Tag: mercedes

F1 2014: Singapore Lights Up Championship Fight

If there are only a handful of things that can be counted on as a certainty in Formula 1 one of them will be the erratic fickleness of it all. Singapore played the joker that may just have turned the 2014 F1 season on its head.

The unfortunate victim of the ever dependable randomness of F1 was Nico Rosberg. A healthy, even comfortable, 22 point lead was completely blown away as unreliability struck the German before the start of the Singapore GP. An apparent steering wheel problem relegated Rosberg to a pitlane start which only delayed the inevitable. With already having to stage a comeback from the back of the field Rosberg was lapping five second off the pace and eventually had to retire with an unresponsive car. Toto Wolff confirmed that the entire system had broken down due to the failure of a “lume within the steering column.”

It left Lewis Hamilton with the delectable opportunity of regaining the championship lead. However, the characteristics of the Marina Bay circuit and a safety-car period allowed both Red Bulls and Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari to within striking distance of the Silver Arrow, or so they thought. It was to be nothing more than a far-fetched pipedream for those behind Hamilton as he easily dismissed their feeble attempts at beating him.

If Formula 1 is our religion then we need to bow down the designers of the W05 Mercedes. In the last decade we’ve seen the Red Bull domination net itself four world championship titles but it certainly did not boast a lap time advantage as great as three seconds.

Never let it be known that Hamilton isn’t a man who doesn’t rise to the occasion. The safety-car appearance meant the Brit would have to pit and re-take the lead in order to win the race. First he would have to build a gap to second place and within several laps Hamilton’s staggering pace had ensured that he would emerge in the thick of the Red Bull fight. His superior speed, and fresh rubber, easily saw him past Sebastian Vettel and just to rub a bit of salt in the wounds he again extended the gap to fourteen seconds by the chequered flag.

Ferrari showed improved pace on the Singapore streets and with added benefit of the supremely gifted Fernando Alonso the Scuderia’s weekend wasn’t too shabby at all. The never-say-die Spaniard once again unleashed a masterful driving performance. The double world champ got to within touching distance of the podium, even second place, but was stranded behind the two Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo in fourth.

What is it about this Fernando Alonso that makes him the wonder that he is? To consistently out-perform what he is given and make a car do things no one dares think is possible. He’s preference for over-steery cars makes the current Ferrari a bit easier to drive but beyond this there is very little of the F 14T that is good. Surely then it can only come down to him, it does. His relentlessness seemingly knows no bounds and there is very much a feeling of a single-minded stubbornness when Alonso is in the cockpit. The sort of tenacious belief that he will get a lap time out of that car come hell or high water. Even if he isn’t your Formula 1 be-all-and-end-all he is still to be admired and commended.

Felipe Massa defied belief, and all statistical predictions, as he completed a mammoth 35 lap stint on the soft compound tyres to finish fifth. Teammate Valtteri Bottas nearly pulled off the same feat but lost several positions on the final lap as his tyres finally gave up the ghost. Jean-Eric Vergne overcame two five-second penalties to finish a brilliant sixth.

There was a bit of argy-bargy and some lost carbon fibre in the mid-field between Sauber’s Adrian Sutil and Force India’s Sergio Perez. Perez suffered significant front-wing damage as he was squeezed up against the barriers by Sutil and the shards of carbon fibre strewn across the track were the catalyst for the safety-car deployment. It was a bit surprising that the Stewards didn’t penalise Sutil whose actions did appear a bit dicey. Nevertheless, Checo did stage a fine recovery to finish seventh.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen never recovered from a software glitch in qualifying and finished eighth ahead Nico Hulkenberg in the Force India. McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen wrapped up the final point of the day but teammate Jenson Button lost sixth position after being forced into retirement with a suspected electronic issue.

A slender, but perhaps decisive, three points is Lewis Hamilton’s world championship lead over teammate Nico Rosberg. With five races remaining, and double points on offer in Abu Dhabi, this exceptional battle is, thankfully, far from over.

September 22, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

Drivers:

1st Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

2nd Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

3rd Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Eddie Jordan)

Q: Lewis, did you dream or think this would be the result today?
Lewis Hamilton: Of course, I was dreaming it last night but you never really think it’s going to happen. I just want to say a huge thanks to my team. What they’ve done this year is absolutely incredible and to be able to arrive here knowing that we have a car we can fight with, and just the feeling I had through the race, it’s… I couldn’t do it without them. Thank you guys.

Q: We know you’ve won seven races this year but the talking point is how big a pressure was on you in that last pit stop? That’s what we wanted to know.
LH: Ah, it wasn’t that bad.

Q: Well you sounded totally paranoid up there I have to tell you!
LH: No, I think at the time it was just not really knowing what the situation was. I knew I had a big gap but if a safety car comes out, what does that mean, but then when I came in and knew that I had to fight the guys on a long, long, run-down tyre, I knew that we would have chance to get by, so I felt kind of comfortable.

Q: Well, we’ll come back to you because we have lots more questions but ladies and gentlemen, Sebastian Vettel, four times world champion, his best result of the year! Sebastian, what is it with Singapore and you? You seem to be a night raider or something like that. Every time there’s a night race you do remarkably well. Obviously on the podium again this year.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, kid did well! It’s a circuit that I really enjoy, I really like. The atmosphere is great. You know, on the drivers’ parade there are already so many people in for the race. It’s great. It’s a tough one, it’s two hours and again we went to the full two hours. I had a good start, got past Daniel and then I think we had a decent race. We played a little bit with strategy and then the safety car came in the worst possible moment for us. So we tried to obviously stay out with the last set of tyres and make them work, which was very, very much borderline. I had a lot of pressure from Daniel and also from Fernando behind, but very happy obviously to make it P2.

Q: A lot of red faces up here – the dehydration, the heat, the temperature. A huge race here is it? Is it very, very difficult?
SV: Yeah, it’s quite hot. The cars are sliding a lot, so you have to focus quite hard. It’s definitely a race we all enjoy as drivers because it’s such a big challenge and to stand up here and get a cool glass or bottle of champagne is quite nice.

Q: Well, your best race of the season, your best result and we know what you’ve done here before. Now, ladies and gentlemen, the pride of Australia, Daniel Ricciardo! Almost like a home race really?
Daniel Ricciardo: Yeah, feels like a home race. Singapore to Perth is pretty much as close as Melbourne to Perth, so for West Australia it’s like another home race.

Q: I need to ask you the question: do you think that when Fernando gave up the place to Sebastian, do you think he should have given up the place to you?
DR: To be honest, I’ll have to have a look. Obviously he went off, that was clear. I knew he would give it back to Seb [but] whether he had to give it back to me, I’ll have a look at that. I was just sort of focused on regrouping from the start really. To get on the podium I guess is not a bad result, good for the team and at least we’ve got some Aussie flags.

Q: We see a lot of Aussie flags, you’re the pride of Australia. Lewis, things have changed, really, haven’t they, for you?
LH: Absolutely.

Q: Big smile on your face…
LH: Yeah, I was so excited to have… I was looking for that clean weekend and this has been it. It’s been fantastic. It’s not perfect for the team because Nico didn’t finish and we’re always striving to get both cars finishing 1-2. I don’t think anyone has finished one-two before and that was our goal. So there are things we can still work on. I also want to say a big thanks to all the fans. Incredible support today, so thank you guys.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, your second victory in Singapore, your seventh of the season and a very popular win, it would seem, with the crowd – but there was clearly a tense moment for you after the safety car when you knew you had to stop again and it was clear the four or five cars behind you didn’t – but the strategy team stayed calm, you stayed calm and you’re now leading the Drivers’ Championship. Just tell us about the rollercoaster of emotions and the way you feel leaving Singapore tonight.
LH: Coming here and to the last six races with a great race in Monza, knowing that we had a car to compete here, obviously yesterday in qualifying it was very close between everyone so I didn’t really know what to expect today – but got off cleanly. Of course it would have been a hardcore race if Nico was in the race with me as the car was feeling very good and we would have been very strong. But, yeah, later on in the race, I think for me I was a bit unaware of what I needed to do. That second-to-last stint, I extended it as long as I could and then they said “we need 27s.” And that was still six seconds I needed more, and my tyres were dropping off, so I didn’t really understand why. And I was also nervous that, if the Safety Car came out, would that cause me big problems? So anyway, fortunately we got to where I needed to go and we pitted. I came out, and I saw Sebastian going past but straight away I knew they would be on… they were obviously doing a two-stop, I would have good pace. So, took it easy the first lap. It was actually a bit of a tight gap, maybe I should have overtaken him somewhere else but fortunately Sebastian was very fair and I got by. After that it was quite straightforward. Amazing job from the team and the guys back at the factory. The car was really spectacular in the race.

Q: Sebastian, clearly the start was decisive for you. A fantastic initial getaway up into second place, you got the place back from Fernando. You were also a little bit sceptical when it came to the strategy, saying “that’s not my plan,” to go to the finish. So, tell us about the thinking at that point and how the race played out from your mind.
SV: As you mentioned, the start obviously was good for me. Quite weird to stop with no car ahead but not being on the first row. But it helped, obviously, because I had no car in front and I could get side by side and get straight into second place. After that I think we had a good race. Not ideal, in terms of timing with the safety car. Obviously, before that we lost a position to Fernando because we stopped too late – but we decided to go on the primes and we were hoping for no safety car to come out, which came out, so not ideal! But yeah, after that, obviously after the restart, we knew it was difficult with 27 seconds to make up on older tyres than everyone behind – it’s probably impossible. So, obviously to get the best result we knew we have to get to the end. I wasn’t very confident that we can do it, simply because of the wear we had the sets before. Obviously for one lap I was in the lead. As Lewis touched on, the overtaking manoeuvre, I wasn’t quite sure what he was doing. I thought that I give him all the space to pass me on the inside for the next corner but it seemed like he couldn’t wait to get back in the lead. It was quite tight but I saw him, obviously, so I had to back-off and let him through. There was no point fighting him at that stage because I didn’t have the tyres to match him. Nevertheless, to finish P2 obviously was the best we could do. We had the oldest set of tyres in the last stint, so it was quite tricky managing those to the finish line with not much tread left. Obviously very good result for the team.

Q: Daniel, I guess the opposite for you. Not a great initial getaway, you lost the initiative to Sebastian there, which is why you finished behind him in the end. Tell us whether you expected the attack from Alonso at the end because obviously he had pitted under the safety car, was on much fresher tyres than you . Were you surprised the attack didn’t come? What was going through your mind?
DR: Yeah, I think the closing stages, I could see after the restart for the safety car, he wasn’t attacking as much as I thought with a new set of primes, so I thought he was holding back and was going to make a late charge at the end. I think we all just piled up. I caught the back of Sebastian, he caught the back of me and we were all in a train and not really any real opportunities arose for any of us. So, it was what it was. I probably did expect him to come on a get stronger at the end but I think once you start following and trying to get the pedal down a bit harder to set up a pass, then you start hurting the rears and you all fall into each others’ pace. The start initially wasn’t too bad but just before Turn One we had a bit of an issue and I think we lost a bit of power. Whether we could have held on or not… who knows? But then yeah, Fernando went wide and then gave the place back to Seb and the race from there was fairly straightforward. Encountered a few other issues and bits and pieces here and there – so we’ll have to look into that. See how much it cost us in the end. But obviously it was nice to get on the back of Seb and try to put him under a bit of pressure but I think for all of us here it was follow-the-leader a bit and not much else to do.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Lennart Wermke – Bild) Lewis, is there anyone you dedicate your victory to?
LH: I’ve not really thought of it. There are only a few of the race wins which I’ve really dedicated to anyone. Maybe to my fans, I think. I met a couple of really special people last week – they’ll know who they are – and just generally to all the fans. They’re sending me messages and all that, really just saying that we win or we lose together and also being here with all the British flags, it lifts you up so much that probably they don’t even realise, so this is for them.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Daniel, you were on the radio during the race saying that you were losing power and I believe gears. What was happening and was the team able to help you correct those matters?
DR: Yeah, we had quite a bit going on during the race so yeah, power was coming and going and from the safety car onwards it was pretty consistently down on power and basically, coming up through gears, I would get a bit of power and then it would drop and then it would come again. So we definitely had a few issues and we tried fixing them but to be honest we didn’t quite clear it all up. I guess it did cost us a bit today but obviously we still got it to the end but obviously we will definitely look at what the cause was and if we can fix it. Normally, if we have those glitches after a couple of laps we clear it but this one pretty much carried through all race. I guess I was a bit frustrated, bit concerned as well that we wouldn’t get it to the flag but luckily it held on and as I said, we’ll just look at it and I’m sure we’ll fix it for Japan.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) To Seb and Daniel, what was the plan to have the harder tyre, the prime tyre, in the third stint rather than at the end, because at that moment, I don’t think you could know that the safety car would come out?
SV: I guess in my case Fernando undercut us, it was quite obvious, and then I think it was pretty pointless to do the same as him so we tried to do opposite and then get him back obviously, in the last stint of the race, I think that was the plan. With hindsight, we should have obviously stopped earlier, tyres were at the end of their wear life anyway so I think that was the plan. It was obviously high risk because of the safety car. In the end, we got lucky because the tyres held up but at that stage it didn’t look like it.

Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawke’s Bay Today) Lewis, you said on the podium that Mercedes were hoping for a one-two finish but in terms of the championship, can you say, in all honesty, that you’re sorry that Nico didn’t finish?
LH: Well, of course the points are something… I came here hoping to really gain those seven points and anything more than that was just a bonus, so today, of course, those extra points are a huge help. That’s several DNFs we’ve had now on either car and we want to continue getting those one-twos still. I know that the team will not be 100 percent happy today because we want to win collectively, we want to get those one-twos, we want to be the dominant team all together, so by not getting that result, they’ll be going back to the drawing board trying to figure out what happened. They’re constantly coming up to things and perhaps other people are starting to be a bit more reliable than us so that’s an area that we can still definitely improve on

September 21, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix: Saturday Press Conference

DRIVERS

1st Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2nd Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

3rd Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

TV UNILATERAL

Lewis, pole position once again for Singapore and you saved the best until last it seems?

Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, that’s always the plan. It doesn’t always go to plan but yeah, quite an exciting qualifying session. I wasn’t expecting… I guess no one was really expecting to see so much difference and how close everyone was. I did some good laps in the first and second qualifying sessions and saw the Ferraris were very, very close and then obviously for it to end up the way it did is good obviously for our team. My last lap, I locked up into turn one and lost a bit of time but still managed to pull it back later on in the lap. So, at that point I honestly thought that perhaps it was… I lost over a tenth and a half or was two tenths down but I just kept going and it just got better and better throughout the lap.

Were you surprised when you saw Felipe Massa on provisional pole after the first runs?

LH: I wasn’t really trying to look at it too much because there was so much happening. I don’t know what it ended up as but obviously it was very close. But a great effort by the team. To come here at very much a downforce and engine dependent circuit to have the performance we have I think it’s a fantastic performance by them.

Very well done. Nico you missed out by the smallest of margins, I think seven one thousandths of a second. Your radio message at the end on the cool down lap there said it all: “Damn it!”

Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, because seven thousandths, you know, when I think back at the lap, seven thousandths it’s nothing, a little bit here or there, you know, like “come on!” I could have done it. But OK, that’s the way it is. Lewis did a good job to get pole, fair play. And second place is OK, obviously first would be better but it’s a long race ahead and, yeah, it’s fine.

Tell us about the Q2 session? You were in sixth place in the closing stages there and you obviously felt you needed to run again so you did an extra lap?

NR: Yeah, because we changed brakes going into qualifying and I got into a rhythm with the other brakes and so that was a challenge. I mean we expected it to be, but it always is a bit of a challenge. So it took me some time to get into qualifying. And the balance was also very different because the track had cooled down relative to the session before qualifying, which was hotter. There was a lot more understeer now, in the rear we had a lot more grip, so had to complete adapt settings and it just took us some time to get into the qualifying. That’s why I’m pleased that in the end I was able to push flat out and put in a good lap time.

Daniel, a tenth-and-a-half behind the Mercedes; can you race them from here?

Daniel RICCIARDO: It’s definitely encouraging. Coming into the weekend I thought if we could be within two or three tenths it should give us a bit more optimistic chance in the race to stay with them, so, yeah, I think we ended up a bit closer than we thought we would, particularly after yesterday. So I think it was a good day. Yeah, it was good fun out there. The track was really improving so you had to adapt a lot during the session. Street circuits normally tend to be like that, so it keeps you on your toes. Yeah, good fun.

There was a big roar from the grandstands when you took provisional pole. Have you brought a few thousand of your closest friends from Perth?

DR: I’ve got a few mates here this weekend and there’s probably a few more here that I don’t know about. Yeah, it’s close to home and it’s nice to see a few Aussie flags. Yeah, hopefully keep it up there tomorrow and try and see a better view from the podium.

Q: Lewis, tyres have obviously been a big part of the story throughout this weekend, particularly today and it’s obviously going to have an impact on tomorrow’s race. What kind of race can we expect tomorrow?

LH: I think coming into the weekend we had a certain opinion about how the tyres would behave, and obviously when we got into the long runs yesterday we saw quite a big difference from what we had though was going to happen. So, I think tomorrow’s going to be a really interesting race. Looking after these tyres is not easy but I think it will be a great race to watch for the fans. I think there’s going to be a lot going on.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, one of the things I think is interesting about how today has evolved, that might surprise a few people, is that Mercedes hasn’t really shown too much. FP3, then you weren’t really at the top of the timesheets throughout qualifying. You mentioned “that’s the plan”, about saving the best to last. So, what was the strategy today?

LH: I just mean that, as a driver through the weekend you plan to have the last lap as your fastest lap because that’s when the track is at its best. That’s when you’ve got the configurations as close to perfect. That’s really the lap you want to do it on. The others have just obviously taken a step. It’s a real, real surprise. I’m sure the team are surprised, I’m sure we are just as surprised to see Ferrari really competing on a lap, which is great to see. Also with Williams, also with Red Bull. I think for racing it’s great. It makes it… that’s probably the most exciting qualifying session I’ve had for a long time, where there’s a lot of people really in the mix and you have to be spot on. I was almost there with that.

Q: Nico, there was a radio message for you: “look after these, these are the race tyres.” Obviously there is a consideration there: you have to take some performance out of them because you need the lap time but you’ve also got to use them tomorrow. How do you see the use of them tomorrow playing out?

NR: Tomorrow is going to be a tough race in terms of tyres. They have a lot of degradation but I’m confident because I had some really good long runs on Friday, so I’m well prepared for the race and feeling good about it.

Q: Daniel, are you fully able to recharge the energy system around this lap? One or two drivers are saying it’s been a bit of a struggle. Are you completely on top of that side of things with Red Bull?

DR: Yeah. Yes we are. We’re not having any issues there. I think for such a long lap, a little bit on what Lewis touched on, it’s amazing how close we are, y’know. Monaco is a street circuit but it’s a lot shorter lap so you can expect us to be closer but this one, yeah, it’s pretty cool how many cars are within half a second or a second. So, it’s going to be a fun race tomorrow definitely. I think tyres will be key, as always, but particularly here. It’s not going to be as straightforward as Monza with a one-stop. So, it should be fun.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Daniel, we saw you doing a wonderful lap, it was unbelievable watching it on TV. Do you have the same feeling when you’re going to the limit? Your feelings about this lap please?

DR: Yeah, street circuits are fun. I think all us drivers enjoy them. You jump across kerbs, you brush near the wall, it’s a little bit like the closer you get the more you want to risk and I guess that’s why we race, we love that rush, that adrenalin. It’s like speed, we wish we could go faster. It’s a bit like that when you come to a street circuit, you just really enjoy handling the car, playing with fire, so to speak. It’s not always the quickest way when it’s sliding around but I think you’ve got to take hold on a street circuit so that’s where I get the enjoyment.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Lewis, Nico just explained why, on the last lap, he was quick enough to be on the front row. How was it with you because you also did your fast lap only on the last lap? I guess you didn’t go slowly beforehand intentionally. Did you have any problems before?

LH: I just didn’t really have a clean lap through the whole of qualifying. The last one was the cleanest. When you do the first lap, you get your lap time. The next time you go out you have a delta so you know whether you’re up or down on that lap. I locked up into turn one and missed the apex and so I was down 0.18/two tenths by the time I got to turn five. At that point, I was thinking this is going to be almost impossible to regain that but the previous lap there were a couple of corners where I lost out as well so I fixed those and got back the time. It’s great that there’s still potential there and with a perfect lap it’s a good place to be.

Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawke’s Bay Today) Lewis and Nico, if I understand the restrictions on radio use, how important is that going to be in terms of this race and information about how each other is doing in terms of your position on the track and what tyres you’re on and so on? Do you think it’s going to affect your battle for the championship?

NR: I don’t think it’s actually going to make too much of a difference tomorrow. There’s just a few bits and pieces… you know they can’t tell me ‘OK, work on turn seven because that’s where you’re losing some time’ or something like that or ‘turn twenty is good, keep doing what you’re doing.’ That’s the main difference, so actually for tomorrow’s race really, I don’t think it’s going to be too much of a thing.

Q: Lewis, anything to add? The starts, obviously, you’re going to be able to be talked through all the things you need to do still, that’s still permitted.

LH: Yeah, obviously coming into the weekend there was a plan of zero being able to say to us but I think there’s a just a few things (that are banned). We’re all in the same boat so I’m quite excited about that.

September 20, 2014
Hamilton pips Rosberg to pole during Singapore GP qualifying

Lewis Hamilton pipped Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg to pole position during an insanely cool conclusion to today’s qualifying session ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton locked up into the first corner on his final flying lap during Q3 but was able to recover well enough to beat Rosberg by what Rosberg has rued as a “nothing gap” of only 0.007secs.

Their first runs in Q3 saw the duo only banking 6th and 7th place on the grid but in the closing run of the session it was Rosberg who stole top spot, only to have Hamilton snatch it away from him.

Those final few minutes of Q3 were exactly what Formula One is all about! As the flag dropped, we watched Daniel Ricciardo crossing the line to take the provisional pole position – to the ecstacy of the Singapore crowd who went absolutely crazy for him as he crossed the line.

But moments later, it was Nico Rosberg who had the crowd on their feet as he snatched the pole away, before Hamilton came storming across the line to take that all important pole position.

Rosberg was really frustrated about missing out. When told that Hamilton had beaten him to pole by 0.007s, Rosberg shouted “Damn it!” on the radio.

After qualifying, Rosberg said, “Seven thousandths [of a second], when I think back to the lap, it’s nothing. It’s just a little bit here or there that could have done it, but that’s the way it is. Lewis did a good job to get pole, so fair play and second place is okay. It’s a long race ahead and it’s fine.”

Rosberg did point out that a change in brake specification before qualifying put him off his game a tad, though he says it started to come together in time for his final run.

“We changed brakes ahead of qualifying and I’d got into rhythm with the other brakes so that was a challenge and we expected it to be. The balance also wasn’t very good because the track had cooled down, so relative to the session before qualifying when it was hotter, there was a lot more understeer and the rear has a lot more grip. I had to completely adapt the settings to get it through qualifying, but in the end I was able to push flat out and put in a good lap time.”

The two Red Bull drivers, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel, have locked out the second row of the grid.

Sebastian Vettel apologised to his team immediately after the qualifying session, saying that he really thought he had more time in him and that he could have done better. Christian Horner replied saying, “Don’t worry Sebby. It’ll come.”

But, reflecting on the session, “I’m not happy with that final lap, I was pushing a bit too hard and didn’t get it all together,” he explained after qualifying. But the German feels that they could have had a shot at getting the pole today and said, “I think pole position could have been in our grasp today.”

“We’ll hope to have a good race tomorrow, with good pit-stops and a good strategy and we’ll see what we can do from there,” he added. “It’s a long race, so we’ll see how the tyres work and what we can do.”

For a short while, it seemed as though Ferrari might be able to get in on some front row action but Q3 saw Fernando Alonso only managing 5th place, while a software problem saw Kimi Raikkonen forced to stop his run before being able to put in a final lap and only managed to finish seventh on the grid.

Ferrari technical chief Pat Fry apologised to Raikkonen for the issue after the qualifying session.

“We are sorry that he had a software problem on his final Q3 run, because he could definitely have got a better result,” he said.

But Raikkonen said that the issue had not overshadowed the breakthrough that he and the team made.

“We’ve been struggling with the car a bit all weekend, but we kept changing it and we changed it for qualifying, which was good,” he said.

“It was one of the few times that we have changed it to something really good that I wanted. Unfortunately we had a problem, but there was a lot of potential today and it was nice to have a good feeling with the car.”

Raikkkonen also felt that there was more potential to be reached before hitting the software glitch that brought his session to an end.

“I know I kept messing up the middle sector all the time and there was a lot of potential on the other sectors,” said the Finn. “There was a good feeling with the car and I could put it where I wanted. It was feeling easier to drive, so it’s a shame what happened today, but that’s our sport. Sometimes you hope it would happen during a different weekend when you’re having difficult times.”

The initial Q3 runs saw Felipe Massa having a taste at the provisional pole position after the first round of runs, but he slipped down to 6th with the second runs. Williams team mate Valtteri Bottas placed his car in 8th place.

The top 10 was rounded out by Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat.

Jenson Button will be very disappointed after being the biggest casualty of Q2. The Brit locked up at the hairpin and just missed out, finishing 11th. Jean-Eric Vergne, who was very impressive during the practice sessions, brought his car home in 12th place.

Nico Hulkenberg was 13th fastest, while Esteban Gutiérrez did well to split the Force India drivers and beat compatriot Esteban Gutiérrez.

Romain Grosjean complained of brake issues in the first knockout session but progressed, although he was the slowest runner in Q2 and will line up in 16th position. He was most unimpressed at the end of the session, bellowing over the team radio, “I don’t believe it! Bloody engine! Bloody engine! We bust our balls for this?!” An apology from his engineer explaining that it was the same issue they had in Q3 was not enough for him, “I don’t care! I don’t care! It’s too much!”

Adrian Sutil was unable to make it out of Q1 and informed his Sauber team that he was struggling for power, while Pastor Maldonado managed only 18th in the Lotus.

Both Jules Bianchi and Kamui Kobayashi were quicker than their respective team mates, with Max Chilton a second behind Bianchi and Ericsson rounding out the field, 1.9s down on Kobayashi, although he missed his first run due to electrical issues.

Your final provisional grid with lap times are below. Join us on Twitter @F1_Madness tomorrow for what we hope will be a cracking Singapore Grand Prix. There’ll be live commentary before, during, and after the race, as well as some chat and interaction with like-minded F1 crazy fans! Join us!

September 20, 2014
Singapore GP Free Practice 3: Alonso Finishes Top

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso pulled out one very quick lap in Free Practice 3 to finish top of the time sheets for the Singapore Grand Prix.

Alonso topped the session with a 1:47.299, 0.051s quicker than Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo who finished P2 with a 1:47.350. Nico Rosberg ended his session in P3 with a 1:47.488, 0.189s slower than Alonso’s time.

It would seem that Mercedes were sandbagging in this session and not revealing their true pace. When asked, Mercedes Executive Director Toto Wolff said that is was a normal free practice three for them. When pushed further by SkySports F1’s Ted Kravitz, all he said was “This is free practice and not qualifying”.

The turn of pace of the Ferrari is very encouraging, although on the other end of the garage, team mate Kimi Raikkonen could only manage a P9 finish nearly a second off the pace.

The surprise of the session was Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne who finished the session in P4 with a 1:47.711 ahead of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. Lewis Hamilton in the other Mercedes could only manage 1:47.738 to finish P6.

The Williams team looks like they’ve sorted out their oversteer issues with the car and finished in P7 with Felipe Massa and P8 with Valtteri Bottas.

This session was much more closely contested with the top 9 all withing 1-second of each other. With Ferrari and Red Bull showing encouraging pace, we may see a Mercedes upset. On the other hand, Mercedes could’ve just been taking it easy and will blitz the field in qualifying.

Below is the full timing sheet for FP3

Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1

September 20, 2014
Hamilton On Top after Practice 2 in Singapore

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished top of the time sheets in the second practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix, at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Hamilton topped the session with a time of 1:47.490. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished the session in P2 with a 1:47.623, 0.133s slower than Hamilton. Although it seems as though Hamilton may have a few tenths of a second in the bag. Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull finished the session in P3 with a 1 47.790, 0.3s slower than Hamilton. Kimi Raikkonen finished in P4 in the sister Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel managed P5 after spending most of the session in the garage after and engine replacement following his engine problem in FP1.

Nico Rosberg reported understeer early on in the session but pounded around. He was called into the pits and the mechanics got to work on his car. On his flying lap, Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado crashed at the exit of T12 after running over the kerbs into T11 and getting a bit of oversteer into T12. He went straight into the barriers which brought an end to his session. It just didn’t work out for Rosberg who finished the session in P13.

McLaren have said that they intend to challenge Red Bull at the Singapore Grand Prix. They’ve come out fighting and they’re quite close to Red Bull in terms of pace. They’re not there yet, but its encouraging news for the Woking based team. Williams on the other hand are struggling for pace. The Williams pair of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas finished the session in P17 and P18 respectively. The FW36 does not seem to like the slow nature of the Marina Bay Circuit.

The session was a very close session with the top 7 all within 1-second of each other. The long run pace of the Mercedes cars was quick. The Red Bulls and the Ferrari’s were not far off Mercedes in the long run pace either. All this has the making of a very exciting race.

The full timing sheet for FP2 is included below:

September 19, 2014
Post Free Practice 1 Singapore – Alonso Tops The Sheets

Fernando Alonso topped the times for the first free practice session ahead of Sunday’s Singapore grand prix.

The Ferrari driver set the fastest time of the one and a half hour session ahead of the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. The Red Bull pairing of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top five respectively.

Safe for a few brushes of the barrier and the odd spin no driver has yet been felled by the 5km long Marina Bay circuit. Much of the focus was pulled rather to the driver’s helmet colours for this weekend with a plethora of designs up and down the pitlane.

The newly announced, but relaxed, ban on radio communication between the pitwall and driver made its presence felt in the first session of the weekend. Lewis Hamilton’s inquiry as to other driver’s sector times was met with a “we’ll talk about it when you’re back in the pits” from Bonno, his race engineer.

The session came to fiery end for Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen as the Finn’s right-front brake caught fire in the pitbox. Sebastian Vettel’s session ended on a less than stellar note as the German was forced to pull over at the exit of the pitlane with what he thought was “a problem with the engine.”

Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1

September 19, 2014
F1 2014: Singapore GP Preview – Stage set for Singapore Showdown

It wasn’t that long ago that the thought of Formula 1 cars under lights was just something the ringmasters were talking about for the future. Now, in 2014, Singapore marks its seventh year on the calendar. It’s no exaggeration to say that after nearly a decade of glittering floodlit F1 cars it still tickles the fancy.

Sebastian Vettel has won the last three Singapore Gp and it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that he could notch up number four. A complete domination, not a Mercedes victory is a given this weekend. Singapore’s Marina Bay circuit has the most corners of all the tracks on the 2014 calendar and its dependence on mechanical grip rather than pure engine power creates the potential for some rivalry. “The demands on the car are very high in terms of braking, steering and also the engine. It’s also a long race – often running to the full two hour limit and frequently characterised by safety cars,” says Paddy Lowe, Mercedes technical director.

The battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will too recommence. In Italy, Hamilton got the better of Rosberg but the latter still holds a 22 point lead. As proven in Monaco, minus the dubious qualifying incident, Rosberg is no slouch around the street circuits. But the small mistake, that cost him victory at Monza, is the tiniest indication of a crack in the ever polished veneer. As a result Hamilton is in the ascendency where the psychological fight is concerned but it means little if you’re still trailing in the points. However, the Brit and not Rosberg, is the one under more pressure this weekend. Because, unlike Hamilton, never before has Rosberg been lauded as the fastest man in F1, never has he been called a championship contender before this year, and never has he been expected to win simply because of who he is. This all translates to the fact that Rosberg has very little to prove and has far less pressure than megastar Lewis Hamilton.

Change is abounding in the Ferrari camp as the ubiquitous Luca di Montezemolo has stepped down as President. Montzemolo must be praised for the terrific and tireless job he has done to maintain the team’s legacy. This is another in a long line of significant changes within the Italian team and while all the re-shuffling and re-working and hiring and ‘gardening leave’ is fine and dandy there is still a worry that all the moving and shaking may not pan out where it matters most – on the track.

Nevertheless, one of its two drivers, Kimi Raikkonen, is optimistic about a better performance around the Singapore streets. A disastrous home grand prix last time out again drew attention to its dismal power unit and Raikkonen has pointed out the ERS (energy recovery system) as the team’s biggest Achilles heel. However, the less power hungry and more twisty the circuit the better it will play to the Ferrari. “I think the next few circuits will suit us as they’re not so fast. We have to go there and see how the car is, but I expect to be in a stronger position,” says Raikkonen.

One of the things that have always been liked about Formula 1 is its excessive attention to detail. No element or point is too small to escape the hawk-like, near obsessive, meticulousness with which these teams go to work. Recently, this continuous aim towards perfectionism has spilled over to ‘driver coaching.’ We say recently because audiences have only been exposed to radio communications between car and pitwall over the last few seasons.

‘Driver coaching’ has been noted most frequently between the Mercedes drivers and their respective engineers this season. On numerous occasions Hamilton and/or Rosberg would be instructed as to where they could potentially gain time or where they were losing time in comparison to the teammate. No more says the FIA who have clamped down and outlawed all messages that aid driver or car performance. This includes informing a driver about how to manage his fuel consumption.

Long since some have been moaning that the drivers are simply puppets merely following instruction from the pitwall. Now driving will be instinctual rather than a reaction to reams of telemetry data. By golly, they’ll have to think for themselves and it could just improve F1’s image.

Invariably, because F1 employs some of the most brilliant minds in the world there is likely to be coded message passed to the drivers even if the FIA has said these are not allowed. Good news is that we will still here Bonno telling Hamilton that it’s “hammer time” and Kimi Raikkonen will be left alone as he so memorably requested at the 2012 Abu Dhabi grand prix.

September 18, 2014
Broadcast Times for the 2014 Fomrmula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix

The Formula 1 circus heads out for the final few rounds of fly-away races and for the season and the first stop is the Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

The 5.065km circuit is one of the most physically and mentally demanding circuits on the calendar. Not only is it long in distance, but it borders on the 2 hour race limit. If there is more than one safety car period, the race will have to conclude after the 2 hour time limit has passed. This has happened once and with a safety car almost always guaranteed at the race it’s likely that we may see it happen again.

The heat and humidity, even at night, makes it very tough on the drivers and the length adds to that. Cooling for the cars is also very important for this track.

McLaren have said that they would be ready to challenge Red Bull by the Singapore Grand Prix. The Woking based team are expected to bring a few new parts to the car and they will be hoping that they can close the gap to Red Bull. No doubt that the other teams will be continuing development of their 2014 cars, but it seems like some of the focus is being turned to 2015.

Ferrari team principal Marco Mattiacci has said earlier in the week that the performance deficit to Mercedes is still very large and that weakness was on display at the Italian Grand Prix. He’s confident that the car is improving and they can finish in a strong position.

It seems like all is quiet at Mercedes. After all the conspiracy theories that were flying around after the Italian Grand Prix it seems as though its business as usual now. With the team radio ban enforced form the Singapore Grand Prix it will be interesting to know how their drivers perform.

Below are the broadcast times for the 2014 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix

Free Practice 1: Friday 12:00

Free Practice 2: Friday 15:30

Free Practice 3: Saturday 12:00

Qualifying: Saturday 15:00

Race: Sunday 14:00

We will bring you updates on our Twitter account (@F1_Madness) during FP1 and FP2 with live commentary throughout the sessions on Saturday and Sunday.

September 17, 2014
Mercedes confirms Pascal Wehrlein as reserve driver

The Mercedes team have confirmed 19-year-old Pascal Wehrlein as their official reserve driver.

Wehrlein seems to have the resume of a real up and coming Formula One star – even at such a young age. He finished 2nd in the Formula 3 European Championship in 2012 and has been competing in DTM since the start of 2013. He claimed his first Formula 3 win at the Lausitzring on Sunday.

We may not all have noticed him, but Wehrlein has been seen quite a bit in the F1 paddock so far this season. He’s even completed over 30 days of work in Mercedes’ simulator.

Wehrlein also received his first taste of F1 action in Portugal last week when he tested the Mercedes W03 at the Portimao circuit.

“I was delighted when I learned that I would be completing a Formula One test for Mercedes in Portimao,” he said.

“It took me a few laps to get used to the incredible speed, the very hard brakes and the high cornering speeds – it’s in another league compared to the DTM,” he said. “But I adapted quickly and was able to improve in each of my short and long runs. In total, I drove 500 km and didn’t want to head back into the pits!

“The test was simply the greatest experience I have had so far in motorsport. There weren’t any nerves, which surprised me – I just felt ready for it. The feedback from the team and from Toto [Wolff] was very encouraging and I think that I did a good job. It certainly helped that I have been working hard in the simulator since February. For me, it is a nice recognition of my efforts that I have been nominated as reserve driver for Mercedes.

“For me, it’s a dream come true to have completed this test and now to take on my new role. All my life, I have worked hard to get the opportunity to drive an F1 car. And it was always my goal to do it with Mercedes-Benz.”

Pascal Wehrlein Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas

September 15, 2014