Tag: felipe nasr

F1 2015: Australian GP Preview – All-set for Australia

The pre-season testing sessions are complete and the Australian grand prix waits to either shatter the delusions or fulfil the promises made in Jerez and Barcelona.

The Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia is the first step in what can potentially be an enthralling season of Formula 1 racing.

In a show of dogged determination and resolve the nearly defunct Marussia Formula 1 team has fought its way out of the abyss. After months of hard work behind the scenes energy boss Stephen Fitzpatrick has been revealed as the investor behind the team which will now be known as Manor F1. While the team was unable to attend any of the pre-season testing sessions the car has passed the mandatory FIA crash tests. The governing body signed off on a revised 2014 chassis which will race in Australia.

There is no doubt that McLaren will show up in Australia seriously underdone. The MP4-30 had a nightmarish amount of issues which ranged from oil pressure leaks to sensor problems to significant struggles with the MGU-K component. The Honda engine, in its first year of development, is rough around the edges and unable of being run at full-tilt by the team. At this stage it appears that Ron Dennis’ expectation of winning races will remain as nothing more than a wishful reverie.

To add to McLaren’s gloom Fernando Alonso has been advised by doctor’s not to race in Australia. The lack of details surrounding the Spaniard’s crash and subsequent “concussion” in Barcelona, while testing, has been the source for much confusion. Nevertheless, the team and driver have rightly opted to put safety above all. Reserve driver Kevin Magnussen will partner Jenson Button for the opening round of the season.

By contract things could hardly have gone much better for Mercedes. The reigning world champs maintained quite a low profile during the first few days of testing. However, there is not an inkling of doubt that team has, at least, maintained its advantage at the head of the pack. The more than 6000 km in testing is the most of any team and the pace so nonchalantly put on display in the final two days in Barcelona sent an ominous message to the chasing pack.

Ferrari’s 2014 driver pairing of Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso was a highly anticipated partnership which never reached the forecasted levels of grandstand finishes and epic duels. This time around the Finn is partnered by quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel and team has committed to major changes in all departments.

The 2015 Ferrari surprised more than a few onlookers at the first test in Jerez with its inherent pace. In Barcelona the bigger picture revealed that although definitive strides were made the scarlet Ferrari still remains some way off the Mercedes pace. Along with a dramatically improved power unit both Raikkonen and Vettel are satisfied with the predictable front-end of the car.

Ferrari is touted as having taken the biggest step forward of all the teams on the grid. Which isn’t too shabby a start for a team in turmoil just a couple of months ago. While Mercedes is still out of reach the Italian team could very well be sitting with the second fastest package on the grid.

Of the new drivers on the grid Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen will be scrutinized the most. The Dutchman has been talked up by his team for months. Since the team think it worthy to compare the 17-year-old to Ayrton Senna it will make watching his progress all the more fascinating.

An average Formula 1 team employs an average of 300 people who are tasked with the job of ensuring that two grand prix cars are able to race. However, there is nothing average about the level of anticipation and expectation that millions of fanatics have ahead of the first race of a new F1 season.

March 10, 2015
Grosjean Quickest on Final Day of Testing and Alonso Crashes

Romain Grosjean put his Lotus on the top of the time sheets at the end of the final day of the second pre-season test while McLaren’s Fernando Alonso was air lifted to hospital after a crash at T3.

Grosjean’s time of 1:24.067 on the soft compound tyres from Pirelli put him on top of the time sheets in the afternoon session which is also the fastest time of the entire 2nd test. Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes finished the day second fastest firing somewhat of a warning shot to rivals. Rosberg’s time of 1:24.321 on the medium compound tyres, was just 0.254s slower than Grosjean’s time. Pirelli say that the gap between the two tyres is about 2 seconds a lap. That should get teams shifting rather uncomfortably in their seats.

McLaren’s test came to an abrupt end when Alonso went off the track and crashed into the T3 barrier. An ambulance was dispatched to the scene. He was then taken to the circuits medical centre. He spent a few minutes at the medical centre and was then airlifted to a nearby hospital for further tests. After a short while, McLaren released a statement saying that Alonso was “conscious and spoke with the doctors”.

The second test did not go too well for McLaren who seem to be still ironing out the kinks with the new Honda power unit. Throughout the 4 days of the test, they managed a total of 104 laps.

Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat finished 3rd fastest with Sauber’s Felipe Nasr just 0.015s slower in 4th. “It was another good day for us,” Kvyat explained. “We learned a lot that will be of benefit in the future and that’s what testing is all about.”

Williams’ Valtteri Bottas ended his day 5th fastest racking up 129 laps. Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr finished 6th fastest. His day came to an early end when he also crashed at the exit of T3.

Sebastian Vettel finished 7th fastest with Nico Hulkenberg finishing 8th and Alonso 9th.

At the end of the day Vettel said that they mainly focused on long runs and different tyre configurations. There were some “teething problems” but he feels positive about the car so far.

Below is the timing sheet for the final day of the second pre-season test:

February 22, 2015
Maldonado Puts Lotus on Top of the Time Sheets for Day one of Second Test

Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado finished the first day of the second winter test ahead of the pack after running with the soft compound tyre.

Maldonado’s time of 1:25.011 was 0.156s faster than Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari who held the top spot for most of the day. Although he set the fastest time, it was not a trouble free day for the Venezualan. He stopped twice on track in the morning sessions with sensor issues. Nevertheless a very good day for Lotus.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed a good run of 74 laps for the day. Holding the top spot for most of the day is very encouraging for Ferrari at the moment with his and Maldonado’s fastest times are faster than Lewis Hamilton’s pole setting time for the Spanish Grand Prix last year.

Ricciardo finished the day in 3rd for Red Bull with Force India’s Sergio Perez finishing the day in 4th. The Mexican was not scheduled to drive today but was called up when Lewis Hamilton took ill after completing a few laps in the morning. Which meant that the Mercedes reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein who was driving for Force India today, had to swap the Force India overalls for the Mercedes ones to take Hamilton’s place. Wehrlein managed 8th for Force India and 9th for Mercedes.

Felipe Nasr showed strong pace in the morning session for Sauber completing 79 laps. He ended the day in 5th. Max Verstappen ended the day in 6th with 94 laps on the board, the highest lap count for the day.

Jenson Button’s day came to an early end after and MGU-K failure. The word from McLaren is that they will need to redesign the MGU-K component and that the engine would need to be replaced until the MGU-K was redesigned. There was no guarantee from Honda that the problem may not occur again. Fernando Alonso, who was scheduled to drive on Saturday and Sunday will be in the car tomorrow to prevent Button from having his day affected by the problem.

Susie Wolff ended her day in 10th ahead for Williams ahead of Lewis Hamilton in 11th. Wolff collided with Sauber’s Felipe Nasr on track in the afternoon session. The contact between the two resulted in Nasr ending up in the T5 barriers with Wolff coming to a stop in the gravel. At the time Wolff was on an out-lap while Nasr was supposedly on a timed lap. Both drivers blame each other for the incident.

After Hamilton took ill, news emerged that Nico Rosberg had an inflamed nerve in his neck and will have to rest until the swelling subsides. It looks as though Wehrlein will be driving the Mercedes for a bit longer.

Below are the unofficial times for Day 1 of the second pre-season test

February 19, 2015
Formula 1 Testing Diary – Jerez

The pomp and circumstance of multi-million rand glitzy launches that used to mark the unveiling of a new Formula 1 car is a thing of the past. Instead, some teams opt for an online release of a few images while others invite a few folk over to their factories for a bit of a show. The rest are happy to reveal their cars in the Jerez pitlane and get straight down to business.

It is ultimately the laptimes and reliability that is most important in the early days before the 2015 season. But let’s take a minute to appreciate that Formula 1 is once again stunningly easy on the eye. In fact, it’s hard to pick the best looking car of the lot. At Red Bull they’ve played around with a rad-looking white-and-black camouflage livery. The new look is only interim however team Principal Christian Horner has promised to debut even stronger colours in Australia. The Ferrari SF15T has long, elegant swooping lines that carry all the way through to an elongated nose and the McLaren’s lustrous silver bodywork has been accented by swathes of red as a nod to new engine supplier Honda.

Nevertheless, the most vital test is how, and if, these cars come alive on the track. The first four-day test session took place at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in southern Spain.

Day one: Sebastian Vettel sets the fastest time of the day for the Ferrari team with a time of 1:22:690 with a lap total of 59. Fernando Alonso completed the least amount of laps, six, in his McLaren Honda. The MP4-30’s, dubbed the McHonda, problems centred mostly on their new Honda engine. The Lotus team were absent from the pitlane following their announcement that the E23 wasn’t quite ready to run.

It was a remarkable day for Mercedes who clocked 157 with Nico Rosberg. Although Mercedes did have a shakedown at Silverstone to clock 157 laps in a day is an extremely good sign for the defending champions.

Day two: Once again Sebastian Vettel tops the timing sheets with a fastest time of 1:20:984 in his Ferrari. The Lotus team did a terrific job to show up for the second day of testing and managed a total of 41 laps with Pastor Maldonado and a quickest time of 1:25:802. McLaren managed only a couple of installations with Jenson Button before spending the entire morning in the garage with more electronic issues.

The final few hours of the second day of testing were blighted with rain however Lewis Hamilton was still able to complete 91 laps before a water leak brought an end to his afternoon. Sebastian Vettel racked up 89 laps and Sauber’s Felipe Nasr’s 88.

Day three: Brazilian rookie Felipe Nasr set the quickest time of the day ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. Nasr completes an impressive 108 laps in the blue-and-yellow Sauber but Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg racks up the most laps with 150.

On their second day of testing Lotus is able to complete 91 laps with Maldonado and provide a consistent base for feedback on the E23. McLaren have a better day with Fernando Alonso who is able to complete 32 laps. However, the McHonda would later stop on circuit with a water pressure problem. Rookie Carlos Sainz Jr has a notable day out with the difficult Toro Rosso by completing 136 laps.

Day four: The final day is topped by Kimi Raikkonen ensuring that a Ferrari-engine has topped all four days at Jerez. The 1:20:841 is the fastest of all four days but is kept in cautious perspective by Raikkonen who calls the SF15T “a good starting point.”

Felipe Nasr and Lewis Hamilton complete the top three while Romain Grosjean’s day was brought to an early end with a “power unit issue.” Jenson Button has no easier time of it in the McLaren as engine problems and a fuel pump issue curtail the team’s program.

February 12, 2015
F1 2015: Jerez Testing Day 4 – Round Up

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen ended day 4 of the Jerez test on top of the time sheets. Raikkonen set the fastest lap of 1:20.841 which was also the fastest time of the week.

Raikkonen was quite happy with what Ferrari have achieved so far and feels that the car is performing much better than it was last year. “”It’s the whole package that has progressed, but there is still a lot of work to do,” he said.

Finishing second on the day was Sauber’s Felipe Nasr. The Sauber driver managed to cross the line 112 times with his fastest time of the day of 1:22.019.

Lewis Hamilton finished the day with the 3rd fastest time of 1:22.172. But we all know that in testing its mileage that counts and Hamilton clocked up 117 laps for the day. His day wasnt without incident as he had a spin at the chicane which brought out the red flags for a short while.

Max Verstappen finished 4th fastest for Toro Rosso with Felipe Massa 5th fastest for Williams. They each did 97 and 73 laps respectively.

It wasn’t the easiest of days for Romain Grosjean, but he managed to bang in a solid 53 laps of the Jerez Circuit. His day was brought to an end early after issues with the power unit.

Red Bull had another tough day after an ERS problem saw Kvyat stop on track in the morning. This problem meant that they spent most of the morning fixing the problem, but they were out by the afternoon which meant Kvyat could pound around the track for a while.

Engine problems in the morning and a fuel pump issue in the afternoon brought Jenson Button’s day to an early end. But it wasn’t all bad news for the Woking based team. Button managed to get a good few laps in and set his fastest time of a 1:27.660. Despite all the engine issues, McLaren feel that they’ve learnt a great deal about the engine architecture and so far the feedback from Button about the new Honda engine is positive.

Teams will gather and analyse all their data at their respective headquarters and will head to Barcelona for the second test for the 2015 season in 2 weeks time.

Unofficial times for Day 4 of the Jerez Test

February 4, 2015
F1 2015: Jerez Testing Day 3 – Round Up

Sauber’s Felipe Nasr set the fastest time of the third day of the Jerez test on Tuesday.

Nasr set an unofficial time of 1:21.545 to put his Sauber ahead of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari in P2 with a time of 1:21.750. It must also be noted that Nasr clocked up an impressive 108 laps. But that was still not enough to beat Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes W06, who racked up an impressive 151 laps. His day was not without incident as he came to a stop on the track just before lunch time which brought out the red flags.

There were two other stoppages today. Once was caused by Nasr after spinning off the track and took a trip through the gravel traps. The other stoppage was because Pastor Maldonado’s Lotus came to a stop on the back straight.

Things are looking much better for Lotus this time around. Maldonado managed to do 96 laps today with his fastest time of 1:22.713.

McLaren had a better day out on track as Fernando Alonso managed to clock up 32 laps in his MP4-30. His day was cut short after a loss of cooling water pressure. His fastest time for the day was a 1:35.553,

Daniel Ricciardo was hamstrung by engine problems for most of the day and was limited to a few short runs. Carlos Sainz Jr. had a good day out for Toro Rosso and did an impressive 136 laps.

The test concludes tomorrow.

Unofficial times from Circuito de Jerez

Photo by courtesy Pirelli

February 3, 2015
F1 2015: Jerez Testing Day 2 – Round-Up

The second day of testing from Spain’s Jerez circuit was topped by Sebastian Vettel as he set a fastest time of 1:20:984 in his Ferrari.

The morning started rather sedately as the several cars initially set about completing their installations laps. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton got into their workload for the day relatively quickly while others camped in the pitlane for some time. The Lotus team did a terrific job to show up for the second day of testing and managed an initial installation with Pastor Maldonado able to complete 41 laps with a quickest time of 1:25:802.

McLaren also managed only a couple of installations with Jenson Button before spending the entire morning in its pit garage. The Brit was able set a timed lap several hours later following a morning troubled by electronic issues. However, nearly all of the session on day two was lost to further gremlins.

Red Bull’s Danill Kvyat caused quite a stir when he left the pitlane without a front-wing. Naturally, there were a few jokes about the camouflage livery living up to its name and hiding the front-wing. Ultimately, the explanation was that the front-wing had been damaged and while the team waited for a replacement Kvyat would do a short engine test without it.

The final few hours of the second day of testing were blighted with rain however Lewis Hamilton was still able to complete 91 laps before a water leak brought an end to his afternoon. Sebastian Vettel racked up 89 laps and Sauber’s Felipe Nasr’s 88.

Unofficial laptimes from Jerez de la Frontera:

February 2, 2015
F1 2015: Jerez Test Driver Line Up
The first test for the 2015 Formula 1 Season gets underway tomorrow in Jerez, Spain.

The test will run from 01 – 04 February. This is how the drivers will line up on each day

Day 1: Sunday 1 Ferbuary
- Mercedes – Nico Rosberg
- Red Bull – Daniel Ricciardo
- Williams – Valtteri Bottas
- Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel
- McLaren – Fernando Alonso
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Carlos Sainz Jr.
- Sauber – Marcus Ericsson
- Lotus – Pastor Maldonado
Day 2: Monday 2 February
- Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton
- Red Bull – Daniil Kvyat
- Williams – Valtteri Bottas
- Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel
- McLaren – Jenson Button
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Max Versappen
- Sauber – Felipe Nasr
- Lotus – Romain Grosjean
Day 3: Tuesday 3 February
- Mercedes – Nico Rosberg
- Red Bull – Daniel Ricciardo
- Williams – Felipe Massa
- Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen
- McLaren – Fernando Alonso
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Carlos Sainz Jr.
- Sauber – Felipe Nasr
- Lotus – Pastor Maldonado
Day 4: Wednesday 4 February
- Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton
- Red Bull – Daniil Kvyat
- Williams – Felipe Massa
- Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen
- McLaren – Jenson Button
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Max Versappen
- Sauber – Marcus Ericsson
- Lotus – Romain Grosjean
The Caterham and Marussia teams have not finalized their entries for the 2015 season and have been excluded from the list.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
January 31, 2015
F1 2015: Car Launches, Testing Dates and Driver Line Ups

The 2015 Formula 1 Season is upon us and with all the teams releasing teaser pics and with the car launches and testing about to take place within the week we thought we’d give you a quick run down on the testing schedule and the driver line up for each team.

Testing Dates:

01 – 04 February – Jerez, Spain

19 – 22 February – Barcelona, Spain

26 February – 01 March – Barcelona, Span

Car Launches:

29 January – McLaren(Online)

30 January – Ferrari(Online)

30 January – Sauber(Online)

31 January – Toro Rosso

01 February – Mercedes

Driver Line up:

MERCEDES: Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

RED BULL: Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat

WILLIAMS: Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas

FERRARI: Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen

MCLAREN: Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button

FORCE INDIA: Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez

TORO ROSSO: Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr.

LOTUS: Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado

SAUBER: Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr

The entries for the Marussia and Caterham teams were on the provisional FIA list subject to confirmation before the season begins.

The complete 2015 Formula 1 World Championship Calendar can be found here

January 27, 2015
F1 2015: New rules, new looks, new faces

In less than two months Melbourne will become the epicentre for start of the 2015 Formula 1 season. As with its predecessors there is much to be excited about for the new season.

If you found the 2014 aesthetics unpleasing and plain awkward you weren’t alone. Mercifully a tweak to the aero rules for the nose section means that the hideous duckbills and anteaters have been consigned to the scrap heap. Visually the majority of the field will have a relatively uniform look for the nose section of the car and it does constrict some of the eccentric individuality seen last year. Nevertheless, there is little doubt that most will be happy to have far better looking cars to ogle.

For the sites that Formula 1 will visit the FIA has announced a twenty race calendar with a highly anticipated visit to Mexico City in late October. As predicted the Korean grand prix loses its spot on the calendar while the German grand prix will again be hosted at the Hockenheimring for 2015. Even though the deal struck with Bernie Ecclestone back in 2006 specifies an annual rotation between Hockenheim and the Nurburgring the latter’s change of ownership has left it in financial difficulty and without a deal in place for the coming season.

While safety is paramount in F1 the Safety Car periods have, on occasion, been far too long. It has been mainly lapped cars which has been the culprit in these long-winded intermissions. The FIA has shown some common sense by announcing that the Safety Car will no longer wait for lapped cars to catch the rear of the field before resuming the race.

Along with a far more visually pleasing sport there will also be three rookies on the grid. Sauber has confirmed that Brazilian Felipe Nasr will be partnering with Marcus Ericsson for 2015. Nasr gained valuable seat time in F1 last year as the official test driver for the Williams team and he graduates to Formula 1 with a pretty solid CV. Nasr has won both the Formula BMW and British Formula Three championships before finishing third overall in last year’s GP2 campaign. It’s no secret that he comes with substantial financial backing from Banco do Brasil which is much needed by a struggling Sauber team. Neverthless, Nasr is a real talent and it’s more than worth it to keep an eye on his progress.

At one stage it appeared as if Carlos Sainz Jnr’s introduction to Formula 1 would have to wait a few more years. The son of former double rally world champion Carlos Sainz was on course to be fast-tracked to F1 but he lost out to Russian driver Daniil Kvyat. It proved to be a momentary delay as Sebastian Vettel’s departure to Ferrari meant a promotion to the Red Bull team for Kvyat. This in turn opens the door for Sainz Jnr to slot into the vacant Toro Rosso seat.

However, it will be his Toro Rosso teammate who will undoubtedly carry the biggest weight of expectation of all the rookies in the field. Max Verstappen is the son of the not-so-successful former F1 driver Jos Verstappen. But that isn’t what makes his debut so spectacular. Instead, it’s the fact that when Max Verstappen takes to the starting grid in Australia he will be seventeen years old. He will be the youngest driver ever to compete in the sport and probably the first, should he score a podium, who cannot legally have a sip of the celebratory champagne. Verstappen’s racing biography is rather limited given his age but he nevertheless boasts some impressive wins including third place in last year’s European Formula Three championship.

There are many who believe that if you’re fast enough you are old enough. To a degree this plays true but handling the pressure of Formula 1 is a big ask for someone so young. It is clear that Red Bull’s motorsport director Helmut Marko has no qualms about piling on the pressure and has already compared the youngster to the great Ayrton Senna. As grand and fiery as the Verstappen PR has been he is a bit of an anomaly. Either Max Verstappen is going to be the greatest thing since Lewis Hamilton, read sliced bread, or he’s going to be something else which time will inevitably tell.

January 19, 2015