Red Bull's 2015 Formula 1 Season Preview

Check out Daniil Kyat's dance moves :D

Comparing the 2015 teammates: Red Bull

So now it's time to compare the Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat.

I'll start with the Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo.

He started racing in F1 back in 2011 with Hispania Racing Team (HRT) but moved to Toro Rosso the following year. After driving for Toro Rosso for two years he got a seat at Red Bull. It went very well for him at Red Bull!

Let's see how he has done against his teammates.

2011 - Vitantonio Liuzzi and Narain Karthikeyan. Ricciardo drove with Karthikeyan in one race and lost. Liuzzi and Ricciardo drove together in 10 races and the situation between them was 6-3 (one point is missing because neither one of them got a result in Italy). I could say that Ricciardo was the best at Hispania. Hispania or HRT never got a single point in the series.

2012 - Jean-Eric Vergne. Ricciardo lost to his teammate with 6 points (16-10).

2013 - Jean-Eric Vergne. Ricciardo won 20-13 in points and was 3 times more ahead of him in the races.

2014 - Sebastian Vettel. This was a shocking year for many! Daniel Ricciardo beat the 4 time world champion in wins, podiums and points. Vettel won no races at all and Ricciardo won three! The points were 238-167 so Ricciardo was clearly better in 2014.

Daniil Kvyat has only had one teammate in Formula One but let's still see what happened there.

2014 - Jean-Eric Vergne. He lost in points 22-8 to his more experienced teammate but still got a seat at Red Bull for 2015. This was a bit strange. Why isn't Jean-Eric Vergne getting any respect from Red Bull? He even beat Ricciardo in 2012! But all in all even though Kvyat lost to his teammate he drove very well and is probably going to improve a lot in 2015. If not then he hasn't got much time left in F1. If they give you 2 seasons and don't get the job done then it's bye bye.

2014 Italian Grand Prix preview

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sebastian Vettel took his maiden victory in Monza back in 2008 with Toro Rosso. That was strange if you ask me! To win a race with the former Minardi now known as Toro Rosso.

This year I think the battler between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will continue. Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas will be up there with them taking advantage of the situation.

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

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
3. Valtteri Bottas, Williams

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Surprise: Daniel Ricciardo will have a bad race for a change. I don't think this track is for him.

The bonus for the PREDICTORS LEAGUE: Who will be the last one to retire? My answer is Romain Grosjean, Lotus.

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

Melbourne hopes new deal will bring Ricciardo home win

Australian Grand Prix organisers are optimistic that Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo will score a home win in Melbourne by the end of the decade, after the city signed a new contract to host the race through to 2020.

Melbourne will celebrate its 20th running of the Australian Grand Prix next season, and having renewed its deal for a further five years over the weekend, wants to witness two-time F1 winner Ricciardo add an Albert Park victory to his tally.

“Within this contract we hope to see Australia’s own Daniel Ricciardo win the Formula One Australian Grand Prix and become world champion,” said Victoria Premier Denis Napthine on announcing the extension.

As one of several global sporting events staged in Victoria, the Australian Grand Prix - in which Ricciardo finished second this year before his car was disqualified - brings up to $39 million of economic benefits to the state and generates in the region of 400 full-time equivalent jobs.

“In addition, the worldwide broadcast delivers invaluable promotion and coverage to Melbourne and Victoria,” added Victoria’s Minister for Tourism and Major Events Louise Asher. “These cornerstone events enhance our international reputation as the world’s most liveable city.”

Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One group CEO, said the signing of the new contract was well deserved, commenting: “I congratulate Melbourne for the excellent way in which it presents Formula One to the world.”

(source: f1.com)

FIA post-qualifying press conference - China

Drivers: 1 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes); 2 - Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing); 3 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

Q: Lewis, congratulations, your third pole this year. That must have been so difficult with so many difficult and different conditions out there. What sort of satisfaction do you get from that?
Lewis Hamilton: Definitely the most when it’s raining. It’s so slippery out there, trying to find the grip, obviously not making mistakes on your lap, and really putting it together, especially when you have these guys pushing you. So, it was a tough session. I really enjoyed it. The car was feeling great. We always have stuff we can improve but the team have done a great job this weekend. A good position for the race and I hope we can follow through tomorrow.

Q: Daniel, you’re second on the grid, your equal best ever grid position. What sort of satisfaction for you to put together such a good lap in these conditions - right at the end there?
Daniel Ricciardo: Yeah I think that was very pleasing to do it at the end. To be honest, I struggled a bit throughout the session, at least personally I didn’t feel like I was getting on top of the conditions but then the last set of inters right at the end of Q3 we managed to get a bit more out of it and I put a good lap together, so pretty pleased to be on the front row. Yeah, a good day.

Q: Sebastian, is this Red Bull Racing coming back and getting on terms with Mercedes back at the front? 
Sebastian Vettel: Well, in wet conditions I think we have a bit more of a chance. In dry conditions they are still quite quick and a little bit too far away. But let’s see what happens tomorrow, I think the weather forecast is dry so for sure we’ll try. I think we are in the best positions to try to give them a very hard time tomorrow.

Q: Yes, what is the weather forecast for tomorrow, Lewis? What are you expecting? What are you looking forward to in the race tomorrow 
LH: I was told it is going to be a good day tomorrow - I don’t know if it’s going to be the same for you guys? So, we don’t know. Here it’s always hazy, you don’t really know what’s going to happen with the weather but it will be cold for sure. Today you didn’t see the track drying up at all. But I hope it’s a dry race. Obviously these guys are a little bit closer in the wet, but we’ll have a good race either way.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, going into that session I think you just did one lap this morning - so how well prepared were you for that session?
LH: Yeah, I mean, we all had to save our tyres. It’s interesting because I’ll have to go and analyse it ‘cos I know at least one of these guys was driving a few laps in FP3 but I didn’t feel the need to go out really. I think it’s kind of… I don’t think it’s great for the fans that we don’t have a huge amount of tyres to… just to go out and run so they can see us driving. I’m sure people are tuning in and turning up to the track to watch us drive and we’re kind of a little bit restricted, obviously with the engine mileage and also with the tyres, so it’d be cool if we had a little bit more tyre life, then we would do some more running. But otherwise it was no different for me. The car felt good in qualifying.

Q: And in dry conditions, how do you feel?
LH: Yesterday was not a good day for me, so I struggled through P1 and obviously didn’t get to run through P1 and then P2, the car wasn’t very good. But we made some changes so I’m hoping… it’s kinda strange because we made all those changes overnight and then today it’s been wet so I’ve no idea if it’s in the right direction. It looked good in the wet so hopefully it’s the same tomorrow in the dry.

Q: So in a way you go into the race tomorrow with a bit of an unknown car.
LH: Yeah, definitely. I do particularly, because I missed P1. So it’s a little bit of an unknown - but it shouldn’t be too far off.

Q: Daniel, this circuit, just looking at the streams across the track, the changing condition, the rain came and went… tell us all about that.
DR: Yeah it’s a challenging circuit, I think, in general. Especially when a bit of water falls on the track it always makes it more challenging wherever you are. And there’s a few places across the track here where there’s a tarmac change and you get quite a big difference in grip through some of these corners - so trying to basically find the right line and the best way to drive around, particularly these trickier parts of the track with tarmac changes, is a bit complex. Took a bit of time to understand that but I think we got it in the end. Looking forward to tomorrow. If it’s dry I think we can race up the front. I’ll be ducking my head down the straight, like in a go-kart but yeah, we’ll hopefully hang on and fight for at least a podium I hope.

Q: And how do you feel going into the race in dry conditions?
DR: Yeah, as I say I think we’ve got a good chance to at least stay up the pointy end. It’s probably going to be a big strategy game tomorrow with two or three stop. It’s pretty close. If you can make a two-stop work successfully I think it’s going to help out but y’know, we’ll see what happens in 24 hours.

Q: Sebastian, pleased to be back in our press conference again, in third place?
SV: I missed probably one race, so it’s not a disaster.
LH: He’s been in quite a few times over the years so…

Q: But in terms of being competitive again and in the dry, you didn’t sound as though you were very convinced you would be [competitive] in the dry but perhaps in the wet more so? 
SV: Yeah, just if you take yesterday as a reference we were in good shape but I think missing the Ferraris this afternoon compared to yesterday afternoon. Yeah, we knew that in wet conditions probably we can be a little bit closer probably similar to what we’ve seen so far in qualifying, unfortunately only in Australia, where Daniel I think finished… qualified P2. Malaysia we were pretty close and again here. Maybe not that close this time but closer than we were yesterday probably… and the last race.

Q: And in terms of the race tomorrow, what’s the major factor? It’s interesting to see how much wind there is out there. 
SV: They say the weather should be fine tomorrow but I think around here you cannot really trust the weather forecast, so the best is to look out the window in the morning and see what you have. I think that’s fairly much the plan. In terms of tyres a bit compromised for the race, should it be wet, because we used most of the tyres today but I think most people were confident to do so because tomorrow should be dry so long story short we expect dry conditions and hopefully we can finish similar to where we started.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Livio Oricchio - Universo On Line) Sebastian, you have a more competitive teammate this year; does it change your approach to the weekend? 
SV: Well, that’s a compliment to Mark, I should say, in his absence. I think this year is very, very different, the cars are very different so I don’t think you can compare last year to this year, first of all, but nevertheless, I think Daniel is doing a very good job, he has not just had one good weekend, he had good weekends and so far he seems to be able to get the maximum out of the car. On my side, maybe I’m struggling a little bit more, but at the end of the day we have the same car - there’s nothing between cars, so if he manages to beat me, then he beats me on the circuit, fair and square. Of course, that’s not to my liking but equally, I know that I have to do a little bit better.

Q: (Frederic Ferret - L’Equipe) Daniel and Sebastian, there are two Red Bulls in front of one Mercedes; do you think there is a chance that we see a Red Bull winning tomorrow or are the Mercedes untouchable? 
SV: Well, I think if we put two chicanes in all the straights then yes.
DR: The idea is to get a good start for both of us and just drive side by side the whole race and then just fight it out on the last lap! Yeah, I don’t know. Realistically we have to wait and see but if we do I’m sure it won’t come easy.
SV: But do you agree on the chicanes still?
LH: Nah.
SV: It was worth a try!

Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport) Daniel, you said you only found the right grip on the last run; was it because of what you explained before, because you had to find the lines where the tarmac changes or was it because you used different tyre pressures or whatever at the end? And can you tell us where the tarmac changes here at the circuit? 
DR: I think that with a bit more water than we had this morning - I only did one timed lap this morning - but with a bit more water out there this afternoon, it probably changed more than I expected so maybe some of the lines or the approaches I had on track this morning had altered a bit. Yeah, it took me a little bit of time, I guess, to figure that out. With tarmac changes, there’s a couple across the track but the main one I think that we feel in the race car is probably turn eight, I think, it’s after the long fast left and then into turn eight, there’s a tarmac change there and the car sort of bounces around a bit there. That’s just a bit of a challenge, I guess, in these conditions, so trying to get around there was... fun.

(source: f1.com)

FIA Thursday press conference - China

Drivers - Adrian Sutil (Sauber), Sergio Perez (Force India), Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber), Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 

Q: Daniel, some bad news earlier on at the start of this week for you, what was your reaction to that?
Daniel Ricciardo: Obviously a little bit disappointed but at the same time I had moved on already. I think Sunday night in Melbourne the damage was already done and I went from a big high to a pretty big low, so I’d sort of already moved on. I hoped but didn’t really expect too much to come from it. So that’s it. I’m here now in Shanghai and that’s it. There’s no more ifs or buts, it’s here, I have 12 points and i just have to play catch-up.

Q: Fernando, it’s also been an interesting week for you with some interesting news from the team. 
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, there has been some news from the team and we’re here to try to improve the situation a little bit, be a little bit more competitive, more than we have shown in the first three races. We’re here to fight back.

Q: Is that slightly unsettling for you?
FA: I think we need to be honest with our situation. It’s not where we wanted to be. I think there is a lot of room to improve. We need to become better in all the areas from the car. There is a long way to go, the championship is very long and we know that probably in the first (part) of the championship we will not be as competitive as Mercedes or some of the teams that now they are on top but as I said we need to maximise what we have in our hands now, try to score as many points as possible and hopefully we can be very competitive later in the season.

Q: Lewis, a fantastic race for you in Bahrain and an interesting quote from you saying it was a “real racer’s race”, using the skills that you had acquired as a karter. Are we going to see lots more of that and have you had a look at the race and seen what was happening all the way down the field? 
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, it was quite an exciting race, I got to spend some time at home with the family at the weekend and we watched the highlights. Yeah, it was quite interesting to see the duel between each team and between team-mates. As I said it was a bit more like a go-kart race. Whether or not it will always be like that… that was a great race, I hope there are more races like that through the year.

Q: It was always interests me, as a karting dad, as I have been, when you guys start talking about karting and how it is the purest form of racing. It’s extraordinary that you can race like that, almost like a karter, in a Formula One car. 
LH: Yeah, it is. You don’t see it too often. Obviously in karting you don’t have downforce, you just have mechanical grip, so it is more exciting in general. But to have the staggered tyres, difference between different cars enabling that racing in the last race was quite unique. 

Q: Well any time you like; we’d like some more of it. Esteban can I come to you now? First of all, you said this was one of your best races last year. Obviously we saw you end the last race in not the best way and hopefully there is no lasting damage but tell us about this race from your point of view.
Esteban Gutierrez: Well, yes it was very challenging, especially as the performance at the moment is not where we want to be and this puts everything in a very difficult position. The whole team is really pushing very hard, we are trying to recover our pace and to really be where we belong and where we are aiming to. We have a great team behind and everyone is pushing very hard to achieve that very soon, hopefully very soon.

Q: And you were perfectly alright the next day after the crash? 
EG: Yeah definitely. Nothing happened. This was the most important thing on the weekend and on the incident as well, apart from really actually what happened. Afterwards it was just necessary to do all the check up and be sure that everything was fine.

Q: Sergio, obviously an excellent race for you in Bahrain as well. What is it that’s making Force India so competitive at the moment?
Sergio Perez: It was a great race for the team as well. Nico finishing fifth, a lot of points, second in the Constructors’ so it’s a big motivation for the team. Right now we are maximising every opportunity that we are having. I had a little bit of a difficult start of the season, I struggled in Malaysia with some issues. We managed to come into Bahrain and do a great job and I think right now we have a good package with Mercedes but I think as well the car. We’re beating all the other Mercedes engine [customers], so we’re doing a good job as a team, we are maximising what we have and hopefully we can… we come into a different challenge here in China, very different track to Bahrain so I think it will be a good target for us to try to do as good as we did in Bahrain. It will be a big challenge for us here.

Q: Adrian, I think there are quite a few areas that Sauber have to improve. Did you make some progress at the test? What are the areas still to work on?
Adrian Sutil: Yes. A little progress has been made at the test with the test drivers in Bahrain, so it was quite conclusive. Of course at the moment we are far too slow. Not really enjoyable but we are looking ahead. It will get better. It’s just a question of time. We need to be a bit patient. So, for here, there are a few things changed already. So, I’m quite excited to see how the car will be. But our plan, especially for the next races going to Europe and going to Barcelona and on, the car should definitely be a different one to drive. It’s not only one area, quite a few areas of the car. It’s the power unit, it’s the weight - and I’m fighting also personally a little bit here and there. It will get there and as soon as we do progress every race weekend, I’m happy. Fingers crossed it’s going to happen very soon.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Flavio Vanetti - Corriere della Sera) Fernando, the new team principle of Ferrari, Marco Mattiacci has no experience related to Formula One. Could it be an issue in your opinion, or not?
FA: Well, I think we need to give him time and try to see how he settles down. It’s too early to say if, y’know, it will be a very good thing or very bad. I think we need to make sure he has all the facilities ready, all the technical stuff ready, all the team behind him, try to help him settle down as fast as possible. And, yes, try to put him in a condition to feel comfortable from day one. I certainly hope… we are really hoping it will be a successful managing of the team and everyone is looking forward.

Q: (Kate Walker - Crash.net) A question for all six of you. We’ve heard an awful lot about this year’s technology and how it’s changing the future of Formula One. Looking further ahead, how do you see the role of the driver evolving as the technology becomes more complex?
FA: I think it’s going to be pretty similar to what we saw in the last couple of years. Drivers still have an input on the result and developing the car - but as we know Formula One is a category that is dominated by the performance of the car, in a way. We saw in Bahrain also in the last couple of laps, they were fighting two team-mates, two team-mates, two team-mates until the tenth or 12th position. It’s difficult to get away from that order. It has been more or less like this in the past. I don’t see any big difference. Probably it’s a little bit more extreme now with all the technology as you said. In the past there were some strange cases in races like Monaco or things like that, maybe a midfield car could fight for a podium etcetera. In this last couple of years it’s difficult to see that but, you know, you take it or you go in another category. It is what it is.

Sergio?
SP: I fully agree with Fernando. I think you are as good as your car. The level your team is and the performance your team has. We’ve seen it in the past. Drivers changing teams and sometimes you can be in a very good team and show very strong potential, win some races. Sometimes you don’t even go into the points - and it’s related to the level of the car. But I think the drivers still have a big influence on the development and the result but it’s a factor now that Formula One is dominated by the car and how quick your car can be.

Q: (Livio Oricchio - Universo On Line) Fernando, what were you celebrating at the end of the last race as you took the chequered flag and took your hand out of the cockpit and punched the air? 
FA: Yeah, I was saying thanks to the mechanics. I said it a hundred times after the race also. They’d been working hard on Saturday. As you know, we had a problem on the engine side, on the power unit that slowed us a little bit in Q1, Q2 and then furthermore in Q3. We didn’t have the solution for the problem, even on Sunday at 12 o’ clock so we still were not completely sure that the car was perfectly OK and then in the race, we had everything in place - they did a fantastic job so when we crossed the line, they were on the pit wall saying hallo and I said hallo to them.

Q: (Luigi Perna - La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, it was quite shocking, the replacement of the team principal after three races. I don’t know if you agree but in your opinion, is that enough to solve the problem - to save the season - or not? 
FA: Well, I think we need to assess what Stefano decided. He was probably not any more in the mood to continue and with the feeling of taking the weight on his shoulders. He made a very responsible move. It’s not easy, when you have a very privileged position in one Formula One team to be able to step back and to say ‘maybe it’s better to move’. But he did it, just for Ferrari’s interest and improvement so that’s something that we cannot forget and now we have to respect that decision. From that point, for sure, it’s not that in this race we will improve one second, because I don’t think Stefano was doing the front wing or the rear wing or whatever by his hands, so probably we need to wait a little bit of time and see what we can improve and try to help all the team with the new people coming to make us a little bit stronger and try to get back some of the success from the past.

Q: (Qian Jun - Oriental Morning Post) To all of you, this year the FIA has introduced a penalty point system. After just three Grands Prix, Jules Bianchi has four points and Pastor has three points. Do you think anybody will reach 12 points this season, and what’s your opinion on this regulation? 
AS: I think it’s OK. I’m not sure if anyone will reach the full 12 but after three races, having four, then he should reach it very soon. Let’s see how it’s going to be. Most important is that there was a change from last year because there were at certain times some penalties, especially for the backmarkers, which were not doing anything. If you’re last and you get a ten place penalty you’re still last and that’s it. This is a little bit different and I think there was a reason why it should be changed and now we need a little bit of time to see if it is working. I hope so.
DR: Yeah, I think you reach 12 if you’re a bad boy but yeah, I think this system is OK. It’s trying to keep us in line, really, so if it helps then yeah.
EG: I think it’s a good system. It puts some conscience on ourselves to not do wrong moves and to respect each other and to race in a fair way, which is how racing should be.

Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos - Racing Magazine) To Lewis and Fernando, as world champions. We will have the 20th anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s death in a few weeks. I wanted to ask what are your memories from that day and if Senna was the driver that you most looked up to when you were in karting in those days? 
LH: Yeah. For me, it’s not unknown, I always comment on it: when I was a kid I had all the books, all the videos, he was the driver I looked up to, way before I even started racing. He kind of inspired me to even be a driver and of course, on the day of his passing, his death was... it was very difficult for me to show my emotions in my family so I went off to a quiet place and it was very difficult for several days to really... your hero’s gone. But an incredible legend; you can still learn things from how he approached racing and how he drove. You like to think that one day you may be recognised as someone that was able to drive similarly to him.
FA: Yeah, the same for me: he was an inspiration. I remember some of the races that we could see in the news in Spain, because we didn’t have the TV coverage of Formula One, but yeah, I remember I went to school - on my book, I didn’t have (pictures of) girls, obviously I was too young to have girls on the book but I had Ayrton there and the same in my room. I had a big poster of Ayrton and even my first go-karts were in the colours of Ayrton’s McLaren because my father also liked him. It was a very sad moment. I know there is something happening at Imola in Italy in the next weekends and I intend to be there, just to be close on this unfortunately important day.

Q: (Jerome Bourret - L’Equipe) Fernando, have you already had a discussion with your new team principal about the things you would like to change in the team and if not, what are the points you would like to discuss with him? 
FA: No, I haven’t had the chance... I don’t know if he’s coming here, I guess so, so it would be a good time to welcome him. I don’t really have much to say. I drive the car. He will be good enough to recognise what are the weak areas of the team, what are the strong areas of the team and hopefully improve them. I think that as drivers, we will try to drive as fast as we can, Kimi and I, and try to help him in whatever field our help is required.

Q: (David Croft - Sky Sports F1) Fernando, you’ve worked and driven under a variety of team principals in Formula One. Where would Stefano Domenicali rank amongst your other team bosses and what do you think Ferrari will miss most about him? 
FA: I think that Stefano was a great man, first of all. I’m a close friend of his, not just on the circuit. We ski together every January 1st in Italy in the mountains. We still have a close relationship. We’ve been talking all the week long. I think that will continue, because we have known each for many years and we have worked very closely for this couple of years, so that’s important, to separate work from friendship. Then, as a team principal, I think he made good choices, good things. Obviously we missed opportunities in 2010, in 2012. They missed opportunities in 2008 with Felipe (Massa). If not, he could probably have three championships in his pocket. I think he brought in Pat Fry, he brought James Allison, Raikkonen, so I think all the things that people ask from him he was giving to them, probably, as I said, the results in the sports are important and the pressure at Ferrari is also quite big, so he made his decision which we respect and we will try to move forward in different directions but try to move forward. I’m happy with the time that we passed together.

(source: f1.com)

Red Bull lose Ricciardo disqualification appeal

Red Bull have lost their appeal against Daniel Ricciardo’s exclusion from last month’s Australian Grand Prix results. Ricciardo was disqualified from second place after his car was found to have exceeded the maximum permitted fuel flow rate.

Following Monday’s sitting in Paris in which it heard evidence from all parties, the International Court of Appeal decided to uphold the decision of the Melbourne stewards. Red Bull have accepted the Court's verdict, full details of which will be published by the FIA later this week.

Red Bull chose to rely on their own fuel calculations at Albert Park, after experiencing what they termed ‘inconsistencies’ with the FIA-approved flow meter, but insisted they could prove they never exceeded the 100kg per hour limit.

The FIA - Formula One racing’s governing body - countered that allowances had been made for any such ‘inconsistencies’ and that using alternative calculation methods without its express permission was in itself also a breach of the regulations.

Accepting the Court’s ruling, Red Bull said: “We are of course disappointed by the outcome and would not have appealed if we didn’t think we had a very strong case.

"We always believed we adhered to the technical regulations throughout the 2014 Australian Grand Prix. We are sorry for Daniel that he will not be awarded the 18 points from the event, which we think he deserved. We will continue to work very hard to amass as many points as possible for the team, Daniel and Sebastian (Vettel) throughout the season. 

“We will now move on from this and concentrate on this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.”

Below is the Court’s official statement, as released by the FIA on Tuesday.

Decision of the International Court of Appeal

The Court, after having heard the parties and examined their submissions, decided to uphold the Decision N°56 of the Stewards by which they decided to exclude Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s car N°3 from the results of the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.

The International Court of Appeal was presided over by Mr Harry DUIJM (Netherlands), and included Mr Rui BOTICA SANTOS (Portugal), Mr Philippe NARMINO (Monaco), Mr Antonio RIGOZZI (Switzerland) and Mr Jan STOVICEK (Czech Republic).

(source: f1.com)

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Ricciardo upbeat despite Australia disqualification

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo says he has only positives to take away from the season-opening race in Australia, despite losing his maiden podium finish to disqualification.

Ricciardo was excluded from second place in Melbourne after stewards determined that his car had run with too high a fuel flow rate - a breach of Article 5.1.4 of the 2014 technical regulations, which limits teams to a maximum fuel flow rate of 100kg per hour.

The Australian said the stewards’ decision - which Red Bull are appealing - had "put a downer" on his home Grand Prix, but when asked if there were any pluses to take away from the race he was adamant there were.

“Actually it's mostly positives,” he told Red Bull’s website. “I did a good job in the car and I got to stand on the Australian Grand Prix podium – and no-one's taking the sensation of doing that away. 

“What happens next is outside of my ability to control but honestly, I'd rather it went down like this than have retired from the race with a mechanical problem. I'll take a podium and a subsequent disqualification over that any day of the week.”

With Red Bull suffering severe technical issues with the Renault-powered RB10 in pre-season testing, a podium finish in Australia seemed unlikely. Now, however, Ricciardo believes that with the team only beginning to unlock performance from their car, they have every chance of returning to the rostrum again soon. 

“Albert Park's made me hungry to get on the podium again - and I think we've got a really good chance of doing it,” he said. 

“The work we did in the winter targeted reliability rather than performance. It was only in Melbourne that we got the opportunity to start working on a set-up. The RB10 surprised us by being pretty competitive in the dry and very competitive in the wet. It's going to get much better as we dial it in over the next few races and catch up with those teams that did more miles pre-season.

“At the moment, we're in the battle to be the second-best team. Obviously that isn't where we want to be but it's exceeding our expectations of only a few weeks ago. I think once we really get into the setup of the car, we'll be able to close the gap to Mercedes. Obviously they're going to improve too but I think we're in a good position to make bigger strides.”

From Australia, Red Bull travel to Malaysia and a circuit on which they scored a dominant, if controversial, one-two finish in 2013. On that occasion Sebastian Vettel defied team orders instructing him to hold station and passed team mate Mark Webber for the win.

(source: f1.com, redbull.com)