Tag: ferrari

F1 2016: Pre-season Test 1 Day 2 – Vettel Quickest Again

The second day of testing got underway with the circuit de Catalunya bathed in bright sunshine.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was the first driver on track and the first to set a flying lap as the second day of testing got underway.The majority of the first two hours of the morning were spent on gathering important data that the teams will carry through to the first few races of the 2016 season. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel emerged from the garage around mid-day to set the fastest lap of the morning – a 1:24:940.

By this stage Vettel was the only driver to break the 1:24 barrier. Soon after Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo dipped in the 1:24 to go second fastest overall. Fernando Alonso and Lotus’ Jolyon Palmer gave the yellow-walled soft tyre a trundle but did not set a representative time on the softer tyre. The first red flag of the session was brought out by Max Verstappen as his Toro Rosso grinded to a halt in the final sector of the circuit. As the Toro Rosso was recovered to the pits testing was underway again. Nico Rosberg immediately shot to the top of the timing sheets with a 1:24:867.

A switch onto the quicker, red-walled, supersoft tyre took Ricciardo quickest before the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel emerged to set a 1:23.658 on the same tyre. Just before the lunch break Daniel Ricciardo fitted the new-for-2016 ultra-soft tyre. He quickly took over at the top of the timing sheet only to be outdone by Vettel’s own run on the purple-walled tyres. The Ferrari driver set a time of 1:22.810.

The session after lunch was interrupted by the stoppage of Jolyon Palmer’s Renault which had to be recovered to the pits on the back on a flatbed truck. Reports later surfaced that the Renault’s issue may have been turbo related. It brought an early end to Renault’s running with Palmer only able to complete 42 laps for the day.

By mid afternoon Nico Rosberg had again underlined the reliability of the new Mercedes by reaching the 100 lap mark without any issues. Most of the teams settled into longer stints in the afternoon. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas bucked the trend and opted to run a stint of laps on the orange-walled hard tyres. Similarly, Vettel opted instead for the ultrasoft tyres for run. The Ferrari driver completed only a handful of laps before the drop off in performance forced him back into the pits.

McLaren can breath a sign of relieve as Fernando Alonso racked 100 laps two hours before the of the day’s running. In stark contrast to McLaren’s fortunes twelve months ago both Alonso and Jenson Button have already reported a much more positive feeling with the 2016 car. Several other drivers including Max Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo, Marcus Ericsson, Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel all completed more than 100 laps. But it was Nico Rosberg and his Mercedes that set the most laps of the day with a mammoth 172 laps.

By the end of the day’s running Sebastian Vettel’s 1:22:810 remained quickest overall.

POS	Driver	Team/Car	Best lap	Gap	Laps
1	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari SF16-H	1:22.810	–	126
2	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12	1:23.525	+0.715	112
3	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes VJM09	1:23.650	+0.840	101
4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid	1:24.867	+2.882	172
5	Marcus Ericcson	Sauber-Ferrari C34	1:25.237	+2.427	108
6	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas-Ferrari VF-16	1:25.524	+2.714	79
7	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes FW38	1:25.648	+2.838	134
8	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor Racing-Mercedes MRT05	1:25.925	+3.115	71
9	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda MP4-31	1:26.082	+3.272	119
10	Jolyon Palmer	Renault R.S.16	1:26.189	+3.379	42
11	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11	1:26.539	+3.729	121

February 23, 2016

F1 2016 Pre-Season Test 1 Day 1: Vettel Tops the Timesheets

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished the first day of the first pre-season test of 2016 on top of the time sheets ahead of defending champion Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes W07 Hybrid.

The German set his best time of 1:24.939 on the medium compound tyres just before lunch to take the top spot for the day. For the rest of the day it was testing as usual for Ferrari which seen Vettel rack up 69 laps.

A few doors up the paddock, Lewis Hamilton racked up an astonishing 156 laps on the day. That’s 698km, which is just a little over two race lengths. “It’s good to be back. It really had felt like a while – but now it feels like home already,” said Hamilton. He finished second fastest on the day with a 1:25.409.

Daniel Ricciardo finished third fastest clocking up 87 laps on the day after a bit of a slow start. This, in contrast to the previous season’s testing, seems like a big improvement from the team. “First impressions are positive but it’s still too early to say much more. We had a good day and I’m ready for more,” said Ricciardo at the end of the day’s running.

Valtteri Bottas ended his day 4th fastest for Williams completing 80 laps. Bottas’ first impression of the car was that he feels many of the issues they’ve had last year have been fixed but he thinks its too early to say where they are in relation to the other teams.

“Valtteri has been complimentary about aspects of the FW38 which is good start,” said the Chief and Test Support Engineer Rob Nelson.

“We are just building up our run lengths and doing our due diligence on reliability, and as the test goes on we’ll feed in more and more performance items. Overall it is a reasonable start to pre-season testing for us.

Mexican Alfonso Celis was in the VJM09 for Force India. He finished 5th fastest with 58 laps to his name. Not far off his pace was Jenson Button in the McLaren MP4-31 finishing 6th fastest with 84 laps on the board. Button’s best time of 1:26.735 came courtesy of a late run on the soft compound tyres.

Carlos Sainz was out for Toro Rosso today. The team chose not to have a big reveal in the pits and instead just emerged from the pits when the green flag dropped for the start of the day. Sainz finished 7th fastest with 55 laps under his belt. His session was cut short when the team saw something strange in the gearbox oil system. The team decided to stop their session as a precaution.

Sauber, who ran an updated livery but a 2015 car, had Marcus Ericsson at the wheel of the C34. He placed 8th fastest on the day ahead of Manor driver Pascal Wehrlein. Wehrlein, on his first outing for the new look Manor team, clocked up 54 laps.

New comers Haas F1 had a good start to their debut test until a front wing failure brought out the red flags. The team say that they have a fix for the wing and will have a replacement by Tuesday. The wing failure put Grosjean out for most of the day. He did, however, emerge from the pits with an hour left in the session to complete a few laps.

Jolyon Palmer was 11th fastest for Renaul in the R.S.16. He had limited running owing to software issued on the car.

POS	Driver	Team/Car	Best lap	Gap	Laps
1	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari SF16-H	1:24.939	–	69
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid	1:25.409	+0.470	156
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12	1:26.044	+1.105	87
4	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes FW38	1:26.091	+1.152	80
5	Alfonso Celis	Force India-Mercedes VJM09	1:26.298	+1.359	58
6	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda MP4-31	1:26.735	+1.796	84
7	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11	1:27.180	+2.241	55
8	Marcus Ericcson	Sauber-Ferrari C34	1:27.555	+2.616	88
9	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor Racing-Ferrari MRT05	1:28.292	+3.353	54
10	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari VF-16	1:28.399	+3.460	31
11	Jolyon Palmer	Renault R.S.16	1:29.356	+4.417	37

Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1, Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula 1

February 22, 2016

F1 2016: Ferrari Launches 2016 Challenger – The SF16-H

In a week dominated by car launches Ferrari has joined the party by unveiling its challenger for the 2016 season – the SF16-H.

In an online launch, hosted by F1 journalist James Allen, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel pulled the covers off their new car which Ferrari are calling the SF16-H.

The first, most notable, change is the livery which has a distinctively more retro feel with the addition of the white inlay over the cockpit and airbox.

Team principal Maurizio Arrivebene was also in attendance for the unveiling of the SF16-H and shared his hope that the team and car will be able to challenge for the championship this season.

“Normally I am not setting the objectives, my boss sets the objective for the team. I think this year, we need to push a bit more. We would like to fight until the end for the championship,” he said.

“I know that is not going to be easy, because our competitors are not sleeping, but we are committed to do our best.”

The nose of the SF16-H is noticeably shorter than its predecessors and after an arguably failed attempt at running pullrod suspension Ferrari has opted to run a pushrod suspension configuration for 2016.

Technical director James Alison noted that the SF16-H is different in “a number of areas.”

“Last year was a decent step forward and we hope this car will be another good step forward to make us properly competitive,” he added.

“We have improved across the board. All our hopes are in this car, and we can’t wait to see it on the track.”

(SF16-H Images courtesy of ferrari.com)

February 19, 2016
Schumacher update: Manager says he will “hopefully one day be back with us’

Sabine Kehm, manager of motor racing legend Michael Schumacher has broken the silence and given a rare update on the recovery of the seven-time F1 world champion saying that she hopes “that with continued support and patience he will one day be back with us”.

Schumacher continues to recover at home after suffering severe head injuries in a skiing accident in December 2013. He was kept in a medically induced coma for several months until September 2014 when he returned to his home in Switzerland and continues to receive specialist treatment.

Kehm spoke at the opening of an exhibition honouring Schumacher’s career in Marburg, Germany, saying: “He is the most successful driver in history and sometimes, on days like this, it is good to be reminded of it.

“Of course, Michael is not here and of course we miss him. We know what has happened and cannot change it.

“We must accept it and hope with everything we have that, with continued support and patience, he will one day be back with us. Racing was his life and no one would have liked to have been here more than him.”

In November FIA president Jean Todt said that Schumacher was “still fighting” and two weeks ago former Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo said the latest news about the 47 year old’s health was “not good” leading to fresh speculation around the champion’s recovery.

Very little news or updates have come from Kehm or Schumacher’s family and unfortunately this is not quite the news Formula One fans will have wanted to hear, but it is news nonetheless. Unfortunately Kehm’s latest comments are bound to ring in a new round of speculation – something that the Schumacher family really do not need more of and the reason why news updates have been kept to a minimum.

Read Natalie’s piece, “The Truth about Michael Schumacher”.

As always our thoughts remain with his family and friends and we do hope too that one day, he will be back with us. #KeepFightingMichael

February 17, 2016
F1 2016: The truth about Michael Schumacher

It has been more than two years since Michael Schumacher sustained severe brain injuries following a skiing accident in the French Alps. The seven times world champion spent several months in an induced coma in Grenoble hospital before being moved to a hospital in Lausanne. In September 2014 he was finally moved to his Switzerland home where he receives round the clock medical attention.

Since then, by the family’s request, little information has been shared about Schumacher’s condition. While some close friends, such as former Ferrari colleagues Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, have visited Schumacher no definitive report has been released on his recovery or condition. Instead, Todt and Brawn, have made the occasional statement that he “is still fighting.”

Sabine Kehm, the official spokesperson for the Schumacher family, has repeatedly warned that only official statements, from her, be accepted. Recently, she’s quashed rumours that the former champion is able to walk as “irresponsible and offering false hope.” It’s safe to assume, from the way that she intervened to dismiss these rumours that Schumacher is likely in the same condition and making, at best, slow progress.

It’s a question that most people ask when the subject is Formula 1 – how is Michael Schumacher? The truth is that only a few people know the answer to this question and they aren’t sharing it. Some feel entitled to news on his condition and it’s not unreasonable that they do. An argument could be made for releasing sporadic statements. Perhaps even one a year could put an end to any speculation on Schumacher’s condition.

However, not even this is likely to satisfy some circles of the media. The inevitable course of events that would ensue is the likely reason for the family remaining silent. In a society where respect and ethics are rare commodities it will undoubtedly prompt tabloids to analyse every word, hire so-called experts to comment and ultimately prompt more speculation.

Most recently, a statement by former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has prompted a fresh batch of speculation. Montezemolo was quoted as saying that he has “no good news” about Michael Schumacher. “I have news of him continuously and it is not good,” he said. It is puzzling why the former Ferrari boss would make such a statement which has given rise to new-found conjecture. He surely knows the family’s position on sharing information.

Most of the interest in Schumacher’s condition is born from a place of genuine concern and not morbidity. But the best that Michael’s legions of fans can do is to respect the family’s wishes for privacy. And accept that if there was anything to share that they would do so. Until then, keep fighting Michael.

February 10, 2016
Pirelli Wet Weather Test Report

Pirelli concluded their two day wet weather tyre test at the Paul Ricard Circuit in the south of France to develop the 2016 Wet tyres.

More than 650 laps were completed and a total of 2 326km driven between 5 drivers and three teams. The circuit was chosen because of its very sophisticated variable sprinkler system which uses recycled rain water to simulate various wet weather conditions. This allowed the drivers to try out different tyre compounds.

The test was run over two days with Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren participating in the test. Pirelli had extended the invite to all the teams where the cars from the 2015 season were used. No additional testing of components was allowed.

Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel drove for Ferrari on Monday and Tuesday respectively while McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne drove for both the days. Daniel Ricciardo tested for Red Bull on day one with Daniil Kvyat testing on day 2.

Over the two days, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was the fastest and completed the most laps(134) from all the runners.

The development of the tyres continues at Pirelli’s headquarters in Milan by analyzing the telemetry from the teams and comparing that with its own data.

Pictures by courtesy Pirelli

January 26, 2016
F1 2016: Ferrari Passes Crash Test

The 2016 Ferrari car is well on course to make its debut in February after passing a mandatory FIA crash test.

The safety regulations of the FIA dictate that all critical areas of a Formula 1 car pass a standardised crash test before it is allowed to be officially entered into any official FIA race.

The latest team to pass the crash test is Ferrari who received the official stamp of approval after undergoing several tests. Reports are that the Italian team needed several attempts at passing the test because sampled more than one nose for their 2016 challenger. The Ferrari team’s 2016 car is already reported to be quite different from it’s 2015 predecessor and is rumoured to be introducing a short nose concept for the new season. The new nose isn’t so much a reproduction from what we’ve seen on other cars in 2015 but more a mixture between the nosecone sported by Mercedes and Toro Rosso.

The 2016 Ferrari, still unnamed, is expected to be launched towards the end of February as testing for the 2016 season gets underway in Spain.

January 25, 2016
McLaren to Launch MP4-31 on 21 February 2016

The McLaren Formula 1 team was the first from the other teams to announce the launch date for its 2016 contender, the MP4-31.

The team made the announcement in a tweet early in the after noon on Monday in a rather cheeky tweet following a much hyped up countdown by Ferrari. Many expected that Ferrari would launch their 2016 car but it was the launch of a social media campaign that uses the hashtag #ReadySetRed to accumulate points over a certain time period.

The top 10 highest point scorers will be afforded the opportunity to participate in the online launch of Ferrari’s 2016 car. Ferrari’s 2016 car is expected to be launched ahead of the first pre-season test in Barcelona.

Feeling blue? Seeing red?? You can ALL see the MP4-31 launch on Feb 21! #McLarenMP431

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) January 18, 2016

January 18, 2016
F1 2015: Year In Review

As the year draws to its conclusion it and the 2015 Formula 1 season will soon be consigned to the history books. As ever the season’s intriguing battles were never solely consigned to the race track.

The engine debate

Engines have been the subject of heated debate for the entire season. From the cost of manufacturing to performance levels to how it affects the sustainability of the sport; all of it has been questioned and picked apart throughout 2015.

After months of wrangling Renault and Red Bull have reached an agreement on power unit supply. The public quarrel between the two ended in what we thought was a messy divorce. However, when neither Ferrari nor Mercedes and not even Honda wanted to supply a potential rival the team had to slink back to Renault. After smoothing over some sizeable differences the Red Bull team will run the French engine but it will branded as TAG Heuer.

Red Bull won’t have Renault’s undivided attention though as the French manufacturer has purchased the Lotus F1 Team. It’s a saving grace for Lotus who has been in financial strife for a number of years. The most public example of this was the failure of the team to pay then driver Kimi Raikkonen’s salary. Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado will be partnered by English rookie Jolyon Palmer in 2016.

At McLaren the debacle that was Honda’s season will soon want to be forgotten. In the end Fernando Alonso used twelve engines in the back of his McLaren – that’s three times more than he was allotted. Issue of after issue dogged both drivers throughout the season as Honda, and McLaren fell miserably short of its expectations. The up-side is that 2016 can hardly be any worse than Honda’s first year back in the top echelon of racing.

Mighty Mercedes and a Ferrari revival

Early on in the season it was clear that Mercedes had maintained its pace advantage. For anyone it would be too difficult to consistently beat the mighty Silver Arrows. The highly billed duel between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton never reached the heights or intensity of 2014. This time around Hamilton summarily outperformed Rosberg to the point where when the German driver finally pitched up the championship was already won by his British teammate.

In Texas Lewis Hamilton was crowned a three time world champion and luck had very little to do with it. Three years ago he made a move to Mercedes that was met with a great deal of apprehension. From a team with championship pedigree in McLaren he went to Mercedes who were seemingly condemn to the mid-field. It didn’t suddenly turn around in 2014 either. Rather it was the culmination of years of work put in by those behind the scenes of this team. It is never about one year in isolation and so to winning world titles for any driver is a culmination of years of work and dedication.

A complete reshuffle of personnel at Ferrari resulted in a stunning turn-around for the Italian team. Three dazzling victories and slew of podiums resulted as they continue to push towards the front of the grid. The arrival of Sebastian Vettel and the relationship between himself and teammate Kimi Raikkonen brought a harmony to the team. In 2015 Ferrari admitted that this driver-pairing and their ability to work together has been a relief for the team; something that was sorely lacking in 2014.

Rookie sensation

Drivers that enter F1 for the first time hardly make as big a splash as Max Verstappen has. Not even Lewis Hamilton’s first year, back in 2007, was met with such unilateral hype. The teenaged Dutch driver, Verstappen, burst onto the scene with audacious overtaking manoeuvres and a clear-as-day hunger to go racing no matter what he has to driver. Even the staunchest of critics have to submit that Verstappen has huge potential. While one season does not make a driver it is indisputable that if Verstappen can keep it all together we are all in for a quite a ride.

There was much more than mentioned here which made up the 2015 season. And in less than 100 days it resumes with dynamism that no other sport in the world can match.

December 15, 2015
F1 2015: Mercedes To Sue Engineer

Mercedes is to institute legal action against an engineer who will be joining the Ferrari team in 2016.

Benjamin Hoyle, the engineer in question, is accused of having stolen confidential data and information. He is scheduled to join the Ferrari team at the beginning of 2016. However, Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP), where Hoyle was employed in December 2012, is asking that the engineer only be allowed to join the team at the conclusion of the 2016 season.

HPP claims that Hoyle removed hard copy documents containing confidential F1 information and also conducted a computer search for further information which he saved on a laptop. It is believed that amongst the data is files related to the compressor performance of HPP’s F1 engines and detailed reports on engine performance.

It also being alleged that Hoyle also saved the information on his personal mobile phone, a micro SD card, a tablet, and an external hard drive. Further, Hoyle is accused of concealing his action by deleting files. HPP further claims that Hoyle’s action has given both him and Ferrari “an unlawful advantage”.

Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains Ltd has confirmed that legal action is underway.

December 8, 2015