Category Archives: Scuderia Ferrari

Nico Wins Brilliant Race at Home in Germany

Hockenheim – To say that the 2014 Formula One Santander German Grand Prix was anything less than amazing would be a gross understatement. From the very beginning, the race was bound to be a masterpiece of motor sport.

With four German drivers on the grid: Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, Force India’s Nico Hülkenberg, and Sauber’s Adrian Sutil, the home crowd was guaranteed to have quite a few supporters for each of their countrymen, though Vettel and Rosberg did seem to have more supporters than the other two Germans.

The race started with a troublesome situation for Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, whose crash at the end of Q1 left him initially starting in 16th place. However, due to the need to change his gear box, Hamilton was handed a 5 spot grid penalty, resulting in the Briton starting at the back of the grid from 21st. Hamilton’s teammate, Rosberg, started the race at pole, with Williams’ flying Finn Valtteri Bottas starting at P2.

The second row of the starting grid was the first to garner the attention of the crowd in person, on television, and on radio, as Williams’ Felipe Massa (P3) appeared to run into McLaren’s rookie Kevin Magnussen (P4) at Turn 1, resulting in Massa’s car flipping upside down before rolling back to its proper upright position. Magnussen left the scene mostly unscathed, despite falling back to 21st position. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo took evasive action, running between the capsized Massa and the wall. The FIA ruled that no further action was “warranted” regarding the incident, as, in their point of view, the offending party had eliminated himself from the race.

At the same time, Lewis Hamilton began his steady ascent up to the front of the pack, by Lap 14 sitting comfortably in 5th place. At this point, Hamilton’s march forward was bogged down, in large part due to the immense skill of the drivers that he was now facing, world champions such as Alonso, Vettel, Button and Räikkönen. 

At Lap 15, the two Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen fought a magnificent battle, which became a bit of a Kimi-sandwich upon Sebastian Vettel’s reentry onto the track from a pit stop as the German and Spaniard caught the Finn in between them at the hairpin turn. Vettel came out winning fourth, whilst Alonso took fifth and Räikkönen took sixth. Upon being sandwiched, Räikkönen also lost more of his front wing, which had already sustained some damage earlier in the race.

By Lap 20, Nico Rosberg’s lead on Valtteri Bottas (2) was up to 9.2 seconds. From this point on, Rosberg had won Hockenheim. The main bit of racing continued behind him for the second through tenth positions. At Lap 28, Romain Grosjean, the unlucky Frenchman at Lotus was forced to retire at the hairpin, reporting to the pit of some issues with the car’s power unit.

Perhaps one of the more strange incidents from Sunday’s race was the brief contact between Hamilton and his former McLaren teammate Jenson Button, when Hamilton’s front wing was slightly broken upon making contact with Button’s MP4-29. The damage would cost Hamilton a second place finish.

At Lap 47, Toro Rosso’s rookie Daniil Kvyat found himself forced to retire after his car went up in flames. The Russian’s frustration with his poor luck was evident. Following the extensive use of the fire extinguishers, Kvyat’s car’s distinctive Red Bull deep blue was well covered by the whitish foam of the extinguishers.

Likewise, at Lap 52, the only of the Germans to retire this weekend, Sauber’s Adrian Sutil did so in the middle of the track after the car spun and stalled at the last corner. Mercedes called Hamilton back into the pits, perhaps in anticipation of a safety car being deployed whilst the marshals removed the Sauber from the track. Unfortunately this plan did not work so well, as no safety car was deployed. Despite this, Hamilton’s fresher tyres were able to take him past Alonso at Lap 56, leaving the Briton in 3rd.

The final six laps of this 67 lap race featured a fantastic fight for fifth between Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso. Not only did this six lap duel leave the crowd cheering with excitement, it also showcased the excellence in driving that is a hallmark of these two drivers.

By the chequered flag, the order stood as 1) Rosberg, 2) Bottas, 3) Hamilton, 4) Vettel, 5) Alonso, 6) Ricciardo, 7) Hülkenberg, 8) Button, 9) Magnussen, 10) Pérez scoring points. The non-points finishers were 11) Räikkönen, 12) Maldonado, 13) Vergne, 14) Gutierrez, 15) Bianchi, 16) Kobayashi, 17) Chilton, and 18) Ericsson, with Sutil, Kvyat, Grosjean, and Massa in the Did Not Finish category.

This leaves the drivers’ championship with Rosberg with 190 points, leading Hamilton’s 176 points by a margin of 14 points. Behind the two Mercedes past the century mark is Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo with 106 points.

In constructors, with Valtteri Bottas’ fantastic third straight podium finish, Williams currently stands in 3rd with 121 points, behind Red Bull’s 2nd place at 188 points and Mercedes’ dominant 1st place at 366 points. Williams is followed by Ferrari’s 116 points (4th place,) Force India’s 98 points, McLaren’s 96 points, Toro Rosso’s 15 points, Lotus’ 8 points, and Marussia’s 2 points. At the bottom Sauber and Caterham’s general lack of points scored has left both teams concerned for their futures, as they both should be.

Next weekend, the Formula One Circus returns to Budapest, where they will compete in this year’s instalment of the always fascinating, and often scorching hot, Hungarian Grand Prix.

British Grand Prix – Hamilton wins at home

Silverstone – To begin, the British Grand Prix is one of my all-time favourite races on the calendar. So it was with great pleasure that I write about today’s nail-biter of a race. After a surprising Q3 result on Saturday, the race began with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg at pole, with four-time defending world champion Sebastian Vettel next to him starting at second.

The second row consisted of McLaren’s British driver Jenson Button and Force India’s German Nico Hülkenberg, followed by Button’s rookie Danish teammate Kevin Magnussen and the race favourite Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton on the third row starting in fifth and sixth.

The fourth row was taken by Force India’s Mexican driver Sergio Pérez and Australian Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull. In ninth and tenth position they were followed by Russian Daniil Kvyat and Frenchman Jean-Éric Vergne of Toro Rosso.

Those who were eliminated in Q2 included Frenchmen Romain Grosjean of Lotus (11), and Jules Bianchi of Marussia (12). Bianchi’s Marussia teammate, Briton Max Chilton and Mexican Esteban Gutierrez of Sauber qualified 13th and 14th. However, Chilton received a 5-spot grid penalty for a gearbox change, resulting in his starting from 18th.

Q1 saw the elimination of a number of the unusual suspects, namely the two Ferraris of Spaniard Fernando Alonso (17) and Finn Kimi Räikkönen (19), along with the two Williams of Finn Valtteri Bottas (15) and Brazilian Felipe Massa (16). Alongside these shockers, Sauber’s Adrian Sutil qualified in 15th. The back of the grid was made up of the two Caterhams of Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi (22) and the Swede Marcus Ericsson (21) along with Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado (20) of Venezuela, whose qualification time was disallowed following his running out of fuel on the circuit at the end of Q2.

The race itself began with quite a bang, with Vettel’s Red Bull quickly being outrun by the two McLarens along with Hamilton’s Mercedes. Things came to a standstill when Räikkönen lost control of his car on the Wellington straight, “At Turn 5, I went off the track and while trying to get back on, I must have hit a kerb.” Räikkönen said in a press-release on his Facebook page. Hitting the barriers at 150 mph, Räikkönen hit Massa who was also forced to retire due to damage to the left rear of his car. Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi was quite lucky in avoiding the wreckage, swerving far to the left around Räikkönen into the grass before returning to the track.

The next hour was red flagged, leaving the top three at the race’s recommencement as Rosberg, Button, Magnussen. At the time that the red flag was raised, Chilton decided to reenter the pits in order to have work done on his car. Doing so during a red flag stoppage was an infringement upon the sporting regulations, resulting in his needing to serve a drive-through penalty. It really was too bad for Chilton, who had up to that point been running in 10th.

With the race restarted, Rosberg quickly left the McLarens in the dust. Those two drivers were steadily overtaken over the next few laps by Rosberg’s British teammate Lewis Hamilton, who began his long fight for first.

Another driver to take advantage of the McLarens’ situation was Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, who quickly passed by Nico Hülkenberg of Force India and Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. Also moving up the field was the surviving Ferrari of Fernando Alonso.

On Lap 11, Esteban Gutierrez attempted a pass on Pastor Maldonado, which went spectacularly wrong for the latter’s Lotus. Gutierrez’s Sauber ended up hoisting the Lotus up into the air, allowing for its unintended wings to spread in flight. The collision forced the Sauber to slide off into the gravel too damaged to continue, whilst the Lotus did go on in the race.

Nico Rosberg pitted at Lap 19, having a fantastic 2.7 second pit stop. Soon thereafter, once back out on the track, the German began to report gear box troubles. His British teammate, Lewis Hamilton, continued on the track for another 5 laps, pitting at Lap 24. Hamilton had a far worse pit stop, which lasted for 4.1 seconds, a full 1.5 seconds longer than Rosberg. This was largely due to the fickleness of the rear left tyre in it’s installation onto the car. Nonetheless, Hamilton rejoined the race in second, just behind the gearbox-maligned German.

By Lap 29, Lewis Hamilton took the lead from Nico Rosberg, who began to slow down due to that worrisome gear box, which resulted in the German’s retirement at Lap 30. Hamilton kept the lead of the race from there on out, charging on his way to becoming one of a select number of British drivers to have two wins at Silverstone.

By Lap 31, Hamilton’s lead was already by 24 seconds over the Williams of Valtteri Bottas, who after a pit stop at Lap 32 led the rest of the field to the chequered flag.

Perhaps the most dramatic duel of the latter stages of the race was the one between Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. With the British fanbase cheering on the Spaniard, the fight lasted for ten laps from 38-48, with Vettel eventually forcing his way past Alonso, much to both drivers’ dislike as their radio messages to their respective pit walls can tell.

The final fight of the race was between McLaren’s British driver Jenson Button and Red Bull’s Australian Daniel Ricciardo. In a fashion rather dissimilar to the most recent Ashes, the Briton actually had a shot at catching the Australian, with Button finishing a mere 0.8 seconds behind Ricciardo.

The results from this year’s British Grand Prix leave the championship wide open, as Rosberg’s lead now narrows to a mere 4 points (165 to Hamilton’s 161.)

Rosberg wins Spectacular Austrian Grand Prix

Spielberg – If the Formula 1 world was looking for a good way to reboot the classic Austrian Grand Prix, they couldn’t have had a better race. It began with the surprise front row of Williams’ Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, who were closely followed by Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Mercedes’ other half, British driver Lewis Hamilton started from 9th after a very poor qualifying round. The two Red Bulls equally did not fare so well in qualifying at their home circuit, with Australian Daniel Ricciardo starting from 5th and his German teammate, the 4-time world champion Sebastian Vettel starting in 13th after having not made it out of Q2.

The race began with strong starts from Massa, Rosberg, and Hamilton. The Brazilian was able to keep 1st place for the first 12 laps of the race until he had to pit due to tyre degradation, whilst the German briefly took 2nd from Massa’s Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas. Bottas made Rosberg’s conquest brief, as he restored his second place by the end of Lap 1. Meanwhile, Hamilton was able to advance by 5 places on the opening lap, overtaking a number of cars on the opening straight.

A major factor that played merry hell with the various team strategies, and in my opinion did not do a good deal of help for Massa in particular, was just how heavy the tyre degradation was within just a handful of laps. Both of the Williams had to pit by Lap 13, resulting in their 1,2 lead being lost and never really recovered. On the tyre side of things, Sergio Pérez performed outstandingly, being able to stay out for the first 30 laps on his first set of tyres, resulting in the Mexican maintaining first place in the wake of the Williams pit stops.

This race should very well have gone to Williams if it weren’t for their poor timing for pit stops, often, as the NBC Sports commentating crew made note of, having their drivers box a lap or two too late to keep a good advantage over the rest of the field. For this reason, Mercedes AMG Petronas was able to advance ahead of the two Williams to take the race victory.

On another note, Red Bull was once again plagued by electrical trouble, as Sebastian Vettel suddenly lost power in his car on Lap 2. Luckily for him, power was restored within a couple of laps and the German was able to continue in the race. A subsequent radio message from the team to Vettel’s Australian teammate confirmed at least somewhat that the issue arose when Vettel used the overtake button on his steering wheel. Eventually, Vettel would be forced to retire on Lap 35 after Vettel and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez made contact, damaging the nose of Vettel’s car. Gutierrez had another troublesome incident at Lap 14 when his car was released from a Pit Stop without the back right tyre fully in place. The Mexican would serve a 10-second stop and go penalty on Lap 23.

Red Bull’s Italian sister team, Scuderia Toro Rosso had an even worse day than the rest of the pack, with both drivers retiring from the race. Russian Daniil Kvyat retired on Lap 26 after his brakes gave way, resulting in his right rear tyre being shredded and bent horribly out of shape. His French teammate, Jean-Éric Vergne returned to the pits to retire at Lap 61 with a rear brake issue.

The race finished spectacularly, with the two Mercedes in front, Nico Rosberg (1st) beating Lewis Hamilton (2nd), followed closely by Williams’ Valtteri Bottas (3rd) who won his first career podium. Close behind Bottas was his teammate, pole-sitter Felipe Massa (4th) with Massa’s old Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso finishing in 5th. Alonso was followed by Force India’s Sergio Pérez (6th), who overcame the 5-spot grid penalty given to him following his crash with Massa on the last lap two weeks ago in Montréal. On the last laps Pérez had just passed rookie Kevin Magnussen of McLaren who finished in 7th. Magnussen was followed by Red Bull’s currently most successful driver, Daniel Ricciardo (8th), who finished just ahead of Force India’s Nico Hülkenberg (9th), who came just ahead of the Iceman, Kimi Räikkönen (10th) of Ferrari.

The non-points-scoring positions were taken by McLaren’s Jenson Button (11th), Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado (12th), Sauber’s Adrian Sutil (13th), Lotus’ Romain Grosjean (14th), Marussia’s Jules Bianchi (15th), Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi (16th), Marussia’ Max Chilton (17th), Caterham’s Marcus Ericsson (18th), and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez (19th).

One element of this race that made it unique from those that have come thus far this season is the fact that only 3 drivers had to retire! In comparison with the 9 out of 22 drivers who retired in Canada and and 8 of 22 who retired in Monaco.

Nico keeps Monaco

Monaco – Today’s 2014 Monaco Grand Prix was all for Nico Rosberg from the start of the day. His British teammate Lewis Hamilton, who for the past few races had been in front of the German, had trouble from the start in passing Rosberg. For one thing, Rosberg had a fantastic start off of the grid. Another was the incident at Lap 65, where Hamilton radioed to the team, “I can’t see out of my left eye – I’ve got some dirt or something in my eye.” In general, Hamilton’s misfortune today was Rosberg’s good weather, with the German winning his second Monaco Grand Prix in a row.

From the very start, the race proved to be typical of this circuit, with a plethora of safety car appearances, retirements, and break downs. At the starting grid, Lotus’ Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado was forced to retire. He was quickly followed by Force India’s Sergio Pérez (MEX), who crashed during Lap 1.

On Lap 5, defending world champion Sebastian Vettel’s (GER) ills of 2014 returned in full force, resulting in his own retirement due to a transmission failure. He was followed at Lap 10 by Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat (RUS), who had mechanical issues. At Lap 23, Sauber’s Adrian Sutil (GER), who had been making some excellent passes on the inside, crashed into the wall just before the chicane, resulting in his own retirement.

At lap 50, the engine of the Toro Rosso of Jean-Éric Vergne (FRA) caught fire, resulting in it smoking to a stop just after the tunnel. He was joined at Lap 55 by Valtteri Bottas, whose Williams began to smoke at the hairpin. At Lap 62 the last Sauber of the field to not retire, driven by Mexican Esteban Gutierrez, crashed into the wall, resulting in a puncture in the back right tyre.

Of the 14 drivers remaining, only the three on the podium, Rosberg, Hamilton, and Ricciardo, along with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, were not lapped. According to Tom Clarkson of the BBC, Kimi Räikkönen went in for a pit stop at Lap 61, dropping him down from 3rd place due to a puncture with Max Chilton of Marussia. Chilton would finish in 14th, whilst Räikkönen came in 12th. Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) finished in 13th place, between the Briton and the Finn. Caterham’s rookie Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson finished in 11th, the highest of the non-points scoring positions.

On the topic of points scoring, today is a day to celebrate for Marussia and their fans around the world. Their driver Jules Bianchi finished in 9th, scoring the team’s first two world championship points. The question remains as of 10.11 Chicago (15.11 London, 16.11 Monaco) as to whether or not the FIA will take away Bianchi’s points, as he appeared, at least according to the TV feed, to have served a 5 second stop-and-go penalty that was awarded to him, which he served during one of the late safety car laps, an act which is technically against the rules of the sport.

Thankfully for McLaren, both of their drivers finished with points, Kevin Magnussen (DEN) finishing in 10th and Jenson Button (GBR) in 6th. Between them came Williams’ Felipe Massa (BRA) in 7th, Lotus’ Romain Grosjean (FRA) in 8th, and Marussia’s Jules Bianchi (FRA) in 9th. Fourth place was held by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso (ESP), with 5th by Force India’s Nico Hülkenberg (GER).

This year’s Monaco Grand Prix was certainly an eventful one, progressing the rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg ever further on. I have no doubt that Mercedes will continue to dominate the 2014 season, however it seems that there is a new face at Red Bull on the up. Ricciardo is on the rise.

Mercedes Marches On in Spain

Barcelona – Today’s F1 Spanish Grand Prix was simply an easy run in the park for Mercedes AMG Petronas. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg dominated the day, with neither Mercedes Works driver falling below 3rd place throughout the day. On the contrary, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso did not fare nearly as well as he would have hoped this year at his home grand prix.

The race started with a few grid penalties. Toro Rosso’s Jean-Éric Vergne (FRA) received a grid penalty which had him start at 22nd place on the starting grid. Likewise, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel (GER) started at 15th, receiving a 5 place grid penalty for having his gear box changed following his breakdown in Q3.

From Lap 1, the two Mercedes quickly left the rest of the pack in the dust. Their next closest competitor was Williams’ Valtteri Bottas (FIN), who kept 3rd place for much of the first few laps of the race. At Lap 3, Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado made contact with Caterham’s Marcus Ericsson, earning the Venezuelan a 5-second stop and go penalty at Lap 11.

One could certainly tell that today’s grand prix was no longer within the Reign of Red Bull. At Lap 16, 4-year consecutive champion Sebastian Vettel found himself attempting a pass on Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), the key word there being “attempting” as Kobayashi was able to defend against the German.

By Lap 25, Vergne, who already had been having problems with his car this weekend was forced to retire due to “an exhaust problem” as BBC Sport reported.

Out of all of the Mercedes engined cars, the McLarens have been the most disappointing. Neither of the two cars from Woking were able to finish with points in Spain, setting a rather unhappy scene for the races to come.

On the flip side, Ferrari’s performance improved dramatically today, with Kimi Räikkönen (FIN) holding onto 5th place until Lap 64, when he was passed by his teammate Alonso, much to the home crowd’s rejoicing. However, Alonso was outdone by Räikkönen’s countryman, Valtteri Bottas who finished in 5th.

By this point the Ferraris had been passed by both Red Bulls, with Ricciardo maintaining 3rd and Vettel taking 4th. The German had an impressive drive today, rising a total of 9 positions from his start at 15th.

All this being said, the Mercedes of Hamilton and Rosberg lapped everyone from Räikkönen at 7th on down the line. When the chequered flag fell with the top 3 being Hamilton, Rosberg, Ricciardo, the Australian in 3rd finished a total of 48.9 seconds behind the Briton in 1st.

Undoubtedly, the intrateam rivalry at Mercedes is growing, considering just how close Rosberg came to passing Hamilton, at one point being a mere 1.1 seconds behind the Briton. Perhaps it will all play out on the streets of Monaco on the 25th.

The final result from the 2014 Pirelli F1 Spanish Grand Prix are as follows:

  1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (GBR), 1:41:05.155
  2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes (GER), +00:00.600 secs
  3. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull (AUS), +00:49:000 secs
  4. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull (GER), +1:16:700 secs
  5. Valtteri Bottas, Williams (FIN), +1:19.200 secs
  6. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari (ESP), +1:27.700 secs
  7. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari (FIN), lapped
  8. Romain Grosjean, Lotus (FRA), lapped
  9. Sergio Pérez, Force India (MEX), lapped
  10. Nico Hülkenberg, Force India (GER), lapped
  11. Jenson Button, McLaren (GBR), lapped
  12. Kevin Magnussen, McLaren (GBR), lapped
  13. Felipe Massa, Williams (BRA), lapped
  14. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso (RUS), lapped
  15. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus (VEN), lapped
  16. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber (MEX), lapped
  17. Adrian Sutil, Sauber (GER), lapped
  18. Jules Bianchi, Marussia (FRA), lapped
  19. Max Chilton, Marussia (GBR), lapped
  20. Marcus Ericsson, Caterham (SWE), lapped
  21. Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham (JPN), retired 34 laps
  22. Jean-Éric Vergne, Toro Rosso (FRA), retired 24 laps

F1 Chinese Grand Prix all for Lewis

Shanghai – Today’s installment of the 2014 UBS Chinese Grand Prix was a thriller for fans of Mercedes AMG Petronas, Red Bull, and Ferrari. At long last, Ferrari made itself known on the podium, with Spaniard Fernando Alonso’s 3rd place finish. Once again, the weekend was Mercedes’ for the taking.

Lewis Hamilton took off from pole and didn’t look back to the extent that even when he had to go in for pit stops he didn’t have to worry at all for his 1st place position. Meanwhile he teammate Nico Rosberg found himself in a bit of trouble when his wheels and those of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas just past Turn 1 on Lap 1. Rosberg was able to come out of that incident without much trouble, passing by the Red Bulls and Alonso’s Ferrari, finishing in 2nd.

Red Bull was quite strong today. Between Sebastian Vettel’s strong race thus far and Daniel Ricciardo’s consistency in his tyre usage, the Red Bulls could very well be back to challenge for 1st. After a few laps of Vettel leading Ricciardo, in part due to continuing tyre degradation, team orders came to Vettel to allow his Australian teammate through. Vettel initially fought Ricciardo on his passing, but after a time let him through largely due to the worsening situation of Vettel’s tyres.

Ferrari equally had a pleasant day. Fernando Alonso’s performance was spot on from the beginning, coming through making contact with his former Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa of Williams on the main straight up to Turn 1 on Lap 1. Despite being overtaken by Rosberg, Alonso was able to hold off both of the Red Bulls to the very end, finishing in 3rd and earning his and Ferrari’s first podium of 2014. No doubt the Ferrari bosses in Maranello will be in better moods after China than they were after Bahrain. Kimi Räikkönen earned points today, but stayed mostly in the middle of the pack, racing with the Williams, Force Indias, and McLarens.

On the topic of McLaren, unfortunately China did not offer good luck. Neither Jenson Button (GBR) nor Kevin Magnussen (DEN) finished in the top 10, thus leaving Shanghai without valuable driver and constructor points. On the other hand, times are looking up for Force India, along with Valtteri Bottas of Williams. 

The final standings from today are:

  1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (GBR), 1:33:28.338
  2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes (GER), +18.1 secs
  3. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari (ESP), +23.6 secs
  4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull (AUS), +27.1 secs
  5. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull (GER), +47.8 secs
  6. Nico Hülkenberg, Force India (GER), +54.3 secs
  7. Valtteri Bottas, Williams (FIN), +55.7 secs
  8. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari (FIN), +76.3 secs
  9. Sergio Pérez, Force India (MEX), +82.6 secs
  10. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso (RUS), +1 lap
  11. Jenson Button, McLaren (GBR), +1 lap
  12. Jean-Éric Vergne, Toro Rosso (FRA), +1 lap
  13. Kevin Magnussen, McLaren (DEN), +1 lap
  14. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus (VEN), +1 lap
  15. Felipe Massa, Williams (BRA), +1 lap
  16. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber (MEX), +1 lap
  17. Jules Bianchi, Marussia (FRA), +1 lap
  18. Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham (JPN), +1 lap
  19. Max Chilton, Marussia (GBR), +2 laps
  20. Marcus Ericsson, Caterham (SWE), +2 laps
  • Romain Grosjean, Lotus (FRA), retired 28 laps
  • Adrian Sutil, Sauber (GER), retired 5 laps

 

Formula 1 will return to Europe with the Pirelli Spanish Grand Prix on 4 May in Catalonia. This thankfully means that the race will be broadcasted at a decent time (07.30 Chicago) in North America.

Formula 1 – Midweek Madness

Kansas City – Two bits of news are just in from the Formula 1 Press Office, both of which could decide the course of the season to come. Firstly, longtime Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali is quitting the team effective immediately. The second piece of big F1 news is of course the FIA’s ruling against Red Bull’s petition on behalf of Daniel Ricciardo for his fuel sensor issues at his home Grand Prix in Melbourne a month ago.

Despite the fact that one of the current headlines (as of 21.17 CDT on Tuesday 15 April 2014) on F1.com is announcing the team’s plans for becoming the second best in the sport, Domenicali’s departure mirrors the woes felt by the lads from Maranello over the three races already run this season. So far this season, Ferrari’s drivers Fernando Alonso (ESP) and Kimi Räikkönen (FIN) have yet to qualify or finish a race higher than 4th. Not only that, but the situation has proven even more distressing for the Italians in that they were beaten to the podium in Bahrain by the Force India of Sergio Pérez.

Meanwhile, yesterday in Paris a committee of the FIA met to rule on Red Bull’s appeal on behalf of Daniel Ricciardo in regards to his disqualification from the Australian Grand Prix in March after finishing in 2nd. His disqualification came as a result of Red Bull’s choice to rely on their own fuel calculations in Melbourne rather than those provided by the FIA. According to the Red Bull technical staff, the FIA fuel sensors were not working, an issue which has repeated itself since.

A Red Bull spokesperson said today on the ruling that “We are of course disappointed by the outcome and would not have appealed if we didn’t think we had a very strong case.” (F1.com) In regards to the Red Bull ruling, I am not too surprised. I would have preferred to see at the very least Ricciardo’s points restored from the race proper, as he had very little if nothing at all to do with the sensors.

All of this leads into this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, which is sure to be an interesting Easter Sunday spectacle. The race begins at 14.00 Shanghai (02.00 Chicago, 07.00 London) this Sunday.

Mercedes, Force India Storm their Way to Podium in Bahrain

Sakhir – Today’s night race from Bahrain was anything but boring. Firstly, I would like the thank the FIA for making it a night race as at long last those of us in the Americas can watch some of these non-European races in real time rather than tape delayed as per usual.

From the very beginning the two Mercedes AMG Petronas cars of Lewis Hamilton (GBR) and Nico Rosberg (GER) left the rest of the grid far behind. The racing between these two teammates was one great highlight of the weekend, showing off not only the prowess and power of the Mercedes engines and chassis, but also the expertise with which those two drive. It was, as F1.com so eloquently put it, an “epic desert duel” between the two Mercedes drivers.

Even more exciting was the equally invigorating drives by the two Force Indias and two Williams, who for much of the race not only outperformed the Red Bulls, but also the Ferraris and McLarens. Sergio Pérez’s 3rd place podium was the best finish for the team from Northamptonshire since their 2nd place at Spa in 2009. Felipe Massa (BRA) and his Williams were able to hold off the rest of the grid, save the two Mercedes for much of the first half of the race, until tyre degradation forced him and a fair number of the rest of the grid, to pit. His teammate, Valtteri Bottas (FIN) was likewise successful, though he did not achieve quite the success of his Brazilian teammate today.

For the three usual suspects near the top of the grid, the Red Bulls, Ferraris, and McLarens, it was not the best of days. Though the Red Bulls were able to hold their own in the latter half of the race, they stayed mostly in the middle of the pack for the first few dozen laps. The previously ill-fated Australian, Daniel Ricciardo, made his way to a 4th place finish just 0.4 seconds behind 3rd place Mexican finisher Sergio Pérez. Ricciardo’s 4 time champion German teammate, Sebastian Vettel, also was able to move well up the pack, finishing just behind fellow German Nico Hülkenberg of Force India.

The Ferraris simply didn’t have a good day. Under the watchful eye of Ferrari President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo the two Ferraris floundered a bit at the first few laps, being quickly overtaken by each of the Force Indias and Williams in turn, a sight that is quite rare in Formula 1 to say the least. The day was bad enough for the Italian team that their aforementioned President left Sakhir before the race was over.

The McLarens equally had a sour day of it, with neither of their two drivers finishing the race. Briton Jenson Button retired on the 55th lap due to a clutch issue finishing in 17th place. Dane Kevin Magnussen retired 15 laps earlier on a similar issue with his car.

The most shocking moment of the day however came afoul of Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez (MEX), whose car was broadsided by Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado (VEN) at Turn 1 just after the Venezuelan had left the pit lane, resulting in Gutierrez’s car performing a spectacular and terrifying roll off to the edge of the track. Thankfully, Gutierrez was able to stand and get out of the cockpit. Maldonado will face a 5-spot grid penalty at the next race in China along with 3 penalty points added onto his Super Licence. I personally find it odd that Ricciardo was given a heavier sentence for a lose tyre in Malaysia, namely a 10-spot grid penalty here in Bahrain, than Maldonado who caused another driver’s car to flip twice, threatening Gutierrez’s life. But, that’s just that.

The resulting safety car laps helped eliminate the distances between the cars on track, adding to some last minute passing and position swapping between the drivers. It should also be noted that thus far in 2014, Marussia has always had at least one car finish the race, which is more than their rivals at Caterham can say. It could very well add up come season’s end at Abu Dhabi in November.

The final race standings are as follows:

  1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (GBR), 1:39:42.743
  2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes (GER), +1.1 secs
  3. Sergio Pérez, Force India (MEX), +24.1 secs
  4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull (AUS), +24.5 secs
  5. Nico Hülkenberg, Force India (GER), +28.7 secs
  6. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull (GER), +29.9 secs
  7. Felipe Massa, Williams (BRA), +31.3 secs
  8. Valtteri Bottas, Williams (FIN), +31.9 secs
  9. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari (ESP), +32.6 secs
  10. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari (FIN), +33.5 secs
  11. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso (RUS), +41.3 secs
  12. Romain Grosjean, Lotus (FRA), +43.1 secs
  13. Max Chilton, Marussia (GBR), +59.9 secs
  14. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus (VEN), +62.8 secs
  15. Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham (JPN), +87.9 secs
  16. Jules Bianchi, Marussia (FRA), +1 lap
  17. Jenson Button, McLaren (GBR), clutch, 55 laps
  • Kevin Magnussen, McLaren (DEN), clutch, 40 laps
  • Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber (MEX), accident, 39 laps
  • Marcus Ericsson, Caterham (SWE), oil leak, 33 laps
  • Jean-Éric Vergne, Toro Rosso (FRA), accident damage, 18 laps
  • Adrian Sutil, Sauber (GER), accident, 17 laps

At the end of today, the current driver’s standings are:

  1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes (GER), 61 points
  2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (GBR), 50 points
  3. Nico Hülkenberg, Force India (GER), 28 points
  4. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari (ESP), 26 points
  5. Jenson Button, McLaren (GBR), 23 points
  6. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull (GER), 23 points
  7. Kevin Magnussen, McLaren (DEN), 20 points
  8. Valtteri Bottas, Williams (FIN), 18 points
  9. Sergio Pérez, Force India (MEX), 16 points
  10. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull (AUS), 12 points
  11. Felipe Massa, Williams (BRA), 12 points
  12. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari (FIN), 7 points
  13. Jean-Éric Vergne, Toro Rosso (FRA), 4 points
  14. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso (RUS), 3 points
  15. Romain Grosjean, Lotus (FRA), 0 points
  16. Adrian Sutil, Sauber (GER), 0 points
  17. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber (MEX), 0 points
  18. Max Chilton, Marussia (GBR), 0 points
  19. Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham (JPN), 0 points
  20. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus (VEN), 0 points
  21. Marcus Ericsson, Caterham (SWE), 0 points
  22. Jules Bianchi, Marussia (FRA), 0 points

Finally, the constructor’s championship stands at:

  1. Mercedes, Germany, 111 points
  2. Force India, India, 44 points
  3. McLaren, Great Britain, 43 points
  4. Red Bull, Austria, 35 points
  5. Ferrari, Italy, 33 points
  6. Williams, Great Britain, 30 points
  7. Toro Rosso, Italy, 7 points
  8. Lotus, Great Britain, 0 points
  9. Sauber, Switzerland, 0 points
  10. Marussia, Russia, 0 points
  11. Caterham, Malaysia, 0 points

The 2014 Formula 1 UBS Chinese Grand Prix is next on the calendar. Practise will begin in Shanghai on Friday 18 April with FP1 at 10.00 Shanghai (Thursday at 21.00 in Chicago, Friday at 03.00 in London), with FP2 on Friday at 14.00 Shanghai (Friday 01.00 Chicago, 07.00 London), FP3 on Saturday 19 April at 14.00 Shanghai, (Friday at 22.00 Chicago, Saturday at 04.00 London), Qualifying at 14.00 Shanghai (01.00 Chicago, 06.00 London), and the Race on Easter Sunday at 14.00 Shanghai (02.00 Chicago, 07.00 London).

The Chinese Grand Prix this year happens to fall on Easter Weekend, which is by far the most important weekend of the year for me as a Catholic. I follow the custom of doing no work from 15.00 on Good Friday until sunset on Holy Saturday, so there will be no Practise and Qualifying article going up for the Chinese Grand Prix. However, the race article will be up, albeit a bit delayed as per usual due to the time difference.

Mercedes, Force India, Williams Perform Well in Bahrain Qualifying

Sakhir – This year’s Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix is one to be remembered. Firstly, 2014 marks the 10th anniversary of Formula 1’s entrance into the Middle East and the Bahrain Grand Prix. Secondly, and perhaps offering more excitement, this marks the first time that the racing will take place after dark in Bahrain, adding it to the ever-growing list of night races alongside Singapore and Abu Dhabi. Equally exciting however was the 3 qualifying sessions undertaken by the teams in preparation for tomorrow’s race.

Q1 was highlighted by the surprisingly strong performance by both Force India drivers, in particular German Nico Hülkenberg, who quickly made his way to the top of the leaderboard. Hülkenberg, who could very well find himself with a top-tier ride in the next few years, proved himself more than able to keep the Mercedes, Ferraris, Red Bulls, McLarens, and Williamses at bay.

At the end of Q1 the usual suspects at Caterham and Marussia found themselves at the bottom, this time joined by the unfortunate Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado of Lotus and German Adrian Sutil of Sauber.

Q2 was equally impressive and exciting, with strong performances from especially the Mercedes, with both Nico Rosberg (GER) and Lewis Hamilton (GBR) finishing the session at 1, 2. They were closely followed by Australian Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull. Arguably the most shocking moment of the session came at the chequered flag when the reigning world champion, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel (GER), finished in 11th and his fellow German, Q1 leader Nico Hülkenberg finished in 12th, eliminating them from the top 10 seat needed to enter the final qualifying round of the day.

Q3 in some ways seemed predetermined, considering how much faster the two Mercedes cars are in comparison to the rest of the pack thus far in 2014. Positions 3 through 10 were left to be determined, however, as the rest of the remaining field seemed evenly matched to the challenge. The McLarens of Jenson Button (GBR) and Kevin Magnussen (DEN) qualified fairly well in 7th and 9th respectively, with Williams’ Felipe Massa (BRA) sandwiched between them. One major surprise of the qualifying results was just how high Force India’s Sergio Pérez (MEX) and Williams’ Valtteri Bottas (FIN) came, with 4th and 5th places respectively.

However, poor luck once again struck the Red Bull paddock, as their Australian driver, Daniel Ricciardo will have to serve a 10-spot grid penalty resulting from him retiring from last Sunday’s race in Malaysia prior to serving a drive-through penalty for leaving the pit with an unsecured tyre. Hopefully the Australian’s luck will return to him here in Bahrain and from here on out in 2014. Likewise, Sauber’s Adrian Sutil will start the race from the back of the grid due to a 5-place grid penalty placed upon him for holding up Lotus’ Romain Grosjean (FRA) in an “unsafe manner” according to F1.com.

The starting grid for Sunday’s Gulf Air Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix are as follows:

  1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes (Germany)
  2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (Great Britain)
  3. Valtteri Bottas, Williams (Finland)
  4. Sergio Pérez, Force India (Mexico)
  5. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari (Finland)
  6. Jenson Button, McLaren (Great Britain)
  7. Felipe Massa, Williams (Brazil)
  8. Kevin Magnussen, McLaren (Denmark)
  9. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari (Spain)
  10. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull (Germany)
  11. Nico Hülkenberg, Force India (Germany)
  12. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso (Russia)
  13. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull (Australia)
  14. Jean-Éric Vergne, Toro Rosso (France)
  15. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber (Mexico)
  16. Romain Grosjean, Lotus (France)
  17. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus (Venezuela)
  18. Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham (Japan)
  19. Jules Bianchi, Marussia (France)
  20. Marcus Ericsson, Caterham (Sweden)
  21. Max Chilton, Marussia (Great Britain)
  22. Adrian Sutil, Sauber (Germany)

The 2014 F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix will start at 18:00 Kuala Lampur (10:00 Chicago, 15.00 London) and will be broadcast live in the United States in English on NBC Sports at 10.00 y en Español en diferido en Univision Deportes a las 10.00 y 04.00 en Lunes. All US times are in Central Time. In Canada at 10.55 Eastern on TSN in English et il sera dans le même temps sur RDS en français. In the United Kingdom it will be broadcasted at 22.00 on BBC2 and at 14.30 on Sky Sports 1. In Australia it will be broadcasted at 00.15 on Ten.

Mercedes dominates the 2014 Malaysian Grand Prix

Kuala Lumpur – From the very start, Mercedes AMG Petronas dominated today’s F1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix at Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur. Lewis Hamilton started off at pole and didn’t look back for the next 56 laps, finishing a full 17.3 seconds ahead of the next closest driver, his German teammate Nico Rosberg. 

Mishaps and misfortune were afoot once again amongst the drivers as Force India’s Sergio Peréz (MEX) did not start due to a gearbox failure. 6 other drivers would follow him into retirement from the race for various reasons including Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) whose bad luck from the disqualification in Melbourne followed him to Malaysia in the form of leaving the pits with his front left tyre not properly attached. The mistake leaves him with a 10 spot grid penalty for the next race in Bahrain.

One of the more interesting struggles to take place in the race was between Williams drivers Felipe Massa (BRA) and Valtteri Bottas (FIN) the former having been ordered by the team to let the latter pass him by, as Bottas had the faster car. Massa didn’t make Bottas’ attempts at passing easy, resulting in the Fin finishing just behind the Brazilian in 7th and 8th respectively.

McLaren’s Jenson Button (GBR) did fairly good, finishing in 6th with his rookie Danish teammate Kevin Magnussen coming in 9th. This comes just after the 2 McLaren drivers finished in 2nd and 3rd on the official tables following the season opener from Albert Park in Melbourne.

Ferrari suffered this weekend, with only one of their two drivers, Spaniard Fernando Alonso, scoring any points. Alonso finished in 4th place, whereas his Finnish teammate Kimi Räikkönen finished in 12th after suffering damage to his right-rear tyre following a collision with Magnussen.

Thus far 2014 has been the year of the Silver Arrows. For a while, it certainly seemed as though the years of Red Bull dominance might well be over, but after German Sebastian Vettel’s 3rd place finish that previous assessment may prove to be false. Certainly between the seasoned champion Vettel and the young, quite talented, if not a bit unlucky, Ricciardo I’d say Red Bull stands a chance at making a strong mark on this year’s championship. Whether they will win outright for the 5th time in a row is for the future to tell.

The results for the 2014 Malaysian Grand Prix are as follows:

  1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (GBR) 25 pts. 1:40:25.974
  2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes (GER) 18 pts. +17.3 secs
  3. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull (GER) 15 pts. +24.5 secs
  4. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari (ESP) 12 pts. +35.9 secs
  5. Nico Hülkenberg, Force India (GER) 10 pts. +47.1 secs
  6. Jenson Button, McLaren (GBR) 8 pts. +83.6 secs
  7. Felipe Massa, Williams (BRA) 6 pts. +85.0 secs
  8. Valtteri Bottas, Williams (FIN) 4 pts. +85.5 sec
  9. Kevin Magnussen, McLaren (DEN) 2 pts. +1 lap
  10. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso (RUS) 1 pt. +1 lap
  11. Romain Grosjean, Lotus (FRA) 0 pts. +1 lap
  12. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari (FIN) 0 pts. +1 lap
  13. Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham (JPN) 0 pts. +1 lap
  14. Marcus Ericsson, Caterham (SWE) 0 pts. +2 laps
  15. Max Chilton, Marussia (GBR) 0 pts. +2 laps

  • Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull (GER) 0 pts. Retired.
  • Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber (MEX) 0 pts. Gearbox
  • Adrian Sutil, Sauber (GER) 0 pts. Power unit
  • Jean-Éric Vergne, Toro Rosso (FRA) 0 pts. Turbo
  • Jules Bianchi, Marussia (FRA) 0 pts. Accident damage
  • Pastor Maldonado, Lotus (VEN) 0 pts. Power unit
  • Sergio Peréz, Force India (MEX) 0 pts. DNS, gearbox

Formula 1 returns this coming Friday, 4 April at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. The race will begin the following Sunday, 6 April, at 18.00 Bahrain (10.00 Chicago, 14.00 London.)