Tag: red bull

Ricciardo Takes the Honour on Second Day of Barcelona Test

Daniel Ricciardo finished on top of the time sheets for Red Bull on the second day of the second pre-season test in Barcelona.

Ricciardo set his time of 1:24.574 just before the lunch break on the soft compound tyres. This time stood for the rest of the day. Second for the day was Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen who was just 0.010s off Ricciardo’s pace. Third for the day was Williams’ Felipe Massa who was just 0.098s off the pace. It was very close at the top today with the top three just separated by 0.1s.

Sergio Perez ended his day in 4th with a time of 1:24.702 for Force India. Lewis Hamilton who was not scheduled to drive today got behind the wheel of the W06 in the afternoon session and managed 5th fastest for the day and also managed to complete and impressive 89 laps despite not feeling well. Nico Rosberg drove the morning session and was 6th fastest for the day. He handed over to Hamilton so as to not further aggravate his inflamed nerve on his neck.

Despite the ERS issue on the McLaren, Fernando Alonso managed to complete 59 laps today with his fastest being a 1:25.961. Although well off the pace of the front running cars it is encouraging news for the Woking outfit and for Honda.

Jolyon Palmer had his debut for Lotus today. He finished 8 fastest. Marcus Ericsson finished 9th for Sauber and Carlos Sainz Jr finishing the slowest on the day. Sainz Jr clocked up 100 laps today despite a big off at the very fast T9 right hander.

It was a very strong showing from Red Bull, Williams and Ferrari. Although they may not show it, Mercedes are becoming increasingly weary about the pace of those three teams and will be watching them closely. There is no doubt that the other teams have stepped up their game but something tells me we have not yet seen the absolute pace of the Mercedes cars just yet.

Below are the unofficial times from day 2 of the second pre-season test:

Photo Credit: Infinity Red Bull Racing Formula 1 Team

February 20, 2015
Maldonado Puts Lotus on Top of the Time Sheets for Day one of Second Test

Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado finished the first day of the second winter test ahead of the pack after running with the soft compound tyre.

Maldonado’s time of 1:25.011 was 0.156s faster than Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari who held the top spot for most of the day. Although he set the fastest time, it was not a trouble free day for the Venezualan. He stopped twice on track in the morning sessions with sensor issues. Nevertheless a very good day for Lotus.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed a good run of 74 laps for the day. Holding the top spot for most of the day is very encouraging for Ferrari at the moment with his and Maldonado’s fastest times are faster than Lewis Hamilton’s pole setting time for the Spanish Grand Prix last year.

Ricciardo finished the day in 3rd for Red Bull with Force India’s Sergio Perez finishing the day in 4th. The Mexican was not scheduled to drive today but was called up when Lewis Hamilton took ill after completing a few laps in the morning. Which meant that the Mercedes reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein who was driving for Force India today, had to swap the Force India overalls for the Mercedes ones to take Hamilton’s place. Wehrlein managed 8th for Force India and 9th for Mercedes.

Felipe Nasr showed strong pace in the morning session for Sauber completing 79 laps. He ended the day in 5th. Max Verstappen ended the day in 6th with 94 laps on the board, the highest lap count for the day.

Jenson Button’s day came to an early end after and MGU-K failure. The word from McLaren is that they will need to redesign the MGU-K component and that the engine would need to be replaced until the MGU-K was redesigned. There was no guarantee from Honda that the problem may not occur again. Fernando Alonso, who was scheduled to drive on Saturday and Sunday will be in the car tomorrow to prevent Button from having his day affected by the problem.

Susie Wolff ended her day in 10th ahead for Williams ahead of Lewis Hamilton in 11th. Wolff collided with Sauber’s Felipe Nasr on track in the afternoon session. The contact between the two resulted in Nasr ending up in the T5 barriers with Wolff coming to a stop in the gravel. At the time Wolff was on an out-lap while Nasr was supposedly on a timed lap. Both drivers blame each other for the incident.

After Hamilton took ill, news emerged that Nico Rosberg had an inflamed nerve in his neck and will have to rest until the swelling subsides. It looks as though Wehrlein will be driving the Mercedes for a bit longer.

Below are the unofficial times for Day 1 of the second pre-season test

February 19, 2015
Renault expect “significant performance step” before Australia

According to Renault’s chief technical officer Rob White, the engine manufacturer is on course to make considerable performance improvements with their 2015 Formula One power unit before the season-opening race in Melbourne, Australia.

Renault have made sweeping comprehensive changes to their F1 power unit over the winter break in an effort to reduce the performance deficit to Mercedes which they experienced during the 2014 F1 season.

Despite reliability issues hampering running in this year’s first pre-season test at Jerez for both the Red Bull and Toro Rosso F1 teams, Renault are certain that we’ll see big leaps forward before before March 15 when F1 returns to Melbourne.

White spoke to F1’s official website saying that, “First and foremost we need to run reliably, be quick and closer to front.

“Our honest expectation is that we will make a decent improvement but it is difficult to quantify the gain relative to our competitors who will also progress.

“What we can say is that we are on course to make a significant performance step and resolve the principal reliability weaknesses by the time we get to the first race.”

According to White, Renault has also opted to use the majority of their engine development tokens prior to the 2015 Australian Grand Prix in order to deliver these big performance gains, but added that the decision making around when Renault will use the remaining tokens for future upgrades during the course of the season, will be “juggling act”.

“We have used the majority of the tokens for the first race and our use of tokens during the course of the season will be relatively modest,” he explained.

“It then becomes a matter of strategy about when you introduce the remaining tokens; whether to introduce at the start of the season when the technology is relatively immature but could give greater relative performance, or later in the season when the part has had more testing miles but the impact on performance will be potentially less.

“Clearly the juggling act we need to perform is which areas of the power unit are the most worthwhile to attack for performance reasons. We have therefore prioritised token spend to make as much headway as possible with performance.”

Photo Credit: Renault Sport F1

February 18, 2015
F1 2015: Barcelona Test Team and Driver Lineup

The second F1 test of the season will get underway in 2 days time in Catalunya, Spain at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The track is known to all the teams and drivers as it has been the winter testing ground for quite a few years. The 4.655km track has 16 corners which really put an F1 car through its paces. The track has a very good balance between fast and slow corners together with a long straight.

Much has been said about the pace of Mercedes after the first test in Jerez. Many think that they did not show their true pace. This may be true if speed trap data is to be believed where it showed that Mercedes powered cars still hold an advantage in terms of speed over Ferrari and Renault powered cars. One should not read too much into all of that as it is only the first of three pre-season tests. We should get a slightly clearer picture during the upcoming test.

Ferrari seem to have made some progress from 2014 after their cars finished on top of the time sheets on three of the four days of the Jerez test. Williams seemed to have a rather anonymous test as they quietly went along their business and managed to get some good mileage out of their cars. The same can be said for Toro Rosso with their two young drivers.

McLaren had a very shaky start. With a new engine manufacturer there was bound to be plenty of teething problems. They managed to get a handful of laps in the previous test but will be looking to get some decent mileage in Barcelona. Red Bull, with their camouflaged car also got of to a shaky start as they also suffered engine issues.

Lotus with Mercedes engines had a better Jerez test than 2014 with the only hold up for them was the lack of parts on the first day of the Jerez test which lead to them sitting out day 1. No doubt they will be better prepared for this week.

Force India, after skipping the Jerez test, will be out on track in Catalunya with their 2014 car as their 2015 is not yet complete. The 2014 car will have developmental parts on the car that will no doubt go on the 2015 car which should make its debut at the second Barcelona test.

We should see Mercedes pace revealed over the course of the test. If the timing wall from the previous test is to be believed, Ferrari should follow in a close second. But this is testing and no team will revealed their true pace until qualifying in Melbourne.

Below is the schedule for the Barcelona test:

February 17, 2015
Formula 1 Testing Diary – Jerez

The pomp and circumstance of multi-million rand glitzy launches that used to mark the unveiling of a new Formula 1 car is a thing of the past. Instead, some teams opt for an online release of a few images while others invite a few folk over to their factories for a bit of a show. The rest are happy to reveal their cars in the Jerez pitlane and get straight down to business.

It is ultimately the laptimes and reliability that is most important in the early days before the 2015 season. But let’s take a minute to appreciate that Formula 1 is once again stunningly easy on the eye. In fact, it’s hard to pick the best looking car of the lot. At Red Bull they’ve played around with a rad-looking white-and-black camouflage livery. The new look is only interim however team Principal Christian Horner has promised to debut even stronger colours in Australia. The Ferrari SF15T has long, elegant swooping lines that carry all the way through to an elongated nose and the McLaren’s lustrous silver bodywork has been accented by swathes of red as a nod to new engine supplier Honda.

Nevertheless, the most vital test is how, and if, these cars come alive on the track. The first four-day test session took place at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in southern Spain.

Day one: Sebastian Vettel sets the fastest time of the day for the Ferrari team with a time of 1:22:690 with a lap total of 59. Fernando Alonso completed the least amount of laps, six, in his McLaren Honda. The MP4-30’s, dubbed the McHonda, problems centred mostly on their new Honda engine. The Lotus team were absent from the pitlane following their announcement that the E23 wasn’t quite ready to run.

It was a remarkable day for Mercedes who clocked 157 with Nico Rosberg. Although Mercedes did have a shakedown at Silverstone to clock 157 laps in a day is an extremely good sign for the defending champions.

Day two: Once again Sebastian Vettel tops the timing sheets with a fastest time of 1:20:984 in his Ferrari. The Lotus team did a terrific job to show up for the second day of testing and managed a total of 41 laps with Pastor Maldonado and a quickest time of 1:25:802. McLaren managed only a couple of installations with Jenson Button before spending the entire morning in the garage with more electronic issues.

The final few hours of the second day of testing were blighted with rain however Lewis Hamilton was still able to complete 91 laps before a water leak brought an end to his afternoon. Sebastian Vettel racked up 89 laps and Sauber’s Felipe Nasr’s 88.

Day three: Brazilian rookie Felipe Nasr set the quickest time of the day ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. Nasr completes an impressive 108 laps in the blue-and-yellow Sauber but Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg racks up the most laps with 150.

On their second day of testing Lotus is able to complete 91 laps with Maldonado and provide a consistent base for feedback on the E23. McLaren have a better day with Fernando Alonso who is able to complete 32 laps. However, the McHonda would later stop on circuit with a water pressure problem. Rookie Carlos Sainz Jr has a notable day out with the difficult Toro Rosso by completing 136 laps.

Day four: The final day is topped by Kimi Raikkonen ensuring that a Ferrari-engine has topped all four days at Jerez. The 1:20:841 is the fastest of all four days but is kept in cautious perspective by Raikkonen who calls the SF15T “a good starting point.”

Felipe Nasr and Lewis Hamilton complete the top three while Romain Grosjean’s day was brought to an early end with a “power unit issue.” Jenson Button has no easier time of it in the McLaren as engine problems and a fuel pump issue curtail the team’s program.

February 12, 2015
F1 2015: Jerez Testing Day 4 – Round Up

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen ended day 4 of the Jerez test on top of the time sheets. Raikkonen set the fastest lap of 1:20.841 which was also the fastest time of the week.

Raikkonen was quite happy with what Ferrari have achieved so far and feels that the car is performing much better than it was last year. “”It’s the whole package that has progressed, but there is still a lot of work to do,” he said.

Finishing second on the day was Sauber’s Felipe Nasr. The Sauber driver managed to cross the line 112 times with his fastest time of the day of 1:22.019.

Lewis Hamilton finished the day with the 3rd fastest time of 1:22.172. But we all know that in testing its mileage that counts and Hamilton clocked up 117 laps for the day. His day wasnt without incident as he had a spin at the chicane which brought out the red flags for a short while.

Max Verstappen finished 4th fastest for Toro Rosso with Felipe Massa 5th fastest for Williams. They each did 97 and 73 laps respectively.

It wasn’t the easiest of days for Romain Grosjean, but he managed to bang in a solid 53 laps of the Jerez Circuit. His day was brought to an end early after issues with the power unit.

Red Bull had another tough day after an ERS problem saw Kvyat stop on track in the morning. This problem meant that they spent most of the morning fixing the problem, but they were out by the afternoon which meant Kvyat could pound around the track for a while.

Engine problems in the morning and a fuel pump issue in the afternoon brought Jenson Button’s day to an early end. But it wasn’t all bad news for the Woking based team. Button managed to get a good few laps in and set his fastest time of a 1:27.660. Despite all the engine issues, McLaren feel that they’ve learnt a great deal about the engine architecture and so far the feedback from Button about the new Honda engine is positive.

Teams will gather and analyse all their data at their respective headquarters and will head to Barcelona for the second test for the 2015 season in 2 weeks time.

Unofficial times for Day 4 of the Jerez Test

February 4, 2015
F1 2015: Jerez Testing Day 2 – Round-Up

The second day of testing from Spain’s Jerez circuit was topped by Sebastian Vettel as he set a fastest time of 1:20:984 in his Ferrari.

The morning started rather sedately as the several cars initially set about completing their installations laps. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton got into their workload for the day relatively quickly while others camped in the pitlane for some time. The Lotus team did a terrific job to show up for the second day of testing and managed an initial installation with Pastor Maldonado able to complete 41 laps with a quickest time of 1:25:802.

McLaren also managed only a couple of installations with Jenson Button before spending the entire morning in its pit garage. The Brit was able set a timed lap several hours later following a morning troubled by electronic issues. However, nearly all of the session on day two was lost to further gremlins.

Red Bull’s Danill Kvyat caused quite a stir when he left the pitlane without a front-wing. Naturally, there were a few jokes about the camouflage livery living up to its name and hiding the front-wing. Ultimately, the explanation was that the front-wing had been damaged and while the team waited for a replacement Kvyat would do a short engine test without it.

The final few hours of the second day of testing were blighted with rain however Lewis Hamilton was still able to complete 91 laps before a water leak brought an end to his afternoon. Sebastian Vettel racked up 89 laps and Sauber’s Felipe Nasr’s 88.

Unofficial laptimes from Jerez de la Frontera:

February 2, 2015
Red Bull Launch Black and White Camouflaged RB11

The Red Bull F1 team revealed a heavily camouflaged RB11 this morning at the Circuito Jerez just as testing got underway.

The RB 11 emerged from the pit garage at Jerez sporting the camouflaged look instead of revealing it like other teams have done.

Red Bull’s new Chief Engineering Officer Rob Marshal who replaces Adrian Newey said that most of the changes will be hard to spot but significant steps have been made.

“There are some changes that affect the shape of the front of the car but beyond that most of the changes are under the skin,” he said.

“We’ve identified the areas where we can make improvements and we’ve worked hard on these.

“There won’t be a lot that’s visible to the naked eye but a lot of hard work has gone into the bits that are hidden.”

Red Bull cut it rather fine this time with the car passing its crash tests on Saturday afternoon. Speaking to AutoSport, Team Principal Christian Horner said that they opted for the tightest car build to ensure that the latest developments were on the RB11.

Photo Credit: Infinity Red Bull Racing Formula 1

February 1, 2015
F1 2015: Jerez Test Driver Line Up
The first test for the 2015 Formula 1 Season gets underway tomorrow in Jerez, Spain.

The test will run from 01 – 04 February. This is how the drivers will line up on each day

Day 1: Sunday 1 Ferbuary
- Mercedes – Nico Rosberg
- Red Bull – Daniel Ricciardo
- Williams – Valtteri Bottas
- Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel
- McLaren – Fernando Alonso
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Carlos Sainz Jr.
- Sauber – Marcus Ericsson
- Lotus – Pastor Maldonado
Day 2: Monday 2 February
- Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton
- Red Bull – Daniil Kvyat
- Williams – Valtteri Bottas
- Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel
- McLaren – Jenson Button
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Max Versappen
- Sauber – Felipe Nasr
- Lotus – Romain Grosjean
Day 3: Tuesday 3 February
- Mercedes – Nico Rosberg
- Red Bull – Daniel Ricciardo
- Williams – Felipe Massa
- Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen
- McLaren – Fernando Alonso
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Carlos Sainz Jr.
- Sauber – Felipe Nasr
- Lotus – Pastor Maldonado
Day 4: Wednesday 4 February
- Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton
- Red Bull – Daniil Kvyat
- Williams – Felipe Massa
- Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen
- McLaren – Jenson Button
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Max Versappen
- Sauber – Marcus Ericsson
- Lotus – Romain Grosjean
The Caterham and Marussia teams have not finalized their entries for the 2015 season and have been excluded from the list.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
January 31, 2015
F1 2015: Car Launches, Testing Dates and Driver Line Ups

The 2015 Formula 1 Season is upon us and with all the teams releasing teaser pics and with the car launches and testing about to take place within the week we thought we’d give you a quick run down on the testing schedule and the driver line up for each team.

Testing Dates:

01 – 04 February – Jerez, Spain

19 – 22 February – Barcelona, Spain

26 February – 01 March – Barcelona, Span

Car Launches:

29 January – McLaren(Online)

30 January – Ferrari(Online)

30 January – Sauber(Online)

31 January – Toro Rosso

01 February – Mercedes

Driver Line up:

MERCEDES: Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

RED BULL: Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat

WILLIAMS: Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas

FERRARI: Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen

MCLAREN: Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button

FORCE INDIA: Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez

TORO ROSSO: Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr.

LOTUS: Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado

SAUBER: Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr

The entries for the Marussia and Caterham teams were on the provisional FIA list subject to confirmation before the season begins.

The complete 2015 Formula 1 World Championship Calendar can be found here

January 27, 2015