Tag: esteban ocon

F1 2017: Russian Gp Preview – Game On In Sochi

From the middle of the Bahrain desert the Formula 1 paddock travels to coast of Russia for the fourth round of the 2017 season.

The Sochi Autodrom made its debut on the F1 calendar in 2014 and received a fairly lukewarm reception from fans. For one thing the circuit lacks any sort of elevation change, which normally accounts for a trickier cambers and braking zones. The layout of the track, at 5.8 kilometers, is characterized by long straits and ninety-degree corners, which will test a car’s efficiently in traction and how well it rotates on its axis. “It’s always challenging to come from high speed into a low-speed corner and achieve the best out of braking,” says Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

In the three races at the Sochi Autodrom the amount of tyre degradation experienced has been negligible. Memorably, in 2014, after flat-spotting his tyres into turn one, Nico Rosberg pitted on the first lap of the race and completed 52 laps on one set of tyres. But it might be a bit different in 2017 for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the paddock arrives in Russia slightly later in the year than normal and, temperature-wise, it should be hotter. Secondly, this will be the third race weekend on the track surface, which will have ‘settled’ in a bit more and therefore should produce more grip. The 2017 cars will also corner a lot faster than in previous years which will place significantly more stress on the tyres which should effect tyre-life. Pirelli have nominated the soft, super-soft, and ultra-soft compounds for this weekend’s race.

Who will it suit? With all things being equal Mercedes has proven that on Saturday’s, in qualifying, they are still king. But even so Sunday is where the points are awarded and this is where Ferrari is likely to come into its own. Traditionally, Ferrari has performed better on the super-soft tyre than Mercedes and this, along with their inherent pace, will likely by their trump card. Nevertheless, it will still require a perfect all-round performance from the team, including the pitwall’s calls on strategy.

On paper it shouldn’t be a circuit where Red Bull does well but they have in the past. It’s unlikely that they’ll be going for the win or even the podium. Nevertheless, where there is a Max there almost always seems to be a way. There is something special in the make-up and performance from the young Dutchman that demands attention and which makes it impossible for him to be ruled out of the equation. It’s always an exciting prospect to imagine what he might pull out of his bag of tricks come race day.

In the mid-field Williams should do well given the Mercedes power unit bolted to the back of their car. Though through no fault of his own Lance Stroll is yet to finish a race in 2017. It will be a tall order but it needs to be the Canadian driver who shines for the British team this weekend.

Who would’ve thought at the height of Mercedes domination last year that in 2017, on the cusp of the fourth round of the season, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel would be leading the driver’s championship by seven points. And in truth, any one of four drivers has a legitimate chance of winning the Russian grand prix this weekend.

April 26, 2017
F1 2017: Bahrain Gp Review – Ferrari Win Again

In pre-season testing all indications were that Ferrari had turned a significant corner. All indications were that Mercedes would finally, after three years of dominance, have a challenge on their hands. Despite this many couldn’t believe their eyes and were sure that Mercedes were sandbagging. But three races into the 2017 season have proven that pre-season testing was no fluke and that Ferrari are more than capable of challenging for the titles.

Under the floodlights of the Sakhir International circuit Sebastian Vettel scored Ferrari’s second win in three races while Lewis Hamilton and polesitter Valtteri Bottas completed the top three. Bottas led cleanly off the line as Vettel got the jump on Hamilton and proceeded to stalk the back of the leading Mercedes for the duration of his first stint. The Ferrari’s ability to stick as close as it does to the car in front is a significant revelation of the strength of its aerodynamic package. Contrastingly, several others drivers including Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have deemed it impossible to follow closely in their cars.

While Vettel was able to stick close it was clear that he lacked the ultimate edge to overtake Bottas. It is at this point that Ferrari called Mercedes’ bluff by diving into the pitlane first. Here, unlike in China, Vettel was able to make the undercut work and with fresh tyres set a handful of laptimes appreciably quicker than both Mercs and took over the lead of the race. Mercedes had been caught out by Ferrari’s aggressive strategy and seemed flustered by it.

It wasn’t long after the first round of pitstops that Max Verstappen suffered a brake failure, which ended his race. Soon after a coming together of Williams’ Lance Stroll and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz brought out the safety car for only the third time in the history of the Bahrain grand prix. Merc were genuinely rattled too. As they attempted to service both Bottas and Hamilton on the same lap the latter was given a five second penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly at the entrance to the pitlane. Ultimately, Hamilton finished roughly seven seconds off Vettel with Bottas trailing home in a disconsolate third after being instructed to give way to his teammate twice. In fairness, Hamilton was closing on Bottas at a rate of two seconds per lap and the pass would’ve been inevitable.

Meanwhile, despite an expected brake-by-wire issue Kimi Raikkonen showed a better turn of pace in the second half of the race and finished fourth. Perplexingly, the Ferrari pitwall again botched the Finn’s strategy by leaving him out for too long. Nevertheless, it is quickly becoming clear that unless Raikkonen wants to be considered the second driver within the team it’s about time that he start unlocking the promise of his Ferrari.

In fifth Daniel Ricciardo had a fairly anonymous race as he trailed home nearly forty seconds adrift. Felipe Massa finished a solid sixth for Williams ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez, in seventh, and Haas’ Romain Grosjean in eighth. In the Renault Nico Hulkenberg scored two points for ninth while Esteban Ocon finished tenth for a third consecutive time in the Force India.

It was nearly impossible to imagine that McLaren’s situation could get any worse, but it has. Not only did Stoffel Vandoorne not make the start of the race but also Fernando Alonso retired on the final lap with an “engine problem”. The announcement that Alonso will skip the Monaco Gp in favour of the Indy 500 seems the only bit of good news for the embattled team at the moment.

As Seb Vettel now leads the driver championship by seven points its clear that the 2017 season is primed for a battle royale between the prancing horses and the silver arrows which takes up again in Russia in two weeks time.

April 17, 2017
F1 2017: Chinese Gp Review – Hamilton Wins For Mercedes In China

Just about the only thing that was predictable for the 14^th running of the Chinese grand prix is that Lewis Hamilton started from pole position alongside the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel while Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen locked out the second row of the grid.

Friday’s running at the Shanghai International Circuit was abandoned due to weather conditions prohibiting the medical helicopter from landing at the designated hospital in Shanghai. It meant that teams and drivers entered into Sunday’s race with only the data and knowledge of the one-hour final practice session and whatever number of laps they completed in qualifying.

The weather conditions on Sunday were best described as dank as the field started the race on intermediate tyres. The only exception to this was Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso who opted to start the race on the dry, supersoft tyre, much to this dismay of his engineers. While the circuit was wet in some parts it was drying quickly in others and the intermediates were discarded within four laps.

A virtual safety car was deployed for the recovery of Lance Stroll’s Williams, which had been dumped off the circuit by Sergio Perez. It is at this point that Ferrari decided to call Sebastian Vettel into the pits for a change of boots. Unfortunately, a full safety car would be deployed shortly after to clear the heavily damaged Sauber of Antonio Giovinazzi. This afforded race leader Hamilton a free pitstop while Vettel was stuck behind a Verstappen/Ricciardo/Raikkonen train.

While Vettel launched a bid for recovery, Hamilton was comfortable at the front and without any real pressure, he could control his pace. The cooler temperatures also played into Mercedes’ hand as it means less tyre degradation.

Despite finishing second to Hamilton, Vettel delivered a telling performance in the Ferrari. Take into account that Hamilton had a free pitstop under the safety car, and factor in that Vettel lost a good amount of time behind the Ricciardo train. The fact that he finished only six seconds off Hamilton indicates that Ferrari had a car that could’ve won the race.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen brilliantly recovered his race and went from sixteenth to finish third ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo in fourth. The sister Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen finished in a frustrated fifth. While the Finn struggled through the race with an intermittent power issue, the Ferrari pit wall compounded his frustration by calling an absurd strategy. Their inexplicable decision left Raikkonen out while all the front-running drivers made their stops while the driver was adamant that the tyres would not make it to the end of the race. From the radio messages, it was clear that Raikkonen had to force the issue and he eventually pitted, what was ten laps too late.

There weren’t a high a number of overtakes in this year’s race but what we did see were several pretty spectacular overtakes. There were two from Vettel, one on his own teammate, and one around the outside of Daniel Ricciardo. There were several from Max Verstappen too and an especially spicy one from Romain Grosjean around the outside of turn two on Felipe Massa. The point is that while there weren’t a 100 passes, there were genuine and very bold overtakes that came about as a result of some driver heroics instead of being aided by DRS.

While conditions flattered Red Bull on the day Valtteri Bottas did not cover himself in glory as he spun out of contention early on. The Finn eventually finished sixth. Sainz, who had started the race on supersofts, drove brilliantly to recover from an early spin and finish a spectacular seventh. Kevin Magnussen delivered Haas’ first points of the season in eighth ahead of the two Force India’s of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon in ninth and tenth.

Neither McLaren saw the chequered flag as first Stoffel Vandoorne retired with a fuel-pressure issue and later Fernando Alonso pulled off the track with a driveshaft failure.

Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel head to the Bahrain Gp this weekend equal on 43 points. The hotter temperatures in Bahrain will boost Ferrari’s challenge in what is sure to be an enthralling battle with Mercedes.

April 10, 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 2017: Australian Gp Review – Ferrari On Top Down Under

For the first time since the hybrid era started in Formula 1 a team other than Mercedes is leading the world championship. That team is Ferrari and the driver is Sebastian Vettel.

It shouldn’t come as a big surprise that a Ferrari claimed the top step of podium as all signs in testing pointed to the fact that the Italian team had built a good car. While not too surprising, it was a breath of fresh air. Consider how refreshing it is to have a red car cross the finish line when you take into account that this is the Ferrari victory since the 2015 Singapore grand prix and the first time since November 2008 that Ferrari has led the constructor’s championship.

It was a measured start to the grand prix that Lewis Hamilton led into turn one from pole position with Vettel in close attendance. There was however a coming together of Kevin Magnussen’s Haas and Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber a bit later in the lap. While the rest of the pack sorted themselves out Vettel was glued to the back of the Mercedes exhaust, this time Hamilton wasn’t simply scampering off into the distance.

This meant while Hamilton could control the front of the race he couldn’t run at too conservative a pace. This meant that Hamilton was not able to extend the life of the ultrasoft tyres and was forced into the pitlane ahead of the Ferrari. This gave Vettel the impetuous to push ahead and take the lead of the race.

Hamilton’s early visit to the pits came a surprise too many as the new-for-2017 pirelli tyres have a much long lifespan than their 2016 counterparts. Nevertheless, the three-time champ emerged behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen and was stuck behind the Dutchman for a handful of laps while Vettel pulled away up front.

Mercedes, and Hamilton, would have you believe that this is where the race was lost but Verstappen didn’t play as big a role. Firstly, Hamilton dived into the pitlane because he’d exhausted the tyres and was losing grip. Secondly, while he did lose a few seconds behind Verstappen he wasn’t stuck behind him for the remainder of the race, in fact, it wasn’t even half distance yet. The simple fact is that the Mercedes just didn’t have the pace to beat the Ferrari.

Post-race Hamilton bemoaned the inability to overtake Verstappen. Given the unique characteristics of Albert Park it’s not yet clear whether overtaking in 2017 will be more difficult. Shangai, in two weeks time, should be a better barometer. But again, this didn’t seem like a valid point as several other drivers pulled of overtakes, including a stunning double-overtake from Force India’s Esteban Ocon on Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg. But we’ve seen before that the Merc isn’t a car that runs as efficiently as others in dirty air, and it seems, at least from Australia that it’s an issue that haven’t gotten on top yet.

Valtteri Bottas impressed with his performance in third only two seconds off Hamilton. Ideally he’ll want to be ahead but he’ll take a lot of confidence from the margin to his teammate in only his first race with the team. Kimi Raikkonen came home a distant fourth and said that understeer in the first stint on the ultrasoft tyres put him in no-mans land. But when he swithced to the soft tyre he was able to run the pace of the top three and set the fastest lap of the race. Was fourth ideal? No, but the important thing is that Raikkonen and the team indicated that they knew where they’d gone wrong on the set-up and know what to fix for China in two weeks time.

Max Verstappen, in fifth, brought the Red Bull home in a predictable position given the team’s pace. Daniel Ricciardo never recovered from a qualifying crash as he first broke down on the lap to the grid then joined the race two laps down only to break down again.

Verstappen, in fifth, ended up pretty much where you’d have predicted for Red Bull. The unretired Felipe Massa was sixth for Williams ahead of the Force India of Sergio Perez and the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz in seventh and eighth. Daniil Kvyat was ninth in the other Toro Rosso ahead of Esteban Ocon’s Force India in tenth.

It was a day to forget for McLaren as Stoffel Vandoorne finished last and Fernando Alonso retired with suspension failure. What is evident for the Honda-powered team is that 2017 will be another painfully long season.

After Friday practice Hamilton was crowned champion at least seventeen different times and Ferrari had no chance of even getting close to the Mercedes. Just as it was premature to write off Ferrari after Friday it is equally unwise to declare them the team to beat after one race. It’s a new formula with a lot of room for improvement throughout the season. Even if a team dominates the first races it doesn’t mean that they will be the team to beat at the end of the year. The learning curve on these cars will be enormous.

But Ferrari’s victory is no fluke, or once-off, the SF-70H is a good car that has every possibility of taking the fight to Mercedes through all of the nineteen remaining races.

March 27, 2017
2017 Australian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

PART TWO: DRIVERS – Valtteri BOTTAS (MERCEDES), Esteban OCON (FORCE INDIA), Felipe MASSA (WILLIAMS), Lance STROLL (WILLIAMS)

Q: It’s been a Mercedes one-two here for the last two seasons. Presumably another one would suit you just fine. Is that why you made this move?

Valtteri BOTTAS: Sure, that would be a good way to start. Obviously we do need to see where we are standing against all the other teams. It’s a completely new season, a new era of Formula One, a new team for me but that’s always the ultimate target. I feel in a good place and definitely it’s always some kind of dream coming true, being part of a team like this that has pretty much dominated the last three years in Formula One. I feel very happy but just keen to get going.

Q: We could see from testing that you settled in during the first week and then managed to close up a bit to your teammate Lewis Hamilton’s pace at the second test so are you more or less where you expected to be at the first race?

VB: I feel well prepared, I feel definitely ready to race. I really think we made the most out of the short period of time I had to prepare with the team and get into everything perfectly. Obviously it’s been a massive learning curve for me, since mid-January until today and that is still going to continue but I felt testing was good. Every single time I was in the car I felt better and better and I’m sure that is just going to continue and I’m feeling more and more part of the team so happy to be here racing.

Q: Lance, welcome to Formula One, at 18-years of age, the second youngest driver after Max Verstappen to take part in Formula One. How’s the preparation gone and what would success look like for you this year?

Lance STROLL: Yeah, thank you. I think preparation has been going really well so far. We had a good test in Barcelona, the second week me and Felipe did all the running which was good. I think just a solid year, a clean year, obviously still a lot to learn so I don’t think putting a position or a number would be the right way to approach the whole thing. I think we’re just going to take it race by race. It’s still going to be a big learning curve for me, there’s still a lot for me to understand about everything but listen to the people around me that are there to help me and take it race by race. Looking forward to the whole thing.

Q: With all the rule changes that have gone on from last year to this year, is this a really good year to come in as a rookie or is it actually quite tough?

LS: I don’t know. It is what it is and I’m just going to have to make the best of it. I don’t want to look at it as a negative or a positive, it’s the way it is, it’s a new regulation and it’s for everyone. It’s my rookie year and I just have to learn what I have to learn and get on with it.

Q: Felipe, welcome back. Does this mean we get to have another party? How’s the surprise comeback worked out so far?

Felipe Massa: Well, first of all, I didn’t expect to be here on Thursday. Maybe I was planning to be somewhere (else), eating more, getting more fat, whatever, maybe not being here on Thursday which is an amazing day in Formula One. But things change in life – which actually didn’t change, to be honest but for reasons… Yeah, I’m really happy, motivated, ready for this challenge and I think everything I hear, when Claire calls me, and I said ‘I think we need to talk in a proper way’ so then we had a long meeting and everything that I asked, that needed to be different, especially on the technical side, so many different things that didn’t work in the proper way need to be better and everything she said and everything Williams is doing I believe is correct. So many new people arrived and are still arriving, so many things that we are working hard to make work in a better way so yeah, I’m staying in Formula One, I think to be racing for a team that I believe is professional and important, I feel important as well. Yeah, that’s why I took this decision to carry on. I feel really happy and yeah, so we will see. I think the real answer to where we are we will have here on Sunday but also during the championship. I had some good feelings in the Barcelona test and I’m really looking forward to having another great, competitive season and a nice job also, that gives me pleasure, so I’m really looking forward, really fit and ready for this challenge.

Q: Just continuing on the theme we spoke of with Lance a minute ago, the challenge of being a rookie. You made your debut when you were obviously very young as well back in 2002. What did you wish that you’d been told then and how did you handle coming into Formula One?

FM: Well, I am a rookie. I stopped, I retired! We start the first race, two rookies! No, I’m joking. It’s his opportunity, he’s allowed to learn, he shows that he has a talent for that, that all of us had the opportunity at the start and yeah, I met him when he was eight years old, one year more than my son which is really painful, to be honest, and here we are teammates. I have all the happiness to work with him but also to pass on everything I can. We are working for the team, together, both drivers so we need to score as many points as we can. It would be nice to work with him and to have a great championship together and for the team which is the most important thing.

Q: Esteban, obviously you were a rookie last year, now a move up the grid from Manor to Force India. It’s a team that’s been able to score podiums consistently in the last few years so easy question: is that the target for 2017 for you?

Esteban OCON: Well, I think it’s a bit early to speak about that at the moment. No one has done a race yet so we see where everyone is. I think in testing everyone had a little bit left in the pocket so you know it’s early to speak about that but I think to start the weekend here, the approach would be to do a strong weekend, to reach the finish line because in the past you always had problems for the other teams and for teams and if you arrive at the finish line you always have a strong result so I think that’s the way to approach it.

Q: You’re obviously part of the Mercedes Junior programme; do you feel that if you perform now for Force India there’s a real possibility of getting into a Silver Arrows at some point in the near future?

EO: I’m obviously a Mercedes Junior driver but at the moment I’m a Force India driver and I’m fully focused on this target, to do a strong job this season and I think it’s still early to speak about being a Mercedes F1 driver in the future, so no, at the moment I’m very happy to be with Force India and I’m fully motivated with them.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Esteban, where were you and what did they tell you about your car would be pink this year? What were your first thoughts?

EO: I was actually at home, I was just training when I had the call. No, I think it’s a really good thing, overall, for the team. BWT coming in to Formula One is a great thing as well, it also changes the perspective… a pink car – you don’t see one a lot of times so I think it’s a good thing but also a good sponsor like BWT makes money coming into the team and it can only make the car go faster.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, so far you have been three times on the front row. If this is a winning car, would P2 be a satisfying or disappointing result for you?

VB: Well it depends if your teammate is P1 or… Obviously the result targets are going to be completely different now than what they have been in the past few years but as I said before, we still need to wait and see where we are, really. We will see on Saturday, we will see on Sunday. It’s only the very beginning of the year but for sure as a driver you always want to be on the front row and in the best place, P1, but let’s wait and see and go step by step and day by day.

Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Felipe, first question is how did you feel coming back into F1 because it’s like the Godfather, you tried to get out but they pushed you right back in again. And what were you doing when Claire did throw up the W and the symbol and you had to put your super suit back on and get back in the car?

FM: Well, for sure, things change for a reason. I had a lot of support from everybody to carry on. I have a lot of support from my family, a lot of support from my fans. It was really amazing to see everybody pushing me: carry on, carry on. We want to see you there and that everything that happens around the team that… maybe, we will see where we are now which I believe is correct what is happening so then we need to work to make it better. Yeah, to be honest, I had an amazing feeling when I decided to stop in the second part of the season and I didn’t have a reason to carry on. If I don’t have what I believe is correct, which maybe I have now. Then also the feeling that I had in Brazil, also in the last race which gave a lot of happiness in the way that I’m stopping, it’s fantastic you know, but also it was not easy for me to take the decision to carry on because everything was just beautiful. But maybe something has happened for a reason and maybe it was not the reason to stop. I’m ready, motivated and we will see where we are going to be and how the season will be. I’m really 100 percent ready to do it in the right way.

Q: (Abhishek Takle – Midday) Couple of questions for Valtteri: now you’ve had some time in the car in testing, do you feel that you’re at a stage where you’re able to get the most out of the car now. And second question, I know it’s still early days but assuming you’re sitting in a title-contending car, what’s your approach going to be: step by step, get that first win or do you feel under pressure to mount a fully fledged title challenge?

VB: Yeah, like I said before, I definitely feel every single time I was stepping into the car and out of the car in testing, I felt like I’d made progress and between the two tests as well. I feel I was getting very close to getting pretty much everything out of the car and being absolutely perfect. As always, it requires a lot of work, a lot of time in the car and a lot of effort, a lot of talent so as mentioned, I’m sure things will just get better and I will feel more and more comfortable every single day of the race weekend and every single race but I feel that I’m ready to race, I’m ready to bring the car where it should be, what the pace of the car, what the limits of the car is. I feel comfortable with that. About the second question, definitely… I always set my targets very high so from the first race, this race onwards, immediately, I want to perform where the car can be. That is my target. Of course I always go day by day and step by step but I want to start at a very high level and keep getting better from that .

Q: (Heath McAlpine – Auto Action) Valtteri, Paddy Lowe recently made some comments about Williams having some elements that Mercedes does not. Have you been able to make any comparisons between the teams, after moving in the opposite direction?

VB: For sure I see a lot of difference between the teams. Definitely there are some things very very good at Williams, some things have been massively impressive at Mercedes. Williams have a great facility, a good bunch of people, a lot of clever engineers so for sure both teams have a lot of strong points, definitely differences in the way they work, so it’s difficult to really point out exactly what parts maybe are better here or better there but overall, as the last few years have shown, Mercedes is a winning team, it definitely has this winning mentality at the moment. No one is standing still, everyone is pushing flat out – what Williams is also doing is definitely no bad, worse but you just sense that at this point, the group of winners know how to win at the moment and I hope that that can continue but the hunger is definitely still there at Mercedes. But I definitely agree with Paddy: Williams is a great team and has massive potential and it’s a shame that we couldn’t achieve the results together that I think the team deserves, but hopefully the future is good for Williams.

Q: (Kathy Watt – Inside Sport) I’m just wondering what you do in the off-season to prepare: is it on the bike or running or different other sports to get fit for the season?

Q: Esteban – you’ve been up a mountain or something?

EO: Yeah, I was up in the mountains at almost 2000m for almost two months. I felt this was the best way for me to prepare. When you get high in altitude, when you get down again it’s easy to breath so I was training there a lot. It was about nine hours of cardio per week, ten hours of gym per week and all the rest was reaction work, co-ordination work, visual perception work, how the detection is as well, balance of body as well so it was complete training. It was very tough, for sure the toughest of my career but I’m happy that I’ve achieved it now, looking at how the cars are tough to drive.

LS: I was just moving sports, some biking, some running, some gym work, some strength work, some neck work but just staying fit in all different areas and just gaining fitness by increasing the amount of training I was doing. Just moving and keeping active.

Q: How about you Felipe? You were eating feijoada and drinking beer and then when the phone call came: stop. Right?

FM: Which was pretty much straight away actually so I didn’t have enough time to drink and to eat feijoada, I would say, so yeah, I was definitely… most of the drivers didn’t know how the new car was going to be so I was definitely preparing myself in a much different way to how it was in the past, even if I was always training very hard but I took on a new trainer, a guy who is following me everywhere I go, training every day. I had to train more also, for sure cardio but also a lot more my muscles to be stronger, for these loads that we have in the cars now, so I was training in a very different way, to get a little bit stronger and training my neck a lot more which I think works pretty well because on one day in Barcelona I did 168 laps, which was my record in one test and I feel really good, so yeah, ready to start the season and really hope I’m totally fit to accept anything different that we might have this year compared to how it was up to last year.

Q: (Michael Lamonato – ABC) On a related question: how different have you found these cars in the sense of that strength component? What specifically have you changed in your training and in your first days in the car in testing? Was there anything in particularly that you felt a bit of pain or a bit of strain from the new cars?

VB: I think always after the winter, it doesn’t matter how much training you do and if you’re the fittest you’ve ever been starting the year, it’s so unnatural driving a Formula One car for the human being that the first reactions are always a bit strange but very quickly you get used to it, your body gets used to it. Obviously if you have a new seat as I did for this year, it’s tuning those kind of things and yeah, you might get some bruises and stuff but that’s part of the winter testing but specially with the new cars there’s more G-forces, more load going through your body which makes more fatigue and means being able to maintain the same level of focus and alertness – you need to be fitter than before and like every driver have a good preparation for that but the main thing is the G-forces, the cornering speed and that way you maybe need a bit more strength especially the neck.

Q: (Trent Price – SEN Radio) A question for Felipe and Lance. Paddy Lowe has already identified a few areas where Williams are stronger than Mercedes. What’s your first impressions of Paddy coming into the team. What has he brought in already and how is the relationship building?

FM: Well, as Valtteri said, Williams has many areas that work pretty well. Definitely we have some other areas that we need to improve, which is what I was saying before, things didn’t work in the proper way, as even Valtteri said. This are the points we need to make better, improving, as quick as we can, because it means results, it means performance, it means everything. But I am sure he is a very important engineer, manager, that he can help to improve things in the right way. Bringing some good ideas from other areas that we were not so strong as a team like Mercedes where he won the last three years the championship – they are really strong. Not only him, but so many people, engineers, people that are working in different areas. That is something we are working very hard on, so he has just arrived, but I’m sure he understands things pretty quick. We are the beginning of a very important work but I believe we can do it in the right way. I really hope that the car is helping, because the car is there; it’s ready. If you have a good car it’s helping the job in so many areas that it needs to be better, it needs to improve. That’s the way I believe it is. I was talking already with Paddy and I’m sure with all the important and very good engineers we have I believe and I hope we can do a very good job.

Q: Lance I believe you signed before it was clear that Paddy was going to Williams, so what did you feel when you found out?

LS: Yeah, Felipe said most of it. I’m obviously new this year, so I don’t have the experience that Felipe and also even Valtteri have of Williams, so a lot of it is just new for me. Starting with winter testing, I obviously went to a couple of races last year and I got to know some of the people but really, until you’re a driver and properly involved in everything that’s going on, you don’t pick up on everything. But for sure I think having Paddy in the team is positive for everyone. He’s obviously had great success in recent years and I think it’s just positive energy for the team. I think we have a great group of people at Williams and I think everyone is aiming for the same thing, which is achieve the best possible results we can achieve and Paddy’s here to help us do that. I think it’s all good.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Felipe, how tough an opponent was Valtteri in qualifying and in racing and how was it compared to your time with Kimi at Ferrari?

FM: Definitely different times. Different cars and everything. I think Valtteri shows his talent. He really improved year by year since he started. I think it’s a great opportunity for him to race for a team like Mercedes. I believe he’s ready for his job, he’s ready to show what he can do and definitely he has an incredible team to work with, very strong team-mate – but I think he’s ready to do a great job. I really hope the best for him. It’ll be nice if he’s behind me – but we will see.

Q: (Alex Popov – Match TV) A couple of questions for the young drivers. But different questions. Esteban, first of all, your target before the training was to gain 5kg of muscle, and you achieve it. And now I heard – I don’t know if it’s true or not – you have to go back 2kg. If it’s true, how difficult it will be now?

EO: Yes, it’s true I gained 5kg over the training course, which was very hard but I achieved it and feel good in the car. But then you know, all the teams are quite conservative with parts on testing, and they got heavy parts, and then once they see reliability is good they start to put lighter parts on the car. I think that’s what’s going to happen this race. On myself, I didn’t lose any weight and I kept my weight to feel fresh in the car.

Q: (Alex Popov – Match TV) For Lance, it’s more about a performance target. Another young driver will fight the team-mate from race one. You’re in the position of having like a coach in the team, like an elder brother. Will you try to not to lose too much or beat your team-mate from race one?

LS: Felipe’s not here to be a coach. He’s a competitor like everyone else and he has his helmet on racing like everyone else. Everyone sets their targets differently and everyone is in a different situation – but all the teams have two drivers competing for the same thing, which is to try and finish as far up the grid as possible. That doesn’t change – but my targets are obviously different to some other young drivers. Everyone’s in their own situation: I’m just going to focus on my stuff and do the best I can – which is what I always do. That doesn’t change.

March 23, 2017
Australian Gp Preview: F1 2017 Finally Comes To Life

The wait for the 2017 Formula 1 season is nearly over as it heads into the first round at Australia’s Albert Park circuit.

This weekend one of the most dramatic overhauls of F1 regulations will finally come to life as the battle commences for the 2017 championship. From a purely visual perspective the wider tyres and different aerodynamic layout of the cars present a rather different, but appealing, new look to Formula 1. They will be much faster too and may be up to five seconds a lap quicker than their predecessors.

With the new era comes a change in several sporting regulations too. For the tyres Pirelli have attempted to provide more durability so as to allow drivers to push harder for longer before it begins to degrade. Whether this will have a detrimental effect on strategy, cutting down on the number of stops, remains to be seen.

Should it rain Down Under the race will longer start behind a safety-car. Instead, the safety-car will take the field around the track until it is deemed safe to re-start in which case the cars will line up on the grid for a standing start. Further, the launch off the grid has been tightened up where it concerns the clutch. It’s now up to the driver to find the correct bite point, without any pre-programmed settings, and to ensure the best start without getting wheelspin or bogging down the engine.

The eight days of running, across two sessions of testing, suggested that the top three teams might be the closest they’ve been since the start of the hybrid era. Lewis Hamilton has been on record calling Ferrari the favourite. Race drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen shied away from such declarations but there is no denying that the Scuderia have made an impressive step forward. So impressive in fact that it is likely the team to beat in Australia. But they aren’t buying into the hype though as Ferrari president, Sergio Marcionne, has insisted that Mercedes are still ahead.

For their part Mercedes have announced that it will be running a second, upgraded, specification of engine in Australia. While reports are that it would’ve been introduced later on because of reliability concerns to the timetable has been moved up. There could be several reasons for this but the likelihood is that Mercedes is feeling slightly nervous about the Ferrari hence the early introduction.

What is a fact is that both Ferrari and Mercedes were sandbagging at different times during testing in Spain and the true pace of both cars will only be revealed in Saturday’s qualifying session.

Along with Ferrari and Mercedes, Red Bull are tipped to be part of the front-running group the true pace of the RB13 is the biggest mystery of the top three teams. While Renault has made impressive progressive with its 2017 power unit it is still behind the Mercedes and Ferrari. Despite this, given the street-like layout of Albert Park, Red Bull is very much the dark horse. While they are well capable of springing a surprise with all things being equal it’s unlikely to be for the top step of the podium.

As part street-track with a layout comprised, mostly, of medium speed corners, the Albert Park circuit is an outlier on the calendar that is unlikely to present the truest representation of the pecking order in 2017. Nevertheless, at the end of it there will be twenty-five important points and it is the first step of a 2017 season in which it seems that there might finally be a three-horse race.

March 22, 2017
F1 2017: Team-by-team Guide, Part 1

Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton & Valtteri Bottas

Given their ominous and unbeatable run since the start of the hybrid era Merc automatically start the new year as favourites. However, this ‘theory’ is based solely on what’s gone before. In reality, there is nothing to suggest that the Silver Arrows’ dominance will continue into the vastly different 2017 season. Nevertheless, even if they don’t brandish the same sort of advantage over the rest of the field there is a reasonable expectation that they’ll be mixing it at the front.

The Silver Arrows enter an interesting period where its driver line-up is concerned too. In Lewis Hamilton they have a three-time world champion who is prodigiously fast and who still seems to have an incredible hunger for winning. However, Hamilton showed his fallibility through several costly errors on track and a few peppery statements off it.

Red Bull – Daniel Ricciardo & Max Verstappen

With the virtuoso Adrian Newey in the stable the new aero rules could play right into Red Bull’s hands. In 2016 the Austrian team proved that their power unit was the only hindrance to their competitiveness. If the Tag Heuer-branded Renault power unit can match its Merc counterpart the Red Bull will be exceptionally difficult to beat.

Although Max Verstappen exploded onto the scene and electrified more than a few supporters Daniel Ricciardo still had the measure of the teenaged Dutchman. Verstappen’s biggest test this season will be to, firstly, consistently out-perform his Aussie teammate. What’s more, Verstappen’s biggest challenge will be to deal with the weight of expectation. In 2016 he had near free reign; if he performed well it was a bonus for the team, if he didn’t they would understand that he was dropped into the deep-end. Now he is expected to deliver every time he’s strapped into cockpit.

Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen & Sebastian Vettel

There is such a thing as famous last words but Ferrari’s season could hardly be worse than in 2016. The team failed to win a single race and made several, embarrassing mistakes. Nevertheless, the Maranello-based team is keen to turn things around. They’re reportedly doing so with an innovative new multi-jet system for its internal combustion engine that will limit reliance on the turbocharger.

It’s unlikely that there is a more harmonious driver pairing in the paddock than Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. The two teammates work in perfect symmetry with the team with little to no ego getting in the way of the task at hand. Rumours of Raikkonen’s future will undoubtedly begin to swirl as soon as he hits the track that but as history has shown it couldn’t bother him any less. There is little question about the Ferrari drivers’ ability to deliver. Rather the question is about what they’ll be given to drive.

Force India – Sergio Perez & Esteban Ocon

For a privately-owned team Force India’s likely expectation will be to finish fourth in the constructor’s championship as they did in 2016, perhaps to score a first win if the cards fall their way. They’re a team that regularly punches above its weight but is unlikely to do better than last season.

It’s a big year for Sergio Perez and his future in F1. Several outstanding performances have proven his ability but he’s yet to translate it into a drive for a top team. With Bottas on a one-year deal at Mercedes a standout season from Perez could catapult him into the seat in 2018. Despite being favoured over Pascal Wehrlein Merc prodigy Esteban Ocon, who is still finding his feet in the sport, is highly unlikely to show Perez the way in 2017.

Williams – Felipe Massa & Lance Stroll

The Claire Williams-run operation’s ambition is unlikely to be a title in 2017. However, the aim will be to restore the legendary team’s name to at least fourth in the standings. They’ve already completed a massive coup by snatching Paddy Lowe from Mercedes. While it’s unclear if Lowe will take up his new position immediately the Englishman is one of the most highly regarded leaders in F1.

Valtteri Bottas’ departure to Merc has cut short Felipe Massa’s retirement and while the Brazilian’s stock in F1 isn’t nearly as high as it was in the mid-2000s his level of experience was attractive enough to Williams. Alongside the one-time runner-up will be Canadian teenager Lance Stroll. It will be a learning curve for Stroll but expect him to take the fight to his veteran teammate in terms of outright speed.

Part 2 coming soon.

February 9, 2017
Ocon Penalized for Impeding Palmer during Brazilian GP Qualifying

Manor Racing’s Esteban Ocon will drop 3 places down the grid after stewards found that he impeded Renault’s Jolyon Palmer in Q1.

Palmer, who was on a flying lap at the time, had to run wide at Turn 4 to avoid Ocon. Despite Palmer still making it through to Q2 Ocon was penalized 3-grid spots and 2-penalty points on his super license.

“At the end of the Q1 session, the Driver of Car 31 (Ocon) was on a slow lap having aborted his lap previously, while the Driver of Car 30 (Palmer) was on a fast lap,” read the statement by the Stewards in the decision document.

“Entering the braking area of Turn 4 Ocon stayed on the racing line at the moment when Palmer was approaching, forcing Palmer off the racing line.

“At that time, Ocon was on the radio with his team, who did not inform him of the approaching car.

“When Ocon did see Palmer, he moved as far as possible to the right to avoid a dangerous situation, but the Stewards concluded these were not mitigating factors, and that Ocon clearly impeded Palmer.”

Photo credit: Manor Racing Formula One Team

November 12, 2016
Esteban Ocon Confirmed at Force India for 2017 and Beyond

The Sahara Force India Formula One team have announced that current Manor driver Esteban Ocon will drive for the team from 2017 on a multi year contract.

Ocon who was the test driver for Force India in 2015, will have his first shot at a full season in F1 after being promoted to F1 from DTM at the Belgian Grand Prix to take Rio Haryanto’s place at Manor.

The confirmation of Ocon completes the Force India Driver line up for 2017.

“I’m very excited to join Sahara Force India,” said Ocon.

“I know the team quite well already because I was a test driver last year and I’m really looking forward to working with everybody at Silverstone once again.

“I’m still relatively new to Formula One, but spending half a season at Manor Racing has given me some valuable experience and I feel ready for this new opportunity with Sahara Force India. The next few months will be very busy as I do all I can to prepare for the challenge ahead of me.

“It means lots of days at the factory, working on the simulator and building relationships with the engineers and everybody in the team. It’s something I’ve been working towards my whole life and I intend to grab this opportunity
with both hands so that I can deliver the results the team expects from me.

“I want to say ‘thank you’ to everybody at Manor and especially to Mercedes-Benz for their support and belief in me.

“I can’t wait for 2017 and my first full season racing in Formula One.”

Head of Mercedes Motorsport Toto Wolff: “Esteban has the most impressive track record in junior formulae and he is an exceptional personality outside of the car.

“Force India have a strong record of working with young drivers and have again shown courage and vision to take Esteban under their wing.

“Even more, it is a positive development for Formula One that talent wins over money and we will be seeing some of the most impressive youngsters fighting to make it to the top in Formula One over the coming years.”

Photo credit: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

November 10, 2016