Tag: Sebastian Vettel

Categories
Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

2013 Indian GP: Qualifying report

2013 Indian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel pole has pole position for another grand prix, with a pair of Mercedes AMGs on his tail. Nothing new there and yet the biggest stories to come out of this latest round of qualifying centre around tyre selection.

Vettel blitzed the field needing only one flying lap in Q3 to set a time nobody could match (1:24.119). Nico Rosberg was the best of the challengers, but was a over seven tenths behind (1:24.871). Lewis Hamilton qualified third (1:24.941).

In fourth place is Mark Webber (1:25.047) and while the three guys ahead of him qualified on the faster option (softs) tyres, Mark elected to use the primes (mediums). On that basis he’s happy with P4 and the expectation he’ll be able to run a longer first stint with the plan to build up a decent lead.

“We thought it was worth trying something a little bit different with the strategy today, so that’s why we ran the primes in Q3,” Mark said. “We thought we would probably be a bit further back than the second row to be honest, so it turned out to be a good session for us.

“We’re in a good position to capitalise on a different approach tomorrow. The option tyre (used by the first three cars) shouldn’t last too long and we’ll be on a different strategy.”

Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean, who has shown excellent recent form took the gamble that the primes would be enough to progress from Q1 and he missed out by some margin too, half a second. He’ll be starting from P17 and will be one to watch when the lights go out.

Daniel Ricciardo (1:25.519) failed to make Q3 by just six hundredths of a second and will line up from P11. His Toro Rosso teammate, Jean-Eric Vergne (1:25.798), will start from P14.

“When I crossed the line, my engineer came on the radio and told me I was currently P9 and I thought this could be good, but a few corners later I had dropped to P11. So I was a bit disappointed, even if I think I probably got the most out of it,” Daniel explained. “All the same, we did a good job in qualifying and being eleventh, I get a free tyre choice for the start, although I know some of the top ten opted to do their final runs on the Prime.”

And so Vettel claims his 43rd career pole position and needs only a fifth place or better in the race to wrap up a fourth consecutive world championship. It looks like only a mechanical failure or accident stands in the way of the inevitable.

The full transcript of the post-quali press conference featuring the first three drivers can be read after the break.

[Pics: Red Bull/Getty Images]

Continue reading “2013 Indian GP: Qualifying report”
Categories
Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Darren Heath sticks up for Red Bull

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

After the Singapore Grand Prix a rumour, or story of sorts, emerged about Red Bull using a traction control system. The story came from the observations of former F1 team owner Giancarlo Minardi.

Adding intensity to the speculation was Minardi’s observation that Sebastian Vettel’s car sounded different to all other cars in the field, including Mark Webber’s. Perfect fuel for conspiracy theorists. Several outlets picked up on the story and good summary was published by Jalopnik.

Darren Heath, though, is having none of this conspiracy and savaged much of the coverage the story received, while taking aim at sites like AUSmotive along the way:

Tapping voraciously into their well-worn computers, F1 reporters – who really should know better – rapidly informed the world of the Italian’s ridiculous accusations, their words immediately jumped upon by that wonderful cabal of ill-informed fools so prevalent in society these days – the amateur hacks.

Give a man a keyboard and access to the internet and a whole world of pain is coming your way.

F1_know_it_all.com, grand-prix-expert.net, formula_insider.co.uk et al (names changed to protect the guilty) feed like a pack of ravenous dogs on this rubbish, telling their literally hundreds of readers how it was, how it is and how it shall be.

Sitting in their armchairs thousands of miles from the race track in question, and never having set foot in an F1 paddock, just doesn’t appear to matter to these goons. They’re going to tell you, me and the world what’s going on.

Ouch! That little rant aside, Heath returns to the subject at hand saying Red Bull is winning because they work harder than any other team and that young Vettel is actually a damn good driver. Moreover, the engine sounds which Minardi referred to have been audible all year and there’s nothing to see here, as Fernando Alonso pointed out.

Follow the source link below for the full article, it’s well worth reading.

[Source: Darren Heath | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

Categories
Caterham F1 in pictures Ferrari Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Toro Rosso

2013 Japanese Grand Prix in pictures

2013 Japanese Grand Prix

On the surface Sebastian Vettel’s win at the Japanese Grand Prix looked to be a solid victory crafted with determination and a solid strategy. The conspiracy theorists out there would suggest Red Bull’s decision to keep Vettel on a two-stop strategy, while switching Mark Webber to a three-stopper, was all about providing an opportunity for Seb to forge a win from third place, while harming Mark’s chances of a first win for season 2013.

Certainly, Vettel’s own radio calls late in the race asking the team to keep Mark away from him would lend support to that theory. But former Red Bull driver David Coulthard is having none of that, suggesting if it were true that Mark would be telling the world all about it.

All we can do is wonder what would have happened if Mark was able to bully his way past Romain Grosjean with the effectiveness which Vettel did. Instead, it took Mark seven laps to find a way around the Lotus driver by which time any chance of a challenge to Vettel’s lead had been lost.

Which means our regular F1 pictorial update gives us yet another opportunity to look at that bloody finger!

Continue reading “2013 Japanese Grand Prix in pictures”
Categories
Formula 1 Lotus Red Bull Racing

2013 Japanese GP: Post-race press conference

2013 Japanese Grand Prix

After missing out on the win at today’s Japanese Grand Prix, Mark Webber explained he started the race on a two-stop strategy, but the team switched him to a three after his first stop.

“I think we tried to race Romain at the start and then in the end we switched to the three,” Mark said. “So I was the meat in the sandwich, trying to beat Romain on a two and then all of a sudden we decided to do a three. I was a little bit surprised. I asked was it the right thing to do because I felt we could get to the lap we were looking to get to.”

Daniel Ricciardo reflected on his drive-through penalty, which he says cost him a points finish. “I am disappointed not to have scored some points today, because I am convinced I was heading for the top ten, which would have been an encouraging result, after struggling with the balance of the car on Saturday,” he said.

“We started on the Hard tyre and after I made a good start to move up two places, it was looking good as I passed Bottas on the track and moved up the order as those on the Medium pitted ahead of me. I was moving up the order again after my first stop and then I made a move on the outside of Sutil at the 130R and got past him. But after that, I ran wide onto the grass, which lost me a bit of time. Sadly, the Stewards decided I had gained an advantage by going off the track and had to take a drive-through penalty, which of course ruined my race.”

The full transcript of the post-race press conference featuring the first three drivers can be read after the break.

[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

Continue reading “2013 Japanese GP: Post-race press conference”
Categories
Formula 1 Lotus Red Bull Racing

Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Japanese GP

Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Japanese GP

Oh how all of Australia wished Mark Webber could convert his pole position into a race win at the Japanese Grand Prix today. Yet, just as Stuart MacGill’s cricketing talent was never fulfilled thanks to the presence of Shane Warne, Webber had to once again watch, seemingly powerless, as his teammate went on to craft another grand prix victory. Mark left to content himself with second place.

Both Red Bull drivers made clumsy starts from the front row and the Lotus lead-driver-in-waiting Romain Grosjean took the opportunity to take the lead into the first corner from P4. In the melee of the start Vettel clipped Lewis Hamilton’s left rear. Hamilton had made a good start too, but his race was ruined after the subsequent puncture and damage to his floor of his Mercedes AMG eventually sent him into retirement.

The rest of the field was left to fight over the scraps as the leading trio got down to the business of winning the race. A mix of strategies—Webber, three stops; Vettel and Grosjean, two stops—meant we spent the bulk of the race waiting for Mark’s final pit stop so we could finally see what would happen next.

Grosjean left himself the longest final stint on his tyres and after Vettel emerged from his final stop behind the Lotus driver his task was to overtake as soon as possible in order to build a lead in anticipation of Webber’s closing pace in the last few laps. True to form Vettel got the job done, forcing his way past Grosjean without losing too much time.

Webber entered the pits in the lead, with the gap back to Vettel closing by the lap. But with a brand new set of prime tyres, and close behind Grosjean, he had 10 laps to overtake the Frenchman and set about chasing down Vettel. What Vettel made look easy, Webber made look hard. He eventually did get past Grosjean, but with just two laps left in the race, the damage was done and Vettel cruised to a seven second victory.

Daniel Ricciardo had an anonymous race and finished in P13, one place behind Jean-Eric Vergne. Daniel’s race was affected after he ran wide on the exit of 130R overtaking Adrian Sutil. The race stewards said he gained an unfair advantage by running off the circuit and issued him with a drive-through penalty. Elsewhere not much else happened.

Today’s win is Vettel’s fifth in a row since the mid-season break and his ninth race win of the year. Fernando Alonso’s fourth place was enough to delay Vettel’s championship party for a couple of weeks until the teams reassemble for the Indian Grand Prix.

Continue reading “Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Japanese GP”
Categories
Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

2013 Japanese GP: Qualifying report

2013 Japanese Grand Prix

Mark Webber’s F1 farewell tour finally has a highlight after he claimed pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix this afternoon. It’s the first time he’s out qualified Sebastian Vettel this year and is the twelfth pole position of his career.

Webber (1:30.915) was the only driver to lap the much loved Suzuka circuit under 1:31 and he was almost two tenths quicker than Vettel (1:31.089). For a change it was Vettel who struggled today with a KERS issue, which first arose during the morning practice session and reappeared during Q3.

It was a fact acknowledged by Mark in the post-race press conference. “Sebastian had a problem in qualifying, so a little bit of a hollow pole position if you like, because he still did a phenomenal lap, but I’m happy to be on pole,” Mark said. “You’ve got to grab the opportunities when you can and still put the laps in.”

It’s clear that Mark and all the other drivers love Suzuka and it would be a great result if Webber is able to convert his pole into a race win. The good news for Mark is that a Red Bull driver has been on pole for the last four starts at Suzuka and he has gone on to win the race three times. The bad news is “he” is Sebastian Vettel, who will be doing his best to get into the first corner ahead of Mark and control the race.

Lewis Hamilton (1:31.253) has been on the pace all weekend for Mercedes AMG and he will line up on the second row, with a resurgent Romain Grosjean (1:31.365).

Speaking of resurgent, Felipe Massa (1:31.378) has out qualified Fernando Alonso (1:31.665) again and the soon-to-be unemployed Brazilian will start from P5. Nico Rosberg (1:31.397) will line up from P6.

It was not a good day for Toro Rosso, Daniel Ricciardo (1:32.485) will start from P16. Although, he had better luck than Jean-Eric Vergne (1:33.357) who was forced out of Q1 after his rear brakes caught on fire.

“That wasn’t a good session for us,” Daniel said. “Which is disappointing as yesterday was one of the best Fridays we have had in a while.

“The wind has played a bit of a part today, but we definitely should have been further up than that. I would have liked a better result of course, but we will have to see what we can do in the race.”

The full transcript of the post-quali press conference featuring the first three drivers can be read after the break.

[Pics: Red Bull/Getty Images]

Continue reading “2013 Japanese GP: Qualifying report”
Categories
Caterham F1 in pictures Ferrari Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Toro Rosso

2013 Korean Grand Prix in pictures

2013 Korean Grand Prix

While even his fellow drivers may be booing Sebastian Vettel’s latest win at the Korean Grand Prix, the race itself is under threat. Partly because of poor attendance and also due to the promise of a bumper 22-race calendar that nobody wants. One thing is sure, Mark Webber has plenty of fans in Korea, as you’ll see in the pics below.

Continue reading “2013 Korean Grand Prix in pictures”
Categories
Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

Even Lewis is booing Sebastian

Lewis Hamilton

Booing and Sebastian Vettel have been appearing in the same sentence, well, for years really, but especially in the last couple of months. Now, Mercedes AMG driver, Lewis Hamilton is joining in the chorus suggesting Vettel’s success may be sending fans away from the sport.

The 2008 world champion has drawn a new comparison with seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, referring to his early years following F1: “I remember waking up to watch the start of the race then going to sleep and waking up when it ended because I knew what would happen,” said Hamilton. “I am pretty sure a lot of people are doing that today.”

Vettel has won the last four grands prix in a row, bringing his season total to eight. In the other six races he has finished, third, fourth, fourth, second, DNF and third. He’s on track for a fourth consecutive world title and currently holds a 77 point lead over Fernando Alonso.

It’s possible for Vettel to be crowned world champion at Suzuka this weekend. If he wins the Japanese Grand Prix and Alonso is ninth or lower the drivers’ championship will be on the way to the Red Bull garage once more.

[Source: BBC | Pic: Mercedes AMG]

UPDATE: Lewis has taken to twitter to make it 100% clear he loves all things Sebastian Vettel. Check out his tweets below.

Continue reading “Even Lewis is booing Sebastian”
Categories
Formula 1 Lotus Red Bull Racing

2013 Korean GP: Post-race press conference

2013 Korean Grand Prix

One of the nice things about a grand prix held at a more convenient time for those of us following Formula 1 from the southern hemisphere is that we can follow the post-race activities in real time. That means you can read the press conference transcript before you go to bed.

Before you do, here’s what the Aussies had to say. Mark Webber first: “The incident with Sutil was obviously the end of my race today. It was in Turn 3 on the restart, everyone bottles back up and I was looking for a big exit on the next straight to use some KERS on Daniel (Ricciardo) and the Williams. Then Sutil, I don’t know what happened, but obviously he hit me from the inside and that was that.

“There was quite a lot of damage at the back of the car and I hope it hasn’t gone towards the chassis—we will have to see before the next race. Before that I was very happy with how I drove and we’d got back to a very good position before I got the puncture. After the Pirelli tyre failure on Perez’ car, I was very lucky to miss the tread of the tyre that came off and then unbelievably I managed to get a puncture from going through the debris.”

For his part Adrian Sutil has both escaped penalty from the stewards and said sorry to Mark: “At the restart I lost the rear of the car under braking for turn three. I really don’t know why because I was not braking late and the car just snapped. I hit Webber so I apologise for ending his race. It’s a disappointing end to the race because I believe there was still a chance of a point.”

And Daniel Ricciardo: “I think we did all we could today in the race. I had a decent first stint and tried to run as long as possible on the Prime tyre. The car wasn’t perfect but it was good enough to be in a points position with a few laps to go and I was hanging on nicely to ninth.

“It’s déjà vu, as I had the same scenario here last year, when I came down to Turn 3 with a few laps to go, I braked and the car immediately shot to the left. That time it cost me one place. Once I got out of the cockpit this time, I could see there was a mechanical problem at the front left corner. Personally, I was really pleased with my performance in the car today. Maybe we didn’t have a top ten car but I was able to fight in the top ten. But for myself and the team it’s frustrating to get no reward. Now all we can do is look ahead to Suzuka.”

The full transcript of the post-race press conference featuring the first three drivers can be read after the break.

[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

Continue reading “2013 Korean GP: Post-race press conference”
Categories
Formula 1 Lotus Red Bull Racing

Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Korean GP

Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Korean Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel’s charmed run has continued at the Korean Grand Prix, where he has just collected his fourth consecutive race win. The Red Bull champ won by just over four seconds from the Lotus duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.

Vettel is very much on track to secure his fourth world title, his winning margin masks the comfort with which he won. Although he was helped by a pair of Safety Car periods, which extended his tyre life and brought the field together in what was a bizarre race at times.

The first Safety Car came out on Lap 31 after a severe flat spot into Turn 1 from Sergio Perez preceded a spectacular failure to his right front tyre on the main straight. An unlucky Mark Webber, who had just rejoined the track after pitting for new tyres, was the first on the scene and he picked up a puncture after having nowhere to go except over the debris left behind from Perez’s McLaren.

In effect the need to come in for new tyres ruined Webber’s race after he was making good progress through the field following his start from P13 due to his 10-place grid penalty. Alas, worse was to come.

On the first lap after the race restarted Adrian Sutil lost control under brakes into Turn 3 and spun putting his rear tyre into the sidepod of Mark’s car. Almost immediately Webber’s car caught fire and his race ended in flames for the second grand prix in a row.

In the aftermath of that event a fire marshal’s vehicle entered the track and interrupted the race before the Safety Car was deployed. There was potential for a nasty incident but thankfully, the fire marshal escaped incident. We suspect whoever was responsible for sending that car out on track won’t be working at an F1 race again anytime soon.

Once racing resumed we were treated to some first class action, sadly none of if centred on the first three and the two Lotus drivers were unable to challenge Vettel for the victory. The rest of the field, though, was fighting desperately for position and the action was exciting right to the end.

Unfortunately, it was a bad day for the Aussies with Daniel Ricciardo retiring from the race while he was in ninth position with only three laps to go. It’s not clear why Daniel had to park his car off to the side of the circuit.

Nico Hulkenberg drove a masterful race to finish P4, holding off Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg.

Grosjean made a good start to earn himself P2 on the opening lap with a good move on Hamilton and he probably deserved better than P3 today. Although we’ll never know what might have been if the Lotus pairing were able to run longer on their tyres, it’s expected they might have given Vettel a tougher fight for victory.

Continue reading “Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Korean GP”
Categories
Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

2013 Korean GP: Qualifying report

2013 Korean Grand Prix

The Sebastian Vettel show successfully filed another episode this afternoon when the Red Bull champ claimed his 42nd career pole position.

Vettel (1:37.202) was two tenths faster than Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG, 1:37.420) who had set the pace in the first two practice sessions. Close behind was Mark Webber (Red Bull, 1:37.464).

Sadly for Mark, he’ll be lining up from P13 tomorrow after his 10-place grid penalty handed down after his reprimand in Singapore.

“We had to take a bit of pace out of the car for qualifying, not much, but it was about how we would compromise between qualifying and the race tomorrow,” Mark explained. “I’m pretty happy, I could be two positions further up but that would mean, with the penalty, I would be 11th rather than 13th. It was a pretty tight qualifying with the two Mercedes, Seb and myself. Tomorrow’s race will be interesting, I will be out of position, but we’ll fight and come back through.”

Romain Grosjean (Lotus, 1:37.531) benefits from Mark’s penalty and will start the race from P3. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG, 1:37.679) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari, 1:38.038) will line up on the third row.

Felipe Massa (Ferrari, 1:38.223) edged out the two Saubers of Nico Hulkenberg (1:38.237) and Esteban Gutierrez (1:38.405).

Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso, 1:38.417) couldn’t crack the top 10 for qualifying—he missed by less than a tenth of a second—and will start from P12 after Webber’s penalty. But he did continue to outpace his teammate Jean-Eric Vergne (1:38.781).

“I’m definitely not happy with my position and when the gap to the top ten is so small, you have to also be disappointed,” Daniel said. “I would have liked to have been in the car for the full hour. However, compared to where we were yesterday, we have managed to improve the car, but we have not been able to make enough progress to be more competitive than this.”

The full transcript of the post-quali press conference featuring the first three drivers can be read after the break.

[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

Continue reading “2013 Korean GP: Qualifying report”
Categories
Caterham F1 in pictures Ferrari Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Toro Rosso

2013 Singapore Grand Prix in pictures

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

Sunday night lights! We bring you another mega-gallery of images from the world of Formula 1, this time from under the lights of the Singapore Grand Prix. For the third race in a row Sebastian Vettel dominated the weekend and further tightened the screws on securing a fourth straight championship.

Continue reading “2013 Singapore Grand Prix in pictures”