World Champions in Art, announces that the entire 32-­piece collection has been acquired by Sebastian Vettel

• Champions Collection for Champion Driver

World Champions in Art, the entity which was created to celebrate the achievement of all 32 of the FIA's world champion drivers in individual artistic depictions, is delighted to announce that the entire 32-­piece collection has been acquired by Sebastian Vettel, himself a four-­times World Champion.

Even before making his F1 début with BMW in 2007, Sebastian harboured a deep interest in the history of his chosen sport. His personal collection of sporting memorabilia already includes autographs of his 31 illustrious predecessors. Now he is the proud possessor of the collection of champions' images created by recognised international artist Mark Dickens in collaboration with Keith Sutton of Sutton Images.

Mark Dickens' involvement in the sport dates back to 2009.  After he had been commissioned by Abu Dhabi Motorsport Management to commemorate the opening of the new Yas Marina circuit, his work came to the attention of F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.  Mr Ecclestone then commissioned him to create a series of paintings, one for each of that year's Grand Prix rounds. The commission brought together the high-­tension world of Formula One with the architectural and cultural dynamism of each host city.

The images of the champion drivers have been produced in Dickens' trademark style. He uses mixed media, building layer upon layer of photographic transfers, hand­made paper, gold leaf, fabric, resin paint and text. 

As an integral part of each painting, drivers and leading motorsport personalities were asked to express in their own words what made their chosen World Champion special. The quotes have been incorporated by Mark into each painting, providing a fascinating insight into what each driver represented to those who knew him or were inspired by him.  *See attached page  (Each person who agreed to write a quote will be given a limited edition print as agreed).

Sebastian Vettel:

“I have long held an interest in the history of Formula 1 and the champions of this sport.

When I first heard of this project from Keith Sutton three years ago I was fascinated, but it wasn’t until I saw the completed original art works in London last December that I realised how impressive they are.

The addition of the quotes collected by Keith from so many different motorsport figures gives a great insight into the champions. I know I will appreciate these works for years to come.”

Bernie Ecclestone:

"I first became aware of Mark Dickens work in 2009. In 2011 I commissioned Mark to create 19 paintings, showcasing each of that years’ races. The following year we presented each painting to the respective promoter.

I was delighted to see that Mark had teamed up with Keith Sutton to collaborate on this new series. World Champions in Art.

There has never been a collaboration like this before.

I've known Keith Sutton since he started his career in Motorsport photography almost 40 years ago. He has demonstrated to me his enduring passion for the history of the sport.

Now that Sebastian has acquired the collection of 32 World champions how appropriate it is to know that the works now belong to a World Champion."

Keith Sutton:

"I was delighted to be involved in such a unique project, the likes of which will never be repeated.

I would like to send my heartfelt thanks to everyone that helped to make this possible. To all the 215 motorsport personalities from drivers, team principals, team managers, journalists and photographers to current F1 drivers and past drivers who gave hand written quotes and of course the artist Mark Dickens whose unique style complimented the images from the Phipps/Sutton Images Collection.”

Mark Dickens:

“It has been a pleasure to collaborate with Keith Sutton on this project.

I first approached Keith about my idea to realise this project some 3 years ago. He was delighted to be part of this historic series of Artworks and Quotes.

It’s a proud day for me to know that the 32 paintings now belong to a great World Champion.

In addition to the 32 paintings, we produced a painting about Bernie Ecclestone with the sale proceeds going to Great Ormond Street Hospital. There will be a cheque presented to the charity at Silverstone during the British GP this week."

Featured Quotes

A selection of some of the quotes featured in the World Champions in Art Collection:

“For me, Juan Manuel Fangio will always be the greatest Formula One driver. A man of enormous talent, humility, honesty, honour and integrity. A man I admired.  It was an honour to compete against him and an even greater honour to become his teammate.  He was a wonderful friend and teacher.  It has been my pleasure to follow him on the track and in life.”

Sir Stirling Moss OBE

“As a child in the 1960’s my Uncle took me to Brands Hatch and Silverstone to see the Grand Prix. His words were always ‘we’re going to see Jim Clark win’. Jim Clark was one of the all time great drivers and a true sportsman.  His driving style and still behind the wheel was supreme and silky smooth.  I never had the chance to meet him but its clear to me that he was a gentleman and a good human being. I was out at a rally with my Father when we heard that Jim Clark had died. I remember the moment and location to this day. The truly great so often die young.”

Martin Brundle, Former Formula One Driver, Sky F1 Commentator

James Hunt “Genius, Legend, Party Animal, Playboy……World Champion….Perfect!"

Kimi Raikkonen, 2007 F1 World Champion

“I have known a number of great drivers during my time in motorsport.  Some I raced against or drove for my team.  Others I have watched from the sidelines. Ferrari played a special part in my life, and I have always considered it as unfinished business.  Fernando Alonso must be feeling the same way after performing some great drives for the team. Michael Schumacher achieved in being part of an international team at Maranello much of what I had dreamt was possible.  I therefore nominate Michael Schumacher as being a special World Champion.”

John Surtees OBE, Four-time 500cc Motorcycle World Champion, Former Formula One World Champion in 1964

“I never really got on with Nelson (Piquet) that much.  Nelson was reasonably arrogant and ill mannered. Apart from that he was a lovely bloke.”

Alan Jones, F1 World Champion 1980

“Michael Schumacher – Steel on the outside but a soft heart to those who were part of the team. The ultimate professional who raised the bar in so many areas. Never finished a race fatigued, had a razor sharp mind and a huge driving talent. Not hard to see why he won seven World Championships. Nobody who worked with Michael has a bad word to say about him – The Ultimate Accolade?”

Ross Brawn, Team Principal Mercedes 2013

“Jochen Rindt was a pure racer. He became a true inspiration when I was becoming a man. He was a lunatic in a very positive way, seeking out for any possible challenge on 4 wheels. His loss was tragic as he had so much more to give to Formula 1. He was a great champion. Shame I never met him!”

Sebastian Vettel,Formula One Four-Time World Champion

The Race of Champions was held at the Olympic park in London this weekend With Nissan's racing stars.

• Nissan drivers put on incredible show at Race Of Champions
• G-Drive Racing seals LM P2 Drivers and Teams titles at final round of FIA WEC in Bahrain

Two of Nissan’s 2015 champions, Sir Chris Hoy and Alex Buncombe, put in an incredible performance at the annual Race Of Champions (ROC), held at the former Olympic Stadium in London last weekend.

LM P3 Champion Hoy showed off the skills he has learned on the Nissan Driver Development Program and aced the Celebrity Skills Challenge, fighting off stiff competition from fellow Olympians Sir Ben Ainslie, Denise Lewis and Greg Rutherford, along with 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Mike Tindall and “TOWIE” star Joey Essex.

The main competition on Friday was the ROC Nations Cup, where drivers compete in pairs for national glory. As the Race Of Champions was hosted by the UK this year, there were two Team Englands. 

Team England 1 comprised touring and sportscar stars Andy Priaulx and Jason Plato, while for Team England 2 Nissan’s Alex Buncombe teamed up with 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button.

The Nations Cup was a very close fight, but despite reaching the semi-finals, Buncombe and Button were knocked out. This meant that the final chance for glory would come the following day.

The biggest excitement came during the final event – the Race Of Champions – where the best drivers in the world go head-to-head in a knockout competition to find out who is best. Buncombe made light work of his first two challengers, but then he faced Andy Priaulx in the quarterfinals. 

Priaulx was the favorite for the win, but Buncombe stole the show with three masterful drives to win the heat and take his place in the semi-finals.

The final four drivers in the 2015 Race of Champions were Sebastian Vettel, David Coulthard, Tom Kristensen and Alex Buncombe. In an incredibly close semi-final, Vettel beat Coulthard, and then nine-time Le Mans winner Kristensen nudged out Buncombe. 

Nissan’s Blancpain Champion fought hard to make the final four and signed off his 2015 racing season by demonstrating that he can compete against the best of the best. Victory went to four-time Formula 1 World Champion Vettel.

“What an amazing event,” said Buncombe. “I had a great time, and I was very pleased to reach the final four in the Race of Champions. 

Competing against people you have always looked up to is a little daunting, but there was a real spirit at ROC. It’s like a celebrating a great season of racing with even more great racing. I hope I can come back again next year.”

G-Drive Racing Takes the LM P2 Spoils in Bahrain

The G-Drive Racing squad came out on top in the battle for LM P2 honors at the final round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Bahrain on Saturday.  Roman Rusinov (RUS), Julien Canal (FRA) and Sam Bird (GB) won the six-hour race in the Nissan NISMO powered No.26 Ligier JS P2, securing both the driver’s and teams’ championships in the LM P2 class.

This result wraps up another successful season for the NISMO-tuned Nissan VK45DE engine, which has powered every LM P2 pole position and victory in the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship.

ITALY - Ferrari owners from South East Asia tour to the countries and converge on Sepang for some track fun.

A common passion to forge bonds of friendship between the countries

A large group of Ferrari clients have completed a tour from May 28 to June 1, it departed from Singapore and Indonesia and arrived in Malaysia. 

And 'the Ferrari Southeast Asia Grand Tour 2015 during which hundreds of cars of different models from the Prancing Horse will come together to strengthen the links between the Ferrari owners of these countries.

During the tour, participants had the opportunity to test their Ferrari through the streets and famous landscapes such as Orchard Road and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, Genting Highland and Berjaya Hills in Malaysia.

The cars also had some fun on the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. On this track, which this year has seen the success of the SF15-T of Sebastian Vettel, the tour participants were able to test themselves under the direction of experts of the program Pilot Course.

As it happens to other events of the Ferrari Owners Club, the tour will also have a charitable purpose, supporting the international Special Olympics program to help children with special needs.

This exciting tour concluded with a celebratory dinner at the iconic Clifford Pier of Fullerton Bay Hotel, Singapore.

With a passion for driving satisfied and the bonds of friendship strengthened, there is no doubt that Ferrari clients in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia will look forward to meet for the next round of the Prancing Horse.

Infiniti looks ahead to the Singapore Grand Prix.

Character counts for a lot in F1, and for any new circuit on the F1 calendar, the establishment of a recognizable identity is half the battle in attracting a fan base and holding on to your slot on the schedule. We'll spare the blushes of those that have fallen by the wayside and instead point to Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina and Austin's COTA as two places that have done a decent job of building a good identity – one as high tech, the other down home, over the past few years.

However, when it comes to nailing an identity from the off, we reckon few can compete with the Singaporeans, whose glittering night race is surely the biggest spectacle of the season.

Indeed, ever since it arrived on the calendar in 2008, Singapore has firmly established itself as one of F1's must-visit venues, blending glamour, exotic spice and several million candle power with a punishing harbor side street circuit that's sort of like a more macho Monaco.

And in that are the big pluses of the Singapore GP. Under floodlights and against the city's amazing skyline, this is one of the most visually stunning races you'll ever see.

Attending it is dead easy. Fly into Changi airport, take a 20-minute taxi ride downtown, install yourself in a decent hotel, walk, take the subway or a taxi to the race every day for not much cash, and that's it. Singapore actually might be the most fan friendly race of the whole season.

The Marina Bay Street Circuit itself is situated in the heart of the city center, with the Colonial District to the North and the Raffles City/Citylink/Marina Square complex of malls to the South. It's also fairly close to Clarke Quay with its plethora of bars and restaurants.

It can be a little bit tricky navigating the closed streets on race weekend and hard to get a cab due to the closures, but with the aid of a decent map you'll soon figure it out, and most of the places you'll want to get to are no more than a 15-minute cab ride away.

In terms of where to watch from, well, it's a city so whatever grandstand you opt for will afford a limited view thanks to the buildings all around. It's no big deal, though, as most grandstands have jumbo screens opposite so you can always keep in touch with the action. If it were up to us we'd opt for the grandstands at Turn 2, Turn 3 and the Stamford Grandstand at Turn 7. The Bay grandstand may be cheaper than others, but it does afford great views across, yes, you guessed it, the bay.

The Track

It's not the longest in terms of distance at just 5.065 km, but it is definitely the longest of the season in terms of duration. With 23 corners, it's a stop-start affair and that means a lap is time-consuming. In the six editions of the race to date, every single one has gone to within four-minutes of the two-hour cut-off point. In the case of the 2012 race won by Seb, the race lasted two hours, 26 seconds and was ended two laps shy of the 61-lap total due to several stoppages during the grand prix.

Given its duration, the race is tough on the drivers and the cars. The lap is full of braking events, and those brakes can deteriorate quite badly as the race unfolds, making all those corners even more taxing especially when you're trying to engage fading brakes over the bumpy street surface.

The stop-start nature of the track also means drivers are up and down the gears all the time. On average there are about 80 gear changes per lap here, about 50 percent more that most races. Add all that to the fact that even with an 8:00 p.m. (local time) start, the temperature still regularly hits 30˚C and it becomes apparent that despite the slow speeds this is a punishing ride.

Powerplants haven't taken a real beating here in the past, with about 46 percent of the lap run at full throttle with the last generation of cars, but that could all change this year. The long race and high temperatures and humidity could stress the new hybrid power units severely. Due to its stop-start nature, Singapore is also one of the most fuel inefficient circuits of the year, and with strict fuel usage regulations in force this season, race management and strategy will be interesting.

Five Odd Singapore Facts

• Singapore is one of the 20 smallest countries in the world, at 426 square miles.

• The government has its own matchmaking department for citizens, which was originally called the Social Development Unit (SDU). However, locals gave it the slightly disparaging nickname of 'Single, Desperate and Ugly', so the Unit was changed to Network.

• The world's highest man-made waterfall, standing at 30 meters, is located at the Jurong BirdPark.

• The famous Singapore Sling cocktail was first served in 1915 at the Long Bar of the Raffles Hotel by Hainanese bartender by Ngiam Tong Boon. The Times described the "original recipe" as mixing two measures of gin with one of cherry brandy and one of orange, pineapple and lime juice.

• Finally, a Singapore Grand Prix existed between 1966 and 1973. The event was a Formula Libre race, essentially meaning that racers were invited to 'run what you brung'. The last winner of the pre-F1 Singapore GP was Australian Vern Schuppan, driving a March 722. During the race Schuppan was leading fellow Aussie Malcolm Ramsay when Schuppan's car kicked up some stones. Ramsay's petrol tank was punctured and he was covered in fuel. Ramsay manfully raced on until, in the words of his mechanic Angus Lamont, "the pain of the petrol burning his balls forced him to retire"!

Red Bull drivers review this weekends Grand Prix in Belgium.

Daniel Ricciardo

"Above all, Spa is a racing circuit - one that really encourages exciting wheel-to-wheel action. That said, F1 has changed over the years, and whereas Eau Rouge and Blanchimont were once the stand out sections, now it's probably the Pouhon downhill left-hander at Turns 10 and 11. That's seriously, seriously fast – and probably a good place to watch the race from for anyone prepared for a bit of a hike through the Ardennes. 

Of course, given the Belgium Grand Prix draws in all the petrolheads, everyone's perfectly happy to slog through the woods to find the best view. You bump into people who've been going to the race for five decades. And if you ever go into a pub or restaurant in one of the villages around the circuit, chances are you'll see pictures on the wall of great drivers from back in the day, standing where you are and doing what you're doing. It's great stuff."

Sebastian Vettel

"The race in Spa started our series of nine victories last year, which I always like to remember. The Belgian circuit offers all possible turns and maneuvers: ultra-fast, medium-speed, heavy braking and fast straights. The height difference is so great that you always have the feeling of riding a roller coaster, especially in Eau Rouge. 

The weather can also be very unpredictable and a challenge for drivers and teams. It should never be underestimated; within minutes it can change from heavy rain to sunshine. As well as that, the safety car often comes out at Spa. The track is one of my favorites of the year because it feels like it has grown out of the nature that is all around it. It blends with the natural setting perfectly."

Vettel and Ricciardo previews the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel

I like the race and atmosphere at the Hungaroring and have good memories of the races there. Even though I have never won in Budapest, it is still on my to do list. It is quite a slow track but also one that can catch you out. It has some tight, twisty corners and is quite a bumpy track, so you cannot underestimate it. It is normally hot in Hungary for the race, which makes it a challenge to drive, but also makes a nice weekend for the fans watching. I really like the setting of the race track, just outside Budapest and near to the Danube. In the evenings, I enjoy going for a walk along the banks or sometimes a jog in the morning. The Hungarian GP is the last race before the summer break, so we will be working hard to keep up the momentum and have a good result to enjoy over the holidays.

Daniel Ricciardo

I’ve always enjoyed the Hungaroring, but because it’s so tight and twisty, it’s maybe not the ideal layout for a grand prix. It’s like Monaco without the walls. It’s one of those weird situations where the driving is very satisfying but the racing, perhaps, is not. It’s a great, great track in qualifying where you’re driving on low fuel and fresh tires. There’s no let up, and you’re completely in the moment. In a race though, overtaking is difficult because the track is quite narrow, and that exciting sequence of corners doesn’t give you the opportunity to line up a pass. DRS has improved things, and the first corner and the downhill sequence that follows can be quite exciting.