F1 Madness

Tag: fia

  • Vettel slams “bullshit” updated radio ban rules as a joke

    Vettel slams “bullshit” updated radio ban rules as a joke

    Sebastian Vettel has slammed Formula One’s updated radio restrictions as “complete bullshit” after the FIA tightened the radio rules ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

    According F1’s sporting regulations, drivers must drive their car “alone and unaided”. The rule however has been put under the microscope following the British Grand Prix where Nico Rosberg was demoted from 2nd to 3rd place following a breach of the regulations. The Mercedes pitwall had informed Rosberg on how to fix a faulty gearbox towards the end of the race, which ensured that the German avoided having to retire his car from the race.

    Teams must now call a driver in to the pits if he suffers a similar issue. Teams will be allowed to advise drivers while they are driving through the pit lane, effectively resulting in a drive-through penalty.

    Vettel told the media that the new rules are, “Complete bullshit. I think all the radio issues we had, I think it’s a joke. I looked at the race after and I found as a spectator it was quite entertaining to hear a driver a little bit panicking on the radio and the team panicking at the same time.

    “I think it puts the element of human being in our sport that arguably is very complicated and technical, so I think that’s the wrong way. There’s a lot of boring stuff on the radio that got banned, I don’t see the point, I think if you want to change it you should change the cars. I have no problem, let’s go back to V12s, manual gearbox, two buttons, one for pit speed limiter and one for radio just to confirm when we are coming in and other than that, not much electronics to look after, which there’s no point then to memorise a lot of things.”

    Vettel also insists that F1 drivers should not be punished for how technical other people have made their cars, highlighting how much steering wheels have changed since the 90s.

    “I think all of the buttons that we have on the steering wheel today are there for a reason. It’s not like ‘ah yeah, we can build buttons, let’s put them on the steering wheel’, so I think if you just look at a 1995 steering wheel for example, or speak to a lot of experts that are still around in the paddock, what they raced with, it was a simpler just because the cars technology was a lot simpler. It’s not our mistake, as in the drivers, that the cars are so complicated these days that they need a manual this big and a steering wheel full of buttons to operate it. I think we’re going a little bit in the wrong way so that’s why I think it’s bad and we should just go back to being able to say what we want.”

     

  • Electronic sensors installed to monitor Hungarian GP track limits

    Electronic sensors installed to monitor Hungarian GP track limits

    The FIA has confirmed that electronic sensors will be installed on the outside of the kerbs around certain corners of the Hungaroring this weekend to monitor the track limits during the Hungarian GP.

    The F1 governing body has made the decision in a bid to catch any drivers gaining an unfair advantage by exceeding the track limits and running wide around these corners.

    The Austrian Grand Prix saw a number of drivers using excessive amounts of kerb, often having all four wheels off the track, resulting in several suspension failures and other related incidents. At Silverstone, drivers running wide at certain corners during the British Grand Prix weekend saw their times deleted in lieu of penalties but race control admitted having trouble monitoring all corners of the track.

    This weekend, the FIA have installed electronic sensors at Turns 4 and 11 to monitor the track limits electronic following Charlie Whiting’s report.

    In a note to the teams, Whiting said: “In Turns 4 and 11, the new double kerb has been installed and the artificial grass removed. However, the run-off areas behind the kerbs have been set at the same height as the kerbs themselves, the required deterrent is therefore not present,”

    “With this in mind we have installed loops 1.6 metres from the track edge which will alert us when a car has all four wheels off the track in these two locations.”

    The F1 grid is pretty evenly split in their reaction to the electronic sensors being installed.

    Sebastian Vettel led the unimpressed group of drivers saying, “It’s the FIA to blame for building circuits that make it faster to run off the track than on the track. It’s quite disappointing.”

    “The result is it’s faster to go off track than to stay on track,” he continued. “It doesn’t make much sense, does it?”

    Daniil Kvyat was also pretty unimpressed saying that the FIA should just, “put a normal kerb there and you don’t need all these electronic systems.

    “Now we have some electronic sensors, maybe they’ll work correctly, maybe they’ll fuck everyone up.

    “I personally trust my eyes more than the sensors.”

    Jenson Button on the other hand reckons it’s a good idea because some form of limit is required to stop drivers exceeding track limits.

    “It’s good, I like it,” he said. “The way things are, all of the kerbs are pretty similar on all circuits now, so they’re easy to run over on exits.

    “We need something, we need a limit to stop us going over there.”

    Lewis Hamilton was also in favour of the idea. Hamilton, who lost one of his lap times during qualifying for the British Grand Prix after running wide, said: “It will be an easier thing for them to police because at the moment some corners we’re allowed to go out,” he said.

    “Silverstone Turn 7, you’re allowed to drive straight off the track no problem, which is an advantage but at Turn 9 you’re not allowed to, which isn’t an advantage if you go off.

    “It’s a good step forward.”

    The electronic sensor technology has previously been used by the FIA to monitor chicanes but this weekend will be the first time it is used to monitor the kerbs.

    Photo: Red Bull Racing 

  • FIA Revises Radio Restrictions Ahead of Hungarian GP

    FIA Revises Radio Restrictions Ahead of Hungarian GP

    The FIA has made changes to the radio regulations ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

    The changes come after Nico Rosberg was given a 10-second time penalty after the British Grand Prix when his race engineer instructed him on how to drive around his gearbox problem during the race.

    The FIA have now issued a new directive to teams regarding radio regulations which tightens up the rules slightly. The big change to the rules is that race engineers will be allowed to instruct drivers on setting changes but this has to be done when the driver is in the pit lane only. The regulation regarding radio communication in the pit lane has also been altered in this regard. Previously race engineers were only allowed to give instructions when the driver was in his garage. Communications are now allowed until the driver has exited the pit lane.

    The section regarding instructions now reads: “Indication of a problem with the car. Any message of this sort must include an irreversible instruction to enter the pits to rectify the problem or to retire the car.”

    Another change was made to the regulation regarding a damaged car. Previously drivers were told exactly which component on the car was damaged. Under the revised directives, the race engineer is only allowed to warn the driver of damage to the car and cannot state which part of the car is damaged.

    On the issue of car settings, engineers are now allowed to inform the driver of a setting change “for the sole purpose of mitigating loss of function of a sensor, actuator or controller whose degradation or failure was not detected and handled by the on-board software.”

  • Changes To Baku Circuit Pit Lane Entry and Circuit Kerbs

    Changes To Baku Circuit Pit Lane Entry and Circuit Kerbs

    After a number of safety concerns by drivers the FIA will make changes to the Baku City Circuit pit lane entry and some of the kerbing around the circuit.

    After the GP2 Qualifying was postponed the FIA discovered that the bolts that hold the kerbs down had worked loose and were causing cuts on the tyres. Race officials managed to weld down the bolts. Teams were told by the FIA to notify their drivers not to drive on the kerbs at Turn 6.

    The FIA will now make changes to the kerbs overnight. According to Motorsport.com the kerbs at Turn 6 and Turn 12 will be removed and will be replaced by painted versions.

    The chicane at the pit entry was also a talking point among drivers. There is potential that things can go spectacularly wrong at the chicane and could end the race of a driver if he got it wrong.

    The pit entry line, according to the drivers, was not obviously visible due to the undulations down the pit straight. The FIA will extend the pit lane line further back and to the left. This means that the left side of the track will be for drivers entering the pits. Drivers are not allowed to cross the pit entry lines if they decide to dive into the pits at the last second.

     

    Photo credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

  • FIA post-qualifying press conference – Spanish GP

    FIA post-qualifying press conference – Spanish GP

    Full transcript of the post qualifying press conference ahead of the Spanish GP.

    Drivers: 1 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 2 – Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 3 – Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull).

    TV UNILATERAL

    Q: Lewis, a bit of pressure on you there in the final run after that mistake in the first run of Q3 but 1 minute 22 flat is some kind of lap time around this place?

    Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, very, very happy with getting the lap. Obviously Nico has been very strong all weekend, so it was crucial that … you know bit by bit, stepping stone, one step at a time, I’ve been really trying to bring the pace together. Firstly, I really want to say a big thank you to all the time, all the guys back at the factory, for working so hard over the past two weeks to try to rectify the issues we’ve had. This is three out of three for me. So I’m pretty happy. Obviously I didn’t get to compete in the last two qualifying sessions, so very, very happy with it and very grateful as well. The car was great. Yesterday was a bit of a difficult day, so to be able to start on the right foot today is a real blessing.

    Q: OK, thank you very much indeed. Coming to you Nico, you had the strongest first run in Q3 but are you a little bit disappointed with the outcome at the end of qualifying or are you taking a view at the long game here?

    Nico Rosberg: No, for sure I’m disappointed to be qualifying second, yeah. I wanted to be first today, of course. But Lewis was just quicker in qualifying today and that’s it. Fortunately, it’s the race that counts so there are still a couple of opportunities tomorrow for sure. at the start for example. And then strategy-wise it’s not going to be an easy race tomorrow, so I’ll try and take my chances there.

    Q: Thanks for that. Daniel, you looked delighted at the end there after that qualifying lap. You only had one run to do it in and also a fair bit of pressure from your new young team-mate?

    Daniel Ricciardo Spanish GP post qualifying press conferenceDaniel Ricciardo: Firstly, really happy to be back here in this press conference. Try to be here tomorrow. I think happy to be in front of both Ferraris as well, both of us. Max obviously was doing really good. We’re both on the second row, that’s pretty awesome. Yeah, we chipped away it, but it took a bit of time to come. Yeah in Q3 I knew I had one lap and just knew I had the pace and where I could do it and it was just about putting it all together. Up until then I hadn’t really got it all together but Q3 is what counts and yeah, did what I had to do, so I was very happy.

    Q: Very well done indeed. Coming back to our polesitter, Lewis Hamilton. It’s always a close race here in Barcelona, as Nico was referencing a moment ago. Clearly there are more strategy variables this season than there has been in the past, but I guess from your point of view you’ve got to look forward to the race and to coming round at the end of that first lap at the front for the first time this season.

    LH: Yeah, hopefully everything comes together. I’ve been working on starts obviously at the past races and yeah, we’re in the best position to start from. We’ll try to get off on the right foot and you know tomorrow could be a good day.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, coming back to you: one little talking point just before the end, it was quite close in the pit lane as you went out for your final run in Q3, with Kimi Raikkonen coming out of the Ferrari garage. Your thoughts on that?

    LH: Yeah, I found it quite unusual. I mean, I was pulling out and all of a sudden he appeared and I thought he was going to hit. A little bit of an unsafe release from them, but it’s not a race, so whether or not that affects…

    Q: Did you have to jump on the brakes?

    LH: Yeah, I think I did have to brake and just lift, or at least lift. But I think he saw me, so…

    Q: Nico, looking at the difference in your performances in the second part of qualifying, which is obviously the one that dictates the tyres you start the race with, there was quite a big difference between the two of you, I think it was about half a second, six tenths, something like that. Was that performance or was that you taking a tiny bit less out of the tyres with a view to the opening stint of the race?

    NR: No, I was pushing. So it wasn’t saving tyres…

    OK, fine…

    NR: Unfortunately!

    Q: I thought I’d just check! Finally, Daniel, talk a little bit about the atmosphere inside the garage this weekend and the atmosphere inside the cockpit of your car when you were looking at some of those lap times that Max was turning on his first acquaintance with this Red Bull car of yours?

    DR: Sure, it’s been a bit different this weekend. Not so much from what I’ve been doing, obviously my side of the garage hasn’t changed. Sure, there has been a bit more attention surrounding the team and sure, I’ve got another guy directly opposite me, who is doing very well. We’ve both locked out the second row of the grid. Obviously very happy to be here, but for both of us to be in front of Ferrari and on the second row, I thought maybe one of us could sneak in and get a P4 and split the Ferraris but to both be in front is really cool. We know from the start Max is quick and he’s shown that throughout, also yesterday he showed speed as well. It’s been a good start for him and I think for us as a team really good for this weekend.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Autobildmotorsport) – A question for Nico. Nico, you were one of the experts, you were right warning for the strength of Ferrari, so I guess you’re not surprised they’re so close, only one second?

    NR: Yeah, it makes look like not so much of an expert, huh! Anyways, we’re surprised. We’re surprised to be so far ahead. At the same time we’re also surprised how close Red Bull now is. It’s really changing around quite a lot. The only constant is us, we’re always there and always up front and we always have a gap to whoever is in second at the moment. That’s been impressive to see. Very pleased with that of course, it’s just a great job by the team, that on every track we manage to keep the car working perfectly and that’s really fantastic to see.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – globoesporte.com) Daniel, when you saw in Q2 that Max was 407 thousandths faster than you, did it bring you any special emotion: ‘I need to beat this guy in Q3′. Something like that?

    DR: Your mentality is you need to beat everyone. Sure, my Q2 definitely didn’t go as good as his. His first lap was on the money. I didn’t feel we had to run again but obviously the team wanted to play it safe, so we ran again and even the second lap I did in Q2 wasn’t great. So sure, I knew there was more to come in Q3 – but also I knew where the time was and I knew just putting it all together would give us a bit of lap time. So, I think the only disadvantage coming into Q3 was that I knew I just had one set of tyres – but been in that position before and, sure, it creates a bit of excitement. Max had already set one time in Q3 with one set, so yeah, obviously you look across at your team-mate but I was also looking at Ferraris. And yeah, to get in front of one of them I thought would be good but to get in front of both, and also for Max to jump them as well… it’s a good day. I never doubted myself but yeah, left it pretty late.

    spain-qualifying-hamilton-lock-upQ: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Two questions if I may. First to Lewis: you weren’t very happy with the car yesterday Lewis, I was wondering how much the car has gone to the other end of the spectrum in terms of feel and balance and grip level now, whether it was the circuit perhaps coming in as well? And was the lock-up in that first Q3 run indicative that maybe things still aren’t 100 per cent?

    LH: Nope. I had a problem yesterday with something on the car so it wasn’t the easiest of days and almost a bit of a waste of a day for me. So today was really starting from scratch, the car felt great from the get-go once that was rectified. We made a few changes to the balance – but very few, just a couple of changes. Nico was very comfortable in the car so kind of more in the direction he was going. They weren’t very far apart anyway. But to get out today and feel the car beneath me once again was a great relief. But still, Nico was incredibly strong, as you can see, so there was areas I knew I needed to pick up and that was really what I was trying to do – and in Turn Ten a little bit too much. When I came in I was just laughing, believe it or not, like between that session because the lap was so good. Between those runs I was just giggling. Just thinking ‘it was such a good lap’. It would have been easily pole – but I’m glad I got it with the second one. Whilst it put a bit more pressure on the second lap, I was still able to get it, so happy with that.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Daniel, the traction of the Red Bull is brilliant around here, sector three looks great for you – but I’m wondering – we didn’t see the lap on TV – how much could you push through sectors one and two knowing your lap was really going to come together in sector three?

    DR: Yeah, I think, surprisingly, the track got a bit better for sure as qualifying went on, but it was getting hotter as well a bit so it wasn’t… I thought sector three would have dropped off more to be honest as the track got warmer but it wasn’t too bad and you could still push. I think the lap times – I’m not sure how they were compared to last year – but you could push pretty much the whole lap and not really worry about the tyres too much, so that was good. At least for us. We were able to go for it, the majority of the lap. Sure, the last sector, you get a little bit of overheating, particularly the last corners, traction, you’re fighting a bit. But, as you said, the last sector is still relatively strong compared to Mercedes and Ferrari, so yeah, it’ll be interesting in two weeks’ time in Monaco. Hopefully we can get even closer.

    spain-post-qualifying-press-conference-2Q: (Angélique Belokopytov – AutoDigest) Two questions to you Daniel. My first is, it’s a long time we didn’t see you here, so how will you manage to be back tomorrow, to carry on the tradition tomorrow? And the second is, we saw an impressive Max today, you are here, there are Ferraris behind so is it a new Red Bull era?

    DR: I think… yes for sure it’s great to be back up here and in dry conditions it’s nice. A bit like China. This is really the first track of the year that we’ve probably, all of us, put on the majority of downforce that we currently have on the car and it’s shown our strengths are coming back. I think for us as a team we’ve shown signs already this year and today that’s shown again. That we do have a good car underneath us and it’ll be interesting come even tighter, twistier circuits. Monaco, as I said, in a few weeks’ time will be interesting: should be fun. And yeah, to be back here tomorrow, I think just do what I guess I’ve been doing. I feel I’ve been driving really well this year and just to keep it up. Yeah. I’d love to say we can fight with them but I’ll just try to hang with them. Hopefully get a slipstream and they can drag me down into Turn One. And yeah, stay close.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Speed Sport magazine) Lewis, in the unilaterals you thanked the team for working so hard to improve, change the car. What is different about the car now?

    LH: We obviously came with some small upgrades. Obviously the car is constantly improving but I would say, obviously I’ve got an improved turbo for this week, which was coming probably a race or two away, and just to really rectify and understand the issues that we’ve had in the last races. I just know everyone was working hard, whether or not we’ve actually rectified and fixed everything, we will find out. One thing I know is that the guys are working flat out. Everyone was feeling the pain over the last couple of races with the faults, and so just grateful to them for putting the work in because hopefully because this weekend and moving forwards we’ll see the results of that.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Daniel, if the engine upgrade brings what is promised, do you think that’s enough to close the gap to Mercedes, or is there still more needed?

    DR: I think there will still be a little more, but sure on some circuits it could be enough. So if we were to have it here, for example, I think there’s still 0.6s off Lewis today so I don’t think we’re expecting 0.6s from the upgrade so we would probably still not quite be there but it would certainly put us a lot closer. Monaco and Budapest, some of these tighter circuits, I think (it) would give us a real shot so hanging out for the next few races, really.

    spain-qualifying-hamiltonQ: (Ralf Bach – AutoBild Motorsport) Lewis, I read some English papers today which say there’s a possibility that you could take a sabbatical next year. What are your plans in this time?

    LH: A sab…  a year out? No way! Yeah, the guy whoever wrote that was smoking something. Probably good stuff.

    Q: (Christopher Joseph – Chicane) Daniel, you said you don’t need motivation in general as an F1 driver, but surely a hot new teammate must have had an effect today, so how will you approach the race tomorrow, both strategically for yourself and collectively for the team?

    DR: That’s alright. Again, I said I don’t need any extra motivation because I feel I’m my own motivation. I love the sport, I love the competition so as long as there’s someone to compete against, sure I’ll always have a high level of motivation but I would say sure, it’s another challenge, having Max in. At the moment I guess he’s the hottest young property as the up-and-comers are concerned. At least he’s created the most hype I would say out of the new kids on the block and I think it showed today, he was very quick throughout qualifying. It’s good for me, obviously: more challenges and more people to measure myself against. I do believe he is very quick and today I managed to put in a good lap in Q3 and we will see how the season progresses  but sure, it’s exciting.

    Q: (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Nico, do you see a difference in your life as an F1 driver being the World Championship points leader and after seven wins in a row, you have more pressure or have more attention from fans and media etc?

    spain-qualifying-nico-rosbergNR: No, no difference. We’ve been fighting now for the championship for the last two years now, so it’s no different again this year. The battle with Lewis and the battle trying to stay ahead of all the other teams, nothing has changed. And I did lead the championship already anyway in 2014 for example, so even that  is not the first time.

    Q: (Fabrizio Cognati – diariodelweb.com) Daniel, Max said on Thursday that now he doesn’t see a  reason to leave Red Bull now that he’s been upgraded to the top team. Seeing that Red Bull is so competitive, I think that you as well will stay in the team and see no reason to leave.

    DR: Sure, the position we’re in now is getting stronger and obviously you want to put yourself with the best team or the best position available and for sure, Max moving up now he’s very happy and for me as well, I’m very happy with the progress I’ve seen, especially after last year, there was a bit of a dip in performance and then we started to creep it back up in the second half of the year and we’ve really continued that. I think we’ve done a bigger step forward already than what we expected so sure, if it keeps going like this then I think both of us are very happy here.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, you didn’t have good starts in the first two races and then you had problems in the last two races and tomorrow the start will be very important to win the race. Will you do any special preparations for this race, knowing the importance of the start here?

    LH: Like meditation or something? No! In China I had the best start of the whole grid. The last start actually was so-so. So I’m hoping for another good start. I think whatever issues we had they definitely have been rectified and I think ultimately with starts, I think for all of us in Formula One, it’s always up and down. The starts have been great so far this weekend so I don’t see why they won’t be tomorrow.

    Full transcript of the post qualifying press conference ahead of the Spanish GP.

    Drivers: 1 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 2 – Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 3 – Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull).

    TV UNILATERAL

    Q: Lewis, a bit of pressure on you there in the final run after that mistake in the first run of Q3 but 1 minute 22 flat is some kind of lap time around this place?

    Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, very, very happy with getting the lap. Obviously Nico has been very strong all weekend, so it was crucial that … you know bit by bit, stepping stone, one step at a time, I’ve been really trying to bring the pace together. Firstly, I really want to say a big thank you to all the time, all the guys back at the factory, for working so hard over the past two weeks to try to rectify the issues we’ve had. This is three out of three for me. So I’m pretty happy. Obviously I didn’t get to compete in the last two qualifying sessions, so very, very happy with it and very grateful as well. The car was great. Yesterday was a bit of a difficult day, so to be able to start on the right foot today is a real blessing.

    Q: OK, thank you very much indeed. Coming to you Nico, you had the strongest first run in Q3 but are you a little bit disappointed with the outcome at the end of qualifying or are you taking a view at the long game here?

    Nico Rosberg: No, for sure I’m disappointed to be qualifying second, yeah. I wanted to be first today, of course. But Lewis was just quicker in qualifying today and that’s it. Fortunately, it’s the race that counts so there are still a couple of opportunities tomorrow for sure. at the start for example. And then strategy-wise it’s not going to be an easy race tomorrow, so I’ll try and take my chances there.

    Q: Thanks for that. Daniel, you looked delighted at the end there after that qualifying lap. You only had one run to do it in and also a fair bit of pressure from your new young team-mate?

    Daniel Ricciardo: Firstly, really happy to be back here in this press conference. Try to be here tomorrow. I think happy to be in front of both Ferraris as well, both of us. Max obviously was doing really good. We’re both on the second row, that’s pretty awesome. Yeah, we chipped away it, but it took a bit of time to come. Yeah in Q3 I knew I had one lap and just knew I had the pace and where I could do it and it was just about putting it all together. Up until then I hadn’t really got it all together but Q3 is what counts and yeah, did what I had to do, so I was very happy.

    Q: Very well done indeed. Coming back to our polesitter, Lewis Hamilton. It’s always a close race here in Barcelona, as Nico was referencing a moment ago. Clearly there are more strategy variables this season than there has been in the past, but I guess from your point of view you’ve got to look forward to the race and to coming round at the end of that first lap at the front for the first time this season.

    LH: Yeah, hopefully everything comes together. I’ve been working on starts obviously at the past races and yeah, we’re in the best position to start from. We’ll try to get off on the right foot and you know tomorrow could be a good day.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, coming back to you: one little talking point just before the end, it was quite close in the pit lane as you went out for your final run in Q3, with Kimi Raikkonen coming out of the Ferrari garage. Your thoughts on that?

    LH: Yeah, I found it quite unusual. I mean, I was pulling out and all of a sudden he appeared and I thought he was going to hit. A little bit of an unsafe release from them, but it’s not a race, so whether or not that affects…

    Q: Did you have to jump on the brakes?

    LH: Yeah, I think I did have to brake and just lift, or at least lift. But I think he saw me, so…

    Q: Nico, looking at the difference in your performances in the second part of qualifying, which is obviously the one that dictates the tyres you start the race with, there was quite a big difference between the two of you, I think it was about half a second, six tenths, something like that. Was that performance or was that you taking a tiny bit less out of the tyres with a view to the opening stint of the race?

    NR: No, I was pushing. So it wasn’t saving tyres…

    OK, fine…

    NR: Unfortunately!

    Q: I thought I’d just check! Finally, Daniel, talk a little bit about the atmosphere inside the garage this weekend and the atmosphere inside the cockpit of your car when you were looking at some of those lap times that Max was turning on his first acquaintance with this Red Bull car of yours?

    DR: Sure, it’s been a bit different this weekend. Not so much from what I’ve been doing, obviously my side of the garage hasn’t changed. Sure, there has been a bit more attention surrounding the team and sure, I’ve got another guy directly opposite me, who is doing very well. We’ve both locked out the second row of the grid. Obviously very happy to be here, but for both of us to be in front of Ferrari and on the second row, I thought maybe one of us could sneak in and get a P4 and split the Ferraris but to both be in front is really cool. We know from the start Max is quick and he’s shown that throughout, also yesterday he showed speed as well. It’s been a good start for him and I think for us as a team really good for this weekend.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Autobildmotorsport) – A question for Nico. Nico, you were one of the experts, you were right warning for the strength of Ferrari, so I guess you’re not surprised they’re so close, only one second?

    NR: Yeah, it makes look like not so much of an expert, huh! Anyways, we’re surprised. We’re surprised to be so far ahead. At the same time we’re also surprised how close Red Bull now is. It’s really changing around quite a lot. The only constant is us, we’re always there and always up front and we always have a gap to whoever is in second at the moment. That’s been impressive to see. Very pleased with that of course, it’s just a great job by the team, that on every track we manage to keep the car working perfectly and that’s really fantastic to see.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – globoesporte.com) Daniel, when you saw in Q2 that Max was 407 thousandths faster than you, did it bring you any special emotion: ‘I need to beat this guy in Q3′. Something like that?

    DR: Your mentality is you need to beat everyone. Sure, my Q2 definitely didn’t go as good as his. His first lap was on the money. I didn’t feel we had to run again but obviously the team wanted to play it safe, so we ran again and even the second lap I did in Q2 wasn’t great. So sure, I knew there was more to come in Q3 – but also I knew where the time was and I knew just putting it all together would give us a bit of lap time. So, I think the only disadvantage coming into Q3 was that I knew I just had one set of tyres – but been in that position before and, sure, it creates a bit of excitement. Max had already set one time in Q3 with one set, so yeah, obviously you look across at your team-mate but I was also looking at Ferraris. And yeah, to get in front of one of them I thought would be good but to get in front of both, and also for Max to jump them as well… it’s a good day. I never doubted myself but yeah, left it pretty late.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Two questions if I may. First to Lewis: you weren’t very happy with the car yesterday Lewis, I was wondering how much the car has gone to the other end of the spectrum in terms of feel and balance and grip level now, whether it was the circuit perhaps coming in as well? And was the lock-up in that first Q3 run indicative that maybe things still aren’t 100 per cent?

    LH: Nope. I had a problem yesterday with something on the car so it wasn’t the easiest of days and almost a bit of a waste of a day for me. So today was really starting from scratch, the car felt great from the get-go once that was rectified. We made a few changes to the balance – but very few, just a couple of changes. Nico was very comfortable in the car so kind of more in the direction he was going. They weren’t very far apart anyway. But to get out today and feel the car beneath me once again was a great relief. But still, Nico was incredibly strong, as you can see, so there was areas I knew I needed to pick up and that was really what I was trying to do – and in Turn Ten a little bit too much. When I came in I was just laughing, believe it or not, like between that session because the lap was so good. Between those runs I was just giggling. Just thinking ‘it was such a good lap’. It would have been easily pole – but I’m glad I got it with the second one. Whilst it put a bit more pressure on the second lap, I was still able to get it, so happy with that.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Daniel, the traction of the Red Bull is brilliant around here, sector three looks great for you – but I’m wondering – we didn’t see the lap on TV – how much could you push through sectors one and two knowing your lap was really going to come together in sector three?

    DR: Yeah, I think, surprisingly, the track got a bit better for sure as qualifying went on, but it was getting hotter as well a bit so it wasn’t… I thought sector three would have dropped off more to be honest as the track got warmer but it wasn’t too bad and you could still push. I think the lap times – I’m not sure how they were compared to last year – but you could push pretty much the whole lap and not really worry about the tyres too much, so that was good. At least for us. We were able to go for it, the majority of the lap. Sure, the last sector, you get a little bit of overheating, particularly the last corners, traction, you’re fighting a bit. But, as you said, the last sector is still relatively strong compared to Mercedes and Ferrari, so yeah, it’ll be interesting in two weeks’ time in Monaco. Hopefully we can get even closer.

    Q: (Angélique Belokopytov – AutoDigest) Two questions to you Daniel. My first is, it’s a long time we didn’t see you here, so how will you manage to be back tomorrow, to carry on the tradition tomorrow? And the second is, we saw an impressive Max today, you are here, there are Ferraris behind so is it a new Red Bull era?

    DR: I think… yes for sure it’s great to be back up here and in dry conditions it’s nice. A bit like China. This is really the first track of the year that we’ve probably, all of us, put on the majority of downforce that we currently have on the car and it’s shown our strengths are coming back. I think for us as a team we’ve shown signs already this year and today that’s shown again. That we do have a good car underneath us and it’ll be interesting come even tighter, twistier circuits. Monaco, as I said, in a few weeks’ time will be interesting: should be fun. And yeah, to be back here tomorrow, I think just do what I guess I’ve been doing. I feel I’ve been driving really well this year and just to keep it up. Yeah. I’d love to say we can fight with them but I’ll just try to hang with them. Hopefully get a slipstream and they can drag me down into Turn One. And yeah, stay close.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Speed Sport magazine) Lewis, in the unilaterals you thanked the team for working so hard to improve, change the car. What is different about the car now?

    LH: We obviously came with some small upgrades. Obviously the car is constantly improving but I would say, obviously I’ve got an improved turbo for this week, which was coming probably a race or two away, and just to really rectify and understand the issues that we’ve had in the last races. I just know everyone was working hard, whether or not we’ve actually rectified and fixed everything, we will find out. One thing I know is that the guys are working flat out. Everyone was feeling the pain over the last couple of races with the faults, and so just grateful to them for putting the work in because hopefully because this weekend and moving forwards we’ll see the results of that.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Daniel, if the engine upgrade brings what is promised, do you think that’s enough to close the gap to Mercedes, or is there still more needed?

    DR: I think there will still be a little more, but sure on some circuits it could be enough. So if we were to have it here, for example, I think there’s still 0.6s off Lewis today so I don’t think we’re expecting 0.6s from the upgrade so we would probably still not quite be there but it would certainly put us a lot closer. Monaco and Budapest, some of these tighter circuits, I think (it) would give us a real shot so hanging out for the next few races, really.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – AutoBild Motorsport) Lewis, I read some English papers today which say there’s a possibility that you could take a sabbatical next year. What are your plans in this time?

    LH: A sab…  a year out? No way! Yeah, the guy whoever wrote that was smoking something. Probably good stuff.

    Q: (Christopher Joseph – Chicane) Daniel, you said you don’t need motivation in general as an F1 driver, but surely a hot new teammate must have had an effect today, so how will you approach the race tomorrow, both strategically for yourself and collectively for the team?

    DR: That’s alright. Again, I said I don’t need any extra motivation because I feel I’m my own motivation. I love the sport, I love the competition so as long as there’s someone to compete against, sure I’ll always have a high level of motivation but I would say sure, it’s another challenge, having Max in. At the moment I guess he’s the hottest young property as the up-and-comers are concerned. At least he’s created the most hype I would say out of the new kids on the block and I think it showed today, he was very quick throughout qualifying. It’s good for me, obviously: more challenges and more people to measure myself against. I do believe he is very quick and today I managed to put in a good lap in Q3 and we will see how the season progresses  but sure, it’s exciting.

    Q: (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Nico, do you see a difference in your life as an F1 driver being the World Championship points leader and after seven wins in a row, you have more pressure or have more attention from fans and media etc?

    NR: No, no difference. We’ve been fighting now for the championship for the last two years now, so it’s no different again this year. The battle with Lewis and the battle trying to stay ahead of all the other teams, nothing has changed. And I did lead the championship already anyway in 2014 for example, so even that  is not the first time.

    Q: (Fabrizio Cognati – diariodelweb.com) Daniel, Max said on Thursday that now he doesn’t see a  reason to leave Red Bull now that he’s been upgraded to the top team. Seeing that Red Bull is so competitive, I think that you as well will stay in the team and see no reason to leave.

    DR: Sure, the position we’re in now is getting stronger and obviously you want to put yourself with the best team or the best position available and for sure, Max moving up now he’s very happy and for me as well, I’m very happy with the progress I’ve seen, especially after last year, there was a bit of a dip in performance and then we started to creep it back up in the second half of the year and we’ve really continued that. I think we’ve done a bigger step forward already than what we expected so sure, if it keeps going like this then I think both of us are very happy here.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, you didn’t have good starts in the first two races and then you had problems in the last two races and tomorrow the start will be very important to win the race. Will you do any special preparations for this race, knowing the importance of the start here?

    LH: Like meditation or something? No! In China I had the best start of the whole grid. The last start actually was so-so. So I’m hoping for another good start. I think whatever issues we had they definitely have been rectified and I think ultimately with starts, I think for all of us in Formula One, it’s always up and down. The starts have been great so far this weekend so I don’t see why they won’t be tomorrow.

  • F1 Reverting Back to 2015 Format after United Stand From Teams

    F1 Reverting Back to 2015 Format after United Stand From Teams

    F1 is set to return to the 2015 qualifying format after Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA agreed to the request from the teams.

    Team bosses met earlier on Thursday to decide on the new proposed aggregate qualifying format. In an unusual move, all the teams unanimously agreed in a letter sent to the FIA and Ecclestone not to go ahead with the proposed aggregate format but to revert back to the 2015 format.

    With the teams standing united on this matter, the FIA and Ecclestone agreed that the way forward for the sport is to agree to go back to the 2015 format.

    “At the unanimous request of the teams in a letter received today, Jean Todt, President of the FIA, and Bernie Ecclestone, commercial rights holder representative, accepted, in the interests of the Championship, to submit a proposal to the F1 Commission and World Motor Sport Council to revert to the qualifying format in force in 2015,” read a statement by the FIA

    “This proposal, if approved by the F1 governing bodies, will take effect as from the Chinese Grand Prix and will apply for the rest of the season,” the statement continued

    “Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone welcomed the idea put forward by the teams to have a global assessment of the format of the weekend for 2017. “

  • Formula One teams take a stand to save F1 qualifying

    Formula One teams take a stand to save F1 qualifying

    All eleven Formula One teams have taken a stand against the proposed aggregate F1 qualifying format, as well as the current elimination style F1 qualifying format, in a letter to F1 bosses.

    It is reported that teams have unanimously demanded that the sport reverts to the 2015 F1 season qualifying format in an effort to do what they consider to be in the best interests of F1 fans and the sport in general.

    The letter was sent F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, commercial rights holders CVC Capital Partners, and to FIA president Jean Todt. In the letter, teams unanimously reject the aggregate F1 qualifying format which was proposed at a meeting in Bahrain on Sunday between the teams, Ecclestone, Todt, and Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery.

    Thusfar, Todt and Ecclestone have stood firm on their opinion that reverting to the F1 qualifying format used from the 2006 – 2015 Formula One seasons and have refused to put it back on the table to be voted upon. Both believe that since teams voted the current elimination style F1 qualifying format in, they will have to continue with it, or come up with an alternative solution. This despite the added opposition from drivers and F1 fans since the knockout format was introduced.

    Given the strong opposition on both sides, it would seem we will be stuck with the elimination format for the Chinese Grand Prix, unless either side changes their position before the race weekend.

    There has been no comment from Todt, Ecclestone, or CVC Capital following receipt of the letter as yet.

  • 2016 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS
    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
    2 – Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari)
    3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by David Coulthard)

    Congratulations, your 16th victory, your fifth in a row. Any man that has done that has won a world championship, so a good day in the office.

    Nico ROSBERG: Oh for sure. It’s been an awesome weekend. The key was really the start. I got a great getaway and from then on I was trying to control the pace. Very, very happy with today; absolutely awesome to get another win.

    Q: Fantastic, we’ll come back to you. I’ll move along to Kimi Raikkonen. Kimi, as was mentioned in the introductions, your fifth second place here, you were second here last year. It’s a good circuit for you. Just lacking that last little bit of pace this afternoon but it bodes well for the season?

    Kimi RAIKKONEN: Yeah, obviously not too bad. I made a bad start and after a few laps we were one straight behind Nico, so it’s pretty difficult to recover from there, but we did what we could and we had pretty good speed. Not enough to win, but we’ll take second today and try to improve from there.

     

    Q: What is it about this circuit that brings out the best in you? You do seem to have a good run here.
    KR: I don’t think there are any special things we do. It seems to be happening here. There’s maybe some circuits that we seem to have all the time bad luck. But I’ll take it, but still we know… it was unfortunate for the team that the other car had an issue. We have some work to be done.

     

    Q: Congratulations on your podium result. Ladies and gentlemen, Lewis Hamilton. Now Lewis, it seemed to me that it all went wrong at the start again. We saw a little hiccup in Melbourne, another little hiccup here, any relation or two separate incidents?
    Lewis HAMILTON: I think two separate incidents, but both equally as painful, perhaps this one today more painful. Nonetheless, we still managed to get back up there and at least get some points. So again, damage limitation. Congratulations to Nico, kind of an easy race for him I assume, but I’m glad that it wasn’t more points and obviously I could have not finished the race so…

     

    Q: Just tell us about that last pit stop. It seemed like you stayed out a bit longer. You were give seconds behind Kimi at one point and then you dropped to more than 12 seconds, so what was the thinking behind that?
    LH: Well, the team was hoping that was potentially a safety car or something. I had so much damage on the car that I couldn’t keep up with Kimi. I was fighting but the rear end was nowhere. I did what I could with it and at the end I was just keeping the tyres in case I get an opportunity with the safety car, but it didn’t come.

     

    Q: We saw you arriving this morning in traditional dress. You obviously love being here in Bahrain.
    LH: I do and as you can see… a big thank you to the fans that came here this weekend. I’ve got some incredible support here. I was trying to enjoy the festivities here and I’ve been so well taken care of, so a big thanks to the Crown Prince and I look forward to coming back next year.

     

    Q: Congratulations. Back to our race winner: what a dream start to this season. Do you want to share a few more thoughts with the race fans out there?
    NR: No, just congratulations to Bahrain really, for staging such an awesome race weekend here. Such a great race track here also, in the desert. It’s been, I think, fantastic for all of you, I’m sure you had a lot of fun and we’ll be back again next year of course.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

     

    Q: Nico, obviously the start was key – but also were some strategy decisions and changes, particularly favouring the supersoft tyre in the final third of the race. Can you talk us through the start and particularly those decisions and what it was like from the cockpit?
    NR: Yeah, we’ve been working a lot on the starts. I’m pleased that it worked out so well, it was a really good getaway on the dirty side of the grid and that really made my race in the end. And from then on the car was feeling great and just controlling the pace and playing it safe. That’s what we were trying to do. Also, in case the Safety Car comes and things like that. So we really went for the safest strategy, not the fastest strategy. Just to cover all eventualities.

     

    Q: So you anticipated maybe running supersofts later in the race?
    NR: Anticipated? No. As I say, went for the strategy which was safest, to cover all eventualities like Safety Car or anything else that can happen.

     

    Q: Kimi, just over six seconds behind at the end. If you reflect on where you were coming out of Turn Two on the opening lap, do you think with a cleaner start you might have been able to give Nico a run for his money today?
    KR: It’s not possible to say. Obviously this is the end result and we had pretty okay speed in the race. Obviously bad start, I don’t know exactly what happened, if I had some issue or did some mistake. I just got wheelspin in the end. Obviously got surprised, managed to hold quite a good position after such a bad start, so it was a nice thing in the first two corners, didn’t lose too much. Then managed to pass cars, so that was a key point – but once I was second place I was already one full straight behind Nico so, obviously not an awful lot to do after that – but we managed to catch up little-by-little and I think we did the maximum that we could after that start. Not ideal for the team. We had some issue with the other car before the race even started, so yeah, we have quite a bit of work to be done – but the speed is more or less there and we just need to fix certain things.

     

    Q: Lewis, another recovery drive two weeks after Melbourne. Obviously this one a bit more difficult I imagine because you seemed to have quite a bit of damage on the car. How did that feel to you, trying to make your way through the field? Maybe you could give us a little detail on the start and that first corner with Bottas.
    LH: Yeah, obviously I just lost a lot of performance with the car and I’m not quite sure what happened at Turn One – whoever was on the inside was in my blindspot so I didn’t see them. It was a racing incident – those kind of things happen. After that just trying to manage the tyres, obviously with a lot less rear end and trying to get as many points as possible. I did the best I could with it.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Khodr Rawi – motorsport.com) Kimi, are you worried that the latest reliability issues could prevent Ferrari from fighting for the championship?
    KR: I don’t know what happened to the other car. Obviously something went wrong. We had some issue… I had an issue in the last race. Seb had something here. It’s not ideal but, like I said, we have some work to be done and you never want to have a retirement and it’s going to cost points in the drivers’ plus the teams’. It’s an unfortunate part of the game.

     

    Q: (Christopher Joseph – Chicane) Nico, how important is it now, confidence-wise and momentum-wise for you, having won the first two races of the season?
    NR: It’s not something I think about. I’m just taking it race by race and it’s great to win here today, great to win two on the trot and that’s it. Next race – where are we going, China? It is a good moment because we have a good car and I just want to make the most of it.

     

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, you have eight podiums here. If you could, would you like to change it to one victory, and how do you rate your record?
    KR: Obviously we always try to do our maximum and this is the end result. There’s no point in wondering if and…  We had some second places, some third places, no win but like today I take second place and go from here and see what happens.

     

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Lewis, had there been a problem at the getaway, at the start, and then when did you realise that Bottas was too late on the brakes and you could be in trouble?
    LH: I don’t really know what was at the start. I don’t think there was any particular real issue. I think it was just not a good getaway by myself and nothing technical or anything like that. Yeah, as I said, it was in a blind spot, I didn’t know if anyone was there, I didn’t know what had happened but I’m glad that I didn’t spin. At least I could keep going. At least I managed to continue and still have some performance left in the car that I could get back into the top three.

     

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Nico, how does it feel to win five victories in a row?
    NR: It’s not something that I think about. I haven’t thought about it right in this moment. I’m just thinking about the season, it’s two wins in a row now, good points, that’s where my focus is and that’s it really. Five wins, three wins in a row, it doesn’t make a difference. Sorry.

     

    Q: (Khodr Rawi – motorsport.com) Lewis, did you have to run a more aggressive mode during the race to compensate for the lack of downforce?
    LH: We just run the normal race mode, we don’t have any more… We just did the same as we normally do.

  • Magnussen to Start Bahrain GP Race from the Pit Lane

    Magnussen to Start Bahrain GP Race from the Pit Lane

    Renault’s Kevin Magnussen will start Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix race from the pit lane after failing to stop at a red light for a weight check.

    Magnussen, behind Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat, was given the red light for a weight check. Because the drivers were close together, this caused a bit of confusion. Kvyat stopped when he was not supposed to while Magnussen carried on toward his pit garage. This is in breach of Article 29.1 of the FIA Sporting Regulations.

    “The driver failed to stop for weighing during P2 when signalled to do so by the red traffic light, the car was not returned to the FIA garage and work was undertaken,” a statement from the stewards read.

    “In accordance with Article 29.1 iv) of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations the driver is required to start from the pit lane.”

     

    Picture Credit: Renault Sport Formula 1 Team

  • Breaking News – Qualifying Format Change for Bahrain

    Breaking News – Qualifying Format Change for Bahrain

    The FIA, Formula 1’s governing body, has announced that the qualifying format has undergone further changes.

    The trial of the elimination styled qualifying format at the first race of the season in Australia was met with wide-spread criticism. A social media outcry was followed by meetings of the Formula 1 Working Group and several statements panning the format as a concept.

    It was then announced that the qualifying format would revert to its 2015 guise in time for the Bahrain grand prix. However, following another meeting, and a vote, the elimination style format was re-instated. F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone was quoted as saying that the plan was always to give the new format two races and then to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses.

    In yet another about turn the FIA has issued a statement in which they state the following:

    “After careful consideration of all opinions and facts as it pertains to the matter of the official qualifying format a decision has been taken which we believe is best for the sport, its participants, and its numerous fans. We are instituting, with immediate effect, a qualifying format that we believe will satisfy all parties concerned. The qualifying session will run for one hour (60 minutes) in which drivers will have a maximum of twelve laps to set their best possible time.”

    This qualifying format was introduced in 1996 and ran up until the 2002 season. In addition, today is April 1st.