Standing race re-starts among 2015 changes

From next season, safety-car periods will be followed by a standing re-start from the grid. The move is one of a number of 2015 changes announced by Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, following a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council in Munich, Germany on Thursday.

Other revisions to the F1 regulations include tighter restrictions on testing, with a ban on pre-season testing outside Europe, and changes to make the cars’ noses both safer and more attractive. Drivers will be limited to four engines per season instead of five, while cars will enter parc ferme conditions from the start of final practice, rather than the start of qualifying.

The standing re-starts will replace the current rolling re-start procedure unless the safety car is used within two laps of the original race start (or a subsequent re-start), or if there are less than five laps of the race remaining.

The full statement from the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council:

FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Changes to the F1 Regulations for 2015 have been agreed by the WMSC.

The last date at which the sporting and technical regulations can be changed without unanimous agreement has been changed from 30 June to 1 March each year, starting from 2015.

Changes to 2015 Sporting Regulations
Power units
- The number of engines permitted by each driver in a season will be four. However, if there are more than 20 races in a season, the number will increase to five.
- The penalty for a complete change of Power Unit will be starting from the back of the grid, not the pit lane.

Aerodynamic testing
- The number of wind tunnel runs will be reduced from 80 hours per week to 65 hours per week.
- Wind-on hours are to be reduced from 30 hours per week to 25 hours.
- Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) usage is to be reduced from 30 Teraflops to 25 Teraflops.
- Two periods of tunnel occupancy will be allowed in one day (rather than only one).
- Teams will only be able to nominate one wind tunnel in one year.

Testing
- There will be three pre-season tests of four days each in Europe in 2015 (currently teams are able to test outside Europe). This will be reduced to two tests of four days in 2016.
- There will be two in-season tests of two days each in Europe (instead of the current four). Two of these four days must be reserved for young drivers.

Car specification at an Event
The current restrictions to the parc ferme will now apply from the start of P3 instead of the start of qualifying.

Wheels and tyres
The [proposed] ban on tyre blankets will be rescinded for 2015. This will be re-discussed if and when the wheel and tyre diameter increases in the future.

Personnel Curfew
The Friday night curfew will be extended from six to seven hours in 2015 and will increase to eight hours in 2016.

Safety Car restarts
Safety Car restarts will now be a standing start from the grid. Standing starts will not be carried out if the Safety Car is used within two laps of the start (or restart) of a race or if there are less than five laps of the race remaining.

Changes to 2015 Technical Regulations
A number of changes have been made, including:
- A number of new regulations for the noses to ensure improved safety and to provide more aesthetically pleasing structures.
- A number of new regulations concerning skid blocks to ensure that they are made from a lighter material (titanium) and are better contained.
- New regulations to ensure that the brake discs rotate at the same speed as the wheels.
- A two-stage wheel fastener retaining system is now compulsory.

(source: f1.com)

McLaren in no rush to decide 2015 driver line-up

McLaren are in no hurry to finalise their 2015 driver line-up and are assessing “every strategy for the future,” according to the team’s racing director Eric Boullier.

The Woking-based team will revive one of the most famous associations in F1 history next year when they switch to Honda power, and given their previous relationship with the Japanese company - they won four drivers’ and constructors’ championships and 44 Grands Prix together between 1988 and 1992 - McLaren are seen as an attractive proposition for many drivers. 

Their driver line-up remains undecided, however, with rookie Kevin Magnussen having only joined the team at the start of the year and Jenson Button’s current deal set to expire at the end of 2014.

“It is a question where I cannot say yes and I cannot say no,” Boullier told a McLaren Mercedes phone-in when asked if they intend to retain the Briton, who has raced with the team since 2010, winning eight times.

“We are lucky to have two drivers who want to commit to us for the future. We have some contractual options we can pick up, so we are not in a rush to decide our future driver line-up.

“We are evaluating and assessing every strategy for the future.”

Asked whether the team were still nurturing Magnussen, Boullier added: “Even after Austria I was in his room just to have a chat with him. You know, you need to balance the freedom you give them with making sure they feel the support they need to develop as a driver. 

“I still monitor [the situation] carefully.”

McLaren have changed their driver line-up every season since Lewis Hamilton’s departure, bringing in Mexican Sergio Perez for the 2013 campaign and then replacing him with Magnussen, the reigning Formula Renault 3.5 champion and a McLaren protege, this year.

(source: f1.com)

Juncadella to make F1 practice debut at Silverstone

Force India reserve driver Daniel Juncadella will make his Formula One practice debut at the 2014 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix, the team confirmed on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old Spaniard, who is the reigning FIA European Formula 3 champion and winner of both the Macau Grand Prix and the Masters at Zandvoort, will take the wheel of Nico Hulkenberg's VJM07 for Friday morning’s FP1 session before handing the car back to the German for FP2.

"I am delighted and ready and I'd like to thank Sahara Force India for this opportunity,” said Juncadella, who drove for Force India in both pre-season testing and at last month’s Barcelona test, and also conducts regular simulator duties for the Silverstone-based squad.

“This will be the first time I take part in an official Grand Prix weekend session, so it will be a very special day for me - I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time and it goes to show that hard work and determination can get you there!

"Since the start of the year back in Jerez, where I got my first chance to drive the car, I've been working very hard together with the team and I've definitely learned a lot. My second outing at the test in Barcelona and all the hours we've spent together on the simulator have given me plenty of confidence. They were also the perfect way to get to know the team better, something which I think is always essential in order to do well.

"This is also the team’s local race, which makes a day I will never forget even more special."

Force India are one of just four teams to have scored points in every race so far this season and enter the Silverstone weekend in fourth place in the constructors’ standings with 87 points.

(source: f1.com)

2014 Austrian Grand Prix review

Red Bull Ring, A1 Ring or Österreichring - you decide what you wanna call it but I'm glad it's back! How could they stop coming here for such a long time? I love this place! The race was much more interesting than any Indian, Korean or Abu Dhabi GP for example. My point is that they are new tracks and now we bring an old track back and it's better right away (even though it's a very simple track).

The qualifying session was the most interesting of the whole season so far. Williams got a 1-2 front row start for the first time in 11 years. The previous time it was with Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher. This time it was Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas as you probably already know.

What about the race then?

Massa got a very good start, Bottas didn't but made a very impressive move on Nico Rosberg later on the first lap. This season it has been very hard to overtake a Mercedes so it was very exciting. Daniel Ricciardo overtook Rosberg in Canada but this time there wasn't any problems with Nico's car. Keep it up Bottas! You are not my favorite driver yet but you may be in the future. I am not sure yet. One of the most interesting drivers in my opinion. He took his first podium this weekend (3rd position).

Lewis Hamilton had a bad qualifying session but a super start in the race. After the first lap he was already 5th even though he started from 9th position. Unfortunately for his sake he could not pass Rosberg and was 2nd when the race was over.

Rosberg won the race and showed everybody that he is not a number two driver and may well be the better driver this year. At the moment I really believe that he might be the champion this year. His father Keke Rosberg was world champion in 1982 and Nico has now won more races than him. It looks very very good for Nico! But anything can still happen.

Ferrari showed no improvement what so ever. They messed up Kimi Räikkönen's race again by taking him in too late. He got stuck in traffic and lost several positions. 

The same thing happened to Massa but fortunately Bottas had a better pitstop. It was faster but they also took him in 1 lap too late. Williams tried to take him in one lap earlier but they told him on the radio just a second too late. Who knows, maybe Bottas would have led the race after the pitstop? But the Mercs would have probably overtaken him anyway later on.

Another interesting thing I heard was that for some strange reason Bottas' car uses more fuel than Massa's which means that Bottas must save more of it. This again means that Bottas' car must be a bit slower on the straights. Does Massa's car have some new parts on it that Bottas doesn't have yet or what is this? Bottas didn't say yes or no about anything regarding the difference of their cars when the media asked him about it afterwards.

Then it's time for my predictions and the actual results. The first time this season everything went wrong! I don't care because I was so entertained and that's what matters.

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - WRONG. It was Felipe Massa.

The race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - WRONG. He was one step lower.
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - WRONG. He was one step higher.
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - WRONG. Valtteri Bottas took his first podium.

Fastest lap: Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari - WRONG. It was Sergio Perez! Can you believe that?

Surprise: Ferrari will show some improvement - WRONG. I saw nothing even though they promised to improve. Williams on the other hand drove like Ferrari was supposed to.

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

The drivers championship standings after the Austrian GP

1	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	165
2	Lewis Hamilton	British	Mercedes	136
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	Red Bull Racing-Renault	83
4	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	79
5	Sebastian Vettel	German	Red Bull Racing-Renault	60
6	Nico Hulkenberg	German	Force India-Mercedes	59
7	Valtteri Bottas	Finnish	Williams-Mercedes	55
8	Jenson Button	British	McLaren-Mercedes	43
9	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Williams-Mercedes	30
10	Kevin Magnussen	Danish	McLaren-Mercedes	29
11	Sergio Perez	Mexican	Force India-Mercedes	28
12	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	19
13	Romain Grosjean	French	Lotus-Renault	8
14	Jean-Eric Vergne	French	STR-Renault	8
15	Daniil Kvyat	Russian	STR-Renault	4
16	Jules Bianchi	French	Marussia-Ferrari	2
17	Adrian Sutil	German	Sauber-Ferrari	0
18	Marcus Ericsson	Swedish	Caterham-Renault	0
19	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuelan	Lotus-Renault	0
20	Esteban Gutierrez	Mexican	Sauber-Ferrari	0
21	Max Chilton	British	Marussia-Ferrari	0
22	Kamui Kobayashi	Japanese	Caterham-Renault	0

The constructors championship standings after the Austrian GP

1	Mercedes	301
2	Red Bull Racing-Renault	143
3	Ferrari	98
4	Force India-Mercedes	87
5	Williams-Mercedes	85
6	McLaren-Mercedes	72
7	STR-Renault	12
8	Lotus-Renault	8
9	Marussia-Ferrari	2
10	Sauber-Ferrari	0
11	Caterham-Renault	0

FIA post-race press conference - Austria

DRIVERS: 1 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 2 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 3 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Mark Webber)

Q: Another dominant one-two victory for Mercedes, so Nico what a very, very special for you again. Three now in the season. You capitalised on a very, very good qualifying and now another victory. Run us through it. Lot of control on the brakes by the sound of it, managing issues at the end there?
Nico Rosberg: Yeah, it wasn’t the easiest of races - trying to manage certain things that were a bit on the limit on the car. But in the end I had a very, very fast car again, so it was fantastic to win today. It’s great also to get a one-two here in Austria and it’s great to come back here to Austria. I mean Austria for sure deserves a race. The fans have been amazing, the atmosphere has been spectacular this weekend, so thank you very much for that and yeah it’s been awesome.

Q: Lewis, over to you mate. Well done. A good recovery after a tough qualifying. In terms of… mega first lap, right on Nico at the start there after the first lap. In terms of pit stops, are you happy with your positioning because I’m a bit worried about how much time you’re losing in the pits. The guys… good stops for Nico but are you happy with the positioning on that? Also at the end of the race did you have to manage any issues and could you fight Nico?
Lewis Hamilton: I don’t know. I have to have a look at the feedback and just see what the team say about the stops. Maybe my positioning is not right, you know obviously in those situations you’re just pushing. But the guys have done a fantastic job. As Nico said, to get another one-two here is just incredible. This track has been fantastic and the fans have been insane this weekend, so thank you all for the support.

Q: Congratulations Valtteri - first podium. It’s an incredible feeling up here isn’t it? Run us through the race. Obviously starting on the front row. Obviously these guys have a lot of big experience on the big occasions to close a race out but you really drove a clean race. Run us through it, are you happy with it?
Valtteri Bottas: Thanks Mark. Really, really happy. Difficult to put into words really. Just really thankful to the team for giving me this car. It’s been a long way for us since last year, I mean, and many, many years at Williams and now it’s so much better. The race was exactly what we needed at this point - clean, nice, everything went like planned really. The car was good for the podium this time and I’m just so happy.

Q: Well done, and big points for Williams, which is fantastic. Final one for you Nico. A 29-point lead, off to Silverstone, a track that you know well; a track that I tried to catch you on in the last few laps last year but you’ve had a couple of good wins there and you’re very strong at Silverstone, Lewis’ home track, so the battle continues. Looking forward to that race; home race obviously for Mercedes as well. So how’s the feeling for that one?
NR: Yeah, for sure, looking forward to the next one; home race, so it would be awesome to do another one-two there, that would be great to give something back to all of our colleagues back in the factory. So I’m looking forward to that.

Q: Nico, congratulations, Mercedes sixth one-two finish of this season, your third victory and you’ve now extended your championship lead, as we’ve heard, to 29 points. Clearly strategy was an important part of the story today - but did the race turn out as you had expected it to when you were sitting on the grid?
NR: To be honest yes it did. Pretty much exactly like we were trying to make it work. OK, I thought I would get Valtteri at the start and I did - but then they’re quick on the straights and he just went flying straight by me again, which was not good. But I knew pre-race that even if I am third after the start, the chances are still very good to make it and win the race because we have just a little bit more pace and less tyre degradation than the Williams - we expected to have less at least - so we could go aggressive on the stops and that’s what we did and it really worked out well and so I’m, yeah, extremely happy with that result. Also, great to extend the championship lead, which was really my goal coming into Austria.

Q: Lewis, obviously the platform for your result today was that stunning start, off the grid from ninth into fifth on that opening lap. Tell us about that and then also about how you made your way through the field. Clearly that second round of stops was important for getting in front of Valtteri.
LH: Yep, it was a good start. We’ve been working very hard on our starts throughout the year and the team have done a great job to help out with that, and yeah, so I got one of the best starts I’ve ever had really and positioned the car in the correct places. It would have been great if I’d started where perhaps I should have started this weekend - but damage limitation. To get from ninth to second and be pressuring Nico at the end of the race really shows the pace that I had this weekend.

Q: Valtteri, your best-ever grand prix finish to follow up your best-ever qualifying performance yesterday - you’re starting to really make your mark on the sport. I guess the decisive moment for you was the first round of stops with Felipe and getting ahead.
VB: Yeah, I think overall the best-ever weekend. So, really happy. Really happy for us as a team. We were really strong the whole weekend and that’s down to all the hard work. Of course it was a good track for us. You never know what’s going to happen in the next race but overall we are making progress. Step-by-step we are getting there, getting closer to the positions where we belong. I’m really happy. The race today: it was really nice to have a really nice, clean race. Good points for the team. We’ve had some issues lately, been a lot of talk, not maximising car we had but I think today we showed what we can do.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret - L’Equipe) Question for Nico and Lewis: can you tell us more about the final five laps, about the chance to overtake Nico for Lewis and the chance to finish first for Nico?
NR: Well, I generally felt comfortable in the last few laps. I thought that I could keep a nice gap and just on the last lap my tyres dropped away a little bit but as soon as they got past the first couple of hairpins, I knew that I was going to be fine so it wasn’t as close as maybe some other races have been recently.
LH: There wasn’t an opportunity to overtake.

Q: (Livio Oricchi - Universo On-line) For Nico and Lewis: 29 points difference between both of you. It means that in one race, it is not possible to change the lead. It means that Nico would be the leader of the championship. What’s your analysis of this Nico and you also Lewis?
NR: Well 29 points, yeah, for sure it’s a nice gap but it’s still so early in the season. I really like to concentrate on each weekend and keep on trying to make the most of them and enjoying the moment, also with the car that we have. It’s so great to come to the next race at Silverstone, our home race, with the best, knowing that if I do a good job I can do pole and win the race. So I’m more taking it step-by-step and every weekend my aim is to extend the championship lead which I managed to do this weekend.
LH: Well, Nico’s done a great job. He’s finished every race and fortunately hasn’t had any car problems so it’s inevitable.

Q: (Kate Walker - crash.net) Lewis, after one your stops - and I can’t remember which one - we actually saw some flames coming out of your front right. To what extent was the braking problems that you suffered hampering your ability to really take the fight to Nico in the final laps? I know he had issues too.
LH: Yeah, I think it was probably the same for both of us, maybe, I don’t know. I need to check later but it was constantly an issue during the race. Obviously I was following people all the time so that’s not always the best but I was being told to back off quite a lot, unfortunately. The last couple of laps I tried to eke it up a little bit more but still I had to be cautious, but I’m just grateful I finished. I didn’t finish the last race, that’s really got to be goal for the next few races, trying to actually finish.

Q: (Chris Medland - crash.net) Question for you, too, Lewis, about the pit stops. You lost 1.9s across the two stops to Nico, very evenly split in each stop. Is that frustrating, because for a long time you were running about 1.9s behind Nico at the end and did the team tell you the reasons for it?
LH: They haven’t yet. I didn’t even know I lost that much time, they didn’t feel that fast. Could be my positioning. I don’t know. I’ll obviously investigate... obviously it is frustrating when you lose time because you’re constantly doing everything you can to gain a tenth here, a tenth there, so when you lose quite a chunk... two seconds over two pit stops it’s tough but the guys... at least we haven’t really made any mistakes. If we step back a little bit and look, we’ve had so many one-twos this is just incredible this year so I’m hoping in the future we won’t have those problems.

Q: (Barna Zsoldos - Nemzeti Sport) Valtteri, do you think with a slightly different strategy the win could have been possible today because your pace was quite strong and you were simply undercut by first Nico and then Lewis at both pit stops?
VB: Yeah, it’s a difficult one. We need to always - like we always do - we need to analyse if there’s anything we could have done better. It’s difficult to say. Today it was difficult to know the real difference between the option and prime because the prime tyre has been taking quite a long time to warm up so we really thought it would be really difficult to undercut because it takes many laps to warm up and get a good pace after the supersoft tyre. Yeah, we need to analyse, it’s difficult to say. Yeah, too early to say. For the moment, I’m really happy with what we’ve done as a team, third and fourth. Obviously we always aim for better.

Q: (Peter Vamosi - Vas Nepe Kiadoi) Nico, if you will win the championship this year, will you let grow a moustache like your father?
NR: Maybe. Yup.

Q: (Istvan Janos Simon - Auto Magazine Hungary) Lewis, you seem to have a brake problem; this problem is coming back since Montreal or maybe even before. You’ve had this problem during this race. What can you do against these troubles, to get over it finally? What can you do together with the team?
LH: I don’t know. Going into the race I wasn’t aware that we had a brake problem, so it was news to me when we started to... when they started to speak to me about it. We had the problem in the last race but the last race was the rears and in this race it was the fronts, a little bit different perhaps. I’ll be guessing what’s gone wrong but it didn’t look like it was the same as Nico; maybe it was, I don’t know. I think they said maybe it was. We just need to make improvements.

Q: (Eli Shaouly - Automagazin Israel)Question to Valtteri and Nico: yesterday at Williams you looked in a way pretty sure you wouldn’t win the race and Nico, you were pretty sure that you would win the race in yesterday’s conference. What made you so confident in the result?
NR: Because generally I still believe that we have the fastest car and we had very good long run pace on Friday, that’s the race practice. We were quick there and I didn’t get the best out of it in qualifying, so I was pretty confident that the chance would be very good. Of course, you never know how to overtake and things like that, but it all worked out well.
VB: Yeah, I agree really. I think that from all the data that we had from practice we knew that in the race it’s going to be difficult and overall Mercedes have still got the quickest car but we really nailed it yesterday so we knew that maybe Sunday could be difficult but actually it was a bit better than I expected. We were really close to them on pace.

Q: Was that because it was 14 degrees warmer today than it was on Friday, do you think?
VB: Difficult to say that was the factor or not, I don’t know what Mercedes did just before qualifying with the car set-up. I don’t know. It’s difficult to say; we need to analyse.

(source: f1.com)