Category Archives: F1

November 27, 2014 · 5:28 pm

Illegal Red Bull wings were a “silly mistake” says Marko

Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko insists that the illegal front wing flaps on the RB10s in Abu Dhabi were the result of a “naïve” interpretation of the rules.

Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel qualified fifth and sixth but ultimately started from the pitlane after the FIA discovered a spring arrangement that allowed the flaps to flex.

“It was a silly mistake from our side,” Marko told this writer. “I would say it was a naïve interpretation of the regulations. We thought it was within the regulations.”

Meanwhile Marko said he was happy with the progress the team made in 2014 after its disastrous start in testing.

“We did much better than we expected – we won three races, second in the constructors’ championship, in the drivers’ third and fifth. So the recovery was good. Strategically, everything was done right. We achieved the maximum, we learned a lot, and we had to fight and keep motivation up. But it paid off.

“We had such a difference in horsepower, we couldn’t use the potential of our chassis, because if we put the wing up we lost so much on the straights. So we always had to go for a compromise. I think we did pretty well. Whenever there was a chance, bang, we were there.”

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November 27, 2014 · 12:40 pm

Nico Hulkenberg: “It was pretty annoying and frustrating…”

Nico Hulkenberg finished the 2014 season on a high with a solid sixth place in Abu Dhabi, but the Force India driver was frustrated to have lost 5s with a penalty for forcing Kevin Magnussen off track on the first lap.

Hulkenberg insisted that he was not at fault, and said that without the extra handicap he would have beaten Jenson Button to fifth place. The Briton finished 1.8s ahead.

“Not much we could do there,” he told this writer. “It was reported to the stewards, and once they decide, you can’t appeal it. It was pretty annoying and frustrating to have that, because I’d done nothing wrong, it was just the battle in the heat of the first lap of the race. Kevin was pushing me wide the corner before. We were going side-by-side around Turn 6 or 7, I wasn’t purposely pushing him wide, I was sliding, and that’s what happens.

“That’s racing, and we want to see racing, don’t we? I think we touched very slightly, nothing bad or serious. Otherwise I think it could have been a fifth place, I’m pretty certain. But still a very satisfying and good end to the year.”

Regarding Force India’s improvement in form from qualifying to the race he said: “That was quite unexpected and a surprise, to be honest. Obviously it’s good that the car is at its best in the race, but this performance is really a bit out of the blue. Since Friday we changed the set-up quite a bit, but we don’t do long runs from that point onwards.

“I was confident in the car, there was good harmony between me and the car, and it was going quite well. It’s been a trend always this year that in qualy we don’t seem as strong as in the race. On the aero side we still have a lot of work in front of us, we need to get better there.”

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November 26, 2014 · 6:00 pm

Standing restarts abandoned after teams voice concerns

The plan to have standing starts after safety car periods in 2015 has been abandoned after this week’s meetings of the Strategy Group and F1 Commission.

The decision came after teams did more research into what it meant, and concerns emerged regarding issues such as tyre temperatures and pressures, and the complex procedures required in the cockpit prior to any start. There were also question marks over the build-up of tyre marbles on one side of the grid creating a handicap for drivers on that side.

As has been expected for some time double points for the final race have also gone after F1 insiders accepted that the public didn’t like the idea. Fortunately they did not affect the outcome of this year’s title battle, but they also did not contribute to extending it until the final race.

The original plan, as suggested by Bernie Ecclestone, had been to have three double point races, in order to reduce the risk of a team losing out through one bad weekend.

As discussed here on Friday teams have also provisionally agreed that the likes of Caterham and Marussia can use the 2014 spec engines, if they want to. They are likely to be cheaper than the 2015 spec, and in Caterham’s case at least will open up the chance to use the 2014 chassis without major modifications to accommodate new packaging. Currently rules allow manufacturers to homologate only one engine spec.

Any changes agreed at the F1 Commission now have to be passed by the World Motor Sport Council, which meets next week in Qatar.

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November 26, 2014 · 3:50 pm

Tough start for McLaren Honda as car runs five laps in two days

McLaren and Honda endured another tough day in Abu Dhabi as Stoffel Vandoorne completed only two laps, bringing the MP4-29H/1×1 test car’s official total up to five for the two-day test – without setting a flying lap time.

The car appeared to be ready to run at the start of the day before an electrical issue intervened. In the afternoon Vandoorne did an installation lap, but when he went out for a four-lap run the car shut down on track. The team was not able to get it out again before the end of the day.

Although the whole point of the Abu Dhabi test was to find problems before running begins again in Jerez in February clearly both parties were expecting to do at least some representative mileage. This week has been poor reward given the effort involved in building the test car, which was a brand new chassis – and which in theory will not be used again, assuming that the new MP-30 is ready for the first test in February.

The team does still have the opportunity to use the older car in the first test and spend a bit more time developing the definitive model before it actually runs.
The other downside of the lack of mileage is that the team may have been using the Honda test in part as a way of evaluating whether or not Vandoorne is ready for a 2015 race seat, although in theory the Belgian will do a second year of GP2.

“Although this looked like another difficult day, this is just part of the learning experience we expected when we took on the interim car programme,” said team boss Eric Boullier. “It’s useful to discover these issues pre-Christmas, as it allows us to deepen our understanding of the complex integration between power-unit, ancillaries and the car.

“And, to be honest, I’d rather be ironing out these problems here in Abu Dhabi, than discovering them in Jerez, next February.

“It’s definitely been a positive for both McLaren and Honda to conduct this test – there have been some troublesome issues, but we’ve made progress. We’ve also made an excellent start to the relationship – communication and interaction have been great, and you can really feel the positivity and sense of purpose in the garage. Any mileage we accrued this week would simply have been a bonus.”

Honda motorsport boss Yasuhisa Arai added: “In short, this was a tricky day. We encountered system start-up and data communication issues that prevented us from running as we’d planned.

“However, actually conducting testing at the track enabled us to understand the complexity of the system at a deeper level. We now know what is necessary to further develop the system, and we’ll work together with McLaren to be ready for the next test – at Jerez in February.”

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November 26, 2014 · 2:28 pm

Vergne reveals that he’s been dropped by Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne has used Twitter to reveal that he won’t be driving for Toro Rosso next year.

Red Bull’s Helmut Marko told this writer in Abu Dhabi that an announcement would come next week, so clearly Vergne has decided to or been allowed to pre-empt that.

Once source told this writer than Vergne has known since August – in effect when Max Verstappen entered the picture – that he would be out. It’s understood that team principal Franz Tost was keen to retain him in order to have one experienced driver in the line-up, but the decision was made by Red Bull.

The Frenchman said: “Despite a good season & 22 pts, I’ll not drive anymore for Toro Rosso in 2015. Thanks for those years. Let’s go for another big challenge.”

Confirmation of his departure obviously leaves the door open for Carlos Sainz Jr, who drove for Red Bull in Abu Dhabi yesterday. GP3 champion Alex Lynn, who tested for Lotus today, could be the logical choice as third driver for STR/RBR.

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November 26, 2014 · 10:03 am

Sebastian Vettel: “It has been an incredible journey”

Sebastian Vettel’s six-year stint with Red Bull Racing came to an end with a frustrating drive from the pitlane to eighth place in Abu Dhabi, and as such it was a disappointing day for the putgoing World Champion.

The German got caught behind other cars and ultimately finished 35 seconds behind team mate Daniel Ricciardo, who also started from the pits. After the race Vettel admitted that his farewell weekend had been an emotional one.

“Once you’re in the car, and in that case the pit exit light goes green, you’re back in the rhythm and you do your race,” he said. “You don’t really have time to think about too many things. For sure crossing the line, it’s different coming back to all the previous years. This season hasn’t been great, so jumping out of the car, and not being happy with the race, for now I’m not the happiest guy.”

Reflecting on the end of his time at Red Bull he said: “I think it has been an incredible journey. Obviously we didn’t expect that when we started working together. You can never expect four titles, drivers’ and constructors’, in a row. Obviously you get to know some people in a very good way, you go through happy days, sad days. I think I learned a lot. That’s why I feel ready for the next step.”

Meanwhile he expects Mercedes to continue its winning form into next season.

“First of all they are the favourites going into the next season. I think it will very tough for [Lewis] to keep Nico behind, I think they had a very tight battle. I think Nico surprise a lot of people in many ways. I think it will be tight amongst then, and for the rest we will try our best to try and catch up. For now, in terms of regs, it doesn’t look like there’s too much progress being made, with Mercedes blocking the other teams. We have to wait and see what happens.”

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November 24, 2014 · 4:26 pm

Paddy Lowe: “It wasn’t the ideal race for us…”

Mercedes F1 technical chief Paddy Lowe admits that the team has been frustrated by this year’s reliability problems, which struck again in the Abu Dhabi GP and cost the team the chance to end the year with yet another one-two finish.

“It wasn’t the ideal race for us, as we would have liked a one-two,” he told this writer. “We came into the race with a target of a one-two, and we told Nico that, even if it had meant Lewis had won the championship anyway.

“There was a failure in the cooling system for the hybrid systems, and that was the thing that caused everything to fall apart around it. That was the core of the problem, and it cascaded into a number of other issues. Everything is linked together – the turbo isn’t working very well, and so on. Different things were coming in and out.

“I think if we stand back and analyse the season as a whole we weren’t as reliable as we should have been, but actually the unreliability fell quite equitably in the end. But overall, great to win the race itself. It takes us to 16 wins, and it was great for Lewis.”

Summarising the team’s phenomenal 2014 campaign he said: “I think it’s been the most fantastic season, and we just wanted to finish it in a nice way, and that’s what’s been done. Of course Nico won’t particularly feel like that, but he’s been an absolutely fantastic sport, very respectful to Lewis and the team. Great credit to him for that, I think it must be quite difficult for him. He won the inaugural pole position trophy, and that’s no mean feat.

“This last part of the season they have both driven exceptionally well. It’s the closing part, where you’re under pressure, that really counts, and it’s most difficult to keep it together. Both of them have shown themselves to be capable World Champions, and that gives promise to Nico for the future.

“You can’t take anything for granted over the winter in F1. We just have to do our best and see where we turn up next year.”

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November 24, 2014 · 1:07 pm

Mattiacci ousted as changes continue at Ferrari

Ferrari has confirmed that team boss Marco Mattiacci is to be replaced by Maurizio Arravabene, the story having emerged over the weekend in Abu Dhabi.

Arravabene has worked for Ferrari’s main sponsor Marlboro since 1997, and is a familiar face in the paddock. Latter he has held the role of Vice President Consumer Channel Strategy and Event Marketing for Philip Morris International.

Since 2010 he has had a seat on the F1 Commission as the sole representative of the sponsors, and has thus been intimately involved with the rule making process.

Mattiacci fell out of favour with Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne, and his handling of the departure of Fernando Alonso – after the team was left with three World Champions under contract for next season – clearly did not help. Just eight months after being chosen by Luca di Montezemolo to run the F1 team, he is out of the company.

Marchionne said: “We decided to appoint Maurizio Arrivabene because, at this historic moment in time for the Scuderia and for Formula 1, we need a person with a thorough understanding not just of Ferrari but also of the governance mechanisms and requirements of the sport.

“Maurizio has a unique wealth of knowledge: he has been extremely close to the Scuderia for years and, as a member of the F1 Commission, is also keenly aware of the challenges we are facing. He has been a constant source of innovative ideas focused on revitalisation of Formula One. His managerial experience on a highly complex and closely regulated market is also of great importance, and will help him manage and motivate the team. I am delighted to have been able to secure his leadership for our racing activities.”

Regarding the departing boss he said: “We would also like to thank Marco Mattiacci for his service to Ferrari in the last 15 years and we wish him well in his future endeavours.”

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November 24, 2014 · 11:23 am

Rosberg gremlins leave bitter sweet feeling, says Wolff

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says it’s a relief that the World Championship has been resolved after the tensions involved in managing an intra-team battle – while emphasising his disappointment that technical gremlins once again cropped up in Nico Rosberg’s car.

“First of all it’s a relief now,” he said. “Although we knew that we’d won the driver’s championship before, we knew that it was going to be a challenge in staying neutral, and balancing out between the drivers. For us it was a particular challenge, so now that it’s over, it’s a relief.

“But then there is also a bitter sweet feeling left. Lewis Hamilton won 11 races, he deserved to be World Champion, he had a really incredible season. He had downs, and many ups, and at the end he’s a worthy World Champion.

“The bitter part is we worked so hard in such a diligent way to make the car reliable to enable the boys to fight it out on track, and that we had the problem with Nico’s car is something which gives it a bitter taste, and I feel that we let him down a little bit. In hindsight you can say from a rational point of view at that stage it was already difficult to make it after he had that start.

“Nico not finishing for us is a personal drama, because we expected to give them two cars which made it to the end. Lewis not finishing, being in the lead of the championship and being in the lead of the race, would have been an even bigger drama. Nevertheless it doesn’t make it any more acceptable to see Nico’s car break down.”

Regarding the Hamilton/Rosberg relationship he said: “It will re-set a little bit over the winter and at the beginning of the season, before it gets competitive. It is very clear that if your team mate, the one in the same car, is your biggest competitor, your biggest enemy, that it’s getting tense.

“I have no doubt that we will have similar situations and similar challenges next year again between the two. Anything else wouldn’t be normal. It’s just that we maintain it on the current levels of professionalism and respect.”

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November 23, 2014 · 7:58 pm

Nico Rosberg: “Lewis has been the best driver on the grid…”

Nico Rosberg was typically gracious in defeat in Abu Dhabi, conceding that teanm mate Lewis Hamilton did a better overall job this year

He says he never gave up on his title hopes indespite dropping down the order after he hit ERS problems.

The German could still win the title by finishing fifth if Lewis Hamilton retired, and did everything he could to keep on target until he finally tumbled out of the points.

“I still believed in it for a long time, because there was still always the hope… there was always the possibility that also gets a problem or something, and then I only need to finish fifth or sixth. I believed until the end. The very last lap I was still pushing, because that’s what I do, I don’t give up, I just push all the way. That’s also why I wanted to finish the race.

“I’m very disappointed. All in all Lewis deserved to win the championship today, that’s clear.
Lewis won it because he won it, and whatever happened today didn’t make any difference to his championship win. So there’s no point to really focus on that at all.”

Rosberg said that whatever happened today, it had been a great year.

“All in all it’s been a great season for the team, I’m proud to be a part of that. Lewis was that little bit better driver this year, a tiny bit, in the races only. So he deserves the win. For me there’s some great things about this year, I’ve been quicker in qualifying over the two years, and that’s a very good base to work on. I need to work on my racing a tiny bit, and then I’m good to go.

“His level is massively high, his driving out there, he was the best on the grid this year. I was against him, the best on the grid. It was very close, a pity it didn’t work out. But I’m proud to be in this moment with the team, it’s a very special year, the car has been incredible. To be able to fight with for wins all the time and battle it out with Lewis has been great. Very intense was at times. It was an intense battle, but a great battle.

“That’s what I race for, the battles like that. Lewis has been the best driver on the grid this year, and to be up against him, and battling it out, the level was incredibly high. But I also have to find and deliver and be on a level playing field with him, and that’s been a great challenge for me. Most of the time it’s been enjoyable. Of course sometimes it’s not been enjoyable, but all-in-all, a great year.”

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