F1 Madness

Category: News

  • Lewis Hamilton gets 5 place grid penalty for gearbox change

    Lewis Hamilton will suffer a 5 place grid penalty for the Bahrain GP
    Lewis Hamilton will suffer a 5 place grid penalty for the Bahrain GP

    Lewis Hamilton will receive a 5-place grid penalty for the Bahrain Grand Prix after qualifying today following a gearbox change by Mercedes after final practice this morning.

    At the end of the session, he suffered what seemed to be a tyre failure and also incurred damage to rear suspension on the way back to the pits. The Mercedes team has had to rebuild the rear of the car and has decided to replace his gearbox in the process, resulting in the  five-place regulatory grid penalty.

    Hamilton finished FP3 fifth fastest.

    Esteban Gutierrez and Mark Webber are also facing grid penalties this weekend after being penalised for separate collisions during the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend.

     

  • Bahrain GP: Alonso tops the time sheets in final practice

    Bahrain GP: Alonso tops the time sheets in final practice

    Fernando Alonso put the Ferrari on top of the timesheets ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull.

    Alonso set a time of 1.33.247 on the softer medium tyres 7 mins before the end of the session, and it proved to be an unbeatable time.

    Here are the timesheets for the final practice session in Bahrain.

    Alonso had a wild spin out of Turn 2 earlier in the session while he was still on the hard tyre but managed to save himself from the gravel trap and was able to continue.

    Sebastian Vettel looked set to beat Alonso’s time in the end and waited til the final seconds of the session before heading out on his medium tyres but he came across some traffic. Though it must be added that his times were already not on par with Alonso’s before he encoutered Pic’s Caterham on the track.

    His second timed lap was scruffy and he failed to beat Alonso’s time and came in second, with Mark Webber just behind him.

    Lewis Hamilton suffered was seemed like a left rear tyre failure on his slowing-down lap, which looks to have broken his suspension.

    Here are the official timesheets for the session.

    Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps

     1.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari               1m33.247s            12
 2.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault      1m33.348s  + 0.101s  15
 3.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault      1m33.380s  + 0.133s  19
 4.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1m33.446s  + 0.199s  21
 5.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes              1m33.455s  + 0.208s  19
 6.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault         1m33.464s  + 0.217s  19
 7.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m33.596s  + 0.349s  17
 8.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m33.700s  + 0.453s  15
 9.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m33.764s  + 0.517s  19
10.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari        1m33.922s  + 0.675s  17
11.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari               1m33.949s  + 0.702s  20
12.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes      1m34.117s  + 0.870s  17
13.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes      1m34.282s  + 1.035s  18
14.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m34.577s  + 1.330s  16
15.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault      1m34.611s  + 1.364s  17
16.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m34.678s  + 1.431s  16
17.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m34.833s  + 1.586s  17
18.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault      1m35.816s  + 2.569s  16
19.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth     1m36.731s  + 3.484s  17
20.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault      1m36.939s  + 3.692s  16
21.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth     1m37.630s  + 4.383s  7
22.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        1m39.592s  + 6.345s  28

     

  • Mark Webber dismisses F1 exit rumours

    Mark Webber dismisses F1 exit rumours

    Mark Webber has dismissed recent rumours that he’s agreed to move on from Formula One next year to pursue a career in sports car racing.

    He told BBC Sport: “People are putting two and two together and getting a bit more than they should do.

    “I’m looking forward to this year. As long as you’re competitive and can get work, which is not a big issue for me at the moment, things are going well.”

    The Malaysian Grand Prix Multi-21 saga has led to rumours that Webber – who is on a rolling one-year deal with Red Bull Racing – will leave the team at the end of the year to drive for Porsche.

    When asked whether he wanted to stay in F1 in 2014, Mark said: “That’s a good question. I still enjoy driving the cars. The tyres have made it a little bit more challenging – the job as a driver has changed a bit for sure, the camaraderie is massive.

    “That’s a big factor in this sport. This stuff [the speculation that surrounds F1], you get a bit long in the tooth for that.

    “As you get older you get less tolerant of other aspects of the job but ultimately the drug is still very powerful, to drive you to do the job you wanted to do in the first place which is driving the car.”

     

    Photograph: The Guardian

     

     

     

     

     

  • Chinese Formula One GP Review: Phenomenal Fernando rules China

    Chinese Formula One GP Review: Phenomenal Fernando rules China

    Since the start of the Formula One season several teams have been particularly vocal in condemning the 2013 Pirelli tyres. As far as this upset lot were concerned tyres would dominate the Chinese grand prix headlines.

    Instead it was Fernando Alonso that wrote his name into the headlines. A third place in Saturday’s qualifying session behind Raikkonen and polesitter Hamilton underlined the pace of the Ferrari and El Nano never looked back.

    Lewis Hamilton maintained first off the starting grid as Kimi Raikkonen was overwhelmed by Alonso and Massa. As it was, Raikkonen’s start was compromised by a change to the starting sequence made by the team moments before the start. It wasn’t long before both Ferrari drivers were hounding the back of Hamilton’s Mercedes which ended with Hamilton simultaneously overtaken, on either side, on the entry to turn one.

    The tyres were still an issue and the frontrunners got rid of the delicate soft tyres on after only six laps. It left them able to run to the flag using the more robust medium compound. In contrast, those who had opted to start on the medium tyre, Vettel, Button and Hulkenberg, were now running at the front-end. In a strategic move, Button and Vettel selected to not set a flying lap in the third session of qualifying; putting them out of sequence with the frontrunners.

    Nevertheless, no sort of strategy manipulation was ever going to trip-up Fernando Alonso. Electric off the start and clinical when overtaking, it was from this point onwards where Fernando Alonso started to deliver a metronomic drive of the highest calibre. Whilst tyre life and levels of degradation certainly had an impact in the Chinese GP it had no influence on who the victor would be.  Leading from the front Alonso was never under pressure from his pursuers in the shape of Raikkonen and Hamilton. By controlling his tyres and setting a ferocious and unmatchable pace he fashioned an extremely impressive path to his 31st victory.

    Kimi Raikkonen’s pace was slightly hindered by nose and front-wing damage after an incident with somewhat wild Sergio Perez. Bruised and battered Raikkonen still managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton for a fine second place. Eighteen points closes the gap to championship leader Sebastian Vettel to three points. By finishing nineteen of the last twenty races in points scoring positions Raikkonen has proven his near bulletproof consistency – a highly prized commodity in any championship fight.

    Lewis Hamilton lacked the pace required to challenge for victory though Mercedes will be thrilled with his performance. But the final step of the podium very almost wasn’t his as Sebastian Vettel’s alternative strategy nearly paid off. Armed with a new set of soft tyres the Red Bull destroyed the fourteen second gap to Hamilton in a mere four laps.

    Despite Vettel’s late charge and fourth place finish, Red Bull’s indifferent record at the Chinese GP continued.  For Mark Webber it started with a fuel-pressure glitch that dropped him out of qualifying on Saturday. Red Bull’s choice to change the gearbox and ratios on Webber’s car meant the Australian had to start from the pitlane; but would do so with a car better equipped at overtaking. It made no difference however as Webber’s Red Bull sustained damage in clash with Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne. Still not the worst of it, Webber was forced into retirement as his right rear tyre made a break for it and rolled across the track. What would injury be without insult? For his part in the Vergne incident Webber was given a three-place grid penalty for next week’s Bahrain GP.

    Jenson Button finished a solid fifth ahead of Felipe Massa whose pace dropped off after the first round of stops. Daniel Ricciardo delivered a great drive and brought the Toro Rosso home in seventh ahead of Di Resta, Grosjean and Hulkenberg.

    There may have been twenty-two drivers on the Shanghai circuit but Fernando Alonso was in a class of his own.

     

     

  • Chinese Grand Prix Post Race Press Conference

    Chinese Grand Prix Post Race Press Conference

    Here’s what was said at the post race press conference of the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Fernando, congratulations, well done. You were a winner here in 2005, how does it feel to have won again? It seemed to be a perfect race for you.
    FA:     It feels good. Obviously a long time from the victory here – eight years. Definitely it was nearly a perfect Sunday for us, with not any problem in the race. The start was clean; it was good. We managed to overtake Kimi. And then in the first stint we managed to pass Lewis as well. The car felt a little bit better on the degradation side let’s say. And then in the rest of the race, obviously you need to take care of the tyres a little bit, you need to manage the gap with the guys behind. It was not so easy to understand the race sometimes. We were overtaking the McLarens, Hulkenberg, Sebastian, so it was a little bit of a mix. So it was not an easy race and there were some moments of action let’s say and the risk is there when you have to do an overtaking manoeuvre and you have to manage that as well. The team did a perfect job with the set-up of the car for quali and the race, perfect pit stop times and pit stops executed let’s say. At the end of the race the victory is a good reward for the team, well deserved after the disappointment in Malaysia and you know, the car felt good. The two races we finished, one was second and the victory today, so definitely it’s a positive start to this championship. We need to keep going like that, in this direction, with good weekends, with not any extra risk and hopefully in Bahrain we can score some good points again.

    Q: Kimi, obviously a bit of a problem at the start there, tell us about that, and also how much pressure was there at the end as well?
    KR:     I think we just had wrong settings. The practice start was very good but then it was really bad the real start and we lost some positions and after that the car was okay, but I had a little accident, some problems with Perez and we damaged the nose and the front wing. I was surprised there was no more damage because I hit him quite hard. Also bit surprised that we didn’t have any more problems after that. A bit too much understeer and destroying the front tyre because of that but we still could fight for second place and get quite a good result in the end. Obviously we wanted to try to win but today with all the issues it was not possible.

    Q: Lewis it was kind of tight at the end with Sebastian closing on you and obviously you were trying to put pressure on Kimi. Tell us about it.
    LH:     Yeah, it was a good race for me. Quite happy with third. Of course I would have liked to have won but congratulations to Fernando, he did a great job and so did Kimi. They were both a little bit too fast for us during the race. I was seeming to be able to apply a little bit of pressure to Kimi but not enough to get close to him and overtake. My tyres were shot at the end and there was nothing I could do really to hold off Sebastian. A little bit unlucky with some traffic. Still, to get on the podium, really happy. Really happy with the points as well.

     

  • Chinese F1 Grand Prix Podium Interviews

    Chinese F1 Grand Prix Podium Interviews

    Podium Interviews Conducted by David Coulthard

    Q: Fernando, congratulations. A fairly dominant victory in the end and your 31st victory, putting you fourth on the all-time list just behind Ayrton Senna. What does this one mean to you?
    Fernando Alonso:     Well, hello everybody first of all and thank you for the support all weekend. Amazing fans all weekend and it’s very nice to race here. About the race: yes, definitely it was a fantastic race for us, from the start to the end, without big problems with the car. The tyre degradation was better than expected probably, so we managed more or less the pace. Yeah, it feels great after the retirement in Malaysia, we had some pressure to finish the race. The two races we finished this year; one second place and today the victory so definitely the start of this 2013 campaign is looking good so we are very optimistic.

    Q: We heard the team talking to you during the grand prix telling you not need to push. They were trying to slow you down in some respects and you were saying ‘I’m not pushing’.
    FA:     Well, you always push. In a Formula One race it’s impossible not to push but it’s true that we had some pace, maybe, in the pocket. Not easy to know when to use it depending on the state of the tyres. A little bit more potential and hopefully we can show it in Bahrain in one week.

    Q: Kimi Raikkonen, that’s your 20th consecutive finish in Formula One. You’re certainly Mr Consistency. You had to work hard for that second place today. You had some damage to the front wing of your car after some contact, so tell us about that and also how it affected the balance?
    Kimi Raikkonen:     I think in the end it was a pretty okay result. Obviously we want to win but after a bad start the car was handling well but then overtaking Perez, I was next to him and he just pushed me on the kerb but I tried to avoid him but I went on the grass and hit him on the rear I think and damaged the front. That didn’t help but luckily it didn’t affect so much the handling, it was just a bit too much understeery but we could still fight for second place. For sure without the damage we could have been quite a bit faster. Anyhow, good points and we try to do better next time.

    Q: We come to Lewis Hamilton, our pole-sitter. It didn’t quite work out for you there on race pace. You really dropped away towards the closing stages, under a lot of pressure from Vettel but some great racing nonetheless.
    Lewis Hamilton:     Yeah, I’m really happy with today’s result. Great result for the team, very happy with the points. The team did a fantastic job all weekend. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the kind of pace these two have but still very fortunate to get on the podium.

    Q: Fernando, a closing question for you. Only one week until Bahrain. What are you expecting in terms of performance there and what’s the celebration going to be like tonight with your Ferrari team?
    FA:     I expect a tough race again. In Bahrain I think we will see different conditions and who knows how competitive anyone can be. But definitely, as I said before, from the races that we finished this year the car seems to be able to be on the podium, so we hope to be on the podium again in Bahrain. The celebration tonight? Nothing special. I have a flight very early for Bahrain, so tonight I think some dinner. I think they guys will celebrate more than me.

     

     

  • F1 rookie drivers set to get extra set of tyres for Friday practice

    F1 rookie drivers set to get extra set of tyres for Friday practice

    According to a story in Autosport, rookie Formula One drivers are set to get an extra set of tyres from the Spanish F1 Grand Prix onwards.

    Pirelli has proposed to supply an additional set of tyres, built to the same construction as the current race rubber but using a more durable compound, for any team running a rookie driver on Friday mornings.

    Teams are currently allocated 11 sets of tyres for the weekend, with one set of the harder compound returned after the first practice sessions.

    This means that teams usually run only one set of the harder compound in the first free practice session.

    But if the Pirelli proposal is accepted, a rookie driver would run both the extra set and the standard one, significantly increasing the number of laps completed.

    Read More on Autosport

    Photo: By Morio (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

     

  • Chinese Grand Prix Preview – Controlling China

    Chinese Grand Prix Preview – Controlling China

    Most all of the headlines since the Malaysian grand prix have included team orders, Sebastian Vettel or both. On whichever side you sit of this controversial piece of Formula 1 theatre it has kept tongues wagging for a good while.

    But finally the attention is set to be focused on the most important thing – racing. Whatever has been said, however the statements have played out, on the track is where the real talking needs to be done. As the third round of the season the Chinese GP seems as good a place as any to do just that.

    Three thousand workers took just eighteen months to convert a section of swampland into an international spec racetrack. Designed by F1 architect Herman Tilke the Shanghai circuit, situated in the Jiading district, combines a highly technical complex of corners with a kilometre long back-straight. Inspired by the Chinese character Shang sectors one and two contain ten of the track’s fifteen corners; emphasizing the technical make-up and demand for good braking stability and traction.

    Since its debut in 2004 the Chinese GP has dished up some pretty decent racing. This 5.451 km Shanghai circuit is where Renault clinched a constructor’s title in 2005; the pitlane entrance is where Lewis Hamilton beached his McLaren in 2007 an event that would have a monumental impact on the driver’s world title that year. Despite being seen as one of the ‘new’ F1 circuits 2013 will be the tenth running of the Chinese GP. McLaren and Ferrari share the majority of the spoils with three victories each but no driver, with the exception of Lewis Hamilton, has been able to win this race on more than one occasion.

    Current championship leaders Red Bull Racing don’t have a stellar record either. Since rising to prominence the Milton Keynes team has only taken one victory in the last five Chinese grand prix. If they are to better this record they will have to do it against their run of form at this venue and with clever tactics.

    The Shanghai International circuit is one very demanding on tyres and strategy. In 2012 it was Lotus who rolled the dice on Raikkonen’s strategy; although the Finn was running second towards the closing stages of the race his tyres soon ran out of life and he was summarily relegated to fourteenth place in matter of laps. Bear in mind that the 2012 Pirelli tyres were a lot more conservative than what the Italian company has supplied in 2013 which will make the tyre wear a more precarious balancing act than ever.

    Only two races of the races on the 2013 calendar have been run and in those two races the slightest appearance of a pecking order has started to emerge. Red Bull seem to have carried their qualifying pace from last season but the chasing pack in the form of Lotus and Ferrari are able to match if not beat the reigning champions on race pace. The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg does appear to be a bit greedy on rear tyre wear but in the cooler conditions of Shanghai this won’t be a particular difficulty.

    The weather forecast, tentative at best, predicts much cooler temperature than have been experienced in the first two races. The threat of rain, sure to materialize at some stage, will almost certainly linger throughout the week.

    Fifty-six will be the amount of laps for Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber to settle their differences on the track. But Mercedes, looking to replicate its 2012 glory, could be the menace or a fast starting Fernando, Ferrari-clad, may well unleash the pace that has been simmering just beneath the surface.

  • Australian F1 GP Review: Raikkonen Devastating Down Under

    Australian F1 GP Review: Raikkonen Devastating Down Under

    For ten days before the Formula 1 paddock arrived Melbourne had been experiencing a heat wave of record breaking proportions. But the heavens well and truly opened just before Saturday’s qualifying session.

    Thanks to Mother Nature only the first part of qualifying was completed and the rest postponed to Sunday morning. The pace of Red Bull sent an ominous message as the team locked out the front row and Sebastian Vettel racked up pole position number thirty.

    Lewis Hamilton slotted his Mercedes into third place as McLaren barely made the final part of qualifying with Jenson Button. A noteworthy session from Felipe Massa saw the Brazillian out-qualify his teammate Fernando Alonso.

    The major talking point however, as expected, was the tyres. Jenson Button worryingly said that his set of supersoft tyres was completely shredded after only three laps of qualifying. It wasn’t just talk from JB either as five laps into the grand prix the McLaren pulled into the pits for a new set of medium tyres. It compounded a miserable start to the season for Button and Perez who eventually finished ninth and eleventh with what looks like a fundamentally slow car.

    Mark Webber followed suit a lap later but the frontrunners seemed able to push the performance of the supersofts slightly further. Under pressure from the two Ferrari’s, Vettel pitted on lap 8 followed by Massa (lap 9), Alonso and Raikkonen (lap 10).

    Lotus ended pre-season testing with several reliability issues and little to show for four days running. Seventh and eighth on the grid suggested that the same problems over one lap were still there. But Raikkonen had said that he was happy with the car and that reliability wasn’t a concern. He was right.

    A seventh place starting position only slightly delayed the prodigious progress Kimi Raikkonen would make throughout the race. He first dispatched Lewis Hamilton around the outside of turn 13 and set off after the two Ferrari’s and leader Vettel. Nevertheless, the first round of pitstops cropped up before the Finn could advance any further. However, it was the 23 lap stint on the medium tyres where the Finn came alive.

    Raikkonen delivered a sublime stint of driving and was able to stretch the performance of the tyres while simultaneously keeping up the pace. By the time he made his second and final stop of the race, Raikkonen had built up a fifteen second gap over now second placed Fernando Alonso. The first few laps after Alonso’s pitstops were substantially quicker than Raikkonen’s but the Lotus driver, seemingly always in control, had the capacity to up his pace whenever he pleased. And just to ensure a straightforward run to the flag the Iceman put in the fastest lap of the race and extended his gap to twelve seconds.

    Sebastian Vettel, unable to replicate his qualifying pace, managed the third step of the podium. The triple world champion was still happy to finish in the top three and believes that there is no need to worry about the pace of their rivals.

    Felipe Massa secured fourth place ahead of a struggling Lewis Hamilton. The Brit initially planned on a two-stopper but the tyre hungry Mercedes forced the team to opt for plan B and a three-stop strategy. Another difficult day on his home track relegated Webber to sixth as the Aussie struggled with a KERS issue throughout the race. Adrian Sutil’s return could scarcely have gone better with a solid seventh ahead of teammate di Resta and Jenson Button. Romain Grosjean rounded out the top ten some one minute and twenty-two seconds adrift of his race winning teammate.

    If Raikkonen’s performance appeared effortless from the outside it’s because it was; Raikkonen called it one of the easiest victories of his career. Coincidentally, six of the last ten Australian GP race winners have gone on to win the world championship.

    After four tedious months of waiting the Malaysian GP follows immediately on the back of Oz. The Sepang circuit will be a bigger test of car design and will provide more opportunity for DRS passes with its two long straights. The weather in these parts tend to vary quite a bit too; from monsoon levels of rain to boiling hot temperatures in the region of 40 degrees.

  • 2013 Australian F1 Grand Prix Preview: So it Begins

    2013 Australian F1 Grand Prix Preview: So it Begins

    The Albert Park circuit is not the most prodigious or even the most memorable race track you’re ever likely to come across. But there are few more welcome sites than twenty-two race cars lining up on the grid for the much anticipated start of the 2013 Formula 1 season.

    Formula 1 is arguably the most unpredictable sport on the planet and thousands of testing miles have done nothing to change that. The truth is any one of ten drivers could walk away with the spoils on Sunday afternoon. But who of the possible pretenders will be the likeliest amongst the mob?

    Sure to be the most nervous of the lot will be the five rookies making their Formula 1 debuts this weekend.  Marussia have gone with an all new line-up and both Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi will get their first grand prix start this weekend. Giedo van der Garde will step in at Caterham while Esteban Gutierrez will start his first race for Sauber. Williams’ will be hoping that Finn Valtteri Bottas can transfer his potential and talent to the track.

    The Albert Park circuit continues to be a stronghold on the Formula 1 calendar and in addition to coaxing their new cars around the 5.303 km long circuit drivers will want to get an understanding of the 2013 Pirelli tyres. Whatever information teams gathered from pre-season testing won’t be of much use as the high ambient temperatures Down Under will present a completely different read.  The FIA has also tweaked the rules regarding the use of DRS. Drivers will only be permitted to use DRS, for all session, in the demarcated zones; most circuits are expected to have two DRS zones.

    Hardly any alterations have been made to the technical rules for 2013; leading most teams to follow an evolutionary path in the design and development process of their cars. It also means that, in a season of few changes, the field will be closer than ever.

    There is little doubt that Infiniti Red Bull Racing will be up the sharp end of the grid. However, the Red Bull is severely lacking in straight line speed; in fact, it’s the slowest of the lot. But this is a team that have played their cards extremely close to their chest throughout pre-season testing and there is no apparent concern within the team.

    An impressive conclusion of the final pre-season test in Barcelona for Mercedes has elevated the team to a serious threat. Hamilton will unquestionably take the team to a new level and good or bad his performance in Australia is destined to draw attention. This team has the potential to cause the biggest upset this weekend.

    McLaren will be effectively led by the debonair Jenson Button but its Sergio Perez and the MP4-28 that the uncertainty lingers over. As the car has both dazzled and perplexed the team through testing.  A man with no qualms is Fernando Alonso. The Ferrari driver was able to find something special to drag a sub-par Ferrari to second place at the end of 2012. This year his Ferrari already appears to be in better shape which will make the Spaniard a definite and extremely dangerous factor.

    Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean are equally satisfied with what the Lotus E21 has delivered so far. Whereas the team didn’t exploit their chances early on in 2012 they should be ready to just that this season; with an in-form Raikkonen Lotus will be F1 2013’s darkhorse.

    How is it possible that all of these teams could win this weekend? The fact remains that throughout the thousands of laps completed in winter testing every single one of these were fastest at some stage. Provided that everything goes to plan, and the weather plays along, Australia should be a cracker.