F1 Madness

Tag: free practice 1

  • Vettel Ahead for Ferrari in Bahrain GP Free Practice 1

    Vettel Ahead for Ferrari in Bahrain GP Free Practice 1

    Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time of Free Practice 1 for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

    While Vettel was the fastest of the session, his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was on the other end of the time sheets finishing slowest in the session after an overheating turbo ended his session. Vettel set a time of 1:32.697 which was 0.4s faster than Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo who set a 1:33.097.

    Max Verstappen was 3rd fastest of the session almost a second down on Vettel and ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez.

    Felipe Massa was 5th fastest but brake issues ended his session. Replays of the incident showed Massa locking up his rear wheels and spun off the track at Turn 13. Lance Stroll had a good session finishing 6th fastest behind his team mate but ahead of Esteban Ocon in the Force India.

    Fernando Alonso finished 8th fastest in the McLaren ahead of Romain Grosjean in P9 for Haas.

    Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top 10 in 10th fastest clearly running a very different program to the rest of the front runners.

    It was not a session without incident. After Raikkonen’s turbo overheating issue, McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne retired from the session with engine problems.

    The session was a relatively quiet session with not many drivers lighting up the timing wall. One needs to remember that the conditions for this session are not representative of Qualifying and the race so teams mainly use this session for data collection and wind tunnel correlation.

    The second free practice session should give us a better idea of the relative pace of the teams for the weekend as the conditions are more representative.

     

     

    Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula One

  • Hamilton On Top in Brazil GP Free Practice 1

    Hamilton On Top in Brazil GP Free Practice 1

    Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheets at the end of the first practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

    Hamilton set his best time of 1:11.895 on the soft tyre just marginally faster than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who set a best time of 1:11.991. Verstappen’s time came mid way through the session on the soft tyres and looks like an early signal that Red Bull will be taking the fight to Mercedes this weekend.

    Nico Rosberg was 3rd fastest at the end of the session setting a best time of 1:12.125 on the soft tyre, 0.230s off Hamilton’s pace. Not far off Rosberg’s pace was Daniel Ricciardo in the other Red Bull in 4th.

    Valtteri Bottas finished 5th fastest in the Williams ahead of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg in 6th and 7th respectively for Force India. Felipe Massa, at his final F1 race in his home country, was 8th fastest.

    Rounding out the top 10 were the two Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen more than 1.5s off the pace. Ferrari did not run the soft tyre in the session and stuck to the medium compound tyres. Both Ferrari drivers had just 0.002s between them at the end of the session. Vettel did not look comfortable in the car and made a few mistakes around the circuit. He spun it at Turn 11 just before the end of the session bringing an end to a very anonymous session by both Ferrari’s.

    Red Bull are showing some good early pace which should give Mercedes something to think about going into Qualifying tomorrow. The characteristics of the track suit the Red Bulls and Mercedes may find it tricky keeping the Red Bulls at bay.

    Pos. Driver Team Best Time Gap Laps
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:11.895s – 32
    2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:11.991 +0.096s 29
    3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:12.125 +0.230s 26
    4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:12.371 +0.476s 27
    5 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:13.129 +1.234s 36
    6 Sergio Perez Force India 1:13.289 +1.394s 31
    7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:13.293 +1.398s 33
    8 Felipe Massa Williams 1:13.318 +1.423s 33
    9 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:13.567 +1.672s 24
    10 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:13.569 +1.674s 26
    11 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:13.711 +1.816s 22
    12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:14.090 +2.195s 15
    13 Jenson Button McLaren 1:14.252 +2.357s 27
    14 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:14.296 +2.401s 26
    15 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:14.507 +2.612s 25
    16 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:14.631 +2.736s 21
    17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:14.654 +2.759s 23
    18 Esteban Ocon Manor 1:14.827 +2.932s 30
    19 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:14.908 +3.013s 32
    20 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:14.948 +3.053s 32
    21 Charles Leclerc Haas 1:15.391 +3.496s 27
    22 Sergey Sirotkin Renault 1:15.800 +3.905s 10
  • Verstappen On Top at Singapore Free Practice 1

    Verstappen On Top at Singapore Free Practice 1

    Max Verstappen put his Red Bull on top of the time sheets in the first Free Practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Circuit.

    Verstappen set a time of 1:45.823 on the super softs to take him to the top of the time sheets. His team mate Daniel Ricciardo was second fastest for the session setting a best time of 1:45.872 just 0.049s off the pace.

    Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel put his Ferrari 3rd fastest with a time of 1:46.287 just a little under half a second off Verstappen’s lap time. Vettel was pushing hard early on in the session. He brushed the wall coming out of Turn 20.

    Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg finished 4th and 5th fastest respectively. They each shared the fastest time of the session for brief periods until Verstappen and Ricciardo put in their lap times. Rosberg’s session ended prematurely as he made contact with the barrier at Turn 18. He sustained front wing damage and a puncture.

    6th Fastest of the session was Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari 1.067s off the pace. He was in the garage for most of the session and emerged quite late in the session for his shot at a timed lap.

    The Toro Rosso pair of Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat were 7th and 8th fastest respectively. Finishing 9th for Williams was Felipe Massa ahead of Esteban Gutierrez in 10th for the Haas F1 team.

    The conditions for FP1 are not representative of the conditions that we will see during qualifying and the race. Free Practice 2 should give us a better indication of where each team stands. Early indications are that Red Bull may have one over Mercedes.

    Free Practice 1 Classification

    Pos. Driver Car Time Gap Laps
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:45.823 – 25
    2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:45.872 +0.049 27
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:46.287 +0.464 22
    4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:46.426 +0.603 24
    5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:46.513 +0.690 22
    6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:46.890 +1.067 20
    7 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:46.936 +1.113 28
    8 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:47.683 +1.860 29
    9 Felipe Massa Williams 1:48.044 +2.221 27
    10 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:48.109 +2.286 23
    11 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:48.202 +2.379 21
    12 Sergio Perez Force India 1:48.214 +2.391 28
    13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:48.359 +2.536 28
    14 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:48.453 +2.630 26
    15 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:49.595 +3.772 16
    16 Jenson Button McLaren 1:49.615 +3.792 20
    17 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:49.794 +3.971 27
    18 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:50.263 +4.440 29
    19 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:51.112 +5.289 23
    20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:51.479 +5.656 16
    21 Esteban Ocon Manor 1:52.379 +6.556 33
    22 Romain Grosjean Haas – – 2

    Photo credit: Red Bull Racing Formula One Team

     

  • Hamilton Fastest at Hungarian GP Practice 1

    Hamilton Fastest at Hungarian GP Practice 1

    Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished the first free practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix on top of the time sheets.

    Hamilton’s time of 1:21.347 sent him to the top of the time sheets on the red marked super-soft tyre. Newly re-signed Mercedes team mate, Nico Rosberg was second fastest, 0.237s off the pace, with a 1:21.584.

    The session which started under overcast and damp conditions saw drivers head out on the intermediates initially. There was hardly any running for the first 30mins of the session. Once the track was dry drivers took to the track and the lap times started tumbling.

    Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were 3rd and 4th fastest respectively for Ferrari with Vettels best time of 1:22.991, 1.644s off Hamilton’s pace. The Red Bull pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were 5th and 6th fastest.

    Both McLaren’s finished in the top 10 with Fernando Alonso setting a 1:23.961 to place him 7th fastest ahead of his team mate Jenson Button in 8th.

    Haas F1’s Romain Grosjean was 9th fastest and Force India’s Sergio Perez marginally faster than his team mate to take 10th fastest.

    Mercedes once again showed why they are the team to beat laying down the gauntlet early on. Times will get much quicker once the track rubbers in and the dust is cleared.

    Red Bull have not showed their hand yet as they completed the session without running the super soft tyres. Both drivers’ times came courtesy of the yellow marked soft-compound tyre. There is not much between Red Bull on the softs and Ferrari on the super softs and it does look like Red Bull may have the upper hand over Ferrari.

    Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:21.347 – 34
    2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:21.584 +0.237 34
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:22.991 +1.644 22
    4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:23.082 +1.735 19
    5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:23.174 +1.827 28
    6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:23.457 +2.110 27
    7 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:23.935 +2.588 28
    8 Jenson Button McLaren 1:23.961 +2.614 18
    9 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:24.013 +2.666 22
    10 Sergio Perez Force India 1:24.073 +2.726 29
    11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:24.120 +2.773 29
    12 Felipe Massa Williams 1:24.154 +2.807 27
    13 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:24.370 +3.023 33
    14 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:24.579 +3.232 27
    15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:24.981 +3.634 19
    16 Charles Leclerc Haas 1:25.181 +3.834 22
    17 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:25.256 +3.909 18
    18 Esteban Ocon Renault 1:25.260 +3.913 28
    19 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:25.324 +3.977 16
    20 Rio Haryanto Manor 1:27.012 +5.665 23
    21 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:27.249 +5.902 9
    22 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:28.560 +7.213 6

     

    Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

  • Vettel Confident for Qualifying after “Scrappy” Thursday Practice

    Vettel Confident for Qualifying after “Scrappy” Thursday Practice

    It was not the smoothest practice Monaco Thursday Practice for Ferrari after both their drivers finished out of position on the second practice session of the day.

    After showing some pace in the first practice session which seen him finish 3rd fastest, Sebastian Vettel ended the second practice session in 9th.

    “It was not a “clean” day in the office today,” said Vettel.

    “Our session was a bit scrappy: I touched the wall, damaged the rear wing, but luckily we were able to fix it and carry on.

    Vettel said that he could not get everything out of the car because of his problems but he’s confident that Ferrari will be better placed on Saturday.

    “I just didn’t get everything out of the car, couldn’t find the rhythm and didn’t do good laps on the Ultrasoft tires,” he added

    “If you look at the standings, we don’t belong where we scored today. But overall the car is good and has the pace.

    “So I am not worried for Saturday.

    “Today our focus was not towards ranking high up, we tried a couple of things and it is fair to say that some of them didn’t work. Being the first practice day, it is also difficult to see what other people did.”

  • F1 2016: Australian GP Free Practice 1 – Hamilton Tops Wet/Dry Session

    F1 2016: Australian GP Free Practice 1 – Hamilton Tops Wet/Dry Session

    Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton topped the first free practice session for the 2016 Australian grand prix.

    The 2016 season got underway as Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel ventured out onto track with the full wet Pirelli tyres fitted to his car. Overnight rain and a consistent drizzle in the morning had ensured a wet start to the first practice session.

    The track seemed to dry quickly with a blustery wind but just as driver were getting into their stride on the yellow-walled soft tyres the rain appeared once more. So it continued throughout the session which was difficult to classify either wet or dry.

    Lewis Hamilton set the quickest time of the session with a 1:30:364. The Red Bull duo of Dannil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo were second and third as the chequered flag dropped to signal the end of the session. Rather embarrassingly, Ricciardo dropped the Red Bull into the gravel at the end of the session. Given the slippery conditions and the fact that Ricciardo was on slicks means we can give him the benefit of the doubt.

    Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen rounded out the top five. The 18 year old Verstappen had earlier spun his Ferrari-powered car but, luckily, didnt sustain any damage. Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button,  and Sergio Perez rounded out the top ten.

    The changeable weather conditions mean that the first free practice session of the season didnt represent anything as to how the rest of the weekend may pan out.

  • Hamilton tops FP1

    Hamilton tops FP1

    Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the first free practice session ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi grand prix.

    Hamilton’s fastest lap was roughly two tenths faster than that of his championship rival Nico Rosberg. The best of the rest was Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso who is running a special crash helmet design this weekend which is the Spaniard’s final outing with the Italian team.

    Several test and reserve drivers got their opportunities to run some laps around the Yas Marina circuit and it was also a very warm welcome back to the embattled Caterham team. Regular driver Kamui Kobayashi and debutant Will Stephens are taking up the reigns for the team this weekend.

    Sebastian Vettel led teammate Daniel Ricciardo as the two Red Bull drivers ended the session with the fourth and fifth fastest times respectively. There were quite a few gremlins in the system for several teams as both Williams, McLaren’s Jenson Button and Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne were felled by a variety of issues.

    Top Ten Standings at the end of Free Practice 1:

    1 Hamilton 1m43.476s
    2 Rosberg 1m43.609s
    3 Alonso 1m45.184s
    4 Vettel 1m45.334s
    5 Ricciardo 1m45.361s
    6 Vergne 1m45.718s
    7 Kvyat 1m45.835s
    8 Bottas 1m45.913s
    9 Perez 1m45.983s
    10 Hulkenberg 1m46.030s

     

  • F1 2014: German GP Free Practice 1 Report – Rosberg Tops

    F1 2014: German GP Free Practice 1 Report – Rosberg Tops

    The first free practice session for the German grand prix got underway under glorious blue skies.

    Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg topped the timing sheets ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.

    Williams development driver Susie Wolff completed her second outing for the British based team. However, the first lap out of the pits revealed an issue which required the Scottish driver to limp back to the pitlane in 1st gear. Thanfully, the engineers were able to sort out the issue and sent Wolff back out. Wolff completed a total of 22 laps and set a fastest time of 1:20:769, roughly two tenths slower than teammate Felipe Massa.

    The session progressed without incident although Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was forced back into the pitlane early on with a water pump problem. The Finn, fully recovered from his heavy Silverstone crash, clocked the 8th fastest time overall.

    Albeit the early stages of the weekend, the Red Bull pairing of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo were able to set a relatively similar long run pace to that of Mercedes. The second free practice session will reveal a clearer picture of the pecking order for Sunday’s German GP.

     

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  • Lewis Hamilton Heads Spanish FP 1

    Lewis Hamilton Heads Spanish FP 1

    Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time during free practice 1 for the 2014 Spanish grand prix.

    The Formula 1 world championship return this weekend with the fifth round of the season at Spain Circuit de Catalunya. The weekend is an important one for those looking to close the gap to Mercedes and several teams are rolling out significant upgrades throughout the weekend.  

    Sebastian Vettel has been given a new chassis this weekend however a “complete electrical shutdown” curtailed his running in the first 1 and a half hour session. Giedo van der Garde, who stepped into the Sauber’s cockpit in place of Mexican Esteban Gutierrez, experienced a breathless moment as he suffered a partial front-brake failure into turn 1. Somehow the Dutch driver was able to avoid the barriers and bring the C33 safely back to the pit garage.

    Lewis Hamilton set comparitively fewer laps than his competitors but was once again able to extract the quickest time from his car with relative ease. It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Mercedes as Nico Rosberg’s car was struck with a mite of unreliability. Suggestions were that the German driver’s car was being affected by a cooling issues however this was not confirmed.

    McLaren’s Jenson Button ended the session as the second quickest driver with a time of 1:27:891 and a total of twenty-six laps on the board. The Brit has remained cautious about the team’s performance so far looking rather for an improvement this weekend than an overnight miracle.

    Daniel Ricciardo ran a uninteruppted session which resulted in the third fastest time overall. Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen were fourth and sixth on the time sheets for Ferrari.

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  • F1 2014: Bahrain Free Practice 1 Results – Hamilton On Top

    F1 2014: Bahrain Free Practice 1 Results – Hamilton On Top

    Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two at the first free practice session for the 2014 Bahrain grand prix.

    The Bahrain GP celebrates its tenth appearance on the Formula 1 calendar this weekend and will host its first ever night race. The first one and a half hour practice session remained fairly uneventful throughout. There was encouraging signs from the Lotus F1 Team who managed to rack up a substantial number of laps without any issues. However, it was the Mercedes team that once again dominated the timing sheets ahead of Sunday’s third round of the 2014 F1 season.  

    Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari held the fastest time for a short period of time before being pushed down to third overall. Several teams ended there practice sessions before the chequered flag came out. The suggestion was that the most valuable information would be gained in the second practice session; as the condition will be more akin to what qualifying and race conditions are likely to be.

    A peculiar lapse of concentration by the Ferrari team saw Fernando Alonso leave the pitlane with three medium and one soft compound tyre on his car. The Spaniard stopped his car in the pitlane and was wheeled back into the garage by his mechanics. Some familiar faces graced the paddock during FP1 from Jean Alesi to Rod Smedley who has joined the Williams team from Ferrari.

    Several reserve drivers also got some track time in Bahrain. Amongst them were Felipe Nasr for Williams, Robin Frijns for Caterham and Giedo van der Garde for Sauber.

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