Tag Archives: F1

April 18, 2015 · 9:02 pm

Lewis Hamilton: “I’m going to have my work cut out…”

Having qualified on pole in Bahrain Lewis Hamilton is hopeful that the Mercedes will be better on its tyres in Sunday’s race than it appeared to be in practice on Friday, when Ferrari had a clear edge on long runs.

The team made changes for today but the hot afternoon FP3 session was not representative, so the true test will only come in the race itself.

“There were a lot of small things that we changed overnight in the hope that they will make the tyres last a little bit better,” he said tonight. “The tyres are lasting fine, it’s just actually pure pace, so it’s getting more from the tyres. I was saying that in Malaysia we thought we were going to be ahead, and we ended up behind, then in the last race we thought they were going to be much stronger in the race, and they were no problem in the race… for me. But then tomorrow it appears that they are going to be strong. I don’t know which way it’s going to go, but I hope it’s the way I hope it’s going to go.”

Asked whether Sebastian Vettel or Nico Rosberg would be the biggest threat tomorrow he said: “Your biggest rival is always the guy that’s closest to you. When you go into a race your first concern is the one that’s closest to you. Even more so Sebastian because it appears that they were quicker on their long runs than we were. So I know that I’m going to have my work cut out while trying to stay ahead whilst looking after the tyres and making them go the distance.

“I don’t know how much he’s going to be on my tail. We might get round the first corner and it might be cool to be able to control it from then. In Malaysia each time I was kind of having to up the pace and he’d got an answer every time I did that. So I guess I won’t know until I get round the first couple of corners tomorrow.”

He also admitted that he doesn’t yet know where he might have an advantage over the Ferrari.

“To be honest I have no idea where their strengths are in terms of being on the track and seeing it. I’ve never really been behind them or with him to really know. The one little bit was at the end of one of the stints in Malaysia where he pitted and I came up the inside. So they’ve obviously got power on the straights. But otherwise I’ve not witnessed where the weak areas are of the car. But I would imagine they are probably comparable, both cars, in certain areas. Maybe tomorrow we’ll find out.”

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April 18, 2015 · 12:12 pm

No grid penalty for Vettel as FIA deems wheel was loose but not unsafe

The FIA stewards have decided to take no further action against Sebastian Vettel for an unsafe release after a further investigation this morning.

As reported here earlier, during yesterday’s investigation into Vettel’s collision with Sergio Perez it emerged that one of the German’s front wheels may have been loose. If that was classed as an unsafe release, he risked a grid penalty.

An investigation was postponed until this morning as the FIA wanted to gather further evidence. It was deemed that while the wheel was not properly in place, it was in fact secured, and the retention device was still safely in place.

The FIA accepted that the driver and team had the situation under control, and that the wheel could not have come off. Video of the pit stop showed that there was no panic among the crew and no suggestion that anyone thought the car had been dispatched with a wheel issue.

As such it was not deemed to be an unsafe release, and there is no grid penalty for Vettel.

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April 17, 2015 · 8:40 pm

Vettel under threat of unsafe release grid penalty

No action was taken by the FIA stewards after the collision between Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez in FP2 today, but the matter might not be over for the Ferrari driver.

The pair made contact at Turn One late in the session when Perez turned in and Vettel – who had just emerged from the pits – crunched his nose on the Force India’s rear wheel. Vettel said on the radio that he had a braking issue, but surprisingly perhaps the focus in the stewards’ enquiry was on Perez as the potential guilty party, rather than Vettel.

In letting the Mexican off the stewards noted: “As no driver was determined to be wholly or predominantly to blame the Stewards decide that no further action should be taken.”

However it emerged during the discussions that Vettel could have had an improperly secured front wheel – which if proven could open him up to a penalty for an unsafe release from the pits.

It’s understood that the FIA will take another look at the matter on Saturday morning, when it will have the opportunity to gather and review further evidence.

The FIA takes an unsafe release in practice particularly seriously as clearly there is less urgency than in a race, and also more people are in the pitlane. The rules states: “If a car is deemed to have been released in an unsafe condition during any practice session, the stewards may drop the driver such number of grid positions as they consider appropriate.”

Ferrari also had a wheel issue in Australia, and one rival team has even suggested that as a result Vettel’s description of a “brake problem” could in fact be pre-arranged code for “loose wheel.”

Mention of the latter on the radio would of course have immediately alerted the FIA to the fact that the Ferrari had left with an unsecured wheel, and thus made the charge of an unsafe release a formality…

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April 17, 2015 · 4:28 pm

Raikkonen heading for extended Ferrari deal, says Robertson

Kimi Raikkonen’s manager Steve Robertson says everything is moving in the right direction for the Finn to extend his Ferrari contract.

Raikkonen, who last year hinted that 2015 might be his last season, is now committed to a longer term future with the team – and just has to wait for the Maranello outfit to take up its option.

“Everybody’s positive,” Robertson told this writer. “Kimi wants to carry on and he’s made that very, very clear. The team is happy with his input and his consistency. It’s all positive talk, but there’s a difference between positive talk and pen to paper and all that sort of stuff. But at the end of the day it’s all heading in the right direction. He wants to be part of it, 100 per cent.”

Raikkonen has been upbeat since his first run in the SF15-T hinted at the potential of the package, and he works well with close pal Sebastian Vettel. Robertson agrees that the key is Kimi is having fun again.

“As soon as he had the first test he said, ‘The car’s a good car, there’s a lot more potential there, they took a big step in the chassis and a big step in the engine. He’s enjoying driving. At the end of the day for Kimi it’s very important that he enjoys it, he doesn’t need to be here for any other reason. He wants to be competitive, he wants to be challenging for races wins and championships, and now he’s in the position to do that.

“It’s a completely different team, it’s a completely different package. Everything is positive. Last year it was difficult to find something positive. He enjoys the car, it suits his driving style more, he’s in a team that’s on the upward trend. Everybody is pushing. Just look around at all the smiling faces, and Kimi’s one of those smiling faces.

“He loves F1 when it’s like this – of course he doesn’t love F1 when everything’s a shit fight and the car’s not good. He loves the environment like it is, and the package, and he can only see it getting stronger.”

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April 17, 2015 · 3:02 pm

New Hamilton contract “just needs to get signed” says Lauda

Niki Lauda says he is not concerned that Lewis Hamilton has yet to sign his new Mercedes contract for 2016 and beyond, and insists that the deal really is done and dusted.

The saga of when Hamilton’s deal might be formalised and announced has been dragging on since late last season.

“It’s all going in the right pace,” Lauda told this writer. “There’s nothing wrong. It is basically sorted out, no more discussions. It is sorted out. It just needs to get signed.

“For me it’s out of the way because it’s done. An announcement, I don’t care. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Lauda dismissed suggestions in the German media to the effect that Hamilton might now be eyeing up Ferrari: “No, he can’t. We all agreed he’s driving, he agreed, we agreed, that’s it. Simple.”

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April 17, 2015 · 8:59 am

More power won’t spoil McLaren’s handling, says Alonso

Fernando Alonso insists that a lack of power is not masking any unexpected deficiencies in the McLaren chassis – in other words he expects its handling to remain consistent as the engine performance is ramped up in the coming weeks.

Both drivers have expressed their satisfaction with the MP4-30. Alonso noted yesterday that: “It’s a car that’s not too tricky, or it’s not picky, let’s say. It’s a car that gives you confidence, every lap you do you can push more and more, and it doesn’t make you any funny surprises.”

Some observers suspect that the chassis might not prove to be so user friendly as the power unit becomes more effective, but Alonso is confident that that won’t happen.

“No I don’t think so,” said Alonso. “I think we are aware of this problem, and we are making sure that the directions we go with the car are suitable with the power we have now, and the power that we may have.

“Maybe it will change some things, some braking performance, some downshifts, some traction problems or whatever that maybe with more power it raises a problem, but we are making sure we are ready when that day arrives.”

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April 16, 2015 · 2:47 pm

Felipe Massa: “A driver cannot do everything alone…”

Williams head of performance Rob Smedley paid his old pal Felipe Massa a big compliment in China last week when he said that the Brazilian was driving better than ever in 2015.

Today Massa was a little reticent when asked if he thought that was true.

“What I can say is I’m pretty happy with the way we’re working with the team, with my engineer, with everybody,” he said in Bahrain today. “If you go back to last year the first half of the season I was unlucky and so many things were happening in a different way, and not a consistent way. But the second part was very good.

“How I did the last four races of the season and how I did these three races is no different, it’s in a similar way. I think the consistency with how I finished the season until now I can bring everything I can to the car and use the car in the best way I can, with very good laps in the qualifying but also a good way of managing the tyres and using the car in the race.”

However, Massa did then agree he was driving at least as well as in 2008, when he fought for the title until the last corner of the last race.

“I think so. The only thing you cannot say is that we were fighting for the championship in 2008, and now not! For sure we had maybe the top car in 2008, and now we are maybe the third team in the championship, but I feel really good, I feel that I am driving really well, and can use the car in the best way I believe I can.

“It’s nice to have that feeling, it gives you extra confidence, the team are working for you, to understand everything you say, to take everything you say, to try to develop everything you say but also what they believe is correct together, and I think really that’s fantastic. A driver cannot do everything alone. You need to have the whole group working for the best of the driver, and I think that really counts a lot for me. Also many of you wrote my accident changed completely my driving, and maybe it’s not correct…”

Asked about his sometimes disappointing form in his later years at Maranello he said: “I had some reasons, but I don’t want to put the reasons on the table. But I have some reasons for not being so strong in the last seasons with Ferrari. The past is the past, we work for the present, which is better.”

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April 16, 2015 · 8:46 am

Franz Tost: “Renault will find a good solution”

Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost remains convinced that Renault eventually sort out its problems, after a string of failures for both of the Red Bull-backed teams.

Tost is of course still hoping that STR will become the de facto works Renault team at some stage in the future, if a deal can be concluded.

“For sure it doesn’t help,” he told this writer when asked about the reliability issues. “But all the parties try to do the best, and hopefully we will sort out these problems in a short period of time.

“We cannot change anything currently. We have to work together and get the most out of it. We have to work on this, and it doesn’t help if we talk now about it. I’m convinced that Renault will find a good solution.”

Tost admits he’s concerned about the looming threat of penalties: “I’m nervous about this, because we will face a lot of penalties, because we have already used two engines and two MGU-Hs and so on.”

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April 14, 2015 · 9:59 am

Nasr keen to make points scoring a habit

Felipe Nasr followed up his fifth place in Melbourne with eighth in China as Sauber logged its second double finish of the season.

The Swiss team’s fortunes took a dip in Malaysia, where both Red Bull and STR scored well.

“It was great to be back in the points,” said the Brazilian. “That was the goal from the beginning of the race, although Toro Rosso and Lotus were much quicker than us. It was difficult to hold them back, and early on in the race I saw already they were super fast and it was difficult to keep them behind. And I think we extracted the maximum we have in the car, so we have to be satisfied.”

Felipe says Sauber has to target points in every race now.

“That’s what we have to aim for every time. What I can see is our car doesn’t seem to like the hot weather too much, so we’ve got to anticipate some changes for Bahrain already. Let’s try to keep it up.”

Meanwhile Nasr had some issues with cockpit comfort over the weekend: “It’s not really the shoulder, the HANS position was wrong. I got it fixed before the race. I think it was just in the wrong position.”

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April 11, 2015 · 9:20 am

Felipe Massa: “The lap was really an amazing lap…”

Felipe Massa will start the Chinese GP from fourth on the grid after the Brazilian outqualified both Williams team mate Valtteri Bottas and the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

Massa was pleased with the way the session went, and is adamant that Williams can still take on Ferrari.

“The lap was really an amazing lap,” he said. “I managed to take the best out of the car at the right time, so it was really a good lap. I’m happy for the performance today. We showed that we are still in the fight, we showed that even if Ferrari are very competitive – and they will be tomorrow anyway – we are there, and we will try everything tomorrow to achieve the maximum points our car can achieve.

“I think it will be tricky for everybody. We saw many, many cars and a small difference between them, not the first two, but the others, yes. So the race will be tight, but let’s try everything we can.”

Massa said that the last race at Sepang was compromised by qualifying: “In Malaysia the qualifying was in the wet, and we were struggling massively. For sure we could have been better in the qualifying, maybe in the race we achieved the best. The most important thing is to achieve the best we can for the team, that’s all we need to fight for tomorrow as well.”

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