F1 - 4 - LIFE

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

TOP 10 Formula One scandals

Monday, February 10, 2014

Top 10 Unwanted Formula 1 Records

Andrea De Cesaris

Check this interesting video! If the video doesn't work then click on this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VICd5ZDcCyM&feature=player_embedded

Sunday, February 9, 2014

1986 Australian GP Qualifying (FULL)

Comparing the 2014 teammates: Toro Rosso

http://www.f14life.blogspot.fi/2014/02/comparing-2014-teammates-mclaren.html

http://www.f14life.blogspot.fi/2014/02/comparing-2014-teammates-caterham.html

This time we have a little more experienced driver and then again we have a total newcomer (in Formula One).

The russian newcomer Daniil Kvjat is only 19 years old. He has won the Formula Renault Alps series in 2012 and the GP3-series in 2013. That's all I know about him and that's just because he hasn't had time to achieve more in his short life. From all of the russian drivers I have seen this guy impresses me the most. A new Vettel maybe? Or a complete flop? Tell me what you think.

If we take a look at Jean-Eric Vergne a.k.a. JEV then we have much more to talk about. This guy has driven in Formula One for two seasons already. Let the comparing begin!

I'll write the year, the teammate and how it went in that order. Just the way I have always done.

2012 - Daniel Ricciardo. Ricciardo got 10 points and had to retire in 1 race that year. Vergne got 16 point and retired in 4 races! In my opinion Ricciardo was totally out of Vergne's league in 2012. JEV was very good but for some reason Ricciardo got all the attention and complements.

2013 - Daniel Ricciardo. This time Ricciardo was much better than the year before. Maybe the Red Bull deal had something to do with it? Ricciardo got 20 points and retired 4 times. JEV got 13 points and retired 6 times.

So the first year Vergne was better and the second year Ricciardo.

If Vergne looses right away to Kvjat it will be very embarrassing for him. Kvjat will get a lot of respect of course.

I am not a fan of neither one of them but I will keep an eye on them that's for sure. I am always very interested in new drivers and how they fit in Formula One.

I have always enjoyed it when a new driver comes to Formula One with a bang. For example Jaques Villeneuve took pole position in his first qualifying ever, Lewis Hamilton was 3rd in his first race, Mark Webber was 5th in a Minardi, Räikkönen, Kubica and Vettel took valuable points for their teams in their first race ever etc.

Let's see how young Kvjat does in his first race...

This was the end of the "comparing"-series. I will post something different tomorrow.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Comparing the 2014 teammates: Caterham

In the previous "comparing the teammates"-post I promised to compare the Caterham drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson.

Previously I have written about the teammates of Ferrari, Lotus, Red Bull, Force India, Mercedes, Sauber, Williams, Marussia and McLaren.

If you haven't read them then just click on the links below:

http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2013/11/comparing-2014-teammates-scuderia.html
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2013/12/comparing-2014-teammates-red-bull-racing.html
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2013/12/comparing-2014-teammates-lotus.html
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2013/12/comparing-2014-teammates-force-india.html
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2014/02/comparing-2014-teammates-mercedes.html?spref=fb
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2014/02/comparing-2014-teammates-sauber.html?spref=fb
http://www.f14life.blogspot.fi/2014/02/comparing-2014-teammates-williams.html
http://www.f14life.blogspot.fi/2014/02/comparing-2014-teammates-marussia.html
http://www.f14life.blogspot.fi/2014/02/comparing-2014-teammates-mclaren.html

This time we have a more experienced driver and then we have a total newcomer in Formula One.

The only things there is to say about Ericsson is that he is a Formula BMW champion and he has won the Japanese F3 series. He has competed in GP2 for 3 seasons. He has also tested a Formula One car in 2009, the first Mercedes GP-car that made it's debut in 2010 with Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher.

Kobayashi on the other hand we have more to talk about. We can compare him with his former teammates in F1 as I usually do. I'll write the year, the former teammate and how it went between them. Let's begin!

2009 - Jarno Trulli. Kobayashi's first chance came when Timo Glock couldn't race after his accident that same season. He drove in 2 races and was better than Trulli in both of them even though he had much less experience.

2010 - Pedro de la Rosa and Nick Heidfeld. Kobayashi got 20 points more than his teammates combined. It was clear that the more experienced teammates had no chances against young Kobayashi.

2011 - Sergio Perez and Pedro de la Rosa. This time the teammates got 14 points and Kobayashi 30. Pedro de la Rosa actually drove in just one race but anyways.. Perez didn't get much done against his teammate.

2012 - Sergio Perez. This time it was 66-60 between the teammates and Perez was the better one. Kobayashi had to leave Formula One and Perez got a try at McLaren.

2013 - DID NOT DRIVE IN THE 2013 SEASON. Kobayashi drove tests for Ferrari though.

Now in 2014 Kobayashi is back and hungrier than ever. It's just a pity that Caterham rarely gets good results. 2014 will be very unpredictable though so nobody knows at this point who's gonna fight for the wins.

Tomorrow I shall continue with the last remaining team; Toro Rosso!

Friday, February 7, 2014

Comparing the 2014 teammates: McLaren

In the previous "comparing the teammates"-post I promised to compare the McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen.

Previously I have written about the teammates of Ferrari, Lotus, Red Bull, Force India, Mercedes, Sauber, Williams and Marussia.

If you haven't read them then just click on the links below:

http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2013/11/comparing-2014-teammates-scuderia.html
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2013/12/comparing-2014-teammates-red-bull-racing.html
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2013/12/comparing-2014-teammates-lotus.html
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2013/12/comparing-2014-teammates-force-india.html
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2014/02/comparing-2014-teammates-mercedes.html?spref=fb
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2014/02/comparing-2014-teammates-sauber.html?spref=fb
http://www.f14life.blogspot.fi/2014/02/comparing-2014-teammates-williams.html
http://www.f14life.blogspot.fi/2014/02/comparing-2014-teammates-marussia.html

This time I have a very experienced driver, who is also the 2009 world champion, and then we have a rookie.

There isn't much to say about Kevin Magnussen. All I know about him is that his father was also in F1 (Jan Magnussen) and that he is the 2013 champion of the "World Series by Renault".

Magnussen drove very well in the tests in Jerez but what can you say based on a test session? Not much.

I will continue by listing Jenson Button's teammates and how he competed against them. First the year, then the teammate and after that info etc. Let's begin..

2000 - Ralf Schumacher. His first teammate was hard to beat because Ralf was at his best at the time. He was also the younger brother of the seven time world champion Michael Schumacher. Ralf got twice the amount of points than Jenson (24-12).

2001 - Giancarlo Fisichella. 8-2! That was the score between Fisi and Jenson at Benetton. It looked like Jenson's career was going backwards.

2002 - Jarno Trulli. This year Benetton became Renault and Button became a better driver! He won his more experienced teammate by 5 points. Button was 7th in the championship which was his best yet. Trulli was 8th that year.

2003 - Jaques Villeneuve and Takuma Sato. At BAR Honda Jenson had to fight against a former world champion. So how did it go? He got more points than his two teammates combined. Sato drove for only one race but still got a 6th place which was also Villeneuve's best result that year.

2004 - Takuma Sato. Button was clearly the better driver and got the number one driver treatment from his team. This was Button's best season yet when he was 3rd in the championship. The only ones in front of him were the unstoppable Ferrari's driven by Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello.

2005 - Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson. This year the BAR Honda was illegal and was excluded from 2 races and disqualified from 1. Sato was also disqualified from one more race but Button wasn't. If we look at the points that they managed to get then Button won them both again. He got 37 points when his teammates got only 1 single point combined (Davidson didn't get a single point).

2006 - Rubens Barrichello. This year the team became Honda and Barrichello joined them from Ferrari. Button took his first ever victory in Hungary and was 6th in the championship. Barrichello was right behind in 7th place but had over 20points less than Button.

2007 - Rubens Barrichello. This year the car was just awful! Button was 15th in the standings and Barrichello didn't score one single point and was 20th.

2008 - Rubens Barrichello. This time Barrichello got 11 points and Button only 3. Well.. at least he got 3 points instead of no points. Barrichello was 14th in the standings and Button was 18th.

2009 - Rubens Barrichello. This year Button won the world championship with Brawn GP which had been Honda and BAR Honda earlier. The score was 95-77 between him and his teammate.

2010 - Lewis Hamilton. The 2009 world champion joined McLaren as the 2008 world champion's teammate. People were sure that Jenson had no chance against Lewis but made everybody shut up by winning a race before him. In the end the score was 240-214 between the two of them which ment that Lewis was better (as the press had predicted).

2011 - Lewis Hamilton. This time Jenson was hungry to beat his teammate and did just that with a score of 270-227. Button was runner up in the championship and Hamilton was 5th.

2012 - Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton's last year with McLaren and also the deciding year; who was better Hamilton or Button? Hamilton won 4 races and Button 3. If we look at the points it was 190-188 between them. Very close but Hamilton won with two points.

2013 - Sergio Perez. This teammate couldn't really fight against Button. He had his moments but usually he was just overdoing everything. He crashed into people and he missed braking points. At the end of the season the score was 73-49 with Button on the 9th place and Perez on the 11th. McLaren didn't wanna continue his contract and signed Magnussen for 2014.

I guess Magnussen is like Button's apprentice this year. If he get's a shot in 2015 he might be much better. If he beats Button on his first season, it will be the end of Jenson Button's career and reputation. Magnussen on the other hand will get a lot of respect!

Tomorrow I am going to compare the Caterham drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Comparing the 2014 teammates: Marussia

In the previous "comparing the teammates"-post I promised to compare the Marussia drivers Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi.

Previously I have written about the teammates of Ferrari, Lotus, Red Bull, Force India, Mercedes, Sauber and Williams.

If you haven't read them then just click on the links below:

http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2013/11/comparing-2014-teammates-scuderia.html
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2013/12/comparing-2014-teammates-red-bull-racing.html
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2013/12/comparing-2014-teammates-lotus.html
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2013/12/comparing-2014-teammates-force-india.html
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2014/02/comparing-2014-teammates-mercedes.html?spref=fb
http://f14life.blogspot.fi/2014/02/comparing-2014-teammates-sauber.html?spref=fb
http://www.f14life.blogspot.fi/2014/02/comparing-2014-teammates-williams.html

This time I have two drivers who have both driven just one full season. It was last year of course and they were driving for Marussia as they do this year as well.

This might be very boring or interesting because people usually just focus on what happens in the front.

This time I'm going to do this a bit differently. I will list each GP from 2013 and tell you guys the results etc. between the two drivers.

Australian GP - First weekend of the season and first weekend ever for these guys! In the qualifying Jules Bianchi got 19th place on the grid and Max Chilton was one position behind him in 20th.
In the race Bianchi was 15th one lap behind the winner Räikkönen. Even though the car was bad he managed to lap his teammate! Chilton came 2 laps behind a cross the finish line in 17th place. 18 cars finished the race.

Malaysian GP - This weekend Bianchi was again 19th in the qualifying. It seems that if you are the best of the worst you are always 19th. Heikki Kovalainen was always 19th as well when he drove for Caterham. Chilton was 21st.
In the race Bianchi was 13th which was even better than the previous race! Again he was 1 lap behind the winner who this time was Sebastian Vettel thanks to the "MULTI21" fiasco. Max Chilton was again two laps behind and was the last to finish the race in 16th place.

Chinese GP - In China the qualifying went so that Bianchi was 19th and Chilton 20th. They got to start the race from 18th and 19th because Webber had to start from the back because of a disqualification.
The race was pretty ok for the team when the drivers finished in 15th and 16th. Chilton was the last one of them of course but this time he was only 1 lap behind the race winner! Nice work Max!

Bahrain GP - This time Bianchi qualified in 20th but got to start from 19th because of Gutierrez penalty. The next day he finished in 19th just like he started. Chilton on the otherhand was last in qualifying but got to start from 21st because of Gutierrez penalty. On Sunday Chilton was 20th.

Spanish GP - On Saturday Bianchi 20th and Chilton 21st. On Sunday they were 18th and 19th mainly because Grosjean and Vergne retired the race. How sad is that? You just follow the pack and hope for somebody to retire.

Monaco GP - In qualifying Bianchi had problems and didn't set a lap time. That was the first time Chilton got to start in front of his teammate. Chilton was 20th even though Massa also was without a time.
On Sunday Bianchi had troubles with his brakes and had to retire for the first time. Chilton was 14th! the best result yet for him!

Canadian GP - 20th and 21st were the positions of Bianchi and Chilton on Saturday but they got to start the race from 19th and 20th because of Romain Grosjean's penalty. He colided three times in Monaco and got a 10 grids sport penalty for the Canadian GP.
In the race Bianchi was 17th 2 laps behind the winner Vettel and Chilton was 19th 3 laps behind.

British GP - Bianchi was 20th and Chilton was the last on Saturday. Di Resta was dropped from 5th to 22th which made both of them rice one spot. Van Der Garde was also dropped to 21st which helped Chilton again with one spot.
On Sunday Bianchi was 16th and Chilton was 17th. This time they both finished on the same lap as the winner! This might have to do with the safety car though..Grosjean lost a front wing as usual but this time on the last lap so it helped the back markers a little.

German GP - Bianchi was 20th on Saturday and his teammate Chilton took the last spot on the grid. Charles Pic changed his gearbox after the qualifying which gave Chilton a position in 21st place and Bianchi in 19th.
In the race Bianchi had an engine failure but Chilton continued to finish like he had done in every single race! This time he was in 19th place one lap behind the race winner.

Hungarian GP - Qualifying on Saturday and the Marussias were in the last two spots. Guess who was last (HINT: CHILTON)?
On Sunday they were 16th and 17th (Bianchi and then Chilton) mainly because Bottas, Gutierrez and Sutil had to retire. Otherwise they would have been last. Not a good weekend for Marussia.

Belgian GP - But wait! what's this? Both of the Marussias got in to P2 on Saturday! they qualified 15th and 16th with Bianchi in front of Chilton. They had drivers behind them such as Maldonado, Vergne, Ricciardo, Bottas, Gutierrez and then Pic in last place.
In the race they dropped to 18th and 19th and would have been even far away but Räikkönen and di Resta retired from higher up.

Italian GP - This the Marussias were last in qualifying with Bianchi in 21st and Chilton in 22nd. The next day they got 2 spots higher up just because di Resta and Vergne retired the race.

Singapore GP - Again they took the last two spots in the same order as always on Saturday. The next day they overtook Pic and got two spots higher up because Grosjean and Ricciardo retired the race. And what else? Chilton passed Bianchi and was in front of him for the first time in a race were they both had finished. Nice work Max!

Korean GP - BIanchi and Chilton were 21st and 22nd in qualifying at first. Later Bianchi got a penalty for impending di Resta and had to start from 22nd place.
In the race Bianchi overtook Chilton of course and they finished in 16th and 17th. They were the last ones to finish the race.

Japanese GP - Chilton was 19th in the qualifying. Bianchi and Pic had 10-place grid penalties after accumulating three stewards' reprimands.
In the race Bianchi had an accident on the first lap and retired. Max Chilton was 19th, the last one to finish.

Indian GP - Now on Saturday Jules Bianchi was 19th and Max Chilton was last again. No pelaties this time to help them out.
On Sunday Chilton got pass Bianchi and was 17th in front of his teammate. The second time he won his teammate.

Abu Dhabi GP - On Saturday Bianchi qualified 20th and Chilton was last. Bianchi got a 5 grid penalty for a gearbox change and started behind Chilton. Kimi Räikkönen was also disqualified because the Lotus failed the floor deflection test. This helped the to drivers again.
On Sunday Kimi retired right after the start and Bianchi overtook Chilton. They finished the race on the last two spots. (check out my pictures from Abu Dhabi that I took ;) )

United States GP - Bianchi was 20th and Chilton was last in qualifying. They started the race in 19th and 21st because Pic and Gutierrez were penalized. The ending results for them were Bianchi in 18th and Chilton in 21st.

Brazilian GP - The last weekend of the season and the Marussias qualified 21st and 22nd in the usual order.
Pic, Grosjean and Bottas retired from the race on Sunday which gave the Marussias an advantage. They finished in 17th and 19th place in the usual order.

So it is clear that Jules Bianchi is a much better driver than Max Chilton. He could in fact be the next Alonso for all we know!

Max Chilton on the other hand finished all of his races of his first season! I don't think anyone has done that before. He has actually never retired from a Formula One race. That's really something even though he lost to Bianchi very clearly.

In the final championship standings they were in 19th and 23rd place. Chilton being the last of them as you probably guessed.

That was it for today and tomorrow I shall compare the McLaren drivers.

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