F1 Madness

Tag: free practice 2

  • 2017 Azerbaijan GP Free Practice 2: Verstappen Out Ahead then Crashes Out

    2017 Azerbaijan GP Free Practice 2: Verstappen Out Ahead then Crashes Out

    Max Verstappen finished the second free practice session of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on top of the time sheets this afternoon but ended his session by crashing out with just 30-second left in the session.

    The session was one of the most bizarre sessions yet. Nearly all the drivers ran wide off the track at least once with Jolyon Palmer falling victim to the barriers at Turn 8. The Brit took too much out of the entry kerb at Turn 8, which sent the car crashing into the outside barrier. Palmer’s crash brought out the red flags for a brief period.

    The locking up and low grip could be put down to the high tyre pressures mandated by Pirelli but overall, the low grip conditions made it tough for the drivers to get in a clean qualifying simulation lap.

    While Verstappen did set the fastest lap, at one stage it looked as if Ferrari was on course to take that honor. But Verstappen made sure he claimed the fastest time by setting a 1:43.362. The Red Bulls were split by the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas who’s time of 1:43.462 was just 0.100s off Versatppen’s time. Ricciardo’s 3rd fastest time of 1:43.473 was 0.111s off the pace.

    It was business as usual at McLaren-Honda when Fernando Alonso’s newly fitted (and upgraded) Honda engine expired with smoke pouring out of the back of the MCL32.

    At the end of the session with just 30-seconds left in the session Verstappen locked up into Turn 1. The rear of the car stepped out, he tried to catch the slide, but ran out of road and smacked the barrier damaging the front left and front right suspension with the rear taking most of the damage. Despite Verstappen’s crash Red Bull ended the day on top of the time sheets and are looking good going into Saturday qualifying.

     

  • Ferrari Ahead in Russia Free Practice 2

    Ferrari Ahead in Russia Free Practice 2

    Ferrari hold the advantage after the Friday practice sessions for the Russian Grand Prix.

    Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time of the second free practice session on Friday afternoon in Sochi with a best time of 1:34.120 on the ultra soft tyres. Second fastest of the afternoon was Kimi Raikkonen 0.263s off Vettel’s time with a 1:34.383.

    The Ferrari’s looked comfortable around the Sochi Autodrom on one lap pace as well as their long runs. The team enjoyed trouble free running and look good on long run pace as well.

    Third fastest was Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton in 4th. Both Mercedes looked rather scrappy on track attempting their flying laps. Hamilton had abandoned three of his flying laps on the ultra soft tyres after running wide and out braking himself a number of times. Both drivers eventually got their times in but it was well off the pace we are used to seeing on the Mercedes. If they are, this is a rather exaggerated show of sandbagging. We expect the silver arrows to blast ahead come qualifying.

    Finishing 5th and 6th for Red Bull was Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. Verstappen was forced to abandon his session after a fuel pressure issue. Red Bull don’t seem to be attacking this weekend and seem content where they are at the moment until their major upgrade comes in Spain.

    Felipe Massa ended his session 7th fastest just over 2s off Vettel’s time.

    Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg finished 8th fastest ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magussen in 9th.

    Rounding out the top 10 was Sergio Perez in the Force India.

    Ferrari looked strong on their long runs but Mercedes were very close. The tyres seemed to be holding on throughout the session and degradation seems very low making a 1-stop race probable.

    After the session Toto Wolff was saying that Mercedes were not running any weird tyre program that may have been the cause of their slow pace. Many think that they are still sandbagging and expect them to be ahead come qualifying.

     

  • Hamilton Leads Rosberg in Brazil Free Practice 2

    Hamilton Leads Rosberg in Brazil Free Practice 2

    Mercedes stamped their authority on the weekend after Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap of the session with team-mate, Nico Rosberg just 0.030s off the pace in 2nd.

    Hamilton’s best time of 1:12.271 came courtesy of the soft tyres on a qualifying simulation. Rosberg’s time which was just 0.030s off Hamilton’s was done on his second run at a timed lap on the soft, option tyre.

    Williams sprang somewhat of a surprise in FP2 to finish 3rd and 4th. Valtteri Bottas had a best lap 1:12.761 to place him 3rd ahead of Felipe Massa who set a 1:12.789. Williams tend to turn their engines down during practice and turn them back up for FP3 and Qualifying. This turn of pace from Williams is quite refreshing and it sets the weekend up for a very good battle at the top of the field and towards the mid field. The pace will be encouraging as Williams seek to overhaul Force India in the constructors standings for 4th place.

    Daniel Ricciardo finished 5th fastest ahead of Max Versatppen who was 6th fastest. Both Red Bulls were clear of the Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen who could only manage 7th and 8th respectively with Raikkonen just a little over half a second off the pace.

    Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg was 9th fastest just a little over a second off the pace.

    McLaren’s Jenson Button rounded out the top 10 with a best session time of 1:13.299.

    cameraman-alonso_brazil-2016The highlight of the session came courtesy of Fernando Alonso who ended his session prematurely due to an ERS issue. Alonso was told to pull off the track and jump out of his car. He chose the outside of T3 to park his car. Alonso spent the rest of the session track side watching the cars lap the track and relaxing. Images of 2015 of Alonso resting on a camp chair enjoying the sun came to mind.

    Alonso, not satisfied just watching the cars found a FOM remote camera panel and decided to try his hand at being a camera operator. This pleased everyone on track and Twitter came alive with the images of Alonso making a right hash of being a cameraman.

    FP2 confirmed that Mercedes once again have a firm grip over the weekends proceedings. Hamilton does seem to have the early upper hand over Rosberg who needs a win to secure his first world title.

    With the turn of pace from Williams it will be a close fight for the second row of the podium between Red Bull, Williams and Ferrari.

    The long run pace up front has Mercedes ahead of the rest. Red Bull seem to be best of the rest with Williams and Ferrari very similar on pace.

     

    Photo credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

  • Japanese GP: Rosberg Ahead in Free Practice 2

    Japanese GP: Rosberg Ahead in Free Practice 2

    Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was fastest by just 0.072 in the 2nd free practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

    Rosberg set a best time of 1:32.250 on his first run on the soft tyre for the qualifying simulation. Lewis Hamilton was just a whisker off with a 1:32.322 after dropping some time in the middle sector on his flying lap.

    Rosberg had a bit of a scare at the start of the session when venturing out on track. While he was preparing for a practice start at the end of the pit lane smoke could be seen pouring out the back of his car. But as we’ve seen with Mercedes this is a usual event. What made this a bit worrying was that it was quite a bit of smoke.

    Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was 3rd fastest 0.323s off the pace with a 1:32.573. Sebastian Vettel who was one of the first drivers to venture out on the soft tyres set a time of 1:33.103 to place him 5th fastest. While it looked like a quick lap the sector timed showed that Vettel lost time in the final sector.

    Max Verstappen was 4th fastest for Red Bull ahead of Vettel and the Force India pair of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg in in 6th and 7th respectively.

    Fernando Alonso showed some good pace finishing 8th fastest with a best time of 1:33.895 ahead of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas in 9th and Carlos Sainz

    There were a few spins and offs during the session. Kevin Magnussen had a little lock up early in the session into the hair pin sending his Renault into the gravel and just narrowly missing the barrier. He was able to get the car rotated and pointing towards the track and managed to escape the barriers.

    Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat had a moment out of the final corner loosing the rear of car and pirouetted down the pit straight. He was able to avoid the barriers and completed the session without any further issues.

    Esteban Gutierrez’s session was shortened after stopping his Haas just before the Degners. Romain Grosjean was quite unimpressed with his car with brake issues throughout the session. After being told to keep the radio chatter to a minimum regarding the shortfalls of the car Grosjean had to make his frustration heard once again. “I’ve got some news. The brakes are still shit,” he said on one of his runs.

    Mercedes seem to have the upper hand in the long runs and it seems that they may have a some pace stored away in case of an emergency. Red Bull are not that far off the pace with Ferrari trailing.

    Times for Free Practice 2

    Pos. Driver Team Best Time Gap Laps
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:32.250 – 35
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:32.322 +0.072 35
    3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:32.573 +0.323 26
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:33.061 +0.811 29
    5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:33.103 +0.853 34
    6 Sergio Perez Force India 1:33.570 +1.320 37
    7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:33.873 +1.623 35
    8 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:33.985 +1.735 37
    9 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:34.028 +1.778 33
    10 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:34.086 +1.836 33
    11 Felipe Massa Williams 1:34.127 +1.877 33
    12 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:34.150 +1.900 29
    13 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:34.241 +1.991 33
    14 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:34.305 +2.055 27
    15 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:34.339 +2.089 36
    16 Jenson Button McLaren 1:34.398 +2.148 29
    17 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:34.643 +2.393 11
    18 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:34.760 +2.510 40
    19 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:34.824 +2.574 26
    20 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:35.292 +3.042 30
    21 Esteban Ocon Manor 1:35.400 +3.150 37
    22 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:36.318 +4.068 26

     

    Photo Credit Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team

  • Rosberg Fastest, Hamilton Crashes – Hungarian GP FP2 Report

    Rosberg Fastest, Hamilton Crashes – Hungarian GP FP2 Report

    Nico Rosberg claimed the fastest time of the second free practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix after Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton crashed out earlier in the session.

    Rosberg’s best time of 1:20.435 came courtesy of the super soft compound tyres. Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull was the closes to Rosberg with a 1:21.030, 0.595s off Rosberg’s time. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel left his fastest time of the to a little later in the session where he set his best lap of 1:21.348 which is 0.913s off the fastest time.

    Before Rosberg had set the fastest time his team mate was the fastest around the circuit and on a flying lap Hamilton dipped his outside wheel onto the kerb under braking for Turn 11. The rear of his Mercedes came around and sent the Briton sideways over the run-off area and into the tyre barriers. Hamilton’s car made contact with the barriers square on and sideways and recorded an impact force of 10g. The session was subsequently red flagged while the marshals made repairs to the barrier. Hamilton was able to make his way slowly back to the pits.

    Max Verstappen finished his FP2 4th fastest with a 1:21.770. Hamilton’s time of 1:21.960 before his crash was good enough to get him 5th fastest for the session.

    Hungary 2016_Hamilton FP2 CrashKimi Raikkonen was 6th fastest more than 1.5s off the pace. The two McLaren’s once again finished side-by-side in 7th and 8th with Fernando Alonso leading Jenson Button.

    After narrowly missing out on a top 10 finish in FP1, Nico Hulkenberg finsihed 9th fastest in FP2 ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.

    Both Williams cars seems to be struggling for grip around the Hungaroring. Bottas is under investigation for failing to keep right of the pit entry bollard.

    In addition to Hamilton retiring from the session, Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz and Sauber’s Felipe Nasr also retired from the session with mechanical problems.

    Mercedes looked very strong in their long runs. Red Bull and Ferrari are close, but are some way off Mercedes.

    Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:20.435 – 45
    2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:21.030 +0.595 36
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:21.348 +0.913 31
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:21.770 +1.335 35
    5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:21.960 +1.525 4
    6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:22.058 +1.623 46
    7 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:22.328 +1.893 21
    8 Jenson Button McLaren 1:22.387 +1.952 34
    9 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:22.449 +2.014 41
    10 Sergio Perez Force India 1:22.653 +2.218 38
    11 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:22.673 +2.238 38
    12 Felipe Massa Williams 1:22.681 +2.246 39
    13 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:22.689 +2.254 24
    14 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:22.773 +2.338 38
    15 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:22.864 +2.429 28
    16 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:22.948 +2.513 43
    17 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:23.347 +2.912 41
    18 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:23.437 +3.002 36
    19 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:23.528 +3.093 12
    20 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:23.986 +3.551 31
    21 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:23.992 +3.557 22
    22 Rio Haryanto Manor 1:24.265 +3.830 36

     

    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.”

  • Hamilton Quickest Then Crashes in Rain Hit Second Practice in Canada

    Hamilton Quickest Then Crashes in Rain Hit Second Practice in Canada

    Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished on top of the time sheets in Free Practice 2 on Friday for the Canadian Grand Prix before crashing into the T10 hairpin tyre wall.

    The session was truncated after rain started to fall with just a little under an hour into the session. With the threat of rain over the circuit, drivers headed out immediately when the session began. Both Ferrari drivers headed out immediately on the super soft(option) tyres and set the early pace in the session. After starting on the soft tyres(prime) the Mercedes pair then bolted on a set of the options where Lewis Hamilton set a time of 1:15.988 to go fastest. After setting the early pace in the session Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel ended his session in P2 0.316s off Hamilton’s pace with a 1:16.304. Kimi Raikkonen finished the session in P3 with Nico Rosberg in P4, half a second off the pace.

    Long runs followed right after the timed laps where the pace between Mercedes and Ferrari looked very close. The new upgrades to the Ferrari engine seems to have brought them slightly closer to Mercedes.

    With just a little under an hour in the session the rain started falling at the track. The drivers headed immediately into the pits and it seemed like that was the end of the action for the day. After a short break, Mercedes were the first to pull the trigger and sent their drivers out on intermediate tyres just as the rain started to fall a bit heavier. Hamilton was the first one out and at the Turn 10 hairpin aquaplaned and went straight on into the tyre barrier. The session was red flagged to recover Hamilton’s car.

    The track remained quiet until the end of the session as none of the driver were prepared to risk it out on the wet track.

    Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado ended his session 5th fastest with Williams’ Valtteri Bottas in 6th. Romain Grosjean in the other Lotus was 7th fastest with a 1::16.864. Felipe Massa finished in 8th just a little over a second off the pace.

    Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat had an early end to his session after suffering brake problems. His best time of 1:17.092 earned him 9th fastest for the session with team mate Daniel Ricciardo in 10th.

    After heading out on the options early on in the session, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg ended up in P11 ahead of Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson in P12.

    Carlos Sainz ended his session in 13th for Toro Rosso but not before complaining about lack of grip from his tyres during the session. Sergio Perez managed P14 with McLaren’s Fernando Alonso finishing 15th fastest.

    Max Verstappen in the other Toro Rosso ended his session 1.669s off the pace in 16th with a best time of 1:17.657. Felipe Nasr was 17th fastest ahead of Jenson Button in 18th.

    The two Manor cars of Merhi and Stevens finished 19th and 20th respectively.

    Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:15.988 – 22
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:16.304 0.316s 19
    3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:16.310 0.322s 20
    4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:16.440 0.452s 22
    5 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:16.600 0.612s 15
    6 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:16.849 0.861s 18
    7 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:16.864 0.876s 15
    8 Felipe Massa Williams 1:17.041 1.053s 19
    9 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:17.092 1.104s 10
    10 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:17.111 1.123s 16
    11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:17.120 1.132s 15
    12 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:17.261 1.273s 17
    13 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1m17.318s 1.330s 23
    14 Sergio Perez Force India 1:17.367 1.379s 20
    15 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1:17.627 1.639s 21
    16 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:17.657 1.669s 23
    17 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:17.751 1.763s 21
    18 Jenson Button McLaren/Honda 1:18.135 2.147s 20
    19 Roberto Merhi Marussia 1:19.531 3.543s 15
    20 Will Stevens Marussia 1:19.734 3.746s 13

     

    Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team 

  • F1 2014: Abu Dhabi Free Practice 2 Report – Hamilton Heads Rosberg

    F1 2014: Abu Dhabi Free Practice 2 Report – Hamilton Heads Rosberg

    Lewis Hamilton continued his domination of the timing sheets as he headed the second free practice session in Abu Dhabi.

    As dusk gave way to darkness the Mercedes teammates of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg once again stamped their season-long authority on the timing sheets. In both the qualifying simulation and long run pace the Silver Arrows had little in the way of competition. In the second of the one-and-a-half sessions of the day McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen emerged as the “closest” competitor in third.

    The future Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel slotted his Red Bull into fourth ahead of Williams’ Valterri Bottas. The long-run pace of the Williams didn’t suggest that they will be a nuisance to Mercedes in the race; the closest in lap-time to the mighty Mercedes turned out to be the ever-consistent Daniel Ricciardo. The Red Bull driver earlier clocked the sixth fastest time.

    Kimi Raikkonen slotted his Ferrari into seventh place but remained decidedly off the pace in the long-run phase of the session. Teammate Fernando Alonso could only complete two laps as his Ferrari ground to a halt with a suspected electronic issue.

    It was announced that Lotus’ Romain Grosjean will incur a whopping twenty place grid penalty after the Frenchman had to fit a sixth power unit of the season. Should Grosjean not be able to serve the full penalty on the grid he will be given time penalties during Sunday’s race. Insult to injury.

    abu2

     

     

  • F1 2014: Australia Free Practice 2: Merc Sets The Pace

    F1 2014: Australia Free Practice 2: Merc Sets The Pace

    The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg topped the timing sheets for the second free practice session in Australia.

    A significant amount of laps were completed by most teams as they set out discovering and fine-tuning their race set-ups for Sunday. The early part of the session was dedicated to a few laps on the yellow side-walled softer tyres. Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the session on his soft tyre run, roughly one and a half tenths clear of his teammate Nico Rosberg.

    Red Bull enjoyed a much easier start to the session as the team was able to complete its programme without any issues. Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo set the fourth and sixth fastest times respectively. Fernando Alonso slotted into third place overall with a time half a second slower than Hamilton.

    The struggle continued for Lotus who was able to get only Romain Grosjean out of the garage. The Frenchman completed twelve laps before hitting the wall and breaking the left-rear suspension of his car towards the end of the session. However, on-board shots revealed that the Lotus was not running at full revs – surely a sign that the team is not yet comfortable in pushing its car. Pastor Maldonado did not make it onto circuit at all. Likewise, Caterham failed to get either car out on track.

    If it is to be taken at face value the long run pace painted quite an ominous picture. The Mercedes pairing were by far the quickest with Hamilton setting lap times in the mid 33 second range during his long run. Several other teams, including Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull were clocking times in the mid 34 second range. The two Ferrari drivers were reportedly on different programmes during the long run as Kimi Raikkonen lapped in the mid 36 range. Unfortunately, there is no way of telling the various fuel loads run by the teams during their long run stints. However, tyre degradation appeared to be less of a factor than it was in 2013. At least at this stage.

    Final Standings from Free Practice 2:

    fp2

  • Vettel Fastest in Free Practice 2 at the Circuit of the Americas

    Vettel Fastest in Free Practice 2 at the Circuit of the Americas

    Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel topped the time sheets at the end of Free Practice 2 for the American Grand Prix at the Circuit of Americas.

    Vettel topped the table with a 1:37.305, his team mate Mark Webber finished the session P2 with a 1:37.420. The Mercedes cars of Nico Rosberg (1:37.785) and Lewis Hamilton(1:37.958) finished P3 and P4 respectively. Lotus stand in driver, Hekki Kovalainen, finished the session in an admirable P5 with a 1:38.073.

    Red Bull once again showed that they are in a league of their own in long run pace with Vettel not even pushing with his race engineer, Rocky, telling him to manage his pace. Their pace combined with very low tyre degradation and the cars’ ability to manage the tyres so well, will make them unstoppable in the race.

    It was another horrible afternoon for Ferrari with Fernando Alonso finishing the session in P10 and Felipe Massa finishing in P12. They were struggling with plenty of snap over steer in the first sector of the lap. They’re making it rather tough for themselves to keep hold onto third place in the championship.

    McLaren’s Jenson Button had a three place grid penalty handed down to him for overtaking under red flag conditions in FP1. He finished the session in P9.

    As it stands, Red Bull have outright pace over everyone.

    Below is the full time sheet for Free Practice 2 for the 2013 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.

    FP2_America2013