FIA press conference schedule - Abu Dhabi

Mercedes' title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg and outgoing champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull will be among the six drivers taking part in the official FIA press conference at Yas Marina on Thursday.

On Friday it is the turn of senior team personnel to answer questions from the media, with representatives from no less than seven teams - big and small - attending what is sure to be a lively session. The line-ups in full...

Thursday, November 20, 1500 hours local time (1100 GMT)
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Jenson Button (McLaren), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Nico Hulkenberg (Force India), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Friday, November 21, 1900 hours local time (1500 GMT)
Robert Fernley (Force India), Christian Horner (Red Bull), Monisha Kaltenborn (Sauber), Gerard Lopez (Lotus F1), Marco Mattiacci (Ferrari), Claire Williams (Williams), Toto Wolff (Mercedes)

The qualifying and post-race press conferences with the top three drivers will take place immediately after the respective sessions.

(source: f1.com)

Vital Statistics - the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

A picture from my seat last year.

Did you know that Lewis Hamilton has claimed two poles and one victory in Abu Dhabi - but that Nico Rosberg had the edge over him in both qualifying and the race last year? Or how about the fact that only once in five races has a driver converted pole into victory at Yas Marina? Ahead of this weekend's 2014 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, we present the key facts, stats and trivia...

Circuit: Yas Marina

Circuit length: 5.554 km

Number of corners: 21 (9 right, 12 left)

DRS zones: 2

Race laps: 55

Race distance: 305.355 km

2014 tyre compounds: supersoft, soft

Circuit lap record: 1m 40.279s - Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 2009

First world championship Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi: 2009, Yas Marina (won by Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull)

Number of Grands Prix in Abu Dhabi: 5 (all at Yas Marina)

Number of races with at least one safety car appearance: 2 of the last 5

Longest Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi: 2012 (1h 45m 58.667s)

Shortest Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi: 2009 (1h 34m 03.414s)

Last year's pole position: 1m 39.957s - Mark Webber, Red Bull

Last year's podium: 1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 2 - Mark Webber (Red Bull), 3 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

Most appearances (current field): 5 - Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button; 4 - Kamui Kobayashi, Felipe Massa, Adrian Sutil

Most wins (driver): 3 - Sebastian Vettel; 1 - Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen

Most wins (constructor): 3 - Red Bull; 1 - McLaren, Lotus

Most wins (engine manufacturer): 4 - Renault; 1 - Mercedes

Most pole positions (driver): 2 - Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton; 1 - Mark Webber

Most pole positions (constructor): 3 - Red Bull; 2 - McLaren

Most pole positions (engine manufacturer): 3 - Renault; 2 - Mercedes

Number of wins from pole: One from five races (20 percent)

Lowest winning grid position: 4th (Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, 2012)

Laps led (current field): 134 - Sebastian Vettel; 86 - Lewis Hamilton; 36 - Kimi Raikkonen; 15 - Jenson Button; 3 - Fernando Alonso

Most podium places (current field): 4 - Sebastian Vettel; 3 - Jenson Button; 2 - Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso; 1 - Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Rosberg

Percentage of 2014 season complete: 95 percent

Maximum number of world championship points still available to a single driver: 50

Significant running sequences going into this weekend: Nico Rosberg - 2 consecutive pole positions, 10 consecutive front-row starts; Lewis Hamilton - 6 consecutive podium finishes; Mercedes - 18 consecutive podium finishes; Sebastian Vettel - 10 straight points finishes; Renault - 118 races in the points as an engine manufacturer

Fascinating fact: Three times as many victories have come from starting second on the grid than they have from pole - but only once has a driver from outside the front row gone on to triumph. 

Time is running out: Sebastian Vettel has just one more opportunity to record his first victory of the year. The last time a defending champion failed to a win a race the following season was Jacques Villeneuve (champion in 1997) in 1998. Ferrari and McLaren likewise have one final chance to record their first victory of the year. Should they fail to do so, it will be the first season since 1980 that neither team has triumphed.

Potential record breaker: Nico Rosberg could capture his 11th pole position of the year in Abu Dhabi. Only six drivers - Sebastian Vettel (with 15), Nigel Mansell (14), Ayrton Senna (13) Alain Prost (13), Michael Schumacher (11) and Mika Hakkinen (11) have claimed 11 or more poles in a single season.

Turbo history: If a Ferrari-powered car wins the race it will be the first Ferrari turbo win since the 1988 Italian Grand Prix.

(source: f1.com)

Lewis Hamilton On The Graham Norton Show

Just found this a few minutes ago. Take a look!

Sainz Jr handed Red Bull Abu Dhabi test outing

Formula Renault 3.5 champion Carlos Sainz Jr will join Daniel Ricciardo in Red Bull's line-up for the final Formula One test of 2014 in Abu Dhabi.

Sainz, who won seven times en route to becoming the youngest champion in FR3.5 history this year, will drive on the first day of the two-day test, which will be held on the Yas Marina circuit on November 25-26.

It will be the Spaniard's second test for Red Bull, following his appearance in last year's young driver session at Silverstone, when he completed 35 laps in the RB9. He also drove for Toro Rosso in the same test, and more recently completed a demonstration run in the Red Bull RB8 as a reward for leading the FR3.5 championship at the halfway point of the season.

Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost said recently that Sainz was one of four drivers in contention for a 2015 race seat with the team, alongside rookie Max Verstappen.

Meanwhile, McLaren have announced that they will part company with long-term test and reserve driver Gary Paffett at the end of the season. The split coincides with McLaren moving from Mercedes to Honda power for 2015, as Paffett remains part of the German manufacturer's factory DTM programme.

(source: f1.com)

2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix preview

Wow! The season's last race is almost here. A little while ago we were all waiting for the season to start and now it's almost over! Time flies when we are having fun. That means when we are watching F1 every other weekend.

I was supposed to go to Abu Dhabi again this year but didn't get good tickets in time. I also didn't get any cheap flights from Finland. Should have bought the tickets months before! The two other times I have been there I have also reserved in the last minute. This time I wasn't that lucky. It would have been nice to visit Dubai as well. I love that city!

Not much to say so I will talk about the same things as last year:

The Yas Marina track has hosted the Abu Dhabi GP 5 times in it's history so it's quite new. The facilities are one of the best in the world at least for me as a spectator. It is the only GP that has daylight and dark in the same race.

In 2010 Sebastian Vettel won his first world championship when Alonso couldn't get pass Vitaly Petrov. It was one of the most moving moments of Vettel's career when he cried on the podium.

After winning his first championship in 2010.

In 2011 he had already won the championship when the Formula One circus returned to Abu Dhabi. That race he retired right after the start and the whole crowd in Abu Dhabi cheered. The sound was quite loud, trust me, I was there.

In 2012 Sebastian started from the back of the grid but managed to get 3rd place. Alonso was second and Kimi Räikkönen took the maiden victory for the new Team Lotus. Everybody remembers the classic radio conversations between Kimi and Alan Permane(?)

Here is a video with the radio conversations:

They made t-shirts of Kimi's comments.

Last year Sebastian Vettel had already secured his championship before Abu Dhabi. This year the story is different. It is between two friends, teammates and almost brothers, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton is leading the championship but when Bernie Ecclestone came up with the most stupid rule in F1 history (double points in the last race) Nico Rosberg has good chances of becoming world champion. Nobody can say who will win. In my opinion Hamilton deserves to be champion even if Rosberg would win it all.

Now let's see my predictions:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Race:

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

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Surprise: Kimi Räikkönen. Leave him alone he knows what he's doing!

Post your own predictions to our F1-4-LIFE PREDICTORS LEAGUE!

The rules:

POINTS:  1st - 3  2nd - 5  3rd - 10 

HOW IT WORKS: the aim of the game is simply predict who comes where in the race (top3). A total of 18 points can be won on a race day. If you get winner and and 3rd place right but 2nd wrong you get 13 points same if you get 1 correct. eg. 2nd you get 5 points. If a driver wins the race and you said he would come 2nd or 3rd no points would be awarded. Same if he came in another position, and you predicted that wrong. A table will be posted up every race weekend. The point scoring system will change once the cars become more competitive. Everyone will say a merc 1,2 so it won't be close or fun. 

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PREDICTIONS: send an email to f14lifeblog@gmail.com or message the Facebook page to submit your predictions. You have until lights out to make them. If you submit them when the race has started they won't count. So be quick! like the Mercedes. 

THE PRIZE: the winner of the league will win themselves a admin place on the F1 4 LIFE page along side AE, JT, MW & MH. 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

Caterham say they will race in Abu Dhabi

Caterham have announced they plan to take part in next weekend’s season-ending 2014 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The team have missed the last two rounds, in the United States and Brazil, due to ongoing financial issues.

“We now head to Abu Dhabi ready to show what a hard-working and positive group of people this is and to hopefully secure a future for the team,” said interim team principal Finbarr O’Connell following a crowdfunding project designed to aid their participation.

“During the past few days the interest of many potential buyers has increased massively and by racing in Abu Dhabi the team will be showcasing itself as a live and functioning team that deserves to continue into 2015 and beyond.”

Caterham have yet to confirm who will be driving for them at Yas Marina. Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericcson have formed their regular 2014 race line-up to date, but the latter - who will race for Sauber next year - announced earlier this week that he has severed all links with the team. 

(source: f1.com)

Formula One racing's greatest title showdowns

Since its maiden season, when three drivers headed into the last race in contention for the world championship crown, Formula One racing has thrown up no shortage of dramatic, shocking, even infamous final-round title deciders.

With Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg set to add to that legacy in Abu Dhabi next weekend, we present 10 of the most memorable F1 showdowns, encompassing outsider upsets, controversial collisions and the most consummate of title-clinching victories...

New F1 era opens with a three-way classic - Italy, 1950 
Drivers: Nino Farina (champion), Juan Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli
The inaugural Formula One world championship ended in style, as the 1950 drivers’ title came down to a three-way fight at Monza. Alfa Romeo had steamrollered the opposition over the seven-race calendar, and it was their ‘three Fs’ in contention: Juan Manuel Fangio, Nino Farina and Luigi Fagioli. Fangio held the points advantage on 26, two ahead of Fagioli and four clear of Farina. The latter, along with Fangio, was given the new, more powerful 159 model for the Italian finale, and the pair duly locked out the front row - with Fagioli, still in the 158, in fifth. Farina led early on, but was hounded by Fangio until a quarter distance, when the race turned decisively - Fangio retired with gearbox trouble, and though he would rejoin in team mate Piero Taruffi’s Alfa, he would suffer further issues. With Fangio out of the picture and Fagioli a distant third, Farina wrapped up victory to become the first champion in Formula One history.

Brabham wins at a push - USA, 1959
Jack Brabham (champion), Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks
Nine years on and once again three drivers headed into the final round with a chance of winning the title. John Arthur ‘Jack’ Brabham led the standings, but it was Moss - like Brabham driving a Cooper T51, although not for the works team - who had the momentum, having triumphed in the previous two Grands Prix to close to within 5.5 points of Brabham. Brooks, meanwhile, had kept Ferrari in touch with the Cooper duo, but needed results to fall his way in order to prevail. Moss claimed the early initiative, converting pole into an early lead, but suffered heartbreak as a mechanical failure forced him to retire. With Brooks pitting after a first-lap altercation, Brabham - now flanked by young team mate Bruce McLaren - had the race, and the title, seemingly wrapped up. There was a last moment of drama, however. On the final lap he ran out of fuel, slowing to a stop. After waving McLaren through, Brabham pushed his car over the line to finish fourth - enough for him to become the first Australian world champion.

The unprecedented double - Mexico, 1964
John Surtees (champion), Graham Hill and Jim Clark
In terms of sheer drama, 1964 takes some beating. BRM’s Graham Hill led the championship on 39 points arriving in Mexico, but knew he would have to drop points if he scored again. Ferrari’s Surtees was second, on 34, while Lotus’s Clark had won more races than his rivals but needed to triumph again if he was to snatch the title - a slim hope, but one that looked decidedly better as he took a dominant pole and then an early lead. Surtees and Hill both soon hit trouble and slipped down the order but were able to fight their way back, with Hill quickly up to a vital third - which would have guaranteed him the crown. On lap 31, however, he and Lorenzo Bandini collided, with the damage all but ending his title hopes, which now depended on both Clark and Surtees not scoring. The latter had moved up to third in Hill’s absence, but that wasn’t enough: Clark, still leading, was heading for a second drivers’ championship. Seven laps from the finish, however, the race swung again, as Clark’s Lotus began leaking oil. Two laps from the end he lost the lead; one lap from the finish and his engine seized - Clark was out. Surtees had slipped behind his team mate Bandini, but the latter duly moved aside in order for the former motorcycle champion to finish second and make history as the first - and to date only - driver to win world championships on two and four wheels.

The storm after the storm - Japan, 1976
James Hunt (champion) and Niki Lauda
There were few hints in the early races of 1976 that this would be one of the most dramatic, turbulent and intense seasons. Ferrari’s Niki Lauda stormed to four wins and six podiums in the opening six races to take an early stranglehold on the title. It was an advantage he retained - even after rancour, controversy and penalties at Jarama and Silverstone - heading to the Nurburgring, the 10th race in a 16-round calendar. What transpired has become part of F1 folklore: Lauda crashed heavily and was engulfed by smoke and flames, leaving him fighting for his life. But despite being read his last rites, the Austrian made an astonishing recovery: not only did he survive, staggeringly he competed - and finished fourth - at Monza barely a month later. McLaren’s James Hunt had won two of the three races during Lauda’s recuperation, and triumphed twice more before the Fuji finale. Lauda had managed to stay ahead in the standings, but his once-imperious lead had been slashed to just three points. The drama only intensified once they reached Japan: atrocious conditions meant debate raged over whether the race should even go ahead. Lauda, who had protested before the start, pulled out after one lap, as did Emerson Fittipaldi and Carlos Pace. Hunt led almost throughout, before he suffered a late puncture that forced him to pit and dropped him to fifth. It meant Lauda was still headed for the title. But two laps from the chequered flag, Hunt passed Alan Jones and Clay Regazzoni to secure third and beat Lauda to the crown by just one point.

Settled by the smallest of margins - Portugal, 1984
Niki Lauda (champion) and Alain Prost
This time Lauda was on the winning side of an epic showdown, as he beat new McLaren team mate Alain Prost to the title by just half a point - the smallest margin in F1 history. Prost had set the early pace in the season and was ahead after eight of the 16 races, but Lauda hit back, winning three times and finishing second twice in the space of five races to leapfrog the Frenchman. Prost won the penultimate race, meaning just 3.5 points - the half deriving from a Monaco race halted after 31 laps - separated him and Lauda heading into the finale at Estoril. Prost did all he could, securing a front-row start and leading from the ninth lap until the chequered flag - equalling Jim Clark’s 1963 record of seven wins in a season. Lauda still controlled his own destiny however, as he could seal the title by finishing second - which he duly did after Nigel Mansell spun out with 18 laps to go. The pair were joined on the podium by Ayrton Senna, who would go on to have his own legendary showdowns with Prost...

Mansell’s hopes blow up in the cruellest fashion - Australia, 1986
Alain Prost (champion), Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet
Williams’ Nigel Mansell went into the Australian Grand Prix as the title favourite, needing just third place to guarantee him glory. The Briton had been a tour de force over the season, winning five times and claiming nine podiums - a record he was set to extend at Adelaide right up until the 64th lap, when a burst tyre harpooned his race and left his championship hopes in tatters. It had already been a desperately tense race between the three title contenders: Mansell had taken pole, but a tardy first lap dropped him to fourth, behind team mate Piquet, Lotus’s Ayrton Senna and Prost’s McLaren team mate Keke Rosberg. The latter would lead until lap 63, when he suffered a puncture and retired at the side of the track. Mansell had been passed by Prost, but was still third and seemingly cruising - at least until Dequetteville Terrace on Lap 64, when his tyre suddenly and violently blew. A shower of sparks erupted as Mansell’s car jerked heavily, and while he somehow managed to keep it out of the wall, he could only park it up and clamber out, desolate. The two retirements left Piquet - who enjoyed a somewhat frosty relationship with the Briton - on the verge of the title, but Williams didn’t hesitate in bringing him in for fresh rubber in reaction to Mansell’s exit. Prost therefore moved into a decisive lead, resisting Piquet’s late charge to clinch his first world championship.

Schumacher knocks Hill out of contention - Australia, 1994
Michael Schumacher (champion) and Damon Hill
Controversy, acrimony and recrimination swirled in 1994, even before one of the most infamous final rounds in F1 history. The images from that finale remain an indelible part of the sport: Schumacher sliding off track and thumping the wall in his Benetton, Hill’s Williams closing rapidly, and then the moment of impact as Schumacher chopped across Hill. The German was out immediately; his British rival limped back to the pits but, unable to continue, had to cede the title. It was a tainted end to a tragic season, and one that provoked intense debate - debate which was only exacerbated by events three years later...

Controversy reigns in Spain - Europe, 1997
Jacques Villeneuve (champion) and Michael Schumacher
Formula One racing had been here before: Schumacher may have switched into the red of Ferrari, but once again he entered the final round one point ahead of a Williams rival, and came under increasing pressure as the race wore on. Again there had been controversy even before the showdown, particularly at the penultimate round - Villeneuve had finished fifth in the race, but was racing under appeal after being penalised for not slowing sufficiently under yellow flags. Williams eventually opted to drop the appeal, meaning Schumacher carried a one-point advantage into the Jerez decider. Three drivers - Villeneuve, Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the second Williams - shared the fastest time in qualifying, but Villeneuve started from pole. He would cede the lead to the fast-starting Schumacher - the first move in a sequence that would end with Schumacher turning into Villeneuve as the latter dived down the inside at the Dry Sac corner. Schumacher ended up in the gravel and in disgrace; Villeneuve survived the collision to finish third, enough to clinch the title even before Schumacher was disqualified from the championship.

Last-gasp Hamilton spoils Massa’s homecoming - Brazil, 2008
Lewis Hamilton (champion) and Felipe Massa
After a wild season, in which momentum swung several times, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa headed into the 2008 Brazil finale knowing only first or second would give him a chance of the title. He did everything he could, qualifying on pole and leading all but seven laps en route to victory in front of a raucous home crowd. They weren’t the only ones cheering - as Massa crossed the line, his family and Ferrari crew celebrated wildly, with the Brazilian in that moment set to be confirmed as world champion. McLaren’s Hamilton had slipped up when rain had begun to fall at Interlagos, losing his grasp on an all-important fifth place. The title fight swing, however, just a few hundred metres from the chequered flag: Hamilton passed the slick-shod Toyota of Timo Glock to secure fifth, and with it a crucial four points. A first world drivers’ crown was his, earned in the most breathless fashion.

Vettel prevails in first four-way finale - Abu Dhabi, 2010
Sebastian Vettel (champion), Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton
For the first time in Formula One history, four drivers headed into a final round with a chance of championship glory. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso held the advantage on 246 points, ahead of Red Bull duo Mark Webber (238) and Sebastian Vettel (231), while McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton also had an outside chance, on 222 points. Vettel claimed pole and duly led at the start, with Hamilton second, Alonso fourth and Webber fifth. An early safety car prompted several drivers, including Renault’s Vitaly Petrov, to dive into the pits for what would be their only stop. Webber, struggling for grip, followed suit on Lap 12, prompting Ferrari to call Alonso in four laps later in a bid to cover off his closest rival. The plan worked, with Alonso emerging back ahead of Webber - but it also placed Alonso behind Petrov, which would come to define both the race and the championship. Hamilton and Vettel stayed out longer and were able to negate the traffic; Alonso in contrast could not find a way past Petrov, his pursuit becoming increasingly desperate as the title slipped from his grasp and into Vettel’s. The German led for all but 15 laps, but even as after the chequered flag he faced an anxious wait - if Alonso could somehow fight his way up to fourth, the Spaniard would claimed the crown. Some 30 seconds after winning, his confirmation came: Alonso was seventh, and Vettel was a champion for the first time.

(source: f1.com)