F1 Madness

Tag: lewis hamilton

  • 2013 Bahrain GP – Ted’s Notebook

    2013 Bahrain GP – Ted’s Notebook

  • F1 Bahrain 2013: Post-qualifying press conference

    F1 Bahrain 2013: Post-qualifying press conference

    Q: Congratulations Nico, you’re first ever top four start in Bahrain and you did it in style. Were you as surprised as some people that pole was yours today?
    Nico Rosberg:     A little bit, yeah. It wasn’t really clear before who was the quickest car, especially over one lap. I was a bit closer this morning already, so I was a bit more happy than yesterday for sure, so as a team I think we worked really during the night to improve the car because yesterday we were really struggling. So that’s been going well. I’m really, really happy, that’s a fantastic result. That’s great for tomorrow. Of course tomorrow it’s going to be a tough race for sure, with rear tyre degradation especially, so a lot can still happen.

    Q: We’ll talk more about the race in a couple of moments. Sebastian, you’re qualifying today: was that the pace of the Red Bull or was it a lap that could have been better? Are you disappointed with second place?
    Sebastian Vettel:     Definitely not disappointed. I think congratulations to Nico; he put a very strong lap in. I think it was all his today. Initially when I crossed the line I saw that I didn’t go first, so I saw second placed on one of the screens but I didn’t know how much was missing, because the lap was fine. You always a little bit here or there but, yeah, when I got told the gap to P1, to Nico, it was clear that even with the perfect lap he was unbeatable today. But nevertheless, very happy. I think we managed to save some tyres throughout qualifying. As Nico touched on it will be all about tyres and tyre degradation tomorrow, once again. So, we’ll see what happens but for sure it’s good to start from the front.

    Q: Today, Fernando, was all about the dash for pole, though, and it was a lap, your second lap, that contained a couple of errors right at the end and you came back into the pits. Was that trying too hard because Nico’s lap was too fast or were you just not happy with the balance of the car or what?
    Fernando Alonso:     Well, in the car obviously you don’t know Nico’s lap, we don’t have TV in the car yet! So we tried to complete the second lap and it was very, very similar until the last corner and in the last corner the exit I saw it was half a tenth or one tenth slower than the previous lap so we decided to come in just to save one lap on those tyres. You never know if you have to use them again in the race, so very, very happy with third place. Normally in qualifying we’re struggling a lot but today the car was very competitive in qualifying and this puts us in a strong position to start tomorrow’s race with the group of the leaders and fight for the podium with a little bit more margin.

    Q: Nico, both Sebastian and Fernando have hinted at tyre degradation sorting out tomorrow’s race. It’s something that Mercedes have suffered from in the past, so is today your day for celebration and is tomorrow just a day to limit your losses?
    NR:     I really want to kick-start my season. It’s really been a rough ride in the first three races and so today’s really been the first normal qualifying up to now, so I just want to kick-start everything now, my whole season. I’m OK for the race tomorrow, you know. For sure the competition is going to be tough, definitely. Difficult to say if we have enough pace to win the race tomorrow but for sure we’re going to try and I look forward to starting first – definitely.

     

    Questions from the floor

    Q: (Abhishek Takle – Midday). Question to Fernando: you must be pretty confident heading into tomorrow because you’ve shown good long-run pace and a strong start could set you up for the win, don’t you think?

    Fernando Alonso: Well, let’s see. I think the race is very long so we need to wait and see how the pace is tomorrow. It’s true that on Sundays normally we do improve our performance and we seem more competitive on Sunday than on Saturday. Friday also the long runs were more or less OK and not a big drama with the tyres. So, let’s wait and see tomorrow. The conditions keep changing all the time here in Bahrain with the circuit running more and more categories, not only the Formula One, so I think tomorrow will be a good opportunity for us, first of all to win the podium and try to get some consistency and races in the podium and if we can fight for the win, even better.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe). Question to all three drivers: are you surprised by the times of the two Lotus’?

    Nico Rosberg: Where are they? [Ninth and eleventh] In that case, yeah, for sure, because all weekend they’ve been looking very quick.

    Sebastian Vettel: Did they run in Q3 or not? [Räikkönen qualified and ran] Yeah. Same as Nico, it’s a big surprise. I don’t know, that’s why I was asking. I don’t know what’s their plan for tomorrow but yeah, they were quite quick this morning, for sure. It didn’t matter the compound, they were quite quick all weekend so something must have gone wrong.

    Q: Fernando? Fernando Alonso: Yeah, same.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo). Nico, the race simulation you did in free practice, you have indication that you have a good pace for the race or maybe it will be like in the last races where you were very fast in qualifying, not so much in race?

    Nico Rosberg: I think it’s not going to be… we’re not going to be as quick as we were in qualifying compared to everybody else. I think it’s much closer tomorrow on race fuel but you just have to wait. There’s so many factors that influence that, you just have to wait and see. For sure it will be much more difficult, yeah.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport). Nico, when we met yesterday, we were joking a little bit with bad words in Italian about your situation.

    Nico Rosberg: What were we talking about? Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport). We were joking with a bad word… Nico Rosberg: Ah yeah. You said that, yeah? Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport). Yes, I know, my apologies. How did you improve the car? Nico Rosberg: Yesterday we were in a difficult situation. We were not where we wanted to be and not where we were in the last couple of races, so it was all bit question marks and a bit surprising. But as a team, we really did a fantastic job to turn it around and to be absolute quickest today, it’s great. That’s just down to having done really really good work last night and this morning.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport). Sebastian, can you explain to us why you saved all three sets of the harder tyres? Do believe that there will be four pit stops tomorrow?

    Sebastian Vettel: To be honest with you, I don’t know how many stops we have to do. I think you don’t have to be a genius… one stop is impossible for everybody, two stops is impossible for most, I think, and then it’s between three and four stops. I think we decided to do what we did because we think it’s the best way. In qualifying we were not exactly sure how quick we would be. We didn’t want to take any risks, we wanted to make sure that we finish in front and we believed that the soft tyre was faster, or the medium tyre, so we went for that in qualifying.

    Q: (Carlos Miguel – La Gaceta). Fernando, are you afraid of Massa starting on hard tyres in fourth position? And after your 1m 32.8s on hard, could it have been better to qualify on hard tyres?

    Fernando Alonso: Well, I think it’s fantastic that Felipe is fourth. He finished sixth in qualifying but with (the penalties for) Webber and Hamilton he will be fourth, so it’s better to start alongside Felipe than to start alongside Lewis to be honest. I really prefer this combination of results, that I should help the first corner attack and hopefully we can both do a good start and hopefully – with these different strategies that we have – can cover some more scenarios in the race than maybe wouldn’t be in our control if we had the same tyres. It’s true that we felt comfortable on the hard tyre in Q1. He also felt comfortable on the hard tyres in Q1, but he chose them for Q3. I think they are very close together and I think that when you gain something in qualifying you can lose it in the race; when you lose in the race, you gain something in qualifying so it’s a difficult trade-off but I’m extremely happy with our strategy and I’m extremely happy that we’re third and fourth. Tomorrow, we both need to think about being on the podium. It will be really important for the Constructors’ championship as well.

    Photo: BBC.co.uk

     

  • Lewis Hamilton gets 5 place grid penalty for gearbox change

    Lewis Hamilton will suffer a 5 place grid penalty for the Bahrain GP
    Lewis Hamilton will suffer a 5 place grid penalty for the Bahrain GP

    Lewis Hamilton will receive a 5-place grid penalty for the Bahrain Grand Prix after qualifying today following a gearbox change by Mercedes after final practice this morning.

    At the end of the session, he suffered what seemed to be a tyre failure and also incurred damage to rear suspension on the way back to the pits. The Mercedes team has had to rebuild the rear of the car and has decided to replace his gearbox in the process, resulting in the  five-place regulatory grid penalty.

    Hamilton finished FP3 fifth fastest.

    Esteban Gutierrez and Mark Webber are also facing grid penalties this weekend after being penalised for separate collisions during the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend.

     

  • Chinese Formula One GP Review: Phenomenal Fernando rules China

    Chinese Formula One GP Review: Phenomenal Fernando rules China

    Since the start of the Formula One season several teams have been particularly vocal in condemning the 2013 Pirelli tyres. As far as this upset lot were concerned tyres would dominate the Chinese grand prix headlines.

    Instead it was Fernando Alonso that wrote his name into the headlines. A third place in Saturday’s qualifying session behind Raikkonen and polesitter Hamilton underlined the pace of the Ferrari and El Nano never looked back.

    Lewis Hamilton maintained first off the starting grid as Kimi Raikkonen was overwhelmed by Alonso and Massa. As it was, Raikkonen’s start was compromised by a change to the starting sequence made by the team moments before the start. It wasn’t long before both Ferrari drivers were hounding the back of Hamilton’s Mercedes which ended with Hamilton simultaneously overtaken, on either side, on the entry to turn one.

    The tyres were still an issue and the frontrunners got rid of the delicate soft tyres on after only six laps. It left them able to run to the flag using the more robust medium compound. In contrast, those who had opted to start on the medium tyre, Vettel, Button and Hulkenberg, were now running at the front-end. In a strategic move, Button and Vettel selected to not set a flying lap in the third session of qualifying; putting them out of sequence with the frontrunners.

    Nevertheless, no sort of strategy manipulation was ever going to trip-up Fernando Alonso. Electric off the start and clinical when overtaking, it was from this point onwards where Fernando Alonso started to deliver a metronomic drive of the highest calibre. Whilst tyre life and levels of degradation certainly had an impact in the Chinese GP it had no influence on who the victor would be.  Leading from the front Alonso was never under pressure from his pursuers in the shape of Raikkonen and Hamilton. By controlling his tyres and setting a ferocious and unmatchable pace he fashioned an extremely impressive path to his 31st victory.

    Kimi Raikkonen’s pace was slightly hindered by nose and front-wing damage after an incident with somewhat wild Sergio Perez. Bruised and battered Raikkonen still managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton for a fine second place. Eighteen points closes the gap to championship leader Sebastian Vettel to three points. By finishing nineteen of the last twenty races in points scoring positions Raikkonen has proven his near bulletproof consistency – a highly prized commodity in any championship fight.

    Lewis Hamilton lacked the pace required to challenge for victory though Mercedes will be thrilled with his performance. But the final step of the podium very almost wasn’t his as Sebastian Vettel’s alternative strategy nearly paid off. Armed with a new set of soft tyres the Red Bull destroyed the fourteen second gap to Hamilton in a mere four laps.

    Despite Vettel’s late charge and fourth place finish, Red Bull’s indifferent record at the Chinese GP continued.  For Mark Webber it started with a fuel-pressure glitch that dropped him out of qualifying on Saturday. Red Bull’s choice to change the gearbox and ratios on Webber’s car meant the Australian had to start from the pitlane; but would do so with a car better equipped at overtaking. It made no difference however as Webber’s Red Bull sustained damage in clash with Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne. Still not the worst of it, Webber was forced into retirement as his right rear tyre made a break for it and rolled across the track. What would injury be without insult? For his part in the Vergne incident Webber was given a three-place grid penalty for next week’s Bahrain GP.

    Jenson Button finished a solid fifth ahead of Felipe Massa whose pace dropped off after the first round of stops. Daniel Ricciardo delivered a great drive and brought the Toro Rosso home in seventh ahead of Di Resta, Grosjean and Hulkenberg.

    There may have been twenty-two drivers on the Shanghai circuit but Fernando Alonso was in a class of his own.

     

     

  • Chinese Grand Prix Post Race Press Conference

    Chinese Grand Prix Post Race Press Conference

    Here’s what was said at the post race press conference of the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Fernando, congratulations, well done. You were a winner here in 2005, how does it feel to have won again? It seemed to be a perfect race for you.
    FA:     It feels good. Obviously a long time from the victory here – eight years. Definitely it was nearly a perfect Sunday for us, with not any problem in the race. The start was clean; it was good. We managed to overtake Kimi. And then in the first stint we managed to pass Lewis as well. The car felt a little bit better on the degradation side let’s say. And then in the rest of the race, obviously you need to take care of the tyres a little bit, you need to manage the gap with the guys behind. It was not so easy to understand the race sometimes. We were overtaking the McLarens, Hulkenberg, Sebastian, so it was a little bit of a mix. So it was not an easy race and there were some moments of action let’s say and the risk is there when you have to do an overtaking manoeuvre and you have to manage that as well. The team did a perfect job with the set-up of the car for quali and the race, perfect pit stop times and pit stops executed let’s say. At the end of the race the victory is a good reward for the team, well deserved after the disappointment in Malaysia and you know, the car felt good. The two races we finished, one was second and the victory today, so definitely it’s a positive start to this championship. We need to keep going like that, in this direction, with good weekends, with not any extra risk and hopefully in Bahrain we can score some good points again.

    Q: Kimi, obviously a bit of a problem at the start there, tell us about that, and also how much pressure was there at the end as well?
    KR:     I think we just had wrong settings. The practice start was very good but then it was really bad the real start and we lost some positions and after that the car was okay, but I had a little accident, some problems with Perez and we damaged the nose and the front wing. I was surprised there was no more damage because I hit him quite hard. Also bit surprised that we didn’t have any more problems after that. A bit too much understeer and destroying the front tyre because of that but we still could fight for second place and get quite a good result in the end. Obviously we wanted to try to win but today with all the issues it was not possible.

    Q: Lewis it was kind of tight at the end with Sebastian closing on you and obviously you were trying to put pressure on Kimi. Tell us about it.
    LH:     Yeah, it was a good race for me. Quite happy with third. Of course I would have liked to have won but congratulations to Fernando, he did a great job and so did Kimi. They were both a little bit too fast for us during the race. I was seeming to be able to apply a little bit of pressure to Kimi but not enough to get close to him and overtake. My tyres were shot at the end and there was nothing I could do really to hold off Sebastian. A little bit unlucky with some traffic. Still, to get on the podium, really happy. Really happy with the points as well.

     

  • Chinese F1 Grand Prix Podium Interviews

    Chinese F1 Grand Prix Podium Interviews

    Podium Interviews Conducted by David Coulthard

    Q: Fernando, congratulations. A fairly dominant victory in the end and your 31st victory, putting you fourth on the all-time list just behind Ayrton Senna. What does this one mean to you?
    Fernando Alonso:     Well, hello everybody first of all and thank you for the support all weekend. Amazing fans all weekend and it’s very nice to race here. About the race: yes, definitely it was a fantastic race for us, from the start to the end, without big problems with the car. The tyre degradation was better than expected probably, so we managed more or less the pace. Yeah, it feels great after the retirement in Malaysia, we had some pressure to finish the race. The two races we finished this year; one second place and today the victory so definitely the start of this 2013 campaign is looking good so we are very optimistic.

    Q: We heard the team talking to you during the grand prix telling you not need to push. They were trying to slow you down in some respects and you were saying ‘I’m not pushing’.
    FA:     Well, you always push. In a Formula One race it’s impossible not to push but it’s true that we had some pace, maybe, in the pocket. Not easy to know when to use it depending on the state of the tyres. A little bit more potential and hopefully we can show it in Bahrain in one week.

    Q: Kimi Raikkonen, that’s your 20th consecutive finish in Formula One. You’re certainly Mr Consistency. You had to work hard for that second place today. You had some damage to the front wing of your car after some contact, so tell us about that and also how it affected the balance?
    Kimi Raikkonen:     I think in the end it was a pretty okay result. Obviously we want to win but after a bad start the car was handling well but then overtaking Perez, I was next to him and he just pushed me on the kerb but I tried to avoid him but I went on the grass and hit him on the rear I think and damaged the front. That didn’t help but luckily it didn’t affect so much the handling, it was just a bit too much understeery but we could still fight for second place. For sure without the damage we could have been quite a bit faster. Anyhow, good points and we try to do better next time.

    Q: We come to Lewis Hamilton, our pole-sitter. It didn’t quite work out for you there on race pace. You really dropped away towards the closing stages, under a lot of pressure from Vettel but some great racing nonetheless.
    Lewis Hamilton:     Yeah, I’m really happy with today’s result. Great result for the team, very happy with the points. The team did a fantastic job all weekend. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the kind of pace these two have but still very fortunate to get on the podium.

    Q: Fernando, a closing question for you. Only one week until Bahrain. What are you expecting in terms of performance there and what’s the celebration going to be like tonight with your Ferrari team?
    FA:     I expect a tough race again. In Bahrain I think we will see different conditions and who knows how competitive anyone can be. But definitely, as I said before, from the races that we finished this year the car seems to be able to be on the podium, so we hope to be on the podium again in Bahrain. The celebration tonight? Nothing special. I have a flight very early for Bahrain, so tonight I think some dinner. I think they guys will celebrate more than me.

     

     

  • Top 3 Drivers’ reactions after the Chinese Grand Prix

    Top 3 Drivers’ reactions after the Chinese Grand Prix

     

     

  • Formula One Team Orders

    Formula One and @F1_Madness fan, Reynard Gelderblom (@Reynardg) sent us his thoughts on team orders in the wake of the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix where both Red Bull and Mercedes F1 issued their F1 drivers with team orders.

    Let us know what you think about team orders in the comments section below. Here’s what Reynard had to say:

     

    The order of things

    Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber Photo: Red Bull Racing
    Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber Photo: Red Bull Racing

    Every now and again controversy creeps into F1. Unlike other sports, this isn’t related to drug allegations or match fixings, although there are those who do compare this to the latter.

    Think back to Austria 2002 and USA 2012, Ferrari’s team strategies have been the cause for a fair amount of these talking points. Two weeks ago this again overshadowed the media reports after the Malaysian Grand Prix.

    Formula One Team orders: hate them, support them – they’re part of the sport. If you’re a team manager you would certainly do everything in your power to ensure the best possible result in a race. The third and fourth place finish for Mercedes F1 went a long way to consolidate their position as a front running team. This wouldn’t have been the case had Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg retired near the end. Yes, sure we would’ve talked about it, but nothing shows your worth quite like the results sheet.

    Red Bull Racing of course has been dominating the sport for the last three years, but the one-two finish will certainly have a lot of teams thinking during the three-week break.

    This didn’t come without a price though. For those who missed it: Prior to the final pit stop, Red Bull decided that in order to save the tyres and engines, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber would keep their positions after the last tyre change. Webber had track position, but Vettel didn’t back down. First, he blatantly asked the team to let him through. When that request was denied, he took matters into his own hands and while Webber had his engine turned down, the reigning champion took the first position. Afterwards the tension between the two drivers could be cut with a knife, and let it be said you would’ve needed a very sharp knife for that.

    Understandably, Webber felt robbed. He did what the team asked and in his mind he did enough to take the victory.

    Now before calling Vettel greedy or a cheat, let me put you into the three times Formula One World Champion’s shoes for a second. Imagine you’ve been the leading salesman at your office for the last couple of months. Around the middle of the month, your boss calls you in and says “Joe, it’ll be better for this company if we let John tie up those last four deals this month.” How will you feel? Given that you are paid to be the best in your field, to maximise your own and company profits – will you really be able to just buy into that strategy? Or will you also, like Vettel, look for ways to maintain your number one status? Do exactly what you love to and what you’re good at doing?

    Personally, I do think there is a time and place for it. Coming down to the last few races of the season there’s a need for this, especially when you’re in the hunt for either one of the two championships. As early as round two of the season – well that one is debatable.

    As team manager you’ve got to keep in mind that inside the car, there are two drivers, both with their own ambitions as well. Perhaps there is a better way of doing this. Given the fact that issuing instructions over the team radio is allowed, I don’t see why Red Bull couldn’t step in and instruct Vettel to fall back the lap after.

    One thing is for certain, the current way of enforcing team orders is a lot better than what we saw in the past with suspicious pit stops. Vettel did exactly the same thing we saw from the three former triple F1 world champs – Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. He’s a racer, not just a driver. I would like to see a fair race as well though.

    Personally, I think Red Bull’s decision was unfair to Vettel and by
    consequence, to Webber as well. The team got their finishes on the first two steps of the podium; I just wonder what the price for this will turn out to be.

    By Reynard Gelderblom

    Reynard Gelderblom is the motorsport editor for Street Motion.

    Keep up with the latest local motorsport news by following for Street Motion on Twitter.

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  • F1 2013: Teammate Battle

    F1 2013: Teammate Battle

    By definition winning the Formula 1 driver’s world title indicates that, by the end of the season, one of the drivers had outdone his twenty-one counterparts. However, the first man to be beaten is always the teammate.

    Red Bull: Sebastian Vettel v Mark Webber

    Chances are if you beat Sebastian Vettel you’re likely to be close to the championship lead. With several memorable victories Webber has undoubtedly proven that he possesses great talent. However, raking in the big points consistently hasn’t been Webber’s forte. For the Australian to beat his world champion teammate AussieGrit will need to deliver the best season of his career.

    Ferrari: Felipe Massa v Fernando Alonso

    Felipe Massa ended off the 2012 season in the best form he had for quite some time. But if Massa had a solid end to the season Fernando Alonso arguably had the best season of his F1 career. Given their performance in relation to each other it remains highly unlikely that Massa will be able to outrace Alonso for a significant amount of time.

    McLaren: Sergio Perez v Jenson Button

    Sergio Perez has talent, but it is raw talent. McLaren, Martin Whitmarsh even Ron Dennis will try to mould him into a complete racing driver but it will be up to Checo to refine his racing craft.  Since joining McLaren Jenson Button has looked supremely at ease save for a few spells of irregular results. Checo Perez has the speed to beat his teammate but JB has speed, guile and a settled team around him.

    Lotus: Romain Grosjean v Kimi Raikkonen

    Romain Grosjean survived his woeful season to be re-signed by Lotus. Too many incidents has coloured opinion on Grosjean and objective number one for the Frenchman has to be a composed approach to racing. Only then can he consider a tactic on how to beat Kimi Raikkonen. For Raikkonen it will be business as usual; get in the car, drive it fast. He’s not really bothered about beating the guy on the other side of the garage – it’s just about racing as fast as he possibly can. Grosjean may have a slight advantage in qualifying but if the E21 is up to it in 2013 Raikkonen is not going to be an easy man to beat.

    Mercedes: Nico Rosberg v Lewis Hamilton

    Nico Rosberg’s Formula 1 career has been relatively solid but far from spectacular. His first and only victory, to date, in China finally got the monkey off his back but a solitary win won’t mean much when it’s measured against the prolific Lewis Hamilton. For Hamilton there’s a great urge to take Mercedes to the top of the podium and that will be his solitary focus this season. He’s unlikely to be troubled by Nico Rosberg.

    Williams: Pastor Maldonado v Valtteri Bottas

    Venezuelan Maldonado toned down his kamikaze racing style in the second half of the 2012 season but wasn’t pushed by teammate Bruno Senna. It should be different in 2013 with Valterri Bottas. Much has been made of the Finn’s speed in the paddock but he will need to hit the ground running if he is to outperform his teammate.

    Sauber: Nico Hulkenberg v Esteban Guiterrez

    Nico Hulkenberg had a strong comeback with Force India in 2012 but starts this season on a level playing field with Guiterrez. It’s never easy stepping into a new car or a new team. While Hulkenberg should outdo Guiterrez the young Mexican will be especially keen to shake the ‘pay driver’ label.

    Force India: Paul di Resta v Adrian Sutil?

    Scotsman Paul di Resta will drive the VJM06 alongside Adrian Sutil. As is the case for several drivers, this season will be about more than beating their respective teammates, it will be about survival.

    For Daniel Ricciardo & Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso), Charles Pic & Giedo van der Garde(Caterham), Max Chilton & Jules Bianchi (Marussia) beating the teammate will be as important as ensuring a place in Formula 1. As these lower ranked teams, perhaps with the exception of Toro Rosso, struggle to survive these drivers have to be aware that there is always another driver around the corner with a bigger cheque.

     

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