Tag: mercedes

F1 2015: Jerez Testing Day 4 – Round Up

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen ended day 4 of the Jerez test on top of the time sheets. Raikkonen set the fastest lap of 1:20.841 which was also the fastest time of the week.

Raikkonen was quite happy with what Ferrari have achieved so far and feels that the car is performing much better than it was last year. “”It’s the whole package that has progressed, but there is still a lot of work to do,” he said.

Finishing second on the day was Sauber’s Felipe Nasr. The Sauber driver managed to cross the line 112 times with his fastest time of the day of 1:22.019.

Lewis Hamilton finished the day with the 3rd fastest time of 1:22.172. But we all know that in testing its mileage that counts and Hamilton clocked up 117 laps for the day. His day wasnt without incident as he had a spin at the chicane which brought out the red flags for a short while.

Max Verstappen finished 4th fastest for Toro Rosso with Felipe Massa 5th fastest for Williams. They each did 97 and 73 laps respectively.

It wasn’t the easiest of days for Romain Grosjean, but he managed to bang in a solid 53 laps of the Jerez Circuit. His day was brought to an end early after issues with the power unit.

Red Bull had another tough day after an ERS problem saw Kvyat stop on track in the morning. This problem meant that they spent most of the morning fixing the problem, but they were out by the afternoon which meant Kvyat could pound around the track for a while.

Engine problems in the morning and a fuel pump issue in the afternoon brought Jenson Button’s day to an early end. But it wasn’t all bad news for the Woking based team. Button managed to get a good few laps in and set his fastest time of a 1:27.660. Despite all the engine issues, McLaren feel that they’ve learnt a great deal about the engine architecture and so far the feedback from Button about the new Honda engine is positive.

Teams will gather and analyse all their data at their respective headquarters and will head to Barcelona for the second test for the 2015 season in 2 weeks time.

Unofficial times for Day 4 of the Jerez Test

February 4, 2015
F1 2015: Jerez Testing Day 3 – Round Up

Sauber’s Felipe Nasr set the fastest time of the third day of the Jerez test on Tuesday.

Nasr set an unofficial time of 1:21.545 to put his Sauber ahead of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari in P2 with a time of 1:21.750. It must also be noted that Nasr clocked up an impressive 108 laps. But that was still not enough to beat Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes W06, who racked up an impressive 151 laps. His day was not without incident as he came to a stop on the track just before lunch time which brought out the red flags.

There were two other stoppages today. Once was caused by Nasr after spinning off the track and took a trip through the gravel traps. The other stoppage was because Pastor Maldonado’s Lotus came to a stop on the back straight.

Things are looking much better for Lotus this time around. Maldonado managed to do 96 laps today with his fastest time of 1:22.713.

McLaren had a better day out on track as Fernando Alonso managed to clock up 32 laps in his MP4-30. His day was cut short after a loss of cooling water pressure. His fastest time for the day was a 1:35.553,

Daniel Ricciardo was hamstrung by engine problems for most of the day and was limited to a few short runs. Carlos Sainz Jr. had a good day out for Toro Rosso and did an impressive 136 laps.

The test concludes tomorrow.

Unofficial times from Circuito de Jerez

Photo by courtesy Pirelli

February 3, 2015
F1 2015: Jerez Testing Day 2 – Round-Up

The second day of testing from Spain’s Jerez circuit was topped by Sebastian Vettel as he set a fastest time of 1:20:984 in his Ferrari.

The morning started rather sedately as the several cars initially set about completing their installations laps. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton got into their workload for the day relatively quickly while others camped in the pitlane for some time. The Lotus team did a terrific job to show up for the second day of testing and managed an initial installation with Pastor Maldonado able to complete 41 laps with a quickest time of 1:25:802.

McLaren also managed only a couple of installations with Jenson Button before spending the entire morning in its pit garage. The Brit was able set a timed lap several hours later following a morning troubled by electronic issues. However, nearly all of the session on day two was lost to further gremlins.

Red Bull’s Danill Kvyat caused quite a stir when he left the pitlane without a front-wing. Naturally, there were a few jokes about the camouflage livery living up to its name and hiding the front-wing. Ultimately, the explanation was that the front-wing had been damaged and while the team waited for a replacement Kvyat would do a short engine test without it.

The final few hours of the second day of testing were blighted with rain however Lewis Hamilton was still able to complete 91 laps before a water leak brought an end to his afternoon. Sebastian Vettel racked up 89 laps and Sauber’s Felipe Nasr’s 88.

Unofficial laptimes from Jerez de la Frontera:

February 2, 2015
F1 2015: Jerez Testing – Day 1 Round-Up

Day one of winter testing ahead of the 2015 season kicked off today at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain.

Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time overall for the Ferrari team with a time of 1:22:690. The German completed a total of 59 laps. Fernando Alonso completed the least amount of laps, six, in his McLaren Honda.

A relatively cool start to the day, weather wise, was amped with the official launch of several cars. Red Bull stole the limelight with a rather different livery. The Williams FW37 also launched with its official colours in the pitlane while Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg unveiled the 2015 Mercedes. The Lotus team were absent from the pitlane following their announcement that were not quite ready to run the E23. Fernando Alonso took charge of the McLaren Honda for the first day Ron Dennis has said that the McLaren livery will change from its current guise but has remained coy on exactly when that will happen.

Last year’s stuttering start to testing at Jerez saw Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time of the day in his Ferrari, a time of 1:27:104. Twelve months later, and a whole lot more knowledge on the turbo era of the sport, the cars have clocked times considerably quicker.

It was a remarkable day for Mercedes who clocked 157 with Nico Rosberg. Although Mercedes did have a shakedown earlier in the week at the Silverstone circuit to clock 157 laps in a day is an extremely good sign for the defending champions.

The first day of winter testing is always highly anticipated among fans, teams and drivers alike. It’s the opening salvo ahead of a new season and one that is keenly watched from all around the world. It is also a day for the teams to find their proverbial feet with their 2015 challengers and one where they look iron out small niggles while ensuring that all the systems run smoothly.

Thus the first runs and opening couple of days are hard to read into and it is unwise to do so. There is one thing however that is not in doubt; for 2015 the teams have produced stunning pieces of machinery that are very pleasing to the eye.

Daniel Ricciardo photo courtesy of @redbullracing

Unofficial Laptimes from Jerez de la Frontera:

February 1, 2015
Mercedes Officially Launch the W06

Drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg took the covers off Mercedes’ 2015 title defending car at the Circuito Jerez this morning.

With the sun slightly peeking over the mountains the covers came off the new Mercedes W06 Hybrid.

Technical Director, Paddy Lowe says that one of the key focus areas for the car was reliability. “It’s no secret that reliability let us down on a number of occasions in 2014”

“Making a car reliable is a long gane and a lot of effort has gone in on that side. It’s not about fixing individual issues but about raising quality across the many thousands of parts and processes involved.”

The rear wing has a single, central support pylon. This does provide some aerodynamic benefit as there is less disturbance to the air flowing below the main plane of the front wing.

Mercedes say that they have a more extreme version of their front suspension this season. The W06 suspension system was built without FRIC from the begging after it was banned mid way last season.

Photo’s courtesy Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1

February 1, 2015
F1 2015: Jerez Test Driver Line Up
The first test for the 2015 Formula 1 Season gets underway tomorrow in Jerez, Spain.

The test will run from 01 – 04 February. This is how the drivers will line up on each day

Day 1: Sunday 1 Ferbuary
- Mercedes – Nico Rosberg
- Red Bull – Daniel Ricciardo
- Williams – Valtteri Bottas
- Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel
- McLaren – Fernando Alonso
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Carlos Sainz Jr.
- Sauber – Marcus Ericsson
- Lotus – Pastor Maldonado
Day 2: Monday 2 February
- Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton
- Red Bull – Daniil Kvyat
- Williams – Valtteri Bottas
- Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel
- McLaren – Jenson Button
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Max Versappen
- Sauber – Felipe Nasr
- Lotus – Romain Grosjean
Day 3: Tuesday 3 February
- Mercedes – Nico Rosberg
- Red Bull – Daniel Ricciardo
- Williams – Felipe Massa
- Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen
- McLaren – Fernando Alonso
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Carlos Sainz Jr.
- Sauber – Felipe Nasr
- Lotus – Pastor Maldonado
Day 4: Wednesday 4 February
- Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton
- Red Bull – Daniil Kvyat
- Williams – Felipe Massa
- Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen
- McLaren – Jenson Button
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Max Versappen
- Sauber – Marcus Ericsson
- Lotus – Romain Grosjean
The Caterham and Marussia teams have not finalized their entries for the 2015 season and have been excluded from the list.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
January 31, 2015
Mercedes W06 Silverstone Shakedown

While all eyes were on the McLaren 2015 car launch, the Mercedes F1 team quietly sneaked into Silverstone for a shakedown for their 2015 car, the W06.

In very cold conditions both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg got to lap the Northhamptonshire circuit clocking up a total of 18 laps. The session, classified as a promotional event under FIA rules, was brought to a premature end after a blizzard moved in.

The team have been releasing teaser videos and pictures on their twitter feed for the past few days. The official unveiling of the car will take place in the Jerez pit lane on the morning of the first day of testing.

Pictures courtesy Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team

January 30, 2015
F1 2015: Car Launches, Testing Dates and Driver Line Ups

The 2015 Formula 1 Season is upon us and with all the teams releasing teaser pics and with the car launches and testing about to take place within the week we thought we’d give you a quick run down on the testing schedule and the driver line up for each team.

Testing Dates:

01 – 04 February – Jerez, Spain

19 – 22 February – Barcelona, Spain

26 February – 01 March – Barcelona, Span

Car Launches:

29 January – McLaren(Online)

30 January – Ferrari(Online)

30 January – Sauber(Online)

31 January – Toro Rosso

01 February – Mercedes

Driver Line up:

MERCEDES: Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

RED BULL: Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat

WILLIAMS: Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas

FERRARI: Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen

MCLAREN: Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button

FORCE INDIA: Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez

TORO ROSSO: Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr.

LOTUS: Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado

SAUBER: Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr

The entries for the Marussia and Caterham teams were on the provisional FIA list subject to confirmation before the season begins.

The complete 2015 Formula 1 World Championship Calendar can be found here

January 27, 2015
FIA Turn Around on Honda Engine Development

The FIA have reversed their decision to allow in-season engine development for McLaren’s new engine partner, Honda.

The 2015 rules for engine homologation were left open after Ferrari’s James Allison pointed out that nowhere in the 2015 rules does it state that teams have to submit their homologated engines for the 2015 season. The deadline for the teams last year was 28 February 2014. The FIA conceded that the rules were open to interpretation and allowed engine manufacturers, namely Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari, to develop their engines up to 32 development tokens.

Honda were left out the equation as the FIA felt that since all teams had to homologate their engines last year, its only fair for Honda to do the same this year despite it not stating this anywhere in the rules.

As to be expected, Honda were not pleased with the decision and met with the FIA this past week. The result of the meeting was that Honda are now allowed to develop their engine during the season but with a few caveats.

Honda will be able to develop their engine calculated by the average number of unused tokens by the other manufacturers before the first race of the season on 16 March 2015.

It is unclear how many tokens Honda will have but it is believed that they will have a considerable amount to develop their engine throughout the season.

January 17, 2015
FIA Concedes 2015 Engine Regulation Loophole

A loophole in the 2015 technical regulations means that teams will be allowed to update their engines during the season.

The loophole only exists because the regulations do not mention when the final engine for 2015 must be homologated as it stated in the 2014 regulations. An FIA spokesperson has said that the FIA was always under the impression that the teams will have homologated their engines before the first race of the season. The FIA have however conceded that the regulations do not stipulate a due date and that teams will be allowed to bring updates to their engines during the season.

Going forward for the 2015 season teams will be allowed 32 development tokens which means that teams will be allowed to bring 32 updates to the engine, but will be limited to 4 engines per car for the season instead of 5. These updates, according to Charlie Whiting in a note sent to the teams, can be carried out at any point during the season.

This is good news for Ferrari, Renault and to some extent Mercedes, who fought hard to prevent the engine updates during the season. Honda on the other hand do not have the benefit of developing their engine during the 2015 season as they are a new manufacturer.

The current regulations do not specifically state when Honda must submit their homologated power unit. The FIA, however, are standing firm by its view that the Japanese manufacturer must submit their homologated power unit by 28 February 2015 as the existing manufacturers were obliged to submit their power units by the same time last year.

McLaren and Honda are not taking this lightly and will meet with the FIA to discuss the situation. Honda feel that the changes that will be brought by teams during the season wont make much of a difference. But we all know that in F1 any small change can make the world of difference.

January 5, 2015