Tag: kimi raikkonen

Brazilian GP: Rosberg Tops the Time Sheets in FP2

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg finished on top of the time sheets in the second practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Rosberg finished the session 0.213s ahead of his team mate Lewis Hamilton with a 1:12.123. Hamilton ended his session with a 1:12.336. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen showed some encouraging pace to round out the top three with a 1:12.696, 0.573s slower than Rosberg’s P1 time.

Force India’s Sergio Perez could not run in the session due to the repairs that were being carried out on his car after Daniel Juncadell’s crash in FP1. Although the damage wasn’t severe, the repair work to be carried out on his car was complicated, which resulted in the Mexican missing the session.

Jean-Eric Vergne’s session was cut short after his Toro Rosso suffered from vibrations at the front.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso ended his session prematurely after flames were seen escaping from his exhaust. He came to a stop in a plume of white smoke. He was quickly out of the car and did a little bit of fire fighting to put out the blaze on his car. After the session Ferrari said that it was an old engine with high mileage, so there was no cause for concern and he would not incur a penalty as it was not his race engine.

Just as the session got underway after it was red flagged to recover Alonso’s car, Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez came to a stop in almost the same place as Alonso with a reported MGU-K problem. The session was red flagged and got underway with just 9 minutes on the clock.

The big talking point this session was about the tyre choices. Nico Rosberg had an unusually high amount of blistering on his tyres. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo also reported heavy blistering on his rear tyres. It seems as though the tyres will be a big issue this weekend. If it does rain it will be a very different story for everyone.

November 7, 2014
F1 2014: Free Practice 1 Report – Rosberg Tops In Brazil

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg topped the timing sheets at the end of the first free practice session ahead of Sunday’s Brazilian grand prix.

The German driver was roughly two tenths faster than his championship rival and teammate Lewis Hamilton. Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat set the third fastest timing in overcast conditions nearly a second off the leading Mercedes.

The newly re-surfaced track delivered little grip in the opening part of the one and a half hour session which resulted in several spins for various drivers. Force India’s Spanish reserve driver Daniel Juncadella was unable to limit his excursion just to a spin and made solid contact with the barriers. The Force India’s left-front suspension seemed to take the brunt of the impact as the driver exited the car uninjured. The incident brought out the red flag in order to safely recover the damaged car.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso completed thirty laps in his session and clocked the fourth fastest time ahead of local hero Felipe Massa in fifth. An ERS issue kept Jenson Button from setting a flying lap during the first free practice session. Similarly Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez was able to complete only a handful of installations laps due an electrical problem.

Max Verstappen continued his preparation for 2015 by setting the sixth fastest time overall in the session ahead of Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top ten.

November 7, 2014
F1 2014: Brazilian GP Preview – Predict It If You Dare

The penultimate round of the 2014 championship does not have the ability to decide the driver’s title. However, the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace circuit is one steeped in some of the most dramatic formula 1 history.

Around its 4.309 kilometers this track has re-written many a driver’s fate. There isn’t a need to look too far back to find these extraordinary moments. The 2012 race was described by Sebastian Vettel as one of the toughest of his career. The afternoon oozed tension and amid changing weather conditions, safety-cars, a litany of pitstops the Red Bull driver was also involved in a collision. Seemingly on course for his third consecutive title the German found himself pointing the wrong way on the first lap of the race. Vettel staged a gallant comeback which was ultimately enough to clinch the title.

For a brief period in 2008 Ferrari’s Felipe Massa thought himself to have won the world championship. But in the most nail-biting finish in decades Lewis Hamilton scraped to the championship title on the very last lap, into the final turn, by overtaking Toyota’s Timo Glock. A year prior, in 2007, Kimi Raikkonen had, mathematically, the least amount of chance of winning the title. With only ten points on offer the Finn was seven adrift of championship leader Lewis Hamilton. However, the spectacular drama that defines the Brazilian GP saw the Iceman theatrically snatch the title from McLaren as Hamilton was unable to recover from a technical issue suffered in the race.

So you see there is much to suggest that the 2014 Brazilian GP is going to be anything but straightforward. Hamilton starts the weekend with a healthy lead over teammate Nico Rosberg but it, literally, can be wiped out in matter of seconds. In saying this, the pressure still resides in the Rosberg side of the garage. The German driver will be desperate to beat his teammate at this race and he must. There is no alternative for Rosberg this weekend. Though Abu Dhabi has the gimmicky double-points on offer there is little doubt that Rosberg would not want to put all his eggs in that foolish basket.

The only thing Rosberg can do this weekend is his best. The question remains whether Rosberg’s best is enough to beat his teammate who is on a roll of five consecutive grand prix victories. More significantly, Hamilton undoubtedly holds the psychological edge; the dismissive overtake in Austin for the lead of the race ensured that. Yet, this is still Brazil and here dramatic turnarounds have never been in short supply.

The circuit itself is quite technical with a mixture of different corners littered throughout the undulating landscape of its Sao Paulo location. “It’s a tricky circuit to get right but that makes it all the more exciting; there’s more opportunities to overtake there than at other tracks, and the twisty infield section towards the end of the lap is a real challenge as you’re constantly on the limit trying not to outbrake yourself, so when you get it spot on it’s really rewarding,” says Jenson Button.

The weather in these parts tends towards the extreme too. Here, track temperatures of 63 degrees Celcius have been recorded while other weekends have been blighted by monsoon levels of rain. For the 2014 Brazilian GP, the forecast predicts a mostly overcast weekend with the possibility of showers and temperatures in the early twenties.

It’s bumpy, it’s technical, the weather is changeable and something dramatic is bound to happen. It can only be Brazil’s Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.

November 6, 2014
F1 2014: US GP Review – Hammer-time In Texas

In general terms a conundrum is defined as a difficult and confusing problem. In Nico Rosberg terms the conundrum is Lewis Hamilton. The latest win in Texas gives Hamilton five consecutive race victories and leaves Rosberg without any answers.

As the weekend started to take shape it was Rosberg who stepped up to the qualifying plate. The German got the better of Hamilton by a hefty four tenths which Hamilton would later chalk up to “brake issues.” Nevertheless, at the first hurdle it was Nico Rosberg who pulled it off.

The first stint of the race too was all Rosberg as he controlled the initial laps. The sting was taken out of the start of the grand prix as a collision between Force India’s Sergio Perez and Sauber’s Adrian Sutil brought out the safety car on lap one. Both drivers’ race was ended by the coming together and Perez has been given a seven place grid penalty for the Brazilian GP.

The two Williams drivers, very much embroiled in a constructor’s fight with Ferrari, shadowed the Mercedes duo for the first stint of the race without ever being able to launch a serious threat on any of the first two positions. For the most part Felipe Massa looked set for the final step of the podium but Red Bull’s plucky Aussie once again lived up to his billing. Daniel Ricciardo snatched third from the Brazilian in yet another afternoon of mighty fine wheel-to-wheel racing.

By lap 24 Hamilton has eroded the two-and-a-half second gap that Rosberg had steadily built and flung his car down the inside of Turn 12 and into the lead of the race. It wasn’t a swashbuckling, throw caution to the wind kind of move either from Hamilton. It was calculated and infused with an ominous hunger. Five straight race wins sends quite an imposing message to the other side of the garage.

For once Valterri Bottas finished second to teammate Massa in a quiet fifth place. Fernando Alonso dragged a reluctant Ferrari up to sixth and managed to hold off a late charge from Sebastian Vettel. The Red Bull driver’s didn’t look sharp after a pitlane start but a late stop for fresh rubber breathed some life into his afternoon. Kevin Magnussen brought his McLaren home in eighth ahead of Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado. The Lotus turned out to be the surprise package of the weekend and ran competitively in the points for most of the afternoon.

Jean-Eric Vergne was stripped of ninth place after incurring a penalty for a collision with Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman ultimately finished tenth. The mid-field battle for points was responsible for some spicy wheel-to-wheel battles as several drivers duked it out. Both Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen finished outside the points and a lap down on the leaders.

Besides the mega quick Lewis Hamilton-shaped conundrum that Nico Rosberg has he faces an even bigger dilemma. Rosberg’s problem isn’t that he can’t win it; it’s that he doesn’t know how to win it. He hasn’t had to deal with an unrelenting teammate before certainly not while at the same time being the focus of so much attention. Hamilton’s move to take the lead of the race came from pretty far back and it was Rosberg’s caution that consigned him to second best. This isn’t a call to throw all rationality out of the window but through all of this sport’s history it has been courage that has made and defined its champions. As impressive and consistent as Rosberg has been this season he just doesn’t seem to have the uncontained hunger to win it.

It is far from over and Brazil’s legendary Autodromo Carlos Pace has always been the wildcard in the Formula 1 calendar. Here, the unpredictability seems to ratchet up a notch or two and it tends delivers some of the most astounding results. Rosberg faces a deficit of twenty-four points and call to unleash all he has on a near unbeatable teammate.

November 3, 2014
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.

October 31, 2014
Hamilton Leads Mercedes 1-2 at First Free Practice in America

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished on top of the time sheets in the first practice session for the United States Grand Prix.

Hamilton finished on top with a time of 1:39.941. His team mate Nico Rosberg finished the session 0.292s slower than his team mate in P2 with a 1:40.233. McLaren’s Jenson Button was the little surprise of the session finishing in P3 with a 1:40.319, just 0.378s off Hamilton’s pace.

Daniil Kvyat in his Toro Rosso ended his session in P4 with a 1:40.887 while Kevin Magnussen in the other McLaren finished off the session in P5 with a 1:40.987.

The session was rather quiet with a few spins and some drivers getting caught out at turn 19 by running wide or getting too late on the brakes and locking up.

It was a rather anonymous session for Red Bull and Ferrari. Daniel Ricciardo had to cut his session short after the team found and issue with his engine. Sebastian Vettel had a fair amount of running out on track but struggled with the rear grip on his RB10. Vettel ended the session in P7 while Ricciardo could only manage P17 after 5 laps.

The two Ferrari drivers trailed new wings and evaluated new parts for the first part of the session. Fernando Alonso seemed to struggle with the rear of the car while Kimi Raikkonen just seemed out of sorts on track.

McLaren’s pace does look very promising for now. If they can keep up the pace we could be in for a very exciting qualifying session.

At the end of the session, a virtual safety car was trailed. Cars are given a delta time to stick to. This delta time has to be followed. At the end of the session/race two cars will be chosen at random and the data from their ECU’s analysed to determine if the driver did, in fact, adhere to the delta time.

October 31, 2014
F1 2014: US GP Preview – Formula 1 Goes Country

Judging by the harmonious blend of NASCAR and beer the Americans have a pretty good idea on how to spend most of their weekends. More recently they struck on another golden combination by bringing the world’s premier racing serious to the lone star state of Texas.

Dubbed the Circuit of the Americas, or COTA, Formula 1’s return to the US was celebrated with a rowdy return in 2012. This circuit too was designed by Herman Tilke but unlike his other occasionally tedious attempts at modern circuit design COTA has been lauded by drivers and fans. “Hand on heart, this is probably the date on the calendar I look forward to the most,” says Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. “The Circuit of The Americas, in my opinion, is the best of the new breed of circuits. The nature of the corners is interesting. It’s also a very busy track where you don’t get much respite. The first sector is very special and that first turn, blind up the big hill is like nothing else in Formula 1. It’s also a good example of the excitement a late apex can create: you can have a really good lunge there. They’ve done a very good job.”

A storm is brewing towards the back of the Formula 1 grid as two teams in particular are having a difficult time in coping with the new turbo-charged-money-pit-era of the sport. It has led to the announcement that neither Caterham nor the Marussia team will be taking part in Texas this weekend. The great hopes once held for Caterham now lay in shards as administrators Smith and Williamson, who now own the team, set out to look for a possible buyer. Its debut in 2010 and the following season for Caterham seemed to suggest a lot of potential. They were the team most likely to be snapping at the heels of the mid-field and possibly score a point or two, such was their progression. However, in the last two seasons the team seems to have hit a brick wall and was overtaken by main rivals Marussia. Caterham’s absence, with permission from Bernie Ecclestone, will also include the team missing the Brazilian GP. At Marussia financial woes have meant that team cannot run either.

This should make for an interesting qualifying session. Along with the four cars already missing from the line-up Red Bull has already announced that Sebastian Vettel will not take part in the qualifying session. Vettel has chosen not partake as he will incur a ten-place grid penalty for using a sixth power unit, one more than is allotted for a season.

Not that long ago the announcement that Formula 1 would transform to hybrid, turbo-charged cars for 2014 was met with serious speculation as to the cost involved. Several teams, some of the big-wigs too, had genuine fears about the financial implication of such an imposing transformation. With two teams not making the trip to Texas or Brazil; a few others like Lotus and Sauber are in quite a fight to keep their head above water; and with Vettel missing in action from quali you have to wonder if those who pushed for the comprehensive rule changes are still as boisterously confident as before.

Formula 1 is a sport of extremes and over on the other side of the grid Mercedes is making merry and raking in the prize money. The circuit in Austin, Texas isn’t as power-hungry as Russia’s Sochi track but this will do little to eat into the colossal competitive advantage that Mercedes wields.

America – the land of opportunity so goes the famous saying. With three consecutive victories Lewis Hamilton has been making the most of his and now sits seventeen points clear of teammate Nico Rosberg. What can Rosberg do to break the ominous momentum of his champion teammate, more importantly; does he have the mental fortitude to beat an extremely confident and ridiculously comfortable Lewis Hamilton on an equal playing-field? There isn’t a doubt that Rosberg is a quick driver with some savvy skills. As this championship draws to a climax he’ll need to call on all of it to prove that he has what it takes to be the 2014 world champion. How deep can Nico Rosberg truly dig?

October 29, 2014
F1 2014: Sochi Success For Hamilton

The most exciting thing about the first ever Russian Grand Prix was … nothing. If truth be told the only moment that induced any sort of eyebrow-raising was a 60 meter lock-up by Nico Rosberg as he tried to steal the lead of the race from Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Other than Rosberg’s rather frantic attempt at getting ahead, the Sochi Autodrom turned out to be a bit of damp squib. The layout, once again designed by Hermann Tilke, provided a technical challenge to drivers when it came to stringing a perfect lap together but as far as the track surface is concerned it most definitely did not want to play ball with Formula 1. Pirelli had the difficult task of predicting what the track surface would offer up and based their decision on how other new tracks had performed. While keeping this in mind it is difficult to blame the Italian tyre manufacturer for bringing tyres to Russia which are almost literally bulletproof.

So indestructible were the Pirelli’s that Nico Rosberg, forced to pit on lap 1 with severely flat-spotted tyres, was able to run a 52 lap stint on one set of tyres. It wasn’t a gigantic risk nor was Rosberg, at any point, required to tip-toe around and nurse his tyres. No, he was able to push and for most of the stint set a pace comparable, and sometimes even quicker, than the race leader.

We commend thee Pirelli for producing the world’s first everlasting F1 tyre. But we implore you to chalk this up to a frightening one-off incident that should never again be repeated.

Saturday’s qualifying certainly provided more entertainment as Williams’ star Finn Valtteri Bottas nearly snatched pole position from Lewis Hamilton’s grasp. It wasn’t to be for the Williams driver but he put himself in the best position possible to fight for a podium finish.

The early part of the race and the Finn’s pace suggested that he could perhaps have a go at the leading Mercedes. But this too fizzled out towards the middle part of race as Hamilton started steadily building the gap to the Williams. Bottas eventually finished third and set the fastest lap of the race.

Jenson Button followed through on the pace McLaren had promised in the free practice sessions with a fine fourth place finish. It was a lonely drive for the Brit who ran as high as third during the opening stint of the race. The second McLaren of Kevin Magnussen recovering from a five place grid penalty induced by a gearbox change,

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished an uninspired sixth and remained as coy as ever as to his future in the sport. Many have already plopped the Spaniard into a McLaren seat for 2015 but Sky’s Ted Kravitz hinted, post-race, that the double champ could be off to Lotus.

Daniel Ricciardo did his level best to get past the Ferrari of Alonso but ultimately could do nothing about it and finished ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel in seventh.

Kimi Raikkonen spent most of the 53 laps embroiled in scrap with the two Toro Rosso drivers but eventually got the better of them and finished a distant ninth. Sergio Perez nearly cut it too close on fuel consumption but held on to bring the Force India home in tenth.

Felipe Massa attempted an aggressive two-stop strategy but never quite recovered from a technical issue in qualifying; the Brazilian finished eleventh.Only Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi and Marussia’s Max Chilton failed to see the chequered flag. As a sign of respect to Jules Bianchi the Marussia team chose to run only one car this weekend.

The Russian Grand Prix most probably didn’t even register a blip on the thrill meter. But it did give us another bit of insight into the title fight. Now that Mercedes has been crowned worthy Constructor’s champions it leaves a straight-up fight for the driver’s crown. Rosberg’s crack at snatching the lead was a tad anxious. Still the German has not beaten Hamilton on a level playing field. We’ve talked a lot about the psychological battle between these two. Is it now finally starting to tell on Nico Rosberg?

October 13, 2014
F1 2014: Qualifying Report – Mercedes Lead The Way In Russia

Lewis Hamilton has secured the first ever pole position for the Russian grand prix.

The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg locked on the front row of the Sochi Autdrom but it wasn’t without pressure from behind. Williams driver Valterri Bottas nearly pulled a rabbit out of the proverbial hat but a slide into the final corner meant the Finn had to settle for third overall.

Jenson Button delivered on the form promised in practice to secure his best starting position of the season in fourth. Daniil Kvyat, undoubtedly the rookie of the year, secured a stunning fifth on the grid for the Toro Rosso team. Jean-Eric Vergne will start tenth in the sister Toro Rosso.

Daniel Ricciardo set the sixth fastest time in the final part of qualifying while teammate Sebastian Vettel failed to advance to the top ten shoot-out. Fernando Alonso was the best of the Ferrari drivers in seventh only half a tenth ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. Kevin Magnussen set the sixth fastest time in his McLaren but a gearbox change will drop him five places on the grid for Sunday’s race.

Felipe Massa ran into engine troubles in the first part of qualifying which meant the Brazilian failed to advance past 18th on the grid. A difficult day for Force India translated into 12th and 17th for Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg respectively.

Caterham’s Marcus Ericsson continued his good run of form by getting the better of the Marussia/Caterham battle towards the lower end of the field.

October 11, 2014
F1 2014: Russian GP Preview – From Russia With Love

For as long as can be remembered Formula 1 Racing has always been the considered the pinnacle of motor racing. It seems apt then that F1, for the will run a race at a former Olympic site. After all in the world of sport there is no more prestigious achievement than being an Olympic Champion.

For the first time in its history Formula 1 heads to Russia to run on its 5.8 km long Sochi Autodrom. In a similar fashion to Canada’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve the Sochi International Circuit, designed by F1 architect Herman Tilke, will run around the Sochi Olympic Park which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Whether a rookie or a seasoned campaigner, for all driver’s a new circuit is a step into the unknown. Despite the technologically advanced simulators that teams sport these days it is still just that – an imitation. “What the simulator does is let you speed up this process and make initial decisions about car set-up and so on. What the simulator can’t do for a new circuit is give a precise idea of the grip levels you will find as it’s a surface we’ve never raced on before,” said Lotus’ Romain Grosjean.

The circuit’s layout, divvied up into 18 corners, is a mixture of medium speed corners with a couple of fast straights for good measure. “There are definitely similarities to other tracks, perhaps the best comparison is Singapore,” Sebastian Vettel summed up. “But unlike Singapore, the layout is more fluid, so it will be much faster. Some sectors remind me a bit of South Korea or Abu Dhabi.” As a result the circuit should dictate a relatively high downforce set-up.

The tyres supplied by Pirelli in 2014 has, mostly, performed predictably but with a new track surface in Russia and a changeable weather forecast teams are in the unfamiliar position of having no forecast for tyre performance. “In terms of overall tyre energy demands, Russia is somewhere in the middle, and measurements also indicate low-abrasion asphalt,” Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery.

What then does all of this mean for racing? One thing a new venue for Formula 1 will do is even out the playing field between the two Mercedes drivers. Seeing as they’ve never set a wheel of this particular bit of asphalt neither Lewis Hamilton nor Nico Rosberg can claim a performance advantage.

On the forefront of many team’s mind this weekend will the possibility of incurring a grid penalty. As the season draws to its end a few teams and drivers are running their allotment of power units on a wing and prayer. Not least of Sebastian Vettel could be the first of the front-runners to incur a 10 place grid penalty as the German is already on power unit number five for the season.

Yet another miserable weekend, this time in Japan, will have rubbed salt in Ferrari’s wounds. A retirement for Fernando Alonso and a non-points scoring finish for Kimi Raikkonen has done little to aid the Italian team in their fight for third place in the Constructor’s championship. They will need a solid performance this weekend against rivals Williams who should be in better shape than a week ago.

For every year since 1950 a Formula 1 world champion has been crowned; and for almost all of these 64 years this majestic sports has continued to break new ground and make superhuman advances. In its 2014 incarnation the irresistible lure of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg and a championship of a knife edge still fuels an irrepressible passion that’s about to be unleashed in Russia.

October 8, 2014