Category: Formula One

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Melbourne a flash in the pan if Ferrari don’t back up victory

Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.
Sunday 26 March 2017.
World Copyright: Sam Bloxham/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _W6I4899 via Pirelli Sport

 

Victory at the Australian Grand Prix for Ferrari set the cat amongst the pigeons for the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend and beyond.

After overtaking Lewis Hamilton’s previously dominant Mercedes he stretched the legs of his Prancing Horse to win by 10 seconds at a canter, with Kimi Raikkonen in fourth.

However, that certainly doesn’t mean they are now the new favourites for the World Championship. Far from it.

Now is not the time to be talking about a title challenge, and after talking themselves up only to flatter to deceive in previous years, Ferrari know it.

Their win in Melbourne merely announced to the world that the tumultuous year of 2016, where nobody looked happy, was well and truly behind them.

The next two races in China and Bahrain will go a long way into showing the watching world just where the field are in comparison to the scarlet Scuderia.

Should Vettel once again find himself stuck behind a Mercedes he will certainly have a better chance of passing it, with China home to Formula One’s longest straight.

Critics were already writing the obituaries of Formula One’s new technical era after a race at Albert Park that saw little overtaking on a circuit where it is difficult to do so.

Since the first race in 2004, Ferrari have four victories at the Shanghai International courtesy of Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. Vettel also has a solitary win in Shanghai.

With Vettel atop the podium in Australia and Raikkonen behind Mercedes debutant Valtteri Bottas in Australia, China will give us further answers to the questions asked after Melbourne.

Jack Prentice @JPrentice8

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Chinese Grand Prix, Can Mercedes Catch the Red Dragon?

SHANGHAI (CINA) – 17/04/2016
© FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA (© COPYRIGHT FREE)Chinese Grand Prix 07-09 April

After a thrilling season premiere in Australia, where Scuderia Ferrari won after almost two years, Formula One travels to China for the second race of the season and now the pressure is on Mercedes, which must show if they have an answer to Ferrari’s performance.

The Italians followed a smart strategy which gave the opportunity to Vettel to take the lead of the race after Hamilton’s pit-stop. Mercedes were not able to follow Ferrari’s pace and Sebastian Vettel secured his first victory with Ferrari since Singapore 2015.

Shanghai International Circuit opened its gates to the Formula One fans in 2004, Hermann Tilke and Peter Wahl designed the 5.4 km track, and the layout of the circuit was inspired by the Chinese character ‘Shang’.

China hosts one of the most demanding races on the calendar, it has high-speed straights, whilst the acceleration and deceleration effect the tyre behaviour and reduce the degradation of the tyres.

Shanghai International Circuit

Laps: 56

Circuit Length: 5.451 km

Race Distance: 305.066 km

Lap Record: 1:32.238 (Michael Schumacher – 2004)

(Courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media)

Tyre Compounds: Supersoft (Red), Soft (Yellow), Medium (White)

Last year’s world champion was the winner of the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix, followed by the German Sebastian Vettel and Daniil Kvyat who finished on the podium with his Red Bull.

Ferrari’s last victory in China was in 2013, while the last time, which the team started from the pole was in 2004. From the other side, Mercedes dominates in Shanghai for the last couple of years.

“In Shanghai last year everyone had their eye on the tyres as wear is typically high there and we often saw graining, but it’ll be interesting to see how the new compounds perform on this type of track. The weather is often unpredictable and temperatures can change a lot over the weekend, so it’s something all the teams have to manage with the balance and set-up of the car. Shanghai is a really quirky track – Turn 1 is actually my favourite corner on the whole calendar – and it provides a good test for the driver with a high average speed compared to the street circuit of Melbourne. I’m looking forward to seeing what the new cars are capable of there, and I hope we can at least have a trouble-free race and see where we are when the chequered flag falls.” Fernando Alonso said.

McLaren is expecting a tough weekend as the circuit does not fit to their car set-up.

“We expect the Chinese Grand Prix to be even more challenging (than Australia). The track itself also places a lot of stress on the power unit with its slow- and medium-speed corners, and two very long straights. The key will be preparation and set-up.” Yusuke Hasegawa told.

Pascal Wehrlein will be replaced by the rookie Giovinazzi for the second consecutive race, as Pascal is still recovering from his crash in the Race of Champions. Wehrlein is hoping to fully recover before the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Don’t miss PitCrew’s live race coverage, which will start 30 minutes before the race.

Victor Archakis – @FP_Passion

 

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Force India aiming to lead midfield in China

Esteban Ocon (FRA) Sahara Force India F1 VJM10.
Australian Grand Prix, Sunday 26th March 2017. Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia. Image courtesy of Sahara Force India Formula One Team

Vijay Mallya has set his Force India team the ambitious target of leading the midfield battle in Shanghai this weekend, following a successful points-scoring debut for the VJM10 in Melbourne:

“I was proud of our performance in Australia,” Mallya said. “Sergio and Esteban were in the thick of the action and both drivers took their opportunities to overtake. To leave Melbourne with both cars in the top ten was a tremendous team effort.”

Referring to the seventh and tenth place finishes for Pérez and Ocon respectively as “an important boost”, Mallya said that the team is expecting a similar performance in this Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, although he has admitted it will be no easy task to keep ahead of the “exceptionally close” midfield fight.

If Force India can take another double points finish on Sunday, it will be a vast improvement on last year’s Shanghai meet, in which Pérez just missed out on a point in eleventh, and Nico Hülkenberg came home in fourteenth after suffering a puncture in the early stages.

Speaking of his 2017 chances, Pérez is remaining cautiously optimistic after making his best start to a season so far in Melbourne:

“I have a good feeling for the races to come. In the last few years we’ve shown that we can develop the car well and that’s going to be especially important this year.

“Our performance in Melbourne showed that we have done a good job over the winter, but there are still areas where we need to improve,” he added, referring to the overall balance of the VJM10. “The upgrades we have coming during the next couple of races should help.”

Esteban Ocon echoed his teammate’s belief that Force India displayed “a solid base on which [the team] can build” in Australia, but also added that there is still much work to be done in China:

“It’s about exploring the limits of the car and understanding how to manage the tyres during qualifying and the race. What we learned in Melbourne will certainly make things a bit easier this weekend, but you never stop learning in this sport.”

James Matthews, Editor-at-Larges

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Haas Australian Grand Prix Review

March 30, 2017

Haas F1 Team had a less than ideal day at Albert Park for the Australian Grand Prix as both cars suffered retirements due to reliability issues but perhaps a weekend with a silver lining and lessons to be learned.

Romain Grosjean had qualified a team best 6th position for the race. After starting well holding off the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz, Grosjean was running in 7th behind the Williams of Felipe Massa before a water leak finished his race on lap 13.

““I suddenly lost a lot of power. I told the guys, then the next thing I knew I had to slow down the car. It’s a pretty disappointing result, but again, right now I’m hot and we’re all disappointed to lose a seventh-place position, but the car was there in qualifying in P6. The start wasn’t ideal, so we need to improve that. I felt I was faster than the Williams, so there’s huge potential in the car.”

Kevin Magnussen had a worse weekend, qualifying 17th after running wide at turn 12 of his flying lap. Contact with the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson on the first lap gave him front wing damage putting him well behind the field after pitting and eventually retiring 11 laps short of the finish with suspension failure. Despite this, Magnussen seemed to take more positives from the Grand Prix.

“We changed the front wing and then I went for a long test session to feel the car and learn a bit more about it, which was good. It feels good and the car is fast. That’s the really positive thing from this weekend. The car is there. We just have to make it finish and score points.”

Something to watch out for; the issue with Brembo brakes, the teams Achilles heel from last season. It was not an issue for the Australian Grand Prix but may pop up on circuits that are more brake critical. In pre-season testing Gunther Steiner said the team had already been evaluating alternatives and would be capable of switching suppliers during the season.

Coming away from the Australian Grand Prix, I’m cautiously excited. The VF17 is clearly very fast, enough to compete with the Williams and Force India perhaps but reliability problems need to be fixed immediatey to capitalize on early points before said teams and the McLarens and Renaults of the world with bigger budgets spend rapidly on R&D with no token program for 2017 to catch up.

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Red Bull Racing, Australian Grand Prix Review

Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.
Saturday 25 March 2017.
World Copyright: Andy Hone/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _ONY1887

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo had a weekend to forget in home grand Prix at Albert Park.

The Australian crashed in qualifying which meant he started from tenth on the grid: “That was a tough one today. I don’t crash into the barriers often and the last place I want to do that is at home.

“I feel I crashed for the right reason, as I was basically pushing and trying to find the limit and things happen, so let’s say I’m not disappointed by the approach, it was just more of a frustrating outcome, starting 10th instead of being under the top 5.”

Things did not get any better for the home favourite as he suffered issues with his car that caused Ricciardo to not complete the race, Red Bull principal Christian Horner said: “A really frustrating start to the race with Daniel having a problem with what looks like a sensor on the gearbox stopping the car in sixth gear on the formation lap.”

Max Verstappen had a solid but unspectacular race as the Dutchmen finished fifth:” The start was really good but it was just a shame that out of turn one I had dirty air ahead of me, this allowed Kimi to stay on the outside and get in front of me again.

“From then on the pace wasn’t too bad, I could follow him pretty well which was a nice surprise and I had no pressure from behind me. It was positive to see we weren’t that far from Ferrari and Mercedes over a full race distance, this was a concern this morning but I’m relieved now to finish within touching distance.”

Dominic Rust

 

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Wolff: “Ferrari had the quicker car”

Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.
Sunday 26 March 2017.
World Copyright: Andy Hone/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _ONY2411

Toto Wolff has conceded that Mercedes was simply not fast enough to prevent Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel from taking the chequered flag in Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Victory for Mercedes had appeared to be nothing more than a formality earlier in the weekend, with Lewis Hamilton topping almost every practice session on his way to a 62nd career pole position, and Ferrari’s headline testing pace seemingly nowhere to be seen.

But when it came to it in the race, Hamilton was unable to sprint away from Vettel off the line or catch up again once the German had assumed the lead—and although tyres and strategy played a part in Mercedes’ loss, Wolff admitted that even in perfect circumstances his team would still have struggled to keep Vettel at bay for long:

“Some races you win, some races you lose, and when the days come where another team has done a better job, you need to accept that with humility and recognise their performance,” he said.

“Today Sebastian and Ferrari were well-deserved winners. From the early stages of the race, it was clear Sebastian was very quick because Lewis wasn’t able to pull away.”

Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.
Friday 24 March 2017.
World Copyright: Sam Bloxham/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _J6I1751

Wolff also defended the decision to bring Hamilton in for an early stop on lap seventeen, which saw him rejoin the track behind Max Verstappen and unable to clear the Dutchman in enough time to remain ahead of Vettel:

“Sebastian came into the window where the undercut was possible and we had the feeling at that point that [Hamilton’s] tyres were not lasting. It was the team’s impression on the pit wall looking at the data and Lewis’ in the car, too.

“With all the clear risks of coming out in traffic we were between a rock and a hard place, really, and we went for it. But Ferrari played it very well—and they had the quicker car today.

“Now the job for us is to learn the lessons from this race, understand why we didn’t perform to our maximum today and keep working hard to improve the car in every area.”

James Matthews, Editor-at-Large

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Totally Toro Rosso in Australia

The week started on Tuesday for our boys, with a filming day on the beach to promote team sponsor Casio’s new Edifice watches. This meant it was time to swap their race suits for wetsuits, and for a splash in the water on some paddleboards. While Carlos was in the water he got greeted by a friend, later joking he doesn’t like shark fins.

Moving on to Thursday it was autograph day, the drivers signing photos, hats, shirts, and anything else the public wanted. Neither of the boys had press conference duties this week, so it was learning the final few bits before Friday.

Then here came Friday morning and FP1 and F1 was back for 2017 in our new livery. In first practice the boys took it steady, learning and collecting data for the team, and doing race simulations to find the perfect set-up. At the end Sainz set a 1:26.4s and Kvyat a 1:26.5s being P11 and 12 respectively, completing 49 laps collectively in the process. Then after lunch the afternoon session started and the boys completed 73 laps between them, with Carlos finishing P7 and Daniil P10, finishing Friday with no major issues.

Saturday soon came and there was one final hour of practice, one final chance for the team to make any major changes before the cars are in parc fermé. Finishing off in 8th and 9th our two drivers were split by only a tenth of a second n a close weekend between them, with Carlos always coming ahead so far.

Then it was time for a spot of lunch before qualifying. Both of our drivers sailed through Q1 and Q2 making it into Q3 where we finished P8 and P9, ahead of Ricciardo who span. So with two cars in the top 10 it was time to carry on our record of scoring points here in Australia for the 7th time in 8 years.

Finally Sunday arrived and all our hard work over the past two days came down to keeping it clean and finishing well today. After a second formation lap due to a car pulling up in Ricciardo’s empty grid spot, our boys started from eighth and ninth and made it safely through the first corner in one piece. First in the pits on lap eighteen was Carlos, who was still in eighth, changing to the yellow-walled soft tyre. Daniil didn’t make his pit stop still lap 34 which allowed him to change onto the faster supersoft tyre.

He soon caught up with his teammate, who didn’t make it hard for the Russian to overtake as they were on different strategies. After that, Kvyat was right on the gearbox of Perez in the pink Force India, until he was forced back into the pits on lap 47 to replace an empty air bottle to top up pneumatic valve system. When he rejoined he only lost one position to his teammate and was still in the points in ninth. This is how we finished our first race of the season, with Sainz eighth and Kvyat ninth and both scoring points for the team.

Richard Hindson

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Ferrari’s Australian Grand Prix Review: Sebastian Vettel’s victory in Melbourne is a start, now they must maintain it

Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.
Sunday 26 March 2017.
World Copyright: Sam Bloxham/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _W6I4899  via PirelliThey say that one swallow doesn’t make a summer.

But in the Australian sunshine, there is no question that Ferrari will certainly be feeling a warm glow after they became the first team other than Mercedes to lead the World Championship with Sebastian Vettel’s victory.

The win was Vettel’s 43rd, but from the way the four-time World Champion celebrated his fourth Ferrari success you’d think it was his very first.

It was a disappointing 2016 for both Vettel and Ferrari, in which much was promised but little delivered and it appears lessons have been learnt.

After all the flattering to deceive in 2016, in which they never could get over the line when in a race-winning position, Ferrari have given nothing away unlike the public confidence exuded 12 months ago.

After multiple strategy mistakes like in and Canada Melbourne last year, in which the Prancing Horse managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on both occasions, their strategy became a laughing stock.

Internally they will know that after all the tricks and flicks in testing that season cannot play out in a similar fashion

So it took a lot of bottle not to just simply follow Hamilton into the pits on lap 17 and instead push it to lap 23.

By that point Hamilton had spent six laps staring at the back of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, and with Vettel having more clean laps than not, he was able to squeeze ahead of the Mercedes – and crucially the Red Bull.

It appears Vettel has his mojo back too.

His angst with everything and everyone last season a lot of critics questioned his motivation.

When Ferrari were a second or more off the pace on Friday, Vettel, who had spent the winter telling anyone who’d listen that Mercedes were the quickest, was unruffled in a way that he perhaps wasn’t towards the end of last year.

His drive to victory was calmness personified and has raised hopes that we might finally see a battle between Hamilton and Vettel for the title in a fight not too dissimilar to the days of Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher.

Kimi Raikkonen had a less illustrious drive to fourth, with his only half-battle coming in the shape of Max Verstappen chasing him from time to time.

The 2007 champion admitted the team found setup issues after qualifying – too late to make changes to the car.

Victory for Ferrari isn’t a huge shock, despite the upgrades brought in by Mercedes. The Scuderia were quick in testing and less than 0.3 slower in qualifying despite a so-so sector one for Vettel on his flier.

This result by no means guarantees that Ferrari will be at the top of the tree, or fighting with Mercedes through the season.

It doesn’t guarantee either that Red Bull, despite being slower than expected, are completely out of the running already.

The litmus test for Ferrari is whether they can maintain the pace for the rest of the season.

Indeed, one swallow does not make a summer.

But if Ferrari sustain this battle with Mercedes, they’ll have plenty more birds singing.

Jack Prentice

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Australian Grand Prix – Ferrari is back to the top

Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.
Sunday 26 March 2017.
World Copyright: Zak Mauger/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _56I1907

What a race to start the season, Sebastian Vettel claimed the first chequered flag of the year and returned to the top after almost two years. Ferrari’s last victory was in Singapore in 2015.

The new regulations affected the outcome of the race, the cars were faster, last season Daniel Ricciardo set the fastest lap, 1:28.997s on lap 49, by comparing this lap with Raikkonen’s fastest lap which was 1:26.538 it is obvious that the 2017 cars are almost three seconds faster. Furthermore, overtakes are harder this season, Lewis Hamilton was struggling to pass Max Verstappen and that might cost him the victory.

This means only one thing, this season will be more interesting and looks like Ferrari have the answer to Mercedes’ dominance.

Lights Out

A clean start allowed to Lewis Hamilton to retain his lead, Sebastian Vettel was close to the three-time world champion, followed by Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen. The two Finns had their own battle at the beginning of the race, but Bottas increased his lead and remained third until the end of the race.

Ferrari showed that they have the pace to stay behind the Mercedes. Vettel was about 1.5s behind Hamilton during the first 16 laps. The Brit, couldn’t increase his lead and that forced Mercedes to take the risk and call him into the pits on lap 17.

Hamilton, re-joined behind Max Verstappen, it was one of the most critical moments of the race. Mercedes told to Lewis that he had to pass Max, but Lewis was unable to do that. Ferrari took advantage and let Vettel on the track until lap 23. The German re-joined ahead of both Verstappen and Hamilton, and he needed only two laps to increase his gap to six seconds.

We were worried about the undercut possibility, we knew we would come out behind Max and Kimi and that’s what happened. Ferrari played it very well.” said Wolff.

When Max Verstappen pitted, Lewis Hamilton was far behind Vettel and he couldn’t challenge him for the first place. Bottas was closing to Lewis in the final laps, and he finished just 1.2s behind his team-mate in his race debut with Mercedes.

Max Verstappen scored 10 points for his team as Daniel Ricciardo had a bad weekend at his home race. The Australian, took a five-place grid penalty because he had to change his gearbox. He started the race from the pitlane, as his car stopped while he was driving to take his place on the grid, due to electrical issues and finally retired after some engine problems.

Felipe Massa had also a quiet evening, the Brazilian finished behind Verstappen on the sixth place, whilst his team-mate and rookie driver retired on his F1 debut race.

It was a pleasant weekend for Toro Rosso and Sahara Force India. Esteban Ocon scored his first point in his Formula One career and both teams finished in the points. Sainz and Kvyat finished eighth and ninth respectively, whilst Perez finished seventh.

It is too early for safe conclusions, Ferrari looks strong and competitive, Sebastian Vettel had the pace to remain behind Hamilton in the first laps, whilst Mercedes seems that they have difficulties to make the right calls when they are not leading.

Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.
Sunday 26 March 2017.
World Copyright: Steven Tee/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _O3I3200

Best moment of the race

Esteban Ocon’s and Nico Hulkenberg’s overtake on Fernando Alonso, a few laps before the end of the race. Three cars with three different colours (yellow, pink and orange) were running on the same line.

By Victor Archakis – @FP_Passion

Formula 1 Editor

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Ayrton Senna and the Unfinished Bussiness with Williams

2011 Monaco Grand Prix – Saturday
Monte Carlo, Monaco
28th May 2011
Pastor Maldonado, Williams FW33 Cosworth.
World Copyright:Steven Tee/LAT Photographic
ref: Digital Image _A8C6407

What do you think when you say Williams F1? It’s hard to say because there has been a long journey since the famous team was born in 1977.  Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve: this illustrious list of big names who won the title driving a Williams.

An incredible and dominating era shared with McLaren and Ferrari, that goes from the early eighties to the end of the millennium. But when I think of Williams I see a yellow lid in front of me, I hear a Brazilian accent  shouting above the screaming engine,  I feel a green flag flying in my beating heart, the legend of Ayrton Senna that tells an unfinished story from the FW16, this car was, unfortunately, the last car he would ever drive, the car he wanted so much to win the title in but betrayed him by not even finishing one race. The Williams team certainly has been through many different situations in its time: Wins, World championships, domination, good times and bad but they have always come through the tough times to fight another day.

Many other great drivers have passed through the British team during its forty years, Jenson Button started his career here in 2000, showing all his great talent.

So we can say, for sure, that Frank Williams has always been able to discover new and talented drivers. Montoya, Ralf Schumacher, Rosberg to name but a few. Some of the biggest names in Formula One history have, at one point, driven for the Williams team. This year marks 20 years since they won their last world championship with Jacques Villeneuve at the helm. The competition has seen many new teams joining over the years, Ferrari, Renault, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren, some of these teams doing a better job, sadly Williams has lived for many years in a kind of limbo and it seems they can’t get out of the rut they are stuck in.

So now, when I think of Williams most of my thoughts refer to the former glory of this legendary, once dominating team, Times have changed, they have never given up.  I fondly think of Sir Frank always there no matter was is thrown at him and the team he holds so dearly to his heart. Who knows maybe one day, with the right engine, we will see Willliams return to their winning ways.

Massimo Trapanese

 

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