Category Archives: F1 News

Lewis Hamilton has caused a stir by revealing that Nico Rosberg admitted that he could have avoided the controversial contact in Belgium – but didn’t as he wanted to prove a point.

Hamilton said that the conversation occurred in a post-race meeting with Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe. The news is bound to have further repercussions within the team, and possibly with the FIA. The stewards gave Rosberg the benefit of the doubt and classed it as a racing incident.

“IWe just had a meeting about it and he basically said he did it on purpose,” said Hamilton. “He said he did it on purpose – he said he could have avoided it. He said ‘I did it to prove a point.’ He basically said I did it to prove a point. You don’t have to just rely on me, go and ask Toto about it and those guys, who were not happy with him as well.”

He continued: “What we’re told to do is we have to finish for the team. The team has priority, always. Even if they say we can race, the team has priority, it doesn’t mean that we can go out there and crash into each other.

“I thought today was going to be a good day. When I started second I knew that I was on a different strategy to him, like we’ve had in the previous races, I knew that I would be on the prime in the middle stint, so I knew that I had a chance if I didn’t get him at the start, I’d have a chance later. I knew that if I overtook him at the start, he would have that chance. I knew that it would be a long race, a hard race, and I thought we’d have a good one.”

Hamilton was adamant that the contact was not his fault.

“This year the team have allowed us to race and we’ve been good at racing wheel-to-wheel closely. I think I heard someone say that it was inevitable that we were going to crash one day, I don’t feel that today was that inevitability. I took the inside line, I had the corner, we braked very deep into the corner, because if I’d braked early he would have come down the outside. We went in very deep but I still made the corner on the same normal line that I would do normally. He was in my blind spot… Well I can see actually quite far behind me, I knew that he was behind, so then I continued my line.

“I thought for sure there would be an investigation. I’m mostly disappointed for the team, of course for myself because I lose points, and that makes my championship a lot harder. Coming into this weekend the team – I don’t know why because we were already racing hard with each other – but they said we want you to be able to race. I don’t know how literal he took that differently, because for me the priority was still for the team to finish.

“You can ask Fernando and all drivers, when a car is less than half a car length alongside you, and you’re in the inside, it’s your racing line. It’s not your job to go massively out of your way to leave extra room. And it wasn’t one of those corners where there’s a wall there or anything.”

Alexander Rossi will make his F1 race debut for Marussia at Spa this weekend in place of Max Chilton, who is being rested while what the team calls “contractual issues” are resolved.

A statement on behalf of Chilton said that he had stepped out of the seat in order to allow the team to raise funds by selling it.

Rossi was recently picked up by Marussia as third driver after being dropped by Caterham, for whom he drove in FP1 in Canada.

Team boss John Booth said: “Although it was not our intention to offer Alexander the possibility to race this season, in light of the circumstances we are pleased to be providing him with the opportunity to make his Grand Prix debut at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Franchorchamps. Naturally we hope to resume normal service with respect to our established race driver line-up as soon as possible, but for now we wish Alexander well for the weekend ahead and we look forward to seeing him in action.”

“It goes without saying that I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to race in Formula 1 for the first time and I cannot thank the Marussia F1 Team enough for the faith they are demonstrating in me,” said Rossi. “It’s a very big moment for me and there’s a lot to prepare in a short space of time, but on the other hand I have felt ready for this for quite a while now. It is also exciting to be given this opportunity at such a fantastic and historical circuit as Spa-Francorchamps. I can’t wait to drive the MR03 from tomorrow and I hope to reward the team with a solid race weekend.”

As predicted here yesterday Caterham has confirmed that Audi WEC star Andre Lotterer will drive in this weekend’s Belgian GP.

The 32-year-old will stand in for Kamui Kobayashi, who Caterham insists “still remains part of the team.”

In explaining the decision Caterham says that it “will benefit from having another experienced driver at the wheel of the car throughout the weekend and the German’s feedback will contribute to improve the performance of the car. The weather also plays a big role at Spa-Francorchamps and Lotterer is one of the most experienced drivers racing under mixed conditions.”

Lotterer, who was Jaguar’s test driver in 2000-2 before forging a new career in Japan, is in his 17th year of car racing.

“I’m ready for this challenge and I cannot wait to jump in the car and make the most out of the weekend ahead,” he said. “I will need to get settled and used to the car quickly, as the team has worked on a number of updates and we will need to have as much time as possible out on track to optimise the car’s performance. I really enjoy racing at the legendary circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, it’s one of my favourite tracks and it’s very close to where I grew up, so this makes the weekend even more special and one to remember.”

Charlie Whiting led an FIA inspection of the Sochi Autodrom yesterday, and the F1 race director has said that all is well with the venue and thus the Russian GP is firmly on schedule.

“The circuit is in extremely good condition and – yes – it will be issued with a licence,” he said in a Sochi news release. “Everything has been done according to the plans – the kerbs are very good, the verges, the guardrails, the walls – everything is in an extremely good condition. Everything has been done to the highest standards and I’m extremely pleased. I can say without hesitation that the circuit is ready 60 days in advance, which is very rare really.”

Regarding race control he said: “Well, it’s state of the art, it’s very good, and I was very impressed when I walked in to the Race Control building. It really does look extremely impressive. Fundamentally, all Race Control buildings are the same, but in this particular case it’s been done with very latest high-tech equipment. The images we see at race control are absolutely superb.”

Whiting said that he probably wouldn’t need to make another visit before October’s race.

“I don’t know at the moment, but it should not be necessary. What I’ve seen today gives me complete comfort that the circuit will be entirely ready when I come back for the Grand Prix.”

Meanwhile promoter Sergey Vorobyev said: “We were ready for Mr Whiting’s visit and we want to congratulate our builders who have made this positive verdict happen. We were confident that FIA would appreciate the efforts made by our team to implement the technical details that have been so highly reviewed by Mr Whiting today.

“Now that Sochi Autodrom has received a licence, everything else is up to the organizers of the events and as such we are working intensely on ensuring that all aspects of the event are fully prepared. It is our aim to make this a truly unforgettable event with the comfort and enjoyment of our guests at the forefront of all our efforts.”

Bernie Ecclestone’s trial on bribery charges looks set to end with the Munich prosecutor accepting a payment of $100m from the F1 boss.

German law allows cases to be settled with such an agreement, while taking into factors such as Ecclestone’s age.

The trial, which began in April, related to allegations that Ecclestone bribed banker Gerhard Gribkowsy with a $44m payment.

Caterham has reacted to a statement from the legal representatives of a group of employees who have parted company with the team since the new owners took over.

The statement outlined their grievances and their intention to pursue legal action.

In reply the team said today: “Caterham F1 Team has read with great concern recent reports about a group of individuals who are claiming unfair dismissal from the Formula 1 team following its takeover by new owners.

“The team is now taking legal action against those parties representing the individuals concerned, and each person involved, seeking compensation for the damages suffered by the team due to the gross misrepresentation of the facts made by all those concerned.

“These claims include the statement that they have been released from Caterham F1 Team – this is incorrect. Caterham F1 Team’s staff are employed by a company that is a supplier to the company that holds its F1 licence, the licence that allows it to compete in the Formula 1 World Championship.

“Additionally, the team has read claims that its staff were not paid in July – again, this is wholly untrue. Every individual currently employed by Caterham F1 Team was paid their July salary in full on 25th July, one week before it is formally due on the last day of the month, in this case 31st July.

“A formal request for the withdrawal of the relevant press statement issued on 28th July has been made by Caterham F1 Team and the team will vigorously pursue its action against all those concerned. However, it will not allow its core focus to be distracted from achieving tenth place in the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, and building for the 2015 campaign and beyond.”

Daniel Ricciardo’s superb win in Hungary was a result of both the irrepressible Aussie’s driving, and a unique strategy that proved to be just the ticket.

For the second time this year Ricciardo and his team were able to take advantage on a day when things did not go entirely to plan for the usually dominant Mercedes team.

“I think this is even more satisfying than Montreal because we actually beat them without problems,” said Horner when asked about that double by this writer. “We got the strategy right, a great performance by Daniel today, the pit stops were good, overtaking moves were excellent, and I think we beat two Mercedes that didn’t have any problems today.”

Ricciardo did of course gain ground on those ahead when he was able to duck into the pits at the first safety car, but the key was coming in under the second safety car. Only three drivers opted to do that, and while Daniel went for soft tyres, with the intention of stopping again and thus having reasonably fresh rubber for as long as possible, the two Williams drivers went for mediums.

It was that third stint, before he put on fresh tyres for the final charge that saw him pass Hamilton and Alonso, that proved critical.

“Obviously starting on the inters the circuit in sector one was taking quite a bit of time to dry up. The safety car then came out after the Caterham had a big shunt, we immediately knew it was going to be a safety car, so we called both the boys, ‘box, box, box.’ Seb being a bit further up the road was half way up the last turn, Daniel being a bit further back managed to make the pit lane.

“The first four cars didn’t make the pitlane, the group behind, the ones that did, were then in the pound seats Jenson then stayed out on the inters, which were the right tyre for half a lap of the restart, and then Daniel was able to get into an aggressive strategy.

“The bit that really made it work for him was his penultimate stint, he was able to go so long on the option. We were looking at Massa thinking he was going to try to get to the end, and we were trying to get a pit window to him, then it was a question of we’ve got to stop again, we’ll stop as late as we can to have as fresh a tyre as we can for the last 10-15 laps.

“And it didn’t look like it was going to work, because he closed up very quickly, the guys were fighting so hard, it looked like we were going to cook our tyres, and we’ve not been quick on the straight all weekend, and it didn’t look like it was going to happen. Then obviously as they started to get more and more into deg, Daniel just paced himself, and then a fantastic move on Lewis round the outside at Turn 2, and a pretty straightforward move on Fernando, and job done.”

Horner was full of praise for his driver: “The guy is riding the crest of a confidence wave at the moment. You probably heard his radio message after he passed two World Champions. He’s driving the car with such ease at the moment, and things are just falling right for him as well. Being able to get in at the right time for that first stop was a critical element of the race.

“We then had a problem with one of the cylinders on the engine in that penultimate stint, but again the Renault guys were able to find a way around it and disable the sensor, and then his passing moves in the last five laps just topped a fantastic race really.”