F1 Madness

Tag: free practice 1

  • 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.

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  • F1 2014: Australia Free Practice 1: Alonso Quickest for Ferrari

    F1 2014: Australia Free Practice 1: Alonso Quickest for Ferrari

    The 2014 Formula 1 season officially got underway with the first free practice session from Australia.

    It was quite a sizeable crowd that gathered to finally see the 2014 challengers and, more importantly, hear what they sound like. Some may not be a fan of the new V6 Turbo engine but it wasn’t unpleasant at all. Fernando Alonso was the first driver on circuit and the distinctive whistle of the Turbo, as he lifted off for the corners, was quite pleasing.

    The season sputtered into life with several laps from McLaren’s Jenson Button and Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg. However, Lewis Hamilton’s session was completely scrapped as his Mercedes stopped out on circuit during his out-lap. The team later confirmed that a sensor problem caused the stoppage and that it was in no way engine/power unit related.

    Local favourite Daniel Ricciardo set the first flying lap of the session in the Red Bull while teammate Sebastian Vettel’s steed was stationary in the garage for quite some time. Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas looked comfortable in the Williams who did not experience any issues during the session.

    Ferrari’s returned world champion Kimi Raikkonen was struck by an ERS problem which kept him the box for some time. Nevertheless, it was the Finn’s former team who seemed to struggle the most. Lotus managed only one installation lap with new signing Pastor Maldonado while Romain Grosjean was confined to the garage for the entire session. Despite getting Maldonado out on track the Venezuelan returned to the pitlane with smoke billowing out of the cockpit and requiring the assistance of the marshals to get back to his box.

    A few lock-ups for several drivers ensured some nervy moments but none sustained any significant damage in their off track excursions. Sebastian Vettel’s eventual venture out onto the circuit resulted in the seventh quickest time overall but ended with the champion stranded at the end of the pitlane.

    Noticeably, radio messages between pitwall and driver were significantly clearer thanks to the much quieter power units. The first free practice session proved somewhat different than the catastrophe that was expected. Granted, some teams struggled throughout the session, especially Lotus, but the signs were quite encouraging.

    Fernando Alonso ended the session quickest overall and as the only driver to dip below the 1 minute 32 mark. The Ferrari driver set a fastest time of 1:31:840 with a total of twenty laps.

    Final Standings from Free Practice 1:

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  • F1 2013: Free Practice 1 Report – Indian GP

    The first free practice session for the Indian GP was headed by the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

    Proceedings took nearly forty minutes to get underway at a hazy Budhh International circuit. The first driver out on track and setting flyers was McLaren’s Sergio Perez. The rest of the front-running teams seemed reluctant to venture out on circuit.

    Nevertheless, several cars gradually made their way onto circuit and got on with the task of preparing for Sunday’s race. Lotus are believed to be trying some bit and pieces on the E21 this weekend as they bid for second place in the constructor’s championship. Britian’s James Calado took over the Force India from an “under the weather” Paul Di Resta. However, the Scot was seen in the paddock and pointed out that he had to give up some friday practice time to the young Brit at some stage during the remainder of the season.

    Lewis Hamilton reported his car as being “all over the place” throughout the session but Nico Rosberg showed encouraging pace for the Mercedes team. Lotus’ Romain Grosjean, still in doubt about his future with the Enstone team, featured near the top of the timing sheets while teammate Raikkonen went about his business quietly down the bottom end of the table.

    Fernando Alonso spent the first half hour of the session sat in the back of the garage. And when the Spaniard did venture out a suspected gearbox issue brought an end to his session. Felipe Massa has also confirmed that he is in talks with Williams for the 2014 season.

    Jenson Button is carrying Porsche SuperCup racer Sean Edward’s helmet emblem on the top of his lid for the weekend and Sebastian Vettel is sporting a carbon inspired design for the Indian grand prix. The Mercedes team is also running an Airtel sponsor for the weekend as Nico Rosberg invited some kids to the circuit earlier in the weekend to see a Formula 1 car and steering wheel up close. Apparently, the steering wheel shown to the kids was Lewis Hamilton’s and Rosberg later joked that should the Brit be missing some pace that a few adjustments may have been made on the wheel by the kids.

    All images – www.twitter.com

  • 2013 Formula 1 Singtel Singapore Grand Prix Free Practice 2 Report

    The preparations for Sunday’s Singapore grand prix kicked off today with three hours of free practice around the floodlit Marina Bay circuit.

    The first free practice session was topped by the 2009 winner of the Singapore GP, Lewis Hamilton. However, free practice two is where Sebastian Vettel stamped his, and Red Bull’s authority, quite ominously.

    The three-time reigning world champion dominated the timing sheets for the majority of the session. Vettel not only set a time six tenths of a second quicker than teammate Mark Webber but more stunningly a full second faster than the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. Vettel’s closest rival in the world championship fight, Fernando Alonso, managed the 6th quickest time.

    An initial flurry of activity had the entire field out on the red walled supersoft tyres simulating a qualifying run. The difference between the two compounds ranged from eight tenths of a second up to 1.4 seconds in the case of Mark Webber. Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen was the only driver who elected not to run a quali sim instead focusing on the set-up and long run pace of the E21.

    A few minor excursions included both Mark Webber and Felipe Massa kissing the wall towards the end of the lap. Both these driver’s escaped without damage to their cars but Pastor Maldonado wasn’t as lucky. The Williams driver spent the majority of the session sliding his car around perilously close to the barriers; unfortunately for the Venezuelan it was one slide too many as he lost his front wing after skidding into the barriers. In his defence, the Williams looked a right handful  from the moment it left the pitlane. Romain Grosjean reported to his team that he had “hit something” and that he had lost the brakes.

    As the session settled in so the driver’s got on with the task of evaluating their long run pace. The differing fuel loads in the various cars is privileged information but irrespective of this knowledge the Red Bull looked on rails around the Marina Bay circuit. More importantly, was Vettel’s ability to set metronomically consistent lap times.

    It’s early days yet in this race weekend but Red Bull again look the odds on favourite to feature prominently. Nevertheless, some of the best qualifying laps that has been seen this season has come from Lewis Hamilton. The Brit may yet find something overnight and should be a good bet for a front row starting position if not a stolen pole.

    FP2Sing