Matej Lešnik Blog

M ichael Schumacher in Australia questioned the stewards' decision to penalise his countryman Sebastian Vettel. Vettel, driving for Red Bull, apologised to his team and BMW's Robert Kubica for the crash near the end of the 2009 season opener.  The 21-year-old was also quoted by media as calling himself  "an idiot" , and it is believed he was equally as frank during the stewards' inquiry.  However, not everyone agreed that Vettel was entirely to blame, as he tried to defend his second place to the charging Kubica. "He  (Vettel)  was on the inside - he couldn't make his car dissolve into thin air,"  Ferrari advisor and seven time world champion Schumacher said at Albert Park, according to Germany's  Bild  newspaper.  1982 world champion Keke Rosberg remarked that Vettel may have been penalised because he is an overly  "honest chap". Stewards ruled that he caused the crash and ordered Vettel to start ten places lower than his qualifying po...

Honda hails Brawn's Australian win Honda Motor, which sold its Formula One team after last season due to the global economic slowdown, congratulated new owner Ross Brawn on Monday for a sensational debut win at the Australian Grand Prix. The Brawn team finished one-two in Melbourne with drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, becoming the first team to take the top two slots in a Grand Prix debut since 1954. "We are incredibly delighted that our teammates, with whom we worked until last season, have started from extremely difficult circumstances to earn this victory," Honda said in a statement. "Congratulations to the Brawn GP Formula One team." The Japanese automaker pulled out of Formula One in December, and Brawn closed a buy-out deal for the team earlier this month. Brawn took a maximum 18 constructors' points in Sunday's race and raised hopes of an unexpected title challenge this season.