F1 Madness

Tag: bahrain gp

  • Raikkonen Reprimanded for Pit Lane Incident; Hamilton off the Hook

    Raikkonen Reprimanded for Pit Lane Incident; Hamilton off the Hook

    Kimi Raikkonen has been reprimanded by the Formula One race stewards for driving in a “potentially dangerous manner” in the pit lane during the second practice session ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

    Both Raikkonen and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton crossed the white line indicating two lanes in the pits, and cut behind a Sauber leaving the garage. This was after a brief red flag period during the practice session.

    The FIA Stewards, including Mika Salo, decided that Raikkonen had driven in an unsafe manner stating that, “The driver of car 7 drove in a potentially dangerous manner when leaving the pitlane”.

    The action was found to be in contravention of Article 30.13 of the sporting regulations. The rule states that “at no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person.”

    This is Raikkonen’s first reprimand of the 2015 F1 season. Drivers who receive three reprimands will be handed a five place grid penalty.

    Interestingly, there has been no word yet on any action against Lewis Hamilton. He was announced as being investigated alongside Raikkonen for the incident,

    Following the session, Lewis spoke to reporters saying, “I don’t really know too much about it. The rule is that you do your starts on the left and allow people to pass on the right. I saw Kimi was kind of blocked because there was a car coming out of the garage so Kimi went around him and I followed. I just went to the right. As far as I am aware, it was legal.”

  • F1 2015 Bahrain GP Drivers Press Conference Part 2

    F1 2015 Bahrain GP Drivers Press Conference Part 2

    Part 2 of the F1 2015 Bahrain GP Drivers Press Conference held on Thursday before this weekend’s Bahrain GP. Drivers attending the Bahrain GP drivers press conference were: Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, Pastor Maldonado, Max Verstappen, Will Stevens and Sergio Perez.

  • F1 2015 Bahrain GP Drivers Press Conference Part 1

    F1 2015 Bahrain GP Drivers Press Conference Part 1

    Part 1 of the F1 2015 Bahrain GP Drivers Press Conference held on Thursday before this weekend’s Bahrain GP. Drivers attending the Bahrain GP drivers press conference were: Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, Pastor Maldonado, Max Verstappen, Will Stevens and Sergio Perez.

  • Video: Bahrain GP Memories: 2014 Bahrain GP Highlights

    Video: Bahrain GP Memories: 2014 Bahrain GP Highlights

    Relive all the action from the 2014 Bahrain GP – a thrilling race filled with all the action that any Formula One Grand Prix should have! The Bahrain GP race edit will have you waiting anxiously for Sunday’s upcoming 2015 Bahrain GP!

  • Korean GP officially dropped from 2015 F1 Calendar

    Korean GP officially dropped from 2015 F1 Calendar

    The 2015 F1 Calendar has been reduced to 20 races from the proposed 21, following the official removal of the Korean Grand Prix.

    The race featured on the first official calendar published at the end of last year, but was still subject to confirmation by the FIA and was apparently added without the knowledge of the Korean GP organisers.

    The Korean GP was scheduled to take place just one week before the Spanish GP in Barcelona but there was little doubt that it would be removed.

    In December 2014, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said that the Korean GP was on the race calendar for legal reasons.

    “[The organisers] would rather it not happen,” Ecclestone said last month. “We have a contract with Korea, we have to put it on the calendar. If we had not done they could have sued us. We let them off for a year on the understanding they would be back.”

    The removal of the Korean GP sees the return of a three-week break between the Bahrain Grand Prix (April 19) and the Spanish Grand Prix (May 10).

    Here is the updated 2015 F1 Calendar:

    Australian GP – Albert Park, March 15
    Malaysian GP – Sepang, March 29
    Chinese GP – Shanghai, April 12
    Bahrain GP – Sakhir, April 19
    Spanish GP – Barcelona, May 10
    Monaco GP – Monte Carlo, May 24
    Canadian GP – Montreal, June 7
    Austrian GP – Spielberg, June 21
    British GP – Silverstone, July 5
    German GP – Nurburgring, July 19
    Hungarian GP – Hungaroring, July 26
    Belgian GP – Spa-Francorchamps, August 23
    Italian GP – Monza, September 6
    Singapore GP – Marina Bay, September 20
    Japanese GP – Suzuka, September 27
    Russian GP – Sochi, October 11
    US GP – Austin – October 25
    Mexican GP – Mexico City, November 1
    Brazilian GP – Interlagos, November 15
    Abu Dhabi GP – Yas Marina, November 29

    Korean GP Photo Credit: Caterham F1 Team

  • Mercedes dominate and Hamilton sets the pace in FP3

    Mercedes dominate and Hamilton sets the pace in FP3

    Mercedes continued to show their excellent form during the final practice session ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

    Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets a tenth of a second ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg, with Checo Perez in the third spot for Force India, a half-second country mile behind them.

    Despite spending the first half of the session in the Williams garage, Valterri Bottas and Felipe Massa managed to secure the 4th and 5th spots for the Williams team, showing a good improvement in their performance.

    Jenson Button managed 6th place for the McLaren team and Fernando Alonso secured 7th in the first non-Mercedes powered car, for Ferrari. The Ferrari drivers seemed to be struggling a great deal with rear grip around the track. While many drivers were caught out by the tail wind around T11, the Ferrari drivers seemed to be getting to know the outskirts a little too well around there.

    Rounding out the Top 10 were Nico Hulkenberg for Force India, Toro Rosso’s Daniel Kvyat and Kevin Magnussen for McLaren.

    Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel ended his session early – without the opportunity to head out on soft tyres, after spinning off at the exit of Turn 2 and stalling his car in the gravel trap.

    Conditions during the third practice session were far from those we can expect during qualifying and the race tomorrow now that Bahrain has joined the elite night race hosts. Temperatures drop considerably in the evenings at the desert circuit so expect a few surprises from qualifying later this afternoon.

    Who can catch the Mercedes drivers to steal the pole position for tomorrow’s Bahrain Grand Prix? Right now, it would seem absolutely nobody can!

    Time sheets and full tyre info below. Please join us later on @F1_Madness for live commentary and chats during qualifying for the Bahrain GP.

    FP3 Timesheet:

    Bahrain_FP3

    Tyre info:

    FP3_TyreInfo