Tag: nico hulkenberg

F1 2014: British GP Preview – 50 Years of Silverstone Splendour

Year upon year the world of Formula 1 undergoes changes. From rule changes to regulation shifts to not-so good looking cars. Yet, through all of its transformations and guises the lineage of Formula 1 has always been protected, honoured and celebrated.

Nestled in the English countryside of Northamptonshire Silverstone will celebrate its 50^th year of hosting the British grand prix. In recent history Lewis Hamilton’s stunning 2008 victory lingers one of the most memorable. The masterful drive in treacherously wet conditions remains one of Hamilton’s finest. After failing to score in the previous two rounds Hamilton’s natural talent shone in difficult conditions and earned him a first victory on home soil. It proved to be the turning-point in the 2008 season at the end of which he would be crowned world champion.

In 2014 the Silverstone circuit and its facilities look slightly different but remains a cherished challenge. After announcing a 17-year deal with Bernie Ecclestone Silverstone was unveiled in 2011 with a new pits and paddock complex in addition to an in-field sector after the Abbey chicane. Importantly, the glorious sections of Maggots, Becketts and Chapel and Copse corner have been preserved.

Silverstone is a circuit characterised by high speed corners and one which tests aerodynamic performance to the limit. This combination may bode well for Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo. The Red Bull RB10 is clearly not the fastest package on the grid however the Milton Keyes factory has produced a good chassis which only limitation is its power unit. The root of Red Bull’s issues in 2014 has been due to under par Renault ‘engine.’ The French manufacturer has continually tried to optimise performance but the reality is that the Renault power unit baseline is significantly lower than that of the Mercedes which makes catching up nearly impossible.

Were Red Bull equipped with a Mercedes power unit we may have seen a significantly closer fight for the title. But at least for now Christian Horner and Red Bull are sticking with Renault power which has led them to four consecutive world championships.

Nico Rosberg won for Mercedes at Silverstone last year in the midst of several Pirelli tyre failures. Lewis Hamilton was one who fell victim to the suspect rubber in 2013 and is a driver who needs to make in-roads on his championship-leading teammate. Hamilton, twenty-nine points adrift, needs to finish ahead of Rosberg this weekend if he is to keep the championship dream alive. Yet, Rosberg’s crafty, under-the-radar manner will aid him on a weekend where all the focus and pressure shifts to home-grown hero Lewis Hamilton.

On the back of a strong weekend in Austria the Williams team are worth keeping an eye on if only for the possibility of finishing best-of-the-rest. The Grove based team has finally unlocked some of the pace and potential it displayed in pre-season testing with a first-ever podium finish for Valtteri Bottas. Williams’ qualifying pace in Austria was owing to its ability to get the tyres up to temperature much quicker which will be handy in the cooler British conditions.

History will me made in the first free practice session for the British grand prix as Williams development driver Susie Wolff takes to the track. Wolff will become the first woman to take part in an official F1 session in 22 years. Go Susie!

Ferrari’s hit and miss season, with decidedly more miss, is set to continue as the team has ruled out the possibility of closing the gap to Mercedes. As a result of homologated engines and the team reaching the limit of improvements it can make on the power unit The Maranello team will turn its attention to the 2015 season.

Theoretically when it all shakes out towards the end of the season Lewis Hamilton should have enough in his armoury to beat Nico Rosberg. However, theories are just that – a combination of ideas based on speculation. What Hamilton needs is a dominant performance on the track starting at Silverstone.

July 3, 2014
F1 2014: Austrian GP Review – Nifty Nico Bests Hamilton

What was once old was made new again as the Formula 1 paddock jetted into central Europe for the Austrian grand prix for the first time in eleven years.

The practice sessions suggested that the weekend would follow the familiar pattern of Mercedes domination. However, Saturday qualifying was turned on its head as the Williams pair of Felipe Massa and Valterri Bottas stunningly locked out the front row of the grid.

The two Williams drivers were able to spring this surprise due to some good luck but also by delivering a great turn of pace. Pole position for the Austrian GP was Felipe Massa’s first since the 2008 Brazilian GP. Nico Rosberg lined up third while a mistake from Hamilton relegated him to ninth with no time on the board.

Massa led away from the start but teammate Bottas fell to third behind Rosberg. It was Hamilton who blitzed the start to end the first lap in a sensational fourth position. The Williams and Mercedes cars were closely matched for pace on the supersoft tyres and it was Mercedes who led the way into the pitlane. Both Williams drivers were able to complete two more laps but it would cost them track position as Rosberg emerged to lead the train of Bottas, Hamilton and Massa.

In the lead of the race was Force India’s Sergio Perez who started in 16^th position. On the soft compound tyres the Mexican was able to run a long enough first stint to put him in the lead of the race. Despite a five-place grid penalty, from Canada, he was able to deliver consistently fast laptimes without putting a wheel wrong for all of the 71 laps. Checo is known for his ability of making the most of alternative strategies. Add to the fact that he had to overcome a grid penalty and his sixth place finish was one of the drives of the day.

As the Force India driver eventually pitted Rosberg was promoted to the lead of the race and by the end of the second round of stops the Mercedes pair were line astern in first and second. However, the Silver Arrows did not disappear into the distance as in previous races as Valterri Bottas kept the pair honest. The Finn translated his front-row starts into his first podium in Formula 1 ahead of teammate Felipe Massa who saw off a late charge from Fernando Alonso.

For Ferrari there was little good news and a fifth place finish Alonso left uninspired by the performance of his car. Similarly, Kimi Raikkonen endured a difficult afternoon after he was told to slow down and cool his brakes after only the second lap of the race. Raikkonen scored the final point on offer in tenth in what was yet another nail in Ferrari’s 2014 coffin.

McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen finished seventh while teammate Jenson Button’s gamble on a long strategy didn’t yield the same results as that of his former teammate Perez. Button eventually finished eleventh.

Regardless of the fact that the Red Bull company owns the circuit its two teams endured a dreadful afternoon. Sebastian Vettel suffered his third retirement of the season when his Renault power unit failed. Both Toro Rosso’s drivers joined the retirement list to leave Daniel Ricciardo as the only Red Bull driver in the race. The Australian was able to finish eighth after overtaking Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg on the final lap of the race.

Red Bull team Principal Christian Horner branded Renault’s performance as “unacceptable” and insisted that the supplier overcome its issues quickly. “There needs to be change at Renault. It can’t continue like this. It’s not good for Renault and it’s not good for Red Bull,” said Horner.

Sebastian Vettel became the first beneficiary of new driver rules instituted after the Canadian GP. The incident at the end of that race between Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez has prompted race stewards to take a more lenient approach in dishing out penalties to drivers. A driver will be given a penalty only if he is found to be 75% responsible for causing a collision. On Sunday Vettel lost part of his front-wing in a collision whilst trying to overtake Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez. Under the old rules Vettel would have been given a drive-through penalty for causing a collision.

The race ultimately culminated in a fight between Rosberg and Hamilton. The gap between the two was only two seconds but Hamilton was unable to make an impression on Rosberg. Victory in Austria has given Rosberg a 29 point lead in the championship. The German is yet to finish outside the top two in 2014 and it is this sort of consistency which could just be enough to undo Lewis Hamilton.

June 23, 2014
F1 2014: Canadian GP Review – Ricciardo Wins Canadian Stunner

There is something about the combination of the circuit Gilles Villeneuve and Formula 1 that delivers the most astounding races.

It didn’t come as a surprise when Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton locked out the front row of the grid. Nor was it unexpected that the two fought a close battle for the lead of the race into turns one and two. It was expected when the pair of them comfortably pulled away from the rest of the field.

First, a crash between Max Chilton and his Marussia teammate Jules Bianchi brought out the safety-car. A significant amount of clean-up was required which had the safety-car out for seven laps. Yet, this would be the least dramatic ‘incident’ of the afternoon, by far.

As the race resumed it seemed like any other afternoon in the 2014 season for the Mercedes pairing of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. The two Silver Arrows ran within a few seconds of each other and pulled away comfortably from the rest of the field. However, Formula 1 never fails to dish up the most unexpected and the seemingly predictable was about to be obliterated.

Lewis Hamilton, known for his performances around the Canadian circuit, began to make serious charge for the lead of the race by closing the gap to Rosberg to a couple of tenths. As they battled wheel-to-wheel a sudden loss of power struck both at the exact same time. The high temperatures had caused both cars to suffer a devastating MGU-K failure. It meant that both Mercedes’ had lost all of its hybrid power.

The seemingly invincible pair were losing up to three seconds a lap. Too much astonishment Williams’ Felipe Massa emerged as the leader of the race after the first round of pitstops. A momentary recovery for Lewis Hamilton had the Brit in prime position to take over from Rosberg but he ran wide at the hairpin and lost the advantage gained in the pitstop phase. It went from bad to worse for Hamilton as he was forced into retirement with brake failure.

A trip into the pitlane for Massa gave the lead back to Rosberg but the Mercedes was significantly compromised. A throng of cars led by Force India’s Sergio Perez and including Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel quickly closed the gap on the Mercedes. Miraculously, Rosberg was able to hang onto the lead despite running with 160 less horsepower than his pursuers.

The train of cars was quickly joined by Felipe Massa who had armed himself with fresh rubber. It seemed as if Sergio Perez had worked a one-stop strategy to a tee. Perez, known for his ability to run long stints, managed to hold Ricciardo at bay but a daring move around the outside of turn 1 gave the Australian second place.

The Red Bull driver closed the gap to Rosberg and with the help of DRS down the back-straight snatched the lead of the race into the final corner. While Ricciardo crossed the line to start the final lap of the race the drama was far from over. A spot on the podium beckoned Felipe Massa but as the Brazilian lined up a pass on Perez into turn 1 he tagged the back of the Force India. The duo, barely avoiding Vettel’s Red Bull, crashed heavily into the barriers. Both drivers experienced an impact of 27G but were declared fit by medial personnel. After an investigation the stewards announced that Perez had been given a five-place grid penalty for the Austrian GP for “changing his line” into the corner.

As if the result was not astonishing enough Jenson Button brought the McLaren home in fourth place. The former champ started the final lap in eighth position but benefited as Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso tripped over each other.

Fernando Alonso counted himself as “lucky” to finish as high as sixth as the Ferrari continues to struggle for performance. Despite bringing several upgrades to the Canadian GP the F14T showed no improvement whatsoever. Kimi Raikkonen endured a similarly miserable race as early brake issues and traffic added to the gloom. A spin at the hairpin, attributed to a power delivery issue by the power unit, dropped the Finn out of the points. Raikkonen eventually finished tenth but the Maranello team has serious questions to answer after yet another failed attempt at development. The 2007 champion must hardly recognise Ferrari in its current depressing guise. It’s a far cry from the team with whom he won two constructors’ and one drivers’ title.

Daniel Ricciardo may have benefited from someone else’s misfortune but the courageous move around the outside of turn 1 on Perez and the never-say-die style of the Australian is what made him one of the most popular winners in the paddock.

Sometimes the nice guy does finish first.

Photo Credits:
Red Bull images via @redbullracing
Lewis Hamilton retiring via @LewisHamilton
Massa-Perez crash sequence via @WSFMR

June 9, 2014
2014 Canadian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

DRIVERS:

Adrian SUTIL (Sauber)

Nico HULKENBERG (Force India)

Kamui KOBAYASHI (Caterham)

Felipe MASSA (Williams)

Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Jenson, we’ll start with you if we may. A 2011 winner here, of course, memorably, and you’re currently eighth in the championship. This circuit has the famous wall of champions on the outside of the final corner. The back of the cars this year, of these designs, is quite light. I wonder if you could a little bit about how you read the challenge of driving these cars around this track this weekend.

Jenson BUTTON: OK. Good morning. Yeah, it’s going to be tricky here, It always is, especially with the cold circuit temperatures we’ll probably have on Friday. So yeah, the last corner will be tricky, but we’re sort of used to that I think. We’ve been driving these cars all year and if we can drive these cars around Monaco I think we’ll be alright around here. It should be an interesting circuit. It’s a circuit where you don’t really use downforce so much, it’s a lot more mechanical grip. There are long straights, so we can use the power of the engine – for us that’s great, with the Mercedes engine. And it’s about working with the tyres. I think it’s going to be tricky around here. It’s supposed to be hot on Sunday, so you’re going to have to really look after them. But we’re reasonably good at that.

Talking about McLaren’s situation: how do you compare this year to last year and the competitiveness and the problems that you have? Are they more fixable than last year’s problems?

JB: Yeah, I think from the outside it doesn’t look spectacular, our season this year, and you’d say it looks quite similar to last year but it’s very different. In terms of the feel of the car, it’s much better. In terms of the development of the car, it is working and we’re going in the right direction. Yeah, it’s tough. When you’ve been fighting for wins and the team is used to fighting for wins, it’s difficult when you find yourself in this situation. But also there are a lot of positives right now. With Ron back in charge, and Eric, I think they’re doing a great job of really moving the team on and changing certain things so that we will be fighting at the front again. But it just takes time. Things don’t change overnight, even though we’re pushing very hard.

OK, thank you. Coming to you now Lewis. You’re a three-time winner here, three times on pole here. What is it about you and this Montreal circuit and it’s walls around the outside? Is it the braking? Is about technique? What is it that somehow clicks with you here?

Lewis HAMILTON: I’m not sure. Good morning everyone. I guess there are certain tracks you like more than others and this is one of those circuits I particularly like. I really like coming out to Canada, I always have a great response from the fans here. It is one of the best grands prix of the year in terms of the turnout, the city, just in general the weekend, it’s a good fun weekend and I guess all of that packed into one makes it fun to drive.

You’ve said this week that you and your team-mate Nico Rosberg are friends again after Monaco. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

LH: There’s not really much to say. I said it in my message. We spoke after the race and just like friends we have our ups and down, we’ve known each other a long, long time, so it’s done and dusted and we look forward to working together to try to help this team win the Constructors’ Championship.

OK, thank you for that. Coming on to Felipe. Three seventh-place finishes so far this season, your best result here in Montreal a fourth. Williams is tied with McLaren at the moment in the Constructors’ Championship with 52 points after six races. Is that in line with your expectations?

Felipe MASSA: No. Definitely I think I didn’t have great results until now. It should be much better than what I had until now. So I had not very great races, starting with the race, where I didn’t get to corner two and you know in Bahrain I was fighting for third, fourth the whole race and then I lost a lot of positions because of the safety car. So I think it was not very great results but I’m sure we can do much better and I hope this track can be also a bit better for our car compared to Monaco, compared to other tracks. So really looking forward that we can have a lot better results, starting here in Montreal, a lot better than seventh I hope.

I wonder if you could tell us what Rob Smedley has brought to the team, because you obviously have got a very long working relationship with him. He’s now in a senior role on the engineering side, can you tell a little bit about what he’s brought to the team?

FM: A lot of experience. A lot of good direction, different things in terms of how to work, you know, in many different areas. I think he’s a very intelligent engineer, has a lot of experience. For sure, things don’t change from one day to the other, so it takes a little bit of time but not just him, we have a lot of great engineers, a lot of good people and things are getting better all the time inside the team and I’m really looking forward that from now until the end of the of the championship things will get better and better all the time.

Nico, coming to you. Fifth in the Drivers’ Championship and points scored in every round so far but no podium personally yet. Given the confidence that Force India has in the package for this weekend in Montreal, is this you weekend do you think?

Nico HULKENBERG: I don’t know. Obviously I hope and like every weekend we’re going to try to make the most of our chances here. I think the track should be OK for us. Also, it’s one of my favourite grands prix, so I really look forward to this weekend – the track, the city, everything is pretty cool. So hopefully we can have a strong result again.

Q: Monaco showed that you can get results by doing a different strategy from the people around you. As a midfield team I wonder, is that something you feel you need to do to get the results or do you feel you can compete with front running teams on equal terms?

NH: Not really, and I think looking back in hindsight we made it a bit harder for ourselves, starting on the harder tyre – the other way around with how it turned out, Safety Car etcetera may have been easier – but I think it’s always different and you always have to look at each race and each case and decide then but, generally, we’re having a good package, we’re competitive and that puts us in a good position in general.

Q: Kamui, you’ve twice finished in the points here in Montreal but after Marussia’s result at the last round in Monaco I wonder what the reaction was in the Caterham team? Is it encouragement that it’s possible to score points or concern about the position it leaves you in?

Kamui KOBAYASHI:

For us the Monaco result for us was a bit of a pain but at least we know Marussia made a great step from their updates so I have to say, I think, we have to say it’s a well done job. I think for us for sure I think we need to work. I think what happened in Monaco was a little bit… strange but at least we check with the FIA and that’s through so we have nothing to say but at least we have some upgrades for that first point.

Q: So what is the way forward for the Caterham team this season?

KK: The thing about a Formula One team is we cannot change day-by-day. We progress. Of course, it’s not an easy life for us, it’s a difficult moment right now but for sure everybody is working really hard and we know, I think, that we will progress. We need a little bit of time and we are looking forward to more later on this season.

Q: Adrian, two points finishes also for you in your career here in Montreal – but still none this year for you with the Sauber team. Your thoughts on the start that the team has made and how the upgrades have worked out so far.

Adrian SUTIL: Well, a difficult start of course. I thought it would be a little bit more easy but that’s how it is. That’s how our situation is. We try, of course, to get out and improve the car, improve general performance – yeah, coming here we try it again. We had a tough weekend in Monaco but I think Monaco was a little bit more on the better side, the car was behaving a little bit better and so it’s not only bad everything. There are a few positive things – but it’s very complicated to make it altogether at the moment. To understand the car is quite difficult for us still, so we have to work on that and we need a bit more time and hopefully it really goes soon in the right direction. It’s quite hard to be in the back there always, lot of problems come together in racing at the back.

Q: And tell us from your perspective what you think it will be like to race these hybrid turbo cars around this circuit – the specific challenges of this circuit?

AS: Well I think here we’re going to have quite high top speeds, with the new engines and the low drag the cars have so we should really be quick on the straights, maybe also a quicker overall lap time than last year – maybe – so I don’t know. It should be a circuit that suits the car in general. All the Formula One cars, not only us. And, as everyone said, it’s quite an enjoyable track with a lot of possibilities to overtake. The race should be quite interesting as well. Lot of chicanes… yeah, good weekend and I look forward to it, hopefully with a quite good result in the end.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Jenson, I don’t know if you read the team’s pre-race press release this week but there were some very complimentary words from Eric Boullier with regard to yourself, taking about your quality of input, your experience, your ambassadorial role. It all sounded very positive and almost as if they’re looking to next year, perhaps wanting to keep you. Any further progress on that? As I say, it was all very complimentary towards yourself.

JB: er…no. No more progress at all. But that’s just the way it is. We’re here, we’ve spent four good years together already. In our fifth year together. And we both want to work together in the future but it’s just not time yet. Not the right time. We have a lot of other issues to solve first before we start thinking about the future too much. We’re in a good place and y’know, I think my experience does help me a lot. I still feel very young at heart, fitter than ever and I have all that experience. I’m in a great position and I feel I’ve got a lot more to give in the future in Formula One. I definitely can’t see an end to my career. This is my life and where I want to be in the future.

Q: (Bill Beacon – La Presse Canadienne) Because this track is different to most with the braking and long straights and everything, do you think that that in any way will close the gap between Mercedes and the rest of the field?

LH: I’d be guessing but I don’t feel that will be the case. We’re particularly strong on the straights, Mercedes are but I don’t know, maybe we will be surprised this weekend but long straights do suit us very well. We have a very good power curve on our engine, Mercedes have done the best job with the engines. Renault and Ferrari would have to have done an exceptional job coming into this weekend, in terms of that area, to be able to keep up with us on the straights..

FM: Definitely it can be a good track for most of the cars that are using Mercedes (engines) so I think maybe we will see even maybe a big difference compared to Mercedes and the other teams, because as Lewis said, the engine is amazing, it’s been a very good job done by Mercedes and they have a good car under braking and everything, so for sure maybe we can see maybe even a big difference.

NH: I don’t think it will be very different to the other weeks before.

Q: (Chris Medland – crash.net) Lewis, you said that the air has been cleared between yourself and Nico between races. Did you feel the need to do the same with the team and was anything different with the way the team handled the two of you between Monaco and coming here now?

LH: There was no difference. Collectively with the team… me and Nico spoke and we individually spoke to the team and saw the team. Nothing’s really changed. We know the team has done a great job in terms of supporting us and the way it’s run with Paddy and Toto. Their support for the both of us has been great. We’re now full steam ahead. We had dinner with the team yesterday and things have never been better. We’re just going from strength to strength. People have ups and downs, as I said, so it’s no different to any other experience me and Nico have had in our whole – God knows how many years we’ve been racing together. We move on, we’re pushing forward. There’s a long long way to go in the season so we’re looking forward to that battle.

Q: (Gerhard Kuntschik – Salzburger Nachrichten) Jenson, as kind of the older statesman, you raced on the old A1 Ring; we’re coming up to Austria again, Red Bull Ring, in a fortnight; what are your memories of the Austrian Grand Prix?

JB: Lots of campsites and lots of very merry Austrians over the Grand Prix weekend. It’s one of those races that they really embrace the sort of party scene and the camping scene, which is really cool. It reminds me very much of Spa, British Grand Prix and those sort of races. It’s a true racing fan’s Grand Prix, I feel. The circuit itself… you look at it and you think ‘there’s like seven corners, it can’t be that fun to drive.’ But it is, it’s a really good circuit. I’ve enjoyed racing there in the past, I don’t know what it’s going to be like with these cars. I’ve always had fun racing there. I don’t know how much has changed, either. Turn one, we used to drive off through the gravel because that was the quickest way on the exit. I’m sure it’s not going to be the case any more. I think we’re in for a good Grand Prix.

Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) To all drivers: the World Cup is coming and your countries are going to be there, playing, so on a personal note, how much are you interested in football? Are you going to follow all the matches or you don’t care much about what’s going on there? And a second brief question: who do you think is going to win the World Cup?

Q: Kamui, would you like to kick us off?

KK: Me? On soccer? I don’t really care so I don’t follow anything. All I know is that Japan is not really strong so I don’t…

NH: Well I hope that Gemany is going to be good but I’m not a football expert but I’m sure I’m going to be behind the TV following the World Cup.

AS: I’ll be watching, cheering for Uruguay and Germany, because I’m half Uruguayan.

FM: Yeah, I love football, I watch everything, so I will maybe be watching most of the games. I really hope that Brazil can be there in the final. To win the championship at home would be fantastic so I will be there watching and supporting Brazil.

LH: I don’t follow it as much (as I used to) but I will probably catch a few games and I want to try and see if we can go out to one of the games at least. The dream will be to go and watch Brazil and England play, that would be pretty awesome.

JB: Yes, I totally agree. I’m not a massive football fan, I don’t support a team but when it comes to nationalities, countries playing, obviously I will be supporting England and I’m really looking forward to it.

June 6, 2014
F1 2014: Canadian GP Preview – F1 Readies for Canada Clash

Formula 1 crosses the Atlantic to Montreal and the Grand Prix du Canada. The circuit Gilles Villeneuve lies in wait for the paddock and the seventh round of the 2014 season.
Sebastian Vettel swept the pole position and race victory at the 2013 Canadian grand prix. In 2014 Red Bull’s level of competitiveness has dwindled but the team from Milton Keyes are slowly recovering their campaign. However, with the dominant car of the season, Lewis Hamilton, a three time former winner in Canada, looks a shoe-in for victory.

As with most F1 drivers mistakes tend to happen as they test the limits of the car’s performance. A locked wheel, braking a meter too late or having the back-end step out is not uncommon. However, the most striking characteristic of the circuit Gilles Villeneuve is its concrete walls which lie just beyond the edge of the track. Concrete walls and barriers which hold significant consequences for getting it wrong. The two chicanes and the hairpin are areas where lap time can be won or lost but the final corner, outlined by the famous Wall of Champions, is where the biggest risk can yield the most reward. “Some guys will play it safe and sacrifice half a tenth to get through there cleanly; others will take a risk. The nearer you are, the faster you’ll go. Give the wall a kiss and you feel pretty good; kiss it too hard and that’s it!” shared Daniel Ricciardo.

The 4.361 km circuit includes two straights which lend a hand in the overtaking department. The favoured spots for overtaking will be into the turn 10 hairpin and a late move up the inside before the final chicane. Given that the circuit takes some time to rubber in, Pirelli will bring the Soft and Supersoft compound tyres to Canada. The choice of compounds also opens the door for a two or three stop strategy of which the latter can be used to undercut and gain time on a competitor with a fresher, and quicker, set of tyres.

The circuit ranks high on the list of the most power hungry on the calendar. It’s just in time as several teams are planning upgrades to their power units this weekend.

Ferrari’s PR machine has been spinning away as Technical Director James Allison has “vowed” that the team will take a good step forward in Canada – a mantra they have been repeating for years. The Italian team did show improved pace during the Monaco GP and Allison expects to see further improvement this weekend. Nevertheless, he tempered his optimism by saying that their rivals will be making gains of their own.

Ferrari has struggled to make significant improvements on the F14T since the start of the season. After a three-week break Ferrari showed no progress at the Spanish GP. Allison thinks engineers need to be given more creative freedom in their development plans.

“If you force them to operate with their backs against the wall, up against deadlines that are very, very tight, then there’s no time for them to think about how they might approach something differently,” “There is a wealth of talent at Ferrari – the experience and quality of the people on the technical side is the match of any team – it’s a matter of giving them the space and the encouragement to do unusual things.”

The rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg will resume this weekend with the two having “cleared the air” after Monaco. As much as Rosberg’s affinity for beating Hamilton may have grown since the Monte Carlo weekend Hamilton has a special affinity for the Canadian GP. On paper this is a Hamilton track and the Brit should comfortably be the victor. However, Rosberg showed some steel and as the championship leader has the ball firmly in his court.

June 5, 2014
Rosberg Rules Monaco Streets

From magical drives throughout the decades to duelling teammates in 2014, the streets of Monte Carlo have seen it all.

Since the Bahrain Grand Prix the duel between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg has been simmering just below the surface. In Monaco, a controversial moment in Saturday qualifying nearly detonated the tension between the two.

Lewis Hamilton v Nico Rosberg

As brilliantly as Lewis Hamilton has played the psychological game with his teammate, Rosberg has landed his own mental blows on the Brit this weekend. A controversial mistake in qualifying stopped Hamilton from potentially securing pole position. Most significantly, Hamilton seemed convinced that Rosberg’s trip down the escape road, which brought out yellow flags, was anything but accidental. The stewards found no fault with Rosberg’s actions and he kept his pole position.

Subsequent statements from Hamilton in the press suggested that the relationship between the two was icy at best. Nonplussed by Hamilton’s remarks or attitude, Rosberg maintained the lead off the line and managed the 78 lap race with a determined Hamilton breathing down his neck for the majority of the afternoon.

For all of Hamilton’s talk he delivered no challenge to Rosberg where it matters most – on the Monte Carlo streets. He got to within a couple of tenths of the car in front but did not feint a pass even once. In fact, Rosberg achieved much more than victory this weekend. He almost entirely erased Hamilton’s month-long mind games with the single lock of a wheel. Intentional or not, Rosberg got inside Hamilton’s head. It upset the 2008 champion to the point where he didn’t want to participate in the post-qualifying press conferences and suggested that he may take a page out of Senna’s book to deal with his teammate.

If Hamilton was upset with Saturday’s result, and the steward’s subsequent findings, he was entitled to his own opinion and feelings. However, his failure to accept defeat and blatant refusal to congratulate his teammate is disappointing. There are few who would disagree that Lewis Hamilton is a great driver but his sportsmanship could use some improvement.

Bad Luck Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen rocketed off the line and flew past teammate Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo. The Finn ran solidly in third nine seconds off the leading Mercedes duo but the second safety car would bring an end to any podium aspirations. As the lapped Marrussia of Max Chilton overtook he clipped the back wheel of the Ferrari causing a puncture. Raikkonen was forced back into the pitlane and out of contention. The former champ told Finnish TV after the race that his team had not informed him at what point lapped cars would be overtaking and that he felt that a third place finish was a serious possibility.

Raikkonen attempted a comeback into the points by passing several cars but ended up in the barriers of the Lowes hairpin with light damage. The Finn received a reprimand from the stewards for causing a collision with Kevin Magnussen.

Ricciardo Shines

Daniel Ricciardo continues to deliver for his new Red Bull team while teammate Sebastian Vettel once again suffers a reliability issue. An issue with the Renault Turbo unit cut Vettel’s 100th F1 race short. However, Ricciardo made the most of what he was dealt and once again delivered a solid drive for the final step of the podium.

Fernando Alonso finished a distant and anonymous fourth and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg held on for fifth place. Jenson Button’s sixth place gave McLaren its first point finish in three races ahead of Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean, Jules Bianchi and Kevin Magnussen.

Brilliant Bianchi

Jules Bianchi was the star driver of the day as the Frenchman secured the first ever points for the Marussia team. Despite a five second stop/go penalty Bianchi finished in ninth place. Through whatever means it came about credit is due to the Marussia F1 Team. So often the smaller teams in F1 are forgotten but they fight as hard as anyone for every square inch of tarmac and that hard work has finally paid off for the team from Banbury.

Lewis Hamilton was affected by a vision problem late in the race which caused him to lose sight of his teammate. It cleared up a few laps later and this time he was able to maintain his position. If he is to be the champion again it is important for Hamilton to rise above the psychology of the fight and keep his eye on the prize.

Photos by Courtesy Pirelli and Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1

May 26, 2014
Raikkonen Reprimanded for Magnussen Incident

The stewards at the Monaco Grand Prix decided to reprimand Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen for his incident with McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen towards the end of the race.

The incident happened with 6 laps towards the end of the race. Raikkonen dived down the inside of Magnussen at the Loews Hairpin, it looked as if he out braked himself, ran over the inside kerb and went straight into the outside crash barrier knocking his front wing off. He had to pit to replace the broken front wing which put him out of the points.

Magnussen put the blame solely on Raikkonen for the incident. “I closed the door at Loews and he chose to go anyway,” said Magnussen.

The stewards also made the decision to take no action against the Button-Perez incident on the opening lap of the race which caused the first safety car.

The incident happened at Mirabeau where McLaren’s Jenson Button ran into the back of Sergio Perez’s Force India causing him to spin which resulted in the end of Pere’z race.

“I was in a battle with Hulkenberg who was ahead, and I went to take the apex normally,” said the Mexican. “I was on the racing line and ahead of Jenson when he clipped my rear wheel and spun me around into the barriers. I did not expect him to be there as there wasn’t really any space for another car there.”

Photo courtesy Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1

May 26, 2014
F1 2014: Free Practice 3 – Hamilton Leads the Way In Monaco

The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton ended the third and final practice for the Monaco grand prix fastest.

Teams are drivers were left with a lot of work to do on Saturday morning as they played catch-up after Thursday’s washed out second free practice session. The Mercedes pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg traded fastest times throughout the session.

However, it was Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo who sprung the biggest surprise. The Australian set a laptime of 1:16.808 on his SuperSoft tyre run to split the two Silver Arrrows. Most signficantly, Ricciardo set his fastest time amidst a relatively long run. Teammate Sebastian Vettel, caught up in traffic during his attempt on the SuperSoft rubber, was fourth fastest.

Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen ended the hour long session in fifth and sixth respectively. The Ferrari however does not look like matching the pace of the front-running teams around the streets of Monte Carlo. BBC commentator and three-time Le Mans winner Alan McNish reckons that the Ferrari looks more like a “bucking bronco than a prancing horse.”

While SuperSoft tyre was the obvious choice for the qualifying simulation runs; it was significant to note that the Pirelli tyres took up to three laps to come into their own and deliver a lap time. This will be an especially significant issue during qualifying as drivers and teams will have to guard against getting caught in traffic.

May 24, 2014
F1 2014: Spanish GP – Hamilton Takes Four In A Row

Never before in the 21^st century has Formula 1 known the level of dominance being imposed by the Mercedes team. Lewis Hamilton once again obliterated the field with a preposterously dominant victory in the Spanish GP.

The Spanish GP followed the 2014 script to a tee complete with a fiery inter-team battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Straight away the Mercedes pair opened a substantial lead over the rest of the field and set about duking it out for victory between the pair of them.

A split strategy gave Rosberg the advantage in the closing laps of the race but Hamilton determinedly held off his faster teammate for his fourth consecutive victory. In spite of the Silver Arrow’s dominance Sebastian Vettel delivered the drive of the day with a charge from fifteenth on the grid. The four-time champion put together several bold overtaking moves and a three-stop strategy to finish fourth on the day.

The German’s weekend had been a struggle throughout as he missed out on Friday’s running and suffered a gearbox failure in qualifying. Nevertheless, this recovery drive and the ability to fight amongst some of the frontrunners will provide much confidence to the recovering Red Bull team. “I think this weekend from the team point of view was good with third and fourth, but at the next race we’ll attack again,” said Vettel.

The sister Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo finished as best of the rest in third place affording the Australian his first official podium in Formula 1. Despite easily securing the third step of the podium Ricciardo and Red Bull should be far from pleased with its performance. The number 3 car ended seeing the chequered flag more than half a minute later than race-winner Hamilton.

Not Ferrari, not Brawn, not even Red Bull ever possessed an advantage as devastating as that of Mercedes. A performance gap of nearly two seconds a lap in race trim is surely as demoralising as it can get for the rest of the field. Not only did Hamilton and Rosberg finish 49 seconds clear of 3^rd-place Ricciardo but came within a handful of seconds of lapping Fernando Alonso in sixth.

One of the only teams who showed a definite improvement was Lotus. In the hands of Romain Grosjean the E22 qualified an impressive fifth fastest. The French driver continued to impress in the upgraded Lotus as he held off both Ferrari drivers during the opening stint of the race. However, a sensor calibration issue, which caused a loss of power, hampered his performance. Grosjean eventually finished eighth overall.

The much needed improvement for Ferrari was nowhere to be found as both drivers finished nearly a lap down on Mercedes. Beaten by both Red Bulls and the Williams of Valtteri Bottas in Spain the Ferrari F14T was nothing more than a miserable pile of carbon fibre not worth the red paint it’s covered with. Seventh and eighth means there are few positives to take from Spain and at this stage the Maranello team don’t need a clean slate, they need a brand-new drawing board. The good news is that it can hardly get any worse for the scarlet Ferraris and that the only way for them to go is up, slowly, but surely.

With the exception of retirement in the first race of the season Lewis Hamilton has been scarily close to perfection in 2014. He has rekindled his near unbeatable qualifying pace and is driving with the resolve and passion of a Formula 1 champion.

It’s said that the first person a driver has to beat is his teammate. Lewis Hamilton’s four race wins on the trot have been the most significant victories against Rosberg but Hamilton has also been waging a full-on mental war outside the car. There is little chance that Lewis Hamilton thinks himself slower than anyone around any track. However, in Spain, he was determined to emphasise his teammate’s superior speed around Catalunya. He then took pole position and won the race, shrewdly inferring that he’d beaten his ‘faster’ teammate and winning the psychological battle in the process. Over to you Nico.

All images of Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg & Mercedes F1 car via @MercedesAMGF1

May 15, 2014
F1 2014: Chinese GP- Hat-trick Man Hamilton Wins In China

For the first time in his seven year career Lewis Hamilton has scored a hat-trick of victories. A complete domination of the 2014 Chinese grand prix was the latest in a list of victories to be added to the Brit’s resume.

Seemingly nothing can stand in the way of Mercedes’ all-dominant string of results. Not even rain during Saturday’s qualifying session could put a dampener on Hamilton run as he secured pole position ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

Lewis Hamilton led from start to finish as Mercedes once again overshadowed the competition. Teammate Nico Rosberg got off to a slow start and fell all the way to seventh before recovering to second. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa banging wheels meant Sebastian Vettel could snatch second place at this stage.

Despite running second in the race the Red Bull couldn’t match the pace of Mercedes nor Alonso’s Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel also finds himself in territory he doesn’t recognize – being outpaced by a teammate. Daniel Ricciardo has hit the ground running as a Red Bull driver and continues to go from strength to strength in an impressively calm manner. It didn’t sit too well with Vettel that he had been asked to let his faster teammate through in both of the last two races.

The team was quick to insist that Vettel was not creating any tension within in the team by initially refusing to heed the team order. Vettel, informed that Ricciardo had fresher tyres, responded with “tough luck” before eventually letting his Australian teammate through. Team boss Christian Horner saw nothing wrong with Vettel’s response and put it down to the champion being “a race driver.” It is evident from Vettel’s reaction that being out-performed by Ricciardo is starting to affect him. Vettel eventually finished fifth roughly twenty seconds behind Ricciardo.

The Ferrari team showed a marked improvement, at least in the hands of Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard blitzed the opening lap of the race, as he so often does, and was able to maintain and beat the pace of both Red Bull drivers. Alonso secured the first podium for Ferrari in which has otherwise been an off-colour start to the season. The third place finish comes at a significant time for the team as new team Principal Marco Mattiacci looks to find his feet.

Teammate Kimi Raikkonen didn’t enjoy the same turn of speed as he struggled to an eighth place finish behind Nico Hulkenberg and Valterri Bottas respectively. The Finn endured a difficult weekend compounded by a variety of issues which severely restricted the amount of running throughout the practice sessions. However, Raikkonen pointed out his driving style as the main contributing factor for his lack of pace. The former champion’s famously smooth style prevents him from getting enough heat into the Pirelli tyres which in turn affects grip levels. Typically, this would be seen as an asset as it could extend the life of the tyre however coupled with the low temperatures in China it resulted in an overall lack of pace.

Sergio Perez and Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top ten while Felipe Massa’s afternoon was completely destroyed by a pit-stop mistake. The team mixed up right and left-rear tyres costing the Brazilian a chance of a points-paying position. Oddly, the chequered flag was shown a lap early on lap 55 which, according to regulations, meant that Chinese GP was declared to have finished on lap 54. None of the points-paying-positions were affected.

The tension between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg is almost palpable. No congratulatory handshake was forthcoming, not even for the camera and no pleasantries exchanged before or during the podium ceremony. They aren’t expected to be overly excited about the other’s result but the lack of interaction between them is telling.

The tension between the two stems from the wheel-to-wheel battle in Bahrain which Rosberg felt was “too close” for comfort. But there is little doubt that if the German had been the one on attack and the first to see the chequered flag that it would’ve been acceptable.

The reality is that Hamilton struck a significant psychological blow by taking victory in a race that Rosberg seemingly had won. He followed it up with another damaging mental blow in China by completely dominating the weekend.

In three weeks time the first race of the ‘European season’ will take place at Spain’s Catalunya circuit. Most teams are expected to roll out several big upgrades with the hope of seeing significant progress.

Mercedes-Benz images courtesy of @MercedesAMGF1

April 21, 2014