F1 Madness

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  • F1 2013: Post-qualifying press conference – US GP

    F1 2013: Post-qualifying press conference – US GP

    UNILATERAL

    Q: Sebastian, you saved the best ’til last there. A satisfying pole I imagine here in America, in very difficult conditions it looked like today, and also on a special day for your team boss Christian Horner, his 40th birthday.

    Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, happy birthday to Christian. Obviously a good result to have both cars in the front row for tomorrow. It was a tricky session because the wind, I think, picked up quite a lot from this morning and… yeah, it does influence the behaviour of the cars so, not that easy, especially around the high-speed corners. I wasn’t that happy with my first run in Q3 but I think I had a solid run at the end which I think was enough to put the car on pole. I think it was very close with Mark, he seemed to get closer and closer the longer the weekend went on. Fortunately I could just manage to stay ahead. I think he might have had a mistake in his final shot but yeah, obviously very happy with pole position today. I really like this place, I like the circuit and looking forward to tomorrow. I think it’s important as well to start on the clean side, so we’ll see what we can do.

    Q: Mark, did you think you’d done enough after that first run? A tenth and a half over Sebastian in Q3, doesn’t happen all that often. Where did it go wrong in that final run?

    Mark Webber: No, I didn’t think I’d done enough, you need to improve. Obviously there are two shots, we both had two sets of options. The first part of the lap was very good, I was happy with that. Didn’t quite get 19 and 20 as I wanted. If I just repeated what I did initially in Q3 probably it was going to be enough but tried to squeeze a bit more out. It’s easy to unload the car a little bit in these conditions, so yeah, sometimes you’re happy that you’ve given your best and you’re on the front row but today one slipped through the fingers. But anyway we’re up there and well done to Seb, obviously. He put the three sectors together so… I put two-and-half together and just dropped it in the last sector, so, yeah, it’s not satisfying when you do that. It’s not your job to do that. Pushing the boundaries and overall, yeah, pretty happy to be there.

    Q: Romain, pretty consistent form from you, your third top-three qualifying in the last six grands prix, already five podiums in this season. Some good momentum behind you at the moment.

    Romain Grosjean: Yeah, I think we are doing a good job. It wasn’t an easy weekend for us. We struggled a little bit yesterday and this morning. I think conditions are not so easy starting early in the morning – and I don’t like to wake-up early as well so it doesn’t make it easy. And then I think quali went pretty good. We did manage to go through Q1 on prime. That wasn’t the plan but we were quick enough and then, quickest of the rest but it seems that those blue guys are very, very quick. We have to still try to catch them, the race is long and, y’know we will see what we can do with the strategy and everything but it’s good to be here and good to show that we are still in the front row.

    Q: Sebastian, looking towards tomorrow’s race. Are you someone who feels a sense of unfinished business, given what happened in the way you lost the race here last year? Is it important for you to tick this one off?

    SV: Ah, well, I think no regrets to last year. Obviously it was a tight battle with Lewis. I think in the end he was just a little bit quicker so we were having a hard time to stay ahead of him. Obviously the way he then passed was not the nicest way with traffic but, y’know, it’s a long time ago, so looking forward to tomorrow and, as I said, I like the circuit. Yeah, definitely, if you have the chance to win then you want to go for it. At the moment things are looking good. We did the job right today, focus on tomorrow but we go step-by-step. It’s a long race, tyres could be tricky. I think the strategy should be more or less clear but then again with these tyres you never know.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: So Sebastian, obviously you made it through Q1 only using the harder tyres, a tactic that all three of you adopted. I’m interested though in your final run in Q3. It’s not the first time that we’ve seen you do this where you perhaps hold back a fraction in the first sector in order to have more performance in the final sector which is where you seem to make the difference today. Is that a conscious tactic or just the way things worked out?

    SV: Well, I think first of all Mark is quick in the high-speed stuff, so I knew it will always be close. I think he was a little bit quicker in sector one. But you’re right, obviously, it’s a long lap. Especially the first run in Q3. I started to feel a little bit uncomfortable with the rears at the end of the second sector and then in the last sector, so… yeah, I think I got it a little bit better the last time around but also tried to… well, you can’t look after the tyres that much on one lap but just tried to keep it clean, get a clean lap. I knew I had more pace than the first run, so managed to do that and fortunately managed to get pole.

    Q: Mark, twice pole, once second in the last four races. A very competitive run of form at the very end of your Formula One career. Not having second thoughts about retiring, given how well you’re going?

    MW: No, that’s why it was so frustrating to not get pole today. Would have been good to get another one off Seb at the end with a few grey hairs – but didn’t happen, he did the lap. Anyway, I’m having no second thoughts. Good timing for me. Hand over to quicker guys.

    Q: You seem to be driving with a lot of confidence. Is it because you’re feeling very relaxed, heading for the exit door?

    MW: I don’t think so. I think the tyres, when they’re fresh-ish I can still turn not a bad lap. So, confident we can have a good race tomorrow. It’s a pretty nice circuit with some nice, fast sections at the start. All in all my form this year in terms of pace hasn’t been ridiculous. Obviously Seb’s been still pretty strong in quali overall but we know we’ve performed pretty strong in terms of pace in general. Obviously we’ve lost a huge amount of points for other reasons but want to finish the year strongly and hopefully we can do that again tomorrow.

    Q: Romain, you too got through Q1 using only the harder tyres. It’s not the first time that you’ve done that. It’s a fairly confident thing to do, given that the cut-off is quite marginal sometimes. It’s caught you out at other times. Can you talk a little about the confidence you’ve felt going into this session – and did you always feel throughout Q1 that you were going to get away with it again?

    RG: To be honest, it wasn’t the plan today. After India I think we had to take a little bit of caution, the team constructors’ is very important to us so it wasn’t the plan to go… we were prime and option but basically the car felt very good on prime, lap time was good enough and when I came back they told me “that may be good enough”, and then it was. So an easier time that what we knew previously.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, what does it mean for you, this pole position, after such a tough fight against Mark?

    SV: Well, I think both of us would like to have the upper hand. I think two weeks ago I felt like Mark probably feels now and I feel like he felt two weeks ago, so obviously very happy for myself. I had a good run in the end. I think it’s always tricky to go with the track on Saturday afternoon, as the track is changing, I think you are able to extract more and more from the tyres, given that you set up the car in the right way. It’s not that simple but I think it’s the same for all of us, so happy that we did the job today and as I touched on earlier, I think it’s important for the race, so now focusing on the start.

    Q: (Peter Hubbard – COTA PR) Mark, during qualifying and practice three there were several spins on turn 19; was it wet down there? What seemed to be the problem, several drivers went off at that point?

    MW:Turn 19 is quite blind, you can’t quite see the apex, you have to imagine that our eyes are very low in the cockpit so when you go there in a Formula One car it’s not easy to see the apex so you have a little bit of a leap of faith in terms of how accurate you can be in the first part. Sometimes you run out of road, sometimes you don’t. I was in that club in the last part of Q3. It’s easy to not get that right just because of the blind nature of the corner.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Seb, can you explain the shake ‘n’ bake reference that we heard over the radio messages at the end of qualifying between you and your engineer?

    SV: Well, he started it! Yeah, I think there was a movie a couple of years ago which was about racing and I think it was more a piss-take than an actual movie. It was a nice quote, I think it suits. Obviously we’re in America… especially my engineer has a lot of history here, knows a lot of people, he did a lot of racing (here) early in his career. You need to ask him whether it’s what he used to say when he secured pole position in the US.

    Q: (John Sturbin – Ft. Worth Star-Telegram) Sebastian, if you win tomorrow, will you continue the doughnut celebration thing, very American?

    SV: Well, to worry about that is a nice problem to have but first of all we have to focus on tomorrow’s race. I’m sure Mark will try everything to get past as well as the people behind – Romain and so on – so it will be a long race, there are a lot of things that can happen. I think we always push the car to the limit so you never know what might happen, therefore I don’t think it’s the highest priority to be honest to worry about that right now. I think it has to happen very spontaneously.

    Q: Because you are going for your eighth consecutive win tomorrow which would be a new record if you pull it off? Do the numbers matter to you at this point?

    SV: Well, I think maybe I’m not that clever so I’m not trying to think that much about these things. Lately I seem to have succeeded so I think it’s not the right mindset to go into the race thinking about a higher target than just the race. So I think we’ve done pretty well with that kind of approach so far, the last couple of years, so I don’t see a reason to change.

  • F1 2013: Post Qualifying Report – Vettel Storms To Texas Pole

    F1 2013: Post Qualifying Report – Vettel Storms To Texas Pole

    Sebastian Vettel has secured pole position for the 2013 US Grand Prix.

    In dominant form since hitting the Circuit of the Americas on Friday morning the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were untroubled as they locked out the front row of the grid. This is the 44th career pole position of Vettel’s Formula 1 career.

    The first session of qualifying saw the usual suspects cut with Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde qualifying ahead of Jules Bianchi, Charles Pic and Max Chilton. Adrian Sutil failed to advance to the second part of qualifying however the German was struck by a mechanical issue which may have contributed to his 17th place starting position. Pastor Maldonado will start tomorrow’s race in 18th and chose the post-race media interview to hurl accusations at the Williams team. “You have to ask the team why the car is so slow,” Maldonado said. Deputy team Principal Claire Williams later commented that the Williams team would never place one of its drivers at a disadvantage. It seems that the relationship between Maldonado and Williams has well and truly broken down.

    The second session of qualifying saw several high-profile drivers be eliminated. Struggling for pace throughout the weekend Felipe Massa’s elimination may not have been as big a surprise as that of Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg. Rosberg later contended that the tyres were to blame for his lack of pace. McLaren’s Jenson Button also failed to advance to the top ten shoot-out and will drop a further three places of the grid for overtaking under a red flag during Friday’s first free practice session.

    The final ten minutes of qualifying resumed an eerily familiar storyline as Sebastian Vettel secured pole position ahead of Mark Webber. Lotus’ Romain Grosjean underlined his qualifying speed with third on the grid ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton. Fernando Alonso, suffering from back pain and headaches, somehow slotted his Ferrari into sixth overall followed by McLaren’s Sergio Perez. Stand-in driver Heikki Kovalainen hit all the right marks as he qualified an impressive eigtht. The star of the day was Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. The Finn qualified a notoriously difficult car in ninth overall. The top ten was rounded out Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez.

    The full time-sheet:

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  • Vettel and Webber make it a 1-2 in FP3 in America

    Vettel and Webber make it a 1-2 in FP3 in America

    Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber made it a Red Bull 1-2 at the end of FP3 at the Circuit of Americas.

    In a rather straight forward FP3, the two Red Bulls once again stamped their authority on the session with Vettel finishing off the session in P1 with a 1:36.733. Webber finished the session in P2, 0.203s off the pace of Vettel with a 1:36.936. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton slotted into P3 with a 1:37.064. Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Lotus’ Romain Grosjean were P4 and P5 respectively.

    The woes for Ferrari continued this session with Fernando Alonso finishing off the session in P11 and Felipe Massa finishing off in P17. Those were the same two positions they held with the prime and the option tyre, showing that there was no improvement in pace from them throughout the session. It will be very hard for them to make Q3 and it will be a surprise if one of them do make it into Q3.

    Williams’ Valtteri Bottas showed very good pace throughout the session, with his race engineer telling him that they were going quicker and quicker throughout the session.

    If the times of FP3 are anything to go by, we are in for a very interesting qualifying. We could see a few surprises.

    Below is the full time sheet for FP3 for the 2013 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix

    FP3_USGP2013

  • Vettel Fastest in Free Practice 2 at the Circuit of the Americas

    Vettel Fastest in Free Practice 2 at the Circuit of the Americas

    Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel topped the time sheets at the end of Free Practice 2 for the American Grand Prix at the Circuit of Americas.

    Vettel topped the table with a 1:37.305, his team mate Mark Webber finished the session P2 with a 1:37.420. The Mercedes cars of Nico Rosberg (1:37.785) and Lewis Hamilton(1:37.958) finished P3 and P4 respectively. Lotus stand in driver, Hekki Kovalainen, finished the session in an admirable P5 with a 1:38.073.

    Red Bull once again showed that they are in a league of their own in long run pace with Vettel not even pushing with his race engineer, Rocky, telling him to manage his pace. Their pace combined with very low tyre degradation and the cars’ ability to manage the tyres so well, will make them unstoppable in the race.

    It was another horrible afternoon for Ferrari with Fernando Alonso finishing the session in P10 and Felipe Massa finishing in P12. They were struggling with plenty of snap over steer in the first sector of the lap. They’re making it rather tough for themselves to keep hold onto third place in the championship.

    McLaren’s Jenson Button had a three place grid penalty handed down to him for overtaking under red flag conditions in FP1. He finished the session in P9.

    As it stands, Red Bull have outright pace over everyone.

    Below is the full time sheet for Free Practice 2 for the 2013 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.

    FP2_America2013

  • Alonso on top of Timsheets in FP1 for the United States Grand Prix

    Alonso on top of Timsheets in FP1 for the United States Grand Prix

    Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished on top of the time sheets in a rather protracted first free practice session for the United States Grand Prix.

    The session began by being delayed for 10 minutes due to dense fog and because the medical helicopter was not at the track. 40 Minutes after the scheduled start of FP1 the session began but was shortened to 1 hour. Drivers that were only running in FP1 were keen to get out on track and show what they can do. But 15 minutes into the session, the red flag was out again. Oddly enough, the medical helicopter had not yet arrived at the track.

    After another long wait, the medical helicopter finally arrived at the track and the session was restarted. With just a little under 40 minutes of running all the drivers were out on track and setting times.

    Alonso set a 1:38.343 to go quickest. McLaren’s Jenson Button finished the session in P2 with a 1:38.371, just 0.028s slower than Alonso. The surprise for the morning was Williams’ Valtteri Bottas who finished the session in P3 with a time of 1:38.388.

    Hekki Kovalainen in his first outing for Lotus was 13th with a time of 1:39.487. His team mate, Romain Grosjean finished P11 with a 1:39.238, a gap of 0.105s to Kovalainene.  Not too bad for his first time driving a Lotus.

    Rookie Daniil Kyat, driving the Toro Rosso, finished the session in 17th, his team mate Daniel Ricciardo 16th. The gap between the two was just 0.2s. Not to bad for a rookie that just recently obtained his super licence.

    Below is the full timing sheet for FP1 for the 2013 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix

    FP1_America2013

     

  • Raikkonen undergoes successful back surgery

    Raikkonen undergoes successful back surgery

    Kimi Raikkonen has undergone successful back surgery according to the Lotus F1 Team.

    The team released a statement with regard to Raikkonen’s surgery a short while ago. The statement read as follows:

    “As planned, Kimi Räikkönen underwent back surgery yesterday at The University Hospital of Strasbourg.Lotus F1 Team is happy to report that the operation was totally successful, according to Professor Afshin Gangi….Kimi will now rest for a few days & he will start his recovery process as early as next week…Everyone at the track and at Enstone wishes him a quick recovery.”

    BZH1nfEIMAEAYSuThe Finn’s manager, Steve Robertson, confirmed last week that Raikkonen would undergo back surgery and, as a result, miss the final two races of the 2013 season. Lotus have signed the services of Heikki Kovalainen for the remainder of the season.

    The team, famous for the Twitter hashtags kept the Finn in mind as he starts his recovery process.

    Photo credit: @LotusF1Team

     

     

  • Confirmed: Kovalainen to replace Raikkonen for final two races

    Confirmed: Kovalainen to replace Raikkonen for final two races

    Lotus have confirmed that Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen will indeed be replacing Kimi Raikkonen for the remaining two races of the 2013 season. Raikkonen will miss the remaining two races of the season as he will be undergoing back surgery.

    It emerged yesterday that following Hulkenberg turning down an offer to take over, Kovalainen became the next favourite to drive out the season for the team.

    Lotus have announced the news via Twitter saying, “@H_Kovalainen will join the team for the final 2GPs this year #WelcomeHeikki #GetWellSoonKimi”.

    The move comes as a surprise for many who expected that 2012 GP2 Champion Davide Valsecchi – Lotus’ reserve driver – would step into the cockpit for the Austin and Brazilian Grand Prix.

    Lotus team principal Eric Boullier said in a statement on the team’s website, “Obviously we had to move quickly following the news of Kimi’s non-participation in the final two races of this season, and we found ourselves facing a difficult decision in terms of who should take the wheel in Austin and São Paulo. On the one hand we had our reserve driver Davide Valsecchi – who is a talented young driver that has shown a great deal of promise – and on the other we had the opportunity to bring in a seasoned Formula 1 competitor in Heikki.”

    “Whilst we have every faith in Davide’s abilities, we are obviously involved in a tight Constructors’ Championship battle, so it was decided that the experience Heikki could bring to the team would be invaluable as we aim to finish the year in the best position possible. We must thank Tony Fernandes and Caterham F1 Team for their professional conduct in allowing Heikki to join us for the final races of this season.”

    Kovalainen, who has experience with the current cars and tyres having done FP1 work for the Caterham team, is also gearing up for a full time return to the Caterham team in 2014.

    Kovalainen is very excited about the opportunity saying, “It is a fantastic opportunity for me to join Lotus F1 Team for the final two races of 2013. We’ve seen this year that the E21 is a car which can win races and finish on the podium, so I will be pushing hard for the best results possible. Jumping into a car so late in the year when you have not been competing in the races all season will be a challenge, but I know the team at Enstone well so I have no concerns about getting up to speed. This is a great opportunity for me, so I would like to thank Tony Fernandes and Caterham F1 Team for allowing me to take advantage of it.”

     

  • McLaren confirm Kevin Magnussen for 2014

    McLaren confirm Kevin Magnussen for 2014

    McLaren have confirmed that Kevin Magnussen will partner Jenson Button in 2014.

    This follows Sergio Perez’s announcement that he will be leaving the team at the end of the 2013 season.

    The 21 year old Magnussen won the Formula Renault 3.5 Series this season and tested for McLaren in Abu Dhabi last year and at Silverstone earlier this season.

    “I’m absolutely overjoyed to be making my Formula 1 debut with McLaren,” said Magnussen.

    “I’ll put it simply: this team is the best. It’s been my dream to drive for McLaren ever since I was a small kid, and it’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve dedicated almost every day of my life to achieving the goal of becoming a McLaren Formula 1 driver.”

    “I have an enormous amount of respect for everyone at McLaren, and I want to say a massive ‘thank you’ to everyone, but most of all to Martin [Whitmarsh] and his senior colleagues, for giving me this chance. I won’t let you down, guys!”

    Magnussen also said that Jenson Button would be the ideal team mate for him, “Equally, in Jenson, I have absolutely the ideal team-mate. He’s extremely quick, obviously, but he’s also very experienced and superbly capable from a technical perspective. He’s a Formula 1 world champion, which is what one day I also hope to become, and I’m determined to learn as much as I can from him.”

    Martin Whitmarsh added that McLaren were delighted to have Magnussen on board for 2014. “We’re delighted that Kevin will be joining Jenson as a McLaren Formula 1 race driver for 2014,” he said.

    “Their confirmation is an important step for us as we continue to strengthen our organisation ahead of the 2014 season. Next year, we’ll witness the biggest raft of technical changes to Formula 1 in many years, and every team and manufacturer will be pushed to the limit as they try their best to adapt to those new challenges.”

    “Jenson’s race-winning speed, intelligence and racecraft have long been a crucial advantage to McLaren, but it’s his skill as a development driver and his peerless technical feedback that will be equally valuable as we make the transition into a new and complex technical formula during the winter and new year.”

    He also sang Magnussen’s praises saying, “Kevin, too, is clearly very talented and very determined, and we therefore have high hopes for him. Moreover, every time he’s tested our Formula 1 car, he’s been very quick and very methodical, and his feedback has been first-class.”

    “Furthermore, the manner in which he won this year’s World Series by Renault 3.5 Championship was truly outstanding, showcasing as it did not only his impressive natural pace but also his increasing maturity and ability to structure and manage a championship campaign.”

    Whitmarsh also thanked Perez for his contribution to the team in 2013.

    “I want to take this opportunity to thank Checo, who has developed well during a difficult season, as his recent run of points-scoring finishes underlines. He’s a lovely guy and a fine driver – fast and combative – and I’m sure he’ll build on that firm foundation in 2014. All at McLaren wish him well for the future.”

    Perez’s future remains uncertain at this point in time. He has said that he had no idea that McLaren would not be keeping him on and as such it’s going to be difficult for him to now secure a drive at this late point in the season.

     

  • Michael Schumacher rejects Lotus offer

    Michael Schumacher rejects Lotus offer

    Lotus have been working hard at replacing Kimi Raikkonen who will miss the final two races of the season to have back surgery.

    After being rejected by Nico Hulkenberg yesterday, the team approached Michael Schumacher who also turned down their offer to make an Formula One comeback at the Austin and Brazilian Grands Prix.

    Sabine Kehm, Schumacher’s spokeswoman, confirmed the approach to the 44-year-old, who quit F1 last year after a three-year comeback with Mercedes following his earlier retirement from Ferrari.

    “Michael’s performance against Nico (Rosberg last year) and Nico’s performance against Lewis (Hamilton this year) made a lot of people aware of how good Michael still was,” she said.

    “Plus, he is still very fit. But he just feels so good in his new life.”

    She added that Schumacher has been approached on several occasions since he’s retirement.

    Lotus are expected to announce an agreement with former Renault, McLaren and Caterham driver Heikki Kovalainen later this morning.

     

  • Sergio Perez Announces He Will Leave McLaren at the end of 2013

    Sergio Perez Announces He Will Leave McLaren at the end of 2013

    Mexican Sergio Perez announced on Wednesday that he will be leaving the McLaren Formula 1 team at the of the 2013 season.

    The story broke on Monday 11 November 2013 that McLaren have decided to replace Perez with rookie Kevin Magnussen for the 2014 season but there was no confirmation from McLaren about any such driver move. But it looks like Perez surprised us all, but mostly McLaren, with his announcement on Twitter that he will be leaving McLaren at the end of the season.

    “First of all, I would like to thank McLaren for giving me the opportunity to be with them this season. It has been an honour for me to have been in one of the most competitive teams in the sport and I do not regret even a bit having joined them. I have always given the best of me for the team and still despite this I could not achieve what I aimed for in this historic team” said Perez in his statement.

    “I am committed to deliver very good results in these last two races, especially in Austin. I am so much looking forward to see all my people gathered there, feel their energy and show them the best of me. I would like to say to every single one of my fans around the world and in my country that I am eternally grateful to them. They have never let me down, especially in difficult moments like these. I truly appreciate their support, they have never forgotten me.”

    “I have met a lot of new people at McLaren this season and I have made many good friends as well. From the top management level to marketing, accounting and engineering departments to the mechanics, the cooks, the catering people and basically everyone in the team, I am eternally grateful to them. It has been a learning experience to me.”

    “I would like to wish the team the very best in the future. I will always be a fan of McLaren, in the meanwhile I will be looking at my future to ensure my position in the best possible package to fight for wins,” 

    “Thanks to McLaren and all its partners for this season, you can rest assured that I will never give up.” 

    McLaren are still to confirm Perez’s exit from the team or Magnussen’s signing.

    A tweet from the official McLaren F1 Twitter account (@McLarenF1) had a very short statement from the team principal, Martin Whitmarsh which read: “We would like to thank Checo for being  a fine team member during the 2013 Formula 1 season”