Tag: ferrari

Hamilton fastest in Canadian GP final practice

Lewis Hamilton has finished fastest in the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, repeating his earlier performance from FP2.

This time round, however, he was not followed by team mate Nico Rosberg, who had to settle for third place behind Felipe Massa’s flying Williams.

The session started out well, with Magnussen setting the initial pace, but was brought to an abrupt halt when Esteban Gutierrez put his Sauber in the wall and brought out the red flag. The car took a good deal of damage and it’s looking likely that he’ll need a gearbox replacement before qualifying. If this happens, Gutierrez will face a 5 place grid penalty. Marshalls made very quick work of clearing the Sauber and the session was back underway within 5 minutes.

The front-runners headed back out quickly and it was Sergio Perez who was first to better Magnussen’s lap time before Hamilton ripped another seven-tenths off the Force India’s time.

Ferrari enjoyed a few brief moments in the top two spots with Fernando Alonso leading from Kimi Raikkonen, but Hamilton soon put them back in their places by going another half a second quicker.

The two Williams drivers soon joined in the fun at the top as Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas moved up into second and third places, only for Hamilton to once again stomp his authority everwhere and widen the gap by yet another half a second. Rosberg went just six-hundredths faster but with both of them still on the harder tyres, Mercedes clearly still have a massive advantage.

In the final ten minutes of the session, drivers attempted to complete their final qualifying simulations but Rosberg and Hamilton both chose not to set fast times on their supersofts. Felipe Massa jumped himself back into second place behind Hamilton leaving Rosberg to settle for third ahead of Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton’s 4/10s advantage over the rest of the field is on the harder tyres so he’s looking set to claim his 5th pole position of the year. But let’s not forget Rosberg who will be keen to fight back and hold on to the championship lead. We should be in for a great battle between the Mercs up front during qualifying today, with the Williams and Ferrari drivers duking it out for the next few places.

Full timesheet below. Please join us on @F1_Madness for live updates on Twitter.

June 7, 2014
2014 Canadian Grand Prix: Hamilton Quickest in FP2

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton set the pace in the second practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Hamilton set a time of 1:16.118 on the option tyre. His team mate Nico Rosberg ended the session in P2 with a time of 1:16.293, just 0.175s off the pace. Red Bulls Sebastian Vettel who was rather anonymous throughout the session finished the session in P3 with a time of 1:16.573.

The session was relatively straight forward with the odd driver locking up and running wide. There was a scary moment between Sauber’s Adrian Sutil, and McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen. Sutil, who was on a timed lap was coming up to the T13/T14 chicane. Magnussen looked like he was on a slow down lap, looked like he was about to go into the pits but then took the corner. This forced Sutil to jam on the brakes run wide, and take to the run-off area. The incident was investigated, but it was then decided that no action was to be taken by the stewards.

Ferrari do look like they’ve improved quite a bit with the new bits on their cars. While Sebastian Vettel is starting to look more comfortable in his car.

The long run pace of the Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and Williams cars are very comparable and they were all lapping in the same region. It does have makings of a very interesting race where strategy could determine the ultimate winner.

Below is the complete timing sheet for the session

June 6, 2014
F1 2014: Alonso Tops Canadian FP1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

June 5, 2014
Rosberg Rules Monaco Streets

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

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

Lewis Hamilton v Nico Rosberg

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

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

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

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

Bad Luck Raikkonen

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

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

Ricciardo Shines

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

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

Brilliant Bianchi

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

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

Photos by Courtesy Pirelli and Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1

May 26, 2014
Raikkonen Reprimanded for Magnussen Incident

The stewards at the Monaco Grand Prix decided to reprimand Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen for his incident with McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen towards the end of the race.

The incident happened with 6 laps towards the end of the race. Raikkonen dived down the inside of Magnussen at the Loews Hairpin, it looked as if he out braked himself, ran over the inside kerb and went straight into the outside crash barrier knocking his front wing off. He had to pit to replace the broken front wing which put him out of the points.

Magnussen put the blame solely on Raikkonen for the incident. “I closed the door at Loews and he chose to go anyway,” said Magnussen.

The stewards also made the decision to take no action against the Button-Perez incident on the opening lap of the race which caused the first safety car.

The incident happened at Mirabeau where McLaren’s Jenson Button ran into the back of Sergio Perez’s Force India causing him to spin which resulted in the end of Pere’z race.

“I was in a battle with Hulkenberg who was ahead, and I went to take the apex normally,” said the Mexican. “I was on the racing line and ahead of Jenson when he clipped my rear wheel and spun me around into the barriers. I did not expect him to be there as there wasn’t really any space for another car there.”

Photo courtesy Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

May 24, 2014
F1 2014: Matchless Monte Carlo

There are few, if any, more evocative scenes than watching the breathless skill of a driver as he threads a 650 horsepower thoroughbred through the barrier-lined streets of Monte Carlo. Since 1929 Sainte Devote, Tabac and La Rascasse have been tantamount with style, money and speed.

As the most prestigious race in the world the Monaco GP and its hallowed streets has given rise to many legends among which ‘Mr Monaco’ Graham Hill and six time Monaco winner Ayrton Senna were the most majestic of all.

Formula 1 around the Monte Carlo streets is art in motion. “The track is properly old–school. Driving an F1 car anywhere is special – the speed, the power and the acceleration just blows you away – but here it’s… cool,” said Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

Monte Carlo is well-known to most Formula 1 drivers. However having the confidence to skim a Pirelli tyre along the barriers comes from building momentum and any time lost will be detrimental. Every lap the self-belief will gradually build until the driver reaches his ultimate rhythm without consciously allowing room for error.

As the highest downforce track on the calendar the Anthony Noghes circuit presents a distinctive set of challenges. The added torque of the 2014 power unit has made drifting and sliding the rear end of a car quite common this season. The proximity of the barriers alongside the lively rear-ends will make mistakes a lot easier to make.

The 3.340 km layout of the circuit places greater emphasis on mechanical grip than anything else. It is good news for those that have been down on power in the opening rounds of the season. Since the Monaco GP is such a departure from the norm it might signify an opportunity to close the gap to Mercedes.

Nevertheless, the rest of the pack has their own battles to overcome before setting their sights on the high-flying Mercedes team. Inter-team politics reared its head in Spain as Ferrari bungled Kimi Raikkonen’s strategy. The usual procedure at Ferrari is for the driver who is ahead on the track to get first choice of when to pit. However, in Spain, preference was given to Fernando Alonso. The normally stoic Raikkonen demanded to know who had made the calls and appeared annoyed with the situation. If the two scarlet cars are running near each other in Sunday’s race the Italian team’s calls will come under scrutiny.

Red Bull Racing is on the upward curve but unreliability has blighted Sebastian Vettel’s performances. All the while Daniel Ricciardo is making hay and continues to grow in stature. Up until the last race Vettel was able to hide behind unreliability as the reason for lagging behind Ricciardo. Now that the RB7 has started to deliver in terms of pace the German must assert himself by comprehensively out-performing his new teammate.

If Nico Rosberg has any designs on re-gaining the championship lead he must put everything on the line. The most important battle for Nico Rosberg will be Saturday’s qualifying session. Pole position around the Principality will boost his own belief. If not, Lewis Hamilton will be more than ready to continue chipping away at his teammate’s perilously fragile confidence.

May 21, 2014
F1 2014: Spanish GP – Hamilton Takes Four In A Row

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

May 15, 2014
Mercedes domination continues as Hamilton secures pole

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

May 10, 2014