Kimi Raikkonen will miss Austin & Brazil.

It was put to our attention last night that Kimi Raikkonen is to undergo back surgery on Thursday and will not be participating in the last two GP weekends. Having been suffering from a back injury, Kimi was given some minor medical attention and painkillers to tide him over until the season was over, but it seems the pain is too much for the injured Lotus driver.

A replacement will be named soon for Austin & Brazil and it is thought to be given to Lotus reserve driver, Davide Valsecchi.

It is unfortunate for Kimi's season to end this way, but he needs to do what he needs to do to keep his health in check. He wants to be fit and ready for his season next year with Ferrari.

More information on the subject will come soon.

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
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Daniil Kvyat completes Toro Rosso's 2014 Line Up.

Even though the 2013 season is still going on, we're always playing 'Silly Season' a fun guessing game of which driver will go where. One of the things that has been confirmed is that Daniil Kvyat is going to be driving alongside Jean-Eric Vergne on the Toro Rosso team in 2014.

Daniil is from Ufa, Russia and was born April 26th 1994, making him 19. He is the Championship Winner of this years GP3 series. He currently resides in Rome, Italy and lives with his family.

Although he is young, he is already showing great promise by being a Champion of GP3. Many of the current Formula1 drivers have expressed that adding 'Young' or 'Rookie' drivers is going to be dangerous. I think most of that assumption is because the drivers will be using Turbo engines next year. It is an interesting time for younger drivers to be joining in, but I feel that Daniil will do very well on the team.
Daniil is not the only young Russian driver being added in the F1 line up. Sergey Sirotkin has a good chance of securing his seat at Sauber if he gets his Super-License.
More information on the 2014 Driver Line up to come!

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

Sergio Perez: A look back at his year so far with McLaren.

Around this time, last year.. It was announced that Lewis Hamilton would be making his move from McLaren-Mercedes to Mercedes-Mercedes. It was also announced that the person taking his place would be the young driver from Sauber: Sergio Perez.

With the 2013 F1 season almost over, I thought it was time to take a look back at how Perez has done so far. The 23 year old from Guadalajara, Mexico, proved his talent when he scored 3 Podiums while on the Sauber team. He'd been with the team since 2011 and was already racing like a winner. Sergio expressed his excitement after finding out his McLaren news. He was eager to start racing with them and was looking forward for the 2013 season to begin. 

But things have not been easy for Perez. The McLaren MP4-28 wasn't in the shape it should've been for the start of the season. The team admitted to thinking maybe some things were wrong with the car and they knew they needed to see what they could do to fix them before the first race in Australia. 

After Winter-Testing, come March, it was time for the teams to head to Melbourne. Sergio started 15th on the grid and finished in 11th. Then in Malaysia for the Second race of the season, he both started from and finished in 9th, where he got his first points with McLaren. It overall wasn't a bad way to start the season.

The third race took place in China. He again finished in 11th. McLaren were making what changes they could, to help both Perez and Button get more points and a chance at the podium. The 4th race was in Bahrain, where during the race, Sergio Perez and his team mate, Jenson Button, got into a bit of a Wheel-To-Wheel battle, both trying to pass one another. They clipped wheels a few times, before Sergio cruised ahead to finish in 6th, gaining more points.

The two talked the situation over, later on with Team Principal, Martin Whitmarsh... With no hard feelings between the two, there was no drama brought to the 5th race, in Spain, where Perez finished in the points again, in 9th.

The next race was in Monte Carlo, Monaco. A circuit Perez was all-too-familiar with.. And not in a good way. In 2011, driving his Sauber, he missed the Chicane and his car spun and hit a barrier. He was taken to the hospital overnight, suffering from and injured thigh and a concussion. This year, he didn't have any serious accident, but did have a tough passing battle with Lotus Driver, Kimi Raikkonen. During this, Raikkonen squeezed Sergio up again the rail, during which, pieces flew off of the McLaren. A few laps later, the team told Perez he needed to retire the car because his breaks had failed, making the car unsafe to drive. Because he had completed more than 90% of the race, he still qualified as finishing in 16th.

After the race, Kimi took to the press to say that Perez had ruined his race and that maybe he should be "Punched in the face." - But, Perez felt no need to make any comment back towards Kimi, but instead publicly explained the whole situation in a very professional manner.

In the next race, which was held in Canada, Perez finished in 11th. The race after that was hectic. Silverstone, during a practice Session, Perez had a tyre explode into pieces. Pirelli looked into it and assured everyone that the tyres were safe and that there was no need for concern or stress. But during the race, Sergio and more than 3 others all had tyres explode during the race. Some went on to finish the race, but for Perez, it was over. They retired his car, due to the explosion causing other damage to the front of the McLaren. He still finished over 90%% of the race again and was qualified as finishing in 20th.

Happy to get back to finishing in the points, he recieved more after placing 8th in the German GP, then again in Hungary, finishing 9th, giving him a double consecutive points finish. Things were looking pretty good again. Perez was eager to come back even stronger after the Summer Break. The race that started off the Second-Half of the season took place in Belgium. He ended up finishing just behind the points, in 11th. Then in Italy, he paced in 12th. It was disappointing for him after he'd finished on the Podium there last year.

Come Singapore, Perez was back in the points after crossing the Finish Line in 8th. And then he kept up his pace in Korea, finishing in 10th and just nabbing that last Championship Point.

In the latest race, which was in Japan, Perez was holding 5th/6th pretty much during the whole race. Unluckily, Nico Rosberg made contact with the McLaren and Sergios tyes exploded. He ended up finishing 15th. 

With 4 races to go, he still has a good chance of getting more points and a possible podium finish. 

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

2014 FIA F1 Calendar.

The FIA released a version of the 2014 Formula1 Season Calendar. All the races listed are scheduled to take place next year.. But that doesn't mean they're subject to change. Nothing is permanent and nothing is secured for sure as far as some of the newer planned races.

As it stands right now, we're looking at a whopping total of 22 Races for 2014. That's a total of 3 extra than this year. India will not be happening next year though due to the fact the organisers wanted to bring the race into an earlier-year slot. It was not able to happen so the race will not be back until 2015.

Also, Korea will move from October to April. And Bahrain will be an evening race.

2014 F1 Calendar:

1. Grand Prix Of Australia / Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne / March 16th.
2. Grand Prix Of Malaysia / Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur / March 30th.
3. Grand Prix Of Bahrain / Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir / April 6th.
4. Grand Prix Of China / Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai / April 20th.
5. Grand Prix Of Korea / Korea International Circuit, Yeongam / April 27th.
6. Grand Prix Of Spain / Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona / May 11th.
7. Grand Prix Of Monaco / Circuit De Monaco, Monte Carlo / May 25th.
8. Grand Prix Of America / Port Imperial Street Circuit, New Jersey / June 1st.
9. Grand Prix Of Canada / Circuit Gilled Villeneuve, Montreal / June 8th.
10. Grand Prix Of Austria / Red Bull Ring, Spielberg / June 22nd.
11. Grand Prix Of Great Britain / Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone / July 6th.
12. Grand Prix Of Germany / Hockenheimring, Hockenheim / July 20th.
13. Grand Prix Of Hungary / Hungaroring, Budapest / July 27th.
14. Grand Prix Of Belgium / Circuit De Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps / August 24th.
15. Grand Prix Of Italy / Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza / September 7th.
16. Grand Prix Of Singapore / Marina Bay Street Circuit, Marina Bay / September 21st.
17. Grand Prix Of Russia / Sochi International Street Circuit, Sochi / October 5th.
18. Grand Prix Of Japan / Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka / October 12th.
19. Grand Prix Of Abu Dhabi / Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi / October 26th.
20. Grand Prix Of The United States / Circuit Of The Americas, Austin, Texas / November 9th.
21. Grand Prix Of Mexico / Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City / November 16th.
22. Grand Prix Of Brazil / Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, Sao Paulo / November 30th.



Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

Maria De Villota Found Dead At 33.

Last week's Japan GP was hit with tragic news that F1 Test-Driver Maria De Villota was found dead in her hotel room in Spain. She was a young 33. She had been in Spain for the release of her new book.

She was in an accident awhile back that resulted in the loss of one of her eyes. She recovered quickly and came back strong, happy to be alive. Reports have said that the death was caused by Brain Trauma due to the accident.

Maria was a very kind-hearted and brave woman. She was motivated, strong and knew what she wanted from life. She shared her talent with everyone and inspired many. Our houghts and prayers are with her family & friends. Before the start of the Japanese GP, all drivers and teams held a 1 minute silence in respect to her. Many drivers also added a red star to their helmet design in memorial.

 Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

Kimi Raikkonen to Ferrari in 2014

Kimi Raikkonen will return to Scuderia Ferrari, starting in 2014. Felipe Massa announced a few weeks ago that he will not be driving for the team next year. Which currently leaves the Brazilian without a seat in F1 for next season.

Rumours are now going around about Lotus's driver line-up for 2014 and the biggest name being talked about at the moment is: Nico Hulkenberg. Currently driving for Sauber, Nico has definetly proved himself ready for a bigger seat. But nothing has been confirmed yet.

Both Raikkonen and Alonso seem to be alright with the idea of being team mates and so far there has been no drama. I believe Ferrari will be even stronger next year with Kimi's return.

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

James Calado to Force India.

Today, along with the announcement of Daniel Ricciardo heading to Red Bull in 2014, Sahara Force-India made the announcement that 24 year old, British GP2 driver, James Calado will join their team as the new Reserve driver. He will start this weekend in Monza where he will do Free Practice 1.

James Calado did very well in The Young Drivers Testing earlier this year and Force India is very happy to have him on the team.


Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

Daniel Ricciardo will replace Mark Webber in 2014

Earlier this year it was announced that Mark Webber would retire from Formula 1 at the end of 2013 and go to race for Le Mans. While most of the commotion was filled sadness about Mark no longer driving for Red Bull... There was also 1 other thing on peoples minds: Who would get his seat in 2014?

Within the first few days of the announcement, the most rumoured about replacement was Lotus-Renault driver, Kimi Raikkonen. There was also a list of other drivers who seemed they'd be in contention for replacing Webber. Those mentioned, included: Daniel Ricciardo, Jenson Button, Nico Hulkenberg, Paul Di Resta, Fernando Alonso, Jean-Eric Vergne and Pastor Maldonado. Of course, most people stuck with Kimi Raikkonen as the main choice.

Daniel Ricciardo, from Toro Rosso was also very highly talked about for the seat, People were very anxious for any confirmed announcements regarding this situation. Most assumed there would be a choice made over the Summer break and rumours broke out that Red Bull would announce their new driver sometimes during the Belgian GP weekend.. But that weekend came and went without any word about the situation and people went right back to taking anxious guesses.

Finally after two more weeks, Christian Horner and the Red Bull team announced publicly that Daniel Ricciardo would officially be taking Mark Webber's place in 2014. Daniel later also confirmed this on twitter, very happily.



Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

Where oh where will Raikkonen go?

Well, he might not go anywhere, actually! Earlier in the season when Mark Webber announced he was going to be retiring from Formula 1 racing at the end of the season, it opened up a seat at Infiniti-Red Bull Racing. Speculations began with naming off Lotus driver, Kimi Raikkonen, as Mark's replacement. Most people were a bit taken-aback that Kimi would leave Lotus, afterall... He's been getting good results with them. But maybe it's time for a change? Possible, but not to Red Bull.

Earlier today his (Kimi's) Manager, Steve Robertson announced that Kimi isn't in the running for Mark Webber's spot, but that the Fin' does have other options outside of Lotus-Renault. And yes! He did say "Options" - Which leaves the question: Which other teams are offering Raikkonen a seat with their team? Ferrari? Mercedes maybe? Or could we even see a return to McLaren? Anything is absolutely possible.. But it's more than likely he'll stay with his current team: Lotus.


Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

Massa's Ferarri future uncertain?

Felipe Massa, has been making headlines recently in Formula1 news. But they haven't been on the good side. The Ferarri driver has had a very unsteady start to the current 2013 Formula1 Season, and has not achieved the best results. Multiple crashes have ruined numerous races, and one crash even leaving him seeking medical attention.

The President of Ferarri, Luca Di Montezemolo made a public statement, backing Massa as a driver for their team. Below is what he had to say about the Brazilian.

"Felipe is fully aware he can count on our total confidence in him. I hope he will soon secure the results thast will show his talent to the full, such as the great starts he pulled off at the last two Grands Prix. The future? We will talk about that further down the line as there is no hurry."

But, many people know that having 1 bad year in Formula1 can really jeopardize what team you are with. There are already talks about Massa being replaced for 2014 with: Jules Bianchi, Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg as the key drivers in talks.

Stefano Domenicali also released a statement, saying:

"I always said we have a lot of confidence in Felipe. I know this is a very critical, very tough moment because he is the first to be disappointed. The only thing to do is to stay always behind him to make sure we are fighting for the constructors' championship."


Article Written By: Amy Hawk.