Few records in Formula One are truly unbeatable.

Many people thought Ayrton Senna’s haul of 65 pole positions would stand the test of time, but Michael Schumacher beat it.

And though Schumacher’s tally of 91 wins may seem insurmountable, the same was once said of Alain Prost’s 51 victories.

As the saying goes, records are there to be broken. But there are some records which won’t be under threat any time soon. From geriatrics on the podium to sharing a single point between seven, here are ten F1 records that are in it for the long haul.

Narrowest pole position winning margin

1997 European Grand Prix: 0.000s between first, second and third

The 1997 European Grand Prix at Jerez is chiefly remembered for Michael Schumacher’s unsuccessful attempt to eliminate title rival Jacques Villeneuve from the race.

But F1 anoraks like myself also recall the astonishing events of the previous day’s qualifying session. It saw the same two drivers plus Villeneuve’s team mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen stop the clocks at the same time to within a thousandth of a second.

First Villeneuve, then Schumacher and finally Frentzen lapped the 4.4km (2.7-mile) Jerez circuit in 1’21.072. Unless F1 follows IndyCar’s lead and starts measuring times to four decimal places, this record is stuck at 0.000s.

Earliest start to a season

1965 and 1968: January 1st

While modern-day F1 campaigns usually kick off in mid March, until the 1980s it was customary for the season to begin as early as January.

In 1965 and 1968, at the East London and Kyalami circuits respectively, the season opening South African Grand Prix was held on the very first day of the year. Yet in both seasons, the following world championship event was not held until over four months later!

Keep that next time you think the current four-week summer break is too long…

Longest race

2011 Canadian Grand Prix: four hours, four minutes and 39.537 seconds

The track was wet as the Canadian Grand Prix got underway at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2011. But on lap 19 a fresh downpour forced the race to be red-flagged for two hours.

Under F1 rules the clock kept tipping so that when the race finally resumed and ran its scheduled 70-lap distance the entire thing had taken over four hours.

This prompted the introduction of a new rule for 2012 requiting all races to be completed within four hours regardless of any stoppages. It’s a good thing the rule wasn’t in place a year earlier, or we’d have been robbed of the thrilling sight of Jenson Button hunting race leader Sebastian Vettel down and passing him on the final lap.

• 2011 Canadian Grand Prix stats and facts: Button scores tenth win in longest ever race

Most failures to pre-qualify

Gabriele Tarquini: 24

When F1 entry lists ballooned in the late eighties pre-qualifying sessions were held to weed out some of the slowest cars before the real action began.

Gabriele Tarquini suffered more than most at the hands of this cruel eliminator. Driving for such unfancied teams as Coloni, AGD and Fondmetal he failed to gain a place on the grid on 40 separate occasions. In 24 of those he suffered the indignity of failing even to qualify for qualifying!

Today it’s been 17 years since we last had a full grid of 26 cars at a Grand Prix. Given the current state of the world economy and the huge costs involved in running a Formula One team, the prospect of the grid being oversubscribed again seems a very distant one. This unwanted record is Tarquini’s to keep.

Most starters

1953 German Grand Prix: 34

In the early years of the world championship, pre-qualifying was not a consideration. Due to a lack of available F1 cars in 1952 and 1953 the world championship was run to Formula Two specifications which boosted grid sizes.

A whopping 34 drivers began the 1953 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, 14 of whom were local wildcards. Today’s grid is capped at 26.

At the other end of the spectrum, the infamous six-car United States Grand Prix of 2005 unsurprisingly takes the record for the smallest field. It is possible a race could see fewer starters than that, but let’s hope it doesn’t happen.

Oldest podium

1950 Swiss Grand Prix: 140 years, 93 days (average: 46 years, 274⅓ days)

The physical demands of modern F1 cars mean that it is highly unusual for drivers to still be racing in their forties. The oldest driver to start a race in recent years was 43: Schumacher in last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

In the first years of the world championship drivers were generally much older than they are today. In the inaugural world championship race, the 1950 British Grand Prix, just one of the entrants was younger than 30.

The record for the oldest ever podium was set at that year’s Swiss Grand Prix. Giuseppe Farina, Luigi Fagioli and Louis Rosier – had a combined age of over 140!

‘But it could happen again’, I hear you all cry. Granted, this is not strictly an “unbeatable” record. But I sooner expect to see Narain Karthikeyan win a Grand Prix driving a lawnmower.

Most podium finishes in a season

Michael Schumacher, 2002: 100% (17 out of 17)

Thanks to the performance and reliability of his Ferrari F2002 (and, earlier in the season, the F2001), Schumacher not only finished every race of the 2002 season, he never never lower than third. And he only finished there once!

The record may be improved upon by a driver finishing a longer season entirely on the podium, but that 100% hit rate is never going to be beaten.

Best podium strike rate in a career

Dorino Serafini: 100% (1 out of 1)

The same applies to the obscure example of Dorino Serafini who finished his only world championship race, the 1950 Italian Grand Prix, on the podium.

Serafini only drove half of the race – he handed his car to Alberto Ascari midway through as the rules permitted at the time.

There have also been several examples of drivers who finished on the podium in the Indianapolis 500 when it counted towards the world championship from 1950 to 1960, but these races were not run to F1 rules.

Smallest points haul

Stirling Moss, Alberto Ascari and Jean Behra: 0.14

During the first ten world championship seasons in the 1950s, drivers were awarded a single point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Unfortunately, timing systems in this era were somewhat rudimentary, and lap times were sometimes measured to the nearest second.

The 1954 British Grand Prix at Silverstone saw seven drivers shared a fastest lap of one minute and 50 seconds. The single point was split between them, each scoring one-seventh of a point. Four of them also scored points for their finishing positions, but for three drivers 0.14 points was all they came away with.

Longest wait for the second-placed car

1963 Belgian Grand Prix: four minutes and 54 seconds

Most modern Grand Prix are close contests. With tight restrictions on car design ensuring the field remains relatively evenly matched, and races regularly punctuated by Safety Car periods, winning margins are seldom much more than a few seconds.

But in years gone by, more regulatory freedom meant cars often varied hugely in performance. Coupled with the high rate of attrition, it meant that many races concluded with huge gaps between each driver.

Jim Clark’s sensational victory by four minutes and 54 seconds in the 1963 Belgian Grand Prix will surely never be surpassed. He burst through from eighth on the grid to take the lead and was never headed around the fearsome 14.1km Spa circuit.

Conditions during the race were so dreadful Clark’s team boss Colin Chapman urged officials to abandon the proceedings at one point. Meanwhile Clark annihilated his rivals. He lapped the field at one point, though second-placed Bruce McLaren unlapped himself.

That meant when Clark took the line to finish it took almost five minutes for McLaren to appear in second place. Today’s tracks simply aren’t long enough for such a feat to be possible. Spa remains the longest track on the calendar, but is half the length it used to be and is lapped in well under 110 seconds in race conditions.

Over to you

Have you spotted any more unbeatable F1 records or statistical quirks? Share them in the comments.

F1 top tens

• Top ten: Unbeatable Formula One records
• Top Ten: Victims of the Wall of Champions
• Top Ten: Pit lane blunders
• Top ten winning starts with a new team
• Top ten great races you should have seen in 2012

Read more top tens

In the round-up: Lotus F1 owners Genii Capital have sold a 35 per cent stake in the team to a new investment group, Infinity Racing.

Links

Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more.

Lotus owner Genii Capital sells 35 per cent stake to Infinity Racing (Autosport)

Eric Lux: “In Infinity Racing, we have found a partner with the right connections in addition to technological expertise and a global reach in major markets with key sponsors to achieve this goal.”

Fox News pundit behind new Lotus shareholder (Speed)

“Money from the United States, Abu Dhabi and Brunei is backing Infinity Racing Partners, the consortium which has acquired 35 percent of the Lotus F1 team – and the man behind has worked as a FOX News analyst.”

Eric Boullier believes Lotus can still challenge at the front despite recent slump (Sky)

Eric Boullier: “We didn’t have five podiums at the start of the season just by chance. It is because the package is competitive – we may struggle sometimes on some tracks, but we know this know and we have to work on this now to avoid this happening again this season on low-energy tracks.”

Jenson Button sure McLaren will be stronger in F1 British GP (Autosport)

“Jenson Button has faith that he and McLaren can still give home fans something to cheer about in the British Grand Prix, despite recent struggles.”

AUDIO: Murray Walker focused on fast recovery after cancer diagnosis (BBC)

“Murray Walker says he is concentrating on “getting back to form as quickly as I possibly can” after being diagnosed with cancer.”

Mark Webber would be embraced by all if he returned to sportscars, says Allan McNish (Huffington Post)

Allan McNish: “If Mark did decide to come we would all embrace him with open arms – until the first corner. He wouldn’t want it any other way! He’s a hard charger, he’s intelligent, he’s a thinker, he’s a nice person, he’d be good in the paddock.”

F1 Party to feature ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ charity auction (F1.com)

“A host of luxury items and experiences will be sold throughout the night as part of the exciting auctions and raffle, enabling us to raise vital funds towards the work of Great Ormond Street Hospital.”

VIDEO: Jenson Button and Ron Dennis on how to succeed in F1 (Guardian)

“The Formula One driver and McLaren’s executive director discuss the fine margins that separate success from failure in top level motor sport – and why coming first is not always what the sponsors want.”

Tweets

Just spoken to Murray Walker. He’s in fine fettle. Said broken pelvis was a blessing in disguise. He thanked all for their kind wishes. #F1

— Jennie Gow (@JennieGow) June 18, 2013

Back in Kemble we’ve got some nice images of @TioEllinas conducting his first #F1 (straight line) test pic.twitter.com/MPp51yWg1l

— Marussia F1 Team (@Marussia_F1Team) June 18, 2013

Fascinating engineering paper on 2014 F1 engines http://t.co/Fj0TBc83rc (nice reference to http://t.co/uFKliTRCZA) via forza on @f1technical

— Craig Scarborough (@ScarbsF1) June 18, 2013

• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

With Silverstone yet to sell out of tickets for the British Grand Prix, @jlracing thinks the reasons fans are staying away has less to do with the lack of British success this year and more to do with the ticket prices…

I have to say the tickets at Silverstone are very expensive.
I and a friend of mine go to the GP at the Nurburgring in a few weeks time.
We have weekend tickets for standing places in front of the chicane, and they cost us £76 per person (89 euros).

Furthermore we sleep at a camping for £60 (70 euros) per person, including parking the car.

So for the whole weekend we pay only £136.
And even that is cheaper than the cheapest tickets at Silverstone.
@jlracing

From the forum

Comparing Vettel, Alonso and Hamilton’s achievements since 2007.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Titch and Jin!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

F1′s last race in Detroit, held 25 years ago today, was won by Ayrton Senna.

Alain Prost finished a distant second, giving McLaren their fourth one-two in six races. Thierry Boutsen was a lapped third for Benetton.

IndyCar took over the event from 1989 as it moved from the city track to a course on Belle Isle which the series still uses today. Here are the final laps of F1′s last Detroit Grand Prix:

The FIA International Tribunal will convene in two days’ time to decide whether Mercedes broke the rules on testing.

The team ran one of its W04s for three days at the Circuit de Catalunya between the Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix.

They face potentially serious sanctions if they are found to have transgressed.

Did Mercedes break the rules?

Here are the facts of the matter as confirmed so far.

The test

The FIA confirmed Mercedes “conducted with Pirelli a three day tyre testing using a 2013 car on [the] 15th, 16th and 17th [of] May in Barcelona”. Mercedes said Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg did the driving.

The details of the test, which began three days after the Spanish Grand Prix, did not come to light until May 25th during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. The following morning Red Bull and Ferrari lodged a protest with the stewards over the test, which was later referred to the FIA’s International Tribunal. The stewards gave the following details of the protest:

The stewards of the Monaco Grand Prix received protests from Infinity Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari concerning an alleged breach of article 22.4h (track and wind tunnel testing) of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations by Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team.

The stewards summoned representatives of the protesting teams, Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team and Pirelli.

After hearing and collecting information the stewards will write a report to the FIA who may bring the matter before the International Tribunal.
FIA stewards’ document number 49, 2013 Monaco Grand Prix

The rules

Article 22.4h is one of several clauses which define the circumstances under which track testing may take place. It forbids testing “between the start of a ten day period which precedes the start of the first event of the championship and 31 December of the same year”.

Obviously the dates of Mercedes test fall within the time when testing is not permitted. And the test did not meet any of the exceptions to the rule defined in article 22.4h:

(i) One three day young driver training test carried out on a date and site approved by the FIA following consultation with all teams. [...]

ii) Four one day aerodynamic tests carried out on FIA approved straight line or constant radius sites between 1 February of the current year and the start of the last event of the championship. Any of these days may be substituted for four hours of wind-on full scale wind tunnel testing to be carried out in a single twenty four hour period.

iii) If a team declares that one of its current race drivers is to be substituted by a driver who has not participated in an F1 race in the two previous calendar years, one day of track testing will be permitted between the start of a ten day period which precedes the start of the second event and the last event of the championship.
FIA Sporting Regulations

Ferrari’s exoneration

The FIA initially expanded their investigation to include Ferrari. It emerged they had also conducted a test for Pirelli at the same circuit on the 23rd and 24th of April, between the Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix, using a 150° Italia chassis which last raced in 2011.

However the case against Ferrari was dropped when the FIA ruled that “for this purpose a 2011 car is not deemed to contravene the applicable FIA rules”. Article 22.1 of the Sporting Regulations forbids testing “using cars which conform substantially with the current Formula One Technical Regulations”.

How the case will be heard

The International Tribunal was introduced as part of a revised FIA judicial process at the beginning of the 2011 season. It is where stewards refer cases that are not resolved during race weekends.

Evidence will be presented to the tribunal by witnesses, knowledgeable parties, experts and third parties. Interested parties, such as rival teams, may also make representations to the tribunal. Once that is done the tribunal will deliberate in secret without the FIA president.

The judging panel will be composed of three members of the tribunal. These will be selected by the tribunal president, Edwin Glasgow, and none of them may be “of the same nationality as one of the main parties of the case”. Brief biographies of the 12 members of the tribunal can be found on the FIA’s website (PDF).

Prosecution and defence

The Tribunal will no doubt bring new facts to light. However several of the major points of contention have already been commented on in public by those involved in the case.

Use of a current car

Ferrari’s exoneration is significant because it shows one of the issues at stake is how much knowledge Mercedes were able to gain about their current car.

Significantly Pirelli, who requested that the test take place, stated they did not ask Mercedes to bring their 2013 machine:

Pirelli did not ask in any way that a 2013 car be used: not of Mercedes nor FIA nor the teams which, during the year, were offered the opportunity of participating in tests for the development of tyres for 2014.
Pirelli statement

Permission

There has been much speculation about what evidence Mercedes might have that may indicate they were given permission by an FIA representative to participate in the test and do so using the W04. It was brought up during the Friday press conference at the Canadian Grand Prix:

One of the rumours that we have heard going round is that you’re in position of an e-mail from Charlie Whiting confirming that you did have permission to do the test. Could you confirm whether or not that e-mail exists?
Kate Walker

The email, I don’t want to comment on any matters of that sort that relate to what’s going to come through in the Tribunal.
Ross Brawn

But as other teams have learned to their cost, a nod of consent from Whiting is not a guarantee they have complied with the rules.

During the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton was forced off the track by Kimi Raikkonen while the pair were disputing the lead of the race. Hamilton rejoined the track ahead of Raikkonen, ceded the position back to him as the rules require, then overtook him at the next corner. Hamilton’s McLaren team sought Whiting’s opinion whether the move was legal and were told it was. But the stewards disagreed and confiscated Hamilton’s subsequent victory.

However Mercedes may believe the fact F1′s official tyre supplier was involved in the test counts in their favour:

Obviously we felt we were in a position to be able to do the Pirelli test – it was a Pirelli test, it’s very important to note that – and so the Tribunal will be the time at which all the information will become available.
Ross Brawn

Gaining an advantage

Mercedes covered around 1,000km during the three-day test. To put that into perspective, at the end of pre-season testing the team which had covered the most ground, Sauber, had logged 5,306km.

This test allowed Mercedes to increase the ground they had covered with their 2013 car in testing by nearly 20%, excluding any straight-line aerodynamic tests.

They will be at pains to stress that no advantage was gained from the extra running. Pirelli gave the following information about the test:

This test, as always, carried out with a single compound never used in a championship, regarded structures not in use in the current season and not destined to be used later during the 2013 season.

The tyre tests were conducted “in the dark”, which means that the teams had no information on which specifications were being tested or about the goal of the testing; nor did they receive any type of information afterwards.
Pirelli statement

The first sentence suggests Mercedes would not have gained knowledge about this year’s tyres. But it doesn’t rule out the possibility Mercedes gained knowledge or influenced the development direction of next year’s tyres, assuming Pirelli extends its F1 contract beyond this year.

That claim was seemingly contradicted by comments made by Nico Rosberg during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend which Mercedes later sought to play down:

Yes, for sure, yeah of course. Definitely I was aware of what the ideas were and what they were testing because I need to know that to try and be able to pinpoint for them best what’s going on and what directions are likely to be best for them.
Nico Rosberg

There is also the possibility Mercedes were able to advance their understanding of their 2013 car in other areas. Former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley explained the potential benefits of such a test to F1 Fanatic earlier this month.

Not surprisingly, Mercedes’ rivals firmly believe the test was a valuable opportunity:

Whenever you run the car, when you’re not allowed to test, when you have limited mileage, when the rules are written as they are, when you run a current car of course, for the way that Formula One is, with the way that the amount of technology and with the amount of data analysis there is, you’re always learning. Whether it be reliability, whether it be endurance, whether it be performance. So, of course… even if you’re testing a component for a supplier, you’re learning.

I think Formula One has moved an awfully long way over the last few years to ensure fairness and equality to all of the entrants. I think that if a team does carry out 1000km of additional testing with a current car, you’re going to learn something.
Christian Horner

Note that the FIA International Sporting Code states (in article 58) that not having gained an advantage will not be accepted as a defence if a car is found not to comply with the Technical Regulations. However Mercedes are being investigated for a potential breach of the Sporting Regulations, so that does not apply.

Secrecy

Neither Mercedes nor Pirelli volunteered information about the test until the rest of the paddock became aware of it – apparently following a meeting between the GPDA and the FIA.

However it is common for both the sport’s official tyre supplier and the teams to keep quiet about their testing plans. Pirelli do not advertise when their tyre tests with their own car are about to take place and top teams are secretive about the timing of their one-day aerodynamic tests during the season.

Brawn has repeatedly attacked the characterisation of the test as ‘secret’

There has been an unfortunate branding of the ‘secret’ test. It was a private test. It wasn’t a secret test. I think anyone who believes you can got to Barcelona and do three days of testing, or 1000km of testing, and not have anyone become aware of it is naive.

It was a private test, not a secret test and sporting integrity is very, very important to us. Very important to Mercedes. And as I say I think when the facts become apparent then people can make a better judgment of the situation.
Ross Brawn

One might argue that had more of the facts been made apparent at an earlier stage Mercedes would not find themselves refuting claims of a ‘secret’ test. That is the view of their rivals:

I think the lack of transparency is disappointing. That you get to learn these things second hand. I think it is important that there is transparency, of course.

If a supplier has issues then it needs to obviously deal with them but when all entrants are supposedly equal, it’s only right and proper that information is made transparently clear.
Christian Horner

Whether the test was kept secret from rival teams is less important than whether the test was kept secret from the FIA. This brings us back to the question of whether Mercedes have a ‘smoking gun’ proof that someone gave them permission to go testing.

The statement issued by the FIA after the matter was referred to the stewards indicates they did not receive final confirmation the test was going ahead:

Pirelli and Mercedes AMG were advised by the FIA that such a development test could be possible if carried out by Pirelli, as opposed to the team that would provide the car and driver, and that such tests would be conditional upon every team being given the same opportunity to test in order to ensure full sporting equity.

Following this information, the FIA received no further information about a possible test from Pirelli or Mercedes AMG. Furthermore, the FIA received no confirmation that all teams had been given an opportunity to take part in the test.
FIA statement

Potential outcomes

A simple majority of the tribunal’s judging panel will decide the verdict. The addressee of their decision (i.e. Mercedes) and the FIA, under the authority of the president, may appeal against it. This would take the matter to the FIA’s International Court of Appeal.

If Mercedes are found guilty the tribunal may impose the penalties defined by article 153 of the International Sporting Code: a reprimand, fines, obligation to perform work of public service, a time penalty, exclusion, suspension, disqualification or confiscation of championship points.

The FIA has previously punished teamd while exempting their drivers from a penalty, as with McLaren’s championship exclusion in 2007. As both Mercedes drivers participated in the test and stood to benefit from it, it is hard to see how the FIA could make a case for doing the same here.

What the key players are saying

I think we wouldn’t have done the Pirelli test unless we believed we could do the Pirelli test and I think when we get to the Tribunal, you’ll have your answers.
Ross Brawn

We believe that it is the responsibility of the entrant to comply with the regulations, so when it came to light that a test with a current car had taken place, our interpretation of the regulations is that that was in clear breach of them and therefore we raised a protest prior to the race for it to be dealt with as an issues by the FIA. It’s really an issue between the team and the FIA.

Obviously Pirelli have asked several teams to test, ourselves included but we have declined to do so because we felt that it wasn’t in line with the regulations, certainly with a current car. That’s the situation. It’s gone to the Tribunal and we trust in the FIA to make the appropriate decisions regarding it.

I think the important thing is that there needs to be absolute clarity moving forward in terms of what you can do and what you can’t do going forward, you know, what is testing and what isn’t testing. I think that’s more crucial than anything, it is to be fully resolved.
Christian Horner

Let’s hope Formula One can maintain its professionalism and we have faith that those who attempt to circumvent the regulations are pursued and prosecuted, or rather more prosecuted than pursued.
Luca di Montezemolo

Over to you

What do you think will be the outcome of Thursday’s Tribunal? Will Mercedes escape punishment?

Have your say in the comments.

Mercedes and Ferrari Pirelli tyre test row

• Will Mercedes escape sanction at FIA Tribunal?
• Montezemolo keen for Mercedes “prosecution”
• Mercedes test hearing set for June 20th
• Brawn says it was his decision to do test
• Rivals sceptical Mercedes learned nothing from test

Browse all Mercedes and Ferrari Pirelli tyre test row articles

Images © Daimler/Hoch Zwei, Ferrari/Ercole Colombo

In the round-up: Iconic British Formula 1 commentator Murray Walker has revealed that he has been diagnosed with a treatable form of cancer.

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Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more.

Murray Walker: F1 commentator diagnosed with cancer (BBC)

Murray Walker: “They’ve caught it incredibly early. It’s treatable, the doctors say my condition is mild and I’m very hopeful.”

Pirelli warns blocked tyre changes will mean four-stop races (Autosport)

Paul Hembery: “We would have needed to change the hard compound to avoid that, but to do that we would need the agreement from all the teams and we know that is not going to happen.”

£145 British Grand Prix tickets leave sales in the slow lane as fans rebel against price rises (Independent)

“The cheapest tickets for next’s Sunday’s race at Silverstone start at £145 – among the highest of any Grand Prix. This appears to have priced out many F1 enthusiasts as the downturn bites, with a course spokesman admitting to The Independent yesterday that sales “aren’t that strong.””

Ellinas to make test debut with Marussia this week (F1.com)

“Ellinas will conduct a scheduled straight-line aerodynamic evaluation with the team at the UK’s Kemble Airfield on Tuesday.”

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff says team ‘can do no more’ ahead of Testgate Tribunal hearing (SkyF1)

Toto Wolff: “On Thursday the judgement comes and we will see whether we can live with it. We have no feelings, neither a positive nor a negative. Our belief is we have done nothing wrong.”

Jenson Button says women will drive in Formula One again (Guardian)

Jenson Button: “It is possible. The big issue is that I don’t think women are given the opportunity at an early age. There are a couple of women racing in Nascar, have actually won races. I think it will change over the years, get women in [at] lower levels but it is a very demanding sport. It is specific training and taking time to get race fit. I personally think it’s possible.”

Tweets

Thoughts go out to Murray Walker, blood tests during recovery from fall injury showing he has cancer – which is treatable. #F1

— Maurice Hamilton (@MauriceHamilton) June 17, 2013

Racing fans ,millions of them,all wishing Murray Walker best wishes for speedy recovery. Mansell family send their love get well soon Murray

— Nigel Mansell CBE (@Mansell_Nigel) June 17, 2013

Our thoughts and best wishes go out to the legendary Murray Walker. Get well soon from all @WilliamsF1Team #murraywalker

— Williams F1 Team (@WilliamsF1Team) June 17, 2013

• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

After news that Williams stand to lose £20m after Jaguar pulled the plug on a joint supercar project, F1Fanatic reader @Colossal-Squid has sympathy for the Grove team.

Terrible to hear of more bad news for Williams. Not only are they having the worst season in their history but £20m isn’t exactly pocket change for their organisation either. I really hope Williams can find some success and soon. I can’t imagine F1 without Williams, and I equally can’t imagine that a team as big as Williams can survive long while losing both on the track and off it.
@Colossal-Squid

From the forum

Which was the most boring grand prix in recent memory?

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Chris P!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Denny Hulme, the 1967 world champion, was born on this day in 1936.

Hulme lost his life when he suffered a heart attack while competing in the Bathurst 1000 in 1992. At the age of 56, he was the first Formula One world champion to die of natural causes.