Tag: fernando alonso

No Frustration for Alonso after Retiring From Canadian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso insists that his frustrations as McLaren did not boil over during the race.

The Spaniard ended his Canadian Grand Prix campaign early after retiring on lap 46 with an exhaust related issue. But even before that he was heard on the radio during the race venting his frustrations to the team.

When his race engineer asked him to save fuel Alonso replied with a defiant “I don’t want. I don’t want. His engineer then replied and told him that they will have bigger problems later in the race if he does not save fuel. Alonso replied with: “I already have big problems now. Driving like this and looking like amateurs. So I’ll race and then I’ll save fuel.”

When asked about his radio message after the race Alonso insisted that it was not because he was frustrated with the situation.

“No frustration, it was just I had some battles going on, I had to save fuel, save tyres and after three or four reminders I said ‘First, let me race because it is my good motivation now, as we have cars around and then at the end if we are on our own, we save fuel then’,” he said speaking to Sky Sports F1.

“But we know the situation, it is what it is, and what we need to do is work harder than ever because we want to change the situation. All the things I see for future races make sense, I see some positive signs that everything that is coming makes sense.”

Despite this he remains positive and he is very optimistic at future developments McLaren are bringing to the car despite his third consecutive retirement from a race.

“Obviously, I’m a little bit sad to have suffered a third consecutive retirement. I lost power and I had to pit, and that was it,” he said after the race.

“Definitely, we need to put some things in order – we know the situation for what it is but what we have to do now is work harder than ever because we want to change the situation more than ever.”

“All the developments I know are coming for future races make sense, so I can see positive signs. I think we need to be patient now, and we need to continue to work incredibly hard.”

Photo Credit: McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team

June 8, 2015
F1 2015: GP Preview – Classic Canada

Change is said to be inevitable and Formula 1 has embraced this fate with more regularity than most. Thankfully, it hasn’t abandoned some of thegreat circuit that lends its much needed character to the world championship.

As the seventh round of the 2015 season the Canadian grand prix is collectively treasured by drivers, teams and fans. The circuit Gilles Villeneuve is an oldie but a goodie and renowned for its tendency to dish up thrilling racing.

Its decades old history is spectacular and has rarely faltered to live up to its magnificent highs. The last several races around here have all had their own dramatic and enthralling stories. Last year the grinning Aussie Daniel Ricciardo snapped up his first grand prix victory after Mercedes ran into trouble. In especially dramatic fashion Jenson Button snatched victory from Sebastian Vettel on the last lap in 2011 after an appalling race at which stage the Brit was dead last.

It was here too that Lewis Hamilton took his first race win in 2007 as a bright-eyed McLaren driver. Altogether Hamilton has quite the romance with North American races having in Canada and the United States on several occasions. The incident that kept the reigning champion from winning the Monaco grand prix would have been tough to take on the day but there is little doubt that Hamilton will arrive in Montreal with that controversial issue well out of his mind.

The physical make-up of the circuit Gilles Villeneuve calls for an aggressive approach. “I remember coming back into the pits and saying ‘what a circuit,’ I was amazed at how good it was – and I’d only done an install. It’s just a ridiculous amount of fun. You can jump across the kerbs and really get the car bouncing around,” shares Daniel Ricciardo. “It’s like getting back to go-kart days, you really feel like you own it – and I love that. You can get aggressive with it, and aim to just brush the wall.”

The close proximity of the barriers often draws comparisons with Monaco which makes the likelihood of a safety car appearance fairly high. There is a distinct lack of overtaking opportunities which means that a good performance in qualifying can often translate to a good showing in Sunday’s race.

In technical terms the track’s long straight classifies it as a power dominant circuit. A greater focus is placed on brake wear with several big stops around the circuit. This was the area in 2014 that found out Mercedes as both cars suffered brake failure with only Rosberg seeing the chequered flag on that occasion. The circuit is mostly unused during the rest of the year which will make for a slow start to the weekend. Here too the weather conditions can be variable making the job of getting temperature into the tyres a tough one.

Mercedes closest rivals are likely to Ferrari as it has been for the most part this year. The reality however is that though Ferrari are labelled as Mercedes’ rivals they still remain some way off their dominating pace.

The steps that are being taken forward by Ferrari have grown slightly shorter over the last few months. The victory in Malaysia seems a long time ago and the Italian team has not been able to make a real impression on Mercedes of late. The upgradepackage brought to the Spanish grand prix wasn’t shown up to its potential in Monaco and may add a bit of performance.

A ten point gap is all that is between Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. But will it be left to a battle between the two Silver Arrows or will the Canadian grand prix once again deliver its notoriously dramatic races?

June 3, 2015
F1 2015: Monaco GP Review – Mercedes Bungle Monaco

To be perplexed is to be completely baffled or mystified as to what has happened. Suffice it to say that Mercedes ensured that entire Formula 1 fraternity was left entirely stunned.

Lewis Hamilton secured his first ever pole position around the famous streets and easily led his teammate from the starting grid as the red lights extinguished. The race settled quickly and the seventy-eight laps of the Monaco grand prix appeared to be nothing more than a formality as yet another victory beckoned for Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

The Brit had a more than comfortable lead ahead of Nico Rosberg and was cruising towards the chequered flag. As the grand prix drew towards its conclusion Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen clipped the back of Romain Grosjean’s Lotus and ploughed headfirst into the turn one barrier. The Toro Rosso teenager was given a five place grid penalty at the next round for causing a collision. It first brought out the safety-car and prompted a serious malfunction of logic on the Mercedes pitwall.

Hamilton was called into the pitlane for a new set of supersoft tyres and emerged back on track behind Rosberg and Vettel. The fresher tyres on Hamilton’s car were negated by the notoriously narrow Monaco circuit as the championship leader went from assured victory to third.

The reasoning behind the stop remains remarkably vague. As neither Rosberg nor Vettel, in third, pitted for new tyres there was nothing to cover from Hamilton’s perspective who held a nearly 21 second lead. It was a peculiar call that saw a rightly morose Hamilton on the makeshift podium. An immediate debrief within the team revealed a miscalculation of the gap between Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel.

Call it a stroke of luck but there is much to be said for being in the right place as Nico Rosberg and his side of the Mercedes garage found out. A third consecutive Monaco victory takes Rosberg into elite company and only ten points off the championship lead.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel shadowed Rosberg for most of the afternoon and reaped the benefits of Mercedes mistake by securing second overall whilst holding off Hamilton. Red Bull enjoyed its best outing of the season with a fourth and fifth place finish for Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo. Kimi Raikkonen paid for a lacklustre qualifying performance and an inability to overtake with sixth place on the day.

It was a good weekend all-round for Sergio Perez who finished seventh overall in what is effectively a 2014 Force India. After six races McLaren opened their points account with Jenson Button’s eighth place finish. It’s a welcome reward for the team as Fernando Alonso was once again sidelined, this time with a gearbox issue. Sauber’s Felipe Nasr and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz rounded out the top ten.

A major talking point of the weekend was the supersoft and soft compound tyres that Pirelli rolled out for the Monaco grand prix. A pronounced lack of grip and an inability to get enough heat into the tyres was a problem up and down the pitlane.

Of late there have been rumblings that additional tyre suppliers may be brought into the equation. Pirelli, along with the likes of Michelin, will have to bid in 2017 to be the official tyre supplier of Formula 1. Several drivers confirmed that the supersoft tyre could easily do half of the Monaco grand prix and the soft, yellow-walled compound, the entire race distance. While Pirelli are following instructions as to the make-up of the compounds it certainly is not conducive to entertaining racing Formula 1 so badly seeks.

Flashback two years ago when Pirelli’s supersoft tyre faced different criticism for all but falling apart after a handful of laps. In 2013, the tyres had to be coddled and cajoled, sometimes to the extreme, but even that produced a better show than the damp squib of a one-stop race with nearly indestructible tyres.

Ultimately, a race that was rather dull was infused with a dramatic plot twist that no one saw coming. While Lewis Hamilton is allowed his interlude of woe-is-me that is all it’s likely to be. The 2015 version of Hamilton is, mentally, much stronger than at any other stage of his career and by the time Canada rolls around will have consigned the incident to the history books.

May 25, 2015
F1 2015: Monaco GP Qualifying Report – Hamilton On Pole

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton secured pole position ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg for Sunday’s Monaco grand prix.

The Mercedes pairing were well clear of the third placed Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel as they locked out the front row of the starting grid. Lewis Hamilton snapped up his first pole position start around the Monte Carlo streets with a three tenth margin over his Monaco-specialist teammate Rosberg. The German, who has won on the last two visits to the Principality, took to the escape road at turn one as he attempted to start his final run in the third part of the qualifying session.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished best of the rest and will share the second row of the grid with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. Daniil Kvyat wrapped up fifth with Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari round out the top six. Force India’s Sergio Perez delivered the performance of the qualifying hour as he set the seventh fastest time in a season which has so far been a struggle for the Indian-owned team.

Carlos Sainz out-qualified his teammate in eighth while Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado will line up ninth ahead of Max Verstappen. Romain Grosjean set the eleventh quickest time but a five place grid penalty for a new gearbox means he will start the race from 16th. It promotes McLaren’s Jenson Button to eleventh ahead of the other Force India of Nico Hulkenberg.

The biggest disappointment of the qualifying session was Fernando Alonso’s inability to show any of McLaren’s improvements as he ground to a halt in the first part of the qualifying hour. Elsewhere, Williams endured a woeful afternoon which will see Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas start the race in 13th and 17th respectively.

May 23, 2015
Hamilton doubles up on the dominance in Monaco practice

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton served up a double dose of dominance in today’s free practice sessions ahead of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Hamilton set the pace early on in the first practice session at Monaco with an impressive run, finishing the session 0.149 seconds quicker than – and outshone only by – Toro Rosso rookie Max Verstappen, the clear star of the FP1 show.

Verstappen, who is not even old enough to rent a car – let alone drive one unsupervised on public roads, put in a magnificent performance. Young Max, son of former Formula One driver Jos Verstappen, had never raced around the tight, twisty and very unforgiving street circuit before and team principal Franz Tost was mightily impressed.

“He went out in the morning and from run to run he improved his lap time without making any mistake. No locking, nothing. His car control and his feedback during the run was really extraordinary,” he said.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner was just as impressed. “I thought it was super. For a guy that can’t rent a hire car yet, it’s enormously impressive, at 17 years of age.

“I think the two Toro Rosso drivers actually have done a wonderful job this year,” he added. “I think it’s one of the positive stories in Formula One at the moment, those two young rookies that Red Bull have given a chance.

“They’re here on merit and it shows that the junior programme is most definitely working.”

Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo placed his Red Bull in third position ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Spanish F1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr in the second Toro Rosso.

Pastor Maldonado ended the session in sixth place for Lotus, ahead of Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Nico Rosberg and Williams’s Felipe Massa rounded out the top 10, just ahead of the McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.

The track was slippery, starting off a little wet from overnight rain and several drivers had incidents in which their cars sustained damage and everyone struggled with grip due to not being able to generate enough heat in their tyres.

Hamilton seemed dominant throughout though and continued FP2 right where he left off after FP1. The Mercedes driver seemed to be on his own planet as the rain stopped play for much of the second practice session. He finished 0.74 seconds faster than team mate Nico Rosberg.

Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were third and fourth in their Ferraris, ahead of Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat.

After only about 20 minutes of dry running, Roberto Merhi lost control under braking while heading into the harbour chicane and crashing into the barriers bringing out the red flag. Before the session could be restarted, the rain flushed out any ideas of running and soaked the circuit.

A few drivers did decide to head back out at the very end of the session, including a few drivers trying out Pirelli’s extreme wet tyres.

Nico Rosberg finished the session down in ninth place but Verstappen continued to impress, despite only just missing out on the sixth place on the timesheets being beaten to the position by his team mate Carlos Sainz Jr this time around.

McLaren seemed to be doing just a tad better, too – with Fernando Alonso, who is optimistic about being able to challenge for points this weekend, finishing in 7th place. Team mate Jenson Button finished 15th for the session.

There will be no practice sessions tomorrow. Please join us on Twitter @F1_Madness on Saturday morning for live coverage and chat during the third practice session, as well as qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix!

Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG F1

May 21, 2015
F1 2015: Monaco Grand Prix Preview – Magical Monaco Is Back

Often words are used to describe things and situations and just as often the true meaning of these over-used words are lost. But if you have ever looked for a true definition of opulence, then look no further than Monte Carlo.

The Monaco grand prix weekend is arguably the most looked forward to race on the F1 calendar. It’s the visual representation of what Formula 1 can and should be. It’s glamorous, drenched in money and diamonds, daringly fast and dramatically out-of-place.

The history of the famous Monte Carlo race alone is enough of a tale to weave the most majestic of Formula 1 stories. For around these famous streets the definitive legends of the sport artfully plied their trade. So rapt was the great Ayrton Senna with the Anthony Noghes circuit that he described it as the most extreme out of body experience he ever had behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car, as if it was a sixth sense driving him around the narrow streets, centimetres from the barriers.

Even in the year 2015 this venue and circuit has lost none of its magnificent charm and remains the jewel in the Formula 1 crown. This means too that qualifying for the Monaco grand prix is as important as ever. It could spell the end before the weekend has even begun considering the definite advantage that Mercedes hold over one lap.

But don’t consign anyone else’s chances to the scrapheap just yet. In 2009, Jenson Button all-dominant Brawn secured the Monaco Grand Prix pole position by a few thousandths of a second over the lacklustre attempt of a car Ferrari slapped together that year.

Then there is the potential undercut on new Pirelli rubber. The supersoft is a choice this weekend and the performance advantage of this particular compound has been nearly two seconds in some circumstances. It has been the case so far this season that Ferrari are lot kinder to their tyres than Mercedes and they will undoubtedly be looking to exploit such an advantage this weekend. However, Ferrari’s advantage isn’t quite as clear-cut as that. Much will depend on the temperatures and it will have to err on the sizzling side of things for Ferrari to have a genuine leg up on Mercedes. Alas, if no one else can stem the Silver Arrows’ dominance this weekend at least the rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg should be quite intense.

Last year’s Monaco grand prix was shrouded in controversy thanks mostly to Nico Rosberg’s “mistake” in qualifying. It cost Lewis Hamilton the chance of snapping up the coveted pole position and put the fraying tension between the two on display for the world to see.

In 2015 the story reads a bit differently. Although Hamilton starts the weekend in the lead of the drivers’ championship for the first time this season, he is the one who will have to make the running around these famous streets. Consider Rosberg’s dominant win in Spain and add to the equation that he has quite an affinity for Monaco grand prix and has won on the last two visits to the Principality then it certainly looks like a leg up on his teammate.

The Monaco grand prix is literally the most regal event on the F1 calendar given that the trophies at the end of the race are presented by the Monegasque Royal family. Now all we need to know is who will be crowned maestro of the Monaco streets.

May 20, 2015
F1 Video: Monaco memories – Alonso vs Raikkonen 2005 pole fight

Ah, Monaco memories from the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix Qualifying session! Enjoy the screaming engine and the sheer speed of the last ever low fuel V10 Formula One engine qualifying session! It was Fernando Alonso (racing for Renault) and Kimi Raikkonen (for McLaren) to the end. A classic battle for pole position ahead of the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix. Monaco never fails to deliver and 2005 was a stunning example of that! Martin Brundle calls Kimi Raikkonen’s 2005 Monaco GP qualifying lap, “the lap of the year!”. Enjoy this epic Monaco GP qualifying battle. Be sure to turn your volume all the way up!

May 19, 2015
Alonso eyeing points in Monaco

Fernando Alonso is eyeing to score his first points for the season at this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix and is optimistic that McLaren can challenge for points.

McLaren has had a dismal start to their season and is yet to score a point since reuniting with Honda at the start of 2015. At the Spanish Grand Prix, Alonso progressed through to Q2 during qualifying but retired from the race when a visor tear-off strip caused a brake failure. His team mate Jenson Button also had a very difficult run, labeling the car as being “scary to drive” and finished in 16th position.

Alonso however is hopeful that McLaren-Honda can compete for a top 10 postition around the streets of Monte Carlo.

“Monaco is one of those circuits that’s in its own league,” Alonso said. “Although it’s almost impossible to overtake there, it still produces one of the most impressive and exciting shows on the Formula 1 calendar.

“As a circuit and as a place, it’s completely unique, and this is what makes it so special. There are three areas you have to focus on for this Grand Prix – qualifying, concentration, and strategy.

“Saturday is where you can increase your chances of getting a good result from the weekend, so this will be our first objective, and I’m hopeful we can continue to strengthen our qualifying performance and improve our starting position.

“On Sunday, the most important thing is concentration – the streets are so narrow and twisty that there is no margin for error – so if you can do this and also maximise your strategy, you have the best chance of moving up the order by the end of the race.

“My home race in Barcelona was obviously a frustrating weekend for the whole team; we were unlucky with how my race ended and we firmly believed we could’ve achieved a positive result there.

“Our fighting spirit is still strong though, and we’re determined to take that to Monaco and see how much progress we can make there. I’m hopeful our car will perform better there than in Spain, and we’ll be pushing again to get into the points.”

Fernando Alonso Photo Credit: McLaren F1

May 18, 2015
Honda finalising development plan: We need more horsepower

Honda plan to spend some of their nine allocated development tokens on boosting maximum horsepower by looking into different concepts around combustion in the next few months.

The engine manufacturer – who only supply McLaren – only entered the sport this season and therefore have less engine tokens compared to their rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault. Planning how to spend these tokens will be key to improvement throughout the season but Honda motorsport boss Yasuhisa Arai believes they have established the key areas where there are weaknesses and tokens can be well spent on improving.

“We don’t have the complete plan yet as to how to use the tokens, which areas and when,” said Arai.

“We have already confirmed which areas are the most effective, and I know we are making a plan to apply race-by-race how many tokens we spend.

“One area where we are weak is horsepower – we need more horsepower.

“So one area to use the tokens is combustion, and the MGU-K and MGU-H because energy is a very important part.

“Combustion and energy recovery systems are very important.”

When asked what Honda needed to change to achieve their goal, Arai said: “Maybe we need to change the combustion concept, or the turbocharger, or the camshaft, those kind of parts.

“We should try to change the combustion concept because maybe the other power-unit suppliers are always thinking about better combustion characteristics.

“Every day, on the research and development side they are thinking about it, working on or testing a new combustion concept to get more horsepower to immediately apply that.

“Maybe that’s the area to use the tokens.”

The Barcelona in-season test following a very difficult Spanish Grand Prix was quite successful for McLaren and Honda. Jenson Button had described his car has being ‘scary to drive’ during the race but he managed to complete 100 laps without any problems during the test.

Arai also confirmed that Button and his team mate Fernando Alonso should find that they’ll experience “more controlled driveability” from the Honda engine for the upcoming races in Monaco and Canada.

May 18, 2015
F1 2015: Spanish GP Review – Rosberg Rises To The Occassion

It’s taken a bit of time but Nico Rosberg has struck back and with quite a dominant victory at that.

The circuit de Barcelona Catalunya has always been a good hunting ground for the German/Monegasque but given the way his 2015 season has been going the weekend wouldn’t have started with Rosberg as the favourite. In the Mercedes garage it’s been all Hamilton for the first four races and on the championship log too. But if there’s one thing in sport you can always count on its that there are always ups and downs.

From the Saturday qualifying session onwards Nico Rosberg was most definitely on the up.Perhaps it started even earlier than this as Hamilton appeared off-colour for most of the practice running. The reigning champion was never one hundred percent comfortable with the balance of his car and that was all Rosberg needed to pounce.

The under pressure German snapped up pole by a comfortable two-and-a-half tenths and never looked back. A clean launch off the line and good management skills was all Rosberg needed in Sunday’s 66 lap race. At no stage in the race was he ever under pressure and in fact as the chequered flag beckoned he was far enough ahead that he could ease off and coast to victory.

Lewis Hamilton had to work a bit harder for his eventual second place as he opted for a three-stop strategy. The early phase was highlighted by a fight with Sebastian Vettel during which he easily matched the pace of the Ferrari. However, Hamilton thanks to modern aero regs couldn’t get close enough to overtake on the circuit and opted for the pit-stop undercut which affected the position change.

Many would have been quite keen to see what the Ferrari upgrades would deliver in relation to Mercedes. The conclusion was far less spectacular than our lofty daydreams and the Spanish grand prix was a far from stellar weekend for Ferrari.

It could have gone worse for Vettel and Raikkonen; they could, for example, have been McLaren drivers. While Jenson Button was hauling his McHonda around in 18^th place and complaining about incessant understeer Fernando Alonso was forced into retirement with brake failure who, at the time, was running in 13^th place.

Let’s remind ourselves that this is the mighty McLaren. A team once reserved only for the greats such as John Surtees, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. A team that has amassed 182 racewins now reduced to retirements and also-rans. In the innermost part of your racing heart you know that it’s just wrong and desperately sad. It’s difficult to quantify just how far McLaren are from their once inspiring prominence but Jenson Button and Fernando Alonsoaccount of the “scary to drive” car is illuminating and quite disturbing.

Sebastian Vettel secured his customary third place on the grid but over on the other side of the garage a bit of a freak accident meant Raikkonen’s tyres were overcooked and the Finn was forced to set his Q3 time on a used set which netted him seventh on the starting grid. Things didn’t go spectacularly better in the race either. Vettel had a bit of a fight for second with Hamilton but was ultimately relegated to third. Raikkonen too turned a decent pace with yet another impressive stint on the harder, and slower, compound tyre. Yet, Ferrari conceded the biggest victory margin to Mercedes of the season so far.

The first four races of the 2015 season haven’t painted a pretty picture for Nico Rosberg. He has been so comprehensively whipped by Lewis Hamilton that his psychological well-being came into question. A mini-meltdown after the Chinese grand prix and a lacklustre Bahrain grand prix rendered a rather gloomy outlook for the once championship contender.

And while we were rightly discouraged by Rosberg’s lack of grit deep-down we were hoping for resurgence from the number 6 Mercedes. Now, one race doth not make a consistent Hamilton-beater but it has to start somewhere and he is the most likely contender. Given that thenext round is the Monte Carlo grand prix with which Rosberg has quite the love affair this Spanish Gpwin could turn out to be an important turning point for Nico.

May 12, 2015