F1 Madness

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  • F1 2017: Abu Dhabi Gp Preview – Much to gain at Season Finale

    F1 2017: Abu Dhabi Gp Preview – Much to gain at Season Finale

    The final round of the 2017 F1 season is upon us as the paddock heads east to the twilight race of Abu Dhabi.

    Introduced to the calendar several years ago the Yas Marina Circuit has delivered resplendent views of F1 cars at dusk for since 2009. With no expense spared the circuit and surrounding facilities are, arguably, the grandest of the lot. Complete with an its Ferrari World theme park and several thousand coloured LED lights all the facets of the Abu Dhabi combine to deliver a visual spectacle of note.

    Despite not being known for delivering the most memorable on track racing the Abu Dhabi based circuit has nevertheless seen the creation of several memorable moments for the sport. It was here after all, in 2010, that Sebastian Vettel won his first world championship title and here too where Kimi Raikkonen, en route to victory, uttered the now famous “leave me alone, I know what I’m doing” radio message.

    In 2016 Lewis Hamilton turned over every trick in his book to win the title and even attempted to back rival Nico Rosberg into the clutches of other cars with the hope that he would be overtaken and thus not win the title. Alas, none of Hamilton’s moves had done the trick and Rosberg took a well-deserved win. It’s a far different story twelve months later. Not only does Hamilton arrive in Abu Dhabi as a four-time champion but also there’s no Nico Rosberg on the other side of the Mercedes garage. Instead, it’s Valtteri Bottas who sits in the other Mercedes cockpit and who has a lot to prove. It’s been a lackluster second half of the season for Bottas who has summarily been blown away by Hamilton. While he scored a pole in Brazil he folded at the first sight of the front-wing of Vettel’s Ferrari. He needs a big performance this weekend in order to beginning righting his ship for 2018. If not, Hamilton may well blow him away, again.

    RedBull_AbuDhabi2013Similarly, Daniel Ricciardo could do with putting one over teammate Verstappen who has stolen the limelight from the Aussie this season. The Yas Marina circuit, 5.5 kilometers in length, does have several long straits in its layout but the second, more technical sector, should play to the Red Bull’s strengths. “ The final sector at Yas Marina is actually quite technical so you have to be really precise there, but it should also be our strongest part of the track” said Verstappen. “There are quite a few overtaking opportunities to make the race interesting, before the long straight at the hairpin and then at the end of the straight under braking for the next chicane section”.

    While the constructor’s championship has been settled at the top of the standings the battle for sixth is going down to the wire. Only six points separate Toro Rosso, Renault, and Haas and with the promise of a big pay day for finishing sixth the battle between these three teams could be the highlight of the weekend.

    Through nineteen rounds and 1147 racing laps there’s still much to play for and gain the final race of the 2017 season.

  • Toro Rosso Retain Hartley and Gasly for 2018

    Toro Rosso Retain Hartley and Gasly for 2018

    The Toro Rosso Formula One Team confirmed that Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley will remain with the team for the 2018 season.

    Both drivers made their debut for Toro Rosso earlier in the year. Gasly made his debut at the Malaysia Grand Prix while Hartley made his debut at the United States Grand Prix.

    Both drivers have had a baptism of fire into F1 with each driver receiving their fair share of engine penalties.

    There was some speculation about the team line up for Toro Rosso in 2018 and as soon as it was announced that Daniil Kvyat was no longer part of the Red Bull Driver program the picture became more clear that Gasly and Hartley would feature in 2018 for Toro Rosso.

    “We’re really happy to have Pierre and Brendon confirmed so early by Red Bull as our drivers for 2018”, commented Team Principal, Franz Tost.

    “During this last part of the year they’ve shown that they’re ready for Formula 1, getting to grips with the car quickly, showing good performances and always demonstrating to be prepared for the challenge.

    “We have been truly impressed by both their steep learning curves.

    “As we know, F1 is something that not all drivers can adapt to this fast! Therefore, we’re looking forward to having a full year with them; one where we can hopefully provide them with a good package which, combined with driver consistency, can surely put them in the best possible situation to deliver. I’m sure they will keep pushing hard and fight for strong results, together with the team.”

    Brendon Hartley:”Really amazing to be confirmed as a Formula 1 driver for next year with Toro Rosso – It’s very satisfying to have converted an opportunity that came as a surprise into a 2018 F1 drive, I couldn’t be happier!

    “I’d like to thank Red Bull and Toro Rosso for believing in me and giving me this second chance – dreams can come true.

    “I’m now going to carry on working harder than ever in order to finish this busy end of season on a high and start the new year as strong as possible… Bring it!”

    Pierre Gasly:”I’m super happy to race for Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2018, for my first proper season in Formula 1.

    “I would like to thank all the people involved, who helped me get here: Red Bull, Toro Rosso, my family and all the ones who have supported me in the lower series.

    “I’m really excited and super motivated to give it my all in Abu Dhabi and the whole of next year! I just can’t wait!”

     

    Photo credit: Scuderia Toro Rosso

  • F1 2017 Brazilian Gp Review – Vettel Win Lifts Ferrari

    F1 2017 Brazilian Gp Review – Vettel Win Lifts Ferrari

    As the Brazilian crowd bid an emotional farewell to local hero Felipe Massa, it was Sebastian Vettel who delivered a controlled drive to victory for the first time since July.

    Pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas was pipped off the line by Vettel’s Ferrari and never truly threatened for the lead of the race. Besides snatching pole by less than half a tenth it’s been a difficult few months for Bottas with several off-colour performances littered throughout the second half of his season. Nevertheless, his pace wasn’t far off Vettel’s at all and it was perhaps only the lack of courage into turn one that cost him victory in Brazil.

    The end of seventy-one laps saw the top three covered by roughly five seconds with Kimi Raikkonen taking the final step of the podium. The Ferrari driver, on 40 lap old tyres, valiantly held off a charging Lewis Hamilton who had scythed his way through the field to go from the pitlane to fourth by the end of the race. Hamilton’s uncharacteristic crash in quali may have reduced him to a pitlane start but the silver lining was a Mercedes power unit at full tilt and a newly crowned world champion willing and able to pull off several excellent overtakes. Despite a lap time advantage of more than 1.5 seconds and fresher tyres, he was ultimately not able to take third place off Raikkonen.

    29The last few weeks have been trying for manufacturer Renault and the teams they supply in the pitlane. So much so that a spat broke out between Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul and Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost. While Alain Prost stepped in to pour some cold water on the otherwise spicy discontent from both sides it is obvious that Renault is struggling towards the end of the season. So much in fact that they’ve ordered all teams running the French manufacturer’s power unit to turn down the performance output because of reliability fears.

    It explains then what happened to Red Bull’s early weekend pace, as it was nowhere to be found on Sunday. With the deficit, the best Max Verstappen could finish was fifth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in sixth who started from the back of the grid due to, you guessed it, engine penalties. Power units continue to be the biggest talking point in F1 with the first meeting on what 2021 regulations could look like having already taken place. More seriously, however, is the fact that in 2018 teams will have a maximum of three engines to complete the season with and going beyond this allocation, which they undoubtedly will, means triggering grid penalties. It’s a ridiculous requirement given that no team will be able to stick to it and it should be redressed as soon as possible.

    17On the track, Felipe Massa delivered a typically plucky performance to hold on to a solid seventh place finish ahead of Fernando Alonso in eighth. Sergio Perez, merely a tenth behind Alonso, had to settle for ninth while Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten.

    To say it’s been a difficult few months for Ferrari would likely be one of the biggest understatements of the year. After all, as they headed into the summer breaks after the Hungarian grand prix they had every expectation of winning the championship. But it all went horribly sideways as that Hungarian Gp turned out to be Vettel’s last win. His win Brazil, a controlled drive from the front for all of the 71 laps, will be shot in the arm not only for him but for everyone in Maranello, after all, 2018 isn’t that far off.

    (All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

  • 2017 Brazil Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2017 Brazil Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    3 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS
    (Conducted by Johnny Herbert)

    Valtteri, well done, your third pole position, perfect timing for you. How do you feel?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, it feels good. Still a bit shaky. It’s a good feeling. It was just a nice lap. It was so close with Sebastian all the way through the qualifying and sometimes with Kimi as well. I got a good lap in the end. Obviously Lewis was out in the beginning, which is a shame for us but I’m happy I could stand up for us as a team.

     

    What happened to Lewis is part of racing, there’s nothing you can do about that but you did a great job today. What a brilliant position for you to start. This is track where it’s not the easiest to overtake and this is a chance for you to control everything tomorrow.

    VB: Yeah, it’s really good to start on the pole from here. We have a good car. It’s going to be a close race still with Ferrari, but I’d rather start from the pole, rather than, for example, P3, so looking forward to tomorrow.

     

    Sebastian, today, happy with that performance? I’m sure you would have loved that 51st pole, but it’s a good place to start tomorrow.

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it’s alright. It’s not so much about tomorrow but about today. For tomorrow I think it’s fine but I would have loved to be ahead. It was close. I think I chickened out a little bit on the brakes for the final run into Turn 1 and lost a bit too much time. From there the lap was fine. I knew I had a bit left in the last sector, in the last corner, which I got, but by then I was already too much behind.

     

    But overall the car isn’t in bad shape for you. It sounds as if it’s there but it didn’t get it all together?

    SV: It was not that bad. I was happy with my first lap. I think it was OK. Three hundredths, you always think there’s some place you could have got that but as I said for tomorrow our long run [pace] looked good, in particular against Valtteri, so let’s see what happens tomorrow.

     

    Kimi, happy for today?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: So, so. I felt it could have been better but it was a bit tricky sometimes to get the tyres into the right window for the first two corners to be confident under braking. The last run was better but it wasn’t good enough.

     

    It seems to be key today with these cooler conditions. It’s just made it that little bit more difficult. But generally Ferrari are in good shape for the race I would guess?

    KR: Yeah, I think we improved the car for today. Obviously the weather can change quickly here, so we have to wait and see what it brings tomorrow. It’s going to be a long race and we’ll do our best.

     

    Valtteri, tomorrow is going to be special because of how close it is and that is really going to be down to how many mistakes you don’t make during the race?

    VB: I agree. It’s not such an easy circuit to overtake on, so avoiding mistakes is one thing. The start here is always exciting. It’s going to be a long race. We know São Paulo, plenty of things can happen. I’m looking forward and again thanks to all the people for their mega support.

     

    Q: Valtteri, congratulations, your third career pole position, your first here in Brazil and a new track record, 2.4 seconds inside the 2016 pole. A perfect final lap. You had some work to do, obviously, after the first run and a great effort, I guess, in your mind, after a tough month for you. You’ve bounced back in the strongest possible way, particularly on a day when Mercedes needed you to stand up with what happened with Lewis.

    VB: Thank you. Yeah, of course very happy with the qualifying from my side and also from us as a team. Except the unfortunate off Lewis had in the beginning. It was then in the end only me. Happy I could deliver and happy I could put it on pole. So, yeah, the laps were getting better and better really, like with every one and it was, all the time, very close, so I’m pleased that in the end in Q3, I got a good lap and it was enough for pole. So, very pleased.

     

    Q: It’s always fine margins here Sebastian, you were fastest in the first run in Q3 but couldn’t improve. Unusual for you to leave the door open for a rival. What happened?

    SV: Well, I was very happy with the first lap, so yeah, I knew that in the last corner, in that first attempt in Q3, I had a little bit left because I lost the rear a bit, so I wanted to get there about the same and then I knew I could gain some time but yeah, I chickened out a little bit too early in the first corner, braking a bit too early, the grip was there, so I lost some time compared to the first run. Then I managed to stay there and got what I thought I will back in the last corner – but it wasn’t enough to come back. So, yeah, not ideal but overall I think a very positive day for us – both of us, I believe, looking at the gaps yesterday and today, so, very happy.

     

    Q: And Kimi, two of you versus one Mercedes. Unusual situation, from a strategy point of view that gives you plenty to play with, ‘cos he can’t cover both of you. Thoughts about that and also your performance today.

    KR: Obviously, we’ll see that tomorrow, what it will bring but today was a better day than yesterday, for sure. The feeling was pretty good on some laps but it was a bit tricky to have full confidence in the first corner to be sure that the tyres will work well and you don’t lock the wheel. That was really the most difficult. Some sets seemed to be more easy than others and the last set actually I had more grip than I expected. But yeah, not ideal but not too bad. I think the car is very good, position, the handling, so tomorrow is a race and it should be OK.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Livio Orrichio – Globoesporte.com) Valtteri, you have been facing some difficulties in the last few races, especially in qualifying conditions, and here since the first day you are very fast. What is it? The circuit? The characteristics of the car and the circuit? Self-confidence?

    VB: Well, for sure, sometimes it’s been more difficult, sometimes better – and that’s how it goes in racing – but I think the line, the graph for me has been all the time on the up and been feeling better and better with the car and just working hard on the issues we’ve been having, I’ve been having. Learning lots and, again, feeling better and just managed to learn from the mistakes and from the tricky sessions. Last few weekends has been a lot better, like last race in qualifying it was about hundredths between me and Lewis and it’s been the case all weekend here, so yeah, obviously, a shame he wasn’t any more in Q2 and Q3 but still I’m very, very pleased with the performance.

     

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Sebastian, bit of a slow start yesterday, then really close today. What can we expect from tomorrow’s race, especially with Lewis obviously not in the race for victory?

    SV: Don’t think it makes a difference. Obviously Valtteri’s on pole; it will be difficult to beat him but I’m confident we have the pace, especially on the long runs. I think it’s more of a surprise today that we got that close. If it’s that close, you obviously wish to be ahead but tomorrow should be a good race. We will see what happens. Interlagos is always special, there’s always something that happens in the race so let’s stay out of trouble and have a good race.

     

    Q: (Rodrigo França – Revista VIP) To Sebastian and Kimi: the weather forecast for tomorrow is a sunny day and 28 degrees, a lot hotter than today. This is good for Ferrari? Are the race times more competitive than in qualifying?

    SV: I think it’s OK, I think it’s like yesterday. I think we improved the car for today. Obviously it always feels a bit better when it’s colder but it should be fine. Usually in the race we are quite strong. If it’s hot, I don’t think it hurts us but then again today it was forecast wet, it wasn’t, so who knows? Maybe it changes tomorrow.

     

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) A similar question to Valtteri: do you think the tyre strategy will be pretty straightforward tomorrow, given it’s dry and hot?

    VB: I do think there’s not that many ideal strategies, so I think it can be quite straightforward but like Sebastian said, many times it’s been a really interesting race here with plenty of things happening so who knows? We are not too worried about the hotter temperatures, because I don’t think it’s actually going to be that far from yesterday – maybe a bit hotter than P2 – but everything still seemed to feel OK for us and we didn’t go crazy with the set-up for qualifying so we still kept an eye on the race but obviously tomorrow we’ll find out if we have the quickest car or not.

     

    Q: (Rodrigo França – Revista VIP) Question for everyone: the new system with the blue flags that will appear on the cockpit of the driver that is receiving the blue flags, do you think this will work out tomorrow, the first time here in Sao Paulo?

    VB: Well, first of all it’s been a long time that we get a blue flag in the cockpit, the lights, I think.

    SV: Not for you.

    VB: But the boards yeah, first time, so obviously when there’s a train of cars, then it’s maybe more precise, showing who needs to back off but it should be good.

     

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Hamilton is already World Champion but the second place in the championship is open. Does it stimulate you even more to keep your second position, Sebastian? And you, Valtteri, does it give you more stimulation to be second in the World Championship?

    SV: Look, obviously, we were on target to win; obviously that’s not any more in reach so the maximum stimulation we can get is to finish second so that’s what we try to do. If we don’t manage to do that then we’ve failed, so we’ve failed once this year already, I don’t want to fail again. The motivation is very high to make sure we stay ahead and we beat Valtteri tomorrow and in Abu Dhabi.

    VB: Yeah, same for us. It’s always good to have a target, makes you work harder and try harder so our target is to try and still get second place in the championship. It is possible but obviously he’s leading by 15 points so we really need to have a strong race here and also in Abu Dhabi.

     

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Valtteri, was pole something like a kind of a gift to those crew members who had the incident yesterday in the night?

    VB: Well, I spoke with them this morning and I said we are going to put it on pole and it’s going to cheer everyone so I’m glad it happened actually. Obviously first of all, very happy that everyone is in one piece and nothing happened physically to anyone but obviously pretty bad situation to be in but yeah, just happy everyone is still here.

  • Penalty Round Up: 2017 Brazil Grand Prix

    Penalty Round Up: 2017 Brazil Grand Prix

    Another race weekend, and we’ve got more grid penalties. So far none of them feature a McLaren. But it does look like Toro Rosso is getting all the bad luck.

    Lance Stroll gets a gearbox change after he came to a halt on track during Free Practice 3 while the rest of the Renault powered guys get penalties for component changes.

    Daniel Ricciardo

    • 10-place grid drop – 8th Control Electronics(1st 8th element)

    Pierre Gasly

    • 10-place grid drop – 8th MGU-H(1st 8th element)
    • 10-place grid drop – 9th MGU-H(1st 9th element)
    • 5-place grid drop – 7th Turbo Charger.

    Brendon Hartley

    • 10-place grid drop – 8th Control Electronics(1st 8th element)

    Lance Stroll

    • 5-place grid drop – gearbox change

     

  • Bottas Fastest in Closely Fought Brazil GP Free Practice 3

    Bottas Fastest in Closely Fought Brazil GP Free Practice 3

    Valtteri Bottas finished fastest in a very closely fought the final free practice session for the Brazil Grand Prix.

    It was so close in fact, the top four were covered by 0.058s. with Bottas the fastest for Mercedes with a best time of 1:09.281. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton was 2nd fastest with a best lap of 1:09.284, just 0.003s off.

    The two Ferrari’s of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel were 3rd and 4th fastest respectively. Raikkonen edging out Vettel this session with a 1:09.326, to Vettel’s 1:09.339.

    It was close between the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers as they battled each other for the fastest time lap after lap on their qualifying simulations. It was Mercedes who eventually took the honours of the session.

    Struggling for some pace in the session was the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo in 5th almost a second off the pace. Team Principal Christian Horner told Sky Sports F1 during the session that he does not think they can trouble Mercedes and Ferrari during qualifying but he hopes that they can get close. Verstappen in the second Red Bull finished his session 9th fastest with a best time of 1:10.495. The Dutchman complained about under-steer on his Red Bull and then spun at Turn 14 after dipping a wheel on the grass.

    It was another good session for Alonso finishing 6th fastest ahead of the two Pink Panther Force India’s in 7th and 8th. Perez finishing ahead of Ocon this session.

    Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10 for Renault this session after some difficult in the beginning of the session.

    Lance Stroll’s session got off to a bad start after a terminal engine/gearbox problem put him out of the session. Williams say that they will have to change the engine and the gearbox before qualifying.

    The issue of traffic has cropped up once again this session. Drivers were finding it tricky to get out of the way of faster drivers and to set lap times. This could make qualifying interesting.

    It’s going to be another Mercedes-Ferrari show down in qualifying with Hamilton looking likely to take pole position.

  • 2017 Brazil GP Friday Practice Round Up: Mercedes Dominate the Day

    2017 Brazil GP Friday Practice Round Up: Mercedes Dominate the Day

    Mercedes dominated the Friday Practice sessions for the Brazil Grand Prix at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. Fresh off winning the championship Lewis Hamilton finished fastest in both practice sessions showing no signs of easing off now that he’s won the championship.

    Free Practice 1

    Hamilton eventually set the fastest time of the session over team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes. Hamilton’s 1:09.202 came courtesy of the super soft compound tyres. Bottas was not that far off with a session best time of 1:09.329. The two Mercedes drivers duelled for most of the session for the fastest time but it was Hamilton who eventually prevailed.

    With just a touch over half a second off the pace was Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in 3rd fastest for the Maranello based team. Raikkonen’s best time of 1.09.744 was 0.542s off the pace.

    Splitting the Ferrari’s were the two Red Bull’s of Max Verstappen and Danieel Ricciardo in 4th and 5th fastest respectively. Verstappen’s time was just a whisker off Raikkonen’s with the Dutchman crossing the line 0.006s slower than the Finn.

    Sebastian Vettel in the other Ferrari was 6th fastest more than 0.7s down on Hamilton’s benchmark.

    In his second final home race, Felipe Massa ended the session 7th fastest just a touch over one second off the pace.

    McLaren got both their cars in the top 10 with Vandoorne 8th fastest and Alonso 10th. The McLaren’s were split by Esteban Ocon’s Force India.

    It was not the best of sessions for Toro Rosso after Brendon Hartley suffered from an engine problem. This was an engine where they had just replaced his MGU-H. Pierre Gasly managed to only complete 7 laps for the session.

    Making his F1 debut was George Russel in the Force India. He did an impressive job to finish 12th fastest.

     

    Free Practice 2

    Hamilton picked up right where he left off and set the fastest time in FP2. His time of 1:09.515 was slower than the morning sessions time but was enough to get him the top spot.

    The session was much closer than FP1 with the top 5 covered by 0.5s.

    Mercedes looked incredibly strong out on track in the long runs and over one lap. Bottas and Hamilton traded fastest lap times but once again it was Hamilton that emerged fastest with Bottas 0.048s off.

    Daniel Ricciardo took the third fastest spot of the session after a relatively late run on the super softs.

    Splitting the Red Bull’s this time was Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in 4th with Max Verstappen in 5th ahead of 6th place man, Kimi Raikkonen.

    Esteban Ocon once again featured in the top 10 and places 7th fastest beating the Williams of Felipe Massa in 8th.

    Nico Hulkenberg got his Renault into to 9th place with McLaren’s Alonso rounding it out for the top 10.

    There were a few problems for Alonso earlier in the session after he reported deployment problems. The McLaren was back in the garage for a short while before he was back on track.

    Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson cut down his track time after a spin at Turn 11 shunted him into the barrier. He made it back to the pits after the impact and it seems there was no damage to the Sauber.

    Haas’ Romain Grosjean also spun at T4. He was able to carry on but complained of vibrations from the rear of his car. He was eventually called into the pits.

     

  • 2017 Formula 1 Brazil Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    2017 Formula 1 Brazil Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    PART TWO: DRIVERS – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari), Esteban OCON (Force India), Brendon HARTLEY (Toro Rosso)

     

    Q: Brendon, congratulations, World Endurance Champion, once again, for the second time with Porsche. How did it feel jumping back into a WEC car after the Formula One, and how are you rationalising this very unusual life experience that you’re going through at the moment.

    Brendon HARTLEY: Yeah, it was actually surprisingly tricky to jump back into the car. I thought I was going to feel right at home – it’s been my home for the last four years – but it took a couple of laps for it to feel comfortable again. The seating position’s quite different from Formula One, having a roof over your head, different perspective – but yeah, after five laps I felt back at home. In terms of rationalising things, I guess I’ve tried to not overthink it and I’ve just… yeah… even winning the championship hasn’t really sunk in. I haven’t really had time to reflect. It probably helps that I’m just going from one weekend to the next. I think this is my sixth race in a row. It won’t be until I get home at the end of the year after all the racing’s over that I’ll be able to reflect and fully understand what’s just happened to me. I’m well aware that making my grand prix debut and Le Mans victory and World Endurance Championship… I mean they’re all amazing things but at the moment I’m just trying to take one step at a time and try to stay focussed and catch up on as much sleep as I can.

     

    Q: It sounds like you’re set for a full season of Formula One next year, although obviously not official yet, but now you know a bit more about it, will your experience of working with a major motor manufacture like Porsche, do you think it will help Honda developing with Toro Rosso, taking that whole relationship forward?

    BH: I don’t know. What I do know is, from working with Porsche the last years, it made my transition quite smooth to Formula One because it’s a similar amount of people involved; very similar structure in terms of engineering; pressure – I mean driving at Le Mans for Porsche, there’s a big amount of pressure on your shoulders, so I guess all of those things I’ve learnt to deal with, so that was obviously very helpful going to Austin. Obviously there were a lot of other things to learn in Formula One and I’m well-aware that there’s still a lot to learn but yeah, I think the good thing for me is that I’ve been involved in the past also with other Formula One teams and development and the project at Porsche, I was very heavily involved in the development on every level, so at least I have some experience from that point of view, yeah.

     

    Q: Esteban, Force India confirmed fourth in the constructors’ championship, it’s your first full season but you’ve obviously played a key part in that. What does it mean for you, given the quality of the opposition you’ve faced this year?

    Esteban OCON: It’s been a great season for us. Of course securing the fourth place, it’s an amazing achievement with two races to go. Thanks to the team, I would like to thank everyone. I can’t thank everyone in here but a few key people: Andy Stevenson, Andrew Green, Tom McCullough, Otmar, I would like to thank everyone there for the great season we’ve had. Hopefully we can finish the last two races very well like we did before and start the next one as high.

     

    Q: Some interesting numbers about you: you’ve out-qualified Pérez at the last four races in a row; you’re the only non-Mercedes driver to start in the top six for the past four races, and you’ve led Pérez for 137 of the last 138 racing laps. So, is that in line with your expectations of yourself at this stage of the season, and how do you move forward from here in 2018?

    EO: Yeah, I’m here to push. I’m here to challenge Sergio for sure, it’s been a very close season with him, fighting with really little margin, that’s what we have been doing so far this season – but arriving a second time on the tracks where I’ve driven before, with the Manor, helps me a lot with my experience, and also finishing all the races has helped me and I feel much more comfortable now than I’ve been feeling at the beginning of the season, so it’s great.

     

    Q: Kimi, ten years on – we all remember it very very well from that dramatic day when you won the World Championship here in Brazil, probably the widest smile you’ve had as a sportsman at least. Can you share some special memories of that day?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: It’s a long time ago. Obviously it was a great day but it wasn’t just about the day, it was the whole year. Obviously it ended on that day but there were some great moments, some not very nice moments but in the end it worked out OK and I was very happy with it but – I don’t know – I haven’t really thought about it too much; obviously after that, yes, but not for a while because it doesn’t really change my life today, thinking about it. I don’t really try and make a big story out of it.

     

    Q: This year, you’ve had a very good car and kept developing it very effectively so where does it go from here for Ferrari? You’ve talked a lot this season about a few fine details here and there which have been the things that have stopped you but tell us a bit about that, where the team goes forward next year and what your personal ambition is in 2018?

    KR: Obviously I want to be fighting at the front every weekend, to be able to fight for the championship next year. I think we started pretty badly – we were not really where we should have been – a personal feeling on my side – we’re not really happy where the setup was and it took quite a long time to figure it out and then since then it’s been better but then we had too many DNFs for many different reasons but I think, as a team, we’ve come a long way from year to year and also from last year, made a good step, obviously not enough for what we want but as Ferrari we want to win both championships. But I think we had all the tools this year, we just need to tidy up things and not make mistakes nor have issues on any side, not from our side as drivers or from the team side. These are just small things which in the end played a big part this year, who won the championship and which way it went but I think we have all the people, we have the tools and we have a great car. There are still two races to go and even though the championships are done we try to do the same work we always do and try to win races and then, obviously, we start from zero next year so hopefully we will be up there.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Daniel Fideli – GloboEsporte.com) Brendon, you are used to winning races and championships as an endurance driver and you come to Formula One to race in a car that is not so good and mentally for you, how hard is it for you to come to Formula One and you know that you’re not going to be able to win races and just fight for the midfield?

    BH: I think as a driver you try and get the most out of whatever the situation is and I know for this weekend I have a firm goal of scoring my first point in Formula One. That would be celebrated, so I think so far from my experience in my two Grands Prix I had a lot to learn and a lot of small goals along the way and from my point of view it doesn’t change much on how I approach the weekend and the team. I can guarantee every single person in Toro Rosso is working their utmost to get the most out of the weekend, whatever is possible, so that doesn’t really change too much.

     

    Q: (Gustavo Faldon – ESPN Brasil) Kimi, Felipe Massa is retiring; you were his teammate for quite a while. What can you say about him? How was your relationship and do you feel like he helped you win your title ten years ago?

    KR: He’s retiring again, so let’s see if it actually happens or we will see him in the first race next year. I always had a good relationship with him, great atmosphere when we were at Ferrari together. We won two championships for the team as teammates and I think it was a great time. Obviously it was very fast, very good but I wish him all the best if he ends up (not) racing in F1 any more. We will see what comes in his life in the future.

     

    Q: (Andrea Lopez – Motorlat.com) Kimi, there are only two races left this season; what is the summary you can make of your season this year?

    KR: I think it’s very simple that we are in the championship, that’s how good or bad it’s been. That’s how it is this year and obviously we need to learn and make better things next year but we all start from zero next year and it depends on many things over the winter and over the testing at the beginning of the year. We will then get some idea of where we are going to be and then we see in the first races what will happen, but obviously the aim is to do better, to fight for wins and championships – that’s, as a team, what we want to do and as a driver I want to do that. This year, for sure, in many ways could have been better but I guess it can always be worse also.

     

    Q: (Lucas Santochi – Pole Position) Brendon, you talk about how your work with Porsche helped you to approach the Formula One weekend, but what surprised you like ‘this is very difficult, I have to work on this’ and if Esteban can comment about his experience when he came in too last year?

    BH: Sorry, I’m just trying to think what surprised me the most – probably a lot of things. I’d been in the Formula One paddock before, 2008, 2009 – oh, sorry, 2009, 2010, OK. I didn’t make a Grand Prix start but at least I had been in the paddock so there were a few familiar faces already. I guess at Austin, a big shock was the high speed, just in terms of a driving the car, it was quite amazing, these modern Formula One cars, how quick they are in the first sector in Austin, so that was pretty mind-blowing and it took some time to get confident. For the drivers who are driving weekend in and weekend out, they are probably… you always want more grip, you always want more power but coming straight in… that was quite a shock to the system. And other than that, I don’t think there were any huge surprises in terms of difficulties. I knew it was going to be a challenge, I knew putting a Formula One weekend together is tough and I know that the level in Formula One of drivers and teams and everyone – there are some of the highest you can find so I guess in some ways there were no big surprises as I kind of expected that.

    EO: I was very well prepared before arriving in Formula One. I was around in the paddock since 2014 so that has helped me a lot. I have been driving with many different teams in testing and then I went into DTM with Mercedes and I think like Brendon it’s a bit the same way of working, with engineers, sponsors and then going back into the racing. It’s a bit the same level of professionalism. It’s just the specification of the category. I think you have to learn all the details and then be sure you are there when it’s needed.

     

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Esteban, there are quite some discussions about the future of Formula One, including a budget cap. Do you think a small team like Force India, assuming you work like you did this year, could have an extra shot at the title with such a budget cap?

    EO: I think that’s a very good question but honestly if everyone had the same budget I think some people would be surprised what Force India can achieve. At the moment, with the budget we have, what we are achieving is amazing, the level of work we are putting in is a lot but at the end the level is there and the performance is on track, so yeah, it would be nice.

  • F12017: Brazilian Gp Preview – Free-for-all at Iconic Interlagos

    F12017: Brazilian Gp Preview – Free-for-all at Iconic Interlagos

    For all the innovation that Formula 1 continues to deliver there are some things in the sport that, untouched by too much change, remain and embodies the very essence of the sport. One such example is the Brazilian grand prix and the famed Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.

    For decade after decade the Interlagos based circuit has delivered on everything a Formula 1 race should be. Through scorching temperatures and rain-soaked afternoons the Brazilian fan’s euphoria for F1 has always been palpable. And it has, since 1973, been driven by some of the most dramatic and memorable races in the history of the sport.

    There have been many highly emotional Brazilian grand prix throughout its history but none more so than Ayrton Senna’s majestic 1991 win in the McLaren after which he was so physically exhausted that he had to be extricated from the cockpit. In the decades since there’s been no let up on the drama with several of the most theatrical moments coming in the 21st century. In 2005 Fernando Alonso became, at the time, the youngest world champion and two years later, in 2007, Kimi Raikkonen won his world title in what had been, arguably, one of the most fascinating championship battles of all time. A year later thousands of Brazilian hearts sank as Lewis Hamilton snatched the title from local-favourite Felipe Massa, literally, on the last corner of the last lap whereas the 2012 grand prix marked the final race of the great Michael Schumacher storied career.

    Felipe Massa 2008The circuit, at roughly 4.3 kilometers, isn’t a long one and a lap time below seventy seconds is likely, especially for quali. Besides having the iconic, and tight, Senna S as Turn One its three sectors stand in contract to each other. A strait and several medium to high-speed corners dominate the first part of the lap while the middle sector is the more technical section before its capped by Junção, the final climb up the hill to the start/finish strait.

    Despite not having a Brazilian world champion since Ayrton Senna the fans have shown a fanaticism for the sport and other Brazilian drivers as fervent as you’re likely to see anywhere in the world. One driver responsible for inspiring said passion is Felipe Massa. The Williams driver has announced his retirement at the end of the 2017 season making this weekend his final Brazilian grand prix. Though never a world champion Massa has inspired countless fans, colleagues, and contemporaries with his incredible talent, generosity, passion, and sportsmanship. Obrigado Felipe.

    Nico Rosberg_Brazil 2014The fact that most positions in both the drivers and constructors championships have been settled adds a further element to this weekend’s Brazilian grand prix. No longer do teams such as Force India have to impose team orders on Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon. Now they’ll be free to race and bang wheels to their heart’s content and this directive, pretty much, goes for everyone up and down the pitlane too.

    While the forecast predicts a dry race weekend the weather for the Brazilian grand prix has always been, at best, uncertain.

    One thing that is a certainty however is that there has rarely been a dull Brazilian grand prix and it shouldn’t be any different in 2017.

  • 2021 Formula One Engine Specifications Set Out by FIA

    2021 Formula One Engine Specifications Set Out by FIA

    Formula One Team Representatives, FIA President Jean Todt, the commercial rights holders for Formula One and potential engine suppliers all met at the FIA headquarters in Paris Tuesday 31 October 2017 to discuss the 2021 engine regulations and the way forward for the sport.

    Manufacturers were presented with a road map for the development of the next generation of F1 technical regulations. This road map was in-line with the FIA’s objectives for the sport which include cost reductions, maintaining road relevance of the hybrid technology, and improving the spectacle for the fans and the sound of the cars.

    “The proposals shared today have been developed jointly by the FIA and by F1 using data and input from teams, power unit suppliers and outside experts, and the overall framework for the 2021 power unit definition will be in place and published by the FIA at the end of 2017,” said the FIA in a statement.

    The objective of the meeting was not to finalise any regulations but to rather present the way forward with the input of the various stake holders in Formula One.

    On the cost reduction front, the teams will continue to work to define certain elements of the power unit. The final specifications, of which, will be made available at the end of 2018. This ensures teams continue to develop the current power units.

    Key new features of the 2021 Power Units

    • 1.6 Litre, V6 Turbo Hybrid
    • 3000rpm higher engine running speed range to improve the sound
    • Prescriptive internal design parameters to restrict development costs and discourage extreme designs and running conditions
    • Removal of the MGU-H
    • More powerful MGU-K with focus on manual driver deployment in race together with option to save up energy over several laps to give a driver controlled, tactical element to racing
    • Single turbo with dimensional constraints and weight limits
    • Standard energy store and control electronics
    • High Level of external prescriptive design to give ‘Plug-And-Play’ engine/chassis/transmission swap capability
    • Intention to investigate tighter fuel regulations and limits on number of fuels used

    There was no mention of any change to the fuel flow restriction which is what limits the high revving nature of the cars. The current rev limit is set at 15 000 rpm. During qualifying and the race the teams limit the cars to 12 000 rpm because of the fuel flow rate limit. If the limit is not increased, it will make no difference to the sound of the engines.

    The change to the manual deployment of the electrical energy brings us back to pre-2014 where the drivers could deploy the extra electrical energy when they felt necessary. This should put more control in the drivers hands.

    Formula 1, Managing Director, Motorsports Ross Brawn said: “The 2021 power unit is an example of the future way the FIA as regulators, F1 as commercial right holders, the teams and the manufacturers as stakeholders will work together for the common good of the sport.

    “The proposal presented today was the outcome of a series of meetings which took place during 2017 with the current teams participating in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship and the manufacturers who showed their interest to be part of the pinnacle of motor sport.

    “Also, we’ve carefully listened to what the fans think about the current PU and what they would like to see in the near future with the objective to define a set of regulations which will provide a powertrain that is simpler, cheaper and noisier and will create the conditions to facilitate new manufacturers to enter Formula 1 as powertrain suppliers and to reach a more levelled field in the sport.

    “The new F1 has the target to be the world’s leading global sports competition married to state of the art technology.

    “To excite, engage, and awe fans of all ages but to do so in a sustainable manner. We believe that the future power unit will achieve this.”