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  • Spanish F1 Grand Prix Preview Quotes: Mercedes F1 team

    Here are the Spanish F1 Grand Prix Preview quotes from the Mercedes F1 team:

    Mercedes F1 team drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico RosbergNico Rosberg: I’m looking forward to traveling to Spain next weekend. We know that the car went very well at the Circuit de Catalunya in pre-season testing so I am hopeful that we can have a strong weekend. We will have to wait and see how our pace compares however. I’ve been in the factory for a couple of days this week, on the simulator and meeting with the team, and everyone has been working hard to make progress on our race day performance. It will be an interesting weekend and once we see how everyone performs in Barcelona, it should give a good idea of how the rest of the season will look.

    Lewis Hamilton: It feels like a long time since Bahrain so we’re all looking forward to getting to Barcelona next weekend and starting to get into the routine of the European season. The short break has been good however, and I’ve had the chance to catch up with family and friends, and also spend some time at the factory with the guys, working on our efforts to improve. We’ve been boosted by the results that we’ve had at the start of the season and to come away from the first four races with two third and two fifth places feels like a real achievement. I’m feeling very comfortable in the car now and we know the areas that we need to improve so a lot of effort is being put in to close that gap to the front-runners. Barcelona should be a good test as we know the circuit so well having completed most of the pre-season test programme there. The weekend should be a good benchmark of the progress we have made since then.

    Ross Brawn: In the two weeks since we returned from Bahrain, there has been a lot of hard work taking place in Brackley and Brixworth to prepare for the start of the European season in Barcelona next weekend. We have focused our efforts in two key areas; finalising our upgrade package for Spain and understanding our comparative lack of race pace in Bahrain. We have made progress in the latter area and will evaluate some developments over the upcoming race weekends to help improve the situation. We’re not there yet but we are making progress and of course, performing in the race is what really counts. The Circuit de Catalunya is a circuit that we know well and we have a lot of data from the two pre-season tests to help prepare for the weekend. However in the late spring conditions, we can expect the track to be of a very different nature to what we experienced earlier this year. Overtaking is more difficult there than at some of the early season tracks and, of course, every team will be bringing new developments so the weekend should provide an interesting challenge.

    Toto Wolff: The three-week break between the Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix was welcome, as it gave us extra time to analyse in detail what happened at the last race. We have built a good picture of our varying levels of race performance and why we under-performed overall in Bahrain. In Barcelona, we will test some solutions aimed at improving our tyre management in addition to our planned upgrade package. The circuit itself is well known as a benchmark for aerodynamic performance and we performed strongly there at the end of winter testing. The track conditions and temperatures will be very different on the race weekend, though, so we must dial the car in to those circumstances. Our target is to improve our Sunday afternoon performance to match what we have delivered on Saturday in the past two races. It will certainly be interesting to see what gains everybody has made since the last time we were at the circuit and how the planned upgrade packages work from car to car.

     

     

  • F1 Video: Lewis Hamilton shows off his champagne spraying skills on the Graham Norton Show

    F1 Video: Lewis Hamilton shows off his champagne spraying skills on the Graham Norton Show

    Graham Norton gets Lewis Hamilton to demonstrate his champagne spraying skills on the Graham Norton Show.

  • F1 Video: The ideal racing line with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg

    F1 Video: The ideal racing line with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg

    Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton know the Barcelona track well … but can they agree on the best racing line for turns 4 and 5? Watch the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS F1 Team drivers discuss strategy in their own unique way over lunch at the track. Get street smart with Nico and Lewis in this F1 video!

  • F1 Pit Stop Feature by Williams F1 Team – Part 2 – Wheel Gun

    F1 Pit Stop Feature by Williams F1 Team – Part 2 – Wheel Gun

    Joseph Haugh, member of the Williams F1 Team pit crew, talking about the role of a wheel gun man in an F1 pit stop. Practising 60 pit stops every race weekend, there’s no time for nerves and no time for errors …

     

  • McLaren Formula One team Q&A with Sergio Perez

    McLaren Formula One team Q&A with Sergio Perez

    Sergio Perez talks to the McLaren Formula One team about his excitement about the start of the European phase of the F1 season; what he’s getting up to at the moment; what it’s like racing for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes; and why he’s named Checo.

    Q. After your strong performance in Bahrain, What are you up to now?

    Checo: After the first four flyaways, there’s a bit of a natural break – like it’s time for everyone to reset and start a new season in Europe. It always feels exciting returning to Europe – almost like the start of the season again! – but it’s also good that there’s a three-week break between Bahrain and Barcelona. That’s a good time to relax because there’s been a lot of travel for the last 10 weeks. We spend huge amounts of time in airports, so it is nice to finally get some time to myself – I’ll be training throughout the whole time, but I’ll also be seeing friends and family. Hopefully, I can get to watch some football, too!

    I’ll also be back to the MTC to prepare for the Spanish Grand Prix. We’ve got some routine engineering meetings before the race, and it’ll be good to catch up with the team before we go racing again.

    Q. Are you looking forward to the European phase of the season?

    Checo: Absolutely! It’s something I’m looking forward to because Europe is really the home of Formula 1 – the circuits have a lot of history. Tracks like Monaco, Silverstone, Spa and Monza have been on the calendar since Formula 1 started in 1950 – I think it’s great that we still have those circuits that represent the sport and all its history. We can never lose them.

    Sergio Perez Q&A with McLaren F1 teamQ. Are you enjoying racing for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes?   

    Checo: It has been great getting to know the whole team – the experience has been all I thought it would be, and more. Everyone has treated me so well and I feel like I have settled in great. After a tough start to the season, we are all united to get this team back where it belongs at the front of the grid. Hopefully, we have turned the corner now.

    The MTC is such an amazing place to work. Every time I go in, I’m impressed by what I see – walking along the boulevard, I see all the great cars from history, and it reminds me what it means to be a McLaren driver: to follow in the footsteps of greats like Emerson, Ayrton and Alain Prost. It is an honour.

    I would just like to take this opportunity to thank all of the team’s loyal fans who give us such great support at all of the races. It really motivates me to do my very best every time I step into the car.

    Q. And finally…. why the nickname ‘Checo’?

    Checo: It’s not really that complicated or interesting. In Mexico, where I come from, all Sergios are automatically given the nickname ‘Checo’. Sorry, there’s no story behind it!

     

  • Ayrton Senna, the Formula One Legend – a Special Tribute

    Ayrton Senna, the Formula One Legend – a Special Tribute

    This morning I woke up with Senna on my mind. For most people today is Workers Day or Labour Day depending on where in the world you are. For Formula One fans, today is the day we lost one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time – Ayrton Senna da Silva.

    Today is the day that memories of Senna will dominate social media timelines around the globe. A day we will never forget. I, for one, will never forget the day we lost the legend that is Senna. And I say I, in first person, because today I’m not just an F1 Writer, today it’s personal. I write as an F1 fan.

    I was 16 years old. Doing one of my favourite things in the world – watching Formula One with my Dad. The horrible crash and the huge RACE STOPPED letters across the screen. The absolute silence that rang through our house. Just waiting for him to move. “Move, Senna, MOVE!” But he never did.

    Formula One driver, Ayrton Senna's early daysI remember how excruciatingly long it took the medical team to get to him. How long it took them to get him out of the car. It felt like hours. Still no movement! “C’mon Ayrton, MOVE!” And then the chopper that took him away.

    I remember the way Murray Walker had us jumping around with excitement as he always did one moment, and sombre, morbid, the next. “This is a sad, sad day for Formula One,” he said. And it was. Ayrton Senna was gone. And way too soon.

    Ayrton Senna will forever be remembered as a Formula One LegendWe never got to see all of him. We never got to see the best of him even – despite the fact that he was, by far, the best of his time. For me, I’ll always rue the fact that we never got to see that ultimate Senna vs Schumacher rivalry.

    But today is not a day as morbid as the one 19 years ago. Today we remember, and celebrate, Senna’s amazing life and career.

    Born 21 March 1960 in Sao Paulo, Senna was the son of a wealthy Brazilian landowner and factory owner Milton da Silva and his wife Neide Senna da Silva.

    He started his motorsport career in karting, moving on to open-wheel racing in 1981, and winning the British Formula 3 championship in 1983. He made his F1 debut with Toleman-Hart in 1984 after which he moved to Lotus-Renault in 1985, winning six Grand Prix races over the next three seasons.

    Ayrton Senna in his McLaren-HondaIn 1988, Senna joined the fiery Frenchman Alain Prost at McLaren-Honda where one of Formula One’s greatest rivalries started. Between them, they won 15 of the 16 Grand Prix races that year and Senna claimed his first Formula One World Championship. Prost went on to win the championship in 1989, and Senna took his second and third championships in 1990 and 1991. Their rivalry was simply unmatched. Both the 1989 and the 1990 World Championship won by Prost and Senna respectively, were were decided by collisions between the pair at the Japanese Grand Prix races.

    In 1992, McLaren-Honda lost ground to the Williams-Renault combination who had started their domination of Formula One. Nevertheless, Senna managed to finish the 1993 season in second place, winning five races.

    In 1994 he moved to Williams. He had negotiated an amazing deal for the time – Senna was paid $1 million for each race with $20 million for the season.

    Ayrton Senna in his McLaren-HondaIt was at this point in his career that we got a taste of what could have been one of the most amazing F1 rivalries of all time. Senna vs Schumacher.

    Rule changes for the 1994 season included the banning of traction control, active suspension and ABS. Williams-Renault had been amazingly dominant during the 1992 and 1993 Formula One seasons but pre-season testing in 1994 showed that the new Williams FW16 had very little of the superiority it’s two predecessors had enjoyed.

    Ayrton Senna in his Williams-RenaultSuddenly Senna found himself battling a new rival – Michael Schumacher in his Benetton B194. Early on in the season Senna spoke of his discomfort with the car saying he was struggling with the handling. “I have a very negative feeling about driving the car and driving it on the limit and so on … Some of that is down to the lack of electronic change. Also, the car has its own characteristics which I’m not fully confident in yet.”

    But his most haunting words and the prophecy for what would be his tragic season followed, “It’s going to be a season with lots of accidents, and I’ll risk saying that we’ll be lucky if something really serious doesn’t happen.”

    Senna had his worst start to an F1 season that year. He retired from both the first race in Brazil and the second at Aida, and Schumacher went on to win both races.

    Schumacher went to Imola 20 points ahead in the Formula One World Championship and Senna declared that this was where his season would start. He placed his car on pole for the 65th and final time despite being unhappy with his car.

    During the afternoon qualifying session Rubens Barichello had been involved in a serious accident. His Jordan became airborne at the final chicane and he slammed into the fence and tyres. Barichello suffered a broken nose and arm resulting in him being unable to take part in the race. Barichello remembered Senna being the first person he saw after regaining consciousness.

    Ayrton Senna at ImolaThat Saturday, rookie driver Roland Ratzenberger was killed when the front wing of his Simtek-Ford broke while going flat out through the super-fast Villeneuve bend. His car was sent straight into a concrete wall. Senna was tearful despite only having met Ratzenberger the day before.

    When he never got enough information about his injured colleagues, Senna climbed over the fence of the Medical Centre after going to see Ratzenberger’s crash site. He had commandeered an FIA official’s car to get to the site but the FIA chose not to take any disciplinary action.

    His final morning was spent meeting with his fellow drivers to discuss re-establishing the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association in an effort to increase safety for drivers in Formula One. Nobody could have known what would unfold that day.

    The race started in a shambles. Senna retained the lead from Schumacher but the race was interrupted by a huge accident at the start line involving JJ Lehto and Pedro Lamy.

    Ayrton Senna's accident at the moment of impactThe race restarted on Lap 6 and Senna immediately set a quick lap. But as he entered the high-speed Tamburello corner on Lap 7 his car left the track at about 330km/h, hitting the concrete wall at about 217km/h. Telemetry showed an application of the brakes for about 2 seconds.

    Senna was extracted from his car by Professor Sid Watkins and the medical team who initially treated him alongside his car. At that point Senna still had a weak heartbeat but had lost a lot of blood. He was airlifted to hospital where he was declared dead.

    Nobody really knows what happened. Why his car went on straight into that wall. It is believed that the right suspension stabbed back into the cockpit, striking Senna on the right hand side of his helmet and causing fatal brain injuries.

    An amazing career, and an amazing life. The man was a true legend, and one who shaped my love for Formula One. May he never be forgotten.

    Ayrton Senna da Silva. 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994 and beyond.

    Ayrton Senna, Formula One Legend

     

     

  • Ross Brawn says Mercedes’ growing pains are behind them

    Ross Brawn says Mercedes still have a lot of work to do despite the encouraging start to their 2013 F1 season
    Ross Brawn says Mercedes still have a lot of work to do

    Mercedes F1 team boss Ross Brawn says that the team’s growing pains are now behind their race performances are not yet where they need to be, stressing that they are “not there yet” despite the improvement in performance.

    After what was frankly a terrible end to the 2012 season, the team has made huge strides forward and has been among the pace setters in the early part of the 2013 season with two poles and two podiums so far this year.

    The evidence is there that Mercedes may even have the fastest car on the grid over a single qualifying lap but their drivers slipping down the race order over the duration of the race, points to more work that needs to be done as far as race performance is concerned.

    “It’s not down to one lap,” Brawn told Sky Sports. “What we have to have is a car that is fastest over 50-odd laps, and that’s the challenge.”

    “It’s nice to have taken pole position at the last two races, but what really counts is the race itself, and I don’t believe we’re there yet.”

    Brawn went on to say that their drivers have “taken the equipment and done what they have on the last two Saturdays, but I don’t think we have the equipment yet to be the strongest in the race. That’s what we are working on.”

    Brawn admitted however that their current improving results are on the back of the extensive restructuring that has taken place at Brackley over the past year.

    “From an engineering perspective, we know what we did twelve months ago is now coming through and giving us a reward,” he said. “Changes were made back then which were painful at the time, and were part of the reason why we had a poor second half to last season. You have the pain for a while of those changes, which is what we had last year.”

    Brawn went on to say, “We’ve now a very motivated group of people, and we’re starting to put the things in place they need. When you do that the end result is you make progress. On the sporting side, we’ve two great drivers, and people I’ve worked with for a long time in the team. I know how they work, they know how I work.

    “You can always look to add to it and tune it to improve, but you mustn’t damage what you already have.”

     

  • Dr. Helmut Marko calls for further tyre changes

    Dr. Helmut Marko calls for further tyre changes

    Red Bull Racing advisor, Dr Helmut Marko, has reiterated his dissatisfaction with the current F1 tyre situation and has called for further tyre changes from Pirelli.

    Despite ongoing pressure from Red Bull and other teams, Pirelli has stood their ground and announced that they will only be making a minor tweak to the ‘hard’ compound tyre for next month’s Spanish Grand Prix, and beyond.

    Marko told a group of journalists at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, “We want a tyre that does not restrict our potential.”

    “It should be that you are able to get the maximum out of your car. Currently it is a compromise, the car has to be adjusted to minimise pit-stops.”

    Marko went on to argue that the Pirelli tyres are punishing the best of the cars on the grid – like Red Bull’s RB9.

    He went on to say that the team had two top drivers, “which is not cheap.”

    “To tell your drivers that they are not allowed to drive some corners properly is not easy,” he added. “This distorts competition.”

    Despite their complaints, Red Bull hold a 16 point lead in the Constructors’ World Championship – ahead of their nearest rivals, the Lotus F1 team.

    Photo: By Morio (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

     

     

  • Video: Dougie Does Red Bull Racing

    Video: Dougie Does Red Bull Racing

    12-times World Trials Champion and UK Red Bull athlete Dougie Lampkin came to play at the Red Bull Racing Factory. As well as driving through offices, upstairs and riding on transporters, he jumped a Formula One Car on two wheels. Here’s what happened …

     

  • Formula One Fuel Systems

    Renault F1 explains the intricacies of the formula one car's fuel systemThe 2013 Formula One season is the last season in which we’ll see the use of the V8 engine formula.

    Renault – the engine makers behind the Red Bull, Lotus, Williams and Caterham F1 teams discuss their RS27 engine’s intricate fuel system with in this very interesting article.

    It is a very interesting, in-depth look at how a Formula One car’s fuel system works, and is most definitely worth a read.

    Click here to read the article.