Red Bull must keep up their outstanding season as they make to Suzuka home of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Last time out Daniel Ricciardo won in Malaysia and Max Verstappen finished second just ahead of Nico Rosberg.
The Milton Keynes team have struggled in Japan in recent visits to Asia but this year with their strong form they should be confident ahead of this race:
“It’s a culmination of a great amount of teamwork both trackside and from everyone else back in the factory. It’s fantastic for Red Bull and for all of our partners.
Our thanks also to all of the hard work that’s been put in by the people at Viry in delivering a great package for our TAG Heuer branded engine,” said Red Bull principal Christian Horner.
Red Bull’s teenage sensation reminisces of his foray into Formula One and he will be hoping to build on his strong performance in Sepang:
“I will spend a couple of days in Tokyo before heading to the track, which will be nice. Japan will always be a special place for me because I made my F1 debut there during Friday practice.
“Suzuka is a really cool track as well, especially Sector 1, it’s very fast and that’s what drivers enjoy. There is not much run off either, so you have to be very precise; it’s a proper old-school track, very challenging and demanding,” said Verstappen.
Sepang International Circuit, Sepang, Malaysia. Saturday 01 October 2016. World Copyright: Sam Bloxham/LAT Photographic ref: Digital Image _SBB5519
After back to back races that were certainly the worst in the short history of Haas F1, the team has to be glad to see southeast Asia in their proverbial VF-16 rearview mirrors.
Romain Grosjean experienced mechanical problems in FP1 in Singapore and never turned a timed lap, then spun and crashed in FP2 damaging the rear wing and suspension, necessitating a gearbox change which would cost him 5 spots on the starting grid. His woes continued in Q2 as he spun near the end and backed his VF-16 into the wall, bringing out a virtual safety car that slowed teammate Esteban Gutiérrez on a fast lap, possibly preventing him from advancing to Q3.
Both drivers finished with disappointing qualifying runs; Gutiérrez in P14 and Grosjean one spot behind in P15.
Race day was not much better especially for the Frenchman as brake-by-wire issue prevented him from even making it to the starting grid.
Gutiérrez drove a steady methodical race, making up 3 spots to claim his fifth eleventh place finish of the season.
Haas F1 Team managed to remain eighth in the constructor standings with 28 points. Seventh-place Toro Rosso increased its margin over the American squad to 19 points as Daniil Kvyat finished ninth, while ninth-place Renault cut the gap on Haas F1 Team to 21 points as Kevin Magnussen finished 10th.
Hopes were higher last weekend in Malaysia at Sepang circuit as Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutiérrez were set to test a new front wing that was fitted to each of their Haas VF-16s.
Grosjean was P13 in FP1, Gutiérrez P14, but in the heat of FP2 Grosjean could only manage P20 while Gutiérrez once again ran P14.
For the 11th straight time in qualifying, both Haas F1 Team drivers advanced to Q2. The two drivers utilized the Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft tire throughout qualifying on Saturday. Grosjean wound up 12th fastest with a lap of 1:35.001 and Gutiérrez followed in 13th with a lap of 1:35.097.
However the race would prove even more frustrating than Singapore for Haas F1 Team, as drivers Esteban Gutiérrez and Romain Grosjean suffered double DNFs (Did Not Finish).
Gutiérrez started 13th in the 22-car field but sustained a punctured right-rear tire in the aftermath of the opening-lap skirmish between the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and championship leader Nico Rosberg. After limping his way back to the pits he rejoined in P20.
Running 10th with the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr. less than a second behind, Grosjean set his sights on holding the position and earning another point-paying finish for Haas F1 Team. On lap nine, those aspirations quickly went away.
As Grosjean applied the brakes to slow his Haas VF-16 after shooting down the long straight into the hairpin turn 15, his pedal went to the floor. The car twitched side-to-side and the wheels eventually locked, sending Grosjean off track and deep into the gravel trap. He emerged from his car unhurt but deeply unsatisfied.
Things went from bad to worse on lap 41 when Gutiérrez lost his left-front wheel on the short straight leading into turn nine. Gutiérrez deftly steered his three-wheeled Haas VF-16 to a safe area well off the racing surface. After climbing from his car, he joined his teammate back in the paddock.
Gutiérrez posted a 19th place finish, Grosjean ended up in P20.
Sixteen rounds into the 21-race Formula One schedule, Haas F1 Team remains eighth in the constructor standings with 28 points. The American squad maintained the 19-point gap to seventh-place Toro Rosso while ninth-place Renault cut Haas F1 Team’s margin to 20 points as Jolyon Palmer finished 10th.
Guenther Steiner – Team Principal
“After we saw light at the end of the tunnel yesterday after qualifying, where I think we did a pretty good job, it got dark again today. We don’t really know yet what happened with both of the cars. One had a brake failure and the other, obviously, lost a wheel. We’ll have to see what exactly failed with the brakes on Romain’s car. We lost a wheel on Esteban’s car, but we’re not sure yet why. The pit stop seemed to be ok and he got going. We need to see if a mechanical part failed or if it wasn’t tight, but we don’t know yet. Obviously, we’re moving on to Japan. We’ll try to put ourselves in a better position again there.”
Next up, the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit this weekend.
FIA Formula E Season 3 Testing – Day Two. Donington Park Racecourse, Derby, United Kingdom. Photo: Alastair Staley / LAT / FE. ref: Digital Image 580A8238
It’s finally here – after a three-month off season, the start of the 2016-17 FIA Formula E Championship is just a few days away.
With an all-new calendar for season three, the championship will begin in Hong Kong instead of the traditional Beijing, and will also be the first single-header Formula E race to take place on a Sunday, as the e-Touring Car Challenge takes centre stage on Saturday. Formula E’s track action begins with practice at 10:30 local time and qualifying at midday, with the race following at 16:00 or 09:00 UK time.
As well as a new circuit and schedule, the opening round of season three will also feature two new teams and five new drivers, all of whom will no doubt be the focus of much attention this weekend.
Jaguar will be especially in the limelight as the latest marque to join the Formula E paddock, although the team is expecting to have a fairly low-key debut whilst its two rookie drivers Adam Carroll and Mitch Evans find their feet in the series.
Also joining the paddock for the first time will be Techeetah, the Chinese-funded outfit taking over the defunct Team Aguri entry. While the Techeetah name may not carry the same weight as Jaguar’s, the team is on course for a strong race in Hong Kong after new signing Jean-Éric Vergne took his new Renault-powered car to the top of the testing times on three of the six days.
But if either team is to score points on its debut, they will undoubtably have their work cut out for them as Formula E looks set for its closest field yet.
Renault e.Dams certainly left testing as the team to beat once again, both on qualifying and long run pace, but the battle at the front looks to be much tighter as DS Virgin and Dragon Racing both have made great improvements on their season two machinery.
Dragon in particular emerged as a challenger for race wins this season, with a new partnership with Faraday Future boosting their prospects, whilst DS Virgin’s hopes will be bolstered by their acquisition of three-time WTCC champion José María López.
Behind them, MS Amlin Andretti look on course for their strongest season to date as they pair the highly-rated Robin Frijns with season one race winner and BMW protege António Félix da Costa. Mahindra’s new M3Electro also appeared in testing to have the pace for podium contention, particularly in the hands of rookie Felix Rosenqvist.
All in all, the 2016 Hong Kong ePrix is set to give a fascinating first glimpse at the shape of the 2016-17 championship, with absolutely no guarantee we’ll see the usual suspects filling out the podium again on Sunday.
Red Bull reinforced their dominance over Ferrari for the battle of who finishes second to Mercedes as Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen ended the Malaysian Grand Prix in first and second respectively.
Lewis Hamilton was the race leader but his car caught fire which meant the Englishman did not finish the race in Sepang.
Nico Rosberg had some bad luck too as he collided with Sebastian Vettel at turn one and suffered a ten second penalty although the Mercedes driver finished in third.
“A couple of weeks ago I said we’d win a race this year but to be honest I didn’t expect a win to come at this circuit.
I also want to dedicate the win to Jules (Bianchi), I have been waiting for a victory to dedicate to him. My life definitely changed since that incident and I am extremely grateful and appreciative of everything I’ve got, “said the grateful Ricciardo.
Formula One has been pigeon-holed as a sport that is all about the team winning rather than spectacular racing but this weekend we saw a great battle between Ricciardo and Verstappen, who said:
“The battle with Daniel during the race was great and really good fun. We have a lot of respect for each other so you can see we gave plenty of space but were still able to push hard.
The team told us we were free to race as long as we kept it clean, which we did. It is really nice to hear that from the radio.”
Subsequently this was Red Bull’s first one-two on the podium since Brazil 2013 so this must put the team into a great position mentally ahead of the remainder of the season and perhaps 2017.
Reigning Formula One world champion Mercedes-Benz GP has taken up an option on an entry to the 2018-19 Formula E season.
The news comes after fellow German marques Audi and BMW both announced future Formula E programmes of their own, in conjunction with ABT Schaeffler and Andretti respectively, as part of their growing commitment to hybrid electric vehicles.
Mercedes’ own foray into electric cars is set to begin in December, with the unveiling of their first ever electric SUV at the Paris Motor Show.
Toto Wolff, head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, said: “We have been watching the growth of Formula E with great interest…and we are very pleased with an agreement that secures us an opportunity to enter the series in season five.
“Electrification will play a major role in the future of the automotive industry – racing has always been a technology R&D platform for the motor industry, and this will make Formula E very relevant in the future.”
Alejandro Agag added that Mercedes would be a “major boost” to Formula E’s “exciting mix of consolidated manufacturers like Renault, Citroen-DS, Audi, Mahindra [and] Jaguar.”
The 2018-19 Formula E season was already set to receive a great deal of interest from manufacturers, with the move from two cars per driver to single cars that can last a race distance creating a logistical opening for another two entries on the grid.
When Mercedes locked out the front row for the Malaysian Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton on pole, it seemed all but certain that the team would end the race with another one-two finish and wrap up their third consecutive Constructors’ Championship.
But when the lights went out things rapidly went wrong for the Silver Arrows, as Nico Rosberg got caught up in an incident between Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen and ended up dropping to the very back of the field.
Fortunately the German’s car was undamaged and Rosberg set about carving his way through the the back of the field. Before long he had returned to the points and closing on the back of Kimi Räikkönen, with Mercedes now looking at a first and fourth with Hamilton leading by some twenty seconds from Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.
But just as Mercedes seemed to be in the clear once more, tragedy struck the other Silver Arrow of Lewis Hamilton in the form of a violent engine failure, sending him spluttering onto the runoff at Turn 1 with flames rising from the exhaust.
For Mercedes, the anguish of recording their first mechanical DNF since Russia last year was clear – not only had the team been forced to delay celebrating its third World Constructors’ Championship and missed out once again on breaking McLaren’s 1988 record of eleven consecutive wins in a season, but it had done so with its lead car in flames in front of a de facto home crowd.
“It’s hard to know how to sum up a day like today,” Toto Wolff said after the race. “I just have no words for what happened to Lewis. We all feel his pain. This is a mechanical sport, with so much technology, but sometimes you just get blindsided by situations with no rational explanation.
“But we take a forensic approach to our work in how we build the engines and how we analyse failures. We have always done and we will do so again. Our guys will get to the bottom of what happened and learn from it.”
Paddy Lowe added “we’re all absolutely devastated for [Hamilton]. As a team we’ve worked incredibly hard to improve reliability over the past few years and have succeeded in doing so.
“Indeed, this was our first race failure of the year.”
Mercedes’ only consolation came when Rosberg made a bold move past Kimi Räikkönen through Turn 2 to get himself back into the podium positions, but even this was soured when the stewards deemed the move too aggressive and handed Rosberg a ten-second time penalty for making contact with the Ferrari.
Nevertheless, with some twenty laps to go to the finish Rosberg was easily able to open up the necessary gap to Räikkönen to keep his third place, thereby extending his lead at the top of the championship to 23 points over Hamilton.
Like Singapore two weeks ago, the Malaysian Grand Prix sees a return to a scene of celebration last year for Ferrari in arguably their greatest race since 2013.
Last year Sebastian Vettel emulated his childhood hero Michael Schumacher and took his first Grand Prix victory for Ferrari, and comfortably ahead of Mercedes.
A lot can change in 18 months, however.
Since the 2015 race (held in March, not September) Ferrari have gone from optimism to pessimism, from challengers to a “failure” and from a team full of hope to a team full of despair.
Like last year, they have the pace to win races in 2016 and Vettel in particular has seen a potential tilt at a fifth World Drivers’ Championship dashed by technical problems, clashes with other drivers and strategic calamities putting paid to any chances of that.
Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen are both winless this season, and the former has to win all of the remaining races to match his 2015 points tally. And that simply will not happen.
Ferrari’s main strength even through the distrust at board level and the errors on the pitwall has been the ability to look after tyres, although they are still behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship.
Had yet another mistake been avoided in Singapore, it might have landed 2007 World Champion Raikkonen with a podium around the Marina Bay circuit while Vettel’s Driver of the Day performance saw him climb from 22nd to fifth.
That will be key in the most physically demanding setting Formula One visits, despite the visit to Sepang now six months further into the season than had previously been the case.
Since the inaugural Malaysian Grand Prix back in 1999, Ferrari have won it seven times through Vettel, Raikkonen, Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine.
Vettel himself has won the race four times – three with Red Bull Racing, while Raikkonen took his first ever Formula One victory for McLaren back in 2003.
The omens are certainly looking good for the Scuderia, who have won the race four more times than any other team on the grid.
They will certainly need those omens to ring true if they are to have a strong weekend and get back in the running for second in the Constructors’ Championship.
The Malaysian GP has become something of a modern classic, the first track designed by Hermann Tilke provides one of the toughest challenges of the season. The heat and humidity is up there with Singapore as the hottest race of the year, the track is fast and easy to make a mistake on. It has been resurfaced for this year, so expect plenty of mishaps on Friday at least as the track rubbers in.
What makes the Malaysian GP unique has to be the weather: sudden rain showers are common in this part of the world and this has provided some exciting racing in the past, notably in 2001, when the leading Ferrari’s of Barrichello and Schumacher slid into the gravel and had to fight back through the field for a one-two. Most famously though was the 2009 event, where a sudden rain storm turned into a monsoon and the race was cancelled at half distance, resulting in half points begin awarded.
Williams’ history at this event is mixed. Their only win came with Ralf Schumacher in 2002, after a dramatic first corner crash between team mate Montoya and brother Michael Schumacher. Montoya managed to fight back from a harsh penalty for the aforementioned crash to finish second to complete a one-two for Williams. Montoya ran Schumacher close in 2004, the pair traded lap records for a large part of the race, but the Colombian couldn’t quite get close enough to Schumacher and finished second.
Nico Rosberg shook the paddock when he put his Williams third on the grid in 2006, but his engine gave up the ghost after a mere six laps at the beginning of a tough season for the team. Rosberg lead the first stint of the 2009 event, but strategic errors and an overall lack of pace meant he finished eighth. Bottas’ and Massa’s fifth and sixth places respectively are the best results for Williams in recent years.
This is a fast, hot race. Tyre wear is high here and the fast corners require downforce but the two long straights require engine power and a slippery chassis. A good overall car is very important here. The FW38 is a reasonably good overall car, but may not have the downforce to compete for the podium here. Bottas recently came out and said that a lack of understanding the tyres has cost the team this season, despite their massively impressive pit stop times. They will need to be on top of that here.
I sound like a stuck record on this point, but Williams need to beat Force India here. The team say they can’t afford to only focus on beating Force India. Fine, so focus on getting as close as possible to Red Bull or Ferrari, which I’m sure they are focused on, but getting close to those teams would ensure they beat Force India. Fourth in the constructor’s may well not go down well back at base but fifth would be that much worse.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo separated the Mercedes pair of Niko Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton as he continued his good form in Singapore.
This weekend’s racing comes in the form of the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.
Both Ricciardo and Verstappen have opted for four hard, three medium and six soft compound tyres for the track that is known for its humid conditions.
The 18-year-old said:” The pace on the soft tyre felt decent, I feel like that tyre has potential on a long run and it allowed me to throw the car into the corners like I wanted to.
“The weather can vary quite a bit as well. We can get some pretty big storms, but then the track can dry up very quickly because of the high temperature.”
Red Bull have chosen a different strategy to Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton and Niko Rosberg have chosen eight sets of the soft tyre.
Which could mean Mercedes will aim to use the speed alongside the soft compound to make sure they are faster than the rest during the race.
For Christian Horner’s team this could be a case of using the hard tyre at the start so that they can use the soft tyre at the end of the race to gain more points if necessary.
“Malaysia physically is a hot one. We usually go there at the beginning of the season so it is going to be interesting going there now with a lot more development on the car and seeing how it performs.
“I checked the weather and it seems pretty constant all year round so that shouldn’t change much, but Sepang has been resurfaced so that could be interesting for tyre life,” said Ricciardo.
Formula 1 continues its tour in Asia. This time, it’s Malaysia’s turn to host a Formula 1 race.
In Singapore, Nico Rosberg took the chequered flag, whilst his team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, finished third. It was Nico’s third consecutive victory after the summer break, and he increased his lead in the drivers’ standings to eight points, from his main rival Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton couldn’t follow Rosberg’s pace. Mercedes decided to go on a three-stop strategy for the British. The three times world champion had to take fight for a place on the podium with Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn, was on a top form and with an impressive move at turn seven passed Hamilton and took the third position. Kimi didn’t manage to hold his position, and Lewis took it back after a good strategy plan from Mercedes.
Last season Sebastian Vettel, with Scuderia Ferrari, won in Malaysia. The German qualified second, but he finished about eight seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton and won his first victory with Ferrari. It was Vettel’s 40th victory in Formula 1. Nico Rosberg took the third place on the podium, while Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth, followed by the second Finn of the grid, Valtteri Bottas.
The high temperatures gave an advantage to Ferrari, can they repeat their success this year?
Sepang International Circuit
Laps: 56
Length: 5.543 km
Race Length: 310.408 km
Lap Record: 1:34:223 (Juan Pablo Montoya, 2004)
Available tyres: Hard (Orange), Medium (White), Soft (Yellow)
The circuit is located a few kilometres outside of Kuala Lumpur and it’s one of the most demanding and technical circuits in Formula 1. The track was designed by Hermann Tilke, and it combines long high-speed straights and tight twisting complexes.
Past summer I had the chance to visit the track, I travelled to Malaysia for a few days and as an F1 fan, I had to go and visit the circuit. I really enjoyed the hospitality and despite a misunderstanding with the guys in the reception, they offered me a great and unique tour, around the track.
It was a great experience for me, I went into the control room, enjoyed the view of the Sepang International circuit from the grandstands and also I had my moments on the podium (without champagne!).
I believe that Mercedes will win in Malaysia, Nico Rosberg is on top form and he needs this victory before the Japanese Grand Prix. From the other hand, Lewis Hamilton has to stop Nico’s form and show him that he will fight until the end for the title.
Ferrari will introduce their new aero packages in Malaysia, they will fight with Red Bull Racing for the second place. Daniel Ricciardo won’t gives up easily, Scuderia will have to fight hard for a place on the podium.
I’m expecting to see an interesting race between these three teams.
I would like to thank everyone at Sepang circuit for the hospitality and for the tour!
Malaysian Grand Prix, Preview 30 Sep – 02 Oct
