This thread has received an incredible response in the last 24 hours with over 330 readers suggesting a name for Sebastian Vettel’s new chassis, replacing the unfortunate “Luscious Liz”, which bit the dust in Monaco. Raja Sen’s suggestion of “Stickshift Stella” was a favourite while readers saw the funny side of Andrew’s suggestion of “Sweaty Betty”. Furtherdown, Speed Saint 85 went down the Sonic the Hedgehog route with their suggestion of “Seb-Sonic” while Jaelle took inspiration from the Star Wars movies with her offering – “Liz II: The Revenge”. But perhaps the name which drew the biggest reaction was Wu’s More…

Just arrived at Spa after a 6-55am BA flight from Heathrow. Ross Brawn and some of his senior engineers were on it as well as some of the photographers. Then the 90 minute drive from Brussels to Spa, which is about half an hour south of the city of Liege. Amazingly it’s a beautiful day here. I’ve been coming to Spa for the Grand Prix for 20 years and I can count on my fingers the number of times I’ve seen a hot sunny day here. Let’s hope it lasts. The forecast is for it to stay sunny or partly More…

I was on holiday in Italy with my family recently and we went to visit Jarno Trulli’s vineyard, Podere Castorani, which is about an hour outside Pescara on Italy’s Adriatic Coast. The Abruzzo region is Italy’s third most important wine growing region and it has more grapes growing there than there are in the whole of Australia. I’ve been wanting to go there for years, as a big fan of Italian red wines and particularly Jarno’s. He uses Montepulciano grapes and the wines have a lovely rounded taste. Jarno’s grandfather was a wine maker and he spent a lot of More…

I was interested to see some quotes from Jenson Button’s race engineer Andrew Shovlin in a story on the BBC website about what the team has done to send it’s 2009 challenger down the wrong path on development. Since Jenson Button’s last win, in Turkey three races ago, he has not featured in the top three in qualifying or the race and the only podium has been Rubens Barrichello’s at Silverstone. Button toiled there, largely it was assumed, because he could not get the tyres up to temperature, but in the final laps he suddenly got on to the pace, More…

If you ever ask the question, “What should I pay for a crash helmet?” invariably you will get the answer, “What’s your head worth?” Felipe Massa’s miracle escape from the incident at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he was hit on the head by a 500g metal spring at 150mph, is testimony to the strength of the modern F1 crash helmet and makes you realise how invaluable it is. I’ve spoken to a few drivers lately who never really considered being hit on the head until the tragic incident of Henry Surtees and then a week another freak accident, for More…

“No one needed this win more than me,” said McLaren Mercedes team principal Martin Whitmarsh in the immediate aftermath of the win in Budapest. We were standing in the McLaren motorhome, with Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ pumping out of the stereo. A pressure release valve had popped off and the team was in the mood for celebration. The team has changed a lot in tone since Whitmarsh took over. There is always a cool playlist on the go whenever you go into their hospitality area, concocted by music loving press officer Steve Cooper. The air of tension which always hung over More…

Following on from the comments from Bernie Ecclestone on Monday that the Canadian Grand Prix will be back on the calendar next year, something the F1 teams are urgently demanding, a story has appeared in the Canadian paper the Globe and Mail with details of the offer on the table. According to the paper’s well informed F1 writer, Jeff Pappone, Ecclestone rowed back a little this week from his initial enthusiasm, saying “We’re doing our best to make sure it happens.” Pappone’s story says that Canadian GP officials met Ecclestone in London two weeks ago with a proposal. The deal More…