Tag: lewis hamilton

F1 2014: Malaysia – Free Practice 2 – Rosberg Tops The Times

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg topped the timing sheets for the second free practice session in Malaysia.

As the Malaysian heat intensified Nico Rosberg set the fastest time on the white-walled medium compound tyres in the second free practice session for Sunday’s Malaysian grand prix.

Track temperatures reached nearly 50 degrees Celsius during the ninety minute session which reveal a much closer pecking order. In particular, Red Bull’s Sebastain Vettel looked solid in both qualifying simulation and long run pace. Both Mercedes drivers were able to lap consistently on both compounds of tyre while Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen appeared far more comfortable with the F14T.

Rosberg’s fastest time of 1:39:909 was a whisker faster than Raikkonen who set a 1:39:944. Likewise the top ten was separated roughly six tenths of a second. Granted the level of fuel being carried by the respective teams are unknown at this stage.

The woes continued for Lotus as Pastor Maldonado failed to emerge from his garage for the entire session. Romain Grosjean managed fourteen laps before again pulling off the circuit. This time his issue was allegedly gearbox related.

The level of tyre degradation on the medium compound tyres appeared quite high as expected on the abrasive surface of the Sepang circuit. Nevertheless, it appeared to last for about seven laps before dropping off. However, the track will continue to rubber in throughout the weekend, barring no rain, which will see the tyres life extended slightly. Pirelli have reported that the difference between the two compounds are around 1 to 1.2 seconds per lap.

The laptimes on the board suggest that Mercedes are still favourites but the chasing pack, in the form of Ferrari and Red Bull, seem a lot closer than two weeks ago.

March 28, 2014
F1 2014 – Malaysia GP Preview: F1 2014’s Acid Test

Roughly a year ago Red Bull’s biggest worry was the unrest between its two drivers. In a ruthless move Sebastian Vettel ignored the now infamous ‘multi-21’call to hold position and pinched victory from Mark Webber.

Twelve months later the second round of the championship again brings Red Bull and the paddock to Malaysia. The reigning champions arrive at the Sepang International circuit with no points on the board and lingering questions about reliability. Despite having nothing to show for the Australian GP definite progress had been made. The RB10 looked settled and quick with a good aerodynamic base. Their issues have been confined, mainly, the Renault power unit and Christian Horner believes that “massive progress” can be made if the French manufacturer gets on top of its problems.

The tropical climate of Kuala Lumpur requires a unique approach from drivers and teams. Unlike in Melbourne the Sepang International circuit, with a length of 5.542 km and a total of 56 laps, will test the mettle of the 2014 F1 cars. Several high speed corners will put aerodynamics under the microscope while a taxing 65% of the lap is spent on full throttle. The Malaysian GP is additionally notorious for its stiflingly hot and humid conditions which puts serious physical demands on the driver.

Pirelli has brought its medium and hard compound tyres to combat the relatively abrasive track surface. Tyre degradation hasn’t featured yet in 2014 but Malaysia presents, as the first permanent race track of the year, a substantial demand on tyre performance. When the weather pendulum has tended towards extreme heat track temperatures have reached as high as 52 degrees Celsius. Issues with overheating will be a key area of focus, especially during the long-runs.

The demands on the hybrid power unit are no less stressful. Twelve seconds is spent on full throttle during the 920 meter long back straight and with only four slow corners Sepang was built with one thing in mind – speed. Several teams were down on power and straight-line speed in the season opener and if those issues have not been solved for this weekend they’ll be nothing more than mobile chicanes.

Mercedes have the speed, reliability, performance and the drivers. The Silver Arrows team start the weekend as overwhelming favourites but under a veil of mystery. Lewis Hamilton was set fair with pole position and the fastest car on the grid in Australia. But one vital element was missing – reliability. Reliability is a word that fans will grow weary of in the initial part of the season but it is the most important commodity in the sport. With it, it ensures the capacity for consistency and crucial points. Without it, success is unattainable.

Ironically, a lot of noise has been made about the new sound of Formula 1. No longer does the V8 engine scream down the straights and rattle the fillings in your teeth and it’s a shame. It’s a shame because for countless years Formula 1 has been synonymous with bone jarring racket so loud it could cause permanent ear damage. It’s a shame but it isn’t as dreadful as some would suggest. Sound isn’t what makes this Formula 1. Mika Hakkinen’s inspired simultaneous pass on Michael Schumacher and Ricardo Zonta at the 2000 Belgium GP, Schumi’s unbelievable 4 pit-stop strategy at the 2004 French GP, Kimi Raikkonen’s sensational drive through the field of the 2005 Japanese GP – these and many more moments and races are what define the soul of this gut-wrenchingly passionate sport. They are revered because of the brilliance of men, in the cockpits and in the factories. While the distinctive sound of Formula 1 may have gone it is true still that the absurd talent and passion never will.

March 26, 2014
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 35^th 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 21^st 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.

March 17, 2014
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!

March 15, 2014
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:

March 14, 2014
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:

March 14, 2014
Bahrain Test: Day 4 Quotes

Lewis Hamilton ended the final day of pre-season testing on top in Bahrain.

All attention will be towards the first race of the season in Melbourne, Australia for the Australian Grand Prix. Below are some quotes from the drivers.

Lewis Hamilton(1:33.278) | Mercedes | 70 laps: “This has definitely been the most challenging winter I’ve experienced and the car is still very much a work in progress, but we’ve learnt a lot over the course of these last few weeks and overall it’s been a good winter of testing for us. There’s been an incredible amount of work put in by the team back at the two factories and on track. I have to say a special thanks to the crew here today who had a tough task in front of them but never lost their cool. It was a tough start to the day but they managed to get the car turned around for me to complete some good laps in the afternoon, which was a fantastic effort. There’s so much to learn with these new cars; it’s just mind-blowing and I don’t think anybody can be fully ready for the challenge of this season. But I feel as ready as I can be and I’m looking forward to seeing where we are in Melbourne.”

Valtteri Bottas(1:33.987) | Williams-Mercedes | 108 laps: “I think our final day of testing was very good, right up to a very unlucky failure just one run before the end. Overall, it was a still a good day as we had no other issues throughout and made a lot of progress with the car set-up. I think with this amount of testing we are as prepared for Melbourne as we can be. The team has done a great job and thank you also to Mercedes-Benz. We still need to work very hard in these next two weeks but I overall I’m happy with how testing has gone for us. As I didn’t have the chance to do a quick time on the supersoft tyre today, I am looking forward to picking up where we left off when we get to Melbourne.”

Fernando Alonso(1:34.280) | Ferrari | 74 laps: “The team did its utmost to carry out changes on the car as quickly as possible, but again today, we had planned to do more laps than we managed. There are a lot of things to learn with the use of the power unit to improve the performance of the car and we are not yet where we want to be. Everyone in the team is very competitive and we are working day and night in order to get all the potential out of the F14 T as soon as possible. We have gone through twelve days of testing that were very demanding for everyone and I would like to thank the whole team for all its efforts.”

Nico Hulkenberg(1:35.577) | Force India-Mercedes | 74 laps: “The final day of testing went pretty well. In the end we didn’t do the race simulation, but we did some long runs and signed off a lot of other things on the job list. We didn’t do as many laps as yesterday, but we still made progress and learned some new things. So it’s been two good days for me and I’m feeling pretty satisfied. You always want more time to prepare, but I think we’re in good shape. The car has come a long way since the first Jerez test and we have made progress every day.”

Adrian Sutil(1:36.467) | Sauber-Ferrari | 91 laps: “It was a good morning. We covered everything that we had planned, just in a shorter time frame. Yesterday was unlucky, but it’s better to have a problem here than in Melbourne. I feel much more comfortable after this morning’s session. Now we have a lot more data to analyse. Overall we had a tough testing programme to go through and we had unexpected problems here and there. However, we don’t get any more tests, so we will take what we have and get the most out of it in Melbourne, and I’m looking forward to that.”

Sebastian Vettel(1:37.468) | Red Bull-Renault | 77 laps: We did a lot of laps today so that was useful. We tried to do a race simulation today; for one reason or another that didn’t work out, but in two week’s time things should look a little bit different. Obviously it’s difficult to know where the car is. It’s not just the number of laps that you do, but also the type. There are so many different running options as well – full power, low power etc, so its’ impossible to say where we are. We know we have to catch up in a lot of areas, but with that said, I’m happy today, we did a lot of laps, we learned a lot and it was a positive end to a tough week here.”

Kamui Kobayashi(1:38.391) | Caterham-Renault | 106 laps: “106 laps is a good way for us to finish the tests, even though the clutch problem we had in the last hour meant we didn’t have a chance to do any of the performance runs we’d planned for today. However, I’m very happy we were able to have two such good final days in Bahrain as it’s showed that our reliability is good and that could be very important in Australia and for the whole season, especially when you look at how quite a few of the other teams have struggled both here and in Jerez.”

The next we get to see the teams and drivers again will be in Australia. The way things stand now is that Red Bull are struggling, Mercedes and Mercedes powered teams are looking very good and Ferrari, and Ferrari powered teams are not far behind. We must not, however, write off Red Bull, they have the potential to come back and dominate throughout the season.

It’s very hard to tell the pecking order for this season. A few races into the season and we will have a very good idea of where things stand. Reliability will be the big thing this season. It’s wide open for this seasons title race.

Photo Credit:

Title Photo: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

Article Photo: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

March 2, 2014
Bahrain Test: Day 1

Day one of the Bahrain test concluded with Red Bull in a spot of bother and with Mercedes looking very strong.

The first day of testing got off to a bad start for Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull racing in Bahrain. Their car was not seen until they were 5 hours into the session due to issues during the building of the car this morning. Once Vettel was on the track he only managed 14 laps after stopping on track with an hour left in the session. According to the BBC, when the car arrived back in the pits there was a burning smell emanating from the cockpit.

“Obviously we’re not happy with where we are now and we have a long way ahead of us. The first gut feeling from the car is OK, but we need more running,” he said.

“It’s not easy to find a quick fix, but i think we understand the problems. We sorted out the issues from Jerez adn we were able to do some laps today. However, very often you fix one problem and another pops up, which is what happened. That’s testing. We all knew this year was a massive challenge and we knew it would be difficult. We obviously didn’t want this, but it is what it is and we are working flat out to solve the problems

Mercedes on the other had had more laps around the track. A brake issue ended the session slightly earlier for them today. Lewis Hamilton clocked 74 laps around the Bahrain International Circuit in the W05 with a best time of 1:37.908.

“It’s been impressive to see us start the Bahrain test with good mileage, reliability, especially when you see how difficult it is for everyone with the new regulations,” said Hamilton. “The team can be very proud of this after so much of hard work.”

“We’re not aiming to be top of the timesheets at the moment, it’s more about ticking the reliability boxes, but we can be happy with where we are before the halfway point of the pre-season tests,” he added.

Nico Hulkenberg in his Force India set the fastest time for the day with a 1:36.880. Force India who use Mercedes engines also enjoyed some long runs out on track and clocked up a total of 79 laps on track. These are very encouraging signs early on in the test for the Silverstone based team.

Hulkenberg: “A very positive and satisfying day. We had a busy programme and we learned a lot. Time in the car is very valuable at the moment and so it feels good to cover so many laps and even complete two long runs at the end of the day. That gave me a chance to see how the car behaves and to start getting a feel for it, which was not something I was able to do in Jerez. It’s great that we’ve already done some set-up work and started to improve the drivability of the car. But it’s still very early stages; we are learning with every lap and we face a very steep learning curve in the coming days.”

The Lotus E22 made its public debut in Bahrain today with Frenchman Romain Grosjean at the wheel. With little issues in their filming day at Jerez last week, it was a very different story today. The E22 only managed to do 8 laps.

“To be honest, there are so many things going on at the rear of the car that I can’t understand everything, but it was related to the engine or batteries or things like that. Nothing too crazy,” said Grosjean.

“Hopefully we can understand it and get better solutions for tomorrow and the day after.”

Grosjean went on to say that he is not even going to attempt set ups with the car because the main focus on the testing at the moment is the reliability.

Ferrari had a rather straight forward test day without any unexpected difficulties. Fernando Alonso was at the wheel of the F14T today with the second fastest time of the day of 1:37.879. Alonso will be pilot the F14T tomorrow before Kimi Raikkonen takes over for the final two days.

“It’s nice to be driving again, especially when you have more reference points compared to the previous time, which means you get a better feeling for the car,” said Alonso. “We are also at a track that is more representative, with normal temperatures, where it’s been easier to understand tyre behaviour. We are in a phase where we are discovering things and with every lap, we learn something new. For everyone, there is still a lot to do to be well prepared for Melbourne, so it will be important to make the most of every day we have available to us.”

Toro Rosso also suffered engine issues and together with Red Bull and Lotus, they managed 27 laps between them. Robin Frijns in the Caterham CT05, which is also powered by the Renault engine, managed to clock up 68 laps.

Williams had a bad day today. The Mercedes powered FW36-02 never got to see much of the track today. According to their Chief Test engineer, Rob Nelson, they had a fuel system problem. However, they were able to change some of the components and do some running towards the end of the day.

“It was a difficult day. It was frustrating for me but also for the whole team as we all wanted to get lots of laps on the board today. We had a few issues with the car which we are investigating and aim to solve for tomorrow and the following days,” said Felipe Massa

Kevin Magnussen in his McLaren finished the day 4th fastest with the second highest lap count. The most mileage done today was by Adrian Sutil in the Sauber. Both teams had relatively normal testing days and were quite happy with the progress that was made so far.

Renault powered teams look to be on the back foot at the moment and with Red Bull and Lotus having all these issues it’s going to be very tough to catch up to the other teams.

The unofficial timing sheet is included below

Photo Credits

Title Photo: Scuderia Ferrari F1

Article Photo: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

Article Photo: Scuderia Ferrari F1

February 19, 2014
What’s in a number?

The FIA announced late last year that drivers would be issued with permanent numbers to be carried throughout their Formula 1 careers. All drivers were asked to nominate two numbers between #2 and #99 as Sebastian Vettel has an automatic hold on #1 as the current F1 champion.

The complete list of numbers that the drivers will carry, starting in 2014, was recently announced by the FIA with many of the choices revealing the nostalgic sentimentality of several drivers.

Current world champion Sebastian Vettel will race with the #1 while he has reserved #5 not so much as an homage to former British champ Nigel Mansell but rather as a return to the number he used as a child in karting. Should Vettel not make it five world titles in 2014 he will run with the #5 in 2015. Red Bull Racing teammate Daniel Ricciardo has also chosen his first number in karting but tweeted that #3 is also a result of being a fan of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt.

Lewis Hamilton continued the trend of karting numbers and the 2008 champion will race with #44 emblazoned on both his helmet and car. Nico Rosberg has chosen his number as a tribute to his father Keke Rosberg who carried #6 during his championship winning year in 1982. However, the number six seems to run in the Rosberg family as Nico also secured the 2002 Formula BMW title while carrying the same number.

Fernando Alonso carried the nostalgic trend further as he too reminisced about his karting days with the choice to race #14. Believe it or not Fernando Alonso is the only driver on the grid to have won the Karting World Cup and he did so using kart #14 when he was 14 years old.

While sentimentality overflowed Kimi Raikkonen delivered his trademark, unaffected reasoning for his choice. “It was my number the previous year so I saw no reason to change it,” he said. Raikkonen will race with #7.

Romain Grosjean has similarly elected to retain his 2013 number. However, the Frenchman revealed that his choice to retain #8 is based on the fact that he had experienced his best ever season last year. Newly signed teammate Pastor Maldonado has brought back #13 to Formula 1 which is considered to be unlucky in many circles. However, Maldonado’s choice could be down to the fact that this particular number in considered lucky for Venezuelans. Several Venezuelan Baseball players all carry #13.

Jenson Button has returned to his championship winning season of 2009 with the choice of #22 while rookie teammate Kevin Magnussen is continuing the trend of karting numbers with #20.

Nico Hulkenberg’s choice of #27 hasn’t been given much clarification as yet but the romantics amongst the F1 fans would like to think that German’s choice is in honour of the great Gilles Villeneuve. Coincidentally, Ayrton Senna clinched the 1990 world driver’s championship with #27. Mexican Sergio Perez has picked #11 as the second Force India driver. “Ever since I was a kid I always wore the 11, in karting. Actually my email has 11 in it as well,” he grinned. “A lot of things have to do with 11 so I identified myself with that number,” said Perez.

Adrian Sutil, a Sauber driver for 2014, will run #99 which was the highest possible number up for grabs. Esteban Gutierrez will race #21. Jean-Eric Vergne hand-picked his karting number 25 while rookie teammate Danniil Kvyat has confirmed #26.

Williams driver Felipe Massa has selected #19 which could be in honour of Ayrton Senna as this was the Brazilian’s first number in Formula 1. Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas has seen the marketing potential in his choice of #77 as it resembles the letter ‘T’ in his name. Marussia driver Jules Bianchi had to be content with his third choice of number 17. The FIA has confirmed Max Chilton as the second driver at Marussia for 2014 but the Brit is yet to select a number. Caterham are still to announce their driver pairing for the upcoming season.

The issuing of permanent numbers is a great homage to the history of Formula 1. Gilles Villeneuve will always be as synonymous with #27 as Nigel Mansell will be with #5. Now it is the chance of a different era of drivers to breathe new life into these legendary numbers.

January 13, 2014
Eddie Irvine brands double points rule as “insanity”

Former Formula One driver Eddie Irvine has branded the idea of double points for the season finale as “insanity” and vows he won’t be watching another race “until the rule is kicked out”.

Irvine, who drove for Jordan, Ferrari and Jaguar during his decade-long career, is not one to be shy of giving an opinion and has already voiced his displeasure with additions such as DRS to the sport.

Now, in an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, Irvine has lashed out at the new regulation changes in the sport, more specifically at the new double points rule which will see drivers receiving double points for the final race in Abu Dhabi at the end of the 2014 season.

“I think Formula One has lost its way,” he told Belfast Telegraph.

“This latest rule of double points for the last race is insanity. That actually made me realise I am not going to watch another race until that rule gets kicked out. That is just embarrassing. It really is. They should be ashamed of themselves.”

“I just think the people involved in these decisions have lost the plot. They have no understanding of reality and the people who are in there have been in too long. They have blown up the history of the sport by changing the points, changing the qualifying and now double points for the final race!”

“It’s ridiculous, I’ve never heard such a joke in all my life. Talk about tinsel town bullshit!”

Irvine also had a few things to say about Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

When asked whether he thought that Vettel is on the same level as his former team mate and seven time world champion, Michael Schumacher, Irvine seemed to think that Vettel is proving nothing by staying at Red Bull.

“Vettel’s record is amazing, though he has kept the best car pretty much every year which Michael didn’t have. The one thing about Michael was when he won his first two championships he felt ‘this is boring, I’m going to go to Ferrari and re-build Ferrari’ and that was very admirable. He struggled there for four years before he won another championship. Vettel just staying at Red Bull winning trophies is boring. I don’t see what he’s trying to prove. Okay, he’s going to collect a lot of championships, but you know what, who cares?”

Irvine didn’t hold back about Hamilton either, saying that he’d “lost the plot a little bit because he went too showbiz.”

He continued, “His entry into Formula One was fantastic and his talent was amazing. Then he wanted to be a movie star or a rapper or something else. People want their sports stars to be 100% committed to being sports stars. I think he is coming back from that now and it would be nice if he could challenge Vettel. Lewis and Fernando Alonso are the two guys capable of taking Vettel on if their cars are up to it. Unfortunately, they aren’t at the moment.”

Irvine put a final little dig in at the current state of Formula One saying that he much prefers watching the Discovery Channel and doesn’t keep in touch with anyone other than Kimi Raikkon who “rings me the odd time when he’s drunk!”

December 19, 2013