F1 Madness

Tag: mercedes amg petronas

  • Hamilton takes record breaking Canadian GP pole

    Hamilton takes record breaking Canadian GP pole

    Lewis Hamilton put in a stunningly sexy lap of 1:11.459 to claim his 65th pole position in Formula 1, equalling the record held by Ayrton Senna. Hamilton’s lap was about as perfect as they get and Senna’s family presented the emotional Brit with a replica Senna helmet, the original of which he will receive at a later date. Lewis is now three more pole positions shy of the all-time record held by Michael Schumacher.

    The Brit finished just 0.3s ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who will line up alongside the Mercedes on the front row. Finnish drivers Valterri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen take up the second row ahead of the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. Bottas finished a massive 0.7s off Hamilton’s time, saying that “just couldn’t put the lap together”.

    Brazilian Felipe Massa put in another strong performance for Williams and will start seventh on the grid ahead of the two Force India drivers, Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon. Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten.

    Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz will start from 11th and 13th respectively. The Toro Rosso du0 was split by the McLaren-Honda of Fernando Alonso who celebrated his 12th place grid slot as if it were pole position.

    Romain Grosjean and Joylon Palmer will start from 15th and 16th on the grid ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne and home favourite Lance Stroll who will be racing in his first home grand prix. The local boy’s final flying lap was compromised by an early drop of the chequered flag in Q1 brought about by Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein approaching turn 1 too wide, losing the rear of the car, and hitting the wall. Wehrlein will start from the back of the grid ahead of Keving Magnussen and Marcus Ericsson.

  • Lewis Hamilton steals Chinese GP pole from Sebastian Vettel

    Lewis Hamilton steals Chinese GP pole from Sebastian Vettel

    Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton stole the Chinese Grand Prix pole from Sebastian Vettel in spectacular fashion putting in a stonking lap of 1:31.678 – a new Shanghai International Circuit lap record. Hamilton beat Michael Schumacher’s previous record – one which has been in place since the first Chinese Grand Prix in 2004, a testament to the sheer speed of the new generation of F1 cars. This is Hamilton’s 6th consecutive pole and the 63rd of his career – moving ever closer to Ayrton Senna’s record.

    Chinese GP HamiltonIt was a very tight battle for the leading drivers with Sebastian Vettel edging Valterri Bottas out for second place by 0.001s or 5.9cm as Toto Wolff calculated. That small margin was a little unexpected – Ferrari had looked a lot stronger in the third practice session but Hamilton beat Vettel by almost two-tenths of a second. Similarly, despite excellent earlier form, Kimi Raikkonen only managed fourth place, 0.462s off Hamilton’s pace.

    Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth fastest for Red Bull Racing with Massa coming in behind him for Williams. The Brazilian will start ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez, and Daniil Kvyat. Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10, 0.713s off his Williams team mate’s time.

    Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr missed out on a Q3 spot by only 0.060s after complaining about the rear of his car getting away from him while exiting corners. Haas driver Kevin Magnussen finished 0.014s behind Sainz to claim 12th place ahead of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso who radioed in to say he was “pushing like an animal”.

    Giovinazzi, Chinese GPEricsson will start his Sauber from 14th place on the grid with team mate Antonio Giovinazzi behind him. Giovinazzi brought the first qualifying session to an early end when he lost control of his Sauber and crashed into the barriers as he exited the final corner. The Sauber team have quite a job ahead of them – the Sauber is severely damaged and will require some rebuilding overnight.

    Stoffel Vandoorne will start from 16th place ahead of Romain Grosjean and Joylon Palmer who were behind Giovinazzi on track and were not able to improve their laps to make it into Q2. Both drivers are under investigation for speeding under the double waved yellows.

    Max Verstappen qualified 19th for Red Bull following a loss of power caused by an engine software issue. Esteban Ocon takes up the final grid position for what is set to be a very intriguing Chinese Grand Prix.

     

     

     

     

  • Williams: Bottas to Mercedes announcement expected this week

    Williams: Bottas to Mercedes announcement expected this week

    Williams’ deputy principal Claire Williams says Valtteri Bottas an announcement regarding the Finn replacing Nico Rosberg at Mercedes is expected this week.

    Rosberg retired shortly after winning the F1 world championship title last year, leaving Mercedes looking for a team mate for Lewis Hamilton for the 2017 season.

    When Williams was asked whether it was a question of “dotting the Is and crossing the Ts,” she replied: “It is exactly that.”

    Williams has been seeking significant remuneration for releasing Bottas from his 2017 contract and it would seem that a deal will be confirmed this week.

    “It has been dragging on and I think everyone wants to know, probably more who is going to be Lewis’ teammate next year, and of course when Nico made his announcement we knew the call was probably going to come from Toto,” Williams said. “It is a great opportunity for Valtteri and he has given a lot to Williams. We’ve always said if we can make this happen on terms that are positive for Williams then it is probably the right thing to do.”

    Everyone is expecting Felipe Massa to come out of retirement to replace Bottas alongside F1 rookie Lance Stroll but no confirmation has been made yet.

    “We are nearly there, we are at the tail end of it and hopefully we’ll be able to make an announcement this coming week,” Williams said at the Autosport International Show.

    “But it has to be right for Williams, whatever we do will always be the right decision for Williams no matter what other people’s opinions might be.”

    Williams has no doubt about Massa’s motivation to succeed in Formula One and seems pretty certain that the Brazilian is the first (and possibly only) option to fill the gap that Bottas will leave at the Williams team.

    “Felipe’s heart has always been in our sport,” she said. “Everyone said that about him when he joined us, ‘surely his time in F1 is over, he petered out at the end of his years at Ferrari’, but he came to Williams and it seemed to be a great culture for him and he was a new driver.

    “I don’t think he necessarily wanted to leave the sport and he did say he wanted to continue racing. These guys have been racing since they were six years old and it is in their DNA, that is what they do.”

    Williams also refuted claims that any deal to release Bottas was connected to the engine supply from Mercedes. There has been much speculation around Williams seeking significant discounts for their engines in return for releasing Bottas but Williams stated that this was in no way the case.

    “Just because we’re a customer of Mercedes, doesn’t mean Toto can pick up the phone to me and I go ‘alright then’,” she said. “Anyone that knows me knows that I don’t just go, ‘alright then,’ just because someone says they want something.

    “We pay for our engines,” she continued, “we pay on time and therefore they don’t have any right to come to us and say, ‘you need to release this driver for us’. If I decided not to release Valtteri, then Mercedes would be fine and say ‘no problem, thank you for thinking about it’.”

     

  • WATCH: Onboard & high speed selfie – Nico Rosberg’s last drive in W07!

    WATCH: Onboard & high speed selfie – Nico Rosberg’s last drive in W07!

    Watch as newly crowned F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg takes his winning Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid car for a final spin just after announcing his retirement from the sport. Naturally, Rosberg wasn’t going to miss the chance to capture a high-speed, onboard selfie while he was at it. Check this guy out!

  • 2016 F1 championship title: Here’s how Rosberg or Hamilton can win the at Abu Dhabi

    2016 F1 championship title: Here’s how Rosberg or Hamilton can win the at Abu Dhabi

     

    So here we are again … Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton are once again head to head as we head into the season finale Abu Dhabi grand prix weekend.

    These two have been at it for months and make no mistake, it’s still a tight fight to the finish line. This time around though, it’s Rosberg who is the clear favourite to take the F1 championship title with a 12 point lead over rival team mate Hamilton.

    He may be favourite for the top spot but Hamilton could, mathematically still snatch the F1 championship title from Rosberg. It’ll be a tough job. Nico is in the best position he’s ever been in right now and he’s preey much in control and probably feeling really confident. But if the pressure – which Hamilton already has practice in dealing with – gets too much for him, Lewis could steal the F1 championship title right from under his nose.

    Don’t you love it when a Formula One championship goes right to the end like this?!

    Here’s a quick look at the different permutations for winning the F1 championship title this weekend.

    Rosberg will win the 2016 F1 driver’s title if …
    – He finishes on the podium in Abu Dhabi (regardless of where Hamilton finishes)
    – He finishes sixth or higher, and Hamilton doesn’t win
    – He finishes eighth or higher, and Hamilton is no higher than third
    – Hamilton finishes fourth or lower (regardless of where Rosberg finishes)

    Hamilton will win the F1 championship title if…
    – He wins the race, and Rosberg is fourth or lower
    – He finishes second, and Rosberg finishes outside the top six
    – He finishes third, and Rosberg finishes outside the top eight

    For starters though, Hamilton will need to finish within the top four to stand any chance of winning the championship at all.

    He’s going to need a damn good qualifying for that. Rosberg’s definitely the better qualifier at Abu Dhabi and Lewis needs to get ahead real early if he wants to beat Nico this weekend. Will that make either of them take unnecessary risks off the start now? One thing’s for sure … they are both going to drive the heck out it this weekend! Check out our Abu Dhabi grand prix preview for more on what you can expect from the weekend.

    Image credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas

  • WATCH: Lewis Hamilton answers some of life’s big questions

    WATCH: Lewis Hamilton answers some of life’s big questions

    Watch as this charming young girl gets answers to some of life’s biggest questions from Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.

    No repetitive questions and answers about his relationship with team mate Nico Rosberg, or whether he can win the next race – instead, we get to hear what he would want to do if he wasn’t a racing driver, and his answer to why a pit stop is called a pit stop.

    No snapchats, no boring business, just genuine human interaction filled with personality. This young lady needs to get hold of Kimi next!

  • FIA post-qualifying press conference – Japanese Grand Prix

    FIA post-qualifying press conference – Japanese Grand Prix

    Drivers: 1 – Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 2 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 3 – Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari).

    TV UNILATERAL

    Q: Nico, the pressure was really on for that final run but you did it, pole by 13 thousandths of a second which I think your team calculates to be 82 centimetres around this Suzuka circuit.

    Nico Rosberg: Yeah, of course, happy with the result in the end. I was going well the whole weekend, I had a good balance in the car, feeling good, feeling comfortable so that’s what allows me then to put in a lap like that in the end. Yeah, pleased with that.

    Q: And Lewis, not the end of the world from your point of view because as we look back over the last couple of seasons you’ve won here from second place on the grid, so is that very much what’s on your mind as you sit here this afternoon?

    Lewis Hamilton: Well, I’m happy with qualifying. It’s been a weekend of a lot of work that’s gone on, getting the car set-up right and some big changes went into qualifying. Considering that, to be that close I was really happy with it. I got everything I could… I did as well as I could, I think. Naturally, if you have more laps, I guess you could always find more time but yeah, generally very happy with that and history has shown that you don’t have to be on pole to get the win. But Nico did a great job and has done all weekend.

    Q: Kimi, great lap for third place; for the fourth time this season you’ve qualified in this position. Do we infer from this that Ferrari has made a bit of a step compared to Red Bull in the last few races?

    Kimi Raikkonen: I don’t know. Honestly, it’s pretty much the same car that we raced a week ago. I don’t think many people have had a lot of difference but it’s very… positively surprised how well the car’s been behaving and how quick it’s been. Obviously it’s been a bit tricky to get the right balance but it’s been pretty good and so far so good but obviously third is not exactly what we’re looking for but I think we’re pretty close. It was not too bad.

    Q: Coming back to our pole-sitter, Nico Rosberg, you’ve been fastest in every single track session so far this weekend – obviously Lewis got the quicker first run in Q3 – but you’ve topped every single track session so far this weekend, but as Lewis was saying, the last two years he’s won the race from P2; how do you make it go your way tomorrow?

    NR: It’s just putting everything together, you know. For sure the start is going to be an important one, definitely tomorrow and we’ve seen this weekend that it’s not been too easy, because it’s downhill and the grip somehow has been a bit lower than usual so it’s going to be an interesting challenge. And from then on, then just need to get the tyre life to be able to do long enough stints and everything to get the strategy to work so it’s putting everything together.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Back to our pole-sitter, Nico Rosberg, third year in a row here in Suzuka, thirtieth of his Formula One career. Nico the last sector on that final run was what made the difference for you versus Lewis, I think it’s fair to say. Tell us about the pressure you were feeling after that first run in Q1 and what it was about that final sector that eventually nailed it for you?

    NR: It was just a good lap, just got it all done properly, that’s it. I knew I could do it, I knew I could do a good lap and just the first one in Q3 wasn’t perfect so I just had to get my head down and nail it.

    Q: Why was it not perfect?

    NR: I’m not really sure. I just felt a bit less grip somehow and it just didn’t come together so I don’t really have an explanation.

    Q: OK, moving to Lewis, Lewis bouncing back strongly from obviously the disappointment of last weekend, you were referring there in your first answer to the fact that you’ve been working very hard on the set-up of the car, particularly presumably with an eye on the race but you were in the groove as far as race pace is concerned?

    LH: Well, we just kind of veered off on a different tangent in terms of set-up this weekend and it wasn’t until qualifying that I veered back so some big changes. It’s not that easy to go straight into qualifying with a completely different car so that’s why I’m relatively happy with considering what I did. I think we’re in a good position for tomorrow.

    Q: Kimi, obviously balance is a big thing around here. You were complaining a few times on the radio of understeer throughout the last couple of days and again this afternoon. Tell us a little bit about that and also you did a soft tyre run in Q1 which Red Bull did not do, not a quick one. They only went on to it in Q2 and Q3. Do you think that helped you to find the balance that ultimately gave you this third place today?

    KR: Well, I think it doesn’t harm, that’s for sure. I mean it’s always more easy when you have more sets of the same compound so you can fine-tune a little bit but obviously in qualifying there’s not an awful lot that you can do that is correct or not. We been suffering a bit of understeer all weekend and even in qualifying just slowing us down a little bit in the first sector but it got a bit better in the end. Obviously it got faster then but it’s the very small details that have to come together and we managed to put all these together more or less and the car’s been behaving quite good. It’s shame that Seb has a penalty but we will try to do the same if not better tomorrow.

  • Mercedes reveals cause of Hamilton’s engine failure

    Mercedes reveals cause of Hamilton’s engine failure

    Following analysis of Lewis Hamilton’s engine failure in Malaysia, Mercedes has found that his engine suffered a big-end bearing failure following a loss of oil pressure.

    The engine failure struck Hamilton without warning while he was leading the Malaysian Grand Prix. Hamilton was forced to retire from the race with 16 laps remaining. The engine was returned to Brixworth where more detailed analysis is taking place.

    According to a Mercedes spokesperson, “Our analysis has shown that Lewis’ engine suffered a big-end bearing failure. This happened without warning after 618 km and was preceded by a loss of oil pressure in Turn 15.”

    This weekend, Hamilton will revert to the engine he used in Singapore. He still has one new engine left in reserve for the rest of the season.

  • Hamilton explains his Malaysian GP post race comments

    Hamilton explains his Malaysian GP post race comments

    It’ll be fair to say that Lewis Hamilton was not at all happy following his retirement from the Malaysian Grand Prix. The British driver made a few very controversial comments following the race and prompted questions and investigations into why the reliability of his car has been so poor this season while reliability was not an issue for the seven other Mercedes powered cars on the F1 grid.

    The three-time world champion demaded answers from the Mercedes AMG Petronas team – he wants to know why he is suffering the series of reliability issues that are hampering his fight for the world title against his team-mate Nico Rosberg. Hamilton went as far as saying that it feels as though “someone or something does not want me to win this season”.

    Following his comments, Hamilton has however explained that he still has full faith and trust in his team especially considering the amount of work that has been put in over the past couple of years.

    “Honestly, you’ve got to understand it from my point of view. On one side, we’ve had the most incredible success these past two years, for which I’m so grateful. These guys work so hard and we’re all feeling the pain right now. When you get out of the car – that feeling you have after leading the race and then your car fails – it’s pretty hard to say positive things at the time.”

    “As I said in the TV interviews, Mercedes have built 43 engines or however many it might be with the extra three I’ve had, and I have happened to have most of, if not all of, the failures. So, that is definitely tough to take. But I have 100% confidence in these guys.”

    Hamilton also expressed that the reliability issues does not change how he feels about the team and made sure everyone understood that it was thanks to the Mercedes team that he won the last two world championships.

    “It’s my fourth year with them now and the guys in the garage and back at the factories – I have 100% faith in them. I love it here and without them I would not have won these two Championships.”

    “While the struggle is real right now and has been all year, I honestly feel that it’s a test of my will, my spirit and who I am as a person to get back in and keep fighting it head on. It’s not how you fall, it’s how you get back up. That applies not just to me but to the guys as well. I saw tears in the eyes of my mechanics so I know that we all bear the pain. But, as I said, it’s how we re-group. We have to keep in mind what we’ve already built.”

    “While in the short term it doesn’t look good and for the long-term this year it might not be so good, there are still lots of positives. There’s still five races to go and if I can perform the way I performed this weekend there’s still everything to play for. We will learn.”

    “The guys will take the engine back and they’ll understand what happened. Every time we’ve had engine issues they’ve gone away and found out why. It puts us potentially in a better position to make sure it doesn’t happen next year. All I can do is what I’ve done this weekend.”

    Lewis Hamilton Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas

  • Rosberg takes Singapore GP pole ahead of Ricciardo

    Rosberg takes Singapore GP pole ahead of Ricciardo

    Nico Rosberg must be feeling a little boost on his bid for the F1 championship title after putting in a sensational lap to secure a crucial pole position for the Singapore GP this weekend.

    Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton will not be feeling as boosted though. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo beat him to the second spot on the grid and will be starting from the front row alongside Rosberg. The Red Bulls have been looking very strong this weekend which could really see us set for a spectacular Singapore GP.

    Rosberg pulled a stunning 1:42.584 out of the bag on his first Q3 run which saw him ultimately taking the pole position by over half a second ahead of Ricciardo.

    Lewis Hamilton, Singapore GP qualifyingHamilton was simply not able to put together a good enough lap and finished seven tenths further back. He’s going to need a really good race start if he wants to snatch the win from his team mate. His race starts however have not been fantastic lately, so he’ll need to give it a proper go when the lights go out on Sunday.

    Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will start from 4th place and Kimi Raikkonen will start the race from 5th for Ferrari. His team mate, Sebastian Vettel will start from the back of the grid following some mechanical issues. His fight up the order will surely make for some awesome entertainment.

    Toro Rosso had a very strong qualifying. Carlos Sainz will start from P6 and the disgruntled Danill Kvyat had his best qualifying since being demoted from Red Bull, finishing 7th fastest today.

    The top 10 is rounded out by Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez. Perez however will drop back 8 grid positions for yellow flag infringements.

    Valterri Bottas so nearly made it through to the Q3 shootout but missed the mark the 0.003s. Williams team mate Felipe Massa finished just behind him.

    McLaren’s Jenson Button had to settle for 13th place after he had to pull over into an escape road with a puncture in the final stages of Q2. Esteban Gutierrez will line up behind him in 14th place for the Haas F1 racing team.

    Romain Grosjean, Singapore GP qualifyingHaas team mate Romain Grosjean ended the session in the barriers after spinning into T14 – his crash caused a ten minute delay on the start of Q3.

    Marcus Ericsson got his Sauber through to Q2 but could only manage 16th place after his single run for the session. Kevin Magnussen will line up in 17th place behind him ahead of Felipe Nasr and Jolyon Palmer.

    Pascal Wehrelin brought his Manor home 20th ahead of team mate Esteban Ocon.

    Sebastian Vettel remains the biggest casualty of the Singapore GP qualifying, suffering a broken anti-roll bar which saw him unable to compete. He may have been sitting on pole in 2015, but this year, the Ferrari driver will start the Singapore GP from the final grid spot.

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