Tag: seeping international circuit

OPINION: Going To Malaysia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

January 4, 2018
F1 2017: Malaysian Gp Review – Magnificent Max Wins In Malaysia

There is a word in the English language that is often overused without the context of its full meaning but as I arrived at the Sepang International Circuit for my first live Formula 1 experience I was finally able to comprehend what the word surreal truly means. And yes, I’m still pinching myself.

As the crowds streamed en masse to the final hosting of the Malaysian grand prix expectations were high among the colourful fans of Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, and many others as various nationalities converged to relish in and share their passion for Formula 1 racing.

While the excitement of race day reduced the sweltering heat and humidity, which consistently hovers in the high 80s, to a mere footnote it was Ferrari who looked the real deal in practice and qualifying with Raikkonen on the front row. But while Hamilton racked up yet another pole position, albeit by half of a tenth, Sebastian Vettel ran into reliability issues, which relegated him to 20^th on the grid.

Still, Ferrari looked to have, in the form of Raikkonen, more than enough pace in the pocket to stroll to the chequered flag. It wasn’t to be though as, much to the crowd’s despair, the Finn did not even make the start of the race thanks to a similar electrical issue that afflicted his teammate Vettel in Saturday’s qualifying.

It seemingly left the door open for Hamilton to inflict maximum damage on his rival but the Mercedes team and championship leader suffered a humiliating defeat to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who turned a stunning pace which relegated Hamilton to second and without any possible chance of victory. The young Dutchman was a definite crowd favourite who elicited cheers from the packed turn one grandstand every time he passed it.

Imagine the roar then when Verstappen snatched the lead from Hamilton and proceeded to easily pull away from the Mercedes. With consummate ease, Verstappen produced a fabulous race to secure only his second victory in F1.

Hamilton, a distant and disconsolate second, trailed home more than ten seconds adrift. Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo held onto third ahead of Vettel who charged through the field to finish fourth. Valtteri Bottas’ lackluster form continued with an unspectacular fifth place some twenty-six seconds adrift of Vettel’s Ferrari.

While Sergio Perez finished a solid sixth, one of the definite stars of the day was McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne who finished an impressive seventh overall. The Williams driver pairing of Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa finished eighth and ninth respectively while Esteban Ocon took the final point on offer for tenth in the Force India.

Despite not winning amid the more than one hundred thousand vociferous and passionate fans packed into the Sepang circuit Lewis Hamilton extends his championship to thirty-four points ahead of this weekend’s Japanese grand prix. The Suzuka circuit is one too that, on paper, should suit the Mercedes better than the Ferrari but as the situation stands the Italian team must throw all caution to the wind if they, and Sebastian Vettel, want to salvage anything from the 2017 season.

October 2, 2017
F12017: Malaysian Gp Preview – Must Win For Ferrari

To finish first, first you must finish. These are likely the words that have been rolling around Sebastian Vettel’s mind following the start-line crash in Singapore, which now has him at a 28-point deficit to Lewis Hamilton.

There’s little doubt that this weekend’s Malaysian grand prix is vital for Ferrari’s and Vettel’s championship aspirations. The Formula 1 paddock travels little more than 300 hundred kilometers to Sepang, just outside the city center of Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia for this weekend’s 15^th round of the 2017 season.

The Malaysian circuit, famed for its hot and humid conditions, has been on the F1 calendar since 1999 and is making its final appearance in 2017. As, arguably, Herman Tilke’s most-liked circuit design the Sepang International circuit is one of the biggest technical challenges of the season. It’s combination of medium and high-speed corners and the ever-present long back- and start/finish straits means that somewhere drivers and teams will have to compromise on the car set-up.

Some in the paddock will have you believe that the Mercedes will stroll to victory this weekend given that the Malaysian circuit suits the Silver Arrow to a tee. While the strengths of the Mercedes are likely to be highlighted by the more aero-dominant sector of the lap Ferrari are unlikely to simply be reduced to also-rans. Kimi Raikkonen believes that Ferrari can be in the mix for victory this weekend. “You [the media] assume that it’s difficult. We don’t,” said Raikkonen.

“We go there [to Malaysia], it’s another race, another weekend, and we go there full of fight and we’ll do our best”. Team principal Maurizio Arrivabene echoed Raikkonen’s sentiments by saying that the battle is not over but has simply become more difficult.

While the two main rivals in the 2017 championship dominate the headlines what then of Red Bull cheekily snatching the prize from both of them. The stats suggest that the Austrian team has indeed made significant progress since the start of the season. And while they’ll be snapping at the heels the top step of the podium, barring unreliability, crashes, or a sudden and opportune cloud-burst, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen are unlikely to have the raw pace to match Merc and Ferrari.

As if to add more intrigue to the mix Ferrari and Mercedes have chosen different tyre strategies for this weekend too. With the medium, soft, and supersoft compounds available Mercedes has chosen to focus more on the yellow-walled soft tyre. With five sets available to Hamilton Mercedes have looked especially strong on the soft tyre on several occasions this season. In contrast, Ferrari has chosen to focus on the supersoft compound by selecting nine sets each for Vettel and Raikkonen with Red Bull taking a similar approach to Ferrari. The weather forecast, never devoid of the threat of a thunderstorm, predicts scorching temperatures for the duration of the weekend, which could swing the advantage to Ferrari and the supersoft compound.

There is no doubt whatsoever that Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel must win the Malaysian grand prix in order to keep their championship hopes alive. Ferrari has been adamant that they are, categorically, not out of the championship. It’s time now to underscore their bullish belief where it matters most – on track.

September 27, 2017
F1 2016: Malaysia Gp: Ricciardo Wins Amidst Drama

At the start of the Malaysian grand prix Mercedes were expected to dominate on a circuit tailor made to emphasize the best aspect of their racing car and they did. However, Formula 1 isn’t called the most unpredictable sport in the world without reason. For as dominant as Lewis Hamilton was from pole position on Sunday the unpredictability of the sport hit hard.

As Hamilton scampered off into the lead of the race disaster struck immediately off the line for his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg. In a three-way battle for position into turn one Rosberg found himself pointing the wrong way down the track after being tagged by Sebastian Vettel. The Ferrari driver’s race ended a corner later as he pulled over with a broken left-front suspension. For his too optimistic move Vettel has been given a three-place grid penalty for this weekend’s Japanese grand prix.

While Rosberg began to make his way through the back, with remarkably no damage, Lewis Hamilton was well in control of proceedings. Despite some initial pressure from Max Verstappen and his alternate strategy there was never a true threat on Hamilton’s lead. Such was the pace of the number 44 Mercedes that he could, seemingly at will, lap a second faster than anyone else.

Still, not even the all-dominant Mercedes can ensure a definite victory. On lap 40 Lewis Hamilton aspirations of winning the race literally went up in flames as her Mercedes engine spectacularly expired on the start/finish strait.

After his retirement he made some comments to the media, which certainly fanned the flames. Something or someone, he said, doesn’t want him to win the championship. The team and Hamilton later backpedalled on this comment by saying that the driver was referring to a “higher power.” While Hamilton was rightly devastated with the failure it is inconceivable, and frankly absurd, that he would be sabotaged in any way. If not for any other reason than the fact that Mercedes would never want the image of an engine on fire associated with its brand. But there are many other reasons why this conspiracy theory is baseless. How do engineers ensure that an essentially new engine expire on demand? Sometimes the stars, on this case the cylinders, just don’t align.

Though Hamilton has suffered a number of engine failures in 2016 they’ve all been confined to Friday or Saturday. While still impactful they haven’t hurt as much as this one which is likely what has amplified emotions. In fact Hamilton’s last retirement was eleven races ago in Spain after a collision with Rosberg. His last mechanical failure? The 2015 Singapore grand prix.

The show must go on and it did with a superb and popular victory for Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Aussie driver brilliantly held off his teammate Max Verstappen to take the fourth win of his career. Red Bull’s one-two finish is the first for the team since the 2013 Brazilian Gp and snaps a run of 10 victories for Mercedes. In a further show of his class Ricciardo dedicated his win to Jules Bianchi who sadly passed away last year after a horrible crash at the 2014 Japanese Gp.

Despite a ten second penalty for causing a collision with Kimi Raikkonen Nico Rosberg was able to recover to third and takes a 23-point lead to the Japanese Gp. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen came home in fourth but was down on power for the majority of the race, which implies that the engine has some sort of damage. It could mean an engine penalty at some point perhaps this weekend in Japan or in Texas.

Valterri Bottas finished a solid fifth for Williams ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez. Fernando Alonso drove a brilliant race from last to finish seventh ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in eighth and teammate Jenson Button in ninth. Renault’s Jolyon Palmer scored the first point of his career with tenth.

A 23-point lead for Rosberg seems a big one but with five race remaining it isn’t a done deal. After the race in Baku he had a similar advantage and it took Hamilton three race to overcome it. If nothing else the Malaysian Gp proved that it’s never over until the chequered flag drops.

(All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

October 3, 2016