Kimi Raikkonen with his race engineer before the start of the 2014 Australian grand prix.
Tag: kimi raikkonen
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F1 2014: Australia GP Review – Rosberg Romps To Melbourne Victory
It was at the completion of the 2013 Abu Dhabi grand prix when Sebastian Vettel, on his way to a nine race winning streak, reminded his team to savour their victorious memories. How spot-on he was.
The free practice session made it quite clear that Mercedes’ favourites tag was no gaffe. For the 35th time Lewis Hamilton ensured that he would start in the best position possible on Sunday while Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo split the Silver Arrows for his first front row start.
It was somewhat surprising that Hamilton didn’t appear more enthused by his pole position. Somewhere in the back of his mind the fear about reliability must still have been lingering. It wasn’t unfounded as the 2008 champion was forced to retire on lap three after dropping a cylinder.
It was apparent that Red Bull Racing had made tremendous strides in Australia as Daniel Ricciardo easily maintained second place throughout the race. However, disaster struck the Milton Keyes based team with the retirement of Sebastian Vettel. The four time champion struggled throughout the weekend with software issues which proved his ultimate demise in the race. After three laps the German reported a lack of power which spelled the end of his Australian Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo became the first Australian driver to occupy a step on the podium of an Australian GP. However his joy was short lived as the Red Bull team were called into the stewards’ office as celebrations were no doubt in full swing. The outcome was exclusion from the final standings for Daniel Ricciardo as a result of the fuel flow rate on his car being too high during the race. The fuel flow rate for 2014 is set at 100 kgs per hour. What’s more, during the race, a technical representative from the FIA warned the team that the flow rate was too high. However, Red Bull elected not to change the flow rate. The team has stated their intention to appeal the disqualification. It seems unlikely that the decision will be overturned given that Red Bull chose to ignore the FIA’s helping hand during the race.
Bad news for Red Bull meant an even better day at the office for McLaren. Kevin Magnussen’s drive belied the fact that the Danish youngster was in his first grand prix. It serves as the perfect example of a 21st century rookie – light years removed from being thrown in the deep-end of a cutthroat motor racing series and having to fend for yourself. ‘Young drivers’ who form part of a team’s driving program are groomed to the hilt with exposure to the team long before they become, officially, a part of it. Just like Kevin Magnussen. But mixing it in the deep-end still requires great composure and skill both of which K-Mag seems to have in abundance.
McLaren will leave Australian shores as the happiest team in the paddock. After suffering their worst season ever in 2013, the Woking based team has delivered immediate results. Not only does Magnussen become the first Dane on the podium but the ever-smooth Jenson Button’s third place secures McLaren the lead of the constructors’ championship after round one.
A total of fourteen cars crossed the finish line in Australia implying that reliability didn’t appear to be as catastrophic as initially predicted. However, several teams will have been working quite hard to mask or manage a range of issues.
Ferrari was such a team. It was a far from spectacular day at the office but both cars saw the chequered flag. It was confirmed that neither of the two Ferrari were able to run at ultimate power due to electrical problem believed to be related to the energy recovery system. Both drivers suffered with graining on their Pirelli tyres and spent most of the afternoon tucked up in traffic. A combination of these issues had a significant impact on their pace. Fernando Alonso finished in his qualifying position of fifth, which later became fourth, while Raikkonen finished seventh overall. However, both drivers appeared frustrated with their F14T Ferrari. A short clip has been making the rounds online in which the usually unemotional Kimi Raikkonen can be heard informing his engineer to tell the team that “it doesn’t work, so ask them to change it.”
As the red lights extinguished, Nico Rosberg grabbed the lead of the race and was never challenged on his way to victory. Rosberg cleared off from the head of pack at the blistering pace that Mercedes had promised throughout the winter testing season. Despite it only being the first round of the season Mercedes has proven to be the team to beat in terms of pace. Where reliability is concerned the Brackley based team are still facing the same questions as most other throughout the field.It was a memorable day for Russian rookie Daniil Kvyat too. Many doubted his readiness for Formula 1 and questioned whether he deserved a place in the sport. It wasn’t very long ago that the Russian driver obtained his superlicence either and with it he has already broken a record. By finishing ninth overall Kvyat becomes the youngest points scorer in Formula 1 history. He snatches the record from SebastianVettel by a mere 27 days.
In reality, the first race of the 2014 season was far more intriguing than exciting. It is hardly surprising that neither Lotus made the end of the race nor that teams are still striving to understand exactly how their cars work. It will take some time to get on top of this new era of fully hybrid Formula 1. But already the status quo seems to have been thrown out the window.
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Hamilton snatches Australian pole from Ricciardo in wet Qualifying
Lewis Hamilton claimed the pole position, snatching it from home favourite Daniel Ricciardo, in the final moments of the season opening Australian qualifying session.
The F1 weather gods thought it would be a good idea to spice things up a little – as if they weren’t already complicated enough with all the 2014 regulation changes. The session started in dry conditions but the heavens opened before the end of the first 18 minute phase of qualifying. The weather deteriorated to the point that full wet tyres were required in the final shootout.
With very little wet running during the winter testing, it was a whole new challenge for the drivers. Despite it being his first time driving on the limit in the wet, Lewis Hamilton brought home the pole, snatching it by a solid 0.3s! Ricciardo so nearly had it in the bag, but the Australian will be more than happy with starting on his first ever front row on his first outing for the Red Bull team. Nico Rosberg rounded off the top 3.
Ricciardo’s team mate, four time world champion Sebastian Vettel, did not make it through to the final part of qualifying – despite a valiant effort after his final lap was affected by Kimi Raikkonen crashing his Ferrari into the wall. A little too much throttle and the Finn’s Ferrari headed off the track, bringing out yellow flags in the first sector to compromise Vettel’s lap. Raikkonen will start from 11th, and Vettel from 12th.
McLaren rookie Kevin Magnussen put in a very impressive performance and will be starting from 4th place. His team mate Jenson Button was another surprise casualty of the Q2 session and will only start in 10th place (promoted from 11th due to a grid penalty for Valterri Bottas).
Fernando Alonso will start in 5th position, only just making it ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne. Toro Rosso team mate, rookie Daniel Kvyat, also made it through to Q1 and will be starting in 8th place.
Here’s a look at your full time sheet for the session. Join us tomorrow morning on Twitter (@F1_Madness) for live coverage of the Australian Grand Prix! If the final stages of today’s qualifying session are anything to go by, we’re in for a VERY exciting race!
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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:
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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 2014: Australian GP Preview: Mystery In Melbourne
Eleven teams will start the 2014 Australian grand prix. Beyond this obvious fact not much else can be forecasted. Unpredictability in Formula 1 is back with a vengeance and brings with it a bevy unanswered questions.
How many drivers will finish the Australian grand prix? The saying that to finish first, first you must finish has never been so appropriate; and the prediction of half the field finishing the race is seen as generous by some. Reliability has dominated the winter testing season as teams struggled to integrate the new power units and electronic systems. Renault powered cars were stricken on the side of the track most often with issues ranging from cooling to complete failure. Meanwhile the consistent crooning of the Mercedes power stamped its authority at the top of time sheets.
The pecking order after twelve days of testing suggests that Mercedes, Williams and McLaren are the front running teams, at least on paper. These teams, all Mercedes powered, delivered the most consistent performances over long runs and in qualifying trim. The newly renamed Williams Martini team looks to have taken a significant step forward and Felipe Massa believes that he will start the Australian GP with a good chance of mixing it at the front. It would be especially sweet for the former Ferrari driver should his Williams feature in the top three.
To be the favourite on paper doesn’t carry much weight, if any at all. The reality is that Red Bull Racing may yet show up Down Under and perform quite well. The car rolled into the back of the truck on the final day of testing will hardly resemble the one that takes to the Albert Park circuit this weekend. Several teams will bring a raft of updates for their cars as they aim to learn as much as possible before the start of Sunday’s race.The Ferrari team has remained under the radar with neither of its mega quick drivers revealing too much about the team’s prospects. The Italian squad’s winter hasn’t been awesomely positive nor has it been disastrous. Fernando Alonso was particularly underwhelmed about driving in 2014. “We were saving the tyres from lap one of the stints last year, and we are saving the tyres from lap one this year. That’s no different. I don’t think things will change that much, but obviously the cars are slower,” said the double champion. It is worth noting that the Alonso is one the greatest politicians in the F1 game. A bit of psychological by-play is never too far from his repertoire.
In a normal year of F1, the first race of the season requires for a variety of factors to come together just right to ensure success – and 2014 is no
normal year. Teams are limited to 100 kilos of fuel per car for the grand prix which will call for vigilant fuel management throughout the race. As before, tyres have to be looked after, so too the power units which are limited to five per season. However, in F1 2014 the driver can be the difference. “It really is a driver’s car – more than the old ones,” said McLaren rookie Kevin Magnussen. “It’s a bit more difficult with more torque. It’s difficult to take care of the tyres and I think it’s going to be tricky. You need more skill and more sensitivity in your throttle.”Few things are the same in Formula 1 2014. The cars do not look the same, they do not sound the same and they are a tad slower. However, the skill of the greatest drivers in the world and absolute unpredictability of it all ensure that it remains the greatest spectacle. This is Formula 1 2014.
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Second Bahrain Test: Day 1: Driver Quotes
Force India’s Sergio Perez set the pace on Day 1 of the final Bahrain test with a time of 1:35.290, almost a full second clear of second fastest man, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. Here are some quotes from the drivers after the first day of the second Bahrain test
Sergio Perrez(1:35.290) | Force India-Mercedes | 105 laps: “We really needed a good day to start this week and today we had it. We managed to do a lot of laps, try several different compounds and mappings, and it’s been a fantastic day in terms of learning about the car. Tomorrow is my last day in the car before the season starts so hopefully we can have another solid day to be in good shape for Melbourne.”
Valtteri Bottas(1:36.184) | Williams-Mercedes | 128 laps: “It’s been another good day for us and it was nice to get the whole run plan done. We didn’t have any issues all day so well done to all the team for getting the car running so well. We have a lot of data to analyse tonight after doing some aero work this morning and a race distance and set-up work this afternoon. We did some very interesting tests and there are still plenty of things to improve so we’ll keep pushing.”
Kimi Raikkonen(1:36.432) | Ferrari | 54 laps: “Before I leave Sakhir, it’s planned that I should do a race distance and that’s the only thing I’m missing. Today we chose to concentrate on some of the many things we still have to work on and we won’t assess the winter testing until the final day, when we will put together all the data we have gathered. What I can say is that I have been through worse winters than this.
We have been on different programmes and I don’t think you can judge a car’s potential from how many laps it does in testing. We have a lot of things to test and we want to make the most of these days to check everythting, because the race weekend doesn’t last long and the hours on Friday fly by, while on the other days you are only looking for performance.”Nico Rosberg(1:36.624) | Mercedes | 89 laps: “That was not a fantastic day for us. We tried some new parts on the car and you find out a lot doing that. But unfortunately we did not only discover good things today. I managed to do a couple of good laps before lunch but in the afternoon we had a few small problems which ended my running a bit earlier than planned. This shows that we are pushing everything to the limit and we still have a massive challenge in front of us during the last three days of testing. We need to maximise our time here to be prepared for Melbourne. But after a difficult day overall we are on the right path.”
Daniel Ricciardo(1:37.908) | Red Bull-Renault | 39 laps: ” This morning was much better for us with a few longer runs. Behind the wheel, that’s the best I’ve felt so far. The package seems to be coming together better. We still had a few issues today, but at least when the car was on track it was much more useful running and we made progress in the morning. It’s getting there. I’d love to keep going, but at leas Seb has two days after me in the car, so I think we’ll be looking pretty good for the next three days.”
Daniil Kvyat(1:39.242) | Toro Rosso-Renault | 55 laps: “It was nice to be in the car, even if we didn’t get through the entire programme we had planned for today. However, I feel we have made some progress. We ran the Hard Pirelli most of the time, as we were definitely not chasing performance today. I hope Jev manages to get a full day’s running tomorrow, before I drive again on Saturday.”
Included is the unofficial timesheet for the day’s session:
Photo Credits
Title Photo: Sahara Force India Formula One Team
Article Photo: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team
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Ferrari unveils the F14-T
Ferrari has unveiled their 2014 challenger, the F14 T.
The F14-T which was named by a fan vote and will be raced by what is arguably the strongest driver line-up on the 2014 grid – Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, and features a far wider nose tip than we’ve seen in the cars launched so far.
The F14-T will be debuted by Raikkonen at Jerez on Tuesday and Wednesday, before he hands over testing duties to Fernando Alonso for the remaining two days.
The rear of the car seems very tightly packaged around the new turbo engine but due to the ‘anteater’, ‘bull’ and ‘tusk’ noses that have preceded the launch of the F14-T, all eyes are on the nose of the new Ferrari which features a far flatter design than those preceding it.Ferrari said in a statement that the new regulations presented designers with a real challenge to repackage the front suspension into a much lower monocoque.
“The front wing is regulated to be 75mm narrower per side in order to make it less vulnerable to collisions with other cars and with the barriers,” their launch statement said. “This change, perhaps one of the less noticeable visual differences to the 2013 cars, has a profound effect on the aerodynamics of the vehicle.
“The front wings used since 2009 have all featured elaborate measures to encourage the wake of the front wing endplates to pass around the outside of the front tyres in order to maximize the downforce on the car. An innocent change of just 75mm to the position of the wing tip has required us to reinvent completely the front wing aerodynamics for 2014.”Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said that the new additions to the technical team and the upgrades to the wind tunnel – which is now operational at Maranello – have been crucial for Ferrari to make a step forward.
“In the last couple of years the changes and investment we have made in Formula One has been very important and significant,” Domenicali said. “Some have been spectacular in terms of names that were in the Formula One world and some others less, but nevertheless the changes were very important.
“Not only the organisation of the people, but also investment in the new windtunnel and tools of the simulation that are really important to make sure all the group of engineers can make the difference.”
The F14-T retains Ferrari’s pullrod front suspension concept in the new design and the new car is the first that will have been influenced by Ferrari’s new technical chief James Allison, who arrived late last season after switching from Lotus.
Ferrari is clearly hoping that the F14-T will have what it takes to finally bring home the championship that has been snatched away by Red Bull for the last few years. The 2013 season saw Fernando Alonso coming super close to clinching the title but just not having the car to make it happen. He compared his experience of not winning the title in his first four seasons with Ferrari to that of Michael Schumacher, who finally won his first championship with the Scuderia in his fifth season with the team.
Alonso said, “I think Schumacher won in the fifth year with Ferrari. I’m in the fifth year now so hopefully I can repeat some of the success that he had. Obviously in the last four years we had some opportunities, especially in 2010, 2012, we were very, very close to winning the championship. So this year we’ll try again and hopefully this time will be the good one.”Alonso also believes that his partnership with incoming Kimi Raikkonen will be formidable saying, “I think [with] Kimi and me as a team we should be quite strong because we’ve had some success in the past in our Formula 1 career.”
Coincidentally, Raikkonen is the last driver to have won a title for Ferrari, in 2007 but he was sent packing to make way for Alonso.
Raikkonen is very positive about the F14-T and his return to Ferrari. “It is nice to come back to Ferrari, the place I won my championship,” he said. “The aim is the same. We want to do the best I can, try to win races and championships.”
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Video: Raikkonen talks about the Ferrari team
While getting re-acquainted with life at Ferrari, Raikkonen took some time to chat about how he’s adjusting to the changes and getting to know the new team members. And yes, the man had quite a bit to say 😉
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Video: Kimi Raikkonen talks about the fans
Kimi Raikkonen’s first three “official” days of Kimi Raikkonen’s second stint with Ferrari proved useful for him to familiarise himself with the technical aspects that go in to making up part of a driver’s job wherever he is. In addition, it was also a chance for him to re-immerse himself in the special atmosphere at Ferrari and talk a little about his (and their) fans.
