Tag: china

F1 2019: Chinese Gp Preview – 1000 and counting…

At the end of the 2019 season I will have, officially, covered twelve complete seasons of the Formula 1 world championship. While this is not trivial by any means consider that this weekend’s Chinese grand prix marks the 1000^thworld championship race.

Without fail there are two questions I am asked. Almost always the first question is who is the best driver of all time? While it gives rise to superb conversations and debates the question is impossible to answer. For one, it is impossible to compare different eras of the sport given how much it has changed. If you’d have told Jim Clark that one day Formula 1 would not only be the technical and engineering pinnacle of any motorized sport in the world but that it would also lead the way in terms of safety he probably would’ve scoffed at such impossibility. In this era death was expected and several of the sport’s most dazzling drivers, including Clark, died in the cockpit of a racing car.

In the 1950s Juan Manuel Fangio won five world titles with his tally of race wins reaching twenty-four. Imagine how staggered he would’ve been to know that someday a German driver named Michael Schumacher would not only win seven titles but also rack up a staggering ninety-one race wins. In 2000 a rookie named Jenson Button made his debut for Williams at an exceedingly young twenty-years-old. The mutters were that, at only 20, the young Brit couldn’t possibly be ready for F1. Imagine the outrageous thought then that less than two decades later Max Verstappen would make his F1 debut at a mere 17 years old.

In its 999 races Formula 1 has endured great tragedy, celebrated the greatest champions, and made inconceivable advancements. Fans have lived through and run the gamut of emotions from drama to extreme stress to anger to unbridled passion. And that just in the first two races of the 2019 season!

The second question that is consistently asked is why Formula 1? But here is the real question: How do you condense such passion, such unadulterated bliss and glorious emotion to just a few words? This is the deepest truth – It’s the greatest sport in the world and I am irrefutably richer for getting to live every magnificent moment of it. Here’s to 1000 more.

Amongst the celebrations and nostalgia there is a race to be had this weekend. As the third round of the season the Chinese grand prix was the last of Michael Schumacher’s career wins in 2006. On the calendar since 2004 the Shanghai International circuit has delivered a fair few crackers in its time. It could even be considered as the watershed moment for Mercedes when in 2012 Nico Rosberg scored the team’s first race victory since its return to the sport.

Last year a masterstroke on strategy from the Red Bull pitwall allowed Daniel Ricciardo the opportunity to pull off a remarkable string of overtakes that ultimately culminated in a thrilling and memorable victory for the Aussie. Twelve months later Ricciardo, now a Renault driver, arrives in China with a completely different mindset and slightly on the back-foot. The 7-time grand prix winner has admitted to still needing to understand the idiosyncrasies of the Renault before being able to unleash his considerable talent. Similarly, Pierre Gasly, teammate to Verstappen at Red Bull, has struggled in first two race weekends and will have to up his game before being catapulted out of the seat by the ruthless Dr. Marko.

Though it’s only two races into the 2019 season there are no such difficulties for Charles Leclerc who has settled in quickly at Ferrari. A devastating mechanical issue robbed him of victory in Bahrain but he is well served by accepting it as part of the sport.

The good news for Leclerc is that his Ferrari team is confident that the Bahrain-issue caused no lasting damage to the engine and he will be able to race it in China. What’s more, while he rightly receives plaudits for his performance his teammate, Seb Vettel, is once again putting out fires in the media who have begun to ask uncomfortable questions of the German following his spin in the last race.

Meanwhile, Mercedes will arrive in China with a quiet confidence. Leclerc may have outpaced them at the last race but they are beginning to understand the W10 more and more. Merc have also won four of the last five Chinese grand prix and it is generally a track where they excel. All that is missing then is Red Bull. While Honda is still not on par with Ferrari and Mercedes it has clearly made progress in 2019. It isn’t the only culprit either for Red Bull’s lack of pace in Bahrain. Instead teamboss Christian Horner has highlighted a need for improvement on the chassis and aero package.

The questions then for this weekend is if Charles Leclerc can once again outpace his four-time world champion teammate or whether Mercedes will have a pace advantage. The ever-tightening battle in the mid-field certainly won’t relent either and with Kimi Raikkonen confirming that following one another is now easier it sets up then for overtaking fest like no other.

April 10, 2019
F1 2018: Chinese Gp Review – Red Bull Win Shanghai Thriller

The 2018 Chinese grand prix may have taken some time to kick off. But once it came alive it produced one of the most thrilling and memorable races for quite some time.

Ferrari’s front-row lock out in Saturday qualifying, some half a second clear of the first Mercedes, set up what seemed like a foregone victory for the Italian team. However, even as dominant as Mercedes have been in the hybrid era Formula 1 remains one, if not the, most unpredictable sports in the world.

Nevertheless, the race got off without too much excitement. Sebastian Vettel cut off teammate Kimi Raikkonen to retain the lead while the Finn dropped behind the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. The opening stint of the race was uneventful with Vettel heading to a third win in as many races. However, it was a dubious day for Ferrari as Mercedes, with Bottas, took over the lead with a sharper strategy call.

Ferrari weren’t done with the astonishing calls though as they decided to leave Kimi Raikkonen out on track to serve as a blocker for teammate Vettel in his quest to get back the lead of the race from Bottas. Ferrari’s call dropped Raikkonen to sixth after the pitstop. To treat their last world champion in such a manner was nothing less than shameful by Ferrari.

The race kicked off soon after as Pierre Gasly crashed into the side of his Toro Rosso teammate Brendon Hartley. Not only did Gasly incur a ten second penalty but the debris strewn across turn 14 prompted the deployment of the safety-car. While Bottas and Vettel missed a chance to dive into the pitlane for fresh tyres both Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo were called in and armed with new soft tyres.

Again, Ferrari was out-smarted on strategy as there was enough time to make the call to switch Raikkonen to new tyres. Mind you, Mercedes didn’t call in Hamilton either but did so as they though track position would be more important than fresh rubber.

The pace advantage of both Red Bulls was clear immediately in comparison to Raikkonen, Hamilton, Vettel, and Bottas. But Max Verstappen proved too impetuous in his overtaking moves as he ran off track when attempting to overtake Hamilton. He regrouped but got it wrong again when he hit Vettel at the turn 14 hairpin. The Dutchman was given a ten second penalty and will undoubtedly receive a talking to from his team.

He’ll be well advised to take note of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo who pulled off several stunning moves. First, he came from impossibly far back to take the place off Hamilton at the hairpin and followed it a lap later by easily picking off Vettel at the same spot. The best of the lot was the audacious on Bottas to take the lead of the race. Ricciardo scampered off into the distance to secure the sixth win of her career.

Valtteri Bottas held on to a solid second place by just six tenths of a second. Kimi Raikkonen secured third despite being hung out to dry by Ferrari. Though Verstappen recovered from his collision with Vettel his fourth on the road turned into fifth with a warranted ten-second penalty for causing a collision. Lewis Hamilton trundled home in a desolate fourth in what was an off-colour weekend for the reigning champion.

Nico Hulkenberg brought his Renault home in a solid sixth place ahead of Fernando Alonso’s McLaren in seventh. Sebastian Vettel limped home in eighth with Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top ten.

Daniel Ricciardo’s brilliant win in China illustrated a Formula 1 team in perfect synergy. The team was pushed to the limits after needing to change the Australian’s engine on Saturday in time for qualifying. A job that normally takes three hours to complete was miraculously accomplished in two. And then there was the genius strategy calls and tremendous work in the pitlane to stop and service both cars back-to-back. To top it all off Ricciardo provided the icing on the cake with a sensational driving performance. Now that is Formula 1 at its best.

All images courtesy of Red Bull Racing & Pirelli Motorsport

April 16, 2018
F1 2017: Fan Survey Results Revealed

The global fan survey conducted by the Motorsport Network has been released today and details several aspects fans deem most important to the sport.

Download your copy of the Report here:

F1 Survey Fans Report 2017

May 26, 2017
F1 2017: Chinese Gp Preview – China Set For Mercedes Reaction

From the quaint streets of the Albert Park circuit in Australia the Formula 1 paddock heads the grand architecture of the Shanghai International circuit in China for the second round of the 2017 season.

Remarkably, F1’s latest visit to China marks the 14^th year that the Shanghai circuit has been on the calendar. There is a bit of history about the circuit too. Its inaugural race in 2004 was won by then Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello and in 2006 Michael Schumacher scored what would be his 91^st and final victory. A year later Kimi Raikkonen’s win in changeable conditions would set up an unlikely championship triumph while, in 2012, the Chinese grand prix was also the very first race win for the reigning champion Nico Rosberg.

Nevertheless, while these stats and victories remain firmly in the history books the 2017 crop arrives with what is still very much an era in its infancy. While Ferrari has won the first race of the season the Shanghai International circuit demands a far different type of car performance. For one, this circuit is far more front limited which means that a car will need to work well with its front tyres to set competitive lap times. The tyres too will be tested more than in Australia as the Chinese circuit is far more abrasive.

Tyre wear may prove to be a significant factor, especially for Mercedes. It was this issue that Lewis Hamilton singled out as the reason for his defeat by Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari. What’s more, in Australia it was clear that Mercedes W08 is not as comfortable following other cars as the Ferrari appears to be which, by itself, can substantially influence tyre degradation and wear.

However, these aren’t the only issues Mercedes are facing and the team has admitted that it needs to reduce the weight of its 2017 car. An overweight car not only costs lap time but also takes away the teams ability to position ballast in the car to aid handling. What’s more, Haas team principal Guenter Steiner thinks that Ferrari’s 2017 power unit might be on a par with than that of Mercedes, if not better. The make up of the Chinese circuit, which includes several high speed corners, and long straits, will be a good test of Steiner’s theory.

But by no means is Mercedes ruled out of taking the top step of podium this weekend. The prediction of fairly low temperatures for the race weekend will be in their favour as cooler condition will mean less overheating of their tyres. But they’ll have to work hard if they are to withstand the threat of Ferrari. For Red Bull the fight is highly unlikely to be for the podium considering the deficit of the Renault engine to that of Mercedes and Ferrari.

Several critics have railed about the difficultly of overtaking in 2017. The detractors felt vindicated by the overall lack of overtaking in Australia but Albert Park, as a semi-street circuit, is not the best barometer in this case. While the jury is still out in what is still a fairly immature point of the season the Shanghai International circuit, thanks to its two long straits, will offer more overtaking opportunities. It will not be definitive but it will begin to reveal how easy or difficult overtaking will be in 2017.

Since the start of the hybrid era in 2014 Mercedes have been an unstoppable juggernaut only rarely tripped up by themselves. In these three years the world has witnessed how the Mercedes team runs and conducts itself as the dominant force. At the start of 2017 they are by no means down and out but are, at the very least, perceived to be ever so slightly on the back foot. Therefore, it will be fascinating to observe how they respond.

April 6, 2017
F1 2016: Chinese GP – Rosberg Makes Hay In China

For years we’ve been frustratingly calling for Nico Rosberg to up his game. With a third win out of three in 2016 he’s done it.

The German driver effortlessly converted pole position into victory as the chaos unfolded behind his Mercedes. However, it was second-placed starter Daniel Ricciardo who snatched the lead of the race off the line in his Red Bull. Behind this pair the two Ferrari’s of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, starting third and fourth, looked set to challenge for the race win until Vettel barged into the side of Raikkonen to avoid the sister Red Bull of Dannil Kvyat on his inside.

Although Vettel recovered to second place in the end it was a sloppy race for the four time champion. The clash with teammate Raikkonen caused damage to his front-wing which was required replacing. But it would be damaged again as he tried to find his way passed the Williams of Valtteri Bottas.

Visibility in F1 car is limited but into such a tight corner Vettel should’ve been aware of Raikkonen on his outside given that he started close to him on the grid. Though the German did his best to shift blame to Dannil Kvyat the Russian driver was well within his rights to place his car alongside Vettel’s Ferrari into turn one. Kvyat eventually finished third and despite a confrontation with Vettel after the race wasn’t unhappy at all to secure only the second podium of his career.

Raikkonen’s front-wing damage and punctured tyre meant into turn one meant he had to crawl around the entire lap to make it back to the pitlane. It dropped him right to the back of the field and onto an alternative strategy which had him running on the white-walled medium tyre in the middle stint of the race. The Finn had shown great pace throughout the weekend was able to resist an attack from Hamilton on quicker tyres. It left the soft, yellow-walled, tyre for the final stint of the race and with it Raikkonen was able to make up enough positions to ultimately finish fifth.

Even Lewis Hamilton was involved in the mess of the opening lap. After starting last following an overnight power unit change the Brit also lost his front-wing and sustained damage to his barge board into turn one.

In the lead of the race Daniel Ricciardo’s hopes evaporated as he picked up a left-rear puncture on lap three. Ricciardo was able to recover to fourth. If it wasn’t clear before why both Mercedes and Ferrari refused to provide the Red Bull team with an engine from their shed it is surely clear now. The 2016 Red Bull car is a great chassis, with two great drivers and all they’re missing is a great engine.

Debris from Ricciardo’s blown tyre prompted the deployment of the safety car and drivers took the opportunity to fit the more durable soft and medium tyres. Behind Raikkonen in fifth Williams’ Felipe Massa was able to hold onto sixth while Hamilton had to settle for seventh. Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen finished eighth ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz in ninth and the second Williams of Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top ten. Despite numerous incidents throughout the race all twenty-two cars saw the chequered flag at the end of the race.

Since the start of the 2016 season things haven’t been going Lewis Hamilton’s way. Less than ideal starts off the line, unreliability, and damage early in the last two races have severely tested the champion. He’s response has been to remain remarkably cool about it all. However, three victories and a thirty-six point lead in the driver’s championship for a perfect Nico Rosberg is getting to be a bit tight. It’s a good thing Lewis Hamilton likes a fight because he has a big one on his hands now.

(Featured image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

April 18, 2016
F1 2016: Chinese GP Free Practice 2 Report – Raikkonen On Top

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen topped the second free practice session for the Chinese grand prix.

The Finnish driver sets a quickest time of 1:36:896 on the red-walled supersoft tyre. Teammate Sebastian Vettel was one tenth adrift in second. Nico Rosberg was the first of the Mercedes in third, two and a half tenths off Raikkonen’s session topping time. Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top four in the sister Mercedes with a time of 1:37:329.

The second free practice session of a grand prix weekend is customarily reserved for longer stints and evaluation of the different tyre compounds for Sunday’s race. As the softest tyre available this weekend the supersoft compound showed signs of degradation after a three lap quali sim and roughly eight laps on high fuel. The indications were that both Ferrari and Red Bull suffered less degradation on the supersoft than Mercedes. In particular, Nico Rosberg experienced a loss of three seconds in laptime over his stint on the supersoft tyres.

However, Hamilton’s stint on the medium tyre, the hardest compound available this weekend, showed a consistent and fast pace. Comparatively, Vettel’s stint on the medium, earlier on in the session, was evenly matched to Hamilton’s.

Although Friday practice sessions are difficult to decipher the signs point to what could be a very competitive Chinese grand prix between Ferrari and Mercedes.

April 15, 2016
F1 2016: Chinese GP Free Practice 1 Report – Rosberg Quickest

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg topped the first free practice session ahead of Sunday’s Chinese grand prix.

The session stumbled into life as cars trickled out onto the Shanghai International circuit which was holding a track temperature of 33 degrees Celcius. Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg set the quickest time of the session, a 1:38:037, on the yellow walled soft tyre. Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton followed in second one and a half tenths adrift.

The Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, and sister Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top five positions. Fernando Alonso was back in the McLaren for the first free practice session and ended the session twelfth overall. Alonso has not yet been given the all clear to race for the remainder of the weekend and is expected to undergo his second medical check-up of the weekend fifteen minutes after the conclusion of the first practice session.

The one and a half hour session was marred by two red flag periods brought about first by the Williams of Felipe Massa and secondly by the Renault of Kevin Magnussen. The first red flag was shown as a result of gravel on the circuit caused by the left-rear tyre on Massa’s car letting go. Peculiarly, once the track re-opened Massa ventured back out only to experience the same delamination on the left-rear tyre. There is no word as yet to the cause of the delamination however.

The second red flag was a bit lengthier and required a bit more clean-up as the left-rear tyre on Kevin Magnussen’s Renault let go halfway down the back strait. On the face of it the two incidents for Massa and Magnussen don’t seem to be related. It was the McLaren teams opinion that Magnussen’s issue might have been caused by debris on the circuit.

The tyre compouds available this weekend are the medium (white), soft (yellow), and supersoft (red).

April 15, 2016
F1 2015: Bahrain GP Preview – Hamilton vs Rosberg In Bahrain

It was just about a month ago that the agonising wait for the start of the 2015 season was all but over as the Australian grand prix loomed large within touching distance of starved Formula 1 fans.

As the Bahrain grand prix approaches, a mere seven days after the third round in China, Lewis Hamilton is firmly in the lead of the driver’s championship and Mercedes still have the quickest car on the grid.

But there is much that is different about the 2015 season. The narrative has changed slightly and now includes Ferrari’s captivating turnaround. Even though the SF15-T isn’t on par with Silver Arrows it has given Mercedes something to ponder. Sebastian Vettel’s debut with the team he idolised as a youngster has gone better than he likely could have dreamed. Three podiums, including a stunning victory, have proven that 2015 may not be all about misters Hamilton and Rosberg.

It is going to take some time however for Ferrari to be genuine threat to Mercedes in all conditions, on all circuits. Kimi Raikkonen concedes that Bahrain will likely produce the same result as China but the Finn is sure that Ferrari will catch up to Mercedes. “I think we have good plans already since last year and made big gains and will make big gains during this year,” says Raikkonen. “Everybody improves and it depends what the rest are doing but we trust the way our team is working altogether and what we are doing.”(sic)

Notwithstanding the fact that Bahrain will host the first night race of the season temperatures are still expected to be appreciably higher than in China. Pirelli have brought the medium and soft compound tyre to this circuit at which the management of rear tyre degradation will be vital. The first sessions may not be indicative of true tyre performance at the circuit characteristics continue to change throughout the weekend. “A defining characteristic of Bahrain now is that tyre performance changes over the course of the weekend as we slowly edge towards afternoon sessions,” predicts Pirelli motorsport director, Paul Hembery.

Twelve months ago the Sakhir International circuit was the one and only site of a true wheel-to-wheel battle between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. It was the eventual champion, Hamilton, who got the better of his teammate in the spicy fight for supremacy in this race and the ensuing season.

It’s safe to assume that, before the season started, Rosberg would have predicted himself to be ahead of Hamilton or, at least, a very close second. On the face of it this battle appears much the same as in 2014. However, the tone of this inter-team battle is quite different and decidedly tilted to Hamilton’s advantage.

Not only has Rosberg not been able to match his reigning champion teammate he appears to have lost significant ground. It wasn’t long ago that Rosberg vowed to give Hamilton the fight of his life in 2015 but the German is yet to deliver on his boisterous declaration. Significantly, it also appears that Rosberg is losing the psychological battle and quite early on at that. The moaning about his teammate in Chinese Gp was not indicative of a driver with the mental toughness to beat his highly talented teammate.

Bahrain has been a good hunting ground for Nico Rosberg and if he is indeed serious about winning the world championship then he has to transform all of the talk into action.

April 15, 2015
F1 2015: Chinese GP Qualifying Report – Hamilton Secures Pole

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg locked out the front row of the grid ahead of the 2015 Chinese grand prix.

The first part of the qualifying session was highlighted by neither McLaren being able to advance to Q2. Jenson Button out-qualified Fernando Alonso who suffered with severe oversteer after having missed the morning’s free practice session.

The second part of qualifying saw Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat fail to advance along with the Toro Rosso duo of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. Pastor Maldonado also failed to advance to the final shoot-out and will provisionally start the Chinese grand prix in eleventh place.

Lewis Hamilton layed down an early marker in the top ten shoot-out as the double world champion dipped into the 1:35s for the first time this weekend. Nico Rosberg’s second attempt at a flying lap got him agonizingly close to the coveted pole position but the German ultimately missed out be less than half a tenth.

Sebastian Vettel confirmed Ferrari’s best-of-the-rest status be securing third while teammate Kimi Raikkonen endured a scruffy qualifying session to end sixth quickest. Williams’ Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas lined up the fourth and fifth quickest times.

April 11, 2015
F1 2015: Chinese GP Preview – Advantage Mercedes in Shanghai

If you’re not mulling several burning questions and theories at the same time then you’re more than likely not thinking about Formula 1 and the upcoming Chinese grand prix.

The biggest of these burning questions is whether Ferrari’s stunning Malaysian grand prix victory was indicative of something or just a flash in the Mercedes dominated pan. But things are rarely ever as simple as either answering yes or no either way. This is after all Formula 1 and there are a plethora of variables and circumstances that have to enter into providing a carefully thought out response to this poser.

The biggest determining factor will be the temperature. In Malaysia the scorching track temperature played to Ferrari’s strength but it wasn’t the only advantage they put on the table. In comparison to Mercedes the Ferrari driver’s did a much better job at managing their tyre degradation.

The Pirelli tyres are far less temperamental than when they were first introduced to Formula 1 but the benefit of eeking a bit more performance out of them than the competition is a big advantage. The temperatures in China won’t be anything like that of Sepang but the track surface is quite an abrasive one. Add to this that Pirelli have selected the medium and soft compounds for the weekend and Ferrari is still in with a shout.

Sebastian Vettel’s win in Malaysia doesn’t mean that he or Ferrari will be able to consistently beat Mercedes. But it’s given Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and his team something to think about. “In two weeks you are caught up and you lose the race fair and square on track which is a bit of a wake-up call, which is good for us.”

The pace of development in Formula 1 has always been staggering but never quite something you can get used to. In 2014 Williams were, by far, the second quickest team on the grid and even locked out the front row for the Austrian grand prix. Several months later the Grove based team has, so far, fallen short of the frontrunners. We are missing race pace – and quite a big amount,” said Valtteri Bottas. “With the ideal race, starting at the front, the gap wouldn’t be that big but it is too big, much bigger than we expected.

The FW34 Williams shouldn’t have too bad a time of it this weekend because China’s Shanghai circuit is a marvellous mixture of intricate, technical corners and wide-open straights prepared to test the limits of the modern F1 hybrid technology. Turn one is a test in patience as it makes a 180 degree turn before accelerating into a slightly off-camber turn two. “The circuit has a very long straight, where a good top speed is important, and an interesting mix of low, medium and high speed corners. In addition, it has several technical sections where unique corners, such as turns one and 13, lead straight into further corners requiring a good car balance and precise driving,” says Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering at Sauber.

All the teams like coming to these parts too. It’s bustling juggernaut economy and bustling automotive industry is a big target for the manufacturer’s involved in the sport. Achieve commercial success in the densely populated Chinese region and you’ll be smiling at the way to the bank.

There will be more than just the battle up front to whet the appetite this weekend. The Lotus F1 team maintain that they have made big gains from last year but have not yet been able to show this on track. If they are able the fight in the mid-field, with Toro Rosso and Sauber, may yield quite a battle.

The saying goes that you’re only as good as your last race. In this case it means a dazzling Ferrari victory and Mercedes being, slightly, found out. But the pragmatic part of the brain will remind you that though Ferrari’s victory was stunning it is still up against the juggernaut of Mercedes. Then again, pragmatism is terribly over-rated.

April 9, 2015