F1 Madness

Tag: marcus ericsson

  • F1 2016: Brazilian Gp Review – Hamilton Cruises Amid Chaos

    F1 2016: Brazilian Gp Review – Hamilton Cruises Amid Chaos

    Three hours, five safety cars, and two red flags all combined to deliver a Brazilian grand prix that was high on intensity and high on emotion. But none of it fazed Lewis Hamilton as he cruised to his first ever victory in Brazil.

    Conditions proved so difficult that race director Charlie Whiting ordered a ten minute delay to the start of the proceedings in the hopes that the rain would ease. This wasn’t enough for Romain Grosjean though as his Haas speared into the wall while making his way to the starting grid. The race commenced behind the safety car and it quickly became apparent that visibility up the long start/finish straight was the biggest issue.

    Nevertheless, a handful of laps later conditions calmed enough to get some proper racing underway. Pole man Lewis Hamilton easily controlled proceedings and scampered off into the distance while Rosberg fended off a feisty Max Verstappen who had already made short work of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari at the start.

    Ferrari’s afternoon got more difficult as Sebastian Vettel spun at the exit of the final corner which dropped him down to fifteenth. Several drivers dived into the pitlane for intermediate tyres despite track conditions being more conducive to the full wet tyre. The first big crash came in the form of Marcus Ericsson who clipped a white line in the run-in to the pitlane and destroying the Sauber in the process. Ericsson’s stricken car ended up in the pitlane entry which prompted its closure. However, quick thinking from Red Bull saw Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo into the box. While Verstappen made it into the pitlane before the red light Ricciardo was as fortunate and was given a five second penalty for his troubles.

    GP BRASILE F1/2016The safety car once again led the field and just as racing commenced on lap 20 Kimi Raikkonen lost control of his car on the main straight which left him facing oncoming traffic in a situation with low visibility. Several drivers, including Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon, reacted brilliantly to avoid hitting Raikkonen’s car. This prompted the first red flag of the race with Hamilton still in the lead.

    Nearly fifty minutes later the race re-started behind the safety car but the field completed only eight laps before another red flag stopped it. It wasn’t too long before drivers clambered back into their cockpits for the re-start and this time the race ran until lap 48 until the safety car was required in order to recover the Williams of Felipe Massa which had shunted in a similar fashion to Ericsson. It was an bittersweet end the popular Brazilian’s last home race. While a solid result eluded Massa it did afford him an opportunity to salute the thousands of fans in the grandstands with a Brazilian flag draped over his shoulders and a few tears to boot. As Massa made his way into the pitlane it produced one of the most emotional scenes as team mechanics and personnel from several teams, including Mercedes and Ferrari, stood outside the garage to applaud him.

    GP BRASILE F1/2016On lap 55 the race re-started with the spotlight focused on a fast-charging Verstappen in 14th who swopped inters for new full wets. The teenager scythed through the field with some stunning overtakes which had more to do with his bravery than his new rubber. Verstappen eventually finished a miraculous third.

    As rain transformed the Interlagos circuit into a treacherous roller-coaster every F1 driver had to ply the maximum of their ability to keep their cars on track. Several drivers failed to reach the chequered flag but others impressed. Force India’s Sergio Perez was fourth ahead Vettel in fifth and Carlos Sainz in sixth. Nico Hulkenberg took seventh ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in eighth while Felipe Nasr scored Sauber’s first points of the season with a fine ninth place finish. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso survived his own spin to finish tenth.

    Nico Rosberg wasn’t able to clinch the title but he delivered the next best thing with a second place finish. He now takes a 12 point lead to the final race of the year in Abu Dhabi.

  • 2016 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Sergio PEREZ (Force India), Esteban GUTIERREZ (Haas), Carlos SAINZ (Toro Rosso), Esteban OCON (Manor), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes), Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    There is an incredible sense of excitement ahead of this Mexican Grand Prix. Checo, last year, those scenes of you being swamped on the drivers’ parade by the fans, just describe what that sense of adulation is like coming into this race.

    Sergio PEREZ: Yeah, first of all, I’m so happy, I’ve been waiting the whole season for this race and finally to be here with all my people, arriving to Mexico City – as soon as I arrived here on Tuesday for an event, I can see all the energy from all the people is getting bigger. Formula One is getting bigger, it’s growing. It’s something that makes me very proud and I’m so much looking forward to give them a lot of happiness on Sunday. Hopefully I can give then a strong race, a strong performance. They always say that racing at home is an extra two tenths that you have on you. There really is, because the energy that I feel throughout the weekend is just phenomenal and I’m sure that this weekend will be a lot of that and I will be there to give them my best. The weekend goes to fast to me because I’m full of events and full of commitments that I just want to enjoy every single moment and give my best to them.

    And Esteban, same for you really: are you going to find those two tenths in what is your first Mexican Grand Prix?

    Esteban GUTIERREZ: Well, it’s an incredible feeling to be here and see how all the people are excited. I feel honoured to be able to share this great weekend, this great moment, with all the people that are going to be here supporting us – family, friends, fans – it’s just an incredible feeling. It feels like a whole big party through the whole weekend. So, yeah, everybody is excited. I’m very grateful for the support and I’m going to give my best to give the best result possible this weekend and I’m lucky to be here, with another opportunity, thinking that it’s going to be in Mexico, in my home country and enjoying all together.

    Esteban, staying with you, one year ago you were announced as a Haas Formula One driver, how are your plans shaping up for 2017?

    EG: I think Gene has been very clear in the media, they want to wait a few races. Fortunately, we have other options, which we are now considering strongly, and I think it will be important to close something soon, because we cannot risk to just wait a few more races until the end of the season and risk to fall in between two chairs. So we are doing our best and things are looking very good for next season.

    Have you put a deadline for those negotiations to end?

    EG: Yeah, that deadline should be in the next two weeks.

    Checo, back to you, your current team-mate is moving to a works team in 2017, so what do you see in Force India that convinced you to stay there?

    SP: I see a good potential. If you see, since I arrived up to now, every season we have been moving forwards. It hasn’t been easy. Right now we are fourth in the Constructors’ and to go up the next top teams are locked out, they don’t have any vacancy, so really I felt like my next move was going to be sideways or probably backwards. I see going to a new generation of cars that my best future is staying where I am, knowing the people that I am working working, having the stability, and as well Force India has done so much for my career I want to be loyal to them.

    Moving on to Esteban Ocon, you’ve made huge progress in the six races you’ve driven in Formula One and you’re being linked with pretty much every available seat on the grid. How are those negotiations going and who will ultimately decided your future? Is it your decision or is it Mercedes’ decision?

    Esteban OCON: Well first of all I’m already really happy to make the progress we made with the team. Together we have done a really strong job. It hasn’t been an easy thing to arrive half way through the season but I’m happy with the progress. Mercedes is managing my career, so at the moment I’m trying to focus on the remaining races and, yeah, we will see from there on how it goes.

    Do you feel ready for a bigger team or do you think you’d benefit from another season with Manor?

    EO: I don’t know, you know, as I say I’m focusing as much as I can on the remaining races. If you do a strong job there will always be talks and opportunities.

    Marcus, you ran as high as 11th in Austin last weekend. Do you feel that Sauber are now starting to make real progress for the first time since the buyout?

    Marcus ERICSSON: Yeah, I think so. The last few races we’ve really been taking steps in the right direction, starting from Singapore really. Every race we are getting closer to the top ten, both in qualifying and in the races, and as you say, in Austin we had another really good weekend. In Q1 I was P14 on pure pace and that was really positive and then in the race I was running in P11 for a long time and I think it was with less than 10 laps to go I was still 11th but then obviously we struggled with the tyres and I dropped back a couple of positions. But as a team we have been pushing really hard and moved in the right directions. Also, the updates we brought to the car we got to work now better and better, so we realty see we are going in the right direction. But we just need to continue that now, really push our maximum these last three weekends. It’s no secret, we need to aim for that point to jump Manor in the championship and that’s what we are aiming for, but we are definitely moving in the right direction.

    Well, you’re absolutely right, the team really does need that point. Where do you think is your best chance at the remaining three races?

    ME: I think every one of them will be a good chance, but obviously on pure pace it’s going to be difficult because we still miss a couple of tenths it feels like to really take the fight for the top 10. It should be some races where there are some retirements or something like that and that should be a chance for us to benefit. We need to be there and do our maximum and be as high as possible in the races that we can take advantage of these surprising things that can happen. If this race is more chance than other races it’s difficult to say but we just need to be there to take the opportunities when they present themselves.

    Carlos, a tremendous race from you Austin and a great battle with Fernando Alonso. You’ve often said that he is your inspiration. Do you get an extra sense of satisfaction when you are racing him as opposed to the rest of your peers?

    Carlos SAINZ: Well, it’s already a big satisfaction to be a Formula One driver, because you are racing against the 21 best drivers in the world, but yeah, maybe that battle with Fernando was that tiny bit more special. I’ve been growing up looking up at him since he’s in Formula One in 2003. I’ve seen all his races and suddenly I saw myself in a position to fight on the last lap against him in Austin for a P5. It was special, but at that point you don’t really realise the thing you are doing. Maybe when you go to bed and you think a bit more about it, it’s that tiny bit more special, but it was an exciting one I enjoyed it a lot. I didn’t have all the grip available to put up a stronger fight, but I definitely enjoyed it a lot.

    Toro Rosso confirmed last weekend that Daniil Kvyat will be your team-mate next season. It’s going to be one of the most experienced driver line-ups Toro Rosso have ever had and when you combine that with the Renault engine coming your way, how does that affect your ambitions for next year, what do you think you can achieve?

    CS: I think Toro Rosso is in constant progress at the moment. Obviously this year we have been a bit hampered by this power deficit that you all know by now. But if you look at the car and how it was performing in Austin, it’s a pretty decent car I must say. I really enjoy driving it. So as James Key and his team they do a very similar job to this last couple of years and the Renault engine works well, I think Toro Rosso has a good line-up next year to exploit this full potential of the car with Dany and myself and I really think we can move a bit forward in the Constructors’ Championship. We have the right people on board and we just need a bit of straight line speed, a bit more things coming together to put together some stronger results.

    Q: Nico, it’s been a great season for you so far and the upshot of that is that you can clinch the world championship here in Mexico this weekend. You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t think about that. How does it change your mindset?

    Nico ROSBERG: I’m well aware of that, and yeah, it’s been a great season so far, which has put me into this position, y’know? It’s exciting to be in this championship battle now with Lewis towards the end of the season. We’ve been there before but anyways, it’s very cool. And that’s it. As I’ve said before, that for me, my way at the moment of achieving the best possible performance is really just to focus on the things that are within my control – and that’s, here in Mexico, try and win the race, and that’s it.

    Q: Given the intensity of your battle with Lewis, how is the atmosphere in the team at the minute? Are there echoes of 2014 or is this different somehow?

    NR: The atmosphere is really, really good. As an example we had a great party on Sunday night after Austin. All the mechanics, engineers together, it’s great. The team has come a long way and, in every area, we’re just so strong now. Even just this team feeling. Pulling in one direction, having a good time together. Everything. The atmosphere is awesome. I think everybody is thrilled by this battle which we’re finding ourselves in.

    Q: What about the dynamic between you and Lewis?

    NR: Not something I think about too much really. I try and do my thing and get the best possible result. That’s it. Of course it’s intense – but at the same time there’s an easy-going side lately.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Nico Rosberg, in Austin we heard some quotes from Bernie Ecclestone. Can you reply to what he said? He said if you win it could be good for you and for the Mercedes team but not necessarily for the sport because there’s nothing to write about you. What do you say about it?

    NR: I spoke to him personally and he said that’s not exactly the way he said it. And anyways, for me it’s not something that’s important to me. For me, I focus on my thing and that’s it.

    Q: (El Grafico – Enrique Gutierrez) Checo, what is your great fears in your life?

    SP: To be honest it’s snakes, probably! Apart from that I don’t fear anything. To me, I don’t have a lot of fears, to be honest.

    Second question, what do you think about the death?

    SP: Nice questions. It’s a point in life that you don’t want to reach but everyone will reach death in their life. Sooner or later everyone will reach it but it’s a point of life no-one wants to reach.

    NR: I wish all Mexicans a great celebration of the dead.

    SP: He asks the question because we have this celebration this Sunday, I think.

    Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Telegraph) Question for Nico, you’ve been racing your entire life: you’ve been in Formula One for ten years, been fighting for the championship for the last three, what would winning the World Championship mean to you?

    NR: It’s a childhood dream. But that’s where it ends for me. As I said, what’s important for me this weekend is winning the Mexican Grand Prix.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Nico. How do you work with Lewis with the battle? Do you copy his settings, do you watch his telemetry or do you work all alone, apart from him?

    NR: It’s as-usual. Everything is open, everything is shared and that’s it. So nothing has changed.

    Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) Here we’re a long way up in the air. What’s it like to drive at altitude or is there anything that you feel when you’re driving and is there anything extra that you need to do to be ready for that?

    NR: Have you noticed that on your run this morning? What do you do 21k? No, for sure you notice it. So it’s one of those races where the fitness is important and it’s one of those I’ve worked towards. But it’s OK because there are long straights also to relax – so it’s not the toughest race of the year.

    Checo, do you have anything to add about racing at altitude?

    SP: You obviously feel it. Whatever you do, not only racing, running, whatever activity you do, you feel it a lot more. As Nico said, the circuit probably helps us with the layout. It has one of the longest straights in the calendar so physically it’s not one of the toughest: we’ve been through those already: Singapore, Malaysia – but it’s quite demanding as well, the race here.

    NR: But it’s just as difficult for car. Not just for us drivers, because the car having less air volume density makes a big difference. For cooling.

    Q: (Lazaro  Montano – Record) Nico, how special will it be to get the championship here in Mexico, considering that last year your good streak started here? After Austin, you began to win here in Mexico? How special would it be to complete the year with a championship here?

    NR: I have great memories from here last year. Winning here was awesome, and also to get so much support from the Mexican people, even after that, through the whole year, social media, it’s really nice to see, so I look forward to meeting everyone again this weekend. The podium is one of the best in the year, in the baseball stadium, it was absolutely phenomenal and in terms of the championship, it’s not within my control if I get it this weekend, so for me it’s all about just winning the race and then we see what happens.

    Q: (Luis Alberto Aguirre – Reform) To Marcus, do you see any chance for yourself to go to Force India next year? Is there any possibility; do you see that seat as a possibility for you?

    ME: I think all the drivers who don’t have a contract for next year are looking at the seat. Obviously Force India is the second best available car at the moment, so it’s definitely an option but also Sauber is exciting for me looking at next year, because they have a very strong project building. So yeah, for me and my management, they are keeping their options open and talking to different teams that have seats left and hopefully sooner rather than later I will know what will happen for next year for me.

    Q: (Ben Hunt –The Sun) Nico, two questions to you: do you think it’s unfair when people say that you’re only leading the championship due to Lewis’s failures? And also, just to bring you up on Bernie’s point, 2016 he said it would not be good for the sport if you were to win. Last year he had another pop at you and said it would be bad for business if you won the title. He seems to be doing you a bit of a disservice, don’t you feel?

    NR: Well, you’re talking a lot about what other think and their opinions. I’m here to win races and not to please everybody that’s out there. There’s always going to be people that have opinions that will be going against me in some way or other. Those are two examples that you’ve given me and that’s the nature of the business, it’s always going to be like that so I like to focus on the people who really support me. And that’s it.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Bernie’s come out and said that he’d like to see walls put around circuits. Now I know that you’re quite keen on driver safety; what do you make of that? He would like to see walls to stop people going off track, increase the drama, to increase the danger. It sounds a bit bonkers to me but I just wanted to get your opinions.

    NR: Well, my opinion is that there are ten other areas which we should look at before… if we want to make the sport even better than it is before we start looking at turning back time on safety. That would be my view on that.

    SP: I certainly agree with Nico. There are so many more areas where we can improve the sport before starting to put safety at risk. I think we can definitely make the circuits a bit more challenging for the drivers, not necessarily with walls but making the driver pay for mistakes if you go off, having a gravel trap and losing time, that kind of thing I think is good for the sport because that forces the drivers not to make any mistakes.

    CS: I fully agree with Checo on that one. For me, obviously safety comes first but also challenges for drivers. I just did a track walk this morning and you know when you see so much tarmac run-off where you can go wide like in Austin, it’s good for safety but I’m convinced we could use some devices to make it a bit more challenging, to make sure you use a bit more of the track. At least you pay something, you don’t gain an advantage. At the moment it’s too risky for us to just miss the braking point a bit, nothing happens, continue and you don’t even lock up the tyres. I fully agree on that one with Checo.

    Q: (Thomas Goubin – AutoHebdo) Sergio, about next season, for you, at what point will it be difficult to replace a competitive driver like Nico and what kind of a driver would you like for next season as a teammate?

    SP: Obviously having someone at the level of Nico is going to be difficult but I just want someone who comes with the right attitude to help the team, that gives good feedback and understands what’s going on with the car and hopefully if he can be fast as well, who pushes me, that would be great. I think that has worked really well with Nico because we push… (Esteban interjects) A Mexican as well, maybe would be good. Someone who pushes you, I think that’s for the benefit of the team and I think a lot of the success that the team has had has been because Nico and I have been pushing each other really hard. Since practice one up to the race, it’s always within half a tenth and that’s always good for the team.

    Q: (Luis Alberto Aguirre – Reform) Regarding that subject, would you like to become Checo’s teammate; would you like to be Esteban’s teammate, Checo?

    EG: Yeah, why not? It would be fantastic. Any teammate is good. Sure.

    Q: Is there any chance we can see you guys wrestling out there later on?

    SP: Why not?

    Q: (Juan Pablo Sanchez – Millenio) Nico, what do you think are the keys to repeat (your victory) here in Mexico on Sunday?

    NR: Well, we’ve seen this year that the results from last year don’t really make a difference to this year except for a positive memory, so we’re all starting from zero and the keys… I think to have a good rhythm through the weekend, starting from FP1, building it up and then the usual things: good qualifying, good start, race pace, those things.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Carlos, we’re in the land of the chilli and your nickname is Chilli. A reader called attribalF1 would like to know who gave you the nickname, when and whether you think it’s descriptive?

    CS: Yeah, this name comes probably from my friends, maybe on nights out or something, they get a bit too drunk and they come up from Carlos to Charlie from Charlie to Chilli and that’s how it ended up being… I don’t like chillis, this the interesting part, that I hate spicy stuff. Yesterday I went to have some tacos and I couldn’t have them because they were too spicy. Chilli is not my favourite.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) Again to Nico, it seems that your mindset is very much each race and your mind isn’t on the broader story. Is that a decision that you’ve reached, the way that it works for you  or is it as a result of you having had a word with an expert in the area of mind management? I was just wondering how you stumbled on or decided that the idea that it was one race at a time and that was it.

    NR: It just feels right, it feels right to focus on the things I can influence to keep it simple, be in the moment and it’s been working so just stick with it.

    Q: (Diego Mejia – F1 Canal Latin America) To maybe Nico and if Checo can answer it as well: how would you expect the track to have evolved twelve months on, how will it be different or not from last year and how would you expect the supersoft tyre to be a factor after last year’s experience?

    NR: Normally the track surface gets a bit rougher and that will make it a bit different on the tyres, so that’s the main thing we need to learn and discover and see how that’s gone.

    SP: Same as Nico. I think the track will be rougher and that will have an impact on the degradation and now that we have a compound a step softer that might help the degradation so we might see different strategies. I think last year a lot of people went for one stop and now probably that’s not going to be that easy to be on a one stop.

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  • 2016 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber), Felipe NASR (Sauber), Jolyon PALMER (Renault), Sergio PEREZ (Force India), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Congratulations on your marriage last week. While your private life is settled, clearly you will be looking for a new partner in a professional sense next year, as a team-mate at Williams. What kind of driver would suit, a rookie or someone more experienced?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Thank you very much. The one thing is it is a fact that I’m going to have a new team-mate next year and it’s still not obviously confirmed if I will be with Williams or not, but yeah, new team-mate and I’ve always said and that’s how I feel, the quicker team-mate you have, it doesn’t matter who it is, as long as he’s quick it always boosts the performance of both drivers and helps the team, so that’s always good. And a team player would be nice, but obviously I have nothing to do with choosing the team-mate, it’s completely up to the team who I will be racing with so I hope everything’s OK.

    The battle with Force India in the championship is very tight: they were ahead on points, you moved back ahead after Monza. Where do you think your relative strengths lie as teams?

    VB: I think it’s going to be a great battle between us and Force India, we been have really close the last six races, really depending on the track; some tracks they have their strong points and some places us. So I think overall we are very, very equal in terms of how quick the cars are so it will be just depending race by race and trying to maximise everything, getting the strategy right every time and having a good qualifying, trying to be ahead of them. I’m looking forward to the end of the year and it’s going to be a good fight.

    Marcus, coming to you: congratulations, 50th GP start this weekend, only 4th Swede to make that mark. Sauber is now hiring again, some solid signings the last few weeks, how is the team evolving??   

    Marcus ERICSSON: Thanks a lot. Yeah, 50 sounds like a lot of race, but it’s nice. With the team I think we are definitely moving in the right direction. Like you say, we got some new signings, new personnel in the team, and it’s good, with fresh ideas, it’s positive for everyone I think. Also on the car side we got some updates going in the last couple of races and it’s interesting, we’re trying them out, trying to optimise them, and coming here to Singapore will also be very interesting for us because it will be the first time we really run the full new package we have introduced after the summer break, so it will be a very interesting weekend for us to see how far it gets us really.

    What weaknesses were you working on with that update package and what are you expecting this weekend from the sort of test that Singapore provides?

    ME: I think for sure it’s just general downforce that we have been lacking and hopefully from the signs we have got so far is that we have gained quite a bit on that side. Like I said, it’s been both Monza and Spa, the last two races that we have had this package; it’s not been high downforce tracks. It’s a bit of an unknown, so hopefully here in Singapore it’s obviously a very high downforce track so we will see then how this update package is working.

    Felipe, coming to you: In points here last year. It’s always a complex race strategy wise as Valtteri was alluding to earlier on, but with three different tyre options this season, how do you see the variables playing out, Saturday and Sunday?

    Felipe NASR: Well, yes it is, it’s normally a very challenging track, very demanding for both the car and the drivers and I feel the tyres will play a big part on it this weekend, you know having such softer compounds. I will be curious to see how many stops will be going in the race and I think the key really is to understand the tyres, how much you can make them last, understand how the car is reacting on track, with the temperatures here being very high. So it’s always a challenging weekend and Singapore always brings some surprises in terms of the racing always being exciting. A lot of things can happen so hopefully we are in a position to take any profit.

    The driver market is in gear now, you’ve been linked with a possible move to Williams, there may be openings at Renault, obviously Sauber has had investment. What’s your personal objective regarding next season??

    FN: Well, it’s difficult to say. Right now I don’t have any news. Hopefully soon but right now I don’t have much to say realty. All I can say, at Sauber things are moving forward. I can see the team really stepping up a lot of new people coming in, so as I said, it’s still a very attractive place to be, but it’s still and unknown. Hopefully when I have some news I’ll bring it in.

    OK, thank you very much for that. Sergio, 23-race finishing streak, scored points in all five of your appearances here in Singapore. What do you like about Singapore and do you see this as a weekend where you’ll get the edge back over Williams?

    Sergio PEREZ: Yeah well, that’s the target coming here. We obviously want to close up the gap. We lost out in the battle last race. We knew they were going to he strong there, so hopefully here we can close up and hopefully beat them. Singapore is a great place, it’s a very unique race, starting from racing at night, the way you get your routine; it’s totally different to any other race, waking up so late, going to bed also. Yesterday I was running at the track at 1am in the morning. Things like that are just not common in any other race. Also, the track is a very big challenge – mentally, physically, it’s just very difficult to finish the race, not having a contact or a crash. So it’s always important to make it until the end of the race. So hopefully I can keep my good score in Singapore with the points on Sunday.

    You seem to hold the key to the driver market at present. Force India say you are definitely with them next year, when will we know for sure your plans for 2017?

    SP: Well, I tried. I was hoping to be able to be in a position to announce my plans for this weekend. Obviously we got some delays. But I really hope that bef0re the next race we can definitely announce where I’ll be racing.

    Any little hints?

    SP: Well, I always say I’ll be very happy if I can stay, if everything is fine for me to stay where I am.

    Jolyon, you won GP2 feature race here in 2013 and you’ve outqualified your team-mate Magnussen in 3 of the last 4 races, do you feel it’s an important moment to show what you can do with an eye on securing a seat for next season?

    Jolyon PALMER: I think so, yeah. Still obviously the seats are in doubt, or up for grabs, so every race from now on is a chance to show what I can do. It’s a track I really like here and I feel like I’m driving the best I’ve driven all season at the moment. The results haven’t really shown in the last couple of races but I feel good within myself. Yeah, it’s a track I really like, I’ve had some good success here before, so hopefully keep on the good form at the moment and I think this one will suit our car a little bit more as well. Hopefully we will be able to challenge a little bit higher and I can show what I can do a bit more.

    That leads on to my next question: Renault have been rather erratic in qualifying, between row seven and row 11 of the grid depending on which race track, so is this more of a row seven weekend than a row 11 weekend?

    JP: I think it’s more of a row seven. Row 11, Monza was pretty much everything that we don’t want from a track. It was high speeds; Renault has made good steps with the engine but we’re still behind Ferrari and Mercedes, and then slow-speed corners and kerb riding, so it was everything we don’t want. Here, the straight-line speed is not so much; the corners are more suited to us. Even though it’s a street circuit, it’s reasonably smooth, so I think this could be one of our best of the year.

    Coming to you Daniel: twice on the podium here, front-row starter last year and Monaco pole sitter this year, that adds up to making you many people’s favourite for this weekend, Do you share that view?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: I think I’ve got a pretty good chance of the top 10, absolutely. That’s about it.

    Come on, you can do better than that!

    DR: I hope so, but top 10 is pretty safe you’d think.

    The narrative for this weekend seems to be a chance to put right what went wrong in Monaco, to take the win that was snatched from you in the Principality, do you have a sense of unfinished business and are you asking the team for perfect execution this weekend?

    DR: It’s obviously the next closest track to Monaco, so sure we look at it as a good chance to try to get the victory I’ve been after this season. With the team, since Monaco, a lot of things have been working better, in terms of I think we’ve executed a lot more on a Sunday and I’ve left Sundays feeling a lot happier the last handful of races, so that’s been good on both sides. I feel I have executed as well good things on Sunday. Let’s see. I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself or them for this weekend but I think deep down we obviously want to win. I believe we are a group of winners, so if there is a bit of pressure on us to get it done then I think we will thrive off that. Let’s see what happens. I’m definitely prepared and excited. I don’t know what I’m paying for a top 10, but it’s safe money.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Question for Valtteri, Monza was supposed to be a very good circuit for your car – and it was, you could compete with Red Bull. This, on the other hand, shouldn’t be as good, so what are the expectations for this weekend?

    VB: Yeah, definitely. Monza was a lot better than what we’ve seen in the few races before that with high speed circuits really suiting our car. Definitely had Red Bull had a bit of an upper hand but definitely we could keep them behind for quite a long time. And yeah, this is a completely different circuit. You need so much more downforce from the car, you need good mechanical grip, you need good tyre life. Last year it wasn’t too bad for us actually, coming to the weekend slightly carefully but then ending up fifth in the race with reasonable pace all weekend. So I think there are still good opportunities here, even though it’s maybe in theory the best – but I always see every weekend as a new opportunity, especially here where with a good qualifying, and if we can get a perfect strategy, very strong points are still possible.

    Q: (Wojciech Paprota – Swiatwyscigow.pl) Question to all of the drivers, a simple one. Do you think it’s the hardest race of the calendar?

    ME: Definitely. I think it’s for sure the hardest race of the year. It’s probably similar heat and humidity to Malaysia but just the fact it’s a street circuit and not many places to rest makes it the hardest one. But I like it, it’s a good challenge and you need to be really on top of your fitness. For me it’s the toughest – but it’s also one of the most enjoyable.

    Jolyon?

    JP: I’ve never raced it in Formula One but in GP2 it was hard. It was the hardest of the year in that so I believe these guys – I’m sure they’re all going to say it’s the hardest.

    Felipe?

    FN: I agree. I think it’s an amazing event. Night race, very demanding as I said, for both car and driver. Really it’s an endless track, you’re just doing corner by corner and to get everything precisely correct, it’s a challenge. The race itself, normally it brings a lot of surprises here so I’m looking forward to the weekend, as I said, we’ve been fighting to get, to sneak into those points, so why not this weekend? Let’s try it again.

    Valtteri, you find this the toughest?

    VB: It is, at least physically at least it is the toughest. Mentally, I think it feels a bit like Monaco. It’s very intense and needs to be zero mistakes during the race.

    Daniel, bit of tiredness, fatigue coming in, affecting concentration towards the end? Always a bit of an enemy there I guess?

    DR: Yeah, when you’re a high performance athlete… it is, it’s the toughest, sure. I think they touched on it, it’s similar heat and humidity to Malaysia but you’re surrounded by just the city and a lot of concrete, so it’s the one race I feel where you open your visor to get some air and you’re not getting any reward for that. It’s just heat and stale air. In Malaysia there’s a bit of circulation: even though it’s hot you get a bit of a breeze but here, no. It’s a track that you can’t… if you come here unprepared, then you can’t luck into a good result. You’ve got to come ready to go.

    Sergio?

    SP: I don’t feel the heat at all! I think it’s just a normal race. No, just kidding. I think it’s a really hard race out there. The last ten laps, twenty laps, you’re really praying for a safety car because it’s just really hard to finish the race, physically. And mentally as well. Mentally it’s a very big challenge because every corner, most of the corners, if you do a mistake you just touch the wall and it’s a puncture or something like that. I would say for me it’s definitely the most demanding race of the year.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Daniel, the last couple of times on the podium you’ve poured the sparkling wine into your shoe and drank it. What’s the background for all that?

    DR: I didn’t start it! Well, as far as I know I started it in Formula One but not worldwide. It was a few loose Aussies, from what I saw, the Mad Hueys, they’re surfies and fisherman and just loose guys, they travel the world fishing, surfing and whatever and they like to drink a bit of beer and whatnot, and that’s where the shoey began. On their travels they’d get people to do it as well and it’s just a bit of a laugh. I know Jack Miller knows a few of the guys from the Mad Hueys, so when he got his win in Assen, I suspected he was going to do it, and he did, so I thought I’d keep the Australian tradition going – and now Valentino’s got in on the mix, I saw he Instagrammed it yesterday and he said “everyone loves a shoey”, and “delicious”, and all that. A few words I used for it. I think it’s just a bit of fun now – everyone’s enjoying it.

    VB: How does it taste?

    DR: Honestly, if the sparkling wine is cold, then it tastes good. Normally it’s cold on the podium, if it’s warm then sure, you’d get the sweat and that through it – but the cold taste kills the bad stuff, so it’s delicious, as we said!

    So we can expect a shoe on Sunday if you win?

    DR: If I win, sure! If it’s just a second or third probably not now. For a victory, I’d expect to see a few people do it with me!

    Q: (Chris Lines – AP) Question for Dan, bit different tyre strategy between Red Bull and Ferrari this weekend in terms of allocation of super soft and ultra soft. Do you think the tyre strategy will be the key factor here or will there be something else?

    DR: I think it can maybe decide a few things, whether it’s on Sunday I’m not sure, obviously we’ve got freedom to use any of those tyres during practice. Maybe us or Ferrari  for example, will change our practice runs now and use a different compound to try and have something similar for the race – but yeah, it can, here because it’s so hot, the tyres do normally get a hard time and it’s low speed corners, a lot of traction and the rears can get a hard time for sure so I think if you’ve got too many softer compounds, you might run into a bit of trouble in the race but we’ll see. It’s been quite exciting this year, being able to use three compounds over a weekend and having been forced to choose them months in advance. Sure, if we could have picked the tyres this week, we all probably would have done something different. It’s a bit more of a lottery, makes it exciting and makes our practice runs perhaps a little bit more calculated.

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Obviously since Monza, gentlemen, some quite seismic news in Formula One, new commercial rights holders, new owners in Liberty Media. As drivers, you keep saying that you’d quite like to have more of an input in the sport so if the new owners came to you and said what would you like to see in the future, to maybe make the sport better, to put a bigger smile on your faces, what would your advice be to them?

    SP: I think I would love to see Formula One a lot closer, the competition a lot closer, closer teams, giving the midfield teams the opportunity to be capable of winning a race, fighting for titles. I think that would be just something great for the fans to see one race Williams on top, another race another team, that would just be very good and for that you need to change the system, how you divide the money because there’s obviously a massive difference, so I think that would be a very good thing for the sport.

    DR: Nothing springs to mind; obviously we always talk about bits and pieces but nothing, I guess, that anyone’s heard before. Saturday races, like a Saturday race as opposed to Sunday, just so we can plan a bigger night on Saturday. That would be good fun!

    VB: Yeah, I think we need to see first of all how next year is going to be with all the changes already fixed for next year with the new cars, bigger tyres, more grip. I think we need to see how it goes then.

    FN: I would say a bit of what they have already said I agree with but I think the most important thing is to see closer competition between the cars, I think that’s what I hear from people or from fans – they always like to see more fighting on track between car, between teams. I think the closing line is what were looking for but also next year we have a big change in terms of the cars being different. I think everything will be a bit more aggressive in terms of the racing itself so let’s wait and see how it goes and we’ll take it from there.

    JP: Yeah, I would agree with these guys. I think the main thing is closer competition. At the moment, we turn up for a weekend and we pretty much know maybe it’s two, four, maximum six drivers can win the race but it would be nice to turn up here and think maybe, you know, Williams can win or maybe Force India or maybe someone can put in a big surprise. I think that’s the biggest thing which would change a lot of fan involvement and make it a lot more interesting to watch.

    ME: Not much to add, I agree with these guys: closer competition throughout the grid and more teams getting involved in race wins and podiums. I think that will make a big difference for the attraction to fans. That would be the biggest thing for me.

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) For the three drivers in the back row: not so long ago, you were fighting for championships and winning them and fighting for victories but you get to two thirds of this season and you have no points probably for the first time in your careers. Does that play a little bit on your mind when you go into a race weekend and how do you cope with it?

    FN: Well, I guess I’m experienced at this. Last year I had plenty of opportunities to score points and it’s very rewarding when you can come into a weekend knowing that you have something to fight for. As I said, most of it is the reward you get back but coming to this year, you’re facing a lot more difficulties but on the other hand, you try to explore areas that you’re not really giving a hundred percent attention to so I think that as a driver I feel a lot more complete this year. Any opportunity counts so when it comes to a race weekend like this in Singapore, we know that there are a number of facts that happen in the race, you must be ready because they can come any time so let’s see. Three of us here, we don’t have a point so let’s see who gets it first, if we can…

    JP: I’m not massively focused on it. Of course I want to score points but if we don’t have the car to score points then there’s nothing we can really do. I’m focused on my own job, basically doing the best job I can with the machinery I’ve got. The last two races have been quite difficult. Hungary was the better chance to score, I think this one will be a better chance to score but I think for me it’s all about improving as a driver, doing the best job I can with the machinery I’ve got and then I’m sure… I know in the future Renault will be fighting for points. If I can do a good job with what I’ve got at the moment, then the points will come further down the line.

    ME: Yeah, of course it’s different to when we were in junior categories like I said, fighting for wins every weekend or at least aiming for them. Now it’s different. When you’re in a smaller team and you know you’re going into a weekend when even scoring points is a big challenge – it’s a different mindset but it’s something you have to accept and that’s how it is in Formula One. I think it’s always been like that as well, that different teams have different strengths so you need to accept that and try and maximise the car that you’ve got and that’s all you can do, focusing a lot on your own performance and maybe not look so much at the results because it’s more important to try and maximise what you’ve got. But of course, it’s a lot nicer if you can fight for points.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, you have scored only 26 points from the last seven races since Canada; what number of points would have satisfied you from the last seven races?

    VB: Yeah, it’s not quite as many as I was hoping for after being on the podium in Canada but it is what it is at the moment. I can’t say the exact number of points but the absolute maximum we can… I hope as a team we can leave every single race weekend at the end of the year feeling that we maximised the weekend, that we got everything out of it and the same for me personally. As a driver, that’s the main thing and hopefully that way we will be ahead of these guys (Force India).

    Q: (S. Dipak Ragav – The Hindu) Sergio, for the last two years, Force India have had a slow start to the season. Do you think it’s a concern for you, going into the next year with the regulations? And the second part of my question is if Force India finishes fourth, do you think it has the ability, in terms of resources and infrastructure, to take the leap to beat the top three like Red Bull did in 2008, 2009?

    SP: Yes, I think the team, especially this season, now that the rules are more consistent, I think we started with a competitive car. We just needed to figure out some set-up options on the car to improve the tyre degradation but the car straight away in qualifying was capable of achieving Q3s in the early part of the year so that makes a good difference. And when you look at the past, when we had the massive regulation change for 2014, on my third race I was on the podium for the team, so it shows that Force India is capable of adapting well to new regulations so I think we have the potential to do so. I believe that we are going to be in front of them (Williams) at the end of the year so I really hope that we move up and hopefully next year we can do another step forward which is going to be very tough. Now you’re fighting Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, so it’s going to be very tough but I fully believe in the team and I think if we manage to finish fourth it will be a massive bonus for everyone in the team.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Jolyon, have you been given any indication by Renault when you’ll get a decision for next year?

    JP: No, nothing yet, so yeah, nothing changes for me really: just keep doing the job, I’ll know when I know but yeah, if I just keep doing what I’m doing. I know I’m in the mix but we’ll just see how things pan out.

  • Gearbox Penalties for Vettel and Ericsson

    Gearbox Penalties for Vettel and Ericsson

    Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson will get new gearboxes for the British Grand Prix weekend and will drop 5-places down the grid.

    Right at the end of Free Practice 3, Vettel could be seen clapping his hands in frustration as he crossed the line. His time was good enough to put him 5th fastest but a team radio broadcast gave a better idea of his frustration. “Ok. I think we failed the gearbox once again,” said the German over the radio.

    Ferrari later confirmed that the German would get a new gearbox for qualifying which will drop him 5-places down the grid. This is Vettel’s second gearbox change in two races.

     

    Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula One

  • 2016 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber), Sergio PEREZ (Force India), Felipe MASSA (Williams), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Jenson BUTTON (McLaren), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Daniel, let’s start with you, our 2014 Canadian Grand Prix winner of course. You didn’t want to hear what the team had to say after the last race in Monaco, so how have the conversations gone since, around strategy decisions, the pit stop issue and how have you personally got over the disappointment?
    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, I gave it a few days to cool off. I definitely felt after the race that I wasn’t in a place, probably no one was in a place to try to resolve what happened. For me it just get away for a few days and then address what happened once we’d cooled and settled. So I spoke to various people in the team and they basically explained what happened at the time and the situation. It was obviously important to hear the explanation but I think more important how to move on from it and how to make sure it doesn’t happen again. They’d done a lot of things since then back at the factory and they have set up some new parameters and things that will happen during pit stops and before pit stops to make sure that these things don’t happen again and to make sure that tyres are ready and that various compounds are ready at once. So, yeah, obviously from my said now I’ve moved on. It’s obviously good that they’ve… I knew they were going to take it seriously because it was obviously a big disappointment for all of us, but I’ve been assured that if we’re in that position again then it won’t happen, so that was obviously what I needed and what I wanted to hear.

    With the Renault engine upgrade, which seems to be pretty valid there, as well as the nature of the Red Bull chassis and of this circuit layout here in Montreal, is there a realistic expectation that you can bounce back with this weekend with a win?
    DR: In my mind there is. That would obviously be a lovely way to bounce back. Let’s see, I think realistically Mercedes are still going to be, as expected, the ones to beat. I expect that we can be the next best, or I hope we can be the next best. But it’s hard, you know, Ferrari have been there and surprised us sometime and then been less surprising on other occasions. You never know, but I do believe we’ll be the next ones in line behind Mercedes and how far we’re behind Mercedes I’m not sure but hopefully close enough to again put some pressure on them and grab a win.

    Marcus, coming to you, a little bit of ice hockey this week with Valtteri Bottas. Who’s the more aggressive on the ice, you or him?
    Marcus ERICSSON: Most aggressive? I don’t know, but obviously Sweden and Finland have a big rivalry in ice hockey and it was a fun event and he was very good on the ice I have to say.

    Speaking of aggression, there was a self-destructive situation between you two Sauber drivers in Monaco. Do you and the team just have to accept that as Sauber isn’t really racing any other team you’re going to be racing each other like this week in week out?
    ME: No, it shouldn’t be like that of course. Now it happened in Monaco and we all spoke about it and discussed it and we cleared the air about it. We had different opinions but it’s all done and settled now and we are looking forward to Montreal together as a team.

    Thanks. Felipe coming to you, you’re scored points in four of the last five Canadian Grands Prix, you’re the only driver this season to have scored points in every round and you’ve been ahead of your team-mate 60% of the time. How satisfied can you be with that?
    Felipe MASSA: Well, satisfied, when you score one point, is not really the right answer. I really hope we can score more than what we’re doing. You always want more. It’s on the consistent side in terms of scoring points but we need to work to get a little bit more than one point like we did in Monaco and getting closer to the top five at every race, that’s what we want to do, that’s what we’re working for and I really hope that we can carry on scoring a good amount of points at every race.

    Williams has owned third place for the past few seasons but that looks to have slipped to fourth this season, and Force India in the last month or so have been coming for you as well. What’s holding you back?
    FM: Well, I think that Red Bull is definitely the team that has grown most and as everybody could see, they even won races this year and they were fighting to win even the last race, so I think with the other teams we are fighting a good way. Definitely Monaco was not the best track for us but I’m really looking forward to being competitive back here and even in the next races and be back on this important fight to maybe even fight for the third, which would be not so easy, but to keep our fourth position also I think we can do and we’re fighting for that.

    Thank you for that. Kimi, coming to you, three podiums from the opening six rounds is your best start to the season since 2013, but do you and the team feel that you have fallen behind Red Bull rather than closed on Mercedes?
    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: I wouldn’t say it like that. We know what we’ve done, we’re definitely more strong in the car and other areas than we were last year. Maybe the results haven’t showed it exactly, but it’s not been the easiest start for us as a team, but we know that as long as we do our stuff and keep working it will pay off. As I say, it’s not been what we’re looking for exactly, but the package has improved and we’re working on that all the time. We know our weaknesses and where we have to improve. Obviously you always look for better results and wins, putting the two cars up there, but so far it’s been a bit tricky this start of the year, but we are more or less there, so we keep doing the same things.

    A significant update to the car is a pretty traditional thing for Ferrari in Montreal, so the turbo update you have this weekend has been long awaited. Will this now allow you to fully exploit the power unit?
    KR: We fully exploit it all the time. This is a step forward. How much, time will tell. It’s a new part and we would never put any new parts on the car if we didn’t think it improves, but is it going to be what kind of step? I don’t expect any miracles suddenly but it’s the right direction and it’s something that’s been for a while that we’ve been waiting to have it. It’s more like any other new parts we bring, it’s not suddenly something magic, so it’s a very normal work in progress for us as a team, as Ferrari, and it’s going in the right direction all the time.

    Thank you for that. Jenson, coming to you, a former winner of this race, the epic wet race of 2011, two other podiums here in Montreal in 15 appearances at this track. Tell us what makes this place special for you, and what’s the best way to drive it?
    Jenson BUTTON: Wow, what makes it special? I think it’s always your history that makes a place special, isn’t it. First time to every circuit, it’s nice, but it’s the history and your experiences there that makes a place special. 2011 was very special. You know me, I’m a trouper, and it’s about fighting through and never giving up. So, it’s always those special experiences that make an event for me.

    And the best way to drive it? The best way to be quick here?
    JB: To be fair, you need a car that is efficient. You need a car that’s good on braking. I suppose every circuit is the same, but those are specifically important areas/. It’s having confidence to use the kerbs here, carry speed and when the weather is like this, making the right calls.

    A bit like Felipe, it’s not been big points, but you have scored in the last three races, from a fairly consistent P12, P13 on the grid. Where is the step coming from to get into Q3 and challenge for he bigger points?
    JB: For big points, I think it’s going to be a while before we’re actually going competitive enough to fight for big points, but we are making good progress. People would think that this isn’t a circuit that would suit our car, but it’s going to be alright. We’ve come here with some upgrades, which should help us. It’s not big but it should help us. We are very efficient in terms of our car. I know that Exxon Mobil had been working very hard with Honda with fuel. We have an upgrade here, which should help in that areas, so, yeah, we’re positive.

    Q: Sergio, coming to you, fantastic podium last time out in Monaco. Your sixth in Formula One. You scored one here back in 2012. Is there a sense of optimism that you can continue this strong run?
    Sergio PÉREZ: Well, Monaco was a very special race under certain conditions and to get into the points , everything worked perfectly for us: with the strategy; with all the calls that we did in Monaco. So it was a race under very special conditions. We are expecting something similar here for Sunday but you never know. I really hope we can carry the form, y’know? Probably podiums is not the realistic word for us at the moment but certainly continue the progress and keep scoring points and aim to beat Williams, which is the team ahead of us, which is going to be difficult but I think we are making good progress and we are getting better and better every race.

    Q: With 100 grands prix on the board in what’s been essentially a career of two parts, where do you go from here? Do you sense that there is a chance to move back to a top team?
    SP: You never know. To be honest I’m not really obsessed with that. If that happened that would be a great opportunity to me and I really hope in the near future I can have the opportunity to be in a car that can give me the opportunity to win. But right now all I can do is to focus on this weekend, do my best for this one and then after this one think about Baku and whatever. The most important thing for me is to focus on the present and try to keep doing the job that I’ve been doing so far.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Daniel, I’m interested to know in the debrief whether or not, in the context of other dramas we’ve had at Monaco over the years, drivers missing the red light for scrutineering, Lewis’ obvious problem last year with the call, whether or not Monaco itself is a function of the issue that happened, because of the tightness of the garage, the general confusion of Monte Carlo, or if it was something that could have happened anywhere?
    DR: I think… yeah, the nature of the pits and everything in Monaco, it does make it harder to move around. The garage is small. Whether it would have been a different story at another track, I’m not sure. I think it came down to a late call, a late change of heart. Basically after the team saw what tyres Lewis had put on, they decided to change their decision. Let’s say we were always intending on using one compound and once they saw Lewis change, or go to the UltraSoft – I think the team probably expected him to use a SuperSoft – then it got them thinking and then it was all a bit last-minute. So, whether a last-minute call, say at Barcelona, would have allowed that to happen a bit more fluently, I’m not sure. Yeah, I think the call was just a bit rushed and with Monaco being what it is, it was probably just a bit chaotic for the circumstances. I think it all probably added up: small garage; the intensity of the whole weekend and that track and what it does probably didn’t help. Yeah.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonese – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Question for Daniel and one for Kimi. For Daniel, is about the ambition of this season. After the win of your team-mate in Barcelona, the pole position and nearly victory in Monaco, if you wish that the car is going well here, you can think even to fight for the Championship this year? And for Kimi, we would like to know about your future, if you have a deadline with Ferrari to decide what happens next year?
    DR: Yeah, coming into the season, didn’t expect to be… probably didn’t expect to be third in the Championship but after so many races in, and yeah, we’ve seen no points in Russia and could have got more in China without the puncture, and the last two races, we could be very close to probably… yeah… we’d be very close to the front of the Championship right now. So, you know, I’m still not looking at that yet. I would love to be in a position in a few races time and say yeah, we can fight for a title this year. I think that would be a pretty nice, unexpected fight and story for F1. I think this race will be pretty telling. If we can be competitive here, you never know. It’s still a long-shot, for sure, but if we can be competitive then sure I believe in myself that I can fight and do what I’ve got to do to put myself in a position come the end of the year. So, fingers crossed we can… Barcelona and Monaco isn’t… wasn’t a one-off. I hope we can fight again for the rest of the season. And I believe we can: whether it’s a win or a podium… to be continued.

    Kimi, second question was to you, is there is a deadline in terms of your future with Ferrari?
    KR: I don’t know anything more. You guys seem to be knowing a lot every week, this and that. It’s not in my decision in the end. I always said I’m happy to be here, I hope I will be here for helping Ferrari get where we want to get as a team. What happens in the future, we will see.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Daniel, first Spain then Monaco. How much have these two events damaged your relationship with the team – have you forgiven the team absolutely and totally for these two incidents?
    DR: Yeah, obviously, as I said after Monaco I was happy to keep some distance for a few days. For myself as well, it probably wasn’t healthy to just address it straight away. But yeah, for sure, for a few days I was upset I guess, and obviously ruing some missed opportunities – but it’s one of those things: it happens; it’s unfortunate it happened back-to-back. That, how do I say, expanded the feelings and the emotion a lot more. But yeah, I’ve moved on. I’ve still obviously got a lot of faith in the team and I don’t doubt things with them moving forwards. For me it’s obviously really important this weekend to execute a perfect weekend from my side and from the team’s side and get back on track. Because obviously we’ve shown we have a good car, we’ve got good material. It’s just trying really to maximize it. The last four weekends I’ve left Sunday feeling I should have got more. So yeah, this weekend it’s just to try leaving on Sunday knowing that we’ve maximized everything from both sides.

    Q: (Jérôme Bourret – L’Equipe) Braking is of course something crucial here. Could you please tell us something about how difficult it is to find the right braking lap after lap during the race – and how demanding it is from a physical point of view?
    JB: I think the race is fine in terms of braking. I think with the way that the cars are these days it does make it a little bit trickier with the deployment that we have that is obviously different to qualifying – well it is for us, I don’t know if it is for everybody else – and also there will be fuel saving here so – and again I don’t know if it is for everyone else – but that does change your braking. It changes the brake temperatures, obviously. So you have to be very careful of that and it’s studied throughout the race. But for me the more difficult time to get your braking right is qualifying. Because you’re right on the edge: it’s bumpy; easy to lock wheels – but you’ve got to have that confidence in the car to brake as late as you can because there’s a lot of lap-time there.

    Felipe, what’s your perspective on this? You’re obviously running a Mercedes engine, will you be fuel-saving on Sunday? And your thoughts on the braking.
    FM: For sure it’s a track that you need to have a good… brakes need to work well so it’s easy to get… we saw in the past many teams struggling with overheating problems in the braking. We need to be careful, try to use everything in the proper way to have no problems. Actually in all these two and a half years that I’m here with Williams, we never had a problem on the brakes so I don’t really see we can have any problem during the race. I think the fuel consumption can be an issue for everybody here, so we need to wait and see how it’s going to be tomorrow and the numbers and prepare the race in the proper way.

    Sergio, anything to add?
    SP: Yeah, I think Montréal is very hard on braking, especially in the race if you are in the traffic and it’s hot on Sunday – which doesn’t look like. It can be really demanding on the brakes with the brakes overheating. And, as Jenson said, we’re going to be fuel-saving, all of us, on Sunday if it’s a straightforward race. That makes it a bit easier in a way, on the brakes, but it can always be quite tricky. I think the most challenging day for the brakes is Saturday. Saturday in qualifying you really have to be on the edge and there’s a lot of time to be gained under braking. So you have to have the confidence to approach it well.

    Q: (Alexander Govorov – Championnat.com) Felipe, the last couple of years in Montreal Williams was very strong, but you’re struggling on slow tracks. Do you see the race in Montreal as an opportunity to be back in the top six and maybe fight for the podium?
    FM: Yeah, definitely. I really hope we can be competitive on this track, not just this track but maybe Baku can be a positive track for us, Austria, so I’m really looking forward that this next race can be a circuit that we can be strong on, maybe fighting for the top five, maybe a podium because that’s what we want and we will try.

    Q: (Leigh Diffey – NBC Sports) Jenson, there’s an abundance of information for us all to look at to see how things have improved, whether that’s lap time or your qualifying spots or race results, but what are the immeasurable things that have changed within the team? Has there been a shift in morale or a change of tone in conversation? Just take us inside the team.
    JB: Yeah, from the outside, you always ask the questions: where is it, when are you going to be competitive? And then you get… every time I speak to the press it’s how about now? How about now? How about now? How about now? It’s unbelievable, the pressure from the outside but from the inside we know where we are, we know we’re improving and I think the atmosphere in the team is very good. Fernando and myself are both very experienced, I think we bring a lot to the team in terms of our experience and direction and there is a lot in the pipeline. It’s always very difficult because we’re in a season where we want to get the result we can, as everyone does, and I think it’s the same for everyone. With a regulation change next year, it changes everything, in terms of how much effort is put into that single season. But I’m happy with the progress that’s being made there is a good feeling. We feel that a lot of the time we are getting the maximum out of the car which is the main thing right now and yeah, we’re still quite a way off the pace but it will come, it is just a matter of time but it always takes a lot longer than you want.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Daniel, sorry to harp on about this but how did the reconciliation come about? Did you make the ‘phone call, did they call you, did you just arrive at the factory or how did that happen?
    DR: It was all over the ‘phone. I let it cool a couple of days and then I spoke to Christian, I spoke to my engineer and obviously Christian just explained… obviously apologised on everyone’s behalf and just explained what went down and the reasons why there was confusion and why obviously the tyres weren’t ready and this and that. So that was really the ‘phone call with Christian and then I spoke to Simon, my engineer, that was later in the week, after they’d got a chance to spend some days in the factory and basically just to hear what they’d put in place. And also I questioned… because everyone highlighted the second pit stop which was where effectively we lost the race but I questioned the first pit stop as well because that was the one… already when I came out behind Lewis, I was like ‘well, we’ve put ourselves in a race now with Lewis which we didn’t have to be in so…’ I just wanted to make sure that the first pit stop was being addressed as heavily as the second one and then Simon obviously explained that they were not looking into that but acknowledging that that was also, I would say, a mistake. So yeah, it was just to get some clarity on everything. Yes, there’s going to be some new software they’ve now put in for strategy and some live stuff during the race that can obviously make us more prepared, and if there are some late calls again, to make sure that everything’s put in place. Yes, obviously I had plenty of questions to ask but they answered them with confidence and that’s all I needed to hear.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Sergio, it wasn’t that long ago that you were certainly heading for a podium if not a win here. Big shunt with Felipe but I noticed you and Felipe are now big mates at the back there, chatting away, having a laugh. I wonder when you come back here whether you think about that and how that incident in your mind has been resolved, whether you think it was 50-50 now?
    SP: I still think it was his fault. But I got the penalty though. Well, it was a long story after that.
    FM: Very long.
    SP: But yeah, that day I was so close to win the race, actually. I remember Rosberg had an issue in the last laps and I was getting really close to him but then I had an issue as well with the brakes actually, my brakes were quite overheated, I had a problem with the BBW(brake by wire) so that was hurting my brake balance a lot, I was losing a lot of lap time with the brakes and I lost the place to Daniel and he went on and won the race. But in general that day was an extremely good race for me and we found ourselves in a position that we were not expecting to. Unfortunately, on the last lap, it all went to bad with a crash but it was a really good race and we were close to win that day.
    FM: My thoughts? So we crashed, it was really bad for both of us and I hope this thing doesn’t happen any more. But I was not penalised!

    Q: (Robby Pacicco – Popular Hispanics) Felipe, last year you had a little intruder on the track while you were racing. Did you adjust your race strategy for another groundhog this year?
    FM: Here is a place that you can maybe see that. I hope they stay safe in their place. It can maybe happen but it must be really dangerous what happens to us or to the race. It was fun actually.

    Q: (Leigh Diffey – NBC Sports) Kimi, there’s been a lot of discussion about braking today. For the last two years in a row, going up into the hairpin, exiting the hairpin, you’ve spun in exactly the same manner and you even said on the radio to the team last year ‘that was the same as last year.’ Have you guys got to the bottom of what that was and how that happened two years in a row at the same corner?
    KR: I’m pretty sure we have but hopefully I’m not wrong on Sunday but it’s quite frustrating in a way the last couple of years but we knew the issues and we took care of it in our mind but actually it never happened in any other thing. The first year it happened in practice but last year, because we knew what the problems( were) then kind of tried to even force it in practice and nothing happened but then in the race (it happened) again. I will make sure this year it’s not going to happen hopefully. I think we’ve learned now since that.

  • Penalties After the Monaco Grand Prix

    Penalties After the Monaco Grand Prix

    Once again the Monaco Grand Prix lived up to expectations of being one of the most exciting races to watch this season.

    Lewis Hamilton drove probably one of the toughest races in his career to take the victory. Daniel Ricciardo on the other hand will need some time to come to terms that his win was taken away from him.

    The race, as with any race in Monaco, was not without incident. There were a few naughty boys around the track which inevitably led to the stewards having a busier afternoon than usual.

    Pascal Wehrlein

    Manor Racing’s Pascal Wehrlein was handed two 10-second time penalties and two, 2-point additions to his super license. The first penalty was for not “staying above the minimum time set by the FIA ECU under the virtual safety car.” and the second one was for ignoring blue flags. \

    monaco-kvyatDaniil Kvyat

    After electrical trouble at the start and being a lap down Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat was eager to make up the time and in his haste ended up crashing into the right side of Kevin Magnussen’s Renault into Turn 18. Kvyat dived down the inside into a gap that was only going to get smaller. He and Magnussen ended up in the barriers. Both drivers retired from the race.

    Kvyat was handed a 3-place grid penalty at the next race which is the Canadian Grand Prix and 2-points on his license.

    “The driver of Car 26[Kvyat], with two small collisions, left front (car 26)/rear right (car 20)[Magnussen], effectively created an overtaking space which in reality would not have been there if the collision had not occurred,” said a statement by the stewards.

    monaco-sauberMarcus Ericsson

    Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson made contact with his team mate Felipe Nasr after. Slower than his team-mate, Nasr was asked to let Erisson through. Nasr questioned the instruction at first. Frustrated behind his team mate Erisccon launched down the inside taking himself and his team mate out of the race.

    The stewards decision was short and to the point. “Car 9 collided with car 12 in Turn 18″,” it read. Ericsson was handed a 3-place grid penalty at the next race and 2-points on his license. After the Monaco Grand Prix incident Ericsson is not on 6-points for the 12 month period.

    Williams’ Valtteri Bottas was given a 10-second time penalty after the race for his contact with Haas’ Esteban Gutierrez at Turn 18. 

    Hamilton was under investigation for closing the gap on Daniel Ricciardo in the battle for the lead at the Chicane after the Tunnel. Hamilton had to cut the chicane going a bit too deep on the brakes while defending. Ricciardo saw the chance and went around the outside at the exit of the chicane. Hamilton moved over and shut the door on Ricciardo. No further action was taken by the stewards.

    monaco-kimi-outKimi Raikkonen got out of shape in his Ferrari into the hairpin and clipped the barrier. After the contact with the barrier his front wing became lodged under his car. He proceeded to drive with his wing for a while hoping that it would work its way loose. He eventually retired the car at the chicane exit road after the Tunnel.

    No Further action was taken by the stewards because Ferrari were able to prove Raikkonen drove to stop in a safe place.

    “The driver, in evidence, stated that he thought initially that he could safely proceed to the pits to replace the nose. Radio messages confirm this,” said the decision statement by the stewards.

    “The Team advised the driver that he needed to stop the car as soon as possible. The driver stated that he wanted to stop the car in a safe place and the first available place was the runoff area at Turn 10.”

  • F1 2016: Monaco GP – Masterful Hamilton Wins

    F1 2016: Monaco GP – Masterful Hamilton Wins

    If a race around the confined streets of Monte Carlo isn’t a big enough challenge the rain that came down made sure that it was emphatically more demanding.

    Daniel Ricciardo started the Monaco grand prix from his first career pole position and would’ve felt he had half the job done. As the race got underway behind the safety-car there was no perilous side-by-side running into turn one with Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes or the fear of pushing slightly over the limit any into a barrier.

    When racing did get underway Ricciardo quickly carved out a ten second to second placed Rosberg with Hamilton close behind in third. As the circuit started to dry Ricciardo dived into the pitlane for a set of intermediate tyres but the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton stayed out. It was this stint, on the full wet tyre, that won Lewis Hamilton the Monaco grand prix.

    But for Hamilton to take his first victory of the season a lot of things had to go his way. First championship leader and teammate Nico Rosberg had to move over and let him by and this move revealed some Rosberg’s character.  Regardless of his pace, as the championship leader, there couldn’t have been an argument against Rosberg if he didn’t move out of the way for his biggest rival. By giving way to Hamilton he showed himself to be a team man.

    GP MONACO F1/2016Still victory seemed a long shot as Ricciardo closed right onto the back of Hamilton on his quicker intermediate tyres. Each driver would have to make one more stop for slick tyres. However, as the Australian dived into the pits for dry tyres a communication error meant the team was not ready. A thirteen second pitstop for Ricciardo meant Hamilton squeezed into the lead of race.

    Although demoralized Ricciardo refused to give up and hounded Hamilton for as long as possible. Nevertheless, the Australian was unable to take back the lead of the race and finished second. Not too far behind Force India’s Sergio Perez drove a stellar race to hold of the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel for third. Ferrari’s Monaco experience was an unforgettable one as Kimi Raikkonen retired early on after touching the barrier in the hairpin and getting stuck on his own front-wing.

    Fernando Alonso showed his class with a fine fifth place finish for McLaren on their 50th anniversary. The opportunistic Nico Hulkenberg snatched sixth place from Nico Rosberg into the final corner on the last lap of the race. Meanwhile Rosberg, running with suspected glazed brakes, finished seventh ahead of Carlos Sainz in eighth, Jenson Button in ninth, and the Williams of Felipe Massa in tenth.

    GP MONACO F1/2016The race was interrupted by several virtual safety car periods as drivers fell victim to the difficult conditions and notoriously tight circuit. Renault’s Jolyon Palmer crashed in the start/finish straight while Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat took out Kevin Magnussen. Max Verstappen was well on his way to recovering from a pitlane start but stuck his Red Bull into the barrier on lap 34.

    To add insult to a serious lack of pace Marcus Ericsson attempted a bizarre move on his Sauber teammate Felipe Nasr into the final corner that ended in a double retirement for the team.

    Some stars had to align for Hamilton’s first win of the 2016 season. But it was his masterfully controlled stint on a drying track with worn wet-weather tyres that sealed the deal. A car as dominate as the 2016 Mercedes often disguises a driver’s skill. But on this day not even this could overshadow Hamilton’s near impeccable feel and talent for driving a Formula 1 car.

    All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport.

  • F1 2016: Spanish GP Preview – All eyes on Spain

    F1 2016: Spanish GP Preview – All eyes on Spain

    Traditionally the first European race of the F1 season sees a raft of updates made to the cars. It’s no different in 2016 as teams look to take a crucial step forward at Spain’s Circuit de Catalunya.

    Red Bull Racing dropped the bombshell a few days after the Russian grand prix that Dannil Kvyat and Max Verstappen would swop seats. Ostensibly, the move appears to have been made following Kvyat’s attempt at playing bumper cars with Sebastian Vettel in Russia but there’s a fair bit more at play than that.

    For one, Russian driver Kvyat hasn’t been that impressive in the Red Bull alongside Daniel Ricciardo. Then, there’s that incident with the Ferrari in Russia. However, neither of these two things are enough to warrant a demotion to the junior team. Drivers go through indifferent patches and make mistakes but they aren’t dropped at the first sign of strife, usually. Romain Grosjean’s troublesome season at Lotus and Pastor Maldonado’s F1 career is testament to the fact that teams usually stick it out. But not in Kvyat’s case.

    daniil-kvyatThe incident in Russia is nothing more than an excuse to promote Verstappen from Toro Rosso into the senior team. While the teenaged Dutch driver may be singing Red Bull’s praises and swearing that he’s never looked elsewhere for a drive we know better. Despite being in only his second F1 season it’s obvious that Verstappen has enormous potential. This makes him a hot commodity for other teams and there’s no better way to keep him close than to move him to the senior team.  Well played Red Bull.

    What a difference twelve months can make. In 2015 Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg arrived at the Spanish grand prix under pressure to perform. This time around he arrives at the fifth round of the season with four race wins under the belt and a dominant lead over teammate Lewis Hamilton in the standings. Now the questions shifts from can Nico do it to can he keep doing it? The German is convinced that Hamilton will hit back soon and he’s likely right. However, it’s also a great mental space Rosberg to operate in – take it one race and one lap at a time and don’t take it for granted.

    Besides a bit of brooding on the Russian Gp podium Hamilton has appeared decidedly chilled, even apathetic, to his dreadful run so far in 2016. But don’t be fooled by his supposedly indifferent approach. The reigning champ more than has the skill to hit back hard and just needs to find the sweet-spot for it to be unleashed.

    TEST PRE CAMPIONATO F1/2016 - T2 - BARCELLONA (SPAGNA)From the Ferrari garage the hope is that the performance deficit in the last race was specific to the circuit. It could’ve been given that the Russian circuit is power dominant. But though they may be closer in Spain it will extremely tough to beat the Silver Arrows around Catalunya.

    McLaren, already vastly improved in 2016, is planning to introduce a significant upgrade to their car this weekend. They hope that a new floor, wings, and various bits of other bodywork will be enough to propel them into the top ten in qualifying and a solid points score with both cars.

    The Haas F1 Team will run the upgraded Ferrari engine, introduced in Russia, in Spain. The Renault team will run an updated version of their front and rear wings in the hopes of upping their game in a tight mid-field battle.

    Seven drivers on the current grid have won the Spanish grand prix and thanks to its status as a test venue everyone knows their way around these parts. But as familiar as they are with the Circuit de Catalunya it doesn’t do anything to lessen the challenge.

  • F1 2016: Chinese GP – Rosberg Makes Hay In China

    F1 2016: Chinese GP – Rosberg Makes Hay In China

    For years we’ve been frustratingly calling for Nico Rosberg to up his game. With a third win out of three in 2016 he’s done it.

    The German driver effortlessly converted pole position into victory as the chaos unfolded behind his Mercedes. However, it was second-placed starter Daniel Ricciardo who snatched the lead of the race off the line in his Red Bull. Behind this pair the two Ferrari’s of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, starting third and fourth, looked set to challenge for the race win until Vettel barged into the side of Raikkonen to avoid the sister Red Bull of Dannil  Kvyat on his inside.

    Although Vettel recovered to second place in the end it was a sloppy race for the four time champion. The clash with teammate Raikkonen caused damage to his front-wing which was required replacing. But it would be damaged again as he tried to find his way passed the Williams of Valtteri Bottas.

    Visibility in F1 car is limited but into such a tight corner Vettel should’ve been aware of Raikkonen on his outside given that he started close to him on the grid. Though the German did his best to shift blame to Dannil Kvyat the Russian driver was well within his rights to place his car alongside Vettel’s Ferrari into turn one. Kvyat eventually finished third and despite a confrontation with Vettel after the race wasn’t unhappy at all to secure only the second podium of his career.

    Ferrari contact for Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel at the chinese GPRaikkonen’s front-wing damage and punctured tyre meant into turn one meant he had to crawl around the entire lap to make it back to the pitlane. It dropped him right to the back of the field and onto an alternative strategy which had him running on the white-walled medium tyre in the middle stint of the race. The Finn had shown great pace throughout the weekend was able to resist an attack from Hamilton on quicker tyres.  It left the soft, yellow-walled, tyre for the final stint of the race and with it Raikkonen was able to make up enough positions to ultimately finish fifth.

    Even Lewis Hamilton was involved in the mess of the opening lap. After starting last following an overnight power unit change the Brit also lost his front-wing and sustained damage to his barge board into turn one.

    In the lead of the race Daniel Ricciardo’s hopes evaporated as he picked up a left-rear puncture on lap three. Ricciardo was able to recover to fourth. If it wasn’t clear before why both Mercedes and Ferrari refused to provide the Red Bull team with an engine from their shed it is surely clear now. The 2016 Red Bull car is a great chassis, with two great drivers and all they’re missing is a great engine.

    Daniel Ricciardo puncture at the chinese GPDebris from Ricciardo’s blown tyre prompted the deployment of the safety car and drivers took the opportunity to fit the more durable soft and medium tyres. Behind Raikkonen in fifth Williams’ Felipe Massa was able to hold onto sixth while Hamilton had to settle for seventh. Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen finished eighth ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz in ninth and the second Williams of Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top ten.  Despite numerous incidents throughout the race all twenty-two cars saw the chequered flag at the end of the race.

    Since the start of the 2016 season things haven’t been going Lewis Hamilton’s way. Less than ideal starts off the line, unreliability, and damage early in the last two races have severely tested the champion. He’s response has been to remain remarkably cool about it all. However, three victories and a thirty-six point lead in the driver’s championship for a perfect Nico Rosberg  is getting to be a bit tight. It’s a good thing Lewis Hamilton likes a fight because he has a big one on his hands now.

    (Featured image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

  • F1 2016: Australian GP Review – Rosberg Wins Frenetic Season-opener

    F1 2016: Australian GP Review – Rosberg Wins Frenetic Season-opener

    After Saturday’s new qualifying format was unilaterally panned as farcical and anti-climatic F1 needed to bounce back quickly. It did so with an action packed Australian grand prix.

    Naturally, before the start of any race several scenarios run through your mind, all them which include some situation that will spice up the race from the get go. The catalyst was an extra formation lap after Dannil Kvyat’s Red Bull was stranded at the back of the grid.

    The exhilaration is delivered by the two Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen who blast past Nico Rosberg and Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton and first and second place. Behind the two Ferraris Rosberg fights to maintain his position and squeezes Hamilton to the edge of the circuit which causes the Brit to fall down to seventh place.

    Immediately Vettel is able to open a two second gap over teammate Raikkonen who in turn keeps the Mercedes of Rosberg at bay. It’s a dream start for the Italian team who is more than able to match the race pace of Mercedes.

    aus3On lap sixteen the race changes. The race is red flagged for a crash between Haas F1 driver Esteban Gutierrez and Fernando Alonso’s McLaren. The Spaniard’s McLaren clipped the left-rear of the Haas, flipped through the air and came to rest, on its side, against a barrier. The damage to Alonso’s car looked horrific but he exited the car and walked away without injury. There is no question that had this accident happened in any other era of the sport it would’ve had a far different outcome. Once more, this proves that the advancement of safety in F1 should never be taken for granted nor rejected because it may not be visually appealing.

    This red flag is where the race changed for Ferrari. As the cars stood in the pitlane teams were able to make changes including which tyre compound to restart the race on. Ferrari opted for the red-walled supersoft tyre while Mercedes fitted the medium compound. It was evident that the Silver Arrow’s aim was to get to the end of the race without another stop.

    austyresFor Raikkonen it didn’t make much difference as he was forced into retirement a few laps after the re-start. With fire and smoke pouring out the Ferrari it looked ominously like the engine had let go however the team later confirmed that it was a turbo failure.

    Ferrari still had Vettel in the lead of the race but the tyre choice meant that the former champion had to pit again. It was a strategic error by Ferrari and it cost them a definite shot at winning the race. The possible reasoning for why Ferrari didn’t go with the medium tyre could be because of a lack of confidence that they could get the tyre up to working temperature in the cooler conditions. Vettel nearly recovered to second place but a slight error at the end sealed his fate in third behind Hamilton and Rosberg, respectively.

    Sebastian Vettel said after the race that he feels that Ferrari can challenge for the title this year and given that he’s not the type to say things just for the sake of talking, it’s a great omen for the rest of the season.

    aus2Nico Rosberg may have taken the big prize but the Haas F1 Team owns the performance of the day. A sixth place finish for Romain Grosjean on the team’s debut is what Formula 1 dreams are made of. Coming into Formula 1 has always been a monumental task and this team is doing it with a staff of only about 170 people. It’s as great debut as we’ve seen in at least three decades.

    If you were to look only at the result of this race another Mercedes 1-2 would make you think it’s pretty much the same story, different season. But they really had to work for it. An overheating right-front brake caliper and critical tyre wear on Rosberg’s car is indicative of just how hard they had to push.  Twenty races remain in this F1 season and we may just have ourselves a real championship.

    (All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)