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Monday, August 31, 2015
Sunday, August 30, 2015
2015 Italian Grand Prix preview
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| 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:
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
- 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
Saturday, August 29, 2015
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.
Friday, August 28, 2015
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!
Thursday, August 27, 2015
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)
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Winners and Losers - Belgium
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)
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
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)
Monday, August 24, 2015
2015 Belgian Grand Prix review
On the formation lap Nico Hulkenberg asked his team Force India if he could pit. They said first yes and later that he should join the others on the grid. When he went in his grid spot the car shut off and didn't move anywhere. This lead to another formation lap.
After the two formation laps they could finally start the race. Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez had rocket starts and overtook both Valtteri Bottas and Nico Rosberg. Perez even challenged Lewis Hamilton for the lead. Bottas also managed to overtake Rosberg but had something wrong with the car. They didn't really know at Williams what it was but the car was much slower on the straights than it should have been.
Pastor Maldonado also had technical issues and retired after lap 2.
Later Rosberg overtook Bottas for 3rd position and started chasing Perez. When he reached him, Perez pitted almost right away and we couldn't see a real fight between them. Now Hamilton was in the lead with Rosberg 2nd as usual. They stayed like that till the end as you probably already knew or guessed.
Bottas pitted and got more problems than he already had. I have said before that Williams has the worst pit crew in Formula One but not even I could have predicted this! They gave Bottas mixed tires by mistake. I mean you could see it on TV when they did this! One tire had a white stripe and three tires had a yellow stripe. Of course this made Bottas' driving much harder and they didn't even tell him anything until he got a drive through penalty and wanted to know why. Bottas is really wasting his time at Williams. I mean I like the team but I feel Bottas' frustration.
Red Bull got more grey hair on lap 21 when Ricciardo's car broke down and he had to retire. This lead to a virtual safety car "deployment". Hamilton complained on the radio that Rosberg was driving too fast. When I looked at the sector times it was clear that Hamilton was wrong about his teammate.
Later Mercedes told Hamilton to pit but he wanted to stay out for a few laps. They told him that they will take Rosberg in first in that case and this made Hamilton pit right away. I got a good laugh out of it.
On lap 41 Daniil Kvyat, who was the only Red Bull driver now, overtook Sergio Perez for 5th and said "NEXT CAR!" on the radio. He had overtaken car after car but he didn't have enough laps left to rise higher. He had a great race and I really enjoyed his success. Red Bull had a really good tire strategy planned for him.
Lap 42 was a bad one for Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. His tire broke before the last lap and let Romain Grosjean take 3rd from him. I am sure that if that wouldn't have happened then Grosjean would not have stood on the podium. He was happy though. He cried on the radio and who can blame him, Lotus has had an awful car ever since Kimi left the team and Maldonado joined.
Vettel's teammate Kimi Räikkönen on the other hand saved his tires and managed to finish 7th. Max Verstappen tried to overtake him aggressively on the last lap but failed and went off track. Kimi kept it cool because he knew that Verstappen couldn't have overtaken him at the same spot as Hakkinen overtook Schumacher in 2000. Luckily Verstappen still finished 8th.
That was it for the race and now it's time for my predictions + results.
Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT
The race:
The race:
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - CORRECT
- Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari - WRONG. His former teammate Romain Grosjean surprised us all and took 3rd.
Fastest lap: Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari - WRONG. Nico Rosberg was fastest.
Surprise: Kimi Räikkönen will be the fastest Ferrari driver - CORRECT. He was faster than Vettel all weekend but got a technical problem in qualifying and couldn't set a fast lap. In the race he finished and Vettel didn't.
Post your own predictions to our F1-4-LIFE PREDICTORS LEAGUE!
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. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway.
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. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway.
That's it for today and if you want to send me feedback then email me: f14lifeblog@gmail.com
Sunday, August 23, 2015
2015 PREDICTORS LEAGUE standings after the Belgian GP
1. James Redman - 91 points
2. Peter McLaren - 83 points
3. Leonardo Machado - 82 points
4. Jonathan M Yountz - 78 points
5. Ryan Lane - 68 points
6. Larry Gallagher - 65 points
7. JT (F1-4-LIFE) - 64 points
8. AE (F1-4-LIFE) - 63 points
9. Shaun Magnano - 59 points
10. Rich Kewell - 50 points
11. MW (F1-4-LIFE) - 44 points
12. MH (F1-4-LIFE) - 40 points
13. Tim Saunders - 36 points
14. Jaakko Iivari - 35 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. 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. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway.
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Friday, August 21, 2015
Thursday, August 20, 2015
2015 Belgium - Thursday Press Conference (video)
The press conference with the King of Spa in the middle! ;)
FIA Thursday press conference - Belgium
DRIVERS - Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso), Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull Racing), Will Stevens (Marrussia), Fernando Alonso (McLaren), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Kimi, we have to start with you. Obviously Spa has been very good to you over the years – four wins – but your drive for 2016 confirmed yesterday. What do you hope to achieve given the way the team is developing at the moment and your own performance level at this stage of your career?
Kimi Raikkonen: Well, obviously it the same as every year – we want to do as well as we can and hopefully challenge for championships for next year and I'm sure we can produce even a quite bit better car than this year next year. Obviously the team is all working well together and we all feel very good and obviously I'm happy to stay there but we have to try to do a good second part of the year and maximise what we have and then prepare for next year.
Q: You will have seen that after he won Sebastian gave you a lot of support with his words in Hungary before the break. What did that support mean to you?
KR: I know him well and we have a very good relationship and it's nice… I don't know exactly what you mean, I mean I haven't read so much things lately, but he tells me and I tell him if he does well and I do well, we have a very good feeling of respect in the team. It's always nice to hear from him also. We try to beat each other in the races but we still can be friends as before, so I think that is also very good for us as a team that we can work very closely.
Q: OK, thank you for that. Lewis, coming to you: twice on pole here, you've got a win, of course, at this circuit as well. You said that your performance in Hungary was short of your own expectations, but you still managed to increase your championship lead. Does that kind of thing make you feel that this might be your year?
Lewis Hamilton: Definitely not, definitely not. I think the team effort that goes in; seeing how hard my team is working, seeing the progress we're making I think encourages me to believe that it's going to be our year. You know you just have to keep your head down and you can't win them all.
Q: Sebastian Vettel is just 42 behind you at this stage; 225 points maximum up for grabs. Any concerns there about the threat from him or does your qualifying superiority underpin confidence for the second half of the season in particular?
LH: Well naturally we're here to win and we're focused on making sure we stay up front but we're conscious… we're fully aware that other teams are pushing very hard and Ferrari are looking great. So we don't arrive at any race thinking that we are superior to anyone. We know that we have a fight on our hands and so we're doing to work at trying to make sure we work harder than them.
Q: OK, thanks for that. Fernando, coming to you, amazingly you've never won at Spa in Formula One. You've won in plenty of other categories but not in Formula One. Looking back a remarkable Hungary; fifth place for you, both cars in the points. Does that represent real progress or does it just represent and opportunity taken?
Fernando Alonso: Well, I think half and half; a little bit of both. There was a better performance from us in Hungary. I think the circuit layout helped us a little bit in terms of the characteristics of our car and then secondly, I think we have been lucky with some of the retirements and some of the incidents that happened in Hungary, [they] helped us to get some places. I think 12 or 13 cars had some issues during the race in terms of penalties or in terms of mechanical failures, so I think that was definitely a help.
Q: Now, you've experienced many different situations, technical situations and rules around grand prix starts during your long career, could you give us an insight into how much these new rules, starting this weekend in Spa, will change things for the drivers?
FA: I think not much. It will not be a significant change. I know that there is some talk about this but maybe for next year or the following years will be more different. What we will have here is just some restrictions in communications with the drivers and the team etc but I think… at least in our team we were not doing any specific communication or strategy during the formation laps etc so it will not change much.
Q: Coming to you Will, on podium here I believe here in World Series, first time here racing in Formula One. What are your thoughts on racing at this historic venue, what it means to a driver in his first full season in F1 to race here. Is this one that, when you looked at the calendar on your kitchen wall you looked at and really thought ‘I'm looking forward to racing at F1 car at Spa.'
Will Stevens: Yeah, I think Spa is always a special circuit. I think all the drivers always like coming here a lot. Every car you come in goes quicker and quicker and the track gets better so really excited to get out to see what an F1 car feels like ‘round here. It's always been a good track for me and looking forward to getting out there.
Q: Tell us about the match-up with your team-mate. It seems to have been in his favour a little bit in the last couple of races. What's the story behind that.
WS: I think our pace has been really strong throughout the year. Just the last few grands prix haven't really fallen my way to be honest but I know that I've got good pace in the car and I think coming back to a circuit like this it should really suit what I like. I'm confident to kick on for the rest of the season and finish strongly.
Q: Coming to you Daniil. Obviously your best-ever Formula One result last time out in Hungary, second place, also, the best result for a Russian in Formula One. What was the reaction like back home?
Daniil Kvyat: It was a good race for me in Hungary. Hard to say what was the reaction – I didn't count any reactions or stuff like that but I think it was good for myself, good for the team generally to achieve that in this hard season. Now there's been the summer break and we are back to our basic work. We hope to keep working hard to achieve similar results – even though we know it's not going to be easy because also in Hungary we had to take some opportunities. Nevertheless, when they come, you have to take them.
Q: It's very clear that Red Bull has made significant steps, particularly on the chassis side since Silverstone. How do you fancy your chances of repeating that kind of result in the second half of the year? Which races are you looking at in particular?
DK: Once it happened I think it's possible to do second time as well. We should never give up on that. I think you know in theory Singapore is looking good for us but I wouldn't limit… I wouldn't say that we would just work on one particular race. We have to take any chances in every race – and this will be one of them. Anything can happen in any other race and we have to keep pushing for any opportunity because every race is a new chance.
Q: And talking of best-ever career Formula One results, Max Verstappen, you won three times here in F3 at Spa but you got your best-ever Formula One result, fourth place in Hungary, a real breakthrough for you. What does that say about you and your challenge this year?
Max Verstappen: I think it was also a bit unexpected result there but, I mean, you still need to be there when people make mistakes or have problems so, at the end, I was very happy to finish fourth especially after the beginning of the race which was a bit difficult for me. But I think the first half of the season went quite well. I think if I new this before I would have signed off – I would have liked it like this but now it's time to focus again on this weekend. On my home grand prix. Won't be as good, I think, as Hungary but you never know. We can get some good chances here again. We just have to optimise everything.
Q: You're about to race a Formula One car around this daunting F1 track - but can you give us an update on how you're going with getting a road car licence?
MV: I still don't have it. Still not 18. But yeah, I don't have so much time – so I'll do it a bit later..
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Heikki Kulta - Turun Sanomat) Kimi, fighting for your fifth victory here, does it help you that all the pressure of the new contract is now put behind and you don't have to prove yourself that much any more?
KR: It doesn't change anything. I mean we still try to do the same as every other race. So, that contract thing, it's not going to change our approach for the weekend or the end result. Hopefully the end result will be good but no, we will do the same things as in all the other races. So, hopefully we can have a good weekend, no problems and see where we end up.
Q: (Dan Knutson - Auto Action, Speedsport Magazines) Next year, the engineers will not be able to coach the drivers over the radio on things like tyre degradation and fuel saving, so I would like to ask an experienced driver, Fernando, and a new guy, Max, if you welcome this because it's more in the driver's hands or do you prefer to have as many tools and inputs to optimise your driving?
FA: Well, I don't think it will make a huge change because... yeah, we are receiving some information now on the radio about tyres, about fuel or other things on the car but we are perfectly aware of what is happening in the car and what is the best solution for the specific issues that we are facing during the race so if that information is not coming, it will come anyway by instinct and by the reactions of the car. So yeah, we will have to pay a little bit more attention to a few things that now we rely a little bit on the radio but it's not a big change and probably it's welcome, all those changes, to have a little bit more to do in the car and feeling a little bit more important.
MV: For me, I don't think it will change a lot. You always drive on your instincts. You feel when the tyres are dropping off so the engineer doesn't need to tell you that. I think you learn that already from a very young age so yeah, I don't mind, to be honest, to talk a little bit less on the radio.
Q: (Flavio Vanetti - Corriere della Serra) Kimi, you are approaching your sixth season with the red car. You have won a title, some races, you've got some podiums. What are you still missing in your experience with Ferrari?
KR: Obviously we want more wins, me and the team, but I've had good years, difficult years, some up and downs but I always enjoy it, always enjoy it more when things are going more nicely when you get results but as a team, I've had a great time there and I'm very pleased that we can be working together next year again. As a team, as they are now, I really feel that we are going in the right direction and we can do great things in the future. No, if I miss something... like I said, people more happy, we are more happy when we can do better results. Obviously you write less negative things after that. We keep working and believe in what we're doing so I'm sure we will get there and we will have many happy days in front of us and a lot of good results.
Q: (Thomas Bastin - La Derniere Heure) Max, I remember your wins last year in Formula Three very well. It seems that when you arrive at this track you were immediately very much at ease. Does it give you more confidence before your first attempt in Formula One?
MV: I'm always confident but I'm racing against very competitive and experienced guys so we will see. I always try to do my best and from there on we always go into the weekend.
Q: (Angelique Belokopytov - Autodigest) Lots of drivers just love Spa for its legendary corners, for opportunities to overtake and so on so my question is for all drivers: what do you dislike in Spa, what would you optimise or improve? So let's start with Kimi as he has the record for the most wins of any driver here?
KR: What would I change? I think I would go back to how the last chicane was, coming into the chicane and I guess it was called the Bus Stop at that time, it was nicer than how it is now. It was just better, kind of more like it should be. Now one part is a bit different to the others, the new one doesn't feel like it fits exactly there. I think it was a nicer corner, there was a bit more speed, over the kerbs more. I guess that not much else has changed really, a little bit the first corner.
LH: I think I would agree but I never drove that circuit, I just watched and played it on the computer game but it was definitely even more fun on computer games so I would imagine it would be better in real life.
Q: Is this one of your favourite tracks?
LH: No
Q: Anybody else like to make any changes?
MV: There are quite a lot of wasps. I don't like them. That's the only thing. I think the track is great.
Q: (Livio Oricchio - Globosport.com) Lewis, you have been seen in the social media, many pictures of your maybe new way of life. What do you think, do you think you can arrive at the races more relaxed, it helps you to develop even better work? Or in the future, you can charge some price?
LH: I don't really have a new way of life. This is what I've sort of been doing... it's just more visible to you, that's about it. It's been working quite well the last couple of years..
(source: f1.com)
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
FIA press conference schedule - Belgium
World championship leader Lewis Hamilton and four-time Spa winner Kimi Raikkonen will be among the drivers facing the press in Belgium on Thursday, while on Friday Ferrari’s James Allison will join Mercedes’ Paddy Lowe and other team personnel to answer questions on all things technical. The line-ups in full…
Thursday, August 20, 1500 hours local time (1300 hours GMT)
Fernando Alonso (McLaren), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Danill Kvyat (Red Bull), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Will Stevens (Marussia), Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso)
Friday, August 21, 1600 hours local time (1400 hours GMT)
James Allison (Ferrari), Nick Chester (Lotus), Giampaolo Dall'Ara (Sauber), Andrew Green (Force India), Paddy Lowe (Mercedes), Paul Monaghan (Red Bull)
The qualifying and post-race conferences with the top three drivers will take place immediately after the respective sessions.
(source: f1.com)
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
2015 Belgian Grand Prix preview
Finally the break is over!! Could not have taken one more weekend without a race.
Spa is one of my favorite tracks because in almost every race they host we see something unforgettable.
Everybody remembers what happend in the beginning of 2012 when Romain Grosjean caused a terrible crash and got banned from the next race. There was also a terrible crash in the beginning of the 1998 race which was one of the worst in F1 history. Check the video below. Jordan also took their first 1-2 in their race with Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher.
In 2000 Mika Häkkinen made one of the coolest moves on Michael Schumacher when he overtook him with Ricardo Zonta in the middle of them in full speed. See Hakkinen and Schumi from this video:
Spa is also the track where Giancarlo Fisichella took pole position for Force India in 2009 and Kimi Räikkönen won the race even though Ferrari had a lot of problems that season. See Fisichella's comments of the good qualifying session:
Here Kimi overtakes Fisichella:
Great memories! Speaking of Kimi Räikkönen did you know that every time he has finished the race in Belgium he has been 1st, 3rd or 4th? That's an interesting statistic because in 2009 Ferrari had a bad season and they won here. Will they do the same this weekend? IT WOULD BE NICE IF THEY DID! I'm tired of seeing Mercedes dominating every race.
Now it's time for my predictions!
Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
The race:
The race:
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
- Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari
Fastest lap: Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari
Surprise: Kimi Räikkönen will be the fastest Ferrari driver.
Post your own predictions to our F1-4-LIFE PREDICTORS LEAGUE!
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. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway.
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. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway.
That's it for today and if you want to send me feedback then email me: f14lifeblog@gmail.com
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