May 20, 2013 in F1 2013, This Week in Formula 1
The tyres have dominated the news this past week with teams moaning that Pirelli should change them, Pirelli agree to change them and then teams moan that the tyres are being moaned and so on and so on. Who needs Eastenders when you’ve got Formula 1?
Let’s take a look at the news from the past week in Formula 1. Read the rest of this entry →
May 9, 2013 in F1 2013, Spanish Grand Prix
Circuit of Catalunya (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Spanish Grand Prix Preview comes from Guest Blogger Josh.
F1 fans will be hoping for a barnstorming Spanish Grand Prix to launch the season’s European leg – but Circuit de Catalunya isn’t a venue known for producing drama.Qualifying is arguably more important here than at any other track, with the eventual winner almost always coming from the front row.
That was the case last year, when pole-sitter Pastor Maldonado ended the Williams team’s seven-year victory drought by taking a shock win. Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton – who topped qualifying only to be sent to the back when his car ran dry of fuel – could only recover to eighth. Even in the era of DRS and KERS, overtaking is rare at the Spanish circuit. Read the rest of this entry →
April 24, 2013 in F1 2013, Rants and discussions
Since the start of the season the majority of incidents have been investigated after the race, which isn’t what fans want. Fans don’t want to sit around and wait for the stewards to reach a decision which may affect the results hours after the chequered flag.
We all know that Formula 1 has been having issued with telemetry and after four races it still hasn’t been fixed, which is nothing short of embarrassing considering the money and technical expertise and knowledge wandering around in the paddock.
Faulty telemetry means that drivers have to rely on team radio and trackside Marshalls to tell them when they can and cannot use DRS, when there’s a yellow flag or they need to move aside for a faster driver. This of course is what resulted in a few of the drivers being called into the Stewards Office for a spanking after the Chinese Grand Prix where some of them used DRS during a yellow flag zone.
The telemetry issues may also mean that the stewards are lacking information, but given the fantastic and extensive TV coverage which shows absolutely everything, surely that can answer a question and help the stewards reach a decision during the race where the majority of incidents are concerned?
Read the rest of this entry →
April 23, 2013 in Bahrain Grand Prix, F1 2013, Rants and discussions
Much has been said about Sergio Perez and teammate Jenson Button’s racing at the Bahrain Grand Prix, which resulted in Button complaining and Perez apologising, but why was Perez to blame anymore than Button?
All Eyes on Checo (Photo credit: Michael Elleray)
The young Mexican driver was labelled one to watch and a future World Champion when he first joined the sport driving for Sauber in 2011 thanks to his punchy and aggressive driving style. His start to his career at McLaren has been quiet quiet; perhaps because the car hasn’t quite been there or perhaps because driving for one of the biggest teams in Motorsport is a touch daunting.
Prior to Sunday’s race in Bahrain McLaren Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh told Perez that he needed to stick his elbows out and stop being so nice, which is exactly what he did.
April 14, 2013 in Chinese Grand Prix, F1, F1 2013, Grand Prixs, Race Report
2011 F1 Chinese Grand Prix (Photo credit: Infiniti Global)
Fernando Alonso took his first win of the season at a thrilling Chinese Grand Prix, which was full of incidents, brilliant overtaking, indecisive stewards and apalling soft tyres. Let’s take a look at how the Chinese Grand Prix unfolded.
At the lights went out in Shangai, Lewis Hamilton got away cleanly, while Kimi Raikkonen seemed to get bogged down and went backwards as both Ferrari’s powered past him.
Realising that things couldn’t get much worse for Webber, who started in the pitlane, the team decided to pit him for new tyres.
By lap 5 Hamilton was seriously struggling with his tyre as Alonso passed him for first place, swiftly followed by Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen eyeing up a pass on Hamilton. Read the rest of this entry →
March 24, 2013 in F1 2013, Grand Prixs, Malaysian Grand Prix
formula 1, sepang international circuit, malaysia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Following an exciting round 1 in Australia, there were plenty of high hopes and expectations for round 2 in Malaysia, which got off to a soggy start.
The drivers were faced with the dilemma of the first half of the track being wet and the second half being dry, and decided to play it safe and stick the intermediate tyre on.
As the lights went on out in Malaysia, Mark Webber surprised everyone by making a good start off the line and stormed up from 5th to 3rd. As usual we saw another brilliant start from Fernando Alonso, who in a push to pass Sebastian Vettel, damaged his front wing on the back of Vettel’s Red Bull.
Ferrari decided to risk bringing Alonso in, hoping to combine a pit stop with a front wing change when he was ready to switch to dry tyres. The risk didn’t pay off at all when at the start of the second lap Alonso’s wing broke free and became lodged under the car, making him a passenger as he veered into the gravel at Turn 1, ending his race. Read the rest of this entry →
March 17, 2013 in Australian Grand Prix, F1 2013, Grand Prixs
English: Aerial shot of Albert Park, Victoria, Australia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Finally, the day has arrived that Formula One fans the world over have been looking forward to since November, the season opener of the 2013 World Championship, the Australian Grand Prix.
With heavy rain postponing Qualifying on Saturday and the threat of rain again on Sunday, the race around Albert Park was shaping up to be interesting before the lights had even gone out.
Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel and team mate Mark Webber locked out the front row, and after a strong performance during the Practice sessions many were expecting the Red Bulls to dominate from lights out.
Thirty minutes before the start of the race Sauber announced that Nico Hulkenberg would not start the race due to a fuel issue they were unable to fix in time. Read the rest of this entry →
February 16, 2013 in F1
Last week McLaren Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh said “it’s sad to have so many pay drivers in Formula One” and hinted that he thought they were damaging the sport and preventing talented drivers without money from getting race seats.
Many people forget that Formula One isn’t just a sport, it’s owned and it’s a business, everything depends on money and funding. So in a sport which is primarily a business, are pay drivers really that bad?
Follow the jump to look at both sides of the argument
January 31, 2013 in F1 2013, McLaren, Spot The Difference
McLaren unveiled their 2013 challenger, the MP4-28, at their Technical Centre down in Woking earlier today. On first glance this years car and last years cars look incredibly similar, with no major differences jumping out at you straight away. So let’s play a bit of Formula 1 Spot The Difference. Read the rest of this entry →
December 2, 2012 in F1 2012, Winter Break Guest Blog Posts
The first guest blog post of the winter season comes from Nathan, you can keep up with him on Twitter @nategreen85
Hi, my name’s Nathan and I’ve been following Formula One since 1992 when I was seven years old. I’m a huge Ferrari fan, the red cars caught my eye when I was a kid and I’ve loved them and supported them ever since. Surprisingly this is my first blog post about F1, I’ve always spoken or more recently tweeted my opinions on this great sport. So when I saw Rosie’s tweet about anyone interested in doing a guest blog I jumped at the chance!
Fernando Alonso (Photo credit: nic_r)
So there we have it the 2012 F1 season has now come to pass and what a great season it’s been! So many different winners during the first seven races made it an outstanding start. During the mid-season break it looked as if we could have been in for an epic title battle all the way with Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Webber and even Button all in with a shot of the title.
I know some of their chances looked better than others, however you had the feeling that if one of them could put a run of good finishes together they would be able to take control of the destiny of the title. So it was a bit of a shame that three out of the five contenders hopes were extinguished going into the penultimate round of the championship in F1′s long awaited return to the United States in Austin, Texas, leaving only Alonso and Vettel.
After winning four in a row and then even with his set-back in Abu Dhabi, Seb still looked the best bet for the title – he had the faster car afterall. However, not all was as clear cut as that. No one in F1 was forgetting Fernando’s exploits this season in THAT Ferrari. Read the rest of this entry →
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