In the spotlight: Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean is a force to be reckoned with this season, with two podium finishes under his belt already. He sits in 7th place in the championship standings, only two points behind his team mate Kimi Raikkonen and eight points clear of Jenson Button.



The season opener in Australia saw Grosjean qualify up in 3rd position but an accident on the first lap resulted in a retirement at his first race for Lotus Renault. Another retirement followed in Malaysia before a solid 6th place finish in China.

Bahrain saw a double podium finish for Lotus Renault with Grosjean on the third step just behind team mate Kimi Raikkonen and double world champion Sebastian Vettel.

4th and 9th place finishes in Spain and Monaco meant valuable points in the championship for the Lotus Renault driver.

Canada added to this with a 2nd place finish in a dramatic end to the race which saw Grosjean make his tyres last to climb up the grid after qualifying down in 7th position.

So what's changed for the young Frenchman?

When we first saw Romain Grosjean back in 2009, he was overshadowed by his then team mate, Fernando Alonso, which I think has helped him this season, being team mates with the 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen. He isn't letting the fact, he is racing along side a world champion again. Romain Grosjean is proving that he can one day be a world champion himself with his performance so far this season.

Both drivers are working well together to get the team up to 3rd in the constructors championship, hot on McLaren's tail and 11 points clear of Ferrari.

Is this a new turn for Grosjean and Lotus Renault? Can they keep this form up and prove they are in it to win it?

Next stop on the Formula 1 calendar is Valencia in two weeks time. Can Romain Grosjean achieve his first win in Formula 1 and be the eighth different winner this season?

We'll just have to wait and see.

Crazy Canada

This weeks Fan Formula entry is live. Enjoy

A late night with Sebastian Vettel

Here's the full interview of Sebastian Vettel on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Impossible is two letters too long

Who thought this season could get anymore unpredictable. 7 winners in the 7 races we've had so far this season. Who would have predicted that? If you did then you can write down my lottery numbers for next weekend.

Lewis Hamilton clinched his first win of the season at the Canadian Grand Prix with Romain Grosjean for Lotus and Sergio Perez of Sauber joining him on the podium.

Hamilton managed his tyres and used pit stop strategy to his advantage to come out on top. Pole sitter Sebastian Vettel lead the pack comfortably during the first stint but tyre wear held up the double world champion and he finished 4th. Fernando Alonso went from leading to 5th in the space of two laps due to Ferrari's one stop strategy not paying off for the Spaniard. He lost time and positions.

It was a weekend to forget for Jenson Button. He finished in 16th behind both Toro Rosso's and had to make three pit stops during the race. Michael Schumacher's bad luck continued with a hydraulic pipe causing the DRS wing to remain open. Formula 1 is full of clever engineering and technology but even some bashing from the mechanics during the pit stop couldn't shut the wing and he had to retire.

Felipe Massa was disappointed with himself after a spun at the first corner cost him a decent race and he went from 5th to 12th. He moved up into the points to finish 10th. Paul Di Resta looked promising but two early pitstops meant he lost out from getting some valuable points and he ended up back in 11th.

Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg worked a two stop strategy to finish 6th and 7th behind one stopping Kimi Rakkionen and the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi.

Here's the full classification of the Canadian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton now leads the championship two points ahead of Fernando Alonso and three ahead of reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel. It looks like Hamilton's consistency so far this season has worked. Can he keep it up though?

Red Bull still lead the constructors comfortably with great team work between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

Next stop is Valencia where the hot temperature will be key in getting the tyres work to their full potential.
Can we see an eighth different winner in this topsy turvey season or who can be the first person to break away from the rest of the pack?

What hole?

Sebastian Vettel starts the Canadian Grand Prix tomorrow on pole position, with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso hot on his tail.

All three sessions were filled to the brim with action. Jean-Eric Vergne came together with the tyre wall in FP3 and his bad luck continued, failing to get into Q2 for the fourth time this season and on top of that was out qualified by both Caterhams. Another shocker of the session see's Pedro De La Rosa in the HRT start ahead of both Charles Pic and Timo Glock in the Marussia's.

Jenson Button has Pastor Maldonado to thank for saving his butt in Q2. The Venezuelan on his final hot lap was about to eliminate the 2009 world champion, but took the final chicane too quickly and crashed into the famous 'wall of champions'. Maldonado starts 17th with Bruno Senna lining up next to him in 16th.

Q3 would see the battle of the teams commence with a number of candidates who could take pole position. Nico Rosberg set the early pace in the session and a flying lap from defending world champion Sebastian Vettel saw him get provisional pole with a 1.13.905 only to put himself further ahead with a 1.13.784 and out of Lewis Hamilton's reach who joins him on the front row of the grid.
Fernando Alonso had to settle for 3rd, with pole position in the picture a poor final sector from the Spaniard cost him from heading the grid for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Here's a list of the full times set in Qualifying

Canada sure knows how to throw an exciting qualifying so I wonder what it will throw for us in the race?

7 minutes in heaven

Here we are. Six races in and we have seen six different winners. Can you believe it? I know I can't. From the season we had last year where it was Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel dominating, now we have such an unpredictable start to the season, it's quite hard to get your head around things.

Fernando Alonso leads the championship, and the win for Mark Webber last time out in Monaco bumps him up to joint second with his team mate Sebastian Vettel.

What better way to continue this unpredictable season than with a trip to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend. Last years race will probably go down in history for one of the best races in a season, so I wonder what the race will have install for us on Sunday? Anything can happen with the weather. Rain or shine. This race is going to be jam packed with action.

With its long straights and slow corners, this track, on paper, looks like it will suit Mercedes and Lotus. Can Kimi Raikkonen get his first win after returning to Formula 1? Or can his team mate Romain Grosjean deliver the goods? Nico Rosberg won back in China but seven times world champion is still yet to achieve this. Can it all change this weekend?

Free practice 1 and 2 gets underway soon with rain threatening both sessions. I wonder who can manage their tyres in the cooler conditions and get in the times before the rain comes. Tyres have been a major talking point throughout the season and will play an even bigger part this weekend than they have done in previous races. I wonder who will be able to benefit from these cooler conditions and who can keep their tyres from 'falling off the cliff'.
As race strategy is becoming more and more important now, qualifying isn't the same because drivers want to save as many sets of tyres as they can.

Are we being robbed from some great racing action because of tyres? This weekend will surely be the test of that.

2012 developments

This weeks #FanFormula entry. God save the Queen.