Caterham add Haryanto for post-race Silverstone test

Caterham have announced that Indonesia's Rio Haryanto will drive the team's CT05 on the second day of next month's post-race test at Silverstone.

Haryanto, who is currently competing with Caterham's junior arm in GP2, has previous F1 testing experience - with Virgin Racing in Abu Dhabi in 2010, and then across two days at Silverstone with Marussia in 2012.

"I can't wait to be back in an F1 car and I'm delighted it's with Caterham F1 Team, the senior team to EQ8 Caterham Racing," said the 21-year-old, currently tenth in the GP2 standings.

"The last time I drove an F1 car was at the young driver test at Silverstone in 2012 and with the new engine regulations this year I'm sure it'll be a very different experience.

"The goal for me is to use this day as another learning experience, another chance to build on the F1 laps I've already done, and while my focus before the test is obviously to do the best job I can in GP2, I will be 100 percent ready to work to the plan the team set and help them develop as best I can."

Haryanto will take over from Caterham test driver Will Stevens, who will be charged with driving duties on the first day.

The two-day Silverstone test is the third of four in-season tests arranged for 2014, and runs from July 8-9.

(source: f1.com)

Lotus expecting competitive surge at Silverstone

Lotus are confident of breaking back into the top-ten pecking order in next weekend’s 2014 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix at Silverstone, a track the Enstone team believe will play to the strengths of their E22 car.

After apparent progress in Spain and Monaco, where Romain Grosjean recorded successive eighth-place finishes, Lotus struggled last time out in Austria. Neither Grosjean nor team mate Pastor Maldonado made it into Q3 on Saturday, and the best either could manage in the race was the latter’s 12th place.

But rather than signalling a downward trend, Lotus believe their Spielberg form was track specific and are expecting to be far closer to the frontrunners in Great Britain.

"Obviously Silverstone is a very different track to Austria, with many more high-speed corners that will suit our car better," technical director Nick Chester explained.

"We've also got a few updates, including a front wing and floor, some different combinations of aerodynamic parts to try and some new set-up concepts to explore.

"We've shown the car can work well on the medium and hard tyres at Barcelona, another high energy circuit, so that gives us added confidence for Silverstone."

Maldonado, who won at Silverstone in GP2 in both 2009 and '10, said the team cannot be complacent, but the Venezuelan admitted he too is anticipating being more competitive in Great Britain.

"The team and Renault Sport F1 hopefully learnt quite a lot [from Spielberg] - there were many issues to manage, but we but we drove through them to get to the end of the race," he said.

"Hopefully the high speed corners [of Silverstone] will work better with our car and it would be great to be back to where we were in Barcelona which is quite a similar circuit to Silverstone. 

"Obviously, at the Barcelona test teams were all running to different programmes, so I don't think we're suddenly going to be the fastest car, but I do expect to be further up the order than we have been at recent races."

Grosjean's brace of eighth-place finishes remain the only points Lotus have scored so far in 2014. The team sits eighth in the constructors' championship as a result, with eight points - six ahead of Marussia and four behind Toro Rosso. Grosjean is 13th overall in the drivers' standings, while Maldonado is one of six drivers yet to score a point this year.

(source: f1.com)

Jacques Villeneuve vs. Kimi Räikkönen

Some of you have probably heard that Jacques Villeneuve has again talked about Kimi Räikkönen in a negative way. Usually I just laugh at his comments because he might say anything. I remember in 2009 when BBC was interviewing him and he didn't hear what they said so instead of saying "pardon" he said "I AM NOT A LIP READER!".

Now he is saying that Räikkönen should quit because it isn't going very well at Ferrari. Villeneuve is known for saying negative things about almost anybody except himself so let's now see how good he is compared to Räikkönen.

I will start with Jacques Villeneuve. First I will write the year and then how well he did.

1996 - He gets a seat in the best car in F1 (Williams) so it's obvious that he will get great results. He took pole position in his first qualifying session but got overtaken by Damon Hill in the race. Hill became champion in the end of the season and Villeneuve was 2nd 19 points behind. Hill retired more races than Villeneuve but was still better in the end.

1997 - Hill leaves Williams so Villeneuve's biggest competitor was no longer a problem. The car was still the best and Villeneuve's new teammate (Heinz-Harald Frentzen) was not as good as Hill. Villeneuve retired from 5 races in 1997 which 4 of them was his own fault. Villeneuve became champion in the end of the season when Michael Schumacher tried to crash him out of the race but retired himself.

1998 - Williams was no longer the best team so now Villeneuve got only 2 podiums in the whole year. You could say that Williams was in 1998-1999 as good as Lotus was in 2012-2013.

1999 - Villeneuve had to leave Williams to a smaller team (BAR = British American Racing) and didn't score a single point. He was 21st in the final standings.

2000 - This year the team was a bit better but didn't score any podiums. Villeneuve was 7th in the final standings.

2001 - Same as last year, 7th in the final standings but this year he got two podiums.

2002 - Now he was only 12th in the final standings and scored just a few points.

2003 - Villeneuve gets a new teammate (Jenson Button) and gets out qualified by him. In the final standings he was 16th and Button was 9th. Villeneuve had to leave the team after this.

2004 - Villeneuve got a seat at Renault after Jarno Trulli made a contract with Toyota in the end of the season. Villeneuve raced in only 3 races and was 11th, 10th and 10th. His teammate Fernando Alonso was 4th, 5th and 4th in those same races with the same car. Jarno Trulli had also driven much better than Villeneuve before he left.

2005 - This year he got a seat at Sauber and was out qualified by his younger teammate Felipe Massa. In the final standings Villeneuve was 14th.

2006 - Sauber became BMW and Nick Heidfeld replaced Massa who went to Ferrari. Heidfeld drove better than Massa and out qualified Villeneuve so badly that they fired Villeneuve and replaced him with Robert Kubica. Villeneuve drove in 12 races, Robert Kubia in 6 races and got only 1 point less than the 1997 world champion. That was the end on his career.

Now let's list what Kimi Räikkönen has accomplished.

2001 - Kimi got a seat at Sauber even though he had very little experience. Many said that this will backfire but he proved everybody wrong and finished 6th in his first race (started from 13th). He retired 7 times mostly because of technical issues and was 10th in the final standings. It was a pretty good result with Sauber in his first year.

2002 - McLaren were interested of Kimi and paid Sauber to get him out of the contract. In his first race he took his first podium by being 3rd behind Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya. Kimi was at McLaren to learn from David Coulthard and seemed to manage pretty good right away. Unfortunately Kimi retired 11 times because the car was not that reliable. Every time the car worked he took a podium except in Canada and Hungary because those times he was 4th. Jean Todt and Luca di Montezemolo has said that in 2002 they already knew that they wanted him to drive for Ferrari.

2003 - This year the car worked better for him because he retired only 3 times instead of 11. He took his first win in Malaysia and became the youngest driver to win in F1 (now Sebastian Vettel is the record holder). In the final standings he was 2nd just 2 points behind Michael Schumacher. Schumi retired only once so it was clear that Kimi would have been champion if they had both retired the same amount of times. Ron Dennis has admitted that it was McLaren's technical issues that made Schumi the champion in 2003.

2004 - A bad year for McLaren. Kimi retired 8 times, won once and was 7th in the final standings. His more experienced teammate David Coulthard was again behind Kimi in 10th place.

2005 - The car McLaren gave Kimi for 2005 was his all time favorite. It was perfect in every aspect! ..except one.. it had reliability issues again. He retired 4 times but was on the podium 12 times and won 7 races. He retired at least 2 times from the lead and once even on the last lap! Fernando Alonso was always behind to collect the jackpot when it happened. Ron Dennis admitted again that they had failed Kimi and was so sorry that another championship had slipped away because of their reliability issues. He was 2nd in the final standings and Fernando Alonso became the new champion.

2006 - McLaren's car was worse than before and Kimi could not compete against the Renaults and Ferraris. He was very often 5th and best of the rest taking all the points he could get. Now he was tired of waiting for his chance and made a contract with Ferrari. He was 5th in the final standings behind the two Renaults and Ferraris.

2007 - First GP with Ferrari and he takes pole position, race win and fastest lap. 2007 was one of the hardest seasons ever because there was 4 drivers fighting for the championship and they were all equally hungry. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso won 4 races each, Felipe Massa won 3 and Kimi won 6 races. In the final standings Kimi won Hamilton and Alonso with 1 single point and became the champion of the world in his first season with Ferrari.

2008 - This year was a bit harder for Kimi. He retired 4 times but won 2 races and was 3rd in the final standings.

2009 - A much harder year for Ferrari when the rules changed. Kimi won only one race and that was the only win Ferrari got that year because his teammates Felipe Massa, Luca Badoer and Giancarlo Fisichella couldn't win a single race.

2010 - Santander jumped onboard and wanted Alonso to take Kimi's place. Di Montezemolo had no problem of letting him go and ended his contract one year earlier. He didn't race at all in 2010.

2011 - Kimi was not interested of coming back to Formula One and said that he is sick and tired of the politics and bullshit that's going on in F1.

2012 - Williams and Lotus were interested of signing Kimi and he decided to drive for Lotus. He had changed his mind after trying NASCAR in North America. He needed to race in F1 and started by being the fastest in winter testing. In his first race he started from 17th and was 7th at the checkered flag. It was almost like he never left! Jacques Villeneuve started right away saying that a better driver would win a few races for Lotus. In Abu Dhabi he got a win and was in the end 3rd in the 2012 drivers standings behind Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso.

2013 - Now Kimi won the first race of the season and had a pretty equal year compared to 2012. At the end of the season he got serious back pains which is common amongst "older" F1 drivers. Kimi got a new contract with Ferrari for 2014-2015 and wanted to sort out his back pains before that. He didn't care that he lost his 3rd position in the drivers championship and decided to leave Lotus early to have surgery.

2014 - His back healed just in time and he returned to Ferrari. At Ferrari nothing has gone as he had planned. In Spain he finally was in front of his new teammate Alonso but had to drop back because of a poor pitstop strategy. In Monaco Kimi was again in front of Alonso but got a puncture. This may probably be one of the worst seasons for Ferrari. Let's see if they accomplish anything this season.

So what do you think? Should Kimi retire? Is Jacques Villeneuve the right person to criticize Kimi? You decide and please share your opinion on our Facebook page.

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