2015 Monaco GP Drivers Press Conference (video)

Almost forgot this! Enjoy the Monaco press conference!

The Monaco Grand Prix - did you know?

Did you know that Monaco's hairpin is the slowest, tightest corner on the calendar? Or that Rubens Barrichello has recorded the most podiums in the Principality without a win? We bring you all the need-to-know stats, facts and trivia ahead of the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2015…

Monaco hosted the second round of the inaugural Formula One World Championship in 1950, the race being won by Juan Manuel Fangio in an Alfa Romeo. However, there was then a four-year gap before Formula One racing returned to Monte Carlo in 1955. The Monaco Grand Prix has remained on the calendar ever since, with only Monza having played host to more races.

Although the basic layout of the circuit has remained the same since the inaugural world championship race in 1950, several revisions have been made over the years, most notably in 1973 when the building of a swimming pool on the harbour front necessitated the use of a new section. The current final corners, La Rascasse and Anthony Noghes, were introduced in the same year in place of the Gasworks hairpin.

The circuit will be revised again for the 2015 race - very slightly. Minor realignment of Turns 12-14 (Tabac to the Swimming Pool) means this year’s lap will be 3m shorter than in 2014. As a result, Michael Schumacher’s lap record, which has stood since 2004, will change hands on Sunday.

An extraordinary amount of equipment is required to turn Monaco’s ordinary roads into a fully-fledged race circuit. Included in that list is 33 kilometres of safety rails, 20,000 square metres of wire catch fencing, 3,600 tyres for tyre barriers and 1,100 tonnes of grandstand seating for spectators. Some 650 marshals are also stationed around the track on a race weekend. 

Graham Hill was nicknamed ‘Mr Monaco’ for his five victories in the Principality, but it’s Ayrton Senna who holds the record for the most wins in Monte Carlo - six, including five consecutive victories from 1989 to 1993. Of course, were it not for an uncharacteristic crash at Portier 12 laps from the end of the 1988 race the great Brazilian would have seven victories to his name. Having finished second in 1984 and third in 1986, Senna also holds the record for most Monaco podiums with eight. 

Nico Rosberg is going for his third successive Monaco win in this year’s race. The only other drivers to have won three or more in a row are Senna, Alain Prost and Graham Hill. Fernando Alonso is the only other multiple Monaco winner on the current grid, having won in 2006 and 2007. Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel have all won once. 

In terms of manufacturers, no one has been as dominant in Monaco as McLaren, who have triumphed at the street track on 15 occasions. By contrast Ferrari have taken eight wins, but considerably more overall podium finishes (48 to McLaren’s 26).

Alonso’s 2007 win was achieved at an average speed of 155.551km/h (96.654 mph) - the fastest winning speed in Monaco history. The slowest winning speed - 98.700 km/h (61.329 mph) - came at the first race in 1950, though in the same event Juan Manuel Fangio recorded the joint biggest winning margin in Monaco history - one whole lap. Graham Hill and Denny Hulme also won by a lap, in 1964 and 1967 respectively. The smallest winning margin came in 1992 when Ayrton Senna beat Nigel Mansell by just 0.215s.

Rubens Barrichello holds the record for the most Monaco podiums without a win - five. Double world champion Jim Clark holds the record for most Monaco pole positions without winning the race - four. And Nigel Mansell holds the record for the most laps led in Monaco without ever winning - 104. Michael Schumacher - a five-time Monaco winner - holds the record for the most laps led in the Principality - 435.

As overtaking is so difficult at Monaco, it’s perhaps unsurprising that nine of the past ten races have been won from pole position (the only outlier being Lewis Hamilton’s win from third on the grid in 2008). However, pole hasn’t always been so important at the venue - in fact, the pole sitter has only emerged victorious 28 times in 61 races.

Olivier Panis holds the record for winning from the lowest grid slot, having triumphed from 14th on the grid in 1996. The same race featured the lowest number of cars running at the flag - just four. Panis incidentally is one of three drivers whose only career wins came at Monaco. The other two are Jean-Pierre Beltoise (1972) and Jarno Trulli (2004).

Two drivers have represented Monaco in Formula One history - Olivier Beretta and Louis Chiron. Chiron took his one and only F1 podium finish on home soil in 1950, finishing third behind Fangio and Alberto Ascari. Aged 50, he remains the second oldest F1 podium finisher.

At 3.34 km, Monaco is not only the shortest circuit on the calendar, it can also boast the sport’s slowest, tightest corner. Turn 6 - the hairpin - is taken at around 50 km/h (31 mph) and requires the drivers to apply maximum steering lock in order to make it around.

Not surprisingly given the nature of the circuit, the safety car tends to make frequent appearances in Monaco. In fact, ten of the last 15 races have featured one or more safety-car periods. Last year there were two, both the result of collisions: the first when Sergio Perez spin and collided with Adrian Sutil and Romain Grosjean, and the second when Sutil lost control coming out of the tunnel and crashed at the chicane.

(source: f1.com)

Pirelli to debut new supersoft tyre in Monaco

This weekend’s race in Monte Carlo will feature the only all-new tyre compound of 2015 as Pirelli introduce a brand new version of their red-marked supersoft rubber.

The new supersoft will offer the most grip and performance of Pirelli’s entire F1 range, as well as the fastest warm-up time, making it ideally suited to the unique demands of Monaco’s street circuit.

“Monaco has often been described as a circuit where overtaking is impossible, but we have seen in the past there how tyre strategy and degradation has often led to positions changing, including on-track overtaking,” commented Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery.

“In particular, the way that drivers use the new supersoft tyre, with its notable performance advantage, will be crucial.”

That advantage is expected to be at least a second per lap, making the supersoft the tyre of choice throughout the weekend - though, of course, each driver must also use the other available compound - the soft - during Sunday’s Grand Prix.

The new supersoft will provide more even contact with the track surface, improving adhesion and handling, while at the same time offering greater resistance to graining and blistering.

That increased durability, combined with Monaco’s ultra-smooth track surface - the least abrasive on the F1 calendar - means an even greater likelihood of teams attempting one-stop race strategies.


(source: f1.com)

Short video of last year's Monaco GP

Last year's Monaco Grand Prix in a nutshell! Take a look.

http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/video/2015/3/Monaco_2014_-_race_edit0.html

2015 Monaco GP Preview

Monaco, the most legendary track in Formula One. It starts on Thursday because Friday is usually a day of. There is no real explanation but some say that drivers celebrate in Monaco on Thursday so it wouldn't be ok to drive the next day. Maybe there is some other explanation nowadays? I don't know.

Monaco hosted their first F1 Grand Prix in 1950. It was also the second F1 race ever driven. Back then it was just sick how many laps they drove! 100 laps and it took over 3 hours!! Monaco has hosted GP's also before the F1 series started. The first race was in 1929.

The first F1 race in Monaco was won by Juan Manuel Fangio who started from pole and also set the fastest lap of the race. 9 cars crashed on the first lap and one car on the second. Only 7 cars finished the race and Fangio was much faster than everybody else! Alberto Ascari was 2nd 1 lap behind, Louis Chiron was 3rd 2 laps behind, Raymond Sommer 4th 3 laps behind, Prince Bira 5th 5 laps behind, Bob Gerard 6th 6 laps behind and Johnny Claes 7th also 6 laps behind.

The next time they held an official GP in Monaco was in 1955 and it has been a part of the calendar since that year.

In 1959 Monaco was the first race of the season and Jack Brabham won the race. He was such a super driver! He had his own team and won a championship with it. Who else has done that?

Monaco started the F1 season many times after 1959 but when they wanted more races in the calendar they had to fit in other races before it. The race in Monaco has always been in May.

I could talk about Monaco for days so let's stop here about the history and move on to statistics instead. Maybe I'll talk a bit about history as well.. can't control myself when it's Monaco we are talking about.

Most wins in Monaco: Ayrton Senna, 6 wins. 1984-1993 the Monaco GP was only won by Ayrton Senna or Alain Prost. Senna could have probably won in 1984 if the race wouldn't have been stopped. In 1988 he led the race almost 1 minute over Prost but made a mistake when McLaren told him several times to slow down.

Most wins by constructor - McLaren, 15 wins. Senna 5 times, Prost 4 times, Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton once and David Coulthard 2 times.

The fastest lap in Monaco is 1:14.439 and it was set by Michael Schumacher in 2004.

The track length is 3.340km and they are lapping it 78 times.

Then it's time for my predictions. Yes I know that I haven't talked much about this years race but I'll focus on this year when the race is over.

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

The race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
3. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Surprise: Sergio Perez has pushed hard in Monaco but failed almost every time. Maybe he will succeed this year?

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. For example if you get winner and and 3rd place right but 2nd wrong you get 13 points. A standings table will be posted up every race weekend. The point scoring system will probably 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!

THE PRIZE: the winner of the league will win themselves a admin place on the F1 4 LIFE page along side AE, JT, MH & 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.

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

Refuelling, faster cars among F1 plans for more thrilling racing

Refuelling is set to return to Formula One racing in 2017, governing body the FIA has announced. The proposal is among several agreed by the F1 Strategy Group, which also intends to make cars five to six seconds a lap faster by using wider tyres, reducing weight and evolving the current aerodynamic regulations.

The Strategy Group, which comprises FIA President Jean Todt, Formula One group CEO Bernie Ecclestone and six teams (McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, Force India, Red Bull and Williams), also wants to see higher revving and louder engines, and more visually aggressive cars.

For next season a proposal to allow teams to choose which two of Pirelli's four tyre compounds they run at each race has been agreed (currently Pirelli select two compounds which all teams must use).

And for this season the idea of increasing the engine allowance from four to five was rejected. Instead it was decided to maintain the current engine regulations "in consideration of the investments of the manufacturers involved in the sport and to give visibility to potential new entrants".

The Strategy Group is also investigating “a global reflection on race weekend format” and “measures to make starts only activated by the driver without any outside assistance”.

Furthermore the FIA’s statement said that a "comprehensive proposal to ensure the sustainability of the sport has emerged" and that the Strategy Group will be looking to refine this in the coming weeks in consultation with the other F1 teams.

Refuelling was banned ahead of the 2010 Formula One season, having been part of the sport for the previous 16 years. Its return will not alter the maximum race fuel allowance, currently 100kg.

All the planned changes still need to be approved by the F1 Commission and the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council before they can officially come into effect.


The FIA statement in full:

The Formula One Strategy Group met yesterday in Biggin Hill to exchange views on the current challenges that F1 faces. Besides the statuary members of the Group, representatives of the engine manufacturers were also invited.

The Strategy Group members have debated a number of levers aimed at improving the show. An initial series of measures has been voted:

For 2016:
Free choice of the two dry tyre compounds (out of four) that each team can use during the race weekend

For 2017:
Faster cars: 5 to 6 seconds drop in laptimes through aerodynamic rules evolution, wider tyres and reduction of car weight
Reintroduction of refuelling (maintaining a maximum race fuel allowance)
Higher revving engines and increased noise
More aggressive looks

A few other measures have also been discussed but require further investigation before they can be implemented:
A global reflection on race weekend format
Measures to make starts only activated by the driver without any outside assistance

Furthermore, in light of the various scenarios presented by the independent consulting company mandated by the F1 Strategy Group, at the initiative of the FIA, to work on the reduction of costs and following a constructive exchange, a comprehensive proposal to ensure the sustainability of the sport has emerged. The Strategy Group member Teams have committed to refine it in the next few weeks, in consultation with the other teams involved in the championship. On the engine side, it has been decided that stability of the rules should prevail in consideration of the investments of the manufacturers involved in the sport and to give visibility to potential new entrants. The allowance for a 5th engine to be used during the 2015 season has been rejected.

This constructive meeting between the FIA, FOM and the Teams has allowed paving the way for the future of the championship. All parties agreed to work together with an intention to firm up these proposals and submit them to the approval of the F1 Commission and the World Motor Sport Council of the FIA as soon as possible for implementation.

(source: f1.com)

2015 Spanish GP (FULL RACE)