Vettel wins the Australian GP, but the big news is, in no particular order, how fast the non-KERS using RB7 is, Petrov’s 3rd place and how Barrichello bombed.

Vettel really thrashed the opposition this weekend, him and the RB7 on a different planet altogether. Teammate Webber was way down in 5th. The Vettel driven RB7 was so quick that after the multiple pit stops they were still able to gain back the lead. This was also Vettel first Australian GP finish. Hamilton & Button showed the McLaren had the pace, only damage and traffic stopping them finishing much better.

My Driver of the Day though, has to be Vitaly Petrov. 6th in qualifying, 3rd on race day vindicated Renault’s decision to retain him. He had Alonso breathing down his neck in the closing stages but Alonso was too far back to … Read More »

News has been pouring in that Robert Kubica suffered multiple injuries after crashing  in a Rally. He may miss most, if not all, of the 2011 season as a result. This happened only a few days after setting fastest times in a pre season test in the new 2011 Lotus-Renault R30.

Robert’s a true petrol head, occassionally indulging in rallying satisfy his hunger for motorsports.  This is his 3rd major crash, after having screws in his hand following a car crash in 2003.  Kubica also survived a horrific crash in the Canadian Grand Prix in 2007, but he bounced back by winning the same GP a year later.

It’s been confirmed he has had surgery on his right arm, as his right hand was severly damaged in the crash. We hope Robert recovers well enough to continue racing in the years … Read More »

A new season beckons. For the 4th successive season we start with a new World Champion attempting to defend his title.

The Contenders

Red Bull’s Chosen One, Vettel, has his team-mate Webber to contend with. Webber will be hoping to make amends for losing the title that he had a shot at last year. It won’t be easy now with Vettel brimming with confidence. But with Technical Maestro Adrian Newey again delivering the good Red Bull may make it their year again.

The Red Bull pair will have Fernando Alonso, more comfortable at Ferrari, chomping at the bit to gain his 3rd world title. Team-mate Massa, may have pronounced he’s not out of it. But as seen last year, Alonso is Ferrari’s favourite son now. The 2011 “F150” should be more to Alonso’s liking, and even if it turn’s out to … Read More »

The quickest hot-hatch has arrived in Malaysia! While it’s well-known that we at Ignition.my always prefer Right-Wheel Drive, there are some exceptional FWD vehicles that we itch for, and ever since we heard a few months back that the Megane RS 250 Cup would be landing on our shores, we’d been pining for this moment.

This is a glorious video of the Ignition.my team giving the 250hp 340Nm Renault Megane RS250 Cup a proper shakedown head-to-head with the previous Megane R26 at Sepang Circuit, in the rain!

It’s official that Group Lotus is in F1 from 2011 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the Lotus Renault GP Team. Renault has sold their stake in its F1 team to co-owners Genii Capital and will be an engine supplier. Which means we may have 2 Lotus named teams next year.

Genii has sold a stake to Group Lotus, with a  renaming of the outfit and a move for the team’s colours to be in the iconic (JPS) black and gold next year. The title sponsorship deal will last until the end of the 2017 season, with Renault committing to supply engines to the team for a number of years.

Gerard Lopez, chairman of Renault F1 Team, said about the deal: “We are delighted that we can now go public with the news that we will be racing as Lotus Renault GP … Read More »

Lotus Racing (2010) today announced their deal to use Reanult Engines from next year onwards. In addition they will also run Red Bull transmission and hydraulics systems.

Renault’s deal with 1Malaysia Racing Team, adds more doubts to the row involving Lotus and the use of the Team Lotus name.

“Renault is delighted to announce an expanded agreement with Red Bull Racing and the arrival of a new customer, 1Malaysia Racing Team (UK) Ltd,” said Rey. “These new agreements mean that Renault engines will power three teams next year – in simple terms, 25% of the cars on the grid. We remain firm believers in the benefits of our successful involvement in F1: it positions Renault as a technological leader, and boosts awareness of the brand across the globe.”

“I am absolutely delighted that we can now officially talk about the partnership with … Read More »

Renault’s technical director James Allison is adamant his team can overtake rival Mercedes GP  in the upcoming races.

“I think we can because at the moment they’re only just ahead of us on qualifying pace, whereas we seemed to have the edge on race pace in Malaysia,” said Allison on Monday.

“We will have more updates in China, including a new floor and an alternative front wing.

“Although this might not be enough to get ahead of Mercedes in qualifying trim, it should move us closer to their tail. And if we can jump ahead of them at the start of a race, I’m confident we have the pace to stay ahead.”

Meanwhile Force India boss Vijay Mallya is hopeful his team can match and leapfrog Renault in this year.

“The grid is very tight as we saw in Malaysia and Australia and there’s no … Read More »