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2015 Italian Grand Prix preview

A picture from the old part of the track (the loop).

Are you ready for the Italian grand prix and the Monza track? This is one of the most legendary tracks in F1 history and it is also Ferrari's home grand prix.

Several Formula One legends have died on this track. The list is long so I shall mention just a few.

• In 1955 the Ferrari legend and two time world champion Alberto Ascari died here during a test session. 
• Wolfgang von Trips and 14 spectators were killed after he collided with Jim Clark in 1961. 
• Jochen Rindt was crowned as the Formula One world champion at the end of the 1970 season. Unfortunately he had passed away before that at Monza. The points were enough to make him the champion.
• The best Swedish F1 driver ever lived was Ronnie Peterson. He died in a hospital after a serious crash at the start of the 1978 Italian grand prix.

The Monza track has changed several times over the years. At first it looked like this:

This was in 1922-1933 before the F1 series even existed. The track was 10 kilometers with 4.5 kilometers in the loop and then 5.5 kilometers on the road track.

Later in 1935-1937 the track was changed and looked like this:

In 1950 the Formula One series started and Monza was the last race on the calendar. The race was won by Nino Farina even though Juan Manuel Fangio had been faster all weekend. Fangio got pole position and set the fastest lap of the race. Unfortunately he retired due to a gear box failure and Farina won the race and the first championship. The track was again different and it looked like this:

In 1955 it looked again like it did in the beginning (with the road- and loop-part). After 1969 the oval part was not used anymore and the track looked about the same it looks today.

The fastest lap on the combined track (in a race) was set in 1960 by the American F1 world champion Phill Hill. The record was 2.41.400 and the time was set with a Ferrari.

The fastest lap on the modern track (in a race) was set by Rubens Barrichello in 2004 and also with a Ferrari. The current record is 1.21.046 and the reason why it is so much faster is that "the loop" is no longer in use.

If we talk about wins then Michael Schumacher is the king of this track. He has won this race 5 times. From the current drivers the king would be Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso because they both have 2 wins from Monza.

Sebastian Vettel took his maiden victory in Monza back in 2008 with Toro Rosso. That was strange if you ask me! To win a race with the former Minardi now known as Toro Rosso. Everybody were sure that Heikki Kovalainen would win the race but he couldn't get pass Vettel and stayed 2nd.

This year I think that if we see any surprises it will come from Valtteri Bottas. Daniel Ricciardo even predicted that Bottas will win here his first victory. I also believe that Vettel will do very well here. This track is very special for him.

And now it's time for my predictions and here they are:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Race:

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

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Surprise: Valtteri Bottas, Williams

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

2015 Belgian GP (Full Race)

The full race from Spa last weekend. It's in a smaller window again so it would be more "legal" for YouTube.

Happy 26th birthday Valtteri Bottas!

It's Valtteri Bottas' 26th birthday today so I thought I should write about him. I am mainly going to talk about his career in Formula One so don't be surprised if I leave out his superb driving in the smaller series.

After Valtteri Bottas had won Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup, Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, Masters of Formula 3 and the GP3-series he was assigned as a test driver for the Williams Formula One team. This was in 2010-2012. In 2012 before he became Williams' racing driver he took part in 15 free practice sessions. He was very often faster than the teams racing drivers Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna. Bottas said that the practice session times don't matter even if he was faster.

Bottas returned to racing in 2013, as he was confirmed as teammate to Pastor Maldonado at Williams for the 2013 Formula One season on 28 November 2012. On 8 June 2013, Bottas qualified in 3rd position at the Canadian Grand Prix (Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal) behind Sebastian Vettel (1st), and Lewis Hamilton (2nd). He scored his first points finish at the US Grand Prix by finishing 8th. This result allowed Bottas to finish ahead of Maldonado in the Drivers' Championship.

On 11 November 2013 Bottas was confirmed to continue with Williams in 2014 alongside Felipe Massa who has been signed from Ferrari to replace Pastor Maldonado. At the first race of the 2014 season in Australia, Bottas qualified 10th and finished 6th, after recovering from a crash earlier in the race. He was later promoted to 5th after Daniel Ricciardo was disqualified from 2nd position. 

At the Austrian Grand Prix, Bottas qualified 2nd, his best grid position in Formula One, and achieved his first podium in the sport, finishing third behind Nico Rosberg (1st) and Lewis Hamilton (2nd). 

Despite qualifying 14th on the grid at the British Grand Prix, Bottas charged through the field to finish second, following Rosberg's retirement from the race, thereby achieving his second consecutive career podium. 

At the German Grand Prix, he qualified second and ended the race in the same position despite a late challenge from Hamilton.

Bottas got three more podiums in 2014 (3rd in Belgium, Russia and Abu Dhabi) and was 4th in the final standings. He has now been better than both of his more experienced team-mates.

In 2015 Bottas got injured just before the first race and couldn't participate. He jumped in the car in the second race and has felt better in every race. It still looks like he has driven as much as Massa because their points are almost equal. I am pretty sure that he will beat Massa this year as well.

Happy birthday Valtteri!

Spa stats - Hamilton equals Senna’s podium tally

Ayrton Senna was a renowned master of Spa, winning at the legendary circuit five times, so where better for Lewis Hamilton to equal the three-time world champion’s podium tally than at the Belgian track.

Hamilton’s sixth win of the season – the 39th of his career and his second victory at Spa – moved him on to 80 podium finishes, and lifted him to joint fourth in the all-time rankings. Only Michael Schumacher (155), Alain Prost (106) and Fernando Alonso (97) have stood on an F1 rostrum more times than the Briton.

Nico Rosberg crossed the line two seconds back from Hamilton to complete Mercedes’ seventh one-two of the season, and ensure the Briton only extended his championship lead by seven points. Rosberg now has 36 Grand Prix podiums to his name, drawing him level with two-time world champion Graham Hill for joint 22nd on the all-time list. The German also collected his third fastest lap of the season, meaning he now has just one fewer than Hamilton in 2015.

Behind the Silver Arrows there were tears of joy as Romain Grosjean collected his - and Lotus’s - first podium finish since the 2013 United States Grand Prix. The Frenchman, who hadn’t had so much as a top six finish since that race in Austin, has now scored ten career rostrum finishes - the eighth most of any current driver.

Of course, for a long time it looked like Sebastian Vettel - celebrating his 150th Grand Prix start - would score his eighth podium of the season, but in the end he trailed home in 12th after a dramatic late-race tyre failure. That meant that the German’s points streak was snapped at 21 races, just six short of team mate Kimi Raikkonen’s all-time record.

Speaking of Raikkonen, the Finn ensured Ferrari picked up a handful of points on the occasion of their 900th Grand Prix, though seventh place represents the lowest he has finished when he's reached the chequered flag in Spa.

Elsewhere Daniil Kvyat’s fourth place enabled him to leapfrog Red Bull team mate Daniel Ricciardo in the drivers’ standings for the first time this season. The Russian, who has recorded three top-five finishes in 2015, has 57 points to Ricciardo’s 51. Sergio Perez meanwhile followed up his season-best fifth in qualifying with fifth in the race – also a season high.

Further back, Belgian-born Max Verstappen built upon his fourth place in Hungary with a spirited eighth in Spa – the first time he has scored back-to-back points finishes in his career. That feat was matched by Marcus Ericsson, who finished tenth (after coming home tenth in Hungary).

Finally, McLaren’s run of points finishes was halted at two races as Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button languished in 13th and 14th, one lap down on race winner Lewis Hamilton. That’s only the fourth time in the Woking team’s history - and the first time since 1998 - that they’ve failed to get either car into the points at Spa, a track on which they’ve recorded 12 wins, including their very first in 1968.

(source: f1.com)

Winners and Losers - Belgium

Sunday’s 2015 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix threw up another thrilling afternoon’s racing, with the podium line-up only determined in the dying stages and the fight for points going all the way to the flag. The new start procedures saw some big gains and losses off the line, and differing tyre strategies prompted some late-race drama, with Lotus profiting from Ferrari’s misfortune. We take a team-by-team look back at the action…


Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton, P1
Nico Rosberg, P2

Mercedes were right back on form at Spa, so much so that after the halfway point their engines were turned down. It was a tour de force that confirmed that Ferrari still have a way to go before they can challenge them consistently. Hamilton made a great start and led virtually throughout. Rosberg, however, fumbled his start with too much wheelspin and had to fight back up from fifth. Having done so he kept Hamilton honest with a series of blistering laps, but the world champion was always in control as he scored his 39th victory and equalled idol Ayrton Senna’s 80 podium finishes.


Lotus

Romain Grosjean, P3
Pastor Maldonado, Retired lap 3, power loss

Grosjean drove a superb race, helped by great strategy during the Virtual Safety Car deployment. He always looked good for a podium shot and was really pressuring Vettel when the Ferrari suffered its tyre failure. Third place was a brilliant and sorely needed result for Lotus, and very well deserved. It also made up for Maldonado dropping out early on with power unit problems.


Red Bull

Daniil Kvyat, P4
Daniel Ricciardo, Retired lap 20, electrics

Kvyat had another strong drive, clawing his way to fourth on softs in his final stint, but Ricciardo’s great start and strong first-stint performance came to nought when his RB11 stopped exiting the Bus Stop due to electrical failure on his 20th lap.


Force India

Sergio Perez, P5
Nico Hulkenberg, Retired on the grid, power loss

Perez led the race for a fraction of a second running up to Les Combes after making a brilliant start, but had to cede it to Hamilton who had the inside line. The Mexican was on great form, but heavy tyre wear in the first stint and a slight lack of overall pace prevented him staying so high and he finished a nonetheless impressive fifth. Hulkenberg should have been with him, but suffered power loss on the first grid formation lap. He was told to pit, then to stay out, but when the problem recurred on the grid, the first start had to be aborted and his car was retired.


Williams

Felipe Massa, P6
Valtteri Bottas, P9

Williams should have done a lot better than sixth and ninth, but inexplicably three softs and a medium tyre were fitted to Bottas’ FW37 in his first stop. He got a drive-through penalty as a result. Up until then both cars had struggled on the softs - Massa labelled it a 'disaster' - and by the time they got on to mediums they had lost too much ground to do any better.


Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen, P7
Sebastian Vettel, P12

Ferrari found themselves fighting with Williams, Force India, Red Bull and Toro Rosso, but seemed to have gambled well on a single-stop strategy for Vettel which required him to run 29 laps on medium tyres. He was running third, under intense pressure from Grosjean, when his right-rear Pirelli exploded through wear with a lap to go. Raikkonen at least finished, but couldn’t better seventh. Not a great day for the Scuderia or for Vettel's outside title hopes, and a brutally stark contrast to Hungary.


Toro Rosso

Max Verstappen, P8
Carlos Sainz, Retired lap 33, engine conservation

Toro Rosso effectively lost Sainz early on because of power loss problems on the grid formation lap, and later withdrew him to save engine mileage. But Verstappen was in blistering form as he recovered from his gearbox-change penalty, and pulled off a stunning pass on Nasr around the outside at Blanchimont. He also overtook Raikkonen late in the race at Les Combes, but slid wide and dropped back again. But his was among the performances of the race and one that again underlined the effectiveness of James Key’s STR10.


Sauber

Marcus Ericsson, P10
Felipe Nasr, P11

Ericsson lost time early on when debris hampered his C34’s aerodynamic performance, but once that was cleared in his first pit stop he was able to run hard to take the final point. Nasr had problems with his brakes and a slow puncture, but followed him home.


McLaren

Fernando Alonso, P13
Jenson Button, P14

This was a dire race for McLaren in which Honda’s latest Mk3 version of their power unit failed to produce the goods. Despite a stellar start from Alonso - he started 20th and was 14th by the end of lap 1 - both drivers ultimately struggled, with Button hit badly by intermittent ERS deployment.


Marussia

Roberto Merhi, P15
Will Stevens, P16

Once again Merhi led Stevens home in 15th and 16th places after a race-long battle, the Englishman suffering from damage sustained in the first corner when he got pinched between two cars after making a strong start.

(source: f1.com)

Rest in peace Justin Wilson

Ex-Formula One driver Justin Wilson has passed away after succumbing to head injuries sustained in a crash in Sunday’s IndyCar race at Pocono in the United States. The former Minardi and Jaguar racer was 37.

Wilson contested the 2003 F1 season, making his debut with Minardi before switching to Jaguar midway through the year to replace Antonio Pizzonia. The British driver scored his best result - an eighth place - at the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

Former rival Jenson Button was among those paying tribute. “The motorsport world comes to a standstill once again,” said the McLaren star on Twitter. “Justin Wilson was a great person and racing driver. My thoughts are with his family.

"I raced with Justin as far back as 1989 in karting and remember his smile was infectious, such a lovely guy."

Formula One group CEO Bernie Ecclestone stated: "I remember Justin Wilson as a talented driver who raced in F1 on merit and enjoyed the respect and affection of his team mates and fellow racers."

One of those team mates, nine-time Grand Prix winner Mark Webber who partnered Wilson at Jaguar in '03, commented: “Last night a very good man left us. Mate. So sorry. RIP Justin. My thoughts are with your loved ones."

Wilson’s Pocono crash came after he was struck on the helmet by the nose section of another car, which had broken free after spinning into the wall. The former F3000 champion and seven-time Indycar winner was immediately airlifted to hospital, but died on Monday afternoon.

He is survived by wife Julia and two daughters.

(source: f1.com)