Category: Formula 1

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BMW Formula 1

BMW coming back to Formula 1?

Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 2008 Canadian GP

A new rumour suggests BMW is readying itself for a return to Formula 1 and it could be back as soon as next year. The source of the speculation is Minardi (yes, that Minardi) and on its website it quotes Gian Carlo Minardi:

…German rumour has it that a BMW Board of Directors has been fixed for the month of May to consider a coming back in F1 already for 2015. The promoter of this project is Steven Althaus, Director Brand Management BMW and Marketing Services BMW Group. A confirmation of BMW’s concrete will to evaluate future projects has been the continuous and steady presence of technicians, both in the pre-season testing and during the first races, gathering important information…

It would seem any return to F1 by BMW return would be in the role of engine supplier, rather than constructor. Despite the controversy over the sound of the new V6 power units, the marketing, research and potential sales benefits of this technology makes it the perfect time for car makers to consider F1. A relatively fuel efficient 1.6 litre turbo V6 hybrid has a lot more relevance to road cars than normally aspirated screaming V8s or V10s.

BMW quit F1 at the end of 2009 ending its ownership of the BMW Sauber team (2006–09), having previously supplied engines to Williams (2000–05). BMW’s best success as a constructor came via Robert Kubica’s solitary race victory in the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix.

In 1983 Nelson Piquet won the world championship with a Brabham BT52, powered by a BMW M12 1.5 litre four-cylinder turbo engine.

[Source: Minardi]

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Formula 1 Lotus

“Whoa! What was that?”

Esteban Gutierrez gets flipped off my Pastor Maldonado

The most spectacular incident from this morning’s Bahrain Grand Prix happened when Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado drove into Esteban Gutierrez and flipped over the young Mexican and his Sauber C33.

Gutierrez, bemused immediately after the impact and now resting back on his wheels, asked over the radio: “Whoa! What was that?”

Thankfully, we can laugh about it now because Gutierrez was not hurt.

After the break we have a series of photos captured by those watching the race and shared with the world via twitter, starting with the image above from the BBC.

For his troubles Maldonado received a 10-second stop-go penalty and will also incur a five-place grid penalty after qualifying at the next grand prix. And, yes, in case you were wondering, that is in no way commensurate with the 10-second stop-go penalty and subsequent 10-place grid penalty for harming nobody after driving 100m down pit lane or so with a loose wheel handed down to our Daniel!

Maldonado has also been handed 3 points against his Super Licence, which could lead to a race suspension if he accumulates 12 or more points this season.

UPDATE: Thanks to Scott for the YouTube link, which has been embedded below.

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz

2014 Bahrain GP: Post-race press conference

2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

The post-race press conference from the Bahrain Grand Prix features questions mostly aimed at race winner Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Nico Rosberg. As you might expect many of the questions concentrate on their close racing. We would have loved it, though, if someone asked: “Your relationship seems close and friendly now, but if you keep wheel-to-wheel racing like that what happens if, or when, you guys make contact, how will that affect your relationship?”

Meanwhile, with perhaps another lap or two Daniel Ricciardo may have been able to get his Red Bull onto the podium. Instead we’ll have to make do with his comments from the team’s press release.

“It was an awesome race; it was exciting,” Daniel said. “I think the first stint was a bit follow-the-leader, but from the second stint onwards, the race really started to turn up the heat and there were more battles going on in front and behind—it was good to be a part of them.

“We got close to the podium today, I think within half a second, so I was doing all I could. The car came to me as the race went on and I was happy with how I moved up through the pack, so a good day.

“It was good fun to race Sebastian, it was hard but fair and we left each other room. That’s what we want from each other and we discussed it beforehand, we’re racers and that’s what we enjoy doing.”

It’s also worth hearing Sebastian’s words, given he was overtaken for position by his younger and more inexperienced teammate.

“Daniel proved that there was a little bit more to get from the car today,” Vettel explained. “I couldn’t really get to that bit, so I’m not so happy with my day.

“It was straight forward with Daniel today, we worked well together as a team and we raced well, but surely I would like to have finished higher up.”

The transcript of the post-race press conference featuring the first three drivers is available in full after the break.

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz

Lewis Hamilton wins 2014 Bahrain GP

2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has edged out his teammate Nico Rosberg to win the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix and the pair delighted fans all around the world in doing so.

The quality of racing throughout the field all race was first class, with most scraps taking place behind the leading Mercedes drivers. The men in the silver arrows must have felt obliged to bring some spice to the front of the field and they gave us some brilliant wheel-to-wheel racing.

After Pastor Maldonado exited the pits following his final pit stop he decided he didn’t need to worry about too much about the Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez ahead in Turn 1 and just speared into him, flipping the young Mexican who eventually landed back on his wheels and escaped serious injury.

The wash up from that incident was the obligatory penalties for Maldonado and a Safety Car which bunched up the field and was released with 10 laps to race.

Quickly speeding off into the distance was leader Hamilton with Rosberg hot on his heels. The pair pitted just as the Safety Car came out and Rosberg was on the grippier and theoretically faster Soft tyres. We were set for a grandstand sprint finish and that’s exactly what we got.

Out front the Mercedes pair diced for the lead with millimetres separating cheers from tears. It was great to watch and afterwards Hamilton and Rosberg appeared good humoured and shared a few laughs. One thing is certain, though, if they keep racing that closely there will be contact and we could have a repeat of Turkey 2010 on our hands.

The raw pace of the Mercedes AMG F1 W05 was brutally exposed when you consider the winning margin was 24 seconds from the race winner to P3. That’s not to say the racing behind was boring, though, far from it!

Sergio Perez emerged as the best of the rest in what is just Force India’s second ever podium result. Yet the man who will attract more headlines is Daniel Ricciardo who finished fourth after starting back in P13. In doing so he established once again that he is not afraid of his four-time world champion teammate and fought his way past Vettel on track as he edged his way through the field.

Nico Hulkenberg picked up more good points for Force India and split the Red Bulls, with Vettel finishing sixth.

The Williams duo of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas finished in P7 and P8 respectively. The latter may have expected more after starting from P3. The top 10 was rounded out by the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.

With the Mercedes power unit being the clear stand out so far this season McLaren will be bitterly disappointed to have endured a double retirement. Kevin Magnussen pulled off track on lap 40 and Jenson Button returned to the pits with just a couple of laps to go.

All in all it was a very exciting race and if there is a coming to blows at some stage between Hamilton and Rosberg this season could get very tasty indeed! Equally, the RB10 is a very strong chassis and if Renault can find some power then Mercedes could have a fight outside of its own garage.

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

2014 Bahrain GP: Qualifying report

2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

In a bit of a rush this morning so here’s your concise quali report.

Nico is on pole, he was faster than Lewis. Oh yeah, it was dry for a change, too. And hot presumably. The race is in Bahrain after all.

Daniel out qualified Sebastian, who didn’t even make it into Q3. That’s awesome for Daniel. Less awesome is the fact Dan will be start from P13 thanks to that wheelnut cowboy from Malaysia last weekend.

The second row now reads Valtteri and Sergio. That’s pretty cool.

Kimi, Jenson, Felipe, Kevin, Fernando and Sebastian round out the top 10.

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Formula 1 Porsche Red Bull Racing Video WEC

Mark Webber talks about career, past and present

Mark Webber

The chaps at XCAR films managed to get Mark Webber to spend some time in front of the camera during last week’s WEC test at Paul Ricard. They got him talking about his career and a few other bits and pieces.

We learn how Mark got started, hear about his departure from Formula 1 and what he’s looking forward to with Porsche.

One thing we were surprised to learn is how low Mark’s heart rate is during race conditions, especially in the 919. He is ice cool!

[Thanks to Tiaan for the tip]

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Formula 1

Adrian Sutil is no lightweight

Adrian Sutil

You may have heard Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton recently expressing concern for the measures Formula 1 drivers are expected to take in order to keep their body weight to a minimum. According to the two drivers some of their colleagues are deliberately dehydrating themselves, among other things, in order to drop weight.

It’s prompted former F1 doctor Gary Hartstein to blog about the issue:

Obviously the implications of an unwell driver at the helm of a terrestrial cruise missile are huge—for themselves, for their fellow drivers, and for others. And the message this sends to the public, and to every young driver from go karts to GP2 is obvious—train for the week after a race, then totally fuck yourselves up for a week before the next one. Yeah, that’s the message you should be sending. Brilliant.

Now Adrian Sutil has backed up the comments made by Jenson and Lewis when he revealed his plans to race at Bahrain this weekend without a drink bottle.

“No drinks bottle in the car is one thing,” he said. “For Bahrain, it’s one-and-a-half hours and you have to drive with no drink.

“Normally you have one litre, or even one-and-a-half litres in Malaysia to drink, but in the situation [I am in] you are talking about 300–400g. And that’s already a lot. You also have to count the bottle which has an empty weight of half a kilo.”

Sutil is 183cm tall and reportedly weighs 75kg, which is 16kg more than Felipe Massa, understood to be the lightest driver on the grid at 59kg. Couple that with the fact the Sauber C33 is already over the minimum weight limit and you can see why Sutil feels under pressure to take extreme measures.

The current minimum weight limit for a car and drivers is 692kg. That’s a 50kg increase on last year, although most of that was to allow for the added bulk of the energy recovery systems used by the new V6 power units.

The weight of drivers has been a recurring theme in recent months and now Sutil, who has pushed for an increase in minimum weight during driver briefings, is claiming that some drivers are showing no sympathy for their heavier counterparts.

“The lightest drivers have a problem with it, they block it [increase in minimum weight],” Sutil explained. “I think it’s unfair. I wouldn’t like to win against a driver who is 20kg heavier and if I win by a tenth in qualifying, this is not the truth.”

[Source: Autosport | Pic: Sauber Motorsport AG]

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing Renault

Red Bull threatens to throw French toys from cot

2014 Malaysian Grand Prix

We’re just two races into the 2014 F1 season and already it’s clear that the Renault V6 power unit is the third of the three engine options available. And when you’ve got four constructors’ championship behind you you’re used to being the best. Right now Red Bull is not happy with its lot in this new V6 power unit era.

Predictably, then, Helmut Marko is throwing his weight around demanding Renault lifts its game, or else!

“If there is no noticeable improvement in two or three months, we will definitely be talking about an alternative,” Marko revealed in an interview with German publication Bild.

At this stage that’s a clear nod towards the Mercedes-Benz PU 106 A Hybrid which has so far proved to be the weapon of choice in 2014.

In order to try and fast track Renault’s work on its V6 power unit Red Bull has sent a representative each from Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso inside the French manufacturer’s F1 factory at Viry.

Red Bull has been using Renault engines since 2007.

[Source: The F1 Times | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Bathurst 12 Hour Formula 1 Motorsports WEC

Racetracks of the world to scale

Racetracks of the world to scale

In this graphic you’re looking at 95 famous racetracks from the world, all compared alongside each other in scale. It’s been prepared by a guy appropriately named Matt Dunlop. Thanks Matt, this is great work!

Some tracks are pretty obvious to make out, such as the Nürburgring, Circuit de la Sarthe, Silverstone, Suzuka, Mount Panorama, Phillip Island and so on. If you want to identify more tracks simply click on the image above for the full-sized 3450x2400px version and all will be revealed.

For example, what’s the massive track running around the outside of the graphic? It’s the 60.73km Snaefell Mountain Course, best known for hosting the Isle of Man TT.

[Source: imgur | Thanks to Micky for the tip]

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Would Red Bull really drop the Ricciardo appeal?

Daniel Ricciardo and Helmut Marko

In the build up to the Malaysian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel was asked to describe the sound of the new V6 power units. His reply: “It’s shit”. This comment could land him in hot water with the FIA via a disrepute charge.

What’s that got to do with Daniel Ricciardo and the appeal—due to be heard on 14 April—to have his disqualification from the Australian Grand Prix overturned? There’s been a suggestion that Red Bull could drop the appeal in a deal with the FIA which could see Vettel escape sanction for his comment.

In his column for The Sunday Times British journalist Mark Hughes said: “Threatening to punish Vettel for his negative comments could conceivably be used as leverage by the FIA to convince his team to withdraw their appeal.

“[Jean] Todt was dismayed that the World Champion should be so publicly critical. During the era of Todt’s predecessor, Max Mosley, occasional use was made of article 151c of the regulations—bringing the sport into disrepute—to quell dissent. This is not Todt’s style, though the regulation provides an underlying threat to Vettel and Red Bull.”

We couldn’t care less what happens to Vettel, aside from the belief that his comment was pretty harmless and he should be free to air his views. However, we would care a lot if Red Bull chose to drop its appeal on Ricciardo’s behalf in order to protect Vettel.

We can’t imagine they would be that piss weak.

[Source: Sky Sports F1 | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images | Thanks to John for the tip]

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Formula 1 News

Bringing Michael home

Michael Schumacher

Preparations are being made to bring Michael Schumacher home. Sadly this appears to be a sign of acceptance, rather than new hope.

It’s being reported that Michael’s wife, Corinna, is coordinating the building of a multi-million dollar dedicated medical suite to care for Michael at their Lake Geneva home in Switzerland.

An unamed family friend has been quoted as saying: “Miracles happen, of course, and as a wealthy man he has the best care money can buy.

“But all the money in the world cannot fix what has happened to him. The family are making arrangements for a future of permanent immobility.”

[Source: Yahoo UK]

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

2014 Malaysian GP: Post-race press conference

2014 Malaysian Grand Prix

Here’s the full post-race press conference transcript from the Malaysian Grand Prix. It’s worth reading some of the exchanges between Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel. At the start Vettel pushed Rosberg towards the pit wall as the Mercedes powered past. It wasn’t a huge deal, but it was a little tight.

If anyone had a reason to kick their cat after the race it was Daniel Ricciardo and he is to be admired for his positive attitude shown in his post-race comments via Red Bull: “It was looking like we could have a solid points finish today; the race was going pretty well,” Daniel said. “The start was really good and I made up a couple of positions and I was starting to, let’s say, mix it up at the front, which is nice. It’s fun being up there and fighting for the top few spots, but then we had a problem at the last pit stop and then we had a puncture.

“I think we had a front wing failure and a few other things went on and then the stop-go penalty, so the race ended pretty quickly for us, it went from looking good to looking pretty bad in a short amount of time. I’m really disappointed, but at the same time there’s a little bit in me which is happy because I think I’ve come out the first two races how I wanted to, in a way. I still want to improve, but we’ve started off on the right foot, so for that I’m pleased and with a little bit of luck we’ll turn things around soon and I’ll get some points.

“I love racing up the front, it’s been a privilege so far and a lot of fun in the last couple of races. It’s a bit addictive actually, I want more, so you’ll see me up there plenty of times this year.”

What a guy!

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