Category: Previews

Red Bull Q&A with Christian Horner

The 2013 Formula One season saw Red Bull Racing win 13 grands prix as well as both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship titles. The 2014 F1 season, they managed only three race wins. They’re expected to complete the 2015 season without a single race win.

The former champions have literally gone from hero to zero due the complete lack of performance and reliability fo their Renault power unit and rule changes compromising their chassis design.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner spoke exclusively to the official Formula One website about how he and the team are coping and how they intend turning things around.

Here’s what he had to say:

Q: Christian, back in Canada Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko said that Renault’s new project was on the dyno, and you would know its potential in three weeks’ time. That window closed at Silverstone – so what is the state of affairs?

Christian Horner: I think this is a question to be answered by Renault because it is their business, not ours. But as far as I am aware I think that they are making good progress on their dyno. They now have some strategic decisions about implementation, and the direction they want to take their development for the rest of this season – and that has an enormous impact on next year.

Q: What does their timeframe mean for you then?

Christian Horner: Of course it tests our patience. Like any competitive team we want performance yesterday, and unfortunately with engines the lead time is a lot longer than with the chassis. Patience is something that we are not really good at. We want to have performance as soon as possible…

Q: What is ‘as soon as possible’? The next three weeks?

Christian Horner: From where the concept is at the moment you are probably looking at least at a couple of months. Two to three months. It needs to happen this year – but also what you learn this year will help you next season.

Q: Both Renault and Red Bull have reportedly drawn up exit scenarios – but given that you recently signed a personal contract renewal with Red Bull, can we understand that their exit is now off the table?

Christian Horner: Hah! I signed that contract a short while ago. We are determined to get back to a competitive position. It hurts when you are not competitive, and unfortunately there are certain elements we are not in control of. But where we are in control, we are working flat out so that when the power upgrades do come, we are in a position to make best use of them.

Q: Are you satisfied with the chassis situation right now?

Christian Horner: We are never satisfied. Here you always try to get better. The regulation changes over the winter did hurt us – probably more than we anticipated – but we now have a pretty good understanding of the areas where we need to improve – and how to improve.

Q: Is there interest in trying to bring James Key over from Toro Rosso? He is showing what is possible on a slim budget…

Christian Horner: No interest at all. We have a strong technical team. Adrian (Newey) is still involved in all the things that are going on and with Rob Marshal, Pierre Wache and Dan Fallows we have a strong technical group – so no desire to change anything.

Q: What about Renault? There has been speculation that they could purchase Lotus. What would that mean for the two Red Bull teams? Boss Carlos Ghosn reportedly said it is very unlikely Renault will play the part of engine supplier in 2017…

Christian Horner: Those are decisions that they have to make. It would hold a certain irony if they buy back the team they sold. But as far as our position is concerned, we have a very clear agreement with Renault, which guarantees us priority status. Any of those scenarios requires having a competitive engine – and doesn’t really matter based on the agreement that we have.

Q: Some suggested Red Bull Racing have been ‘flirting’ with Ferrari recently. Could that be a short-term remedy? For sure it doesn’t appear to be a long-term solution if you want to win titles again…

Christian Horner: Ah, I think it would be an exaggeration saying that Red Bull is ‘flirting’ with Ferrari. Obviously Red Bull Group had a relationship with Ferrari for many years as engine supplier for Toro Rosso. Sergio (Marchionne) made a generous offer without any details when he attended the Austrian Grand Prix – but right now our focus is on what we have at this point in time.

Q: 2016 is one thing – but what about 2017?

Christian Horner: That could be a completely different ball game.

Q: Would you ever have imagined after so many successful years that you would find yourself in the doldrums so quickly – and with no obvious way out?

Christian Horner: Things change here very quickly. The vast majority of the people that helped us win eight titles and 50 Grands Prix are still here. But the circumstances have changed. Unfortunately the element that has the biggest effect on our competitiveness is one we are not in control of.

Q: You have said that even were Sebastian Vettel still racing for Red Bull Racing, you would still be in the same bad situation…

Christian Horner: If Sebastian was still with Red Bull our position would be no different because the drivers aren’t our issues.

Q: Would you really be in the same situation with Sebastian? Does the driver make so little impact?

Christian Horner: We would be poorer!

Q: Bernie Ecclestone has suggested that F1 racing will be simpler – and more exciting – in 2017. Why did it take so long to understand that the sport was being pushed in the wrong direction?

Christian Horner: The fact is that if you have a bunch of ‘experts’ who all believe that they know what should be done, you end up with confusion. I think that the reality has only recently been understood – and as a result of that there is more alignment on what needs to be done.

Bernie was always right saying that F1 is about man and machine at the limit. It needs to be dramatic, it needs to be fast, it needs to be loud and it needs to be sexy. In one word, it needs that ‘wow’ factor to it.

We need to go back to these principles, which is relatively easy to achieve if everybody wants to achieve the same thing. They are not all quite sure how to achieve it – but they now have agreed on what they want to achieve!

Image Credits: Infiniti Red Bull Racing / Getty

July 14, 2015
Weather Report for the 2015 Formula 1 British Grand Prix

The Formula 1 Circus heads to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix and round 9 of the Formula 1 World Championship.

The Silverstone circuit, situated in Northamptonshire, is a fast and flowing circuit which many of the drivers and fans enjoy. The high speed corners put enormous amounts of energy and stress through the tyres which leads to high degradation and wear on the tyres. With temperatures expexcted to to be in the mid 20’s for the weekend the rate of degradation is expected to be higher than normal. Cars also tend to run high down-force levels throughout the weekend. For that reason Pirelli are bringing the two hardest tyre compounds at their disposal for the British Grand Prix weekend. The white medium compound and the orange hard compound tyre.

The hard and medium tyre compounds will be best suited for the quick direction changes for the Maggotts,Becketts and Chapel complex which a quick, left-right-left-right-left combination of corners taken in 6th gear at about 270 km/h. The minimum speed of the complex is about 170km/h. Copse corner is another very high speed corner taken in 6th gear at 255km/h. With the heat and the wear rate of the tyres we could see a two to three stop race.

This weekend in Silverstone will be sunny and hot with glorious weather all round. Temperatures will hover in the mid-to-high 20s for Friday and Saturday. Low 20s are forecast for the race on Sunday. No rain is expected over the course of the weekend.

July 1, 2015
Broadcast Times for the 2015 Formula 1 British Grand Prix

The British Grand Prix and round 9 of the Formula 1 World Championship brings us to the home of Formula 1, Silverstone.

The Silverstone circuit, situated next to the Northamptionshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury, has been hosting the British Grand Prix since 1987. Between 1955 and 1986 the British Grand Prix was alternated between the Silverstone, Brands Hatch and Aintree circuits.

With 18 corners, the circuit is a mix of old school with a bit of new school thrown in. There is a very good mix of slow, medium and high speed corners which shows of the skill of a driver. Any shortcomings in a cars setup will also be highlighted.

Formula 1 at Silverstone is always special. Its the birthplace of Formula 1 and it always feels as if F1 is at home at Silverstone. The weekend festivities never seem to let up and come rain or sunshine the grand stands are always packed with very passionate and knowledgeable F1 fans. The circuit is also a home grand prix for many teams that are based close to the facility, Force India being the closest situated right next to the circuit. Mercedes’ Brackley plant is a few kilometers away while Lotus with their Entsone base are not far away. Marussia, Williams and Red

The circuit characteristics should suit Mercedes well. Lewis Hamilton will aim for a second victory at Silverstone on the trot, while Nico Rosberg who has found some good form recently will be looking to close the points gap to the championship at the top of the table. He is just 10 points adrift of Hamilton who is at the top of the championship table.

Much has been said about Ferrari’s improvements over the past few weeks. But come race day, they are still a few seconds down the road from Mercedes. If anything, it seems as though Williams have closed the gap to the Maranello based team. The fast and flowing nature could play to Williams’ strengths this coming weekend.

Coming off the back of some good results in the last two races Force India feel that they are in a good position to finish higher up the grid. They are expected to launch their 2015 car this weekend after running a modified version of the 2014 car until now. The team are confident that their new car will deliver on its promises this weekend.

The race times this weekend are in line with typical European times with the race taking place in the afternoon. Below are your broadcast times for the 2015 Fomrula 1 British Grand Prix.

Free Practice 1: Friday 11:00

Free Practice 2: Friday 15:00

Free Practice 3: Saturday 11:00

Qualifying: Saturday 14:00

Race: Sunday 14:00

June 30, 2015
Weather Report for the 2015 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix

We return to the Austrian Alps for round 8 of the Formula 1 World Championship and the Austrian Grand Prix.

What makes the Red Bull Ring exciting is the sloping terrain around the circuit which makes it feel almost like an arena. The steep climbs and elevation changes make it quite challenging for the drivers under braking and during cornering which makes the car setup and balance important to get right. The circuit has a low abrasion surface which makes for low tyre degradation.

Pirelli have nominated the red super soft and the yellow soft compound tyres for the race weekend. This is the third consecutive race we’re seeing these compounds. Pirelli say that the tyre choice is the best suited for the track characteristics. The slow corners will require the mechanical grip from the tyres to enable the drivers to get on the power as early as possible. Temperatures in Austria can remain towards the low side of the scale which makes the tyre choices ideal.

The weather this weekend in Austria will be rather cold. Temperatures are not expected to be any higher than 20 degrees Celsius with rain forecast on Friday and Saturday. The rain may miss the Friday practice sessions but it is expected to interrupt the Saturday practice session. The forecast could clear up by the weekend. Sunday’s race seems clear and sunny with a maximum temperature of 14 degrees Celsius.

Below is a snapshot of the weekend’s weather with a live forecast that updates throughout the day.

June 17, 2015
Broadcast Times for the Formula 1 Grosser Preis Von Osterreich 2015

The hills will be alive to the sound of Formula 1 for round 8 of the Formula 1 World Championship at the Red Bull ring for the Austrian Grand Prix.

In the picturesque Styrian mountains lies the 4.326km track ready and waiting to host another round of the F1 Championship. The circuit is a power hungry circuit with its long straights and fast corners. With the track high up in the mountains, it may dull the power of some power units, which McLaren have already warned about. There are not that many slow corners around the circuit but the few that are there require good mechanical grip to get back quickly onto the power.

Many teams will be bringing a second round of major updates to their cars for the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend. The final in-season test that takes place on the Wednesday and Thursday after the race will give teams an extra chance to test their new parts for the coming races before the summer break.

Speaking ahead of this weekend, Mercedes have said that they feel Ferrari have not yet shown their true pace after running their upgraded engine in Canada. Ferrari’s podium chance was dealt a blow a fortnight ago after Kimi Raikkonen spun at the Turn 10 hairpin at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve during the race. Mercedes think that they will get a true sense of Ferrari’s pace this weekend at the Red Bull Ring. The expectation is that Ferrari will have made some gains but will still be 2 to 3 tenths off the pace.

Williams have set their sights firmly on Ferrari and believe that they will have the pace to get close and possibly finish ahead of Ferrari this weekend. After a solid 3rd place finish for Valtteri Bottas in Canada, spirits are high in the team and they will be hoping they can carry that momentum through the weekend. Elsewhere in the paddock, Lotus think that they have the pace to overhaul Red Bull at their home race.

McLaren are anticipating a difficult weekend ahead of them. With them already being down on power, Yasuhisa Arai – the Chief Motorsport officer of Honda – has said that the high altitudes will have a negative effect on engine performance.

This weekend will be interesting to see how the top teams stack up against each other in terms of engine performance.

With the race in Europe, we return to normal viewing times. All times are GMT+2

Free Practice 1: Friday 10:00

Free Practice 2: Friday 14:00

Free Practice 3: Saturday 11:00

Qualifying: Saturday 14:00

Race: Sunday 14:00

June 17, 2015

F1 2015: Canadian GP Qualifying Report – Hamilton Secures 44th Pole

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton secured the 44^th pole position of his career ahead of Sunday’s Canadian grand prix.

The reigning champion will be joined on the front row of the grid by teammate Nico Rosberg while Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen set the third quickest time.

Misfortune befell Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari in the first session of the qualifying hour and stopped the German from progressing any further. The number 5 Ferrari will start tomorrow’s race in 15^th place. McLaren’s Jenson Button had no better time of it as he was completely ruled out of qualifying with an power unit related issue in the final free practice session a few hours earlier.

Similarly, Felipe Massa’s afternoon was ruined by an engine issue which will see the Brazilian start the race in 16^th as Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen will incur a 15 place drop on the grid for an engine change. Valtteri Bottas meanwhile was able to set the fourth fastest time.

Lotus Romain Grosjean showed an improved turn of pace with the fifth fastest time ahead of teammate Pastor Maldonado. Nico Hulkenberg, Daniil Kvyat, Daniel Ricciardo and the sister Force India of Sergio Perez round out the top ten.

Pos	Driver	Car	Time
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:14.393s
2	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:14.702s
3	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:15.014s
4	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:15.102s
5	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	1:15.194s
6	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus	1:15.329s
7	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:15.614s
8	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull	1:16.079s
9	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:16.114s
10	Sergio Perez	Force India	1:16.338s
11	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:16.042s
12	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:16.262s
13	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:16.276s
14	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	1:16.620s
15	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:17.344s
16	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:17.886s
17	Roberto Merhi	Marussia	1:19.133s
18	Will Stevens	Marussia	1:19.157s
19	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	1:16.245s
20	Jenson Button	McLaren	–

June 6, 2015

Weather Report for the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2015

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal Canada plays host to round 7 of the Formula 1 World Championship. A few drivers have fond memories of the circuit while others have not so happy memories. The unpredictability of the weather in Montreal has always made it a tough race to call which leads to some very exciting racing.

The circuit is built on the Île Notre-Dame, a man-made island in the St Lawrence River. There are not many high speed corners which places the emphasis, like Monaco, on the rear of the car and mechanical grip from the tyres. Grip under braking and grip under acceleration is important around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Being a semi permanent facility the track is very “green” at the start of the race weekend. The grip levels do improve but there are some places where grip is still quite low.

Pirelli have chosen the red super soft(option) and yellow soft(prime) compound tyres for the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. The tyre choice is identical to Monaco but speeds will be much higher this time round and energy going through the tyres will be much greater which means that tyre degradation and wear will be different to Monaco.

The weather around Montreal can be quite unpredictable at times but for this weekends Canadian Grand Prix things look a bit more simple. A 40% chance of Showers are forecast for Friday morning and afternoon. This could mean a wet FP1. Although rainy maximum temperatures are to peak in the low 20s.

Saturday and Sunday are clear with lots of sun. Temperatures are forecast to hover in the low 20s with no rain forecast.

Below is the live forecast for Montreal, Canada. Any changes to the weather will be shown below.

June 4, 2015
Broadcast Times for the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2015

Formula 1 returns to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on the Île Notre-Dame for the Canadian Grand Prix and round 7 of the Formula 1 World Championship.

The Circuit is a semi-permanent facility with 13 corners most famous of which is the Turn 12 and Turn 13 chicane and the wall at the exit of Turn 13 which many call The Wall of Champions. The wall gained its notoriety after the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix after three F1 World Champions – Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher, and Jaques Villeneuve – all crashed into the wall during the race. The name has stuck since then and its been called that every since.

The track has a stop-start nature which makes fuel consumption quite high. The high speed sections are punctuated with chicanes and a hairpin. The two DRS zones follow each other with the one being after the hairpin on the run to Turn 13 with the other down the pit straight to Turn 1.

This circuit in particular is a favorite of defending world champion Lewis Hamilton. He’s enjoyed relative success on around the Canadian circuit winning in 2007, 2010 and 2012. Hamilton is determined to bounce back after the Mercedes pit stop drama cost him the race in Monaco. On the other hand his team mate, Nico Rosberg, who is just 10 behind on the championship table will want to make it three victories in a row.

Elsewhere in the paddock it emerged that Honda and Ferrari have used some of their allocated engine tokens for the season to bring a few updates to their engines. Although it is not clear if Ferrari will use the updated engines at the Canadian Grand Prix. This after Ferrari’s Maurizio Arrivabene said that he was not sure when they will bring out the updated engine and that he didn’t want to give too much away.

With a definite improvement from McLaren since the start of the season and with their first points of the 2015 season at the Monaco Grand Prix, the team will be looking to build on their performance and are hoping that they’ve put their reliability problems behind them after two DNF’s from Alonso in the past two races.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo seems very upbeat ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix. The circuit is one of his favorites and after his victory last year, he cant wait to get going this year.

With the race taking place in North America we’ll have slightly later broadcast times. All times are GMT+2

Free Practice 1: Friday 16:00

Free Practice 2: Friday 20:00

Free Practice 3: Saturday 16:00

Qualifying: Saturday 19:00

Race: Sunday 20:00

June 3, 2015
F1 2015: GP Preview – Classic Canada

Change is said to be inevitable and Formula 1 has embraced this fate with more regularity than most. Thankfully, it hasn’t abandoned some of thegreat circuit that lends its much needed character to the world championship.

As the seventh round of the 2015 season the Canadian grand prix is collectively treasured by drivers, teams and fans. The circuit Gilles Villeneuve is an oldie but a goodie and renowned for its tendency to dish up thrilling racing.

Its decades old history is spectacular and has rarely faltered to live up to its magnificent highs. The last several races around here have all had their own dramatic and enthralling stories. Last year the grinning Aussie Daniel Ricciardo snapped up his first grand prix victory after Mercedes ran into trouble. In especially dramatic fashion Jenson Button snatched victory from Sebastian Vettel on the last lap in 2011 after an appalling race at which stage the Brit was dead last.

It was here too that Lewis Hamilton took his first race win in 2007 as a bright-eyed McLaren driver. Altogether Hamilton has quite the romance with North American races having in Canada and the United States on several occasions. The incident that kept the reigning champion from winning the Monaco grand prix would have been tough to take on the day but there is little doubt that Hamilton will arrive in Montreal with that controversial issue well out of his mind.

The physical make-up of the circuit Gilles Villeneuve calls for an aggressive approach. “I remember coming back into the pits and saying ‘what a circuit,’ I was amazed at how good it was – and I’d only done an install. It’s just a ridiculous amount of fun. You can jump across the kerbs and really get the car bouncing around,” shares Daniel Ricciardo. “It’s like getting back to go-kart days, you really feel like you own it – and I love that. You can get aggressive with it, and aim to just brush the wall.”

The close proximity of the barriers often draws comparisons with Monaco which makes the likelihood of a safety car appearance fairly high. There is a distinct lack of overtaking opportunities which means that a good performance in qualifying can often translate to a good showing in Sunday’s race.

In technical terms the track’s long straight classifies it as a power dominant circuit. A greater focus is placed on brake wear with several big stops around the circuit. This was the area in 2014 that found out Mercedes as both cars suffered brake failure with only Rosberg seeing the chequered flag on that occasion. The circuit is mostly unused during the rest of the year which will make for a slow start to the weekend. Here too the weather conditions can be variable making the job of getting temperature into the tyres a tough one.

Mercedes closest rivals are likely to Ferrari as it has been for the most part this year. The reality however is that though Ferrari are labelled as Mercedes’ rivals they still remain some way off their dominating pace.

The steps that are being taken forward by Ferrari have grown slightly shorter over the last few months. The victory in Malaysia seems a long time ago and the Italian team has not been able to make a real impression on Mercedes of late. The upgradepackage brought to the Spanish grand prix wasn’t shown up to its potential in Monaco and may add a bit of performance.

A ten point gap is all that is between Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. But will it be left to a battle between the two Silver Arrows or will the Canadian grand prix once again deliver its notoriously dramatic races?

June 3, 2015
Weather Report for the 2015 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix

Formula 1 returns to Monte Carlo, Monaco for Round 6 of the Formula 1 World Championship.

As Formula 1 weekends go, the Monaco Grand Prix is one of the most exciting weekends on the F1 calendar. Although the race ends up in a procession, the build up to the race is what makes things exciting.

Pirelli have brought their two softest compounds to the Circuit de Monaco, the red super soft compound and the yellow soft compound tyre. The circuit is the slowest on the F1 calendar and also has the slowest corner of the entire championship. This puts emphasis on mechanical grip rather than aerodynamic grip. The slow corners and stop-start nature of the circuit the new compound super soft tyre is ideal for just such conditions.

The super soft tyre from Pirelli has a new rubber compound for the 2015 season and a new construction. The new compound makes the tyre more resistant to graining and blistering.

The weather in Monaco is expected to be sunny with a few clouds around and some rain forecast in the afternoons. Maximum temperatures will hover in the low-to-mid 20’s. The weather is expected to remain the same throughout the weekend. Rain is forecast for the afternoon sessions, but there’s a chance that it may hold off.

Below is the snap shot of the weather for the weekend and our live forecast that updates throughout the day.

May 20, 2015