F1 Madness

Tag: mclaren

  • F12017: Singapore Gp Preview – Advantage Ferrari?

    F12017: Singapore Gp Preview – Advantage Ferrari?

    The Formula 1 paddock heads east as it readies for the final stretch of the 2017 season.

    More specifically, Singapore’s Marina Bay Circuit will be the spectacular backdrop to the ever-intense battle for championship glory in 2017. As it stands Lewis Hamilton leads the driver’s standings by three points after winning back-to-back races in Belgium and Italy.

    However, while these past two races, and their low downforce configurations, were always slated to highlight and play to Mercedes’ strength the streets of Singapore hold a completely different connotation in prospect. At five kilometers with twenty-three relentless corners the Marina Bay Circuit is one of the most demanding layout of the season. Add to that the closeness of the barriers and the humidity and it becomes, arguably, the most physically demanding race on the calendar. “As a track, it’s really tough and physically demanding – arguably one of the hardest of the season. The lap is long with lots of corners and some tight and sharp bits. The high temperature and humidity, combined with the fact that it’s a street circuit, makes it quite hard,” says Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.

    Singapore, on the calendar since 2008, has delivered some memorable races in its time. The inaugural race itself likely saw one of the shadiest incidents in the 21st century for Formula 1 and it had nothing to do with the fact that the grand prix is run at night. Instead controversy swept through the Renault team, as it was later revealed that Nelson Piquet JR. was ordered to deliberately crash to prompt a safety car and setup then teammate Fernando Alonso to win the race. It led to a lifetime ban for teamboss Flavio Briatore and Piquet JR. was never seen in F1 again. Contrastingly, it’s also delivered some superb races as in 2013 when Kimi Raikkonen, then a Lotus driver, stormed onto the podium despite starting thirteenth with severe back pain.

    singapore-vettelThe Marina Bay Circuit, as a high-downforce track, is expected to suit Ferrari in the way that Monaco and Hungary highlighted the strengths of the Scuderia. Pirelli have nominated the same range of compounds as in Monaco, which include the ulta- and supersoft tyre. While Mercedes have made some progress in getting their tyre temperatures perfectly balanced there’s no telling how much progress they’ve made and they’ll not like having these spread of compounds available this weekend. As it stands Niki Lauda believes that Mercedes have zero chance of seeing the top step of the podium in Singapore. What’s more is that Red Bull has made significant strides since the start of the season and could be factor for Mercedes and perhaps even for Ferrari.

    The fact that Marina Bay is a street circuit exponentially increases the likelihood of the safety-car making an appearance, which makes strategy that much harder to predict.

    Off the track it’s been announced that Carlos Sainz is joining Renault for 2018 with McLaren being expected to announce an engine supply deal with Renault in the coming days. It’s further expected that Honda will remain in F1 by partnering with the Toro Rosso team.

    As Hamilton holds a slender championship lead of three points over Vettel the expectation is, barring unreliability, that the German driver will soar into the lead of the 2017 standings on a circuit tailor-made for his Ferrari.

  • F1 2017: Italian Gp Review – Hamilton Dominates At Monza

    F1 2017: Italian Gp Review – Hamilton Dominates At Monza

    If you thought that you were somehow transported back to 2016, or even 2015, during this weekend’s Italian grand prix you’d have been forgiven. The level of domination that Mercedes and their drivers delivered to win the latest round of the 2017 season was simply staggering.

    By the end of 53 laps of the Italian grand prix there was half a minute, and a Bottas shaped Mercedes, between Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Not only that, but Hamilton’s dominant win also secured him the lead in the driver’s championship for the first time in 2017.

    As the rain played havoc with Saturday qualifying it was, again, Hamilton who delivered a spectacular lap for pole. With 69 to his name he now holds the record for the most pole position in the history of the sport. Such was the farcical penalty count at this weekend’s grand prix that despite qualifying in the top three both Red Bull drivers dropped effectively to the back of the grid. It promoted Williams’ Lance Stroll to the front row and into the history books as the youngest ever front row starter. Similarly, another up-and-comer in the form of Esteban Ocon lined up his Force India in third. Meanwhile, after a miserable session, the best Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen, was fifth and teammate Vettel sixth.

    With the younger drivers right at the sharp end there was trepidation in air ahead of the start. However, they were very well behaved, if not a bit too cautious, and got through the start unscathed. It allowed Hamilton the perfect buffer to get away in the lead of the race from which he never looked back.

    While Bottas made relatively short work of Stroll and Ocon it was clear that he was maintaining position behind Hamilton who now appears to have the backing from Mercedes for the championship. While Vettel got into third relatively quickly there was nothing he could do about the pace of the Mercedes. On home turf Ferrari would’ve undoubtedly been disappointed with their performance but they wouldn’t have been overly surprised by it.

    M132570The low downforce configuration of Monza and the fact that 79% of the lap is spent at full throttle is Mercedes territory through-and-through. When they consider the weekend’s events Ferrari and Vettel will likely come to the conclusion that it could’ve been worse. Late in the race Daniel Ricciardo, on an alternate strategy, mounted a charge on third and fell only a few seconds short of snatching it from Vettel. Verstappen’s pace too suggested that he could’ve been a factor were it not for a puncture incurred in a first corner clash with the Williams of Felipe Massa. As it stands Hamilton takes a three-point lead to the Singapore grand prix where Ferrari is expected to lead the way.

    As Hamilton, Bottas, and Vettel completed the top three with a charging Ricciardo in fourth Kimi Raikkonen trundled home in fifth. In sixth was Esteban Ocon, followed closely by Stroll in seventh and Williams teammate Felipe Massa in eight. Sergio Perez was ninth in the other Force India while Max Verstappen recovered to tenth, albeit a lap down. The anguish continued for McLaren with a double retirement who are expected to announce a 2018 deal with Renault within the coming days which will likely be followed by a confirmation that Fernando Alonso will be remaining with the team.

    The Italian grand prix marks the final European race of the season. Formula 1 next heads East to Singapore’s Marina Bay Street circuit where Ferrari is expected to dominate.

  • Penalty Fiesta at the 2017 Italian Grand Prix

    Penalty Fiesta at the 2017 Italian Grand Prix

    One of the things the 2017 Italian Grand Prix will be remembered for is the number of engine penalties handed down to drivers over course of the weekend.

    Some would agree that the situation is quite laughable as only one driver will start in the position that he qualified in and that’s the pole sitter, Lewis Hamilton. It’s so comical that Kevin Magnussen who failed to get out of Q1 in 16th position will start in 10th.

    Penalty Round up

    Daniel Ricciardo (Car 3) – Red Bull Racing

    Total drop of 25-grid position

    • 10-place grid drop for 6th MGU-H
    • 5-place grid drop for 5th internal combustion engine (ICE)
    • 5-place grid drop for 5th Turbo Charger (TC)
    • 5-place grid drop for new gearbox

    Carlos Sainz (Car 55) – Scuderia Toro Rosso

    • 10-place grid drop for 5th MGU-H

    Fernando Alonso (Car 14) – McLaren Honda

    Total drop of 35-grid places

    • 10-place grid drop for 9th TC (1st 9th element used)
    • 5-place grid drop for 9th MGU-H (remaining element used)
    • 5-place grid drop for 7th ICE
    • 5-place grid drop for 7th MGU-K
    • 5-place grid drop for 6th energy store (ES)
    • 5-place grid drop for 5th control electronics (CE)

    Max Verstappen (Car 33) – Red Bull Racing

    Total drop of 20-grid places

    • 10-place grid drop for 5th ICE (1st 5th element used)
    • 5-place grid drop for 5th MGU-H
    • 5-place grid drop for 5th TC

    Nico Hulkenberg (Car 27) – Renault Sport

    • 10-place grid drop for 5th MGU-H (1st 5th element used)

    Jolyon Palmer (Car 30) – Renault Sport

    Total drop of 15-grid places

    • 10-place grid drop for 5th TC (1st 5th element used)
    • 5-place grid drop for 5th MGU-H

    Stoffel Vandoorne (Car 2) – McLaren Honda

    Total drop of 25-grid places for new ICE, MGU-K, MGU-H and TC

    Romain Grosjean (Car 8) – Haas 

    • 5-place grid drop for new gearbox.

    Sergio Perez (Car 11) – Force India 

    • 5-place grid drop for new gearbox
  • F1 2017: Italian Gp Free Practice 1 Report – Hamilton Leads

    F1 2017: Italian Gp Free Practice 1 Report – Hamilton Leads

    Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton set the quickset time overall in the first free practice session ahead of the 2017 Italian grand prix.

    Running for the ninety minute session got underway with cloudy conditions and the threat of rain lingering in the air. While some drops fell around the famous Monza circuit it wasn’t enough to cause any real delay or force drivers onto the Intermediate compound tyres.

    Instead it was Hamilton’s 1:21:537 on the Supersoft compound tyre that was the quickest overall. Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes was roughly four and a half tenths adrift of his teammate in second. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen completed the top four on Ferrari’s 70th anniversary but were more than a second adrift. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, both of whom will incur grid penalties for Sunday’s race, rounded out the top six.

    While several drivers tested and searched the perfect braking spot into the first chicane no major incidents were noted during the first free practice session. Force India’s Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, and Williams’ Felipe Massa rounded out the top ten.

  • F1 2017: Belgium Gp Review – Hamilton Wins Intense Battle

    F1 2017: Belgium Gp Review – Hamilton Wins Intense Battle

    In terms of the spectacle of wheel-to-wheel racing the 2017 Belgian grand prix wasn’t the most electrifying race of the season.

    However, what it may have lacked as far as a pure racing show it certainly made up with the intensity of the battle between the two championship protagonists Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

    While Hamilton maintained track position throughout the race the Mercedes driver was never more than two seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Vettel. In his 200th grand prix Hamilton managed to keep Vettel at bay but it was far from a stroll for Mercedes who admitted post-race that it they were pushing flat out from light out to chequered flag. Vettel’s inability to overtake Hamilton proved that track position remains all-important. It’s once again abundantly clear that despite the fact that the 2017 cars are far quicker and more visually exciting it hasn’t improved the ability to overtake.

    A late safety car was deployed for debris on the track for an indefensible crash between Force India teammates Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon. The testy relationship between Force India’s drivers came to blows as Perez dangerously squeezed teammate Ocon into the old pitwall, making contact. The race stewards are likely to impose a hefty penalty for Perez’s inexcusably dangerous driving.

    0008Despite Vettel getting to within half a tenth of taking the lead Hamilton maintained control. It wasn’t the case for his Merc teammate Valtteri Bottas who was swamped, on either side, into turn four by Daniel Ricciardo on the left and Kimi Raikkonen on the right. It left Ricciardo in third and Raikkonen, recovering from a ten second stop/go penalty for not slowing under yellow flags, in fourth and a well-spanked Bottas in fifth.

    For Max Verstappen his woeful run in 2017 continued with yet another reliability issue. This time a cylinder failure in the engine put an end to his afternoon at his de facto home race. While Verstappen’s frustrations were amplified Nico Hulkenberg took sixth place for Renault ahead of Romain Grosjean in seventh, Massa in eighth, Ocon in ninth and Carlos Sainz in tenth for Toro Rosso.

    Fully aware that radio communications are often broadcast to the world McLaren’s Fernando Alonso didn’t hold back his contempt during the race. His comments ranged from “embarrassing, really embarrassing” to “I really don’t care too much about the gaps. This is just a test” when told about the gap to other drivers in his vicinity. Later on he summarily told the team that he wanted no more radio communication.

    While his frustration is certainly warranted it was perhaps not the classiest way to go about voicing it. There are more than 600 McLaren employees working flat-out to get these two cars onto the track in the best condition possible and it would likely have been terribly demoralizing for them to hear Alonso’s comments.

    Fernando Alonso_Canada 2015 ReactionThe simple truth is that there is no doubt whatsoever that Fernando Alonso is supremely talented and still well capable of winning world titles.

    But ponder this: Ferrari could have easily re-signed him for 2018, but chose instead to stick with their current line-up. There is a reason for this and the temperament he displayed in Belgian Gp has everything to do with it.

    Hamilton’s intensely fought win has seen him halve Vettel’s gap to seven points ahead of Ferrari’s home race this weekend at Monza.

    All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

  • 2017 Belgian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference – Part 2

    2017 Belgian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference – Part 2

    PART TWO: TEAM PERSONNEL: Yusuke HASEGAWA (Honda), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Zak BROWN (McLaren)

    Q: Zak, let’s begin with you. Hungary, obviously a strong performance, the best performance of the season so far. How do you feel about the level of that performance that weekend and the steps on the journey back to competitiveness for your team?

    Zak BROWN: Hungary was definitely a step forward. Good to see both cars get home in the points. Sixth and tenth isn’t exactly what gets McLaren too excited but it was definitely forward progress.

    Q: Where are you now on the long-term plans in terms of power units. Obviously we’ve heard all these stories of various steps along the way from winter testing right through to the summer break. Has anything changed? What can you tell us?

    ZB: I think like all racing teams, we’re working on our 2018 drivers. We obviously announced Stoffel, which was never in doubt that he was going to continue with us, and we’re working on our second driver, some two-time World Champion, and making sure we have the most competitive race car for next year.

    Q: Hasegawa-san, coming to you, your side of that story. Obviously Hungary, a step forward, your updated engine here, and also where do you feel it’s going, the relationship with McLaren?

    Yusuke HASEGAWA: Of course, in Hungary we are very happy. Actually, we are very relieved we get the points. That is performance we are not satisfied with but it is a minimum level of performance we have to achieve, so we are relieved about that. So, still the matter, we need to update our engine performance definitely to convince McLaren as well and to satisfy us.

    Q: And the updated engine this weekend, what can you tell us about that? How much more performance is there in Stoffel’s car?

    YH: OK, it’s actually… we had planned to introduce a spec-4 engine here but we failed. Actually we didn’t match to the schedule. So that we have a halfway upgrade. We called it 3.5 and 3.6 but I think we can introduce some decent upgrade here but we don’t stop the improvement.

    Q: You have Franz next to you this afternoon. Is Toro Rosso still a possible contender for a second supply of engines in 2018? Are those talks still live?

    YH:  I don’t think so. We don’t have an official conversation about that. So although Mr Yamamoto visited Dr Marko, because we need to discuss about Super Formula, the Japanese formula series, and we have Pierre Gasly the Red Bull young driver, so that we have some communication with him – but other than that the Formula One engine supply, we didn’t have an actual conversation.

    Q: Franz, just picking up on that, as far as you’re concerned, that was never really something that was in the offing; you’re sticking with what you’ve got: Renault engines going forward.

    Franz TOST:  No, Hasegawa-san has just answered that there has never an official negotiation or talks between Honda and Toro Rosso.

    Q: We spoke to Christian in the first part of this press conference about your Red Bull Young Driver programme – obviously it’s been tremendously successful over the years but he was saying there’s no real hot prospects. You’ve got some young drivers in the pipeline but it’s just that sometimes there’s plenty of good drivers and sometimes there aren’t. I just wanted to know what your perspective was on what’s been achieved if you like and whether there’s still that same enthusiasm on the Red Bull side, when you consider that McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes have all got some very hot prospects on the threshold of Formula One now?

    FT: I think Red Bull is in a fantastic situation because there are four drivers who are able to win races which they’ve showed in the past: Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat and there’s the reigning Formula Two champion, Pierre Gasly who is in the pipeline, who is also very successful in Japan. That means this infrastructure which Red Bull has built up is so successful and why should they change anything? You should also take into consideration that something can happen at Red Bull Racing – an accident and so on – and they can just take a driver from Toro Rosso and this is why Toro Rosso is educating drivers for Red Bull. Young drivers are coming but it takes another two or three years maybe until we can discuss to bring them into Formula One and I think that Red Bull is really in a fantastic position with the driver line-up.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday, Motorsport Week.com) Franz, Carlos Sainz is going to be spending his fourth year next year in Toro Rosso if we take Christian’s comments in Austria that they’ve activated his contract for next year. This will be the first time that a driver has actually spent a fourth season in the team. Who will be sitting next to him? Have you decided? Will it be Daniil next year as well or would you be evaluating that later in the season?

    FT: We will see. As I just mentioned before, Red Bull is in a fantastic situation. Why should they dismiss these highly skilled drivers? Red Bull has financed all the careers so far of Carlos Sainz and now he is ready to win races if he has a proper car so why give him to another team, to an opponent or whatever? And Daniil Kvyat was this year a little bit unlucky because many times we couldn’t provide him with a reliable and fast car and I’m convinced that once he gets this car that he will show his talent, because he did it already in the past. He won the GP3 championship before he came to us. He finished on the podium at Red Bull Racing in China and he can race and he has the ability to be successful and as I mentioned before, Pierre Gasly is in the pipelines, which means Red Bull is really in a very strong position and there’s no necessity to change something, but we will see. The driver line-up will be decided by Red Bull in the next months.

    Q: (Abhishek Takle – Midday) To Zak and Hasegawa-san: firstly, the upgrades that you introduced this weekend, have they delivered as promised, and secondly, it’s been reported that Honda has been working with Ilmor and has discovered some good gains on the power unit front. Hasegawa-san, firstly, can you confirm that you’re working with Ilmor and Zak, couldn’t Ilmor’s involvement convince McLaren to stick with Honda for the future?

    YH: First of all, about the performance upgrade, it is very difficult to compare the previous engine to this engine because this is a completely different circuit but from the data point of view, we see some good upgrade of the performance here.

    And regarding Ilmor consultancy, we do not disclose any partner of a consultancy or a supplier or any partnership. But we don’t deny about any kind of consultancy or partnership from outside. We have many partners in the development.

    ZB: A good question was what do we think about Ilmor. As Hasegawa-san said, it’s really up to Honda to discuss what their activities are. All I would say is that Ilmor as an organisation that has worked with McLaren in the past and is very successful and very good at what they do.

    I wouldn’t think we’ve been satisfied all year but I think Hasegawa-san’s not been satisfied with how things have gone so we have seen some improvements here at Spa, not to the level we’d hoped for but some improvement nonetheless.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Zak, bearing in mind what the other two gentlemen said about there being no official discussions between Honda and Toro Rosso although there were talks at high echelons, I believe that the McLaren/Honda  contract has got some form of veto or approval clause where you’ve got to approve somebody else which I believe you did with Sauber. Have you been asked to bless some form of Toro Rosso/Honda deal at all? Has that come up?

    ZB: We did bless the Sauber arrangement which we were official asked to do and in fact started to get to work on a gearbox. I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to disclose any conversations we’ve had. What I would say is we would be very supportive of Honda having a relationship with Toro Rosso and have been asked by Christian if we would be in a position to help with a gearbox if asked, so I think that’s about as far as I will go on sharing any conversations.

    YH: We didn’t ask to start a conversation with Toro Rosso to McLaren actually because we didn’t have any official conversation so that it is…

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Zak, it looks like Ferrari and Mercedes won’t supply the power units to McLaren, in the case that McLaren has decided not to continue working with Honda. And also, we believe, as Cyril said, that very possibly Renault won’t also supply, so it looks like you don’t have other options. Is that correct?

    ZB: No. We’re not going to give a running commentary on our power unit situation. I know it’s of keen interest to everyone but we’ll say something when we have something to say.

    Q: (Inaudible) Zak, do you feel within the team a difference for Stoffel now that his contract for ’18 has been announced and this weekend, racing at home, is there more pressure, is he different or is he relieved that he will continue for next year for you?

    ZB: Well, we always intended to put him in the car in ’18. Of course, any driver, when it becomes public at their home Grand Prix, I think that’s a nice feeling so Stoffel has been great all year for a rookie. He has been in a very difficult situation, we’ve not given him a faster, reliable race car which is that much more difficult when you don’t have the experience of someone like your teammate so he’s been a treat to work with and Hasegawa-san, I think you would agree, he’s been a real star this year.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday, Motorsport Week.com) Zak, on the assumption – and it’s obviously an assumption – that you persuade Fernando to stay for next year, and he was wanting to do this, would we see another possible attempt at the Indy 500, given that this year he was very competitive and could have possibly won it on his first time out? Is that something you would perhaps dangle as a carrot to keep him there for next year?

    ZB: No. We would love to go back to Indianapolis, Fernando would love to go back to Indianapolis. He did an unbelievable job but it will conflict with Monaco again and we’re not going to be in the same situation that we were this year in Monaco, so unfortunately he can’t be in two places at once but we’d certainly love to do it with him again in the future.

    Q: (Abhishek Takle – Midday) A follow-up to what you said earlier, Zak, on not giving a running commentary on the power unit situation, how soon though do you need to have something to say? How soon do you need to be in a position to announce something because obviously whichever way you go will those influence your signing of Fernando for next year?

    ZB: Well, I think all racing teams right now – whether it’s McLaren or Toro Rosso or anyone else down the grid – we’re heading into 2018 so we need to be finalising all of our activities, whether that’s driver, car design so that will be soon.  As we all know, soon as the summer break is over it seems like it all starts to happen in Formula One so the timetable we’ve got to work to to get ready for next year.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) This week, we talked about e-sports and how some e-sports events have been a platform for inspiring young drivers to have a way into motorsports. And now this week F1 has launched an e-sports championship. Do you feel these platforms are good for young people who are interested in motorsports and that could possibly find an inroad into motorsports through this?

    FT: I said already two years ago that you have to do something for e-sports because if you want to attract the young people, then e-sports is a very important game. What I said is that maybe ten or may nine o’ clock in the morning on Sunday there should be an e-game race here at the racetrack, just to attract the young people, to come to Formula One, to see Formula One and to involve them in this complete package. Therefore I’m really happy that Liberty media managed to come up with this game.

    YH: Sorry, actually I don’t have many opinions about the current operation or situation but I expect to make it a very attractive sport especially for the younger people.

    ZB: Yeah, I think e-sports is great. McLaren was the first team to announce our World’s Fastest Gamer and whoever ultimately wins that will be our simulator driver next year. I think it’s great what Liberty and Formula One have done and I think ultimately what you have with these sports is… Motor racing is a very expensive and difficult sport to get youngsters involved in, unlike football where you can go to school and you have a football and a pitch all ready to go so I think e-sports not only will generate a younger audience but it will also almost become the grass roots of motorsports and be able to expose a younger audience to what it’s like to drive a race car in a more inexpensive user-friendly way, so I think it’s great that we’re all embracing it.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Zak, I’m not asking for a running commentary but I would just like to address the issue of engine supply to the teams, the FIA regulation being that you can only supply three teams with an engine. Now at the end of the day, unless you can persuade somebody to take the Honda engine it looks like you’re going to have to approach somebody to supply a fourth engine supply. How do you stand with the FIA on this issue?

    ZB: We speak with the FIA on a regular basis on lots of topics, being that they’re the governing body of the sport so I’ll leave the conversations that we’ve had, power-unit related, to ourselves and see what transpires.

  • F1 2017: Belgian Gp First Practice Report – Raikkonen On Top

    F1 2017: Belgian Gp First Practice Report – Raikkonen On Top

    Kimi Raikkonen topped the first free practice session in his Ferrari ahead of Sunday’s Belgian grand prix.

    Formula 1 resumed after a month long shut down with a 90 minute practice session around the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit. It was Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen who topped the session with a quickest lap time of 1:45:502 set on the Ultrasoft compound tyre. Meanwhile Hamilton was second quickest but set his fastest lap of the session on the yellow-walled soft tyre. Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, and Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top five.

    The session was red-flagged early on when the Williams of Felipe Massa ended up in the barriers on the exit of Malmedy. So extensive was the damage to the Williams that the team are opting to change the chassis. Pascal Wehrlein in the Sauber had his own reliability issues which allowed him to complete only 13 laps in the session. Later Valtteri Bottas inflicted some damage on his Mercedes as he strangely drifted off the track and into the barrier.

    Fernando Alonso’s session was underscored with an underperforming engine. The Honda engine in Alonso’s McLaren is a new spec, specifically version 3.6. Meanwhile, local driver Stoffel Vandoorne, who was tenth quickest in the session, will drop 35 places on Sunday’s starting grid due to power unit element changes.

    Final Standings Free Practice One:

    Screen Shot 2017-08-25 at 11.54.30 AM

  • McLaren Retain Vandoorne for 2018

    McLaren Retain Vandoorne for 2018

    The McLaren Formula One Team confirmed that they will retain the services of Stoffel Vandoorne for the 2018 season.

    Vandoorne was signed by McLaren in 2013 into their Young driver program. In 2016 he subbed in for Fernando Alonso after his crash put him out for a few races at the beginning of the 2016 season. He went on to score McLaren’s first points for the 2016 season.

    There was no doubt about Vandoorne’s future at Woking, the news confirms that he is on a multi-year deal.

    “I’m delighted that the team has now formally announced that I will continue to race for them next year, because I’ll be able to approach the second half of my rookie season with total focus on the job in hand: namely getting the very most I can out of my car, my engineers, and everything and everyone around me,” said Vandoorne.

    “I’ve already learned such a huge amount in the first half of my first season in Formula 1 – from my engineers, from my mechanics, from Eric [Boullier], from Zak [Brown] and from Jonathan [Neale], and also from Fernando [Alonso], who is a brilliant driver and also an excellent team-mate.

    “Last but not least, I want to say thank you to McLaren’s partners and fans for their loyalty and enthusiasm – they are the best in the business – and also to McLaren’s Executive Committee Principals, [Shaikh] Mohammed and Mansour [Ojjeh], who continue to put their faith in me.”

    Racing Director Eric Boullier said:

    “When we announced at the end of 2016 that Stoffel would be a McLaren Honda race driver for 2017, we indicated that our plan was that he’d race for us for a number of years.

    “That plan hasn’t changed, and I’m very happy therefore to be able to confirm that he’ll continue to race for us next season.

    “Like all rookies, he’s had to learn a lot in the first half of his first Formula 1 season, but we have great confidence in him, and he’s getting better and better all the time.

    “His team-mate is a tough opponent – that’s an understatement in fact, because he’s arguably the best driver in the sport today – but Stoffel’s robust talent and fierce ambition make us sure that he’ll achieve great successes with us in the future.”

    There is still no word from McLaren on Alonso’s future at the team. All indications are that he is likely to remain at McLaren for 2018. A clearer picture will start to emerge as teams confirm their driver line-ups for 2018.

  • F1 2017: Belgium Gp Preview – Spa Kicks of Second Half of F1 2017

    F1 2017: Belgium Gp Preview – Spa Kicks of Second Half of F1 2017

    The 2017 Formula 1 season resumes this weekend at the celebrated Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. As one of the most iconic and beloved circuits in the world the Belgian race weekend is eagerly recommended as one of the great races to attend in your lifetime.

    The reason for it isn’t only the grand circuit, which encompasses such memorably brave corners like Eau Rouge, Pouhon, or Blanchimont. Instead it’s the atmosphere created by the fervent supporters, being in the heart of the Ardennes forest, and watching the best driver in the word’s most elite racing series attempt to conquer the most classic circuit of them all.

    Often classified as the driver’s track at 7.5 kilometers Spa comprises of everything that makes a circuit great. Several elevation changes, off chamber corners, and a slew of overtaking opportunities should make the 44 laps a must watch.

    The high average speed of the circuit, and its layout, calls for a low downforce setup to be coupled with a good amount of power output. It sounds tailor-made for Mercedes and they will start the race weekend as favourites.

    Their most likely challengers are unlikely to be either Daniel Ricciardo or Max Verstappen. One of the most disappointing aspects of the 2017 season is the fact that Red Bull didn’t hit the ground running. With the major regulation change it was expected that the Austrian-based team would be challenging for the titles in 2017 but this aspiration is a bridge too far for them now with only nine races remaining in the season.

    Nevertheless, team principal Christian Horner believes that his team will “at least” be able to match Ferrari’s pace for the remainder of the season. Their rate of development has been impressive especially since the Spanish gran prix. But it’s a bold statement given that Ferrari will be throwing everything at the remaining races in order to secure the respective drivers and constructors championship titles.

    Großer Preis von Spanien 2017, Samstag - Wolfgang WilhelmThe championship battle between Ferrari and Mercedes is likely, and hopefully, one that will go down to the wire at the season-ending Abu Dhabi grand prix. However, a single misstep in any of the next nine races could put serious pains to gaining the coveted trophies.

    For Mercedes, the gains have to come from improving the downforce of their 2017 car especially for the races that follow after the Belgian and Italian grand prix. “We definitely do have work to do, they [Ferrari] are quick through the corners, and we need to work on that. We need to work on our maximum-downforce package, that’s the main thing,” Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas confirmed.

    kimi-the-king-of-spa-It’s not straightforward for Ferrari either. They’ve been lacking a bit of pace at certain races, most recently, Silverstone. However, the last race before the summer break was a momentum-building, and important, one-two victory.

    It means that Ferrari will arrive in Belgium with confidence and with two drivers who can run right at the sharp-end. What’s more, championship leader Sebastian Vettel firmly believes that the team has identified its areas of weakness and is now more able to set about improving the car.

    Arguably, Spa is one of the circuits where Kimi Raikkonen excels most. As a five-time winner and with impressive performances in the last two Raikkonen isn’t too bad a bet for victory this weekend, if Vettel isn’t in second.

  • F1 2017: Hungarian Gp Review – Formation Flying For Ferrari

    F1 2017: Hungarian Gp Review – Formation Flying For Ferrari

    The Hungaroring was always a circuit slated to suit the characteristics of the 2017 Ferrari and the Italian team drove home their advantage with a controlled one-two victory.

    As in Saturday qualifying the Ferrari driver pair of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were line astern in first and second at light out. As the pair cleanly led at lights out the Mercedes duo, Bottas and Hamilton, had there hands full of fast starting Red Bulls. However, while the initial start went relatively well Verstappen clouted the side of his teammate Ricciardo in a clash that would ultimately come with a hefty price. The coming together put Ricciardo out of the race while Verstappen incurred a ten second time penalty for his part in the incident. While Verstappen’s move was rather silly there was, clearly, no intention on his part, which made the penalty somewhat harsh.

    Initially, pace set by Vettel and Raikkonen was much too quick for Bottas to live with who quickly fell seven seconds behind in the opening stint. Vettel too seemed to have the measure of Raikkonen in the opening laps but as the race drew towards its pitstop phase the Finn was clearly the quickest of the two Ferrari’s and easily maintained a second gap to his race leading teammate.

    048Despite the track temperature soaring in the mid fifty degree range and fears of increased tyre degradation they Pirelli compounds held up well, perhaps a bit too well. It’s no secret that Pirelli’s approach to the manufacturing and construction of their 2017 tyres has been conservative. It is this conservatism that has led to drivers being able to make one stop per race.

    It is likely that Pirelli conservative approach stems from an apprehension that the quicker, and heavier, 2017 cars needed more robust tyre construction. Here’s hoping that with all the data gathered this season that 2018 sees malleable range of compounds.

    While Vettel wrapped up the 46th victory of his career it was clear that he was not the fastest Ferrari driver on the day. For the majority of the second half of the race teammate Raikkonen ran within a second of the leader clearly illustrating his superior pace. But as the Hungaroring is notorious for lack of overtaking second is what the Finn was confined too. It didn’t make for a comfortable afternoon for Ferrari though as both Mercs of Bottas and Raikkonen started closing down the leading pair at a rate of knots.

    There was a suggestion that Ferrari swap Vettel and Raikkonen so as to ensure a comfortable victory but this move never happened. Contrary to many on social media, who slated Ferrari’s unwillingness to swap its drivers around, it was the right move. The reality of the team orders debate is that you can’t have it both ways. In Monaco, Ferrari handing Vettel the optimum strategy and ultimately the race win was rightly criticized. If this was unacceptable from Ferrari it shouldn’t have been accepted, or called for, in Hungary either.

    065While it ended well for Ferrari in Hungary Mercedes and Hamilton would’ve won a few more fans with the spirit they displayed. On the instruction of the team Bottas had let Hamilton, with better pace, through to third with the aim of catching the Ferrari pair and giving back the place if he couldn’t do so. However, by the start of the final lap Bottas was seven seconds adrift and under pressure from a recovering Verstappen.

    Nevertheless, Hamilton, in a superb show of sportsmanship, slowed significantly in the final corner to give return Bottas’ third place. While Hamilton gave up three points by finishing fourth his move has earned respect. Verstappen, apologetic after the race for the clash with his teammate, eventually finished fifth.

    Amazingly, Fernando Alonso set the fastest lap of the race and finished a solid sixth ahead of Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz in seventh. The Force India drivers continued to keep each other honest with Sergio Perez in eighth and Esteban Ocon in ninth as the second McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne scored the final point in tenth. Williams’ Felipe Massa withdrawal from the Hungarian Gp with an inner-ear issue meant that reserve driver Paul di Resta was subbed it almost literally at the last minute. While he ultimately retired with an oil leak the Williams reserve driver did his reputation no harm with a measured performance in a car he’d never driver before.

    The majority of the 70 laps of the Hungarian Gp were nervy for Ferrari but they emerged with an important one-two finish. It allows Sebastian Vettel to stem Mercedes’ momentum and to crucially take a fourteen-point lead into the month-long break.

    (All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)