F1 Madness

Tag: force india

  • Mercedes dominate and Hamilton sets the pace in FP3

    Mercedes dominate and Hamilton sets the pace in FP3

    Mercedes continued to show their excellent form during the final practice session ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

    Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets a tenth of a second ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg, with Checo Perez in the third spot for Force India, a half-second country mile behind them.

    Despite spending the first half of the session in the Williams garage, Valterri Bottas and Felipe Massa managed to secure the 4th and 5th spots for the Williams team, showing a good improvement in their performance.

    Jenson Button managed 6th place for the McLaren team and Fernando Alonso secured 7th in the first non-Mercedes powered car, for Ferrari. The Ferrari drivers seemed to be struggling a great deal with rear grip around the track. While many drivers were caught out by the tail wind around T11, the Ferrari drivers seemed to be getting to know the outskirts a little too well around there.

    Rounding out the Top 10 were Nico Hulkenberg for Force India, Toro Rosso’s Daniel Kvyat and Kevin Magnussen for McLaren.

    Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel ended his session early – without the opportunity to head out on soft tyres, after spinning off at the exit of Turn 2 and stalling his car in the gravel trap.

    Conditions during the third practice session were far from those we can expect during qualifying and the race tomorrow now that Bahrain has joined the elite night race hosts. Temperatures drop considerably in the evenings at the desert circuit so expect a few surprises from qualifying later this afternoon.

    Who can catch the Mercedes drivers to steal the pole position for tomorrow’s Bahrain Grand Prix? Right now, it would seem absolutely nobody can!

    Time sheets and full tyre info below. Please join us later on @F1_Madness for live commentary and chats during qualifying for the Bahrain GP.

    FP3 Timesheet:

    Bahrain_FP3

    Tyre info:

    FP3_TyreInfo

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • 2014 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2014 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS:

    Jules BIANCHI (Marussia)

    Jean-Eric VERGNE (Toro Rosso)

    Marcus ERICSSON (Caterham)

    Nico HULKENBERG (Force India)

    Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)

    Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Jenson, if we could start with you. Obviously you’ll reach 250 grand prix this weekend – congratulations on that. Later this year I guess you’ll become the third most experienced grand prix driver of all time. Maybe your thoughts on that what lessons you’ve learned along the way.

    Jenson BUTTON: I’ve learned a lot along the way, as you can imagine, racing for 14 years in Formula One. The thing that surprises me is how quickly it goes by. Fifty races ago I was in Hungary, celebrating my 200thgrand prix, which I won by the way! So, it’s amazing how time flies. You really do have to enjoy every moment of it as much as you can. For me, being 14 years in the sport, I still feel like I have more to learn. I’m definitely not the perfect driver yet, and I never will be, but there is always still more to learn. That’s something, for me, that’s exciting about the sport. New regulations obviously are changing the sport quite a lot, especially with these new regulations, and again, you always have more to learn. For me that’s what keeps the sport exciting and that’s what has kept me on my toes for the last 14 years and hopefully for many more.

     

    Judging from the first two races and also from some of the messages from the team, it seems that McLaren is a bit better perhaps in the cooler conditions than it was in the heat of Malaysia. What are you expecting this weekend – we’re in a warm place but it’s a night race?

    JB: Well, we have a good engine, which helps us here. There isn’t as much high speed as Malaysia and Malaysia was also hot. So hot and high-speed corners are tricky for us. It’s an area we know we’ve got to work on, high-speed downforce. So, here it should be quite a bit better. Fuel consumption is pretty tricky here though, I think for everyone, some more than others for some reason. There’s a lot of work needed before the race to get the right balance for a night race – our first night race here, which should be pretty interesting.

     

    Coming to you Marcus. Obviously your first Formula One finish, in Malaysia – congratulations on 14th place? Can you describe your feelings and the progress at Caterham?

    Marcus ERICSSON: Yeah, it was a good feeling to finish my first F1 race. I think we have done good progress. It’s been a tough, a difficult year so far, with the problems we had in pre-season and then Australia was obviously a very difficult weekend for the whole team. But we’ve been working really hard and making progress all the time, which is the key for us. To have both cars finishing in Malaysia in our home race was a great effort from everyone. Hopefully now in Bahrain we can continue to work forward and first of all a trouble-free Friday, so we can start setting up the car and then see what we can get form the set-up.

     

    I wonder if being a rookie in a year with such new and complex machinery proved harder or easier than you expected?

    ME: It’s been quite hard because especially in pre-season there were quite a lot of issues. So it was difficult to get ready for it before you arrive in Australia, with very limited running. So I wouldn’t say it’s easier but it’s been alright.

     

    Jules, coming to you, obviously a very frustrating first couple of grands prix for you in Australia and Malaysia, with very few race laps. But the car seems to have run OK the rest of the time. I wonder what your feelings are at this point?

    Jules BIANCHI: Yeah, obviously the feeling is not the best. We are trying very hard to improve everything. For sure the car is running well at the moment. We had a small issue in Australia before the start but now it’s fine all that. Another issue on the first lap in Malaysia but actually we don’t have big problems on the car, so this is the positive thing and now we have to have everything going well for the next races.

     

    As Jenson was saying it’s the first time we have a night race here in Bahrain. I wonder what your thoughts are on that and how it will add to the challenge of racing here?

    JBi: Well, obviously the lights will be good, as it’s always good on night races in Formula One, so I don’t expect that to be a big challenger. But it will be good to have a night race in Bahrain. I think it will be a nice one for us.

     

    Nico, obviously the last two grand prix, two fantastic battles with Fernando Alonso and Ferrari. Give us some insight into those two battles and what it’s been like from your cockpit.

    Nico HULKENBERG: Well, I think Australia was not quite a battle. I was just driving in front of him and he overtook me by strategy. And in Malaysia there was not much I could offer in the end. I was struggling on my tyres; he was on a fresh set of softs. Still I was trying to make him work a little bit for the move. But it was always clear that he, coming two second a lap at me, that I don’t have to offer so much. But I think a really positive start to the season for us at Force India. Eighteen points for me already, which is good. I feel we have a good foundation but we need to keep pushing and I need to keep the momentum up because it’s a good opportunity to collect good points this early in the season.

     

    This race last year was obviously one of the strongest for Force India last season. Is there much optimism within the team going into this weekend’s race?

    NH: Absolutely. The whole team is very positive, everybody is working in the right direction. We had two strong races, we’re basically trying to keep the races and keep plugging away at good results. I think here this weekend here is a little trickier. In Malaysia, we had surprisingly good performance on Sunday maybe stronger than we expected. We were quite clear on McLaren and Williams, which was a little bit of a surprise, but I think here things might be a bit more tricky and a bit more tight.

     

    Q: Jean-Eric, double points finish for Toro Rosso in Australia, Daniil Kvyat in the points in Malaysia; is it fair to say Toro Rosso has started this season on the front foot, feeling competitive?
    Jean-Eric VERGNE:     Yeah, I think Toro Rosso has done a massively good job during the winter and even before that, produced a good car and I believe there is still a lot more to come from this team. Many things have changed in a good way and you can definitely feel it inside the team and I’m really happy, they’ve showed some really good results. I think if I didn’t have a problem, I think we could have finished again in the points, a double points finish in Malaysia as well, and that’s what we’re going to try and do here in Bahrain. But overall, I think it’s a good start but the good thing is that I’m sure there is a lot more to come.

     

    Q: Speaking of changes, can you talk a little about the changes that you’ve made, in that some of the people you’re working with, the way you’re going racing this year?

    JEV: I’ve changed many things, I would say. I will not go into much detail but I needed to change my approach a little bit and I think the changes that I’ve made have been in the right direction. I feel better as a human being and as a racing driver as well, and enjoying more of what I do; I can see that already inside the team, outside the track and on the track. As for the team, I think I still have a lot more to give, so it’s all positive so far.

     

    Q: Romain, obviously 11th in Malaysia, close to the points but not quite there. It’s been a real up and down couple of Grands Prix for you. I wonder if you could describe your emotions and how they’ve evolved over the last couple of races.

    Romain GROSJEAN: Yeah, I won’t say exactly everything I could say inside my helmet sometimes. I think it was good for all the guys that we could finish the Malaysian Grand Prix. Of course it was not the way you would like to see when you start a Grand Prix but at the moment that’s where we are plus we were not that far from the points. I think without a small issue at the end of the race, we could probably have got closer and maybe fight for points but it was good and as I said, the guys had three nights in Melbourne when they didn’t sleep, all that for not a big reward. And then we went to Malaysia and again, they worked very hard and we all know it’s humid and hot there so conditions were tough but we managed to get to the end of the race. I think we learned more about our car and we wish from now on that we get troublefree weekends as was the case on Saturday and Sunday and then from there we can learn, improve and get closer to where we would like to be.

     

    Q: Do you feel that the team is on a path back to where it was; how long is it going to take?

    RG: Yeah, I don’t know, to be honest. I know that we still have in our genes the winning spirit and we can still fight back. Of course, when you start the season with everything in the right direction it’s easier to move forward but at the moment we’ve had some issues, we’ve solved most of them, hopefully no more coming, then we can go from there. Of course, Renault is well aware that the power  unit needs to improve a little bit compared to certain other manufacturers, but I think it’s going to be good and we can work on our car.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Vincent Marre – Sports Zeitung) Jenson, in all the seasons that you’ve been racing now, which car has been the most memorable for you? Not the year or the season but the specific car. There must be one.

    JB: There have been quite a few, for different reasons. 2009 obviously was good, it was the year I won the World Championship so an enjoyable car to drive. I liked the big front tyres that we use to have as well. 2011 was good fun. It was quite difficult because we had the blown diffuser that everyone had but it was quite unusual to drive, but when you got used to it, there was so much downforce, it was pretty awesome. But then if you look back, 2004 was also a great year: V10 engines, 900 horsepower, revving to 20,000rpm. Obviously there was a tyre war then as well. Most of the lap times that were achieved then, the fastest laps, have not been beaten in ten years. That was a pretty special car to drive as well. All very different eras in the sport, if you like.. It’s great to have been around through the V10, V8 and now the V6 periods. I think it’s been some exciting times that I’ve had in my career.

     

    Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) To all drivers: in less than one month, motor sport will pay tribute to Ayrton Senna on the 20th anniversary of his passing. I would like you to recall what impact that Sunday at Imola had on your lives and the ones who were too young to remember, maybe how Ayrton Senna relates to you as a driver?

    NH: What that Sunday had, the impact of that Sunday? Not many memories, it was just my first contacts with motor racing and therefore I can’t really remember so much of it but obviously having heard a lot of stories and have seen a documentary, obviously he was a very passionate guy about the sport, about racing and was always pushing the limit very hard.

    JB: Obviously I was four years old when this happened, so I don’t remember many things but let’s say I remember just the fact that all the people were loving him so this is what I remember the most.

    JEV: Same as Jules. I was four years old so I have absolutely no memory of this but obviously it took me a few years to realise who he was and what he has done for the sport. I think everybody has a massive respect for this guy. Obviously I love all the sportsmen that changed the philosophy of world sport, like Michael Jordan in basketball; I believe he is part of the really big sportsmen of any kind of sport, Ayrton Senna, and I think that’s why everybody loved him.

    ME: Yes, the same, I was four years old so I don’t remember anything but obviously he was a great driver and a great person from the look of it. When you watch the documentaries and stuff like that, you can see how great he was both on and off the track.

    RG: Yeah, I think it was the first or second year that I was starting to watch Formula One and of course it was Prost and Senna when I started watching in ’94. I remembered that Sunday, I was watching the race with my Dad and I didn’t understand what exactly was going on and why the race was stopped and it was so long. And then, well, I found out a little bit later and of course, Ayrton has been part of the sport… Again, I started watching Formula One when he was fighting with Alain, I think it was a great era and they were fantastic drivers.

    JB: I wasn’t four years old, I was fourteen years old, still very young obviously but I was racing in Italy that weekend, karting, I had just started racing there so it was a massive shock. Basically the kart meeting was over as soon as we heard the news from Imola. A horrific day for everyone but as the guys said, sometimes it takes something like that – a terrible tragedy – to really change the sport for the better and in terms of safety for us guys, it’s had a very big impact.

  • F1 2014: Malaysia GP Review – Mercedes Asserts Dominance

    F1 2014: Malaysia GP Review – Mercedes Asserts Dominance

    Not a lot of people were delighted when news broke towards the end of 2012 that Lewis Hamilton would become a Mercedes driver. The gutsy decision went a long way towards being justified as Hamilton dominated the 2014 Malaysian grand prix.

    A single victory in Hungary was all Hamilton had to show for his first season with the Silver Arrows. He remained patient in the building of this new relationship and when the all silver Mercedes hit the track in Jerez on the first day of testing it was starting to pay off.

    After retiring from the Australian grand prix two weeks ago Lewis Hamilton showed up in Malaysia with the single goal of scoring twenty-five points on Sunday. A second consecutive pole ensured the best possible starting position for Hamilton who shared the front-row of the grid with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. Nico Rosberg rounded out the top three with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in fourth place on the grid.

    Lewis Hamilton comfortably maintained the lead of the race over teammate Rosberg and ran untroubled for the rest of the afternoon. One of the few battles during the Malaysian GP transpired at the start of the race as Rosberg and the two Red Bulls jockeyed for position.

    malaysian-gp-2014Sebastian Vettel finished in third place overall after getting within one second of Rosberg’s Mercedes. It has been a tremendous recovery for the Red Bull team who looked in dire straits two months ago. A podium finish proves that the RB10 is a fundamentally quick car and that should Renault get on top of their issues that Red Bull will be a serious factor in this championship battle.

    Daniel Ricciardo was supposed to follow Vettel home in fourth place but a disastrous final pit stop totalled the Australian’s race. An improperly secured front-left tyre forced Ricciardo to stop in the pitlane before being pushed back to his pit box. Eventually released, he was given a ten second stop/go penalty for an unsafe release. As if to add insult to injury the Aussie was forced back into the pits with a damaged front-wing which appeared to have been caused by the front-jack during his stop.

    Ricciardo failed to finish the race and was subsequently handed a ten-place grid penalty for this weekend’s Bahrain GP. It is rather extreme to double up on the punishment butDaniel Ricciardo the 2014 rule concerning unsafe releases is clear-cut in the application of two penalties. Clearly, Ricciardo has taken over Mark Webber’s rotten luck as well as his race seat at Red Bull.

    Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso battled for fourth place on the road with the Ferrari driver winning the close contest. Hulkenberg underlined his class with a solid performance on a tricky two-stop strategy. The Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen showed a marked improvement throughout the practice sessions but an overzealous Kevin Magnussen left the Finn with a right-rear puncture at the start of lap two. After limping around the circuit Raikkonen made it to the pits but had lost seventy seconds to the frontrunners.

    Jenson Button confirmed post-race that his McLaren struggled in the high-speed corners but still salvaged sixth place. A spicy fight for seventh between Felipe Massa and Valterri Bottas resulted in some inter-team controversy. In the closing stages of the race Massa was given the instruction to let his teammate past. However, amongst several messages to the Brazilian was “Felipe, Valtteri is faster than you.” This message was a near exact carbon-copy of the one given to Massa during the infamous 2010 German GP. For a split second the former Ferrari driver must have felt like he never left the Italian squad. Massa’s engineer will do well in the future to pick his words more carefully. Team boss Claire Williams diffused the situation by claiming that no team orders were imposed on either driver. Rookies Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top ten.

    Lewis Hamilton_MalaysianGPIt’s bad enough not seeing the chequered flag at the end of the race but it’s exponentially worse when a driver does not even make it onto the starting grid. Force India’s Sergio Perez, struck with software issues, was such a driver. Lotus retired the car of Pastor Maldonado as the turbo was in the process of failing while Sauber suffered a double retirement. Seven cars in total failed to see the chequered flag.

    In seven previous attempts Hamilton had never won the Malaysian GP but Sunday’s dominant display resulted in his first victory around the Sepang circuit. The absence of significant pressure from behind allowed Hamilton to set a modest pace. It is clear that underneath him he has a Mercedes that is the class of the field at the moment and, if needed, has quite a lot more speed to call on.

    It isn’t a case of if but rather when Red Bull, Ferrari and perhaps McLaren will catch up. The gap will be closed. However, Mercedes is making some serious hay while the others are scrambling – and this is ominous. Trust that this team will be working as hard to maintain their pace advantage. And they’re already ahead there too. While others struggle with their power units Mercedes already has the strongest and most reliable engine. At this stage other teams are trying to solve problems and combat issues that Mercedes have long since overcome.  The mindset of the Mercedes team isn’t how to fix problems it’s how to go even faster.

  • F1 2014: Free Practice 1 – Hamilton Tops In Malaysia

    F1 2014: Free Practice 1 – Hamilton Tops In Malaysia

    The first free practice session for the Malaysian GP was headed by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

    Sweltering weather conditions greeted the Formula 1 paddock as the first practice session for round two of the 2014 season kicked off. Teams were allocated an extra set of tyres by Pirelli for the first thirty minutes of the session during which track temperatures neared 40 degrees Celsius.

    Fernando Alonso was the first driver to take to the track in his Ferrari for the all important installation lap. The 2014 cars are still very much a journey of discovery for the engineers, especially in the Malaysian heat. Australian GP race winner Nico Rosberg completed an installation and reported a “problem” with his car. However, the rest of the session seemed to run smoothly for the German with no sign of the aforementioned issues.

    The McLaren team has made a noteworthy change to the appearance of their car. A change in the design of the nose now has the MP4-29 looking more akin to the Toro Rosso. The team have said that they are hoping that this design will find them half a second worth of pace. McLaren also sported the ESSO logo on their sidepods; not a title sponsor but a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil. Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen completed the one and a half hour session 4th and 5th fastest.

     

    The tough times continued for Lotus as neither driver was able to set a time. Romain Grosjean first journey onto circuit ended abruptly as the E22 grinded to halt. Pastor Maldonado remained in the pitlane for the majority of the session and his appearance on track was also cut short as smoke billowed out of the back of his black and gold Lotus. Force India’s Sergio Perez also failed to set a flying lap; in fact, he didn’t manage to make it out of his garage at all.

    Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in his Mercedes but less than two tenths off his pace was Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

    fp1Mal

     

  • Q&A With Force India’s Vijay Mallya

    Q&A With Force India’s Vijay Mallya

    How would you sum up the first race in Melbourne?
    “Australia was definitely a respectable start, without a doubt, and probably the best start we’ve had since I took over the team. We went into the race feeling good and confident. We were concerned initially about reliability, but I think the number of laps we were able to put in during Bahrain testing gave us the confidence that we were on top most issues. The fact that both the cars finished the race is a good way to start the season.”
     
    Are you pleased with the performance of the car?
    “Clearly the VJM07 is competitive: Nico finished sixth with a strong drive and I dare say Checo would have been higher up had he not had a first lap puncture. The fact that he finished where he did after three stops speaks for itself. Obviously there are reasons to be pleased, but we still realise that we need to find a bit more performance if we want to challenge for podiums. That’s what we are focussing on right now.”
     
    How is the team coping with the steep learning curve of the new technology?
    “Whenever I spoke with the engineering team over the winter, it became clear the biggest unknown was the complexity of the car and consequently the reliability. It wasn’t as if the designers and engineers were working with a familiar car that they already knew how to upgrade and tweak. Here everything was new. For example, nobody really knew what cooling was required and optimising that was a major job during testing. I think we have gone up the learning curve successfully and we have a good understanding of the car and all the new technology that’s gone into it.”
     
    What’s your overall view on the new formula?
    “The change to the 1.6-litre V6 with the ERS has had its fair share of debate. Yes, it’s complicated; it’s very sophisticated and it’s unknown territory, which led to a lot of speculation. In the Bahrain tests, when some of the bigger teams completed limited mileage, it simply fuelled this speculation. So to see so many cars finish the race surprised a lot of people. It shows that teams have got on top of their game and the uncertainties have been reduced to a large extent. Now it’s a question of really concentrating on trying to find the competitive advantage.”
     
    What can we expect this weekend in Malaysia?
    “The weather in Melbourne was relatively cool so I’d like to see what impact the warmer climates of Malaysia and Bahrain will have on performance and competitiveness. Effective cooling will be a priority this weekend. If we can reproduce the performance level we showed in Melbourne that will be a good starting point.”
  • Bahrain Test: Day 4 Quotes

    Bahrain Test: Day 4 Quotes

    Lewis Hamilton ended the final day of pre-season testing on top in Bahrain.

    All attention will be towards the first race of the season in Melbourne, Australia for the Australian Grand Prix. Below are some quotes from the drivers.

     

    Lewis Hamilton(1:33.278) | Mercedes | 70 laps: “This has definitely been the most challenging winter I’ve experienced and the car is still very much a work in progress, but we’ve learnt a lot over the course of these last few weeks and overall it’s been a good winter of testing for us. There’s been an incredible amount of work put in by the team back at the two factories and on track. I have to say a special thanks to the crew here today who had a tough task in front of them but never lost their cool. It was a tough start to the day but they managed to get the car turned around for me to complete some good laps in the afternoon, which was a fantastic effort. There’s so much to learn with these new cars; it’s just mind-blowing and I don’t think anybody can be fully ready for the challenge of this season. But I feel as ready as I can be and I’m looking forward to seeing where we are in Melbourne.”

    Valtteri Bottas(1:33.987) | Williams-Mercedes | 108 laps: “I think our final day of testing was very good, right up to a very unlucky failure just one run before the end. Overall, it was a still a good day as we had no other issues throughout and made a lot of progress with the car set-up. I think with this amount of testing we are as prepared for Melbourne as we can be. The team has done a great job and thank you also to Mercedes-Benz. We still need to work very hard in these next two weeks but I overall I’m happy with how testing has gone for us. As I didn’t have the chance to do a quick time on the supersoft tyre today, I am looking forward to picking up where we left off when we get to Melbourne.”

    Fernando Alonso(1:34.280) | Ferrari | 74 laps: “The team did its utmost to carry out changes on the car as quickly as possible, but again today, we had planned to do more laps than we managed. There are a lot of things to learn with the use of the power unit to improve the performance of the car and we are not yet where we want to be. Everyone in the team is very competitive and we are working day and night in order to get all the potential out of the F14 T as soon as possible. We have gone through twelve days of testing that were very demanding for everyone and I would like to thank the whole team for all its efforts.”

    Motor Racing - Formula One Testing - Bahrain Test Two - Day 4 - Sakhir, BahrainNico Hulkenberg(1:35.577) | Force India-Mercedes | 74 laps: “The final day of testing went pretty well. In the end we didn’t do the race simulation, but we did some long runs and signed off a lot of other things on the job list. We didn’t do as many laps as yesterday, but we still made progress and learned some new things. So it’s been two good days for me and I’m feeling pretty satisfied. You always want more time to prepare, but I think we’re in good shape. The car has come a long way since the first Jerez test and we have made progress every day.”

    Adrian Sutil(1:36.467) | Sauber-Ferrari | 91 laps: “It was a good morning. We covered everything that we had planned, just in a shorter time frame. Yesterday was unlucky, but it’s better to have a problem here than in Melbourne. I feel much more comfortable after this morning’s session. Now we have a lot more data to analyse. Overall we had a tough testing programme to go through and we had unexpected problems here and there. However, we don’t get any more tests, so we will take what we have and get the most out of it in Melbourne, and I’m looking forward to that.”

    Sebastian Vettel(1:37.468) | Red Bull-Renault | 77 laps: We did a lot of laps today so that was useful. We tried to do a race simulation today; for one reason or another that didn’t work out, but in two week’s time things should look a little bit different. Obviously it’s difficult to know where the car is. It’s not just the number of laps that you do, but also the type. There are so many different running options as well – full power, low power etc, so its’ impossible to say where we are. We know we have to catch up in a lot of areas, but with that said, I’m happy today, we did a lot of laps, we learned a lot and it was a positive end to a tough week here.”

    Kamui Kobayashi(1:38.391) | Caterham-Renault | 106 laps: “106 laps is a good way for us to finish the tests, even though the clutch problem we had in the last hour meant we didn’t have a chance to do any of the performance runs we’d planned for today. However, I’m very happy we were able to have two such good final days in Bahrain as it’s showed that our reliability is good and that could be very important in Australia and for the whole season, especially when you look at how quite a few of the other teams have struggled both here and in Jerez.”

    The next we get to see the teams and drivers again will be in Australia. The way things stand now is that Red Bull are struggling, Mercedes and Mercedes powered teams are looking very good and Ferrari, and Ferrari powered teams are not far behind. We must not, however, write off Red Bull, they have the potential to come back and dominate throughout the season.

    It’s very hard to tell the pecking order for this season. A few races into the season and we will have a very good idea of where things stand. Reliability will be the big thing this season. It’s wide open for this seasons title race.

     

    Photo Credit:

    Title Photo: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

    Article Photo: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

  • Second Bahrain Test: Day 1: Driver Quotes

    Second Bahrain Test: Day 1: Driver Quotes

    Force India’s Sergio Perez set the pace on Day 1 of the final Bahrain test with a time of 1:35.290, almost a full second clear of second fastest man, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. Here are some quotes from the drivers after the first day of the second Bahrain test

     

    Sergio Perrez(1:35.290) | Force India-Mercedes | 105 laps: “We really needed a good day to start this week and today we had it. We managed to do a lot of laps, try several different compounds and mappings, and it’s been a fantastic day in terms of learning about the car. Tomorrow is my last day in the car before the season starts so hopefully we can have another solid day to be in good shape for Melbourne.”

    Valtteri Bottas(1:36.184) | Williams-Mercedes | 128 laps: “It’s been another good day for us and it was nice to get the whole run plan done. We didn’t have any issues all day so well done to all the team for getting the car running so well. We have a lot of data to analyse tonight after doing some aero work this morning and a race distance and set-up work this afternoon. We did some very interesting tests and there are still plenty of things to improve so we’ll keep pushing.”

    Kimi Raikkonen(1:36.432) | Ferrari | 54 laps: “Before I leave Sakhir, it’s planned that I should do a race distance and that’s the only thing I’m missing. Today we chose to concentrate on some of the many things we still have to work on and we won’t assess the winter testing until the final day, when we will put together all the data we have gathered. What I can say is that I have been through worse winters than this.

    Rosberg_BahrainT2_Day1We have been on different programmes and I don’t think you can judge a car’s potential from how many laps it does in testing. We have a lot of things to test and we want to make the most of these days to check everythting, because the race weekend doesn’t last long and the hours on Friday fly by, while on the other days you are only looking for performance.”

    Nico Rosberg(1:36.624) | Mercedes | 89 laps: “That was not a fantastic day for us. We tried some new parts on the car and you find out a lot doing that. But unfortunately we did not only discover good things today. I managed to do a couple of good laps before lunch but in the afternoon we had a few small problems which ended my running a bit earlier than planned. This shows that we are pushing everything to the limit and we still have a massive challenge in front of us during the last three days of testing. We need to maximise our time here to be prepared for Melbourne. But after a difficult day overall we are on the right path.”

    Daniel Ricciardo(1:37.908) | Red Bull-Renault | 39 laps: ” This morning was much better for us with a few longer runs. Behind the wheel, that’s the best I’ve felt so far. The package seems to be coming together better. We still had a few issues today, but at least when the car was on track it was much more useful running and we made progress in the morning. It’s getting there. I’d love to keep going, but at leas Seb has two days after me in the car, so I think we’ll be looking pretty good for the next three days.”

    Daniil Kvyat(1:39.242) | Toro Rosso-Renault | 55 laps: “It was nice to be in the car, even if we didn’t get through the entire programme we had planned for today. However, I feel we have made some progress. We ran the Hard Pirelli most of the time, as we were definitely not chasing performance today. I hope Jev manages to get a full day’s running tomorrow, before I drive again on Saturday.”

    Included is the unofficial timesheet for the day’s session:

    BahrainT2_Day1

     

     

     

    Photo Credits

    Title Photo: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

    Article Photo: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

  • Force India’s 2014 VJM07

    Force India’s 2014 VJM07

    Sahara Force India were the first to unveil their new 2014 contender the VJM07, as the team released an image of the car on Wednesday morning.

    The team said on their website that “paint schemes are the skins and souls of Formula One cars” and they’ve worked hard to maintain a distinctive look but have brought a fresh “aggressive” look to the grid this year introducing black alongside the traditional colours of saffron, white and green.

    Vijay Mallya is very pleased with the new look VJM07 saying, “The VJM07 looks stunning and the new livery reflects the way Sahara Force India is evolving. I’ve always believed our cars have been the most eye-catching, but adding black as a main colour gives us a fierce new look.”

    A number of new commercial partners have been introduced including telecommunications brand, Claro, signalling the start of a multi-year deal with the team. Their logo is displayed on the engine cover and there will be prominent Claro branding on the drivers’ race suits and kit.

    Other new sponsor branding on the VJM07 include lubricant oils specialists, Roshfrans who have also inked a multi-year partnership with the team and Astana, a foundation supporting sporting and promoting the capital city of Kazakhstan.

    Mallya went on to explain, ““It’s been a busy winter for us on the technical and commercial front. “When I founded the team my first ambition was to launch the first Indian team on the grid, but the next stage in our evolution is to develop a global brand. I think that ambition is reflected in the partners we are working with and our world class driver line-up. It certainly feels as though there is the potential for 2014 to be our strongest season yet.”

    The team said on their website, “As we enter our seventh season, this new fresh, dynamic look signals the team’s renewed ambition – the next step in our shareholders’ bold vision. Having achieved the objective to have an Indian team on the grid and having signed world-class drivers, our sights now turn towards the next target.

    Sahara Force India’s contemporary new look heralds the evolution into a global brand, supported by passionate fans the world over, ready to pounce on the higher echelons of the grid.”

    There are also a number of technical improvements and changes to the VJM07. “The new rules have presented us with a huge challenge, but I’m very proud of the approach we have taken and the direction of the technical team,” said Mallya. “It will be fascinating to see how different teams have interpreted the rules and at this stage it’s impossible to predict who has done the best job.”

    Technical Director, Andrew Green, explained just how different the VJM07 is compared to the VJM06, “Almost every single part is a new design, from the front wing right back to the diffuser. The genetics of the VJM07 still lie in the 2013 car, but we’ve had to achieve the same results in a slightly different way.”

    Green said that accommodating the power unit was the biggest challenge for the team, “It’s been a massive job to accommodate all the changes to the power unit – it’s the biggest change I’ve witnessed in the sport since I started in 1990. Cooling has been the biggest challenge with most of last summer taken up trying to understand the cooling requirements of the power unit, and how best to optimise it in the chassis.”

     

     

  • Q&A with Adrian Sutil – Podiums the target with Sauber

    Q&A with Adrian Sutil – Podiums the target with Sauber

    Adrian Sutil has set his hopes on achieving a maiden podium with the Sauber team in the 2014 Formula One season.

    Having spent his entire F1 career with the Force India and Spyker F1 teams, the German will now get to experience life with a new team and hopes to achieve his first podium soon.

    The German talks about his move to Sauber, his hopes and preparations for the season ahead.

    Q: Adrian, your whole F1 career to date has been spent with the same team – was it about time to make a change?
    Adrian Sutil:     Yes, I felt that it was time for a change and we worked hard for it for months to make it happen. It will be an interesting experience to see how another team goes about things.

    Q: You were always been confident of staying in Formula One. Were you negotiating with Sauber before Force India announced their decision to take on Sergio Perez or did the deal come about at the last minute?
    Adrian Sutil:     No, we were in contact for a long time. As I just said, it had been my wish to have a change after six good years with Force India – and Sauber was my priority. My Manager has been in contact with them since autumn – and around that time I visited the factory in Hinwil for the first time.

    Q: After many years with Force India, with what feelings are you leaving?
    Adrian Sutil:     I have had a good and successful time with Force India. They gave me the chance to come back – and this fact will always have a special place in my heart! For sure I will miss some of the guys there that have turned into friends over the years, but now I’m excited to be with my new team. Let’s see if it is true that new brooms sweep clean! (laughs)

    Q: What do you expect from Sauber? They finished 2013 on a high but that doesn’t mean too much with all the changes coming along in 2014…
    Adrian Sutil:     I’m convinced that we will have a successful time – and I’m looking very much forward to my first podium! Sauber have had some podiums in the past and that is exactly what I want.

    Q: You have witnessed the 2014 developments at Force India and now you’ve seen how Sauber is going about things. What’s your impression – and where are the differences?
    Adrian Sutil:     To be honest all I know is that Sauber have already passed the crash test. I haven’t seen more yet and don’t know anything about the 2014 Force India car.

    Q: There have been some new measures announced recently: you can now choose your own race number; there are double points at the last race; a pole position trophy has been introduced; and there’s a new penalty system. What’s your opinion on all that?
    Adrian Sutil:     We have to take it as it comes! It doesn’t make any sense to waste too much time on fruitless discussions when you know that you cannot change things. We will see at the end of the season what has happened with all the changes – then will be the time to discuss sense and nonsense.

    Q: Have you already picked your number? And was your favourite number still available? Is there any personal anecdote attached to your number?
    Adrian Sutil:     Yes, I have picked my number already – and yes, my favourite was available – but it will be a secret until it is official!

    Q: So far you are the only driver to be announced at Sauber for 2014. Do you have any preference for your team mate?
    Adrian Sutil:     To be honest: I don’t care. It should be the best and fastest team mate that is available!

    Q: Living in Switzerland and driving for a Swiss team – that sounds pretty convenient – and suggests that you will be a very frequent visitor to the factory. Is that so?
    Adrian Sutil:     Yes, because it will be an easy one to visit! And the real luxury is that the factory is just an hour’s drive from my home. So I will be there quite often.

    Q: What will be on your agenda for the weeks until the Jerez test at the end of January?
    Adrian Sutil:     I will relax and recharge my batteries, have a nice and peaceful Christmas and then I will start to prepare for next season -and for sure I will spend many days in the factory to get to know everybody and inhale their procedures!

     

    Photo credit: Saharaforceindia.com

     

     

  • Full driver line-up for Bahrain tyre test confirmed

    Full driver line-up for Bahrain tyre test confirmed

    The full driver line-up for this week’s Pirelli tyre test in Bahrain has been confirmed.

    The three day tyre test is set to get underway on Tuesday and end on Thursday and will see teams testing using their 2013 cars. All 11 teams were invited to the tyre test but only six agreed to participate. McLaren and Force India however later decided to withdraw. Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and Toro Rosso will be on track to put Pirelli’s 2014 tyres through their paces. The running plans however, will be dictated by Pirelli as they gather data for next season.

    World champions Red Bull, will be making use of test driver Sebastien Buemi while Toro Rosso will give Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat one and a half days of running each.

    Ferrari confirmed that they will be using their development driver Pedro De la Rosa for two days and that Marussia driver Jules Bianchi will take part in one day of the tyre test.

    Mercedes were last to confirm their driver line-up and will be using only Nico Rosberg for the tyre test.