Month: October 2016

The Mexican GP is proving to be very even on the times so far, 3 seconds separate the 22 drivers! As it promises to be a very competitive weekend, its start is certainly a good one for Ferrari as it has shown to be on the pace with the Mercedes. Red Bull hasn’t been as competitive but they are just a few tenths off as well closely matched with Force India and Williams. It’s all to play for as the teams prepare for the second day of action, the third Free Practice and then the Qualifying coming next.

Tire degradation has been a little bit of a mystery as well as the grip in conditions relatively cold on a surface that has been constantly improving according to the drivers. Fans in Mexico have been great, making their support very well noticed and the teams have put an effort to pay back with garments, face painting and even cupcakes made in commemoration of the Day of the Dead festivities.

This will also mark the first opportunity for Nico Rosberg to clinch the Driver’s Title if he wins and Hamilton finishes 10th or higher.. What are the odds of that happening?

Results Free Practices 1 & 2
Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	FP1	FP2	Improvement
1	5	S. Vettel	Ferrari	1:20.993	1:19.790	-1.203
2	44	L. Hamilton	Mercedes Benz	1:20.914	1:19.794	-1.120
3	6	N. Rosberg	Mercedes Benz	1:21.673	1:20.225	-1.448
4	7	K. Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:21.072	1:20.259	-0.813
5	3	D. Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:21.727	1:20.448	-1.279
6	27	N. Hulkenberg	Force India	1:21.409	1:20.574	-0.835
7	33	M. Verstappen	Red Bull	1:22.877	1:20.619	-2.258
8	77	V. Bottas	Williams	1:21.477	1:20.629	-0.848
9	55	C. Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:22.563	1:20.974	-1.589
10	14	F. Alonso	McLaren	1:23.089	1:21.003	-2.086
11	26	D. Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:22.215	1:21.193	-1.022
12	22	J. Button	McLaren	1:23.342	1:21.198	-2.144
13	11	S. Perez	Force India	1:21.200	1:21.579	0.379
14	19	F. Massa	Williams	1:21.836	1:21.326	-0.510
15	20	K. Magnussen	Renault	1:23.556	1:21.442	-2.114
16	30	J. Palmer	Renault	1:24.097	1:21.785	-2.312
17	94	P. Wehrlein	Manor	1:24.350	1:21.980	-2.370
18	9	M. Ericsson	Sauber	1:22.723	1:21.997	-0.726
19	12	F. Nasr	Sauber	1:23.089	1:22.037	-1.052
20	8	R. Grosjean	Haas	1:22.500	1:22.105	-0.395
21	31	E. Ocon	Manor	1:24.083	1:22.298	-1.785
22	21	E. Gutierrez	Haas	1:22.910	1:22.408	-0.502
		Fastest Lap

It’s not a secret Sauber had to deal with all kinds of problems this year, financial and technical but it is also certainly clear that we are talking about a team that has shown incredible potential in the past and is completely capable of bouncing back. Recent news of a buyout finally gave the team a break financially speaking and also solves the mystery to backers and possible future backers so it really was a big break.

At the USGP, Monisha Kaltenborn (Sauber Team Principal) explained one key part of the future of the Team technically speaking now that the financial part is sound and they can concentrate on bringing out the best of their package. Major changes are cooking in all the Team factories for 2017, predominantly on the aerodynamics and chassis that are going to be introduced with the sole objective of giving the cars more down force and wider bodies along with wider tires that, according to estimates, will improve the cars’ lap times at an average of 6 seconds, or more! The power plant and energy recovery systems will remain unchanged from this year’s regulations and that’s where Sauber is playing their card… development in F1 is all about timing and the actual time you have before the introduction of a part, and you can’t design a good package if you don’t have the engine so instead of waiting for the 2017 engine from Ferrari, they are already developing their car with the 2016 engine which they know, is not lacking much power at all and is race tested, makes sense doesn’t it?

Of course all teams take a step forward with new developed engines and components but with the regulations staying the same for the last two years, there isn’t much more they can extract from their current machinery and having the option of working a few weeks earlier with the current power package they can focus on where the real gain would be for next year, the chassis and aerodynamics…

So it is the humble opinion of this journalist that Sauber will definitely be a team to watch from the beginning of the next season, they could be a step ahead and it will take a while for the other teams to catch up if their package doesn’t bring the results they expect. Don’t forget you can comment and give us your opinion…

Lewis Hamilton wins for the third time in a row in Austin, Texas. With a perfect start, something he hadn’t been able to achieve lately, Hamilton managed the race perfectly, staying away from making any mistakes and crossing his fingers for his car to hold on to the finish. Nico Rosberg also had a good start but his move to the outside allowed Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo to dive inside turn one and gain the position, a situation that the Mercedes driver managed to overturn in the pit stops. The young Max Verstappen had a decent start and had a good scrap passing Ferrari’s Sebastien Vettel at the beginning and then Kimi Raikkonen too in a later stage of the race lifting the crowd’s spirits but had to retire from the race with an engine problem on lap 31. Contact between Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg on turn 11 forced the retirement of Nico and a ten second penalty was imposed to Kvyat who eventually finished 12th. Raikkonen was another driver who hit trouble after his second pit stop with a wheel nut and had to abandon the race, he had been running 5th ahead of Vettel. Mexico’s Esteban Gutierrez (Hass) retired with mechanical issues as well and Bottas suffered a puncture on lap 1 which ruled out any possibilities for him to collect any points. Brazilian Felipe Massa (Williams) did finish 7th after a late scrap with McLaren’s Fernando Alonso at turn 15 and then lost another position to an inspired Carlos Sainz who raced incredibly with 2015 Ferrari engines.

UNNOFICIAL RESULTS OF RACE UNITED STATES 2016
Pos.	No.	Driver	Team
1	44	L. Hamilton	Mercedes Benz
2	6	N. Rosberg	Mercedes Benz
3	3	D. Ricciardo	Red Bull
4	5	S. Vettel	Ferrari
5	14	F. Alonso	McLaren
6	55	C. Sainz	Toro Rosso
7	19	F. Massa	Williams
8	11	S. Perez	Force India
9	22	J. Button	McLaren
10	8	R. Grosjean	Haas
11	20	K. Magnussen	Renault
12	26	D. Kvyat	Toro Rosso
13	30	J. Palmer	Renault
14	9	M. Ericsson	Sauber
15	12	F. Nasr	Sauber
16	77	V. Bottas	Williams
17	94	P. Wehrlein	Manor
18	31	E. Ocon	Manor
19	7	K. Raikkonen	Ferrari
20	33	M. Verstappen	Red Bull
21	21	E. Gutierrez	Haas
22	27	N. Hulkenberg	Force India

Neurburg made a quick run at the start to dismiss any possible attack from the Lotus drivers and kept a good rhythm to be completely unchallenged in race 2 of the Master Historic Racing. The fight for the second place was between the 77, 78 and 79 Lotus drivers with Gregory Thornton holding for a few laps in a hard but clean fight with the winner of the first race, the Japanese Katsuaki Kubota and then with Duncan Dayton in the No. 15. Again, the lap times dropped to the 2:03’s proving how competitive these cars were back then and still are today.

Full results will follow…  (Gallery click here)

 

In the No. 12 1978 Lotus, Japan’s Katsuaki Kubota managed to hold on to the lead of the first race of the Masters Historic category at COTA. It was an exciting 10 lap race where the fans could get a taste of the sounds and looks of the beautiful classic Formula 1 cars from the 1971 Tyrrell 002 No. 3 to the 1983 Tyrrell 011 No. 6 and the RAM March No. 71. With  the fastest lap time of 2:04.690 set by Charles Nearburg in the No. 27 Williams FW07 B, it’s clear the evolution of the F1 in a 30 year period (Hamilton set pole with a 1:34.999) but still they are pretty competitive times if you consider the fact that the Porsche Supercup cars set a fastest time of time of 2:11.472 and the MotoGP motorcycles run around the track in 2:02.135 (lap record by Marquez from 2015 in Qualifying).

It was precisely Nearburg who attacked towards the end and managed to pass the No. 2 Lotus driven by Gregory Thornton but did not have time to attack  the Japanese driver in the Lotus 78 who took the win by 0.807 seconds.

Full results race 1:   (Gallery click here)

Hamilton made it clear that he’s going to fight to the end of the Championship with the fastest lap of the Circuit. His first fast lap was not good enough to beat Rosberg but the second certainly was as he managed it superbly to beat his team mate by 0.216 seconds. Tomorrow’s race will be important, anything can happen and one retirement for Rosberg in the final 4 races would simply vanish his lead and turn the Championship bright red, although the pressure must be truly high for the German now.

Full results:

FASTEST LAP OVERALL

44    L. HAMILTON    Mercedes AMG     1:34.99      208.915 KPH.

QUALIFYING SESSIONS
Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3
1	44	L. Hamilton	Mercedes Benz	1:36.296	1:36.450	1:34.999
2	6	N. Rosberg	Mercedes Benz	1:36.397	1:36.351	1:35.215
3	3	D. Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:36.759	1:36.255	1:35.509
4	33	M. Verstappen	Red Bull	1:36.613	1:36.857	1:35.747
5	7	K. Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:36.985	1:36.584	1:36.131
6	5	S. Vettel	Ferrari	1:37.151	1:36.462	1:36.358
7	27	N. Hulkenberg	Force India	1:36.950	1:36.626	1:36.628
8	77	V. Bottas	Williams	1:37.456	1:37.202	1:37.116
9	19	F. Massa	Williams	1:37.402	1:37.214	1:37.269
10	55	C. Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:37.744	1:37.175	1:37.326
11	11	S. Perez	Force India	1:37.345	1:37.353
12	14	F. Alonso	McLaren	1:37.913	1:37.417
13	26	D. Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:37.844	1:37.480
14	21	E. Gutierrez	Haas	1:38.053	1:37.773
15	30	J. Palmer	Renault	1:38.084	1:37.935
16	9	M. Ericsson	Sauber	1:38.040	1:39.356
17	8	R. Grosjean	Haas	1:38.308
18	20	K. Magnussen	Renault	1:38.317
19	22	J. Button	McLaren	1:38.327
20	94	P. Wehrlein	Manor	1:38.548
21	12	F. Nasr	Sauber	1:38.583
22	31	E. Ocon	Manor	1:38.806

Max Verstappen improved his pace significantly to comfortably beat the 1:37 to post the fastest time of the 3rd Practice Session before qualifying in Austin, Texas. The Red Bull driver set a 1:36.766 just over two tenths ahead of his team mate Daniel Ricciardo. Kimi Raikkonen also set a good time for third place also beating the best time set by Nico Rosberg in the 2nd Practice Session. Times continue dropping, Mercedes usually go faster in the three practice sessions before qualifying but as team manager Totto Wolf was saying at the press conference yesterday, the difference now between their car, Red Bull and Ferrari, is just of a few tenths when at the beginning was over a second.

Here’s the results and our improvement analysis:

Results Free Practices 1-2-3
Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	FP1	FP2	Improvement	FP3	Improvement
1	33	M. Verstappen	Red Bull	1:39.379	1:38.258	-1.121	1:36.766	-1.492
2	3	D. Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:39.963	1:37.552	-2.411	1:37.032	-0.520
3	7	K. Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:39.407	1:38.865	-0.542	1:37.284	-1.581
4	44	L. Hamilton	Mercedes Benz	1:37.428	1:37.649	0.221	1:37.483	-0.166
5	6	N. Rosberg	Mercedes Benz	1:37.743	1:37.358	-0.385	1:37.784	0.426
6	5	S. Vettel	Ferrari	1:39.988	1:38.178	-1.766	1:37.894	-0.284
7	27	N. Hulkenberg	Force India	1:39.712	1:38.508	-1.204	1:37.948	-0.560
8	77	V. Bottas	Williams	1:39.776	1:39.197	-0.579	1:38.188	-1.009
9	22	J. Button	McLaren	1:41.663	1:38.713	-1.950	1:38.212	-0.501
10	14	F. Alonso	McLaren	1:40.362	1:38.801	-1.563	1:38.452	-0.349
11	11	S. Perez	Force India	DNS	1:38.568	0.000	1:38.512	-0.056
12	30	J. Palmer	Renault	1:42.332	1:39.455	-2.877	1:38.528	-0.927
13	19	F. Massa	Williams	1:40.191	1:39.281	-0.910	1:38.607	-0.674
14	26	D. Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:40.131	1:39.202	-0.929	1:38.691	-0.511
15	55	C. Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:40.140	1:38.971	-1.169	1:38.710	-0.261
16	21	E. Gutierrez	Haas	1:40.970	1:40.114	-0.856	1:38.939	-1.175
17	8	R. Grosjean	Haas	1:40.826	1:39.554	-1.272	1:39.097	-0.457
18	20	K. Magnussen	Renault	1:41.942	1:39.159	-2.783	1:39.105	-0.054
19	9	M. Ericsson	Sauber	1:41.170	1:40.219	-0.951	1:39.239	-0.980
20	12	F. Nasr	Sauber	1:40.287	1:39.189	-1.102	1:39.509	0.320
21	31	E. Ocon	Manor	1:43.874	1:40.086	-3.788	1:39.771	-0.315
22	94	P. Wehrlein	Manor	DNS	1:41.131	0.000	1:41.427	0.296
23	34	A. Celis	Force India	1:41.422	DNS	0.000	DNS	0.000
24	42	J. King	Manor	1:42.012	DNS	0.000	DNS	0.000
		Fastest Lap