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Alonso eyeing points in Monaco

Fernando Alonso is eyeing to score his first points for the season at this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix and is optimistic that McLaren can challenge for points.

McLaren has had a dismal start to their season and is yet to score a point since reuniting with Honda at the start of 2015. At the Spanish Grand Prix, Alonso progressed through to Q2 during qualifying but retired from the race when a visor tear-off strip caused a brake failure. His team mate Jenson Button also had a very difficult run, labeling the car as being “scary to drive” and finished in 16th position.

Alonso however is hopeful that McLaren-Honda can compete for a top 10 postition around the streets of Monte Carlo.

“Monaco is one of those circuits that’s in its own league,” Alonso said. “Although it’s almost impossible to overtake there, it still produces one of the most impressive and exciting shows on the Formula 1 calendar.

“As a circuit and as a place, it’s completely unique, and this is what makes it so special. There are three areas you have to focus on for this Grand Prix – qualifying, concentration, and strategy.

“Saturday is where you can increase your chances of getting a good result from the weekend, so this will be our first objective, and I’m hopeful we can continue to strengthen our qualifying performance and improve our starting position.

“On Sunday, the most important thing is concentration – the streets are so narrow and twisty that there is no margin for error – so if you can do this and also maximise your strategy, you have the best chance of moving up the order by the end of the race.

“My home race in Barcelona was obviously a frustrating weekend for the whole team; we were unlucky with how my race ended and we firmly believed we could’ve achieved a positive result there.

“Our fighting spirit is still strong though, and we’re determined to take that to Monaco and see how much progress we can make there. I’m hopeful our car will perform better there than in Spain, and we’ll be pushing again to get into the points.”

Fernando Alonso Photo Credit: McLaren F1

May 18, 2015
Honda finalising development plan: We need more horsepower

Honda plan to spend some of their nine allocated development tokens on boosting maximum horsepower by looking into different concepts around combustion in the next few months.

The engine manufacturer – who only supply McLaren – only entered the sport this season and therefore have less engine tokens compared to their rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault. Planning how to spend these tokens will be key to improvement throughout the season but Honda motorsport boss Yasuhisa Arai believes they have established the key areas where there are weaknesses and tokens can be well spent on improving.

“We don’t have the complete plan yet as to how to use the tokens, which areas and when,” said Arai.

“We have already confirmed which areas are the most effective, and I know we are making a plan to apply race-by-race how many tokens we spend.

“One area where we are weak is horsepower – we need more horsepower.

“So one area to use the tokens is combustion, and the MGU-K and MGU-H because energy is a very important part.

“Combustion and energy recovery systems are very important.”

When asked what Honda needed to change to achieve their goal, Arai said: “Maybe we need to change the combustion concept, or the turbocharger, or the camshaft, those kind of parts.

“We should try to change the combustion concept because maybe the other power-unit suppliers are always thinking about better combustion characteristics.

“Every day, on the research and development side they are thinking about it, working on or testing a new combustion concept to get more horsepower to immediately apply that.

“Maybe that’s the area to use the tokens.”

The Barcelona in-season test following a very difficult Spanish Grand Prix was quite successful for McLaren and Honda. Jenson Button had described his car has being ‘scary to drive’ during the race but he managed to complete 100 laps without any problems during the test.

Arai also confirmed that Button and his team mate Fernando Alonso should find that they’ll experience “more controlled driveability” from the Honda engine for the upcoming races in Monaco and Canada.

May 18, 2015
Pirelli focused on safety after proposed tyre rule change

Official Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli says that it remains focused on safety following the FIA Strategy Groups’s announcement about proposed 2016 ‘free choice’ tyre rules.

The FIA revealed on Friday that the Strategy Group – which is made up of six F1 teams, FIA President Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone – were proposing a series of changes aimed at spicing up the F1 show. The changes include the return of refuelling in 2017, higher noise levels and aerodynamic rule changes, amongst others.

Also included is a proposed change that will allow F1 teams free choice to select any two of the four dry weather compound Pirelli tyres – the Hard, Medium, Soft and Super Soft – ahead of each race on the F1 calendar.

Under the current regulations, Pirelli is responsible for selecting two tyre compounds per race, based on relevant data and analysis by the tyre supplier.

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery was very critical of the proposal saying that it came as a surprise and was concerned about teams being reckless in their decision-making.

“If you start opening up choices this is what will happen: firstly, the top teams will centralise around the same choices because they use the same ideas and data we would be using,” Hembery said following the announcement.

“Then there would be some people that would want to risk a little more, and then there would be some people who would want to be a little reckless.

“That means they would be taking a product into a situation that would create a safety problem, and if there is a safety problem then we cannot accept that risk, so it is impossible.

“That is even before we get into the logistical problems and extreme cost it would involve to do such a thing.

“It’s more important to look at ‘why would you want to do something like that’ and ‘what are you trying to solve’ rather than suggesting a change without analysing what you are trying to achieve.”

Hembery did however state that Pirelli will remain focused on safety and developing a safe solution. “As ever, Pirelli will work with the teams and the FIA to find solutions to problems that are safe, and deliver the required results,” he said.

May 18, 2015
Danica Patrick Linked to F1 Drive

Gene Haas is not ruling out the possibility of seeing Danica Patrick behind the wheel of an F1 car.

The American motorsport mogul is set to launch his Formula 1 team in ten months and has not ruled out Danica Patrick as a potential driver choice.

“Danica Patrick is highly marketable, and if anything we’re very lucky GoDaddy is giving us enough time to find a sponsor that she’ll fit with because she can sell anything,” Haas told AUTOSPORT. “She has as much attention at the race track as any of the drivers, so she’s a very valuable person.”

Danica Patrick, currently a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, spent much of her early racing career in Europe with the main aim of reaching Formula 1. Patrick opted for American racing series instead and her star rose dramatically as she became the first female driver to lead a lap of the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 while driving the number 7 car in the IRL series (Indy Racing League). Three years later, in 2008, she made further history by becoming the first woman to win a major open-wheel race when she took victory at the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan.

Patrick’s time in NASCAR has been lacklustre by her loftystandards with only a handful of top ten finishes and a Daytona pole to show for it.

Haas went on to say that a decision on a driver line-up will not be made until mid-summer.

May 17, 2015
Refueling set to return to F1 in 2017

The Formula 1 strategy group met yesterday in Biggin Hill to discuss the state of the sport and exchange views on the current challenges F1 faces.

Not only were the teams invited to the meeting, but engine manufacturers were also invited.

The current V6 engines will remain but will be higher reving to increase the noise levels. The suggestion for a 5th engine has been rejected.

“The allowance for a 5^th engine to be used during the 2015 season has been rejected,” read the statement from the FIA.

Some of the changes discussed were:

For 2016 the teams will have a choice of two dry compounds(out of 4) per race. This means that the teams can choose any tyre compound they feel is right for a race.

In 2017 there will be new rules regarding aerodynamics, wider tyres and weight reduction to the cars which will make them 5-6 seconds a lap quicker.

Refueling will be introduced with a maximum race fuel allowance. The introduction of refueling is one that fans have been calling on for years. It will mean drivers can drive closer to the limit. If tyre rules are tweaked, it could mean more durable tyres that will make racing much more exciting.

These suggestions need to be ratified by the F1 Commission and the World Motor Sport Council who will meet in July.

May 15, 2015

Palmer Ends Barcelona Test Top of The Time Sheets for Lotus

Lotus test driver Jolyon Palmer finished on top of the time sheets for Lotus on the final day of the Barcelona in-season test on Wednesday.

Palmer set his fastest lap of the day with a set of Pirelli’s super soft tyres a few minutes before the day ended. His time of 1:26.080 was 0.417s faster than 2nd fastest man of the day, Mercedes’ Pascal Wehrlein and 1.7s slower than Nico Rosberg’s fastest time from Tuesday. Wehrlein was still feeling under the weather but powered through the day to rack up 137 laps for the day with a best time of 1:26.497.

Pierre Gasly was at the wheel of the Red Bull RB11 on Wednesday after a day with sister team Toro Rosso on Tueday. Gasly clocked 25 laps for the Milton Keynes based team with a best time of 1:26.683 on a set of medium compound tyres.

After complaining about the unstable rear end of the McLaren in Sunday’s race, Jenson Button reported on Wednesday that the setup changes that were undertaken by the team had resolved those issues. Button’s best time of 1:26.927 came courtesy of the super soft tyres. The Briton also managed to clock up 100 laps in the MP4-30.

Alex Lynn made his first appearance in and F1 car for the Williams F1 team on Wednesday. He completed 52 laps with a best time of 1:26.967.

“I didn’t really sleep that well last night as I was so excited about today,” commented Lynn.

“It has been an amazing day and great to get behind the wheel of the FW37.

“We managed to get through a really important schedule and I completed a number of runs in the car. The team were happy with how we got on and with my performance, so all-in-all it has been a really positive day.”

Finishing 6th fastest for the day was 18-year-old Frenchman, Esteban Ocon, who had his first outing in a Formula 1 car with Force India. He completed 94 laps and set his best time of 1:27.520 on a set of super soft tyres.

Making his Ferrari debut was newly signed reserve driver, Esteban Gutierrez. He finished 7th fastest for the day with a grand total of 118 laps to his name. Carlos Sainz Jr. in the Toro Rosso finished 8th fastest.

After spending a day at Ferrari on Tuesday, Ferrari Academy driver Rafaelle Marciello had a go in the Sauber C34. Just as he got going in the Sauber, he slid off the track at Turn 3 and crashed into the barrier damaging the front left. The Sauber mechanics had the car fixed after the lunch break and he was back out on the track and managed to rack up 75 laps for the day.

The teams head back to their respective bases to analyse the mountains of data collected over two days of testing. The next time we’ll see them again is at Monaco on Thursday 21 May 2015.

Below is the unofficial timing sheet from the second day of the in-season Barcelona test.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps	Tyre
1	Jolyon Palmer	Lotus-Mercedes	1:26.080	–	87	SS
2	Pascal Wehrlein	Mercedes	1:26.497	+0.417s	137	M
3	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull-Renault	1:26.683	+0.603s	75	M
4	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda	1:26.927	+0.847s	100	SS
5	Alex Lynn	Williams-Mercedes	1:26.967	+0.887s	52	S
6	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes	1:27.520	+1.440s	94	S
7	Esteban Gutierrez	Ferrari	1:27.930	+1.850s	118	M
8	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	1:27.997	+1.917s	125	M
9	Rafaelle Marciello	Sauber-Ferrari	1:28.829	+2.749s	75	M

Photo credit: Lotus F1 Team, Williams Martini Formula One Team

May 13, 2015

Rosberg Takes Charge of Day 1 of Barcelona In-Season Test

Nico Rosberg picked up right where he left off for Mercedes on Tuesday in testing after victory at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.

Rosberg’s fastest lap of 1:24.374 came in the morning session with an unmarked Pirelli compound was 0.307s quicker than his pole setting time for the Spanish Grand Prix. He also clocked up 146 laps around the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, the most of any driver for the day.

Marcus Ericsson at the wheel of the Sauber was second quickest on the day. His time of 1:26.624 pushed Ferrari Academy driver Raffaele Marciello down to 3rd fastest after he held second spot for most of the day for Ferrari. Both drivers completed 98 and 125 laps for their respective teams. Ericsson will make way for Marciello on Wednesday at Sauber while Esteban Gutierrez will get his first drive in the Ferrari SF15-T.

Despite reliability problems throughout the season so far, the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat made it around the track 101 times with the 4th fastest time of the day. Pastor Maldonado in the Lotus had a trouble free day to finish his day 5th fastest for Lotus.

Nick Yelloly made his debut for Force India, albeit a day early. He was called up when Pascal Wehrlein fell ill and was forced to pull out of the test. Yelloly enjoyed his day out in the car finishing 6th fastest with a time of 1:27.396 and clocking up 109 laps for the day.

“It felt really good to finally get my chance in a Formula One car. I’ve been working towards this day for a long time and I need to say a big ‘thank you’ to everyone at Sahara Force India for giving me this opportunity,” said Yelloly.

“The first few laps felt a bit unusual, but I soon got comfortable in the car.

“I’m feeling really positive about the day and I hope it’s been useful for the team.”

Wehrlien is scheduled to drive for Mercedes on Wednesday. They are hopeful that he’ll be fit to drive for the team.

Another F1 debutant was GP2 driver Pierre Gasly. He was at the wheel of the Toro Rosso and racked up a marathon 131 laps. He ended the day 7th fastest with a 1:27.639. Felipe Massa in the Williams was 8th fastest for the day and completed just 54 laps.

McLaren’s Oliver Turney was 9th fastest on the day with a 1:28.542 and clocked up 68 laps. McLaren were trailing a whole host of new parts at the track today and were trying to make the most of their time by testing as much as they could.

As the test goes on, Formula 1 Tyre supplier Pirelli are, with the help of Mercedes, Ferrari, Toro Rosso and Red Bull, testing out new compounds.

Pos	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:24.374	–	146
2	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber/Ferrari	1:26.624	2.250s	98
3	Raffaele Marciello	Ferrari	1:26.648	2.274s	125
4	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull/Renault	1:26.904	2.530s	101
5	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus/Mercedes	1:27.338	2.964s	60
6	Nick Yelloly	Force India/Mercedes	1:27.396	3.022s	109
7	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso/Renault	1:27.639	3.265s	131
8	Felipe Massa	Williams/Mercedes	1:27.911	3.537s	54
9	Oliver Turvey	McLaren/Honda	1:28.542	4.168s	68

Testing line up for Wednesday 13 may 2015 available here

Photo credits: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, Sahara Force India Formula One Team

May 12, 2015

F1 2015: Spanish GP Review – Rosberg Rises To The Occassion

It’s taken a bit of time but Nico Rosberg has struck back and with quite a dominant victory at that.

The circuit de Barcelona Catalunya has always been a good hunting ground for the German/Monegasque but given the way his 2015 season has been going the weekend wouldn’t have started with Rosberg as the favourite. In the Mercedes garage it’s been all Hamilton for the first four races and on the championship log too. But if there’s one thing in sport you can always count on its that there are always ups and downs.

From the Saturday qualifying session onwards Nico Rosberg was most definitely on the up.Perhaps it started even earlier than this as Hamilton appeared off-colour for most of the practice running. The reigning champion was never one hundred percent comfortable with the balance of his car and that was all Rosberg needed to pounce.

The under pressure German snapped up pole by a comfortable two-and-a-half tenths and never looked back. A clean launch off the line and good management skills was all Rosberg needed in Sunday’s 66 lap race. At no stage in the race was he ever under pressure and in fact as the chequered flag beckoned he was far enough ahead that he could ease off and coast to victory.

Lewis Hamilton had to work a bit harder for his eventual second place as he opted for a three-stop strategy. The early phase was highlighted by a fight with Sebastian Vettel during which he easily matched the pace of the Ferrari. However, Hamilton thanks to modern aero regs couldn’t get close enough to overtake on the circuit and opted for the pit-stop undercut which affected the position change.

Many would have been quite keen to see what the Ferrari upgrades would deliver in relation to Mercedes. The conclusion was far less spectacular than our lofty daydreams and the Spanish grand prix was a far from stellar weekend for Ferrari.

It could have gone worse for Vettel and Raikkonen; they could, for example, have been McLaren drivers. While Jenson Button was hauling his McHonda around in 18^th place and complaining about incessant understeer Fernando Alonso was forced into retirement with brake failure who, at the time, was running in 13^th place.

Let’s remind ourselves that this is the mighty McLaren. A team once reserved only for the greats such as John Surtees, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. A team that has amassed 182 racewins now reduced to retirements and also-rans. In the innermost part of your racing heart you know that it’s just wrong and desperately sad. It’s difficult to quantify just how far McLaren are from their once inspiring prominence but Jenson Button and Fernando Alonsoaccount of the “scary to drive” car is illuminating and quite disturbing.

Sebastian Vettel secured his customary third place on the grid but over on the other side of the garage a bit of a freak accident meant Raikkonen’s tyres were overcooked and the Finn was forced to set his Q3 time on a used set which netted him seventh on the starting grid. Things didn’t go spectacularly better in the race either. Vettel had a bit of a fight for second with Hamilton but was ultimately relegated to third. Raikkonen too turned a decent pace with yet another impressive stint on the harder, and slower, compound tyre. Yet, Ferrari conceded the biggest victory margin to Mercedes of the season so far.

The first four races of the 2015 season haven’t painted a pretty picture for Nico Rosberg. He has been so comprehensively whipped by Lewis Hamilton that his psychological well-being came into question. A mini-meltdown after the Chinese grand prix and a lacklustre Bahrain grand prix rendered a rather gloomy outlook for the once championship contender.

And while we were rightly discouraged by Rosberg’s lack of grit deep-down we were hoping for resurgence from the number 6 Mercedes. Now, one race doth not make a consistent Hamilton-beater but it has to start somewhere and he is the most likely contender. Given that thenext round is the Monte Carlo grand prix with which Rosberg has quite the love affair this Spanish Gpwin could turn out to be an important turning point for Nico.

May 12, 2015
Carlos Sainz Jr’s Journey to Formula One

Toro Rosso star Carlos Sainz Jr got his Formula One career off to a fantastic start by scoring points on his debut at the Australian Grand Prix. He then followed that with yet more points in Malaysia. Red Bull presents this short clip looking back on Carlos Sainz Jr’s journey to Formula One and also his triumphant campaign in Formula Renault 3.5.

A full version of the Carlos Sainz Jr documentary is also available for those who want to watch a little more. Be sure to click on the Subtitle/CC option to view in English.

May 11, 2015
Tear-off visor strip to blame for Alonso brake failure

It appears that a tear-off visor strip is to blame for Fernando Alonso’s brake failure at the F1 Spanish Grand Prix. The brake failure saw Alonso very nearly running over his pit crew and then retiring from the race.

The McLaren team identified the issue during Alonso’s second stint and called him in to the pits for a tyre change and so that they could investigate. On arriving in the pits, Alonso’s brakes failed to stop the car. The front jack man had to leap out of the way in order to avoid injury. Alonso was forced to retire and McLaren mechanics later found a tear-off visor strip covering the right-rear brake duct – most likely leading to the brakes overheating and ultimately failing.

“It was scary for the guys but luckily we didn’t hurt anyone and the team were very fast with their reaction so next time hopefully everything works fine, ” Alonso said. “We had no brakes for the whole in-lap but then on the pit stop, even less, so it was deteriorating but everything was fine.”

Alonso went on to say that the brake failure issue was completely separate to the problems he faced in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix and said that now McLaren will now need to make “double steps” in order to keep up.

“Today was a new problem. Yesterday it was one disc – it was not getting temperature – and today I had no brakes – so it’s different, definitely. It was the rear disc – it stopped working – so I only had front brakes, which meant I had to retire the car. I couldn’t brake in the corners and I couldn’t even brake in the pit. It was a disappointment but there’s nothing we can do now just prepare and do an investigation in what happened to the brakes and in Monaco come back stronger.”

Photo Credit: McLaren F1

May 11, 2015