Week in Review. Big week in the world of Formula 1. Let’s start by cleaning up after last week’s Malaysian Grand Prix. Adding insult to injury, Daniel will have a ten place grid penalty this weekend due to an unsafe pit release. Daniel was released from his pit box last weekend before his front left tyre could be secured. Bugger. Kevin Magnussen and Jules Bianchi were also in the naughty corner after last weekend’s race. Both received 2 penalty points on their license (part of the new changes this year). Bianchi was deemed to have caused an accident with Pasto Maldonado. However Bianchi insisted he was not to blame: “The situation with Maldonado was a consequence of what happened off the start, when Vergne hit me from behind and punctured my left rear tyre.” “Quite simply I could not avoid Maldonado – there was nothing I could do.” Magnussen got the same treatment from the stewards after making contact with Kimi Raikkonen at turn one, leaving the Ferrari with a puncture. However Magnussen took the blame for his penalty: “I’m sorry for the team that I messed things up going into the second corner, with the incident with Kimi.” “I think we could have scored some good points today, so I’m disappointed with and for myself, too.” Lap times at the Sepang International Circuit last weekend were the slowest since F1 first visited the track 15 years ago. There have been no major changes to the circuit configuration since the first Malaysian Grand Prix. The quickest lap last weekend, set by Nico Rosberg during the final practice session, was the slowest F1 has gone at the circuit since the inaugural race in 1999. Had qualifying been run in dry conditions it’s likely Rosberg would have been quicker, based on the normal track evolution at Sepang. But he would not have found the six seconds which separated his best time and the quickest ever lap of the track, Fernando Alonso’s 1’32.582 set in his V10-engined Renault in 2005. There are signs the current cars are already getting quicker. Last weekend’s fastest lap was 2.9 seconds of the 2013 pace – half a second closer than the cars were in Australia. And the teams are expected to find a lot more time. Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery suggested they could gain up to four seconds over the course of the year. Felipe Massa defended his decision to ignore orders from Williams to let his team mate overtake him in the closing stages of the race. Massa was leading Valtteri Bottas in the closing stages when Williams repeatedly told him to let his team mate past. Among the messages given to Massa were “Valtteri’s got better tyres we need to let him go” and “Felipe you’re slower than Valtteri, let him past”. Meanwhile Bottas was being told “You’re faster than Felipe, overtake him.” However Massa refused to give up the position and finished the race ahead of his team mate. “I think I did the best I could with my race,” he told reporters afterwards. “I was fighting to the end and my target was to score as many points for the team and me. We’re only in the second race.” The pair were following Jenson Button and Williams wanted to release Bottas so he could go after the McLaren. “Valtteri couldn’t pass me so it was going to be difficult to pass Jenson as well,” said Massa. “I don’t think that would’ve changed.” Bottas disagreed, saying “I think there was a really good chance for me to get Jenson”, but did not comment on Massa’s refusal to let him by. Williams eventually told both drivers to cool their engines and instructed Bottas to hold position, telling him: “We really need to cool the car, no overtake.” Asked whether it had been unfair of him to disobey the team’s instruction Massa said: “Is it fair to do the best we can?” “We have two championships, I respect my job, we need to respect each other.” Sebastian Vettel claims Red Bull are making bigger steps than Mercedes after he finished third at the Malaysia Grand Prix. Having struggled throughout pre-season testing with reliability and then being forced to retire from the opening race of the season two weeks ago with engine problems, the World Champion got his 2014 back on track with a podium finish at Sepang. Vettel still trailed both Mercedes home though - 24.5 seconds behind race winner Lewis Hamilton - but the German feels Red Bull are out-developing the Silver Arrows. It has been very positive what we have done since then [testing], a massive job from the team, massive job from Renault - both pushing really flat out - but there is still a long way to go, Vettel told Sky Sports F1. We can see that the others, especially these guys [Mercedes] are quite a bit ahead, a little bit quicker than us and always have enough in hand to respond, so it is up to us how quick we manage to come back, but for sure it is not easy when you start on the back foot. At the moment, though, it looks like we are making bigger steps than them and lets hope it continues like that.” One and a half months ago we were far away from doing ten laps in a row and today we finished the race on one of the most critical races of the year in terms of temperature and stress to the car, so we are very happy on that front.”” Last time I think I’ll talk about this subject, as it is annoying me. Renault says there is nothing the engine manufacturers can do to increase the noise produced by this seasons Formula 1 cars without a change in regulations. The noise produced by the new-for-2014 1.6-litre turbo engines has become a hot topic during the first two races, with fans complaining the cars sound too quiet and F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel labelling the new cars shit compared to the sound of the old V8 engines. Renaults head of track operations, Remi Taffin, told AUTOSPORT that F1 would be stuck with the sound it has unless the regulations changed. Theres two big items that drive this, he said. Firstly revs: we went from 18,000 to something like 12,000 this year. Its important to say its based on the regulations, because they set 15,000 as a maximum, but the fuel-flow limitation means the maximum were running, whether its a Ferrari, a Mercedes, or a Renault, is 12,000 and at the end of the straight it could be 10 or 11,000. This makes a very big difference, because last year it was 18,000. Now where youve got grandstands its something like 10. The other item is the turbo. You put one thing through the path of the exhaust gases, which is like if you would put a pillow on someones face. It acts as a muffler. If you combine these two, weve got the result weve got. For its tenth anniversary the Bahrain Grand Prix has become a night race. The start time has been moved back three hours to six o’clock in the evening (local), just minutes after the sun goes down in Sakhir. The race organisers have put up 495 lighting poles around the circuit to illuminate the circuit to the same standard drivers are used to from races in Singapore and Abu Dhabi. This will have an obvious effect on the temperatures during the race, though not as severe as might be expected. Minimum night temperatures in the area at this time of year can be as high as 20C. In comparison daytime temperatures for the three days ahead are expected to be in the mid-twenties, reaching 27C by Sunday. However once the sun goes down the temperature of the track surface – which of course is vital to tyre performance – will drop quite quickly. The track temperature was welcome above 42C during last year’s race but will likely be quite a bit lower this year. This means that we Aussie’s will need to be staying up late for the first time to watch the Bahrain race. The race doesn’t start to 1am Monday morning (Eastern). But don’t worry. It helps the European market. Lucky them. Talking about TV, Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo flew to London for a secret summit with Uncle Bernie to discuss problems with this season’s controversial regulations and the future ownership of the whole billion-dollar sport. (Well, it wasn’t really secret. I know about it!) Di Montezemolo is concerned that viewing figures in Europe fell for last weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, reflecting Ferrari’s online poll that found 78 per cent of the 35,000-plus respondents did not like the new formula. The Ferrari president told Ecclestone that the new regulations, including the 100kg per hour fuel flow regulation that saw Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo disqualified in Australia, are too complex and argued against a cost cap. The two men decided to hold a meeting with FIA president Jean Todt in the Bahrain paddock on Saturday in an attempt to find a quick resolution. Also under discussion in London was whether Ecclestone, with the involvement of teams such as Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes, might buy back a majority holding in the sport. In Bahrain, organisers are hoping for a peaceful weekend following the anti-government protests which forced the 2011 race to be abandoned. There were no reports of problems from any of the teams arriving in Bahrain on Wednesday. The only visible change from last year are concrete blocks along the hard shoulder of the road to the circuit. To finish off on a positive, Jenson Button says Formula One’s evolving rules have kept excitement in the sport during his 14-year career. Button, who will start his 250th race as an F1 driver this weekend, said, “the thing that surprises me is how quickly it goes by”. “Fifty races ago I was in Hungary celebrating my 200th grand prix – which I won, by the way. It’s amazing how quickly time flies and you really do have to enjoy every moment of it as much as you can.” “For me, being 14 years in the sport I still feel like I have more to learn,” said Button. “I’m definitely not the perfect driver yet, I never will be, but there’s always still more to learn and that’s something for me that’s exciting about the sport.” “New regulations obviously change the sport quite a lot, especially the new regulation change. And again you always have more to learn. And for me that’s what keeps the sport exciting and that’s what kept me on my toes over the last 14 years and hopefully for many more.” Make sure you keep the coffee flowing this weekend. It’s going to be a late one.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 02:35:43 +0000
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