The Hungarian Grand Prix

The formula one group arrived in Budapest last week, with Lewis Hamilton out to close the gap to Nico Rosberg in the championship on one of his favourite tracks. All of the fans were hoping for a race to be remembered before the four week summer break. And what a race it was.

In qualifying, everyone got a shock when the Marussia of Jules Bianchi knocked Raikkonnen out in Q1 thanks to a bad call from Ferrari. Maldonado broke down and didn't make it through Q1. But the biggest shock was when Lewis Hamiltons car caught fire during Q1, with him consequently starting from the pitlane for the race. Nico Rosberg qualified on pole, with Sebastien Vettel qualifying second and Valterie Bottas qualifying third. Kevin Magnussen crashed out in Q3, which meant that Hamilton and Magnussen started from the pitlane.

The race itself was very action packed, with the safety car being called out 3 times! Marcus Ericsson brought the first safety car, Sergio Perez the second and Romain Grosjean the third. This confused the whole order of cars and pit stops. Hamilton came from the pitlane to eventually finish third, while Fernando Alonso managed to get his first podium finish in second, while Daniel Ricciardo won the race after a fantastic drive while Rosberg only managed to finish fourth after failing to get past Hamilton, which he was very disappointed with as he had started on pole. Spa is the next race, in four weeks time. See you then

Nev

The German Grand Prix

The tenth race of the formula 1 calendar was the home circuit of the Mercedes team. So they were very eager for a race win there in front of their home crowd. Qualifying saw a brake failure from Hamilton and a gearbox change meant that he ended up qualifying 20th. Nico Rosberg ended up qualifying in pole after a solid performance, with Bottas in second and Massa in third. 

The race itself was a high tense race from Lewis Hamilton, who made some spectacular overtakes. There was a lot of contact during the race which meant a lot of loss of bodywork, including Hamiltons front wing, and Raikkonnens front wing also. Rosberg led the race from start to finish to become the first German driver to win the German Grand Prix since post-war years. There was a major collision on the first corner, with Magnussen taking out Massa, continuing Massas unlucky streak. Bottas ended up finishing second, who was closely persued by Hamilton, who came from 20th to 3rd. The next race is in Hungary, with qualifying tomorrow. See you there

Nev

Below: Massa on his head

BMW i8: the future or just fantasy?

The car featured in this post is a car that has been long awaited in the car world, having been announced in 2009. BMW decided to join the recent hybrid-fest by attempting to create futuristic works of hybrid art. The two cars-the i3 and i8-were so outlandish that they weren't made in the normal factory. Instead BMW had to create a whole new division (i-division) in order to get the most imaginative results. And, believe it or not, the car you see below is the production i8, not the concept. The i8 that this post is about is the first supercar BMW since the M1 (odd name I know). It tries to rival the likes of the Porsche 911 while being way more efficient. So let's look at the facts.

Other than being very sleek to look at, the BMW i8 has the worlds first laser headlights, has very low drag, has a full-time electric motor powering the front wheels, with 131bhp, and can run for 21 miles in electric only mode and is 80% charged in 2 hours, meaning there isn't the 8 hour wait you get with full EV vehicles. It also has wing doors (probably more to please crowds than to increase aero), a carbon fibre body shell, and cost under a quarter of a Porsche 911's car tax. Powering the back wheels is a 231bhp, 1.5 litre turbo triple engine, meaning that in total we have 362bhp, plus 4WD. It also emits just 49g/kmCO2, and a claimed 134mpg, which is incredible for a car that competes with a Porsche 911 on performance, as well as price.

So, the BMW i8. A car that tries to save the supercar and make them sustainable. And even if you still prefer a screaming V8, you have to give this car credit for its noble quest which may mean that there are still super cars in 30 years time. Drive on.

Nev

The British Grand Prix

Race number 9 was the most anticipated race of the season as it was most of the teams home circuit: Silverstone. It was also the tracks 50th Grand Prix and there were lots of celebrations to mark the occasion, such as a display by the red arrows. But most important was obviously the race. The famous British weather meant that qualifying was very surprising because the track was rained on then dried in one sector right at the very end so the cars that lapped at the very end of Q3 put in very quick laps. Surprisingly, teams like Ferrari and Williams were caught out by the rain and did not make it past Q1. The top three were Rosberg, Vettel and Button, with Hamilton unable to take advantage of the dry last sector.

The race dawned dry, to the relief of the crowd. However, on the very first lap Raikonnen crashed and caught Massa, with the race being red flagged while the marshals repaired the barrier. When the race restarted, it was an eventful race, with Rosberg braking down due to a gearbox problem. Hamilton came from 6th to win with Bottas coming from 16th to second and Ricciardo coming in third. The next race is in a couple of weeks

Nev