Friday, April 17, 2009

Alonso high hopes for Chinese Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso says he still has high hopes for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix despite his low-key performance in Friday's practice.

The Renault driver finished at 19th quickest in the afternoon session, but the Spaniard was not worried about his position in the timesheets, as he was focusing on race preparation.

"Although we are at the bottom of the timesheets, I don't think we should be too worried as we concentrated more on race configuration today," said Alonso.

"Tomorrow morning in the third free practice session we will be preparing for qualifying and so I think we can remain optimistic for the rest of the weekend.

"We need to try to reach Q3, as we did in Malaysia, and aim to score as many points as possible. I think overall today we struggled to find the right set-up, but even looking at the times, we still have high hopes for this weekend."

Team-mate Nelson Piquet was 16th fastest, the Brazilian admitting there was still work to do before he is comfortable with the car.

"The track conditions were quite poor early on but later in the day things were a bit better," he said. "We improved the car between the two sessions, but we still need to find more performance and I'm still not totally happy with the set-up.

"So we still have a lot of work to do tomorrow morning to make sure we get the most from qualifying."

Jenson Button aims for 3rd consecutive pole position

Jenson Button has set his sights on his third consecutive pole position after topping the times in Friday practice for the Chinese Grand Prix.

The championship leader has started from the top spot and won in Australia and Malaysia, and he continued with his strong run today, going quickest of all in the afternoon session.

"Obviously we want to be on pole, that is always the aim, and when you are at the front you are out of the trouble in Turn One," said Button.

"We obviously want to be as far up as possible but that is not our only aim, it is about having a good balance for the race and if you watch qualifying we have obviously been on pole but also have a good strategy for the race.

"It is a circuit I've enjoyed in the past and I've had some reasonably good results here in the past, even with a difficult car.

"I am looking forward to it and it is quite a similar circuit to Sepang, our tyre compounds are also reasonably difficult to work with, the softer of the two is graining, so we are going to have to work hard to stop that graining, and again the tyres are going to be very important this weekend and getting them working in the correct operating range."

The Brawn GP driver insisted he has been delighted with his return to the top after two season in the doldrums.

"It is obviously a great feeling. It is not just me, we have all worked so hard for this," Button added. "Because you have had a couple of bad seasons it doesn't mean you have lost your passion for the sport, and your love for the sport.

"It goes not just for myself but for Rubens and the rest of the team, we have finally produced a car that is competitive and we are getting the best out of it.

"It is not our fault we have built a good car, and when a regulation changes I think things change in F1. We have seen changed. Some people might not be that happy about it, but instead of getting angry and putting their views out there, they need to concentrate on improving and catching us up."

Button added that the diffuser row, despite rival teams being unhappy about the FIA's decision, will not taint the championship.

"We had legal issues last year and the year before we had legal issues with other teams. It is not a problem because if parts on our car were illegal it would be an issue, but they are not.

"They are legal, it is just other teams have questioned the legality of our parts and the court has said they are legal. Nothing matters except we have got the performance and other people don't seem to have it at the moment."

Ferrari - Removing KERS not help at all

Ferrari has admitted that removing its KERS for the Chinese Grand Prix has not proved beneficial so far.

After several reliability problems in the previous races, Ferrari decided to abandon the new system for Shanghai. But after struggling in practice today, Felipe Massa said getting rid of KERS was actually a backwards step.

"Here we are also running without KERS and as a result, we are losing even more performance, in addition to not having as much aerodynamic downforce as the best cars," he said.

"Our fight for the championship is ever more compromised.

"We must try and push as hard as possible on the development of the car, but we know it will be very hard to catch up. The only recipe for getting out of this difficulty is to work."

Team boss Stefano Domenicali reckoned that because the car had been designed with KERS in mind, removing the troublesome system had turned out to be counter-productive.

"Clearly, without KERS, we lose a bit of performance and initial indications are that we are not seeing any improvement in the balance of a car that, let's not forget, was designed to carry this system," he said.

"We are in a difficult situation and we must try and stay calm and work hard on all fronts."

But Kimi Raikkonen was less bothered by the loss of the device.

"The balance of the car isn't bad and one doesn't feel the lack of KERS," he said.

"The point is that we are too slow compared to the teams currently at the top of the order. We must try and improve the car. At the moment, we are not able to fight for the title."

Brawn GP - Chinese GP - Free Practice

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were in action at the Shanghai International Circuit today in the first of the practice sessions ahead of Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix.

After completing early installation laps, the first practice session really got underway for the team after thirty minutes with Brawn Mercedes duo beginning their respective Friday programmes. For the remaining hour of the session, the pair worked on the balance of their BGP 001 cars and fine-tuning the set-up to the demands of the 5.451km track.

In second practice this afternoon, the team concentrated on evaluating the super soft and medium Bridgestone Potenza tyre compounds available for this weekend.

Button and Barrichello each completed 35 laps over longer runs to end the day with Button at the top of the timesheets and Barrichello in third position just two-tenths behind.

Jenson Button
"The balance of the car really improved over the last couple of runs today after we had been struggling a little to find the right set-up early on. We completed a great deal of work with the two very different tyre compounds to establish what condition they would be in after longer runs. There seemed to be a lot of traffic on track today so my main concern was finding some clear air. It was a useful first day of running but we still have some work to do tomorrow to be happy with the balance for qualifying."

Rubens Barrichello
"Another positive Friday and we achieved some good work today which will set us up well going into the weekend. Our main focus was on the tyres and evaluating the best way of looking after the softer option tyre and it was very useful to find out what the tyres are capable of. We tried various things but I did struggle for grip with my last set of tyres this afternoon. There are a lot of marbles on the track at the moment but it should clean up going into the weekend."

Ross Brawn
"We have had a productive day which has enabled us to complete a thorough evaluation of the prime and option tyres ahead of the weekend. Our main focus was on the softer option tyre and establishing the best way to work with this compound in qualifying and the race. Although we are not quite satisfied with the balance yet, the car worked well in the cooler temperatures that we are experiencing this weekend with the race taking place six months earlier than usual."

Ferrari - Chinese GP - Free Practice

Ferrari admit that the F60 package is not quick enough to challenge for race wins, but this weekend in China they have the added problem of running without KERS for the first time this season.

The F60 lacked fundimental grip in the two 90-minute practice sessions, leaving Felipe Massa 12th and Kimi Raikkonen 14th.

The Italian team ran with “Abruzzo nel cuore” this morning (Abruzzo in our hearts) - a message of solidarity with the people of the area hit by an earthquake earlier this month.

Felipe Massa
“We are in a difficult situation on the technical front, but when one thinks of what happened to those who we are close to and in the daily life of the people of Abruzzo, everything else takes on a different perspective. I hope that having the “Abruzzo nel cuore” message on the cars, as requested by President Montezemolo, might help to make these people feel less alone."

"As for the track, I can say our fight for the championship is ever more compromised. Here we are also running without KERS and as a result, we are losing even more performance, in addition to not having as much aerodynamic downforce as the best cars. We must try and push as hard as possible on the development of the car, but we know it will be very hard to catch up. The only recipe for getting out of this difficulty is to work.”

Kimi Raikkonen
“The balance of the car isn’t bad and one doesn’t feel the lack of KERS. The point is that we are too slow compared to the teams currently at the top of the order. We must try and improve the car: at the moment, we are not able to fight for the title."

"We must not give up the fight because, with the whole team working hard, we can get back into a winning position.
It’s not an easy time, but our group is strong and we know what needs to be done to get out of this situation. The softer tyre seems to work better than it did in Australia.”

Chris Dyer
“We worked mainly on evaluating the two types of tyre made available to us here by Bridgestone, in terms of Sunday’s race. Here, the softer tyre seems to work better to what we saw in Australia, while the harder one has performed as we had expected. We had no technical problems during the three hours of practice and we were able to evaluate new aerodynamic solutions, that, today, were fitted to Felipe’s car. Tomorrow, they will be used on both cars.”

Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal
“It turned out much as we had expected. We will have to run a few races on the defensive and try and do the best we can. Clearly, without KERS, we lose a bit of performance and initial indications are that we are not seeing any improvement in the balance of a car that, let’s not forget, was designed to carry this system. We are in a difficult situation and we must try and stay calm and work hard on all fronts.”

“President Montezemolo was keen to give a sign of support for everyone who lived through this tragedy and we are proud for our cars to carry the name of a region of Italy which is very close to our hearts, especially at a time like this.”

McLaren Mercedes - Chinese GP - Free Practice

Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton ended the afternoon practice session in Shanghai with the ninth and 13th fastest times respectively with both drivers encouraged with the latest developments to the MP4-24 package.

Kovalainen ran a couple of installs on the option tyre before beginning his day’s running, using the prime to notch up three further runs. He completed a comparison between the old and new front-wing specs although reported a persistent issue with the hydraulic flap system, which compromised his consistency.

As with most Friday afternoons, the team ran a tyre comparison programme, particularly looking at the stint-life of the super-soft Bridgestone option, which is expected to be more marginal here than at other circuits.

Kovalainen started the session on primes, running a five-lap stint and a longer eight-lap run on a heavier fuel-load. Towards the end of the session, he did a ten lap run on options, setting a 1:39.130s best and being impressed by the tyre’s consistency. He ended the day with a couple of quick laps, setting his best time of the day with a 1:36.674s.

Hamilton started the session using the new six-plane front wing and immediately reported an improvement in the front-end. After two initial install laps, Hamilton completed three shorter runs.

Between-session bodywork changes to the car meant Hamilton began second practice a little later than planned as the team turned their focus towards tyre evaluations over longer stints. Hamilton did three runs, starting with a shorter five-lap stint on primes before testing the super-soft option tyre which showcased the limited life of the softer rubber.

Heikki Kovalainen
“I’m very impressed by the performance upgrades for this race. We still need to do more work to find the best balance, but our car definitely feels more stable here.”

Lewis Hamilton
“The car instantly felt a bit better. I can definitely feel more stability and downforce from the front.
Click here to find out more!
We’ve definitely made a step forward for this race. The car feels much stronger through the corners and I think we’ve got a very positive baseline for the rest of the weekend.”

“My first run on the options felt quite consistent. The drop-off definitely feels manageable. This was a good day, although we still need to work on MP4-24’s medium- and high-speed balance.”

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal
“The team, both at the track and back in the factory, has done a fantastic job to get these bodywork upgrades to Shanghai – and initial analysis would suggest that they have contributed to a slight uplift in our overall competitiveness."

"We are still working on MP4-24’s overall balance, but nonetheless concluded some productive tyre evaluation work. Heikki’s day was compromised by a hydraulic system problem which failed to adjust his front wing flaps correctly, a fault that distracted both him and his engineers from their regular programme.”

Norbert Haug, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport VP
“Seeing Lewis in P1 after this morning’s session brought back some good memories – although we are aware that the team’s package is not yet competitive."

"Still, the improvements we have made to the car – which are particularly relentless at the moment – should see us making another encouraging step forward. Sunday’s race will be greatly influenced by the performance over a stint of the Bridgestone super-soft, but our consistency on both tyres looks quite okay at this early stage of the weekend.”

Williams Toyota - Chinese GP - Free Practice

Nico Rosberg has shown well in nearly every practice session so far this year and today was no exception as the Williams Toyota racer posted the second fastest time in the afternoon practice session in China.

Rosberg completed a second run on the super soft option tyre and improved his previous best time by three-tenths of a second to split the Brawn Mercedes duo of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.

Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima was six-tenths of a second adrift and ended the afternoon seventh fastest of the 20 runners.

Nico Rosberg
"It’s been an interesting day for us. We’ve learnt a lot, particularly about the tyres and how to get the best out of them here. The one major thing for us at the moment though is that this season we have consistency from one track to another.
We’re now going to a race and not getting any big surprises as we seem to have learnt from our mistakes from last year."

Kazuki Nakajima
"It was a bit difficult out there for me today. The tyres were behaving strangely this morning but they did improve a little this afternoon. I was also struggling to find a good balance. I now need to see where I can improve for qualifying tomorrow. We’ll see how we go."

Red Bull Renault - Chinese GP - Free Practice

Fernando Alonso remains upbeat following Friday practice for the Chinese Grand Prix, despite recording just the 19th best time in the afternoon session.

While the team acknowledge that they have yet to find the perfect setup for the R29 challenger at this circuit, they remain confident that they will make progress ahead of the all-important qualifying hour.

Nelson Piquet was the quicker of the two Renault racers on this occasion with the Brazilian recording the 16th fastest time.

Fernando Alonso
“Although we are at the bottom of the timesheets, I don’t think we should be too worried as we concentrated more on race configuration today. Tomorrow morning in the third free practice session we will be preparing for qualifying and so I think we can remain optimistic for the rest of the weekend." "We need to try to reach Q3, as we did in Malaysia, and aim to score as many points as possible. I think overall today we struggled to find the right set-up, but even looking at the times, we still have high hopes for this weekend.”

Nelson Piquet
“The track conditions were quite poor early on but later in the day things were a bit better.
We improved the car between the two sessions, but we still need to find more performance and I’m still not totally happy with the set-up. So we still have a lot of work to do tomorrow morning to make sure we get the most from qualifying.”

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
"The track was a bit dusty this morning to start with, but it soon picked up. The car has a little bit of oversteer, but we worked on the balance of the car and made some improvements. The super-soft tyre is performing better than we expected. The medium tyre still remains the better race tyre. Clearly there is work to do but we have more improvements to fit to the car tomorrow. So we are hopeful of moving up the order."

Toro Rosso Ferrari - Chinese GP - Free Practice

With additional development aero parts from Red Bull Technologies, Toro Rosso Ferrari got the Chinese Grand Prix weekend off to a strong start with Sebastien Bourdais recording the tenth best lap in both the morning and afternoon practice session.

Team-mate Sebastien Buemi also ran well as the Swiss rookie posted the 15th best time, less than four-tenths off Bourdais.

Sebastien Bourdais
“Our weekend seems to have started off quite well. We have made progress in terms of understanding the car and using it to its best. There is still some work to do, specifically in terms of making better use of the Option tyre."

"Actually I was quite surprised to see how well they are holding up and they definitely have more than one lap in them. I’m not saying we’ll run them for 30 laps, but it’s much better than expected. We can definitely see that the small updates we have on the car since Malaysia are working well.”

Sebastien Buemi
“It’s my first time here and beforehand I spent a lot of time on the Red Bull Technology Simulator and it was definitely a big help and I plan to use it more in the future. It is difficult to quantify, but for sure it helps."

"I had a technical problem in the morning which cost me some time, but everything was back to normal this afternoon and we were able to make a step forward. We look more competitive than in Malaysia and we are definitely improving. I didn’t get a perfect lap today, so I think I can do a lot better tomorrow. I like the track; it’s very big, very new, very everything!”

BMW Sauber - Chinese GP - Free Practice

As usual on a Friday, the BMW Sauber team used both free practice sessions for race preparation.

For the first time the kinetic energy recovery system was not only used on Nick Heidfeld’s car, but also on the F1.09 of Robert Kubica.

Both 90 minute sessions went without any technical failures with Kubica ending the afternoon 17th fastest just ahead of Heidfeld.

Robert Kubica
"We completed our standard Friday programme and tried to learn more about the nature of the track and to understand the tyre compounds. While the option tyres are quite fragile, it is difficult to make the prime tyre work. Additionally, this was the first time I was running KERS at a Grand Prix weekend. There were a lot of tests to do. Now we have to check and evaluate the data."

Nick Heidfeld
"As is normal for us on Fridays we focused on tyre evaluation for the race.
They do not really work as we would like them to. We now have to try to improve the balance of the car."

Willy Rampf, Head of Engineering
"Our concentration today, as usual, was on race preparation and, as expected, we completed the full programme. At the moment we are not satisfied with the results. For the first time both our drivers used the KERS. The positive side was we did not have any technical problems."

Force India Mercedes - Chinese GP - Free Practice

The third event of season got underway today in Shanghai with two 90 minute free practice sessions.

As the track is unused for racing activities for the greater part of the year it typically takes some time for a layer of rubber to be laid down and, with this in mind, Force India adjusted its programme to conduct the bulk of the running in the afternoon's session.

Both Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella completed their programmes of set-up optimisation and comparing the tyre compounds available this weekend.

Despite the odd spin, Sutil had a strong day as he set the 14th quickest time in the morning and the 11th in the afternoon, just over one second from the pace-setting Brawn GP.

Team-mate Fisichella had a tougher day as he struggled to find a good balance on the VJM02, but with 50 laps over the day he gathered lots of information to improve overnight.

Adrian Sutil
"It is a change to be here at this time of year. We are used to having around 30 degrees here so with the cooler temperatures it's much easier to drive although the tyres take a bit longer to warm up. The medium tyres are okay over the longer run, but very hard over a single lap. The super soft on the other hand is fine for one lap but not as bad as we expected over the longer runs. Overall it went okay, we completed our work and the general balance is good.
I'm pleased with the position so I think it was a good start."

Giancarlo Fisichella
"I'm not particularly happy with how today went. I am struggling with the car balance at the moment. It's not consistent just yet and I don't feel entirely comfortable. At the moment we don't have a problem with the tyres - in these temperatures we are pretty much okay. We have some ideas of what we can do so I think we will improve for tomorrow."

Dominic Harlow, Chief Race Engineer
"This weekend is going to be all about how we use the dry tyres and our Friday programme reflected this. We tried a lot of different things in a structured test and the VJM02 has been reliable and responsive to changes so far. The track was quite green today and hence low grip but it will evolve over the next two days and that will be something we have to account for as we approach qualifying and the race. It will be another tight qualifying session tomorrow."

Toyota - Chinese GP - Free Practice

Toyota today began preparations for the Chinese Grand Prix with a day of practice at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock both had full days of practice as they work towards Saturday and Sunday. The TF109s feature aerodynamic updates this weekend and they collected data throughout both sessions.

During the morning session, Trulli had a slow in-lap due to an electrical problem but it did not hamper his programme too much.

In the afternoon both drivers sampled the softer of the two Bridgestone tyre compounds in preparation for qualifying and the race. Trulli ended the day sixth fastest with Glock eighth.

Jarno Trulli
"That was a busy Friday for me. This morning we had an electrical problem which cost us a bit of track time but we recovered to complete our programme of work on set-up and tyres. The track surface wasn't in fantastic condition this morning but it improved during the day. In general I'm still not happy with the car's balance and pace so I hope we can analyse the data tonight and aim for better tomorrow. Then we can target another strong result on Sunday."

Timo Glock
"So far things are going okay for us. The track was quite tricky this morning because there wasn't much grip. I was sliding around on the green track and had to find a way to get the car together.
But over the course of the day we sorted out a lot in terms of the set-up. The second free practice session was better and the car felt more together. So we have more work to do to get the car in the right direction for tomorrow. But overall this has not been a bad start to the weekend."

Dieter Gass, Chief Engineer Race and Test
"We made it through our programme without major issues on the car so that was a solid start to the weekend. Jarno did have a slow in-lap this morning with an electrical problem but it didn't unduly affect our programme. That included a test of some new aerodynamic and suspension development parts which we completed successfully. The consistency of the tyres doesn't seem to be as much of a drama as we were expecting, so that is good news for the race on Sunday. The lap times seem to confirm our good form from the first two races so we are confident for the rest of the weekend."

Red Bull Renault - Chinese GP - Free Practice

Red Bull Renault may not have scored the points they would have hoped for in the first two rounds of the new season, but they got off to a solid start today in Shanghai with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel recording the fourth and fifth fastest times in the afternoon session.

Mark Webber
“We did the normal tyre comparisons today, which are important ahead of Sunday as they might be quite a challenge here. The guys did a great job and the car ran faultlessly, which is always a benefit on a Friday."

"We’ve dried out from Malaysia and, instead, we had perfect driving conditions today, so we’ll see how we go tomorrow. I enjoyed it out there.”

Sebastian Vettel
“Overall, it was a quite good day.
Unfortunately, in the second practice we had a problem with the rear suspension, it was going to take too much time to fix so we had to stop earlier than planned."

"Nevertheless, we got some useful information from the car. The main task here for all the teams and drivers is to manage the different tyre compounds. As you can see, graining is the main issue, but thankfully I have my helmet and visor, which protects my eyes as the rubber is coming off!”

Chinese GP Free Practice 2 - Button set the pace

The lap times tumbled this afternoon in sunny Shanghai and there was a more familiar look to the timesheets with Jenson Button setting the pace in the Brawn Mercedes with a best lap of 1:35.679s.

As ever in the second practice session of the Grand Prix weekend, the teams opted to run the super soft tyre for the first time in anger with Button setting the pace on his second run with the option tyre. Underlining the raw pace of the BGP 001 package, Rubens Barrichello ended the day with the third fastest time, just two-tenths adrift.

Nico Rosberg split the Brawn duo with his final soft tyre run late in the session, lapping just 0.025s slower than Button in the increasingly competitive Williams Toyota. Rosberg could well have piped Button best time were it not for a small error under braking at the end of the back straight on his first timed lap with fresh rubber.

Mark Webber and Sebastian topped the timesheets for much of the 90-minute session following their first run on the option tyre but the Red Bull Renault duo were later bumped down to fourth and fifth positions, just under half a second off the ultimate pace.

It was a busy session for Jarno Trulli as he completed 42 laps, more than any other runner, looking to make up for lost time following a small electrical fault in the morning session. The Italian veteran was sixth fastest in his Toyota ahead of Kazuki Nakajima in the second Williams and team-mate Timo Glock in the second TF109.

After topping the timesheets in the morning session with Lewis Hamilton, the afternoon programme would prove a little more difficult for the under-pressure McLaren Mercedes team. Hamilton was 13th in this session and unable to extract extra pace from the option tyre despite the new aero-package at his disposal this weekend, while only a late push from Heikki Kovalainen saw him vault from 19th to ninth just ahead of the chequered flag.

Sebastian Bourdais had a solid day in his Toro Rosso Ferrari as he set the tenth best time, just 1.1 seconds off Button’s pace while Adrian Sutil was also showing well in 11th in the leading Force India Mercedes.

Ferrari are not running KERS this weekend in the hope that they can find better reliability, but today in the three hours of practice the F60 looked a real handful with Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen slithering around to 12th and 14th respectively.

Sebastien Buemi picked up the pace late in the session and recorded the 15th best time in the second Toro Rosso Ferrari ahead of Nelson Piquet in the leading Renault. Piquet spent much of the session languishing at the bottom of the timesheets but his late run at least propelled him a little way up the order.

It was the usual Friday story over at BMW Sauber with neither Robert Kubica nor Nick Heidfeld being able to coax much pace out of the disappointing F1.09 package. Kubica spent much of the day acclimatising to KERS but it was notable that even when bolting on the option tyre, the lap times simply would not come. Kubica ended the day 17th with Heidfeld 18th.

While Flavio Briatore is saying the championship is all but over already, double world champion Fernando Alonso must also be harbouring similar feelings after being just 19th ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella this afternoon. Alonso only completed 28 laps in what looks to be another tough weekend for Renault.

Dennis - McLaren will bounce back

Lewis Hamilton may not be able to win this year, but he will be able to add to his championship tally with McLaren in the future.

That is the belief of the reigning world champion's former mentor and boss Ron Dennis, who at Woking on Thursday announced his complete withdrawal from involvement in Formula One.

It has been rumoured that intractable friction between the 61-year-old and the Hamilton camp - notably Lewis' father-manager Anthony - contributed to Dennis' decision to step aside. But Dennis played down suggestions that Hamilton leaving the team before his current long-term contract expires was a possibility.

"Lewis has a contract and it's a long contract," he said.

Dennis also hinted that Hamilton cannot despair at his current situation, because two of the three McLarens he has raced in his career were capable of fighting for the championship.

"He's been very fortunate always to be in a competitive McLaren," said Dennis. "This is motor racing. Sometimes companies give you a competitive racing car, sometimes they don't."

Dennis acknowledged, however, that the current MP4-24 is unlikely to ever be a world-beater.

"People seem to be forgetting that we've got the numbers one and two on our cars," he said. "They might not be next year, but we will do everything we can to make it happen again in two years."

MIG Investments join Brawn GP

Brawn GP today announced a new three-year partnership with successful foreign exchange trading company, MIG Investments.

Based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, MIG Investments is a leading Swiss Forex broker founded and managed by the Mansour family and branding will appear from today on the front wing and nose of Brawn GP's championship-leading BGP 001 car.

The MIG Investments logo will feature on the racesuits of drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, and on the overalls of the Brawn GP race team, from the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

Ross Brawn, Team Principal
"We are delighted to welcome MIG Investments to Formula One and to the Brawn GP team. Our team has had a great start to the 2009 Formula One season and we are very pleased to have secured our third new partnership. In a difficult economic climate, it is a positive sign that the appeal of Formula One continues to attract new companies to invest in our sport.
We look forward to working closely with MIG Investments to help drive global awareness of their brand through the powerful communications platform of Formula One."

Hisham Mansour, MIG Investments CEO
"We are extremely proud to be joining ranks with Formula One's newest sensation, the Brawn GP team. This collaboration marks an important synergy between two young, innovative and ambitious teams, both leaders in our respective fields. We share parallel formulas for success and believe strongly in the power of innovation, teamwork and dedication. Our partnership with Brawn GP is further testimony to our strong industry position and confidence. We look forward to a fruitful and rewarding relationship together."

Chinese GP Free Practice 1 - Hamilton on top

After the drama of the FIA International Court of Appeal and the announcement from the McLaren Mercedes team during the build up to the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, these issues were briefly put to one side this morning in sunny Shanghai as practice ahead of Sunday’s 56-lap third round of the championship got underway.

Lewis Hamilton gave McLaren something to smile about for the first time in a long while as he set the pace with a best time of 1:37.334s. Hamilton’s MP4-24 features a revised aero package and rear diffuser as he topped the timesheets for the first time this year, a tenth of a second clear of the field.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were second and third fastest respectively for Brawn Mercedes with Heikki Kovalainen slotting into fourth position in the second McLaren. Kovalainen was one of many to suffer with sever tyre graining late in the session with dark rings clearly visible on the rear tyres, something that did not affect his team-mate with the revised McLaren.

Mark Webber was fifth fastest in the leading Red Bull Renault from Jarno Trulli in the Toyota. Nico Rosberg has dominated many of the practice sessions so far this year but the Williams Toyota driver confirmed this week that the Grove-based team are now looking to run with a slightly heavier fuel load in the Friday running to prepare for the third and final round of qualifying on Saturday afternoon.
This underlines the confidence Rosberg now has in the FW31 package as the low fuel runs of Q2 are no longer deemed a major issue.

Rosberg was seventh fastest ahead of Timo Glock in the second Toyota while Fernando Alonso and Sebastien Bourdais rounded out the top ten for Renault and Toro Rosso Ferrari.

Ferrari, having scrapped KERS this weekend in the hope of finding greater reliability, saw Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa record the 11th and 15th best times respectively, the latter suffering from excessive graining resulting in a number of off-track moments.

Sebastian Vettel set the 12th best time in the second Red Bull Renault ahead of Sebastien Buemi and Adrian Sutil while BMW Sauber showed little pace with Nick Heidfeld just 16th ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella and team-mate Robert Kubica. Kazuki Nakajima and Nelson Piquet brought up the bottom of the timesheets for Williams and Renault.

With just 1.5 seconds covering the 20 runners this morning, the second practice session gets underway at 08.00 CET, 14.00 local time.