Tag: red bull

F1 2015: New rules, new looks, new faces

In less than two months Melbourne will become the epicentre for start of the 2015 Formula 1 season. As with its predecessors there is much to be excited about for the new season.

If you found the 2014 aesthetics unpleasing and plain awkward you weren’t alone. Mercifully a tweak to the aero rules for the nose section means that the hideous duckbills and anteaters have been consigned to the scrap heap. Visually the majority of the field will have a relatively uniform look for the nose section of the car and it does constrict some of the eccentric individuality seen last year. Nevertheless, there is little doubt that most will be happy to have far better looking cars to ogle.

For the sites that Formula 1 will visit the FIA has announced a twenty race calendar with a highly anticipated visit to Mexico City in late October. As predicted the Korean grand prix loses its spot on the calendar while the German grand prix will again be hosted at the Hockenheimring for 2015. Even though the deal struck with Bernie Ecclestone back in 2006 specifies an annual rotation between Hockenheim and the Nurburgring the latter’s change of ownership has left it in financial difficulty and without a deal in place for the coming season.

While safety is paramount in F1 the Safety Car periods have, on occasion, been far too long. It has been mainly lapped cars which has been the culprit in these long-winded intermissions. The FIA has shown some common sense by announcing that the Safety Car will no longer wait for lapped cars to catch the rear of the field before resuming the race.

Along with a far more visually pleasing sport there will also be three rookies on the grid. Sauber has confirmed that Brazilian Felipe Nasr will be partnering with Marcus Ericsson for 2015. Nasr gained valuable seat time in F1 last year as the official test driver for the Williams team and he graduates to Formula 1 with a pretty solid CV. Nasr has won both the Formula BMW and British Formula Three championships before finishing third overall in last year’s GP2 campaign. It’s no secret that he comes with substantial financial backing from Banco do Brasil which is much needed by a struggling Sauber team. Neverthless, Nasr is a real talent and it’s more than worth it to keep an eye on his progress.

At one stage it appeared as if Carlos Sainz Jnr’s introduction to Formula 1 would have to wait a few more years. The son of former double rally world champion Carlos Sainz was on course to be fast-tracked to F1 but he lost out to Russian driver Daniil Kvyat. It proved to be a momentary delay as Sebastian Vettel’s departure to Ferrari meant a promotion to the Red Bull team for Kvyat. This in turn opens the door for Sainz Jnr to slot into the vacant Toro Rosso seat.

However, it will be his Toro Rosso teammate who will undoubtedly carry the biggest weight of expectation of all the rookies in the field. Max Verstappen is the son of the not-so-successful former F1 driver Jos Verstappen. But that isn’t what makes his debut so spectacular. Instead, it’s the fact that when Max Verstappen takes to the starting grid in Australia he will be seventeen years old. He will be the youngest driver ever to compete in the sport and probably the first, should he score a podium, who cannot legally have a sip of the celebratory champagne. Verstappen’s racing biography is rather limited given his age but he nevertheless boasts some impressive wins including third place in last year’s European Formula Three championship.

There are many who believe that if you’re fast enough you are old enough. To a degree this plays true but handling the pressure of Formula 1 is a big ask for someone so young. It is clear that Red Bull’s motorsport director Helmut Marko has no qualms about piling on the pressure and has already compared the youngster to the great Ayrton Senna. As grand and fiery as the Verstappen PR has been he is a bit of an anomaly. Either Max Verstappen is going to be the greatest thing since Lewis Hamilton, read sliced bread, or he’s going to be something else which time will inevitably tell.

January 19, 2015
Stolen Red Bull Trophies Recovered

After more than 60 trophies were stolen from the Red Bull factory in Milton Keynes, the team have revealed that some of the stolen trophies have been recovered.

The team say that around 20 of the trophies have been recovered from the Horseshoe Lake near Sandhurst after a member of the public spotted them

“It’s good news that some of our trophies have been found and thanks to the police for all their help so far,” said the Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner.

“The fact that some of the trophies were discarded in a lake and damaged shows how senseless this crime was.”

“While the trophies mean an enormous amount to the team, their intrinsic value is low – and the extent of the damage that was caused to the factory by the offenders during the break-in was significant.

“Hopefully we can get the trophies back to our factory where they belong and get replicas made of those that we can’t. Thanks to everyone involved for their help so far.”

December 16, 2014
More than 60 Trophies Stolen in Red Bull Factory Burglary

More than 60 trophies were stolen from the Red Bull Racing in a burglary last night.

According to a statement by Team Principal Christian Horner, a vehicle was driven through the front entrance of the factory where the teams trophies are displayed. The burglars made off with more than 60 trophies.

“We are obviously devastated by this serious factory break-in,” said Horner.

“The break-in caused significant damage and was very upsetting for our night officers who were on duty at the time”

“The offenders took items that not only did not belong to them, but which represented the efforts of a group of dedicated, hard-working individuals.”

“Beyond the aggressive nature of this break-in, we are perplexed why anyone would take these trophies. The value to the team is of course extraordinarily high due to the sheer hard work and effort that went into winning each and every one. But their intrinsic value is low; they would be of little benefit to those outside of the team and, in addition to that, many of the trophies on display were replicas.

Horner said that because of the break-in, they will need to tighten security at its Milton Keynes base.

“The actions of these men mean it’s likely that we will have to make our site less accessible in the future, which will be unfair on the hundreds of fans that travel to visit our factory each year to see our trophies and our Formula One car.

Photo credit: Infinity Red Bull Racing Formula 1

December 6, 2014
F1 2014 Abu Dhabi Test: Day 2

Mercedes ended the second day of testing at Abu Dhabi on top of the timing sheets.

Test driver Pascal Wehrlein brought the Abu Dhabi test to a close with the fastest lap on the timing sheets. The 20-year-old official Mercedes test driver set a fastest time of 1:42:624 roughly half a second ahead of the pack.

McLaren’s newly minted Honda partnership underwent further teething problems today as Stoffel Vandoorne was only able to complete two laps. Vandoorne’s times were not timed and adds to a rather unspectacular first outing for the highly anticipated Honda hybrid power unit. The team discovered an electrical issue which severely compromised the team’s program. As Vandoorne finally emerged from the garage he grinded to a halt on track a few minutes later signalling the end of the testing session for the McLaren team.

Toro Rosso’s 2015 prospect Max Verstappen set the third fastest time of the day as Raffaele Marciello made his debut for Ferrari. Verstappen clocked a total of 78 laps before a power unit issue in the afternoon brought his running to an end.

Alex Lynn put the Lotus through its paces and managed the ninth fastest time of the day. Formula Three Champion Esteban Ocon took over the Lotus seat in the afternoon and set the tenth quickest lap with a total of 34 laps.

Unofficial Wednesday times from Abu Dhabi:

November 26, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Test: Day 1

The first day of the 2014 Abu Dhabi test ended with Valtteri Bottas on top of the time sheets with a time of 1:43.396.

The headline act for the day was McLaren who were debuting their MP4-29H/1X1 with the Honda power unit. However, due to electrical issues and a fuel/data exchange issue the Woking based team was delayed for most of the morning. Reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne did have some track time for a mere three laps where he broke down on all three laps. The second of which resulted in a red flag as his car had to be recovered.

“We’d hoped to get a few more laps today, but we had a fuel data-logging issue that stopped the car a couple of times,” Vandoorne explained.

“However, the team are already analysing the situation and we’ll hopefully cure it ahead of tomorrow”

Although McLaren suffered a setback today, Vandoorne remained upbeat for the second and final day of the test.

Nevertheless, it’s been a very positive day for us. At this stage of development, any lap we complete has a benefit – and it’s better to be solving these initial teething problems in November rather than in Jerez next February,” he explained.

GP2 Champion Jolyon Palmer in his first outing in an F1 car for Force India was very excited about his experience. After some problems in the morning they were able to get going and the rookie clocked up 37 laps for the day and managed to finish in P4.

“I really enjoyed my first experience at the wheel of a Formula One car,” said Palmer.

“I always had the ambition to drive a Formula One car: it was surreal when I first got out of the pits, but after the first moment I was just focusing on getting the job done for the team and doing my best.”

Nico Rosberg, on the back of loosing the championship to Lewis Hamilton clocked up a mighty 114 laps for Mercedes, the most of any driver on the day. He finished in P3 with a time of 1:44.512

Kimi Riakkonen finished P2 for Ferrari, with a little under half a second down on Bottas’s time. The highlight of the day for Ferrari was their new singing, four-time world champion, Sebastian Vettel paying the team a visit in the Ferari pit garage and getting to know the crew.

Red Bull had Formula Renault 3.5 Champion Carlos Sainz Jr at the wheel of the RB10. He clocked up an impressive 100 laps for the team and set the fifth fastest time.

Will Stevens was at the wheel for Caterham today. Fresh after his F1 debut at the race on Sunday he was given another go in the Caterham. He finished in P6 with a lap time of 1:45.436 and posted 102 laps.

Charles Pic ended the day in P7 with 89 laps under his belt for Lotus. Former Caterham driver, Marcus Ericsson drove for Sauber and finished behind Charles Pic in P8.

Max Verstappen had a suspension issue which ended his session in the morning. He ended up in the barriers because of this on only his third lap of the session. The team managed to get the car repaired for the afternoon session and he was back out on track

Below is the unofficial running order of the day

November 25, 2014
McLaren Gets The Go-Ahead to Debut Interim Development Car

The McLaren Formula 1 team have been given the go-ahead to debut their McLaren-Honda MP4-29H/1X1 at the Abu Dhabi test that starts tomorrow.

The team have already run the development car at a filming day at Silvertone last week to check the installation of the power unit together with other systems in the car. The feedback from the team and Honda seems positive and they’re both confident that they will be able to do more runs at the Abu Dhabi test.

Speaking to F1.com, McLaren team principal has this to say: “On Tuesday and Wednesday, here in Abu Dhabi, we’ll be testing our hybrid McLaren-Honda MP4-29H/1X1 for the first time.”

“It’s an exciting time for both McLaren and Honda, and for all who sail and will sail in the good ship McLaren-Honda. Ahead of us are many weeks of hard graft, but you may be well sure we’re up for the task.”

McLaren’s rookie test driver, Stoffel Vanddorne, will be at the wheel of the new car for both the testing days.

Here’s how the other teams will line up for the test:

Mercedes: Nico Rosberg/Pascal Wehrlein

Red Bull: Carlos Saintz Jr/ Daniel Ricciardo

Ferrari: Kimi Raikkonen/Raffaele Marciello

Williams: Valtteri Bottas/Felipe Nasr

McLaren: Stoffel Vandoorne

Lotus: Esteban Ocon/Charles Pic

Force India: Jolyon Palmer/Spike Goddard

Toro Rosso: Max Verstappen

Sauber: Marcus Ericsson

Caterham: Will Stevens

November 24, 2014
F1 2014: Season Finale – Hamilton Seals Date With Destiny

It is said that privilege is a special right reserved only for a fortunate few. Yet, if you’re a Formula 1 fan every highly anticipated season comes with the guarantee that at the end of it you will be in a position to appreciate something truly special.

In 2014 the wheel-to-wheel battle in Bahrain, the controversy at Spa and the immense fight between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have made up the majority of moments that will define this season. Ultimately the title of world champion can only belong to one driver and at the conclusion of this season it belongs to Lewis Hamilton.

In Saturday’s qualifying Rosberg comprehensively outdid Hamilton by four tenths of a second. His advantage would be short-lived as Hamilton rocketed off the line on Sunday and into the lead of the race. Williams’ Felipe Massa, who would later become a serious contender, slotted into third ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button.

For the majority of the first half of the race Rosberg was within three seconds of his race leading teammate. However, on lap 24 Rosberg’s energy recovery system failed and the German dropped dramatically down the field. The second place Rosberg was running to Hamilton meant that he was never truly in contention for the title and the manner in which he handled the entire afternoon was admirable. As he painfully plummeted down the standings he was offered the option of retiring the car. His request to keep going is indicative of a driver who will not give up until the last possible moment; for more than this no team or fan could ask for. Ever the sportsman Rosberg was gracious enough to congratulate Hamilton in the pre-podium room after the extreme disappointment of finishing a lowly fourteenth.

Mercedes tried to avoid the same reliability disaster befalling Hamilton by de-tuning the engine and giving the Brit just enough power to maintain his position. Felipe Massa and Williams rolled the dice on a bold strategy move which put the Brazilian out on the less durable, but faster supersoft tyre for the final stint of the race. For ten astonishing laps it seemed as if the white-liveried Williams would do enough to win the race but in the end it wasn’t to be. Nevertheless, for the first time since 2005 Williams finished a grand prix with both drivers on the podium. The team’s resurgence has been nothing less than exceptional and has ensured an emphatic third place in the constructor’s championship.

After being excluded from qualifying for an illegal front wing both Red Bulls were relegated to a pitlane start. It was Daniel Ricciardo who made the most of it with another fine drive and fourth place finish. Jenson Button delivered a stellar drive for fifth which crucially kept McLaren ahead of Force India in the constructor’s standings. Several question marks surround Button’s future at the team but surely they would be daft not to sign the driver who scored double the points of his teammate and made it possible for McLaren to hold its head up after a difficult season.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth ahead of his newly re-signed teammate Sergio Perez who fended off Sebastian Vettel for seventh. Vettel’s eighth place bring to an end a gloriously successful era of 45 poles, 39 wins and four world titles with the Red Bull team.

Fernando Alonso’s ninth place completed his final race as a Ferrari driver and he departs the Italian team after half a decade with eleven wins and no title success. Kimi Raikkonen brought Ferrari’s miserable season to a close with the final point paying position.

For as much well deserved praise as we heap on Hamilton so too there must be the acknowledgement of mighty fine job done by Nico Rosberg. His five grand prix wins and plethora of podiums proves that he wasn’t summarily routed by Hamilton. In the next few days and perhaps weeks these stats will be nothing more than cold comfort for Rosberg. However, soon the realisation will settle that he has gained an invaluable level of experience that will make him a much tougher driver and competitor from this point on.

On the podium Lewis Hamilton said that this second world championship title is “above and beyond” his first triumph in 2008 and it isn’t hard to understand why. Back then he was a relative newbie and without the real knowledge and understanding of what it means to be a grand prix driver. In 2014 all of the tenacity and wisdom gained through the years combined with his fabulous skill to deliver a staggering eleven grand prix wins. Now Lewis Hamilton is not only a fully fledged grand prix driver but a most deserving double world champion.

November 24, 2014
Red Bull Excluded from Qualifying Results for Illegal Front Wing

The Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team were excluded from the qualifying results after it was found that both their cars were in breach of technical regulation 3.15.

Jo Bauer, the FIA technical delegate, referred Red Bull to the stewards after it was found that the front wings on their cars were designed to flex under aerodynamic load. This is in contravention of Article 3.15(b) of the technical regulations which state that any specific part of the car influencing its aerodynamic performance must be rigidly secured to the entirely sprung part of the car (rigidly secured means not having any degree of freedom). Slow motion replays of the Red Bull showed that there was a very high degree of movement on the front wing flaps.

Both Red Bull cars will start from the back of the grid after Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo qualified 6th and 5th respectively.

Red Bull felt that they were being singled out and although their not happy with the decision they will respect it.

“Following the decision of the Stewards regarding the front wings on both our cars (Car 1 and Car 3), we are disappointed that we have been singled out for a front wing deflection test when it is clear that other teams are interpreting the rules in a similar fashion,” read the statement from Red Bull.

“The team accepts the decision of the Stewards and will start the race from the back of the grid.”

November 23, 2014
Rosberg beats Hamilton to title-deciding pole in Abu Dhabi

Nico Rosberg beat championship rival Lewis Hamilton to the pole position in the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying session.

The German will start the final race of the 2014 season from the pole position after setting a time of of 1:40.480 to edge out Hamilton, who may have had it if not for a mistake, by almost four-tenths of a second.

It was Rosberg who held the early advantage after the first runs in the final part of qualifying, as Lewis ran wide at the penultimate corner and locked up into the final turn. Hamilton has been complaining about his brakes but Niki Lauda brushed these complaints off in true Lauda fashion saying, “These are the same brakes we’ve used all season. Lewis was complaining today but the practice is over now.”

Both drivers improved on their final runs but Hamilton could not find enough time to reach Rosberg and had to watch as Rosberg claimed his 11th pole position of the season.

Williams driver Valterri Bottas, who briefly threatened Hamilton’s second place spot, claimed the third spot on the grid ahead of team mate Felipe Massa who locked out the second row of the grid.

Daniel Ricciardo beat Sebastian Vettel to fifth place in final race as Red Bull team-mates giving the Red Bull team a third row lock out.

Daniil Kvyat was an impressive seventh for Toro Rosso.

McLaren driver Jenson Button only managed eighth place and lamented his disappointment.

The Brit was called back in after heading out on his fast lap due to the fact that he did not have enough fuel on board. “Are you serious?” is all he could mustre over the team radio. Eric Boullier later told Ted Kravitz that there was a fuel pump problem which had caused the issue.

The Ferraris locked out the fourth row of the grid with Kimi Raikkonen 9th and Fernando Alonso, who had to abandon his final lap after running wide at Turn 11, finished 10th.

Kevin Magnussen showed good pace during Q1 but could not manage a quick enough lap in Q2 and failed to make it into the top 10. He will start in 11th place with Jean-Eric Vergne lining up behind him.

Force India duo Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg took 13th and 14th respectively and Adrian Sutil will start behind them in 15th place in what will be his final race for the Sauber F1 Team.

Romain Grosjean very narrowly missed out on making it through to Q2 and set the 16th fastest time. He still has a 20 place grid penalty to serve though so will drop to the back of the grid. As he will only be able to serve 4 places, he’ll have to take a drive through penalty in the early stages of the grand prix.

Esteban Gutierrez was 17th quickest for Sauber, ahead of Pastor Maldonado.

Caterham have the back row of the grid all to themselves with Kamui Kobayashi and Will Stevens rounding out the grid. Rookie Stevens managed to finish half a second behind his team mate.

We are all set for an absolutely EPIC season finale tomorrow at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Who will take the title of 2014 F1 World Champion? Join us at 2:30pm (GMT +2) tomorrow on Twitter @F1_Madness for live commentary and chat as well as pre and post race analysis. Prepare yourselves for one heck of a Duel in the Desert!

November 22, 2014
It’s advantage Rosberg ahead of Abu Dhabi Qualifying

Nico Rosberg held the advantage over Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton in the final practice session for the 2014 season at the Yas Marina circuit. Rosberg set the fastest time ahead of the qualifying session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with a 1:41.424 – 0.369s faster than his team mate.

Hamilton looked set to take the top spot after setting the fastest two sectors during his final lap but lost too much ground in the final sector.

Williams’ Felipe Massa took the third spot on the time sheets, a full 1.005s down on Rosberg, showing once again the superiority of the Mercedes duo and their lightning fast cars.

We should not, however, forget that the setting sun and subsequent falling track temperatures during qualifying at the Yas Marina circuit will mean that a fast FP3 lap may not translate into the same during qualifying. For this very reason, qualifying simulations were left until pretty late in the practice session to get track conditions as close to qualifying as possible. Mercedes should still nevertheless lock out the front row of the grid in qualifying, with Williams hot on their heels.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso set his time on soft tyres during the early stages of the session, then set a time on the supersofts and never took part in the rest of the session. He ended in fourth place as he and Ferrari attempt to save mileage on his engine.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel finished his last practice session for the Red Bull team in fifth place, ahead of Jenson Button and Daniel Ricciardo.

Valtteri Bottas Bottas made a mistake in the final corner on his super-soft run which saw him only managing eigth place but he will most certainly be targeting the second row, come qualifying.

Daniil Kvyat and Kimi Raikkonen completed the top 10.

McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen posted the 11th best time of the session, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg.

Esteban Gutierrez beat the two Lotus drivers Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean to 15th place with Adrian Sutil just behind.

Caterham remained at the bottom of the timesheets on their return to F1 this weekend with Caterham’s rookie Will Stevens getting to within a second of team mate Kamui Kobayashi’s time for the first time.

November 22, 2014