing with Benetton. Webber completed the long haul to F1 in 2002 when he joined the Minardi team. In his debut race in front of home fans, Webber drove the PS02 to fifth place and two points. No further points were forthcoming over the season but his performances didn't go unnoticed, especially by team bosses at Jaguar Racing who snapped up Webber to partner Antonio Pizzonia the following season.

The Australian had a good season with Jaguar in 2003; scoring 17 of the 18 points amassed by the Milton Keynes-based team but 2004 was not a good year. The team announced it was for sale mid-season and the Jaguar R5 was not the huge step forward the team had hoped for. Still, Webber did a solid job for much of the season, especially in qualifying trim. The Malaysian Grand Prix saw Webber start second alongside Michael Schumacher but in what characterised much of a frustrating season, Webber spun out of contention on race day.

Frank Williams had had an eye on Webber for some time and it was therefore of little surprise that he joined Nick Heidfeld in the BMW powered team in 2005. The Australian endured another tough season however and while sensational in qualifying trim, all too often tripped up and failed to score points when it counted. Team-mate Nick Heidfeld was far more consistent and Webber would score just one podium position - his first - at the Monaco Grand Prix and finish tenth in the overall standings.

Webber remained with Williams in 2006 and was joined by rising star Nico Rosberg. Webber generally held the upper hand throughout the season, but it was a frustrating year with a relatively uncompetitive Williams Cosworth package. The team soldiered on, but mid-season Webber announced he was on the move to Red Bull Racing for 2007. Webber finished the season a disappointing 14th in the standings.

Teaming up with David Coulthard at Red Bull Renault, Webber showed flashes of raw speed culminating in a podium position at Nurburgring. However, the RB3 package was notoriously unreliable and race after race hydraulic issues would sideline the Australian. Webber scored ten points over the season and was 12th in the championship standings. Webber remained with the team in 2008 and dominated team-mate Coulthard on his way to 21 points and 11th overall.

Now a Formula One veteran, Webber faces a stiff challenge at Red Bull Renault in 2009 as Sebastian Vettel joins the team from the Toro Rosso Ferrari team.


Sebastian Vettel :

Sebastian Vettel was in the fortunate situation of being backed by Red Bull and on loan to the BMW Sauber team - the end result: he raced with both teams in 2007.

Like many before him, the German driver started his career in karting before moving to Formula BMW in 2003, taking Rookie honours, and followed that up by winning 18 of the 20 events on the way to the title the following year.

Moving up to European F3 in 2005, he was again the best of the Rookies and finished fifth overall. On top of his F3 programme in 2006, Vettel took over the BMW Sauber Friday testing duties at the Turkish Grand Prix.

Making one big impression on his F1 debut, Vettel topped the Friday timesheets in the F1.06 and was retained by the Swiss-based team as official test and reserve driver for the 2007 season. On the brink of Formula One, Vettel remained race sharp by competing in the World Series by Renault.

The Canadian Grand Prix saw regular BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica suffer a heavy accident and as a result was unable to take part in the US Grand Prix a week later.

Vettel duly made his race debut and after qualifying a solid seventh he finished the race in eighth position. In doing so, the then 19 year-old became the youngest driver in history to score a Formula One championship point.

Meanwhile, the Red Bull run Toro Rosso Ferrari team had become increasingly disillusioned with incumbent Scott Speed. With his Red Bull backing, Vettel was an obvious call up for the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards and he made quite an impression...

His fifth race with the team saw the German running an incredible third in appalling conditions in Japan. Sadly for Vettel and the team, contact with Mark Webber whilst behind the safety car ended the day in disappointment. While it was a major error, Vettel redeemed himself with a great drive to fourth position in the rain-hit Chinese Grand Prix a week later.

Undoubtedly a star of the future, Vettel teamed up with Sebastian Bourdais in 2008 at Toro Rosso and it would prove to be quite a first full season.

The incredible Italian Grand Prix victory aside, Vettel proved to be one of the major players in 2008. His competitive spirit took him ahead of eventual champion Lewis Hamilton in the season finale in Brazil, completely unaware at the time that the pass may well have decided the outcome of the championship.

The team started the season with an updated version of the Ferrari-powered STR2 package before introducing the new Red Bull inspired package at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Vettel had a tough start to the season with accident and incident leaving him point-less after the first five rounds of the championship. Monaco brought the first reward of the season as Vettel finished in fifth position. Further points-paying results followed culminating in his pole to flag victory at Monza.

The season ended with three more top eight results and with 35 championship points on the board, Vettel ended the season in eighth position overall and propelled the Toro Rosso team to sixth position in the championship ahead of the 'works' Red Bull Renault team.

Vettel had made a big impact on the sport and for 2009 joins Mark Webber at the Red Bull Renault team. Arguably a potential champion, Vettel is on a roll...

Williams

Nico Rosberg:

Son of 1982 World Champion Keke, Nico Rosberg moved up to Formula One after a dominant season in the GP2 championship in which he took the title with ART Grand Prix. In April 2005 BMW Williams announced that Rosberg would become the team's second official test driver and after impressing all concerned the Grove-based squad confirmed his race seat alongside Mark Webber in 2006.

Rosberg's rise to Formula One saw the German take the traditional karting route starting in 1996 when he became the Regional Côte d'Azur mini-kart Champion. French and North American championships followed in 1997 and 1998 and Rosberg would finish fourth in the Junior European Karting Championship in 1999. He took the runner-up position in the Formula A European Karting Championship in 2000 and the Super A World Karting Championship title the following season. A move to single-seaters in 2002 saw Rosberg become the Formula BMW ADAC Champion before moving to the F3 Euro series and taking four wins over the next two years.

Joining ART Grand Prix in the new GP2 category in 2005, Rosberg enjoyed a season-long battle against rival Heikki Kovalainen, eventually taking the title whilst also testing on a regular basis for Williams.

His debut season with Williams Cosworth brought flashes of raw pace with a great performance on his debut in Bahrain that saw the German take the fastest lap of the race on his way to seventh position. Another seventh place finish would follow at the European Grand Prix at Nurburgring, but it was essentially a tough first season for Rosberg.

The Williams Cosworth package was not particularly competitive and as with any rookie driver, Rosberg was also busy learning the circuits. His task was not made any easier in the very limited mileage Cosworth gave the team for the Friday practice sessions meaning that more often than not, Rosberg would head into qualifying with very little running behind him.

Rosberg remained with the team in 2007 and was joined by Austrian veteran Alex Wurz in what was a more competitive technical package. The team made good progress throughout the season with its Toyota-powered FW29 and this allowed Rosberg to notch up 20 points over the season and ninth in the standings.

2008 brought Rosberg his much anticipated first podium but as a whole, the campaign was not a particularly successful one. Third position in an attrition hit Australian Grand Prix got the season off to a good start but just three points from the next 13 races told the bigger story.

The FW30 package was not particularly competitive and new team-mate Kazuki Nakajima pushed Rosberg hard and on more than one occasion was the faster of the two. The inaugural Singapore night race brought Rosberg a fine second position however as he and the team made best use of dithering race organisers with regards to an imminent drive through penalty.

Having built up a nice cushion at the front of the field following a safety car shake-up, Rosberg took the penalty and held on to take the runner-up position and the best result of his career to date. The eight points moved Rosberg clear of Nakajima and the German finished the season with 17 points and 13th in the standings.

Rosberg remains with Williams Toyota in 2009 and has made clear that he will be looking elsewhere should the team fail to make a step up the grid.

For the first time in his short career however, there are now the first doubts starting to creep in and the coming year will be pivotal should he wish to move up the order with Williams or a rival team such as BMW Sauber in 2010.


Kazuki Nakajima:

Son of former Formula One racer Satoru, Kazuki Nakajima got his Formula One test break with Williams Toyota in 2007.

Under the watchful eye of his Father, Kazuki became Suzuka Formula ICA karting champion at the age of 14 before becoming part of the Toyota Young Driver programme.

In 2003 Nakajima competed in Formula Toyota in Japan taking the title before finishing fifth and then second in Japanese F3 in 2004 and 2005 respectively.

Formula 3 Euroseries followed in 2006 with Manor Motorsport where Nakajima finished the season seventh. However, with Toyota supplying the Williams team with engines in 2007, the door opened for Nakajima to take a test role with the Grove-based team.

With Alex Wurz failing to shine at Williams and announcing his retirement as a Grand Prix driver, the team opted to give Nakajima his F1 race debut at the season finale in Brazil. Nakajima qualified 19th and despite knocking over his crew during his pit stop, finished in tenth position.

The Japanese racer got a full time ride with Williams in 2008 alongside Nico Rosberg and despite the odd rookie blunder, put in an impressive season and on occasion was able to put his vastly more experienced team-mate under pressure.

Nakajima scored nine points and finished the season 15th overall. He remains with the team in 2009.

Force India F1

Adrian Sutil:

The German pianist, turned racer broke in to Formula One in 2006 in a testing capacity with the Midland F1 team. Sutil's ride through the ranks included the Swiss Formula Ford Championship in 2002, a series he dominated with 12 poles and wins from 12 races.

A move to the German Formula ADAC BMW Championship followed with four podium positions and sixth position in the standings. 2004 saw him join Team Kolles in the F3 Euroseries and then the following season with Team ASM. Sutil was the runner-up in the championship in 2005.

Thanks to his connection with Colin Kolles, Sutil took part in three Friday practice sessions in the MF1 Toyota, while continuing to race in the Japanese F3 series. The Munich born driver won the F3 title with Tom's Toyota and did enough in his role as F1 tester to graduate to the role of race driver alongside Christijan Albers in 2007 in the re-branded Spyker F1 Team.

It would prove to be a strong debut season for Sutil as he completely out-performed the more experienced Albers before showing the way to Sakon Yamamoto in the latter stages of the season. Sutil would secure his first championship point at the rain hit Japanese Grand Prix at a time when the team was changing ownership from Spyker to Force India. Sutil had proven he has speed, but heading into the 2008 season, he had yet to shed the growing reputation of being accident prone.

Sutil was joined at Force India by Italian veteran Giancarlo Fisichella in 2008, the duo proving relatively closely matched throughout the year. Sutil however remained accident prone, contributing to his poor finishing record and his best result of 13th over the year. The high

We accept :

Secured Payment :

Delivery :