Category Archives: F1

October 22, 2015 · 8:43 pm

Toro Rosso turns down chance to run upgraded Renault

Scuderia Toro Rosso is not planning to take advantage of Renault’s latest upgraded engine over the last four races, because the team believes that it’s not worth taking extra grid penalties.

The Italian outfit has enough examples of the current spec to get to the end of the season. Meanwhile RBR has yet to make a definitive call, although Daniel Ricciardo suggested that it was unlikely.

“We’re going to stick for the rest of the year with the old spec,” said Carlos Sainz. “Given the [performance] values that they’ve given to get another grid penalty and start last, especially with the last four tracks, they are similar to this one… Okay, they are not the best tracks because they have long straights, but it’s not the worst, so we can be very close to the top ten, so to start last, I think it’s too much, it’s not worth it, so we will commit to this year’s spec that we have now, that’s good enough to finish the year, and we have plenty of them.

“It’s an important end of the season now, because we have four races that the tracks should not be bad for us, and we lost a lot of points from the middle of the season, particular me. We need four races where we can qualify decently and race hard from the top 10. So I don’t want to take more penalties to be honest.”

Max Verstappen suggested that the team would keep an eye on how Red Bull performs if and when it runs the new engine.

“I think we have to wait and see how much the difference is,” said Verstappen. “So we have to wait and see how what Red Bull does with the engine, if they are going to use it or not here, and what the difference is. If it’s not that much and you take again a penalty then your race is a bit more difficult again. We just have to wait and see. And if it’s good then hopefully we will have it soon as well.”

3 Comments

Filed under F1, F1 News, Grand Prix News

Tagged as , ,

October 22, 2015 · 8:41 pm

Vettel and Raikkonen take grid penalty hit in Austin

Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen are both set to take 10-place penalties in Austin as they will both run fresh V6s.

Both men have already used four engines, but the team has decided that it’s worth taking the hit in the USA to gain more performance for the last three races. It’s understood that while no tokens have been used, the V6s do feature some revisions.

The news means that it’s a lot less likely that Vettel can keep the title battle alive until Mexico.

“We will have the hit of 10-places penalty for a new engine at this event,” said Vettel. “But it has always been the plan, it is not a big secret. No surprise for us. To explain to you the story, it was always the plan for us, to have the strongest engine available at every single point in the season, and I think our engine guys have done a massive job.

“So this should not be understood as a downside. If anything this is a very positive sign because we have been pushing very hard and the guys managed to make big steps in terms of performance.”

Elaborating on the pros and cons the German said: “Obviously if you look at just this race, isolated, for sure it’s not great news. But then you have to look at the while project, the whole season, and it was always the plan to have a fresh engine until the end of the season here. As I said the priority was always to have maximum power at every single race, and that has been our plan.

“It has worked very well so far. Obviously we have to take the hit here, but as I said you should see the positive, the fact that we were able to make big steps.”

Leave a comment

Filed under F1, F1 News, Grand Prix News

Tagged as , ,

October 16, 2015 · 2:27 pm

Magnussen “deserves to have a Formula 1 career,” says Dennis

McLaren has somewhat belatedly officially confirmed that Kevin Magnussen has been dropped for 2016 via a statement from Ron Dennis.

The Dane’s option with the team came up on September 30 but following the confirmation of Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso insisting that he is not going anywhere else, and Stoffel Vandoorne winning the GP2 title, it was clear that there was no room for him next year. He was told by email on October 5th, his birthday.

Even without Vandoorne’s emergence as the man most likely to replace ALO or BUT Magnussen was always adamant that he would not spend another year as a reserve driver. However, he could yet be on the 2016 grid as he remains in contention for a Lotus/Renault drive.

Speaking on Twitter today he said: “Shame it didn’t work out but I’ll never give up on the dream.”

In confirming Magnussen’s departure, Dennis said: “Kevin has always done a very impressive and professional job for McLaren in the five years since he joined our Young Driver Programme in 2010.

“In 2014 he raced very well alongside Jenson, who is a hugely experienced and very quick World Champion. Kevin’s Grand Prix debut in Melbourne last year was rewarded with a podium that day that he, and we, can be justifiably proud of.

“Kevin has continued to work hard for us in 2015, supporting Fernando and Jenson, although he was understandably frustrated not to be racing. He is extremely keen to return to racing next year, and, in keeping with our tradition with our young drivers, we will not stand in the way of his ability to fulfil his ambition and potential.

“He is a very talented racing driver, and he deserves to have a Formula 1 career, as Jenson has publicly said.

“Evidently, we have no space for him at McLaren-Honda as a race driver next year, but there is no shame in being edged out by two World Champions, Fernando and Jenson. We wish Kevin well, and will do all we can to help him successfully embark on the next chapter of his racing career.”

13 Comments

Filed under F1, F1 News, Grand Prix News

Tagged as

October 16, 2015 · 2:10 pm

Upgraded Mercedes engine too risky for customers, says Wolff

Toto Wolff has defended the decision by Mercedes not to make its development engine available to its three customer teams.

Wolff says that it was too risky to build sufficient new engines to supply all its customers, as it is committed to treating all them equally, and would thus have to provide them with two new units apiece.

Mercedes has always maintained that the engine, first used by the works team in Monza, does not represent a major performance gain, and thus it should not be perceived as an attempt to gain an extra advantage over Williams and the other customers.

“You’ve seen what happened to us in Singapore and Monza and all the other races,” Wolff told this writer. “The decision we took is to do an R&D exercise in order to learn more for next year, and you can’t do this kind of exercise with a customer team, because the risk of DNF’ing is there.

“If you go into a development direction you can’t make eight engines, because it could be the case that it’s the wrong direction we went. It’s as simple as it is. I can assure that there isn’t any miracle in that engine, [it isn’t] a wonder engine. We are well ahead of Williams, but we were well ahead of Williams before.”

Leave a comment

Filed under F1, F1 News, Grand Prix News

Tagged as

October 12, 2015 · 4:04 pm

Raikkonen move “a bit too much,” says Bottas

Valtteri Bottas insists that he didn’t expect that Kimi Raikkonen would try a last lap passing move in Sochi, given how far behind the Ferrari driver was.

After the pair made contact Bottas slid into the barrier and lost his third place, and a penalty for Raikkonen that dropped him from fifth to eighth provided little compensation to the frustrated Williams man.

“I’d just got past Perez and I was approaching Turn 4 and suddenly when I turned into the apex someone hit me from the back,” said Bottas. “That’s it really. It’s disappointing, it ruined my day. I can say that I can happily look in the mirror and say it was not my fault.

“I was not expecting a move like this from him, but now it’s done, zero points, and it’s very disappointing. I was approaching the corner in a normal way, and I saw in Turn 3 he was quite far away, so no way he could pass me there if I do my standard line. I think this was a bit too much. It’s a fine line, but it was a bit too much.

“I don’t know what the thinking was behind it really, doing it there and the last lap, and that far away. It was not too bad a race until then, running third on the last lap. It’s just a shame it ended that way.”

Leave a comment

Filed under F1, F1 News, Grand Prix News

Tagged as , , ,

October 12, 2015 · 3:55 pm

Christian Horner: “In Austin we should be in better shape…”

Christian Horner admits that he was surprised that Daniel Ricciardo was able to show so strongly in Sochi before the Aussie was sidelined by a late mechanical issue.

Like Sergio Perez Ricciardo pitted early under the Grosjean safety car, and thereafter tried to hold position while running a long second stint. Meanwhile his team mate Dany Kvyat took fifth place after starting 11th.

“It was a shame because Daniel had done such a good job on the hard tyre,” Horner told this writer. “The risk with the strategy worked well, and he was doing a great job to keep the faster cars of Bottas and Raikkonen behind. With five laps to go it looks like hr had a suspected rear hub issue. A great shame. I think we need to investigate fully to understand it.

“To be honest to be fighting for a podium today, after the safety car, we didn’t expect that. And for Daniil to pick up a fifth place in his home race is a respectable performance.”

Although most upcoming tracks feature long straights Horner is confident that RBR can still chase some big points.

“Absolutely. Hopefully in Austin we should be in better shape. There are some faster corners than there are here in Sochi. We knew this track was going to be tough for us. Mexico is a little unknown, although it looks like it’s got a very long straight. Brazil will be tough, and Abu Dhabi we’ve always been OK.

Regarding possible engine change penalties he added: “We’re tight but OK at the moment.”

Leave a comment

Filed under F1, F1 News, Grand Prix News

Tagged as , ,

October 12, 2015 · 7:00 am

Throttle problem prompted Rosberg safety concerns

Nico Rosberg admits he had safety concerns when he started experiencing throttle pedal problems early in the Russian GP.

The German was heard asking the team what would happen if the pedal struck open, but shortly afterwards the issue forced him to pit and retire, all but ending his title hopes.

“That was concerning,” he said when asked by this writer how worried he was. “A throttle [problem] is never a nice thing, especially when it was sticking. So I was definitely concerned. So that was why I asked the team what should I do if the throttle sticks, I am full on the brakes. They said there was an automatic fail safe on the car, which removes the throttle in that case when it sees a big overlap, brake and throttle – it will cut the throttle. So that was reassuring at that point.

“I had a throttle stick once in Monaco in a similar way actually, in a Williams in 2006. It brought back some memories of that a little bit.

“The change happened during the safety car already, so right after the start actually, and from then on I couldn’t come off throttle, so I was doing all the corners with throttle on and then eventually it the throttle on was so much that I couldn’t get around the corners any more.

“It was one big step on the safety car already as it came towards me, and just another small one afterwards which meant that it was the end of it. I was trying to take my leg off the pedal, but then the knee would come up and I couldn’t steer any more, and so it was different problems coming in there.”

Rosberg said that recent reliability problems at Mercedes have been frustrating.

“It is a strange one, this year it looked like we were looking so good on reliability. To then have still quite a few issues, it is surprising and it has gone worse and worse now through the season, especially in the last couple of months we had loads more issues and race stoppers and things like that. We must look into that again, and continue to improve that area. It seems we haven’t made as big steps as we thought.”

Rosberg conceded that his title chances are now remote: “You have to be realistic now. It is a lot of points. It doesn’t change my approach. I am still pushing to the maximum, and committed, and going for it mentally. So it doesn’t really change much. Disappointing in that respect today, because I was looking to close the gap today, and then anyways, going to the next race and I want to win there. That is the goal at the moment.

“It is tough. So much go into a weekend like that. The preparation starts at the beginning of the week with being at the factory, discussing everything and coming here, having an awesome weekend, qualifying, race start, first corners and everything really going to plan and then to lose it in such a way is very tough.”

Leave a comment

Filed under F1, F1 News, Grand Prix News

Tagged as , ,

October 11, 2015 · 6:55 pm

Carlos Sainz: “If we had finished, we would have been heroes…”

Carlos Sainz was hugely frustrated after being forced to retire with brake issues after his impressive drive from the back of the field in Sochi.

From 20th Sainz rose as high as seventh and destined to finish even higher when he suffered problems with the front left disc, which led to his retirement with just eight laps to run.

“We did such a great job after only doing 15 laps the whole weekend in the dry,” he said. “To turn up, start 20th and be seventh, with a great rhythm, a great pace. It was looking good for P6 at the end. The whole race saving brakes, saving tyres, saving fuel, and still managing a good pace. I must be pretty happy and thank the team, because without them I wouldn’t have been out there today.

“Mixed feelings, but I’m a positive guy, and I’d like to keep the positives. With only 15 laps we were having a great pace. We were running P7 after starting last, if we had finished, we would have been heroes. It’s a shame.”

Sainz admitted he felt dizzy in the early stages of the race: “I’ll rest for a couple of days for sure. Today was demanding out there, especially the first laps, and mentally also it was quite a demanding weekend as you can imagine. We need a bit more luck to put everything together because the results are nearly coming.”

5 Comments

Filed under F1, F1 News, Grand Prix News

Tagged as ,

October 11, 2015 · 6:17 pm

Kimi Raikkonen: “I don’t think it was something completely stupid…”

Kimi Raikkonen was demoted from fifth to eighth place in the Russian GP results after being penalised for causing a collision with Valtteri Bottas.

The two Finns collided while battling for third on the last lap. Raikkonen managed to crawl across the line in fifth, but was subsequently given a 30 second penalty, and three points on his licence.

His demotion also meant that Ferrari was finally out of mathematical contention for the constructors’ title, leaving Mercedes confirmed as champions.

“I went inside and I think he never realised that I was there,” said Raikkonen. “Obviously at the last point I knew that he was just turning in so I tried to go more inside and I had brake harder to try to avoid it, but I was next to him already, so obviously there was contact.

“I don’t think it was something completely stupid. I want to try, for sure I would have made the corner, but obviously there were two cars. There are many ways of looking at the incident. I was there but obviously he didn’t know that I was there, and then you will have a contact. Unfortunate thing, not just for us for them also. You never want to have accidents, but things happen.”

12 Comments

Filed under F1, F1 News, Grand Prix News

Tagged as , ,

October 11, 2015 · 5:53 pm

Sergio Perez: “I was confident going into the race…”

Sergio Perez was one of the stars of the Russian GP after a bold strategy call by Force India helped the Mexican to an eventual third place.

Perez was the best placed of several drivers who gambled by putting under an early safety car and attempting to get to the flag while others waited and pitted under green.

He held third for many laps only to lose out to Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen on the penultimate lap after his tyres finally gave up. However the two Finns then collided, and Perez regained the final podium spot.

“I was confident going into the race, obviously not expecting a podium at all, but the race started quite well,” he said. “Obviously Nico [Hulkenberg] went out quite early, the safety car came out. Then we had a second safety car and we decided to box. We were one of the few cars to box.

“The restart going behind Felipe [Massa] and Nasr, I was just stuck there and couldn’t get them, so I decided to save my tyres together with the team, to look after them at the end of the race, and it worked really well.”

Perez admitted his tyres were finished in the closing laps: “I think we lost a podium one lap before the end, but it was just very difficult to hold them back, to hold Valtteri and Raikkonen back.

“At the stage I couldn’t brake very hard, very late because I was at risk of flat-spotting my tyres and retiring from the race, so there was a certain level of risk that I was able to take and I thought OK, if it’s not a podium, let’s really come back with the points. And then in the last lap they had contact and it was very good to come back and give a second podium to the team.

Perez said he’s excited about the future: “I think we’re going into a great momentum. It’s great news that I’m staying with the team. so we have a lot of momentum going through us and hopefully we can maintain it for the end of the year.

“Definitely I’m going through a great moment in my career. From where we are it’s difficult to realise but people who look at my performance, they can see that I’m at my best moment in my career, and that’s something that makes me confident.”

1 Comment

Filed under F1, F1 News, Grand Prix News

Tagged as ,