It’s been said that Sebastian Vettel has suffered a fair amount of bad luck so far in the 2014 Formula 1 season. Perhaps that’s all about to change as his 360° spin during the Hungarian Grand Prix shows, captured here by a fan at the race. While there was a reasonable amount of talent required to avoid major contact with the pit wall, there was also a fair degree of good fortune.
[Source: WTF1]
If you’re still enjoying in the afterglow of Daniel Ricciardo’s win at the Hungarian Grand Prix then you probably won’t mind listening to Peter Windsor wax lyrical about the race. You can do that after the break, which includes a repeat of Windsor’s prediction that Daniel would/could win in Budapest.
It’s always a great feeling being a Formula 1 fan in Australia when you go to bed late at night after an Aussie victory and you wake up on Monday morning and hear all about the race win on the morning news bulletins. It’s a great way to start the week. Thank you Daniel!
The most pleasing thing about Ricciardo’s win at the Hungarian Grand Prix was the way he had to fight for it. Same with Canada, too, he hasn’t yet dominated a race from start to finish. That’s a legacy of not having the best car this year. It’s meant Daniel has had to either create opportunities for himself or take advantage of good luck coming his way during a race.
It seems odd to say it, given he’s the only non-Mercedes driver to win a race so far in 2014, but Daniel’s two wins have been great development for him as a driver. He’s still learning and he’s proving he has the bottle and the skill to fight for race wins. Let’s hope it’s not too long until we see him fighting for a world championship. Clearly, he has the class.
Even Fernando and Lewis agree, as you will read below.
[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
What the hell just happened? I’ll tell you what happened, Daniel Ricciardo just won the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix! That’s what just happened.
Proving the Murray Walkerism that “Anything can happen in Formula 1, and it usually does” Fernando Alonso finished second and Lewis Hamilton, who started from the pit lane, finished third. So, again, what the hell just happened!
The track was wet for the race start and all the drivers started on intermediates. Nico Rosberg made a clean getaway and went about opening up a sizeable gap to those behind. Valtteri Bottas showed some smarts off the line and overtook Sebastian Vettel at the first corner to claim P2.
Daniel lost a couple of places at the start and was in P6 but worked his way back to P5. Marcus Ericsson then had his most influential F1 race to date after he binned his car and invited the Safety Car onto the track.
The timing was such that Daniel was able to quickly dive into the pits for slick tyres while the first four cars had to do almost a complete lap behind the Safety Car. The wash up of all that saw a fortunate Daniel inherit the race lead.
After the Safety Car came in, off he went. The lead was lost briefly to Jenson Button, who was running intermediates on the still drying track, but that didn’t last and Dan reclaimed the lead which he held until lap 22.
Sergio Perez spun on the last corner and smashed his car into the pit wall, which brought out the Safety Car for a second time. Again, Ricciardo was quick to pit, a move which eventually worked to his benefit.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was able to make solid progress through the field despite starting from pit lane and then spinning off the track momentarily on lap 2. By the end of the first Safety Car period he had risen to P7, only two places behind Rosberg.
Amazingly, as the race progressed it looked as though Hamilton could be in with a chance of victory. Fernando Alonso, too, was having a good run and inherited the lead of the race after Ricciardo came in for fresh tyres with 15 laps to go.
Daniel rejoined the race in good shape and set about chasing those ahead of him including Alonso, Hamilton and Rosberg. Alonso’s strategy required him to do 32 laps in his final stint and Hamilton, too, was on old tyres. Rosberg also came in for a pit stop, gifting P3 to Daniel, before he also started chasing the leading trio.
Alonso was able to hold Hamilton and Ricciardo at bay with clean defensive driving. However, his pace was slowing as his tyres lost more life and this closed the gap to little more than a second back to Ricciardo in P3. On newer tyres Daniel needed a couple of attempts to get past Hamilton for P2, but showed great racecraft to out manouevre his more experienced rival. He quickly caught Alonso and used DRS to great effect to maximise a half chance and take the lead.
With only three laps to go Ricciardo was able to build a safe margin, leaving Alonso to defend against Hamilton and a super quick Rosberg. Somehow the superior Mercedes pair could not do what Daniel did and overtake Alonso. The race settled with a totally unpredictable first three and Rosberg left to rue his chances in P4.
Felipe Massa was fifth ahead of Kimi Raikkonen (his best result since returning to Ferrari). Sebastian Vettel was seventh and had only himself to blame after a final corner spin on lap 32. He was lucky not to have crashed out but did sufficient damage to his tyres to ruin his chances of a better result.
Valtteri Bottas’ day was cruelled by unfortunate pit timing and he could only manage P8. While Jean-Eric Vergne and Jenson Button rounded out the top 10.
His second grand prix win seemed to sit better with a beaming Daniel Ricciardo, who showed he has no fear or talent deficit with the world champions he’s mixing it with. It’s a great result for the young Aussie as the teams go into the mid-season break before racing returns at Spa in late August.
[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
Nico Rosberg’s charmed run has continued after he claimed pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix. On his last lap in Q3 Rosberg (1:22.715) snatched pole by a comfortable margin from Sebastian Vettel (1:23.201). Valtteri Bottas (1:23.354) once again has his Williams in the mix and qualified third.
The big story, though, was Lewis Hamilton suffering yet another mishap during qualifying. The 2008 world champion was fastest in all three practice sessions and went into Q1 with justified confidence. Alas, early in the session his car suffered a fuel leak which caused a fire. Making matters worse Mercedes has to build a up a new chassis forcing Lewis to start the race from pit lane.
For only the fourth time in 11 races Daniel Ricciardo (1:23.391) will start behind his Red Bull teammate. He will line up on the second row in P4 and said the lack of tyre temps after the rain shower prevented him from achieving a better qualifying result.
“The car feels pretty good this weekend,” said Ricciardo. “In Q1 and Q2 we were looking good, but when the rain came in Q3 we couldn’t get the temperature back in the tyres quick enough for one timed lap so I’m a bit disappointed not to be further up the grid.
“It would be good to be on the front row, but fourth isn’t a disaster. It’s hard to overtake around this circuit, so we need to aim to make as few stops tomorrow as possible.”
Fernando Alonso (1:23.909) and Felipe Massa (1:24.223) will share the third row. Jenson Button (1:24.294) will start alongside Jean-Eric Vergne (1:24.720). While Nico Hulkenberg (1:24.775) and Daniil Kyvat (1:24.706) round out the top 10.
Kyvat inherits P10 after Kevin Magnussen crashed out early in Q3. Light rain fell in between Q2 and Q3 and the wettest part of the track was Turn 1. On his first flying lap early in Q3 Magnussen misjudged the track and locked his brakes into Turn 1 before skidding into the tyre barriers at pace. He emerged unhurt but his car required signficant work and he will start from pit lane ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Kimi Raikkonen made headlines too after he failed to progress to Q2, thanks to a last gasp effort from Marussia’s Jules Bianchi. The young Frenchman is signed to the Ferrari Driver Academy and is tipped to progress to the Scuderia when a place becomes available. Which presumably means Kimi needs to raise his game.
Only an outright disaster or car failure will prevent Rosberg from using his sixth pole position for the year to increase his championship lead over the luckless Lewis Hamilton. Indeed, on the tight Hungaroring layout Hamilton will just be happy if he can make the top 10 and claim a championship point.
Lewis Hamilton, winner of five grands prix so far in 2014, is contracted to Mercedes until the end of the 2015 Formula 1 season. Already, Mercedes has plans to replace him with Sebastian Vettel from 2016 and beyond. That’s what Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is telling German media anyway.
Remember, Nico Rosberg is safely tucked away at Mercedes for some time, so they only have one seat up for grabs. Providing perfect fodder for the likes of us here at AUSmotive both Hamilton and Vettel have been kind enough to comment on the speculation. So let’s go with Lewis first.
“I’m not worried about it,” he said in the build up to this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. “Another German driver? I’m not sure if that’s something Mercedes would like.
“At the moment I’m here until the end of next year, so it’s not going to be any time soon. But Mercedes are the best, so everyone is going to want to drive a Mercedes.
“I’ve shown an interest in sitting down and talking. We haven’t sat down yet, but the team know I’d like to push to continue, and they have made clear they would like to do the same.”
In words, at least, Lewis does seem quite relaxed and is displaying a mature attitude.
“You never know what’s going to happen in the future, but I can’t particularly see myself anywhere else,” he added. “If they happen to want someone else then I’m not going to whinge about it. There are places for everyone.”
And now for Sebastian’s thoughts.
“I think any offer is to be considered, but nothing has changed,” he said. “So I still don’t talk about these things. I don’t know which sources Helmut has or doesn’t have. But they seem to vary.”
Coincidentally, Vettel’s contract with Red Bull ends in 2015 as well, so he will need to secure himself a drive for 2016.
[Source: Autosport]
Another new grand prix looks set to join the F1 calendar with Bernie Ecclestone confirming to Forbes.com he has done a deal for a race to be hosted in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, in 2016.
At the behest of Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull there is a 20-race limit on the F1 season and in order to make space for Azerbaijan that limit may need to be increased or an existing grand prix will have to get scrapped.
There’s 19 races on the calendar this year and the return of the Mexico City as a grand prix host will take us back to 20 races in 2015. There was supposed to be 20 races in the current season too, but the second failure of the Grand Prix of America in New Jersey left the door open for Mexico.
And on the New Jersey race Eccelstone has had this to say: “Somebody said to me the other day that New Jersey seem to have got their act together now and that they have got the money and are all in good shape. Whether or not that is true I don’t know. The soonest it could come on the calendar is 2016.”
[Source: Forbes | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
After an absence of over 20 years the Mexican Grand Prix looks set to return next year. Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed he has signed a deal with race organisers and is subject to final negotiations, which may include finding a place on the ever bulging F1 calendar.
“I’m happy to announce we’ve concluded an agreement to have a race in 2015,” said Ecclestone. “Don’t miss this race!”
Tavo Hellmund, who helped establish the United States Grand Prix, has worked on the deal with Ecclestone and says it was a goal of his to bring F1 back to Mexico.
“Ever since Bernie and I began working on a race at Austin, it’s been a dream of mine to help Formula 1 return to Mexico,” said Hellmund. “This announcement has therefore been years in the making, but we’ve gradually been able to assemble all the right pieces. I’m absolutely delighted.”
The last Mexican Grand Prix was held in 1992 and was won by Nigel Mansell on the way to his only world drivers’ championship.
[Source: Formula1.com | Pic: Williams/LAT]
The official Sochi Autodrom website tells us there’s only 80 days until the Russian Grand Prix. Yet, one week on from the MH17 disaster, calls for the race to be cancelled are gathering momentum.
In addition to MH17 British-Russia relations are on high alert after a public inquiry into the death of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was announced. Critics from the political and academic spheres are now speaking out.
David Davis, a Conservative MP and former Foreign Office minister is one outspoken critic calling for the Russian Grand Prix to be postponed.
“If Russia continues as they have been doing, then the grand prix is one of many things that they should be denied,” Davis declared. “The morally proper thing to do is put the race on hold.
“F1 already had a problem in the past with Bahrain. Whilst I’m not particularly in favour of cancelling sports events at the drop of a hat, I think that Formula 1 should reflect the global outrage. It would be an important and appropriate response to cancel the race.”
Sir Menzies Campbell, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, weighed in saying: “Public opinion all over the world will find it difficult to accept Mr Putin taking all the plaudits for this grand prix in Russia and, no doubt, presenting the prizes.”
Further, Dr Andrew Foxall, from the Russian Studies Centre at the Henry Jackson Society, a British-based think tank, added: “Formula 1 is not, and never has been, an organisation known for morality. There are a host of reasons why this race should not go ahead.”
Previously, and unsurprisingly, Bernie Ecclestone has stated he has no problems with the race going ahead.
“We shouldn’t speculate as to what could happen,” Ecclestone told Adam Cooper. “We will honour our contract. Mr Putin personally has been very supportive and very helpful, and we will do the same.”
[Source: The Telegraph | Pic: via twitter]
One of the highlights from the 2014 German Grand Prix was the battle between Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso. Two-time world champion Alonso eventually won that battle for fifth place, but he was very impressed with the driving abilities of our Daniel.
“Daniel is a surprise from Australia,” Alonso told Sky Sports F1 after the race. “I think he’s doing unbelievable; I think he’s seven-three [in qualifying] in the first ten races with Sebastian [Vettel], so it’s something we probably didn’t suspect.
“He’s driving fantastically and today he was battling very smart—always taking the slipstream of me after I pass him and braking very late, attacking very late and never missing a corner.
“He was very, very smart, very respectful with the rules and it was a great fight.”
Alonso later added he was managing fuel towards the end of the race and was lucky not to concede P4 back to Daniel on the last lap.
“For the last stint I was saving fuel but I was battling with Ricciardo,” he said. “So for some laps you have to decide to give up the position and cross the line or fight with Ricciardo and be on the limit to cross the line.
“I decide to fight with Ricciardo, be in the position and then I will try to manage the fuel as good as I can.
“On the last lap, I had to save fuel massively and I was in eighth gear all lap and it was lucky that there was not 100 metres more.”
[Source: Sky Sports F1 | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
Amateur footage uploaded to YouTube gives us another look at the opening lap crash from the 2014 German Grand Prix involving Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen. You can also see Daniel Ricciardo forced way off track to avoid the incident.
The race stewards investigated the crash and decided neither Massa nor Magnussen were responsible and no further action was taken. Of course, the drivers don’t always see it like that.
“Luckily I am OK but I am not happy,” said Felipe Massa. “I was in front going into the corner, and so to have another race ended by another driver is not easy. I am doing my best, the team are doing their best, and we just aren’t getting the chances we need.
“Going into the first corner I was near to Valtteri but had to back off to stop an accident, sadly some others didn’t do the same. I am obviously very disappointed.”
Meanwhile, Kevin Magnussen defended himself saying he was unable to avoid contact with Massa.
“A real pity: I think I could’ve had a decent race if I hadn’t had the accident at Turn One,” Magnussen said. “I need to see a replay of the accident, but I feel that, if I’d had somewhere to go, then there wouldn’t have been contact with Felipe.
“I did my best to try and avoid the accident, but there wasn’t much else I could do.”
The champagne from Nico Rosberg’s fourth win for the year will complement his recent wedding celebrations nicely. You can read what he has to say about that and the German Grand Prix after the break, along with the thoughts of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton.
Before you do, though, here’s the post-race thoughts from a very enthusiastic and positive Daniel Ricciardo who was very happy with his day after that near miss at the first corner.
“That was awesome fun, one of my most enjoyable races I’ve had,” Daniel said. “I mean, not on the first lap, obviously, that was just the wrong place at the wrong time. I wasn’t as worse off as Massa and hopefully he is okay.
“I was on the outside and the collision happened, I had to avoid it and went pretty far down the field, I don’t know exactly how far back. From then on I just got on to the radio and said let’s make an amazing recovery and make ourselves proud today. And I think we did that, we fought hard and we didn’t leave anything on the table.
“These are the moments and battles that I personally thrive off and enjoy. Fernando is known to be a tough racer and I thought who better to have a good fight with. I was on the Primes and he was on fresher Options and I gave it the best fight I could and, well.., nearly!”
What a guy!