F1-4-LIFE - Fan of the month

2014 Japanese Grand Prix preview

Hello again! It's the 26th time Suzuka hosts an F1 event and it seems that this GP is here to stay. So many championships have been decided here and so many legendary memories.

Take a look at Ayrton Senna's pole lap from 1988:

Senna-Prost battles in 1988-1990, Häkkinen-Schumacher in 1998-2000 and also Kimi Räikkönen overtaking Fisichella on the last lap and winning the race in 2005.

Lewis Hamilton won the very wet Japanese GP back in 2007 only it was at Fuji, not at Suzuka. I tried to find you guys some videos from Fuji but I only found crap. If you find any good videos then lucky you! I have the whole GP recorded at home but am not allowed to upload it to YouTube.

Let's move on..

This track is more important for Hamilton than Fuji was because his idol Ayrton Senna secured his championship here more than once. Hamilton will be very hungry for this win. Even more when he got the lead in the championship in the last race. 

My guess is if Hamilton's car works he will have a perfect weekend and Nico Rosberg will be right behind him. 

Sebastian Vettel has always been good here and he got hungry after the last podium. He will beat Daniel Ricciardo here but it won't be easy. He won't be unstoppable like last year.

Here are my predictions:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
3. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Surprise: Romain Grosjean will have a surprisingly good race for a change. He likes this track.

First to retire (5 bonus points in the PREDICTORS LEAGUE): Pastor Maldonado

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 AE, JT, MW & MH. 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. 

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

Vital Statistics - the Japanese Grand Prix

Did you know that Suzuka is one of only four circuits on the current calendar where Lewis Hamilton has not tasted victory? Or that Ferrari last triumphed at the Japanese circuit in 2004, with Michael Schumacher taking the spoils? Ahead of this weekend's 2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, we present the key facts, stats and trivia...

Circuit: Suzuka

Circuit length: 5.807 km

Number of corners: 18 (9 right, 9 left)

DRS zones: 1

Race laps: 53

Race distance: 307.471 km

2014 tyre compounds: medium, hard

Circuit lap record: 1m 31.540s - Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, 2005

First world championship Grand Prix in Japan: 1976, Fuji (won by Mario Andretti, Lotus)

Number of races: 29 (25 - Suzuka, 4 - Fuji)

Number of races at Suzuka with at least one safety-car appearance: 5 of the last 12 

Longest race at Suzuka: 1994 (1h 55m 53.532s)

Shortest race at Suzuka: 2006 (1h 23m 53.413s)

Last year's pole position: 1m 30.915s, Mark Webber, Red Bull

Last year's podium: 1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 2 - Mark Webber (Red Bull), 3 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus)

Most appearances (current field): 14 - Jenson Button; 12 - Fernando Alonso; 11 - Kimi Raikkonen; 10 - Felipe Massa; 8 - Nico Rosberg; 7 - Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton; 6 - Adrian Sutil

Most Japanese Grand Prix wins (driver): 6 - Michael Schumacher; 4 - Sebastian Vettel; 2 - Gerhard Berger, Ayrton Senna, Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinen, Fernando Alonso; 1 - Mario Andretti, James Hunt, Alessandro Nannini, Nelson Piquet, Riccardo Patrese, Rubens Barrichello, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button

Most Japanese Grand Prix wins (constructor): 9 - McLaren; 7 - Ferrari; 4 - Red Bull; 3 - Benetton, Williams; 2 - Renault; 1 - Lotus

Most Japanese Grand Prix wins (engine manufacturer): 10 - Renault; 7 - Ferrari; 5 - Ford, Mercedes; 2 - Honda 

Most Japanese Grand Prix pole positions (driver): 8 - Michael Schumacher; 4 - Sebastian Vettel; 3 - Ayrton Senna; 2 - Mario Andretti, Gerhard Berger, Jacques Villeneuve, Lewis Hamilton; 1 - Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Rubens Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher, Felipe Massa, Mark Webber

Most Japanese Grand Prix pole positions (constructor): 9 - Ferrari; 6 - McLaren; 5 - Red Bull; 4 - Williams; 2 - Lotus, Benetton; 1 - Toyota 

Most Japanese Grand Prix pole positions (engine manufacturer): 10 - Renault; 9 - Ferrari; 4 - Honda; 3 - Ford; 2 - Mercedes; 1 - Toyota 

Number of wins from pole at Suzuka: 12 from 25 races (48 percent)

Lowest winning grid position: 17th (Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, 2005)

Laps led (current field): 186 - Sebastian Vettel; 55 - Lewis Hamilton; 51 - Fernando Alonso; 50 - Jenson Button; 26 - Romain Grosjean; 10 - Kimi Raikkonen; 4 - Felipe Massa

Most podium places (current field): 5 - Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel; 2 - Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa; 1 - Kamui Kobayashi, Romain Grosjean

Number of Japanese drivers to have started at least one Grand Prix: 17

Best finish by a Japanese driver in Japan: 3rd (Aguri Suzuki, 1990 & Kamui Kobayashi, 2012)

Percentage of 2014 season complete: 74 percent

Maximum number of world championship points still available to a single driver: 150

Significant running sequences going into this weekend: Ferrari - 81 consecutive races in the points - the longest run in F1 history; Renault - 114 consecutive races in the points as an engine manufacturer; Daniel Ricciardo - 12 consecutive points finishes; Mercedes - 6 consecutive pole positions; Lewis Hamilton - 2 consecutive Grand Prix hat-tricks.

Fascinating fact: The world championship has been clinched more times in Japan - 13, if you include the 1995 Pacific Grand Prix - than in any other country. The most recent champion to be crowned Japan was Sebastian Vettel who in 2011 secured his second straight world title. This year’s main hopefuls Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton are both yet to triumph at Suzuka - Rosberg's best finish is fifth, for Williams in 2009, while Hamilton’s best is third, for McLaren in the same race.

Young blood: Max Verstappen will become the youngest person ever to drive in an official F1 session when he takes part in FP1 on Friday aged just 17. He’ll be the 16th Dutchman to take part in a world championship event. Two other Dutch drivers have taken part in sessions this year - Robin Frijns and Geido van der Garde.

Potential record breakers: Mercedes have scored seven one-two finishes this year. They need three more over the remaining five races to tie McLaren's 1988 record for the most one-twos in a season, and four more to eclipse it.

Turbo history: If a Ferrari-powered car wins the race it will be the first Ferrari turbo win since the 1988 Italian Grand Prix.

(source: f1.com)

Verstappen to replace Vergne for FP1 at Suzuka

Toro Rosso’s 2015 signing Max Verstappen will make his Formula One Grand Prix weekend debut this Friday, after the team confirmed he will replace Jean-Eric Vergne for the first practice session in Japan.

The switch, which Toro Rosso first alluded to in August, means Verstappen will drive in an official Grand Prix session just three days after his 17th birthday.

"To already be participating in a practice session is of course a dream come true," said Verstappen, who recently completed a 400-kilometre test in a two-year-old Toro Rosso and has now obtained the mandatory FIA Super Licence.

"It is good preparation for next year, even if it's not something I could have imagined a few months ago."

Despite the likely interest in his first run in Toro Rosso's STR9, Verstappen pledged to ease himself into the 90-minute Suzuka session, saying his focus would be on gaining experience rather than instantly trying to impress the team.

"I am not going there to break any records, I just want to gain experience," he said. "I have actually been to Suzuka before, to take part in a go-kart race on the track that is located next to the main circuit's back straight. My dad has raced at Suzuka many times and he told me it's not an easy track to start on. 

"For me it will be a very valuable experience, spending some time in the car and also getting used to working with everyone in the team, to prepare myself for next year. I have spent one day driving this track on the simulator, which helps a bit, but it's no substitute for driving it for real. 

"My first impression is that it's not an easy track and for example it looks hard to get the combination right in the first esses. I have one and a half hours to drive there and I'm looking forward to doing a good job, for myself and for the team."

Verstappen's FP1 drive completes a whirlwind two months for the Dutchman, who joined Red Bull's junior programme in August, and had his 2015 Toro Rosso drive confirmed just six days later. He is set to become the youngest race driver in F1 history at next year's season-opener in Australia.

Spain’s Jaime Alguersuari currently holds the record for the youngest driver to start a Grand Prix, having made his debut for Toro Rosso - in Hungary 2009 - at the age of 19 years and 125 days.

(source: f1.com)

Lotus promise substantial changes for 2015 car

Lotus's technical director Nick Chester says the team's 2015 Formula One car will feature significant changes compared to the current E22, which has underwhelmed and left the team struggling for points in 2014.

Lotus have endured reliability and performance issues with the Renault-powered E22, and the Enstone-based squad have only broken into the top ten on two occasions - in Spain and Monaco - over the opening 14 Grands Prix of the season.

"There are rule changes to the front of the chassis and the nose, so all the cars will look different next year," Chester said of next year's car, the power unit supplier of which has yet to be announced.

"On top of that, our engine installation and cooling layout will change quite a lot meaning that the car will be significantly different under the bodywork. It will be quite different."

Pastor Maldonado, who joined the team ahead of the 2014 campaign, said he has been encouraged by early signs of progress with next year's car.

"I am confident we can finish the season off in a good way which will give us some great momentum for the new season in 2015," he said.

"From what I see and learn the 2015 car looks like being a very good package. There is a lot to look forward to for sure.

"Obviously it has been a difficult year but the important thing is that we are still united as a team and emerge stronger. The team at Enstone are more determined than ever to succeed and I can say 100 percent that I have the same outlook."

Lotus chairman Gerard Lopez told Formula1.com in a recent interview that he is confident fixes will be made ahead of the 2015 season, saying that a "design mistake" had contributed to the team's plight this year.

Lotus lie eighth in the 2014 constructors' championship with eight points - six ahead of Marussia and 19 behind Toro Rosso. At this stage in 2013 they were fourth overall, and had claimed one victory and 11 podiums over the season’s first 14 races.

(source: f1.com)

F1 Games History 1987-2013

A picture of some of my old (and some new) racing games.

Here is a nostalgic video about F1 games from my childhood up till this day. Enjoy!

Now pre-order the newest game from the link below to PS3 or XBOX360. The game is not coming out on WiiU, PS4 or XBOX ONE.

Eric Boullier: Perfect harmony impossible for Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's increasingly tense fight for the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship will make it impossible for Mercedes to maintain harmony within the team over the final five Grands Prix of the season. That is the opinion of McLaren racing director Eric Boullier.

While there have already been several flashpoints between the two title hopefuls, Boullier believes it is inevitable team personnel will also become polarised in their support of one driver - a dynamic he says is exacerbated by the Silver Arrows' current dominance.

"It is an impossible task," he told a McLaren Mercedes phone-in when asked about the difficulties Mercedes face in keeping everyone in the team happy over the remaining 2014 races.

"When you are in the position of Mercedes, both drivers can win the championship - and that grows more true race by race. There is only one winner - and one loser. Nobody wants to be the loser, and this is why it is impossible to get this harmony within the team.

"To keep people happy is also very complicated. There is clearly a very strong fight between them [Hamilton and Rosberg], and obviously it is very difficult to keep the team in harmony because everyone has their own favourite, which is a human feeling."

Boullier, who managed Kimi Raikkonen in his role as team principal at Lotus before joining McLaren, added: "I am not in this situation so far, so it is okay so far for me."

McLaren are locked in a fight with Force India for fifth place in the 2014 constructors' championship. With Jenson Button retiring and Kevin Magnussen finishing 10th at the last round in Singapore, McLaren currently trail their rivals by six points, 111 to 117.

(source: f1.com)