F1 Madness

Tag: rob smedley

  • F1 2014: Bahrain Free Practice 1 Results – Hamilton On Top

    F1 2014: Bahrain Free Practice 1 Results – Hamilton On Top

    Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two at the first free practice session for the 2014 Bahrain grand prix.

    The Bahrain GP celebrates its tenth appearance on the Formula 1 calendar this weekend and will host its first ever night race. The first one and a half hour practice session remained fairly uneventful throughout. There was encouraging signs from the Lotus F1 Team who managed to rack up a substantial number of laps without any issues. However, it was the Mercedes team that once again dominated the timing sheets ahead of Sunday’s third round of the 2014 F1 season.  

    Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari held the fastest time for a short period of time before being pushed down to third overall. Several teams ended there practice sessions before the chequered flag came out. The suggestion was that the most valuable information would be gained in the second practice session; as the condition will be more akin to what qualifying and race conditions are likely to be.

    A peculiar lapse of concentration by the Ferrari team saw Fernando Alonso leave the pitlane with three medium and one soft compound tyre on his car. The Spaniard stopped his car in the pitlane and was wheeled back into the garage by his mechanics. Some familiar faces graced the paddock during FP1 from Jean Alesi to Rod Smedley who has joined the Williams team from Ferrari.

    Several reserve drivers also got some track time in Bahrain. Amongst them were Felipe Nasr for Williams, Robin Frijns for Caterham and Giedo van der Garde for Sauber.

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  • Rob Smedley will not be Felipe Massa’s 2014 race engineer

    Rob Smedley will not be Felipe Massa’s 2014 race engineer

    Rumours that Rob Smedley would work with Felipe Massa this year as his Williams Team race engineer have been put to bed after the team confirmed the race engineers assigned to their drivers for the season.

    Smedley will not be working as Massa’s race engineer this year. Instead, Felipe baby will be hearing from Andrew Murdoch on the pit wall – Pastor Maldonado’s Williams engineer before his departure to Lotus.

    Massa’s 2014 team mate, Valterri Bottas is to continue his partnership with Jonathan Eddolls.

    There is no word yet on what Smedley’s role within the team will be but it is thought to be a more senior role.

    Photo Credit: Ferrari.com

  • Williams Announce Massa for 2014

    Williams Announce Massa for 2014

    The Williams F1 team announced on Monday that it will sign Felipe Massa for the 2014 Formula 1 season.

    Massa will drive alongside Valtteri Bottas at the Grove based team for 2014.

    “We are delighted to be able to confirm our 2014 driver line-up and welcome Felipe into the Williams family. He is an exceptional talent and a real fighter on the race track; he also brings a wealth of experience as we begin a new chapter in our story.” Said Sir Frank Williams about Massa.

    Massa joins Williams on a multi-year deal and with the new regulations coming in from next season, they will look to Massa for his experience and hope that he will bring in the points and return Williams to the front of the grid.

    “Williams is one of the most successful and important teams of all time in Formula One. When I was a kid, I always dreamed about racing for Williams, Ferrari or McLaren and I’m glad to be signing with another icon of the sport following my time at Ferrari. It is also nice to remember that some of the best Brazilian drivers raced for Williams and cemented a strong national link with the team. With such a major change of regulations in 2014, I hope my experience will be useful in helping the team in its effort to move on from a difficult period.” Said Massa.

    With Massa being announced, there is a good chance that his race engineer, Rob Smedley, will move with him to Williams.

    Bottas on the other hand has been quite impressive this season, performing rather well in very tough conditions. “Valtteri is a valued member of the team and I’m pleased he was able to demonstrate his talent in tricky conditions in Montréal. There is much more to come from him.” said Sir Frank Williams

    Deputy Team Principal, Claire Williams was full of praise for their rookie driver: “Valtteri is an exciting, young talent who has done a solid job for us in his rookie season and we are looking forward to giving him the equipment he deserves to show just how good he is.”

    This was a very good move from Sir Frank, opting to go with experience right before a major regulation change. It could work out very nicely for Williams.

    The grid is shaping up rather nicely for 2014. We’ve got to wait for Lotus to make their move and of course lets not forget that Ross Brawn could be a free agent next season. What ever it is, we will keep you updated.

     

  • Kimi Raikkonen’s engineer Mark Slade not moving to Ferrari

    Kimi Raikkonen’s engineer Mark Slade not moving to Ferrari

    It has emerged that Kimi Raikkonen’s race engineer Mark Slade will not follow him from Lotus to Ferrari, according to a report in Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.

    The report on Thursday, said that Ferrari has “no intention” of hiring Mark Slade. The report stated, “Ferrari has no intention of hiring Mark Slade to bring him to Maranello as engineer to the “Iceman”. The Finn will be asked to work with another engineer, chosen by team principal Stefano Domenicali, as the Alonso-Stella partnership is unbreakable.”

    Raikkonen first worked with Mark Slade at McLaren, and the two reunited when Kimi returned to Formula 1 with Lotus last year.

    Raikkonen’s former Ferrari engineer, Andrea Stella, now works with Fernando Alonso and there is no sign that this will change going forward, unless of course the Spaniard throws a cat among the pigeons and leaves Ferrari at the end of the season which despite all the speculation, seems highly unlikely.

    Prior to working with Stella at Ferrari, Raikkonen was engineered by Michael Schumacher’s engineer Chris Dyer, with whom he won the 2007 world championship.

    Rumour has it that Felipe Massa’s engineer Rob Smedley will be heading for Williams next season so he’s not looking set to be Raikkonen’s race engineer either, but according to the report Ferrari will be promoting from within as it prepares for the arrival of the Iceman. The paper hints that Domenicali is likely to choose either Giuliano Slavi or Antonio Spagnolo, who work currently as chassis engineers for Massa and Alonso respectively.

    We will be keeping a close eye on this story and update you as events unfold so as always, watch this space.

    Photo credit: Lotuscars.com

  • Mark Slade to be Raikkonen’s Ferrari Race Engineer?

    Mark Slade to be Raikkonen’s Ferrari Race Engineer?

    Kimi Raikkonen has been officially announced as a Ferrari driver for 2014. Will Mark Slade take the reins on the pitwall as his race engineer?

    The rapport between driver and engineer is one of the most crucial relationships within any Formula 1 team and with Raikkonen’s move away from Lotus speculation has been rife as to who will take over as the monosyllabic Finn’s race engineer.  Rumoured to be in the running is current race engineer, Mark Slade.

    The Raikkonen/Slade relationship goes back quite a ways. Mark Slade first became Raikkonen’s primary race engineer in 2002, his first season at McLaren. Slade continued as Raikkonen’s engineer throughout all five seasons at McLaren.

    Raikkonen’s first three seasons at Ferrari were shared between Chris Dyer (2007 – 2008) and Fernando Alonso’s current engineer, Andrea Stella (2009).

    A brief partnership with Simon Rennie at Lotus in 2012 was responsible for the now infamous “just leave me alone, I know what I’m doing” radio message. However,  in 2013 Raikkonen once again teamed up with Mark Slade. It comes as no surprise then that Slade is rumoured to be moving with Raikkonen to Ferrari.

    Felipe Massa’s race engineer, Rob Smedley, has been linked with a move to Williams but may yet end up with the Brazilian at his next team.

    Photo: Lotuscars.com