Perez managed to come close in the final laps until he ran wide and finished second. Lewis Hamilton was second with Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen finishing third and fourth respectively.

The downpour occurred after only six laps after which Alonso built up a lead of seven seconds in the wet conditions. However, as the track started to dry out that lead reduced to almost nothing as Perez closed the gap. Both drivers changed to sleek tyres with Alonso choosing “medium” and Perez choosing “hard” tyres.

Perez managed to catch the Spaniard within 10 laps. However a mistake by the Mexican running wide on turn 14 allowed the Ferrari driver to extend his lead once again back up to 5 seconds.
Alonso took victory number 28 of his career behind a fabulous list of drivers – Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell.

Alonso now leads the world championship by 5 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton. However Perez took a lot of credit for his performance. The track was wet at the start of the race with most drivers opting for intermediate tyres. However as soon as the rain started to come down it was Perez who changed to wet tyres with most of the others changing on laps 4 or 5. He was then lying third behind the two McLaren drivers.

Eventually it was the experience of the Spaniard that told as he held onto his lead with Perez celebrating second place. Hamilton who finished in third place for the second time praised both drivers for a great race.

Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull finished second after Lewis Hamilton had an unlucky break with a safety car.

Mark Webber finished fourth, ahead of Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.

The Japanese driver, Kamui Kobayashi, won out in a seven-car fight to the flag to finish sixth. That left Kimi Raikkonen in his Lotus, to impress after a two year absence in rallying to take seventh place just ahead of Sauber’s Sergio Perez.

Jenson Button seamed to completely dominate the race. He took the first bend ahead of his team mate after making the better start.

Button started his winning season of 2009 with a win at the opening grand prix in Australia. He credited the strong winter and the qualifying demonstrated that.

Button was around 4 seconds ahead of his team mate by the time of the first pit stops. Hamilton made his first pit stop 1 lap before Button. Hamilton came out behind Perez and took around 4 laps to pass him. This allowed Button to extend his lead to 10 seconds.

A safety car deployed just after the two McLaren drivers had taken their second pit stop on lap 36. This cost Hamilton time as he slowed to the required pace of the safety car which meant Sebastian Vettle exited the pits ahead of Hamilton.

Hamilton stayed within a second of the current world champion until he started to drop back due to tyre wear.

McLaren can take much credit after finishing first and third, while Ferrari can take great encouragement from Alonso’s fifth place after qualifying in 12th place.

The vice-president of the city’s government said that they were reviewing the citys budget for major sporting events.

Valencia currently has a contract to host the event on its street circuit on the waterfront until 2014. The authorities haven’t ruled out cancelling the event altogether.

Valencia pay somewhere in the region of £20 million each year for the privilege of hosting the event. They are the second host to ask for a reduction. Korea is also considering its future in F1 after making their debut in 2010.

2012 F1 schedule

• Australia: 18 March
• Malaysia: 25 March
• China: 15 April
• Bahrain: 22 April
• Spain: 13 May
• Monaco: 27 May
• Canada: 10 June
• Europe: 24 June
• Great Britain: 8 July
• Germany: 22 July
• Hungary: 29 July
• Belgium: 2 September
• Italy: 9 September
• Singapore: 23 September
• Japan: 7 October
• Korea: 14 October
• India: 28 October
• Abu Dhabi: 4 November
• United States: 18 November
• Brazil: 25 November

Doubts over the new US Grand Prix are still in doubt due to the unfinished track in Austin, Texas and also the Bahrain Grand Prix due to continuing unrest in the Gulf.

Valencia is one of two races in Spain which has been running since 2008. The other being the Spanish Grand Prix which is held near Barcelona at the Circuit de Catalunya

Bernie Ecclestone is under pressure to get rid of some existing events as new circuits come onto the F1 calendar in the coming years. F1 teams are reluctant to increase the already hectic schedule by increasing the number of races from the current 20 races per year.

Another US race in New Jersey is lined up for 2013 with Russia set to host a new event at the resort of Sochi in 2014.

It has been reported that the French Grand Prix is due to return to the F1 calendar in 2013 after an absence of 5 years. It would alternate with the Belgian race and be held at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

It is expected that the number of European events will reduce from the current 8 to 5 events over the coming years. Valencia itself is one of the least favourite races due to what has been described as a drab circuit that provides very little in form of challenge for the drivers and as a result creates little race action.

There have been concerns about F1 in Bahrain due to the civil unrest in the country. The US has been given a deadline to provide the sanctioning fee. The race is expected to take place on a new track in Austin.

The two venues make up an unchanged calendar consisting of 20 races which was approved by the World Council of the FIA which met in Delhi.

2012 Formula 1 Calendar:

• Australia – 18 March
• Malaysia – 25 March
• China – 15 April
• Bahrain – 22 April
• Spain – 13 May
• Monaco – 27 May
• Canada – 10 June
• Europe (Valencia) – 24 June
• Great Britain – 8 July
• Germany – 22 July
• Hungary – 29 July
• Belgium 2 September
• Italy 9 September
• Singapore – 23 September
• Japan – 7 October
• South Korea – 14 October
• India – 28 October
• Abu Dhabi – 4 November
• United States – 18 November
• Brazil – 25 November

The 2011 Grand Prix in Bahrain was cancelled after months of civil unrest in February. The country was heavily critised for the way that they handled the unrest with some predicting the 2012 race won’t take place.

If the troubles continue then it is likely that the authorities will call of the race saying that they would not want to put F1 at risk by the volatile environment. However Bernie Ecclestone has always insisted that the race will go on despite the concerns of the Bahrainis concerns.

It is anticipated that if Bahrain cancels again then the Turkish Grand Prix, which lost its place last year, will make a comeback.

The race in Texas was in doubt after Bernie Ecclestone ripped up the original contract of the original promoter. Ecclestone tried to do a deal with the new promoter at a price of £22 million which was way in excess of the £16 million originally stated.

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Gethin was born in Surrey and was the son of former jockey Ken Gethin, who himself was the winner of the Coronation Stakes and the 1,000 Guineas.

He made his debut in 1970 for Formula 1 team McLaren shortly after the death of Bruce McLaren, team founder. New Zealand born McLaren died at Goodwood in a testing accident leaving Gethin to take the vacant seat.

Peter Gethin F1 career

• 1970 – McLaren – races 7, final position 23
• 1971 – McLaren. BRM – races 11, final position 9
• 1972 – BRM – races 11, final position 21
• 1974 – BRM – races 1
• 1974 – Lola – races 1

Gethin most iconic victory was at the Monza Grand Prix in 1971 where he beat Ronnie Peterson in the BRM by just 0.01seconds. That race had the highest average speed of any F1 race in history until it was finally broken 32 years later by Michael Schumacher on the same track in 2003.

That was his last podium finish. He ended his four year F1 career with a single win from 30 starts and 11 points.

Gethin also won the Race of Champions, the World Championship Victory Race, the Tasman Series F5000 and a Can-Am race at Road America all between 1971 and 1977.

After he finished racing he managed Toleman F1 team, he also set up Peter Gethin Racing whom took part in F3000 in the 1980s. Later on in life he ran a driving school in Goodwood.

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Previous winners of the award include David Coulthard in 1989, Jenson Button in 1998 and Paul di Resta in 2004.

List of Winners from 1989 to present:

• David Coulthard
• Gareth Rees
• Oliver Gavin
• Dario Franchitti
• Ralph Firman
• Jamie Davies
• Jonny Kane
• Darren Turner
• Andrew Kirkaldy
• Jenson Button
• Gary Paffett
• Anthony Davidson
• Steven Kane
• Jamie Green
• Alex Lloyd
• Paul di Resta
• Oliver Jarvis
• Oliver Turvey
• Stefan Wilson
• Alexander Sims
• Dean Smith
• Lewis Williamson

Oliver said that he has learned so much in his year with Formula Renault and can’t believe that he has made it to this point in his career.

The award is backed by BRDC, Autosport the motorsport magazine and McLaren to acknowledge emerging talent among UK racing drivers.

The other finalists were Tom Blomqvist, Dino Zamparelli, Alex Lynn, Emil Bernstorff and Scott Malvern. They were all tested in November at Silverstone on a very wet and windy day. The drivers drove a McLaren GT3, a Formula 2 single-seater and a Mercedes DTM. They were finally interviewed before a panel.

The International Racing Driver of the Year award went to Germany’s Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull after becoming F1 Champion for the second year running. Paul di Resta was named as rookie of the year driving for Force India.

British driver Dan Whelton who was twice a winner of the Indy 500 who crashed and died in Las Vegas was awarded a lifetime achievement award that was received by his father.

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Hamilton said that he is confident that a deal can be reached and that there was no question of his commitment to the team and Formula 1.

Hamilton met with Red Bull’s team boss Christian Horner at the Canadian Grand Prix sparking rumours that he may indeed be moving to Red Bull.

Felipe Massa and Mark Webber are also out of contact with their teams Ferrari and Red Bull respectively at the end of 2012.

However, Lewis has already spoken to McLaren’s team Principal Martin Whitmarsh about a new deal and the two are expected to sit down soon and agree terms. Hamilton said that there was no rush to sort things out straight away and that the most important thing is to concentrate on the season ahead.

Whitmarsh is confident that Hamilton will want to continue his lengthy relationship with the team. Lewis had a difficult year in F1 but there is a deep affection between Lewis and the McLaren and Whitmarsh hopes that will continue for years to come.

Hamilton has been with the team since he was eleven years old and despite ending the season with gearbox failure feels that his mind is in a positive place. He has had to deal with splitting with his girlfriend, Nicole Scherzinger, and the death of two of his close friends during the season.

Lewis wants next season to be more successful getting back to winning ways, good performances and enjoying the year.

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Fota was unable to find an agreement on the Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA) which places a cap on Formula 1 teams’ spending leading to both Ferrari and Red Bull becoming increasingly frustrated.

Both Ferrari and Red Bull believe that Fota has come to the end of an era and the teams will still be committed to finding an answer to savings in Formula 1. There was a stalemate in regard to some of the issues as to why Fota was formed in the first place.

Formed in 2008, Fota was set up with the purpose of acting in the interest of F1 teams when it came to negotiations with the with the aim of representing the interests of the teams when dealing with the sport’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and Bernie Ecclestone. Before Ferrari and Red Bull decided to leave, 11 of the 12 Formula 1 teams were members of Fota.

Fota was instrumental in defining a series of rules that limit spending on costs such as; aerodynamic research, staff numbers and external spending.

Fota’s document, which was agreed in 2009, was not part of FIA rules was a stepping stone towards a wide-ranging and detailed agreement. However Fota were called in when it was alleged that certain teams were thought to have over spent and has led to many rows in trying to sort the problems.

The team principals met after the Brazilian Grand Prix and failed to come to an agreement. The discussions lead to a stalemate on certain issues and brought into question the whole idea as to why the association was formed in the first place.

One such debate was to do with the number of days spent testing. It was argued that some drivers especially new and younger drivers who don’t have the experience need more time to be prepared for the coming season.

Another argument centred around spending. Even the biggest teams such as Ferrari realised that there has to be caps on spending in order to preserve F1 as a sport, to give everyone a more equal chance. Ferrari for one, even though they have left Fota, believes that cost cutting is essential and that young drivers need more time behind the wheel.

Ferrari says that they are still committed to controls in cutting costs and modifying the current RRA to become more stringent especially on areas not currently covered such as engines.
There is a two-month notice period that Ferrari and Red Bull have to change their decision if an agreement over the changes is reached.
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Maldonado, in his first season with Williams, scored just 1 point. However Williams boss Sir Frank Williams has faith in the 26 year old. He not only proved that he was quick but was able to maintain a consistent pace throughout races. He played a crucial role for the Williams team in his first season and will be expected to improve for the 2012 season.

The Venezuelan himself believes that his competitive streak will bear fruit and the steps the team have taken will stand them in good stead for 2012 and beyond.

Maldonado’s old partner, Rubens Barrichello during 2011is expected to leave the team and in effect end his F1 career which expanded 19 years. Barrichello the former Ferrari driver had a record 322 starts.

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The 32 year-old Finn, who left Formula 1 at the end of the 2009 season to take up rallying, said “My hunger for F1 has recently become overwhelming. It was an easy choice to return with Lotus Renault GP.” He went on to say “My time in the World Rally Championship has been a useful stage in my career as a driver.”

Raikkonen won the title with Ferrari in 2007, added: “I have been impressed by the scope of the Renault’s ambition. Now I’m looking forward to playing an important role in pushing the team to the very front of the grid.”

Last week Renault announced that Robert Kubica would not return to the sport next season. Kubica was injured in a rallying accident last February. The pole’s manager was still confident that he would return in 2012.

Raikkonen’s F1 Career
• F1 debut: 2001 Australian Grand Prix
• Former teams: Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari
• Poles: 16
• Podiums: 62
• Wins: 18
• Titles: 1
• Career points: 579

On Tuesday, Renault confirmed that Raikkonen, would return in the seat. He is likely to be partnered by Russian F1 driver Vitaly Petrov, who has just finished his second season with Renault.

Raikkonen started his F1 career with Sauber in 2001 scoring a single point on his first race at the Australian Grand Prix. He moved to McLaren in 2002 before moving to Ferrari in 2007 where he later became F1 Champion.

Raikkonen’s return means that a quarter of all the drivers in F1 will be current or former world champions. This will create such a depth of talent unmatched at any other time in F1. However it will be interesting to see if he still has the hunger to win in a car that may not be able to be able to compete with the big boys.

In the final F1 race of 2007 he trailed Lewis Hamilton by seven points. Hamilton suffered gearbox problems and finished seventh leaving Raikkonen to win the title by a single point.

He found it difficult to recapture the same form in the next two seasons, finding himself outperformed by team-mate Felipe Massa on many occasions. He left Ferrari at the end of 2009 when Ferrari bought in double world champion Fernando Alonso.

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