Tag: team orders

F1 2019: Chinese Gp Review – Merc Make it Three in a Row

For all the hype that surrounded the 1000^thgrand prix event the Chinese grand prix didn’t underscore it in the way many would have hoped for.

For the seventh time in his career Valtteri Bottas lined up in pole position alongside teammate Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari locked out the second row of the grid with Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc respectively. Bottas’ sojourn at the front was short-lived though as Hamilton steamed in the lead of the as soon the red lights went out.

Behind Leclerc got the better of Vettel into the ever tightening turn one but neither Ferrari seemed able to keep in touch with the Mercedes’ who were steadily disappearing up the road. The opening stint of the race suggested that Vettel had a dash more speed than Leclerc and Ferrari agreed as they ordered the Monegasque driver to let his teammate through. Ferrari’s decision to employ team orders were met with displeasure not only by fans but also by Leclerc himself who voiced his annoyance on the radio. This marks the third time in three races that Ferrari has issued team orders and it was only Leclerc’s choice to ignore the call in Bahrain that meant they weren’t instituted on that occasion.

Ferrari will have their reasons for issuing team orders this early in the season. But it’s unlikely that many would agree with or accept those reasons. What it is indicative of is that Ferrari still has not learned from past mistakes. In the days of Schumacher team orders worked a treat for Ferrari but then they had the quickest car by a country mile. That certainly isn’t the case now and they need to understand that attempting to fight for a championship with one car is not a winning strategy. They will calm things down with Leclerc but for how long will it suffice before it starts affecting his morale? Strategic decision-making has been one of Ferrari’s most glaring weaknesses over a number of years and what we’ve seen so far in 2019 is that they have not done anything to address or rectify this.

It’s the polar opposite at Mercedes as they secured a third one-two victory in as many races. Lewis Hamilton led easily from teammate Valtteri Bottas who in turn matched the race leader’s pace without facing any real threat from Vettel in third. What is absolute fact so far in 2019 is that Mercedes’ W10 is the quicker car for now. But it isn’t the only area in which the team is head and shoulder above their closest rivals. If you were to look for a tangible example of the organizational excellence and strategic brilliance of this team then you need not look further than lap 37 of the Chinese grand prix. The pit crew turned around both Hamilton and Bottas within seconds of each other and it was seamless brilliance. What’s more it was a message, a statement of intent that if Mercedes are to be beaten in 2019 then it will require near perfection from that team.

While Merc strolled to the chequered flag and Vettel salvaged third for Ferrari Max Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull and never in contention for the podium. Ferrari’s dubious strategy meant Leclerc eventually finished fifth with Pierre Gasly in the second Red Bull significantly adrift in sixth. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo scored his first points of the season in seventh with Sergio Perez in eighth Racing Point. Kimi Raikkonen maintained his and Alfa Romeo’s run of finishing in the top ten in 2019 with a ninth place finish but driver of the day goes to Toro Rosso’s Alex Albon. The Thai driver was forced to start from the pitlane after a 49G crash in the final practice session precipitated a change of chassis. Albon drove remarkably well to go from the pitlane to tenth place by the time the chequered flag dropped.

With two wins from three races Lewis Hamilton holds a four-point lead over teammate Bottas in the driver’s standings. More importantly the gap to Vettel and Leclerc already stands at 31 and 32 points respectively. It might only be three races into the season but if Ferrari has any designs on trying to win either title in 2019 they must address their glaring weaknesses and it has to start with their decision-making.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

April 15, 2019
Rosberg apologises to Lewis and the team on his Facebook page

Nico Rosberg took to his Facebook page today to publish a personal apology to Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes after admitting fault for the collision at the start of last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Rosberg made contact with Hamilton on the second lap of the race, causing a puncture for Hamilton, ending the Brit’s race, and extending his championship lead by 29 points over Hamilton.

Rosberg and Hamilton were both summoned by the Mercedes team for a meeting on Friday with Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe in order to clear the air. During the meeting, Rosberg acknowledged his responsibility for the contact. The team took unspecified disciplinary action against Rosberg and stressed that it would not be imposing team orders to avoid a similar situation occuring and confirmed that the drivers were free to race but that future collisions between the team mates would not be tolerated.

Following the meeting, Rosberg published the following apology to Hamilton and the team, on his personal Facebook page:

‘In the days since the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what happened during the race and discussing it with the team.

‘I have already expressed my regret about the incident but, after meeting with Toto [Wolff], Paddy [Lowe] and Lewis today, I wish to go a step further and describe it as error of judgement on my part.

‘The number one rule for US as team-mates is that we must not collide but that is exactly what happened. For that error of judgment, I apologise to Lewis and the team. I also want to say sorry to the fans who were deprived of our battle for the lead in Belgium.

‘Lewis and I have been given clear instructions about how we race each other.

‘As drivers, we have a clear responsibility to the team, the fans of the sport, our partners and Mercedes-Benz to deliver clean racing. We take that responsibility very seriously.

‘I look forward to concluding the season with hard, fair competition on and off track right up to the final lap of the season in Abu Dhabi.’

Photo credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas

August 29, 2014
Mercedes confirm drivers free to race and discipline Rosberg

Mercedes has confirmed that their drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton will remain free to race without any team orders, following their collision during the Belgian Grand Prix. They have also confirmed that Nico Rosberg has been disciplined by Mercedes after he “acknowledged his responsibility for the contact” with Lewis Hamilton at Spa.

Rosberg made contact with Hamilton on the second lap of the race, causing a puncture for Hamilton, ending the Brit’s race, and ultimately putting their relations under further strain. Rosberg is now also 29 points clear of Hamilton heading in to the Italian Grand Prix.

In a post race interview, Hamilton said that Rosberg had deliberately not backed out of the move and went as far as saying that Rosberg did it to prove a point, while Rosberg maintained that it was a racing incident.

The two were summoned to a meeting with Mercedes chiefs Toto Wolff (who described the incident as “unacceptable”) and Paddy Lowe to discuss the collision at the Belgian Grand Prix and the repercussions.

In a statement issued by the team after the meeting, Mercedes made it clear that it would not be imposing team orders in order to avoid a repeat scenario.

Instead, the team will maintain their policy of allowing Rosberg and Hamilton to battle it out, but stressed that further collisions between the two team mates would not be tolerated. Further, the statement indicated that Rosberg has accepted responsibility for the crash and that he had apologised for the incident.

“During this meeting, Nico acknowledged his responsibility for the contact that occurred on lap two of the Belgian Grand Prix and apologised for this error of judgement,” the statement read.

The statement went on to say that, “Suitable disciplinary measures have been taken for the incident.”

The full statement reads:

“Toto Wolff, Paddy Lowe, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton met today in the boardroom of Mercedes AMG Petronas headquarters in Brackley to discuss the events of the Belgian Grand Prix.

“During this meeting, Nico acknowledged his responsibility for the contact that occurred on lap two of the Belgian Grand Prix and apologised for this error of judgement.

“Suitable disciplinary measures have been taken for the incident.

“Mercedes-Benz remains committed to hard, fair racing because this is the right way to win world championships. It is good for the team, for the fans and for Formula 1.

“Lewis and Nico understand and accept the team’s number one rule: there must be no contact between the team’s cars on track.

“It has been made clear that another such incident will not be tolerated. But Nico and Lewis are our drivers and we believe in them.

“They remain free to race for the 2014 FIA Formula 1 world championship.”

Photo credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas

August 29, 2014
Massa:”No damage to relationship with Williams”

Williams driver Felipe Massa feels that his relationship with the Williams team has not been comprimised after ignoring team orders at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Brazillian was asked to move over to let his team mate Valtteri Bottas through to have a go at Jenson Button in the closing stages of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Instead of moving over, Massa picked up the pace and stayed ahead of Bottas. After numerous messages from Massa’s race engineer and a message from Cheif Test and Support Engineer, Rod Nelsonm, Massa stayed out in front.

After the race Massa was adamant that he did what he thought was right. Bottas on the other hand was very sure that he could get past Button in the McLaren. There were statements from Williams saying that there was a switch back plan if Bottas had failed to pass Button. But in the end it still remained that Massa had ignored the team order.

Speaking to Autosport earlier Massa was confident that all is well between himself and Williams.

“I don’t think it damaged the relationship,” he said.

“When I do something that is my mistake, I will be the first one to say sorry and the team was the first to say sorry here.

“What happened at the last race was not correct. I’m sure the team will say that as well.

“I put my ideas on the table with everybody inside the team and everything was clear.

“Everything should be fine and I believe what’s happened in the last race won’t happen again until it’s the right time for it to happen. It was not the correct time at the last race.”

“What I did in the last race was, for me, the right thing to do,” said Massa.

“I am a very professional driver, I always was, and I will carry on being very professional and doing the best for my team, but doing the correct thing as well.

“We know we need to do the best for the team, but I race for myself as well and I need to do the best for my career.”

April 3, 2014
2013 Korean GP: Flawless Vettel Wins

The Korean grand prix is not well attended by fans, it’s situated in the middle of nowhere and its place on the F1 calendar is in doubt. Despite this the Yeongam circuit was riddled with brilliant battles and delivered one of the most electrifying races of the season.

Sebastian Vettel led away from yet another pole position but the Red Bull driver’s advantage wasn’t the dominantly supreme pace of two weeks ago in Singapore. He was however in complete control even with the moderate threat from Romain Grosjean. The Lotus driver had managed to get ahead of second place starter Lewis Hamilton and make a slight impression on Vettel.

Fernando Alonso, despondent about the Ferrari’s pace throughout the weekend, could not make much headway at the start of the race. In fact, the Spaniard was lucky to avoid being taken out by spinning teammate Felipe Massa. Alonso found himself tucked up behind the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Kimi Raikkonen bearing down on his gearbox. Raikkonen was able to overtake his future teammate before the first round of pitstops commenced.

Lewis Hamilton’s afternoon didn’t go to plan as tyre degradation severely limited the pace of the Mercedes. The Brit was on the radio, several times, bemoaning the Pirelli’s lack of grip. The team remained adamant and stuck to their original strategy and advised Hamilton to remain out on circuit. The driver though seemed fed up with the situation and appealed to the team to call him in. “You need to call me in now, these tyres are ******,” implored Hamilton.

To add insult to Hamilton’s injury a spectacular failure of Nico Rosberg’s front-wing meant his teammate was called into the pits ahead of him. Mercedes’ strategy calling from the wall left a lot to be desired in this race.

The first of two safety cars was deployed on lap 31 as McLaren’s Sergio Perez suffered a complete delamination of his front-right tyre. A stint of twenty plus lap and a severe flat spot was the perfect was the reason given by Pirelli for Perez throwing the tread off the tyre. Mark Webber was a casualty of the debris from the McLaren and was forced into the pitlane with a slow puncture. Webber commented after the race that Pirelli’s official reason for the failure may not be spot on. “The reason drivers are locking up [the tyres] is because there’s no tread left [on the tyre].”

The deployment of the safety car resulted in a rash of pitstops. The Mercedes team escaped their bad strategy call with Hamilton and allowed Rosberg to recover to a points paying position. The restart of the race had Kimi Raikkonen capitalising on a minute mistake by teammate Grosjean and the Finn snatched second place from the Frenchman who was not too pleased with the “situation.”

Grosjean reportedly voiced his irritation on having been overtaken by Raikkonen and according the teamboss Eric Boullier “he was begging some team orders to let him past.” Grosjean was not able to retake the position with fresher tyres nor was it handed to him by the team. He was told by Lotus’ Director of Trackside Operations, Alan Permane, “We’ll talk about this later, but big ******* smile on the podium, big smile on the podium.” Permane went on to praise Grosjean’s “incredibly strong driving” and Raikkonen’s “luck.”

The race was just about settled down when Adrian Sutil’s spinning Force India smacked into the side of Mark Webber’s Red Bull on lap 38. Webber’s car caught fire and with slow responding marshals erupted into quite a blaze. It later emerged that the fire was caused by a burst oil radiator. The drama intensified as a fire vehicle took to the track ahead of the leaders; prompting the second appearance of the safety car. The FIA said after the race that they had called for the fire vehicle but expected it to come from the Turn 3 marshalling post and not Turn 1.

As the race resumed Vettel was able to move clear of Raikkonen and win the race by four seconds. And while Romain Grosjean complained about not being let through Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg drove the race of his life to hold off Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Hulkenberg withstood immense pressure from Hamilton lap after lap and undoubtedly boosted his shares in driver market. The difference between Grosjean and Hulkenberg is subtle. Although the Frenchman has matured as a driver it’s Hulkenberg who showed that he is a true racer. These two could be an interesting match-up if the rumours of Hulkenberg to Lotus in 2014 have any authenticity.

Several fights throughout the field spiced up the Korean GP enough to declare it a thoroughly entertaining race. Sebastian Vettel however was completely oblivious to the majority of it. Calm and controlled at the head of the race the German delivered yet another faultless drive and the rest as they say is record breaking history.

October 6, 2013
Mark Webber dismisses F1 exit rumours

Mark Webber has dismissed recent rumours that he’s agreed to move on from Formula One next year to pursue a career in sports car racing.

He told BBC Sport: “People are putting two and two together and getting a bit more than they should do.

“I’m looking forward to this year. As long as you’re competitive and can get work, which is not a big issue for me at the moment, things are going well.”

The Malaysian Grand Prix Multi-21 saga has led to rumours that Webber – who is on a rolling one-year deal with Red Bull Racing – will leave the team at the end of the year to drive for Porsche.

When asked whether he wanted to stay in F1 in 2014, Mark said: “That’s a good question. I still enjoy driving the cars. The tyres have made it a little bit more challenging – the job as a driver has changed a bit for sure, the camaraderie is massive.

“That’s a big factor in this sport. This stuff [the speculation that surrounds F1], you get a bit long in the tooth for that.

“As you get older you get less tolerant of other aspects of the job but ultimately the drug is still very powerful, to drive you to do the job you wanted to do in the first place which is driving the car.”

Photograph: The Guardian

April 19, 2013
Chinese Grand Prix Preview – Controlling China

Most all of the headlines since the Malaysian grand prix have included team orders, Sebastian Vettel or both. On whichever side you sit of this controversial piece of Formula 1 theatre it has kept tongues wagging for a good while.

But finally the attention is set to be focused on the most important thing – racing. Whatever has been said, however the statements have played out, on the track is where the real talking needs to be done. As the third round of the season the Chinese GP seems as good a place as any to do just that.

Three thousand workers took just eighteen months to convert a section of swampland into an international spec racetrack. Designed by F1 architect Herman Tilke the Shanghai circuit, situated in the Jiading district, combines a highly technical complex of corners with a kilometre long back-straight. Inspired by the Chinese character Shang sectors one and two contain ten of the track’s fifteen corners; emphasizing the technical make-up and demand for good braking stability and traction.

Since its debut in 2004 the Chinese GP has dished up some pretty decent racing. This 5.451 km Shanghai circuit is where Renault clinched a constructor’s title in 2005; the pitlane entrance is where Lewis Hamilton beached his McLaren in 2007 an event that would have a monumental impact on the driver’s world title that year. Despite being seen as one of the ‘new’ F1 circuits 2013 will be the tenth running of the Chinese GP. McLaren and Ferrari share the majority of the spoils with three victories each but no driver, with the exception of Lewis Hamilton, has been able to win this race on more than one occasion.

Current championship leaders Red Bull Racing don’t have a stellar record either. Since rising to prominence the Milton Keynes team has only taken one victory in the last five Chinese grand prix. If they are to better this record they will have to do it against their run of form at this venue and with clever tactics.

The Shanghai International circuit is one very demanding on tyres and strategy. In 2012 it was Lotus who rolled the dice on Raikkonen’s strategy; although the Finn was running second towards the closing stages of the race his tyres soon ran out of life and he was summarily relegated to fourteenth place in matter of laps. Bear in mind that the 2012 Pirelli tyres were a lot more conservative than what the Italian company has supplied in 2013 which will make the tyre wear a more precarious balancing act than ever.

Only two races of the races on the 2013 calendar have been run and in those two races the slightest appearance of a pecking order has started to emerge. Red Bull seem to have carried their qualifying pace from last season but the chasing pack in the form of Lotus and Ferrari are able to match if not beat the reigning champions on race pace. The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg does appear to be a bit greedy on rear tyre wear but in the cooler conditions of Shanghai this won’t be a particular difficulty.

The weather forecast, tentative at best, predicts much cooler temperature than have been experienced in the first two races. The threat of rain, sure to materialize at some stage, will almost certainly linger throughout the week.

Fifty-six will be the amount of laps for Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber to settle their differences on the track. But Mercedes, looking to replicate its 2012 glory, could be the menace or a fast starting Fernando, Ferrari-clad, may well unleash the pace that has been simmering just beneath the surface.

April 9, 2013
Formula One Team Orders

Formula One and @F1_Madness fan, Reynard Gelderblom (@Reynardg) sent us his thoughts on team orders in the wake of the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix where both Red Bull and Mercedes F1 issued their F1 drivers with team orders.

Let us know what you think about team orders in the comments section below. Here’s what Reynard had to say:

The order of things

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber Photo: Red Bull Racing

Every now and again controversy creeps into F1. Unlike other sports, this isn’t related to drug allegations or match fixings, although there are those who do compare this to the latter.

Think back to Austria 2002 and USA 2012, Ferrari’s team strategies have been the cause for a fair amount of these talking points. Two weeks ago this again overshadowed the media reports after the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Formula One Team orders: hate them, support them – they’re part of the sport. If you’re a team manager you would certainly do everything in your power to ensure the best possible result in a race. The third and fourth place finish for Mercedes F1 went a long way to consolidate their position as a front running team. This wouldn’t have been the case had Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg retired near the end. Yes, sure we would’ve talked about it, but nothing shows your worth quite like the results sheet.

Red Bull Racing of course has been dominating the sport for the last three years, but the one-two finish will certainly have a lot of teams thinking during the three-week break.

This didn’t come without a price though. For those who missed it: Prior to the final pit stop, Red Bull decided that in order to save the tyres and engines, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber would keep their positions after the last tyre change. Webber had track position, but Vettel didn’t back down. First, he blatantly asked the team to let him through. When that request was denied, he took matters into his own hands and while Webber had his engine turned down, the reigning champion took the first position. Afterwards the tension between the two drivers could be cut with a knife, and let it be said you would’ve needed a very sharp knife for that.

Understandably, Webber felt robbed. He did what the team asked and in his mind he did enough to take the victory.

Now before calling Vettel greedy or a cheat, let me put you into the three times Formula One World Champion’s shoes for a second. Imagine you’ve been the leading salesman at your office for the last couple of months. Around the middle of the month, your boss calls you in and says “Joe, it’ll be better for this company if we let John tie up those last four deals this month.” How will you feel? Given that you are paid to be the best in your field, to maximise your own and company profits – will you really be able to just buy into that strategy? Or will you also, like Vettel, look for ways to maintain your number one status? Do exactly what you love to and what you’re good at doing?

Personally, I do think there is a time and place for it. Coming down to the last few races of the season there’s a need for this, especially when you’re in the hunt for either one of the two championships. As early as round two of the season – well that one is debatable.

As team manager you’ve got to keep in mind that inside the car, there are two drivers, both with their own ambitions as well. Perhaps there is a better way of doing this. Given the fact that issuing instructions over the team radio is allowed, I don’t see why Red Bull couldn’t step in and instruct Vettel to fall back the lap after.

One thing is for certain, the current way of enforcing team orders is a lot better than what we saw in the past with suspicious pit stops. Vettel did exactly the same thing we saw from the three former triple F1 world champs – Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. He’s a racer, not just a driver. I would like to see a fair race as well though.

Personally, I think Red Bull’s decision was unfair to Vettel and by
consequence, to Webber as well. The team got their finishes on the first two steps of the podium; I just wonder what the price for this will turn out to be.

By Reynard Gelderblom

Reynard Gelderblom is the motorsport editor for Street Motion.

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April 1, 2013