Tag: red bull

2018 Pre-Season Testing – Day 1

Daniel Ricciardo ended on top of the time sheets for Red Bull on the first day of the pre-season test for the 2018 Formula 1 season.

Ricciardo’s time of 1:20.179 was 0.170s faster than Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas who’s best time of the day was a 1:20.349. Ricciardo also clocked up the most laps of the day with 105 laps in the bag on the day.

Most of the fastest times were set in the morning session. The afternoon session got off to a wet start which curtailed the running for most of the teams which lead to a relatively quiet afternoon.

Kimi Raikkonen finished third fastest for Ferrari ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg by a small margin.

Fernando Alonso recovered to 5th fastest for McLaren after crashing out within 10mins of starting his testing session. The cause of Alonso’s crash was a wheel nut that had come off sending him spinning off into the gravel detaching his right rear.

Carlos Sainz finished 6th fastest after taking over from Hulkenberg. He was the fastest of the afternoon runners just ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes in 7th.

Nikita Mazepin spun out in the morning session and was not seen in the afternoon session.

February 26, 2018
Red Bull Launches the RB14

Red Bull became the third constructor to launch their 2018 contender online after Haas and Williams.

Red Bull kicked off the week of car launches with their Aston Martin-Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB14 in a special edition blue and black testing livery.

Red Bull say that their racing livery will be revealed when testing commences at the Circuit de Catalunya next week.

The new car, although what looks like an evolution of last years car has a bunch of new things on it. Chief among which is the Halo which has become mandatory from this season. Red Bull chose a dark colour for the Halo minimising it’s visual impact. The other major change were the exclusion zones at the rear of the car effectively removing monkey seats, T-Wings and the love to be hated shark fins. Teams have found a way around the shark fins by incorporating it into the engine cover, the result of this is that the visual impact is much less than the shark fins seen in the previous season.

Traditionally Red Bull like to launch their car as late as possible, allowing their design team to optimise their car design. They’ve done things a little different this year. They’ve launched early with a filming day on the launch. This allowed the team to catch any issues with the running of the car before testing and allows the team to focus on testing rather than trying to fix running issues with the car.

Pictures courtesy Red Bull Racing

February 20, 2018
Formula 1 2018 Testing and Car Launch Schedule

As the weeks tick by we get closer to the car launches and pre-season testing.

Here’s the schedule of when the teams are launching their cars and when pre-season testing will take place.

2018 Car Launches

2018 Pre-Season Testing Schedule

February 5, 2018
F1 2018: What F1 will look like in 2018

2018 is here and it brings with it the prospect of a new Formula 1 season. Though there is no great change in regulations the modifications for the 2018 season could still have a significant impact.

Aesthetically there is good news and bad news for the 2018 cars. The good news is that the T-wings and shark-fins will no longer feature thanks to a tweak of the aero rules. Like it or loathe it the halo head protection system is coming in 2018. There’s little doubt that the halo will make a significant visual impact to F1 but it’s not the only impact it will have. The two other factors that will have been giving several designers prolonged headaches is the effect it will have on aero performance and the weight addition. While the FIA has added 6kgs to the overall weight limit of the cars rumours are that the halo comes in at around 15kgs. This will likely force teams into trimming weight in other areas of the car.

One of the more preposterous rules for 2018 is the limiting to three power units for the entire 21-race season. It means that each engine will now have to last seven races. This, in the name of cost saving, means manufactures will need to balance reliability and performance on a knife-edge. With only three engines its likely inevitable that all teams will incur grid penalties at some point, including the frontrunners. The irony of it all is that money wont be saved on power units. Spare engines, gearboxes, turbos, etc. are manufactured and carted around the world anyway which means that no money is being saved. Instead the manner in which teams and drivers, and fans for that matter, pay is with absurd grid penalties.

Toro Rosso in particular will be hoping that Honda has solved its woeful reliability record as it starts its partnership with the Japanese manufacturer in 2018. While Honda’s performance saw a slight upturn with McLaren in the latter half of the 2017 season they still have a long way to go to catch up to Renault let alone Mercedes and Ferrari. The Honda partnership does make Toro Rosso a de facto works team, which means a plethora of perks, including a more than tidy injection of cash.

Elsewhere, McLaren and Fernando Alonso will be hoping that Renault has solved its own reliability issues that marred the end of the 2017 season. There is great expectation that bolting the Renault into the back of the McLaren will push it up the grid. How far they’ll progress remains to be seen. Sauber too are looking to recover from one of the worst season on record. They’ll be doing so with the signing of F2, formerly GP2, champion and Ferrari Academy driver Charles le Clerc. Despite jumping into the high-pressure cauldron of F1 there is high expectations for le Clerc who is considered one of the best young drivers.

Another boost to Sauber’s 2018 bid is a new technical and commercial partnership with Alfa Romeo. While the car will be decked out in Alfa red the link up also means access to Ferrari’s latest power units.

The Williams team has announced Sergey Sirotkin alongside Lance Stroll in their 2018 car. While Robert Kubica returns to F1 as the reserve and development driver for the team. It’s a big year for Williams as Paddy Lowe can begin to make the sort of impact the team needs to move forward. The question remains whether the team’s inexperienced driver line-up will be equal to the task. If not, someone like Romain Grosjean could well be lined up for 2019.

With all of this there are still many more scenarios, issues, permutations, and speculations for the new season. Will Mercedes be able to hold off Ferrari and perhaps even Red Bull? What of the intra-team battle between Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo? How far can McLaren go with Renault power? What impact will Pirelli’s remodeled tyres have on track?

January 22, 2018
OPINION: Going To Malaysia

Late last year I had the privilege of attending the Malaysian grand prix.

By the end of the 2017 season I will have been consumed by and have watched sixteen years worth of Formula 1, and that without missing a single race. This majestic sport called Formula 1 has completely fascinated and captivated me unlike anything else ever has. It has been the most incredibly joyous and exhilarating journey of my life and I am happy in the knowledge and belief that my love and passion for Formula 1 shows no signs of dwindling.

It has, so far, been an epic journey, that has included the creation of countless wonderful memories. From seeing the very first edition of Talking F1 in print, to meeting so many fans of the sport, to starting a broadcasting career, to being humbled and tremendously honoured with recognition for doing what I love.

In all of this time, and before my journalistic career commenced, I had always dreamt about getting see my beloved Formula 1 live. Ironically, there are always two questions that I get asked, without fail. The first is always Why Formula 1? I usually smile and say: Why not? It’s the greatest sport in the world. It has everything you could ever want and I couldn’t imagine my life without it. That, and I genuinely just love sharing things that excite me in the hope that it will do the same for others. The second question I get asked, unfailingly, is how many races I’ve been to. My answer has always been that I haven’t been to any races but that it’s my great dream to do so. The good news is that a few months ago I had the opportunity and privilege to attend the Malaysia grand prix.

Before setting off for Malaysia friends and family had asked of my excitement level and what I thought my reaction would be to finally seeing F1 in the flesh. The truth is I didn’t think much about it. I was eerily calm about the prospect of this finally becoming a reality. But I knew it would be the moment of a lifetime and I knew it was going to blow my mind and induce one of those out-of-body experiences I’d heard so much about. As a topped the stairs at the K1 grandstand and came face-to-face with Turn One I finally, truly, understood what the word surreal really means. There were tears and shaking too, how could there not be? I have, quite literally, lived every second of Formula 1 in the last sixteen years.

What I learned about F1 sitting in that grandstand was that joy and love for the sport was genuinely rampant amongst everyone there. Naturally, I was over the moon in meeting fans from all corners of the globe and to have every conversation be F1-centric. I discussed everything from Ferrari’s future driver line-up with two local Malay gentlemen at Friday lunch, to surmising that Hamilton would probably snatch pole with a lovely couple from Nottingham, to how great the Australian Gp is to attend with huge Danny Ric fans who’d braved a 13 hour flight from Oz to cheer on their favourite driver.

Funnily, I was somehow still working as I was keeping the crowd in my immediate vicinity updated with what was going on with times, and other various issues. I had a good chuckle at the fact that even 13 000 km from home, where no one knew me, I was still working as an F1 correspondent; with great pleasure I might add.

In the flesh the 2017 F1 cars are even more striking and certainly louder than they sound on television. I also experienced that while they’re not winning titles Ferrari is easily the most widely supported team. Amongst the drivers it was Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen who evoked the biggest cheers from the crowd every time they ventured out onto track.

The biggest and most important thing I learned, or had re-established, is that F1 isn’t just a sport that people like to watch or attend every other weekend. Instead, it’s a passion, a religion of sorts that evokes great emotion and completely captures the attention of millions. This is the element that the circuit owner, the FIA, Liberty Media, teams, and fans should never lose sight of. At the end of the day Formula 1 for me, and so many others, is an experience that isn’t only seared into my brain but engraved in my heart.

January 4, 2018
The Year that was F1 2017

From Australia to Abu Dhabi the 2017 F1 season has inscribed moments, memories, celebrations, and lessons that will be well remembered.

Ferrari revival

As the cars rolled out onto the track for testing in early 2017 it was immediately evident that Ferrari had put together something special with its SF70H. It was beautiful, consistent and most importantly, fast right out of the box. Ultimately, Ferrari’s season ended on bittersweet note after often having the quickest car but failing to attain championship glory through mistakes and unreliability.

Specifically, it was the unreliability in Malaysia and Japan coupled with the error in judgment from Vettel in Singapore is what ultimately derailed their chances of taking the title. These incidents also overshadowed a season in which Ferrari had spectacularly resuscitated the prancing horse and made it a genuine championship contender.

It wasn’t solely the work of the engine department, or the designers, or the aerodynamicists, which made the 2017 Ferrari a great car. Rather, it was the combination of all facets of the team, which had undergone major reshuffling, which had made 2017 possible.

There is clearly some work still to be done but Ferrari finally has a plan in place that works. One that if refined could very well deliver titles in 2018.

Mercedes juggernaut

If Ferrari is to be commended for their 2017 season then Mercedes deserves even more praise. They faced a stern test from the Italian team in the first half of the season but showed their sublime class on every level.

Similar to Ferrari there was little doubt that the W08 was a quick car. But it’s the running of the team and the factory that set these teams apart. The most minute of details were considered and covered by the team proving that German efficiency is no myth. Through their microscopic attention to detail Mercedes proved that it takes more to win in F1 than building a quick car and that having the procedures and processes in place is what ultimately ensures victory.

New 2017 cars

New regulations ushered in significant change to the appearance of F1 as wider tyres and cars became the norm. The new look of F1 was an instant win as cars looked far more aggressive and quick than their predecessors.

Naturally, there are some kinks to iron out such as making the T-wing and sharkfin disappear for 2018. While some, read Hamilton, complained about the inability to overtake in these cars the truth is that while the Merc wasn’t conducive to overtaking there were a plethora of overtaking moves that will live on the replay reel for some time to come.

Lap of the year

Given the fact that Lewis Hamilton took the overall record for number of pole position it seemed obvious to pick one of the Brit’s quali laps as the best of the year.

But Kimi Raikkonen’s pole position in Monaco stood out as the best as the sheer commitment of the lap left most, if not all, in awe as he brushed the barriers around the famed streets of Monte Carlo towards one of the most memorable pole positions of his career.

Race of the year

The grand prix in Azerbaijan is likely one of the craziest races of the last few years let alone 2017. Blotted by several crashes and clashes the race neutralized several times by the safety-car. In one of these safety-car periods Vettel took offence to Hamilton’s ‘behaviour’ pulled up alongside the Merc and turned into the side of him. It was as controversial a move that’s been seen for the last decade.

While Hamilton, and some others in the ‘media’, called for a ban Vettel was given a ten second-stop/go penalty. It seemed Hamilton was cut-and-dried at the front until a loose headrest forced him into the pits. Still the order was far from sorted as the race resumed after a red-flag period. An audacious move into turn one on both Williams’ cars by Daniel Ricciardo gave the Aussie the lead and a victory that’ll go down as the one of the most chaotic ever.

Rookie of the year

Though Esteban Ocon had a short stint with Manor in 2016 at the start of this year he was very much a rookie. Most would’ve assumed that he was in at the deep-end with an experienced and quick teammate such as the Mexican Sergio Perez.

The relationship between Ocon and Perez was far from friendly and directly symptomatic of the fact that he’d gotten under the Mexican’s skin with his pace.

He pushed his Mexican teammate so hard that he began to unravel, Canada and Spa being the optimal examples of said Perez’ unraveling. Ocon scored points in all of two races in 2017 and finished eighth in the driver’s standings.

Driver of the year

Four times a world champion Lewis Hamilton is easily the driver of the year. But it isn’t because he picked up a fourth crown but rather how he went about it. While grand prix weekends such as Monaco and Russia show that it wasn’t a perfect season for Hamilton his relentless ability to churn out performances is astounding.

By the time he binned in quali at Brazil the championship had already been won and it was the solitary mistake he’d made all year. In the thick of the championship fight there was a relentlessness to the level of Hamilton’s performances that he’d never shown before. Despite having three titles and a decade of racing under the belt he showed his hunger for success. He’d stepped up yet another level that proved peerless in 2017.

December 13, 2017
F1 2017: Abu Dhabi Gp Review – Bottas Steps Up

In the blink of an eye the 2017 has flown by and the Abu Dhabi grand prix has brought the curtain down on another Formula 1 season.

The 55 laps around the Yas Marina circuit may not have delivered the most exciting race that’s been seen this year. Still, there were several important things to take away from the season finale. Not least of all was the performance of race winner Valtteri Bottas.

It’s nearly twelve months ago now that Bottas was catapulted into the Mercedes team following Nico Rosberg’s surprise retirement from the sport. The Finn started the season well enough but faded, dramatically, from contention in the second half of the year. His issues centered on the tyres the team said but it was evident that mentally he wasn’t on the level of the championship contenders.

Candidly Bottas revealed that he’d finally found ‘something’ in himself that aided his mental preparation during the grand prix weekend. It came together beautifully for him in Abu Dhabi as he first beat Hamilton to pole and then absorbed everything his four-time champion teammate could throw at him. And he did so on merit too. He won’t only take an enormous amount of confidence from this win but also the knowledge that he can beat his teammate in a straight fight. All that remains now is for him to do over an entire season. No pressure Valtteri.

While the two Mercs cruised up front Sebastian Vettel was confined to third some twenty seconds off the pace. It was a rather lackluster performance from Ferrari who never posed any threat to Mercedes in Abu Dhabi. Nevertheless, Vettel finished a remote third and for what it’s worth takes second place in the driver’s championship standings.

Despite Ferrari’s many mistakes and issues in 2017 they seem intent to commit ridiculous strategy calls to the very end. In a move that probably seemed like a good idea at the time a decision was made to under fuel Kimi Raikkonen’s car. Ultimately, it meant the Finn was reduced to fuel saving for almost the entire race. Besides the obvious time and focus Ferrari will have to invest in solving their reliability issues it’s clear that many other aspects of the team need to be, at the very least, rebuilt.

It wasn’t a great day for Red Bull either as the Austrian team’s season ended with a bit of a fizzle. While Daniel Ricciardo was forced into retirement with a hydraulic failure Max Verstappen could only finished fifth. In sixth place Nico Hulkenberg ensured that Renault leapfrogs Toro Rosso to finish sixth in the constructor’s standings. It’s an especially important result considering that Renault will in the region of R170 million for sixth in the standings.

Elsewhere, the two Force India’s of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon finished seventh and eighth ahead of Fernando Alonso’s McLaren in ninth. In the final race of his F1 career Felipe Massa somehow brought his sluggish Williams home in tenth place. While no points are awarded for eleventh place finisher Romain Grosjean the Haas driver delivered a brilliant drive, which a stunning overtake on Lance Stroll. Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein was equally impressive in fourteenth.

Although the season may have officially drawn to a close attention immediately turned to 2018 with the unveiling of a new F1 logo. The white and red logo, in use for the last 23 years, has been replaced with a more modern and dynamic design that adds some much needed freshness. Roll on 2018.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

November 27, 2017
F1 2017: Abu Dhabi Gp Free Practice 1 Report – Vettel Leads

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the quickest time in the first free practice session ahead of Sunday’s season ending Abu Dhabi grand prix.

The Ferrari driver’s quickest time was only a tenth quicker than that of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third, a further 0.026 off Hamilton’s time. Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top five.

While teams and drivers completed a formulated run program for the first session of the day the first practice around Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit is one of the least representative sessions of the entire season. As the qualifying session and race will be run during twilight and into the evening the temperatures experienced in these sessions will be far removed from what is presented in Friday’s FP1 session.

Nevertheless, several teams including McLaren and Ferrari made the most of the session by completing several aerodynamic test. It’s likely that they’ve run the various parts with an eye on 2018. It was also revealed that following Sunday’s race Liberty Media will reveal the new F1 logo.

November 24, 2017
F1 2017: Abu Dhabi Gp Preview – Much to gain at Season Finale

The final round of the 2017 F1 season is upon us as the paddock heads east to the twilight race of Abu Dhabi.

Introduced to the calendar several years ago the Yas Marina Circuit has delivered resplendent views of F1 cars at dusk for since 2009. With no expense spared the circuit and surrounding facilities are, arguably, the grandest of the lot. Complete with an its Ferrari World theme park and several thousand coloured LED lights all the facets of the Abu Dhabi combine to deliver a visual spectacle of note.

Despite not being known for delivering the most memorable on track racing the Abu Dhabi based circuit has nevertheless seen the creation of several memorable moments for the sport. It was here after all, in 2010, that Sebastian Vettel won his first world championship title and here too where Kimi Raikkonen, en route to victory, uttered the now famous “leave me alone, I know what I’m doing” radio message.

In 2016 Lewis Hamilton turned over every trick in his book to win the title and even attempted to back rival Nico Rosberg into the clutches of other cars with the hope that he would be overtaken and thus not win the title. Alas, none of Hamilton’s moves had done the trick and Rosberg took a well-deserved win. It’s a far different story twelve months later. Not only does Hamilton arrive in Abu Dhabi as a four-time champion but also there’s no Nico Rosberg on the other side of the Mercedes garage. Instead, it’s Valtteri Bottas who sits in the other Mercedes cockpit and who has a lot to prove. It’s been a lackluster second half of the season for Bottas who has summarily been blown away by Hamilton. While he scored a pole in Brazil he folded at the first sight of the front-wing of Vettel’s Ferrari. He needs a big performance this weekend in order to beginning righting his ship for 2018. If not, Hamilton may well blow him away, again.

Similarly, Daniel Ricciardo could do with putting one over teammate Verstappen who has stolen the limelight from the Aussie this season. The Yas Marina circuit, 5.5 kilometers in length, does have several long straits in its layout but the second, more technical sector, should play to the Red Bull’s strengths. “ The final sector at Yas Marina is actually quite technical so you have to be really precise there, but it should also be our strongest part of the track” said Verstappen. “There are quite a few overtaking opportunities to make the race interesting, before the long straight at the hairpin and then at the end of the straight under braking for the next chicane section”.

While the constructor’s championship has been settled at the top of the standings the battle for sixth is going down to the wire. Only six points separate Toro Rosso, Renault, and Haas and with the promise of a big pay day for finishing sixth the battle between these three teams could be the highlight of the weekend.

Through nineteen rounds and 1147 racing laps there’s still much to play for and gain the final race of the 2017 season.

November 22, 2017
F1 2017 Brazilian Gp Review – Vettel Win Lifts Ferrari

As the Brazilian crowd bid an emotional farewell to local hero Felipe Massa, it was Sebastian Vettel who delivered a controlled drive to victory for the first time since July.

Pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas was pipped off the line by Vettel’s Ferrari and never truly threatened for the lead of the race. Besides snatching pole by less than half a tenth it’s been a difficult few months for Bottas with several off-colour performances littered throughout the second half of his season. Nevertheless, his pace wasn’t far off Vettel’s at all and it was perhaps only the lack of courage into turn one that cost him victory in Brazil.

The end of seventy-one laps saw the top three covered by roughly five seconds with Kimi Raikkonen taking the final step of the podium. The Ferrari driver, on 40 lap old tyres, valiantly held off a charging Lewis Hamilton who had scythed his way through the field to go from the pitlane to fourth by the end of the race. Hamilton’s uncharacteristic crash in quali may have reduced him to a pitlane start but the silver lining was a Mercedes power unit at full tilt and a newly crowned world champion willing and able to pull off several excellent overtakes. Despite a lap time advantage of more than 1.5 seconds and fresher tyres, he was ultimately not able to take third place off Raikkonen.

The last few weeks have been trying for manufacturer Renault and the teams they supply in the pitlane. So much so that a spat broke out between Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul and Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost. While Alain Prost stepped in to pour some cold water on the otherwise spicy discontent from both sides it is obvious that Renault is struggling towards the end of the season. So much in fact that they’ve ordered all teams running the French manufacturer’s power unit to turn down the performance output because of reliability fears.

It explains then what happened to Red Bull’s early weekend pace, as it was nowhere to be found on Sunday. With the deficit, the best Max Verstappen could finish was fifth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in sixth who started from the back of the grid due to, you guessed it, engine penalties. Power units continue to be the biggest talking point in F1 with the first meeting on what 2021 regulations could look like having already taken place. More seriously, however, is the fact that in 2018 teams will have a maximum of three engines to complete the season with and going beyond this allocation, which they undoubtedly will, means triggering grid penalties. It’s a ridiculous requirement given that no team will be able to stick to it and it should be redressed as soon as possible.

On the track, Felipe Massa delivered a typically plucky performance to hold on to a solid seventh place finish ahead of Fernando Alonso in eighth. Sergio Perez, merely a tenth behind Alonso, had to settle for ninth while Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten.

To say it’s been a difficult few months for Ferrari would likely be one of the biggest understatements of the year. After all, as they headed into the summer breaks after the Hungarian grand prix they had every expectation of winning the championship. But it all went horribly sideways as that Hungarian Gp turned out to be Vettel’s last win. His win Brazil, a controlled drive from the front for all of the 71 laps, will be shot in the arm not only for him but for everyone in Maranello, after all, 2018 isn’t that far off.

(All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

November 13, 2017