F1 Madness

Tag: fp3

  • Vettel Fastest in Final Chinese GP Practice

    Vettel Fastest in Final Chinese GP Practice

    After a closely contested Free Practice 2, Sebastian Vettel pulled clear of the pack and set the fastest time in FP3 for the Chinese Grand Prix.

    Vettel’s quickest time of 1:33.018 put him 0.451s clear of team mate Kimi Raikkonen who was second fastest with a 1:33.469. Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes was 3rd fastest 0.743s off the pace.

    Verstappen’s best time was a 1:33.969 nearly a second down on Vettel while Hamilton finished 5th fastest just over a second off the pace.

    Magnussen was best of the rest for the session in 6th for Haas ahead of Sergio Perez in the Force India. Esteban Ocon was 8th fastest.

    Carlos Sainz continues quietly with his good pace over the weekend by getting his car again into the top 10, this time 9th fasetest while Sergei Sirotkin in the Williams rounded out the top 10.

    Conditions this morning in Shanghai were quite cold but drivers were keen to get out and start setting times. After the rains last night the rubber on the track was washed away and the drivers were presented with a clean track this morning. The low track temperatures certainly affected some of the drivers’ runs on the harder compound tyres.

    Hamilton was struggling for grip on the soft tyres. He had a few wide moments at Turn 10 and a few lock-ups. It was capped by a spin at the exit of Turn 10. It was not just Hamilton, Bottas was struggling for pace as well and the Mercedes cars did not look comfortable in the cold conditions.

    If a speed differential was giving Red Bull headaches, Ricciardo’s engine problem compounded things further. The Australian’s car had thick white smoke billowing out of the back. The Red Bull mechanics were lucky enough to get the car back and could start with the engine change before qualifying.

    Ferrari look like they have the pace advantage over one lap if the times in FP3 are anything to go by, but Mercedes will come back and mount a challenge to the scarlet cars.

  • Vettel Tops Wet and Dry Free Practice 3

    Vettel Tops Wet and Dry Free Practice 3

    A wet start with a rapidly drying track with 15mins left in session has left a few more unknowns after the 3rd free practice session for the 2018 Australian Grand Prix.

    It meant that the Ferrari’s who switched to the ultra soft tyres before the end of the session topped the time sheet with Sebastian Vettel setting a session best time of 1:26.067 and team mate Kimi Raikkonnen a further 2.432s off Vettel’s time with a 1:28.499. Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber was the only other driver to post a lap on dry weather tyres, finished third fastest with a time of 1:28.890.

    The session started wet with a few initial installation laps on the full wets. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso went straight out on the intermediates.

    The Mercedes pair were out on intermediates and traded fastest laps as usual. Force India on the other hand saw no value in taking part in the session and both their drivers were confined to the garage.

    There was some trouble for Lance Stroll but the team did a great job to get him out after a gearbox issue saw him sit out part of the session.

    Vettel’s lap will give Mercedes something to think about even though it was no where near the times set yesterday in the dry. Red Bull who were hoping for rain didn’t quite show their hand in the wet. Qualifying is expected to be dry where Mercedes is expected to be clear ahead. It’s a question of who is going to line up behind them.

     

  • Bottas Fastest in Final Free Practice Session at Japanese GP

    Bottas Fastest in Final Free Practice Session at Japanese GP

    Valtteri Bottas set the fastest time for the final free practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix but crashed out with just over half an out to go in the session.

    Bottas set a 1:29.055 on the super softs in the Mercedes, 0.014s faster than team mate Lewis Hamilton. On, what looked like his second go at a timed lap, the Finn ran wide at T14 (Spoon) and dipped a wheel on the wet astro turf. This dragged him further off the track and on to the grass on the run down to 130R. He then tagged the barrier with the rear right, which pivoted the car around which caused the front right to make contact with the barrier. He was able to make it back to the pits.

    The session was red flagged as the marshals cleaned the track and inspected the barriers.

    Just when the session restarted, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was the next one to experience the ruthlessness of the Suzuka circuit. Raikkonen, on a flying lap, carried too much speed into Degner 2, which swung the rear of the car around under braking. He managed to catch the slide but in doing so went across the gravel and clouted the barrier damaging the rear left wishbone. This brought out the second red flag of the session.

    There’s is no word on any gearbox change on Raikkonen’s car due to the contact with the barrier.

    Sebastian Vettel set a time late in the session to go P3. After another go at a fast lap Vettel improved to a 1:29.379 which is still 0.324s off the benchmark set by Bottas.

    The two Red Bull’s who were running different setups were 4th and 5th with Verstappen ahead of Ricciardo by 0.108s. According to Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner, the Red Bulls are the fastest cars through the corners but were losing about half a second of time down the straights.

    Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez made the top 10 for Force India with Ocon finishing 6th fastest and Perez 10th.

    Nico Hulkenberg got the Renault once again into the top 10 finishing 7th fastest ahead of an 8th placed Fernando Alonso in the McLaren.

    The red flags did break the momentum of the session somewhat. One feels that the times could have been faster this session.

    Mercedes look comfortable up front with their package and Hamilton looks set to take pole position with Sebastian Vettel joining him on the front row.

    The cloudy conditions are set to persist throughout the afternoon so we could see a dry qualifying session.

  • Hamilton Keeps Mercedes Ahead in 3rd Free Practice for British Grand Prix

    Hamilton Keeps Mercedes Ahead in 3rd Free Practice for British Grand Prix

    Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time for the 3rd Free Practice session for the British Grand Prix with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel just 0.032s slower.

    The session got underway under cloudy and windy conditions with and 80% chance of rain forecast for the session. Drivers were out setting times quite early in the session before the rain. The rain did eventually start falling with about 17mins left in the session.

    Hamilton’s time of 1:28.063 on the super softs gave him the top spot. Behind him Valtteri Bottas crossed the line just 0.074s slower than Hamilton in 1:28.137. Vettel was on a very quick lap behind the Mercedes pair and set the fastest 1st and 2nd sectors to go on and split the Mercedes drivers finishing just 0.032s off Hamilton’s benchmark. Vettel’s best time of 1:28.095, split the Mercedes and gave him the 2nd fastest spot of the session.

    Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished 4th fastest more than half a second off the pace ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg in 5th.

    Red Bull were slightly caught out by the rain later in the session with Max Verstappen but Daniel Ricciardo was able to set a time on the super softs to place him 6th fastest. Verstappen caught the rain on his flying lap on the super softs and went off at Turn 6 bringing out the yellow flags. His time of 1:29.904 was set on the soft tyres and earned him 8th place.

    Splitting the Red Bulls was Haas’ Romain Grosjean in 7th.

    Rounding out the top 10 was Felipe Massa in the Williams and Stoffel Vandoorne in the McLaren. Vandoorne this time just edging out Alonso for the top 10 spot.

    The rain that started falling in the last 17mins of FP3 is forecast to stop well before qualifying. We are expecting a dry track for qualifying but we just may see things mixed up with the rain.

  • Rosberg keeps the top spot for third Spanish GP practice session

    Rosberg keeps the top spot for third Spanish GP practice session

    Depsite a sensor switching his car into protective limp mode during the third and final Spanish GP practice session, Nico Rosberg maintained his strong form topping the time sheets for the session.

    Sebastian Vettel went third fastest for Ferrari setting the fastest overall times through the first and second sectors. His time was 0.147s off Rosberg’s.

    Max Verstappen who has taken over Danill Kvyat’s seat at Red Bull finished fourth fastest a tenth of a second ahead of his team mate Daniel Ricciardo.

    Kimi Raikkonen encountered quite a bit of traffic and went sixth fastest ahead of Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, Daniil Kvyat and Fernando Alonso, rounding out the top 10.

    It was not the most eventful of practice sessions – Nico Hulkenberg took up the 11th Spanish GP FP3 spot ahead of Felipe Massa, Carlos Sainz Jr, Romain Grosjean and Jenson Button.

    Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer finished 16th and 18th for Renault respectively with the Manor of Esteban Gutierrez splitting the two.

    Felipe Nasr only just beat Marcus Ericsson over half a second ahead of Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto.

    Join us on Twitter @F1_Madness for live chat and commentary during the Spanish GP qualifying.

    Spanish GP FP3 Classification

  • Vettel takes the lead in wet final practice session

    Vettel takes the lead in wet final practice session

    Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time for Ferrari in a wet final practice session ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.

    There was no running in the opening 15 minutes of the final practice as persistent heavy rain made for very wet conditions just before the session started.

    Most drivers completed only a couple of laps with drivers saving tyres in anticipation of a wet qualifying session later today.

    Vettel’s time of 1:57.351 was set on Pirelli’s intermediate rubber, despite making a mistake and drifting wide under braking at Turn 6.

    Williams’ Valtteri Bottas finished the final practice session in the second spot, 0.7s behind Vettel, with Sergio Perez third for Force India.

    Carlos Sainz Jr. finished fourth ahead of Esteban Gutierrez, and the Renault duo of Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen. Palmer suffered a right rear puncture in his early laps on the wet tyres.

    Pascal Wehrlein, Max Verstappen and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10. Only 14 drivers set times and the two Mercedes drivers completed only their installation laps.

    Join us for the Chinese Grand Prix qualifying at 9am GMT+2. We’ll be bringing you live commentary and chit chatting on Twitter @F1_Madness throughout.

    Final Practice Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari

     

  • Vettel Fastest in Third Bahrain GP Practice

    Vettel Fastest in Third Bahrain GP Practice

    Sebastian Vettel finished fastest of a Ferrari 1-2 in the third practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

    Vettel went 0.040s faster than his team mate Kimi Raikkonen to set a 1:31.683 on the super soft tyres. Raikkonen, who was the fastest for a while after going faster than Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton on the soft tyres, set 1:31.723 on his best lap for the afternoon on the super soft tyres. Although the conditions were not representative of the qualifying session which will take place a little later, it does seem that Ferrari have found some pace after a very scrappy day yesterday.

    The two Mercedes drivers finished 4th and 5th with Rosberg ahead of Hamilton by o.044s. The Williams of Valtteri Bottas finished 5th fastest with Haas’ Romain Grosjean in a very respectable 6th with a 1:32.675 which is 1.399s off Vettel’s time.

    Daniil Kvyat finished 7th fastest for Red Bull ahead of Esteban Gutierrez in the other Haas car in 8th. Rounding out the top 10 were Felipe Massa in 9th and Daniel Ricciardo in 10th.

    After showing some strong pace yesterday during Free Practice 2 and finishing 3rd fastest, Jenson Button could only manage 13th fastest behind the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson in 11th and the Renault of Kevin Magnussen in 12th.

    After suffering with an oil leak at the start of the session Stoffel Vandoorne was able to get out for the final 30mins of the session and finished 0.040s off the pace of Button after posting a very good 1:33.744 on the super softs. It looks like the McLaren favors the cooler evening conditions and we may see them finish higher up in qualifying.

    The Toro Rosso’s of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz finished down in 15th and 16th respetively. In 17th was Felipe Nasr in the Sauber.

    Force India ended their session in 18th and 19th with Nico Hulkenberg head of team-mate Sergio Perez. Jolyon Palmer finished his session down in 20th and picked up a puncture after the chequered flag dropped for the end of the session.

    The two Manor’s of Rio Haryanto and Pascal Wehrlein closed off the order in 21st and 22nd.

    Pos Driver Team Best Time Gap Laps
    1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:31.683 – 22
    2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:31.723 0.040 13
    3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:32.104 0.421 18
    4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:32.160 0.477 14
    5 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:32.675 0.992 18
    6 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:33.082 1.399 14
    7 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:33.113 1.430 10
    8 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:33.337 1.654 14
    9 Felipe Massa Williams 1:33.363 1.680 18
    10 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:33.519 1.836 20
    11 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:33.569 1.886 16
    12 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:33.617 1.934 9
    13 Jenson Button McLaren 1:33.704 2.021 12
    14 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:33.744 2.061 11
    15 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:33.778 2.095 20
    16 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:34.003 2.320 20
    17 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:34.013 2.330 15
    18 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:34.128 2.445 16
    19 Sergio Perez Force India 1:34.281 2.598 15
    20 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:34.424 2.741 9
    21 Rio Haryanto Manor 1:35.546 3.863 15
    22 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:35.724 4.041 16
  • Sainz Released From Hospital, Team Shed Some Light on Crash

    Sainz Released From Hospital, Team Shed Some Light on Crash

    After a horror crash in Free Practice 3, Toro Rosso Driver Carlos Sainz has been released from hospital while his team shed some light on what may have went wrong in the build up to the crash.

    Although Sainz is out of the hospital, he will still need to undergo a check by the FIA medical delegate to consider him fit to race on Sunday.

    He says that he’s ready to race, but it all depends on how he feels on Sunday morning.

    “I’m OK, I’m fine,” said Sainz in a video message posted on Twitter posted by his team.

    “Just a bit sore from the accident on my back and on my neck,” the Spaniard continued.

    “But I’m totally ready to see what ever happens. Hopefully, tomorrow, I can wake up in good shape and maybe try to race.

    “This is the intention, but we need to be cautious obviously.”

    Meanwhile, back at the track, Toro Rosso have been investigating the cause of the accident.

    Team Principal Franz Tost thinks that it may have been a combination of the prime tyre with a change in brake balance.

    “Prior to the accident, Carlos had completed a long-run on the option tyre, before changing to the prime to do two further laps,” he said.

    “On primes the grip level is lower. In addition he had changed the brake shape on the steering wheel, which meant he had more braking rearwards.

    “A combination of these two factors might have been the cause of the rears locking, which made the car uncontrollable.”

    Replays of the crash seem to confirm what Tost is saying as the Sainz brakes, the rear of the car steps out and as he corrects the slide, he hits the nearside barrier which sent him straight into the tech-pro barriers at the end of the run off area.

    The final findings of the crash will be revealed by the team at a later stage.

     

    Photo credit: Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula 1 

  • Hamilton Fastest in Final Practice for Belgian Grand Prix

    Hamilton Fastest in Final Practice for Belgian Grand Prix

    Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton ended the 3rd free practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix on top of the time sheets ahead of his team-mate Nico Rosberg.

    Hamilton set the fastest time of 1:48.984 on his option tyre run which was 0.498s quicker than Rosberg who managed a 1:49.482. Hamilton gained almost 2 tenths in the middle sector on his fastest run over Rosberg.

    Finishing in P3 was Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel with a time of 1:49.629, just 0.147s off Rosberg’s time. Kimi Raikkonen was finished P4 with a 1:49.864.

    After a good run on the options Force India’s Sergio Perez finished P5. With a long run on the options after setting his fastest time, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo ended his session in P6 with a 1:49.980 with his team mate Daniil Kvyat in P7.

    Nico Hulkenberg who suffered with under-steer issues throughout the session managed to finish 8th fastest. Both Williams of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa finished 9th and 10th respectively. Despite the lackluster showing, Head of Performance Rob Smedley says that he expects to qualify higher up on the grid.

    Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz ended his session 11th fastest with team mate Max Verstappen in P13. Verstappen battled with grip for most of the session and struggled to find grip.

    Lotus had a relatively muted session with Pastor Maldonado ending his session in P12 with team-mate Romain Grosjean finishing in 16th. Grosjean had a little moment with Raikkonen after the Chequered flag dropped when he was on a final timed lap and Raikkonen was coasting back to the pits. Grosjean nearly ran into the back of Raikkonen. He was furious with the incident. “Raikkonen is dangerous, it’s very dangerous what he did to me,” he said over the team radio.

    Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson finished in P14 and P15 for Sauber.

    It was not a good morning for McLaren and Fernando Alonso. Although Jenson Button managed to complete a number of laps on the new engine, Alonso was stuck in the garage and could not complete a timed lap. After an installation lap it temperatures on Alonso’s car started to increase, the mechanics got to work on the car and it was found that an exhaust gas leak was the cause for the rising temperatures. The McLaren mechanics worked on Alonso’s car throughout the session and they are hoping to get the car ready for qualifying.

    With a combined 105-place grid penalty for both McLaren drivers, it does not seem as though qualifying will be priority for the team. The focus will turn to the race now.

    Will Stevens and Rosbero Merhi finished their session in P18 and P19 for Manor.

    Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:48.984s – 15
    2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:49.482s +0.498s 19
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:49.629s +0.645s 17
    4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:49.864s +0.880s 19
    5 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1:49.866s +0.882s 15
    6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1:49.930s +0.946s 20
    7 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull/Renault 1:49.980s +0.996s 19
    8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes 1:50.000s +1.016s 15
    9 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes 1:50.179s +1.195s 15
    10 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1:50.447s +1.463s 15
    11 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso/Renault 1:50.552s +1.568s 20
    12 Pastor Maldonado Lotus/Mercedes 1:50.585s +1.601s 17
    13 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso/Renault 1:50.599s +1.615s 21
    14 Felipe Nasr Sauber/Ferrari 1:50.690s +1.706s 17
    15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1:51.054s +2.070s 20
    16 Romain Grosjean Lotus/Mercedes 1:51.187s +2.203s 18
    17 Jenson Button McLaren/Honda 1:51.981s +2.997s 12
    18 Will Stevens Marussia/Ferrari 1:54.262s +5.278s 16
    19 Roberto Merhi Marussia/Ferrari 1:54.281s +5.297s 9
    – Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda No Time – 1

     

    Photo credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team

  • Hamilton pips Rosberg in 2nd US GP practice

    Hamilton pips Rosberg in 2nd US GP practice

    Lewis Hamilton only just edged out Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg by 0.003s to take the top spot on the timesheet of the second practice session for this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.

    Rosberg was ahead of Hamilton after the low-fuel runs on options but Hamilton responded on his second flying lap and posted a 1:39.085.

    Hamilton’s session was ended 15 minutes before the end of practice session with the Mercedes mechanics hard at work on fixing a suspected hydraulic leak. Both of the Mercedes drivers were complaining early on about gearbox issues when they started their race simulations.

    Fernando Alonso finished the session third fastest for Ferrari, a full second off Hamilton’s pace. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo recovered after missing most of FP1 to end the day in fourth place.

    Felipe Massa was fifth fastest on the timesheets ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Daniil Kvyat.

    Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button both looked pretty strong on the prime tyres but were a good deal weaker on the options and finished the session in eighth and ninth place respectively.

    Force India’s Nico Hülkenberg rounded out the top 10.

    Your full time sheet is below. Please join us on Twitter @F1_Madness tomorrow for FP3 and qualifying for the US Grand Prix.

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