Tag: romain grosjean

Hamilton pips Rosberg to pole during Singapore GP qualifying

Lewis Hamilton pipped Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg to pole position during an insanely cool conclusion to today’s qualifying session ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton locked up into the first corner on his final flying lap during Q3 but was able to recover well enough to beat Rosberg by what Rosberg has rued as a “nothing gap” of only 0.007secs.

Their first runs in Q3 saw the duo only banking 6th and 7th place on the grid but in the closing run of the session it was Rosberg who stole top spot, only to have Hamilton snatch it away from him.

Those final few minutes of Q3 were exactly what Formula One is all about! As the flag dropped, we watched Daniel Ricciardo crossing the line to take the provisional pole position – to the ecstacy of the Singapore crowd who went absolutely crazy for him as he crossed the line.

But moments later, it was Nico Rosberg who had the crowd on their feet as he snatched the pole away, before Hamilton came storming across the line to take that all important pole position.

Rosberg was really frustrated about missing out. When told that Hamilton had beaten him to pole by 0.007s, Rosberg shouted “Damn it!” on the radio.

After qualifying, Rosberg said, “Seven thousandths [of a second], when I think back to the lap, it’s nothing. It’s just a little bit here or there that could have done it, but that’s the way it is. Lewis did a good job to get pole, so fair play and second place is okay. It’s a long race ahead and it’s fine.”

Rosberg did point out that a change in brake specification before qualifying put him off his game a tad, though he says it started to come together in time for his final run.

“We changed brakes ahead of qualifying and I’d got into rhythm with the other brakes so that was a challenge and we expected it to be. The balance also wasn’t very good because the track had cooled down, so relative to the session before qualifying when it was hotter, there was a lot more understeer and the rear has a lot more grip. I had to completely adapt the settings to get it through qualifying, but in the end I was able to push flat out and put in a good lap time.”

The two Red Bull drivers, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel, have locked out the second row of the grid.

Sebastian Vettel apologised to his team immediately after the qualifying session, saying that he really thought he had more time in him and that he could have done better. Christian Horner replied saying, “Don’t worry Sebby. It’ll come.”

But, reflecting on the session, “I’m not happy with that final lap, I was pushing a bit too hard and didn’t get it all together,” he explained after qualifying. But the German feels that they could have had a shot at getting the pole today and said, “I think pole position could have been in our grasp today.”

“We’ll hope to have a good race tomorrow, with good pit-stops and a good strategy and we’ll see what we can do from there,” he added. “It’s a long race, so we’ll see how the tyres work and what we can do.”

For a short while, it seemed as though Ferrari might be able to get in on some front row action but Q3 saw Fernando Alonso only managing 5th place, while a software problem saw Kimi Raikkonen forced to stop his run before being able to put in a final lap and only managed to finish seventh on the grid.

Ferrari technical chief Pat Fry apologised to Raikkonen for the issue after the qualifying session.

“We are sorry that he had a software problem on his final Q3 run, because he could definitely have got a better result,” he said.

But Raikkonen said that the issue had not overshadowed the breakthrough that he and the team made.

“We’ve been struggling with the car a bit all weekend, but we kept changing it and we changed it for qualifying, which was good,” he said.

“It was one of the few times that we have changed it to something really good that I wanted. Unfortunately we had a problem, but there was a lot of potential today and it was nice to have a good feeling with the car.”

Raikkkonen also felt that there was more potential to be reached before hitting the software glitch that brought his session to an end.

“I know I kept messing up the middle sector all the time and there was a lot of potential on the other sectors,” said the Finn. “There was a good feeling with the car and I could put it where I wanted. It was feeling easier to drive, so it’s a shame what happened today, but that’s our sport. Sometimes you hope it would happen during a different weekend when you’re having difficult times.”

The initial Q3 runs saw Felipe Massa having a taste at the provisional pole position after the first round of runs, but he slipped down to 6th with the second runs. Williams team mate Valtteri Bottas placed his car in 8th place.

The top 10 was rounded out by Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat.

Jenson Button will be very disappointed after being the biggest casualty of Q2. The Brit locked up at the hairpin and just missed out, finishing 11th. Jean-Eric Vergne, who was very impressive during the practice sessions, brought his car home in 12th place.

Nico Hulkenberg was 13th fastest, while Esteban Gutiérrez did well to split the Force India drivers and beat compatriot Esteban Gutiérrez.

Romain Grosjean complained of brake issues in the first knockout session but progressed, although he was the slowest runner in Q2 and will line up in 16th position. He was most unimpressed at the end of the session, bellowing over the team radio, “I don’t believe it! Bloody engine! Bloody engine! We bust our balls for this?!” An apology from his engineer explaining that it was the same issue they had in Q3 was not enough for him, “I don’t care! I don’t care! It’s too much!”

Adrian Sutil was unable to make it out of Q1 and informed his Sauber team that he was struggling for power, while Pastor Maldonado managed only 18th in the Lotus.

Both Jules Bianchi and Kamui Kobayashi were quicker than their respective team mates, with Max Chilton a second behind Bianchi and Ericsson rounding out the field, 1.9s down on Kobayashi, although he missed his first run due to electrical issues.

Your final provisional grid with lap times are below. Join us on Twitter @F1_Madness tomorrow for what we hope will be a cracking Singapore Grand Prix. There’ll be live commentary before, during, and after the race, as well as some chat and interaction with like-minded F1 crazy fans! Join us!

September 20, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

DRIVERS :

Jules BIANCHI (Marussia)

Daniil KVYAT (Toro Rosso)

Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)

Felipe MASSA (Williams)

Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Can I start with a question to all of you? We had news this week that next season there will be a 17-year-old driver on the grid. Can I have your reaction from a driver’s point of view? And maybe we’ll start with Felipe.

Felipe MASSA: Definitely, he’s a very quick driver. He shows talent in a go-kart, in Formula 3, winning many races; I think he’s second in the championship. It’s his opportunity. First of all, I think it’s great that teams are still interested in the talent of the driver and not the money and I think that’s really positive, it’s good for the sport in general. I’m happy for that. Seventeen is a little bit young! For sure, we need to wait and see how he’s going to perform in his first year. I think the most important thing is that he has the talent; I mean he’s quick. I hope he can be clever as well, to learn everything from Formula One. There’s a lot that be will learn and I hope he’s quick enough to learn and to be consistent in Formula One and that he can stay, not just staying for one or two years and not doing what he’s supposed to do. Until now he shows great talent and I hope he can show the same in Formula One, so I’m happy.

Nico, your thoughts?

Nico ROSBERG: The same as Felipe said. All the journalists are always asking ‘is it only with money that you can get to the sport?’ and things like that. It’s great to see that if you have the talent and you really deserve it… there have been many examples recently that have made it into F1. That’s important, that’s good. Of course, it’s very young but I think we’ll be OK.

Daniel, your thoughts on this?

Daniel RICCIARDO: Not much more to add. It makes me feel a bit old! Definitely the Red Bull Junior Team and the programme for me worked a treat; helped me get to where I am. Obviously it’s good they’re now helping out Max. Obviously the age is the question mark but the talent, as Felipe said, is there. It’s going to be interesting but, yeah, it’s good.

Romain, what about you? Like the three guys before you, you all started in your 20s, what about starting so young in Formula One?

Romain GROSJEAN: It’s a wonderful opportunity that he has and it’s something quite special to come to Formula One. As everyone says, he has shown great talent early in his career but he will have a lot of homework to do to learn everything about racing in higher categories – tyre deg, speed, a lot of things. But it’s good to see fresh blood, but a bit sad for JEV.

Jules?

Jules BIANCHI: Obviously as everyone says it’s a great opportunity for him and it’s great that some teams still invest in young drivers like that. I’m sure he will be doing well. He’s really quick; we saw that in Formula 3. He won everything in go-karts. I’m also sad for JEV, I hope he will find something else but this is how it is now.

And Daniil, you’ll be driving alongside him next year, you started at 19 this year, what are your thoughts?

Daniil KVYAT: Yeah well, I think we will see how it is going to be. I think we’re going to be team-mates. I think it’s not as complicated as it looks to all of you. For the rest you just come and see what you can achieve. For every driver it’s the same. It’s not my job to analyse all the things deeply and so we will just wait and see.

What’s not as complicated as it looks?

DK: I think any driver can come to Formula One, can adapt, can get up to speed. I think everybody is coming to Formula One for some reason – because he has talent, because he has been successful somewhere; there is always a reason why someone comes to Formula One but then there are many different things that make the difference, so it’s as simple as that.

Jules coming to you. Two classic tracks coming up: Spa and Monza the next two races. One of your relatives is in a photograph over here, driving a Ferrari from the past. But what are your feelings on racing here and the prospects for you and the team and are they pushing hard do you feel?

JB: It’s special for me to be in Belgium and here in Spa because of my family; my great uncle won here in GT cars and I feel a bit like being at home again, so I’m good here, I’m happy. We’re trying to push hard with the team, trying to stay ahead of Caterham. This is still our target, so we’ll try to achieve that. For sure, it won’t be easy because they are pushing hard as well. They are not giving up. That’s why we will keep fighting. We will have to see how it will be in Spa. Monza will be another challenge but at the moment I’m focused on this race.

Romain, you said you’re reviewing you options for 2015. Obviously Lotus have secured Mercedes engines for next year. What are the next steps for you and the team?

RG: I think we still have to understand and analyse a bit more this difficult season. There were many reasons why we started on the back foot but I’m sure we can still learn a lot. The idea is to prepare the future as good as it can be for Lotus. They have been designing wonderful cars in the last two to four years and I don’t see reason that it’s not the case again in the future. Hopefully things get better but so far we still need to do our job, understand things and what we can learn from that difficult season.

Daniil, coming to you. As this Daniel was saying, just picking up on his points from earlier on, you know with the Toro Rosso programme you’ve got around about two years to prove yourself and obviously in Jean-Eric’s he moves on. Tell us, when you’re in that situation, does it feel reassuring to know that you’ve got those two years, you’ve got that time to prove yourself or does it add to the pressure?

DK: It all depends on how you take it. Obviously you can take it from two sides. Obviously you have to think that you’ve been given the chance and you just try to use it as good as you can. You cannot really be thinking too much about there is some limited time about it, but yeah, so I’ve been given a chance and I’m just doing my best all of the time, trying to make the best out of it. There’s no special trick.

Felipe, on paper this race and the next one should be two of your strongest tracks this season. What are you and Williams hoping to take out of these two races, particularly coming off the back of the strong result you had last time out? What’s your minimum expectation?

FM: Well, I hope it can be more than just on the paper. I hope we can show good performance on the track in this race and in Monza. But I would say maybe most of the races we can be competitive. Maybe Singapore will be the most difficult one but I would say that at most of the tracks we can be there, we can be competitive. I hope that we can show that and I hope that we can be… still growing, still improving, like we did from the first race until now. It would be great to have a very competitive car and very good race here and Monza but also in the second part of the season. We’re still fighting. We know how important is the points. We’re going to fight; we’re going to do everything we can to be competitive.

Daniel coming to you. The first win obviously is always special. The second one, four races later, suggests it’s becoming something of a habit. Tell us about your confidence level at the moment and how you see the second half of the season for yourself and Red Bull in terms of opportunities and objectives?

DR: Yeah, just keep building on the first half of the year we had. It was really nice to get a couple of wins in the first 11 races, so yeah, for confidence, for motivation, for myself and the team it’s obviously really high. Spa and Monza are circuits which on paper aren’t circuits that are going to suit us the most but we’re coming in with a bit of momentum so we’ll try to pull off a good result here and in Monza and then we’ve got a few tracks that will really come to us after that. So not much changes, just to keep building as always, keep learning and keep enjoying it. That’s important: that’s what I’m doing this year, I really am loving it, and just let that continue.

Q: Nico, a number of talking points coming after the Hungary race, going into this one, one of them the team saying they’re not going to bother giving calls to either driver to let the other one through, even if there are strategy considerations. What were your own learnings from Hungary and what were you taking on from here?

NR: I gather it was a bit of a mess afterwards, after Hungary, so it’s best I don’t add too much I think and I continue to not give too many details. In general of course we discussed it after the race – just because it’s important to review a situation like that and know how to move forward. Now we’re moving forward but of course, I have also learned various things from that race which I will try to adapt for the future.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Mike Doodson – GPWeek) To follow up the first question you were asked today. All six of you were racing as teenagers – one of you actually in Formula One – but a couple of you had to take a holiday from Formula One for a while. My question is, to all six of you, do you think each of you would have been ready for Formula One at the age of 17?

Nico – didn’t you test an F1 car at 17 or 18?

NR: Yeah, I tested an F1 car at 17. Driving-wise I would have been ready, I feel, but the limitation at the time was physically. That was a big limitation because at the time it was still V10, big downforce – I’m not sure if more downforce than now but the tyre grip was higher, y’know? That was the big limitation at the time for me as, a 17-year-old. But nowadays it is a little bit easier physically, definitely, so that will help.

Dan, I think you were 21 when you came in – would you have been ready at 17?

DR: Let’s say… no. I think I was still racing karts at 16 and then, yeah, I hadn’t driven many formula cars when I was 17, I think it was maybe my first season, so then I didn’t feel ready, no. Obviously my path was probably a bit different as well. I grew up a bit later.

Romain, similar story for you?

RG: 17 I was competing in my first races in single-seater. It was a Formula Renault 1.6l and no, I wasn’t ready.

Daniil?

DK: It’s an interesting question. I think I was racing in [FR] 2.0 at 17 and, if I have to come back again and do some pole laps that I did that year, maybe I couldn’t even do them again. In terms of pure performance, pure driving it’s a very similar driver: me now and me back at 17. But, many factors, of course form mental side and physical side. But, like I said, everybody’s different, so we just have to wait and see.

Jules, you have a similar kart background to Max but you put a few years in, in the junior categories. What do you think, where would you have been at 17?

JB: I was not ready at 17. It was my first year in Formula Renault 2.0, so I cannot say I was ready, for sure. I was doing mistakes there. So, if you still do mistakes in the previous categories, you cannot be ready for Formula One.

Felipe, you were 20, I think, when you made your Formula One debut.

FM: Yeah, I think when I started, when I drove first time the race car, I was 15. It was a Formula Chevrolet in Brazil. I think it was never a problem to be quick, it was a problem to understand – especially in Formula One. I was 20, I think it was a little bit too early for me. I really agree with what Nico says. Physically, at that time, it was a lot more difficult than now. Now I would say the race if very easy from the physical point of view, which is easier for a young driver to learn and understand – but at that time it was a lot more difficult from the physical point of view.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Coming to what Felipe and Nico just said, also Lewis said in last few days that he feels this F1 is too easy for him, he would like to come out of the car exhausted, pushed to the limits. With these new cars it’s not the same any more. Would you also like it to be more difficult, more challenging, this Formula One?

NR: In the first instance we’re here for the fans, yeah? So we need to do great racing. At the moment we’re seeing great racing, so that’s a big positive. That’s the first and most important thing – and then we need to work on the sound, which seems to be quite important to the fans, which I can understand. So those are the sort of things that are important. Then, from a driver’s point of view, yes, in an ideal world… I mean it’s great as it is, that’s a fact, but maybe it was a little bit better if I could do quali laps every lap with the tyres lasting forever, just proper qualifying every single lap in the race and harder physically. All of that would make it slightly better, yes, but I don’t really think about that because it is the way it is now, and that’s great, the way it is now.

Daniel, do you agree with Lewis’ point of view?

DR: Yeah, I think not much more to say. The racing is the first thing that needs to be good and it is. And maybe we should sweat a little bit more than we are. We’ll see.

Felipe, you come from an era when you did sweat quite a lot. What are your thoughts?

FM: I agree 100 per cent with what Nico said but the physical, to be harder or easier is related first of all to the refuelling. This is the first point. And on that time we had a lo more grip on the tyres as well. I think that’s the two things that make it more difficult to drive the car. To have more grip, and when we had the refuelling to have maximum 60kg in the car, 55kg all the time. It was a lot quicker, most of the laps. That’s why it was a lot more difficult from a physical point of view.

Jules, this is the only F1 you’ve known. What are your thoughts? Would you like it to be a little bit more physically challenging?

JB: Yeah, it would be good. I have no problem with that, for sure we are not like completely dead at the end of a race. We still have energy. So maybe it would be better for the people outside to see that when we get out of the car, we fall down, I don’t know what they like but, for sure, it’s not like this at the moment, so if we can improve this, yeah, let’s do it.

Your perspective, Daniil?

DK: Well, I testing last year’s car so I can rely on that a little bit. For me it wouldn’t be a problem, to be honest, to drive last year’s car in terms of the physical point and speed-wise as well. But in the end I don’t think the cars of this year are easier to drive than last year’s cars in terms of just driving because we lost some downforce, we have to fight. I’m pretty sure this Eau Rouge corner here is going to be quite interesting and challenging again. It’s been so easy flat the last few years. I don’t think it’s going to be so easy now. It’s always some negative and some positive sides everywhere. Everybody has a different opinion in the end, so it’s hard to make everyone happy.

Romain, your view.

RG: Yeah, well I think the first point is that the last few races have been really cool. I could watch, unfortunately, a bit of these grands prix. But on the other hand, don’t get us wrong, the cars are not easy to drive. They’re still performing very well. And yes, physically they are easy, but there are other challenges. I think it’s still a tough job. I remember my time in 2009, and already then the cars were physically harder to drive. I would like more: the quicker it goes the more we enjoy it. We are racing drivers. If you give us 200 more horsepower and more grip, we will take it – but what we want is to really have good races.

Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Nico, you mentioned earlier about the talks that followed the Hungarian Grand Prix regarding the team orders situation. First of all, were those talks resolved to your satisfaction? Secondly, you also mentioned about learning things but you didn’t really expand. Are you able to expand at all on what you did learn, going forward now for the rest of the season in your battle with Lewis?

NR: Yeah, sorry, I don’t really want to go into much more detail than that. As I said, we sat down, discussed it all. That is important after such an occasion, such a situation, and then review, if we need to change something for the future and that’s what we’ve done.

Q: (Thomas Bastin – La Derniere Heure) To the most experienced – probably Felipe and Nico – we are now in the second part of the season with the new cars. Do you think that for the fans they are more spectacular to see and are they also more difficult to drive?

FM: Well, I think it is definitely very nice for the fans. They see a lot of overtaking but maybe it’s the noise. The noise is really something that makes it more spectacular, like we had in the past. But the fights, they can see. Every race there are always big fights between the cars. I think it’s really interesting for the people. The noise is definitely something that we’re missing.

Q: And your thoughts, Nico, particularly picking up on the point that Daniil made a moment ago, that with much less rear end downforce this year, corners like Eau Rouge can be much more of a challenge, right?

NR: No, it’s that we have a little bit less grip in some places, but it’s not really… It depends on which car, of course. I think to watch from the outside it’s still awesome to watch these cars. They’re still the fastest cars that there are in terms of corner speed and things like that and just the sound… I understand that we need to keep on working on that and hopefully we can find a solution. Maybe we just put some big loudspeakers on the car. That’s the direction of electric cars in the future anyways.

Q: (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, I’ve see that you’ve been pretty active the last few weeks, hunting for pizza in Napoli, having parties in Ischia or Capri. How badly did you need this break for you in such a hard and tense season, fighting every second weekend for victory?

NR: Needed, not really. After Hungary I wanted the next race to be the next day and just continue like that so it’s not like I needed a holiday but of course it was there and it was great. We had a great time with friends and family. I find it quite good that there’s the two weeks where everything is shut down because otherwise, even on a day off, there’s still e-mails with the team and this and that coming through and like that there is nothing. In those two weeks there’s really nothing happening and it’s quite a good thing for everybody.

Q: (Angelique Belokopytov – AutoDigest) To all of you: you know every driver has his beliefs to have luck during a race, someone wears white shirts, another doesn’t shave, so what about you? What will you do or not do before a race?

JB: Well, there’s one that I won’t tell you, there’s one that I can tell you: that I always get into the car from the right side. That’s it.

DK: There’s no luck, I think.

RG: I used to have superstitions when I was younger and once I forgot things that I used as superstitions and I won the race, so I thought that was useless but there are certainly routines: I always put on my suit the same way, I always jump in the car from the right hand side and with the seatbelts always the same way. It’s just the fact that you get ready to race.

DR: It’s an excuse for something to go wrong! It’s nonsense.

NR: I keep my underwear from qualifying if I’m on pole for the race! And they’re not allowed to be washed either.

FM: Yeah, me too! Not to be on pole, you know, because otherwise I have just one this time. If I start the weekend in a good way and I use the same on Saturday and Sunday. I also go inside the car from the left side, to put my right foot first in the car. So many things that don’t change anything but you just feel well.

Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone) Daniil, your team will have the youngest line-up next season; could that be a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to developing the car?

DK: To be honest, this season is still going on for me and there are eight races to go and I’m still not thinking about that. I think, as I said, getting up to speed is not such a big problem so then there are many many different details and factors that decide what’s going to happen for the future of the driver, whoever he is, so I think obviously it’s good, getting as young as possible to Formula One because then you have plenty of time but it’s all up to how you can develop. At the moment, I really don’t know how to say. I don’t think it’s going to be a big problem. We will develop OK.

Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Daily Telegraph) Nico, you said at the beginning, when James asked you, that there was a bit of a mess after the last race, given what happened with the team orders. Is that why you seem fairly reluctant to elaborate – which is fair enough – but is that why you’re reluctant to explain more about it?

NR: No, sorry, let me make that more precise. I gathered that there was a bit of a mess in the media and so it wouldn’t be useful for me to give another extra bit to that at the moment, it’s better to let it all calm down. That’s what I meant.

FM: You fight, after the race, with…?

Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) For Jules Bianchi: there are a lot of people saying that you deserve a better car than the Marussia. What are your expectations for next year? Do you feel the same?

JB: Well, I’m trying to do my best now while I’m with Marussia because it’s the same I’m with at the moment and I’m happy to be with Marussia, for sure. They gave me the chance to get a Formula One drive so I can’t complain. Obviously my manager and Ferrari has to work out what I will do next year, it’s still not sure yet so we’ll have to wait and see but for me, at the moment, I just want to finish the championship well. I will try to do as we started, stay in front of Caterham and then we will see.

August 21, 2014
F1 2014: Hungarian GP Preview – Tricky Hungarian Test Awaits

Less than seven days later the Formula 1 paddock descends on the city of Budapest for the Hungarian GP. Technical in nature the 4.381 km circuit will require high downforce, efficient cooling and most importantly a good qualifying performance.

The Hungaroring is often referred to as Monaco without the barriers because of its tricky layout which for the most part has only one racing line. Consequently, there won’t be much opportunity for overtaking nor will all mistakes go unpunished. The Hungaroring retains some of the old-school Formula 1 characteristics which means that gravel traps and barriers loom in close proximity. Contrastingly, there are several tarmac run-off areas which offer some reprieve for error-stricken drivers.

Given the lack of proper overtaking opportunities strategy will be particularly important. The extremely high track temperatures seen at Hockenheim has given the teams vital information as to how to Pirelli rubber will react when exposed to similar conditions in Hungary. The tyres we are bringing to Hungary are a step harder, to deal with the increased demands, so we would expect the usual two pit stops,” predicted Pirelli’s Paul Hembery.

The circuit’s layout is dominated by medium to high-speed corners with little time spent at full throttle. However, the average speed of the lap remains fairly high. “The Hungaroring is a great track,” says McLaren’s Jenson Button. “Everybody thinks of it as a slow circuit, but, out the back, it’s got some pretty decent corners – Turn Four requires some serious commitment, and it’s made harder because it has a blind apex. Equally, the sequence of S-bends that make up Turns Eight to 11 are really satisfying to drive.”

Lewis Hamilton has been dogged by issues in qualifying for the last several races as he trails fourteen points behind teammate and championship leader Nico Rosberg. However, Hamilton is prepared to come out fighting once more and resolutely said that enjoys having to fight for victories and the title.

The 2008 champion may have more to fight against this weekend than just his teammate. The Williams team has been on the cusp several times of mounting a serious battle for victory and if they can continue their stunning momentum Hungary may be their best chance yet.

Williams’ chance to win the Hungarian GP will come on Saturday. The Hungaroring, much like Monte Carlo, is notoriously difficult to overtake on. Despite the fact that race pace is always priority for Bottas, Massa and their engineers they may devote a bit more time and effort than usual to enhancing their one lap pace. But locking out the front row or securing pole position won’t be all that is required. The team will have to take an aggressive approach on strategy as they still lack on overall race pace when compared to the Silver Arrows.

By this stage of the season the duel between the Mercedes drivers is as intense as at any other point.

However, their attention may be required elsewhere this weekend. Can Williams steal the all mighty Mercedes’ thunder?

July 23, 2014
F1 2014: German GP – Relentless Rosberg Scores Home Victory

Life happens to be pretty good if you’re name is Nico Rosberg. Not only has he extended his Mercedes contract but he’s gotten married in-between races, secured a comfortable pole position on Saturday and wrapped up a dominant home grand prix victory to boot.

The battle for supremacy between the Mercedes teammates was dealt a severe blow as Hamilton was exiled to 20^th place on the grid following a brake disc failure in qualifying and a subsequent gearbox change.

Nico Rosberg was completely in control of the 67 lap German GP as he led fellow front-row starter, Valtteri Bottas, to the chequered flag for his first victory on home soil. The Finn delivered yet another stunning drive to hold off a recovering Lewis Hamilton for his third consecutive podium. Even though Williams’ biggest target is to finish ahead of Ferrari in the constructor’s championship their ability to keep one Mercedes at bay is, on merit, is a tremendous result.

McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen’s inexperience was telling as he collided with the Williams of Felipe Massa into turn one. Massa’s car was flipped onto its roll-bar before coming to rest on the tarmac run-off area of turn one. The Brazilian was uninjured but suffered his second retirement in three races.

In fairness, Magnussen should have yielded the corner to Massa as he was out of the Williams driver’s sight. The incident was mopped after a short safety car period and the race re-started with Rosberg in the lead.

Lewis Hamilton unleashed a determined drive from the back of the field but it wasn’t without a few risky moments. There was slight contact with Kimi Raikkonen at the hairpin as he passed both the Ferrari driver and Daniel Ricciardo. Later on a rather dicey attempt at overtaking Jenson Button into the same hairpin resulted in a damaged front-wing endplate. A three-stop strategy meant that Hamilton ran the last two stints of the race on the quicker supersoft tyre. However, despite his clear pace advantage he was unable to overtake Bottas for second place. Hamilton’s rather glum face after the race showed his disappointment with the third step of the podium. Some may take exception to Hamilton’s body language but it tells of a driver for whom winning is the only acceptable result.

A spin by Sauber’s Adrian Sutil on the main straight gave rise to a contentious moment in the race. The stricken Sauber was parked horizontally on the straight which would ordinarily prompt an appearance from the safety car. Surprisingly, the race director chose to forego the safety car and opted for marshals to recover the car under double-waved yellow flags. Any situation in which marshals are required to venture onto the circuit is a safety risk which makes this decision controversial.

Behind the podium finishers the rest of the field put on an exhilarating show of wheel-to-wheel racing at its finest. Sebastian Vettel got the better of Fernando Alonso in a fabulous fight for fourth before Daniel Ricciardo continued a thrilling battle with the Spaniard. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button. Kevin Magnussen recovered to ninth after his collision with Felipe Massa while Sergio Perez rounded out the top ten positions.

While all twenty-two Formula 1 drivers have by and large respected the rules and each other there have been too many instances in the past where the fear of a penalty curbed their eagerness to take the fight to each other. As a result the exhilarating fights throughout the field at Silverstone and in Germany are a direct result of the steward’s announcement that they would take a more lenient stance on dishing out penalties.

Daniil Kvyat’s race came to a fiery end as the rear-end of his Toro Rosso was engulfed by flames. Lotus Romain Grosjean’s difficult season continued as the Frenchman was forced into retirement with a suspected power unit issue.

If Lewis Hamilton was unsure about the prowess of his teammate before it is definitely not in doubt any longer. An unrelenting Nico Rosberg has extended his championship lead to fourteen points and what is particularly threatening is that he appears to have done it with disturbing ease.

July 22, 2014
Canadian GP Qualifying: Rosberg narrowly beats Hamilton to pole

Nico Rosberg secured pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix after putting in a rocket fast final lap in qualifying denying teammate Lewis Hamilton the pleasure of his fifth pole position.

Hamilton dominated the entire weekend in Montreal but a mistake heading into Turn 8 on his final lap meant the Briton had to settle for second place on the grid. Rosberg beat Hamilton to pole by less than a tenth of a second.

Qualifying got underway with only 21 cars after Esteban Gutierrez crashed in the final practice session today, forcing Sauber to change his chassis. Valtteri Bottas was first out on track and posted the initial benchmark at 1.18.270 but teammate Felipe Massa went half a second faster to occupy the top spot on the timesheets until Rosberg came around to put his Mercedes up in first place.

Pastor Maldonado dropped out of Q1 once again – for fifth out of six times this season. He pulled his stricken Lotus over into an escape road ending his session. Things just aren’t going right for Maldonado at all this season and his Venezuelen sponsorship is already rumoured to be at risk.

With 16 seconds left on the clock, Marcus Ericsson brought out the red flag on the session when he binned his Caterham at turn nine. The session did not restart and Maldonado, Chilton, Bianchi, Kobayashi and Ericsson were eliminated from the proceedings.

Q2 got underway with Adrian Sutil first out on track with the entire field heading out on the supersoft tyres. Felipe Massa was the early leader in the session ahead of his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, and former Ferrari teammate, Fernando Alonso. The two Mercedes drivers only headed out a little later in the session but neither could shift Massa off the top of board with their initial efforts. It became clear that the Mercedes duo were not as strong on the supersofts as the Williams drivers were.

Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen, Sergio Perez, Romain Grosjean, Daniil Kvyat and Adrian Sutil were all eliminated at the end of Q2.

Q3 saw Bottas first out on track for a bit of clear air, setting the first benchmark at a 1.15.550. Rosberg was the first of the Mercedes to cross the line, going six-tenths quicker than Bottas. Hamilton also managed to go quicker than Bottas but fell just short of Rosberg’s time putting the German on provisional pole.

Both Rosberg and Hamilton made slight improvements on their final runs but Hamilton just couldn’t find the pace to match his teammate and a small error into Turn 8 likely cost him the pole position. Sebastian Vettel pulled a rabbit out of the bag and pushed out a flyer to qualify third ahead of the two Williams drivers, Bottas and Massa respectively.
Daniel Ricciardo qualified sixth ahead of Alonso and Vergne, with Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen rounding out the top ten.

Hamilton will no doubt be frustrated to not have been able to convert his dominant performance throughout the weekend into a pole position but the Briton seemed to take it in his stride today and seemed pleased to have another all-Mercedes front row. “Let’s go make history tomorrow,” Hamilton said at the post qualifying press conference.

History will indeed be made whatever happens tomorrow. We’re all set for a crack-a-lacking race and the stage is all set for a good battle upfront between Rosberg and Hamilton. The Williams drivers are looking exceptionally strong and they are definitely making a mark on the grid this weekend.

Please join us on Twitter for live chat and commentary as we watch it all pan out at 8pm GMT+2.

Full timesheets and your chance to win a VIP trip to the Belgian Grand Prix are below.

June 7, 2014
F1 2014: Canadian GP Preview – F1 Readies for Canada Clash

Formula 1 crosses the Atlantic to Montreal and the Grand Prix du Canada. The circuit Gilles Villeneuve lies in wait for the paddock and the seventh round of the 2014 season.
Sebastian Vettel swept the pole position and race victory at the 2013 Canadian grand prix. In 2014 Red Bull’s level of competitiveness has dwindled but the team from Milton Keyes are slowly recovering their campaign. However, with the dominant car of the season, Lewis Hamilton, a three time former winner in Canada, looks a shoe-in for victory.

As with most F1 drivers mistakes tend to happen as they test the limits of the car’s performance. A locked wheel, braking a meter too late or having the back-end step out is not uncommon. However, the most striking characteristic of the circuit Gilles Villeneuve is its concrete walls which lie just beyond the edge of the track. Concrete walls and barriers which hold significant consequences for getting it wrong. The two chicanes and the hairpin are areas where lap time can be won or lost but the final corner, outlined by the famous Wall of Champions, is where the biggest risk can yield the most reward. “Some guys will play it safe and sacrifice half a tenth to get through there cleanly; others will take a risk. The nearer you are, the faster you’ll go. Give the wall a kiss and you feel pretty good; kiss it too hard and that’s it!” shared Daniel Ricciardo.

The 4.361 km circuit includes two straights which lend a hand in the overtaking department. The favoured spots for overtaking will be into the turn 10 hairpin and a late move up the inside before the final chicane. Given that the circuit takes some time to rubber in, Pirelli will bring the Soft and Supersoft compound tyres to Canada. The choice of compounds also opens the door for a two or three stop strategy of which the latter can be used to undercut and gain time on a competitor with a fresher, and quicker, set of tyres.

The circuit ranks high on the list of the most power hungry on the calendar. It’s just in time as several teams are planning upgrades to their power units this weekend.

Ferrari’s PR machine has been spinning away as Technical Director James Allison has “vowed” that the team will take a good step forward in Canada – a mantra they have been repeating for years. The Italian team did show improved pace during the Monaco GP and Allison expects to see further improvement this weekend. Nevertheless, he tempered his optimism by saying that their rivals will be making gains of their own.

Ferrari has struggled to make significant improvements on the F14T since the start of the season. After a three-week break Ferrari showed no progress at the Spanish GP. Allison thinks engineers need to be given more creative freedom in their development plans.

“If you force them to operate with their backs against the wall, up against deadlines that are very, very tight, then there’s no time for them to think about how they might approach something differently,” “There is a wealth of talent at Ferrari – the experience and quality of the people on the technical side is the match of any team – it’s a matter of giving them the space and the encouragement to do unusual things.”

The rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg will resume this weekend with the two having “cleared the air” after Monaco. As much as Rosberg’s affinity for beating Hamilton may have grown since the Monte Carlo weekend Hamilton has a special affinity for the Canadian GP. On paper this is a Hamilton track and the Brit should comfortably be the victor. However, Rosberg showed some steel and as the championship leader has the ball firmly in his court.

June 5, 2014
F1 2014: Free Practice 3 – Hamilton Leads the Way In Monaco

The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton ended the third and final practice for the Monaco grand prix fastest.

Teams are drivers were left with a lot of work to do on Saturday morning as they played catch-up after Thursday’s washed out second free practice session. The Mercedes pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg traded fastest times throughout the session.

However, it was Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo who sprung the biggest surprise. The Australian set a laptime of 1:16.808 on his SuperSoft tyre run to split the two Silver Arrrows. Most signficantly, Ricciardo set his fastest time amidst a relatively long run. Teammate Sebastian Vettel, caught up in traffic during his attempt on the SuperSoft rubber, was fourth fastest.

Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen ended the hour long session in fifth and sixth respectively. The Ferrari however does not look like matching the pace of the front-running teams around the streets of Monte Carlo. BBC commentator and three-time Le Mans winner Alan McNish reckons that the Ferrari looks more like a “bucking bronco than a prancing horse.”

While SuperSoft tyre was the obvious choice for the qualifying simulation runs; it was significant to note that the Pirelli tyres took up to three laps to come into their own and deliver a lap time. This will be an especially significant issue during qualifying as drivers and teams will have to guard against getting caught in traffic.

May 24, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

DRIVERS:

Jules BIANCHI (Marussia)

Jean-Eric VERGNE (Toro Rosso)

Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)

Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Jules, can I start with you? Obviously it’s been quite a tough start to the season for you. What do you put that down to? Is it adapting to the car, is it bad luck or a combination of those things?

Jules BIANCHI: Yeah, obviously it’s been a very difficult start. The first few races have been pretty tough for me and the team but actually the last one especially was pretty good for me, so I am happy with that. So I will think about this only now and be focused for the next races coming now.

Tell us about your experience and thoughts about this unique race track here in Monaco. You had a good result here back in Renault 3.5 a few years ago, does that junior experience help in the first few years in Formula One?

JB: Yeah it helps a lot for sure to race in Monaco before your first year in Formula One. Last year has been really difficult for me. I had some issues in qualifying, I had engine failure and then in the race again some issue with the engine to start with and a brake failure to finish with, so it was not the best race I could have but I’m pretty confident now that I can do a good race this year.

Coming to you Valtteri, you’re seventh now in the Drivers’ Championship and well ahead of your team-mate. You had another good result in Spain. Do you feel that you and the team have moved up a gear now?

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, since the start of the season everything’s been positive if we compare it to the year before. All the time during this year we’ve been able to make progress, we’ve been bringing some updates, which always gave us a little bit. That’s what we aim for, for that to continue for the whole season. We are definitely keeping up at least with the development. We just need to keep pushing really, because everyone is going to improve so much.

You said in the build-up to this race that you feel confident this year at Monaco. I wonder how much of a handicap it was last year for you that you’d never driven anything around this circuit? Can you tell us a bit what it’s like to drive this place with absolutely zero database when you’re driving a Formula One car.

VB: Yeah, definitely it was really tough last year, first time, immediately with a Formula One car but, you know, you just need to adapt to it, you need to build the speed up step-by-step in the practice and definitely going for the race this season I know the track now well, so it’s much easier to approach the weekend and build from practice one onwards. I definitely feel very confident for this weekend and I really think we can fight as a team for some really good points.

Nico, winner from pole here last year. Can you tell us what a win around this race track means to a Formula One drive, what it did for you personally and for your confidence?

Nico ROSBERG: For me personally it was a very, very special experience, because it’s my home, it’s where I’ve grown up. My whole life has been centred around Monaco. So to win here, yeah it was great. And not only that but also it’s the race to win. It’s the most challenging race to win and the most prestigious race to win, so really that was awesome.

With what happened in Spain, losing the initiative in the championship to your team-mate, how are you feeling at this point, going into this race? Do you feel the strain or do you feel an impatience to get that lead back again?

NR: I’m not too focused on that. Of course I would prefer to be ahead than behind but it’s very, very close and there still a long way to go. So I’m just focused on this weekend here, looking forward to it, because I know that I have a fantastic car at the moment and I expect the car to be very, very quick also here in Monaco. The gap – they might be a lot closer to us this weekend and we need to wait and see if we are the fastest and the chances are we will be, so I look forward it and hope to have a fantastic weekend again.

Jean-Eric, like Jules you’ve had a difficult start to the season. You got four points in the opening round but since then you’ve been in a position to score more points but then you’ve had non-finishes. What’s been going on?

Jean-Eric VERGNE: Yeah I think I’ve been pretty unlucky since the beginning of the season, started well in Melbourne and then always in a position to score some good points. But that’s how it is; it’s part of the sport. I’ll just keep on smiling and hopefully the bad luck will go away and get tired of me. I’m just hoping to finish the race and have a good car and that’s all I’m hoping for. So it will come.

You won here in your junior career I believe and last year this race was the start of a real turnaround in your season. What are your thoughts on the venue, your prospects for the weekend, and also I noted that you said that a driver must arrive in a humble state of mind at the beginning of a weekend in Monaco. What do you mean by that and what happens from there?

J-EV: Well, I think this track is really difficult for sure. You want to stay far away from the walls and at the beginning the walls always look really close, a lot close than in the end of the weekend. This is a particular track where even the first session, the first P1, is really important for the confidence over the whole weekend, so you really have to build up your weekend in a good way.

Q: Romain, coming to you, first points of the season obviously in Spain and also fifth on the grid, followed up by what looked like a very encouraging test for Maldonado and Pic in Barcelona. Can you sum up where Lotus are now and what level of optimism there is for this next phase of the Championship?

Romain GROSJEAN: Well, if you look at the trend from Melbourne, we’ve been improving every time, going to Q3 for the first time in China, going to Q3 and being fifth on the grid in Barcelona. I think we were looking good in the race to keep the Ferrari behind but I had a small problem. It’s good that all the work has been done, and the fact we understand more and more our car, it’s going in the right direction and, of course, if you are fifth on the grid in Monaco, the race is even kind of easier to defend your position. You never know what you are going to get when you come to Monaco. It’s such a specific track. But I do hope we get the same kind of car we had in Barcelona. Then we can be well placed in Q3 and score some more points.

Q: Looking at your record here over the years, Monaco has not been a very happy hunting ground for you, has it? In Formula One or the junior categories. Why is that, do you think?

RG: I think that’s not fair to say. I’ve been on pole position here in GP2, won the race in GP2 – but on the other side if you have a look at crashes, I have a good record and few corners I know too well. To be fair, last year I completely missed my weekend and wherever I would have been, it would have been the same story. So, just try to not do that again. You have to respect the track. Every mistake is more obvious than everywhere else – but I’ve always been quick so I’ll try to keep that in my pocket but stay away from the rails.

Q: Kimi, another Monaco winner, do you consider a win here to be more important than other races? What did you feel when you ticked that Monaco win off your bucket list?

Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Obviously it’s been pretty OK many times for me the race but then it’s not always from your side that the things go wrong here. There’s so many things that can affect your result in the end. Previous years haven’t been the most best again but hopefully this year can be a bit better and hopefully we get some good points but obviously it’s too early to say how the car will be. Everything is different from last year so we have to just go open-minded and try to do the best that we can.

Q: Was Spain something of a turning point for you in terms of being able to extract closer to the maximum potential from the Ferrari? What made the difference there for you? And also, can you say anything about your analysis of the strategy in that race afterwards?

KR: We’ve been pretty good in other races also but obviously had some problems in the race or in practice and always messed up the complete big picture a bit. But obviously it was a bit better last time around. To be honest, if we finished where we finished, I think sixth and seventh, it’s not at all where we want to be as a team, so we still have an awful lot of work to do. We improve things little-by-little but the other teams are also going forward so it’s not a simple thing to fix and be in front suddenly. We know how it works and we know how much things have to improve but we keep working hard and for sure one day we will get there.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Aron Day – FormulaSpy.com) Kimi, you’ve driven the V10s, the V8s around Monaco. Do you think the new cars will be more difficult to drive?

KR: It’s difficult to say before we drive. I think if your car is normally good, it doesn’t really matter where you go. You know how it behaves and it will be OK. Obviously a bit less grip this year and maybe some cars are a bit more hard to handle but we have to see how it goes on the first practice and see what it is. But I think we’ve improved a lot since the winter and it should be OK.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, Lewis says he should be dominating you more. Does it mean the time of smiles is getting over slowly? Are we going to see a harder battle between you and him?

NR: I don’t know what he said so I’m not going to… I didn’t hear it myself so I’m not going to comment on such things. But, in general, it’s been a tough battle up until now and I expect it to continue like that. Of course now he’s had the result rhythm in a couple of races but it’s been very close. I just need a tiny bit to turn it around. I’ll start with trying to do that here in Monaco.

Q: (Vladamir Rogovets – SB Belarus Segodnya) To all of you: what is your favourite braking zone in Monaco?

JB: Well, I think after the tunnel, that’s good, I like that.

J-EV: Last corner, there is nearly no braking. I don’t know.

VB: Yeah, I think the tunnel as well, because that’s one of the places it could be possible to overtake, so let’s say that. Yeah.

RG: Casino. It goes quickly up hill and when you get to the top you just have to brake. It’s quite a nice feeling.

NR: Same, up the hill, it’s very very difficult because it’s a very very fast corner and you’re trying to carry the speed in and if you get it wrong and you’re going too fast, it’s very easy to lose the line.

KR: No, I don’t really have one favourite one. Any of them. You can chose

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, are you going to carry on with the James Hunt-style design of your helmet here?

KR: No.

Q: (Vincent Marre – Sports Zeitung) To all six of you: if there is one day race that we have now in this calendar that you would like to change into a night race, assuming there is no technical issue, which one would it be? There must be one.

VB: This one would be cool, I think. It would look nice.

J-EV: Yeah, I think this one as well under lights.

JB: Same, same thing. It would be really nice to race in Monaco at night.

RG: I don’t know; why not Melbourne?

NR: Japan, so there’s no jetlag.

KR: I cannot hear the question. I understood by their answers but I’m happy how they are, we can always dream about things but we don’t make the rules, so there’s no point.

Q: (Haoran Zhou – Formula One Express) Nico, last year you controlled the race all the way until the last few laps because of the fear of tyre degradation. This year’s tyres have more endurance, and also your car is quite good on tyre management. Are you going to be able to push more in the race, according to your simulation?

NR: Well, last year, before Monaco, it was really really bad, our car with the tyres so in Monaco it was all about just trying to make the tyres last for the race but this year the tyres are more durable and also we have a better control on tyres, as a team, so it should be a faster race if I’m at the front.

Q: (Pierre van Vliet – F1i.com) Nico, four pole positions for Lewis so far; do you plan to change your approach to qualifying? Here, you know that you dominated him last year; what do you plan to maybe change something in qualifying?

NR: No. Of course three of those qualifyings were in the wet; in the dry it’s 1-1 and it’s supposed to be dry on Saturday so I’m confident I can make it happen so I’m not changing my approach or anything.

Q: (Ben Edwards – BBC) Nico and Kimi; we lost a legend of Formula One, Sir Jack Brabham, this last week. Obviously his exploits were before you guys were born but can I just ask if you had any contact with Sir Jack Brabham, if you have any thoughts about his career and also if you’d been born in a different era, would you have ever considered going down that kind of route that he did, of building his own car? Kimi, you’ve set up teams; Nico you have an interest in engineering. If you’d been born in that era, could you have seen yourselves go down that route?

KR: Obviously I read and I was so sad to hear that he had passed away. Obviously these days are different than the days that they used to race and they could do different categories, different races. It would be very nice if they would be able to do different things at the same time and different races and try different things more. But the problem is everything gets so much more expensive these days and obviously people are more scared that you get hurt that they try to limit everything that you do. It’s a shame because I think it would be more fun for everybody and all sports would also benefit from it, and F1. It would be nice to do stuff like they did.

NR: It’s an amazing achievement that he did at the time, to win in another team but also in his own team, in his own car that he built. It’s extremely unlikely to ever happen again but you never know, but it’s a record that is definitely going to last a long time.

May 22, 2014
F1 2014: Spanish GP – Hamilton Takes Four In A Row

Never before in the 21^st century has Formula 1 known the level of dominance being imposed by the Mercedes team. Lewis Hamilton once again obliterated the field with a preposterously dominant victory in the Spanish GP.

The Spanish GP followed the 2014 script to a tee complete with a fiery inter-team battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Straight away the Mercedes pair opened a substantial lead over the rest of the field and set about duking it out for victory between the pair of them.

A split strategy gave Rosberg the advantage in the closing laps of the race but Hamilton determinedly held off his faster teammate for his fourth consecutive victory. In spite of the Silver Arrow’s dominance Sebastian Vettel delivered the drive of the day with a charge from fifteenth on the grid. The four-time champion put together several bold overtaking moves and a three-stop strategy to finish fourth on the day.

The German’s weekend had been a struggle throughout as he missed out on Friday’s running and suffered a gearbox failure in qualifying. Nevertheless, this recovery drive and the ability to fight amongst some of the frontrunners will provide much confidence to the recovering Red Bull team. “I think this weekend from the team point of view was good with third and fourth, but at the next race we’ll attack again,” said Vettel.

The sister Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo finished as best of the rest in third place affording the Australian his first official podium in Formula 1. Despite easily securing the third step of the podium Ricciardo and Red Bull should be far from pleased with its performance. The number 3 car ended seeing the chequered flag more than half a minute later than race-winner Hamilton.

Not Ferrari, not Brawn, not even Red Bull ever possessed an advantage as devastating as that of Mercedes. A performance gap of nearly two seconds a lap in race trim is surely as demoralising as it can get for the rest of the field. Not only did Hamilton and Rosberg finish 49 seconds clear of 3^rd-place Ricciardo but came within a handful of seconds of lapping Fernando Alonso in sixth.

One of the only teams who showed a definite improvement was Lotus. In the hands of Romain Grosjean the E22 qualified an impressive fifth fastest. The French driver continued to impress in the upgraded Lotus as he held off both Ferrari drivers during the opening stint of the race. However, a sensor calibration issue, which caused a loss of power, hampered his performance. Grosjean eventually finished eighth overall.

The much needed improvement for Ferrari was nowhere to be found as both drivers finished nearly a lap down on Mercedes. Beaten by both Red Bulls and the Williams of Valtteri Bottas in Spain the Ferrari F14T was nothing more than a miserable pile of carbon fibre not worth the red paint it’s covered with. Seventh and eighth means there are few positives to take from Spain and at this stage the Maranello team don’t need a clean slate, they need a brand-new drawing board. The good news is that it can hardly get any worse for the scarlet Ferraris and that the only way for them to go is up, slowly, but surely.

With the exception of retirement in the first race of the season Lewis Hamilton has been scarily close to perfection in 2014. He has rekindled his near unbeatable qualifying pace and is driving with the resolve and passion of a Formula 1 champion.

It’s said that the first person a driver has to beat is his teammate. Lewis Hamilton’s four race wins on the trot have been the most significant victories against Rosberg but Hamilton has also been waging a full-on mental war outside the car. There is little chance that Lewis Hamilton thinks himself slower than anyone around any track. However, in Spain, he was determined to emphasise his teammate’s superior speed around Catalunya. He then took pole position and won the race, shrewdly inferring that he’d beaten his ‘faster’ teammate and winning the psychological battle in the process. Over to you Nico.

All images of Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg & Mercedes F1 car via @MercedesAMGF1

May 15, 2014
Lewis Hamilton Heads Spanish FP 1

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time during free practice 1 for the 2014 Spanish grand prix.

The Formula 1 world championship return this weekend with the fifth round of the season at Spain Circuit de Catalunya. The weekend is an important one for those looking to close the gap to Mercedes and several teams are rolling out significant upgrades throughout the weekend.

Sebastian Vettel has been given a new chassis this weekend however a “complete electrical shutdown” curtailed his running in the first 1 and a half hour session. Giedo van der Garde, who stepped into the Sauber’s cockpit in place of Mexican Esteban Gutierrez, experienced a breathless moment as he suffered a partial front-brake failure into turn 1. Somehow the Dutch driver was able to avoid the barriers and bring the C33 safely back to the pit garage.

Lewis Hamilton set comparitively fewer laps than his competitors but was once again able to extract the quickest time from his car with relative ease. It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Mercedes as Nico Rosberg’s car was struck with a mite of unreliability. Suggestions were that the German driver’s car was being affected by a cooling issues however this was not confirmed.

McLaren’s Jenson Button ended the session as the second quickest driver with a time of 1:27:891 and a total of twenty-six laps on the board. The Brit has remained cautious about the team’s performance so far looking rather for an improvement this weekend than an overnight miracle.

Daniel Ricciardo ran a uninteruppted session which resulted in the third fastest time overall. Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen were fourth and sixth on the time sheets for Ferrari.

May 9, 2014