Tag: pirelli

F1 2016: Monaco GP Preview – Can Merc Be Toppled in Monaco?

In one way or another the famous streets of Monte Carlo have featured in every one of Formula 1’s 66-year history. The scale and prestige of the Monaco grand prix is no less as it hosts the 6^th round of the 2016 season.

Several street tracks have come and gone in Formula 1 and some, like Singapore, has come to be well liked by drivers and fans. But there’s nothing quite as unique as the race on the sun-kissed streets of Monte Carlo.

In truth racing cars having been threading themselves through the tight Monaco streets since 1929. In 1950 the Monaco grand prix became part of the newly formed F1 world championship. Argentine driver Juan Manuel Fangio won his first championship race in an Alfa Romeo and would later become a five-time world champion.

It comes as no surprise that the most prolific winners around the famous streets are also the drivers who brilliantly conquered and defined their eras in the sport. Ayrton Senna leads the pack with seven wins while Michael Schumacher and Graham Hill have each taken five Monaco Gp victories.

Across its 78 laps the 3.337 kilometer Anthony Noghes circuit presents the most extreme challenge of concentration and skill seen at any time during a Formula 1 season. The blind rise up the hill after Ste Devote, Casino Square, Portier and the tunnel. The ultra quick left-right chicane just after Tabac at the entry to the swimming pool – all of it lined by barriers which leaves zero margin for error,” says Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo. “I believe street circuits like Monaco bring out the best in a driver. It’s visible to the spectators who is running the fine line between risk and reward.”

Pirelli’s purple side-walled ultrasoft tyre compound will make its debut this weekend. Mercedes and Red Bull have chosen an aggressive strategy by selecting ten sets of the ultrasoft compound for the weekend. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel have chosen nine sets each of the purple side-walled tyre.

But even the most shrewd tyre strategy could mean nothing as the tight, barrier-lined streets means that overtaking is at an absolute premium. Thus it makes qualifying more critical than at any other race. A mistake or problem in Saturday qualifying carries severe penalty and an unlikely chance of recovery on Sunday.

It is here, in qualifying, that Mercedes still holds a sizeable advantage. However, following the two days of testing at Catalunya, after the Spanish Gp, Sebastian Vettel is convinced that he fight for victory in Monaco where Ferrari last claimed victory in 2001. “I think Monaco should be a strong track for us, last year we were very competitive there,” he said. “Now we have improved the car in the areas you need for that Grand Prix so I think it should help.

But there is more than one team ready to challenge the Ferrari’s. McLaren’s racing director Eric Boullier believes his team has a chance at out-pacing Ferrari around the twisty circuit. While the Honda power unit still lacks power the characteristics of Monaco means it will not be as big a deficit.

A more realistic threat is likely to come from Red Bull. The team ran an ungraded Renault power unit at the two-day Spanish test and the result was positive enough to fast track the introduction of it. Originally scheduled for the Canadian grand prix the power unit will be introduced in Monaco. However, Renault is able to provide only one engine for Red Bull and one for Renault.

Will Ferrari, Red Bull or even McLaren be able to end Mercedes’ domination?

May 25, 2016
Pirelli Reveal Drivers Tyre Choices for Monaco Grand Prix

Pirelli has revealed the tyres choices for the drivers ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.

The low speed and low degradation of the circuit means that teams can go as aggressive as they would like. Mercedes and Red Bull have gone for 10-sets of the purple side walled ultra soft tyres. Renault’s Kevin Magnussen is the only other driver that has chosen 10 sets of the ultra soft compound.

Ferrari have one set less of the ultra soft compared to Mercedes and have went with two sets of the soft and two sets of the super softs. With the 2016 Ferrari kinder on its tyres, theoretically they should be able to go longer into the race before a pit stop. With over taking chances limited track position is important. Not that overtaking is impossible. Over the recent years we’ve seen some gusty moves out or the Tunnel and also in La Rascasse. The Hairpin is also a good spot to overtake. Adrian Sutil, in 2013 caught Fernando Alonso out diving down the inside.

The Monaco Grand Prix is expected to be a one-stop race. Start on the ultra soft, and change to the soft till the end of the race.

May 18, 2016
F1 2016: Spanish Gp Tyre Strategy

For the 2016 Spanish grand prix Pirelli nominated the hard (orange), medium (white), and soft (yellow) compound tyres.

The circuit de Catalunya in Spain has always dictated that track position is king. It was no different in 2016 as the two stop strategy of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen beat the the three-stopping Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.

On the face of it, a three-stop strategy appears the quicker option as it allows a driver to keep his pace high without having to be too worried about tyre life. But the off-set of this wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit of having to make an extra stop.

Verstappen and Raikkonen mirrored each other’s strategies and made their final stop, for medium tyres, on lap 34 and 35 respectively. Though there was some concern over the tyre’s ability to last for the duration of the stint both Verstappen and Raikkonen were easily able to reach the chequered flag. Though Raikkonen spent most of the closing laps just half a second behind Verstappen he was unable to overtake the Red Bull.

It was here in 2012 that then Williams driver Pastor Maldonado held of Fernando Alonso to secure his only F1 win. Though Alonso was in the faster car in 2012 as Raikkonen was in 2016 neither were able to overtake.

Sebastian Vettel’s short middle stint on the soft tyre, and subsequent early stop, allowed him to jump Daniel Ricciardo for third. Although Ricciardo pitted later and challenged Vettel for third on fresher tyres he was unable to make it stick. Riccardo was forced into a fourth stop as his left-rear tyre let go with one lap remaining. But such was the pace of the front four that the Australian was able to limp back to the pits, make a stop, and still rejoin ahead of fifth-placed Valtteri Bottas.

Renault’s Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen were the only two drivers to run the orange-walled hard tyre in the hopes of gaining position while others around them made more stops. Palmer ultimately finished thirteenth while Magnussen followed in fourteenth.

Here is a look at all the driver’s tyre strategies:

May 16, 2016
F1 2014: Spanish GP Review – To The Max!

It’s old and outdated but never has it been more true – to finish first, first you must finish.

The two front-row starting Mercedes’ of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg know this saying well but putting it into practice became entirely too difficult. The teammates dramatic collision in turn four put them both out of the race on lap one.

Rosberg snatched the lead from pole starting Hamilton but had started the race in the wrong engine mode. While he fiddled with his steering wheel Hamilton saw his opportunity to regain the lead of the race and attempted to pass the German going into turn four. Rosberg, down roughly 17kph in his setting, saw the move and moved over crowding Hamilton. The reigning champion took the grass, lost control of his car and slammed into Rosberg.

The incident was investigated after the race but no penalties were forthcoming.

From the camera shots you could say that Rosberg’s move was a tad over-aggressive. But because Hamilton only had his front-wing alongside the rear-wheel of Rosberg’s car the number 6 Merc was within his right to make the defensive move. But come what may this is one of those incidents that will divide opinion and having each driver’s fans blaming the other as the guilty party.

Although this incident was dramatic it blew the race wide open. Between Red Bull and Ferrari it delivered a Spanish Gp that will be remembered for decades. Daniel Ricciardo now led the way from newly promoted teammate Max Verstappen and the fast-starting Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz.

The Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen made relatively quick work of Sainz and were now turning a quicker pace that the two Red Bulls ahead. Ricciardo pitted first on lap 11, Verstappen and Raikkonen a lap later and Vettel on lap 15.

Though Ricciardo and Vettel still led on the road after the first round of pitstops they strangely opted for a three-stop strategy. The Red Bull and Ferrari stopped again on 28 and 29 respectively relegating Ricciardo and Vettel to third and fourth. After their third visit to the pitlane Vettel was able to jump Ricciardo’s Red Bull setting up a great duel between the two for the final step of the podium. The Aussie tried a couple of bold moves to snatch third from Vettel but his left-rear tyre gave up with one lap to go. Such was the frontrunners pace advantage that Ricciardo was able to pit and still finish fourth.

Up ahead Verstappen and Raikkonen successfully ran a two-stop strategy. By now Max Verstappen had already become the youngest driver to lead a race and was now facing severe pressure from Raikkonen for the win. For twenty laps Raikkonen hounded the back of the Red Bull, half a second away from victory. But the 18-year-old soaked up the pressure, never put a wheel wrong and delivered a superbly controlled drive.

Sebastian Vettel made it a double podium for Ferrari in third ahead of Ricciardo. Much further down the road Valtteri Bottas brought his Williams home in fifth ahead of am impressive performance from Carlos Sainz in sixth. Sergio Perez finished seventh in his Force India ahead of Felipe Massa’s Williams in eighth. Jenson Button scored two points for McLaren in ninth while teammate Fernando Alonso was forced into retirement. Dannil Kvyat scored the final point on offer in the Toro Rosso.

The 15^th of May 2016 could’ve been just another day that hosted just another Spanish grand prix. Instead it’s been etched into the history of Formula 1 to be forever remembered as the day that 18-year-old Max Verstappen came of age.

May 16, 2016
F1 2016: Spanish GP Qualifying Report – Hamilton On Top

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has secured pole position for Sunday’s Spanish grand prix.

The one hour qualifying session got underway under bright Spanish skies and in front of an excited crowd. The biggest casualty in the first part of qualifying was Williams driver Felipe Massa who will start 18th on the grid.

It was good news for McLaren as Fernando Alonso was able to advance to the top ten shoot-out for the first time since Honda has returned to the sport.

The first minutes of the top ten shoot-out belonged to newly promoted Red Bull driver Max Verstappen as he ended the first round of laps in second position overall. However, it was never his to maintain as the two Mercedes duked it out for pole position. Lewis Hamilton got the better of teammate Nico Rosberg with a quali lap of 1:22:000, 0.280s faster than the German.

Daniel Ricciardo, in the other Red Bull, left himself one shot at a final quail run and delivered. The Aussie will line up third with his teenaged teammate, Verstappen, in fourth.

Despite showing well in the morning’s third practice session Ferrari failed to deliver. Kimi Raikkonen managed the fifth quickest time ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel in 6th. Team principal Maurizio Arrivabene was quoted as saying, about the pace, “we have to check.”

Williams’ Valtteri Bottas (7th), Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz (8th), Force India’s Sergio Perez (9th), and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso (10th) round out the top ten.

May 14, 2016
Rosberg moves Mercedes ahead in second Spanish GP practice session

Formula One World Championship leader Nico Rosberg moved Mercedes ahead of the Ferraris during the second practice session for this weekend’s Spanish GP.

Rosberg’s lap time of 1:23.922 on Pirelli’s soft tyres saw him finish the session 0.254s faster than his Ferrari rival Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn, who had been informed by his crew that he had a fuel system problem and needed to head back to the pits halfway through the session, finished 5 tenths faster than the second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel brought the second Ferrari home fourth fastest.

Carlos Sainz Jr enjoyed a great session in front of his home crowd in fifth place with Daniel Ricciardo going sixth fastest. Spanish GP home favourite Fernando Alonso finish seventh in his McLaren with Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the Top 10.

Jenson Button suffered a loss of power during his session and was forced to limp his McLaren back to his garage where he stayed until the latter stages of FP2. He managed to go 12th fastest ahead of Romain Grosjean who complained that his Haas F1 car was very difficult to drive.

Kevin Magnussen was 14th and Kvyat 15th – ten places behind his new Toro Rosso team mate.

Joylen Palmer got very little running after suffering a high speed tyre failure along the pit straight. Pirelli are still investigating the cause of the failure.

Palmer did manage to return to the track 15 minutes before the end of the session and finished 17th fastest ahead of the two Manor drivers, Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto.

Sauber had a miserable session with both drivers substantially slower than their Manor rivals.

Esteban Gutierez finished between the two Saubers after also having his running limited by an electronics issue.

Classification for Spanish GP FP2:

May 14, 2016
F1 2016: Spanish GP Free Practice 1 Report – Vettel Quickest

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in the first free practice session ahead of the Spanish grand prix.

The first free practice session got off to a rather quiet start at the Spanish Circuit de Catalunya. The reason for the lack of urgency is likely because teams and drivers are well acquainted with the circuit that it often used a test venue.

As the drivers set about their business the Force India of Sergio Perez was pulled back into the pits with a smoking rear end. Esteban Ocon, subbing for Jolyon Palmer, was unable to set a flying lap in the Renault. The French driver only completed six laps before being confined to the pits with a reliability issue.

Midway through the session Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen set a time of 1:24:089 which is already quicker than the 2015 pole position time. All eyes were on the Red Bull garage as Max Vestappen headed into his first session with the senior team. Verstappen ended the session sixth fastest with a time of 1:25:585. Meanwhile Daniil Kyvat, back in the Toro Rosso, finished twelfth on the timing sheets with a 1:26:583.

Sebastian Vettel’s quickest time of 1:23:951 was set on the yellow walled soft tyre ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen on a 1:24:089. Neither Mercedes driver opted to use the soft tyre and persisted with the white-walled medium tyre throughout the session.

Final Free Practice 1 Standings:

May 13, 2016
F1 2016: Spanish GP Preview – All eyes on Spain

Traditionally the first European race of the F1 season sees a raft of updates made to the cars. It’s no different in 2016 as teams look to take a crucial step forward at Spain’s Circuit de Catalunya.

Red Bull Racing dropped the bombshell a few days after the Russian grand prix that Dannil Kvyat and Max Verstappen would swop seats. Ostensibly, the move appears to have been made following Kvyat’s attempt at playing bumper cars with Sebastian Vettel in Russia but there’s a fair bit more at play than that.

For one, Russian driver Kvyat hasn’t been that impressive in the Red Bull alongside Daniel Ricciardo. Then, there’s that incident with the Ferrari in Russia. However, neither of these two things are enough to warrant a demotion to the junior team. Drivers go through indifferent patches and make mistakes but they aren’t dropped at the first sign of strife, usually. Romain Grosjean’s troublesome season at Lotus and Pastor Maldonado’s F1 career is testament to the fact that teams usually stick it out. But not in Kvyat’s case.

The incident in Russia is nothing more than an excuse to promote Verstappen from Toro Rosso into the senior team. While the teenaged Dutch driver may be singing Red Bull’s praises and swearing that he’s never looked elsewhere for a drive we know better. Despite being in only his second F1 season it’s obvious that Verstappen has enormous potential. This makes him a hot commodity for other teams and there’s no better way to keep him close than to move him to the senior team. Well played Red Bull.

What a difference twelve months can make. In 2015 Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg arrived at the Spanish grand prix under pressure to perform. This time around he arrives at the fifth round of the season with four race wins under the belt and a dominant lead over teammate Lewis Hamilton in the standings. Now the questions shifts from can Nico do it to can he keep doing it? The German is convinced that Hamilton will hit back soon and he’s likely right. However, it’s also a great mental space Rosberg to operate in – take it one race and one lap at a time and don’t take it for granted.

Besides a bit of brooding on the Russian Gp podium Hamilton has appeared decidedly chilled, even apathetic, to his dreadful run so far in 2016. But don’t be fooled by his supposedly indifferent approach. The reigning champ more than has the skill to hit back hard and just needs to find the sweet-spot for it to be unleashed.

From the Ferrari garage the hope is that the performance deficit in the last race was specific to the circuit. It could’ve been given that the Russian circuit is power dominant. But though they may be closer in Spain it will extremely tough to beat the Silver Arrows around Catalunya.

McLaren, already vastly improved in 2016, is planning to introduce a significant upgrade to their car this weekend. They hope that a new floor, wings, and various bits of other bodywork will be enough to propel them into the top ten in qualifying and a solid points score with both cars.

The Haas F1 Team will run the upgraded Ferrari engine, introduced in Russia, in Spain. The Renault team will run an updated version of their front and rear wings in the hopes of upping their game in a tight mid-field battle.

Seven drivers on the current grid have won the Spanish grand prix and thanks to its status as a test venue everyone knows their way around these parts. But as familiar as they are with the Circuit de Catalunya it doesn’t do anything to lessen the challenge.

May 11, 2016
F1 2016: Russian Gp Tyre Strategy

The 2016 Russian grand prix didn’t play to varying tyre strategies as much as the first three races of the 2016 season.

The Sochi Autodrom brings with it a unique set of conditions for the Pirelli tyres. As the circuit is mainly un-used for the remainder of the year it’s track surface is particularly kind to Pirelli rubber. The Italian tyre manufacturer arrived in Russia with the white-walled medium, yellow-walled soft, and red-walled supersoft tyres.

Owing to the lack of degradation most drivers were able to complete the 53 laps with a one-stop strategy. At the head of affairs Ferrari extended Kimi Raikkonen’s first stint over on the supersoft tyres over Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. The aim was to prize open a slight advantage over the two with whom Raikkonen had been keeping close company. Though the Ferrari driver was able to jump Bottas with this call Hamilton stayed ahead of Raikkonen thanks to a burst of three quick laps on new soft tyres.

Red Bull Racing’s afternoon was compromised when Dannil Kyvat twice crashed into the back of the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. It resulted in damage and a forced pitstop for both Kyvat and Daniel Ricciardo. The Red Bull pitwall opted to fit the white-walled medium tyre and go to the chequered flag without another visit to the pitlane. While the medium compound survived for 52 laps on Kyvat’s Red Bull the pace deficit to the soft, and supersoft, tyre meant he could make little to no headway.

Haas F1’s Esteban Gutierrez also opted for to run the medium compound for 99% of the race without success and eventually finished eighteenth. Teammate Romain Grosjean opted for the favoured supersoft > soft strategy and ultimately finished eighth.

In hindsight, given the lack of degradation the spectacle would have been better served had Pirelli opted to bring the purple-walled ultrasoft compound to the Russian grand prix.

May 2, 2016
F1 2016: Russian GP Review – Rosberg Wraps Up Win Number Four

If you were a neutral there wasn’t much to enthuse about in the Russian grand prix. But these days’ neutrals are few and far between. And even a true neutral would have to be impressed with the spellbinding way in which Nico Rosberg has won the Russian grand prix.

While Nico Rosberg led serenely away from pole position and Kimi Raikkonen snatched second from Valtteri Bottas the carnage behind started to unfold. Sebastian Vettel, recovering from a five-place grid penalty, was attempting to pass Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull for fifth when Daniil Kvyat rammed into the back of him. As if to compound matters Kvyat rammed into the back of Vettel a second time in turn three. The Ferrari speared off into a wall prompting a colourful tirade over the German’s radio.

Kvyat’s catastrophic exuberance resulted in damage for both Red Bulls and the Force India of Sergio Perez and prompted the deployment of the safety car. Through the shower of carbon fibre and expletives Lewis Hamilton emerged in fifth. The Brit was forced to start tenth after another power unit issue in Saturday qualifying.

At the restart Bottas was able to get the better of Raikkonen and snatched second as Hamilton made his way past the second Williams for fourth. He took advantage of Raikkonen’s poor exit off turn three and quickly made it third place on the track. Bottas held off Hamilton until the first round of stops but was unable to resist as Hamilton took second place with a move up the inside of turn two.

By now Rosberg, untroubled in the lead, had built a near fourteen-second gap. Once in clear air Hamilton reduced the gap to 7.5 seconds before being warned of a water pressure issue. In the end Rosberg’s domination ended in a fourth consecutive victory by 25 seconds over Hamilton. Roughly six seconds down the road Raikkonen completed the top three and rather sedately scored Ferrari’s 700^th podium.

Bottas finished a distant fourth ahead of Williams teammate Felipe Massa in sixth. Fernando Alonso scored his first points of the season with a fine sixth place ahead of Renault’s Kevin Magnussen in seventh. Romain Grosjean salvaged an eighth place finish for Haas ahead of Sergio Perez in ninth. Jenson Button made it a double points score for McLaren by taking the final point in tenth.

It’s difficult to say that the Russian grand prix revealed everyone’s true form. Yes, Mercedes are still clearly the leaders of the pack but in modern Formula 1 several factors conspire to control the pace of a driver. For Kimi Raikkonen it was the necessity to save fuel that stopped him from pushing the Ferrari to its full potential. For Hamilton yet another power unit issue halted his assault on victory. “There wasn’t a doubt in my mind” Hamilton responded when asked if he could’ve won the race.

As it were Hamilton, in the unfamiliar bridesmaid role, sulkily made his way through the podium ceremony without bothering to spray the champagne. While Hamilton’s mood was understandable given his issues so far in 2016 it was unbecoming of F1’s “best ambassador” as he has dubbed himself.

The 1^st of May commemorated the death of the great Ayrton Senna 22 years ago. A driver who when truly tested delivered the very best of himself and his abilities. A driver who typified what a champion ought to be.

The character of a true champion isn’t revealed as he basks in the glory of win after win. True champion character is revealed in how a driver responds in the difficult moments. For two years Nico Rosberg deferred to Hamilton but now he has responded with the sort of tenacity that, if maintained, could carry him all the way to championship glory.

(All images courtesy of Pirelli)

May 2, 2016