De Silvestro makes F1 test debut for Sauber

Former IndyCar racer Simona De Silvestro enjoyed her first day of Formula One testing with Sauber on Saturday, as she completed 112 laps of Ferrari’s Fiorano circuit in Italy. De Silvestro, who joined the Swiss team as an affiliated driver in February, was at the wheel of a two-year-old Sauber C31, without KERS and using special Pirelli tyres.

The 25-year-old Swiss driver, who is undergoing an F1 preparation programme at Sauber with a 2015 race seat in mind, used the opportunity to become familiar with the specifics of a Formula One car and according to the team was able to improve constantly during the day.

“Although it’s something very special to drive a Formula One car, I was not too nervous in the morning,” said De Silvestro. “I was more focused on what my job would be. But, after completing the installation lap, I realised that this was my first lap in a Formula One car, and that this was something really special.

“What impressed me most was the downforce of the car and the braking. When I did my first lap the brakes were cold, but even then the decelaration was beyond what I had experienced before. The g-forces are significantly higher compared to what I was used to in IndyCar. 

“Overall, I’m happy with my first day in a Formula One car. I concentrated mainly on understanding the tyres and finding out how to get the best out of them. And with every outing I learned more about the behaviour of the car. I can feel now where there is more potential and how I can use it. Physically I feel quite good, which is definitely a result of my preparation in recent months. I have been training really hard and this paid off.”

Sauber test engineer Paul Russell was clearly impressed with De Silvestro’s first outing, commenting: “Simona did a very solid job today. It was immediately clear that she is an experienced driver. It was as good a start in a Formula One car as you could hope for, and you couldn’t really ask for more today.”

De Silvestro will continue testing with Sauber at Fiorano on Sunday.

(source: f1.com)

Secret Life Of Formula 1 - Technology Documentary

I had to repost this documentary because the other one got erased from YouTube. I hate it when they do that!

Rossi to drive for Caterham in Montreal and Austin

American racer Alexander Rossi will drive for Caterham in the opening Friday practice sessions of this year's Canadian and United States Grands Prix, the team have confirmed.

Rossi, 22, has been a reserve driver at Caterham since 2012, and is also one of the team's primary simulator drivers. 

While Montreal will represent his first Grand Prix action of 2014, he has previously completed numerous FP1 and test runs, including driving in the same sessions last year. He was 20th fastest in Canada and then 19th in the US, just over seven-tenths of a second slower than the Red Bull of four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Rossi, who is also competing for Caterham's junior team in GP2, said: "Each time I step into F1 machinery there is an important job to do. Montreal and Austin are important races for me and I want to thank Caterham for the opportunity to continue my development to a full time race seat in F1. 

"My GP2 program combined with my F1 team reserve driver duties give me invaluable insight and experience for my future. I've built up a lot of hours in the F1 simulator already this year, but Montreal will be my first visit behind the wheel of the CT05 on track. 

"I look forward to a positive run plan for both the Canadian and USA sessions."

Caterham F1 team principal Cyril Abiteboul added: "Alexander will be continuing his development with two more FP1 sessions for us in Canada and the USA. 

"While his focus this year is firmly on GP2 we are pleased to give him more opportunities to play an active role in the F1 team's race weekends and to have him help us develop our car at two races that are very important for us, both in terms of our season overall and with the strong support we have commercially in the North American continent."

(source: f1.com)

The 1991 Grand Prix of Belgium

The quality is a bit bad but the video is pretty cool. This is Michael Schumacher's first race ever in Formula One.

The race is narrated by Murray Walker and James Hunt.

2008 Brazilian Grand Prix (Full race)

1996 - Monaco GP [FULL RACE]

This man won the championship in 1996 but who won the race in Monaco?

This is one my favorite races ever. I'm sorry it's not in english but the race is the thing that matters.

2014 Chinese Grand Prix review

Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Mercedes continued proving that they are unstoppable. Nobody had a chance! The only way that the 1st and 2nd places will be different if there is an accident or a technical problem.

Right at the start Hamilton took a strong lead from the others, Rosberg got stuck in traffic and smashed into Valtteri Bottas' Williams. Both of the drivers could continue the race without making a pitstop.

The other Williams driven by Felipe Massa had a small crash with Fernando Alonso's Ferrari. They both blamed each other but later Alonso said that it was a racing incident. Massa continued blaming Alonso.

The other Ferrari driven by Kimi Räikkönen was much slower all weekend and Kimi was very frustrated:

Kimi managed to overtake one car in the start though.. In the end he was 8th so a little better than last race but still. 

Why can't they get the car as he wants it? His driving style is totally different to Alonso's and the car is mainly built for the spaniard. He has been working on the car since last year and Kimi has had his first chance to work in January. In the last tests Alonso tested both cars and Kimi wasn't even there. Alonso said that there was something strange with Kimi's car and it was more difficult to drive for him as well.

Back to the race! Kevin Magnussen smashed his front wing again in the beginning of the race. He has complained that he can't see it from the cockpit which makes it more difficult to protect.

What about Williams' pitstop with Massa? That was just terrible to watch! I mean come on guys! How hard can it be to take the right tyres to the "box"? Ever heard of double checking? But mainly it ruined Massa's race and he stayed the whole race at the back.

One good thing about Williams though, they finally managed to get their tyres right in the qualifying session. They even showed some improvement in wet conditions.

What about Sebastian Vettel? Daniel Ricciardo has been much better than Vettel in every race!

It was embarrassing when Vettel disobeyed teamorders (didn't let Ricciardo through) and then he got overtaken anyway. Later he confessed that he didn't wanna let him pass but after he thought about it he changed his mind. I guess he changed his mind when Ricciardo was overtaking him.

Later Kamui Kobayashi overtook the champ with his Caterham and Vettel got really pissed off. He shouted on the radio that it's easy to overtake when his tyres are newer. So what? He was still one lap behind and Vettel had to make his pitstop anyway.

What else happened? Adrian Sutil retired again which means that he has finished only one race for Sauber this season. When he was interviewed he said that he isn't worried because it can't get any worse than this. He knows that everything that happens after all of this must be an improvement.

The race ended 1 lap earlier because someone counted the laps wrong. Hamilton was going on his final lap and they already waved the flag. He asked on the radio about it and Mercedes told him to finish the last lap and ignore the error.

The FIA changed the results so that the last lap didn't count because according to the rules if you wave the checkered flag it means the race is over.

The last thing, my guesses and the actual results:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - RIGHT

The race:

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - WRONG. Rosberg was 2nd.
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - WRONG. Hamilton was 1st.
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - WRONG. Ricciardo was 4th and Alonso was 3rd.

Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - RIGHT

Surprise: Nico Hülkenberg, Force India - For me the biggest surprise was probably Ferrari's pace.. well.. at least one of the Ferraris. Fernando Alonso was 3rd!

That's it for today and if you want to send me feedback then email me: f14lifeblog@gmail.com