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F1 2013: Texas GP Preview – F1 Giddy’s Up For Austin

It seems appropriate that Texas is the second biggest state in America as it gears up to host the biggest motorsport series in the world.

Legendary racing tracks from Watkins Glen to Indianapolis have hosted the Formula 1 world championship and in total ten different circuits throughout the United States have featured on the F1 calendar. In 2012 Austin’s Circuit of the Americas joined this list as it welcomed the F1 paddock to the lone star state. The inaugural race in Texas was lauded by drivers and fans as highly successful. “It’s a real credit to everyone involved in organising the inaugural event (last year) that it passed so smoothly. And Austin is a great city, so I see no reason why F1 can’t gain a true foothold in the US at this venue,” said Red Bull driver Mark Webber.

The saying in racing is that you can’t win the race in the first corner. However, it can certainly be lost in the first corner and the Austin GP’s first corner is a mammoth climb with twenty-two Formula 1 cars heading for its blind apex. The remainder of the first sector is features a series of several high speed changes of direction similar to Korea’s Yeongam circuit.

The second sector of the lap includes the straight and medium to low speed turns requiring good traction and precision on throttle application. The long continuous curve from turns fifteen to seventeen highlights the final part of the 5.513 km lap.

Drivers are expected to make 59 gear changes every lap and run at an average speed of 200 kph. The circuit’s demand on engines is quite high with 63% of the lap spent at full throttle. Pirelli has made the white side-walled medium compound and orange side-walled hard compound tyre available for this weekend. Coincidentally, neither Pirelli’s green Cinturato Intermediate tyre nor its blue full wet tyre has been used in a race this season. This stat is unlikely to change for the 18th round of the season as the typical weather around these parts predict a warm & sunny weekend.

From a set-up point of view, drivers’ and engineers’ first priority will be to understand how the track surface has evolved in twelve months since F1’s last visit. “Last year we were all sliding quite a lot because the tarmac was still so new, especially on the tight and twisty bit towards the end. It was sometimes almost more rally style than Formula One, because it was so slippery! The section after the steep hill at the beginning is particularly challenging. Last year it took me quite a while to get my bearings and to position the car correctly,” said Sebastian Vettel.

Then McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton won the inaugural race in Texas by delivering a fine drive which included overtaking four time champ Sebastian Vettel on track. The Brit called it one of the best wins of his career and will unquestionably want to defend his victory this weekend. It is debatable however whether or not Hamilton’s Mercedes will be up to the task. Despite solid performances in Saturday’s qualifying sessions Hamilton has been, for most of the time, unable to translate the pace to race day. Nevertheless, the Brit may not be such a bad bet this weekend.

The fight of second place in the driver’s title will be contested without Kimi Raikkonen as the Finn will miss the final two races of the season to undergo back surgery in Salzburg on Thursday. The Finn’s manager Steve Robertson shared the news on Sunday morning and said the 2007 champion will need four weeks to recover; thereby ruling Raikkonen out of both the Austin and Brazilian GP. Lotus are expected to promote development driver Davide Valsecchi to the race seat for the final two rounds of the 2013 season.

The saying goes that everything is bigger and better in Texas and as Formula 1 finds a foothold in the States here’s hoping the on track racing takes this adage to heart. Giddy Up!

Photo credit: Lewis Hamilton at 2012 Austin GP via mclaren.com

November 11, 2013
Doubt over Fernando Alonso’s fitness for Austin GP

There is a possibility that Fernando Alonso will not travel to the US for the Austin Grand Prix this coming weekend.

Alonso needs to undergo another medical check today before being cleared to fly on Tuesday following the high G-force knock he took during the race in Abu Dhabi.

Despite passing medical tests following the race, and Ferrari reporting that he was fit to race in Austin, the 28G impact suffered means he will need to undergo another test today before a final decision can be made.

Highly respected correspondent for Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport, Pino Allievi, said that Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo “is not even remotely” contemplating the prospect of Alonso sitting out the race.

However, following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Alonso had reported some back pain and his manager, Luis Garcia Abad tweeted a rather alarming photo of Alonso strapped to a spinal board, covered in shock foil blankets during the post-race hospital check. Ferrari were not very happy about the picture being tweeted according to Allievi despite Alonso stating at the Thursday press conference that the relationship between himself and Ferrari “was perfect, is perfect, and will be perfect”.

Even if Alonso does travel to Austin on Tuesday, he would still need to pass the FIA’s own medical checks on Thursday before finally being cleared to race.

Allievi has also said that if Alonso should fail his medical check today, Ferrari would most likely draft in Jules Bianchi, who races with Marussia but is part of the Ferrari young driver programme. Marussia are bound by contract to release Bianchi, should the call come from Ferrari. Their second choice reportedly, is Pedro de la Rosa.

Word however from Spain and Maranello are that Alonso should be cleared fit to race.

We will keep you posted as news becomes available.

Photo credit: Photo tweeted by Alonso’s manager, Luis Garcia Abad on Twitter.

November 11, 2013
Ferrari and 15000 fans pay tribute to Felipe Massa

Over 15000 fans were at Mugello this weekend to pay tribute to Felipe Massa ahead of his final two races for the Scuderia before he is replaced next season by Kimi Raikkonen.

Massa who has been with Ferrari since 2006, partnering Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, has had 136 outings for the team which includes 11 race wins.

During the farewell event – held at the same track where Massa had his first F1 test with Sauber back in 2001, Massa was given a 1.2 metre trophy inscribed with each of his eleven race wins.

Speaking at the gala event, Massa said that he is truly going to miss the Ferrari family and the friends he has made over the years.

“I’ve been lucky, I have had a great career with Ferrari, longer than I had ever dreamed of at the start,” Massa said. “When I began racing in go-karts as a kid, I had a red Ferrari suit and it’s always been the team I supported. Even when Senna was at McLaren and Piquet at Williams, I was cheering for Ferrari!

“We began our relationship in 2001 and I have raced for them for eight seasons, which is a very important part of my life. I have so many friends at Ferrari and I will miss them, as I will also miss the nice days I spent at the factory in Maranello. I am happy with the way my time with the Prancing Horse turned out.”

Massa reminisced about the memories he will take away with him but said that the wins, particularly in Brazil when the title slipped through his fingers, will stay with him for the longest.

“These are memories that will stay with me always, just like so many other beautiful moments spent together, starting with the wins. For example, I think back to the wins at Interlagos, because for a Brazilian, to win your home race is something amazing. Sure, the dream just slipped out of my grasp, namely winning the world title in front of my home crowd, but that wasn’t the race where I lost the 2008 title: when you finish second by a point the key moment could have come at so many different places and I’m thinking of Singapore for example, or Budapest, or others still…”

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo spoke of Massa with great praise and thanks. “Felipe has been a true Ferrari man and he will always be part of our history,” he said. “For all the Grands Prix he drove for us, for the wins, the pole positions and for those few seconds when he was world champion that day in Brazil, before that overtaking move that always seemed a bit strange to me,” he continued. “We spent some great times together, while some others were more difficult, such as the accident in Budapest.

“These have been very busy years and today, I wanted to thank him publicly, having already done so privately, just the two of us,” he continued. “I think the decision to go our separate ways is the right one, both for us and for him. It’s time for a change and also to find new motivation. I wish Felipe every success, starting with the last two races of this championship. As for the rest of his Formula 1 career, I wish him the very best, but naturally, behind a Ferrari and anyway, I am sure we will get many chances to meet up again, because life is long and he will always be part of our family. When one has a mutually agreed separation, in the best interests of both parties, it can be done calmly in a friendly and constructive manner, and that has been the case this time.”

Photo credit: Massa photo by Ferrari

November 11, 2013
Susie Wolff to compete at Race of Champions

Williams test and development driver Susie Wolff will compete in the 2013 Race of Champions.

Wolff will take on champions across several motorsport disciplines including seven times Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher, World Rally Champion Sebastian Ogier and Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen.“Any driver would love to be invited to do the Race of Champions,”Wolff told formula1.com

“It’s an event I have watched as far back as I can remember. What is so exciting is that the cars race head-to-head and you can see how close it is: it always comes down to hundredths. Jumping in and out of the different cars is going to be the real challenge. You need to make sure your car control is as good as it can be because you don’t have time to get a proper feeling for the car, you just get in and go.“Then there’s the ROC Nations Cup, where I certainly feel responsibility to make sure we do well as a nation. I know David [Coulthard] from our time in DTM and I rate him really highly so to be part of the team alongside him makes me very proud. Of course we’ll be up against drivers who are absolutely at the top of their game. So I know it’s not going to be easy but I’m relishing the challenge.”

Wolff is the first female driver to be invited to the event which takes place on the December 14th and 15th at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium in Thailand.

November 10, 2013
Raikkonen to miss final two races of 2013

Kimi Raikkonen will miss the final two races of the 2013 season.

The Finn’s manager, Steve Robertson, confirmed that the Lotus driver will undergo back surgery on Thursday and will need a four week recovery period. “In an ideal world it would have been nice to finish the season with Lotus in the final two grands prix. However, due to the severe pain that Kimi is having, sadly it is not possible,” said Robertson.

Raikkonen suffered with back issues which nearly ruled him out of racing during the Singapore grand prix weekend. If Raikkonen had opted to delay the surgery it could have impacted the start of his 2014 season. It is unclear at this stage who Lotus will opt to fill Raikkonen’s seat in Austin and Brazil. However, it is most likely to promote test and development driver Davide Valsecchi.

Raikkonen is currently third overall in the driver’s championship with 183 points. His final race for Lotus ended in retirement in the first lap of the Abu Dhabi GP after a collision with Giedo van der Garde’s Caterham.

November 10, 2013
F1 2013: Abu Dhabi GP Review – Juggernaut Vettel Crushes Competition

It isn’t only Kimi Raikkonen who knows what he’s doing around the Yas Marina circuit. Sebastian Vettel delivered yet another dominant display to take victory by half a minute at the 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Mark Webber secured pole position with a stonker of a lap from Vettel on Saturday and if one driver had the ability to challenge the four time champ it was the Australian; or so it appeared. A controversial weekend for the Lotus team got significantly worse as Raikkonen, who qualified fifth overall, was relegated to the back of the starting grid. The Lotus failed a floor deflection test after the qualifying session.

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton secured the second row of the grid in their quest for second overall in the constructor’s championship. Contrastingly, Fernando Alonso endured a difficult session in which he failed to advance to the third part of qualifying. Felipe Massa, supposedly on the verge of signing a 2014 deal with Williams, managed to squeak through to the top ten shoot-out.

Nevertheless, race day is the one that counts and seeing as Vettel has put together a near perfect season there was no reason to suspect he would not ace the start of this race either. He did exactly that as he swooped into the lead of the race as the red lights extinguished and never looked back. A Singapore-style domination ensued and Vettel was more than a minute ahead of sixth place by lap 35. Alonso was the sixth placed man.

There was to be no repeat of 2012 for Raikkonen as the Finn suffered damage to his steering in a collision with Giedo van der Garde’s Caterham in Turn One. Raikkonen was the only retirement in the race but insisted that he had no regrets about the decision not to start from the pitlane after his exclusion from qualifying. “I went to the inside and then somehow managed to touch with a Caterham,” Raikkonen explained. “We didn’t touch hard but I think the angle was very unlucky and it broke the steering.” It was also revealed that Raikkonen’s management and Lotus team owner Gerard Lopez had reached a provisional agreement to settle their financial issues. The agreement will see the Finn race at the final two races of the season.

Without a care in the world, Vettel was in a class of one with an untouchable pace of 1.5 to 2 seconds faster than anyone else. The most frightening thing was that Vettel was hardly pushing to the limit of what the Red Bull is capable of. The competition must shudder to think what the Red Bull would truly be able to pull out if it was under pressure.

As Vettel disappeared down the road quicker than the sun could set, the dice for second remained close all the way to the chequered flag. Rosberg ran second for the first quarter of the race ahead of Mark Webber who was suffering with a slight KERS issue. By the 20th lap however, AussieGrit was on it once more and took second place from Rosberg. Romain Grosjean kept both the Mercedes and Red Bull honest throughout the race but was unable to mount a challenge for the remaining steps of the podium.

Hamilton endured a difficult afternoon after qualifying on the second row of the grid. The Brit fell back into the field and admitted after the race that he had to do a better job to match teammate Rosberg. “Clearly with Nico’s result the car’s better than what I’m able to bring home with it,” said Hamilton. “Same old … different day. It’s the same every race. It can’t be other people’s fault. Nico’s been getting great points for the team. I just need to work harder to try to do the same.”

Several incidents throughout the race required the stewards’ attention but only Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg was given a drive-through penalty for an unsafe release in the pitlane. Adrian Sutil and Pastor Maldonado were under investigation for exceeding the track limits as was Alonso. The incident involving Sutil and Maldonado was chalked up to a racing incident, but Alonso’s off track excursion was reserved for judgement after the race. The Spaniard switched to the soft compound tyres on lap 44 and rejoined the circuit alongside Jean-Eric Vergne. However, Alonso was outside of the track limits, as indicated by the white lines, when he made the pass on the Toro Rosso driver. Alonso was quoted post race as saying that Vergne should have given him more space. The stewards agreed with Alonso and no penalty was imposed.

As Vettel, Webber and Rosberg wrapped up the podium ahead of Grosjean, Alonso’s last dash on the soft compound tyres earned him the fastest lap and fifth overall. Paul di Resta resisted pressure from Hamilton in the closing stages of the race to finish sixth. Hamilton managed seventh place on the day as Felipe Massa, who enjoyed a long stint ahead of his teammate, brought his Ferrari home in eighth place. Sergio Perez snatched ninth place from Sutil on the final lap as they rounded out the points paying positions.

The untouchable Sebastian Vettel celebrated his seventh consecutive victory with several donuts. Vettel was fined 25 000 Euros in India for celebrating his fourth world title in the same manner but didn’t receive the same punishment this time as he returned the car to parc ferme.

Vettel’s race engineer, Rocky, instructed the German to bring the car back to the pits to which Vettel responded : “Let me quote: Yeah, yeah, yeah I know what I’m doing.” It seems he most certainly does.

November 3, 2013
Raikkonen excluded from qualifying – will start at the back of the grid

Kimi Raikkonen has been excluded from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying following a floor deflection test failure. He will now start the race from the back of the grid.

The stewards summoned the Lotus team earlier after considering telemetry data and video footage, so that the team could argue their case following the floor deflection test which was performed on his Lotus E21 as well as Hulkenberg’s Sauber.

The left hand side of the floor of Raikkonen’s Lotus was found to deflect more than the permitted 5mm vertically when the testing load was applied to it.

Lotus investigated and found that the issue was caused by the broken floor which had broken due to kerb damage but the stewards have not accepted their explanation.

The statement issued by the FIA said: “The stewards heard the explanation of the team that the relevant part broke upon contact with a kerb.

“However, the stewards did not accept that the incident referred to constituted an accident, or excused failing the relevant test.”

So it would seem that since the stewards have previously accepted the same explanation for Grosjean in Hungary, they are not willing to let it go a second time. Perhaps Lotus should have taken steps to ensure that the same thing did not happen again.

Raikkonen will now start from the back of the grid.

November 2, 2013
Raikkonen’s car fails floor test after qualifying

Kimi Raikkonen could lose his fifth place position on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix grid after his car failed the floor deflection test during a technical inspection following the qualifying session.

According to a statement from the stewards, “car number seven [Raikkonen] did not comply with Article 3.17.5 of the 2013 FIA Formula One Technical Regulations as the front floor deflected more than 5mm vertically when the load was applied vertically to it at the point which lies 100mm of car centre line on the [left-hand side].”

Lotus team members have been summoned to the stewards to argue their case. If there was a broken part, or the floor had been damaged during qualifying, he could escape penalty.

Raikkonen’s team mate, Romain Grosjean, escaped a penalty at the Hungarian Grand Prix after his car failed the same test. At the time, the stewards ruled that his floor had been damaged and so no penalty was given.

Stewards today said that Raikkonen and Hulkenberg’s cars had been tested, but the Sauber had complied and the Iceman’s car failed the test.

If penalised, it is likely that Raikkonen will be excluded from qualifying and will start from the back of the grid.

Follow @F1_Madness on Twitter for the latest news and updates on the situation as well as all other F1 news and live commentary on race weekends.

November 2, 2013
Wonderful Webber on Pole in Abu Dhabi

Red Bull’s Mark Webber put in a scintillating flying lap in Q3 to take pole position for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

With both the Red Bulls on the back foot through Q1 and Q2, they seemed to have found some extra pace in Q3 to lock out the front row with Mark Webber in P1 with a 1:39.957 and Sebastian Vettel in P2 with a 1:40.075. Vettel who wasn’t very far behind is team mate made a mistake at the exit of T1 on his flying lap by running wide onto the astro-turf and lost a bit of time there.

The Mercedes pair of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton locked out the second row of the grid in P3 (1:40.419) and P4 (1:40.501) respectively. Both Rosberg and Hamilton were in the top two in Q1 and Q2 and were faster than both the Red Bulls. But they were no match for the Red Bulls who seemed to have found a bit of extra pace in Q3. Hamilton’s final Q3 run did not end the way he wanted it as he had an over steer moment coming out of the T13 chicane. He ran wide over the kerbs and spun. “Something gave way on the right side of the car. I got out of the chicane and something snapped on the car” said Hamilton.

Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen will line up 5th on the grid alongside Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg who had another strong qualifying session in 6th. The other Lotus of Romain Grosjean will start in P7 with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa in P8. McLaren’s Sergio Perez (P9) and and Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo (P10) round up the top 10.

It was another bad qualifying for Fernando Alonso who could only manage P11. It is the first time in the 2013 season where Alonso did not go through to Q3. “A difficult weekend for us. We are not competitive. My laps were not clean. We will see what we can do with a fresh set of tyres in the race” said Alonso. McLaren’s Jenson Button was the other big name that did not appear in Q3. Button, whos qualified in P13, was left feeling rather frustrated with his performance saying that everything for them today was a challenge. “We were maxed out on front wing from the word go. There’s nothing much we could do” said Button after being knocked out at the end of Q2.

Below is the full timing sheet from the 2013 Fomrula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

November 2, 2013
F1 2013: Practice 3 Report – Abu Dhabi GP

Sebastian Vettel headed the timing sheets of the third free practice session ahead of the Abu Dhabi grand prix.

The newly crowned four time world champion was followed by teammate Mark Webber as Red Bull again locked out the top two positions in the standings. The session got underway with a track temperature of 47 degrees Celcius; three degrees warmer than Friday’s first free practice session.

Several drivers including Lotus’ Romain Grosjean and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso endured several off track excursions during the session but sustained no damage. Marussia’s Jules Bianchi was as fortunate as contact with the barrier brought a slightly premature end to his session. However, the Ferrari of Alonso looked a handful as the Spaniard was shown sawing away at the wheel of the car as the coaxed it through the corners around Yas Marina circuit.

Pastor Maldonado and Valterri Bottas ran the Williams with a revised exhaust system and both driver’s provided encouraging feedback. The system is a reversion to an ‘old-style’ system which sees the exhaust exit to top of the body work.

The qualifying simulation, run on the yellow walled soft tyres, revealed an average gain of 1,7 seconds but several drivers were able to gain more than two seconds during their run. Nevertheless, we are of course unaware of the different fuel levels that are being run by teams in practice sessions.

The Mercedes pairing of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton appeared as the best of the rest behind the Red Bulls. Interestingly, Mark Webber set the quickest first and second sector while Vettel came out tops in the final sector of the lap. Abu Dhabi has never been a happy hunting ground for the Aussie but Webber may yet prove Vettel’s stiffest competition in qualifying later on this afternoon.

November 2, 2013