2015 Russian Grand Prix preview

The second Grand Prix ever in Russia is up next! But what happened at the first race?

At the start Nico Rosberg challenged his teammate Lewis Hamilton for the lead but braked too late and had to cut the corner. He was told to let Lewis through and he responded that he would actually want to pit for new tyres. That was his only stop of the race and it seems that it was a good strategy. He was 2nd right after Lewis in the end.

The only man who could have challenged Rosberg for second place was Valtteri Bottas. He actually was 2nd for a long time but got overtaken by Rosberg eventually.

Rosberg overtook Bottas by forcing him off the track and after this maneuver Bottas didn't have the speed to overtake him back.

The race was quite boring and I am not the only one to say so. One of my admins said that same thing right after the race on our Facebook page. If I try to remember something else then the only thing I can think of is Romain Grosjean's stupid mistake with Sauber's Adrian Sutil. He could have avoided that collision for sure but didn't wanna let Sutil through.

The other thing I remember was Ferrari's poor pit crew. What happened during Fernando Alonso's pitstop? That was just awful. First they dropped the car too early and they tried to lift it again but Alonso drove away because they had already given him the green light. I almost laughed at them.

Valtteri Bottas had a great race in 2014 but we shall se if Williams is up for the challenge this year.

Here are some Vital statistics from Formula1.com:

Circuit: Sochi Autodrom

Circuit length: 5.848 km (only Spa and Silverstone are longer)

Circuit width: ranges between 13m to 15m

Number of corners: 18 (12 right, 6 left)

Projected maximum speed: 320 km/h (between Turns 1 and 2)

Projected average speed: 215 km/h 

Projected lap time: 1m 36.9s

Longest straight: 650m (between Turns 1 and 2)

DRS zones: 2 - the first is between Turns 1 and 2 with the detection point prior to Turn 1; the second is between turns 10 and 12 with the detection point prior to Turn 10

Race laps: 53

Race distance: 309.732 km

2014 tyre compounds: soft, medium

Wins in first race at a brand new circuit (current grid): 2 - Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel; 1- Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen 

Podiums in first race at a brand new circuit (current grid): 5 - Fernando Alonso; 4 - Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button; 3 - Sebastian Vettel; 2 - Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen; 1 - Nico Rosberg

Fascinating fact: - Sochi Autodrom is the only racing circuit in the world to be located in an Olympic venue, Sochi having played host to the XXII Olympic Winter Games in February this year

Number of Russian drivers to have started at least one Grand Prix: 2 (Vitaly Petrov, Daniil Kvyat)

Best finish by a Russian driver in F1: 3rd (Vitaly Petrov, Australia, 2011)

Best finish by Daniil Kvyat in 2014: 9th (Australia, Great Britain, Belgium)

Percentage of 2014 season complete: 79 percent

Maximum number of world championship points still available to a single driver: 125

Significant running sequences going into this weekend: Lewis Hamilton - 3 consecutive Grand Prix wins; Mercedes - 15 consecutive podiums; Renault - 114 consecutive races in the points as an engine manufacturer; Daniel Ricciardo - 13 consecutive points finishes; Mercedes - 7 consecutive pole positions

Potential record breakers: Mercedes have scored eight one-two finishes this year. They need two more over the remaining four races to tie McLaren's 1988 record of 10 one-twos in a season, and three more to eclipse it

Turbo history: If a Ferrari-powered car wins the race it will be the first Ferrari turbo win since the 1988 Italian Grand Prix

The last thing are my predictions and they are almost the same as in the previous GP:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Race:

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

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Surprise: Keep an eye on Valtteri Bottas!

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 AE, JT, 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

Get F1 tickets to the remaining events!

Get your tickets to the remaining events of 2015 from the link below!

http://www.bookf1.com/?afid=815&next_available_race

2015 Japanese GP (Full Race)

I'm sorry that it's not in english. Couldn't get my hands on anything better at the moment.

The 2016 race calendar

20.3.	Melbourne	Australia
3.4.	Bahrain	Bahrain
17.4.	Shanghai	Kiina
1.5.	Sotshi	Venäjä
15.5.	Barcelona	Espanja
29.5.	Monte Carlo	Monaco
12.6.	Montreal	Kanada
19.6.	Baku	Azerbaidzhan
3.7.	Spielberg	Itävalta
10.7.	Silverstone	Iso-Britannia
24.7.	Budapest	Unkari
31.7.	Hockenheim	Saksa
28.8.	Spa-Francorchamps	Belgia
4.9.	Monza	Italia
18.9.	Singapore	Singapore
2.10.	Sepang	Malesia
9.10.	Suzuka	Japani
23.10.	Austin	USA
6.11.	Mexico City	Meksiko
13.11.	Sao Paulo	Brasilia
27.11.	Abu Dhabi	AEL

MiniDrivers - Chapter 7x14 - 2015 Japanese Grand Prix

Do you guys like the minidrivers? I almost every time watch these. I think they are hilarious.

Winners and Losers - Japan

Within the first few corners of Sunday’s 2015 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, there were several clear losers: Rosberg down from first to fourth; Massa and Ricciardo limping back to the pits with punctures; and Perez getting knocked off and dropping to the rear of the field. Race victor Hamilton aside, the obvious winners were: Hulkenberg, an impeccable drive taking him from 13th to sixth; Lotus, who got both cars in the points just when they needed it most; and Verstappen, whose battling afternoon lifted him from 17th to ninth. We take a team-by-team look back at Sunday’s action in Suzuka…


Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton, P1
Nico Rosberg, P2

Mercedes were right on form again in Suzuka. Hamilton dominated the race after toughing it out with Rosberg through the first two corners, and said that in the final stint his car flowed through the turns like it was sailing. His eighth victory of the year was his 41st overall, bringing him level with his idol Ayrton Senna.

Rosberg blew pole with a poor start and dropped to fourth initially after backing off on the exit to Turn Two. He then had to manage engine temperatures for a while but overtook Bottas on the 17th lap and undercut Vettel on the second pit stop to take a decent second, 18.9s behind his team mate.


Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel, P3
Kimi Raikkonen, P4

Ferrari didn’t have the speed they demonstrated in Singapore and were well beaten by Hamilton. Vettel was a fighting third close to Rosberg, however, but Raikkonen again a distant fourth. It was the seventh time in 14 races that the same three drivers finished on the podium.


Williams

Valtteri Bottas, P5
Felipe Massa, P17

Williams looked good when Bottas ran fourth early on, but Massa lost his chance to shine when he was hit by Ricciardo on the run down to Turn 1 at the start and suffered a punctured right-front tyre. That dropped him to the back as he limped home, and it was a long time before he caught and passed even the Marussias. Bottas succumbed to Rosberg on the 17th lap, but retained fifth thereafter without being challenged by anyone.


Force India

Nico Hulkenberg, P6
Sergio Perez, P12

Hulkenberg drove a fast, intelligent and lonely race from 13th on the grid to sixth, to bring home another eight points, but Perez got knocked off in Turn 1 at the start by Sainz and had to play catch-up thereafter. He won the battle for 12th, but might reasonably have expected to score points too without that first-lap adventure.


Lotus

Romain Grosjean, P7
Pastor Maldonado, P8

Grosjean and Maldonado had no answer once Hulkenberg had taken his Force India past them, but seventh and eighth earned the team another welcome 10 points just as they seem to be on the verge of moving towards works Renault status.


Toro Rosso

Max Verstappen, P9
Carlos Sainz, P10

Verstappen drove like a demon from 17th on the grid to ninth, despite losing a lot of time trapped behind Alonso and Kvyat early on. Sainz was well up for a long while until he clobbered a marker cone coming in for his second stop and lost time having the nose replaced as a result.


McLaren

Fernando Alonso, P11
Jenson Button, P16

McLaren’s race was unfortunately not one to make engine partners Honda proud on their home soil. The Toro Rosso drivers said the Japanese power unit wasn’t half bad on the straights, but Alonso likened it to a GP2 car’s and Button said they were trying to fight like samurais without armour or swords and was worried about the closing speed of passing rivals. Alonso hung on to a fighting 11th, but Button was a distant 16th.


Red Bull

Daniil Kvyat, P13
Daniel Ricciardo, P15

Red Bull had a horrible race, Ricciardo clobbered Massa as the field hammered towards Turn 1, sustaining a left-rear puncture and floor damage that ruined his race. Kvyat, meanwhile, started his rebuilt car from the pits but ran into problems with the tyres, the brakes and the overtake button, and struggled home 13th.


Sauber

Marcus Ericsson, P14
Felipe Nasr, Retired lap 50

Ericsson spoiled his chances early on with a half spin at Spoon Curve, but was in the thick of the fight for 12th in the closing stages before Perez and Kvyat exploited his worn tyres to move ahead. Nasr was there or thereabouts, but retired with four laps to run for reasons undisclosed.


Marussia

Alexander Rossi, P18
Will Stevens, P19

Stevens led Rossi for most of the race, but having incurred a penalty for speeding during his second pit stop the Englishman half spun in 130R on the 44th lap. Rossi just missed the red, white and blue car in the cloud of smoke ahead of him, and Stevens just missed him as he straightened things out. Rossi moved ahead as Stevens pitted for fresh rubber and to serve his penalty.

(source: f1.com)

2015 Japanese Grand Prix review

Suzuka, Japan

It seems that the best grid spot to start from is the 2nd place. I have seen this so many times that you become the leader after the first corner when you start from 2nd. Prost overtook Senna from second and Häkkinen overtook Schumacher. You just drive straight and you are on the inside line before the first corner. They should really change it because it's not really fair if you ask me.

So what happened this year? Lewis Hamilton started from 2nd place and overtook Nico Rosberg after the start. What a surprise! (NOT). Rosberg tried hard to keep his 1st place but Hamilton pushed him off track and he dropped to 4th. A nasty move from Hamilton but I am sure that Rosberg would have done the same thing to him.

What about the rest? Sebastian Vettel started from 4th and managed to overtake Valtteri Bottas but no harm for the Finn when Rosberg dropped back. Bottas was 3rd just as he had started the race.

Daniel Ricciardo got a good start but moved over Felipe Massa's front wheel and they both got a puncture. Sergio Perez went off track after he had some contact with one of the Toro Rossos. So all three of them had to pit (Ricciardo, Massa and Perez).

Later on Max Verstappen and Felipe Nasr made a sandwich overtaking maneuver on one of the McLarens. It reminded me off Spa 2000 when Mika Häkkinen overtook Michael Schumacher with Ricardo Zonta in the middle of them. This time it wasn't as cool but it was still pretty awesome. You don't see that every day!

On lap 7 Mercedes said that Rosberg's engine temps are too high but it didn't seem to stop him. He managed to overtake Bottas later on and was now 3rd.

Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso

On lap 26 Fernando Alonso was overtaken by Verstappen. He had no chances to keep his position. The McLaren-Honda was too slow for the Toro Rosso. By the way! Did anybody else notice that the Japanese TV people followed almost the whole race just the McLarens? I mean we saw the front for less than 10 minutes (combined). Maybe we are just too used to see Hamilton and Rosberg at the front so nobody cares anymore.

Alonso said on the radio that his car is like a GP2 car and that it is embarrassing. In a way he just pissed all over Honda but why would he care? He works for McLaren and not Honda. Anyways Ron Dennis didn't take it well but still announced that Alonso and his teammate Jenson Button shall stay with them another season. I would really like to know what Honda thought about all of this.

Let's move on! On lap 28 Carlos Sainz was about to pit but drove over a sign on the track. This damaged his front wing. The pit crew were confused and took too long when they realized that they had to change the front wing too.

Kimi Räikkönen pitted one lap later which worked out well for him. He was stuck behind Bottas who is hard to overtake. Kimi was faster so there was no use of staying behind him for a longer time. Bottas pitted on the next lap and his team was slooooow once again. I mean come on! He should have dropped one spot because Kimi was so fast but now he lost 3 spots. Bottas was now 7th and it didn't take long before he had overtaken his way back to 5th behind Kimi. I mean it was about one lap he took time with that!

So now the top5 was HAM, ROS, VET, RAI, BOT and it stayed like that till the end.

Lewis Hamilton looking up on Jules and Ayrton.

Now let's see my predictions and the results:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - WRONG. His teammate Nico Rosberg took pole.

Race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - WRONG. He was 3rd.
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - WRONG. He was 2nd.

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT

Surprise: Vettel will beat Rosberg in the points and become Hamilton's biggest threat. Ferrari is now really starting to compete against Mercedes. - It was very close but it didn't happen.

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!

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. 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