Tag Archive | third
November 23, 2013  

Mark Webber fastest after treacherously wet final practice at Brazil

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Mark Webber has managed to end the third and final practice session fastest at Sao Paulo, despite the treacherously wet weather conditions which continued to plague proceedings. The Australian ace end the session ahead of Romain Grosjean, with the second Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen 3rd.

After a Friday plagued with inclement weather conditions over Sao Paulo’s Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace circuit, the teams and drivers were once again greeted with heavy rainfall for the third and final practice session prior to the all-important qualifying hour later in the day. With standing water lurking all over the treacherous 4.309km circuit, the majority of the drivers were extremely cautious when they finally took to the track. Despite the weather, Esteban Gutierrez became the first driver to take to the track for Sauber, and was quickly followed by Jules Bianchi and Pastor Maldonado.

Whilst the majority of the field elected to only carry out installation laps as the session swung into motion, Esteban Gutierrez proceeded to splash around the circuit with a seven lap stint in his Ferrari-powered Sauber. The Mexican rookie initially produced a 01:34.837, before eventually working his way down to a 01:34.129. With the track conditions failing to improve as the session continued, only the odd installation lap occurred up and down the order as the majority of the drivers unsurprisingly elected to remain in the safe and dry confines of the pit-lane.

As the halfway stage of the third and final practice session occurred, Max Chilton eventually became the second driver to produce a timed lap behind Esteban Gutierrez. Meanwhile team-mate Jules Bianchi managed to storm to the top of the timing sheets with a 01:33.412, as more drivers eventually began to brave the Brazilian elements. Williams ace Valtteri Bottas was the next driver to rise to the top, after producing a 01:32.772. The Finnish rookie momentarily managed to improve a lap later, before World Champion Sebastian Vettel asserted his authority over proceedings with a 01:31.857.

With only several minutes remaining in the session, the rain eventually began to subside allowing as the track action intensified around the legendary circuit. Esteban Gutierrez managed to return to the top for Sauber with a 01:31.121, before Lewis Hamilton thwarted the Mexican rookie with an even quicker 01:29.980. Although the conditions were visibly improving around the track, both Marussia drivers’ of Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi still managed to run slightly wide at various points of the circuit. Meanwhile Mark Webber managed to catapult himself to the top with a stunning 01:27.891, with the Williams duo of Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado slotting into 2nd and 3rd behind the experienced Australian driver.

Due to the slightly improved weather conditions, many drivers began switching to Pirelli’s intermediate tyres during the closing minutes including Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez. The former managed to propel himself up into 2nd position behind Mark Webber, with team-mate Heikki Kovalainen slotting into 3rd position for Lotus. Despite the majority of the field electing to run the final few minutes on the intermediate tyres, Mark Webber’s benchmark remained unchallenged as the checkered flag emerged signaling the end of the session.

With the rain forecast to remain a strong threat for the remainder of the day, the all-important qualifying hour could well include several surprises as the drivers battle against the elements in their quest for pole. Can Sebastian Vettel remain dominant in the rain, or can Mark Webber end his career with yet another pole?

Picture Copyright © Pirelli

June 8, 2013  

Mark Webber Fastest In Shortened Final Practice Session At Canada

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Mark Webber has ended a shortened third and final practice session fastest overall for Red Bull, in drying conditions around Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The Australian ace produced the time in the dying seconds of the session, and was followed by Adrian Sutil in 2nd and Lewis Hamilton in 3rd.

Once again the teams and drivers were greeted with damp weather conditions around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the start of the third and final practice session, which was frustratingly delayed for 30 minutes due to repairs being carried out on the barriers at Turn 11. This was due to a heavy incident earlier in the day during the Ferrari Challenge support event, and required a lengthy delay as repairs were carried out.

Eventually it was confirmed that the session would begin at 10:30 local time, and would last only for 30 minutes. This led to a hectic final practice session, as the entire field instantly took to the track on both the intermediate and full wet tyres in a bid to finalize their preparations for the weekend ahead. The Caterham duo were the first to take to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with Giedo van der Garde in particular setting the initial benchmark with a 01:30.873. The times naturally tumbled drastically as the session progressed, with Esteban Gutierrez and then Sergio Perez rising to the top with the latter producing a 01:27.984.

Adrian Sutil then rose to the top for Force India, before former Canadian Grand Prix winner Jenson Button continued to lower the benchmark with an impressive 01:26.340. Esteban Gutierrez, Nico Hulkenberg and then Valtteri Bottas rose to the top, with the latter producing a 01:25.126 before team-mate Pastor Maldonado disposed of his rookie team-mate. However, Valtteri Bottas immediately bounced back with a 01:24.314.

Although the track conditions continued to improve, many drivers were unwilling to switch to Pirelli’s P Zero range of tyres as wet patches continued to linger around the circuit. Giedo van der Garde ran extensively wide at Turns 3 and 4, skipping across the grass and narrowly avoiding the tyre barriers. Nico Hulkenberg then rose to the top for Sauber, with the Hinwil-based outfit continuing to search for improvements after a disappointing day yesterday.

Felipe Massa and then Esteban Gutierrez rose to the top, before the entire field switched to Pirelli’s P Zero dry tyres for the final few minutes of the final practice session. Sergio Perez was the first man to do so on the medium tyres, however he soon switch to the super-soft compound as did the entire field. Felipe Massa produced the first fastest dry lap of the session for Ferrari with a 01:22.482, before Kimi Raikkonen, Pastor Maldonado and then Jenson Button continued to lower the benchmark on slick rubber with the latter producing a 01:20.520.

As the checkered flag emerged, the times continued to tumble drastically with Paul di Resta, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Adrian Sutil and then Mark Webber all rising to the top. However, it was the Australian sensation who eventually ended the session fastest overall for Red Bull, after producing a 01:17.895 in the dying seconds of the session. Although the session ended in drying conditions, uncertainty still surrounds the weather forecast for the all-important qualifying hour later in the afternoon.

Pos Driver               Team                  Time       Gap        Laps
 1. Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault      1m17.895s             7
 2. Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m18.248s  + 0.353s   8
 3. Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes              1m18.732s  + 0.837s   7
 4. Fernando Alonso      Ferrari               1m18.977s  + 1.082s  10
 5. Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault      1m19.131s  + 1.236s   6
 6. Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m19.457s  + 1.562s   7
 7. Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m19.496s  + 1.601s   6
 8. Felipe Massa         Ferrari               1m19.750s  + 1.855s   9
 9. Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes      1m19.790s  + 1.895s   9
10. Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1m20.316s  + 2.421s   8
11. Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault         1m20.596s  + 2.701s   9
12. Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m21.035s  + 3.140s  12
13. Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m21.364s  + 3.469s   7
14. Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth     1m21.652s  + 3.757s   9
15. Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari        1m22.021s  + 4.126s  14
16. Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        1m22.720s  + 4.825s  15
17. Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m23.058s  + 5.163s   7
18. Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault      1m23.132s  + 5.237s  14
19. Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.309s  + 5.414s   8
20. Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault      1m23.620s  + 5.725s  12
21. Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault      1m24.317s  + 6.422s  12
22. Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth     1m26.195s  + 8.300s   9

Picture Copyright © Getty Images

October 27, 2012  

HRT Hindered By Traffic During Indian Grand Prix Qualifying

HRT were unable to extract the most out of their cars during qualifying for the Indian Grand Prix, after both Pedro de la Rosa and local hero Narain Karthikeyan were hindered by traffic throughout the closing stages of Q1. However, both drivers are extremely satisfied and will start tomorrow’s race from 22nd and 23rd respectively.

After improving greatly during the third and final practice session prior to qualifying, HRT were confident of a competitive performance with improvements in the balance and handling of their F112 machine. Although Pedro de la Rosa was able to set a decent first timed lap during qualifying, Narain Karthikeyan made a slight error on his opening lap and was hindered thereafter by traffic. Pedro de la Rosa was also at a disadvantage due to traffic, but was able to out-qualify his team-mate.

“Although we didn’t find the lap we were hoping for, we did complete a very good qualifying session.” Enthused Pedro de la Rosa, “With the first set of tyres the car performed very well and I was able to complete three clean laps. However, with the second set and with more rubber on the track when times could be improved significantly, I encountered a lot of traffic and I was unable to complete a clean lap. The car was better today than yesterday and we could’ve been even quicker but with the traffic it was impossible.”

Tomorrow’s 60-lap Indian Grand Prix will be Narain Karthikeyan’s second in front of his home fans, and despite being out-qualified by team-mate de la Rosa will not be starting the race plum last. Due to Charles Pic’s lack of knowledge around the Buddh International Circuit, Karthikeyan will start 23rd alongside the Frenchman on the back row of the grid.

“Overall I’m happy with the performance we showed in the qualifying session.” Explained Narain Karthikeyan, “On my second run I made a mistake on lap 10 which cost me a couple of tenths but the large amount of cars on the track was the main problem as we didn’t find a gap to go as quick as we would have liked. Despite this I’m happy because we finished ahead of one of the Marussias, my time was almost identical to Pedro’s and we’ve got good pace so we can be satisfied.”

HRT have enjoyed a recent improvement in form, despite still remaining towards the back of the pack. With Narain Karthikeyan’s future as a HRT driver under speculation for next season, the Indian driver will be aiming for a positive race as he strives to retain his seat alongside Pedro de la Rosa. The Spaniard, on the other hand, is expected to remain at HRT next season and has unquestionably been the number one driver at the team this season.

Picture Copyright © HRT F1 Team

September 6, 2012  

Jake Rosenzweig Replaces Josef Kral At Barwa Addax For Monza

American driver Jake Rosenzweig will make his return to the GP2 Series this weekend in Monza, as the 23-year-old prepares to replace Josef Kral for this weekend’s penultimate race weekend of the season. This comes after Kral won last time out in Belgium, and is the second time the Czech driver has been replaced this season.

Jake Rosenzweig raced for Super Nova Racing in last season’s non-Championship final at Abu Dhabi, and has this season raced in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series (World Series by Renault) for ISR, albeit yielding slightly uncompetitive results with a personal best of 6th at Spa-Francorchamps earlier in the year. This is the third driver change ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, after Stefano Coletti moved from Coloni to Rapax, forcing Coloni to re-sign Luca Filippi to fill his vacant seat.

This change is the second time Barwa Addax have replaced Josef Kral, after the Czech driver was replaced by HRT reserve driver Dani Clos for the two back-to-back Bahrain races at the start of the season. Although the Czech driver has endured a highly uncompetitive season throughout 2012, Josef Kral did win last time out at Spa-Francorchamps. However, this was only Kral’s second finish in the points all season, and could well be the reason behind why Addax have replaced Kral with Rosenzweig.

Jake Rosenzweig will become the first American driver to partake in an official GP2 event since the inaugural season back in 2005, when Scott Speed raced for iSport International alongside Turkish driver Can Artam. Barwa Addax have won three races so far this season, with both Josef Kral and Johnny Cecotto jr. victorious throughout the year. Jake Rosenzweig will undoubtedly be striving to emulate those results, and battle at the sharp end of the field for a competitive race result once the action gets underway this weekend.

Picture Copyright © Drew Gibson/GP2 Series Media Service

April 29, 2012  

Will Power Wins Third Consecutive Race Of The Season At Sao Paulo

Australia’s Will Power has taken his third consecutive victory of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series in an incident filled race on the streets of Sao Paulo, finishing just under a second ahead of Ryan Hunter-Ray. Takuma Sato came home 3rd, his personal best finish of his IndyCar career to date.

The race start time was brought forward as rain threatened the event, which was postponed after only 15 laps in 2011 due to heavy rain. At the start, the field safely negotiated the first two treacherous corners as Will Power took control at the front from reigning Series Champion Dario Franchitti. James Hinchcliffe suffered a difficult opening few laps, dropping from 4th to 7th whereas Charlie Kimball took slight wing damage.

On lap 10, the first scheduled pit-stops took place as local hero Helio Castroneves pitted for Penske along with rookie Simon Pagenaud a lap later. During these opening pit-stop, both Takuma Sato and Ana Beatriz were issued penalties for speeding in the pit lane. With the Japanese driver starting from way down in 25th position, a penalty was the last thing the former F1 driver needed.

With the first quarter of the race running caution free, Will Power was still running strong in the lead as he made his first pit-stop on lap 23. Katherine Legge’s difficult season continued when on lap 22 the British driver tapped the wall, thus forcing her to limp back to the pits with a left-rear puncture.

As Power pitted, his team-mate Ryan Briscoe stuffed his Penske into the wall bringing out the first full course caution of the race. This caution last for 4 laps as the stricken Penske was removed by the marshals, and the race returned to green flag conditions on lap 27.

Heading down into the turn 1, and Dario Franchitti was unceremoniously tipped into a spin by Mike Conway. This left the reigning Champion stuck on the track, as the second full course caution was brought out to allow the marshals to tend to the stricken Scot. 

As the old saying goes in IndyCar ‘cautions breed cautions’, and that was evident during the Sao Paulo Indy as the race returned to racing conditions once again on lap 30 only for a third consecutive caution to be caused as Josef Newgarden, Simona de Silvestro, James Jakes and Charlie Kimball were involved in a pile-up at turn 3. As the carnage ensued, Tony Kanaan completed a stunning restart as he stormed passed fellow countrymen Castroneves and Barrichello.

After three consecutive cautions, the drivers’ held their breath as the race returned to green flag conditions. Miraculously it was incident free as Power led at the front, as Franchitti began a charge from behind after his early incident. By lap 43, the Scot was already back up to 6th place due to the many incidents and pit-stops during the caution periods.

The second round of pit-stops began around lap 42, with Scott Dixon eventually assuming the lead as the stops were carried out. With the Kiwi scheduled to stop once more in the race, Will Power sat comfortably in 2nd awaiting his eventual rise to the lead. This eventuality occurred on lap 63 when Dixon pitted, just as the fourth full course caution was brought out as Ed Carpenter spun and Josef Newgarden hit the wall in separate incidents’. 

On the restart, Sato surprised everyone and stormed through to 3rd, narrowly avoiding a collision with Dario Franchitti into turn 2. Unfortunately, the inevitable happened as a multi-car pile-up ensued further down the order, bringing out yet another full course caution. With the track nearly blocked, the leaders perilously made their way through the mayhem under safety car conditions next time around.

As the IndyCar fraternity held their breath once again for a clean restart, Will Power was able to fend off Ryan Hunter-Reay and complete his third consecutive win of the season. Takuma Sato came home an impressive 3rd after making up 22 positions throughout the race.

The IndyCar Series now heads home to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the month of May and the 96th Indy 500! 

Picture Copyright © LAT Photographic


March 17, 2012  

HRT Not To Take Part In Australian Grand Prix

After failing to set a time in qualifying within the 107% rule, HRT have been declined the opportunity to race in tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix by the race stewards. The Spanish outfit were making no friends during the qualifying hour, as Narain Karthikeyan in particular got in the way of numerous faster cars.

Their weekend has been one of more downs than ups after they initially failed to have all cars ready for scrutineering at the beginning of the weekend. The woes intensified as Pedro De La Rosa’s car wasn’t ready in time for FP1, whilst Narain Karthikeyan suffered an oil pressure sensor failure and ground to a halt on track.

The second practice session was more of a success for HRT, as De La Rosa completed his first lap of the 2012 season whilst Karthikeyan completed 16 laps. In third practice, the two HRT’s completed 25 laps between them as things began to look up for the struggling Spanish outfit.

But after being dangerously slow on parts of the circuit throughout qualifying, notably when Karthikeyan held up Fernando Alonso, the race stewards had no option but to decline their request to race under article 36.1 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations.

HRT will be hoping for a more successful race next weekend, as they try to continue their improvements at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Picture Copyright © HRT F1 Team

February 27, 2012  

HRT Not To Complete Pre-Test Shakedown

HRT will not complete a pre-test shakedown of their new 2012 car, the Cosworth powered F112, and will instead complete their first track event with their new car at the third and final pre-season test this week at Barcelona. 

After suffering a rocky winter period, HRT’s 2012 car initially failed the mandatory FIA crash test, forcing the team to use their 2011 car at the first test at Jerez. The team skipped the second pre-season test at Barcelona to focus on their 2012 car, which seems to have paid off as their 2012 car is now ready to make its track debut. 

However, with the team not planning a pre-test shakedown, they will be hoping that all goes well when the F112 makes its first appearance at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya later in the week. It’s expected that Spaniard Pedro De La Rosa will be the first to drive the new car, before Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan makes his 2012 track debut later in the week. 

HRT will be hoping for a productive week, as they aim to fine tune their car in preparation for the season opening Australian Grand Prix. 

Picture Copyright © HRT F1 Team

February 10, 2012  

Mercedes Test F-Duct Front Wing For 2012

Although Mercedes took part in the first test at Jerez this week using their old 2011 car, it didn’t stop them trying out new devices and setting fast laps in their three days on track. This new device they were trying out was an innovative F-Duct on the front wing, reminiscent of McLaren’s device from 2010.

With Mercedes yet to unveil their 2012 challenger, their drivers are completing extra mileage in their 2011 car this week with the aim to give their designers more design time in the hope it’ll assist them in designing a highly competitive car.

For the last two seasons, Mercedes have been scoring consistent points finishes, yet have struggled in achieving consistent podium finishes and have failed to win a race. With other teams releasing their cars prior to the start of pre-season testing at Jerez, Mercedes opted for a different route. 

Mercedes have had a successful few days at Jerez, with Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg both topping the timing sheets on the second and third days of testing, albeit driving their 2011 car against others in their new cars (apart from HRT). 

However it has emerged that Mercedes have been testing a new and potentially innovative device in their nose, which has turned out to be an F-Duct style system. Unlike McLaren’s system which sat on the front wing of their car, this device is only a tiny slot at the tip of the Mercedes nose which, according to a report in Auto Motor und Sport, takes the air that enters the device, and channels it down onto the front wing.

With the device estimated at providing around a 5 to 8kph benefit, could this be the device excels Mercedes to the heights of McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari?