F1 Madness

Tag: ferrari

  • Hamilton makes it a clean sweep in dry Australian GP final practice

    Hamilton makes it a clean sweep in dry Australian GP final practice

    Lewis Hamilton made it a clean sweep by going fastest once again in the final practice session ahead of the Australian GP. The British driver edged out his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg, finishing 0.176s ahead of the German to top the final practice session time sheets with a stonking time of 1:25.624s.

    While the Mercedes team are still ahead of the field, it is refreshing to see the dominant gap shrinking – Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel completed the final practice session only two tenths behind the Mercs and the entire field of 22 drivers are seperated by only 3.648.

    The scene is definitely set for a brilliant qualifying session which will take place in a brand new knock-out format. Vettel’s final practice time was set before the two Mercedes drivers who set their times on a rapidly improving track which suggests their could be plenty of action toward the end of qualifying later this today.

    There was no sign of rain throughout the entire final practice session and conditions continued to improve throughout the entire 60 minute run.

    Toro Rosso proved to be very impressive with Carlos Sainz Jr – who is running a 2015-spec Ferrari engine – splitting the two Ferraris to go fourth fastest, two tenths clear of Kimi Raikkonen. Max Verstappen brought his Toro Rosso home 6th fastest ahead of Valterri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo.

    Felipe Massa finished ninth fastest and Force India’s Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10.

    The two McLaren drivers showed that the team seems to have made some encouraging progress with Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button setting the 11th and 12th quickest times respectively. Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat was 13th, ahead of the leading Sauber of Marcus Ericsson and Renault’s Kevin Magnussen.

    Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg finished 16th fastest with Renault’s Jolyon Palmer behind him.

    Some action in the pitlane saw F1 rookie driver Rio Haryanto and Romain Grosjean colliding early in the final practice session when they were both released at the same time.

    Haryanto was able to get out shortly after with a new front wing bolted to his car, but Haas chose to change the floor as well as the front wing on Grosjean’s car before getting him back out.

    Haryanto finished the session 22nd and last on the time sheets, but only two tenths adrift of team mate Pascal Wehrlein.

    Grosjean completed the fewest laps of anybody with 11 and ended the session 19th – a 0.008s shave slower than team mate Esteban Gutierrez.

    The new format qualifying format will make its debut just a little later this morning. Will Mercedes continue to dominate? Or could the rest of the field be in it to grab it from them? Join us on Twitter @F1_Madness for live interaction, commentary and chat throughout the session.

    Final Practice FP3 Classification:

    Australian GP Final Practice Classification

    Lewis Hamilton Photo Credit – Mercedes AMG Petronas

  • 2016 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES:

    Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault Sport)

    Toto WOLFF (Mercedes)

    Eric BOULLIER (McLaren)

    Maurizio ARRIVABENE (Ferrari)

    Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing)

    Gene HAAS (Haas F1)

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Cyril, let’s begin with you – welcome back as a Renault works team. Great history, 35 wins, two world championships and 100 podiums. How tough will it be to repeat those records against today’s competition?
    Cyril ABITEBOUL: I think it will be very tough and I know that there were a lot of comments regarding the time that it took us to make our decision last year. It’s not so much the appetite to be in Formula One but to be in a capacity to be successful in Formula One, that was the question mark. So we come in that competition with lots of humility. As you mentioned we have been there fro quite a long period of time, almost 40 years but we equally we know that the level has raised considerably. So we know it’s going to take time; it’s a long journey, a long-term plan but we think we have all the ingredients – financial, technical, the support of a large group – to make that a successful one. We’re going to take it step by step but it’s absolutely possible.

    What’s the plan for the engine this year? You’ve not used so many tokens so far. Do you expect to be close to Ferrari and Mercedes by the end of the season?
    CA: Well, actually, I think that this is a demonstration that we have used little tokens but I hope in connection to the fact that we have made a substantial step in terms of performance will be actual evidence that there is no connection between token use and performance. You can use a lot of tokens and bring absolutely nothing in terms of lap time, which actually is maybe something we did last year. I think the whole debate of tokens should go away and we should focus on performance. There is a plan to use more tokens during the course of the season, that’s the plan and we have made lots of comments about that. Hopefully it will happen, both for the benefit of the Renault works team and also Red Bull.

    Maurizio, coming to you – Sebastian told us here yesterday in the press conference he feels Ferrari has enough to challenge Mercedes this year. Tell us about the effort that has gone on behind the scenes to raise the level?
    Maurizio ARRIVABENE: We are doing our job. We are working very hard during the winter and we know where we are, but where you really are depends on what the other competitors are going to be. During this weekend we will know.

    We’ve got some new rules this year, qualifying rules, team radio rules, tyre rules etc coming into force, what differences do expect these to make, especially in the qualifying we’ll see tomorrow.
    MA: I don’t want to be against any changes, Ferrari don’t want to be against the change, I simply think that maybe giving a bit more time to the team to work on ideas was better. But I can’t say so with a certainty. The only certainty is that more probably tomorrow at the beginning of the qualifying we are going to see a line like on Saturday at the cashier of the supermarket – everybody wants to go out. Then we will see. It’s not fair to criticize before that has happened.

    Eric, your thoughts on that, the new regulations?
    Eric BOULLIER: Well, we’ll see this weekend. There is some upside and downside. The qualifying format we had before, I think we all agree, was a successful format. We were used to it. I think it is true that there will be more traffic at the beginning of each qualifying segment and there should be more unpredictability for the final result, but we will see.

    It was a tough year for McLaren last year to say the least. What’s the winter been like at Woking and what do you expect for 2016?
    EB: Well, I think every year we keep working harder and harder. It was a very, very busy winter for us. We’ll see. Obviously there is a lot of progress. We have been able to work through this Friday this weekend, which is good for both Honda and McLaren. We will see where we are. Obviously we don’t want to overpromise everything. We will go step by step and there is still some more to come.

    Coming to you Gene, a very warm welcome to Formula One. Your start-up has been a few years in the development. How does the reality match up to the expectation?
    Gene HAAS: Well, I’m nervous. I think there are a lot of things going on here that I’m new to and the team is new too. So, putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together along with all the personnel and having it all come together for the first time has been a learning experience. That’s really what we’re here for is to learn how Formula One really operates from the ground floor. Your can watch this racing your whole life but there’s nothing like being a participant to really understand it and I have a lot of respect for the teams that are here and the level of technical competence you have to have to even start one of these races. I’m pretty much in awe. It’s a challenge and I hope it’s a lot of fun.

    You’ve done it before, of course. You built a NASCAR team from scratch, won races, won championships. Formula One is obviously a different ball game from NASCAR but what would success in Formula One on a global scale mean to you?
    GH: I think you have to look at it in terms of years. I have the feeling that if you over-anticipate what you can do in the sport it will humble you very quickly. I think the first year or two just to be able to come to the races, be competitive, not make any major mistakes would be a tremendous achievement. I know a few of our drivers are hoping to score some points and that would certainly be an accomplishment.

    Christian, coming to you – a new season, several new partnerships for the team. It feels, maybe from the outside, a little bit like a team in transition. What’s the plan for the next stage?
    Christian HORNER: I think that it’s exactly that. I think we are in transition and I think we are hopefully getting on an upward curve now. We’ve had a positive winter, a busy winter. All the teams work hard. You know if you come into Formula One everybody works hard and arguably the smaller teams work the hardest as they have the least resource. But it’s about working smartly and I think this winter the team has worked not only hard but creatively and cleverly. We have a good basis of a car to develop throughout the year and with the different partnerships we have introduced, some exciting partnerships, welcoming Tag Heuer to the team not only as a sponsor but as branding on our power unit and also the announcement yesterday with Aston Martin, it’s very exciting for Red Bull Advanced Technologies.

    Coming back to the discussion about the rules, specifically on the team radio I’m interested. What are your thoughts on those restrictions and the repositioning of the driver as very much the man in control, the decision-maker?
    CH: Well I guess like modern technology these days and how people communicate, we’re working by text – maybe to SMS the driver would be an easier way, because we’re not allowed to say much these days. I think it’s going to be a voyage of discovery and I hope we haven’t gone too far on the radio stuff, because that’s taking away an element of dialogue between the engineer and the driver and some of that from behind the scenes can be quite entertaining, some it X-rated, but quite enthralling for the fans. We’ve got quite a few changes to take on board this year, let’s see how it goes.

    Coming to you Toto, obviously the last couple of years some records that pushed the boundaries a bit beyond where they have been before. But nothing lasts forever, as I’m sure Christian will tell you. How nervous do you feel and do you think you have enough this year to hold everyone at bay?
    Toto WOLFF: Before I answer the question, first of all I’d like to welcome the group and if you listen to what he says, that is certainly the right approach to enter Formula One. He’s been successful in NASCAR and obviously with his own company and I have no doubt that you will be successful in what you do here. You have to stay on your toes, that’s clear. You can be caught out quickly, either by regulations or just by not taking the right decisions and we’ve seen that over the last couple of years. There is a constant skepticism whether we have done a good enough job over the winter and we’re going to know more tomorrow.

    Mercedes has some young drivers coming through the system – Pascal Wehrlein racing here with Manor, Esteban Ocon coming through and seconded to Renault as a reserve. Will we see more of this sort of development of drivers coming through from Mercedes in the next couple of years?
    TW: I think it’s a good development. In the past it was only Red Bull holding up young drivers and transitioning them into Formula One on merit and now with Renault coming in and having Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen being back in a car, Pascal Wehrlein in a Manor and an additional team which has financial resource, I think it’s good news and hopefully we will see more good young people come into Formula One based on merit. For us certainly it’s about finding the right places. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to start an inflationary system and just enter many young kids if you don’t have a place in Formula One. With Esteban and Renault I think we found a good solution for our mutual benefit. Equally with Pascal, a completely different challenge for him this year than last and we’ll see how that pans out.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Martin Moravec – DPA) Maurizio, last year you said that if Ferrari would win four races then you would go into the hills of Maranello barefoot. What would you do this year if Ferrari becomes World Champion?
    MA: I’ll let you know when it’s happened.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Last month the Commercial Rights Holder was quoted as saying “this sort of thing is what is commonly known as a cartel and cartels are illegal. We are running something that is illegal. On top of all that it is anti-competitive.” Given the EU laws etcetera and also the complaint that’s also recently been filed, is Formula One really being run as a cartel? How do you feel about this comment? Any comeback on that?

    TW: Hi Dieter! It’s nice to start all over again. First of all, when you’re looking at today’s press conference, there’s a lot of positivity around what’s happening. Red Bull has bought Aston Martin back into the sport, a mega-brand. Renault is back as an official works team, Haas has entered the sport, an American team. But having said that, I don’t think there is any cartel around here, nor is the sport run as a cartel. Bernie is always good for controversy and throwing one in. If that were to run like a cartel we wouldn’t be sitting here. Some of us are part of multi-national global companies and we’re taking compliance very seriously. So… it just causes headlines but nothing else.

    Maurizio?
    MA: I think this talk of a cartel is simply ridiculous. Simply ridiculous. Everybody, they are doing their job, they try to do their best. We are talking here about brands who have a long story. They are not going to throw out of the window their story, their reputation for this comment that they don’t deserve even one word. I have to say, it’s strange because in this world you have to be careful sometimes because, if you are talking a bit more with somebody, if I’m going to go to the dinner with Toto or Cyril, I do a cartel? It’s simply a dinner! We have to learn something from rugby, that when you are in the field, you play very hard, you punch, whatever you have to do. And then afterwards, they go to the dinner and no-one is talking about having a cartel or creating some mismatch during the match. It’s simply ridiculous.

    Cyril?
    CA: No, I would not agree with that definition of cartel for the simply reason that we are all in a competitive environment, so at the end of the day Ferrari wants to win against Mercedes and hopefully one day Renault will want to win, I don’t know, against Ferrari. So, for that simple reason, any sort of unity will not last. So I will not agree with you. I will not concur with that. Plus, you have to accept that only a limited number of manufacturers have the financial capacity to subsidise the cost of the technology in accordance with the current regulation that we have all accepted. So no, I would not concur with that view.

    Christian, you’re on the outside of the manufacturer equation, what’s your perspective?
    CH: Look, I think you can understand that Bernie’s frustrated and his comments are borne out of frustration of being unable to influence change. You’ve got a dynamic in Formula One at the moment where the manufacturers collectively have a lot of strength. That primarily is through the technical regulations and the current situation regarding the power unit. I think Bernie’s frustration as a promoter is that he can’t influence that at this point in time. His comments obviously I think have come off the back of that. Our situation is different to that of a manufacturer team. As an independent team we rely on the manufacturers for the supply of an engine and, of course, there’s been great debate as to what price that engine should be, what format it should be and, of course, you have a divergence of performance as well. So, there’s some key issues that do need to be addressed. Hopefully consensus and agreement can be found on that in the near future.

    Eric, do you have a view on that?
    EB: I think it’s been debated.

    Gene?
    GH: Well, I think the complexity of the engine- turbo-electrical package was maybe underestimated by everybody, including Bernie and the teams of how hard it would be to build. It would seem to me that maybe in hindsight that maybe if there had been a price that had been set initially that said ‘this is what is has to be built for and what you have to sell to the teams for’ maybe the manufacturers would have had to make a compromise, saying “well, we can’t build the current package for that money, we’ll have to compromise.” I think it’s something that just wasn’t anticipated and unfortunately… I can certainly tell you what I know about the Ferraris is that the money they put into their [power unit] is probably well worth what they charge us for those packages but unfortunately that kind of technology doesn’t really make it back to the fan base, which is the people that we rely on. So, going forwards, those sort of things, cost, has certainly to be part of the equation before they make any kind of rulings.

    Q: (Peter Habicht – The Auto Channel) I have to two-part question, Gene, the first is to you and the next is to the team principals. So Gene, all credit to you, Gunther and the team and bringing America back to the sport after nearly 30 years. While there’s been little time for nostalgia, now that you’re here has there been anything more you’d like to share about your experience so far this weekend with American fans back home. And, to the rest of the team principals, do you have any words of advice for Gene?
    GH: Well, I tell you all of a sudden I’m sitting here in awe that I’m sitting among all these team principals from Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault and Honda and Red Bull, that’s pretty awesome for someone who… you look at these things in magazines. To be sitting among this group of elite is humbling, I can say that. It’s been a long journey, I’m not sure how I really got here but here I am. I think, if you probably ask everybody here, how you wind up here is somewhat unique. Things in life, I guess  you have to grab them. This is just part of the process of being able to compete at this level. It’s just awe inspiring. I know there’s some hard times ahead but I’m looking forward to it. Looking forward to the challenge.

    As for words of advice from the other team principals, maybe start with Christian.
    CH: I think it’s fantastic to have Haas join Formula One as an independent team, as a really credible independent team. Formual One’s a big challenge, it’s great to have an American, and a true American presence in Formula One. Words of advice… get a good lawyer!

    Eric?
    EB: Very similar. I think it’s very exciting for Formula One to have, as Christian said, a true American team and an American character like Gene joining us who had a deep understanding of racing, who has also useful experience in America with NASCAR, which he could share and I would be very happy to hear sometime. I don’t have any advice to give. He knows about racing enough and he is serious about what he had built already and I think it is going to be a nice surprise and maybe a difficult but a nice journey in Formula One.

    Cyril, you’re in a Renault shirt now but you were a team principal of a start-up. Any advice for Gene?
    CA: I was expecting that one. No. I think it’s interesting. I understand that you’re following and it’s interesting to see a new model, in particularly a collaboration with Ferrari because I think that there is a whole field of collaboration between teams which is not explored at this point in time by most teams, so I think I’ll be really curious and, to be honest, a bit frightened to see what it gives on Saturday. In terms of pieces of advice, I’ve heard a lot of people come in with big plans, willing to do things completely differently. So, don’t try to do things too differently because the good old recipes, they also work.

    Toto?
    TW: I think Gene doesn’t need any advice. He has done it very successfully in NASCAR and much more successful than all of us with his own company. If there is advice in Formula One it’s to manage expectations – because pressure is going to increase the better the results are and, the way you’ve been doing it, keeping both feet on the ground and staying humble, I think is the right approach.

    And Maurizio, presumably you speak all the time?
    MA: I think that what I have to say, we are talking most of the time about teams that left or want to leave Formula One and not enough about people like Gene. He’s a serious person, financially reliable, committed and with a lot of experience. I don’t have to give him any advice – but I have to congratulate people like Gene Haas, that they want to invest in Formula One and they want to take this sport seriously and not as a kind of speculation. In terms of a lawyer, he got a good lawyer – but he’s using his lawyer properly.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Serra) Maurizio, yesterday we read some quotes from president Marchionne. Is he putting too much pressure on the team or is he right to say that Ferrari is ready to win all the time?
    MA: If your editor is asking you to sell more copies, it is putting pressure on you. It’s normal that the president, when you do something, is not asking you, the following year, to do less than what you have done. The role of the president is to push his people to do better, better and better. If he’s going to create pressure this is normal, this is part of our job, this is part of any kind of job. He’s doing his role. He was giving to us what we were asking for and he’s pushing us to strive for the best.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Christian, you expressed some misgivings about the radio communication rules, which I’m sure some of us agree with. I personally agree with you but is there not a disconnect here, because we tend to think that nothing happens unless you guys have agreed to make it happen? Or am I wrong there? Can we not blame you for having it in the first place?
    CH: Not me personally, hopefully not. Look, I think out of well intention, sometimes we don’t think through the consequences. The intention of restricting the radio is that the drivers need to drive the car and I don’t think anybody enjoys hearing a driver being told how to operate his car. I think the problem that we have is that the complexity of these cars is so great now and the assistance that is required from the pit wall and behind the scenes is very different to Formula One of even three, four years ago. And it’s finding that line: is it right to help a driver find a bit of clear space in traffic or to pit now and so on? I think it’s going to be a bit of a voyage of discovery with this rule and I think applying it to the operation of the car is one thing; applying it to other sporting measures… we need to find that right balance and I’m not sure we’re going to achieve that immediately in one weekend.
    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Just to come back on that point, if you’re going to take away the radio, surely the logical thing is to replace that with other radio, because the fans do love to hear the radio, it’s part of the show now? And hearing the technology on the radio was actually a good thing, I think.
    CH: Absolutely, I think there’s entertainment through the radio and I think that what’s fascinating is to hear these guys communicating at the speeds that they’re achieving and in the heat of the battle – that radio content can produce good entertainment behind the scenes for the fans and it’s finding that balance. The bit that you should really hear is the intercom because there’s a far more interesting discussion going on on the pit wall on the intercom than there is on the radio and we, for sure, would love to hear the Mercedes intercom.

    Q: (Leon Alepidis – F1Fan.gr) Question to Mr Boullier: we presume that this season McLaren will be fighting with the midfield teams instead of at the front for the title, no title sponsor yet and two expensive drivers. Would you say that for now or with hindsight for the past that there has been a mistake, plans for investment for the development of the car instead of putting all this money into the drivers without having an actual good car to drive from the start of the project?
    EB: Well, definitely we at McLaren had a difficult year last year and we are not where we want to be and definitely we have the ambition to be. If you want to be the winning team you need to have all the best elements and if you have the best drivers before the best chassis or the best engine it’s a risk but it’s also a challenge than for the chassis and the engine to be the best. I think that as far as we are concerned, in terms of money, we have signed three new sponsors this year: Chandon, Richard Mille, Volvo Trucks. We have renewed another three sponsors. We are part of the McLaren Group which is profitable this year so I don’t think we have any issues on this part of the business. After that, it is just to be the best combination to catch Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull and others.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Cyril, amongst all the announcements and personnel movements and promotions, one name wasn’t mentioned at all and that’s Rob White. Is he still with the company, what is he doing, is he involved?
    CA: Yes, he’s involved, he’s part of the company. There will be more announcements regarding the exact management structure in Enstone and in Viry but in particular in Viry after the appointment of Remy Taffin as our new technical director, so there will be more coming, so I will invite you to the staff meeting that we will do in that respect.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport Magazines) Christian, in this room yesterday, Dan Ricciardo was asked about these rumours of Ferrari and among the things he said was that he’s completely focused on Red Bull and this season and then “not exactly out of contract either.” I realise these things are confidential but can you enlighten us a bit?
    CH: Yeah, he’s under contract, so I think he was pretty accurate with his comment. Red Bull invests in these guys at a young age, they develop them, they give them the opportunity through the Junior team and Toro Rosso. Sebastian Vettel was a prime example of that, Daniel Ricciardo is doing an excellent job, Dany Kvyat and the two exciting talents we obviously have in Toro Rosso. The contractual situation we have with Daniel Ricciardo is extremely clear. How long? That’s confidential.

  • F1 2016: Australian GP Free Practice 1 – Hamilton Tops Wet/Dry Session

    F1 2016: Australian GP Free Practice 1 – Hamilton Tops Wet/Dry Session

    Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton topped the first free practice session for the 2016 Australian grand prix.

    The 2016 season got underway as Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel ventured out onto track with the full wet Pirelli tyres fitted to his car. Overnight rain and a consistent drizzle in the morning had ensured a wet start to the first practice session.

    The track seemed to dry quickly with a blustery wind but just as driver were getting into their stride on the yellow-walled soft tyres the rain appeared once more. So it continued throughout the session which was difficult to classify either wet or dry.

    Lewis Hamilton set the quickest time of the session with a 1:30:364. The Red Bull duo of Dannil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo were second and third as the chequered flag dropped to signal the end of the session. Rather embarrassingly, Ricciardo dropped the Red Bull into the gravel at the end of the session. Given the slippery conditions and the fact that Ricciardo was on slicks means we can give him the benefit of the doubt.

    Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen rounded out the top five. The 18 year old Verstappen had earlier spun his Ferrari-powered car but, luckily, didnt sustain any damage. Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button,  and Sergio Perez rounded out the top ten.

    The changeable weather conditions mean that the first free practice session of the season didnt represent anything as to how the rest of the weekend may pan out.

  • 2016 Australian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2016 Australian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS:

    Rio HARYANTO (Manor)

    Jolyon PALMER (Renault)

    Esteban GUTIERREZ (Haas)

    Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes).
    PRESS CONFERENCE
    Daniel Ricciardo, let’s start with you. Here we are, 20 years on from the grand prix moving across from Adelaide to Melbourne, tell us about what a buzz it is for you to showcase your sport once a year here and what it means for the fans in Australia?
    Daniel RICCIARDO: It’s exciting, definitely. It’s exciting to be racing again in general. But to come here… (coughs)… pardon me, it’s emotional, jeez! It’s cool, you know. Every year that I’ve been here now there’s still an awesome buzz. It’s something that will definitely never get old as long as we keep coming here, as long as I’m racing. So yeah, Melbourne is great, especially when the sun shines. Everyone is super enthusiastic by the race here and there are always cars on track – woken up this morning by the two-seater. They really fill up the schedule and the fans definitely get their money’s worth.

    Your long run performance in particular looked strong during the tests in Barcelona. Do you feel you will be able to compete more perhaps in the race than in qualifying, certainly in the early part of the season at least?
    DR: yeah, I think the long pace will be better for us. The short runs are going to be a little more… I think in qualifying we’re probably not going to be as strong but long runs we should be good. Let’s see what happens. I don’t know, time will tell. I’ve been answering these questions all week and you can’t really answer them at the end of the day. On Sunday everyone will see where the real pace is, including us.

    OK. Let’s turn to Esteban – welcome back. Thirty-eight grands prix contested in your two previous seasons in Formula One. You were in the points for Sauber in 2013. How has your period as a Ferrari reserve driver made you a stronger competitor?
    Esteban GUTIERREZ: Well, it was very interesting with this guy in front of me [Sebastian Vettel]. I think in general as an experience it helped a lot in my career being able to observe many things from a different perspective and obviously getting very hungry to get back racing and finally reaching this moment, starting what I love most, to be racing, to be in a race seat.

    How has the build up to the first race gone for Haas? What are the biggest challenges for a star-up team in the sport?
    EG: I think the biggest challenge is to really integrate ourselves as a team, because the flow of communication in general… everything is new, there are a lot procedures that need to be defined. I think Barcelona, as a test, was a great experience for the team, a lot of character building. We had some difficult moments, some other good ones and all in all it’s where we need to focus – to be efficient and very dynamic for the development of the following races.

    Rio, coming to you, 23 years old, from Indonesia, one of three rookies in the field. First Formula One driver, more importantly, from Indonesia. Let’s start with that. What’s the response been like and how does it feel to be a pioneer?
    Rio HARYANTO: Yeah, there’s been tremendous support back home. Obviously to be able to compete in Formula One is a great thing. I’m very proud and I’m sure the whole nation are proud too to have me in Formula One.

    You won races in GP2 and GP3 during your apprenticeship for this opportunity. What are your expectations for this season with Manor?
    RH: I’m new to Formula One so there are a lot of things to learn. My expectation is to try to learn as quick as possible and to try to build a good relationship with the team and we’ll see how it goes in the races?

    Ok, coming to another rookie, Jolyon Palmer – welcome. Twenty-five years old, GP2 champion in 2014, you’ve also waited a few years for this opportunity. What’s the best thing about now becoming a Formula One driver?
    Jolyon PALMER: Well, racing! It was a bit frustrating last year having a year on the sidelines after GP2, but I learned a lot and it makes it even sweeter to be here racing again. I was out here last year seeing what Melbourne’s all about, did the track walk, was ready to go, but of course as a reserve driver you rarely get the chance. So looking forward to getting behind the wheel for at least an FP2 and an FP3 as well this time.

    Well, it was Lotus last season, the team has now become Renault, so what should we expect from you and this team this season?
    JP: Well, it’s difficult to say at this moment. Taking over from Lotus there were a lot of difficulties over the winter, everything was a little bit late. The expectations are pretty low and this year is just about building a foundation. So I think we need to build a solid base and the team has a lot of potential to move forward in the next few years.

    Let’s turn to the world champion – Lewis Hamilton, two-time Australian Grand Prix winner, four time polesitter here in Albert Park, Melbourne. Lewis, you said recently there’s still more to come from you this season. What are you looking for?
    Lewis HAMILTON: I don’t remember saying that, but OK…
    Let’s presume you did!
    LH: Cool. That’s good. I hope there is! I don’t know, I think you are always searching for perfection, always learning, always growing, both inside and outside the sport. I’m just looking forward to that journey. I don’t know what’s to come. I don’t when I’m going to be growing or more, but I guess that’s the same for every single one of us, so that’s what I’m excited about.

    When you say perfection, what do you mean exactly?
    LH: You’re always looking for that perfect lap; you’re always looking for the perfect race, you’re always looking to raise the bar every time you go out, because it can always be raised.

    There are quite a few more variables this year due to the regulation changes. Looking at the team radio restrictions in particular, do you think that’s something that could actually play to your strengths – given that you guys are all going to be much more on your own now? Is that something that could work for you?
    LH: We’re all in the same boat. Some of us will handle it better than others. I don’t particularly see there being much of be a problem. But is it good? I don’t really know but we’ll manage it the best way we can.

    OK. We’ve heard from the champion, let’s hear from one of his main challengers, Sebastian Vettel, 2011 Australian Grand Prix winner, three-time polesitter here. Sebastian, you know what it takes to win in Formula One, do you and Ferrari have enough to trouble Lewis and Mercedes this year?
    Sebastian VETTEL: I think we have. Obviously, the question is whether we are ready in time, but we are on a good track, we are making progress, we did so last year, I think we did a step over the winter, but as I said, whether it’s big enough or not I think we need to wait for the first couple of races and see. But for sure our target is to turn things around, but going into this season I don’t think it’s a surprise when I say that Mercedes is still the favourite but, as I said, we try to become the favourites in the future.

    It’s not hard to see where the problem has been, qualifying has been Ferrari’s weakness in recent times, when fighting you and Red Bull in those days and more recently Mercedes – only five poles in the last six seasons, seems astonishing really. So has the team put any particular focus on qualifying pace and unlocking that qualifying pace with this car to give you the tools you need to fight on Sunday?
    SV: Well, usually qualifying pace is all about raw pace so I think by trying to make our package quicker, make our car quicker, our engine stronger, we enhance our chances also in qualifying to do well. I don’t think there is a big secrete behind it – usually in qualifying, as I said, it’s all about the raw performance of the car and we know that we are still a little bit behind. We have been last year and obviously we try to be a lot closer this year, how close, I don’t know, I don’t have an answer… yet. But we have a plan; we know what we want to do; we know where we want to go, so bit by bit I hope we improve and we’ll be in a better position very soon, with more pole positions under our belt.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Abhishek Takle – Mid-Day) Question to Lewis. Mercedes has ran a lot of miles in testing. From a drivers’ point of view would you have preferred to do some more performance running to feel the ultimate limit of the car?
    LH: Definitely. Of course, the performance runs are always the most fun, the long runs are, kind of, long. And less exciting. But we did what we had to do and I guess we went into the testing with a goal of achieving 800km a day. We didn’t actually think we were going to do it so perhaps in hindsight we would have shifted our running. But at the end of the day it suited us perfectly.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Sebastian, could you describe what could be the point of strength of the new car in the season, and would it be a surprise if you are not as close as you expect to the Mercedes?
    SV: Well, we’ve worked very hard. Obviously the project of this year’s car started very early so I think it is definitely a big improvement, big step forward overall. Obviously from the outside it’s easy to see the main differences but I think especially on the inside we’ve done a very, very nice job and it allows us to be, first of all, quicker from the start and also have more chance of improving throughout the year. So that’s good news. Whether it’s good news right from the start, I don’t know. As I said earlier, I don’t know yet. I hope so. We know that our challenge is very, very big, we know that Mercedes in the last two years have built a very, very strong and solid platform for the whole package. Not just the engine but also the car has been very, very strong, in particular last year, and I think it is quite difficult to start the next season with a worse car than you had before. So we know the bar is high, but we’re pushing, pushing very hard.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) Lewis, I was wondering, after we saw the video of you riding a bike and filming as you were going along, whether you feel you have any responsibility to, as an example to others, not to do that? Or maybe not…
    LH: Not particularly, no. I don’t really have much of an answer for you unfortunately.

    I was just wondering if you think you… you’ve always said you were an example to young dudes. I was wondering if you thought in light of that, this is where you should show an example?
    LH: Again, I don’t really have much of an answer for you, so…

    Q: (Lennart Bernke – Bild) Seb, why and when did you decide to name your car after a pizza?
    SV: It’s not named after a pizza. It’s a name, first of all. So, I think…
    DR: What’s it called?
    SV: Margherita.
    DR: It’s a cocktail!
    SV: I think if you look up, the first thing that comes it is that it’s a name, not a pizza.

    Why Margherita then?
    DR: Because it’s a pizza!
    SV: No, because it’s a drink! No, various reasons. We like the name. Every year we give the car a name. Last year Eva, this year Margherita. We’re happy with that.

    Q: (Daniel Johnson – Daily Telegraph) A question for Seb. A lot’s been made, and people are getting quite excited about the prospect of you versus Lewis for the title and having quite different styles and characters. Lewis, obviously, has his style and uses Snapchat and things like that. I was wondering if you could describe how your… what your style is and whether looking at any of that ever tempts you to get on Snapchat or Twitter or Instagram or any of that?
    SV: Up to now I haven’t understood all of the modern technologies fully so I’m sure he can give me some classes but I’m not that interested. I think everyone picks his style, and the things they like. I think we’re all different. Some people like pizza plain – like Margherita – some people like a lot of stuff on top of it. I think that’s a good summary.

    Q: (Alex Popov – NTV/Match TV) For Lewis – but a little bit more of a racing question: it’s about tyre allocation. Because you never used the supersoft of Barcelona, and most of Barcelona testing you and Nico was on medium and here, your personal allocation is just one set of medium and again it’s Pirelli who chose it for the race. Then for supersoft you never train, tomorrow it’s rain forecast so for the race it will be OK?
    LH: I think it will be OK. You’re right, we didn’t use the supersoft and, once again, I think once we realised how much mileage we’d done, perhaps in hindsight we may have changed it, who knows? But we’ll face it as we always do. I don’t believe they’ve changed a huge amount with the tyre so I don’t think it’s going to be a big issue for us.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) Lewis, are you using a Blackberry or an iPhone?
    LH: Both

    Q: (Shane McGuinness – Radio 3AW) Dan, Australian motor racing legend Alan Jones has come out and said that he’d like to see you at Ferrari next year, obviously out of contract this year. Does that become a distraction at all for you and how do you ensure that it doesn’t affect your driving, and bat away these questions during the season? And would you like to be teammates (with Sebastian) again?
    DR: I don’t know if Seb wants that, to be honest, so we’ll see. I heard AJ say… or I heard some comments yesterday and got asked the question. Yeah, last year I was asked as well. I honestly can’t… I don’t have much more to say on that. It’s still very early in the season and to give you a boring but honest answer is that I’m just completely focused on this year now and with Red Bull. That’s where it stands. Not exactly out of contract either. Don’t get too excited.
    I don’t know (if I’d like to be teammates with Sebastian again). Maybe if he joined social media…
    SV: I will not dance with you in the pit lane so if you’re looking for that…
    DR: I’m looking for something more from my teammate. We’ll think of something, eh?
    SV: I can offer you marguerita. I don’t mind Danny, we’ve never had issues. Obviously the year we had together was very good for him, not so good for me. I think that’s one thing that happens on the track but outside the track, which I think is more important when you talk about your teammate, whether you get along or not, we never had – at least I don’t remember… It’s a bit weird when he gets changed but other than that…
    DR: I walk around in my underwear a lot! Get comfortable with that. This question’s gone pear-shaped, hasn’t it? Next question.

    Q: (Abhishek Tackle – Midday) To the front row: everyone says in testing, we’re just testing, we don’t know where we stand, we don’t know anything, but given the simulation and data analysis tools you have these days at your disposal, how good an idea do you have of where you stand relative to each other in the pecking order?
    DR: I don’t know. You get an idea, you definitely get an idea. I guess I’ve driven a few years now in F1 and I know what a good car feels like so at least with us I know… at least from testing I can take out that our chassis is pretty good. What’s still an unknown is what Seb and Lewis are saying. Are they hopping out of their car saying this chassis is a lot better than last year’s as well? I still expect them to be the front runners, Ferrari and Mercedes, at the start of the season but me knowing what I know from previous years, yeah, I think we’ve started off with a good chassis and as we’ve done in the past, we can keep improving that. If we can improve that, along with the power unit this year, then by probably the second half of the year we should be able to maybe challenge them but again, it’s still really guesswork, it’s not like numbers, it’s not like they all add up to victory at the end of the day. It’s still a bit inconclusive until we get going, probably the first four or five races.
    SV: The answer’s  probably a bit more accurate than that. I think Mercedes are the favourites going in, they seem to be very reliable but also very quick in Barcelona. I think we are closer than last year, especially in the race. Then I think Toro Rosso has made a massive step. They had a very strong car last year but probably with the Ferrari engine this year they will be quite a bit stronger. Daniel touched on it himself and some of you touched on his long run pace, they looked very strong for the race. I think Esteban and Team Haas could surprise and the others are a bit unknown I would say.
    LH: I agree with what they’ve said. I think this year that the whole pack looks like it’s a little bit closer but personally I think that they’ve got something up their sleeve this weekend. I think Ferrari are going to be a lot closer than they talk about, than just arriving on a low but going to deliver high.
    Q: Do you welcome that?
    LH: Absolutely.

    Q: (Chris Lines – AP) Question for the back row: are points achievable for you this year and how soon do you think you might be in a position to challenge for points?
    EG: Well, it’s very ambitious as a new team to arrive and set a target to score points but we will work very hard to achieve that. It’s definitely the way we want to go. I think initially it’s very important to keep our feet on the ground, make sure that we run smoothly during the weekend and if we accomplish that this weekend we can get out in a very happy mood. Obviously we have everything to gain so achieving points would be something extraordinary.
    JP: I think for us it’s definitely a goal for us to be in the points at some point in the season. I think that if we can start off with a solid base this weekend then I think we’ve got good potential to improve over the course of the season and so definitely, we hope to be in the points.
    Q: Rio, it looks like Manor have made quite a big step forward in performance from last year to this year. Is that giving the team confidence that they will be in the points regularly?
    RH: Yeah, definitely. It’s a much better package that we have in comparison to last year and that’s the goal, to score points. We don’t know when but we’ll try our best every race as the races will be long and let’s see what we can do.

  • F1 2016: Australian GP Preview – F1 season of possibility

    F1 2016: Australian GP Preview – F1 season of possibility

    The question at the forefront of everything is can Ferrari take the fight to Mercedes. All indications are that the Italian team has made strides since last year and has closed the gap to Mercedes. All that remains to be seen is how close they can get.

    As F1 2016 gets under way this season will be longest in the sport’s history with 21 races. Germany’s Hockenheim makes a return to the calendar and Azerbaijan hosts its first ever race on the Baku City streets. The confirmation of the US grand prix gives the teams an added bonus. The F1 sporting regulation state that one engine must be used for four race weekends. As the US Gp makes it 21 races the teams will be given a fifth engine thanks to the wording of the rule.

    When the change to the qualifying format was announced it left many perplexed. The quali format hadn’t been a bad one so why fix something that isn’t broken? But, let’s give it chance and see how it pans out.

    The one hour session will still consist of three parts. Q1 will be 16 minutes, after the first seven the slowest car is eliminated. Thereafter, the slowest car is eliminated every 90 seconds. Seven drivers will be eliminated while 15 advance to Q2.

    Hamilton-Australia-MercedesQ2 will be a 15 minute session with the slowest driver eliminated after 6 minutes. Likewise, every 90 seconds will see the slowest car eliminated. Seven drivers will be eliminated in this session with eight advancing to Q3.  The Q3 session will run for fourteen minutes with the slowest driver eliminated after five minutes. The slowest driver will continue to be eliminated every 90 seconds. Two drivers will remain in the final 90 seconds of the session to shoot it out for pole position.

    An interesting aspect of this style of qualifying will be that the quickest cars will no longer be able to rely on getting through to the second part of qualifying on the harder of their tyre selection. It’s sure to throw the cat amongst the pigeons when there is rain about, and if it’s a lap longer than 1 minute 30 seconds. And let’s be honest anything that adds a bit of drama and intrigue is never a bad thing. What the new format has in its favour is that it takes the excitement from the final ten minutes of the session and spreads it throughout the entire hour.

    australiaThe Albert Park circuit is a well known one. But there are many unknowns at the first race of the season. A new qualifying format, new tyre regulations, more driver freedom on strategy calls, to name a few. The clampdown on radio communication from the pitwall carries its own connotation, especially where the start of the race is concerned. Drivers are not allowed any feedback during the formation lap and are only being allowed to use one clutch at the start. This combined with Albert Park’s tight turn one could result in dramatic start to the grand prix. And all of this has the potential to combine into an explosive season-opening race.

    Mercedes has chosen to play up Ferrari’s performance so far. Choosing to send both Nico Rosberg and Niki Lauda into the press with statements of Ferrari being a great threat. It could just be some clever psychological play by the champions. Or it could be real and we could in for a F1 season to be remembered. One way or the other the more than 100 day wait is finally over.

  • F1 2016: Testing Numbers and Stats

    F1 2016: Testing Numbers and Stats

    With the 2016 pre-season tests done and dusted the attention turns to the first race in Melbourne Australia in just a little over a week for the F1 season opener.

    There are quite a number of stats and number that were thrown around. The lap count and distance completed by Mercedes is one that stands out the most. The Mercedes team completed a total of 1 294 laps between their drivers that covered a total distance of 6 023.57km. This is quite a long way from Toro Rosso who completed the second highest test distance of 4 883.095km completeing 1 049 laps. That’s almost 19% less than Mercedes in terms of distance.

    Laps Per Team

    Total KM per Team

    The 6 023.57km completed by Mercedes translates into almost 20 complete race distances based on the 307.104km race distance of the Circuit de Catalunya track layout.

    Race Distances

    With 4 manufacturers supplying power units, its no surprise to see Ferrari and Mercedes very close to each other in terms of distance covered. Both manufacturers supply 4 teams each.

    KM per Manufacturer

    Total Number of Laps Per Driver

    Driver Team/Car Laps Distance (KM)
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid 656 3053.68
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid 638 2969.89
    3 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11 534 2485.77
    4 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11 515 2397.325
    5 Kevin Magnussen Renault R.S.16 509 2369.395
    6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari SF16-H 488 2271.64
    7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12 457 2127.335
    8 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari C34/C35 455 2118.025
    9 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes FW38 445 2071.475
    10 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes FW38 411 1913.205
    11 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda MP4-31 377 1754.935
    12 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari SF16-H 364 1694.42
    13 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12 358 1666.49
    14 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes VJM09 357 1661.835
    15 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda MP4-31 333 1550.115
    16 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes VJM09 289 1345.295
    17 Jolyon Palmer Renault R.S.16 267 1242.885
    18 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari VF-16 257 1196.335
    19 Pascal Wehrlein Manor Racing-Mercedes MRT05 252 1173.06
    20 Rio Haryanto Manor Racing-Mercedes MRT05 232 1079.96
    21 Esteban Gutierrez Haas-Ferrari VF-16 217 1010.135
    22 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari C34/C35 187 870.485
    23 Alfonso Celis Force India-Mercedes VJM09 133 619.115

     

    Looking at the overall fastest times for the 8 days of testing Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was the fastest with his 1:22.765 on the ultra soft tyres. These times should be taken with a shovel of salt when considering them as it is always hard to get the true pace of a car during testing. There are too many variables that factor into the final times.

    Pos. Driver Team/Car Best Time Gap
    1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari SF16-H 1:22.765
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari SF16-H 1:22.810 0.045
    3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid 1:23.022 0.257
    4 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes VJM09 1:23.110 0.345
    5 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11 1:23.134 0.369
    6 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes FW38 1:23.193 0.428
    7 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes FW38 1:23.229 0.464
    8 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11 1:23.382 0.617
    9 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12 1:23.525 0.760
    10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid 1:23.622 0.857
    11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes VJM09 1:23.650 0.885
    12 Kevin Magnussen Renault R.S.16 1:23.933 1.168
    13 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12 1:24.293 1.528
    14 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda MP4-31 1:24.714 1.949
    15 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda MP4-31 1:24.735 1.970
    16 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari C34/C35 1:24.760 1.995
    17 Alfonso Celis Force India-Mercedes VJM09 1:24.840 2.075
    18 Jolyon Palmer Renault R.S.16 1:24.859 2.094
    19 Pascal Wehrlein Manor Racing-Mercedes MRT05 1:24.913 2.148
    20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari C34/C35 1:25.031 2.266
    21 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari VF-16 1:25.255 2.490
    22 Esteban Gutierrez Haas-Ferrari VF-16 1:25.422 2.657
    23 Rio Haryanto Manor Racing-Mercedes MRT05 1:25.899 3.314

     

    Best Times per Compound

    Tyre Driver Team Best Time Gap to H Gap to M Gap to S Gap to SS Gap to US
    Hard Bottas Williams 1:25.402 – 1.276 2.393 2.55 2.637
    Medium Rosberg Mercedes 1:24.126 -1.276 – 1.117 1.31 1.361
    Soft Raikkonen Ferrari 1:23.009 -2.393 -1.117 – 0.157 0.244
    Super Soft Vettel Ferrari 1:22.852 -2.55 -1.274 -0.157 – 0.087
    Ultra Soft Raikkonen Ferrari 1:22.765 -2.637 -1.361 -0.244 -0.087 –
  • Rosberg On Top at Second Barcelona Test

    Rosberg On Top at Second Barcelona Test

    Nico Rosberg stamped Mercedes’ authority on day one of the second test in Barcelona by going quickest on the day.

    Rosberg’s fastest time of 1:23.022 just told half the story. Lewis Hamilton took over in the afternoon session and went on to complete a very impressive race simulation. Between the Mercedes drivers they managed to rack up 169 laps.

    “It was a great afternoon of running with great mileage,” said Hamilton.

    “We did a race simulation and after that I feel I’m ready for race one.

    “The car is feeling great and was consistent all day.”

    Valtteri Bottas ended his day second fastest with a time of 1:23.229 with 123 laps under his belt.

    Finishing third fastest was McLaren’s Fernando Alonso with a time of 1:24.735 ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in 4th with a best time of 1:24.836. Both Raikkonen and Alonso brought out the red flags today with Alonso stopping at the end of the pit lane at the end of the morning session and Raikkonen in the mid afternoon with a gearbox problem.

    Daniil Kvyat in the Red Bull finished 5th fastest with Hamilton in the Mercedes 6ht.

    In the new liveried Toro Rosso, Max Verstappen ened his day 7th fastest with the highest lap count of the day at 144. Another solid day of running for Nico Hulkenberg in the Force India seen him finish 8th fastest. Tom McCullough, Chief Race Engineer at Force India called it “another routine day.”

    The Sauber C35 made its debut today at the hand of Felipe Nasr who completed 103 laps to place 9th fastest ahead of Kevin Magnussen in the Renault R.S.16 in 10th. Magnussen clocked up 119 laps until he came to a stop at Turn 3 just 10mins before the end of the day.

    Haas F1 had one of their worst testing days so far with Esteban Gutierrez confined to the garage for most of the day after a problem with the fuel system.

    It was not much different for Rio Haryanto in the Manor. The car suffered from an oil leak which kept in the pits for most of the morning session.

    POS Driver Team/Car Best lap Gap Laps
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid 1:23.022 – 82
    2 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes FW38 1:23.229 +0.207 123
    3 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda MP4-31 1:24.735 +1.713 93
    4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari SF16-H 1:24.836 +1.814 72
    5 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12 1:25.049 +2.027 69
    6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid 1:25.051 +2.029 90
    7 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11 1:25.176 +2.154 144
    8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes VJM09 1:25.336 +2.314 121
    9 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari C35 1:25.493 +2.471 103
    10 Kevin Magnussen Renault R.S.16 1:25.760 +2.738 119
    11 Esteban Gutierrez Haas-Ferrari VF-16 1:26.661 +3.639 23
    12 Rio Haryanto Manor Racing-Ferrari MRT05 1:27.625 +4.603 45
  • Raikkonen Closes off the First Test On Top

    Raikkonen Closes off the First Test On Top

    Kimi Raikkonen closed off the final day of the first pre-season test of 2016 on top of the time sheets in the Ferrari SF16-H

    The Finn set his fastest time of 1:23.477 on the Ultra Soft compound tyres late in the morning. Second fastest to Raikkonen was Daniil Kvyat in the Red Bull who was almost a second slower with a 1:24.293.

    Alfonso Celis had a good day out with some solid running for Force India which put him 3rd fastest setting his time on the super softs.

    Renault had a very good day with 153 laps completed with Kevin Magnussen at the wheel of the R.S.16. This sort of reliability from Renault is encouraging for the manufacturer and although they’re still down on power the driveability seems to have improved.

    Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen put in another solid day of running for the Faenza based team racking up 110 laps for the day and finishing 5th fastest for the day. Felipe Nasr in the 2015 Sauber C34 was 6th fastest with 121 laps to his name.

    Both Mercedes drivers were at the wheel of the W07 today with Rosberg finishing 7th fastest and Hamilton 8th. They both completed 86 and 99 laps respectively which brings the grand total of 185 laps on the day for Mercedes. Such was the reliability of the Mercedes they had to get both their drivers to keep up.

     

     

    Although conceding that they would’ve liked to have done more mileage, Esteban Gutierrez had a solid day for newcomers Haas F1 with 89 laps. He’s day was cut short after his car stopped on track an hour before the end of the session.

    “We had a productive day. In the morning we had a small problem which we sorted pretty quickly due to the team working well together,” said Guther Steiner the Team Principal of Haas F1.

    “In the afternoon after a long run we went into pit-stop practice. We had a problem with our ECU and we stopped testing for the day but it looks promising.

    “In general the first test was a fantastic four days for us, we got a lot of running in which we didn’t expect because we are a new team, we are only four days old.”

    Fernando Alonso did not set a time. He had completed three installation laps until he was confined to the garage after a coolant leak. The awkward position of the leak meant that it took longer for the team to fix the problem.

     

    POS Driver Team/Car Best lap Gap Laps
    1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari SF16-H 1:23.477 – 78
    2 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12 1:24.923 +0.816 94
    3 Alfonso Celis Force India-Mercedes VJM09 1:24.840 +1.363 75
    4 Kevin Magnussen Renault R.S.16 1:25.263 +1.786 153
    5 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11 1:25.393 +1.916 110
    6 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari C34 1:26.053 +2.576 121
    7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid 1:26.187 +2.71 86
    8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid 1:26.295 +2.818 99
    9 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes FW38 1:26.483 +3.006 54
    10 Esteban Gutierrez Haas-Ferrari VF-16 1:27.802 +4.325 89
    11 Rio Haryanto Manor Racing-Mercedes MRT05 1:28.268 +4.789 51
    12 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda MP4-31 No time – 3
  • F1 2016: Pre-season Test 1 Day 3 – Hulkenberg On Top

    F1 2016: Pre-season Test 1 Day 3 – Hulkenberg On Top

    The third day of testing at Spain’s circuit de Catalunya was headed by Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg.

    The morning running was marked with the introduction to Formula 1 of Indonesia’s first ever grand prix driver Rio Haryanto. The rookie Manor driver seemed comfortable in the early running and put together a solid first few stints. A slight error later on in the morning saw the Manor end up in the gravel trap of turn 5 which prompted the second red flag of the morning.

    The first red flag of the day was prompted by the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz as the Spaniard was forced to stop at the exit of the pitlane with a loose rear wheel. The morning was a complete write-off for Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen as the team struggled to get on top of a fuel pick-up issue. The Finnish driver was only able to complete three installation laps before lunch.

    Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg continued with Mercedes’ run programme by putting together several race simulation runs in the morning. As lunch rolled around it was Nico Hulkenberg in the Force India heading the timing sheet with a 1:25.286. The German would later improve his time to a 1:23.110.

    The session after lunch saw the two Mercedes drivers swop around with Lewis Hamilton taking over testing duties for the remainder of the day. Kimi Raikkonen was able to put Ferrari on the board after lunch and the Finn completed xx laps for the day. Felipe Massa was the first driver to reach 100 laps on day three of the first pre-season test in the Williams whilst Carlos Sainz also put more than 100 laps on the board in his Toro Rosso.

    Late on in the day’s running Renault driver Kevin Magnussen brought out the red flag as his car stopped on the start/finish strait. It proved a minor blip on the radar as proceedings got underway within minutes. Haryanto was first out on track in the Manor Mercedes on the medium compound tyres. By this stage no driver had opted to strap on the ultrasoft compound.

    McLaren called an end to their day’s running thirty minutes before the close of the session. Jenson Button’s car, which completed only 51 laps, suffered an hydraulic leak.Williams too brought an early end to proceedings after discovering an oil leak of Felipe Massa’s car.

    Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz ended the day with 161 laps on the board while Hulkenberg in the Force India heads Romain Grosjean, in the Haas, at the top of the leaderboard.

    POS Driver Team/Car Best lap Gap Laps
    1 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes VJM09 1:23.110 – 99
    2 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari VF-16 1:25.874 +2.764 82
    3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari SF16-H 1:25.977 +2.867 78
    4 Kevin Magnussen Renault R.S.16 1:26.014 +2.904 111
    5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid 1:26.084 +2.974 74
    6 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11 1:26.239 +3.129 161
    7 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari C34 1:26.392 +3.282 115
    8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid 1:26.421 +3.311 88
    9 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12 1:26.497 +3.387 74
    10 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes FW38 1:26.712 +3.602 109
    11 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda MP4-31 1:26.919 +3.809 51
    12 Rio Haryanto Manor Racing-Mercedes MRT05 1:28.249 +5.139 78

     

  • F1 2016: Elimination style Qualifying for F1

    F1 2016: Elimination style Qualifying for F1

    Formula 1 looks set to introduce an elimination style qualifying session in 2016.

    A meeting in Geneva between the Strategy Group and the Formula 1 Commission saw a unanimous vote passed to revamp the qualifying session for the 2016 season. The session will still remain as a one hour session split into three segments. However, with the new format all drivers will have to be on circuit until they are eliminated from qualifying.

    Teams have agreed to a general outline for how the qualifying hour will run while the finer details are yet to be decided. The decision to change the qualifying format must be ratified by the World Motorsport Council on March 4. For now, here is a breakdown of how the qualifying hour will progress:

    Q 1 – 

    • Session will last 16 minutes;
    • After seven minutes have elapsed the slowest driver is eliminated;
    • Thereafter, after every 1 minute 30 seconds, until the end of Q1, the slowest driver is eliminated;
    • Seven drivers will be eliminated in Q1 and 15 will advance to Q2.

     

    Q 2 –

    • Session will last 15 minutes;
    • After six minutes have elapsed the slowest driver is eliminated; 
    • Thereafter, after every 1 minute 30 seconds, until the end of Q2, the slowest driver is eliminated;
    • Seven drivers will be eliminated in Q2 and 8 will advance to Q3.

     

    Q3 – 

    • Session will last 14 minutes;
    • After five minutes have elapsed the slowest driver is eliminated;
    • Thereafter, after every 1 minute 30 seconds the slowest driver is eliminated;
    • 2 driver will remain in the final 1 minute 30 seconds of the session to determine pole position.

     

    In addition, a penalty system was discussed by the F1 Commission. The penalty system proposes for time to be added to a driver’s qualifying lap time based on his championship position. The good news is that the penalty system didn’t gain much support amongst F1 teams at the meeting.

    The introduction of a new qualifying format is rather perplexing. The last qualifying format had very little, if anything, wrong with and easily managed to both deliver drama and build excitement throughout the session. If the aim is to ‘improve the show’ with this radical change then F1 should beware of compounding the complexity of the sport for a new viewer/fan.