2015 Singapore Grand Prix preview

Marina Bay, Singapore

The Singapore GP is legendary even though it is one of the newer tracks. It was the first night grand prix and it is also known for the "crashgate" scandal. 

Nelson Piquet Jr. crashes into the wall on purpose.

Crashgate was perpetrated by the Renault F1 team who ordered Nelson Piquet, Jr. to crash deliberately during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, in order to gain an advantage for Fernando Alonso who was his teammate at the time.

On 28 September 2008, on the 14th lap of the Singapore race, Piquet crashed into the circuit wall at turn 17, necessitating a safety car deployment. This allowed Alonso to make an early pitstop and subsequently gain the advantage to win the race after starting 15th on the grid. Piquet described his crash at the time as a simple mistake.

After being dropped by the Renault team following the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, Piquet alleged that he had been asked by the team to deliberately crash to improve the race situation for Alonso, sparking an investigation of Renault F1 for race fixing by the FIA. After the investigation, Renault F1 were charged with conspiracy on September 4th, and were to answer the charge on September 21st 2009.

Flavio Briatore and Nelson Piquet Jr.

On September 16th Renault stated that they would not contest the charges, and announced that the team's managing director, Flavio Briatore, and it's executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, had left the team.

On September 21st it was announced that the Renault F1 team had been handed a disqualification from Formula One, which was suspended for two years pending any further comparable rule infringements. Briatore was suspended from all Formula One events and FIA-sanctioned events indefinitely, whilst Symonds received a five-year ban. Their bans were subsequently overturned by a French court, although they both agreed not to work in Formula One or FIA-sanctioned events for a specified time as part of a later settlement reached with the FIA.

This year I am sure Alonso will not win with McLaren even if a UFO would fall from the sky.

And now what I think will happen this weekend:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

The Top 3 on Sunday

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Surprise: Force India will have a good result.

Don't forget to post your own predictions for the PREDICTORS LEAGUE!

POINTS: 1st - 3
2nd - 5
3rd - 10

+ possible bonus points

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. For example if you get winner and and 3rd place right but 2nd wrong you get 13 points.

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!

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.

2008 Singapore GP (Full Race)

The first race at Marina Bay, Singapore in F1 history. I thought you would like to see this before next weekends GP ;) And as I always say... ENJOY!

Pirelli move to supersoft tyres for Russian round

Pirelli have announced their tyre compound nominations for the next three Grands Prix of the season. Singapore’s and Japan’s remain unchanged from 2014, with only those for Russia - which debuted on the F1 calendar last year - being altered for 2015.

With no significant change in the asphalt at Russia’s Sochi Autodrom, Pirelli’s data tells them that a softer step is possible, hence their nomination of the yellow soft tyre and the red supersoft - a combination that should cope well with the circuit’s wide range of corners and smooth surface.

The same compound pairing will be used by the teams in Singapore. The soft and supersoft are perfectly suited to the street circuit characteristics of the Marina Bay track, providing a rapid warm-up and maximum mechanical grip.

In Japan, by contrast, Pirelli have nominated the two hardest compounds in their range, the orange hard and the white medium. This is to cater for Suzuka’s high-energy demands and fast corners, which ask a lot from the tyres. With the Japanese round held earlier in the season compared to last year, conditions are expected to be slightly warmer.

At a glance - 2015 tyre compounds:

Australia - soft, medium
Malaysia - hard, medium
China - soft, medium
Bahrain - soft, medium
Spain - medium, hard
Monaco - supersoft, soft
Canada - supersoft, soft
Austria - supersoft, soft
Great Britain – medium, hard
Hungary – soft, medium
Belgium - soft, medium
Italy - soft, medium
Singapore - supersoft, soft
Japan - medium, hard
Russia - supersoft, soft

(source: f1.com)

Haas to debut car at first test of 2016

The new Haas Formula One team will give their 2016 car its first official track outing at the opening pre-season test of the year next March. That is according to the American squad’s team principal Guenther Steiner.

In recent seasons even existing teams have often struggled to - or chosen not to - have their cars ready for the first test of the year, but Steiner is confident Haas’s Ferrari-powered machine will be completed in time.

“On 1st March 2016, on the first all-team test day,” Steiner told Formula1.com when asked about its debut. “It could be that we will perform a shake-down one day before - on 29th February - but nothing more is planned so far.”

Next year is expected to see a reduction in pre-season testing, with the three (four-day) sessions of 2015 cut to just two (four-day) sessions - a change that won’t aid Haas’s preparations for their first F1 campaign.

“I wouldn’t say [it’s] a problem - it is what it is,” conceded Steiner, philosophically. “We have to live with it.”

Haas are hoping to announce their driver line-up later this month, with at least one experienced F1 name expected to feature, and will lodge their official entry for next year’s championship with the FIA in October.

(source: f1.com)

Winners and Losers - Italy

Once his Monza win was finally confirmed, Lewis Hamilton was able to celebrate extending his championship lead to over 50 points. Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg, meanwhile, was philosophical on his retirement, after a weekend in which everything seemed to conspire against him. It was mixed fortunes too at Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel revelled in his first podium appearance in red on the Scuderia’s home soil, but Kimi Raikkonen could only wonder what might have been after his disastrous start. The happiest team were Williams, who scored their best points haul of the year, unlike Lotus, who effectively lost both cars at the very first turn. We take a team-by-team look back at Sunday’s action…


Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton, P1
Nico Rosberg, Retired lap 51, engine

It was a bittersweet race for Mercedes. Hamilton utterly dominated and raved about his F1 W06 Hybrid’s balance. And though there were post-race concerns about his car having one tyre 0.3 psi below the newly-mandated 19.5 psi safety limit by Pirelli, obliging the team to speed him up at the end just as his tyres were going off, all was well as the stewards said no further action was necessary once the situation had been thoroughly investigated.

Rosberg was on his back foot all weekend, the more so when his new-spec engine had to be changed after a coolant pipe fractured. He fought back on to Vettel’s tail with two laps to go, but the six-race-old motor finally cried enough and left him without any points for the first time this season.


Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel, P2
Kimi Raikkonen, P5

The race promised more than Ferrari could ultimately deliver, and they were well beaten by Mercedes. But Vettel was very happy with his second place, describing it as the best of his career on an emotional level. Raikkonen, however, had anti-stall problems at the start which cost him dear, and obliged him to fight back all afternoon from 14th at the end of lap one to his eventual fifth-place finish.


Williams

Felipe Massa, P3
Valtteri Bottas, P4

Massa and Bottas held third and fourth places until the pit stops, when they were both undercut by Rosberg. After that the Brazilian held fourth quite comfortably until his three-lap older medium tyres began to go off and the Finn moved in. They were nose to tail over the final three laps, but Massa just held on as Bottas encountered a system problem which cut power. 27 points was Williams’ best score of the season so far.


Force India

Sergio Perez, P6
Nico Hulkenberg, P7

Perez drove a great race to sixth, only surrendering fifth to Raikkonen in the closing laps. Hulkenberg should have been close to him, but suffered from a first-lap clash with Maldonado which damaged his VJM08’s floor and left him struggling for grip in the second half.


Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo, P8
Daniil Kvyat, P10

The two Red Bull drivers hauled themselves nicely up from the back of the grid and into the points, exploiting the great chassis that the RB11 has become even if they struggled on the straights. Both started on medium tyres, did long opening stints, then switched to softs. That worked out particularly well for Ricciardo, as he grabbed eighth from Ericsson right at the end.


Sauber

Marcus Ericsson, P9
Felipe Nasr, P13

Ericsson once again drove a very strong race and deserved better than his eventual ninth on a track that suited the C34. Nasr clobbered Grosjean on the opening lap, and was always doomed thereafter as he tried to battle back.


Toro Rosso

Carlos Sainz, P11
Max Verstappen, P12

Both drivers struggled thanks to race penalties; Sainz had a five-second one for gaining an advantage after leaving the track, Verstappen a drive-through for being released with loose bodywork in qualifying. But both said the STR10 had great pace, and believed they’d have been points contenders without those misfortunes.


McLaren

Jenson Button, P14
Fernando Alonso, P18, DNF

Button made a great start but inevitably fell back as others hit their stride. He started on soft Pirellis and switched to mediums, whereas Alonso did the opposite. They were having a great scrap in the closing stages until the Spaniard stopped with electronic control board failure.


Marussia

Will Stevens, P15
Roberto Merhi, P16

There were no real problems here, as the drivers secured the team’s eighth two-car finish of the season.


Lotus

Romain Grosjean, retired lap one, suspension damage
Pastor Maldonado, retired lap one, suspension damage

After Spa, Monza was a brutal let-down for Lotus. Both cars started in the top ten, but both retired on the opening lap with suspension damage. Grosjean was hit by Nasr, Maldonado by Hulkenberg.

(source: f1.com)

2015 Italian GP at Monza (Full Race)

The full race from Monza.

2015 PREDICTORS LEAGUE standings after the Italian GP

1. James Redman - 99 points

2. Peter McLaren - 91 points

3. Leonardo Machado - 90 points 

4. Jonathan M Yountz - 81 points

5. Ryan Lane - 76 points

6. Larry Gallagher - 68 points

7. AE (F1-4-LIFE) - 66 points

8. JT (F1-4-LIFE) - 64 points

9. Shaun Magnano - 59 points

10. Rich Kewell - 53 points

11. MW (F1-4-LIFE) - 44 points

12. MH (F1-4-LIFE) - 40 points

13. Tim Saunders - 36 points

14. Jaakko Iivari - 35 points

15. Elliott Robson - 31 points

16. David Perry - 26 points

17. Dylan Curry - 24 points

18. Daniel Vanderburg - 23 points

18. Archie Donato - 23 points

18. Neil Marchant - 23 points

21. Abijith Kv - 18 points

21. Marcel Kircher - 18 points

23. Yõrt Martö - 13 points

24. Richard Gehl - 10 points

24. Chris Kemp - 10 points

24. Eric Lemens - 10 points

27. Rodrigo Gonzales - 8 points

27. Corey Lea - 8 points

27. Vitor Lobo - 8 points

30. Anthony Brian Ayrton Senna - 6 points

31. Todd Steinberg - 5 points

32. Белмин Aљоски - 3 points

32. Tom Maw - 3 points

32. Haresh Reddy - 3 points

32. Paul Beecham - 3 points

36. Steven Peli - 0 points

36. Daniel Kelleher - 0 points

36. Martin Hubbard - 0 points
36. Sharon Walmsley - 0 points

36. Alexandre Langlois - 0 points

We have had 40 different predictors this season.

POINTS: 1st - 3
2nd - 5
3rd - 10

+ possible bonus points

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. For example if you get winner and and 3rd place right but 2nd wrong you get 13 points.

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!

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.