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Manor F1 Team To Race in Melbourne

The Manor F1 team have announced that they will be ready to race come the season opener in Australia thanks to investor Stephen Fitzpatrick, the founder of energy company OVO, who rescued the team out of administration.

Since then the team have been working away furiously behind the scenes to get things ready for them to be able to race at the Australian Grand Prix. The team, having already signed Will Stevens as their first driver, is yet to announce their second driver. The team say that the lineup will be completed soon.

Manor F1 will be lead by former Marussia team boss Graeme Lowdon who will take up his new role as President & Sporting Director. The founder of Manor Motorsport John Booth with will continue as Team Principal. Former Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King will be taking over as interim chairman with Stephen Fitzpatrick as the new investor/owner.

“I want to thank all of the teams, the FIA, Formula One Management, our suppliers and staff and of course all of the fans for the support we’ve received over the past six months,” said Lowdon.

“It has been a challenging period for all of us but we’ve come through it and now we just want to go racing again,” he added.

“With formidable new business leadership in Stephen Fitzpatrick and the board presence of Justin King we are now in a great place ahead of the new season. This is a fantastic and very rewarding moment for all those involved with the team.”

Fitzpatrick is very confident in the team and feels that they’ve got a solid platform to work off.

“We’ve all worked incredibly hard to get the car ready for Melbourne and the season ahead. Our fans have given the team amazing support for many years and we want to restore Manor to the very best of racing in the future. I have a lifelong passion for Formula One and can’t wait for the season ahead, with Manor and the team.”

The team will start the season with their 2014 which will be modified to suit the 2015 regulations. They will then launch their 2015 car towards the middle of the season.

March 4, 2015
Pirelli Announces Tyre Choices for First Four Grands Prix

Formula 1 tyre provider Pirelli has announced the tyre nominations for the Australian, Malaysian, Chinese, and Bahrain Grands Prix.

For the Australian Grand Prix Pirelli will bring in the white medium and yellow soft compound tyres.

In Malaysia, the Orange Hard and White Medium compound tyres will be used. Pirelli nominated these the two hardest compounds available for the high abrasiveness of the asphalt at the Sepang Circuit and also because of the high temperatures.

The P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft tyres are nominated for China. Those are the tyres best suited for the high degradation experienced by the tyres on the Shanghai circuit.

For Bahrain, a circuit that is tough on the rear tyres, Pirelli have nominated the White Medium and Yellow soft compound tyres. The Bahrain Grand Prix is the first day-into-night race on the calendar. This leads to falling ambient and track temperatures as the race goes on. The tyres chosen would provide the ideal balance between the rear mechanical grip needed whilst coping with the falling track temperatures.

The above tyre choices are identical to the first 4 races of last season. The only difference is that the rear tyres have a different construction which allows for temperatures to be distributed more evenly.

Photo by courtesy PIRELLI

March 4, 2015
Alonso To Miss Australian Grand Prix

The McLaren F1 Team have announced that Fernando Alonso will not participate in the Australian Grand Prix after doctors have recommended that the Spaniard rests to avoid further injury.

A statement from the team said that although Alonso is perfectly healthy, the doctors have recommended that to avoid further risk of a second concussion he should sit out the Australian Gran Prix next week.

“Fernando’s doctors have recommended to him that, following the concussion he sustained in a testing accident at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on February 22nd, for the time being he should seek to limit as far as is possible any environmental risk factors that could potentially result in his sustaining another concussion so soon after his previous one, so as to minimise the chances of second impact syndrome, as is normal medical procedure when treating athletes after concussions,” read the statement.

Although Alonso expressed his desire to race this weekend and feels that he is ready to race, he will heed the doctor’s advice and sit out the Australian Grand Prix. Alonso is poised to return to racing at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

“Fernando’s doctors acknowledge that he feels fit and well, and that he regards himself as ready to race, and, that being the case, they are comfortable with the fact that he has already recommenced physical training, with a view to preparing for a return to the cockpit of his McLaren-Honda car for the Malaysian Grand Prix meeting on March 27th, 28th and 29th”

McLaren reserve driver Kevin Magnussen will take Alonso’s place in Australia next week alongside Jenson Button.

March 3, 2015
FIA Clarifies Helmet Design Rule

The Formula One’s Governing Body the FIA clarified the rule that permits only one helmet design for each driver for the season.

The whole aim of the rule was to make drivers easily recognizable by the fans. The vote to implement the new regulations was voted through last month, the change has now been adopted by the FIA and appears in the 2015 Formula One Sporting Regulations.

The amended article 21.1 of the Sporting Regulations reads as follows: “In order for drivers to be easily distinguished from one another whilst they are on the track, the crash helmet of each driver must be presented in substantially the same livery at every Event during a Championship season.”

The rule makes for provision should a driver acquire a new sponsor during the season and wishes to place the sponsors logo on his helmet.

Sebastian Vettel has already said that if there is a fine for infringing the rule, he would gladly pay the fine. Vettel is known for having a different helmet for every race weekend.

The FIA have also cleared up what will happen to a driver number should the driver leave the sport. The rule states that “A driver’s career in Formula 1 will be deemed to have ended if he does not participate in an event for two entire consecutive championship seasons.”

March 2, 2015
Red Bull Back In Colour for 2015 Season

After launching their car with a very interesting camouflage livery for testing, the Red Bull F1 team have gone back to their “traditional” racing colours for the rest of the 2015 season.

The Milton Keynes based team have gone back to their more traditional dark blue livery. “It’s not the first alternative livery we’ve used and doubtless won’t be the last – but we’ve made our mark in the last ten years in dark blue, and in dark blue we’ll remain,” read a team statement.

“Those are the racing colours in which we’ve achieved great things. We’re not the most traditional of F1 teams, but like the rest of the sport, we value heritage.

“And as for us, well, the original Red Bull Racing livery that ran in testing at the end of 2004 was based around the famous design of a certain energy drink we’re rather attached to.

“It was then amended slightly for our debut livery at the first race of 2005 which, while still incorporating the blue, red and yellow, discarded the silver and developed into a stronger, more visually-arresting design.

It’s changed a lot over the years but the central themes remain constant – and we’re very proud that it’s become so instantly recognisable. It should see us through a good few years to come.”

March 2, 2015
Bottas Fastest For Williams on Final Day of Barcelona Test

Valtteri Bottas closed off Williams’ pre-season testing campaign by finishing fastest on the final day of the Barcelona test on the super soft compound in the morning session.

Bottas’ time of 1:23.063 was 0.406s faster than Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari who finished 2nd fastest. In fact, Williams felt very confident of their testing performance and ended their testing early with 89 laps on the board for the day.

“It was a really good day and a great way to finish the test,” commented Bottas. “One of the main points we have learnt is that the FW37 is very reliable. The car we are taking to Melbourne is very competitive and should make for an interesting start to the season.”

Most of the teams, after completing qualifying simulations moved over to long runs in preparation for the first race of the Formula 1 World Championship in Melbourne in two weeks time.

Felipe Nasr with 159 laps for the day finished 3rd fastest with rookie Max Verstappen in the Toro Rosso finishing 4th fastest. Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull suffered and ERS problem in the morning session which meant he was out for the bulk of the morning session. He was back out in the afternoon and managed to complete 72 laps.

Sergio Perez got his first taste of the VJM08 on Sunday. He completed 130 laps and finished 6th fastest. ““My first day in the car has been a good one, with a very high number of laps and a good atmosphere in the team,” said Perez. “It’s no secret that we have some catch-up to do but I am optimistic: the team has a clear direction to work towards and we have been able to collect a large amount of data in such a short time, which will help all those working back at base.”

Nico Rosberg closed off a very successful testing campaign for Mercedes with the 7th fastest time of the day. Although he was not up there in terms of pace for the day, Rosberg holds the honor for the fastest lap of the Barcelona test of 1:22.792. Mercedes have also completed the most laps across all three tests.

“Today was a good day and, overall, that was a very interesting test here in Barcelona,” commented Rosberg. ” After this test, though, we can be happy,. The team did a fantastic job.”

Rosberg seemed confident of Mercedes’ pace and feel that they will pick up right where they left off in 2014.

McLaren had another difficult day with Jenson Button at the wheel. Their test campaign has been hit by reliability issues from the first day of testing. The team, however, are optimistic that they can improve, although conceding that the fly away races will be an uphill battle.

Eric Boullier, McLaren’s Racing Director had this to say about their testing campaign: “Looking back at the last four weeks, our winter test programme has been difficult. However, that wasn’t entirely unexpected: this time last year, we saw many teams in a similar situation when they introduced new power units for the first time. This year, we also had the added complexity that very tight packaging brings.

“In overview, the lack of mileage means we won’t be as ready as we’d have liked, but we can take away the positive that all the running and data gathering we’ve done have confirmed that we’re achieving the targets we set ourselves.

“Even if it’s likely to be a difficult start to the season, we know we can develop hard and fast, and that we’ll surely unlock the huge potential that lies within the McLaren-Honda MP4-30.”

Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado closed off the time sheet with the 9th fastest time of the day. He brought out the red flags when he crashed into the barriers at Turn 4. Lotus say that the crash was caused by a “systems issue compromised Maldonado’s braking”. The team were unable to repair the damage to Maldonado’s car and had to call things to an early end at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Below is the unofficial times for day 4 of the final pre-season test in Barcelona

March 2, 2015
Hamilton Fastest For Mercedes on Penultimate Day of Barcelona Test

Lewis Hamilton made it two for two for Mercedes on the penultimate day of the Barcelona pre-season test.

Hamilton set his fastest time of 1:23.022 for the day on Pirelli’s yellow soft compound tyre in the afternoon session after spending most of the afternoon in the garage. Felipe Massa in the Williams was second fastest on the day with a 1:23.262, 0.240s slower than Hamilton. Massa completed his lap on the super softs compared to Hamilton on the soft. This is quite an incredible show of pace from Mercedes although we are not sure if Massa was pushing to the absolute limit.

Long runs and a race simulation was the order of the day at Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen finished the day 3rd fastest 0.254s slower than Hamilton. Raikkonen completed his fastest lap on the super softs in what looks like a qualifying type simulation.

Carlos Sainz Jr. and Romain Grosjean finished 4th and 5th fastest respectively both with lap counts over 100 laps. Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber ended his day 6th fastest with 123 laps to his name.

Nico Hulkenberg completed a solid day for Force India. This was the first full day of running after launching the VJM08 yesterday afternoon. Hulkenberg finished 7th fastest but completed a 158 laps on the day. “It was a very positive day in terms of reliability and getting a lot of mileage under our belts,” commented Hulkenberg. “It was our first full day of testing so our main focus remained on getting to know the car, the way we set it up and its characteristics.”

After a good day of running yesterday, it seemed to go the other way for McLaren on Saturday. Kevin Magnussen, filling in for Fernando Alonso, only completed 39 laps for the day and was forced to end the day almost three hours early due to on oil leak.

Daniel Ricciardo completed his day 9th fastest with 128 laps on the board. Red Bull focused on long run pace and race simulations after fitting new parts on the car. Daniel Ricciardo was happy with the updates and he feels the team have addressed their weaknesses from last year.

“It looks more promising,” he said. “I don’t think we have shown our true pace on low fuel yet. “High fuel stuff seems like we are a bit happier than where we feel like we should be.”

“We will see in Melbourne when everyone is on the right fuel loads but I think we do look more competitive on high fuel for now.”

Below is the unofficial time sheet for Day 3 of the final pre-season test

February 28, 2015
Rosberg Sets Fastest Time of Testing on Day 2 of Final Test as Force India Debut

Nico Rosberg threw down the gauntlet in testing today after setting the fastest time of the day and the pre-season test in Barcelona for Mercedes.

Elsewhere on the track, Force India debuted their 2015 car the VJM08 after skipping the first test and taking part in the second test with their 2014 car. The other good news was that the McLaren team got their first day of solid running.

The day however belonged to Robserg in the Mercedes who set a 1:22.792 on a set of Pirelli’s soft compound tyres. Rosberg’s time was 1.203s faster than Valtteri Bottas in the Williams who finished the day second fastest. Interestingly enough, Rosberg’s time today is about 0.7s quicker than Felipe Massa’s fastest time on day 1 on the same tyre.

Felipe Nasr in the Sauber finished third for the day while Sebastian Vettel took the spot for 4th fastest completing 143 laps on the day, the highest lap count for the day. His time of 1:25.339 was 2.547s slower than Rosberg’s time. It should be noted that Ferrari concentrated on long runs for most of the day.

Jenson Button in the McLaren had the best day for McLaren since testing began clocking up 101 laps under his belt. “We’ve got a lot of work still do to, but we had a good day today,” commented Button. “It’s never easy when you’ve missed out on so much testing, but we’re making good progress, and we got lots of really useful information today.”

“We know we’re not the quickest guys out there, but you’ll certainly see a lot of improvement by the time we get to Australia.”

Button’s day was brought to an end after an unspecified electrical problem which caused him to stop out on track. But not before completing his tally of 101 laps.

Lotus had Pastor Maldonado at the wheel of the E23 who completed 140 laps and finished 6th fastest. Max Verstappen and Daniil Kvyat finished 7th and 8th respectively for Toro Rosso and Red Bull.

Force India rolled out the VJM08 today with Nico Hulkenberg at the wheel. On its debut the car clocked up 77 laps for the day finishing slowest on the day. The team are not too concerned with the time at this stage as they are focusing on reliability as they’ve missed out on a big chunk of testing time.

Below is the unofficial time sheet for day 2 of the final pre-season test in Barcelona

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

February 27, 2015
Manor F1 Team Closer to Formula 1 Return

The former Marussia F1 Team, now known as Manor Racing F1 are a step closer to returning to the sport after the team name reflected on the updated FIA entry list for the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship

The team was included in the provisional last last year subject to confirmation. Since then the bosses of Manor F1 have been negotiating behind the scenes with the FIA. They had to secure the necessary finances before they could race in 2015.

Manor will race with their 2014 car which will be heavily modified in order to adhere to the 2015 rules. They are however, building their 2015 contender and hope to have it ready midway through the season.

Earlier in the week the team made its intentions clear that they want to race in 2015 and have signed British driver Will Stevens to the team. There is no word yet on who the second driver will be.

February 27, 2015
Alonso Thanks Fans for Their Support

Fernando Alonso, today thanked his fans for their continued support following his crash at the first Barcelona test.

February 27, 2015