Red Bull F1 vs V8 Supercar vs C63 AMG (2014, Melbourne Australia)

David Coulthard on Red Bull Simulator at Monaco

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)

Red Bull appeal to be heard on April 14

Red Bull’s appeal against Daniel Ricciardo’s exclusion from the Australian Grand Prix results will be heard next month, the FIA has announced. Ricciardo was disqualified from second place after his car was found to have exceeded the maximum permitted fuel flow rate of 100kg per hour.

The International Court of Appeal sitting will take place in Paris, France, on the morning of April 14, the Monday prior to the 2014 Formula 1 UBS Chinese Grand Prix. The Court’s decision will be published as soon as possible after the hearing.

Red Bull announced their intention to appeal immediately after Sunday’s race in Albert Park, saying: “Inconsistencies with the FIA fuel flow meter have been prevalent all weekend up and down the pit lane. The Team and Renault are confident the fuel supplied to the engine is in full compliance with the regulations.”

(source: f1.com)

Happy birthday Ayrton Senna!

Ayrton Senna da Silva was born March 21st 1960 so it's his birthday today! As everybody knows he was a Brazilian racing driver who won three Formula One world championships. He was killed in an accident while leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. He is among the most dominant and successful Formula 1 drivers of all time and is considered as one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport. He remains the most recent driver fatality in Formula One.

Senna began his motorsport career in karting, moving up to open-wheel racing in 1981, and winning the British Formula 3 championship in 1983. He made his Formula One debut with Toleman-Hart in 1984 before moving to Lotus-Renault the following year and winning six Grands Prix over the next three seasons. In 1988, he joined Frenchman Alain Prost at McLaren-Honda. Between them, they won all but one of the 16 Grands Prix that year and Senna claimed his first World Championship. Prost claimed the championship in 1989, and Senna his second and third championships in 1990 and 1991. In 1992, the Williams-Renault combination began to dominate Formula One. Senna nonetheless managed to finish the 1993 season as runner-up, winning five races and negotiating a move to Williams in 1994.

He was recognised for his qualifying speed over one lap and from 1989 until 2006 held the record for most pole positions. He was also acclaimed for his wet weather performances, such as the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix, and the 1993 European Grand Prix. He holds a record six victories at the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix, and is the third most successful driver of all time in terms of race wins. Senna courted controversy throughout his career, particularly during his turbulent rivalry with Alain Prost. Both the 1989 Championship won by Prost and the 1990 Championship won by Senna were decided by collisions between the pair at those years' Japanese Grands Prix.

Senna has often been voted as one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time in various motorsport polls.

Happy birthday Ayrton! You left us almost 20 years ago but we still miss you a lot.

(sources: f1.com, wikipedia.org)

1988 Monaco Grand Prix (FULL RACE)

The man Ayrton Senna wanted to beat - Alain Prost.

This was Ayrton Senna's first Monaco GP as Alain Prost's teammate back in 1988. Senna was outstanding and his lead was phenomenal! Suddenly he made a small mistake and crashed into the wall before the tunnel. Prost's position was 2nd at that point and almost a minute behind. Of course, Prost won the race after Senna's crash.

Senna was so furious that he didn't even go to the pits. He walked straight to his hotel room and didn't wanna speak with no one.

Senna said later that his confidence was hurt badly but became an even stronger driver after that point.

Comparing the 2013 and the 2014 engine sounds

The F14-T at Melbourne (2014)

There has been a lot of negative feedback about the sound in the new F1 cars. Even Bernie Ecclestone himself has said that the sound is laughable. 

Here is an video comparing the 2013 and the 2014 engine sounds:

What do you think about this?