Tag: mercedes

F1 2015: FP3 Report – Hamilton Quickest In China

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg set the first and second fastest time for Mercedes in the final free practice session for the Chinese grand prix.

The Mercedes drivers were separated by roughly two tenths of a second while the Ferrari duo of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were comfortably the second quickest pairing in the quali sim runs. Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat ended the session fifth and sixth quickest respectively.

McLaren’s difficult start to the season continued as Fernando Alonso grinded to a halt early on in the hour long session with a suspected engine problem. However, teammate Jenson Button seemed to fair quite a bit better and finished the session only three tenths off 1oth place. Team boss Paddy Lowe said that they are hoping to advance to the second part of qualifying using only the prime (medium) compound tyre.Valtteri Bottas was the quickest of the Williams drivers but was only 8th on the timing sheets; teammate Felipe Massa was 11th.

The uncommonly bright blue sky over the Shanghai International circuit has been one the biggest surprises of the weekend. This region, some forty minutes from downtown Shanghai, is usually bathed in overcast and cool conditions. However, temperatures are expected to rise into Sunday’s race and Pirelli predicts that it could mean that some teams will have to opt for a three-stop strategy.

April 11, 2015
Hamilton holds the lead in second practice

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton continued to set the pace during Friday’s practice sessions for the Chinese Grand Prix as he ended the second practice session almost half a second faster than Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton posted a time of 1:37.219 during the low-fuel runs on Option tyres finishing 0.443s ahead of Raikkonen. The Finn’s performance on the soft tyres was very impressive and long run pace on the Prime tyres was also right up there with Mercedes. The stage certainly seems set for an epic battle this weekend.

Red Bull’s struggles continued with Daniel Ricciardo only making it out of the garage at the 45 minute mark, but the Australian driver managed to post the third fastest time of the session – just over a second down on Hamilton’s time.

His team mate, Daniil Kvyat posted the sixth fastest time but his session came to an early end in the barriers after he suffered a brake failure. He had left the pits with a brake problem and Red Bull called him back to the garage informing him to slowly make his way back, but he headed into the gravel at the hairpin, into the barrier and damaged his front wing.

Sebastian Vettel spun off early in on in the session but recovered to finish fourth fastest, with Nico Rosberg managing fifth after running wide at the final corner on his hot lap.

Valtteri Bottas finished seventh for Williams and Sauber’s Felipe Nasr was eighth.

After sitting out the first practice session, Romain Grosjean headed out to finish ninth and Jenson Button rounded out the Top 10 in his McLaren. The McLaren team have made some definite improvements with Button only about 0.4 seconds off Grosjean’s pace on the soft tyres.

Pastor Maldonado was fastest through the speed trap but finished only 11th fastest, ahead of Fernando Alonso, Marcus Ericsson and the Toro Rosso youngsters Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr.

Nico Hulkenberg placed his Force India in 16th, ahead of Felipe Massa.

The Brazilian driver’s session also ended early when he locked his rear tyres under braking at the hairpin and spinning off into the barriers – also damaging his front wing. His spin brought out a brief red flag while his Williams was recovered from the track.

Sergio Perez was 18th quickest, ahead of Robert Merhi and Will Stevens for the Manor Marussia team.

Stevens spent most of the session in the garage with a power unit problem but was able to head out onto track in the final few minutes of the session.

The session was punctuated by a spectator who ran across the pit straight between the flying cars of Ericsson and Hulkenberg.

The idiotic fan was arrested and taken into police custody.

You can watch the madness here.

And is if that didn’t make the session interesting enough, a couple was spotted in the stands having their wedding photos taken.

Talk about a High Speed Wedding and all. Let’s hope their marriage is a little slower paced and longer lasting.

If today’s practice sessions are anything to go by, Sunday’s race is going to be very interesting! A lot will depend on who can make their soft tyres last longest – with Ferrari already proving at the Malaysian Grand Prix that their cars are very easy on the rubber. Today too, the Ferraris showed their ability to make their tyres last. Lewis Hamilton completed 11 laps on the soft tyre before seeing a significant drop-off. Sebastian Vettel on the other hand, was still setting decent times after 14 laps on the softer rubber.

There’s still plenty to play for though – Hamilton’s pace advantage is a lot bigger than in Malaysia so Ferrari will need to work hard to catch him if he races off into a lead.

Please join us on Twitter @F1_Madness tomorrow for live coverage and chat throughout the third practice and qualifying sessions.

Here is your timesheet for the second practice session:

April 10, 2015
F1 2015: Chinese GP Preview – Advantage Mercedes in Shanghai

If you’re not mulling several burning questions and theories at the same time then you’re more than likely not thinking about Formula 1 and the upcoming Chinese grand prix.

The biggest of these burning questions is whether Ferrari’s stunning Malaysian grand prix victory was indicative of something or just a flash in the Mercedes dominated pan. But things are rarely ever as simple as either answering yes or no either way. This is after all Formula 1 and there are a plethora of variables and circumstances that have to enter into providing a carefully thought out response to this poser.

The biggest determining factor will be the temperature. In Malaysia the scorching track temperature played to Ferrari’s strength but it wasn’t the only advantage they put on the table. In comparison to Mercedes the Ferrari driver’s did a much better job at managing their tyre degradation.

The Pirelli tyres are far less temperamental than when they were first introduced to Formula 1 but the benefit of eeking a bit more performance out of them than the competition is a big advantage. The temperatures in China won’t be anything like that of Sepang but the track surface is quite an abrasive one. Add to this that Pirelli have selected the medium and soft compounds for the weekend and Ferrari is still in with a shout.

Sebastian Vettel’s win in Malaysia doesn’t mean that he or Ferrari will be able to consistently beat Mercedes. But it’s given Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and his team something to think about. “In two weeks you are caught up and you lose the race fair and square on track which is a bit of a wake-up call, which is good for us.”

The pace of development in Formula 1 has always been staggering but never quite something you can get used to. In 2014 Williams were, by far, the second quickest team on the grid and even locked out the front row for the Austrian grand prix. Several months later the Grove based team has, so far, fallen short of the frontrunners. We are missing race pace – and quite a big amount,” said Valtteri Bottas. “With the ideal race, starting at the front, the gap wouldn’t be that big but it is too big, much bigger than we expected.

The FW34 Williams shouldn’t have too bad a time of it this weekend because China’s Shanghai circuit is a marvellous mixture of intricate, technical corners and wide-open straights prepared to test the limits of the modern F1 hybrid technology. Turn one is a test in patience as it makes a 180 degree turn before accelerating into a slightly off-camber turn two. “The circuit has a very long straight, where a good top speed is important, and an interesting mix of low, medium and high speed corners. In addition, it has several technical sections where unique corners, such as turns one and 13, lead straight into further corners requiring a good car balance and precise driving,” says Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering at Sauber.

All the teams like coming to these parts too. It’s bustling juggernaut economy and bustling automotive industry is a big target for the manufacturer’s involved in the sport. Achieve commercial success in the densely populated Chinese region and you’ll be smiling at the way to the bank.

There will be more than just the battle up front to whet the appetite this weekend. The Lotus F1 team maintain that they have made big gains from last year but have not yet been able to show this on track. If they are able the fight in the mid-field, with Toro Rosso and Sauber, may yield quite a battle.

The saying goes that you’re only as good as your last race. In this case it means a dazzling Ferrari victory and Mercedes being, slightly, found out. But the pragmatic part of the brain will remind you that though Ferrari’s victory was stunning it is still up against the juggernaut of Mercedes. Then again, pragmatism is terribly over-rated.

April 9, 2015
Weather Report for the 2015 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix

In no time at all we are at round 3 of the Formula 1 World Championship which takes place at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China.

The circuit is characterized by the smooth surface, one very long straight,, a mixture of medium to high speed corners and the tightening radius turn 1 which is almost a full circle.. The circuit is a front limited circuit which means that the front tyres and front end grip is important at this track. Cars need a quick turn in to rapidly change direction.

According to Pirelli the cars spend 80% of the lap cornering which means there is a tremendous amount of energy going through the tyres. It is for this reason that Pirelli have nominated the white medium and yellow soft compound tyre for the race. With temperatures remaining relatively cool during the race weekend the one problem that drivers may face is the graining of the tyres. The graining affects the grip and increases the rate of degradation on the tyres.

With the northern hemisphere coming out of winter, the temperatures will be on the cold side for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix. Temperatures are not expected to go higher that 21 degrees Celsius. The forecast is partly cloudy for the entire weekend with a 10% chance of rain expected on race day. The conditions will change throughout the weekend though.

This is the complete opposite to the scorching temperatures teams experienced two weeks ago. It will be interesting to see if Ferrari can maintain their momentum while Mercedes have come out guns blazing in the battle with Ferrari. McLaren have said that they will have trouble getting heat into their tyres in the colder temperatures while Red Bull are looking to get further up the field after a disappointing start to the season.

Below is a summary for this weekend’s weather and a live forecast of the current conditions in Shanghai which will update throughout the day.

April 8, 2015
Broadcast Times for the 2015 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Nearly a fortnight ago the world of Formula 1 was given a little shake up by Ferrari. People who were jeering Vettel at Red Bull were cheering him on after he won the Malaysian Grand Prix. The dominant Mercedes F1 Team were, for the first time in 20 races, a bit shaky and uncertain at times.

Things have calmed down since then and both Mercedes and Ferrari have had time to calm down and digest the data from Malaysia. Mercedes are certain that they can raise their game and have even brought a few updates forward to take the challenge to Ferrari. They are talking up their chances ahead of this weekends Chinese Grand Prix saying things like the Shanghai track is front limited and that the temperatures will be vastly different to the scorching temperatures they experienced in Sepang.

Ferrari on the other hand say that they will not get ahead of themselves and they’ll keep their heads down and continue to work at it. There seems to be a quiet confidence coming out of Maranello at the moment which has caught everyone in the paddock off guard. Ferrari have played down their chances for this weekend saying that they do not expect to be as strong as they were in Malaysia due to the cooler temperatures. Kimi Raikkonen has come out and said that the SF15-T is competitive in any type of track conditions. What ever it may be, we are in for an interesting weekend.

After both their cars retired from the race in Malaysia despite showing some good pace, McLaren are not expecting to show the same pace as in China. “I don’t think our car package will be as well suited here as it was in Malaysia, especially if the weather is as cold and windy as it usually is in early springtime in Shanghai,” said Fernando Alonso.

The battle of the Red Bull teams will continue this weekend with the sister Toro Rosso team looking keep up their very good early form. Red Bull who have been very vocal about their Renault power unit are looking to put in a good performance this weekend but with a track that favors engine power, things may be a bit tough for the Milton Keynes based team. It does seem that Red Bull and Renault have put their differences aside and are not working together to get their engine up to the level of Mercedes.

However the weekend may go, we go into this F1 weekend uncertain as to who will win and that is not a bad thing at all.

Below are your broadcast times for the 2015 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix. All times are GMT+2

Free Practice 1: Friday 04:00

Free Practice 2: Friday 08:00

Free Practice 3: Saturday 06:00

Qualifying: Saturday 09:00

Race: Sunday 08:00

April 8, 2015
Mercedes ready to up their game for China

Following their defeat in Sepang, Mercedes says it has assessed every aspect of the Malaysian Grand Prix in order to ensure that the team overcomes the threat posed by Ferrari.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says that the team left Sepang with a whole lot to think about and saw Mercedes realise that Ferrari can indeed pose a threat for the entire 2015 F1 season. They are however ready to up the stakes and raise their game. According to Wolff, Mercedes are ready to bounce back and look forward to reclaiming the top step of the podium at the Chinese Grand Prix this coming weekend.

“We left Malaysia with plenty to think about,” Wolff said. “It may have been a good result for the sport – but for us, it was a wake-up call. This is something you cannot afford to happen often and, although we had two cars on the podium, we have been looking very carefully at every area where we could have performed better.

“Our opposition has raised its game and we must now raise ours even further; as we have said since Melbourne, we expect a season-long battle for both world championships and we must maximise every opportunity. China is the next chance to do that – a circuit which has been a good hunting ground for the team.

“Lewis [Hamilton] has a great record here and for Nico [Rosberg], it’s where he made his first step into the winners circle. We have the weapons at our disposal – and we need to make the most of them this weekend.”

Defending F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton also said that Mercedes have been working hard on analysing the Malaysian defeat in order to best prepare for the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix. While there is room for improvement, Hamilton is confident in targeting the front of the pack again.

“Malaysia was a tough weekend. It always is with the heat – but with car problems on Friday, rain during qualifying on Saturday and a race which didn’t go to plan on Sunday, this one was particularly challenging,” Hamilton said. “I think ultimately we made the best choices we could – but there is always room for improvement and we’ve been working hard to analyse everything for the next race in China.

“The circuit itself is a different challenge to Albert Park and Sepang – but it’s one I really enjoy and it suits my driving style quite well. I won the race last year and have only finished outside of the podium places twice, so the target is definitely to build on that and get back to the front.”

Team mate Nico Rosberg is also eyeing the top step of the podium and fancies his chances on Sunday, especially considering his special history at the circuit.

Shanghai is a great circuit for me. It’s where I got my first pole and my first win back in 2012 – my third season with the Silver Arrows. It’s not been a perfect start to my sixth year with the team and I’m determined to turn that around this weekend. Of course, my team-mate will have other ideas – and so will my compatriot in the red car, I’m sure. But this is a track that has always suited me well, so I’m aiming to put in a strong weekend.”

Technical chief Paddy Lowe pointed out theat tyre management was a major concern for Mercedes following the Malaysian Grand Prix, where Mercedes were unable to match Vettel’s two-stop strategy. He also confirmed that Mercedes have a number of new aero developments for Shangai which the team expect will make a big difference to their performance.

“The most significant weakness was our tyre management during long runs,” Lowe said. “Exceptionally high track temperatures – even by Malaysian standards – contributed to this, however it is essential to have a car which performs at all circuits and in all conditions, so there is work to be done on that front.

“China presents a different challenge. Temperatures can vary dramatically year-on-year, but are generally quite low. It’s also a front-limited circuit – the opposite of Sepang – with a good mix of corners and a long straight, so it will be interesting to see how the different cars perform at yet another circuit characteristic for this new season. It is now clearer than ever that there is serious competition for this world championship, so we will continue to work flat out for performance gains. We have a range of new aerodynamic developments for Shanghai and are targeting an improved performance from Malaysia.”

Photo credits: All photos credited to Mercedes AMG F1

April 7, 2015
F1 Video: 2015 Malaysian GP Lewis Hamilton post race interview

Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver Lewis Hamilton’s Malaysian GP post race interview with SkySportsF1 after being beaten to the finish line by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton talks about coming second to the Ferrari driver and how this is actually really good for the sport. He also talks about the strategy differences and is surprised to find out that Vettel is only three points behind him in the F1 World Championship. Watch this interesting post race interview and let us know your thoughts!

April 1, 2015
F1 Video: 2015 Malaysian GP Sebastian Vettel post race interview

Sebastian Vettel post race interview – 2015 Malaysian GP

Sebastian Vettel talks to SkySports F1 after his emotional Malaysian GP win in this post race interview. He talks about his feelings while standing on the podium, his reaction to Niki Lauda’s comments, Mercedes’ advantage and the work that lies ahead for the Ferrari team. Watch the post race interview for his full reaction to winning the race.

April 1, 2015
Q&A with Sebastian Vettel on one of his “best wins yet”

Sebastian Vettel oozed emotion on the podium following his win at the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix. The tear-filled eyes of the Ferrari driver and his entire crew made it easy to see how much the win meant to both Vettel and his Italian team. Despite being a four-time World Champion, Vettel spoke of his first victory for the team as one of his best wins yet. Here’s what he had to say to the media after his emotional first victory for the Ferrari team.

Q: Congratulations Sebastian, it is not only Ferrari’s first win since Spain 2013 but also your first win since Brazil 2013. How would you rate the importance of this victory?

Sebastian Vettel: I think it has to be one of my best wins, as I did not swap teams that much in the past, and winning for a new team is definitely a great relief. And in my case it is for sure a dream come true, since there is so much more to it in the background. Since I joined the team they have been phenomenal welcoming me, and since then we have worked incredibly hard together trying to improve a lot of things. On the way there I said many times that the potential is huge, and it is great to see that we were able to do such a great step over the winter. For sure there are a lot of changes happening in the background, which is never easy to accomplish, but everyone saw the positives of those very changes. I am just happy to go to work, and very passionate just to work for Ferrari. So I am sharing that passion now as well, and seeing all the guys from up on the podium gave me goosebumps.

Q: Last year you were not happy with your own performance, how would you explain this?

Sebastian Vettel: I was not able to get on top of the car, which was a good car. This year it is a different game, and not only a new team but also a new car. This time I had a good feeling right from the start. I was able to work right away with this new car, and there is a lot that we are trying to build together with the team. So it is very pleasant to have a start like that. For the next races we need to make sure that we are able to keep these good results and that we keep up the pace as well. Today is a very special day, as it was the first time that Mercedes got beaten fair and square since the introduction of the new rules, and they were not suffering from any special problems. So for sure this means a lot to us, as a proper win was quite some time ago for Ferrari, and also for myself.

Q: How high are your hopes that you can be a championship contender alongside Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg this year?

Sebastian Vettel: In general it is very simple, as Mercedes have a great package. Maybe here in Malaysia they were struggling a bit more, and also we were doing exceptionally well. For sure we would like to be in that situation for every race to come from now on, which is also our target. On the other side we have to be realistic as well, as they had a very big gap in winter testing and in the first race, which does not just evaporate. Our target has to be that the gap between them and us keeps getting smaller, as the gap will still be there. Also, we need to underline that it is us that is the team right behind them.

Q: How important is it to get such an amazing result this early in the season?

Sebastian Vettel: It is a great boost for the entire team. Ferrari had a horrible year last season, and they got criticised a lot from all sides. A lot of things have changed already, including one driver (laughs). And I do hope for the better, and I am very happy to join Ferrari. For sure this is a great day for the team and for myself, and it makes me very proud.

March 31, 2015
Toto Wolff thinks Ferrari’s victory is “good for Formula One”

The Mercedes team did not stand a chance at stopping four-time Forumula One champion, Sebastian Vettel, from cruising to his first Ferrari victory at this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.
Vettel won the race on a two-stop strategy, while his Mercedes rivals opted for three stops. Mercedes Head of Motorsport Toto Wolff however, in an interview with Formula One’s official website, insisted that Ferrari’s unstoppable pace was not to be credited to strategy. While it was a bad day for Mercedes, Wolff thinks it was a good day for Formula One.

Here’s what he had to say in his interview with F1’s official website:

Q: Toto, did Ferrari win the race or did Mercedes lose it?

Toto Wolff: Well, Ferrari deserved to win today. So they’ve won the race! Sebastian did a fantastic job and they executed the strategy in the right way – and it is fantastic for Formula One after all the talk about a boring race in Melbourne, and that Mercedes would run away with the championship. Here you had a sizzling race! We saw on Friday that Kimi’s long runs were impressive, which makes me believe that it was the best long run on the weekend up until the race. My guess is that we couldn’t have matched the long run pace of Ferrari today on the option tyres. Lewis’ tyres were finished after 14 or 15 laps – they were able to do much more. So we were pretty sure that a three-stop strategy was the right call and I doubt that we could have pulled it off with only two stops.

Q: Does Ferrari’s pace worry you for the races ahead?

Toto Wolff: Yes, that is worrying. Especially if you have the kind of track temperatures that we had today. They have been able to go faster than us over the long runs, so we need to analyse why that was the case. It clearly shows that this year is not going to be an easy one for us – gone are the illusions of a walk in the park!

Q: Why is it that in Melbourne you looked unbeatable, and yet here you were suddenly second fastest?

Toto Wolff: The conditions here were completely different. Remember, last year in Malaysia we also struggled against Daniel Ricciardo in the race, so these are not our conditions – this extremely high tarmac and ambient temperature. Probably we were a bit too aggressive on set-ups that pushed us into the direction of three stops – all the algorithms showed that this was the right way to go. But we got stuck in traffic and damaged the tyres following cars, and there you have it.

Q: You had a very early first stop after five laps – is that a regret in hindsight?

Toto Wolff: Afterwards you are always smarter! But we took this decision all together. We haven’t made any strategic mistakes in the last one and a half to two years, so it doesn’t make sense to point a finger at a single event. We need to find out why we’ve been struggling on the long runs in these hot conditions. This is the main thing we have to look at in my viewpoint.

Q: Did you expect Ferrari to catch up so massively in these last couple of weeks?

Toto Wolff: No, we definitely did not expect it to happen at that pace. We were pretty dominant in Melbourne. We are always a bit sceptical about our own advantage – that’s why we believe that you always have to keep sharp and keep developing in order not to be caught up – and then in two weeks you are actually caught up by a Ferrari. We lost the race fair and square! Yes, it was a surprise, but it was also a wake-up call. Which is good!

Q: What do you expect then for China?

Toto Wolff: If I was to be optimistic I would say that Malaysia was difficult last year and it continued to be this year as the temperatures are the same. We suffered from these temperatures, so there you have your result. But that would be pretty naive: Ferrari have done a good job. They have a good engine, a good car and great drivers, so we will have to sit down in the next days to analyse the situation and see where we have to improve and probably take some developments forward. We need to increase the pace of our development.

Q: At mid-distance the team told both drivers that they were on target for a one-two victory. That was all gone in the second part of the race. Where did the confidence for such a message come from?

Toto Wolff: Today strategies are no longer gut decisions but algorithm and scientific research. We have the best guy in the paddock in terms of strategy, and today we relied on the information we collected over the weekend. So we were right about our own pace – just not about the pace of the Ferrari.

Q: When he realised what the outcome of the race would likely be, Lewis got a bit bugged out in his radio conversations telling his engineer: ‘don’t talk to me in the corner’…

Toto Wolff: Lewis was not bugged out. This race was very difficult to read from a driver’s perspective with so many stops and then realising that your main competitor was on a completely different strategy that seemed to pan out – that is of course an irritation. And we weren’t really good on radio messaging today! (laughs) There were a couple of wired calls!

Q: Bernie Ecclestone said yesterday that he is certain that Lewis will win his third title. But now everything has been blown wide open, and Ferrari don’t look like one-hit wonders…

Toto Wolff: That is Formula One at it’s best: the speed of development is amazing. Now we have to work to turn things around again. It was always clear that the winning streak wasn’t going on forever! We have been beaten fair and square today!

Toto Wolff Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG F1

March 30, 2015