Tag: fernando alonso

F1 2014: Alonso Tops Canadian FP1

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso topped the timing sheets at the end of the first free practice session for the Canadian GP.

The Formula 1 field took to the circuit Gilles Villeneuve in decidedly overcast conditions for the first of three practice session for the 2014 Canadian GP. The majority of the session saw the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg trading times at the top of the leader board. However, Fernando Alonso ultimately ended the session fastest with a time of 1:17:238.

The Italian team has brought several upgrades to the F14T this weekend which was run in a back-to-back test between its two drivers. Kimi Raikkonen ran the lower downforce rear-wing during the opening minutes of the session but was later halted with a suspected sensor failure. By contrast, Fernando Alonso ran a new floor configuration on his car. Ferrari are also expected to roll out a power unit upgrade this weekend.

The notoriously green circuit was the cause of several off track excursion for most all of the field. Marussia’s Jules Bianchi was the only victim claimed by the barrier lined circuit as he clipped the wall on the exit of the second chicane. The Frenchman was able to limp back to the pits with a damaged track rod.

Williams’ Felipe Massa missed on completing his program with an ERS issue. All the while the McLaren’s of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen showed improved pace as the finished seventh and eight in the standings, respectively. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel ended the session fourth fastest three tenths clear of Daniel Ricciardo.

June 6, 2014
F1 2014: Canadian GP Preview – F1 Readies for Canada Clash

Formula 1 crosses the Atlantic to Montreal and the Grand Prix du Canada. The circuit Gilles Villeneuve lies in wait for the paddock and the seventh round of the 2014 season.
Sebastian Vettel swept the pole position and race victory at the 2013 Canadian grand prix. In 2014 Red Bull’s level of competitiveness has dwindled but the team from Milton Keyes are slowly recovering their campaign. However, with the dominant car of the season, Lewis Hamilton, a three time former winner in Canada, looks a shoe-in for victory.

As with most F1 drivers mistakes tend to happen as they test the limits of the car’s performance. A locked wheel, braking a meter too late or having the back-end step out is not uncommon. However, the most striking characteristic of the circuit Gilles Villeneuve is its concrete walls which lie just beyond the edge of the track. Concrete walls and barriers which hold significant consequences for getting it wrong. The two chicanes and the hairpin are areas where lap time can be won or lost but the final corner, outlined by the famous Wall of Champions, is where the biggest risk can yield the most reward. “Some guys will play it safe and sacrifice half a tenth to get through there cleanly; others will take a risk. The nearer you are, the faster you’ll go. Give the wall a kiss and you feel pretty good; kiss it too hard and that’s it!” shared Daniel Ricciardo.

The 4.361 km circuit includes two straights which lend a hand in the overtaking department. The favoured spots for overtaking will be into the turn 10 hairpin and a late move up the inside before the final chicane. Given that the circuit takes some time to rubber in, Pirelli will bring the Soft and Supersoft compound tyres to Canada. The choice of compounds also opens the door for a two or three stop strategy of which the latter can be used to undercut and gain time on a competitor with a fresher, and quicker, set of tyres.

The circuit ranks high on the list of the most power hungry on the calendar. It’s just in time as several teams are planning upgrades to their power units this weekend.

Ferrari’s PR machine has been spinning away as Technical Director James Allison has “vowed” that the team will take a good step forward in Canada – a mantra they have been repeating for years. The Italian team did show improved pace during the Monaco GP and Allison expects to see further improvement this weekend. Nevertheless, he tempered his optimism by saying that their rivals will be making gains of their own.

Ferrari has struggled to make significant improvements on the F14T since the start of the season. After a three-week break Ferrari showed no progress at the Spanish GP. Allison thinks engineers need to be given more creative freedom in their development plans.

“If you force them to operate with their backs against the wall, up against deadlines that are very, very tight, then there’s no time for them to think about how they might approach something differently,” “There is a wealth of talent at Ferrari – the experience and quality of the people on the technical side is the match of any team – it’s a matter of giving them the space and the encouragement to do unusual things.”

The rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg will resume this weekend with the two having “cleared the air” after Monaco. As much as Rosberg’s affinity for beating Hamilton may have grown since the Monte Carlo weekend Hamilton has a special affinity for the Canadian GP. On paper this is a Hamilton track and the Brit should comfortably be the victor. However, Rosberg showed some steel and as the championship leader has the ball firmly in his court.

June 5, 2014
Rosberg Rules Monaco Streets

From magical drives throughout the decades to duelling teammates in 2014, the streets of Monte Carlo have seen it all.

Since the Bahrain Grand Prix the duel between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg has been simmering just below the surface. In Monaco, a controversial moment in Saturday qualifying nearly detonated the tension between the two.

Lewis Hamilton v Nico Rosberg

As brilliantly as Lewis Hamilton has played the psychological game with his teammate, Rosberg has landed his own mental blows on the Brit this weekend. A controversial mistake in qualifying stopped Hamilton from potentially securing pole position. Most significantly, Hamilton seemed convinced that Rosberg’s trip down the escape road, which brought out yellow flags, was anything but accidental. The stewards found no fault with Rosberg’s actions and he kept his pole position.

Subsequent statements from Hamilton in the press suggested that the relationship between the two was icy at best. Nonplussed by Hamilton’s remarks or attitude, Rosberg maintained the lead off the line and managed the 78 lap race with a determined Hamilton breathing down his neck for the majority of the afternoon.

For all of Hamilton’s talk he delivered no challenge to Rosberg where it matters most – on the Monte Carlo streets. He got to within a couple of tenths of the car in front but did not feint a pass even once. In fact, Rosberg achieved much more than victory this weekend. He almost entirely erased Hamilton’s month-long mind games with the single lock of a wheel. Intentional or not, Rosberg got inside Hamilton’s head. It upset the 2008 champion to the point where he didn’t want to participate in the post-qualifying press conferences and suggested that he may take a page out of Senna’s book to deal with his teammate.

If Hamilton was upset with Saturday’s result, and the steward’s subsequent findings, he was entitled to his own opinion and feelings. However, his failure to accept defeat and blatant refusal to congratulate his teammate is disappointing. There are few who would disagree that Lewis Hamilton is a great driver but his sportsmanship could use some improvement.

Bad Luck Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen rocketed off the line and flew past teammate Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo. The Finn ran solidly in third nine seconds off the leading Mercedes duo but the second safety car would bring an end to any podium aspirations. As the lapped Marrussia of Max Chilton overtook he clipped the back wheel of the Ferrari causing a puncture. Raikkonen was forced back into the pitlane and out of contention. The former champ told Finnish TV after the race that his team had not informed him at what point lapped cars would be overtaking and that he felt that a third place finish was a serious possibility.

Raikkonen attempted a comeback into the points by passing several cars but ended up in the barriers of the Lowes hairpin with light damage. The Finn received a reprimand from the stewards for causing a collision with Kevin Magnussen.

Ricciardo Shines

Daniel Ricciardo continues to deliver for his new Red Bull team while teammate Sebastian Vettel once again suffers a reliability issue. An issue with the Renault Turbo unit cut Vettel’s 100th F1 race short. However, Ricciardo made the most of what he was dealt and once again delivered a solid drive for the final step of the podium.

Fernando Alonso finished a distant and anonymous fourth and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg held on for fifth place. Jenson Button’s sixth place gave McLaren its first point finish in three races ahead of Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean, Jules Bianchi and Kevin Magnussen.

Brilliant Bianchi

Jules Bianchi was the star driver of the day as the Frenchman secured the first ever points for the Marussia team. Despite a five second stop/go penalty Bianchi finished in ninth place. Through whatever means it came about credit is due to the Marussia F1 Team. So often the smaller teams in F1 are forgotten but they fight as hard as anyone for every square inch of tarmac and that hard work has finally paid off for the team from Banbury.

Lewis Hamilton was affected by a vision problem late in the race which caused him to lose sight of his teammate. It cleared up a few laps later and this time he was able to maintain his position. If he is to be the champion again it is important for Hamilton to rise above the psychology of the fight and keep his eye on the prize.

Photos by Courtesy Pirelli and Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1

May 26, 2014
F1 2014: Free Practice 3 – Hamilton Leads the Way In Monaco

The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton ended the third and final practice for the Monaco grand prix fastest.

Teams are drivers were left with a lot of work to do on Saturday morning as they played catch-up after Thursday’s washed out second free practice session. The Mercedes pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg traded fastest times throughout the session.

However, it was Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo who sprung the biggest surprise. The Australian set a laptime of 1:16.808 on his SuperSoft tyre run to split the two Silver Arrrows. Most signficantly, Ricciardo set his fastest time amidst a relatively long run. Teammate Sebastian Vettel, caught up in traffic during his attempt on the SuperSoft rubber, was fourth fastest.

Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen ended the hour long session in fifth and sixth respectively. The Ferrari however does not look like matching the pace of the front-running teams around the streets of Monte Carlo. BBC commentator and three-time Le Mans winner Alan McNish reckons that the Ferrari looks more like a “bucking bronco than a prancing horse.”

While SuperSoft tyre was the obvious choice for the qualifying simulation runs; it was significant to note that the Pirelli tyres took up to three laps to come into their own and deliver a lap time. This will be an especially significant issue during qualifying as drivers and teams will have to guard against getting caught in traffic.

May 24, 2014
F1 2014: Spanish GP – Hamilton Takes Four In A Row

Never before in the 21^st century has Formula 1 known the level of dominance being imposed by the Mercedes team. Lewis Hamilton once again obliterated the field with a preposterously dominant victory in the Spanish GP.

The Spanish GP followed the 2014 script to a tee complete with a fiery inter-team battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Straight away the Mercedes pair opened a substantial lead over the rest of the field and set about duking it out for victory between the pair of them.

A split strategy gave Rosberg the advantage in the closing laps of the race but Hamilton determinedly held off his faster teammate for his fourth consecutive victory. In spite of the Silver Arrow’s dominance Sebastian Vettel delivered the drive of the day with a charge from fifteenth on the grid. The four-time champion put together several bold overtaking moves and a three-stop strategy to finish fourth on the day.

The German’s weekend had been a struggle throughout as he missed out on Friday’s running and suffered a gearbox failure in qualifying. Nevertheless, this recovery drive and the ability to fight amongst some of the frontrunners will provide much confidence to the recovering Red Bull team. “I think this weekend from the team point of view was good with third and fourth, but at the next race we’ll attack again,” said Vettel.

The sister Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo finished as best of the rest in third place affording the Australian his first official podium in Formula 1. Despite easily securing the third step of the podium Ricciardo and Red Bull should be far from pleased with its performance. The number 3 car ended seeing the chequered flag more than half a minute later than race-winner Hamilton.

Not Ferrari, not Brawn, not even Red Bull ever possessed an advantage as devastating as that of Mercedes. A performance gap of nearly two seconds a lap in race trim is surely as demoralising as it can get for the rest of the field. Not only did Hamilton and Rosberg finish 49 seconds clear of 3^rd-place Ricciardo but came within a handful of seconds of lapping Fernando Alonso in sixth.

One of the only teams who showed a definite improvement was Lotus. In the hands of Romain Grosjean the E22 qualified an impressive fifth fastest. The French driver continued to impress in the upgraded Lotus as he held off both Ferrari drivers during the opening stint of the race. However, a sensor calibration issue, which caused a loss of power, hampered his performance. Grosjean eventually finished eighth overall.

The much needed improvement for Ferrari was nowhere to be found as both drivers finished nearly a lap down on Mercedes. Beaten by both Red Bulls and the Williams of Valtteri Bottas in Spain the Ferrari F14T was nothing more than a miserable pile of carbon fibre not worth the red paint it’s covered with. Seventh and eighth means there are few positives to take from Spain and at this stage the Maranello team don’t need a clean slate, they need a brand-new drawing board. The good news is that it can hardly get any worse for the scarlet Ferraris and that the only way for them to go is up, slowly, but surely.

With the exception of retirement in the first race of the season Lewis Hamilton has been scarily close to perfection in 2014. He has rekindled his near unbeatable qualifying pace and is driving with the resolve and passion of a Formula 1 champion.

It’s said that the first person a driver has to beat is his teammate. Lewis Hamilton’s four race wins on the trot have been the most significant victories against Rosberg but Hamilton has also been waging a full-on mental war outside the car. There is little chance that Lewis Hamilton thinks himself slower than anyone around any track. However, in Spain, he was determined to emphasise his teammate’s superior speed around Catalunya. He then took pole position and won the race, shrewdly inferring that he’d beaten his ‘faster’ teammate and winning the psychological battle in the process. Over to you Nico.

All images of Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg & Mercedes F1 car via @MercedesAMGF1

May 15, 2014
Mercedes domination continues as Hamilton secures pole

After a three week break, Formula One is back with the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. It was a sunny, hot day for the second dry dry qualifying session of the season, and the Mercedes drivers were set to battle it out between themselves for the pole position. Nico Rosberg took pole in the dry back in Bahrain but was not able to do the same today as team mate Lewis Hamilton put in a stonker of a qualifying lap to take the pole position ahead of the Spanish GP.

Daniel Ricciardo claimed third place behind the Mercedes pair but Red Bull’s challenge was stunted by more car problems for Sebastian Vettel who has had a torrid weekend all round. Ricciardo’s time in third was a full second off the pace of the Mercedes drivers as Hamilton and Rosberg continue to dominate the season.

Qualifying had hardly begun when Pastor Maldonado made his way into the wall on the inside of Turn 3, bringing out the red flags. “I lost the car,” was his message to his team after replays showed he lost the rear of the car into the turn and planted his car in the wall, destroying his front right suspension.

The session resumed with 13 minutes left on the clock and it was full steam ahead. Fernando Alonso bravely chose to not do a second run and his gamble paid off – he made it through to Q2 by just a few tenths but with an extra set of new mediums in the bag.

Adrian Sutil, Max Chilton, Jules Bianchi, Kamui Kobayashi, Marcus Ericsson and of course Pastor Maldonado were eliminated at the end of Q1.

Jean-Eric Vergne, who was handed a ten place grid penalty for a loose wheel during FP2, did not set a Q2 time and Kevin Magnussen also failed to set a time after McLaren found a problem with his car’s power unit.

Rosberg stayed ahead of Hamilton in Q2, the two of them separated by a tenth of a second.

Alonso was very nearly knocked out ending the session in tenth, less than a tenth of a second ahead of Nico Hulkenberg who was eliminated along with Sergio Perez, Daniil Kvyat, Esteban Gutierrez and of course Magnussen and Vergne.

The final qualifying session began much the same as the first, with a red flag early on. This time, caused by Sebastian Vettel who simply lost all drive. The Red Bull driver was unable to select second gear after leaving the pits and stopped at the next corner. A gearbox replacement could be on the cards which will cost him a further 5 places on the grid if that were to happen.

Once the session got underway again, Hamilton regained the edge over Rosberg and took the pole position and claimed the pole position over his team mate.

Valterri Bottas put in a brilliant effort to finish fourth and Romain Grosjean claimed an awesome fifth place for Lotus. Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button rounded out the Top 9 with Vettel left in 10th place.

We’re all set for what’s bound to be an exciting race tomorrow but unless the F1 gods themselves step in you can almost certainly put your money on either Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg claiming the top step on the podium.

Below is the full time sheet for the qualifying session. Please join us for live chat and commentary during tomorrow’s race on Twitter @F1_Madness

May 10, 2014
Lewis Hamilton Heads Spanish FP 1

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time during free practice 1 for the 2014 Spanish grand prix.

The Formula 1 world championship return this weekend with the fifth round of the season at Spain Circuit de Catalunya. The weekend is an important one for those looking to close the gap to Mercedes and several teams are rolling out significant upgrades throughout the weekend.

Sebastian Vettel has been given a new chassis this weekend however a “complete electrical shutdown” curtailed his running in the first 1 and a half hour session. Giedo van der Garde, who stepped into the Sauber’s cockpit in place of Mexican Esteban Gutierrez, experienced a breathless moment as he suffered a partial front-brake failure into turn 1. Somehow the Dutch driver was able to avoid the barriers and bring the C33 safely back to the pit garage.

Lewis Hamilton set comparitively fewer laps than his competitors but was once again able to extract the quickest time from his car with relative ease. It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Mercedes as Nico Rosberg’s car was struck with a mite of unreliability. Suggestions were that the German driver’s car was being affected by a cooling issues however this was not confirmed.

McLaren’s Jenson Button ended the session as the second quickest driver with a time of 1:27:891 and a total of twenty-six laps on the board. The Brit has remained cautious about the team’s performance so far looking rather for an improvement this weekend than an overnight miracle.

Daniel Ricciardo ran a uninteruppted session which resulted in the third fastest time overall. Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen were fourth and sixth on the time sheets for Ferrari.

May 9, 2014
Spanish Grand Prix: Thursday Drivers Press Conference

DRIVERS:

Max CHILTON (Marussia)

Kevin MAGNUSSEN (McLaren)

Daniil KVYAT (Toro Rosso)

Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)

Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)

Pastor MALDONADO (Lotus)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Daniil, can I start with you? Three points finishes, one 11^th place, you must be quite pleased with the way things have started in the first four races?

Daniil KVYAT: Yeah, it’s going quite OK now. A bit of a shame not finishing in the points in Bahrain as well, but anyway you have to learn from something. So far we’ve been a bit on the limit of the points zone, but I hope that we can make some good steps and become even a bit more competitive, so we can take points a bit more easily. It would be a really good step but we are working hard together and soon it will be reachable.

So the story so far is that Jean-Eric Vergne your team-mate is three-one up on you in qualifying but you’re ahead of him in races. He’s had a few reliability issues in races but how do you see the balance between you, and your own progress?

DK: I’m not really looking too deeply into these scores and so on. We’ve been quite close. Don’t forget that Jean-Eric is a very fast driver and he’s in the peak of his shape probably now. Also very experienced. In the wet I have to admit he was very fast so far and in Bahrain it was a dry quali. Of course, he’s also been having a bit of issues. But in China it was a very good balance. I was quite happy in the race. I was quicker than him at that point but in the end we have to see in the future races.

Max, coming to you. The run continues: 23 consecutive finishes in your Formula One career, two 13^th places so far this season, are you proud of what’s been achieved so far?

Max CHILTON: Yeah, I am. Last year it wasn’t a perfect season but lots to take away from it. I remember someone asking me in me in Monza, I think, saying: ‘you’re 10 races in, that’s a good little record you’ve got going there’. And then I broke Tiago [Monteiro’s] record, which was 16 from a rookie start, and we though it would be nice to get to the end of the year, which we did. Credit to the team; that’s pretty good for a small team reliability-wise. And we’re four races in now and we’ve carried that on. It’s not our main goal, but where we are it’s absolutely crucial to finish the race as I’ve shown this year with the two 13ths. We did have good speed but we had to be there at the finish to make sure those results counted. So we will try to keep it going but our main focus is to try to get a bit more speed out of the car and myself.

Apart from Malaysia, in the races where you and Caterham have both finished Marussia has tended to be in front of them. Can you say a little bit about how you see that battle and also about how close you feel you are now to the teams in front of you?

MC: We’ve always had a good battle with Caterham. They kind of hold back sometimes, I think, in practice and qualifying and surprise us in the race. But I think this year, to me, our car is definitely better. We’re developing well. We’ve brought some good updates to here. I’m not sure if they have or not. It would be nice if we could push forward. Sauber hasn’t been too far ahead of us and we’ve been battling with them in at least the first few stints of the race and so… yeah, I guess you’ve got to focus on the cars in front, there’s no point in focusing on your mirrors, so we’ll try to improve our results this weekend.

Thanks for that. Coming to you Pastor. Obviously you’re a former winner here in Barcelona. Lotus in Q3 in qualifying in China, running in the top 10 obviously. How would you describe progress within the team?

Pastor MALDONADO: It’s clear that we have been progressing quite a lot in the last couple of races. Still maybe we were not at 100 per cent but we’ve been working really hard. Hopefully here with a bit more time, putting everything together we can be much more competitive and we can fight for good places. This is our main focus at the moment and I think we can. We have a good car, a good team. We have been not good enough with all the new engine system at the beginning but now it seems to be more clear in terms of technology, you know, controlling all the systems in the car and hopefully from this race to the end of the season it will be much better for us.

We’ve heard about a lot of new parts on the car this weekend and also power unit upgrades from Renault. What are you expecting and what are you expecting from yourself this weekend?

PM: I’m expecting to have no problems, a competitive car, and do my best. I the past I’ve been quite good here, so I think as soon as we manage to solve all the problems we will be back to fight for good places.

Sebastian, Red Bull have announced that you have a new chassis this weekend, so I wonder if you could share with us what’s in it, why do you need it? Obviously, we’ve heard you saying that you don’t feel that the car was talking to you; maybe you’d like to elaborate on that. So, what are you looking for from this car and how close do you think you’re getting to finding it?

Sebastian VETTEL: I think we concluded after China, where we were quite a little bit behind to change the chassis, so actually it’s not a new chassis, it’s an old one that we used in testing in the winter, and we have some experience with it. It’s more a sanity check rather than a real problem with the other chassis. So it’s just to try everything we can and basically reset and start again. Obviously there is still a lot of work ahead of us, as I mentioned after the first couple of races, maybe I’m not as happy as I want to be but it’s a long process, a lot of things have changed and I think we need to be patient.

Kevin, two-all versus Jenson, you personally have been three times in Q3, so Saturdays are going OK, but it’s been a rough couple of grands prix, the last two for you. Tell us about that?

Kevin MAGNUSSEN: Well, I think I’ve learned a lot. It’s been good in many ways as well. Obviously we’re not where we want to be and we need to keep working really hard to get there. But I think I have learned a lot and there have been many positive points to take away from the last two races. It’s no secret that we are not where we want to be; it’s not that we’re happy or that I’m happy. We just need to work hard, keep working hard. The team is doing a great job. They are staying positive, although they are not happy with the position. They are staying strong and keeping the fighting spirit up. So, yeah, I’m pretty happy with how things are going in terms of the progress we’re making.

It’s unusual for McLaren to have two races where you score no points with either car. How has the team reacted to that internally?

KM: Well, in Bahrain I think we would have scored points. China was not good for us. It was a bit of a shock how far off the pace we were but again I think we learned a lot. We know China is probably the worst circuit for us at the moment, but we’ll just see how it goes here.

Fernando, a two-time winner here, winner last year in a Ferrari. Tough start to the season clearly but third place last time out in China. How much encouragement has that given you and the team, and how big a step have you brought with you here this weekend in terms if updates?

Fernando ALONSO: The China result is a boost for all the team – extra motivation to keep working hard. As you said we are not in a position we are happy with. We start with some deficit to the top teams, especially Mercedes who won the first four races and is dominating now with good margins, so we try to decrease that gap and we try to get closer and closer. To do that we need to make bigger steps than what the other teams will do. For here, to be honest, we need to wait and see. I think the characteristics of the circuit will help us a little bit, with not too big straights – only one here on the finish line. About the new parts, we bring some new parts but nothing out of this world. I don’t think we will be different compared to any other top team in terms on what we bring here, or even less. We need to see. As I said, track characteristics are the biggest help we have here.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: (Mathias Brunner – Speedweek.com) Sebastian, not to use the same chassis again, how much of a ‘black cat’ decision was that?

SV: Not really. I think it’s not unusual to change chassis, generally. Obviously if you change, you change to a new one, but we decided, as I said before, to change back to an older chassis just to make sure nothing is wrong. Just to see, or basically change the things that you can, to have a reset and try again. We don’t think that there was anything wrong with the old chassis but nevertheless we decided to change, so if so we should get an answer this weekend.

Q: (Jackob Melgaaro – Metro express Denmark) For Kevin, how do compare the car after the break to the car you drove at the last grand prix and how do feel about this track in Barcelona?

KM: We don’t know how the car feels, we haven’t driven it yet since the last race, so we’ll have to wait and see. I don’t expect it to feel a lot different. We are bringing a few new parts but nothing that is going to change the world. This track is the first track on the calendar this year that I’ve been to before, so that’s nice. It’s nice to be in Europe again, so feeling a bit more at home. So I’m looking forward to it.

Q: (Manuel Franco Peral – Diario AS) Fernando, podium is a real goal for you here in Spain?

FA: No, I don’t think so. We cannot start the weekend thinking to be on the podium. Or thinking to win the race. That will be creating… y’know, false targets to everyone who will come here. We finished ninth and tenth in Bahrain, we did podium in China because we had some things putting together on that Sunday but it’s not that we are in a position now to say we will fight for the podium here. We will do our best but we know it is going to be a tough weekend and it’s not going to be easy. But, you never know, this is sport and anything can happen but today, sitting here, if I tell you that I will fight for the podium, probably I will lie to you and I don’t want to do so for all the people coming.

Q: (Renan Do Couto – Warm Up) Question for Fernando. Fernando, after four races this season Kimi has only 11 points. At the same point last season Felipe Massa had 30 points. Does it show that Ferrari need much more than a driver-change to get back on the title fight?

FA: I don’t know really. We are not in a position at the moment that we expect. We thought to be more competitive and we struggle, as everyone sees, at the start of the season. I think it is the same for all the teams that we are facing some problems, apart from Mercedes, they had an easy four races, four wins. But, you know, we will work hard. We will work hard to come back in a better position and the start of Felipe or the start of Kimi was not the best in terms of points but I think hopefully soon they will be close to the podium or to the victories and we, both Ferraris, can score many points for the team.

Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport-Bild) Question to Fernando. When I listen to your, let me say, remembrance from China, between the lines I could hear that maybe the driver was better than the car in this weekend – or on the Sunday?

FA: I think the car is always what it is. The car never changes. The driver, also, sometimes you have better luck, sometimes you have worse luck. In China, for example, I have a crash at the start and nothing happened to my car and I could finish the race. I think the Red Bulls, they were fighting a little bit, they lost a little bit of time and I could be there. My pitstops were very quick. In the first stop I overtook Sebastian in that lap, so there were many factors together that put us on the podium. But, y’know, we need to do very special weekends to be on the podium and China was one of those. Lucky. And some other factors. So arriving here, sitting on Thursday on the next press conference. To repeat that podium will be unbelievable. But it’s not, at the moment, our main target.

Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus) My question is for Sebastian and Fernando. You are the champions. How long can you work without first place in the podium?

SV: Well, I think – and Fernando will probably say the same – we’re here to win. I’m not coming here to finish second or fifth – but you have to be realistic and the target is always to get the maximum out of yourself, out of the car, out of the package that you have. And you can get a lot of satisfaction if you achieve that. So, it means basically if a podium is in reach or P5 is the best you can do then you need to ensure to become fifth. If you then become seventh it is not satisfying. But surely, ultimately we are here to win. That’s the target but obviously you know much better what’s going on inside your team and how competitive you are. So yeah, there’s a lot of things that need to come together. Right now, obviously, we have Mercedes in a very, very strong position. Difficult to beat but never impossible.

FA: Unfortunately I have a lot more experience! So, yeah, there is nothing really you can do apart from try to do the best job you can and try to find different goals. Obviously we are here all to win. My last win was last year, here. So it’s one year without victories. I would like not to have that long period. On the other hand, we are 22 drivers on the grid and maybe 20 are in a worse position than me. So, I cannot also be… y’know, blaming my luck for that. I’m extremely lucky and a very privileged guy, so, you need to keep working and if your boss is happy with you, that’s something very important.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Sebastian, Christian said in Autosport today that you are extremely sensitive to rear stability on corner entry. But that was… last year you were using the rear instability to turn the car into the corners. Can you explain what it is about this year’s car that you don’t like and why you’ve not been able to adapt to it so far?

SV: Well, I think generally we all have our own style to how we like to drive the car, how to set up the car. I think in general I don’t mind when the rear’s moving so I don’t mind suffering or having oversteer in the car. But if it is too much obviously if it starts to bother you when the car slides too much, then you find yourself correcting more than actually being able to push or get the maximum out of the car. And, yeah, it slows you down. I think that has been part of the problem so far. There’s lots of reasons behind it so it would be nice to have just one problem and one fix for that but obviously it got a lot more complex this year. There’s a lot more factors than just the car setup. So yeah, we’re still learning a lot. We did already a lot of improvement but there’s still obviously a lot to do. But I think generally you never change your… the way you like to drive a car or your style I think doesn’t change.

Q: (Cristobal Rosaleny – Car and Driver) Question for Sebastian. You’re changing now chassis. You have spent four races with problems behind Daniel Ricciardo. Do you feel this time you have lost is a bad thing for you for your own progress during the season and could affect the rest of the season for you?

SV: Surely if I had won the first four races it would be better for my season that what I did! Yeah, it is what it is. There’s two ways. You can always look back and try to find something to complain about – or you can look forward. And I think in general we are trying to look forward to the next race. There’s a lot more races this year to come and for sure we didn’t score as many points as we hoped. But then again after winter testing I think we were in a very bad position. I think right from the first race it was probably better than what we initially expected. Lots of positives with Daniel’s podium in Australia – which obviously got taken away – but then the podium in Malaysia showed that we are on the right track but knew, just reading the feeling inside the car that it’s not yet where we want to be. And you also see that in the results. As I said, there is a lot of work but I think we are generally quite good in getting the maximum out of the car. At the moment there’s a couple of things that we need to get on top of and then it should be a different story.

Q: (Daniel Johnson – Daily Telegraph): Seb, looking forward it’s no secret that your car’s good in the corners but not so good at the straight bits in between. How much are you and the team – particularly considering it’s the start of the European season – relying on Renault to make a big step forward for you to mount some kind of a championship challenge?

SV: As you mentioned, it’s not a big secret. If you look at the sector times or comparisons that we have available, we currently lose out too much on the straights – but there’s always hope, obviously. Again, you have to look at it from the start. Where we started in winter testing was unfortunately way, way off compared to where we wanted to, in all means. Talking about the car, we set fire to the car nearly every run. Talking about the engine, obviously we were not on the same page that we expected to be, both in terms of reliability and performance. So, since that, I think we had a very, very strong comeback but obviously you miss that time of development. But I think there’s always hope. Just look at Ferrari, for example, the last race, the step that they did was mostly in straight line. I think they got a better fuel and picked up around 7kph on the straights. So… we know that our disadvantage is more than 7kph to the Mercedes which are currently the benchmark down the straights but things can change quickly. We need to make sure we push 100 per cent on the car and also on the engine side. In the end we are a team: Renault and Red Bull Racing, so both parties know that we need to push very hard to make sure that we beat these guys and also the currently strongest team with Mercedes.

Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Sebastian, you’re changing chassis at this race, why not a new chassis? And the second part: does the chassis have a name?

SV: Same as before. It’s not that much of a black cat, I hope.

Q: (Carlos Miguel – La Gaceta) Fernando, this morning Toto Wolff said that you are a real race monster. He said that Ferrari is the biggest enemy in the championship; what do you think of these words?

FA: About the monster, it depends how you take it. At least he’s a man. If it was a woman who said that I was a monster it would be even worse. We need to do it step by step. As I said, we need to be realistic with the position that we have. We will not give up, there’s a big gap and a big gap in points and in performance with Mercedes but there’s still a long way to go in the championship so we will try to do our best. As a team, and with the potential that Ferrari has, we must do anything we can to close that gap and to become competitive. That will not happen between one race to the next one, that will be a slow recovery and hopefully not too late when we become competitive in terms of points to fight for the championship but let’s do it race by race. China, as I said, was a combination of things and very good luck to get that podium. Here in Barcelona, it’s a good point to check how competitive we are, because it’s a circuit with different characteristics again and a circuit that will give us an answer in some of the parameters and some of the areas that we need to find some answers. Monaco is the next one, then Canada – again a completely different circuit so we are in a moment of the championship that will tell us many many things in terms of how competitive we can be and how much of a threat we can be for Mercedes. If they count on us for the championship fight, it’s good news because they respect us but we need to deliver if we want to really become a threat, so we are on that, that work.

Q: (Silvia Reneé Arias – Parabrisas) Fernando, I want to know if you find any change in the Ferrari team after Stefano Domenicali left?

FA: Not really. At the moment, everything is more or less the same. I have been in Maranello last week. Everything is calm and no big changes, nothing really that you’re going to spot that is different at the moment. As I said in China, Marco (Mattiaci) arrived – as we said – with little experience in motor racing, a lot of experience on the managerial side but he’s listening, he’s learning as quickly as he can in everything. I don’t think Marco wants to become an engineer because that’s not his priority at the moment but he will need some time to settle down and to make some changes, some decisions if he thinks they are needed. As I said, in the two or three weeks that he’s in the job, nothing has really changed at the moment. He needs more time.

Q: How much are you guiding him; how much are you contributing to that?

FA: We had some meetings, obviously, to try to help him in all the areas. He’s quite interested to listen to everyone. He called all the engineers and all the engine side, electronics, the drivers, we are going to his office and try to explain all our points of view and all our requirements. As I said, he’s taking note of everything and he will make the necessary changes, what he thinks is best for the team. Hopefully that’s a good thing for Ferrari to move forward and to improve some things, some historical mistakes that we’ve made in the past and we will see if this fresh approach… and not influence about any technical things because, as I said, he’s not an engineer. Hopefully that will help Ferrari.

Q: (Valenti Fradera – L’Esportiu) To all of you: the circuit Barcelona Catalunya used to be the venue of choice for pre-season testing but this year you haven’t run here yet. Will that change how you approach the weekend, and will we get to see more laps than usual tomorrow during free practice?

PM: Even without any tests, it will be same approach as the other tracks, for sure. I was quite interested to run before this season, because it’s a good track, a good combination of corners, good weather but it’s what we have so it will be the same.

MC: Yeah, it will be pretty similar. Obviously when we’ve come here in the past we’d pretty much know the ideal set-up for the circuit. Obviously the cars have changed drastically since last year so there will be a lot more to find out now we haven’t done any pre-season (testing) here. And we’ve now got the extra set(of tyres) in the first thirty minutes of free practice which we can use so there will definitely be more laps completed but if you compare it to China, for example, it won’t be any different.

Q: Kevin and Dan are obviously rookies (in F1) but you’ve got personal experience of this circuit, even if it’s not necessarily in Formula One.

KM: I don’t think it’s going to be a lot different – the approach to this weekend than the other weekends. Personally, I like this track, I think it’s a good track, the mix of corners. As I’ve said before, it’s a track that I’ve been to a lot of times, so it’s nice to feel at home here but other than that, it’s just a normal weekend.

DK: For me as a driver I don’t think it’s going to change a lot compared to other years we’ve been coming here. It’s my first time here in Formula One as well so let’s see how it will start going tomorrow.

SV: I don’t think it makes a difference. We didn’t run in Bahrain. I think that even if we had had the test here in the winter it would make a difference. But usually it’s quite cold in winter time, so when you come here in May it’s quite a big difference, so you need to use the time that you have available in free practice, but I don’t think we can run as much as we’d like to because we’ve all got the safety… the engines. We will see, but for sure the running tomorrow will be important.

FA: Nothing to add, really.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo On Line) To all of you: when you have one driver from a team that has a car that is winning everything – like Mercedes – and your team needs to win three times in a row (to catch them up), how does it work for teammates? For example, the guy who is behind, does it stimulate him to try to win or does it work in the opposite direction?

FA: Yeah, I said waiting for Rosberg. I don’t know really. For this, when it happens, it was a question for Mark last year, when Sebastian won nine times. For Rosberg now. It’s not so difficult to know what you’re experiencing. Probably I will answer because I will have the experience, but now… of course, I think Rosberg would like to win, that’s for sure.

SV: I would hate Lewis now, if I was Nico.

PM: I would hate Lewis as well. It’s a difficult answer. For sure, you always want to beat your teammate, you always want to do your best and to be ahead of your most close contender. For sure, it’s not ideal to always be at the back but in my opinion, they are both competitive, sometimes one is quicker than the other and sometimes it’s vice versa. It’s a difficult answer because it depends about any driver.

MC: It would be nice to be in that position, obviously. It’s hard to beat someone who never gives up and Rosberg, I’m sure, will never give up. I’m sure he will get his fair share of wins back. Sometimes if you’re constantly winning you sometimes let things slip so if you just make sure you just keep giving 100 percent, he will definitely get other race wins.

KM: I don’t have anything to add.

DK: I don’t want to talk for others but if I have to talk for myself there’s never a huge friendship between teammates so I think you always want to be in front of everyone and there are some circumstances, sometimes if you’re teammate is in front of you, it means that there is something that you can maybe do better but once again, there are different circumstances.

May 9, 2014
F1 Paddock Ups Its Game For Spain

In some cases traditional can be interpreted as being out-dated or bland. But sometimes the tried and tested brings its own unique concoction of nostalgia and character to the table. The Formula 1 paddock returns to Europe for a dose of Spain’s historic Circuit de Catalunya and the fifth round of the season.

Despite the few opportunities for testing, all drivers know the 4.655 km layout like the back of their hands. The circuit is a highly challenging one which demands a good combination between power and aerodynamics – the perfect barometer for car performance.

The return to Europe will be the hot-bed for major upgrades up and down the paddock. Some teams have stated more measured aims than others but the common thread will be improvement.

Sauber

Since the start of the testing season in January the C33 Sauber had a significant weight disadvantage. The Swiss team has so far struggled to match the heights of their 2013 season and have spent the last three weeks on reducing the car’s weight.

The team, led by Monisha Kaltenborn, will also introduce a ‘major aerodynamic update.’ A modified front wing, new engine cover, and new sidepod fins and deflectors are believed to be among the parts being rolled out this weekend. In addition, Ferrari has provided a software update to its customer teams which will deliver improved performance from its power units.

Sauber’s aim of a solid points finish seems modest however the team have not registered on the points table in any of the four races so far.

McLaren

The team’s fortune’s seemed to have turned when Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen delivered a double podium finish in Australia. However, going pointless in both Bahrain and China has prodded a management re-shuffle. The restructure and the appointment of key new aero staff have resulted in the hiring of Tony Salter from Sauber and Guillaume Cattelani from Lotus.

Changes have also been made to the way the team operates as McLaren set out to “restore some leadership.” It’s clear that McLaren’s focus on running of the team tells that they believe the MP4-29 to be a good package. The only issue that exists, as McLaren’s re-shuffling suggest, is to find the most effective way of unlocking its potential and carrying it to the front of the grid.

Lotus

The Lotus F1 Team has suffered the biggest loss of form in comparison to 2013. By reaching their simple goal of seeing the chequered flag the team can now start to focus on improving the drivability of the car. “We’ve got a new cooling and bodywork package coming – quite a big upgrade – plus some updates to the rear wing and various other bodywork parts,” said technical director Nick Chester.

Lotus, who runs Renault power, also welcomed more horsepower from Renault Sport F1 in China and is hoping for further upgrades in Barcelona.

Mercedes

Toto Wolff has cautioned his Mercedes team by saying that staying ahead of their competitors will not be enough to ensure victory at the end of the season.

“Our aim must be to increase the advantage we enjoyed at the last race in China,” said Wolff. “We have seen already that our rivals are relentless in their efforts to close the gap.”

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel has, unexpectedly, been in the shadow of teammate Daniel Ricciardo in nearly all of the first four races. Red Bull is not chalking up to one driver simply out-performing the other however. The team has been looking into whether an underlying fault with Vettel’s 2014 car has contributed to the reigning world champion’s struggles. If the team has found a fault with the four-time champion’s car they have not revealed it.

It has been confirmed that a new version (chassis) of the RB10 has been built in Milton-Keynes and will be ready for use by Vettel in Spain.

The Spanish circuit made its F1 debut in 1991 and has been the sight of several memorable victories. In 2014 Mercedes are the undoubted favourites. But the fascination of the weekend will centre on how close the opposition can get to unseating the high-flying Silver Arrows.

May 8, 2014
F1 2014: Chinese GP- Hat-trick Man Hamilton Wins In China

For the first time in his seven year career Lewis Hamilton has scored a hat-trick of victories. A complete domination of the 2014 Chinese grand prix was the latest in a list of victories to be added to the Brit’s resume.

Seemingly nothing can stand in the way of Mercedes’ all-dominant string of results. Not even rain during Saturday’s qualifying session could put a dampener on Hamilton run as he secured pole position ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

Lewis Hamilton led from start to finish as Mercedes once again overshadowed the competition. Teammate Nico Rosberg got off to a slow start and fell all the way to seventh before recovering to second. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa banging wheels meant Sebastian Vettel could snatch second place at this stage.

Despite running second in the race the Red Bull couldn’t match the pace of Mercedes nor Alonso’s Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel also finds himself in territory he doesn’t recognize – being outpaced by a teammate. Daniel Ricciardo has hit the ground running as a Red Bull driver and continues to go from strength to strength in an impressively calm manner. It didn’t sit too well with Vettel that he had been asked to let his faster teammate through in both of the last two races.

The team was quick to insist that Vettel was not creating any tension within in the team by initially refusing to heed the team order. Vettel, informed that Ricciardo had fresher tyres, responded with “tough luck” before eventually letting his Australian teammate through. Team boss Christian Horner saw nothing wrong with Vettel’s response and put it down to the champion being “a race driver.” It is evident from Vettel’s reaction that being out-performed by Ricciardo is starting to affect him. Vettel eventually finished fifth roughly twenty seconds behind Ricciardo.

The Ferrari team showed a marked improvement, at least in the hands of Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard blitzed the opening lap of the race, as he so often does, and was able to maintain and beat the pace of both Red Bull drivers. Alonso secured the first podium for Ferrari in which has otherwise been an off-colour start to the season. The third place finish comes at a significant time for the team as new team Principal Marco Mattiacci looks to find his feet.

Teammate Kimi Raikkonen didn’t enjoy the same turn of speed as he struggled to an eighth place finish behind Nico Hulkenberg and Valterri Bottas respectively. The Finn endured a difficult weekend compounded by a variety of issues which severely restricted the amount of running throughout the practice sessions. However, Raikkonen pointed out his driving style as the main contributing factor for his lack of pace. The former champion’s famously smooth style prevents him from getting enough heat into the Pirelli tyres which in turn affects grip levels. Typically, this would be seen as an asset as it could extend the life of the tyre however coupled with the low temperatures in China it resulted in an overall lack of pace.

Sergio Perez and Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top ten while Felipe Massa’s afternoon was completely destroyed by a pit-stop mistake. The team mixed up right and left-rear tyres costing the Brazilian a chance of a points-paying position. Oddly, the chequered flag was shown a lap early on lap 55 which, according to regulations, meant that Chinese GP was declared to have finished on lap 54. None of the points-paying-positions were affected.

The tension between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg is almost palpable. No congratulatory handshake was forthcoming, not even for the camera and no pleasantries exchanged before or during the podium ceremony. They aren’t expected to be overly excited about the other’s result but the lack of interaction between them is telling.

The tension between the two stems from the wheel-to-wheel battle in Bahrain which Rosberg felt was “too close” for comfort. But there is little doubt that if the German had been the one on attack and the first to see the chequered flag that it would’ve been acceptable.

The reality is that Hamilton struck a significant psychological blow by taking victory in a race that Rosberg seemingly had won. He followed it up with another damaging mental blow in China by completely dominating the weekend.

In three weeks time the first race of the ‘European season’ will take place at Spain’s Catalunya circuit. Most teams are expected to roll out several big upgrades with the hope of seeing significant progress.

Mercedes-Benz images courtesy of @MercedesAMGF1

April 21, 2014