F1 Madness

Tag: fernando alonso

  • Chinese Formula One GP Review: Phenomenal Fernando rules China

    Chinese Formula One GP Review: Phenomenal Fernando rules China

    Since the start of the Formula One season several teams have been particularly vocal in condemning the 2013 Pirelli tyres. As far as this upset lot were concerned tyres would dominate the Chinese grand prix headlines.

    Instead it was Fernando Alonso that wrote his name into the headlines. A third place in Saturday’s qualifying session behind Raikkonen and polesitter Hamilton underlined the pace of the Ferrari and El Nano never looked back.

    Lewis Hamilton maintained first off the starting grid as Kimi Raikkonen was overwhelmed by Alonso and Massa. As it was, Raikkonen’s start was compromised by a change to the starting sequence made by the team moments before the start. It wasn’t long before both Ferrari drivers were hounding the back of Hamilton’s Mercedes which ended with Hamilton simultaneously overtaken, on either side, on the entry to turn one.

    The tyres were still an issue and the frontrunners got rid of the delicate soft tyres on after only six laps. It left them able to run to the flag using the more robust medium compound. In contrast, those who had opted to start on the medium tyre, Vettel, Button and Hulkenberg, were now running at the front-end. In a strategic move, Button and Vettel selected to not set a flying lap in the third session of qualifying; putting them out of sequence with the frontrunners.

    Nevertheless, no sort of strategy manipulation was ever going to trip-up Fernando Alonso. Electric off the start and clinical when overtaking, it was from this point onwards where Fernando Alonso started to deliver a metronomic drive of the highest calibre. Whilst tyre life and levels of degradation certainly had an impact in the Chinese GP it had no influence on who the victor would be.  Leading from the front Alonso was never under pressure from his pursuers in the shape of Raikkonen and Hamilton. By controlling his tyres and setting a ferocious and unmatchable pace he fashioned an extremely impressive path to his 31st victory.

    Kimi Raikkonen’s pace was slightly hindered by nose and front-wing damage after an incident with somewhat wild Sergio Perez. Bruised and battered Raikkonen still managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton for a fine second place. Eighteen points closes the gap to championship leader Sebastian Vettel to three points. By finishing nineteen of the last twenty races in points scoring positions Raikkonen has proven his near bulletproof consistency – a highly prized commodity in any championship fight.

    Lewis Hamilton lacked the pace required to challenge for victory though Mercedes will be thrilled with his performance. But the final step of the podium very almost wasn’t his as Sebastian Vettel’s alternative strategy nearly paid off. Armed with a new set of soft tyres the Red Bull destroyed the fourteen second gap to Hamilton in a mere four laps.

    Despite Vettel’s late charge and fourth place finish, Red Bull’s indifferent record at the Chinese GP continued.  For Mark Webber it started with a fuel-pressure glitch that dropped him out of qualifying on Saturday. Red Bull’s choice to change the gearbox and ratios on Webber’s car meant the Australian had to start from the pitlane; but would do so with a car better equipped at overtaking. It made no difference however as Webber’s Red Bull sustained damage in clash with Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne. Still not the worst of it, Webber was forced into retirement as his right rear tyre made a break for it and rolled across the track. What would injury be without insult? For his part in the Vergne incident Webber was given a three-place grid penalty for next week’s Bahrain GP.

    Jenson Button finished a solid fifth ahead of Felipe Massa whose pace dropped off after the first round of stops. Daniel Ricciardo delivered a great drive and brought the Toro Rosso home in seventh ahead of Di Resta, Grosjean and Hulkenberg.

    There may have been twenty-two drivers on the Shanghai circuit but Fernando Alonso was in a class of his own.

     

     

  • Chinese Grand Prix Post Race Press Conference

    Chinese Grand Prix Post Race Press Conference

    Here’s what was said at the post race press conference of the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Fernando, congratulations, well done. You were a winner here in 2005, how does it feel to have won again? It seemed to be a perfect race for you.
    FA:     It feels good. Obviously a long time from the victory here – eight years. Definitely it was nearly a perfect Sunday for us, with not any problem in the race. The start was clean; it was good. We managed to overtake Kimi. And then in the first stint we managed to pass Lewis as well. The car felt a little bit better on the degradation side let’s say. And then in the rest of the race, obviously you need to take care of the tyres a little bit, you need to manage the gap with the guys behind. It was not so easy to understand the race sometimes. We were overtaking the McLarens, Hulkenberg, Sebastian, so it was a little bit of a mix. So it was not an easy race and there were some moments of action let’s say and the risk is there when you have to do an overtaking manoeuvre and you have to manage that as well. The team did a perfect job with the set-up of the car for quali and the race, perfect pit stop times and pit stops executed let’s say. At the end of the race the victory is a good reward for the team, well deserved after the disappointment in Malaysia and you know, the car felt good. The two races we finished, one was second and the victory today, so definitely it’s a positive start to this championship. We need to keep going like that, in this direction, with good weekends, with not any extra risk and hopefully in Bahrain we can score some good points again.

    Q: Kimi, obviously a bit of a problem at the start there, tell us about that, and also how much pressure was there at the end as well?
    KR:     I think we just had wrong settings. The practice start was very good but then it was really bad the real start and we lost some positions and after that the car was okay, but I had a little accident, some problems with Perez and we damaged the nose and the front wing. I was surprised there was no more damage because I hit him quite hard. Also bit surprised that we didn’t have any more problems after that. A bit too much understeer and destroying the front tyre because of that but we still could fight for second place and get quite a good result in the end. Obviously we wanted to try to win but today with all the issues it was not possible.

    Q: Lewis it was kind of tight at the end with Sebastian closing on you and obviously you were trying to put pressure on Kimi. Tell us about it.
    LH:     Yeah, it was a good race for me. Quite happy with third. Of course I would have liked to have won but congratulations to Fernando, he did a great job and so did Kimi. They were both a little bit too fast for us during the race. I was seeming to be able to apply a little bit of pressure to Kimi but not enough to get close to him and overtake. My tyres were shot at the end and there was nothing I could do really to hold off Sebastian. A little bit unlucky with some traffic. Still, to get on the podium, really happy. Really happy with the points as well.

     

  • Chinese F1 Grand Prix Podium Interviews

    Chinese F1 Grand Prix Podium Interviews

    Podium Interviews Conducted by David Coulthard

    Q: Fernando, congratulations. A fairly dominant victory in the end and your 31st victory, putting you fourth on the all-time list just behind Ayrton Senna. What does this one mean to you?
    Fernando Alonso:     Well, hello everybody first of all and thank you for the support all weekend. Amazing fans all weekend and it’s very nice to race here. About the race: yes, definitely it was a fantastic race for us, from the start to the end, without big problems with the car. The tyre degradation was better than expected probably, so we managed more or less the pace. Yeah, it feels great after the retirement in Malaysia, we had some pressure to finish the race. The two races we finished this year; one second place and today the victory so definitely the start of this 2013 campaign is looking good so we are very optimistic.

    Q: We heard the team talking to you during the grand prix telling you not need to push. They were trying to slow you down in some respects and you were saying ‘I’m not pushing’.
    FA:     Well, you always push. In a Formula One race it’s impossible not to push but it’s true that we had some pace, maybe, in the pocket. Not easy to know when to use it depending on the state of the tyres. A little bit more potential and hopefully we can show it in Bahrain in one week.

    Q: Kimi Raikkonen, that’s your 20th consecutive finish in Formula One. You’re certainly Mr Consistency. You had to work hard for that second place today. You had some damage to the front wing of your car after some contact, so tell us about that and also how it affected the balance?
    Kimi Raikkonen:     I think in the end it was a pretty okay result. Obviously we want to win but after a bad start the car was handling well but then overtaking Perez, I was next to him and he just pushed me on the kerb but I tried to avoid him but I went on the grass and hit him on the rear I think and damaged the front. That didn’t help but luckily it didn’t affect so much the handling, it was just a bit too much understeery but we could still fight for second place. For sure without the damage we could have been quite a bit faster. Anyhow, good points and we try to do better next time.

    Q: We come to Lewis Hamilton, our pole-sitter. It didn’t quite work out for you there on race pace. You really dropped away towards the closing stages, under a lot of pressure from Vettel but some great racing nonetheless.
    Lewis Hamilton:     Yeah, I’m really happy with today’s result. Great result for the team, very happy with the points. The team did a fantastic job all weekend. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the kind of pace these two have but still very fortunate to get on the podium.

    Q: Fernando, a closing question for you. Only one week until Bahrain. What are you expecting in terms of performance there and what’s the celebration going to be like tonight with your Ferrari team?
    FA:     I expect a tough race again. In Bahrain I think we will see different conditions and who knows how competitive anyone can be. But definitely, as I said before, from the races that we finished this year the car seems to be able to be on the podium, so we hope to be on the podium again in Bahrain. The celebration tonight? Nothing special. I have a flight very early for Bahrain, so tonight I think some dinner. I think they guys will celebrate more than me.

     

     

  • Top 3 Drivers’ reactions after the Chinese Grand Prix

    Top 3 Drivers’ reactions after the Chinese Grand Prix

     

     

  • Australian F1 GP Review: Raikkonen Devastating Down Under

    Australian F1 GP Review: Raikkonen Devastating Down Under

    For ten days before the Formula 1 paddock arrived Melbourne had been experiencing a heat wave of record breaking proportions. But the heavens well and truly opened just before Saturday’s qualifying session.

    Thanks to Mother Nature only the first part of qualifying was completed and the rest postponed to Sunday morning. The pace of Red Bull sent an ominous message as the team locked out the front row and Sebastian Vettel racked up pole position number thirty.

    Lewis Hamilton slotted his Mercedes into third place as McLaren barely made the final part of qualifying with Jenson Button. A noteworthy session from Felipe Massa saw the Brazillian out-qualify his teammate Fernando Alonso.

    The major talking point however, as expected, was the tyres. Jenson Button worryingly said that his set of supersoft tyres was completely shredded after only three laps of qualifying. It wasn’t just talk from JB either as five laps into the grand prix the McLaren pulled into the pits for a new set of medium tyres. It compounded a miserable start to the season for Button and Perez who eventually finished ninth and eleventh with what looks like a fundamentally slow car.

    Mark Webber followed suit a lap later but the frontrunners seemed able to push the performance of the supersofts slightly further. Under pressure from the two Ferrari’s, Vettel pitted on lap 8 followed by Massa (lap 9), Alonso and Raikkonen (lap 10).

    Lotus ended pre-season testing with several reliability issues and little to show for four days running. Seventh and eighth on the grid suggested that the same problems over one lap were still there. But Raikkonen had said that he was happy with the car and that reliability wasn’t a concern. He was right.

    A seventh place starting position only slightly delayed the prodigious progress Kimi Raikkonen would make throughout the race. He first dispatched Lewis Hamilton around the outside of turn 13 and set off after the two Ferrari’s and leader Vettel. Nevertheless, the first round of pitstops cropped up before the Finn could advance any further. However, it was the 23 lap stint on the medium tyres where the Finn came alive.

    Raikkonen delivered a sublime stint of driving and was able to stretch the performance of the tyres while simultaneously keeping up the pace. By the time he made his second and final stop of the race, Raikkonen had built up a fifteen second gap over now second placed Fernando Alonso. The first few laps after Alonso’s pitstops were substantially quicker than Raikkonen’s but the Lotus driver, seemingly always in control, had the capacity to up his pace whenever he pleased. And just to ensure a straightforward run to the flag the Iceman put in the fastest lap of the race and extended his gap to twelve seconds.

    Sebastian Vettel, unable to replicate his qualifying pace, managed the third step of the podium. The triple world champion was still happy to finish in the top three and believes that there is no need to worry about the pace of their rivals.

    Felipe Massa secured fourth place ahead of a struggling Lewis Hamilton. The Brit initially planned on a two-stopper but the tyre hungry Mercedes forced the team to opt for plan B and a three-stop strategy. Another difficult day on his home track relegated Webber to sixth as the Aussie struggled with a KERS issue throughout the race. Adrian Sutil’s return could scarcely have gone better with a solid seventh ahead of teammate di Resta and Jenson Button. Romain Grosjean rounded out the top ten some one minute and twenty-two seconds adrift of his race winning teammate.

    If Raikkonen’s performance appeared effortless from the outside it’s because it was; Raikkonen called it one of the easiest victories of his career. Coincidentally, six of the last ten Australian GP race winners have gone on to win the world championship.

    After four tedious months of waiting the Malaysian GP follows immediately on the back of Oz. The Sepang circuit will be a bigger test of car design and will provide more opportunity for DRS passes with its two long straights. The weather in these parts tend to vary quite a bit too; from monsoon levels of rain to boiling hot temperatures in the region of 40 degrees.

  • F1 2013: Teammate Battle

    F1 2013: Teammate Battle

    By definition winning the Formula 1 driver’s world title indicates that, by the end of the season, one of the drivers had outdone his twenty-one counterparts. However, the first man to be beaten is always the teammate.

    Red Bull: Sebastian Vettel v Mark Webber

    Chances are if you beat Sebastian Vettel you’re likely to be close to the championship lead. With several memorable victories Webber has undoubtedly proven that he possesses great talent. However, raking in the big points consistently hasn’t been Webber’s forte. For the Australian to beat his world champion teammate AussieGrit will need to deliver the best season of his career.

    Ferrari: Felipe Massa v Fernando Alonso

    Felipe Massa ended off the 2012 season in the best form he had for quite some time. But if Massa had a solid end to the season Fernando Alonso arguably had the best season of his F1 career. Given their performance in relation to each other it remains highly unlikely that Massa will be able to outrace Alonso for a significant amount of time.

    McLaren: Sergio Perez v Jenson Button

    Sergio Perez has talent, but it is raw talent. McLaren, Martin Whitmarsh even Ron Dennis will try to mould him into a complete racing driver but it will be up to Checo to refine his racing craft.  Since joining McLaren Jenson Button has looked supremely at ease save for a few spells of irregular results. Checo Perez has the speed to beat his teammate but JB has speed, guile and a settled team around him.

    Lotus: Romain Grosjean v Kimi Raikkonen

    Romain Grosjean survived his woeful season to be re-signed by Lotus. Too many incidents has coloured opinion on Grosjean and objective number one for the Frenchman has to be a composed approach to racing. Only then can he consider a tactic on how to beat Kimi Raikkonen. For Raikkonen it will be business as usual; get in the car, drive it fast. He’s not really bothered about beating the guy on the other side of the garage – it’s just about racing as fast as he possibly can. Grosjean may have a slight advantage in qualifying but if the E21 is up to it in 2013 Raikkonen is not going to be an easy man to beat.

    Mercedes: Nico Rosberg v Lewis Hamilton

    Nico Rosberg’s Formula 1 career has been relatively solid but far from spectacular. His first and only victory, to date, in China finally got the monkey off his back but a solitary win won’t mean much when it’s measured against the prolific Lewis Hamilton. For Hamilton there’s a great urge to take Mercedes to the top of the podium and that will be his solitary focus this season. He’s unlikely to be troubled by Nico Rosberg.

    Williams: Pastor Maldonado v Valtteri Bottas

    Venezuelan Maldonado toned down his kamikaze racing style in the second half of the 2012 season but wasn’t pushed by teammate Bruno Senna. It should be different in 2013 with Valterri Bottas. Much has been made of the Finn’s speed in the paddock but he will need to hit the ground running if he is to outperform his teammate.

    Sauber: Nico Hulkenberg v Esteban Guiterrez

    Nico Hulkenberg had a strong comeback with Force India in 2012 but starts this season on a level playing field with Guiterrez. It’s never easy stepping into a new car or a new team. While Hulkenberg should outdo Guiterrez the young Mexican will be especially keen to shake the ‘pay driver’ label.

    Force India: Paul di Resta v Adrian Sutil?

    Scotsman Paul di Resta will drive the VJM06 alongside Adrian Sutil. As is the case for several drivers, this season will be about more than beating their respective teammates, it will be about survival.

    For Daniel Ricciardo & Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso), Charles Pic & Giedo van der Garde(Caterham), Max Chilton & Jules Bianchi (Marussia) beating the teammate will be as important as ensuring a place in Formula 1. As these lower ranked teams, perhaps with the exception of Toro Rosso, struggle to survive these drivers have to be aware that there is always another driver around the corner with a bigger cheque.

     

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  • F1 Testing in Barcelona

    Formula One and @F1_Madness fan, Laura Rocchigiani (@Yzzzma) was lucky enough to go to Barcelona and watch the pre-season F1 testing live. She sent us a few of her photos of the f1 cars heading around the testing track and we must say we are very envious and most impressed!