Tag: fernando alonso

F1 2014: Sochi Success For Hamilton

The most exciting thing about the first ever Russian Grand Prix was … nothing. If truth be told the only moment that induced any sort of eyebrow-raising was a 60 meter lock-up by Nico Rosberg as he tried to steal the lead of the race from Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Other than Rosberg’s rather frantic attempt at getting ahead, the Sochi Autodrom turned out to be a bit of damp squib. The layout, once again designed by Hermann Tilke, provided a technical challenge to drivers when it came to stringing a perfect lap together but as far as the track surface is concerned it most definitely did not want to play ball with Formula 1. Pirelli had the difficult task of predicting what the track surface would offer up and based their decision on how other new tracks had performed. While keeping this in mind it is difficult to blame the Italian tyre manufacturer for bringing tyres to Russia which are almost literally bulletproof.

So indestructible were the Pirelli’s that Nico Rosberg, forced to pit on lap 1 with severely flat-spotted tyres, was able to run a 52 lap stint on one set of tyres. It wasn’t a gigantic risk nor was Rosberg, at any point, required to tip-toe around and nurse his tyres. No, he was able to push and for most of the stint set a pace comparable, and sometimes even quicker, than the race leader.

We commend thee Pirelli for producing the world’s first everlasting F1 tyre. But we implore you to chalk this up to a frightening one-off incident that should never again be repeated.

Saturday’s qualifying certainly provided more entertainment as Williams’ star Finn Valtteri Bottas nearly snatched pole position from Lewis Hamilton’s grasp. It wasn’t to be for the Williams driver but he put himself in the best position possible to fight for a podium finish.

The early part of the race and the Finn’s pace suggested that he could perhaps have a go at the leading Mercedes. But this too fizzled out towards the middle part of race as Hamilton started steadily building the gap to the Williams. Bottas eventually finished third and set the fastest lap of the race.

Jenson Button followed through on the pace McLaren had promised in the free practice sessions with a fine fourth place finish. It was a lonely drive for the Brit who ran as high as third during the opening stint of the race. The second McLaren of Kevin Magnussen recovering from a five place grid penalty induced by a gearbox change,

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished an uninspired sixth and remained as coy as ever as to his future in the sport. Many have already plopped the Spaniard into a McLaren seat for 2015 but Sky’s Ted Kravitz hinted, post-race, that the double champ could be off to Lotus.

Daniel Ricciardo did his level best to get past the Ferrari of Alonso but ultimately could do nothing about it and finished ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel in seventh.

Kimi Raikkonen spent most of the 53 laps embroiled in scrap with the two Toro Rosso drivers but eventually got the better of them and finished a distant ninth. Sergio Perez nearly cut it too close on fuel consumption but held on to bring the Force India home in tenth.

Felipe Massa attempted an aggressive two-stop strategy but never quite recovered from a technical issue in qualifying; the Brazilian finished eleventh.Only Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi and Marussia’s Max Chilton failed to see the chequered flag. As a sign of respect to Jules Bianchi the Marussia team chose to run only one car this weekend.

The Russian Grand Prix most probably didn’t even register a blip on the thrill meter. But it did give us another bit of insight into the title fight. Now that Mercedes has been crowned worthy Constructor’s champions it leaves a straight-up fight for the driver’s crown. Rosberg’s crack at snatching the lead was a tad anxious. Still the German has not beaten Hamilton on a level playing field. We’ve talked a lot about the psychological battle between these two. Is it now finally starting to tell on Nico Rosberg?

October 13, 2014
Hamilton dominates in final Russian practice

Lewis Hamilton set a dominant pace during the final practice session at the Sochi Autodrom ahead of this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix.

Hamilton’s time of 1:38.726 was comfortably faster than the rest of the pack, despite a spin at the penultimate corner which saw him destroy his tyres and unable to complete his lap. At the time he had over a second advantage over his rivals and was on course to improve his own lap time.

Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas did improve and Rosberg ended the session 0.29s down on his team mate’s time.

Daniel Ricciardo finished the session in fourth spot for Red Bull, followed by Felipe Massa and Daniil Kvyat.

Kimi Raikkonen finished the session ahead of his Ferrari team mate Fernando Alonso. The two were 7th and 8th respectively. Jean-Éric Vergne and Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top 10.

Jenson Button finished in 11th place, unable to match the awesome pace McLaren had showed during the Friday practice sessions. He repeatedly complained about balance saying that it was “just aweful”.

His McLaren team mate, Kevin Magnussen had himself a bit of trouble on track. His gear box failed and the Danish driver found himself doing some scary stunt driving to keep his car out of the wall. He managed to do that but the gearbox change will mean a 5 place grid penalty for him.

Pastor Maldonado did not set a time due to an ERS problem.

Top times for the session are below. Please join us on Twitter, @F1_Madness for live commentary and chat during this afternoon’s qualifying session.

October 11, 2014
F1 2014: Friday Practice Round-up – Mercedes Lead The Way

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton finished the first two practice session at Russia’s Sochi Autodrom on top of the timing sheets.

For the first time in its illustrious history Formula 1 commenced an official F1 race weekend in Russia. The circuit, 5.8 km in length and designed by Herman Tilke, was praised by several drivers. “It’s got a really nice flow to it, it’s not too bumpy, the corners are challenging – if you can get the lines just perfect you can put together really nice sectors,” said Lewis Hamilton.

The new track surface also delivered a substantial amount of grip considering that it has never before been used. Set in the undoubtedly inspiring setting of the Olympic Park is providing some challenge for the drivers. “It is more technical and difficult than it looked on paper,” said Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. “It seemed quite hard to get the lap together and has quite a few off camber corners, which isn’t always fun for a driver, but it does make it challenging.”

Spain’s Robert Merhi ran in the first of today’s two free practice sessions for Caterham. Elsewhere, Russia’s Sergey Sirotkin made his debut for the Sauber team in place of Esteban Gutierrez. Sirotkin finished the session only four tenths off the sister car of Adrian Sutil.

According to Daniel Ricciardo the Red Bull team are bracing for a difficult weekend. The Australian’s car broke down during the closing stages of the second free practice session. The three-time grand prix winner described that the weekend would be an exercise in “damage limitation.”

Reports from the McLaren garage were decidedly more upbeat. A closer analysis of the long-run simulations in free practice two revealed that Jenson Button’s laptimes were comparable to that of the Mercedes drivers. JB was especially heartened by the pace he was able to deliver on Friday.

“We were very quick from the word go on the prime tyre. On the option tyre and with low fuel I didn’t really have the balance, so hopefully we can improve that tomorrow.,” said Button. “We are obviously behind the Mercedes, but we have a chance to fight everyone else this weekend.”

October 10, 2014
F1 2014: Russian GP Preview – From Russia With Love

For as long as can be remembered Formula 1 Racing has always been the considered the pinnacle of motor racing. It seems apt then that F1, for the will run a race at a former Olympic site. After all in the world of sport there is no more prestigious achievement than being an Olympic Champion.

For the first time in its history Formula 1 heads to Russia to run on its 5.8 km long Sochi Autodrom. In a similar fashion to Canada’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve the Sochi International Circuit, designed by F1 architect Herman Tilke, will run around the Sochi Olympic Park which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Whether a rookie or a seasoned campaigner, for all driver’s a new circuit is a step into the unknown. Despite the technologically advanced simulators that teams sport these days it is still just that – an imitation. “What the simulator does is let you speed up this process and make initial decisions about car set-up and so on. What the simulator can’t do for a new circuit is give a precise idea of the grip levels you will find as it’s a surface we’ve never raced on before,” said Lotus’ Romain Grosjean.

The circuit’s layout, divvied up into 18 corners, is a mixture of medium speed corners with a couple of fast straights for good measure. “There are definitely similarities to other tracks, perhaps the best comparison is Singapore,” Sebastian Vettel summed up. “But unlike Singapore, the layout is more fluid, so it will be much faster. Some sectors remind me a bit of South Korea or Abu Dhabi.” As a result the circuit should dictate a relatively high downforce set-up.

The tyres supplied by Pirelli in 2014 has, mostly, performed predictably but with a new track surface in Russia and a changeable weather forecast teams are in the unfamiliar position of having no forecast for tyre performance. “In terms of overall tyre energy demands, Russia is somewhere in the middle, and measurements also indicate low-abrasion asphalt,” Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery.

What then does all of this mean for racing? One thing a new venue for Formula 1 will do is even out the playing field between the two Mercedes drivers. Seeing as they’ve never set a wheel of this particular bit of asphalt neither Lewis Hamilton nor Nico Rosberg can claim a performance advantage.

On the forefront of many team’s mind this weekend will the possibility of incurring a grid penalty. As the season draws to its end a few teams and drivers are running their allotment of power units on a wing and prayer. Not least of Sebastian Vettel could be the first of the front-runners to incur a 10 place grid penalty as the German is already on power unit number five for the season.

Yet another miserable weekend, this time in Japan, will have rubbed salt in Ferrari’s wounds. A retirement for Fernando Alonso and a non-points scoring finish for Kimi Raikkonen has done little to aid the Italian team in their fight for third place in the Constructor’s championship. They will need a solid performance this weekend against rivals Williams who should be in better shape than a week ago.

For every year since 1950 a Formula 1 world champion has been crowned; and for almost all of these 64 years this majestic sports has continued to break new ground and make superhuman advances. In its 2014 incarnation the irresistible lure of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg and a championship of a knife edge still fuels an irrepressible passion that’s about to be unleashed in Russia.

October 8, 2014
F1 2014: Hamilton Wins Overshadowed Japanese GP

Every now and then we lapse into an almost oblivious comfort zone where we’re inclined to almost forget that we’re witnessing some of the greatest motorsport talent in the world.

Treacherous conditions at the Japanese GP brought these driver’s tremendous talents into sharp focus this weekend. The grand prix had been under threat of a typhoon for several days but the worst of it was always predicted for Sunday. The calculations proved spot on as the heavens opened a few hours before the start of the race. Streams of water across the track surface and poor visibility demanded a start behind the safety car but it was soon evident that even this precaution would not be enough. The race was red-flagged after two laps behind the safety car.

Pole sitter Nico Rosberg was led into the pitlane for what would become a 25 minute delay. The safety car restart brought drama for Ferrari as Fernando Alonso was forced into retirement with an electronic problem. The resumption of racing brought with it the much anticipated battle between Rosberg and Hamilton. It was Hamilton, renowned for his wet weather skills, who piled on the pressure and eventually took the lead with a terrifyingly courageous move around the outside of turn one. If Rosberg was struggling with his tyres, or conditions or even car performance the fact remains that when it comes time to go wheel-to-wheel with Hamilton he has not yet stepped up. By being consigned to second place Rosberg finds himself ten points adrift of the championship leader.

Another master in wet conditions Jenson Button made an early call for intermediate tyres and was running as high as third. JB eventually fell prey to the much faster Red Bulls and brought the McLaren home in fifth. Although the 2009 champion is yet to nail down his seat for 2015 his display in this race underlined his class.

The superstar that is Daniel Ricciardo once again lit up the race with several brilliant overtaking manoeuvres. The Aussie boldly overtook both Williams’ drivers in the Esses in indescribably difficult conditions. Of Williams there was regrettably not much to get excited about. Despite locking out the second row of the grid Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were decidedly absent from proceedings. So much so, that you wouldn’t have been blamed for thinking that they had already closed up shop and headed off to Russia.

Sebastian Vettel, who announced that he will be leaving Red Bull at the end of the season, kept close quarters with his teammate but a late stop for fresh tyres dropped him to fourth. However, on count back, following the second and final red flag the future Ferrari driver was elevated to third.

Sadly, the Japanese GP was overshadowed by an accident for Marussia’s Jules Bianchi. The 25-year-old went off at Turn seven on lap 43 and crashed heavily into a recovery vehicle which was in the process of removing the Sauber of Adrian Sutil who had crashed a lap earlier. The accident resulted in the second red flag and prompted race control to call the race result. The Frenchman was taken to the circuit medical centre and soon afterward transported to a nearby hospital. The official news, confirmed by the FIA, is that Bianchi suffered a severe head injury which has required surgery.

The mood amongst Japanese GP podium finishers Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel was decidedly sombre after having learnt of Bianchi’s crash as it was for all motorsport fans. In a show of respect and great sportsmanship no champagne was sprayed on the podium.

We get used to it when nothing happens and when something does happen we are surprised, understandably upset and looking to place blame where it seems to be most convenient. The truth is, and will remain, that hindsight is always 20/20. We want to blame the FIA for not starting the race earlier; we want to blame race control for not hanging out the red flag earlier or putting out a safety car, we’ll even speculate as to why Bianchi did not slow in the face of double waved yellow flags.

Ultimately, this is a reminder that regardless of how well organised or how many contingencies are put in place there will occasionally be a situation that exposes the danger of Formula 1. All our thoughts and prayers reside with Jules Bianchi. Forza Jules.

October 5, 2014
Video: Massa gatecrashes Alonso interview to find out where he’s going

After Red Bull’s announcement that Sebastian Vettel will be leaving the team at the end of the season, and Alonso’s imminent departure from Ferrari, the rumour mills are in full swing again. And the drivers seem to love this silly season business as much as we all do. Felipe Massa had a bit of fun with Alonso during a post-qualifying interview ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. Massa gatecrashed Alonso’s interview asking, “Are you going to Marussia? Huh? Huh? Caterham?”. Alonso laughed it off but quickly responded to Massa saying, “Come to Ferrari”. Haha. It’s good to see that the drivers can still be light hearted about it all.

October 4, 2014
F1 2014: Japanese GP – Rosberg Secures Pole

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg secured pole position ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton ahead of Sunday’s Japanese grand prix.

There were few surprises in the first session of qualifying as both Caterhams, Marussia’s and Lotus’ were eliminated from Q1. The second part of qualifying saw Jean-Eric Vergne out-qualify his younger teammate Danil Kvyat who learnt this morning that he would be a Red Bull Racing driver in 2015.

The Russian will be replacing four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel who managed to secure ninth on the grid. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, surrounded by rumours and media off the track, slotted into fifth on the grid. Teammate Raikkonen could only set a lap fast enough for tenth.

The Williams pairing of Valterri Bottas and Felipe Massa locked out the second row of the grid and appear to be Mercedes’ closest challengers. Lewis Hamilton, recovering for a crash in the third practice session, was two tenths of his teammates place.

The biggest talking point on the track remains the prospective weather conditions for Sunday’s Japanese Gp. As a typhoon makes it way ever closer to the Mie prefecture questions remain as to the conditions and if it will allow for a race to take place.

October 4, 2014
Alonso set to leave Ferrari at the end of 2014

Numerous reports are suggesting that Fernando Alonso is set to leave Ferrari at the end of the season with McLaren looking like the Spaniards new team for 2015.

It is believed that the restructuring at Ferrari has led to a strained relationship between new Ferrari Chairman, Sergio Marchionne and Alonso. Although Alonso is contracted to Ferrari till 2016, it is believed that he is in discussions with the team to release him of his contract to allow him to make the move to McLaren. According to AutoSport, Ferrari and Alonso have accepted the fact that their futures will be spent apart. This will bring an end to 5 year relationship between Ferrari and Alonso where the Spaniard came close to winning the world championship with them in 2010 and 2012.

The 2014 season has been Alonso’s worst season with Ferrari. We are 14 races into the season without a victory for him. He’s been fighting hard for mid field positions and feels that he is wasting his form. Alonso feels that he is in the best for of his career at the moment.

“I want to win and I’m ready to maximise the performance of this moment of my career that has been the best moment and I feel good,” he said. “I feel fit, I feel confident.

“I’ve adapted the driving style to the new regulations every year, and I feel that I’m in the best moment of my career.

“Hopefully I can take the benefit of this in the next coming years and add some titles in the pocket and retire with more than two.”

Reports indicate that discussions between Alonso and McLaren are at an advance stage, but there is no deal in place yet. McLaren have made it no secret that they would like to sign the services of Alonso for 2015. If there is a deal signed, it would mean Kevin Magnussen or Jenson Button will be given the boot. Button remains tight lipped about his future at McLaren, Magnussen on the other hand says that he’s not worried about the lack of commitment from the Woking based team.

Ferrari on the other hand have Kimi Raikkonen till 2015 and it’s not like they dont have options for signing a new driver. Nico Hulkenberg is tipped to fill the gap while there’s also talk about Jules Bianchi, who has made it clear that he is ready should he receive the call from Ferrari. The other option is that Ferrari could make Vettel and offer he cant refuse.

October 3, 2014
F1 2014: Japanese GP Preview – Who Will Be The Man In Japan?

In Japan there is a circuit known as Suzuka, it is roughly 5.8 km in length and throughout its history has witnessed the both the greats of the sport and some of the most dramatic moments in the history of Formula 1.

Adored by drivers and fans Suzuka is simultaneously one of the most iconic circuits on the calendar and one of its biggest challenges. Beyond the narrow strip of asphalt there are run off areas, no second chances. Here, a bit of gravel is all that precedes brutal punishment. This degree of difficulty is why Suzuka is so revered by one and all. The level of skill required around these parts are second to none and the reward for a driver, when he gets it right, is huge sense of achievement and most likely a pretty good lap time to boot. “When you finish a lap at Suzuka you really appreciate it because you know both the car and you have been really tested. You can be proud if you have got the maximum from everything,” says last year’s podium finisher Romain Grosjean.

The refreshing Daniel Ricciardo describes the first sector of the lap as a delight. “It’s a dream. You have those fast changes of directions through the Esses, hard around the Dunlop Curve and then, arguably the best bit, turns Eight and Nine: Degner. Through Eight you’re hanging on, it’s so narrow and there’s no room for error but you want to push as hard as you can.”

The great thing about Suzuka is that the lustre isn’t all contained in the first sector. Sector two is distinguished by the Spoon curve and the frighteningly flat-out 130R which follows on from the back straight. Despite the near non-existent margin for error and narrow track surface a few overtaking opportunities exist. Turn one is a popular choice but has to be preceded with a decent exit off the final chicane and a respectable straight-line speed. Another occasion for overtaking could present itself under braking into the final chicane and if a driver is feeling particularly adventurous, and perhaps a tad desperate, the first part of the Spoon curve may even be an option.

The demand for downforce isn’t as great around the Japanese track. However, striking the balance between having enough grip in the twisty bits and ensuring that they can reach reasonable speed down the straights is the key to set-up. It bodes well for Red Bull to be the best of the rest behind the outlandishly fast Mercedes.

The sinister underbelly of Formula 1 has struck once more. At least this is what the Formula 1 conspiracy theorists have been peddling. Giving rise to their frenzied ramblings was a Mercedes announcement that Rosberg’s retirement in Singapore was caused by a contaminated substance and subsequent electronics short circuiting of his car. It turns out, after a thorough examination, that the steering column electronics were contaminated by an undetectable substance. The loudest of the conspiracy theorists maintain that Rosberg’s car was deliberately sabotaged by the Mercedes management. Besides the fact that the team lost out on scoring points, and the cash that goes with it, what possible explanation could there be for deliberately taking one of its cars completely out of the race?

From a perspective more slanted towards the neutral the Rosberg retirement wasn’t exactly a full blown tragedy. Yes, for at least ten minutes we all felt bad for Rosberg and we sympathised with his desperate attempts to get going. But after this period of gloominess subsided the realization of F1’s skulking unpredictability sunk in. And just maybe you would’ve concluded that this little sequence of events could result in a cracking end to the season. Now we head to Japan with a slender three-point gap between the duelling teammates. Neither Hamilton nor Rosberg has ever won here which tees up the battle perfectly. All that is needed is for Messrs Rosberg and Hamilton to set it on fire.

September 30, 2014
F1 2014: Singapore Lights Up Championship Fight

If there are only a handful of things that can be counted on as a certainty in Formula 1 one of them will be the erratic fickleness of it all. Singapore played the joker that may just have turned the 2014 F1 season on its head.

The unfortunate victim of the ever dependable randomness of F1 was Nico Rosberg. A healthy, even comfortable, 22 point lead was completely blown away as unreliability struck the German before the start of the Singapore GP. An apparent steering wheel problem relegated Rosberg to a pitlane start which only delayed the inevitable. With already having to stage a comeback from the back of the field Rosberg was lapping five second off the pace and eventually had to retire with an unresponsive car. Toto Wolff confirmed that the entire system had broken down due to the failure of a “lume within the steering column.”

It left Lewis Hamilton with the delectable opportunity of regaining the championship lead. However, the characteristics of the Marina Bay circuit and a safety-car period allowed both Red Bulls and Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari to within striking distance of the Silver Arrow, or so they thought. It was to be nothing more than a far-fetched pipedream for those behind Hamilton as he easily dismissed their feeble attempts at beating him.

If Formula 1 is our religion then we need to bow down the designers of the W05 Mercedes. In the last decade we’ve seen the Red Bull domination net itself four world championship titles but it certainly did not boast a lap time advantage as great as three seconds.

Never let it be known that Hamilton isn’t a man who doesn’t rise to the occasion. The safety-car appearance meant the Brit would have to pit and re-take the lead in order to win the race. First he would have to build a gap to second place and within several laps Hamilton’s staggering pace had ensured that he would emerge in the thick of the Red Bull fight. His superior speed, and fresh rubber, easily saw him past Sebastian Vettel and just to rub a bit of salt in the wounds he again extended the gap to fourteen seconds by the chequered flag.

Ferrari showed improved pace on the Singapore streets and with added benefit of the supremely gifted Fernando Alonso the Scuderia’s weekend wasn’t too shabby at all. The never-say-die Spaniard once again unleashed a masterful driving performance. The double world champ got to within touching distance of the podium, even second place, but was stranded behind the two Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo in fourth.

What is it about this Fernando Alonso that makes him the wonder that he is? To consistently out-perform what he is given and make a car do things no one dares think is possible. He’s preference for over-steery cars makes the current Ferrari a bit easier to drive but beyond this there is very little of the F 14T that is good. Surely then it can only come down to him, it does. His relentlessness seemingly knows no bounds and there is very much a feeling of a single-minded stubbornness when Alonso is in the cockpit. The sort of tenacious belief that he will get a lap time out of that car come hell or high water. Even if he isn’t your Formula 1 be-all-and-end-all he is still to be admired and commended.

Felipe Massa defied belief, and all statistical predictions, as he completed a mammoth 35 lap stint on the soft compound tyres to finish fifth. Teammate Valtteri Bottas nearly pulled off the same feat but lost several positions on the final lap as his tyres finally gave up the ghost. Jean-Eric Vergne overcame two five-second penalties to finish a brilliant sixth.

There was a bit of argy-bargy and some lost carbon fibre in the mid-field between Sauber’s Adrian Sutil and Force India’s Sergio Perez. Perez suffered significant front-wing damage as he was squeezed up against the barriers by Sutil and the shards of carbon fibre strewn across the track were the catalyst for the safety-car deployment. It was a bit surprising that the Stewards didn’t penalise Sutil whose actions did appear a bit dicey. Nevertheless, Checo did stage a fine recovery to finish seventh.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen never recovered from a software glitch in qualifying and finished eighth ahead Nico Hulkenberg in the Force India. McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen wrapped up the final point of the day but teammate Jenson Button lost sixth position after being forced into retirement with a suspected electronic issue.

A slender, but perhaps decisive, three points is Lewis Hamilton’s world championship lead over teammate Nico Rosberg. With five races remaining, and double points on offer in Abu Dhabi, this exceptional battle is, thankfully, far from over.

September 22, 2014