Category Archives: F1 News

July 30, 2013 · 1:41 pm

Ecclestone confirms that Indian GP will skip 2014

Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that there will be no Indian GP in 2014, but he insists that the race will return the following year.

Ecclestone wants to move the race to earlier in the season – in effect freeing up an October slot for the first Russian GP – but has agreed with promoter Jaypee that it would make no sense to have two races in six months.

There have been similar scenarios before after calendar shake-ups, for example with Malaysia being held in October 2000 and March 2001, and China in October 2008 and April 2009, but seemingly that won’t work for India.

“When we signed the five-year deal with Jaypee, we were keen on going to India in the first half and Jaypee wanted it to be in October,” Ecclestone told Indian news agency IANS. “We gave in at that time, but now it looks we will have the race early 2015.

“It was too close [races late 2013 and early 2014]. Therefore, after speaking to promoters, we think it is best not to have a race in 2014 and have one in 2015.”

He added: “We will have to club India with the four rounds in the Asia Pacific region.”

Regarding the tax problems facing the teams, he said: “There are issues that need to be sorted out in your country. I hope the organisers are able to deal with it at the earliest.”

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July 30, 2013 · 1:03 pm

Felipe Massa: “You can never be satisfied to finish eighth…”

Felipe Massa endured a disappointing race in Hungary after damaging his front wing on Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes on the first lap.

The Ferrari driver eventually finished eighth, and was clearly very frustrated by his afternoon.

“It was a difficult race for us, and for me especially,” said Massa. “I lost a part of my front wing in the first lap, and I’m sure that was a big problem for my car. I lost the balance, more understeer, more oversteer, using the tyres a bit more than I was supposed to because of that. I’m sure that was a big problem for me.

“To change the front wing would take a lot of time, and for sure my race would have been worse.

“You can never be satisfied to finish eighth. It was a difficult race anyway for us, we didn’t have the pace we expected to have. For sure, not satisfying.”

Regarding the team’s current form he said: “We need to work to bring more new pieces to the next race. We have a little bit of time. It’s important to understand things and to bring everything which can work to our car, and have a second part of the season much better than the first.”

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July 16, 2013 · 9:04 am

Ricciardo gets his chance with Red Bull test

Not surprisingly Red Bull has changed its plans for the Silverstone Young Driver test, and the team will now be giving both race drivers and Daniel Ricciardo some miles in the RB9.

Ricciardo’s inclusion is clear evidence that the Aussie is on the cusp of landing a 2014 race seat, with Kimi Raikkonen as his obvious rival for the job.

Red Bull’s ambitious run plan sees it split each day in half as it tries to squeeze in mileage for five different drivers. The schedule is as follows:

Day 1: António Félix da Costa/Daniel Ricciardo

Day 2: António Félix da Costa/Mark Webber

Day 3: Carlos Sainz Jr/Sebastian Vettel

The team points out that “Antonio’s test with Infiniti Red Bull Racing fulfils the team’s commitment to grant the mid-season leader of the World Series by Renault a full day’s test in the RB9.”

Meanwhile Toro Rosso will be equally busy at it too runs five different drivers over the three days:

Day 1: Johnny Cecotto Jr/Johnny Cecotto Jr

Day 2: Carlos Sainz Jr/Daniel Ricciardo

Day 3: Jean-Eric Vergne/Daniil Kvyat

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July 2, 2013 · 11:56 am

Ferrari on schedule with 2014 turbo project

Ferrari engine and electronics boss Luca Marmorini says that the Italian team is on schedule with development of its 2014 powertrain – although he admits that it’s going to be tight.

“We already had a prototype running on the test bench towards the end of last year, while we are completing the one that will run in the actual car at the moment,” said Marmorini on the Ferrari website.

“We have a very challenging plan to be ready in March. We can’t afford any hiccough today and I am confident that we will be ready. We have been working for some time to have this car ready but it’s a challenging task. Only at the first race next year will we see if we have done a good job.”

Regarding the job ahead he said: “There is no one single aspect of the new project that is more critical than the next. I’d say it’s difficult in all 360 degrees. For example, the turbo is a new type which runs to 25,000rpm and is definitely something absolutely new. Also the very complex electronics and management systems are a very big step forward, which means that engine management will be a very difficult challenge.”

“We have to develop the power train in a short space of time and this means that reliability will be the factor that will decide the races in the early part of the season. In most cases people will locate their turbos in the central rear part of the engine and therefore near the electronics and the temperatures can reach a thousand degrees and that won’t be an easy matter to deal with. Managing temperatures will be one of the main areas we will have to work on.”

Intriguingly he said that Ferrari is concerned about races becoming economy runs, although Renault has told this writer that won’t happen: “Ferrari feels this could be a danger. We like Formula 1 to consider efficiency, but we don’t like Formula 1 to be a sport where you are cruising for 50% of the laps.”

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July 1, 2013 · 10:24 am

Sam Michael: “We were strong enough to race for points…”

Sam Michael says that McLaren showed a much improved performance at Silverstone – despite the team failing to score points for the second race in succession.

Both cars were well placed before the final safety car, but after the resumption Sergio Perez retired following a Pirelli failure, while Jenson Button slipped down to 13th on worn tyres.

“With the safety car at the end we were looking good for sixth and seventh there probably for a while,” said Michael when asked by this writer. “I think we would have struggled to keep Lewis behind us, because he was strong and in a good position. But we looked like we could have had a good go at Sutil and Ricciardo at that point, so we should have been around the sixth and seventh mark with both cars.

“It was different to Montreal. I know there were a couple of positions there that we gained because of the cars that had stopped, but even so, we were strong enough to race for points today, which was better than we were in Montreal.

“We struggled with warming tyres up on the restarts, both safety car restarts we really struggled to get it going again. But that’s our problem, really.”

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June 11, 2013 · 2:35 pm

Montezemolo on Mercedes: “We have faith in the FIA…”

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has made it clear that he wants to see Mercedes found guilty in the wake of the testing controversy.

Choosing his words carefully, he put the onus on the FIA to resolve the situation.

“We have faith in the FIA,” said Montezemolo. “I do not wish to comment, but I note with satisfaction that the Federation is following this incident well. Let’s hope Formula 1 can maintain its professionalism, and we have faith that those who attempt to circumvent the regulations are pursued and prosecuted, or rather more prosecuted than pursued.”

Meanwhile he said no effort will be spared to maintain Fernando Alonso’s title challenge.

“As for us, we know exactly what we must do to win. Between today and tomorrow, I will hold a long and detailed meeting with Domenicali and all the engineers. They know what we must do to improve, and I am convinced that right to the very last race, Ferrari will be competitive and a contender, that we will not give up and that we have all the elements in place to improve.”

He acknowleged that better qualifying positions are essential: “A super-Saturday? Yes, but even just a normal one would do: it would be enough to see a car capable of getting comfortably onto the first two rows of the grid, not necessarily on pole, because from there, we can win the race. On Sunday, we saw Alonso produce another amazing race, with Ferrari running as a contender. We can but hope that in future, it might be a bit hotter on the race weekends.”

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May 17, 2013 · 10:59 am

Mark Webber on Monaco: “It’s still a daunting place…”

A winner in Monaco in 2010 and again last year, Mark Webber is looking forward to returning to his favourite street venue next week.

Like everyone else Webber is eager to find out whether Mercedes can maintain its pole streak.

“It’s always been a good circuit for me,” said Webber. “In F3000 I won there, and I’ve had a couple of wins in F1. I think I had good street circuit experience in Adelaide GP Formula Ford, Surfer’s Paradise Formula Ford. I think I’m comfortable on street circuits. Well, those type of street circuits, I can’t translate it to Singapore yet, I don’t know why!

“I don’t know what makes me feel as comfortable as I do round there. It’s still a daunting place, don’t get me wrong, I’m not sitting here saying you’re on holiday round there – it’s a very, very challenging venue.

“If Mercedes have their one lap pace it might be interesting, if they bang it up the front there again.”

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May 17, 2013 · 10:34 am

Force India will fight McLaren for fifth place, says Fernley

Despite Adrian Sutil’s recent bad luck Force India is currently holding fifth place in the World Championship, and while the team acknowledges that it won’t be easy to outrun McLaren over the season, it does not rule out the possibility.

Sutil set second fastest lap in Bahrain and third fastest lap in Spain in the course of recovery drives from early delays.

Deputy team principal Bob Fernley believes that the outfit can maintain its good current form.

“Fifth is something we’ll fight for, but being realistic you can’t easily fight with the might of McLaren,” Fernley told this writer. “It’s nice to come out of the first five races in fifth place, but can we hold it? It will be tough. But we’ll give it a good go! We’ve got competitive drivers giving everything they can.

“I think the weakness for the team at the moment is getting both cars in the points. That’s what we’ve got to try and overcome. In Bahrain effectively we beat two Mercedes, two Ferraris, two McLarens and a Red Bull. We’re not quite there yet to be able to take on the pace that some of them have, but I think we can race Mercedes at the moment.”

Fernley doesn’t think that the team will lose out in the development race.

“In fact in the last two years we’ve got better through the season, and I think the same thing will apply. But I’m not sure that you’re going to see the same big steps that we’ve seen in the past. We’re coming to the end of evolution of development. Of course there will be some things, but I don’t think there’s a big upgrade left in anyone’s cars. And soon people will have to start looking at 2014.

“We’ve just got to brush ourselves down from Adrian’s point of view, and with Paul just continue on, because he’s had a remarkable run. We’ve never had a bad car in Monaco, we’ve always done quite well there. And it’s encouraging for us that we could go to places like Shanghai and Barcelona, historically not our better tracks, and at both qualify and race in the top 10.”

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May 17, 2013 · 10:08 am

Tyres still the key for Mercedes at Monaco, says Brawn

Ross Brawn has stressed that tyres will still be the key factor for Mercedes in Monaco, despite the unusual nature of the track.

Mercedes had a strong package in 2012, when Michael Schumacher took pole and Nico Rosberg finished a close second.

“Monaco is a not usually a race to which teams bring many updates because the track conditions change so much across the weekend,” said Brawn. “The priority is always to get the drivers comfortable with the unique challenge the circuit presents, and to give them a set-up they feel confident pushing to the limit.

“Both Nico and Lewis have historically been incredibly competitive in Monaco and this weekend will certainly allow their talent to shine. The engineering team will be focused on getting the most from our car on the slow, bumpy layout and there will of course be particular emphasis on achieving tyre consistency and durability.

“Meanwhile, our work continues back at Brackley and Brixworth to fully understand the reasons for our below-par race performance in Barcelona, in order to develop the right solutions for the upcoming circuits where high tyre usage could once again be a limitation for us.”

Meanwhile Toto Wolff added: “It is clear to everybody in the team that, while we have a strong car right now, we are not able to use that performance properly on Sunday afternoon. Although overtaking in Monaco is difficult, we cannot afford to be complacent in terms of tyre management and we will need to do significantly better than we managed in Barcelona in order to score a strong result.

“We have only scored points with one of our cars at the past three races and this is something we must improve quickly, beginning next weekend in Monte Carlo.”

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