Category: Formula 1

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Christian Horner is the best Team Principal in F1

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

Noted F1 photographer Darren Heath reminds us in his latest blog why his thoughts are essential reading. Heath starts off by giving an insight into the behind the scenes discussions over cost saving in the sport:

Laying a barely concealed trap for the hapless team heads, the F1 supremo’s tactical play ensures that the teams can hardly complain about having more races if they are quite prepared to spend many millions of dollars – which they supposedly haven’t got – on engineer-pleasing but essentially unnecessary testing. Agreeing with Bernie, Franz Tost – in his typically practical Austrian manner – argues well that having more races is preferable to testing. Far better to spend budgets on races, and earn money as a result, than to see no financial return from extended and lonely trips to Jerez, Barcelona, Bahrain, Dubai et al.

Before sharing an opinion on Christian Horner many will not have concluded themselves, declaring the Red Bull Racing boss is “streets ahead of the competition”:

He doesn’t harp on about money-saving measures. No – he gets on with doing his job, playing the game, walking a clever political path, ensuring that everything is as it should be for his mechanics, his engineers, his designers, his strategists, his multi-title-winning driver, and ultimately his Austrian paymasters.

Make sure you note the singular use of the word “driver” too.

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

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Ferrari Formula 1 McLaren

VIDEO: Driving the F1 cars from the ‘Rush’ era

Ferrari v McLaren 1970s

With the movie world descending into the 1970s through the imminent worldwide release of Ron Howard’s F1 movie Rush, Martin Brundle and Karun Chandok have put together a timely feature for Sky Sports where they drive the 1974 Ferrari 312 B3 and the 1977 McLaren M26.

Ferrari and McLaren are two giants of Formula 1. It’s certainly interesting to hear two former F1 drivers, from separate eras, discuss what it’s like to drive these 1970s icons. And to illustrate just how much of a momentum shift the sport has seen in recent years Karun Chandok signs off by saying, “These were the Red Bulls of the 70s.”

Forty years ago, who would have thought the established Ferrari and emerging McLaren would be shown up in F1 by a marketing company whose stock in trade is soft drinks!

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Ferrari Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber talks taxi rides

Mark Webber aboard the Alonso Taxi

Mark Webber has taken to twitter to share his views on being reprimanded for his post-race taxi ride at the Singapore Grand Prix. It’s fair to say he doesn’t agree with the ruling.

Earlier today Autosport reported: “Not only did Webber not have permission from the marshals to enter the track at Turn 7, but he was in fact explicitly told by track officials not to do so.”

However, Webber refutes that allegation in his tweets, which you can read after the break. Mark also shared a photo of Derek Warwick, one of the stewards for the Singapore race, hitching a ride aboard Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari.

According to the official report Mark was reprimanded for failing to have permission to enter the track. Alonso was reprimanded for stopping in an unsafe place. And it’d be hard to argue the middle of Turn 7, partially obscured on entry, was not an unsafe place to stop.

That’s to say the taxi ride itself was not subject of the stewards’ inquiry. Anyway, in true F1 fashion a mountain is being made out of a molehill. While having sympathy for Mark—it did make great television—it’s his accumulation of three reprimands that has unfortunately dictated the penalty he has been handed down.

It’s probably best for everyone if they just move on.

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Ferrari Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Webber’s free ride costs him 10 places

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

Following his frustrating final lap retirement from the Singapore Grand Prix, Mark Webber hitched a ride back to pitlane on Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari. At times he looked a little precarious on the F138’s sidepod and it was a sight race stewards were not too happy with.

Officially both Webber and Alonso were reprimanded for the incident, but as this was Mark’s third official talking to for the year he will have a 10-place grid penalty kicks for the next race, the Korean Grand Prix.

Mark was actually charged with entering the track on foot without permission from marshals. Pedantic, or a good reminder in track safety for Mark? Video of the incident, available here, shows it was probably the latter.

[Source: Formula1.com | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

UPDATE: Video and a few relevant tweets from F1 journos added below.

UPDATE #2: CCTV from the Marina Bay circuit showing Mark running onto the track can be viewed after the break.

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Ferrari Formula 1 Lotus Red Bull Racing

2013 Singapore GP: Post-race press conference

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

After winning the Singapore Grand Prix with ease Sebastian Vettel faced many questions about his lead in the championship and was once again asked if he dislikes being booed.

Fernando Alonso was praised for his never say die attitude and Kimi Raikkonen’s sore back became a pain in the neck, such was the amount of questioning he suffered.

As we know the two Australian drivers had races they’d rather forget. Daniel Ricciardo crashed out before half-way and Mark Webber’s engine failed on the final lap.

“I think I did pretty much everything I could today,” Mark said. “We had pace in the car when we needed, we managed the tyres and made a very good undercut on Nico, I was really happy with that lap. Then six laps from the end, the guys were getting worried about the car.

“So, yeah, it’s annoying but someone’s had a tougher day than me somewhere and that’s the way it goes. I was having to short shift, but then, unlike Monza, we started to lose a lot of power. We were just trying to get home at that point but then on the last lap we caught fire.”

Daniel wasn’t looking for excuses to his early race exit. “The crash was my error, trying to make up for lost ground,” he said. “At the start, my car just seemed to sit there without moving off the line. It was very frustrating to lose so many places right away. I think I went down five places from ninth on the grid to fourteenth.

“In the second stint, my engineer came on the radio and said ‘the pace is good, keep pushing.’ I was aware that for the pace we had, we were not doing too badly and maybe at the end I was just trying to get too much out of it and made that mistake. It’s a delicate corner with not much run-off and I went too deep into the apex. I then braked a bit harder, locked a wheel and went into the wall. It’s not a mistake I’m used to making. I will learn from this.“

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]

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Singapore GP

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing

Sebastian Vettel toyed with his peers on the way to a 32 second victory in tonight’s Singapore Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver was challenged off the line by Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and lost the lead for a few seconds. After that, though, Vettel totally outclassed the rest of the field.

The demanding streets of Marina Bay often serve up a Safety Car or two and such intervention was desperately needed to brig Sebastian back to the pack. Inevitably the Safety Car was out but it was of no consequence to Vettel. From the restart he quickly re-established his lead and cruised to victory.

Perhaps the stories of the day were found in the minor podium positions. As is customary and indeed expected Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) shot off the line from P7 and found himself in P3 once the field settled down. Quickly in to take advantage of the Safety Car on Lap 25 Alonso was able to make his tyres last until the end of the race and with that he earned a secure second place.

Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) followed Alonso’s strategy and overcame his troublesome back to fight his way to P3 from all the way down in P13. A great drive from the 33-year-old Finn.

The Aussies had a forgettable day. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) was the man responsible for the Safety Car after he locked up and sent himself into the wall.

The lengthy Safety Car period did throw pit stop strategies all over the place and while many drivers came in for new tyres, Webber, Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) all stayed out on track. When the trio inevitably came in for fresh tyres they had some work to do, but fresh rubber on which to do it.

Webber had his eyes set on P3 and managed to work his way from eighth into fourth and he looked to have the speed to challenge Raikkonen. Alas, as soon as Mark found his way to P4 he was getting messages from his team to short shift. It wasn’t long before he saw the two Mercedes AMGs sail past, and then Felipe Massa (Ferrari) as well. Webber crossed the line to start the final lap, his car sounding terribly off note and it was no surprise to see his engine let go before he could complete the lap.

Once again Webber had to suffer the frustration of a mechanical failure while his teammate racked up yet another grand prix win, the 32nd of Vettel’s career. The young German’s dominance since the mid-season break has made a fourth world title look increasingly likely.

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Formula 1 Lotus Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

2013 Singapore GP: Qualifying report

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

Sebatsian Vettel has once again shown his and Red Bull’s dominance over the rest of the field by claiming pole position for tonight’s Singapore Grand Prix. The three-time world champion played with his contemporaries by choosing to set just one flying lap in final qualifying (1:42.841) and despite some tense final moments it proved enough to give him P1.

Vettel has been quick all weekend and is chasing a third successive win at Marina Bay, so claiming pole was no surprise. However, Mark Webber wasn’t happy to have qualified fourth (1:43.152), behind Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG, 1:42.932) and Romain Grosjean (Lotus, 1:43.058).

“I’m a bit disappointed to be fourth,” Webber said, “It’s quite tight and there were some good lap times being set. We’re on the second row, it would have been better to have been on the front row, but it’s a long race tomorrow and we can do something from there. We’ve got a very good race car. It was hard to match Seb in the last sector; he’s always been strong in Turns 20 and 21.”

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG, 1:43.254) will start from the third row, with Felipe Massa (Ferrari, 1:43.890) alongside him. We’re quite sure Fernando Alonso (Ferrari, 1:43.938) won’t be quite as amused as us to see he will start the race behind his teammate, from P7. Although, we’re also quite sure Fernando will finish the race ahead of Massa.

Esetban Guiterrez (Sauber) was the star of Q2, comfortably getting himself into the final qualifying session. But he figured his job was done and he did not set a time in Q3 and will start from P10.

Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso, 1:44.439) once again edged his car into Q3. He’ll start from ninth, three places ahead of teammate Jean-Eric Vergne.

“That was not an easy session and we had to work harder here to get to Q3 than we did in a few other races where we have managed it,” explained Daniel. “I was a bit disappointed not to get a little bit more time out of my lap in Q3, with Jenson a couple of tenths ahead and it would have been nice to get that.

“As for the race, the guys who went out in Q2 might have a little bit of a tyre advantage, so let’s hope that doesn’t have too much influence tomorrow. We will race as hard as we can and hope to stay in the points.”

Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) was perhaps the surprise of qualifying, missing out on Q3. He’s down in P13 and can put his woes down to a bad back apparently.

The full transcript from the post-quali press conference can be read after the break.

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Formula 1 Video

David Coulthard: Make opportunities happen

David Coulthard interviewed by Mario Muth

“If you look at my career, I would say that I had speed but I didn’t have consistency. So, I would say I was good, but not good enough.”

With that quote from David Coulthard documentary maker Mario Muth takes us on a 30 minute journey of honesty and insight into the career of the likeable Scot who won 13 grands prix.

Muth has a wonderful ability to encourage his subjects to speak freely and with only audio from the interviewee it’s almost as if you’re in the room with them.

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Formula 1

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

Red Bull Racing visits New York City

Grand Prix of America promoter Leo Hindery Jr, god bless him, still has dreams of New Jersey hosting a grand prix next year. The 2014 F1 calendar already has 21 races pencilled in and that’s without including the “New York” race.

Hindery Jr said: “Even if it ain’t all it seems, I got a pocket full of dreams, baby, I’m from New York!”

No hang on a minute, he just sung that to himself while he actually said out loud: “We never had any expectation of being on a preliminary schedule.

“But it took on a life of its own because so many of us are aspiring to be on the calendar that haven’t been there before—ourselves, Russia, Mexico, and with Austria also returning. In our particular case we were told not to do anything but stick to the date of the 20th [of June], which we intend to do.”

Attempting to give his comments some credibility, he added: “Bernie told us if we stayed consistent with the rules and applications then he would expect there to be a New Jersey race. Time-wise, we have done everything we have been told to do, and when to do it.

“The calendar decision will be made later this month, and although I can’t guarantee anything, we fully expect to be on it.”

Bernie is such a tease, isn’t he.

“I underestimated the challenges of doing this in the midst of a worldwide financial crisis,” Hindery Jr said, as he continued to dig a deeper hole for himself.

“Were it not for some great partners and some folks in the sport who want us to succeed then it would have been abandoned. I wouldn’t have been able to have pulled it off. But hands down this has been the toughest challenge of my career.”

Pulled it off? Well, that just might be the first thing dear Leo has got right. Because right now, there’s no race there. There, there’s no race!

[Source: Sky Sports | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

How to make an F1 car: part 1

Red Bull Racing: How to make an F1 car

Ferrari, Lotus, McLaren and Mercedes, you’re all getting your arses served to you on a platter by Adrian Newey and his Red Bull Racing mates. So they’re here to do their bit to equalise the Formula 1 grid by showing you how to make an F1 car. In this case we’re looking at 2013 championship winning RB9 (see what we did there).

They’ll be doing so in a series of four videos, so best you all sit down, pay attention and take some bloody notes!

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Webber: “I’m probably leaving F1 a year too soon”

2013 Italian Grand Prix

Mark Webber has given more insight into his move to Porsche in 2014, revealing he has started to lose motivation for Formula 1.

Speaking to F1 Racing magazine the likeable Aussie said: “I’ve been on the edge with F1, motivation-wise, for the past couple of years.

“You have to be driven. You turn yourself around each winter and the fire in the belly is not quite what it was when you were 24.”

Mark has often said he’d rather leave F1 while he was still competitive, rather than hanging on a season or two too long.

“I still enjoy being belted in the car and driving down the pit lane, which is a bit disappointing,” he added. “But I’ve spoken to some really good sportsmen and women who have been at the crossroads where making the call was not easy and they messed it up.

“I’m probably leaving F1 a year too soon but with the [regulation] changes next season and the opportunity to join Porsche, it’s the best move for me.

“It’s not about driving or racing, it’s about keeping my own F1 program going for 11 months of the year. And it’s just got to the point where it’s like, well, I’ve achieved a lot of things.

“But it does, in the end, force you to ask yourself the question: ‘Do I have to be here, doing this?’ And when Porsche came along, I could look myself in the eye and say: ‘Well, you know what, I probably don’t have to do some of those things any more.”

Meanwhile, McLaren driver Sergio Perez says he expects Daniel Ricciardo to make the most of his promotion to Red Bull’s senior team.

[Source: BBC | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Formula 1 McLaren

Scroll through 50 years of McLaren F1 heritage

1968 McLaren M7A

The McLaren F1 team is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2013 and to help bring you closer to the team’s history go to the McLaren website where you can scroll through a list of some of Formula 1’s most iconic cars.