Tag Archives: Felipe Massa

Ricciardo wins Canada in Wild Race

Montréal – Today’s Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix was by far the most thrilling race yet of the 2014 season. It began with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton taking the front row on the starting grid. Upon the lights going out, Hamilton initially appeared to take the advantage over his fellow Mercedes driver, but it was not to be. Hamilton took the outside a few corners further down the circuit, being passed by both Rosberg and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel (GER). It seemed like the front end of the race was set, with Rosberg being chased by Vettel and Hamilton, however a sudden crash between the two Marussias, caused by their British driver Max Chilton, caused a safety car to run on the track for the first ten laps or so.

The race continued to be a surprise filled with retirements and crashes, as both Caterhams retired by the halfway point in the race. Likewise, by the end of the race both Lotuses were out. Perhaps the biggest retirement of the weekend was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, whose brakes failed on Lap 43, leaving the chance of continuing a Mercedes sweep of the season on edge, as his German teammate Rosberg was having the same problems as Hamilton.

For a brief while, due to pit stops and various driver errors, Williams’ Felipe Massa held the lead, only to be passed by Rosberg soon there after. After Hamilton’s retirement, the battle at the front was between Mercedes’ Rosberg, the two Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Vettel, the Force Indias of Hülkenberg and Pérez, and the Williams of Massa. Pérez was able to hold the rest of the pack back, save Rosberg who was already ahead of him, for a good portion of the final laps of the race. However, he was soon passed by Ricciardo. The Australian then made his way further forward, passing the last standing Mercedes of Rosberg, and taking the race lead.

Ricciardo’s lead was not totally secured until the safety car made a second appearance in Lap 70, after Massa’s brakes failed at around 160 mph, causing him to collide at an equally fast-paced Sergio Pérez, sending both the Brazilian and Mexican barreling into the barriers, sending shock throughout the Formula 1 world. What Sebastian Vettel, the driver between the two retirées, had to have done to stay in the race (one Twitter commentator made note of some “Jedi mind tricks”) worked, as he barely made it out of the danger zone at Turn 1 with Massa and Pérez flying on either side past him. Thankfully, both Massa and Pérez were able to get out of their cars and have been taken to a local hospital.

The race finished with a flurry of excitement for Red Bull and especially for the people of Perth, Western Australia, as their hometown driver Daniel Ricciardo finished in first, winning his first grand prix. With the sport heading to the Red Bull Ring (formerly the A1 Ring) in Austria, their two drivers are looking to repeat today’s podium, if not perhaps to have Vettel regain his place from the last four years at the top of the podium.

As for Mercedes AMG Petronas, we will have to wait and see how they work out their problems from today in Montréal.

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.)

Australian Grand Prix a memorable start to the 2014 season

Melbourne – From before the start, or rather before the start, this year’s Australian Grand Prix was one not to miss. After a false start resulting from Frenchman Jules Bianchi’s Marussia dying on the starting grid, the race began with a crash at the first corner caused when Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) ran into Brazilian Felipe Massa’s Williams, forcing both of their retirements from the race.

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Kobayashi retired at Turn 1 on Lap 1 after crashing into Felipe Massa of Williams. / Photo Credit: AP, from BBC Sport

Further along, mechanical issues forced Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton, who had started off at pole, to retire, whilst a couple of laps after that Red Bull’s 4 time world champion Sebastian Vettel (GER) retired due to software trouble with his car.

From those two bombshells, the race continued onwards, surprising the world with each passing lap. Williams’ Valtteri Bottas (FIN) had a bit of a scare after hitting the wall at the exit of Turn 10, which caused his right rear tyre to puncture and fly off, but thankfully for him and for Williams, Bottas was able to return to the box and get a new tyre on the back of the car in time that he finished 6th.

More excitement was to follow as Bottas’ countryman, Kimi Räikkönen of Ferrari, had an issue with his tyres locking up fairly often throughout the race. In turn, this caused Räikkönen, last year’s winner in Australia, to finish 8th. His teammate, Spanish driver Fernando Alonso, did fairly well for himself in the first weekend of the new season, finishing in 5th just behind McLaren’s Jenson Button (GBR).

Today was by far a race for the drivers who either didn’t perform as well last year, or were new to the sport in general. McLaren’s rookie Danish driver Kevin Magnussen finished in 3rd today in his first ever Formula 1 race. Likewise in firsts, Russian Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso finished in 10th, making him at 19 years of age the youngest driver to ever win points in Formula 1.

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Daniel Riccardo on the podium in Melbourne / BBC Sport

The two biggest names at the end of the day in Melbourne were by far race winner, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg (GER), and second place, Red Bull’s Daniel Riccardo who’s first Formula 1 podium came happily in his home country of Australia. Unfortunately for Riccardo, the FIA revoked his 2nd place finish after the race because his car, “exceeded the required fuel mass flow of 100kg/h.” (Source: F1.com).

According to the article on F1’s website, the Red Bull team decided to use a different fuel sensor on Riccardo’s car starting on Saturday after finding that the original one was unreliable. The stewards ordered the team to replace the new sensor with the old one in the parc ferme on Saturday evening, but Red Bull decided not to do so, “considering the sensor unreliable.” Rather they used their own internal measurement models, which was “in violation of the procedure outlined in the technical regulations,” according to the stewards. Red Bull Racing is appealing the steward’s decision, and good on them for that. Following Riccardo’s disqualification, the results stand as follows:

01. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes (GER): 1:32:58.710
02. Kevin Magnussen, McLaren (DEN): +26.7 sec
03. Jenson Button, Mercedes (GBR): +30.0 sec
04. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari (ESP): +35.2 sec
05. Valtteri Bottas, Williams (FIN): +47.6 sec
06. Nico Hülkenberg, Sahara Force India (GER): +50.7 sec
07. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari (FIN): +57.6 sec
08. Jean-Éric Vergne, Scueria Toro Rosso (FRA): +60.4 sec
09. Daniil Kvyat, Scuderia Toro Rosso (RUS): +63.5 sec 
10. Sergio Pérez, Sahara Force India (MEX): +85.9 sec 
11. Adrian Sutil, Sauber (GER): 1:45.6 +1 lap
12. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber (MEX): +1 lap 
13. Max Chilton, Marussia (GBR): +2 laps
NC Jules Bianchi, Marussia (FRA): +8 laps
Ret. Romain Grosjean, Lotus (FRA): ERS
Ret. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus (VEN): ERS
Ret. Marcus Ericsson, Caterham (SWE): Oil pressure
Ret. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull (GER): Power unit
Ret. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (GBR): Engine
Ret. Felipe Massa, Williams (BRA): Accident
Ret. Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham (JPN): Accident
DSQ: Daniel Riccardo, Red Bull (AUS): +24.5 sec
 
For more information on today’s race, I recommend these articles from the BBC, NBC Sports, and F1.com.
 

2014 Australian Grand Prix Qualifying questions 2013 norms

Coming out of the Free Practice sessions, qualifying for this year’s F1 Australian Grand Prix was bound to be both exciting and up in the air until the last minute. Not only did the famous Melbourne weather raise its standards with silver, though mostly grey, celestial trumpets which heralded the rains that would mark the session at the end of Q1, but the regulation changes equally added to the excitement of today’s highlight.
 
The rains greatly impacted the routines of the teams and drivers, leaving some like Lotus’ Romain Grosjean (FRA) in the paddock with a back of the line grid place. Other typically top tier drivers like Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen fell quite further back than usual with an accident in Q2. Alongside him in the paddock throughout Q3 was 4 time and defending world champion Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel (GER) who earned the 12th spot, eliminating him from Q3 for the first time since the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix. Likewise Williams’ Felipe Massa (BRA) and McLaren’s Jenson Button (GBR) were eliminated from Q3, having trouble in the second qualifying session.
 
Q3 was marked by surprise and excitement. Red Bull’s Daniel Riccardo went out to please his home crowd at Albert Park, making an excellent finish at 2nd place in his first race with Red Bull. Riccardo was outrun by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (GBR) who finished .3 of a second faster than the Australian. Hamilton’s German teammate Nico Rosberg came in third by less than a tenth of a second slower than Riccardo. He was followed by rookie McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen (DEN), and 2 time world champion Fernando Alonso (ESP).
 
The 2014 Australian Grand Prix will begin tomorrow morning at 01.00 Chicago (17.00 Melbourne, 14.00 London) and will be broadcast on NBC Sports in the United States, BBC1 in the United Kingdom, TEN in Australia, and TSN and RDS in Canada for English and French viewing audiences respectively.
 
The full qualifying results are as follows (Source F1.com):
 
01. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (GBR): 1:44.2
02. Daniel Riccardo, Red Bull (AUS): 1:44.5
03. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes (GER): 1:44.5
04. Kevin Magnussen, McLaren (DEN): 1:45.7
05. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari (ESP): 1:45.8
06. Jean-Éric Vergne, Scueria Toro Rosso (FRA): 1:45.8
07. Nico Hülkenberg, Sahara Force India (GER): 1:46.0
08. Daniil Kvyat, Scuderia Toro Rosso (RUS): 1:47.3
09. Felipe Massa, Williams (BRA): 1:48.0 
10. Valtteri Bottas, Williams (FIN): 1:48.1
11. Jenson Button, Mercedes (GBR): 1:44.4
12. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari (FIN): 1:44.4
13. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull (GER): 1:44.6
14. Adrian Sutil, Sauber (GER): 1:45.6
15. Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham (JPN): 1:45.8
16. Sergio Pérez, Force India (MEX): 1:47.2
17. Max Chilton, Marussia (GBR): 1:34.2
18. Jules Bianchi, Marussia (FRA): 1:34.7
19. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber (MEX): 1:35.1
20. Marcus Ericsson, Caterham (SWE): 1:35.1
21. Romain Grosjean, Lotus (FRA): 1:36.9
22. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus (VEN): No result

2014 Formula 1 World Championship – Predictions

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Courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald

Kansas City – Happy New Year to all! 2014 officially began about 9 days and 13 hours ago here in the Midwestern states. With a new year comes new excitement and new opportunities, and as every other year since 1950, a new season of the Formula 1 World Championship! Though the season doesn’t properly begin until the Australian Grand Prix (14-16 March), the teams and many press writers (myself included in a freelance capacity) are hard at work preparing for the lights to go out and the race to begin in Melbourne.

So, what should we expect for 2014? If you want to start with the big question of “Who will win the 2014 championship?” odds are that that answer could be Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel (GER) for the fifth time in a row. After his strong 9 race winning streak at the end of 2013, I would not be surprised if the Newey, Vettel, Horner team outmatch all the other drivers like they did last year. No doubt the new engines will lessen the power of the RB10 in comparison to its immediate predecessor the RB9, but with the design skill of Newey, and the stamina and skill of Vettel, I would be surprised if anyone else took the crown this year.

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Sebastian Vettel (GER)
Courtesy of Planet F1.com

How about second and third then? In terms of constructors, my guess is another repeat of Scuderia Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG-Petronas, however the prediction as to who will get second and who will get third between the pair is still up for grabs. No doubt the Alonso Räikkönen pair will be one to watch out for, as both are world champions and just fantastic drivers all around, but at the same time the Mercedes team has done quite well in their own right, with Rosberg and Hamilton performing very well for themselves throughout this past season. Considering the fact that Mercedes has lost Ross Brawn, at least only for this season if Niki Lauda has anything to say about it, I could see an off chance of them suffering from what I’d call sudden loss of leadership syndrome, though perhaps not as badly as Manchester United has so far this season. In this light I’ll go for Ferrari taking second in the constructor’s championship, with Alonso and Räikkönen both performing equally well.

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Kevin Magnussen (DEN)
Courtesy of Oradea Magazin.ro

With the top three out of the way, it comes down to the rest of the field. Despite their poor performance in 2013, McLaren’s acquisition of Denmark’s Kevin Magnussen could help bring them back to strength. Having won the 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 Series with 274 points, earning pole in nearly all of the races, not to mention never finishing below second place, Magnussen could help reinvigorate the lads from Woking. Frankly though, I was sad to see the team drop Sergio Pérez (MEX), especially considering how promising the end of the season was for him in regards to his on track performance.

Whilst on the topic of Pérez, I do think he’ll has a promising career ahead of him at Force India. In fact, this could be the season when Force India takes their first win. With the combination of Hülkenberg (GER) and Pérez, they certainly seem stronger than the next competition, Lotus, who I think will be lucky to end up higher than 6th. True, Romain Grosjean (FRA) has been showing great potential with the team, especially at the end of the 2013 season, but I tend to doubt Pastor Maldonado (VEN) will do anything that spectacular this season, though I do expect him to have a few points winning finishes here and there.

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Felipe Massa (BRA)
Courtesy of Auto123.com

The 7th and 8th places in the constructor’s championship could very well go to Sauber and Williams. The Swiss team’s choices of Mexican Esteban Gutiérrez and German Adrian Sutil seem quite suited to the team’s strengths. Though I don’t expect Sauber to win any Grands Prix this year, they could have a decent shot at a few pole positions in the next few years plus a win or two. Williams on the other hand does seem to be on the verge of something good. Though perhaps not the glory of the ’90s so fondly remembered by their Brazilian driver Feilipe Massa, who has left Ferrari after 7 seasons driving for the Italians, Williams’ future is still quite bright. Between Massa and his Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas, Sir Frank’s team could very well bring in a win or two here or there. I especially admire the resilience of the Williams team, the sort of everyman of F1, who has stuck with the sport, with their passion, despite their generally dismal performance since the team’s last podium at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix.

Finally, in regards to the three teams that I’ve yet to mention: Scuderia Toro Rosso, Marussia, and Caterham, I’d imagine they will stay in that order. True, Toro Rosso’s new young Russian driver Daniil Kvyat did a fantastic job in GP3 this past year, especially for someone who’s only 19 years old, but honestly I don’t see him making much of a mark in Formula 1 for a couple years still. Now, if he does I’ll eat my words right away. Meanwhile his French teammate, Jean-Éric Vergne, doesn’t seem to be setting himself up for anything spectatular either, looking at his 17th place finish in the 2012 tables and 15th place the following year. In any case, Vergne could do some damage to the other teams standings, particularly to Sauber and Williams, but overall I am skeptical.

The big question remaining for the lineup is just who will take the last remaining seat at Marussia and just generally who will be driving for Caterham? Last I checked, Marussia has only confirmed Frenchman Jules Bianchi as one of their two drivers. Judging by his 19th place inaugural performance in 2013 in Formula 1, I could see him staying in about the same area. It really is too bad in that my most striking memory of him from 2013 was when his car caught fire in Germany and proceeded to roll out onto and across the track, taking out a UBS sign on the way. Caterham on the other hand is still a fairly big question. The names proposed on 8 January in an article on F1.com were Frenchman Charles Pic, Dutchman Giedo van der Garde, Finn Heikki Kovalainen, Britons Max Chilton and Paul di Resta (whose name has also come up in Indy Car speculation), Swede Marcus Ericcson, and Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi. Whatever the case, the races between Caterham and Marussia will be as enjoyable as usual.

In any case, these are all just my own musings and predictions based upon what I saw in 2013. If you want to see another angle on predicting the 2014 championship, look no further than Ladbrokes’ 2014 F1 Drivers’ Championship Odds, in which the chances for winning the crown go from Vettel’s 10/11 odds all the way down to Jules Bianchi’s 1000/1 chance. Click here to see the full listings from Ladbrokes, and do gamble responsibly.

Thats’ all for now for my F1 writing. I’ll be back for certain in a few weeks, probably after NBC Sports has their annual season preview broadcast.