1982 Italian GP (Monza) - Full Race!

I have not posted these for a while so here is one interesting race for you guys: 

The 1982 Monza GP!

Lotus hoping for "good step" from Hockenheim updates

Lotus technical director Nick Chester says the team are hopeful that a raft of upgrades to the E22 will significantly boost performance at Hockenheim next weekend.

The Enstone-based team have narrowly missed out on cracking the top ten across the last three Grands Prix, meaning Romain Grosjean's eighth-place finishes in Barcelona and Monaco remain the only occasions when they have scored points so far this season.

Chester however says a number of upgrades, coupled with what they were able to learn during the two-day Silverstone test, could lift Lotus in Germany.

"Our development schedule is continuing at full pace," Chester explained. "We will have a new front wing, which is a decent improvement, a cooling upgrade and some smaller bodywork updates to increase downforce. 

"Between what we have learnt in the Silverstone test and these upgrades, we hope to make a good step forward."

Asked whether Hockenheim will suit the E22, Chester added: "It's quite a mixed track with a couple of long straights and a medium-speed final section. Two of the straights are also linked by a medium to high-speed corner, which is good for us, as is having soft and supersoft tyres for this circuit."

Grosjean meanwhile said next weekend's race will be an examination of just how far Lotus have improved since the start of the season.

"We've worked hard to improve performance in the low-speed corners, so Hockenheim will be a good test of how much we've progressed," he said. 

"Apart from the run down to the hairpin there are no real straights to speak about so power unit emphasis will be on acceleration rather than top speed. 

"The weather played a part in the Silverstone weekend, just as it did at Hockenheim in 2012, so we'll need to stay on our toes. I think as a team we have more to gain than lose from any weather changes so we should view them as an opportunity - the E22 seemed to like the damp conditions at Silverstone."

The Frenchman, who has only once started from higher than tenth in 2014, said that Lotus must also address their performances on Saturday, adding: "We can't afford to give our rivals a head-start. A top ten grid place will be the first target for Hockenheim."

(source: f1.com)

Football fever sweeps the paddock

Football fever has swept through the Formula One paddock in recent weeks with many drivers and team members making a special effort to watch their teams in action during the FIFA World Cup.

Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel were amongst the German contingent who enjoyed their national team’s victory over Romain Grosjean's France in the quarter finals on the Silverstone race weekend, whilst Williams’ Felipe Massa was delighted to see Brazil triumph over Colombia at the same stage of the competition.

However, a few days later, and just hours after he’d set the fastest time on the first day of the post-race test in Great Britain, Massa’s beloved seleção were dismantled 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals. 

“[It] was mega fun,” tweeted a delighted Rosberg afterwards, “but feel sorry for all Brazilians!”

Sebastian Vettel was similarly pleased: “Honestly I am very proud of how they played,” he said on the second day of the Silverstone test. “The result was obviously more dominant than everyone expected, but the final will be tight. I hope we win - it is a great chance.” 

The organisers of the upcoming Formula 1 Grosser Preis Santander von Deutschland 2014 at Hockenheim are offering fans a chance to benefit from the German team’s success. 

During the World Cup, fans are being given a discount on weekend tickets of 11 euros for every goal that Germany scores in regulation or extra-time. So, after the German team’s monumental 7-1 scoreline against Brazil in the semi-final, fans received a discount of 77 euros per ticket!

Germany play Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday evening and you can be sure that Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel will be tuning in.

(source: f1.com)

Bianchi fastest for Ferrari as Silverstone test ends

Jules Bianchi made the most of his late call-up from Ferrari to set the pace on the second and final day of Formula One’s in-season test at Silverstone.

The Frenchman, drafted in to replace Kimi Raikkonen - who sustained bruising in a crash during Sunday’s race in Great Britain - hit the front in the final hour as he worked down to a 1m 35.262s.

That was enough to put him a quarter of a second clear of midday pacesetter Daniil Kvyat, who managed 1m 35.544s in the Toro Rosso STR9.

McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen, fastest in the early stages of the day, was three tenths of a second further down the road. The Dane was the busiest man of the day, racking up 91 laps in total - two more than Bianchi - in a programme split between aero and tyre evaluations.

Sauber’s test and reserve driver Giedo van der Garde leapt up into fourth in the closing stages of the day, little over one second behind Bianchi. He brought proceedings to an early close however when he hit the barriers at Copse, triggering red flags that then flew for the final 15 minutes of the day.

"It was a pretty hard crash," he reflected. "All the lights went on so I had to go to the medical centre. They checked everything and I am fine.

"I came out of the corner I had a little snap and I caught it, but then suddenly it went the other way and I lost it completely. It's a pity because we were going quite well today."

Van der Garde added that Sauber had tried "a different programme" in the afternoon as a result of the possible ban on Front-and-Rear Interconnected Suspension (FRIC) systems.

His late surge demoted Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to fifth, with the Silverstone race winner posting a best time of 1m 36.680s.

"It wasn't an easy day today; we had great weather but unfortunately had some problems at the start of the day which meant we lost some track time," said Hamilton, who was also delayed by an engine change. "It could have been a lot worse as it could have been raining or we could have even done no laps, but some of the things we've tried in the car feel really positive."

The Briton was followed by Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, Marussia’s Max Chilton and Force India’s test and reserve driver Daniel Juncadella, who was competing in only his fourth F1 session.

Red Bull’s four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel was, like Hamilton, delayed by an engine change. He ended a day dedicated to development work for Pirelli in ninth, ahead of Charles Pic - who spent part of his day trialling the Italian manufacturer's new 18-inch prototype tyres with Lotus.

Caterham's Julian Leal rounded out the order, having lost almost six hours of running time with a CU-H issue - which also prevented the team from running Rio Haryanto as originally planned.

"With the time delay we didn't have a chance to really work on set-up options, but I was quite quickly comfortable with the balance of the car and the way the power came in," said Leal, who is now eligible to apply for an FIA Super Licence after completing more than 300 kilometres in total.

"All day I was on relatively high fuel and if we'd had a chance to do a performance run on the softs I'd have ended up with a quicker time, but overall I'm still pleased with how it went. Obviously today wasn't about times, it was about mileage, learning how to work with the team and start to understand how to maximise the performance of a 2014 F1 car, and I feel like I've made a good step with all of those."

Unofficial Wednesday times from Silverstone
1. Jules Bianchi, Ferrari, 1m 35.262s, 89 laps
2. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1m 35.544s, 55 laps
3. Kevin Magnussen, McLaren, 1m 35.593s, 91 laps
4. Giedo van der Garde, Sauber, 1m 36.327s, 84 laps
5. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m 36.680s, 47 laps
6. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1m 37.193s, 40 laps
7. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1m 37.359s, 77 laps
8. Daniel Juncadella, Force India, 1m 37.449s, 52 laps
9. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1m 39.410s, 76 laps
10. Charles Pic, Lotus, 1m 41.906s, 39 laps
11. Julian Leal, Caterham, 1m 42.635s, 51 laps

(source: f1.com)

Massa puts Williams on top at Silverstone test

Felipe Massa set the pace on the first of two days of Formula One testing at Silverstone on Tuesday.

The Williams driver clocked a time of 1m 35.242s, just 0.006s quicker than Daniel Ricciardo's best lap for Red Bull.

“The car was very competitive during the race so today we have built on a very good platform,” reported Massa. “The test today was experimenting with some parts for future races as well as a little bit for next year. 

“The car felt really good, so we know we will go to Hockenheim with a good car. The programme went to plan today and we didn't have any rain so it was a very productive day.”

Championship leader Nico Rosberg was third fastest for Mercedes after a busy session in which the team focussed on aero testing, brake cooling evaluations and engine system checks, plus set-up work.

“It's so valuable to do these test days; over a race weekend it's rare to get two runs in the day that are the same as tyres are getting old and conditions change but here we can always use new tyres, so we can really do some setup work that we don't normally get to do,” explained Rosberg.

“It was very useful and we learned a lot today. We will be able to use this information going into the next race.”

Adrian Sutil tested some new aero parts on his way to fourth for Sauber and afterwards declared himself pleased with his day’s work: “It was a good day, as I was able to do a lot of laps. In the morning everything worked well except for a small issue with the powertrain, which we were able to solve quickly.

“We worked a lot with the medium and hard tyres in order to understand them better. Besides that, we also worked on the set-up to improve the balance of the car. In the afternoon we tried different set-ups. So far we cannot say which set-up worked the best, but all in all it was a good day during which we went through our planned programme. At the end of the day we did short runs with the soft tyres, which was also helpful.”

Marussia's Jules Bianchi, who will drive for Ferrari on Wednesday, completed the top five. The Frenchman spent the day doing development work for Pirelli, but his running was curtailed by a small fire underneath his MR03’s bodywork in the afternoon session. 

McLaren test and reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne, having his second run of the year in the MP4-29, was sixth fastest, just ahead of the Force India of Sergio Perez.

Jean-Eric Vergne clocked the eighth fastest time of the day, but after a productive morning his afternoon was compromised as Toro Rosso ran into technical problems whilst shaking down some new energy store batteries.

Pastor Maldonado was ninth fastest for Lotus, just ahead of the Ferrari of Pedro de la Rosa. Ferrari, like Marussia, focused purely on tyre development work for Pirelli on Tuesday, however the Spaniard’s running on prototype 2015 tyres was brought to a premature end by a coolant leak.

“It was great to be able to drive the actual car after so much work in the simulator, especially at a track like Silverstone,” said De la Rosa.

“I think today was very useful both for me and for the team. We worked a lot on race simulation, always running with a high fuel load, so as to understand as much as possible about the new tyres. We learned a lot and even if I can’t make a direct comparison to this year’s tyres, the feeling I got is that they do represent a step forward.”

Completing the timesheet was young British driver Will Stevens in the Caterham.

“I’ve done a lot of mileage already this year in the 2014 car but all in the simulator, so it was really good to be in the real car and to have a decent day at Silverstone,” he said.

“The morning session was a bit stop/start as we had a few software issues that needed fixing, but we still completed 71 laps by the time we stopped break and by then I was increasingly comfortable in the car.

“By the end of the day we’d completed 13 runs with a total of 95 laps and have a lot of data for the guys back at the factory to work through. I know the plan tomorrow for Julian and Rio is similar so hopefully we can have another productive day and leave Silverstone on a positive note. After my day today that’s exactly what I’m going to do!”

Testing concludes at Silverstone on Wednesday when Lotus will be demoing Pirelli's prototype 18-inch tyres.

Unofficial Tuesday times from Silverstone
1. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1m 35.242s, 42 laps
2. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1m 35.248s, 71 laps
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m 35.573s, 89 laps
4. Adrian Sutil, Sauber, 1m 35.674s, 73 laps
5. Jules Bianchi, Marussia, 1m 36.148s, 108 laps
6. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 1m 36.462s, 71 laps
7. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1m 36.583s, 79 laps
8. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1m 36.688s, 28 laps
9. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1m 37.131s, 97 laps
10. Pedro de la Rosa, Ferrari, 1m 37.988s, 49 laps
11. Will Stevens, Caterham, 1m 40.627s, 95 laps

(source: f1.com)

Bianchi to replace Raikkonen at Silverstone test

Ferrari have confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen will miss this week’s test at Silverstone to aid his recovery from the bruising he sustained in a high-speed crash on lap one of Sunday’s race in Great Britain.

The 34-year-old will be replaced at the test by Marussia driver Jules Bianchi, a Ferrari Driver Academy member since 2010.

Raikkonen brought out the red flags in the early stages of Sunday’s race after losing control of his car on the Wellington Straight and striking the barriers with an impact measured at 47G. 

The Finn was pictured limping away from his badly damaged F14 T following the accident, but Ferrari team principal Marco Mattiacci has said that he sustained no serious injuries: “The most important news right now is that Kimi is alright, even though the impact with the barriers was a heavy one. 

"He has some bruising and will now be resting to be in shape for the next race.”

Raikkonen’s accident compounded a miserable weekend for the 2007 world champion in which he was also eliminated from qualifying in Q1.

(source: f1.com)

2014 British Grand Prix review

Some of you readers said that it was a boring race but I disagree. Silverstone has many times showed us that the track is not only a classic but gives us interesting races.

Right at the start my eyes was on the two Ferraris and two Williams's. Kimi Räikkönen overtook several cars including his teammate Fernando Alonso. Felipe Massa had a terrible start and dropped to 21st. Valtteri Bottas start was awesome! He jumped to 9th position.

Kimi was fighting very aggressively and when Alonso came next to him he went off right away. Then when he tried to come back on track he lost control of the car and had a 47G crash. That is a very hard crash! Felipe Massa was at the wrong place at the wrong time and got hit by Kimi's car.

The first thing Kimi asked on the radio was "is Felipe ok?" and Massa asked Williams the same thing about Kimi. Two former teammates still caring for each other. That's nice.

Then they fixed the barrier for 1 hour! What the hell was that?! In Monaco they fix barriers in 5 minutes! A bit weird if you ask me. Didn't they practice situations like this or what was the problem? At least we got news from Ferrari that Kimi is OK.

Then after 1 hour they continued racing and the McLarens were 2nd and 3rd at best but what happened then? Why couldn't they hold the positions? It was almost like they had vanished from the race. OK it was probably hard to keep up with Hamilton and Bottas who were extremely fast. Button was 4th in the end so it was the best possible result for McLaren I guess.

Mercedes had technical problems again and Nico Rosberg retired. Lewis Hamilton got 25 points more than Rosberg from Silverstone. Just what he and the rest of us fans needed. I am happy that the championship is not getting boring! But who would have won if Rosberg would have finished the race? I am not answering that!

What else happened? Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel had a nice battle for positions but why did they have to complain and cry so much about every single move they did? Is it because they are both used to be the number 1 driver in the team and get grumpy when the better driver doesn't let you pass? I don't know the answer to that, I was just saying.

Everybody was so interested of the Alonso vs. Vettel battle that nobody noticed that Daniel Ricciardo was higher up and kicked both of their asses again! Bottas and Ricciardo are the future of F1 so get used to those two being on the podium.

And now here are my predictions and the actual results:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - WRONG. It was the other Mercedes.

The race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - WRONG. He retired and Valtteri Bottas was 2nd.
3. Felipe Massa, Williams - WRONG. He retired right after the start and Daniel Ricciardo was 3rd.

Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - WRONG. It was the other Mercedes again.

Surprise: Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber. He will get his best result of the season! - WRONG. He retired so we will never find out.

Remember to post your own predictions to our F1-4-LIFE PREDICTORS LEAGUE.

The rules:

POINTS:  1st - 3  2nd - 5  3rd - 10 

HOW IT WORKS: the aim of the game is simply predict who comes where in the race (top3). A total of 18 points can be won on a race day. If you get winner and and 3rd place right but 2nd wrong you get 13 points same if you get 1 correct. eg. 2nd you get 5 points. If a driver wins the race and you said he would come 2nd or 3rd no points would be awarded. Same if he came in another position, and you predicted that wrong. A table will be posted up every race weekend. The point scoring system will change once the cars become more competitive. Everyone will say a merc 1,2 so it won't be close or fun.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PREDICTIONS: send an email to f14lifeblog@gmail.com or message the Facebook page to submit your predictions. You have until lights out to make them. If you submit them when the race has started they won't count. So be quick! like the Mercedes. 

THE PRIZE: the winner of the league will win themselves a admin place on the F1 4 LIFE page along side JT, AE & MW. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway. We may also come up with some other prize if it helps. 

THIS TIME YOU ALSO GET BONUS POINTS! PREDICT POLE POSITION AND FASTEST LAP CORRECTLY TO EARN 2 EXTRA POINTS! 

That's it for today and if you want to send me feedback then email me: f14lifeblog@gmail.com