Sebastian Vettel (left) or Fernando Alonso (right) will join an elite band of drivers. (Getty Images)

The 2012 Formula One season may yet have delivered the new drivers' champion, but even before the world's fastest racing cars finish their cylinder-driven samba around the Interlagos Circuit in Sao Paulo next week we can be certain of one fact ... the new champion will be crowned an all-time great along with this year's best.

Both Germany's Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso of Spain are used to superlatives from motor racing commentators: they are both exceptionally talented and boast back-to-back double-champion pedigree.

And as the two sole pilots left in the hunt to finish top of this year's grid, they also both stand on the edge of joining an elite members' club. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Ben Wyatt, CNN Sport Development Supervisor
Filed under: Motorsport

Sebastian Vettel's fans have had only one race win to celebrate this year ahead of the Monaco GP. (Getty Images)

(Editor's note: Ed Foster is the associate editor of Motor Sport magazine. He is also an F1 pundit for CNN's World Sport show.)

Five winners from the first five races? What’s happened to Formula One? We’re used to seeing a young German dominate, but he’s only won one race this year.

It has happened before, but it's very rare. In fact you have to go back to 1983, when five drivers from five different teams won the first five races.

Alain Prost broke that streak at Spa in Belgium, with his second victory of the season, but almost 30 years later there is no guarantee that the 2012 trend will not continue this weekend in Monaco. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Associate Editor, Ed Foster, Motor Sport magazine
Filed under: Motorsport

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso hopes for more improvements in Barcelona. (Getty Images)

(Editor's note: Ed Foster is the associate editor of Motor Sport magazine. He is also an F1 pundit for CNN's World Sport show.)

As the Formula One circus makes its way to Catalunya for the first of the European rounds this weekend, Ferrari finds itself hoping, desperately, that it has made a step forward.

The teams have just finished their first in-season test since 2008, and after three days spent at Mugello everyone has their eyes on the Italian cars. Can Ferrari turn its season around with just one test? Probably not, is the quick answer.

Between the beginning of 2000 and the end of 2004, Ferrari was utterly dominant in Formula One. So dominant, in fact, that thanks to its drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello it notched up 57 wins in 85 races (48 of which were courtesy of Germany's seven-time world champion). Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Associate Editor, Ed Foster, Motor Sport magazine
Filed under: Motorsport

Sebastian Vettel with his familiar No.1 pose from his all-conquering 2011 season.

(Editor's note: Ed Foster is the associate editor of Motor Sport magazine. He is also an F1 pundit for CNN's World Sport show.)

Why hasn't Red Bull won a race so far this year? What's happened to Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber? Last year the German driver turned up at every track expecting to win, such was the dominance of his car. However, this year it's all changed.

Mercedes has won its first race since 1955, McLaren has started the year with a quick car, and Ferrari most certainly hasn't. Is Red Bull's dominance finally over? It is for now, but don't expect double world champion Vettel to be happy not taking that checkered flag and showing us all that "victory finger" of his.

For those that are wondering what's happened since the black and white flag was waved in Brazil last season, here's some insight from the paddock:

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Associate Editor, Ed Foster, Motor Sport magazine
Filed under: Motorsport

Sebastian Vettel is the center of media attention ahead of the opening grand prix of the season in Australia.

The fact that there are six Formula One world champions on the grid for this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the most there has ever been, is amazing.

As racing drivers, what they all want to do is win a race with the best possible grid. If they win against nobodies, it means nothing to them. But with six world champions, if they win a race, it is a huge accolade to have.

One of the reasons it should be a really good season is all the teams seem much closer together this year. We won’t know the true nature of things until the end of the fly away races at the beginning of the season, but everything looks a bit closer. Even the midfield teams look closer to the front of the grid than normal. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Associate Editor, Ed Foster, Motor Sport magazine
Filed under: Motorsport

Ground-breaking woman driver Danica Patrick is making the full-time switch to NASCAR from the IndyCar circuit this year.

I landed in Daytona Beach, Florida to cover my first Daytona 500, and in a matter of a few hours I witnessed sports history.

Danica Patrick was the fastest car on the track Friday. She won the pole. And for that she gets to start Saturday's season-opening Nationwide Series race as the lead car. It's the first time since Shawna Robinson in 1994 that a female driver has been the top qualifier in a NASCAR event. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Sports Correspondent, Joe Carter
Filed under: Motorsport

CNN's Don Riddell interviewed F1 driver Bruno Senna, left, in Monaco last year

The name Senna was already on many people’s lips on Tuesday, when the eponymous documentary picked up three richly-deserved BAFTA nominations. That Williams, the Formula One team so tragically and inextricably linked to Ayrton’s death, should choose the same day to announce the signing of his 28-year-old nephew, Bruno, was remarkably poetic.

So much has been written about Ayrton Senna that his story scarcely needs retelling, even if it remains utterly fascinating. But outside of his family connections, Bruno Senna is less well-known. Ayrton himself once said, “If you think I’m fast, wait until you see my nephew!”

But the 10-year-old’s racing career almost died too on that tragic day at Imola in 1994 when his family, quite understandably, forbade him to continue. However, following a decade’s hiatus from the sport, its lure finally proved too seductive, and Bruno took to the track once more. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Anchor, Don Riddell
Filed under: Motorsport

Dan Wheldon at the IndyCar World Championships in Las Vegas, prior to his fatal crash.

The death of British driver and two-time Indy 500 champion Dan Wheldon in Sunday's IndyCar World Championships at Las Vegas was graphic in its violence, distressing in its drama and a tragedy for all who knew him.

The 33-year-old, who started the race seeking to win a $5 million purse as victor, drove to his grave participating in the sport he loved.

IndyCar, America's most popular version of open-wheeled racing, is currently enduring its darkest hour as Wheldon's family and friends try to deal with his sudden departure. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Ben Wyatt, CNN Digital Sport Producer
Filed under: Motorsport

CNN's Don Riddell prepares to take to the track with F1 test driver Gary Paffett.

I have always been intrigued by athletes who can perform under pressure. While many would crumble when the heat is on, they not only perform, they excel.

Being a racing driver is about as pressured as it can get. At speeds sometimes in excess of 200 miles per hour, these guys have to make split-second decisions with courage and skill in order to win a race and stay out of trouble. The sort of trouble that can be very bad for your health!

I was lucky enough to experience first-hand what these drivers go through when former DTM champion and F1 test driver Gary Paffett agreed to teach me how to drive a Mercedes C63 at Brands Hatch near London. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Anchor, Don Riddell
Filed under: Motorsport

Michael Schmuacher has won a record seven world championships, but his popularity is still questionable.

It's a little-known fact that Michael Schumacher got his big break in Formula One because another driver had been jailed for 2 months.

In 1991, Jordan driver Bertrand Gachot was locked up for assaulting a London taxi-driver, forcing him to miss four races including his home one at Spa. Schumie stepped in to the cock-pit and the rest, as they say, is history.

With the sponsor 7-Up displayed prominently and prophetically on his nose-cone, Schumacher qualified for his first F1 race in 7th position. Clutch problems meant he retired on his first lap, but he impressed so much that he was immediately snapped up by Flavio Briatore and the Benetton Ford team, who coincidentally were sponsored by Mild Seven, where he won the first of his record seven drivers' championships. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Anchor, Don Riddell
Filed under: Motorsport