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FIA to Further Investigate Perez-Massa Crash

The FIA have announced that they will further investigate the incident between Williams’ Felipe Massa and Force India’s Sergio Perez at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The crash, which Perez was penalized for, happened in the closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix when Massa attempted to pass a struggling Perez into turn 1. The TV pictures showed Perez jinked a bit to the left which resulted in contact with Massa which sent the pair of them careening into the barriers with Massa narrowly avoiding contact with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.

The hearing will be heard by the Austrian Grand Prix stewards at the Red Bull Ring tomorrow, after a request from Force India, who say that they have new evidence to bring to light.

Below is the statement from the FIA:

The FIA has received a request from Sahara Force India F1 Team, the entrant of Car 11, requesting a review of the Stewards’ Decision (Document 44 of June 8, 2014) in accordance with Article 13.10 of the FIA International Sporting Code. The request refers to the emergence of “new elements”.

The FIA has been advised that it is physically impossible for the Stewards of the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix to process this request prior to the Austrian Grand Prix and in accordance with Article 13.10.1 of the Code, has designated the Stewards of the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix to:

1. Determine as to whether or not a new element exists under Article 13.10.2 of the Code; and
2. If such an element is determined to exist, convene a new hearing to consider any such new element(s).

In order to determine whether or not a new element exists the Stewards will convene at 09:00 hrs on Friday June 20, 2014. The driver and team representative of Car 11 are required to attend to present their case as to the existence of any new element(s).

In the event that the Stewards decide, in accordance with Article 13.10.1 of the Code, that a new element(s) exists, a hearing will be convened at 1600 hours on Friday June 20, 2014. The drivers and team representatives of Car 11 and Car 19 (Felipe Massa – Williams Martini Racing), will be required at this hearing.

Photo courtesy Sahara Force India Formula 1 Team

June 19, 2014
Weather Report for the Formula 1 Grosser Preis Von Osterreich 2014 (Austrian Grand Prix)

Round 8 of the Formula 1 World Championship and it is a special one. After a 10 year break we return to the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria for the Austrian Grand Prix.

The weather in Austria will be a mixed bag of conditions this weekend. It looks as if we can expect all types of conditions from rainy to sunny and hot. It will be a rather mild day for Friday’s practice with temperatures staying in the low twenties. Rain is forecast for the day and we could see some showers towards the end of FP1. There’s also a very good chance of of some rain during FP2.

For Saturday we can expect much of the same weather except temperatures will hover in the mid twenties. There are thunderstorms forecast for the afternoon around the time qualifying is to start.

On race day it’s going to be a hot day with temperatures in the mid-to-high twenties with a small chance of thundershowers in the afternoon.

We could be in for one exciting grand prix this weekend. Below is the forecast for the weekend.

June 19, 2014
F1 2014: Austrian GP Preview – Formula 1 Re-opens Austrian Chapter

History is nothing new to Formula 1 and it re-opens one of its oldest chapters this weekend at the Austrian grand prix.
The Formula 1 world championship returns to Styria, at the foot of the Alps, for the first time in a decade. The Austrian grand prix has featured on the F1 calendar in several different forms; from the one-off airfield in Zeltweg in 1963 to the Österreichring throughout the 80s to its current guise of the A1-Ring in Spielberg.

The A1-Ring was purchased by Red Bull who agreed with Bernie Ecclestone to reinstate the circuit as part of the championship. The last meeting in 2003 was won by then Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher who was well on his way to title number six.

It was during the now infamous 2002 Austrian GP where the contentious issue of team-orders took centre stage. It was here that the Ferrari team instructed Rubens Barrichello to give way to teammate Michael Schumacher. The move was met with much negativity and the unprecedented jeering of Schumacher on the podium. Schumacher would lift off the throttle in the final few meters of the 2002 US grand prix handing victory to Barrichello.

The renamed Red Bull Ring’s layout remains unchanged and its 4.326km length is dominated by several straights. Therefore, it requires a medium downforce set-up with a particular emphasis on braking which translates to a high rate of fuel consumption. Similar to Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit the Red Bull Ring’s middle sector is dominate by medium speed corners. Pirelli’s analysis of the track has reveals a moderately abrasive surface suitable for the soft and supersoft compounds.

The circuit’s high altitude venue will place serious demand on the 2014 power units which will have to cope with a lap spent at full throttle for nearly 70%. The track only has nine corners but its character is derived from the significant undulation throughout lap and four opportunities for overtaking.

The Canadian grand prix demonstrated how quickly fortunes could change and proved that Mercedes are not bulletproof. A failure on both cars revealed their fallibility and gave Nico Rosberg a significant advantage in the driver’s championship. The hammer-blow in Monaco and a bit of luck in Canada has Rosberg on an ominous high. The German won’t have any difficulty with the Ring which suggests that Lewis Hamilton will need to be on top of his game to begin recouping his losses. “I caught up before and I can catch up again,” says Hamilton. “It’s going to take another four wins to make the difference so I’m going to do my best to get those results.”

Ferrari’s abundant struggles in 2014 would suggest that recovery is the main aim. However, the latest rhetoric from the team seems almost defiant. Only new team Principal Marco Mattiacci has pointed to an ineffective trend of development as the reason for the team remaining “behind the curve.”
Contrastingly, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo went so far as to suggest that the Italian team could quit the sport altogether. Yet, something suggests that this lamenting of the new F1 rules would most likely not have seen the light of day if Ferrari were leading the 2014 field. It is rather silly of di Montezemolo to throw his toys of the cot because of his team’s woeful season. The fact remains that all teams are bound by the same set of rules and some simply did a better job of interpreting them than others.

It seems obvious that Red Bull will be in the spotlight this weekend. But how much of that spotlight will transfer to the track in the face of the mightily dominant Mercedes team remains to be seen.

June 18, 2014
Broadcast Times for the Formula 1 Grosser Preis Von Osterreich 2014 (Austrian Grand Prix)

Formula 1 returns to Spielberg, Austria to host the Austrian Grand Prix and round 8 of the Formula 1 World Championship.

After being removed from formula 1 calendars in 2004. The A1 Ring as it was known, has since been bought by Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz , given a refurbishment and it is back on the Formula 1 calendar. The Red Bull ring played host to some fantastic racing in the past. The battle between Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen in 1998 comes immediately to mind. Not forgetting the moment in 2001 where Rubens Barrichello was asked by then Ferrari Team Principal, Jean Todt to “let Michael pass for the championship”.

For teams this season at the Red Bull Ring its a complete unknown. The drivers will have to learn the track with no prior information to assist them. No doubt the drivers have been spending lots of time in the simulator in preparation for the race, but nothing beats track time. It will be interesting to see which team will get on top of things quick enough and take advantage of the conditions.

The team to beat will undoubtedly be Mercedes. Red Bull will be hoping to put in a good performance as they will be performing in front of their home crowd.

Below are the broadcast times for the Austrian Grand Prix(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

You can catch our updates during practice with our live updates on Saturday and Sunday with all the news in between on our Twitter account @F1_Madness

June 18, 2014
Video: Schumacher vs. Häkkinen Austrian Grand Prix

Since we’re coming up to the Austrian Grand Prix and with the good news of Michael Schumacher, we thought we’d show you a few clips of races past. In this clip we see an epic battle between one of Formula 1’s greatest rivalries. Schumacher vs. Häkkinen in Austria.

June 17, 2014
Michael Schumacher Out Of Coma

The Formula 1 world received news earlier today that seven times world champion Michael Schumacher is out of his coma.

Schumacher suffered severe head injuries late last year and has remained in a coma for several months. News about the champion’s progress had been released to the public on a sporadic basis as his condition continued to slowly improve.

The last update about Schumacher’s health was released in April and noted that he was experiencing moments of “wakefulness and consciousness.”

Since this last update several so-called experts had warned that fans of the F1 legend would never get good news. However, in a statement released by manager Sabine Kehm it was confirmed that Schumacher is no longer in coma and that he has been moved to an unknown rehabilitation centre.

Statement from Kehm:

“Michael has left the CHU Grenoble to continue his long phase of rehabilitation. He is not in a coma anymore.

“His family would like to explicitly thank all his treating doctors, nurses and therapists in Grenoble as well as the first aiders at the place of the accident, who did an excellent job in those first months.

“The family also wishes to thank all the people who have sent Michael all the many good wishes to Michael. We are sure it helped him.

“For the future we ask for understanding that his further rehabilitation will take place away from the public eye.”

No specific details were given on Schumacher’s exact condition nor are any updates expected in the near future. Nevertheless, we meet this news with gladness and a fondest wish for Schumi’s recovery. Keep Fighting Michael.

June 16, 2014
F1 2014: Canadian GP Review – Ricciardo Wins Canadian Stunner

There is something about the combination of the circuit Gilles Villeneuve and Formula 1 that delivers the most astounding races.

It didn’t come as a surprise when Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton locked out the front row of the grid. Nor was it unexpected that the two fought a close battle for the lead of the race into turns one and two. It was expected when the pair of them comfortably pulled away from the rest of the field.

First, a crash between Max Chilton and his Marussia teammate Jules Bianchi brought out the safety-car. A significant amount of clean-up was required which had the safety-car out for seven laps. Yet, this would be the least dramatic ‘incident’ of the afternoon, by far.

As the race resumed it seemed like any other afternoon in the 2014 season for the Mercedes pairing of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. The two Silver Arrows ran within a few seconds of each other and pulled away comfortably from the rest of the field. However, Formula 1 never fails to dish up the most unexpected and the seemingly predictable was about to be obliterated.

Lewis Hamilton, known for his performances around the Canadian circuit, began to make serious charge for the lead of the race by closing the gap to Rosberg to a couple of tenths. As they battled wheel-to-wheel a sudden loss of power struck both at the exact same time. The high temperatures had caused both cars to suffer a devastating MGU-K failure. It meant that both Mercedes’ had lost all of its hybrid power.

The seemingly invincible pair were losing up to three seconds a lap. Too much astonishment Williams’ Felipe Massa emerged as the leader of the race after the first round of pitstops. A momentary recovery for Lewis Hamilton had the Brit in prime position to take over from Rosberg but he ran wide at the hairpin and lost the advantage gained in the pitstop phase. It went from bad to worse for Hamilton as he was forced into retirement with brake failure.

A trip into the pitlane for Massa gave the lead back to Rosberg but the Mercedes was significantly compromised. A throng of cars led by Force India’s Sergio Perez and including Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel quickly closed the gap on the Mercedes. Miraculously, Rosberg was able to hang onto the lead despite running with 160 less horsepower than his pursuers.

The train of cars was quickly joined by Felipe Massa who had armed himself with fresh rubber. It seemed as if Sergio Perez had worked a one-stop strategy to a tee. Perez, known for his ability to run long stints, managed to hold Ricciardo at bay but a daring move around the outside of turn 1 gave the Australian second place.

The Red Bull driver closed the gap to Rosberg and with the help of DRS down the back-straight snatched the lead of the race into the final corner. While Ricciardo crossed the line to start the final lap of the race the drama was far from over. A spot on the podium beckoned Felipe Massa but as the Brazilian lined up a pass on Perez into turn 1 he tagged the back of the Force India. The duo, barely avoiding Vettel’s Red Bull, crashed heavily into the barriers. Both drivers experienced an impact of 27G but were declared fit by medial personnel. After an investigation the stewards announced that Perez had been given a five-place grid penalty for the Austrian GP for “changing his line” into the corner.

As if the result was not astonishing enough Jenson Button brought the McLaren home in fourth place. The former champ started the final lap in eighth position but benefited as Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso tripped over each other.

Fernando Alonso counted himself as “lucky” to finish as high as sixth as the Ferrari continues to struggle for performance. Despite bringing several upgrades to the Canadian GP the F14T showed no improvement whatsoever. Kimi Raikkonen endured a similarly miserable race as early brake issues and traffic added to the gloom. A spin at the hairpin, attributed to a power delivery issue by the power unit, dropped the Finn out of the points. Raikkonen eventually finished tenth but the Maranello team has serious questions to answer after yet another failed attempt at development. The 2007 champion must hardly recognise Ferrari in its current depressing guise. It’s a far cry from the team with whom he won two constructors’ and one drivers’ title.

Daniel Ricciardo may have benefited from someone else’s misfortune but the courageous move around the outside of turn 1 on Perez and the never-say-die style of the Australian is what made him one of the most popular winners in the paddock.

Sometimes the nice guy does finish first.

Photo Credits:
Red Bull images via @redbullracing
Lewis Hamilton retiring via @LewisHamilton
Massa-Perez crash sequence via @WSFMR

June 9, 2014
Canadian GP Qualifying: Rosberg narrowly beats Hamilton to pole

Nico Rosberg secured pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix after putting in a rocket fast final lap in qualifying denying teammate Lewis Hamilton the pleasure of his fifth pole position.

Hamilton dominated the entire weekend in Montreal but a mistake heading into Turn 8 on his final lap meant the Briton had to settle for second place on the grid. Rosberg beat Hamilton to pole by less than a tenth of a second.

Qualifying got underway with only 21 cars after Esteban Gutierrez crashed in the final practice session today, forcing Sauber to change his chassis. Valtteri Bottas was first out on track and posted the initial benchmark at 1.18.270 but teammate Felipe Massa went half a second faster to occupy the top spot on the timesheets until Rosberg came around to put his Mercedes up in first place.

Pastor Maldonado dropped out of Q1 once again – for fifth out of six times this season. He pulled his stricken Lotus over into an escape road ending his session. Things just aren’t going right for Maldonado at all this season and his Venezuelen sponsorship is already rumoured to be at risk.

With 16 seconds left on the clock, Marcus Ericsson brought out the red flag on the session when he binned his Caterham at turn nine. The session did not restart and Maldonado, Chilton, Bianchi, Kobayashi and Ericsson were eliminated from the proceedings.

Q2 got underway with Adrian Sutil first out on track with the entire field heading out on the supersoft tyres. Felipe Massa was the early leader in the session ahead of his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, and former Ferrari teammate, Fernando Alonso. The two Mercedes drivers only headed out a little later in the session but neither could shift Massa off the top of board with their initial efforts. It became clear that the Mercedes duo were not as strong on the supersofts as the Williams drivers were.

Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen, Sergio Perez, Romain Grosjean, Daniil Kvyat and Adrian Sutil were all eliminated at the end of Q2.

Q3 saw Bottas first out on track for a bit of clear air, setting the first benchmark at a 1.15.550. Rosberg was the first of the Mercedes to cross the line, going six-tenths quicker than Bottas. Hamilton also managed to go quicker than Bottas but fell just short of Rosberg’s time putting the German on provisional pole.

Both Rosberg and Hamilton made slight improvements on their final runs but Hamilton just couldn’t find the pace to match his teammate and a small error into Turn 8 likely cost him the pole position. Sebastian Vettel pulled a rabbit out of the bag and pushed out a flyer to qualify third ahead of the two Williams drivers, Bottas and Massa respectively.
Daniel Ricciardo qualified sixth ahead of Alonso and Vergne, with Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen rounding out the top ten.

Hamilton will no doubt be frustrated to not have been able to convert his dominant performance throughout the weekend into a pole position but the Briton seemed to take it in his stride today and seemed pleased to have another all-Mercedes front row. “Let’s go make history tomorrow,” Hamilton said at the post qualifying press conference.

History will indeed be made whatever happens tomorrow. We’re all set for a crack-a-lacking race and the stage is all set for a good battle upfront between Rosberg and Hamilton. The Williams drivers are looking exceptionally strong and they are definitely making a mark on the grid this weekend.

Please join us on Twitter for live chat and commentary as we watch it all pan out at 8pm GMT+2.

Full timesheets and your chance to win a VIP trip to the Belgian Grand Prix are below.

June 7, 2014
Hamilton fastest in Canadian GP final practice

Lewis Hamilton has finished fastest in the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, repeating his earlier performance from FP2.

This time round, however, he was not followed by team mate Nico Rosberg, who had to settle for third place behind Felipe Massa’s flying Williams.

The session started out well, with Magnussen setting the initial pace, but was brought to an abrupt halt when Esteban Gutierrez put his Sauber in the wall and brought out the red flag. The car took a good deal of damage and it’s looking likely that he’ll need a gearbox replacement before qualifying. If this happens, Gutierrez will face a 5 place grid penalty. Marshalls made very quick work of clearing the Sauber and the session was back underway within 5 minutes.

The front-runners headed back out quickly and it was Sergio Perez who was first to better Magnussen’s lap time before Hamilton ripped another seven-tenths off the Force India’s time.

Ferrari enjoyed a few brief moments in the top two spots with Fernando Alonso leading from Kimi Raikkonen, but Hamilton soon put them back in their places by going another half a second quicker.

The two Williams drivers soon joined in the fun at the top as Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas moved up into second and third places, only for Hamilton to once again stomp his authority everwhere and widen the gap by yet another half a second. Rosberg went just six-hundredths faster but with both of them still on the harder tyres, Mercedes clearly still have a massive advantage.

In the final ten minutes of the session, drivers attempted to complete their final qualifying simulations but Rosberg and Hamilton both chose not to set fast times on their supersofts. Felipe Massa jumped himself back into second place behind Hamilton leaving Rosberg to settle for third ahead of Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton’s 4/10s advantage over the rest of the field is on the harder tyres so he’s looking set to claim his 5th pole position of the year. But let’s not forget Rosberg who will be keen to fight back and hold on to the championship lead. We should be in for a great battle between the Mercs up front during qualifying today, with the Williams and Ferrari drivers duking it out for the next few places.

Full timesheet below. Please join us on @F1_Madness for live updates on Twitter.

June 7, 2014
2014 Canadian Grand Prix: Hamilton Quickest in FP2

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton set the pace in the second practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Hamilton set a time of 1:16.118 on the option tyre. His team mate Nico Rosberg ended the session in P2 with a time of 1:16.293, just 0.175s off the pace. Red Bulls Sebastian Vettel who was rather anonymous throughout the session finished the session in P3 with a time of 1:16.573.

The session was relatively straight forward with the odd driver locking up and running wide. There was a scary moment between Sauber’s Adrian Sutil, and McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen. Sutil, who was on a timed lap was coming up to the T13/T14 chicane. Magnussen looked like he was on a slow down lap, looked like he was about to go into the pits but then took the corner. This forced Sutil to jam on the brakes run wide, and take to the run-off area. The incident was investigated, but it was then decided that no action was to be taken by the stewards.

Ferrari do look like they’ve improved quite a bit with the new bits on their cars. While Sebastian Vettel is starting to look more comfortable in his car.

The long run pace of the Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and Williams cars are very comparable and they were all lapping in the same region. It does have makings of a very interesting race where strategy could determine the ultimate winner.

Below is the complete timing sheet for the session

June 6, 2014