F1 Madness

Tag: italy

  • F1 2016: Belgium GP Preview – Spa, Unparalleled Greatness

    F1 2016: Belgium GP Preview – Spa, Unparalleled Greatness

    It is almost as if it’s scripted that Formula 1 returns after it’s summer break to the greatest circuit in the world. Belgium’s majestic Spa-Francorchamps is set in all of its famed glory to host the 13th round of the 2016 season.

    It doesn’t come as a surprise that Spa is often rated as the most popular races by fans. The circuit, 7.004 km in length, boasts several overtaking opportunities, significant elevations changes, and a bevy of challenging corners. It provides an equally stern test to the cars as it demands an efficient aero package through its high-speed corners, and good power out put and delivery for its long straights and climbs.

    It’s not just a great circuit on paper either. Since it’s first race in 1950 Spa has delivered victors, moments, and memories that will last forever. From Mika Hakkinen’s stunning pass, for the lead, on Michael Schumacher and backmarker Ricardo Zonta in 2000, to Kimi Raikkonen’s 2004 win from tenth on the grid, to Mark Webber’s spine-tingling 2011 overtake of Fernando Alonso around the outside into Eau Rouge.

    Hakkinen_Schumacher_Spa2000In 2016 another chapter is ready to be written into the glorious history of this mythical circuit. Mercedes start the weekend as favourites but it’s not a given that they’ll dominate the 44 laps on Sunday.

    The tyres selected by the sharp end of the grid have revealed quite a big disparity between the front running teams. Mercedes has chosen the conservative route on tyre selection, as each of their drivers will have only four sets of the red-walled supersoft tyre. Meanwhile, Ferrari’s Vettel and Raikkonen have opted for seven sets a piece of the supersoft tyre. Ferrari has shown a preference for the supersoft tyre throughout the first half of the season, which could have factored into their decision making. The cooler temperatures and difficulty in heating the tyre to their operating temperatures would have been another consideration for Ferrari.

    As fascinating as the tyre strategy could turn out this weekend it may not play out at all. This circuit, situated in the foothills of the Ardennes Mountains, is notorious for its changeable and unpredictable weather. Add to this the vastness of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit and it often results in rain at one end of the track while sunshine dominates the other half.

    There is also the question of spotty reliability of Lewis Hamilton’s side of the garage. The unreliability that dogged his early season means that Hamilton, already on his fifth engine element, is close to incurring a grid penalty. A sixth engine would mean a painful ten place grid penalty however it has been confirmed that Hamilton will take the ten place knock at the Italian grand prix.

    Virage_du_Raidillon_Spa_FrancorchampsFerrari hasn’t had the season that they and most expected them to have. Nevertheless, team principal Maurizio Arrivebene has confirmed that there will be another engine upgrade but has not confirmed whether it will be forthcoming in Belgium or Italy. They do have Raikkonen in their arsenal who has been dubbed The King of Spa. But before the summer break they had clearly fallen behind Red Bull.

    This next round of the 2016 F1 season has everything going for it. The best drivers in the world sweeping through Eau Rouge, Pouhon, and Blanchimont on the greatest circuit ever built is surely a match made in Formula 1 heaven.

  • F1 2014: Italian GP Review- Hamilton Rises To The Challenge

    F1 2014: Italian GP Review- Hamilton Rises To The Challenge

    After all is said and done it is still on track where the real talking is done. Two weeks on from enormous disappointment Lewis Hamilton turned up in Italy ready to do the talking. A comfortable pole position started the ball rolling.

    It wasn’t all picture perfect though as a poor start dropped Hamilton down to fourth at the start of the race. But there wasn’t very much that was going to douse the fiery determination of the Brit. He fought back first with an overtake on Kevin Magnussen and later a fearless move around the outside of Felipe Massa into the first chicane. Rosberg tried to maintain the four second gap he’d built up but a mistake caused him to straight-line the first chicane which halved the gap over Hamilton.

    In the first laps after the one round of pit stops Hamilton unleashed his superior pace and reduced the gap to Rosberg to 1.2 seconds. A bit of pressure to the mix and Rosberg soon out-braked himself and missed the first chicane. This mistake was enough to hand Hamilton the lead of the race who went on to win his sixth race of the season.

    The storm of controversy wouldn’t be nearly as juicy if someone wasn’t there continually stirring the pot. Some suggest that Rosberg’s mistake at turn one was actually not a mishap at all. The conspiracy theorists reckon that Rosberg was serving his punishment from the goings on at Spa. Since sanity does tend to dominate our consciousness for most of the day this theory is easily dismissed as utter rubbish. Ask yourself how weak a driver, a person for that matter, Rosberg would have to be to agree to something so blatantly spineless.

    felipeElsewhere, newly re-signed Williams driver Felipe Massa recorded his first podium for the British team ahead of his recovering teammate Valtteri Bottas. The Finn had to fight his way back from tenth after a dreadful start to the race. He was able overtake several drivers, via slipstreaming, with the help of his super-slippery-in-a-straight-line Williams. Daniel Ricciardo yet again put on display his staggering race craft with several extravagant overtakes which ultimately netted him a fifth place finish ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel.

    McLaren carried over their improved pace from Belgium to Italy which enabled Kevin Magnussen to finish seventh on the road. However, the rookie was demoted to tenth after he’d been given a five second penalty for forcing Bottas off the track earlier in the race. Force India’s Sergio Perez inherited seventh as he held off former teammate Jenson Button in a tantalizing wheel-to-wheel battle.

    Ferrari fans turned up in droves to cheer on their beloved team but the two prancing horses could never muster much more than a simple trot across the line. To add insult to a serious lack of pace Fernando Alonso suffered an ERS (Energy Recovery System) failure on his car. The Spaniard succumbed to his first mechanical retirement since 2009. Elsewhere, Kimi Raikkonen dragged the lacklustre Ferrari around the Monza circuit and eventually finished ninth overall.

    The short cool down before the podium was rather telling of the relationship between the Merc drivers. There was no congratulatory handshake LewisHamilton_PressConferenceand in fact for most of the time Lewis Hamilton had his back to his teammate chatting away to Felipe Massa. The podium interview, conducted by Jean Alesi, was as awkward. The former Ferrari driver wanted to know if Hamilton and Rosberg were still friends to which the Brit reflexively answered: “yes, we’re teammates.” So that’s a no then.

    Lewis Hamilton may only have pulled back seven points on the championship lead but the psychological victory was far greater. For one, Hamilton will be delighted with the knowledge that he could pressure Rosberg into a mistake. What’s more, Hamilton will savour the realization that he has exposed some cracks in the Rosberg armour.