Here’s your chance to see what the first three drivers had to say after the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. While F1 is often a world of massive egos and petty bitching it is comforting to see the sport rally behind Jules Bianchi and show universal support and concern for his well being.
Like everyone else, we wish a full and speedy recovery for Jules.
Lewis Hamilton won a rain-affected Japanese Grand Prix yesterday, his third win on end and eighth for the year. But the day will be remembered more for its wet weather and the race-ending crash involving Jules Bianchi.
With heavy rain falling at the scheduled start time the race began behind the Safety Car. With no immediate sign of relief the cars were brought into pit lane on Lap 2 and the race was red flagged. Following a 25 minute delay the race restarted behind the Safety Car, which stayed out until Lap 9. Conditions had improved quite a lot and Rosberg was finally able to lead the field under green flag conditions from pole.
Jenson Button followed the Safety Car into the pits to take a risk by being the first driver to switch from full wets to intermediate tyres. That move paid immediate dividends as the inters proved to be the quicker tyre and all drivers came in for new rubber. This allowed Button to elevate himself up the field to P3 after starting eighth.
The race settled into a rhythm and the Mercedes AMG pair set off building a gap on the rest of the field. Hamilton had better race pace than Rosberg and after almost 20 laps behind his championship rival he was able to maintain grip on his tyres for longer and find his way into the lead.
Red Bull’s decision to sacrifice straight line pace during the sunny qualifying conditions was paying off as both Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo were able to use their increased downforce and subsequent grip to manufacture some entertaining overtaking moves.
As the race passed Lap 40, the mark needed to be considered for full championship points, rain had been falling for a few minutes and Kevin Magnussen came in for extreme wet tyres. Although, most drivers who did come in for new tyres remained on inters.
Adrian Sutil crashed out at turn 7, which became the precursor for Bianchi’s incident. The race finished four laps later behind the Safety Car with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg heading the field. Ricciardo had moved into P3 ahead of Vettel on track by choosing not to pit for new tyres, but once the race was stopped and positions were taken from the previous full lap Vettel reinherited the final podium position.
Celebrations were understandably subdued on the podium as word of Bianchi’s injury filtered through the paddock. Our thoughts remain with the young Frenchman and the Marussia team. It’s the worst possible build up they could have imagined as F1 prepares for the inaugural Russian Grand Prix in Sochi next weekend.
Nico Rosberg (1:32.506) has qualified on pole for the eighth time this season and will start alongside his Mercedes AMG teammate, Lewis Hamilton (1:32.703), for tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix at the much loved Suzuka circuit.
The second-row is an all-Williams affair, with Valtteri Bottas (1:33.128) to start from P3 ahead of Felipe Massa (1:33.527). Fernando Alonso (1:33.740) has put his Ferrari on P5 and has Daniel Ricciardo (1:34.075) to his side.
“I’m happy with how we bounced back in qualifying after my mistake yesterday,” Ricciardo said. “I thought we would be better here, but I think sixth is realistically what we could do today. If it rains tomorrow then we should be looking a bit better.”
Daniel’s departing teammate, Sebastian Vettel (1:34.432), could only manage P9. Ahead of the four-time world champ are Kevin Magnussen (1:34.242) in P7, then Jenson Button (1:34.317). Kimi Raikkonen (1:34.548) rounds out the top 10.
Heavy rain is expected for tomorrow’s race and it’s likely to be an entertaining affair. For Australian readers don’t forget the change to daylight savings time tonight. Check your local guides for TV times, it looks like we’re set for some awesome race!
Mercedes-AMG (as they like to be called these days) has a new 4.0 litre V8 biturbo engine. We saw it first in the AMG GT, and now they’re going about the process of stuffing it into pretty much every model they make that’s bigger than an A Class.
With the forthcoming Paris Motor Show the C Class has been given the AMG treatment, which brings us to this new C63 model. We like this a lot, because it means we can get off on another stupidly fast estate. There is a C63 sedan, of course—and coupé and Black Series models will no doubt follow soon—but right now we couldn’t imagine being in a cooler place than the driver’s seat of an AMG C63 Estate.
There’s two states of tune for the latest C63; the standard model has 350kW/650Nm, while the C63 S is beefed up to 375kW/700Nm. Interestingly that’s an extra 50Nm than the AMG GT S.
When coupled to the MCT 7-Speed transmission you’ll get yourself to 100km/h somewhere in between 4.0 and 4.2 seconds, depending on the model chosen. All models have a limited top speed of 250km/h.
From the outside this new C Class looks pretty good, especially with its fancy pants AMG body kit in place. But the inside, well, we wouldn’t knock back the car if someone gave us one, but the interior is a clear weak point in this car.
What do you think?
Victory at the Singapore Grand Prix makes it two wins in a row for Lewis Hamilton and with that he has put himself atop the drivers’ championship standings. No wonder he has such a smug look on his face.
At least Lewis has stopped pulling his hair out over the frustration of mechanical failures. Or has he?
You can see all that and more with our gallery of images below, some of which do literally contain the bright lights of Singapore.
It’s always good to read the post-race press conference, you get a chance to see the thoughts of the drivers without any spin. The transcript from the Singapore Grand Prix presser is available for you after the break.
Of course, there’s a lot of talk with race winner Lewis Hamilton, but it’s also interesting to hear Daniel Ricciardo discuss some issues he had during the race.
Lewis Hamilton has put himself back atop the drivers’ championship tree with a dominant win at the Singapore Grand Prix. It follows his victory in the last outing in Italy and is the 2008 world champion’s seventh win of the year.
Hamilton’s day started brilliantly when his teammate Nico Rosberg was wheeled off the grid before the parade lap with technical problems relating to his steering wheel and gear selection. Rosberg eventually started from pit lane but had a horrid race, unable to make any serious progress through the back markers, and retired after 13 laps with a faulty wiring loom. Hamilton’s maximum points haul in Singapore now gives him a 3 point lead in the championship with five races to go.
Fighting over the scraps in the wake of Lewis were the Red Bull pairing and Fernando Alonso. The order ended up with Sebastian Vettel in second, his best result for the year, followed by Daniel Ricciardo and Alonso. It’s the first time this season two Red Bull drivers have been on the podium.
Vettel enjoyed a brief moment in the sun leading the race with under 10 laps to go, but this only came about due to Hamilton’s tyre strategy and the fancied Briton was easily able to reclaim his lead on fresh rubber. Second was the best Vettel could hope for and despite losing the place to Alonso earlier in the race he was able to regain his position during the pit stop rounds under the customary safety car period, which came midway through the race to clean up debris on track after a kerfuffle between Adrian Sutil and Sergio Perez.
Ricciardo had to fight hard late following a long stint on increasingly fading tyres to save P3 from Alonso, but was able to prove his mettle again to add yet another trophy to his increasing stash.
Felipe Massa managed to avoid most everyone else to claim a seemingly untroubled P5 while the soon to be unemployed Jean-Eric Vergne reminded everyone he’s actually not that bad by employing an aggressive tyre strategy and rounding up a few drivers late in the race to charge to P6. This was despite incurring the wrath of the stewards for exceeding track limits.
The top 10 was rounded out by Perez, Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen. Hulkenberg’s points for Force India were enough to demote the once mighty McLaren down to sixth in the constructors’ standings.
We’re a little bit later in the week than usual with our Formula 1 photo smorgasbord, but here we are ready to help you relive Lewis Hamilton’s win at the 2014 Italian Grand Prix. How good is that lead image?!
Hopefully you will forgive our lateness, the 120-plus images for you after the break should help with that. And they’re in new 2560x1690px mega sizing too. Oh yeah!
Even more beautiful.
Thanks to Marussia for images of the famed Monza banking right at the end as well.
After a long build up the Mercedes-AMG GT is here. Mercedes is talking itself up with this car and AMG has lofty ambitions for its latest model. Just look at the first sentence from the press release below:
The first Mercedes was a racing car, its most recent successor carries this heritage forward: with the new Mercedes-AMG GT, the Mercedes-AMG sports car brand is moving into a new, top-class sports car segment for the company.
To help achieve its aims the AMG GT features a curvaceous coupé body with most of the curves in all the right places. It’s a classic two-seat sportscar look, with a long bonnet and the cabin pushed back towards the rear wheels. It does look pretty good from most angles, although we do think this car would look more impressive before our eyes than it does on a computer screen.
Powering the AMG GT is a 4.0 litre V8 biturbo engine. The new M178 V8 is provided in two states of tune, for the entry level GT model there’s 340kW/600Nm on tap, while the GT S gets a modest boost to 375kW/650Nm.
Perhaps inspired a little by the innovative turbo configuration from the F1 W05 the M178 V8 features what’s been labelled as “hot inside V†whereby the turbos are mounted inside the V layout, rather than outside the engine. The use of a dry sump also means the engine can be mounted lower, helping to provide a lower centre of gravity for better handling.
In true AMG tradition, this V8, even with turbos, sounds as raucous and thunderous as the company’s previous normally aspirated offerings. Thankfully!
Motorsport-inspired double wishbone suspension has been used for superior road holding, cornering and feedback, well, according to Mercedes anyway. A 47:53 front to rear weight distribution should also give the GT a classic sportscar feel, with that extra weight at the rear to keep the driving wheels better planted to the road.
The GT has a kerbweight of 1540kg and sees off 100km/h in 4.0 seconds, while the more powerful GT S weighs 1570kg but is quicker to triple figures with a sprint time of 3.8 seconds. Both models have had their top speeds electronically capped, 304km/h for the GT and 310km/h for the GT S.
Meaningful buzzwords like forged alloy wheels, carbon ceramic brakes, 7-speed dual clutch transmission, rear-axle locking differential and more can be found lurking in the detailed press guff below, along with a few videos and enough photos—in new 2560px mega sizing—for you to form a judgement on the AMG GT that we’d love you to share with us.
Formula 1’s biggest soap opera continued in Monza where Lewis Hamilton won the Italian Grand Prix overnight. Lewis took the lead after Nico Rosberg made a repeat error at the first corner, allowing Hamilton to take the lead unopposed.
It was a bad error from Rosberg, this is true. However, suggestions Rosberg ran wide on purpose are a little hard to believe, we think and more inline with the overhyped fantasy land some journalists or their editors want to create.
Elsewhere Daniel Ricciardo’s late charge earned him unofficial drive of the day plaudits but in the end all that mattered were the 10 points he got for finishing fifth.
“The strategy helped today, it kept the tyres fresh enough to go those extra few laps at the end,” Ricciardo said after the race. “I saw the cars in front of me pit and the pace was still good enough, so seeing that we didn’t have great pace when we were out of position then we thought we would try something different and that’s why we went long, which helped towards the end of the race.
“The start wasn’t ideal, it’s one of the longest runs up to Turn One here from the start line and it’s not a place where you want to have a bad one, but I dropped the clutch and didn’t get the traction, so we will have to look at that, but we kept a cool head and picked our way back through the field. I think fifth, even with a good start, was the best we could do.”
You can read the thoughts of the first three drivers after the race and you’ll see that’s where the Rosberg conspiracy theories began, albeit with a subtle question from Peter Farkas.
Lewis Hamilton has overcome a fortnight of hyperbole and poor start from pole position to win the Italain Grand Prix. He’s now within striking distance of the world championship lead, 22 points behind Nico Rosberg.
Mercedes AMG also enjoyed maximum points with Rosberg coming home in a comfortable second place. The German made an excellent start from P2 leaving Hamilton in his wake. However, an error going into the first chicane after the start-finish line allowed Hamilton to take the lead.
Lewis dropped down to P4 on the opening lap but fought back to increase pressure on Rosberg. When Rosberg went straight on at the chicane Hamilton took control of the race, built a steady margin and was never troubled.
As expected the Williams duo of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas were the next best, filling places P3 and P4. Massa’s podium is his first for Williams and his first taste of champagne since last year’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo’s race started badly, too. Starting from P9 he was soon out of the points in the early stages after he was forced off track through the first corner. Although, his day was salvaged thanks to his ability to run a long first stint in a one-stop race. With fresher tyres as the race drew to a close Daniel was carving through the field. His move to claim P5 from teammate Sebastian Vettel combined superb awareness, race craft and even some cheekiness.
Close behind Vettel were Sergio Perez and Jenson Button, who had a great scrap late in the race swapping positions a few times. Rounding out the top 10 in an otherwise drama free grand prix were Kimi Raikkonen and Kevin Magnussen. The latter copping a five second penalty for forcing Bottas off track.
The visit to Monza represents Formula 1’s final European race for the year as the teams head to Singapore for the next grand prix. While we may not like it the season is sure to stay alive until the final race in Abu Dhabi which will have that controversial double points policy in place.
Yes, you read that right!
While some degree of fallout from the Nico Rosberg contact on Lewis Hamilton from the Belgian Grand Prix was inevitable the heights it has reached is rather astounding. From team bosses making outlandish statements in public, to Lewis claiming Nico did it on purpose, to the general media hyperbole.
It’s not helped by the largely British-focused media wanting to see their home boy get the post-season chocolates. And, yes, Nico did make a mistake in clipping Lewis’ left rear tyre. But does anyone seriously believe that Nico hit Lewis as part of a planned and deliberate move?
Rosberg may not be the wheel-to-wheel racer that Hamilton is, as the general commentariat believes, but there’s no way he did that on purpose.
Anyway, without wanting to get further sucked into the soap opera the Mercedes garage has become, we were somewhat amused to see the team has taken to twitter overnight to seek advice from the general public.
No, we don’t think any of the feedback will be read by the team’s decision makers, let alone influence their thinking, but it’s still an intriguing approach to take given the profile the topic is commanding.
You can see the tweets from Mercedes after the break (follow the links for full responses). As you’d expect there were plenty of smart arses in the peanut gallery. Here’s a selection of our favourite responses:
On how to implement team orders
@dwaynepin I would start by re hiring Ross Brawn.
@ewanorandy Maybe tell Rosberg to let Hamilton win… that’s what most people want
On the question of suspending a driver for breaking team rules
@gokrazyinc yes suspend, to make sure this does not happen again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@McLaren_Soul Look, you can’t suspend Nico after a racing incident but defend Lewis when he disobeys team orders or takes Nico out of track
Smart social media strategy, or just plain dumb?
[via twitter]