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.
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.
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.
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]
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.
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.
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!
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]
Here’s your photo reminder of the Italian Grand Prix. The many goings on at the Frankfurt Motor Show mean you’ve had to wait a few extra days, which is why we’ve assembled over 110 photos for you to enjoy.
We liked the pics of McLaren’s 50th anniversary celebrations. And we’d have loved to score an invite to hear Mark Webber talking about his last European grand prix too.
Last night’s podium interviews were a bit of a farce. Jean Alesi, so admirable as a gritty underdog racer during his time in Formula 1, was little more than a Ferrari mouthpiece after Sebastian Vettel’s win at Monza. But it’s Italy and the tifosi needs to be catered to, so fair enough perhaps.
For Mark Webber, the weekend delivered his best qualifying result and best finishing result in 12 visits to the temple of speed. And while he says he likes Monza he’s done little to placate the rabid fans, telling Channel Ten in an interview he’d rather have a Porsche in the driveway than a Ferrari. He was also outspoken in his defence of teammate Sebastian Vettel who was roundly booed for not being a Ferrari driver.
“[I’m] very happy to be on the podium here at Monza,” said Mark. “It’s one of the most famous ones in the world, up there with Monte Carlo and a few other signature events but yeah, brilliant to experience that, even though the atmosphere I was not completely a fan of, to be honest. Sebastian won the race and the atmosphere is not completely correct but anyway… that’s their choice.”
Daniel Ricciardo, in his first race after being confirmed as Webber’s replacement at Red Bull next year still has his mind on the job of achieving better results for his current employer Toro Rosso.
“In recent races where we have managed to qualify in the top ten, we didn’t have the pace to stay there in the race, but today we did,” said Daniel. “I think I got the most out of the car, managing to keep the guys behind me and the low downforce set-up certainly helped us down the straights. We must keep pushing hard on the car development for the next few races, because hopefully, a top five finish is not too far away.”
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]
Sebastian Vettel took an easy win for Red Bull in tonight’s Italian Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso couldn’t bring a home win for Ferrari but did the next best thing by finishing second. While Mark Webber departs his final European-based F1 race from the third step on the podium.
Both Red Bull drivers got off the front row of the grid well and for a moment it looked like Webber might challenge Vettel for the lead into the first corner. But while the Red Bulls ahead scrapped the Ferraris pounced and Felipe Massa took third place while Alonso was on Webber’s tail.
Alonso eventually got past Webber with a typically courageous move and Massa was soon brushed aside. The race then settled into an otherwise lifeless rhythm.
Webber got past Massa in the pit stop sequence and with the preferred strategy being a one stopper that was pretty much it as far as seeing any excitement at the head of the field.
There were some concerns from the Red Bull pit wall with both drivers asked to short shift to look after their gearboxes and the field did close up towards the end, but there were no serious threats to Vettel or the two men behind him.
Felipe Massa held on to fourth place and Nico Hulkenberg and Sauber will be overjoyed with his fifth place. Nico Rosberg salvaged some pride for Mercedes AMG in sixth and Daniel Ricciardo was seventh and the sole Toro Rosso finisher after Jean-Eric Vergne suffered engine problems.
So, another easy win for Vettel. He joins Alonso on 32 grand prix wins and looks to be on an unstoppable charge to his fourth world championship.
Sebastian Vettel (1:23.755) claimed his 40th pole position in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix last night. His Red Bull teammate, Mark Webber, was two tenths behind (1:23.968). While a surprise result from Nico Hulkenberg (1:24.065) in the Ferrari powered Sauber rounded out the top three.
Aside from the flying Red Bulls, it was a mixed session. Both McLarens and both Toro Rossos made the top 10, while both Lotus drivers didn’t make the cut and nor did Lewis Hamilton (1:24.803, Mercedes) who will start from a relatively lowly P12.
Hamilton was impeded by Adrian Sutil (Force India) who was handed a three-spot grid penalty, but afterwards Lewis admitted he didn’t think he had the pace to challenge the lead pair.
Daniel Ricciardo (1:24.209, Toro Rosso) might have hoped for more than P7 as he spent much of the first two sessions hovering around the top three. At least he didn’t run wide into the gravel exiting the Parabolica like teammate Jean-Eric Vergne (1:28.050), who will start from P10.
“We missed a little something in Q3, doing a two lap run, and with hindsight, maybe a one lap run with a lighter fuel load would have been better,” said Daniel. “But I am still happy with seventh. I dropped a wheel in the gravel at the second chicane which might have cost me some time. To have both cars in the top ten on merit on a dry track is a very good result.”
Ferrari sent out both cars close together in Q3. Felipe Massa went first, with Fernando Alonso behind. The aim was to provide a slip stream for Alonso, however Massa was too quick and the plan didn’t work. Massa (1:24.132) ended qualifying in P4, marginally ahead of Alonso (1:24.142) in P5.
One rumour doing the rounds is that Hulkenberg could replace Massa at Ferrari next season. It would seem that Felipe may be taking an every man for himself approach as he sets sights on finding a new employer.
The full transcript from the post-quali press conference can be read after the break.
[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]