2008 Singapore GP (Full Race)

The first race at Marina Bay, Singapore in F1 history. I thought you would like to see this before next weekends GP ;) And as I always say... ENJOY!

Pirelli move to supersoft tyres for Russian round

Pirelli have announced their tyre compound nominations for the next three Grands Prix of the season. Singapore’s and Japan’s remain unchanged from 2014, with only those for Russia - which debuted on the F1 calendar last year - being altered for 2015.

With no significant change in the asphalt at Russia’s Sochi Autodrom, Pirelli’s data tells them that a softer step is possible, hence their nomination of the yellow soft tyre and the red supersoft - a combination that should cope well with the circuit’s wide range of corners and smooth surface.

The same compound pairing will be used by the teams in Singapore. The soft and supersoft are perfectly suited to the street circuit characteristics of the Marina Bay track, providing a rapid warm-up and maximum mechanical grip.

In Japan, by contrast, Pirelli have nominated the two hardest compounds in their range, the orange hard and the white medium. This is to cater for Suzuka’s high-energy demands and fast corners, which ask a lot from the tyres. With the Japanese round held earlier in the season compared to last year, conditions are expected to be slightly warmer.

At a glance - 2015 tyre compounds:

Australia - soft, medium
Malaysia - hard, medium
China - soft, medium
Bahrain - soft, medium
Spain - medium, hard
Monaco - supersoft, soft
Canada - supersoft, soft
Austria - supersoft, soft
Great Britain – medium, hard
Hungary – soft, medium
Belgium - soft, medium
Italy - soft, medium
Singapore - supersoft, soft
Japan - medium, hard
Russia - supersoft, soft

(source: f1.com)

Haas to debut car at first test of 2016

The new Haas Formula One team will give their 2016 car its first official track outing at the opening pre-season test of the year next March. That is according to the American squad’s team principal Guenther Steiner.

In recent seasons even existing teams have often struggled to - or chosen not to - have their cars ready for the first test of the year, but Steiner is confident Haas’s Ferrari-powered machine will be completed in time.

“On 1st March 2016, on the first all-team test day,” Steiner told Formula1.com when asked about its debut. “It could be that we will perform a shake-down one day before - on 29th February - but nothing more is planned so far.”

Next year is expected to see a reduction in pre-season testing, with the three (four-day) sessions of 2015 cut to just two (four-day) sessions - a change that won’t aid Haas’s preparations for their first F1 campaign.

“I wouldn’t say [it’s] a problem - it is what it is,” conceded Steiner, philosophically. “We have to live with it.”

Haas are hoping to announce their driver line-up later this month, with at least one experienced F1 name expected to feature, and will lodge their official entry for next year’s championship with the FIA in October.

(source: f1.com)

Winners and Losers - Italy

Once his Monza win was finally confirmed, Lewis Hamilton was able to celebrate extending his championship lead to over 50 points. Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg, meanwhile, was philosophical on his retirement, after a weekend in which everything seemed to conspire against him. It was mixed fortunes too at Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel revelled in his first podium appearance in red on the Scuderia’s home soil, but Kimi Raikkonen could only wonder what might have been after his disastrous start. The happiest team were Williams, who scored their best points haul of the year, unlike Lotus, who effectively lost both cars at the very first turn. We take a team-by-team look back at Sunday’s action…


Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton, P1
Nico Rosberg, Retired lap 51, engine

It was a bittersweet race for Mercedes. Hamilton utterly dominated and raved about his F1 W06 Hybrid’s balance. And though there were post-race concerns about his car having one tyre 0.3 psi below the newly-mandated 19.5 psi safety limit by Pirelli, obliging the team to speed him up at the end just as his tyres were going off, all was well as the stewards said no further action was necessary once the situation had been thoroughly investigated.

Rosberg was on his back foot all weekend, the more so when his new-spec engine had to be changed after a coolant pipe fractured. He fought back on to Vettel’s tail with two laps to go, but the six-race-old motor finally cried enough and left him without any points for the first time this season.


Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel, P2
Kimi Raikkonen, P5

The race promised more than Ferrari could ultimately deliver, and they were well beaten by Mercedes. But Vettel was very happy with his second place, describing it as the best of his career on an emotional level. Raikkonen, however, had anti-stall problems at the start which cost him dear, and obliged him to fight back all afternoon from 14th at the end of lap one to his eventual fifth-place finish.


Williams

Felipe Massa, P3
Valtteri Bottas, P4

Massa and Bottas held third and fourth places until the pit stops, when they were both undercut by Rosberg. After that the Brazilian held fourth quite comfortably until his three-lap older medium tyres began to go off and the Finn moved in. They were nose to tail over the final three laps, but Massa just held on as Bottas encountered a system problem which cut power. 27 points was Williams’ best score of the season so far.


Force India

Sergio Perez, P6
Nico Hulkenberg, P7

Perez drove a great race to sixth, only surrendering fifth to Raikkonen in the closing laps. Hulkenberg should have been close to him, but suffered from a first-lap clash with Maldonado which damaged his VJM08’s floor and left him struggling for grip in the second half.


Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo, P8
Daniil Kvyat, P10

The two Red Bull drivers hauled themselves nicely up from the back of the grid and into the points, exploiting the great chassis that the RB11 has become even if they struggled on the straights. Both started on medium tyres, did long opening stints, then switched to softs. That worked out particularly well for Ricciardo, as he grabbed eighth from Ericsson right at the end.


Sauber

Marcus Ericsson, P9
Felipe Nasr, P13

Ericsson once again drove a very strong race and deserved better than his eventual ninth on a track that suited the C34. Nasr clobbered Grosjean on the opening lap, and was always doomed thereafter as he tried to battle back.


Toro Rosso

Carlos Sainz, P11
Max Verstappen, P12

Both drivers struggled thanks to race penalties; Sainz had a five-second one for gaining an advantage after leaving the track, Verstappen a drive-through for being released with loose bodywork in qualifying. But both said the STR10 had great pace, and believed they’d have been points contenders without those misfortunes.


McLaren

Jenson Button, P14
Fernando Alonso, P18, DNF

Button made a great start but inevitably fell back as others hit their stride. He started on soft Pirellis and switched to mediums, whereas Alonso did the opposite. They were having a great scrap in the closing stages until the Spaniard stopped with electronic control board failure.


Marussia

Will Stevens, P15
Roberto Merhi, P16

There were no real problems here, as the drivers secured the team’s eighth two-car finish of the season.


Lotus

Romain Grosjean, retired lap one, suspension damage
Pastor Maldonado, retired lap one, suspension damage

After Spa, Monza was a brutal let-down for Lotus. Both cars started in the top ten, but both retired on the opening lap with suspension damage. Grosjean was hit by Nasr, Maldonado by Hulkenberg.

(source: f1.com)

2015 Italian GP at Monza (Full Race)

The full race from Monza.

2015 PREDICTORS LEAGUE standings after the Italian GP

1. James Redman - 99 points

2. Peter McLaren - 91 points

3. Leonardo Machado - 90 points 

4. Jonathan M Yountz - 81 points

5. Ryan Lane - 76 points

6. Larry Gallagher - 68 points

7. AE (F1-4-LIFE) - 66 points

8. JT (F1-4-LIFE) - 64 points

9. Shaun Magnano - 59 points

10. Rich Kewell - 53 points

11. MW (F1-4-LIFE) - 44 points

12. MH (F1-4-LIFE) - 40 points

13. Tim Saunders - 36 points

14. Jaakko Iivari - 35 points

15. Elliott Robson - 31 points

16. David Perry - 26 points

17. Dylan Curry - 24 points

18. Daniel Vanderburg - 23 points

18. Archie Donato - 23 points

18. Neil Marchant - 23 points

21. Abijith Kv - 18 points

21. Marcel Kircher - 18 points

23. Yõrt Martö - 13 points

24. Richard Gehl - 10 points

24. Chris Kemp - 10 points

24. Eric Lemens - 10 points

27. Rodrigo Gonzales - 8 points

27. Corey Lea - 8 points

27. Vitor Lobo - 8 points

30. Anthony Brian Ayrton Senna - 6 points

31. Todd Steinberg - 5 points

32. Белмин Aљоски - 3 points

32. Tom Maw - 3 points

32. Haresh Reddy - 3 points

32. Paul Beecham - 3 points

36. Steven Peli - 0 points

36. Daniel Kelleher - 0 points

36. Martin Hubbard - 0 points
36. Sharon Walmsley - 0 points

36. Alexandre Langlois - 0 points

We have had 40 different predictors this season.

POINTS: 1st - 3
2nd - 5
3rd - 10

+ possible bonus points

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.

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, MW & MH. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway.

2015 Italian Grand Prix review

So the last European Grand Prix is now over and it's time to break it down.

The start was very exciting because Kimi Räikkönen started from the front row. Haven't seen that in a while! But what happened? The lights went out and everybody passed him! EVERYBODY!

Kimi said that at first everything was normal but then the car went in anti-stall and couldn't go in 1st gear. After a while it worked perfectly but he was in last position.

Ferrari didn't admit that there was any problems with the car. So it was either Kimi's fault or Ferrari didn't want to admit that there was anything wrong with the car at their home GP. I have no idea who's fault it was but it was embarrassing! Feel sorry for Kimi.

Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas passed Nico Rosberg and were now behind Lewis Hamilton who was in the lead obviously. Rosberg was driving with an older version of their engine and it seemed to make his race more difficult than Hamilton's. Why did Hamilton get a new engine and not Rosberg? It is obvious who is the number one driver in the team.

Even though Kimi had a very bad start he managed to get his car from last to 3rd before his pit stop. Great overtaking! Ferrari messed up his race by keeping him out too long so that he would keep Rosberg away from Vettel who was 2nd. Kimi also realized this and said on the radio "come on guys! let's pit already!". Ferrari gave him permission to pit and he did. Just before he got to the pit lane he almost got hit by Roberto Merhi. He had too much speed and got a surprise when Kimi braked before the pits. Luckily nobody got hurt. Kimi dropped back again because of the pitstop but managed to finish 6th.

Massa is having one of the best seasons of his life if you think what kind of car he is driving. He drove a great race and even kept a very fast Bottas behind him. It was very close that Bottas would have overtaken him on the last lap.

Hamilton had a terrible last few laps. He got a message on the radio to set fast laps back to back and they couldn't tell him why. But I know why! Hamilton had illegal tires and Mercedes were sure that he would get a time penalty after the race. They couldn't tell Hamilton what was going on because the FIA was listening and they hoped that they wouldn't notice any problems. They did later though but Hamilton still got to keep his win and got no penalty! Why not?

Hamilton's day got even better when his teammate Nico Rosberg retired with his older engine and gave the Englishman a 25 point advantage.

Sebastian Vettel was second and no surprise there. He always takes the maximum amount of points from every race. I'm not a Vettel fan but I rank him much higher than most of you guys do. He can get good results with any car!

And now it's time for my predictions and the results:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT

Race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - WRONG. He retired after his engine failed.
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - WRONG. Vettel was 2nd and Massa was 3rd.

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT

Surprise: Valtteri Bottas, Williams - I was suprised that he couldn't get pass Massa but that's it.

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 & 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