Tag: fernando alonso

F1 2016: Belgium Gp Free Practice 2 Report – Verstappen Quickest

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen set the quickest time in the second free practice session for the Belgian grand prix.

The second free practice session ran in pristine sunshine during which Dutch driver Verstappen set a quickest time of 1:48:085 ahead of his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg set the third fastest time ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and the sister Force India of Sergio Perez.

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton ended the session sixth and thirteenth quickest on the timing sheets. Neither Mercedes driver ran the quickest supersoft tyre. The number 7 Ferrari of Raikkonen was seventh quickest without a clear run on the red-walled supersoft tyre while Haas F1’s Romain Grosjean was eighth overall. McLaren’s Jenson Button and Esteban Gutierrez in the Haas rounded out the top ten. The Williams duo endured a tough session as Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa ended 16th and 17th overall.

The long runs revealed a comparable pace on the yellow-walled soft tyre between the two Red Bull teammates with Vettel a few tenths adrift in the Ferrari. Hamilton, who will start the race from the back of the grid due to penalties, ran a long stint on the medium compound tyres which consistently hovered in the mid 1:55 bracket.

Final Standings Free Practice 2:

Pos.	Driver	Team	Best Time	Gap	Laps
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:48.085	–	27
2	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:48.341	+0.256	27
3	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:48.657	+0.572	30
4	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:49.023	+0.938	27
5	Sergio Perez	Force India	1:49.100	+1.015	27
6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:49.161	+1.076	33
7	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:49.244	+1.159	30
8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:49.419	+1.334	20
9	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:49.419	+1.334	23
10	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas	1:49.648	+1.563	23
11	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor	1:49.716	+1.631	31
12	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:49.772	+1.687	30
13	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:49.782	+1.697	33
14	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:49.916	+1.831	25
15	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:50.083	+1.998	27
16	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:50.151	+2.066	19
17	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:50.157	+2.072	29
18	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:50.194	+2.109	25
19	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	1:50.375	+2.290	34
20	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:50.562	+2.477	32
21	Esteban Ocon	Manor	1:50.659	+2.574	25
22	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	1:50.719	+2.634	24

August 26, 2016

Alonso Hit With 35-Place Gird Penalty

McLaren’s Fernando Alonso will take a 35-place grid drop at the Belgian Grand Prix for replacing his power unit after a water leak kept him out of FP1.

Honda arrived at Spa with an updated engine after spending 7 tokens on upgrading the turbo and the combustion. Both Alonso and Button were given their 5th PU’s ahead of Free Practice 1.

After just three installation laps McLaren found a water leak on Alonso’s engine. This kept him out for the rest of the session.

As a precaution Honda took the decision to replace the entire PU which consists of the engine, turbo, MGU-H, MGU-K, energy store and control electronics. This means that Alonso takes a 6th of each component and gets a collective 35-place grid penalty.

With new regulations coming into place will mean that Alonso can only move to 22nd on the grid.

August 26, 2016
F1 2016: Belgium GP Preview – Spa, Unparalleled Greatness

It is almost as if it’s scripted that Formula 1 returns after it’s summer break to the greatest circuit in the world. Belgium’s majestic Spa-Francorchamps is set in all of its famed glory to host the 13^th round of the 2016 season.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that Spa is often rated as the most popular races by fans. The circuit, 7.004 km in length, boasts several overtaking opportunities, significant elevations changes, and a bevy of challenging corners. It provides an equally stern test to the cars as it demands an efficient aero package through its high-speed corners, and good power out put and delivery for its long straights and climbs.

It’s not just a great circuit on paper either. Since it’s first race in 1950 Spa has delivered victors, moments, and memories that will last forever. From Mika Hakkinen’s stunning pass, for the lead, on Michael Schumacher and backmarker Ricardo Zonta in 2000, to Kimi Raikkonen’s 2004 win from tenth on the grid, to Mark Webber’s spine-tingling 2011 overtake of Fernando Alonso around the outside into Eau Rouge.

In 2016 another chapter is ready to be written into the glorious history of this mythical circuit. Mercedes start the weekend as favourites but it’s not a given that they’ll dominate the 44 laps on Sunday.

The tyres selected by the sharp end of the grid have revealed quite a big disparity between the front running teams. Mercedes has chosen the conservative route on tyre selection, as each of their drivers will have only four sets of the red-walled supersoft tyre. Meanwhile, Ferrari’s Vettel and Raikkonen have opted for seven sets a piece of the supersoft tyre. Ferrari has shown a preference for the supersoft tyre throughout the first half of the season, which could have factored into their decision making. The cooler temperatures and difficulty in heating the tyre to their operating temperatures would have been another consideration for Ferrari.

As fascinating as the tyre strategy could turn out this weekend it may not play out at all. This circuit, situated in the foothills of the Ardennes Mountains, is notorious for its changeable and unpredictable weather. Add to this the vastness of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit and it often results in rain at one end of the track while sunshine dominates the other half.

There is also the question of spotty reliability of Lewis Hamilton’s side of the garage. The unreliability that dogged his early season means that Hamilton, already on his fifth engine element, is close to incurring a grid penalty. A sixth engine would mean a painful ten place grid penalty however it has been confirmed that Hamilton will take the ten place knock at the Italian grand prix.

Ferrari hasn’t had the season that they and most expected them to have. Nevertheless, team principal Maurizio Arrivebene has confirmed that there will be another engine upgrade but has not confirmed whether it will be forthcoming in Belgium or Italy. They do have Raikkonen in their arsenal who has been dubbed The King of Spa. But before the summer break they had clearly fallen behind Red Bull.

This next round of the 2016 F1 season has everything going for it. The best drivers in the world sweeping through Eau Rouge, Pouhon, and Blanchimont on the greatest circuit ever built is surely a match made in Formula 1 heaven.

August 24, 2016
F1 2016: Mid-season Review

Formula 1 is two weeks into its mid-season break, which provides the perfect occasion to reflect on the first half of 2016.

Mercedes brilliant but not without bruises

The reigning champions rocketed out of the starting gate in 2016 and haven’t faced a consistently noteworthy challenge from anyone. Nico Rosberg obliterated the competition with four victories in a row and built a commanding lead over teammate Lewis Hamilton in the driver’s standings.

It appeared that Rosberg had finally mastered his mental demons and would make a serious bid for championship glory. But Lewis Hamilton was calm the face of Rosberg’s domination and sometimes even a bit detached from his points deficit. Nearly a decade and several clutch moments in the sport provided Hamilton with an abundance of experience and the knowledge that the championship was far from out of reach.

He not only closed the gap but also took over the lead on the driver’s table going into the break. The nagging question about Rosberg’s psychological toughness has roared back to life especially after that controversial collision with Hamilton in Spain and Austria.

While Rosberg and Hamilton rub carbon fibre instead of wheels Toto Wolff and co has threatened to enforce team-orders. But this is unlikely to happen, as neither driver will accept it. The championship is far from over but it’s clear that right now Hamilton has the edge on form and crucially in mentality.

Red Bull storm back into contention

The team started the season with Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat in the cockpit of a car seriously lacking in grunt. Two vital changes turned the season around for the Austrian team. First, Kvyat was demoted to Toro Rosso in favour of Max Verstappen. The young Dutchmen immediately repaid the faith but winning the Spanish grand prix.

The second big change came in the form of a power unit upgrade from Renault. It not only catapulted Red Bull past Ferrari on pace but summarily halved the gap to Mercedes. Yes, there is still work to be done for Red Bull to be serious competition for Mercedes but the manner in which they’ve recovered their 2016 season is an impressive feat.

Ferrari stutter

In pre-season testing the Italian team looked set to challenge for victories and perhaps even a championship title if thing well, it didn’t. In Australia the wrong strategy call kept Sebastian Vettel from victory. Several dubious and costly strategy calls would follow throughout the first half of the season.

With that several gearbox penalties dogged particularly Vettel as he started race after the race down the grid. Team principal Maurizio Arrivabene finally admitted that their aggressive approach might have cost them points on reliability.

But the biggest blow came with the departure of chief technical director James Alison. Whatever the reason for Alison leaving the team it’s never a good sign when a senior member leaves a team midway through a season. Rumours are abounding that Ferrari are trying to bring Paddy Lowe and James Key into the stable. However, while both these men as exceptional at their respective jobs bringing them in at this point is unlikely to have a significant impact.

Ferrari is flailing in a manner that is unbecoming to its history and the only reason why it’s not being called catastrophic is because of their two drivers who somehow wring results out of their car.

McLaren moving forward

Honda has slowly but surely started to claw its way up the grid. Both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button making regular appearance in the top 10 of qualifying and scoring the odd handful of points.

Though it’s still not where either of these champions want to be the Japanese manufacturer is doing just enough to keep Alonso and Button satisfied and believing that 2017 may be their year.

Haas’ good start fades

The American Haas team started the F1 season in spectacular fashion with Romain Grosjean. Several solid point scoring races and brilliant strategy calls belied the fact that this was a new team in Formula 1.

However, as the season progressed so the good times were consigned to the past. As other mid-field teams like Force India began to move forward and evolve their cars Haas seemed to stumble. Gone were the regular points scores to be replaced by a confused and frustrated Frenchman over the radio.

The good news for Haas is that Esteban Gutierrez’ performances have improved from the start of the season. There also isn’t an impression of negativity from the pitwall or the team boss. They are well aware that trying to hack it as a new team in F1 is a difficult prospect. They’re keeping their eye firmly on the ball and that’s what matters.

Force India resurgence

The season started rather mundanely for Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. But a genuine improvement has allowed the team to close the gap to Williams in the constructor’s championship.

While Sergio Perez has scored two podiums Hulkenberg has none. Some would be surprised at this stat as Hulkenberg is so highly regarded in the paddock. If the team can keep the car competitive in the mid-field the fights between its two drivers should develop into one worth keeping an eye on.

The F1 season returns 26 August with the Belgium grand prix.

August 15, 2016
F1 2016: German Gp Review – Hamilton Surges, Rosberg Falters

After the Saturday qualifying session Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was on top of the world after delivering a stunning lap, for pole, under extreme pressure.

But the German’s euphoria on home soil was short lived as teammate Lewis Hamilton rocketed into the lead of the race. Hamilton went on to taste the sweet success of victory at the German grand prix while teammate Rosberg stumbled at home.

Not only did Rosberg fall behind his teammate but also both Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. For several fleeting moments it appeared that Rosberg would have the pace to recover to second place. But the afternoon went horribly pear-shaped for the Merc driver. In an attempt to overtake Verstappen he tried an Austria-esque move, which, again, didn’t pan out. It resulted in a 5-second penalty and despite being in the cockpit of the most dominant car on the grid Rosberg slunk home in fourth place.

After the Russian grand prix Rosberg had a 43-point lead over Hamilton. But now we’ve seen a 62-point swing in Hamilton’s favour. There’s only so many times you can accept losing points to a teammate before it becomes awkward. Yes, there is still half a season to go but this dramatic swing in points will do nothing to quell the questions Rosberg’s psychological make-up.

Red Bull Racing completed a satisfactory day at the office with their first double podium since the 2015 Hungarian Gp. Ricciardo led home teammate Verstappen and ensured that Red Bull head into the month-long break ahead of Ferrari in the constructors standings.

With 5^th and 6^th for Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari have big concerns heading into the summer break and are now behind Red Bull not only on points but also in terms of raw pace.

Nico Hulkenberg delivered the best Force India could hope for with seventh place while drive of the day belongs to McLaren driver Jenson Button in eighth. The Brit summarily out-performed his highly acclaimed teammate Fernando Alonso who finished twelfth.

It was easy to discern the great spirit of the two McLaren drivers from the radio comms between them and their pitwall. It hasn’t been easy for these two champions to endure this car but it does reveal a great deal of their passion for racing for still being as spirited as ever behind the wheel.

Hamilton now leads the driver’s standings by 19 points. There is no doubt that Rosberg is a talented driver but the questions and doubts about his mental strength will be raised once more.

(All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

August 1, 2016
Nico Rosberg takes German GP practice hat trick

Nico Rosberg completed a hat trick of the German GP practice sessions, leading the way during the final practice session ahead of this weekend’s race.

Rosberg posted a time of 1:15.738 on his second super soft run, which was 0.057s clear of Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton has been summoned to the stewards for an unsafe releas ahead of Romain Grosjean in the pit lane. Paddy Lowe commented that the pit garage exit is extremely tight and there’s not much room to bring the drivers out.

Red Bull and Ferrari finished within spitting distance of the Mercedes drivers with Daniel Ricciardo completing his session only 0.099s behind Rosberg’s time. Kimi Raikkonen finished 0.164 behind the German.

Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen finished 5th and 6th fastest, Vettel completing the session with some damage to his front wing. Verstappen had complained earlier in the session that his battery was not charging.

Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were the only other drivers along the grid to lap within a second of Rosberg’s time.

Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the Top 10.

Carlos Sainz Jr and Daniil Kvyat posted the 11th and 14th fastest times for Toro Rosso split by the Mexicans – Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez.

Renault finished 15th and 16th with Kevin Magnussen going a dash faster than team mate Joylen Palmer. Button set the 19th fastest time amid plenty complaints of a loose rear and very low grip. He completed only 6 laps.

Manor drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto finished 20th and 21st with Romain Grosjean only managing four laps before spinning out at Turn 3 with gearbox complaints. Grosjean will need to take a gearbox change resulting in a five place drop following qualifying.

Join us at 14:00 GMT+2 on Twitter @F1_Madness for live commentary and chat from qualifying for the German Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas

July 30, 2016
F1 2016: Free Practice 2 Report German Gp – Rosberg Tops Timing Sheet

Nico Rosberg topped the timing sheet at the end of the second free practice session for the German grand prix.

The Mercedes driver out-paced teammate Hamilton by four tenths of a second to end the 90 minute practice session with a quickest time of :1:15:614. Lewis Hamilton, 0.394 adrift, finished the session in second overall ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

Max Verstappen slotted his Red Bull into fourth ahead of Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo in fifth and Kimi Raikkonen in sixth. Nico Hulkenberg was seventh quickest in the Force India ahead of Jenson Button, Sergio Perez, and Fernando Alonso.

The long runs suggest an advantage for Mercedes especially on the red-walled supersoft tyre but the Red Bull of Max Verstappen was able to turn laptimes on the yellow-walled soft tyre not far off the Mercedes pace. At the end of Friday Ferrari is currently the third best team behind Mercedes and Red Bull. However, their pace should improve on Saturday as they bolt in some fresher engines.

McLaren’s Jenson Button made a trip to the hospital after complaining for an eye irritation but the visit is believed to only a pre-cautionary matter.

The issue of track limits was shoved into the spotlight as the stewards warned that they would clampdown on anyone who ran over the white line on the exit of turn 2 more than three times.

July 29, 2016
F1 2016: German GP Preview – Hockenheimring Returns!

The last time the F1 paddock visited Germany’s Hockenheimring was in 2014. Back then Mercedes’ dominance was just getting into its stride and Sebastian Vettel was still a Red Bull driver.

Given the amount of things that have changed it feels impossible that the race around the Hockenheimring was just two years ago. In 2016 Lewis Hamilton is a triple world champion, Sebastian Vettel has settled into life as a Ferrari driver, and there was no American team on the grid.

What remains unchanged is the mystic and attraction of the Hockenheimring. They will all be fighting it out on a German circuit that varies quite a bit from what was seen two weeks ago in Hungary. The layout includes just two high speed corners as the rest of the lap is comprised of medium speed corners. This requires stability under braking and conversely good traction out of the slower speed corners.

Overtaking here is easier than at the Hungaroring but Red Bull and Ferrari are unlikely to have enough to challenge Mercedes. For Red Bull the fact that the German circuit is very much power limited will have a big impact on their pace. However, expect to see Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen loitering near the top few positions and likely giving the Ferrari’s a tough fight.

The Italian team have been thrown a bit of curveball with the departure of tech chief James Allison. It’s never a good sign when one of the head honchos leaves mid-way through the season but it is likely that Allison did not in order to spend time with his young children. The immediate impact on Ferrari won’t be too significant. They still have scheduled updates to fit to the 2016 car throughout the season as they shift focus to their 2017 challenger.

In Germany the cooler weather may once again be Ferrari’s foe. Throughout the season the team has consistently struggled with maintaining optimum tyre temps in cooler conditions.

The run down to turn one tightens quite quickly and it remains to be seen how hard the two Merc boys will fight for dominance when the light goes out. You can’t help feeling that if Rosberg is beaten by Hamilton here it may be championship over for the German.

July 28, 2016
F1 2016: Hungarian Gp Review – Lewis Hamilton, Hungaro-King

The Hungarian grand prix marked the theoretical mid point of the 2016 season. Yet, after ten races a singular point was all that divided Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in the championship fight.

Throughout the weekend’s practice sessions and qualifying it was Rosberg who looked most comfortable. But it wasn’t long before Hamilton got the drop on his pole-starting teammate and seized the lead of the race. Although it was not as dominant a drive from Hamilton he always maintained a big enough gap to Rosberg to ensure his fifth win around the Hungaroring.

The Silver Arrows held a distinct pace advantage over the rest and were hardly challenged by third placed Daniel Ricciardo. The Red Bull driver threatened Rosberg’s second place by momentarily closing the gap to 4.5 seconds in the second half of the race but couldn’t make any further impression.

The embattled Ferrari’s ran better in race trim but still fell short of reaching the podium. Sebastian Vettel, who started fifth, closed to within half a second of Ricciardo as the race drew to its ends but was unable to overtake on the notoriously difficult Hungaroring.

Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen were embroiled in a fight for fifth towards the end of the race. Verstappen managed to hold off Raikkonen who started 14^th after a timing error on Saturday. However, the manner in which Verstappen defended his position was questionable, at best. In trying to keep Raikkonen at bay Verstappen changed direction twice which is prohibited under FIA regulations. While stewards saw no cause for investigation the young Red Bull driver’s actions was met with scorn on social media. Raikkonen eventually brought the Ferrari home in sixth and set the fastest lap of the race.

Although a fair distance adrift Fernando Alonso scored some points for the McLaren in a legitimate seventh place ahead Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso and the Williams of Valterri Bottas. The final point went to a rather anonymous Nico Hulkenberg as the only retirement of the day came in the form of a Jenson Button whose McLaren suffered an oil leak.

Lewis Hamilton landed a hammer blow as he not only secured a fifth win at the Hungaroring but with it took over the lead in the driver’s championship. By successfully overcoming a 43 point deficit it also strikes a significant psychological blow to Nico Rosberg. Remarkably, the battle for championship glory is far from over and has all the possibility of turning on its head once more as ten races still remain on the 2016 calendar.

(All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

July 25, 2016
Stewards Clear Rosberg for Ignoring Yellow Flags

The stewards have ruled that Nico Rosberg did, in fact, slow down for the yellow flags in qualifying and will keep pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Rosberg was called to stewards late on Saturday evening after an alleged breach of Appendix H, Article 2.4.5.1 b) of the FIA Sporting Regulations. It was alleged that Rosberg did not slow down for the yellow flags at Turn 9 in Q3 after McLaren’s Fernando Alonso spun and came to a stop with his car partially on the track.

Rosberg’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton was on a flying lap and the yellow flags meant that he had to back out of the lap. By the time Rosberg had reached Turn 9, Alonso had already cleared the area and was on his way back to the pits. The yellow flag conditions, however, persisted. When Rosberg had reached T9, the yellow flags were still out. On board shots of Rosberg going through Turns 8 and 9 showed that he had lifted off.

The stewards ruled that no further action should be taken on Rosberg as telemetry had showed that he had slowed down.

In a statement the stewards said: “The telemetry demonstrated that the driver reduced speed significantly into turn 8.”

Photo credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

July 23, 2016