Monday, November 2, 2015

2015 Mexican Grand Prix review



Hi there F1 fans! I am very busy at the moment so this review is going to be very short. Usually I go through the whole race in detail but now I am just going to talk about the biggest things that happened in the race.

The start was good for most of the drivers in the top 10 (no big changes really). Only Sebastian Vettel had a big loss when he got a puncture and had to pit. He dropped to the back of course and had a long way to the front. His teammate Kimi Räikkönen overtook a lot of cars through the race and seemed to do better than Vettel. Until he had a rerun from Sochi with his fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas. This time Kimi was in front and Bottas behind, they collided and Kimi had to retire. Bottas didn't loose any positions like Kimi in Sochi and managed to stay 5th or 4th most of the time. 



Later on Vettel made a weird mistake and went off track into the barriers. Some say that the track wasn't good for Ferrari but I don't believe that. Kimi did better than Vettel in the race even though his car had been broken in many ways through the weekend. I say that the track wasn't good for Vettel (even though he got 3rd in qualifying).

Vettel's mistake brought out the safety car and several drivers pitted right after. Williams did a mistake again by not bringing in Bottas first. Well they did after the rest had pitted but Bottas could have done quicker laps with the new tires earlier. Now he was stuck behind Daniil Kvyat in 4th place. Luckily for Bottas he managed to overtake the Russian right after the safety car left the track and stayed 3rd till the end. So Bottas took back what he might have lost.

In front were the Mercedes drivers as usual but this time it was Nico Rosberg 1st and Lewis Hamilton 2nd. They stayed like that through the race and Lewis didn't really have a chance against Nico and it bugged him after the race. You could clearly see that even though he is already the 2015 world champion. Lewis just likes to win even though the championship is already decided.

Hamilton tried to pull a couple of tricks in the race though. Mercedes asked Rosberg to pit first and when it was Hamilton's turn he didn't pit. He said that he will drive the race till the end with his older tires. His engineer got a bit angry with Hamilton and told him to pit right away because his tires are getting cold by the pit box. Hamilton pitted and demanded to see proof that his pitstop wasn't just Mercedes way of securing a 1-2.

All in all a good race, great track and awesome fans! I loved how they had put the podium at the old baseball stadium so that most of the fans could see everything. I hope Mexico stays in the calendar.



Now let's see my predictions and see how I did:

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

Race:
  1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - WRONG. He was 2nd.
  2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - WRONG. He won the race.
  3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - WRONG. He retired from the race and Valtteri Bottas took 3rd.

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - WRONG. Nico Rosberg took this won as well and made it a perfect hat-trick weekend. Good for you!

Surprise: Sergio Perez and Felipe Massa might get good results here - Both Perez and Massa lost to their teammates. I thought that they would do good near their home but I was wrong.


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 and JI. 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

Sunday, November 1, 2015

2015 PREDICTORS LEAGUE standings after the Mexican GP

1. James Redman - 128 points
2. Peter McLaren - 122 points
2. Leonardo Machado - 122 points 
4. Jonathan M Yountz - 109 points
5. Ryan Lane - 102 points
6. Larry Gallagher - 92 points
7. JT (F1-4-LIFE) - 75 points
7. AE (F1-4-LIFE) - 75 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. JI (F1-4-LIFE) - 38 points
14. Tim Saunders - 36 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 & JI. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway.

2015 Driver standings after the Mexican GP


2015 Constructor standings after the Mexican GP


2015 Mexican Grand Prix - Race


Saturday, October 31, 2015

Gutierrez seals 2016 F1 return with Haas



Esteban Gutierrez will return to the Formula One grid in 2016 after signing for the new Haas team. The Mexican will partner Romain Grosjean at the American squad.


Haas unveiled former Sauber racer Gutierrez as their second driver on the Friday of this weekend's Formula 1 Gran Premio de Mexico 2015 - which will be Gutierrez's home event when he lines up for the team next year.

"This is an excellent opportunity that builds on my time with Ferrari and I will make the most of it,” Gutierrez, the current Ferrari reserve driver, said.

"Gene Haas believes in me and I believe in how he's going about competing in Formula One. To have a race seat in a competitive car with Ferrari power is very special, and I appreciate the faith he has in me. I trust we'll be able to achieve great things together.

Commenting on Gutierrez's appointment, Haas said: "I got to know Esteban through our relationship with Ferrari, and after looking at the success he's had to earn his role there, it became clear he was an excellent choice for our race team.

"He's young and hungry, but not inexperienced. His two years running a full F1 schedule has given him some very good race experience, and having spent this season at Ferrari as their third driver allowed him to see firsthand the methodology that makes Ferrari such a power in Formula One.

"We're very happy to have Esteban as a part of our race team. Between him and Romain, we have a strong driver lineup that will help us develop our car and, ultimately, score some points in our inaugural season."

Gutierrez, 24, made his F1 debut with Sauber in 2013, taking a season-best result of seventh in Japan. He stayed at the Swiss team the following year, but failed to score a point as they struggled for form.

His deal with Haas means Marussia are now the only team with likely vacancies for 2016.

(source: f1.com)

2015 Mexican Grand Prix - Qualifying