FIA press conference schedule - Monaco

Amongst the drivers who will take part in the official FIA press conference in Monaco on Wednesday will be last year’s victor, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, plus Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, who won in the Principality back in 2005. 

Meanwhile on Thursday, Ferrari’s recently-installed team principal Marco Mattiacci will make his first press conference appearance as he joins other senior personnel in answering questions from the press. The line-ups in full... 

Wednesday, May 21, 1500 hours local time (1400 GMT)
Jules Bianchi (Marussia), Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)

Thursday, May 22, 1600 hours local time (1500 GMT)
Eric Boullier (McLaren), Federico Gastaldi (Lotus), Christian Horner (Red Bull), 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)

2014 Monaco Grand Prix preview

Monaco, the most legendary track in Formula One. It starts on Thursday because Friday is usually a day of. There is no real explanation but some say that drivers celebrate in Monaco on Thursday so it wouldn't be ok to drive the next day. Maybe there is some other explanation nowadays? I don't know.

Monaco hosted their first F1 Grand Prix in 1950. It was also the second F1 race ever driven. Back then it was just sick how many laps they drove! 100 laps and it took over 3 hours!! Monaco has hosted GP's also before the F1 series started. The first race was in 1929.

The first F1 race in Monaco was won by Juan Manuel Fangio who started from pole and also set the fastest lap of the race. 9 cars crashed on the first lap and one car on the second. Only 7 cars finished the race and Fangio was much faster than everybody else! Alberto Ascari was 2nd 1 lap behind, Louis Chiron was 3rd 2 laps behind, Raymond Sommer 4th 3 laps behind, Prince Bira 5th 5 laps behind, Bob Gerard 6th 6 laps behind and Johnny Claes 7th also 6 laps behind.

The next time they held an official GP in Monaco was in 1955 and it has been a part of the calendar since that year.

In 1959 Monaco was the first race of the season and Jack Brabham won the race. He passed away today so I thought it was nice to mention him as well. He was such a super driver! Had his own team and won a championship with it. Who else has done that?

Monaco started the F1 season many times after 1959 but when they wanted more races in the calendar they had to fit in other races before it. The race in Monaco has always been in May.

I could talk about Monaco for days so let's stop here about the history and move on to statistics instead. Maybe I'll talk a bit about history as well.. can't control myself when it's Monaco we are talking about.

Most wins in Monaco: Ayrton Senna, 6 wins. 1984-1993 the Monaco GP was only won by Ayrton Senna or Alain Prost. Senna could have probably won in 1984 if the race wouldn't have been stopped. In 1988 he led the race almost 1 minute over Prost but made a mistake when McLaren told him several times to slow down.

Most wins by constructor - McLaren, 15 wins. Senna 5 times, Prost 4 times, Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton once and David Coulthard 2 times.

The fastest lap in Monaco is 1:14.439 and it was set by Michael Schumacher in 2004.

The track length is 3.340km and they are lapping it 78 times.

Then it's time for my predictions. Yes I know that I haven't talked much about this years race but I'll focus on this year when the race is over. If you want to hear opinions etc. ask me.

Pole position: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes

The race:

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
3. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari

Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes

Surprise: Sergio Perez has pushed hard in Monaco but failed almost every time. Maybe he will succeed this year?

Remember to 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. 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

Send questions to the F1-4-LIFE Facebook page

I posted something earlier on the F1-4-LIFE Facebook page and thought that I should also post it here on the blog so that all the readers know what's going on. I know that everybody doesn't use Facebook even though most of you do.

Here is the text I posted:


"Hello F1 fans! I was just talking to the other admins and we decided to do something new.

You may now send us questions that we will answer and post on the blog next Tuesday (after the Monaco GP). The blogpost will be linked on this wall.

No names will be shown so stupid questions are also welcome.

You may ask anything about the Monaco GP, about F1 in general or about us if you find us interesting.

Send the messages to our inbox at this page or email f14lifeblog@gmail.com

You may also post them under this post but then everybody will see your question in advance.

Remember to post your PREDICTORS LEAGUE TOP3 also! You may do it here or inbox us.

-AE, MW and JT"


Now if you are wondering about the PREDICTORS LEAGUE then here is a reminder what that is about:

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. 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.

Hope to get messages from all of you soon! Tomorrow I will post the Monaco GP preview.

33 DAYS Trailer HD

Have you heard about this? Another F1 movie!! well, it's a documentary but anyway I am very happy.

For a while there was no Formula One related films and now they all come out at once!

Enjoy the trailer and let's wait for the real thing!

2014 Chinese GP (FULL RACE) in car footage ONLY

Watch the 2014 Chinese Grand Prix in car footage with german commentating.

Maldonado hails 'big step forward' for Lotus after test

Pastor Maldonado believes Lotus made real and significant progress during this week's two-day test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Venezuelan topped the day-two timesheet and racked up more than 100 laps on what was his first trouble-free day of testing in 2014.

In addition to Maldonado's running, reserve driver Charles Pic managed 70 laps on day one, making the session Lotus's most productive test of the year so far. 

The Enstone-based squad had previously suffered poor reliability in testing, with pre-season being particularly torrid. In Bahrain in February the team averaged just 29 laps per day over eight days on track.

Maldonado said his smooth run in Spain was crucial, allowing the team to make strides with both set-up and performance work.

"It's been a big step forward," Maldonado said of the second day. "That was a complete day for us and my first normal day of testing this season.

"We didn't have any problems and we gained a lot of good running with good track conditions compared to [day one]. We ran to plan and completed everything we wanted to do. 

"We learnt a lot more about the car, the set-up and performance is improving all the time so I'm feeling more comfortable to push too. Hopefully [that] means we'll be much better for the rest of the season."

Alan Permane, Lotus's trackside operations director, said Lotus's prospects for the rest of the 2014 campaign had been lifted by the two days in Barcelona.

"We completed everything we set out to do today," he explained, "including aero assessments, mapping work, energy recovery scenarios, evaluations of set-up and ride height, tyre usage programmes and so on and I'm pleased to say the E22 didn't miss a beat. 

"We completed over 100 laps today so it's been very good to see what is possible when we have good reliability. 

"With the data we have collected over the last two days and the progress we've made, we're in much better shape heading to the next races. There is plenty of potential in the E22."

Lotus's positive test performance comes off the back of their first points finish of the year, with Romain Grosjean having claimed eighth place in Barcelona last weekend.

(source: f1.com)

Maldonado puts Lotus on top as Barcelona test ends

Pastor Maldonado capped a promising test for Lotus by going fastest on the second and final day of this week's test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Venezuelan set the early pace and led for the majority of the day, racking up 102 laps in the process. A late change to Pirelli's super soft compound then thrust him to the top, as he worked down to a 1m 24.871s - faster than Lewis Hamilton's pole time, and almost one second better than Nico Rosberg managed for Mercedes.

The German also broke into triple figures on the lap count, while his run included a first trial of the Mercedes' prototype 'megaphone' exhaust. The team removed the device for Rosberg's later runs.

Kimi Raikkonen was third for Ferrari, racking up 94 laps as the team recovered from a disrupted first day in Barcelona. A late run meanwhile lifted the Ferrari-powered Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez into fourth, half a second down the road. The team suffered a brief fire at the rear of the Mexican's car before lunch, but otherwise enjoyed a relatively trouble-free day.

Gutierrez's late run carried him above the Williams of Susie Wolff, who tested the Mercedes-powered FW36 for the first time ahead of her Friday practice debut at Silverstone in July.

Wolff's fastest time, a 1m 27.280s, was set on the soft compound and was enough for fifth overall. She steadily improved throughout the day, with her only mistake coming when she spun exiting Turn 10 early on.

Marussia's Jules Bianchi was another late improver, as a final run on the soft compound elevated him into sixth and ahead of the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel.

The four-time champion suffered a problematic day and did not emerge for the first two hours, with the team subsequently confirming gearbox issues had caused the delay.

Force India's Daniel Juncadella and Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat also hit trouble - the former running off at Turn 4, and the latter causing two red flags - on their way to eighth and 10th respectively. Juncadella's day was devoted to tyre development work for Pirelli.

The pair sandwiched Belgian youngster Stoffel Vandoorne, who managed an impressive 136 laps - enough to qualify for a Super Licence - on his F1 debut with McLaren.

"This has been a fantastic day for me: my first experience in a Formula One car, and a really great opportunity to get plenty of laps under my belt," Vandoorne said.

"I want to say a big thank you to the team. It's also great to have been able to contribute to the test programme: 136 laps today was a fantastic achievement, and it's great that it's earned me my F1 Super Licence."

Caterham meanwhile were unable to run at all due to damage following Kamui Kobayashi's crash in the closing stages of day one.

Unofficial Wednesday times from Barcelona:
1. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1m 24.871s, 102 laps
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m 25.805, 102 laps
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1m 26.480, 94 laps
4. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber, 1m 26.972s, 85 laps
5. Susie Wolff, Williams, 1m 27.280s, 55 laps
6. Jules Bianchi, Marussia, 1m 27.718s, 55 laps
7. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1m 27.973s, 73 laps
8. Daniel Juncadella, Force India, 1m 28.278s, 91 laps
9. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 1m 28.441s, 136 laps
10. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1m 28.910s, 21 laps

(source: f1.com)