ThePitcrewOnline

Category: Formula One

  • 2009: Nice Guys Don’t Always Finish Last.

    If there was one year that confounded critics, fans and even a few drivers alike, 2009 was that season.

    For that was the year in which Brawn GP and Jenson Button achieved something that will never be repeated again in Formula One, as they became the last privateer entry to win both the World Drivers’ and World Constructors’ Championship, and probably the last ever team to do that.

    The story begins in December 2008 when Honda, after three dismal years in Formula One, pulled out of the sport with immediate effect and left two of the most experienced drivers in Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello potentially on the F1 scrapheap.

    That was until March, just days before the new season was about to begin, when ex-team principal Ross Brawn announced a deal to take over the fallen team had been completed. Brawn then took part in pre-season testing and Button and Barrichello suddenly had another chance.

    Many were surprised despite their strong pre-season pace at just how quick Brawn were at the Australian Grand Prix, with Button and Barrichello dominating the weekend. Button would go on to win the race and start a streak that would prove pivotal as the season wore on, while Barrichello’s second meant Brawn took a 1-2 on their Grand Prix debut.

    Button won again in Malaysia, which was stopped after 31 laps due to appalling weather conditions and thus half points were awarded, before a third place in China that was to be his worst result in the opening seven races.

    Button’s early-season juggernaut was to roll on into Bahrain while in Spain and Monaco he headed two more Brawn 1-2s. After his sixth win in seven races at the Turkish Grand Prix in ultimately his last victory of 2009, Jenson was 26 points clear of Barrichello in second, and 32 clear of Sebastian Vettel.

    At the British Grand Prix he was sixth with this result followed up with a fifth place in Germany, where Mark Webber took his first ever win, before two seventh places in Hungary and at the European Grand Prix in Valencia before his first lap retirement in Belgium following a collision with Romain Grosjean, after he qualified down in 14th.

    After Belgium, Button’s lead at the top of the standings had been cut to 16 points over Barrichello, while Vettel was a further three points back going into the Italian Grand Prix. A return to form at Monza was enough for second place, though Barrichello cut further into Button’s lead with a victory that left him 14 points behind with 40 to race for.

    In Singapore, he was fifth while Vettel was only a place ahead and Barrichello sixth. At the Japanese Grand Prix Barrichello and Button finished seventh and eighth respectively to leave Brawn half a point away from an unlikely Constructors’ Championship.

    Barrichello was 14 points back with two races left with Vettel a further two behind and the World Championship could be wrapped up at the next race in Brazil.

    The Brazilian Grand Prix was a weekend that seemed to encapsulate Button’s career and his journey in F1 from his debut season in 2000.

    Button qualified 14th in a rain-interrupted session that ended up at 2 hours 41 minutes being the longest in Formula One history, while Barrichello took pole position at his home race. His other rival, Vettel, was 16th having also been caught out.

    By the end of the first lap due to various incidents, Button had climbed five positions to ninth and this quickly became seventh as Grosjean and Nakajima were dispatched in short order, while debutant Kamui Kobayashi’s Toyota took more persuading.

    He eventually got the pass done with a bold move down the inside at turn one, a manoeuvre made famous by a small kick of oversteer to keep the Japanese charger at bay.

    Barrichello’s annual dose of bad luck at Interlagos was to strike again as the Brazilian suffered a puncture that relegated him to eighth and put Button in a now crucial fifth place, and the title was now his if the result stayed as it was.

    Button was to finish fifth to wrap up the most unlikely of World Drivers’ Championships with a race to spare. His rendition of Queen’s “We are the Champions” remains famous to this day.

    The Brit’s season was rounded off with a third place in Abu Dhabi and the eventual margin at the top of the standings was 11 points to Vettel.

    The 2009 F1 World Championship was a season of the underdog and Formula One simply will not see another story like this again.

    Button’s World Championship win, his sole title in a glittering 17-season career remains the example to many Formula One drivers about perseverance, with many having written him off in seasons past following an awful 2007-08 with Honda.

    But the biggest compliment to Jenson Button?

    You will have to go to great lengths to find a more popular title winner.

    Jack Prentice

  • Red Bull’s Max Verstappen breaks Mercedes dominance at Suzuka

    GP GIAPPONE F1/2016 – SUZUKA 08/10/2016
    © FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA (© COPYRIGHT FREE)

    Red Bull pair Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo finished in second and sixth place respectively in the Japanese Grand Prix.

    The man from Holland is showing the world that he has the talent to win the Drivers’ Championship in a few years as he defied the more powerful Mercedes to end the race in Suzuka on the podium for the second time in successive weeks.

    Although Mercedes made a complaint against the 18-year-old as they believed he drove ‘dangerously’ to thwart Lewis Hamilton’s chances of finishing behind Nico Rosberg. Subsequently the complaint was later withdrawn after it was learnt that they decision would not be cleared up before the American Grand Prix.

    “Lewis (Hamilton) was obviously a bit quicker in the final stages and I knew he was going to catch me, the gap time on the pit board was dropping every lap. Into the last chicane I saw him coming in my mirrors so I defended my position, said Verstappen.

    Christian Horner defended his young protégé after his manoeuvres hampered Mercedes chances of locking out the first two positions on the podium:

    “A fantastic drive by Max today. A very mature performance, moving into second place and then really looking after his tyres resisting pressure initially from Sebastian and then at the end of the race from Lewis, with some great racing. It was fantastic to see him split the Mercedes and achieve our eighth 2nd place of the year.”

    Daniel Ricciardo didn’t have the best of performance however he still finished the race in a commendable position and the Australian is looking ahead to Austin, he said:

    “Today wasn’t a very exciting race for me, and unfortunately it just wasn’t my day. We struggled in the traffic and fell behind the eight ball. In the final stint towards the end I had a clear track and I was able put in some good laps but it wasn’t enough. We’ll come back in Austin ready to have a good weekend on track.”

    Dominic Rust

  • Opinion: Hulkenberg and Renault would be perfect for each other

     

    Over the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, rumours of Nico Hülkenberg making a surprise switch to Renault for 2017 ramped up a notch after reports in German media claimed the deal was all but done.

    Logistically, a move to Renault is entirely possible: although Hülkenberg is signed to Force India for next year, his contract reportedly contains a buyout clause if a manufacturer comes knocking. But would the German really want to sacrifice his secure position in a podium contending team for a works drive at the back of the field?

    GP GERMANIA F1/2016 – HOCKENHEIM (GERMANIA) 30/07/2016
    © FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA (© COPYRIGHT FREE)

    Harsh though it may sound, Renault could well be Hülkenberg’s only remaining chance at a top team drive. Both Mercedes and Red Bull are committed to a future of promoting from within their own junior ranks; and despite interest in the past, Ferrari has made it plain that its affections have moved on from Hülkenberg to the likes of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez.

    If Hülkenberg is still serious about driving for a manufacturer team in Formula 1 – and he insists that he is – that only leaves Renault or McLaren-Honda. And although neither team are particularly desirable at the moment, Hülkenberg will no doubt keep his missed shots at Ferrari in the back of his mind as he weighs up an offer from Renault.

    At 29 and approaching his eighth season in F1, Hülkenberg’s career stands at a critical point. In all that time, he has never progressed beyond the midfield and many observers believe that his chance to do so has passed. Add to that his arguable overshadowing alongside Pérez in recent years, and it wouldn’t be too astonishing to see Hülkenberg seize the chance with Renault whilst it’s there.

    As for Renault, the appeal of Nico Hülkenberg is obvious. Leaving aside his reputation and glittering CV for the moment, one of the best arrows in Hülkenberg’s quiver is his ability to lift a lower-midfield car up above its station. Take, for example, his pole position with Williams at the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix, or the 29 laps spent leading the same race two years later with Force India.

    But perhaps of most significance to Renault will be Hülkenberg’s year with Sauber in 2013, in which he helped lead the team from scrapping over tenth and eleventh to scoring several solid top six finishes by the end of the season. It’s this ability to move a poor car forward that Renault so sorely needs right now, and it’s this that would make Nico Hülkenberg an invaluable asset to the French marque in 2017.

    GP ITALIA F1/2016 – MONZA (ITALIA) 04/09/2016
    © FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA (© COPYRIGHT FREE)

    Unfortunately, the flipside of this move is that it would mean the loss of either Kevin Magnussen or Jolyon Palmer – or even both of them, if Esteban Ocon takes the second Renault seat as many expect.

    At present, there are still some eleven seats available for 2017, though only a handful of them could actually be considered viable havens for the two current Renault drivers. Magnussen arguably has the greater pool of options should he leave Renault, and would certainly not be unwelcome at Haas after the American team marked him down as their second choice last year if they couldn’t tempt over Romain Grosjean.

    For Palmer, his best bet is likely Manor, as the backmarker team looks set to yield up Pascal Wehrlein to Hülkenberg’s vacant Force India seat, even if Ocon doesn’t move to Renault as well.

    James Matthews, Editor-at-Large

  • The Arrival of Jenson Button

    October 29th, 1998. That was the day I first heard of Jenson Button. It was the day that I received my copy of Motoring News. As usual around this time of year, the annual “Formula Ford Festival” had been held at Brands Hatch. Up until a few years ago this meeting was regarded as a major event, certainly the absolute highlight of the Formula Ford year, and the prestige of winning the event was high. Past winners had included eventual F1 drivers Geoff Lees, Derek Daly, Roberto Moreno, Tommy Byrne, Julian Bailey, Johnny Herbert, Roland Ratzenberger, Eddie Irvine, Vincenzo Sospiri, Jan Magnussen, and Mark Webber. The format of the event was both simple and entertaining, with a series of knock-out heats, two semi- finals, and then the all-important final – back in ’98, victory in this race was still big news on the club scene, and would more often than not lead to something bigger for the winning driver for the following year.

    Usually I had heard of the winner beforehand, but this was not one of those occasions. The name “Jenson Button” was, at the same time, curiously different, and memorable. Having been massively successful in karting, this was his first season of racing cars, and the 18-year-old had already sown up the British Formula Ford Championship. He was driving a French Mygale Ford-Zetec, run by Haywood Racing, against a whole fleet of the cars that had been, more often than not, driven by past winners of the event, the Van Diemen.

    Having won his heat, Button was beaten in his semi by the Australian driver, Markus Ambrose. But the young Frome lad was not to be outdone. In what was a thrilling final, the battle for the lead was between Button, Ambrose, and Daniel Wheldon – another British driver who would go on to fame as a double winner of the Indianapolis 500, but who was tragically killed in 2011. Having trailed both Ambrose and Wheldon at the start, he nipped past Daniel when he took a wide line at the McLaren Curve early on, then got past the Australian on the following lap. There ensued a thrilling battle for the lead between the three, and as the race drew towards its conclusion it was Ambrose who narrowly led. Then Ambrose left the door wide open at Surtees Bend, Button pounced, the pair touched wheels, and Ambrose was out. Wheldon didn’t give up the chase, but at the flag it was Jenson Button who had won the 1998 Formula Ford Festival. His name was made.

    The following year he moved up to the British Formula Three championship. The engine to have in that formula at the time was a Mugen-Honda, whereas Jenson had a Renault engine, therefore was rather the odd-man-out, however, he went on to finish third in the championship.

    Well, the rest, as they say, is history. After just two seasons of racing cars, Jenson was a fully-fledged F1 driver. Sir Frank Williams used words like “astounded” and “astonishing” to describe his new young driver after his debut in Melbourne in March 2000. After 300 Grand Prix, the compliments still come thick and fast, but a World Championship, and 15 Grand prix wins, can now be added to that. Perhaps even more precious is the fact that Jenson has become one of the most loved F1 drivers of all time.

    Max Scott

  • Japanese Grand Prix, Mercedes Dominance Continues

    GP GIAPPONE F1/2016 – SUZUKA 08/10/2016
    © FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA (© COPYRIGHT FREE)

    In Japan, Mercedes won their third consecutive constructor’s championship. Nico Rosberg took the chequered flag and extended his championship lead to 33 points from Lewis Hamilton, who finished third behind the young Max Verstappen.

    It was Nico Rosberg’s fourth victory after the summer break. The German was faster than anyone else on Saturday’s qualifying session and took the pole position. He started and finished the race from the first place. No one was able to challenge Nico, even when Verstappen closed the gap to almost two seconds, Rosberg put his foot on the throttle and increased the difference between them.

    Lewis Hamilton had a bad start, he dropped from the second to eighth position. During the first laps, Hamilton struggled to find the pace and fight back to gain position. On the seventh lap, Lewis passed Nico Hulkenberg and moved up to seventh place, where he remained until his first pit stop. Mercedes made the right call to pit Hamilton on lap 14 and they gave him an advantage compared to his rivals.

    When the British rejoined the track he was in front of Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez, it took him a few seconds to catch and pass Ricciardo and move up to the fourth position. Hamilton was almost 14 seconds behind Sebastian Vettel, who was third. On lap 32, Lewis managed to reduce the gap to just four seconds. Mercedes decided to pit the Brit on the next lap.

    Vettel remained on the track for one more lap. Ferrari decided to take a risk and swapped from hards to softs. When Sebastian re-joined the track, he was behind Lewis Hamilton. The German closed the gap, but he couldn’t find the space and the pace to attack. After a few laps, Vettel decided not to attack and secure the fourth place.

    At the same time, Hamilton closed to Max Verstappen for the second position. The Dutch showed once more his great defending skills. During the nine final laps, Hamilton was within a DRS zone from Verstappen, but the Brit could not get too close.

    The British made a last attempt on the final lap on the outside line at the chicane, but he didn’t have the space to break and went straight on.

    Kimi Raikkonen qualified third, but he got a five-place grid penalty because Ferrari had to change his gearbox. The Finn had a good fight with Daniel Ricciardo for the fifth position and with Ferrari’s good strategy he managed to secure it.

    McLaren wanted to have a better weekend in Japan, as it was a home race for Honda. Alonso and Button finished 16th and 18th respectively.

    Nico Rosberg remained focus to his aim, he controlled the race and secured the victory which gave him a 33 points advantage from Hamilton. Now Lewis has to win the remaining races and hopes that his team-mate will lose points.

    Next race will take place in Austin.

    Victor Archakis F1 Editor
    Twitter: @FP_Passion

    (Image Courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media)

  • It’s a New Day

    Haas F1 Team are looking forward to moving on from a disastrous pair of races in southeast Asia on the streets of Singapore and at Sepang circuit outside Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia as the F1 calendar arrives in the Land of The Rising Sun, Japan.

    The Japanese Grand Prix Sunday at Suzuka Circuit this weekend marks the last of a three-race stretch through the Far East. Despite recent disappointments, (3 DNF’s out of 4 finishes) the Suzuka Circuit offers a reprieve for Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutiérrez.

    Grosjean led 26 laps in the 2013 Japanese Grand Prix before finishing third behind the dominant Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. And in last year’s Japanese Grand Prix, Grosjean finished in the points with a solid seventh-place effort.

    Gutiérrez scored the first points of his Formula One career when he finished seventh at Suzuka during his rookie season in 2013. The affable driver has been knocking on the door of another point-paying result all year long, with five 11th-place finishes in the last 12 races.

    Grosjean and Gutiérrez look forward to Suzuka, and not just because it’s their next opportunity to displace the late-season misfortune that has befallen them. Suzuka is a driver’s track, where racecars can be pushed to the absolute limit even without being stuck to the track via maximum downforce.

    Five races still remain in 2016, giving Haas F1 Team five more opportunities to solidify its position among its far more established counterparts.

    This will be the sixth Japanese Grand Prix for Grosjean. He has started P4 twice and has a P3 podium finish in 2013.

    Romain Grosjean – Driver #8 VF-16
    You’ve been quoted as saying that Suzuka is your most favorite track in the world. Why?
    “It’s always difficult to say exactly why. I think it’s the flow, the corners, the high-speed nature of the track. There’s a risk as well with all the gravel and the narrow parts of the circuit. Overall though, it’s not one thing, and sometimes you don’t know why you like something, you just do.”

    You led 26 laps in the 2013 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka before finishing third. That is the most laps you’ve led at any Formula One venue. Talk about that race and how you were able to run out front for so long.
    “I was fourth on the grid and made a really good start. I led from the first corner. Then Red Bull played its strategy. They put one car on a two-stop (strategy) and the other on a three-stop strategy. We led 26 laps, but we lost position to them. It was great, though. I remember telling myself to not go out as all the world’s TVs were on me. It was a great feeling to be leading. I loved it. I remember going to the train station after the race and it was packed with all the fans. It was hectic, but memorable.”

    There seems to be a delicate balance at Suzuka in regard to downforce. Too much and you go slowly down the straights. Too little and you won’t have the confidence to attack the track’s twists and turns. Obviously, the level of downforce is predicated on how comfortable you are at speed. How do you achieve this balance?
    “It’s one of those tracks where you need quite a lot of downforce and a really good car in the high-speed corners. There are some important low-speed ones as well. It’s about getting the right confidence in being able to push to the limit in those tricky sector-one turns. It’s not an easy track to set up the car, but definitely a really good one to be on.”

    Gutiérrez has competed in the Japanese Grand Prix twice before with a P7 points scoring finish in 2013.

    Esteban Gutiérrez – Driver #21 VF-16
    Suzuka is home to your last point-scoring finish – a seventh-place result in the 2013 Japanese Grand Prix. You’ve been knocking on the door of a point-paying finish all season, with five 11th-place finishes to prove it. How hungry are you to finally score some points and what will it take to go from just knocking on the door of a top-10 finish to kicking that door down?
    “I’m extremely hungry to get a top-10 finish. Everyone on the team is pushing very hard for it. The crew is very motivated. Everyone keeps the same approach even though it can be sometimes a little bit frustrating, but instead of the frustration, it’s even more motivation for us to do a better job and get into the top-10. We have been extracting the most from the car and we expect to keep doing it.”

    Understeer through the esses between turns three and seven is often at the top of the to-do list at Suzuka. How do you address understeer and at what point does a change to help the car in one section of the track hurt it in another section?
    “It’s all about where you spend most of your time, and most of your time is spent in sector one in the corners. There is a lot of cornering at Suzuka, so you focus on having a good car there and the rest you try to cope with it. You want an optimal setup for the first sector.”

    Would you call Suzuka a driver’s track?
    “Yes, I would. It’s a very nice track. It’s a track every driver enjoys but, obviously, it depends upon having a good car. It’s a track that I enjoy a lot.”

    Can the driver make more of a difference at Suzuka than at some other tracks?
    “The driver can make a difference because Suzuka requires a lot of precision. You have a lot of sequences of corners, so the more precise you can be and the more aggressive you can be, the quicker you’ll be into the corners. You want to be very precise without losing the rhythm.”

    Guenther Steiner – Team Principal
    Even though it is Haas F1 Team’s first season and it’s been very productive, is it disappointing to have the kinds of issues you experienced in Singapore and Malaysia come about so late in the year?
    “It’s not like we’ve been having these problems. We’re just having them now. We just need to deal with them and continue finding solutions. This is a time for us to show how strong we are. We’ve faced adversity before. We always dig our way out of it. We get things done because we just keep working. And the only way to get out of the situations we’ve been in is to keep working. You can say that you are unlucky, but you make your own luck. When these things happen you analyze what took place, prevent that it happens again and never give up.”

    High-speed stability in regard to mechanical stiffness and aerodynamic balance seem to be the key to success at Suzuka. What do you do to achieve that?
    “You can’t do a lot more than what your car has already, and we are pretty confident that what we’ve got is working well. We just need to find a balance for the weekend. Japan is high speed and there are some challenging corners, but it’s a nice place to be and I hope we can find a good setup and show what we can do.”

    Power is another important and obvious aspect to a successful race weekend at Suzuka. You received the most recent upgrade from Ferrari at Monza. How has it performed and how crucial is it to have at a track where we’ll see some of the highest speeds of the season?
    “Power is always important, but much more important at races like Spa, Monza and Suzuka. The latest update from Ferrari was very good. It helped us a lot at Spa and Monza. We got into Q3 in Monza thanks to the power upgrade from Ferrari. I think it will help us in Suzuka as long as we find a good balance for the car.”

    There seems to be a delicate balance at Suzuka in regard to downforce. Too much and you go slowly down the straights. Too little and the driver won’t have the confidence to attack the track’s twists and turns. Obviously, the level of downforce is predicated on how comfortable the driver is at speed. How do you find this balance between the needs of the car and the needs of the driver?
    “It’s one of those things that go hand-in-hand. Once you find the quickest way around the track by balancing top-end speed versus downforce, the driver is quite happy because he wants to be quickest around the track. For them, the happiest is when they get a good lap time.”

    Pirelli is bringing three tire compounds to Suzuka:

    • P Zero Orange hard – less grip, less wear (used for long-race stints)
    • P Zero White medium – more grip, medium wear (used for shorter-race stints and for initial portion of qualifying)
    • P Zero Yellow soft – highest amount of grip, highest amount of wear (used for qualifying and select race situations)

    Two of the three available compounds must be used during the race. Teams are able to decide when they want to run which compound, adding an element of strategy to the race. A driver can also use all three sets of Pirelli tires in the race, if they so desire.

    Pirelli provides each driver 13 sets of dry tires for the race weekend. Of those 13 sets, drivers and their teams can choose the specifications of 10 of those sets from the three compounds Pirelli selected. The remaining three sets are defined by Pirelli – two mandatory tire specifications for the race (one set of P Zero Orange hards and one set of P Zero White mediums) and one mandatory specification for Q3 (one set of P Zero Yellow softs).

    Haas F1 Team’s drivers have selected the following amounts:

    • Grosjean: three sets of P Zero Orange hards, three sets of P White mediums and seven sets of P Zero Yellow softs
    • Gutiérrez: two sets of P Zero Orange hards, four sets of P Zero White mediums and seven sets of P Zero Yellow softs

    Image courtesy of Haas F1 Media via Twitter

    Eric Barnes @ebarnes442

  • Mercedes To Fight Back

    As the dust settles, the embossed Silver Arrows are taken apart and shipped to Japan, the gap between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton standing at twenty-three points and social media going into hyper-driver about conspiracy theories and mythical thoughts of treason it is time to turn our thoughts to Suzuka.

    It is as a racing fan that you can’t think of Suzuka without the painful memories of two years ago surfacing in all their emotion but as with life, racing moves on. As with the 2016 season, Mercedes move on. As with the theories and opinions surrounding Hamilton’s retirement in Malaysia, well, they still linger.

    Whether you are a Hamilton fan or a Rosberg fan, the fact remains that this has been and is going to be a titanic battle until the last race of the season. Forget about the dramas, the soap opera coverage or who has said what in a certain interview. This is the time for a driver and a team as a whole to stand-up and be counted.

    Mercedes are surely retaining the Constructor’s Championship but it is this run-in to the end of the season which decides where the Driver’s Championship finally lands. Both Rosberg and Hamilton have had their highs and lows for this season, both have shown humility at times that has been shadowed but forms of petulance and arrogance. Whether that is to the taste of a particular fan is for that fan to form their own opinion of and as with any opinion that is the personal thought of a person. What matters is that from here-on in we have a titanic battle brewing for the Silver Arrows team.

    Suzuka, from the 150mph first corner, through 130R to the final chicane, this is a track made for drama and as we have all seen over the last couple of years, Mercedes don’t mind a bit of that.

    Of course the battle between the two team-mates will naturally be overshadowed by the thoughts of Jules, this is something that all teams, all drivers and all fans will be thinking of, but once the lights go out the attention turns back to racing and who will get the upper hand.

    There has always been the confident and steely resolve in Lewis when racing that has possibly smothered the smooth and intelligent driving of Rosberg. Together they are and should be talked about as probably one of the best pairings in Formula One, yet the talk is always about their rivalry, like that has never existed among team-mates in the past. The one thing that has the pendulum swinging more in favour of Hamilton is world titles. Nico Rosberg, out-shone by the Red Bull’s at the Malaysian Grand Prix, will be wanting to strike back and increase his points lead even more. Hamilton, heartbroken and emotional from the previous race will be looking to bounce back and prove his worth as a champion.

    One thing is for sure, this is going to be a ‘battle-royale’ and as we have seen in years gone-by, anything can happen in Japan.

    I can’t see a back-to-back Red Bull win, I believe that Mercedes, like the wounded and proud animal they are will bounce back and rip the heart of this race but nothing is guaranteed in motor racing, not even an engine these days.

    Who will win in Suzuka? That fun-fest will be decided this weekend. Don’t miss it,.

    Neil Simmons

    @world_racing

  • Scuderia Ferrari, Japanese Grand Prix

    GP MALESIA F1/2016 – KUALA LUMPUR 02/10/2016
    © FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA (© COPYRIGHT FREE)

    Ferrari had what can best be described as a mixed Malaysian Grand Prix as Kimi Raikkonen took a solid fourth place while Sebastian Vettel failed to make it to turn four of the opening lap.

    Vettel made an optimistic turn one move that saw the four-time World Champion clatter into the side of Nico Rosberg, who ultimately finished third after a bold move on Raikkonen late in the race.

    The German retired with a broken front left suspension as a result of that contact, and thought it was a “racing incident”, although the stewards found otherwise and handed him a three-place grid penalty for the Japanese Grand Prix. The one upside for Ferrari is that at least it wasn’t their error once again, with missed opportunities the story of their season so far.

    Rosberg was handed a ten-second penalty for his move on Raikkonen, but even then it wasn’t enough for the ailing Ferrari to get back on the podium and so Ferrari failed to pull off anything like the victory of 2015 at Sepang.

    Raikkonen climbs to fourth in the standings following Vettel’s DNF, but Red Bull struck a near fatal blow to the Prancing Horse’s hopes of retaining second in the Constructors Championship with a 1-2 led by Daniel Ricciardo.

    This weekend, Formula One moves onto the Japanese Grand Prix, with the two weekends sandwiching the anniversary of the tragic accident of Jules Bianchi, who Ricciardo dedicated his win to after the Malaysian Grand Prix.

    Suzuka isn’t a track that has won recent favour with Ferrari despite the clinching of the 2000 and 2003 World Drivers’ Championships for the great Michael Schumacher. Ferrari haven’t won anywhere in Japan since 2004.

    Despite Raikkonen’s memorable win there for McLaren in 2005, where he started 17th and sealed victory with a last pass around the outside of the 150mph turn one, and Vettel’s four victories from 2009-13 (Punctuated only by Jenson Button in 2011) it doesn’t look like changing in 2016 as the fast flowing corners suit the Red Bull and Mercedes far better.

    Mixed conditions are once again forecast for this weekend, and that is perhaps the only chance Ferrari have of winning a Grand Prix this season and keeping the fight alive for second in the Constructors’ Championship.

    Jack Prentice

  • Nico Rosberg, the Samurai

    GP GIAPPONE F1/2015 – 27/09/15
    © FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA (© COPYRIGHT FREE)

    Japanese Grand Prix Preview, 07-09 Oct

    A dramatic, chaotic, emotional and unexpected race took place in Malaysia. The race was full of surprises for Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, and the two Red Bulls.

    The British champion was in control of the race, until lap 43, where we witnessed Lewis to saying “Oh, no, no, no” through his radio to his mechanics. The Mercedes engine was on fire and the three times world champion forced to retire and lose the race.

    Daniel Ricciardo was under heavy pressure from his team-mate Max Verstappen at that time. The VSC was deployed and Red Bull called both drivers into the pits for fresher tires. At the re-start, Ricciardo had a 2.3 seconds advantage from Max. That allowed him to control the race for the remaining 13 laps and win his first Grand Prix of the season and fourth in total.

    Max Verstappen finished, behind his team-mate and both completed Red Bull’s first one-two since the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix.

    The Australian deserved this victory, his top-form in the last races gave many points to Red Bull and kept them ahead of Scuderia Ferrari.

    “It made total sense, after Lewis had blown up, there was a free stop for both of them – give them both fresh tyres and then flat-out to the finish. They have great respect for each other. They are young, they were racing hard and it was right to let them race today.” Said Red Bull’s team boss Christian Horner after the race.

    Nico Rosberg had a great recovery in Malaysia. The German had a collision at Turn 1 with Sebastian Vettel and dropped at the last places of the grid. Rosberg managed to recover and even with a 10 seconds penalty he finished, third, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and extend his championship lead from Lewis Hamilton to 23 points with five races to go.

    Next stop for teams and drivers is Japan, the sushi country.

    Laps: 53

    Length: 5.807 km

    Race Length: 307.471 km

    Fastest Lap: 1:31:540s (Kimi Raikkonen, 2005)

    2015 Winner: Lewis Hamilton

    Honda built Suzuka’s track as a test facility in 1962, the designer of the circuit was the famous Dutchman John Hugenholz. Suzuka is a track which many drivers like to race, it has some of the most demanding corners a famous one is the “Spoon Curve”.

    Last season Lewis Hamilton was out qualified by Nico Rosberg, but at the end, he won the Japanese Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel finished third, behind the two Mercedes.

    This year, Lewis Hamilton has to win if he wants to challenge Rosberg for the title. Only five races remained until the end of the season, Lewis must dominate and hope that Nico will lose points from Red Bull or from a mechanical failure.Red Bull will play a key factor in the championship. The bulls are on top form and they can cut points from Hamilton or Rosberg.

    Don’t miss my live text coverage on Sunday!

    Victor Archakis Twitter: @FP_Passion

    (Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media)

  • “It’s all down to teamwork”, says Red Bull’s principal

    GP MALESIA F1/2016 – KUALA LUMPUR 30/09/2016
    © FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA (© COPYRIGHT FREE)

    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.

    Dominic Rust