Here we go again, another season of Formula 1 images starting in the best place on the calendar, Australia! You can relive the 2015 season opener after the break with our gallery of 89 images, all clickable to 2560px mega image sizing.
Tag: Sauber
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2015 Sauber C34 revealed
Well, hallelujah to Sauber! They’ve got no money, no hope and no chance of achieveing great things in 2015. But they’ve had a decent crack at livening up the grid with a new livery that, in some ways, takes us back to the halcyon days of Formula 1 with a hint of Williams-Renault.
The new C34-Ferrari will be at the first test in Jerez next week. It will still rely on some parts from the C33, with the team planning to introduce upgrades across the pre-season.
Sauber is F1’s perennial underdog, the team is entering its 23rd season and this year it’s with an all-new driver lineup. Swede Marcus Ericsson is back for his second year in F1 and he will be joined by Brazilian rookie Felipe Nasr.
It’s difficult to not have a soft spot Sauber. The team had a disappointing season last year and we hope they return to form in 2015.
Go Sauber!
Another Formula 1 season has come and gone and, as usual, it’s been a hell of a ride. Lews Hamilton’s win in Abu Dhabi secured his second world crown and put the perfect exclamation mark on a season of dominance for Mercedes AMG.
It’s a big job for a sole contributor compiling a season’s worth of F1 images too. Apologies for the delay in getting these images to you, but I’m not scared to admit there’s a sense of relief in posting the last gallery of photos for the year.
Never fear, the lure of F1 is great and I’ll be back again in 2015, hope to see you here.
Nico Rosberg’s win at the 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix will give his confidence a nice boost going into the title deciding double points bonanza in Abu Dhabi.
Wouldn’t it be the ultimate troll on British F1 fans if Nico could beat Lewis Hamilton to the title with four fewer race wins!
Before you wake up at ungodly hour to follow the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend here’s your pictorial reminder of what went down in Austin last weekend.
With his tenth win of 2014 Lewis Hamilton became the winningest British driver in Formula 1 (to use the bastardised US vernacular). The 2008 world champ now has 32 career wins, one more than Nigel Mansell.
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Sauber signs Felipe Nasr for 2015
“The Sauber F1 Team is pleased to announce Felipe Nasr as its driver for the 2015 season and Banco do Brasil as its partner. Felipe Nasr completes the driver line-up alongside Marcus Ericsson.”
And with that Sauber has finalised its 2015 driver line up with the 22-year-old Nasr to drive alongside Marcus Ericsson, who was announced by Sauber during the United States Grand Prix.
Nasr is currently the reserve driver for Williams and is competing in the 2014 GP2 series, where he has accumulated four wins and is second in the championship. He also won the 2011 British Formula 3 championship and joins former alumni in Jaime Algeursuari, Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne as title holders who have progressed to F1.
“This is an unforgettable moment that I owe to all of those who have supported me,” said the young Brazilian. “Today the dream has come true.
“Sauber was responsible for the arrival in F1 of great names such as Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen, Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel. I am proud now to also be part of this racing family.”
The signing leaves current Sauber drivers Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez with uncertain F1 futures. The prominence of Nasr’s personal sponsor Banco do Brasil in the official team statement probably gives a clue as to why that may be the case. Although, Nasr’s achievements in the junior categories do look sound.
With confirmation that we’ll only have 18 cars on the grid in Austin this weekend much of the chatter around Formula 1 has been to do with the costs of running a team. People are asking: is F1 in crisis?
Every time serious discussion about putting a cap on spending is raised one of the bigger teams, usually Ferrari or Red Bull, threatens to throw its toys out of the cot in disgust. Clearly, F1 doesn’t want to lose one (or more) of its biggest drawcards and we’re left with a perennial problem; the haves keep winning, which in itself is nothing new, but the have nots keep folding.
The introduction of new regulations this year hasn’t helped matters much. In a bid to highlght the issues at the back of the grid Caterham, Force India, Marussia and Sauber have written to FIA President and former Scuderia Ferrari boss, Jean Todt, saying teams now need around $120 million per year just to stay afloat.
Sauber, usually a team able to compete well with limited funds, hasn’t scored a championship point all year and is currently coming tenth out of 11 teams in the constructors’ title race.
The cost breakdown provided to Todt and revealed by Autosport is as follows:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Windtunnel/CFD facilities | $18.5 million |
| Chassis production/manufacturing | $20 million |
| Hybrid power system | $28 million |
| Gearbox and hydraulics | $5 million |
| Electronics | $1.95 million |
| Fuel and lubricants | $1.5 million |
| Tyres | $1.8 million |
| Salaries (not including drivers) | $20 million |
| IT | $3 million |
| HR and professional services | $1.5 million |
| Utilities and factory maintenance | $2 million |
| Travel and trackside facilities | $12 million |
| Freight | $5 million |
| TOTAL | $120.25 million |
As well as driver salaries, other items not included in the above list are: building leases, hospitality, marketing and media. Obviously, teams like Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull are spending a lot more than that, while Caterham and Marussia are (or were) spending a lot less.
No form of motorsport, no matter how good it should be, is any good if teams can’t afford to race.
[Source: Autosport+]
The fun has come and gone from the Sochi sun and the Russian Grand Prix passed by without any idiot from the Formula 1 world threatening to “shirtfront” Putin. Which, in some ways, in just as bad as it would have been if some idiot did engage his mouth before his brain.
Anyway, enough of that, let’s just try and enjoy the images from the race. Hopefully, they’re not quite as dull as the on track action ended up.
Usually we like it when it rains at a grand prix because the images are pretty cool. But the end of this year’s Japanese Grand Prix was not very cool at all.
Forza Jules.
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.
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.
We could get used to watching Daniel Ricciardo winning Formula 1 Grands Prix. What about you?
With his Belgian Grand Prix victory Daniel has made it two wins in a row, for a career total of three race wins. Mark Webber had nine wins and Sebastian Vettel a very handy 39 wins (one with Toro Rosso).
Those of you quick on your sums will have worked out Red Bull Racing now has 50 grands prix wins in total. Let’s hope Daniel keeps on closing the gap to Sebastian, even if it is a massive mountain to climb.
Oh yeah, there’s a stack of pics for you after the break, too!