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F1 2016: Pre-season Test 1 Day 2 – Vettel Quickest Again

The second day of testing got underway with the circuit de Catalunya bathed in bright sunshine.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was the first driver on track and the first to set a flying lap as the second day of testing got underway.The majority of the first two hours of the morning were spent on gathering important data that the teams will carry through to the first few races of the 2016 season. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel emerged from the garage around mid-day to set the fastest lap of the morning – a 1:24:940.

By this stage Vettel was the only driver to break the 1:24 barrier. Soon after Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo dipped in the 1:24 to go second fastest overall. Fernando Alonso and Lotus’ Jolyon Palmer gave the yellow-walled soft tyre a trundle but did not set a representative time on the softer tyre. The first red flag of the session was brought out by Max Verstappen as his Toro Rosso grinded to a halt in the final sector of the circuit. As the Toro Rosso was recovered to the pits testing was underway again. Nico Rosberg immediately shot to the top of the timing sheets with a 1:24:867.

A switch onto the quicker, red-walled, supersoft tyre took Ricciardo quickest before the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel emerged to set a 1:23.658 on the same tyre. Just before the lunch break Daniel Ricciardo fitted the new-for-2016 ultra-soft tyre. He quickly took over at the top of the timing sheet only to be outdone by Vettel’s own run on the purple-walled tyres. The Ferrari driver set a time of 1:22.810.

The session after lunch was interrupted by the stoppage of Jolyon Palmer’s Renault which had to be recovered to the pits on the back on a flatbed truck. Reports later surfaced that the Renault’s issue may have been turbo related. It brought an early end to Renault’s running with Palmer only able to complete 42 laps for the day.

By mid afternoon Nico Rosberg had again underlined the reliability of the new Mercedes by reaching the 100 lap mark without any issues. Most of the teams settled into longer stints in the afternoon. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas bucked the trend and opted to run a stint of laps on the orange-walled hard tyres. Similarly, Vettel opted instead for the ultrasoft tyres for run. The Ferrari driver completed only a handful of laps before the drop off in performance forced him back into the pits.

McLaren can breath a sign of relieve as Fernando Alonso racked 100 laps two hours before the of the day’s running. In stark contrast to McLaren’s fortunes twelve months ago both Alonso and Jenson Button have already reported a much more positive feeling with the 2016 car. Several other drivers including Max Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo, Marcus Ericsson, Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel all completed more than 100 laps. But it was Nico Rosberg and his Mercedes that set the most laps of the day with a mammoth 172 laps.

By the end of the day’s running Sebastian Vettel’s 1:22:810 remained quickest overall.

POS	Driver	Team/Car	Best lap	Gap	Laps
1	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari SF16-H	1:22.810	–	126
2	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12	1:23.525	+0.715	112
3	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes VJM09	1:23.650	+0.840	101
4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid	1:24.867	+2.882	172
5	Marcus Ericcson	Sauber-Ferrari C34	1:25.237	+2.427	108
6	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas-Ferrari VF-16	1:25.524	+2.714	79
7	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes FW38	1:25.648	+2.838	134
8	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor Racing-Mercedes MRT05	1:25.925	+3.115	71
9	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda MP4-31	1:26.082	+3.272	119
10	Jolyon Palmer	Renault R.S.16	1:26.189	+3.379	42
11	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11	1:26.539	+3.729	121

February 23, 2016

F1 2016: Ultrasoft Tyre Makes its debut

Pirelli’s ultrasoft compound tyre has made its debut in the second day of pre-season testing in Spain.

The morning’s running was capped by the first-ever glimpsed of purple side-walled ultrasoft Pirelli tyre. It was Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo who first ventured out on the brand new compound. The Australian excelled to the top of the timing sheets with a time of 1:23:525.

A short while later the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel emerged from the pitlane also sporting the ultrasoft soft tyres. The German champion smashed the quickest time of Ricciardo by seven tenths of a second and took over the top of the timing sheet with a time of 1:22:810.

The Mercedes of Nico Rosberg remained in the pits as the session winded down towards lunch. Hopefully we’ll see what sort of time the mighty Mercedes can achieve on the ultrasoft after lunch.

February 23, 2016
F1 2016: Honda Replaces F1 boss

Japanese manufacturer Honda has announced that motorsport boss Yasuhisa Arai will be vacating his post.

The announcement of Arai’s departure was made after a board meeting in Tokyo. Yusuke Hasegawa will replace Arai and take up the reigns of managing the F1 project while Arai will slot in as the senior manager of Honda Research and Development.

The change of leadership doesn’t come as much of a surprise given Honda’s difficult re-entry into F1 with the McLaren team. In a season blighted by unreliability and a serious deficiency in the engine department there was an inevitable feeling that some heads would have to roll.

“We didn’t have any experience with the complex system [in 2015], so you can imagine the challenge, but we learned a lot and we have the confidence we can catch up,” Arai told Autosport.

February 23, 2016

F1 2016 Pre-Season Test 1 Day 1: Vettel Tops the Timesheets

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished the first day of the first pre-season test of 2016 on top of the time sheets ahead of defending champion Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes W07 Hybrid.

The German set his best time of 1:24.939 on the medium compound tyres just before lunch to take the top spot for the day. For the rest of the day it was testing as usual for Ferrari which seen Vettel rack up 69 laps.

A few doors up the paddock, Lewis Hamilton racked up an astonishing 156 laps on the day. That’s 698km, which is just a little over two race lengths. “It’s good to be back. It really had felt like a while – but now it feels like home already,” said Hamilton. He finished second fastest on the day with a 1:25.409.

Daniel Ricciardo finished third fastest clocking up 87 laps on the day after a bit of a slow start. This, in contrast to the previous season’s testing, seems like a big improvement from the team. “First impressions are positive but it’s still too early to say much more. We had a good day and I’m ready for more,” said Ricciardo at the end of the day’s running.

Valtteri Bottas ended his day 4th fastest for Williams completing 80 laps. Bottas’ first impression of the car was that he feels many of the issues they’ve had last year have been fixed but he thinks its too early to say where they are in relation to the other teams.

“Valtteri has been complimentary about aspects of the FW38 which is good start,” said the Chief and Test Support Engineer Rob Nelson.

“We are just building up our run lengths and doing our due diligence on reliability, and as the test goes on we’ll feed in more and more performance items. Overall it is a reasonable start to pre-season testing for us.

Mexican Alfonso Celis was in the VJM09 for Force India. He finished 5th fastest with 58 laps to his name. Not far off his pace was Jenson Button in the McLaren MP4-31 finishing 6th fastest with 84 laps on the board. Button’s best time of 1:26.735 came courtesy of a late run on the soft compound tyres.

Carlos Sainz was out for Toro Rosso today. The team chose not to have a big reveal in the pits and instead just emerged from the pits when the green flag dropped for the start of the day. Sainz finished 7th fastest with 55 laps under his belt. His session was cut short when the team saw something strange in the gearbox oil system. The team decided to stop their session as a precaution.

Sauber, who ran an updated livery but a 2015 car, had Marcus Ericsson at the wheel of the C34. He placed 8th fastest on the day ahead of Manor driver Pascal Wehrlein. Wehrlein, on his first outing for the new look Manor team, clocked up 54 laps.

New comers Haas F1 had a good start to their debut test until a front wing failure brought out the red flags. The team say that they have a fix for the wing and will have a replacement by Tuesday. The wing failure put Grosjean out for most of the day. He did, however, emerge from the pits with an hour left in the session to complete a few laps.

Jolyon Palmer was 11th fastest for Renaul in the R.S.16. He had limited running owing to software issued on the car.

POS	Driver	Team/Car	Best lap	Gap	Laps
1	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari SF16-H	1:24.939	–	69
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid	1:25.409	+0.470	156
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12	1:26.044	+1.105	87
4	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes FW38	1:26.091	+1.152	80
5	Alfonso Celis	Force India-Mercedes VJM09	1:26.298	+1.359	58
6	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda MP4-31	1:26.735	+1.796	84
7	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11	1:27.180	+2.241	55
8	Marcus Ericcson	Sauber-Ferrari C34	1:27.555	+2.616	88
9	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor Racing-Ferrari MRT05	1:28.292	+3.353	54
10	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari VF-16	1:28.399	+3.460	31
11	Jolyon Palmer	Renault R.S.16	1:29.356	+4.417	37

Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1, Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula 1

February 22, 2016

Red Bull Racing’s 2016 F1 Challenger – the RB12

Red Bull released the first images of its 2016 Formula One title challenger, the RB12, ahead of debuting the car on track at the opening day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The team released studio photos via its various media channels moments before the RB12 hit the track with Daniel Ricciardo at the wheel. Three-time race winner Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat will race the RB12 this year.

Following very troubled 2015 season, the team will be hoping that the TAG Heuer-badged Renault powered RB12 will have what it takes to return to its former glory once again. The team claimed four successive titles between 2010 and 2013 but quickly fell behind when the F1 introduced V6 power units in 2014. The 2015 F1 season held only two podiums for the team and saw them finishing fourth in the constructor standings.

A late decision to stick with Renault power – albeit under the guise of new Red Bull partner Tag Heuer – after approaching the three other engine suppliers looking to switch for 2016, has the team on a back foot ahead of the start of the season.

Team boss Christian Horner: “Obviously the late engine decision last year was a challenge but we found a solution in time and the whole team has worked incredibly hard to recover over the winter.

“Therefore, we’re looking to build on the significant progress we made in the second half of 2015 and to carry that momentum into the early races of this season.

“My hopes for this season are that we genuinely make progress from where we were last year; that we get our heads down and we really develop the car well and hopefully with some performance coming on the power unit side as well, that will allow us to get closer to some of our immediate rivals.”

According to chief technical officer Adrian Newey development on the RB12 was focussed around developing a cohesive package for all the parts. “I’m often asked what area of the car I’m most pleased with, but with the stable regulations we have at the moment it’s difficult to find any major new areas to exploit,” Newey said of the RB12.

“Therefore, what we’ve really tried to concentrate on with this car is getting a cohesive package for all the parts – the suspension, the chassis dynamics, aerodynamics – that they all work together in harmony.

“I think we’ve managed to build on the lessons of last year and all the indications from our simulations suggest that this year’s chassis should be strong.”

Chief engineering officer Rob Marshall hopes that the RB12 can win some races this year: “With the RB12, we are optimistic that we have made some good gains, but the difficulty is the wind tunnel and CFD numbers we’re seeing are our numbers and unless you can see everyone else’s numbers you don’t know where you are. We are happy that we are going in the right direction from our own point of view, but we won’t know until Melbourne.

“As far as this car is concerned, I hope we can win some races. That might sound farfetched after last year, where we struggled at the beginning of the year, but I hope this year we can make a bit of a step power-wise and that will level the playing field a bit.”

RB12 Photo Credits: Red Bull Racing

February 22, 2016
F1 2016: Ferrari Launches 2016 Challenger – The SF16-H

In a week dominated by car launches Ferrari has joined the party by unveiling its challenger for the 2016 season – the SF16-H.

In an online launch, hosted by F1 journalist James Allen, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel pulled the covers off their new car which Ferrari are calling the SF16-H.

The first, most notable, change is the livery which has a distinctively more retro feel with the addition of the white inlay over the cockpit and airbox.

Team principal Maurizio Arrivebene was also in attendance for the unveiling of the SF16-H and shared his hope that the team and car will be able to challenge for the championship this season.

“Normally I am not setting the objectives, my boss sets the objective for the team. I think this year, we need to push a bit more. We would like to fight until the end for the championship,” he said.

“I know that is not going to be easy, because our competitors are not sleeping, but we are committed to do our best.”

The nose of the SF16-H is noticeably shorter than its predecessors and after an arguably failed attempt at running pullrod suspension Ferrari has opted to run a pushrod suspension configuration for 2016.

Technical director James Alison noted that the SF16-H is different in “a number of areas.”

“Last year was a decent step forward and we hope this car will be another good step forward to make us properly competitive,” he added.

“We have improved across the board. All our hopes are in this car, and we can’t wait to see it on the track.”

(SF16-H Images courtesy of ferrari.com)

February 19, 2016
Meet Williams’ 2016 Challenger – the FW38

The Williams F1 team have unveiled their 2016 Formula One season challenger, releasing images of their Mercedes-powered FW38, ahead of the first pre-season test in Spain next week.

The team had promised that the 2016 car would be “significantly different”. The FW38 still sports a very familiar nose and the livery is also mostly unchanged but the sidepods and rear do appear to have had some facelifting. More updates are scheduled to come ahead of the first race in Melbourne with Deputy team principal Claire Williams insisting that the FW38 launched today is “by no means the final product”.

Valtteri Bottas will debut the car in the pit lane at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya at the pre-season test, before handing over to team-mate Felipe Massa in the second half of the week.

The FW38 will once again be powered by a Mercedes engine – a significant factor in the team’s two third-place finishes in the Formula One Constructors’ Championship over the last two years. The FW38 will retain its Martini sponsorship. The team are confident that the FW38 can deliver what it takes to challenge the front running teams.

“Williams has started to cement our position back amongst the front running teams after finishing third in the Championship in the past two seasons,” said Williams Team Principal Sir Frank Williams.

“This has been a great achievement given the resources of those around us. Staying where we are will be a challenge in itself, but we are determined to keep improving because only winning will ever be good enough.

“We have a very stable team going into 2016, with Felipe [Massa] and Valtteri [Bottas] teaming up for a third successive season. They work well together and both have the ideal blend of speed and consistency. Our technical team has also remained very consistent which will be to our advantage and we have some of the best engineering minds on the grid at our disposal.

“We have a busy couple of weeks of testing coming up to learn more about our package and to refine the car ahead of the first race. We will have to wait until Melbourne to find out exactly where we stand in the pecking order but I’m confident that our hard work over the winter will stand us in good stead.”

Deputy team principal Claire Williams added: “2016 promises to be a very competitive year in Formula One and there will be a number of strong teams who have us in their sights. We are confident that we have made a step forward over the winter and that the FW38 will build on the strengths of the FW37 and address some of its weaknesses. We started design work on the car earlier than normal and hopefully this extra development time will stand us in good stead.

“The car we are launching today is by no means the final product. We are already planning updates for Melbourne and will be pushing for constant improvements over the course of the season. Williams enters 2016 in a strong place. We have a great team of people and over the past two years we have started to regain our competitive edge. Now we need to build on that and take this team back to where we all want it to be.”

Photo Credits: FW38 images courtesy of Williams Martini Racing

February 19, 2016
Rio Haryanto Lands Manor Drive

The new look Manor F1 team completed its line up for the 2016 season by announcing the signing of 23-year old Indonesian driver Rio Haryanto.

Haryanto competed in many single seater series and most recently in GP2. He will get his first crack at the Manor MRT05 at next weeks first pre-season test.

“We are delighted to announce Rio as our second race driver for 2016,” said Manor Racing Owner Spehen Fitzpatrick.

“Rio’s been racing since he first got into a kart at six years old. He’s tenacious on and off the track and made a big impression on last year’s GP2 battle.

“Rio’s huge following in Indonesia is great for the team and for F1. They are keen to see him on the grid and we’re confident that we’ll see him enjoying some exciting battles in the year ahead.”

Haryanto had this to say about his signing: “Manor Racing is a team with an exciting vision and ambitious plans. They have produced a great package and I can’t wait to get in the car.

“Melbourne will be a huge moment for me, my country, supporters and fans and I want to thank everyone who’s been with me since I started in single seaters; 2016 is my chance to reward that faith and represent Asia in F1.”

February 18, 2016
Schumacher update: Manager says he will “hopefully one day be back with us’

Sabine Kehm, manager of motor racing legend Michael Schumacher has broken the silence and given a rare update on the recovery of the seven-time F1 world champion saying that she hopes “that with continued support and patience he will one day be back with us”.

Schumacher continues to recover at home after suffering severe head injuries in a skiing accident in December 2013. He was kept in a medically induced coma for several months until September 2014 when he returned to his home in Switzerland and continues to receive specialist treatment.

Kehm spoke at the opening of an exhibition honouring Schumacher’s career in Marburg, Germany, saying: “He is the most successful driver in history and sometimes, on days like this, it is good to be reminded of it.

“Of course, Michael is not here and of course we miss him. We know what has happened and cannot change it.

“We must accept it and hope with everything we have that, with continued support and patience, he will one day be back with us. Racing was his life and no one would have liked to have been here more than him.”

In November FIA president Jean Todt said that Schumacher was “still fighting” and two weeks ago former Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo said the latest news about the 47 year old’s health was “not good” leading to fresh speculation around the champion’s recovery.

Very little news or updates have come from Kehm or Schumacher’s family and unfortunately this is not quite the news Formula One fans will have wanted to hear, but it is news nonetheless. Unfortunately Kehm’s latest comments are bound to ring in a new round of speculation – something that the Schumacher family really do not need more of and the reason why news updates have been kept to a minimum.

Read Natalie’s piece, “The Truth about Michael Schumacher”.

As always our thoughts remain with his family and friends and we do hope too that one day, he will be back with us. #KeepFightingMichael

February 17, 2016
F1 2016: The truth about Michael Schumacher

It has been more than two years since Michael Schumacher sustained severe brain injuries following a skiing accident in the French Alps. The seven times world champion spent several months in an induced coma in Grenoble hospital before being moved to a hospital in Lausanne. In September 2014 he was finally moved to his Switzerland home where he receives round the clock medical attention.

Since then, by the family’s request, little information has been shared about Schumacher’s condition. While some close friends, such as former Ferrari colleagues Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, have visited Schumacher no definitive report has been released on his recovery or condition. Instead, Todt and Brawn, have made the occasional statement that he “is still fighting.”

Sabine Kehm, the official spokesperson for the Schumacher family, has repeatedly warned that only official statements, from her, be accepted. Recently, she’s quashed rumours that the former champion is able to walk as “irresponsible and offering false hope.” It’s safe to assume, from the way that she intervened to dismiss these rumours that Schumacher is likely in the same condition and making, at best, slow progress.

It’s a question that most people ask when the subject is Formula 1 – how is Michael Schumacher? The truth is that only a few people know the answer to this question and they aren’t sharing it. Some feel entitled to news on his condition and it’s not unreasonable that they do. An argument could be made for releasing sporadic statements. Perhaps even one a year could put an end to any speculation on Schumacher’s condition.

However, not even this is likely to satisfy some circles of the media. The inevitable course of events that would ensue is the likely reason for the family remaining silent. In a society where respect and ethics are rare commodities it will undoubtedly prompt tabloids to analyse every word, hire so-called experts to comment and ultimately prompt more speculation.

Most recently, a statement by former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has prompted a fresh batch of speculation. Montezemolo was quoted as saying that he has “no good news” about Michael Schumacher. “I have news of him continuously and it is not good,” he said. It is puzzling why the former Ferrari boss would make such a statement which has given rise to new-found conjecture. He surely knows the family’s position on sharing information.

Most of the interest in Schumacher’s condition is born from a place of genuine concern and not morbidity. But the best that Michael’s legions of fans can do is to respect the family’s wishes for privacy. And accept that if there was anything to share that they would do so. Until then, keep fighting Michael.

February 10, 2016