Eddie Jordan given OBE

Eddie Jordan has been made an honorary OBE, as he is not a UK citizen, by the queen for his charity work and contributions to motorsport.

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Bernie "Bahrain will be fine"

There have been increasing amounts of unrest in Bahrain over the last few months, but F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has said "we'll be there as long as they want us" and that it is "fine".

Bahrain's Grand Prix was postponed and then cancelled in 2011 after the unrest, but with the violence continuing and threats that they do not want the F1 circus to continue to Bahrain, the race was put under some doubt.

Vettel frustrated at incident with Karthikeyan

For Sebastian Vettel and Malaysian Grand Prix was a stark contrast to the race one week earlier, where he finished 2nd.

(C) of Michael O'Keeffe

During the Malaysian Grand Prix he ran as high as 4th but soon came a cropper to the difficult back markers, who were also struggling in the conditions. Vettel slashed his tyre on Narain Karthikeyan's HRT after he cut across him during a lapped overtake.

Malaysian Grand Prix Race Report

The opening race of the season was action pack, to say the least, with Malaysia being the next stop on the calendar for Round 2. The Sepang International Circuit hosts the Malaysian Grand Prix in the hot and humid conditions famous around this circuit.

The twists and turns of the Sepang track make it one of the most challenging tracks for tyres and cars, let alone the drivers in the searing 50 degree heat of the cockpit. After the success of Mclaren in the Australian Grand Prix, with Button 1^st and Hamilton 3^rd, they will be looking forward and confident of another successful weekend. After the drag race for the final points in Melbourne the midfield pack is sure to be close and qualifying will prove to be enormously interesting. 

Here is my report of all the F1 action at the Sepang circuit, covering all the practice sessions, qualifying and the race. Also tweet me during the race @JackLeslieF1, I will be tweeting throughout.

Force India and Aerolab dispute settled

Force India and Aerolab, used for their wind tunnel, have settled their dispute after Vijay Mallya claimed they passed on information on their car's design to Team Lotus to help them develop their car.

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Hamilton shrugs off Australian GP frustration

Lewis Hamilton has shrug off the frustration of finishing 3rd in last weekends Australian Grand Prix after starting the race on pole.

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Australian Grand Prix Race Report

So the time has come. After the short winter period, thousands of laps completed during the 12 days of winter testing and some off track drama in the process the F1 2012 season is go.

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There have been numerous driver changes, team have transformed, new circuits and many friendly faces. The F1 2012 season looks like it will be a cracker, with the order completely unknown and if testing has anything to go by, it will be a close fought battle.

I have my first race review of the season, with summaries of Practice, Qualifying and the Race. I will also be tweeting during every single race so follow me at @JackLeslieF1.

Too close to call?

The F1 2012 season is being set up as an incredible year. Not only do fans have access to more F1 coverage than ever before, the rule changes for 2012 could cause the closest season for a long time.

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After the dominant years of the Schumacher era in 2001, 2002 and 2004 and the more recent 2011 domination by Sebastian Vettel F1 is desperate for a closely fought battle not only at the front but also at the back of the field. 2012 could be that year and I explain why here.

Click “read more” to see the full article.

Interview: Dino Zamparelli

There are only a few young stars who catch my eye, with Dino Zamparelli being one of them. He first came to my attention in 2008 when he raced in the Ginetta Junior championship. He was catapulted into the public eye when he raced alongside the BTCC championship. Dino dominated that championship before then taking the step up to single seaters.

That transition, from tin-tops to single seaters, can seem daunting to some, but Zamparelli finished his first season of single seaters, the Formula Renault BARC Championship, in 3rd place. He then had a year out of racing due to financial problems ;as he could not drum up enough sponsorship. 2011 saw him come back better than ever and win the championship in which he did so well in during his debut season in single seaters.

He was one of the Autosport BRDC young driver finalists and i am not surprised, his race craft is superb and he is one of the brightest young talents out there. He, like many others however, struggles to raise sponsorship and funds to compete but with the platform he has after 2011 I am sure he will be moving up the ranks.

I got the chance to interview with young racer, asking about his past results and future ambitions.

F1 2012: The Prediction

F1 2012 is being set up to be an awe inspiring season. We have 6 world champions and 24 world class drivers in the fastest cars on earth. But, can we predict who will come out on top by November. After 20 Grand Prix's it could be completely different, but i am giving it a shot.

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I have researched data, testing times, car performance and look at last year's results and have come up with my predictions for the Drivers and Constructors tables. Comment your views below too, or rate your reaction to it.

F1 2012: The Preview

It is fair to say, with the changes to F1 over the winter, returning drivers and rookie talent the F1 2012 season could not be set up any better. We also have a brand new Grand Prix in the US to look forward to.

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So this is part 4 of my F1 2012 season preview. It is titled “the preview” because I will be previewing all the drivers and teams, reviewing how they fared over the winter and what their expectations are. I will also be looking at the new US GP track and previewing the Australian Grand Prix.

A change of rules for 2012

Each year the F1 season sees a number of changes as the FIA attempt to improve Formula 1. This year is no different, with a number of changes being tested to see how they will affect the sport.

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From dipped noses, to Safety Car un-lapping, the season has some completely new elements as well as some familiar ones, which have simply been adjusted and tweaked to help improve spectacle and safety. In this article, part 3 of my F1 2012 season preview, I take you through the changes to the sport.

Sky Sports F1 launch in style

F1 fans are being spoilt this year, right? They have the choice of 2 top channels to watch their F1 coverage on, 1 with a highly established team but only 10 races and the other with all the technology and scope we could ask for, with an amazing line up to match.

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Sky Sports F1 Launched their dedicated F1 channel, Sky channel 408, in full HD with all the team (bar Pinkham and Croft) in the studio. A 2 hour preview of the season guided us through the run up to Australia and reviewed all the driver and team changes, as well as looking over testing.

Circuit de Catalunya and Valencia to Alternate Spanish GP from 2013

Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that the Barcelona and Valencia track's in Spain will alternate as the Spanish Grand Prix from 2013 onwards.

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The name change game

This is part 2 of my F1 2012 season preview. With 12 F1 teams in the 2012 season they are all vying to improve and succeed in their aims and objectives. To do this, a number of them have changed their names. So now, if you happen to type in their 2011 team name, you will be looking backwards and not in the present time.

Here I outline the name changes and why those names have changed.

Out with the old, In with the new

The F1 2012 season is one full of controversial changes;, driver’s have been roped in to replace those who have not performed to the team’s standards. They could even be brought in for the additional finances given to the team, which has coined the term “pay drivers”.

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In this article, the first of my F1 2012 season preview, I will be going over the driver changes for the 2012 season, who is out and who is in.

Sky Sports F1 say "Just Drive"

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The Sky Sports F1 channel have unveiled their title montage and music. The song is "Just Drive" by Alistair Griffin, taking on the ever popular "The Chain" used by the BBC.

The film montage is of a number of iconic F1 events from 32 different races held between 1950 and 2011. There is then an ending title with the Sky Sports F1 logo and a graphic moving around Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull, before ending. It is around 42 seconds long.

Marussia and HRT unveil F1 2012 challengers

HRT and Marussia have left it pretty late, releasing their F1 2012 racers with just 11 days to go.

(c) HRT F1 Team

Marussia unveiled their MR01 at the Silverstone track before giving the car a shakedown, it's testing debut. Meanwhile the attempt to be an "all Spanish" team led to HRT unveiling their car in Barcelona, before giving it a test during a filming day.

Interview: Paul Hembery

Paul Hembery is one of the main men when it comes to Tyres in F1. He was one of the driving forces i securing the F1 contract for Pirelli to supply tyres, and currently oversees all aspects of Pirelli's operation at a race weekend.

I had the chance to ask some questions about Pirelli in 2012, the differences and what he thought of their debut year in 2012.

Barcelona test, (2) Day 4

Well, F1 winter testing has ended and i am still completely unsure on who will be where when we get to Australia. The teams have done all they can to test and gather data before the debut race, with many of the teams completing a good amount of running over the 3 individual testing sessions.

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The majority of the teams have taken part in all 3 sessions, meaning they have 12 days worth of data and knowledge of their 2012 machinery. Some, however, have had alot of catching up to do and some have not even started.

Here is a review of the final day of testing, as the chequered curtain falls on winter testing.

Barcelona test, (2) Day 3

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The 3rd day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, the 7th day in total, was one with a rather wet ending, with the session being interrupted by a heavy downpour in the afternoon.

The day also saw Mclaren bring heavy updates into day light on the MP4-27 while Red Bull flew out their Australian GP specifications for testing, basically a whole new car.

The penultimate day of testing saw fewer drivers break the 100 lap barrier with the day being broken up into the typical morning short runs and afternoon longer runs or race simulations.

HRT to miss Barcelona Test

It had been thought the HRT team would debut their car at the Circuit de Catalunya on Sunday for its first run but it seems that has been delayed again.

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Sky Sports F1 Tour, by Jordan Hamilton

I was unable to attend the Sky Sports F1 tour which took place on Friday 2nd March. Instead someone who did attend, @Formula1_com twitter account owner, Jordan Hamilton has written up a brief over view of what happened and what they found out.

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The journey was made, once again, down to Osterley head of Sky Corporation. Upon arrival we were taken into an outhouse where we waited for the rest of the party to arrive, before James Elms came and collected us and guided us into the Sky Sports and Sky Sports Formula 1 building....

Barcelona test, (2) Day 2

The second day of testing was an eventful one at the Circuit de Catalunya. Numerous red flags halted or interrupted drivers runs, which were mainly short runs in the morning and longer ones in the afternoon.

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The red flag's started before the green light, the session being delayed for 30 minutes in the morning after heavy fog engulfed the circuit. The 30 minutes lost were added on to the chequered flag time, meaning no crucial time was lost.

The absense of HRT and Marussia was still there, but the remaining teams persevered as they prepare for the 1st race in Australia, which is just 14 days away.

Interview: Karun Chandok

Karun Chandhok is only the 2nd Indian Driver to compete in an F1 race, after Narain Karthikeyan raced for Jordan in 2005. India is a country with a limited Motor racing history, but it looks set to change after Grand Prix appearances from Karun and Narain. Chandhok burst onto the F1 scene for the Hispania F1 Team in 2010 for 10 rounds, placing a best finish of 14th at the mixed condition Australian Grand Prix. He then moved to Team Lotus as their reserve driver and got the chance to compete in the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, finishing 20th.

Not only is he one of Indian's best racing drivers, he is also one of the most popular faces in the paddock. His F1 knowledge is vast which creates a great spectacle when he is talking on TV and Radio. He has been commentated on the likes of F1 and GP2 and has appeared on a number of occasions as an F1 pundit.

I got the chance to ask Karun a few Questions on his F1 career, what 2012 holds for him and whether the only way is up for Motorsport in India.

"Meet Sebastian Vettel" Book Review

We have seen some in depth, insightful biographies over the past few years, note Jenson Button’s Championship Year and the numerous Lewis Hamilton biographies. Now Sebastian Vettel has joined that club, with the Souvenir Press published “Meet Sebastian Vettel”.

The book was written by Italian journalists Andrea Cremonesi and Marco Degl’Innocenti who released a biography of Vettel’s life in Italy.

Here is my review of the book.

Barcelona test, (2) Day 1

The last test of the 2012 winter is one for improving and testing. Some team's have came here with their Australia set ups, upgrades and mechanical innovations while others are leaving them till practice in Melbourne, just 15 days away.

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The Circuit de Catalunya is renown for its testing facilities and the teams return here for the second time this year, apart from Marussia and HRT who are absent from this test.

The 2nd test saw a range of people top the times, with no front leading pace setters being revealed, i reviewed all 4 day's of testing.