F1 Drivers' World Championship - Week 1

Vettel after Australian Grand Prix victory

1	Ger	S Vettel	25
2	GB	L Hamilton	18
3	Rus	V Petrov	15
4	Spa	F Alonso	12
5	Aus	M Webber	10
6	GB	J Button	8
7	Brz	F Massa	6
8	Swi	S Buemi	4
9	Ger	A Sutil	2
10	GB	P Di Resta	1

Malaysian Grand Prix

Satellite view of Sepang Circuit in Malaysia

Venue: Sepang, Kuala Lumpur
Race Date: Sunday 10 April
Lap length: 3.444 miles
Race laps: 56
2010 winner: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
First grand prix: 1999
Fascinating fact: Kuala Lumpur literally means "muddy estuary". The city's grand prix track was built on a 260-hectare swamp, a factor some have blamed for the increasing number of bumps on the track. Some people claim the circuit may be literally sinking.

Formula 1 - Drivers and Teams

Red Bull - Sebastian Vettel & Mark Webber

McLaren - Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button

Ferrari - Fernando Alonso & Felipe Massa

Mercedes - Michael Schumacher & Nico Rosberg

Renault - Nick Heidfeld & Vitaly Petrov

Williams - Ruben Barrichello & Pastor Maldonado

Force India - Adrian Sutil & Paul di Resta

Sauber - Kamui Kobayashi & Sergio Perez

Toro Rosso - Sebastien Buemi & Jaime Alguersuari

Team Lotus - Jarno Trulli & Heikki Kovalainen

Hispania Racing Team - Narain Karthikeyan & Vitantonio Liuzzi

Virgin Racing - Timo Glock & Jerome d'Ambrosio

Australian Grand Prix

Satellite view of Albert Park, Melbourne

With the 2011 F1 Grand Prix season about to begin tomorrow, and qualifying taking place today, I believe it is time I post a quick fact file about the Australian Grand Prix. I will be doing this for each race as soon as possible (not necessarily on the day of the race).

Venue: Albert Park, Melbourne
Race Date: Sunday 27 March
Lap length: 3.295 miles
Race laps: 58
2010 winner: Jenson Button (McLaren)
First grand prix: 1996
Fascinating fact: The race returned to Melbourne in 1996 when Martin Brundle was involved in a terrifying crash on the first lap, which split his Jordan car in two. Amazingly, the British driver was able to run back to the pits to collect the spare car for the restart - only to spin off at the same corner on the first lap.

F1: Valsecchi Replaces Trulli or Kovalainen

Formula One racers, Trulli (left) and Glock (right) at a briefing

It was announced today that Italian GP2 driver, and F1 driver, Davide Valsecchi, will replace either teammate Jarno Trulli or teammate Heikki Kovalainen for Team Lotus. He is expected to fill in for the Friday morning practice ahead of both the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix. I have taken the liberty of comparing his and Trulli's statistics.

Valsecchi:
Starts - 54
Wins - 2
Poles - 1
Fastest Laps - 0

Trulli:
Starts - 234
Championships - 0
Wins - 1
Poles - 4
Fastest Laps - 1

Vettel Stays With Red Bull



Mercedes were also interested in signing Vettel

Racing world champions Sebastian Vettel has extended his contract with Red Bull for a further two years, until the end of the 2014 Formula One season. Red Bull were keen to keep Vettel, 23, as they believe he is one of the best drivers at the moment. Red Bull Team Boss, Christian Horner stated that "Sebastian feels very comfortable within the team and the team feels very comfortable with him."

2011 FIA Formula One World Championship Race Calendar

Hello Readers, today I thought I would do a basic post, just a list of all the F1 venues for this seasons 2011 World Championships. Starting from March ending in November. I have set this out in a basic format with the name of the race, the city it will be held in (in brackets) and the dates of the event. If you want anymore information, feel free to comment or visit the official Formula 1 Website.

01	QANTAS AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX (Melbourne)	25 - 27 Mar
02	PETRONAS MALAYSIA GRAND PRIX (Kuala Lumpur)	08 - 10 Apr
03	UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX (Shanghai) *	15 - 17 Apr
04	TURKISH GRAND PRIX (Istanbul)	06 - 08 May
05	GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA 2011 (Catalunya)	20 - 22 May
06	GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2011 (Monte Carlo)	26 - 29 May
07	GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2011 (Montreal)	10 - 12 Jun
08	GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE (Valencia)	24 - 26 Jun
09	SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX (Silverstone)	08 - 10 Jul
10	GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2011 (Nürburgring)	22 - 24 Jul
11	ENI MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2011 (Budapest)	29 - 31 Jul
12	BELGIAN GRAND PRIX (Spa-Francorchamps)	26 - 28 Aug
13	GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D'ITALIA 2011 (Monza)	09 - 11 Sep
14	SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX (Singapore)	23 - 25 Sep
15	JAPANESE GRAND PRIX (Suzuka)	07 - 09 Oct
16	KOREAN GRAND PRIX (Yeongam)	14 - 16 Oct
17	GRAND PRIX OF INDIA (New Delhi) *	28 - 30 Oct
18	ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX (Yas Marina Circuit)	11 - 13 Nov
19	GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL 2011 (Sao Paulo)	25 - 27 Nov

* Subject to circuit approval