Tag: mercedes

F1 2014: In Season Test,Bahrain – Rosberg Continues Mercedes Dominance

Mercedes driver Nico Roberg set the fastest time on the first day of testing in Bahrain.

In-season testing returned to Formula 1 in 2014 with two days of running at the Sakhir International Circuit. Six further days, or three additional tests, are scheduled throughout the rest of the season. All eleven teams were present during the first of day of testing which was headed by Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg.

The German driver completed a total 121 laps with a time of 1:35:697 nearly four tenths clear of Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was third on the timing sheets but remained a second adrift of Rosberg’s Mercedes. However, the Spaniard believes that the Ferrari’s performance around the Bahrain track may be a once-off. “We are missing some of the characteristics that this track has so in China I expect [we will be] more competitive, Barcelona, Monaco, there are some circuits coming that we need to get some podiums at, hopefully,” said Alonso. “It’s not good. We would like to have extra speed and be able to battle with anyone but at the moment we miss on that aspect.”

McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen finished fourth at the end of day one with a time of 1:36:634 and was the only other driver to complete more than 100 laps. The difficult start to the season continued for the Lotus team as new signing Pastor Maldonado completed only sixteen laps.

Lewis Hamilton will take over testing for the Mercedes team on day two.

April 9, 2014
F1 2014: Bahrain GP – Mighty Hamilton Victorious

It would be ridiculous to deem the impressive Mercedes team as anything but imperious in Formula 1 2014. Normally, domination by one team in a sport leads to a bit of monotony.   But the Mercedes pair ensured that the tenth anniversary of the Bahrain GP was one of the most exhilarating races in recent memory.

The Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton proved to be in a class of their own as they obliterated the field with searing pace. A front-row lock out of the grid pitted the two Silver Arrows against each other. As soon as the red lights extinguished Hamilton scythed into the lead and produced the most memorable victory on his career.

An astounding and unforgettable wheel-to-wheel battle ensued between the two for nearly all of the 57 laps. At times the Mercedes pitwall would’ve been watching the duel between its drivers from behind a pillow, praying that it wouldn’t end in a shower of carbon-fibre. It didn’t. Instead it gave rise to spectacle worthy of being called a definitive Formula 1 race; terrifyingly passionate and shockingly spectacular.

The rest of the field lapped some two second a lap slower but still managed to deliver an outstanding race. After a difficult year as a McLaren driver Sergio Perez joined the Force India with the hope of rebuilding his stock in Formula1. It has taken the Mexican only three races to show that he has something special to offer.

The Force India driver delivered a stellar drive to secure the final step on the podium. Perez outpaced his highly regarded teammate Nico Hulkenberg and resisted both Williams’ of Felipe Massa and Valterri Bottas for the majority of the race. The job wasn’t done however as Daniel Ricciardo made a late charge for the podium. Checo, as he is known in the paddock, resisted an almighty onslaught from the Australian and crossed the line four tenths ahead of the Red Bull.

The second Force India of Nico Hulkenberg nearly fell victim to Sebastian Vettel but held off the German in the closing stages for a fifth place finish. Felipe Massa and Valterri Bottas finished line astern in seventh and eighth. Given the dreadful 2013 season experienced this team the Bahrain result will be accepted with both hands. But before long Williams will have to find a way to unlock the potential which seems to be looming just out of reach.

In ninth and tenth Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen would have been relieved to finally see the chequered flag. A dismal showing by the Ferrari team did little to paint the Italian squad as potential championship contenders. Far from prancing horses Alonso and Raikkonen looked more like sitting ducks as several Mercedes powered cars breezed past the Scarlet cars with embarrassing ease.

Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado assured the deployment of a safety car by ploughing into the side of Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez on exiting the pitlane. The Sauber driver was spectacularly flipped over but escaped without injury. Maldonado, known for his dicey reputation, was given a ten second stop/go penalty for causing a collision and will serve a five-place grid penalty for the Chinese GP.

Kudos to Mercedes for letting their drivers’ race each other to the final lap of the race. Lewis Hamilton had no right to win the 2014 Bahrain GP. He didn’t start from pole position, he was on the slower tyre in the final stint of the race and vulnerable in the DRS zone. But the way he barged Nico Rosberg out of the way to seize the lead of the race said a lot. It revealed a passion, skill and determination so staggering it is difficult to foresee it being matched.

AMG Petronas Mercedes F1 team images courtesy of Mercedes Benz

April 7, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 st Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2nd Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

3rd Sergio PÉREZ (Force India)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Brian Johnson)

What a race! Lewis, what’s it like to win the 900^th Formula One grand prix?

Lewis HAMILTON: It’s great to see that we have such a great crowd. It’s the first time we’ve had a night race here. I’m so grateful to the team for working so hard to get us up here. It’s my first time winning here in Bahrain, it’s taken me a long, long time, so I’m really proud.

But what a race, probably one of the most exciting Formula One races for a long time, would you agree?

LH: Yeah, it was exciting. Nico drove fantastically well throughout the race; very fair and it was very, very hard to keep him behind, particularly at the end. I had built a gap, that was OK, but he was very fast on the option time so I was on the knife edge the whole time and a real relief when I got across the line.

Congratulations, mate, fantastic race. Nico, you got the fastest lap and you helped to make it one of the most exciting grands prix I’ve seen for a couple of seasons, would you agree?

Nico ROSBERG: I strongly dislike coming second to Lewis, that’s really not something I enjoy doing but on the other hand it was definitely the most exciting race I’ve ever done in my whole career. I hope we were able to give all of you fantastic racing in front of the TV. Today was a day for the sport. We put on a massive show as team Silver Arrows so I hope you had a lot of fun in front of the TV and I’ll be back next race to take the win.

Sergio, what was it like following these two guys and what’s it like being back on the podium again? You’re enjoying this aren’t you?

Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, I mean, it’s been a while since my last podium. This podium is very special for me guys, I told you already on the radio. This is only my third race for the team and it was a really, really good one. The strategy was really close for us. It was looking a lot easier until the safety car came because when the safety car came in we were going on two stops so the people behind, the Red Bulls, they were on there stops but we managed to keep it just to the end; one more lap I couldn’t manage to keep him back.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Lewis a great battle with Nico, no other way to describe it. Just tell us how tough it is to race with a team-mate that hard and not go off and what it means to you to win it?

LH: Well, this weekend started off well and then I seemed to lose pace while Nico picked up his pace. Today, I knew I needed to get a good start and things generally went my way, except when the pace car came out. I’ve never won here. I won I think in Formula 3 back in 2004, so it’s been a long, long time coming. The safety car came out, we had different tyres. It was one of the most difficult races… I think the last time I had a race like that would probably be Indianapolis, 2007. So, a long, long time. Nico drove fantastically well. When you’re with you’re team-mate it’s very, very hard to make the right decisions of where to put your car, where to brake, all these different things, but yeah, it was great.

And Nico? Your side of the story. Obviously at the start, the outside at Turn Four and then later on you attacked him around Lap 18 and 19, again wheel to wheel for a couple of laps. At the end you had a go at it. Is it going to be like this all year?

NR: Yeah. I didn’t have the best of starts. It was still good but Lewis had a little of a better one and that’s the way it went. And then, yeah, I was quicker today, which I was pleased about and gave it a run. Tried to overtake at the end of the first stint, couldn’t make it stick. And then we tried to invert the strategies, just to give me a shot at the end, again to overtake. That was the plan before the race so that worked out well and I tried to keep a good pace on the Prime, knowing that I’ll have a shot again at the end with the Option. It was a good battle again but unfortunately couldn’t make it happen today. Lewis did a good job defending but, y’know, it was a massive fight out there and that’s what I’m here for. For racing like that. I think it was a good day for the sport, which is important, because of recent little bits of criticism. I think they’re all going to be rather quiet tomorrow – which is a very good thing. It’s good that us as Silver Arrows, we made it happen – but of course I am very unhappy with second.

Sergio, it’s been, let’s face it, quite a tough period for you since the last time you were at the podium towards the end of 2012. What does this mean to you today?

SP: It means a lot. It’s a very special podium for myself. As you say, I had a really tough time, my time in McLaren where I was basically quite far… I never have a chance to fight for a podium in all my year. Really, coming into Force India and being able to, only in my third race, to be able to qualify fourth and then straight away being able to fight for the podium was a great feeling. An amazing podium. The Safety Car makes things really hard for me. It was looking quite comfortable before the Safety Car came in and once it came it was really difficult also to switch the Prime tyre on. It was extremely hard as we had a Safety Car for a long period. So I arrive into Turn One after the restart with my team-mate… just couldn’t stop the car, locked the front wheels. Tried my best to keep the position and we managed and then we had the Red Bull coming really quick at the end. Fortunately we managed to keep the podium.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) Nico, who took the decision that you stay out two laps longer in the first stint – and when?

NR: The team makes the decision for strategies. We did exactly the plan we discussed before the race. Everything went exactly to plan in order to give me the best opportunity to have a shot at overtaking him at the end of the race. So, it was absolutely… the team played it as fair as they possibly could today, let us race flat out. I don’t think you need more evidence than you saw that we’re here to race this year and there’s no team orders. We want to put on an amazing show for you guys out there, and you at home, and today we managed. Of course that’s the small positive, but as I said I really don’t like coming second.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, how difficult was it to defend with the Medium tyre against the Soft tyres of Nico?

LH: It was incredibly tough. As I said, it was one of the toughest situations I’ve been in for a long time. The Option tyre, for us, we believe it is worth six-and-a-half tenths. To hold that behind, to keep him out of my gap, out of my slipstream and the DRS was very, very hard. To be pushing flat out for ten laps… it was an exceptional race, I think, to be able to have that. Me and Nico haven’t had a race like that since back in our karting days. I did think today, I was just saying to him today, there was a race we did years ago in… I don’t know what year it was, in karting, our first race together. He was leading the whole way and in the last lap I overtook him and won the race. I thought today for sure he’s going to do the same to me, and get me back. That’s what was going through my head.

Q: (Vincent Marre – Sports Zeitung) Nico, if you could have changed the strategy during the race, that was set before the race, would you or could you have done it?

NR: As I said, the strategy was exactly as planned and it was also what I wanted. I asked for that on the radio, you can listen to it in the race. I said ‘make sure to put me on prime tyres for the second stint because that’s the best way for me to have a shot at Lewis at the end of the race.’ So in hindsight, I would do exactly the same again and it was the perfect strategy for that race. It is a slower strategy in terms of race time, yeah, but it is the one that gives me a shot at the end of the race if I have the speed.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) To both Mercedes drivers: just at the end of the safety car period, Paddy Lowe came on the radio and said to you ‘bring the cars home’. For us, it sounded like ‘don’t attack each other,’ you obviously didn’t do so and then Nico, in the last two or three laps, you didn’t attack any more. Did something happen there?

NR: I was well aware that the whole world was thinking ‘huh, here we go, Silver Arrows team orders, finally they’re there.’ That was clear to me but it wasn’t that at all, it was just ‘guys, make sure that you get these cars to the finish. Don’t break them, don’t crash.’ The message was clear anyway, not really necessary to give such a message because we know that, we drive very hard but in the end with the necessary respect but we’re free to race all the way and in the end, I just got a bit more overheating on the tyres in the last three laps because I was pushing so hard in the slipstream, you know, with less grip, sliding a lot and so the tyres just overheated in the last three laps and I couldn’t get close enough any more. And also with the hybrid, at times you have more then you have less. It’s coming and going and it’s difficult to be there in the right moment when you do have it. It’s not that easy, so there was then a period when I didn’t have enough boost power either.

LH: I don’t really have much more to say but luckily my tyres didn’t go off in those last two or three laps so he seemed to lose a little more than me, so just able to stay ahead.

Q: (Kate Walker – crash.net) Question to both Lewis and Nico: Nico, you were saying that being able to race hard with Lewis is the respect that you have for each other as drivers but you were able to race very very hard and very close. Do you think that having been teammates in karting gave you more of a sense of where each other was going to put their car?

NR: No. I was just pushing to the limit, going for it and just making sure we don’t crash, but all the way, as hard as possible and it worked out, and at no time did I think ‘we’re going to…’ At no time were we at risk of taking both cars out. There was always the necessary margin, might not have looked like it on TV but there was. It was good racing.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo On Line) To Nico and Lewis: that was wonderful but mainly fair. It would be nice if you could describe to us some moments… for instance, you Nico, said to yourself ‘now I’ve got him, I’ve overtaken’ and you Lewis ‘no, he didn’t get me.’ Can you describe to us more details from inside the battle?

NR: I thought I’d got him about nine times but they didn’t work. He always got the run back on me and he did a good job, that’s it. Lewis is obviously a great driver and made it work and next time I need to do better.

(Inaudible question) Out of turn one and then he chose to go on the outside for once. Because it’s difficult to see, you don’t see him. I don’t see where he is at times, I really don’t know because there’s a big dead angle in the car and so when it’s so close, so many times I didn’t know where he was and that’s where I thought ‘OK, now I’ve got him’ and then all of sudden he reappeared again. That’s it.

LH: Yeah, it was the same for me. A lot of times he was in my blind spot and I had no idea if he was there or not, so I tried to leave space. You don’t know whether he’s attacking or braking later into the next corner because you don’t even know where he is. That was very difficult. But for me it feels like a long time that I’ve been able to have a real racer’s race and really use whatever skills that I’ve acquired over the years as a youngster in karting. Being able to apply them in Formula One is a lot harder but to be able to pull them out of the bag and use them again… The time that I went round the outside or got back, just timing it right – you know, it’s a fantastic feeling to be able to do that. It’s one of the greatest feelings when you obviously come out on top.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, do you think this could be one of the best victories of your career so far?

LH: I have to watch it back but it’s difficult to really… every one is very special but of course, this one today, I think ultimately of course winning the race is the greatest thing, so I’m going to go away tonight very happy of course, but deep down inside, I didn’t have the pace today and that’s always still in the back of my mind and I’ve got to really go and work hard to try and find out what that is, because that wasn’t the case in the last race. A lot of the advantages that I had in the last race Nico found them as we came here and applied them and did even better, so I’ve got to go now and find out what he did better than me and see if I can improve for the next race.

Q: (Cristobal Rosaleny– Car and Driver) Checo, last year was maybe your more difficult year in Formula One with McLaren. This year you have alongside you a big name like Nico Hulkenberg. Could you describe how important it is for you to be in front and taking the podium you never got at McLaren?

SP: It was very important. Obviously, when I joined McLaren, I joined a really fast team, the fastest team there of all my options back then, so when the McLaren option came to me, I didn’t think twice. So I went into McLaren and I found out that we had a really tough time, a very difficult time and basically I had to… I frustrated myself very much because you come as a young driver, hoping to fight for the title, to win races and when you join a big team it’s the first thing that you think of and it was not that way so I had a really tough time, more than people think, because of the fact that I had a competitive car that was able to fight for a podium. So being able to do it is a great feeling. Obviously the race, the way it paid… Yesterday qualifying was good but we were at a big disadvantage with the people behind, for example Nico Hulkenberg, my teammate, he had newer tyres than I did and at the end of the day, when we were on two stops, it makes a massive difference. He was able to stop a lap earlier and not make a difference… he jumped me, I had to jump him back and overtake the Williams. So a bit like Lewis was saying, it was a really enjoyable race, a bit like karting days when you’re fighting in and out. But when you are sliding all the time and you have degradation, it was not so enjoyable towards the end of the race, but still, once you’ve crossed the finish line it was a great feeling for me.

April 7, 2014
F1 2014: Qualifying Results – Rosberg Romps to Bahrain Pole

Nico Rosberg has secured pole position for the 2014 Bahrain grand prix.

In celebration of its tenth year on the Formula 1 calendar thousands of floodlights lit up the Sakhir International Circuit in the middle of the Bahrain dessert. The dominance of the Mercedes team remained intact around the floodlit Sakhir circuit as Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton locked out the front row of the grid. Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo was the best of the rest in third place but will drop ten places on the grid due to a penalty incurred in the Malaysian GP.

The first part of qualifying relegated the usual suspects to the back of the grid. Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi out-qualified teammate Marcus Ericsson and both Marussia’s of Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi. Sauber driver Adrian Sutil and Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado were the other drivers who failed to advance to the second part of qualifying.

Romain Grosjean, who had snatched a spot in Q2 by nine thousandths of a second was unable to better than 16th overall. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel were the high profile drivers who did not advance to the top ten shoot-out. Hulkenberg had threatened throughout the practice session but was unable to make it count. Sebastian Vettel reported an issue on the downshift of his gearbox before being eliminated from qualifying. Nevertheless, Vettel will start tenth due to teammate Ricciardo’s 10 place grid penalty.

Despite having two bites at the cherry Nico Rosberg’s first lap in the third part of qualifying was enough to secure the German’s fifth career pole position. A mistake on his second attempt meant that Lewis Hamilton had to settle for second. Daniel Ricciardo’s relegation means that Williams’ Valterri Bottas will start the Bahrain GP in third place. Mexican Sergio Perez delivered a stunning performance in his Force India and will share the second row of the grid with Bottas.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen will line up fifth while McLaren’s Jenson Button, celebrating his 250th GP, share the third row of the grid in sixth. Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen will start seventh and eighth respectively. Fernando Alonso was unseen for the majority of the final minutes of the qualifying session and will start tomorrow’s race in ninth place.

It seems highly unlikely that the Mercedes duo will be troubled on Sunday. Who will be the best of the rest is anyone’s guess.

April 5, 2014
Mercedes dominate and Hamilton sets the pace in FP3

Mercedes continued to show their excellent form during the final practice session ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets a tenth of a second ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg, with Checo Perez in the third spot for Force India, a half-second country mile behind them.

Despite spending the first half of the session in the Williams garage, Valterri Bottas and Felipe Massa managed to secure the 4th and 5th spots for the Williams team, showing a good improvement in their performance.

Jenson Button managed 6th place for the McLaren team and Fernando Alonso secured 7th in the first non-Mercedes powered car, for Ferrari. The Ferrari drivers seemed to be struggling a great deal with rear grip around the track. While many drivers were caught out by the tail wind around T11, the Ferrari drivers seemed to be getting to know the outskirts a little too well around there.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Nico Hulkenberg for Force India, Toro Rosso’s Daniel Kvyat and Kevin Magnussen for McLaren.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel ended his session early – without the opportunity to head out on soft tyres, after spinning off at the exit of Turn 2 and stalling his car in the gravel trap.

Conditions during the third practice session were far from those we can expect during qualifying and the race tomorrow now that Bahrain has joined the elite night race hosts. Temperatures drop considerably in the evenings at the desert circuit so expect a few surprises from qualifying later this afternoon.

Who can catch the Mercedes drivers to steal the pole position for tomorrow’s Bahrain Grand Prix? Right now, it would seem absolutely nobody can!

Time sheets and full tyre info below. Please join us later on @F1_Madness for live commentary and chats during qualifying for the Bahrain GP.

FP3 Timesheet:

Tyre info:

April 5, 2014
2014 Bahrain GP Preview – Mercedes set to sparkle under desert floodlights

Less than a week after the Malaysian Grand Prix, where Mercedes thundered to its first one-two finish since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix, Formula One sets up shop in Bahrain for round three of the 2014 F1 World Championship.

Mercedes will remain in good spirits for this weekend’s Bahrain GP. The car is perfectly suited to the layout of the Saakhir International Circuit.

The Sakhir circuit offers more stop-and-go corners and more throttle time than the twisty Malaysia circuit. No need to compromise super speed on the straights for downforce through the turns. Most of the corners in Bahrain are around 160kph or less.

The circuit is also very demanding on fuel. This could be a game-changer for teams like Red Bull, who’ve had fuel flow sensor issues in both races so far this season.

This is the tenth outing for F1 to the Saakhir International Circuit and with this anniversary, the Bahrain Grand Prix presents a new challenge to teams and drivers – the first race under floodlights in the desert as Bahrain joins Abu Dhabi as the second twilight race on the F1 calendar.

The cooler evening temperatures lead to changes in balance and grip levels so teams have their work cut out for them. They do already have data on these conditions which they would have gathered at the two pre-season tests held at this circuit.

The lower temperatures will favour the cooling capabilities of the new power units which has been an issue for some teams leading up to the start of the 2014 season. Red Bull in particular had a very difficult time with overheating power units.

Mercedes will be the team to beat as the sun sets over Bahrain on Sunday. One thing is certain – we are in for a visual spectacular!

April 5, 2014
Bahrain Free Practice 2 – Hamilton Finishes Top of the Time Sheets

Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes made it two from two this evening by finishing on top of the time sheets in the second practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Hamilton finished the session in P1 with a time of 1:34.325. His team mate Nico Rosberg ended the session in P2 with a 1:34.690. Fernando Alonso finished the session in P3 with a 1:35.360, a full 1.035s slower than Hamilton’s P1 time.

Alonso could not do any better than P3. His long run pace looked encouraging but Ferrari are struggling with high tyre degradation. Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari struggled this session. He ended his FP2 down in P14 with a 1:36.962. So not a good session for the Finn who’s looking to get a strong finish in the race.

With 35m left in the session Max Chilton in his Marussia suffered a front left brake disk failure under braking into T4. The front brakes went, the rears locked up and he spun off the track into the run off area and that was his session. He was not the only casualty of the session. Sauber’s Adrian Sutil stopped out on track with 30 minutes left in the session. The final casualty of the evening was Caterham’s Marcus Ericsson. He stopped his car on the back straight on the run down to T11 with just 5mins left in the session. There was a bit of a moment between Rosberg and Perez in the Force India that will be investigated after the session. Rosberg was on a slow-down lap with Perez on a timed lap approaching rather quickly. Rosberg moved to his left to get out of the way, but by then Perez had already committed to passing Rosberg on the left. Perez had to move a bit more to the left to avoid Rosberg. All this happened on the run into T14

The Williams cars of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas spent most of the session in their garages and with 42 mins left in the session they both took to the track with very encouraging pace from Massa. Massa and Bottas finished P5 and P11 respectively.

Red Bull confirmed just after the start of the session that the had a fuel flow sensor failure together with Toro Rosso and Lotus. They had a relatively quiet FP2 with Ricciardo finishing in P4 and Sebastian Vettel finishing P7. Red Bull do have some tyre degradation issues but not as bad as Ferrari. They actually looked much stronger on the long run race than Ferrari.

Mercedes look to be in a class of their own. At the moment qualifying looks to be between Hamilton and Rosberg for P1 and P2. But we all know how quickly things can change in F1. There’s still FP3 to come.

Below is the timing wall for the session:

April 4, 2014
F1 2014: Bahrain Free Practice 1 Results – Hamilton On Top

Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two at the first free practice session for the 2014 Bahrain grand prix.

The Bahrain GP celebrates its tenth appearance on the Formula 1 calendar this weekend and will host its first ever night race. The first one and a half hour practice session remained fairly uneventful throughout. There was encouraging signs from the Lotus F1 Team who managed to rack up a substantial number of laps without any issues. However, it was the Mercedes team that once again dominated the timing sheets ahead of Sunday’s third round of the 2014 F1 season.

Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari held the fastest time for a short period of time before being pushed down to third overall. Several teams ended there practice sessions before the chequered flag came out. The suggestion was that the most valuable information would be gained in the second practice session; as the condition will be more akin to what qualifying and race conditions are likely to be.

A peculiar lapse of concentration by the Ferrari team saw Fernando Alonso leave the pitlane with three medium and one soft compound tyre on his car. The Spaniard stopped his car in the pitlane and was wheeled back into the garage by his mechanics. Some familiar faces graced the paddock during FP1 from Jean Alesi to Rod Smedley who has joined the Williams team from Ferrari.

Several reserve drivers also got some track time in Bahrain. Amongst them were Felipe Nasr for Williams, Robin Frijns for Caterham and Giedo van der Garde for Sauber.

April 4, 2014
F1 2014: Malaysia GP Review – Mercedes Asserts Dominance

Not a lot of people were delighted when news broke towards the end of 2012 that Lewis Hamilton would become a Mercedes driver. The gutsy decision went a long way towards being justified as Hamilton dominated the 2014 Malaysian grand prix.

A single victory in Hungary was all Hamilton had to show for his first season with the Silver Arrows. He remained patient in the building of this new relationship and when the all silver Mercedes hit the track in Jerez on the first day of testing it was starting to pay off.

After retiring from the Australian grand prix two weeks ago Lewis Hamilton showed up in Malaysia with the single goal of scoring twenty-five points on Sunday. A second consecutive pole ensured the best possible starting position for Hamilton who shared the front-row of the grid with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. Nico Rosberg rounded out the top three with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in fourth place on the grid.

Lewis Hamilton comfortably maintained the lead of the race over teammate Rosberg and ran untroubled for the rest of the afternoon. One of the few battles during the Malaysian GP transpired at the start of the race as Rosberg and the two Red Bulls jockeyed for position.

Sebastian Vettel finished in third place overall after getting within one second of Rosberg’s Mercedes. It has been a tremendous recovery for the Red Bull team who looked in dire straits two months ago. A podium finish proves that the RB10 is a fundamentally quick car and that should Renault get on top of their issues that Red Bull will be a serious factor in this championship battle.

Daniel Ricciardo was supposed to follow Vettel home in fourth place but a disastrous final pit stop totalled the Australian’s race. An improperly secured front-left tyre forced Ricciardo to stop in the pitlane before being pushed back to his pit box. Eventually released, he was given a ten second stop/go penalty for an unsafe release. As if to add insult to injury the Aussie was forced back into the pits with a damaged front-wing which appeared to have been caused by the front-jack during his stop.

Ricciardo failed to finish the race and was subsequently handed a ten-place grid penalty for this weekend’s Bahrain GP. It is rather extreme to double up on the punishment but the 2014 rule concerning unsafe releases is clear-cut in the application of two penalties. Clearly, Ricciardo has taken over Mark Webber’s rotten luck as well as his race seat at Red Bull.

Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso battled for fourth place on the road with the Ferrari driver winning the close contest. Hulkenberg underlined his class with a solid performance on a tricky two-stop strategy. The Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen showed a marked improvement throughout the practice sessions but an overzealous Kevin Magnussen left the Finn with a right-rear puncture at the start of lap two. After limping around the circuit Raikkonen made it to the pits but had lost seventy seconds to the frontrunners.

Jenson Button confirmed post-race that his McLaren struggled in the high-speed corners but still salvaged sixth place. A spicy fight for seventh between Felipe Massa and Valterri Bottas resulted in some inter-team controversy. In the closing stages of the race Massa was given the instruction to let his teammate past. However, amongst several messages to the Brazilian was “Felipe, Valtteri is faster than you.” This message was a near exact carbon-copy of the one given to Massa during the infamous 2010 German GP. For a split second the former Ferrari driver must have felt like he never left the Italian squad. Massa’s engineer will do well in the future to pick his words more carefully. Team boss Claire Williams diffused the situation by claiming that no team orders were imposed on either driver. Rookies Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top ten.

It’s bad enough not seeing the chequered flag at the end of the race but it’s exponentially worse when a driver does not even make it onto the starting grid. Force India’s Sergio Perez, struck with software issues, was such a driver. Lotus retired the car of Pastor Maldonado as the turbo was in the process of failing while Sauber suffered a double retirement. Seven cars in total failed to see the chequered flag.

In seven previous attempts Hamilton had never won the Malaysian GP but Sunday’s dominant display resulted in his first victory around the Sepang circuit. The absence of significant pressure from behind allowed Hamilton to set a modest pace. It is clear that underneath him he has a Mercedes that is the class of the field at the moment and, if needed, has quite a lot more speed to call on.

It isn’t a case of if but rather when Red Bull, Ferrari and perhaps McLaren will catch up. The gap will be closed. However, Mercedes is making some serious hay while the others are scrambling – and this is ominous. Trust that this team will be working as hard to maintain their pace advantage. And they’re already ahead there too. While others struggle with their power units Mercedes already has the strongest and most reliable engine. At this stage other teams are trying to solve problems and combat issues that Mercedes have long since overcome. The mindset of the Mercedes team isn’t how to fix problems it’s how to go even faster.

March 31, 2014
F1 2014: Malaysia – Free Practice 2 – Rosberg Tops The Times

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg topped the timing sheets for the second free practice session in Malaysia.

As the Malaysian heat intensified Nico Rosberg set the fastest time on the white-walled medium compound tyres in the second free practice session for Sunday’s Malaysian grand prix.

Track temperatures reached nearly 50 degrees Celsius during the ninety minute session which reveal a much closer pecking order. In particular, Red Bull’s Sebastain Vettel looked solid in both qualifying simulation and long run pace. Both Mercedes drivers were able to lap consistently on both compounds of tyre while Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen appeared far more comfortable with the F14T.

Rosberg’s fastest time of 1:39:909 was a whisker faster than Raikkonen who set a 1:39:944. Likewise the top ten was separated roughly six tenths of a second. Granted the level of fuel being carried by the respective teams are unknown at this stage.

The woes continued for Lotus as Pastor Maldonado failed to emerge from his garage for the entire session. Romain Grosjean managed fourteen laps before again pulling off the circuit. This time his issue was allegedly gearbox related.

The level of tyre degradation on the medium compound tyres appeared quite high as expected on the abrasive surface of the Sepang circuit. Nevertheless, it appeared to last for about seven laps before dropping off. However, the track will continue to rubber in throughout the weekend, barring no rain, which will see the tyres life extended slightly. Pirelli have reported that the difference between the two compounds are around 1 to 1.2 seconds per lap.

The laptimes on the board suggest that Mercedes are still favourites but the chasing pack, in the form of Ferrari and Red Bull, seem a lot closer than two weeks ago.

March 28, 2014