Category: Motorsports

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Ricciardo appeal unlikely to succeed

Gill Sensors Fuel Flow Monitor

Despite Red Bull’s best efforts we think it will be unlikely that Daniel Ricciardo’s disqualification from the Australian Grand Prix for exceeding the permitted fuel flow rate will get overturned.

Extra impetus has been given to uphold the FIA’s original decision after the controlling body reconfirmed its confidence in the accuracy of the Fuel Flow Meters at the centre of the controversy.

An official statement issued yesterday by Gill Sensors, manufacturers of the homologated part, claims the FIA has, “provided Gill Sensors with positive feedback on the performance of the Fuel Flow Meter, confirming their confidence in the development and stating the meters meet the FIA’s accuracy specification.”

Red Bull Racing immediately announced its intention to appeal the FIA’s decision blaming a faulty FFM with the added claim that their own data shows the rate of fuel being injected into Daniel’s car was within FIA specification. A team statement reads:

Inconsistencies with the FIA fuel flow meter have been prevalent all weekend up and down the pit lane. The Team and Renault are confident the fuel supplied to the engine is in full compliance with the regulations.

Speaking to the media on Sunday night Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal, added: “We could see a significant discrepancy with what the sensor was reading and what our fuel flow was stated as—that’s where there’s a difference of opinion.”

Further harming Red Bull’s chance of a successful appeal is this revelation from the stewards’ findings:

The FIA technical representative observed thought the telemetry during the race that the fuel flow was too high and contacted the team, giving them the opportunity to follow his previous instruction, and reduce the fuel flow such that it was within the limit, as measured by the homologated sensor – and thus gave the team the opportunity to be within compliance. The team chose not to make this correction.

The appeal will be heard by an independent FIA court at a date yet to be specified.

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Video

A closer look at the Mercedes V6 power unit

2014 Mercedes-Benz V6 power unit

Formula 1 technical guru Craig Scarborough has teamed up with Peter Windsor to give us a closer look at the Mercedes-Benz V6 power unit. It’s clearly the engine of choice in F1 right now and Scarbs uses an official Mercedes video (also shown below) as a prompt to discuss what’s what, before taking us beyond the PR video to talk through some changes to the turbo design on the PU 106 A Hybrid.

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

2014 Australian Grand Prix in pictures

2014 Australian Grand Prix

Here’s your first proper look at the 2014 Formula 1 cars in action. We’re lucky to get the first race in Australia and this is especially the case this season with such dramatic changes to the cars and their technology.

We’ve got over 100 photos for you to savour and, yes, we probably did get a bit carried away in the Red Bull photo archive. Although, interestingly for them, there aren’t many pics to choose from on race day showing the RB10 in full flight, so you’ve got lots of background material to admire.

Mercedes AMG has also come to the party with a better than usual selection of images as well. Which tends to be the case when one of its drivers wins a grand prix!

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Formula 1 McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

2014 Australian GP: Post-race press conference

2014 Australian Grand Prix

While Daniel Ricciardo’s result has been taken away from him it’s hard to know for sure how much advantage, if any, he gained if his car was pumping in fuel faster than it should have been. In reality he crossed the line second and therefore much of what was said post-race still rings true.

For the first two years of his career Ricciardo had the luxury of learning his craft at a relatively young age while being shielded from the F1 spotlight by Mark Webber. Despite his disqualification there’s no way anyone can think Daniel is still in Mark’s shadow. He’s his own man, Australia’s own man and we like what we see!

Oh yeah, they also asked some questions of Nico and Kevin too.

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Formula 1 McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

Nico Rosberg wins 2014 Australian GP

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG

As I write this belated race report take your mind back to a time where all fuel flow monitors were created equal…

Nico Rosberg cruised to a dominant victory in Melbourne to start what could be a dominant year for the Mercedes AMG team. And yet the headline story is the second place finish by Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo who became the first local to stand on the podium in his home race.

Also deserving of huge plaudits is Kevin Magnussen who earned his spot on the podium with a flaweless debut in his Mercedes-powered McLaren.

Jenson Button had to be content with fourth place and watching his junior teammate steal the limelight. You sense after the season Button and McLaren endured in 2013 both will be over the moon with these results.

Fernando Alonso went quietly about his business and finished fifth. On current form it will be a surprise to see Ferrari win a race in 2014, yet they will be there or thereabouts. They came close in 2009 of course, but can they again build a car commensurate with Alonso’s undoubted talent and guile?

On any other day Valtteri Bottas would be attracting plenty of attention. The young Finn, in only his second season, drove like a man possessed to grab sixth place. His inexperience was on show when he clipped the wall and broke a wheel—and luckily nothing else—but he was able to recover from that, and a five place grid penalty for a pre-race gearbox change, to earn himself some very handy championship points. Without his error he would have found himself fighting for position with two world champions. Not bad after starting from P15.

Elsewhere Daniil Kvyat was another debutant to do well, crossing the line in tenth place for Toro Rosso. He was unable to upset his teammate, though, and Jean-Eric Vergne finished one place ahead in a pleasing result for the junior Red Bull outift. Renault will also be pleased to see three of its cars in the top 10, given four failed to finish (three due to mechanical issues).

Kamui Kobayashi’s return to F1 with Caterham lasted one corner and he took the Williams of Felipe Massa into the gravel with him.

After the race the crowd went wild for Dan Ricciardo as he accepted his trophy for second place. It was a great moment for F1 and motorsport in Australia.

And now is the moment we have to remind you all that Ricciardo’s podium moment in the setting sun was taken away from him by the FIA late in the night after declaring his car had “exceeded consistently the maximum fuel flow of 100kg/h”.

Our Daniel was disqualified and all other drivers move up one position. Ricciardo and Red Bull have no world championship points.

Red Bull have said they will appeal the FIA’s decision and were it not for the fact that the FIA spoke to Red Bull during the race to warn them that Daniel’s car was in breach of the regulations and to fix the problem we might think they were half a chance to have Daniel’s P2 reinstated.

Red Bull will claim they were just doing what they needed to do to remain competetive in spite of (what they will say is) a dodgy fuel flow monitor and that they didn’t actually break any rules.

We don’t expect there will be any joy for Daniel and his team.

If nothing else we do know that the RB10 can go the full race distance and, more tellingly perhaps, that Daniel has the pace to mix it with the best, including the four-time world champ on the other side of the garage.

That gives us hope that someone may be able to challenge Mercedes at some stage during 2014.

Continue reading “Nico Rosberg wins 2014 Australian GP”
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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Well, that’s just crap!

Daniel Ricciardo

I drive all the way from Canberra to Melbourne and see Daniel light up the Albert Park crowd and track on the way to earning himself a front row start for the Australian Grand Prix.

On Sunday I watch the race at a pub with a great atmosphere which builds as Daniel holds off a fast charging rookie in Kevin Magnussen on his way to second place and the honour of being the first Aussie on the podium in Melbourne.

The crowd cheered loudly when Daniel crossed the line. It was a great moment and all was good with the world.

I cross the road from the pub to watch my football team play. They start well, really well. But end badly, really badly. They were rubbish. I’m in a bad mood.

While I’m driving home I remember how good Ricciardo was today. My mood improves a little.

I arrive at my mate’s place and he tells me the FIA is investigating Daniel for exceeding the fuel flow rate in his car during today’s race.

It’s late and I need to write a race report but the wind has been sucked out of my sails. Imagine how Daniel must be feeling.

And now it’s official. The FIA has excluded Ricciardo from the results of the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.

Shit happens. Red Bull couldn’t have possibly tried to cheat because the cars are monitored by the FIA. It’s a bit like speeding in pit lane; nobody deliberatly does it, but mistakes are made.

The happy story is now that Kevin Magnussen has finished second his maiden grand prix. And as good as that is for the sport it’s just not the same as remembering the feelings of goodwill I experienced trackside and in Melbourne this weekend as we cheered our Daniel onto success.

Or so we all thought.

I’m going to bed.

[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

2014 Australian GP: Qualifying report

2014 Australian Grand Prix

Well, what a great result the first qualifying session of Formula 1’s new world order delivered yesterday. Seeing our Daniel on the front row is the headline story here in Australia. The smiling West Australian deserves the accolades too, after he put in a masterful performance in all three quali sessions.

Lewis Hamilton’s experience and guile pipped Daniel for pole with the last lap of the session and closed the book on what would hve been an epic fairy tale debut for Ricciardo with Red Bull. It’s hard to deny Hamilton’s effort and he too attracted sentiment by equalling the pole position record of British great Nigel Mansell, with his 32nd P1 start.

It was no surprise to see Nico Rosberg round out the top three, although you get the feeling he may be a little surprised to miss out on the front row to a Red Bull, following the latter’s dreadful pre-season form.

Indeed, qualifying delivered big stories right down the grid, thanks in part to wet and windy conditions in Q2 and Q3. Almost overshadowing Ricciardo’s P2 result is the outstanding debut from McLaren’s rookie Kevin Magnussen who qualified on the second row for his maiden grand prix.

Also overdelivering on expectations were thw Toro Rosso drivers, Jean-Eric Vergne qualified in sixth, while teammate Daniil Kvyat will start his first race from P8. We suspect Renault, too, will be happy to see three of its cars in the top 10.

There were huge stories in who missed out on a chance at pole position, as well. Three world champions failed to make it into Q3 and a huge roar went out around the track when Sebastian Vettel missed the final cut. The world champ will start from P12, behind his championship alumni in Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen.

The woes of Lotus continue with Pastor Maldonado failing to record a lap time. As a former grand prix winner you suspect the stewards will use their discretion to give him the green light to race.

Grid penalties have sent Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Gutierrez further down the field than they would like and you can see the full starting grid after the break, along with the full press conference transcript.

We liked this question asked to Daniel Ricciardo:

(Mat Coch – pitpass.com) Daniel, a question close to every Australian’s heart: what are you like at starts?
DR: Let’s see how we go tomorrow! Bit up and down last year. I guess everyone watched the races. I think they were on the up so let’s see how we go tomorrow. I think it’s going to be interesting for everyone now, with the V6 turbos. I think it’s also a bit of a different animal off the line. Hopefully we get off well.

[Pics: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Caterham Ferrari Formula 1 Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Toro Rosso

Quick reference guide to the 2014 F1 season

We’re just a couple of sleeps away from the start to the most unpredictable Formula 1 season in recent memory. Is anyone else excited?!

Judging by pre-season testing form we’ll be lucky if half of the 22 cars entered in Melbourne finish the race. Remember, too, there’s just five complete power units available per driver all year, so we suspect reliability will have a big say in the outcome of both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

After the break you’ll find a full calendar with start Australian Eastern start times, a list of all the drivers and their new permanent numbers along with links to all of the new cars for 2104.

Right now it looks like the Mercedes power unit is the weapon of choice, with Renault proving the least reliable. Let’s see what happens between now and 23 November when double points are up for grabs at the final race in Abu Dhabi.

For easy reference be sure to save this link: ausm.tv/f1guide2014

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Formula 1

Williams Martini Racing FW36 as art

Williams FW36 artwork by Cale Funderburk

It’s only been a week since Williams announced its new title sponsorship deal with Martini but already you can buy some pretty cool artwork through the Society6 website. Created by Cale Funderburk the treatment of the FW36 is graphic and simple in its execution. And we reckon it looks pretty good.

[Source: WTF1]

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Formula 1 News

“We are, and remain confident”

Michael Schumacher

The latest official update on the health of Michael Schumacher offers a small glimmer of hope. A statement issued by Sabine Kehm reads:

“We are, and remain confident, Michael will pull through and will wake up. There sometimes are small, encouraging signs, but we also know this is the time to be very patient. Michael has suffered severe injuries. It is very hard to comprehend for all of us that Michael, who had overcome a lot of precarious situations in the past, has been hurt so terribly in such a banal situation.

“It was clear from the start this will be a long and hard fight for Michael, and we are taking this fight on together with the team of doctors, whom we fully trust. The length of the process is not the important part for us. It is heart-warming to see how much sympathy his family is shown and I can say the family is extremely grateful for it.

“However, it should not be forgotten Michael’s family is dealing with an extremely intimate and fragile situation. And I would like to remind all of us Michael has always actively kept his family out of the public eye and consequently protected their private lives. We try to channel all the energies we have toward Michael and we firmly believe this will help him, and we believe he will also win this fight.”

[Source: The Guardian]

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Video

Lewis Hamilton previews the Australian GP

Lewis Hamilton previews Australian Grand Prix

A terribly enthusiastic Lewis Hamilton appears in this Mercedes AMG team video to preview this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix. Filmed at the wheel of the team’s simulator the 2008 world champion talks us around the 5.3km Albert Park circuit.

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Formula 1 Porsche WEC

Porsche would have returned to F1 if…

2014 Geneva Motor Show

We all know Porsche is making a much heralded return to LMP1 racing in 2014, with an assault on outright victory at Le Mans in June being the highlight.

However, under different circumstances Porsche might have been readying itself for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne this weekend. Indeed once Porsche had decided to return to top-line motorsport talk of an F1 return was discussed openly inside Porsche back in 2010.

Wolfgang Hatz, Porsche research and development boss, explains: “There were only two options—F1 or LMP. But Le Mans is our second home.

“What could have influenced it was if someone in the group had said ‘Yes, but Audi is there and you cannot compete with Audi’.

“If someone from senior management had said this is not possible, we would have had no other alternative [but F1].”

Porsche has committed to a three-year program with its LMP1 operations. A decision on any longer-term future is expected to be made in 2015.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s Porsche competed in F1 with a factory-backed team without any real success. Dan Gurney managed three second places in 1961 and a single third place finish in 1962.

Success was achieved in the role of engine supplier under the McLaren-TAG arrangement in the mid 1980s when Niki Lauda and Alain Prost won the drivers’ world championship in 1984 and 1985 respectively. McLaren won the constructors’ championship in both years as well.

Porsche last supplied F1 engines in 1991 to the Footwork Arrows team. Results were poor and the team swapped over to Ford engines part way through the season.

[Source: Autosport]