Over the last couple of weeks Red Bull Racing has been releasing a series of short videos explaining the A to Z of Formula 1. The final clip was recently published and we’ve assembled all six parts here for you in one place. You’re not really going to learn too many secrets, but there’s worse ways to spend the next 15 minutes or so.
James Hunt may have lived too fast and died too young, but didn’t he have a good time while he was alive! Those times were perhaps best exemplified early in his career when he gained attention with Hesketh Racing, where professionalism appeared secondary to reverie.
Now, you have an opportunity to live a little like James by buying one of the Hesketh 308 F1 cars he raced with to such good effect. We can’t guarantee you’ll land the ladies, or party like it’s 1974, but you can at least look the part in one of F1’s most uniquely styled cars from one the sport’s most unique teams.
If nothing else it’s just great admiring a car which, by today’s standards, looks so simple and outdated. Yet, the simplicity and purity of the car tended to be reflected in the racing of the time.
Chassis 308-1 is will go under the hammer with RM Auctions on Saturday 10 May. Alan Jones also drove the car, which helps add to the car’s provenance. There’s a pretty wide expected sale price of €350,000–650,000, so start saving and you never know your luck!
[Source: RM Auctions]
Before you get into the mostly routine press conference after the break, let’s take a look at what the Red Bull team statement gave us in light of another race where Sebastian Vettel was asked to let Daniel Ricciardo overtake him for track position.
Daniel Ricciardo: “With Seb, we were racing and you always want to hold on to your position, but the team radioed and he let me through. I did what I could after each stop and we improved the car; at the end I was doing all I could to catch Alonso and I think we got to within a couple of seconds of him as we went over the line. It’s going well with the team, I feel comfortable here and I did the best I could today. I really want that podium and we’re getting close!”
Sebastian Vettel: “I moved over for Daniel once I knew that we were on different strategies. When I was first asked, I didn’t understand as we were on the same tyre, unlike in Bahrain, so I double checked. When the team said we were on a different strategy, I moved over and then, as the race went on, I saw more and more that I didn’t have the pace. There was no point in holding Dan back. I’m not yet where I want to be with the car, but it’s an on-going process; hopefully at the next few races we will make some more steps in the right direction.”
Christian Horner: “Sebastian made a great start, but then appeared to go through the tyres quicker than Daniel and, after the second stop, it was apparent Seb’s degradation was particularly worse than Daniel, so we looked at switching him to a three-stop and therefore released Daniel who was very much focused on a two-stop at that point. Thereafter Daniel was able to close the gap to Alonso, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough to get onto the podium today.”
Lewis Hamilton cruising to victory has been the story of the early season so far in Formula 1 and that narrative continued in Shanghai today when Hamilton strolled to his third race win on end at the Chinese Grand Prix.
It also says something of Mercedes AMG’s dominance over the field when a comparatively bumbling Nico Rosberg, driving a car unable to transmit its telemetry back to the pit wall, was able to recover from a poor start to take an easy second place, making it the third Mercedes 1–2 in succession.
Fernando Alonso extended his reputation for delivering more than his car can give by finishing third, able to hold off a late charge from Daniel Ricciardo who came home fourth. The young Aussie once again ruffled the feathers of four-time world champ Sebastian Vettel, who finished fifth.
Around mid-race distance Ricciardo was on a two-stop strategy and at the time Vettel was planning to three-stop. With fresher tyres Daniel was closing in quickly on his more credentialled teammate and for the second race in a row an order from the team came through asking Vettel to let Ricciardo past.
Vettel’s initial response over the radio, after establishing both men were on the same tyres, was, “Tough luck!” Although, on the next lap Vettel opened the door for Daniel and the impressive youngster went through. To rub further salt into Vettel’s wound the team later switched him to a two-stop strategy.
After the excitement of Bahrain, this was not a race for the ages. The only incidents of any note came during the early stages of the opening lap when Felipe Massa and Alonso clunked wheels. Almost immediately afterwards, in a separate incident, Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas interlocked wheels. It was a stroke of good fortune for all four drivers that no damage was done and all managed to finish the race uninhibited.
That said, Felipe Massa’s chance at a stronger points haul was ruined when his Williams crew completely botched his first pit stop. To call it a comedy of errors would have been kind. In the end the Brazilian resumed the race in last place and did well to fight back to finish P9.
Reliability improved across the field, too, with only two drivers failing to finish the race. Adrian Sutil retired early with an engine problem, while the Lotus of Romain Grosjean succumbed to a gearbox failure.
Trivia buffs will be keen to note an oddity to the final result thanks to the chequered flag first being shown to Lewis Hamilton on lap 55 of the 56 lap race. That mistake meant the final classified result reverted back to the positions on lap 54.
You can see the full lap 54 positions after the break, along woth updated championship tables.
There will be a delay in our F1 in pictures gallery for this race. We expect to have the images ready for you by next weekend, or hopefully before.
Lewis Hamilton made light work of the wet conditions to comfortably claim pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix yesterday. It’s his third pole position for the year and his 34th career pole, a new British record.
Hamilton’s time (1:53.860) was almost six tenths faster than Daniel Ricciardo’s best lap (1:54.455), who outqualified Sebastian Vettel (1:54.960) for the third time in four races. Vettel will start from P3, alongside Nico Rosberg (1:55.143).
Former teammates Fernando Alonso (1:55.637) and Felipe Massa (1:56.147) will line up on the third row, ahead of Valtteri Bottas (1:56.282) and Nico Hulkenberg (1:56.366).
The top 10 is rounded out by the Renault-powered duo of Jean-Eric Vergne (1:56.773) and Romain Grosjean (1:57.079).
McLaren will be wondering where its pre-season pace has gone, only able to qualify in P12 (Jenson Button) and P15 (Kevin Magnussen).
Technical problems prevented Pastor Maldonado from setting a time in Q1 and he will start from the rear of the grid at the stewards’ discretion. Given he has a five-place grid penalty for flipping Esteban Gutierrez at the last race it would spice things up a little if the stewards said, “No race for you!”
Weather conditions for the race are expected to be cool and dry, which should see Mercedes increase its advantage over the Red Bulls who need rain to have any chance of closing the gap over a full race distance.
The full post-quali press conference transcript can be read below and Sebastian Vettel’s response to having a “more competitive teammate” is worth a read.
Austrian twentysomething Paul Bischof is a bit like you and me. He’s a car geek. And he likes Formula 1. But Paul is a bit different, too, and takes his interest in cars to a totally new level. Way beyond the scope most of us can even think of.
He makes 1:10 scale models of racing cars from paper. For example, he made a Red Bull RB7 replica, which consists of around 6500 parts. That’s right, from paper!
He had no idea at the time, but his RB7 model turned out be the best job interview he ever did. This is his story, and you watch the video after the break.
[Thanks to Tiaan for the tip]
Red Bull Racing’s presentation to the International Court of Appeal has failed and Daniel Ricciardo’s disqualification from the Australian Grand Prix for his car exceeding the maximum fuel flow rate will stand.
The FIA has released a brief statement, which can be read below, and says full details will be published later this week.
At this stage there appears to be no further sanction for Ricciardo or Red Bull.
This result was expected and while Red Bull’s defence had merit, it was always undermined by the fact that the team was warned by FIA stewards during the race that Daniel’s car was in breach of the regulations. When you’re given an opportunity to right a perceived wrong by the referee and you ignore it you can’t really expect them to pretend it didn’t happen.
Red Bull’s statement can be read below, after the the FIA press release.
[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
NASCAR team owner Gene Haas will be expanding his motor racing empire into Formula 1 following confirmation the FIA has granted his team, Haas Formula LLC, an entry licence.
A World Motor Sport Council release confirmed the entry last Friday: “The FIA has launched a selection procedure for an additional F1 team(s), and applications of a high standard have been received. In close consultation with the commercial rights holder, the FIA has accepted the candidature of Haas Formula LLC and are in the process of conducting further investigations for Forza Rossa.”
Haas spoke to the media overnight and said he was unsure if his team would take the grid next year or in 2016.
“I would like to do 2015, simply because the first year is going to be a difficult year no matter what happens,†he said. “It’s a very big challenge and part of that learning curve is just simply getting to the track and sorting out the logistics of going from race to race, and the sooner we learn that, the sooner we’ll be done with that.”
Haas Formula will rely on technical partners and Haas at one stage made reference to “customer car”. The team is expected to choose Mercedes or Ferrari for its power unit and may bring Dallara back to F1 to build its chassis. Dallara previously supplied chassis to the HRT F1 team, who last competed in 2012.
Team headquarters will be based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, with a European facility to be used for assembly and disassembly.
“Ideally what we would like is to have an experienced F1 driver, probably someone who is familiar with the current engine package rules,” Haas explained when asked who he will target to race for the team. “Then going forward we would certainly like to have a young American driver, that would be the ideal situation. At the moment we haven’t really narrowed it down. We’ve had quite a few people talk to us.”
Former Red Bull and Jaguar technical director Guenther Steiner will take on the role of Haas Formula Team Principal.
[Source: Fox Sports | Pic: Getty Images]
The Mercedes AMG F1 W05 has been untouchable so far this season. That’s no surprise, though, because the team dominated pre-season testing and has backed that up by winning the first three races of the year. So what makes the 2014 Silver Arrow so good?
In short, the answer centres around the design of its turbo. Despite what SkySports F1 will tell you this was first discussed by Scarbs back in March. But it’s still worth taking a look at this piece from Sky as described by Martin Brundle.
Looking at the image above the car on the left has a conventional turbo design, while the one on the right, illustrating the W05, shows a split turbo arrangement. The air compressor is placed at the front of the engine where it has better access to cooler air, while the turbine remains at the rear to make use of the exhaust gasses.
The net result of that change is that the turbo is more efficient, it allows for better weight distribution and improved aero packaging at the rear of the car.
So why aren’t all Mercedes-powered cars fighting for race wins? The story we’ve heard is that the customer teams did not get the full details of the new PU 106 A Hybrid V6 power unit until they had signed contracts. Whereas Mercedes AMG was able to develop the W05 from the start with full knowledge of the split turbo design, allowing it to better refine its aero and other packaging.
It’s a simple concept that must be incredibly difficult to implement, otherwise you wonder why nobody else has done it. Moreover, you’d have to think this concept has wider applications beyond motorsport too, into the cars we drive on the streets.
[Thanks to Tiaan for the tip]
Ferrari is staring down the barrel of another failed season, where failure is anything other than championship success. The surly faces made by President Luca di Montezemolo in Bahrain were obviously seen by Stefano Domenicali and he has officially resigned from his role as Ferrari Team Principal.
Respected F1 journo Adam Cooper covered the news of Domenicali’s departure as it broke via twitter. He’s had this to say on his blog:
Stefano Domenicali has resigned as team principal of Ferrari in the wake of the disappointing start to the team’s 2014 season.
He will be replaced by high flying Ferrari road car executive Marco Mattiacci, who will be in China next weekend.
Mattiacci worked at Jaguar/Ford before joining Ferrari in 1999. He quickly rose up the ranks to become President and CEO of Ferrari Asia Pacific in June 2006, before taking the same role at Ferrari North America in May 2010. He is clearly highly regarded within the Ferrari camp.
[Source: Adam Cooper]
UPDATE: A statement from Domenicali can be read below.
Michael Schumacher has been showing small signs of inprovement according to his manager Sabine Kehm. Although, the Formula 1 great still has a long way to go in his recovery following head injuries suffered after a ski accident in late December.
“There are short moments of consciousness and he is showing small signs of progress,” Kehm revealed in an interview with German broadcaster ARD. “There are moments when he is awake and moments when he is conscious.
“Of course I am not a doctor, but medically, there is a distinction between being awake and being conscious, the latter meaning there is an ability to interact with his surroundings.
“I don’t want to disclose details out of respect for the family, but we have no doubt at all in the abilities of the doctors treating Michael, they are experts in their field.”
And in a reminder to media and news outlets, including AUSmotive, Kehm shared some thoughts from Michael’s family.
“What upsets the family most is media quoting doctors who are not treating Michael and untruths are constructed from these,” said Kehm. “It has been a problem when outsiders comment and it means we have to set the record straight, even when we don’t want to.”
[Source: Fox Sports]
It could be argued that the start to Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull career should read second, fourth, fourth. That would have netted him a total of 42 championship points and placed him third in the title race behind the Mercedes pairing of Rosberg and Hamilton.
As it stands it’s only Daniel’s well earned fourth placed finish in Bahrain last weekend which he has to show for an otherwise impressive start to the 2014 F1 season. He’s shown great raw pace, often pushing the faster Mercedes drivers, as well as proving on track that he’s in no way intimidated by his teammate Sebastian Vettel.
Ricciardo has impressed his immediate boss Christian Horner, too.
“He has been brilliant,” said Horner. “From first practice in Australia he has been right there, driving extremely well, enjoying it, and he’s always got a smile on his face, whether things are good or bad.
“And his racing, if anybody had any question marks over his ability to move forward through the field, he has demonstrated he is right up there with the best.”
Horner added Daniel’s time with an under resourced HRT and under performing Toro Rosso may have hidden his abilities.
“Sometimes equipment does mask the potential of these guys,” explained Horner. “We knew he was good through what we saw in the testing he did with us, and in the simulator, but how good we weren’t quite sure.
“But he’s demonstrated he is absolutely top drawer.”
[Source: Sporting Life | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]