Tag: mercedes

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
F1 2014 Abu Dhabi Test: Day 2

Mercedes ended the second day of testing at Abu Dhabi on top of the timing sheets.

Test driver Pascal Wehrlein brought the Abu Dhabi test to a close with the fastest lap on the timing sheets. The 20-year-old official Mercedes test driver set a fastest time of 1:42:624 roughly half a second ahead of the pack.

McLaren’s newly minted Honda partnership underwent further teething problems today as Stoffel Vandoorne was only able to complete two laps. Vandoorne’s times were not timed and adds to a rather unspectacular first outing for the highly anticipated Honda hybrid power unit. The team discovered an electrical issue which severely compromised the team’s program. As Vandoorne finally emerged from the garage he grinded to a halt on track a few minutes later signalling the end of the testing session for the McLaren team.

Toro Rosso’s 2015 prospect Max Verstappen set the third fastest time of the day as Raffaele Marciello made his debut for Ferrari. Verstappen clocked a total of 78 laps before a power unit issue in the afternoon brought his running to an end.

Alex Lynn put the Lotus through its paces and managed the ninth fastest time of the day. Formula Three Champion Esteban Ocon took over the Lotus seat in the afternoon and set the tenth quickest lap with a total of 34 laps.

Unofficial Wednesday times from Abu Dhabi:

November 26, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Test: Day 1

The first day of the 2014 Abu Dhabi test ended with Valtteri Bottas on top of the time sheets with a time of 1:43.396.

The headline act for the day was McLaren who were debuting their MP4-29H/1X1 with the Honda power unit. However, due to electrical issues and a fuel/data exchange issue the Woking based team was delayed for most of the morning. Reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne did have some track time for a mere three laps where he broke down on all three laps. The second of which resulted in a red flag as his car had to be recovered.

“We’d hoped to get a few more laps today, but we had a fuel data-logging issue that stopped the car a couple of times,” Vandoorne explained.

“However, the team are already analysing the situation and we’ll hopefully cure it ahead of tomorrow”

Although McLaren suffered a setback today, Vandoorne remained upbeat for the second and final day of the test.

Nevertheless, it’s been a very positive day for us. At this stage of development, any lap we complete has a benefit – and it’s better to be solving these initial teething problems in November rather than in Jerez next February,” he explained.

GP2 Champion Jolyon Palmer in his first outing in an F1 car for Force India was very excited about his experience. After some problems in the morning they were able to get going and the rookie clocked up 37 laps for the day and managed to finish in P4.

“I really enjoyed my first experience at the wheel of a Formula One car,” said Palmer.

“I always had the ambition to drive a Formula One car: it was surreal when I first got out of the pits, but after the first moment I was just focusing on getting the job done for the team and doing my best.”

Nico Rosberg, on the back of loosing the championship to Lewis Hamilton clocked up a mighty 114 laps for Mercedes, the most of any driver on the day. He finished in P3 with a time of 1:44.512

Kimi Riakkonen finished P2 for Ferrari, with a little under half a second down on Bottas’s time. The highlight of the day for Ferrari was their new singing, four-time world champion, Sebastian Vettel paying the team a visit in the Ferari pit garage and getting to know the crew.

Red Bull had Formula Renault 3.5 Champion Carlos Sainz Jr at the wheel of the RB10. He clocked up an impressive 100 laps for the team and set the fifth fastest time.

Will Stevens was at the wheel for Caterham today. Fresh after his F1 debut at the race on Sunday he was given another go in the Caterham. He finished in P6 with a lap time of 1:45.436 and posted 102 laps.

Charles Pic ended the day in P7 with 89 laps under his belt for Lotus. Former Caterham driver, Marcus Ericsson drove for Sauber and finished behind Charles Pic in P8.

Max Verstappen had a suspension issue which ended his session in the morning. He ended up in the barriers because of this on only his third lap of the session. The team managed to get the car repaired for the afternoon session and he was back out on track

Below is the unofficial running order of the day

November 25, 2014
McLaren Gets The Go-Ahead to Debut Interim Development Car

The McLaren Formula 1 team have been given the go-ahead to debut their McLaren-Honda MP4-29H/1X1 at the Abu Dhabi test that starts tomorrow.

The team have already run the development car at a filming day at Silvertone last week to check the installation of the power unit together with other systems in the car. The feedback from the team and Honda seems positive and they’re both confident that they will be able to do more runs at the Abu Dhabi test.

Speaking to F1.com, McLaren team principal has this to say: “On Tuesday and Wednesday, here in Abu Dhabi, we’ll be testing our hybrid McLaren-Honda MP4-29H/1X1 for the first time.”

“It’s an exciting time for both McLaren and Honda, and for all who sail and will sail in the good ship McLaren-Honda. Ahead of us are many weeks of hard graft, but you may be well sure we’re up for the task.”

McLaren’s rookie test driver, Stoffel Vanddorne, will be at the wheel of the new car for both the testing days.

Here’s how the other teams will line up for the test:

Mercedes: Nico Rosberg/Pascal Wehrlein

Red Bull: Carlos Saintz Jr/ Daniel Ricciardo

Ferrari: Kimi Raikkonen/Raffaele Marciello

Williams: Valtteri Bottas/Felipe Nasr

McLaren: Stoffel Vandoorne

Lotus: Esteban Ocon/Charles Pic

Force India: Jolyon Palmer/Spike Goddard

Toro Rosso: Max Verstappen

Sauber: Marcus Ericsson

Caterham: Will Stevens

November 24, 2014