ThePitcrewOnline

Category: Formula One

  • Canadian Grand Prix: Marks out of Ten

     

    Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Canada.
    Sunday 11 June 2017.
    World Copyright: Steven Tee/LAT Images
    ref: Digital Image _O3I0085

    Lewis Hamilton once again ruled the roost at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, on the Ille De Notre Dame in the St Lawrence Seaway in Montreal is a highlight of the Formula 1 season, a break between the European rounds. Known as a power reliant track compared to the prior rounds at Spain & Monaco the pecking order was shuffled slightly. We analyse each driver’s race in the simplest way we can, through marks out of ten.

    Lewis Hamilton – 9

    Ten years on since his maiden win in F1, Hamilton once more sees the top step of the podium. Montreal is a happy hunting ground for the Brit – this is his sixth time winning in Canada. He destroyed his teammate in qualifying by 0.7secs and matched his icon Ayrton Senna’s pole total of 65. It was a weekend that he needed, the hat-trick, pole, lights to flag and fastest lap. He kept the action kept behind him and caught up in the championship as we head to Baku.

    Valteri Bottas – 7

    The first 1-2 of the 2017 campaign for Mercedes, signs of the previous three seasons, but with Bottas all the challengers fell by the wayside. A poor qualifying from the Finn, a quite considerable gap of 0.4secs from the front row. He was helped by Ferrari’s issues as he took a comfortable second place. A solid result from the Finn but once more in the shadow of his teammate Hamilton.

    Daniel Ricciardo – 8

    The Honeybadger made it three podiums in a row, taking advantage of other drivers and using a unique strategy of running softs on the second stint rather than the super softs. He struggled early in the weekend with car trouble, and missed most of free practice two. The most important factor was his quick out lap which managed to keep Perez in the Force India at bay. We got to see a shooey to the delight of the Canadian fans – even getting Sir Patrick Stewart himself to partake in the ritual.

    Max Verstappen – 8

    Verstappen looked for all the world as if he could split the Mercedes after a blistering start, clipping Vettel’s wings especially. His race ended only ten laps in after an ERS failure and battery shutdown, the Ducthman visibly angry at his misfortune. Red Bull look as if they’ve made a step forward.

    Sebastian Vettel – 9

    Excellent recovery drive after contact damaged his front wing. Dropped to last after repairs, and a despite a damaged floor came from 16th to 4th. The four-time champion provided entertainment in the final twenty laps, limiting the damage to his championship lead to 13 points.

    Raikkonen 7: A poor start saw Kimi stuck behind Perez and Ricciardo early on, the Iceman came alive when Ferrari switched the strategy to a two-stop. Unfortunate with brake failure but did well to preserve seventh from a difficult position with ten laps to go.

    Sergio Perez – 8

    Perez will not have won himself many French fans as he kept a faster Esteban Ocon behind him in the race-long battle for a podium position with Ricciardo. Perez will have his reasons, while Force India showed their car to be strong once again this season.

    Esteban Ocon – 9

    Showed a good temperament during the race and kept his head despite losing out to Vettel late on. His tyres were fresher at the end of the Grand Prix as Force India kept him out for a longer first stint, and wanted to have a go at the podium, but Perez refused to let him by.

    Nico Hulkenburg – 7

    The reliable Nico Hulkenburg scores points again after taking a gamble early on with the virtual safety car switching the strategy that they more than likely had planned. Renault are still not where they want to be and with this in mind it was a solid job all weekend. Almost caught the ailing Raikkonen at the end.

    Jolyon Palmer – 6

    This is the second successive race that the Brit has finished just outside the points after 11th in Monaco last time out. He’s faced constant speculation about his future after Hulkenberg’s excellent start at Renault. A man under pressure, he will be heartened by the step forward made in Montreal.

    Lance Stroll – 8

    The Canadian rookie got the monkey off his back as ninth place secured his first world championship points, at his home race. He is the first non-Villeneuve Canadian to score points in F1. After struggling in qualifying, Stroll executed a one-stop strategy well and we may now see the tension that he’s driven with all season loosened for the rest of the year.

    Felipe Massa – 5

    Massa was pole-axed by a pirouetting Carlos Sainz on lap one after being boxed in at the start. A good qualifying saw the Brazilian take seventh, and with power circuits such as Baku and the Red Bull Ring coming up, Williams can be confident of further points.

    Romain Grosjean – 7

    Grosjean managed to snatch a point from the jaws of nothing. The Swiss-Frenchman was chopped by Sainz on lap one to spark a safety car as the Spaniard was speared into an unsuspecting Felipe Massa. Picking up the pieces from Alonso’s engine failure on the penultimate lap, Haas’ weekend was rescued.

    Kevin Magnussen – 5

    A weekend to forget for Magnussen. He tried to be opportunistic at the end of the virtual safety car by pouncing on Stoffel Vandoorne, but timed his jump too early and earning himself a penalty. Failed to get out of the first qualifying session as both Haas’ struggled for pace through the weekend/

    Marcus Ericsson – 6

    This was always going to be a case of rolling treacle up a hill for Sauber. An underpowered old Ferrari engine was always going to suffer on a circuit where top speed is crucial. Sauber will be stronger on other circuits.

    Pascal Wehrlein – 5

    Wehrlein did himself few favours when he spun in qualifying, breaking his rear wing and gearbox. The German’s only route to points this weekend was going to be a Safety Car strategy call as in Barcelona, but it didn’t materialise for the ex-Manor man.

    Stoffel Vandoorne – 6

    Stoffel Vandoorne was another man on a hiding to nothing this weekend, with his Honda engine severely lacking in power. McLaren will hope improved results come on more twisty circuits.

    Fernando Alonso – 8

    Alonso had tigerishly fought his way up to ninth place until the penultimate lap, when his engine expired in a familiar tale of woe for the former double World Champion. The Spaniard still found time to vent his feelings about his engine during the race at a weekend in which he demanded McLaren show that they could win races by September. That looks well off.

    Danil Kyvat – 5

    Failed to get away for the formation lap and couldn’t get back into position. As a result received a drive through penalty. The Russian managed to fight his way back up to tenth but damage ended his day. Another chapter in a frustrating season for Kvyat.

    Carlos Sainz – 5

    His race lasted a matter of half a mile before his squeeze on an unco-operative Grosjean sent him to the wall, via the Williams of Massa. At a circuit where Toro Rosso were expected to struggle, he showed solid pace until Sunday.

    Chris Lord & Jack Prentice

    Image Credit: Steven Tee via PIRELLI MEDIA

  • What are Alonso’s options for 2018?

     

    Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China.
    Saturday 08 April 2017.
    World Copyright: Andy Hone/LAT Images
    ref: Digital Image _ONY5020 via Pirelli Media

     

    If he stays in F1:

    Keep the seat at McLaren

    It seems like the least likely option, but if by some miracle Honda improve the engine and McLaren suddenly look competitive, then he might—just might—stay for another season. If the power unit doesn’t find any obvious straight line speed and Honda isn’t prepared to stump up a hefty chunk of salary, he has openly said he’ll be off.

    Back to Ferrari as Kimi’s replacement

    If you follow Fernando’s pattern, he constantly returns to his old racing teams. Renault to McLaren, back to Renault, a trip to Ferrari and then back to McLaren. The next stage of the pattern is a return to Ferrari. Kimi is not certain to be around next year and whilst Alonso didn’t leave on the best of terms, he definitely left McLaren under worse circumstances.

    Taking Bottas’ seat

    Valtteri might have won his first Grand Prix this year, but he already appears to be playing an understudy role to Lewis Hamilton. Sitting on a one-year contract means that it won’t cost Mercedes anything to replace him. They can clearly afford Alonso’s wage and to find a winning car, he might even take a pay cut.

    There’s no room in the Red Bull inn

    Very simply, there is only one chance of Alonso taking to the Australian grid in a Red Bull. It involves either Ricciardo or Verstappen being taken over to a Silver Arrow or to the Scuderia in Maranello. If one of those seats is available and Fernando doesn’t get it, expect him to be extremely motivated in whichever car he ends up with.

    A rejuvenated Renault

    We know that Fernando had his most successful years under the Renault umbrella, but today it is a very different team to the one he remembers. Having said that, they are improving and we all know that Palmer’s seat is less than secure. Hulkenberg looks pretty good and there’s no talk of him moving anywhere anytime soon, so a Hulk and Fernando line up might be the option.

    Williams, Force India nor Haas

    There’s so little chance of Alonso going to a team which has no chance of taking a win. There’s even less chance of him doing so if they can’t match his salary ambitions. At least at McLaren he is getting paid well to have a rubbish engine. Not one of these three teams look likely to win a race without some major incident at the front of the grid, and Alonso can’t afford to wait for that to happen.

    Life outside of F1:

    WEC

    It’s no secret that Alonso would like a crack at Le Mans as part of the Triple Crown. A year or two in WEC would not only give him the Le Mans entry he is after but also give him the schedule space to enter the Indy 500 again. Mark Webber tried to get him to the Porsche WEC team for a while and from all reports he was very close. If he put the feelers out for a seat, it would be hard to imagine any team not immediately making space for him. Imagine two million people tuning in to watch him practice around Magny Cours, that’s the sort of publicity any team would dream of.

    IndyCar Series

    Why not? He went, he saw, he so nearly conquered. There’s a proven path for ex-F1 drivers making the move; Brabham, Hill, Fittipaldi, Piquet, Mansell. These are legends in our sport and went over the pond to have a crack at a different form of racing. Then there’s the current crop of ex-F1 racers, less illustrious, but if Max Chilton can make a significant impact, imagine what Alonso could do with a repeated attempt.

    Leave racing altogether

    There is absolutely nothing which Alonso has left to prove to anyone about anything. He was the youngest F1 World Champion, is revered as one of the best drivers in the current crop and in the list of all-time, he even manages to get the McLaren with its GP2 engine into Q3.

    Why would he not leave and start the next phase of his life? He has been shown a great example by Jenson Button. He’s taken to life away from F1, like Fernando to the Indy 500.

    It is widely known that Alonso’s contract is up at the end of the year and there is nothing which could force him to race next season. The only thing which might tempt him would be a front of the grid seat. We’re sure he’d like to finish his career having at least won a few more races, instead of breaking down before the lights even go out.

    However Alonso decides to spend the next few years, we know for certain that he has given us an amazing experience. Just look at what he did in Singapore in 2010, driving a car which had no right to be on the front two rows of the grid, he hauled the car to pole and then dominated the race all the way to the flag. It might not have the hallmarks of a Button Canadian win, but it just showed what the man could get out of a half-decent car.

    Andy Robinson

  • Joshua Kinroy : A friend, a fighter & top bloke

    Not many people knew Josh, Josh was a quiet person almost shy at times. But he was funny, and could have a laugh with everyone he ever spoke to. Now that Josh has sadly passed away, myself and many others, not to forget his loved ones, family & friends will miss him so much.

    I first spoke to Josh on twitter, probably 2011 if my memory recalls. As he was Jenson Button fan, and McLaren fan. He was always so funny to make a joke and join in with the rest of us. At this point I didn’t know about his condition, which is Muscular Dystrophy. He covered it up, didn’t tell anyone until he felt it was right to do so.

    We had so many group chats on twitter where he was mostly found, general F1 banter chat and then the Pitcrew Online 2000 (now The Pitcrew Online) he joined myself to do F1 BTCC, and again we didn’t know of his condition. So he would struggle and we would help. Then he finally told me, he felt better for telling us. And we helped him as much as we could. Josh felt it was right to leave us, but we always stayed in contact.

    Me and Josh, especially me and him always DM’d one another about F1, general news & topics. He’d have his low days, I would tell him it will get better. And he always kept on smiling whatever the issue was. It wasn’t until late last year when he started having problems. He had an operation, which was to help him move better (from memory) which improved his quality of life.

    Josh never ever wanted sympathy for his condition, he just carried on a normal life. Always interacting with everyone on Twitter etc he was such a down to earth person, funny and tough. Many people didn’t know Josh like I did. And for the years I knew him he wouldn’t become just some follower, he was my friend.

    I didn’t realise how badly Josh must have deteriorated this year, as he was seriously not well. And now looking back, I feel awful I wasn’t there for my friend, he was always rock solid. I feel bad that he couldn’t tell me he wasn’t ok, and I feel bad that overlooked him & that I wasn’t there for him to talk to. I should have seen his twitter that he wasn’t tweeting as much.

    One thing you can’t take for granted is life itself. One minute it’s there and the next it’s not. There’s a huge void in my life know without Josh, we stayed up till stupid o’clock discussing everything you can imagine. He was just like me and you, his condition didn’t stop him doing what he loved which was Formula 1, McLaren, Jenson Button, Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso & Moto GP.

    Josh was always the first person to make a joke in bad situations, he could break the ice when no one else could. He just perked everyone up when the mood was a little glum. He could do that, no matter what he was dealing with, he put that to one side and just made everything better or less awkward.

    I urge you all to remember that twitter is sometimes the only place people can be themselves and hide away the pain they face on a daily basis. If someone needs a chat or anything just say “hey wanna talk? Am happy to talk!” It will go far, they’ll feel better about themselves also. Josh did, and I did. I gained a friend, and he’ll always be here no matter.

    For Josh, I know you’re in a far better place now and it’s always going to hurt that you won’t be around on my feed or messages & phone. I feel for your family, your friends. You was such an inspiration and you fought so hard, you won’t be forgotten ever. Thank you for the memories, laughter & banter we had on group chats via the pitcrew and other places, you’ll be sorely missed mate.

    I’d like to thank The Pit Crew, my former team for allowing me to do this tribute for Josh. We had many laughs in the chat! If you would like to donate to the Muscular Dystrophy you can click here.
    Muscular ardystrophy.

    Mark Whitelegge

  • R.I.P Josh Kinroy.

    We at Crew Towers are very saddened to hear of the passing of our friend and one time Crew Member Josh.

    Here’s and article he wrote for then forthcoming Chinese Grand Prix

    Thanks Josh we will all miss you…

    Chinese Grand Prix Preview – Can Ferrari challenge again
    After the elation and emotion of Malaysia, the F1 fraternity now heads to China for the third race of the season in what will hopefully be an epic weekend in which Mercedes and Ferrari will be favourites for the win.
    Sebastian Vettel will be on a high after the previous race and will be hoping for the same again but Lewis Hamilton’s win in China last season will invigorate the world champion in to keeping his winning streak going.
    Lewis Hamilton said “Malaysia was a tough weekend. It always is with the heat – but with car problems on Friday, rain during qualifying on Saturday and a race which didn’t go to plan on Sunday, this one was particularly challenging. I think ultimately we made the best choices we could – but there is always room for improvement and we’ve been working hard to analyse everything for the next race in China”.
    Teammate Nico Rosberg said “The last race weekend was not great for me. I didn’t get my lap together in qualifying, then losing time in the pits made it a tough race to fight back and try to catch Lewis. We’ve definitely learned some lessons and it’s time to take that to the track in China”.
    The rest of the chasing pack will want to have a better weekend with Williams and Red Bull hoping to close in on the top two teams after a lacklustre race. Toro Rosso have put themselves in the running for the best of the rest as they battled in the top ten throughout.
    McLaren had a much better weekend after showing much better pace and even with a double retirement, they are taking a step in the right direction.
    Racing Director Eric Boullier is optimistic but realistic “We came away from the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend feeling optimistic about our state of development and the improvements we’d made relative to our closest rivals. However, we don’t take anything for granted, and are fully aware that the next two races probably won’t show quite the same rate of improvement as we witnessed at Sepang.
    The weather can be unpredictable and will be significantly cooler than in Malaysia and Pirelli have said it is likely to be a 2-stop race.
    Mercedes will be better suited to this race track with the long flowing corners and their car will suit cooler conditions but tyre could become an issue and Ferrari will hope to capitalise if they hit problems and it will surely make for a fantastic race.

  • The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

    The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is preparing to host its 39th Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, a 4.3km-long track that features the infamous Wall of Champions – which has claimed the pride, and carbon fibre, of several drivers over the years, including names such as Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and 2017 championship points leader Sebastian Vettel.

    The 70-lap race often boasts excitement, not only the dramatic encounters as you enter the pit straight, a number of on-lap overtakes and manoeuvres due to the high-speed nature alongside low asphalt grip.

    Ultrasoft tyres will be the preferred option in the dry this weekend, with all four title contenders holding at least eight sets of the purple-walled rubber due to the low degradation expected, meaning a split-second mistake on the usual two-stop strategy could make all the difference.

    Mercedes and Ferrari will be the ones expected to top the timesheets come Sunday, with the tarmac ribbon situated on the Notre Dame Island in Montreal favouring those with higher-power over aerodynamics. Bad news for the returning Fernando Alonso. At least he won’t have any penalties to walk into this weekend unlike his part-time replacement Jenson Button last time out in Monaco.

    However, one target for the rest of the field to aim for will be Rubens Barrichello’s current race lap record around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve of 1:13.662, which the Brazilian set back in 2004.

    Whether it be a Silver Arrow or Italian Stallion standing aloft on the podium come the end of Sunday afternoon, it will undoubtedly provide thrills and spills and disperse crucial points in the race for the Drivers’ Championship.

    By Joe Owens

    Image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsports

  • Will we see another name added to the Wall of Champions?

    2014 Formula One Canadian Grand Prix, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 6th – 8th June 2014
    Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW36 Mercedes, Action,
    World Copyright: © Andrew Hone Photographer 2014.
    Ref: _ONZ1071 / via Pirelli Media

    The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve based on Montreal’s Notre Dame Island is a stunning track. The track has the right balance of slow- to high-speed areas that creates some spectacular racing.

    There is one infamous part of the track which legends such as the great Michael Schumacher have hit—they call it the ‘Wall of Champions’. After the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix the wall on the exit of Turn 14 was christened most notably with three world champions. Drivers had hit the wall prior, but 1999 was when it was especially unforgiving.

    1999:

    Many drivers—or shall we say victims—had fallen prey to The Wall especially this year, but it all began with Damon Hill, he was the first notable casualty, after winning the World Championship in 1996. Now driving with Jordan he was amongst a midfield battle, and he clipped the rear of his car against The Wall—you could say he was an appetiser for it.

    15 laps later Michael Schumacher mid-chicane lost control after going off the racing line, and slid helplessly into The Wall’s grasp; at the time the German was leading the Grand Prix. The difference here was that Hill managed to get away, but Schumacher & Ferrari could not, with severe damage caused. The main course? The Wall was not done there, it wanted more!

    Canada’s own Jaques Villeneuve was the third champion into The Wall, only 5 laps after Schumacher, pretty much nose on, it was getting more and more of the cars at every attempt! The Wall after that had had enough, was full and had its fair share of rubber across it. Villeneuve was the dessert of The Wall’s three-car meal in 1999. From then on it was named the Wall of Champions.

    Recent Years:

    The Wall laid low for a few years, claiming the odd driver here and there—on a diet, you could say, but when it saw an opportunity it was more than happy to take full advantage.

    The rise, then fall, of Jenson Button at the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix, for example. He took pole position in qualifying, and then threw it away in the race when Schumacher was chasing him for third. He attacked the chicane but as a result broke his rear suspension: The Wall was ready for a taste of BAR, though much like Hill he managed to escape The Wall’s grasp.

    The most recent major casualty was in 2011, where we had the most incredible race that Button won. Funnily enough it was the complete opposite with Button rising to the top from the bottom.

    The Wall did not devour anyone during the race, as it was still buzzing from the first practice session. Sebastien Vettel lost his rear on a very green track, and over the kerbs he headed straight towards The Wall. So early on in the weekend, Vettel could not escape, and it ended his session with The Wall covered with fresh carbon fibre and rubber, whilst leaving the Red Bull team a major headache to get his car ready for FP2.

    Other notable mentions:

    – Ricardo Zonta, a champion in the FIA GT series, was actually the first to hit The Wall in the 1999 Grand Prix.

    – Juan Pablo Montoya—the 1999 CART and two-time Indy 500 champion—in what turned out to be his penultimate Grand Prix, did brush The Wall in 2006 resulting in retirement. Could this have been the catalyst for what ensued in the following US Grand Prix, resulting in an early Formula 1 departure?

    Will there be another one this year though? It’s been a few years since The Wall last had a tasty meal. Could an F1 champion such as Hamilton or future champion Max Verstappen join the ever-growing list of victims claimed by the Wall of Champions? The cars seem to suffer more in dirty air this year, and Canada always has been a tough track on brakes. The recipe is there for The Wall to claim another driver.

    Chris Lord, F1 Correspondent

  • Canadian Grand Prix Preview, 9-11June

    GP CANADA F1/2016 – MONTREAL 12/06/16
    © FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA (© COPYRIGHT FREE). Courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

     

    Montreal is getting ready to host the Canadian Grand Prix, one of the most famous and historic tracks in Formula 1. In 1977, Giles Villeneuve inspired the French Canadians and they decided to design and construct an F1 circuit.

    In their mind was the famous quote “simplicity is the best”, so their idea was to take the lle Notre-Dame, and connect all the roads around the island. It took them less than a year and about $2m to build and upgrade the track to meet Formula One’s standards, the first race was held in 1978.

    No one could imagine a better debut for the track, Gilles Villeneuve on his debut season with Ferrari won the first Canadian Grand Prix, but the track was marked by Villeneuve’s death in 1982 and renamed in his honor.

    Michael Schumacher holds the record of seven victories in Canada, whilst McLaren have won the race for thirteen times.

    Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

    Laps: 70

    Circuit Length: 4.361 km

    Race Distance: 305.27 km

    Lap Record: 1:13.622 (Rubens Barrichello – 2004)

    Tyre Allocations: Ultrasoft (Purple), Supersoft (Red), Soft (Yellow)

    Courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

    The drivers will aim to warm up their front tyres properly, because that is the key to a quick lap in Montreal, especially during the qualifying session. The circuit’s format affects the brakes and the tyres, and that is because the track applies longitudinal forces rather than lateral forces. Finally, this year’s cars are much faster than last year’s, which means that the lap record is in danger and it might be broken this weekend.

    Last season Lewis Hamilton lead the race from the start to the end as the Brit took the pole position and remained first till the chequered flag followed by Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas. Nico Rosberg, qualified second but finished fifth ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and behind Max Verstappen.

    This year Ferrari will try to build their own wall of champions, a wall which will allow them to remain first in the constructors’ championship and give the advantage to Vettel to increase his lead from its competitors.

    The question is if Scuderia will manage to finish once again in the front row and secure the second 1-2 of the season.

    Victor Archakis F1 Editor – @FP_Passion

  • 2016: Force India break the glass ceiling

    GP EUROPA F1/2016 – BAKU (AZERBAIJAN) 19/06/2016
    © FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA (© COPYRIGHT FREE)

    2016 is a year that will be associated with Nico Rosberg’s sole World Championship title after ten years in Formula One.

    But his was far from the only underdog success story on the grid, as Force India took fourth in the World Constructors’ Championship courtesy of strong results including two podiums.

    The pairing of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez had been a successful one during the previous two seasons, and it was no surprise to see the two regularly upsetting more established teams such as Williams and McLaren.

    And yet it was to be a slow start for the Silverstone team as Hulkenberg’s seventh place in Australia was the only points finish either driver had for the first three races, while Perez got off the mark with ninth in Russia ahead of the unveiling of their new car in Europe.

    Hulkenberg was to retire in Spain but in the hands of Perez the F1 paddock saw the step forward made by the team as he took seventh at the downforce-heavy Circuit de Catalunya. That preceded the best weekend of their season in Monaco.

    After qualifying fifth and eighth respectively, Hulkenberg and Perez were both keen to use the difficult track conditions to their advantage on raceday. With Nico Rosberg struggling from the start, Perez made use of a good strategy and excellent wet-weather pace to take a comfortable third, while Hulkenberg’s persistence paid off in his pursuit of sixth from Rosberg, which he took on the final lap.

    It was on to Canada next where eighth and tenth for Hulkenberg and Perez kept the points ticking over, while the team took their second podium in Azerbaijan. Perez was once again there to take advantage of a poor race for Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull to finish third behind Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel, with

    Hulkenberg ninth after poor luck early on. Perez had qualified second only to be hit with a gearbox penalty.

    A poor weekend in Austria was followed by another excellent team performance in the rain at the British Grand Prix, a mere stone’s throw from their base. They took advantage of Williams woe to finish sixth and seventh, while Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa failed to trouble the scorers. The battle was on.

    MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA) – 20/3/16
    © FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA (© COPYRIGHT FREE)

    Neither team scored heavily in Hungary as Bottas took ninth ahead of Hulkenberg in tenth, and more solid scoring was to follow for Force India in Germany as Hulkenberg came home seventh while his teammate salvaged tenth, again outscoring Williams.

    VJ Mallya’s men had another spectacular weekend in Spa, scene of their sole pole position and first podium at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix. Perez finished an excellent fourth, just ahead of his teammate. The European season drew to a close with another five points at the Italian Grand Prix.

    Eighth place for Perez in Singapore started the flyaway rounds well for Force India, and sixth for the Mexican in Malaysia enhanced his bid for seventh place, while Hulkenberg backed him up well in eighth.

    The Japanese Grand Prix is famous for Hulkenberg’s cheeky “see you later” message to Bottas after overtaking him at the final chicane at Suzuka, and it really was a case of waving goodbye to Williams. Perez and Hulkenberg in seventh and eighth finished ahead of both Bottas and Massa as the battle for fourth began to swing decisively in their favour.

    Hulkenberg retired after an early collision with Bottas in America, while Massa was on for fifth place until Alonso’s aggressive move gave him a puncture. He finished seventh, just ahead of Perez in eighth. Fourth was there for the taking for Force India.

    Another solid weekend at Perez’ home Grand Prix in Mexico saw Hulkenberg take seventh and Perez tenth, before Perez almost mounted the podium once again at a soaking Brazilian Grand Prix as Hulkenberg again claimed seventh.

    Bottas’ retirement in Abu Dhabi when Williams would have needed a huge points advantage over Force India meant that the battle for fourth place was won. Still, seventh and eighth for Perez and Hulkenberg brought about the end of 2016 in a fitting way, the team consistently scoring well.

    2016 was unquestionably the strongest season in Force India’s history, with a previous best result of fifth in the Constructors’ in 2015. This was the most successful season for the Silverstone factory since Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s 1999 title challenge.

    Perez took seventh in World Drivers’ Championship with 101 points and was well backed up by Hulkenberg, who was ninth with 72.

    The Mexican’s scoring streak lasted 11 races through to the end of the season and only came to an end at the recent Monaco Grand Prix, and with the budget of the

    bigger teams, Force India will be hard pressed to beat 2016.

    Jack Prentice @JPrentice8

    Images courtesy of Pirelli

  • Sahara Force India Week: The Force of India

     

    Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India F1 celebrates on the podium.
    Formula One World Championship, Rd 12, Belgian Grand Prix, Race, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Sunday 30 August 2009. courtesy of Sahara Force India F1 Team

    Once upon a time in India, a great country where you can find or loose yourself. Now, there is Force India, an F1 team that since 2008 has always surprised us. And in this special team was a special driver, the gladiator Giancarlo Fisichella.

    The Roman driver began his F1 adventure in 1995 as a tester for Minardi and taking part in some races of the 1996 season without scoring points. In 1997, with a decent car, Jordan allowed Giancarlo to score 20 points with some great races, podiums and fastest laps, ending the season in eighth place in the final standing.

    After four good seasons in Benetton, from 1998 to 2001, the Italian driver returned to Jordan, where in 2003 claimed his first win of his career in a thrilling race at the circuit of Interlagos. He could celebrate the win only 5 days later, because of an error of timing that gave the victory to Raikkonen. After passing a season at Sauber, Giancarlo began a great period of his career signing for the winning team Renault, where he didn’t have an easy life sharing the box with Fernando Alonso. Anyway he was able to win some good races and score many points both in 2005 and in 2006. But Fernando Alonso was the man in that era, so the Spaniard won both the championships and Fisichella had to be content with minor results in the final standing. In 2007, Renault lost Fernando Alonso to McLaren, and with him a lot of performance, so Fisichella could only score 21 points without wins or podiums.

    And finally we arrive to the first season in Force India, 2008, where Giancarlo couldn’t score points because of a lack of reliability with the VJM01, even using a Ferrari engine. But in 2009, after a troubled start to the season without any points, in the Belgian grand prix he grabbed a fantastic pole position and a second place in the race. It was epic! In fact, after Massa’s accident in Hungary, Ferrari, to replace the Brazilian, choose Giancarlo for the remaining races of the season. And there happened the paradox! Maybe Ferrari didn’t suit him well, maybe Ferrari had a deep technical crisis, but Fisichella couldn’t reach good results with Maranello squad.

    That’s the life: often it’s not gold what you see shining.

    Massimo Trapanese, F1 correspondent

  • Italian Shades in Monaco

    Monte Carlo, Monaco.
    Sunday 28 May 2017.
    World Copyright: Sam Bloxham/LAT Images (Courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media)
    ref: Digital Image _W6I4711

    Monaco Grand Prix, a race which most of us want to forget and delete it from our hard disk, a race which only one team and one driver wants to remember it. The team, as you can guess, is Ferrari and the driver is the four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

    Ferrari celebrated their first victory in Monaco since 2001, Sebastian Vettel overtook Kimi Raikkonen took the lead of the race after his first pit-stop and secured an easy victory and Ferrari’s first 1-2 in 2017.

    A bad weekend for Mercedes, they lost the lead in the constructors’ championship, they didn’t finish on the podium, but at least both drivers finished in the points.

    By now I guess most of you, you will know what happened in Monaco, the winners and the losers of the previous weekend, but there are several trends in social media, about “team orders”, the unfair way that Ferrari gave the lead and the victory to Vettel and that Kimi had to win.

    The facts indicate that when Kimi pitted, Vettel made some flying laps, remained on track, pitted a couple of laps later and passed Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn, couldn’t follow Vettel’s pace, and I assume that he preferred to protect his engine than to push in a difficult and risky track for overtakes, which would be very difficult for him to pass Vettel.

    Who can blame Ferrari for choosing different strategies for Raikkonen and Vettel? Who can say that Ferrari is not fair with the way that they are treating their drivers?

    Even if I accept that Ferrari decided to help Vettel to win, I don’t think that it was a bad move. First of all Vettel is leading into the drivers’ championship, he is more competitive than his team-mate, he has a bigger contract and finally he is a four-time world champion.

    Another difference is that Kimi Raikkonen will, probably, retire after the end of this or the next season, he is 37 years old, compared to Vettel, who is 29 and if he wins the title this year he will remain at Ferrari and will his chances to win more trophies will be increased.

    And don’t forget that Vettel is from Germany, he was born in the same country with Michael Schumacher, Ferrari’s legend and Vettel’s hero. For me that plays the biggest role in team’s decisions.

    Ferrari wants to return to the top and win the championship after almost 10 years, and they are not willing to risk it for any reason. I am sure that if they secure the title before the final race they will let Raikkonen to win a race. It won’t be the same, but remember that the team is above the drivers.

    At least we have to recognise that Ferrari have improved their “team orders” skills, no team radio this time and no “Kimi, Vettel is faster than you!”

    Victor Archakis F1 Editor – @FP_Passion