Belgian Grand Prix Preview

After the four-week summer break, Formula One is back this weekend at the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, where Nico Rosberg looks to keep Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton behind him in the Championship; and with only 11 points separating the pair, this weekend could be crucial in the title battle.

This week, however, news relating to the other end of the paddock has made all the headlines.

Verstappen, currently racing in the European F3 Championship

It was announced on Monday that 16 year-old Dutch racing driver Max Verstappen would replace Jean-Eric Vergne next season at Toro Rosso. Verstappen, who will become the youngest F1 driver in the sports history, replaces Vergne who so narrowly missed out on a Red Bull seat this season.
The team thanked the Frenchman for his hard work over the past 3 years.  

32 year-old German, Lotterer

Then, Caterham revealed 3-time Le Mans winner Andre Lotterer would replace the experience Kamui Kobayashi for the weekend, with the team insisting that Kobayashi still remains part of the team.

Rounding off an eventful week, Max Chilton 'volunterred' to sit out of this weekends Belgian Grand Prix whilst 'contractual issues are resolved'. Marussia, who have been hit with financial difficulties, are looking to sell the Brit's Marussia seat to raise all important funds.

Alexander Rossi

22 year-old American Alexander Rossi, who was released by Caterham in July as their reserve driver, will step in alongside Jules Bianchi for his first race in F1.

Free Practice 1 begins on Friday 22nd August at 10:00 local time (09:00 GMT)

#HitTheBeeps

Going into the winter break ahead of the 2014 season, the anticipation was molecular in how it shaped up; with numerous variables and changes fans of the sport questioned and followed with interest, building their excitment. Aside from the technical and aesthetic, there was a constant that looked to develop into a real contender for Sebastian Vettel's crown- Romain Grosjean.

Romain Grosjean celebrates his 2nd place at the US Grand Prix last year.

 His displays in the final races demonstrated maturity, confidence and self-assurance, looking as if the Frenchman could assert himself as Lotus' Number One driver and lead the team to his first win on the step to challenging the top teams for both Driver and Constructors gold. But, those regulation changes have hurt Lotus and stifled Grosjean's success- with the spoils going to others in the paddock; Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo taking his first win, and Williams Valterri Bottas imitating the form Romain carried last year.

So what has happened to Lotus?

Ayrton Senna and Lotus. Both legends.

 The black and gold livery is as prestigious as the history it holds underneath its chassis; 7 constructors championships and 6 driver titles, these astounding feats almost lend Lotus to have unequivocal success. But, as Ferrari and Mclaren know all too well, the hands of time cannot be rested upon and are unbiased to the champions of the future to come, as Red Bull and Mercedes have risen to become the top teams in F1. 

Ending the 2013 season 4th in the constructors table (315 points), Lotus find themselves 8th, with Romain Grosjean's sole 8 points keeping the team ahead on the finest of margins from Sauber and Marussia.
Financially, the cracks were evident last year as Kimi Raikkonen confessed the team hadn't paid him for numerous races and then Team Principal Gerard Lopez admitting Lotus were in £114 million debt. These money difficulties would unsettle any organisation and the ramifications from that are being seen on track. The loss of key personnel also, from Kimi leaving for Ferrari and former Team Principle Eric Boullier joining Mclaren just hours after the E22 was unveiled, further dislocated the team.

Nico Hulkenberg

 After Raikkonen's departure, Nico Hulkenberg was seen by many as the likely candidate to fill the Finn's boots due to merit. However, Lotus's money problems were the underlining reason they opted for reckless Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado, who brings vast resources and sponsorship courtesy of his connections with oil company PDVSA and ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The prospect of receiving figures in the region of £45 million (which Maldonado brought to Williams in 2012) were surely not to be refused by Lotus' owners Genii Capital. So, instead of progressing forward with a solid driver partnership, Lotus found it a necessity to address being in the red at, arguably, the expense of aiming for gold...which shows the magnitude of the crisis.

Pastor Maldonado

 Switching from V8's to turbo V6's presented challenges for all teams, but Lotus once again have struggled in particular. Renault power is inferior to that of Mercedes, but Lotus have not been able to harness the potential and develop a reliable package, with both drivers suffering numerous DNF's or failures throughout a race weekend. Pastor Maldonado said,

''When you have a big transition like that in terms of technology you always have some problems, but we didn't expect to have that much. At the moment, in my opinion, its just too much.''

As was announced last month, next year will see Lotus use Mercedes engines, which is a sign of their intent for the future to improve on where they find themselves at the moment.

All these factors have led to poor performances not fitting of the Lotus name. Is a Ferrari-style reshuffle in order to see them back to winning ways? Or it may be a case of those personnel changes at the start of the year taking their toll on a team hit on all fronts by problems and needing time to nurture a team crying out for stability.

#HitTheBeeps

'Down to the wire.' Four simple words, but enough to send a burst of adrenaline down the spines of motor racing fans.

I first heard that phrase uttered from the voice of Formula One, Murray Walker, as a bleary-eyed 6 year old, waking up in a part of the morning you didn't realise existed, to watch the 1996 Championship showdown in Suzuka between Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.

Damon Hill celebrating his 1996 World Championship after the Japanese Grand Prix

 The Canadian, who was on Pole, needed to win the race and Damon not to score any points for him to win the title.
To his dismay however (but to me and my mother's jubilation), it was he who retired and Damon Hill won the race and the Championship in a thrilling and emotional finale.

Those are the moments we remember and become forever etched into the history of the sport; unscripted, yet elegantly orchestrated to deliver drama audiences are gripped by.

And it is this that Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone wants to synthetically recreate with the introduction of the new double points system for the last grand prix of the season in Abu Dhabi by allowing the fight for the Championship to be contested for as long as possible and keep spectators, and audience figures, captivated.

Although all the teams agreed to its implementation for the 2014 season (with Ferrari Chairman Luca Di Montezemalo agreeing to it as long as it was only on a trail basis), many high profile figures, including Bernie Ecclestone himself, have raised concerns and anxieties over how it will impact the events to come and whether in fact, it may have the opposite effect and leave audiences perplexed by a skewed system that could turn 'down to the wire' sour.

Ecclestone, who in January wanted to increase the number of double points races from 1 to 3 (which would have included the USA and Brazil GP), admitted in April, ''(It is) probably not fair that somebodies done all that work early on and get so many points and somebody could just pop in and do a couple of races.''

As it stands now, the ones the double points system may haunt (and in actual fact be their biggest rival), is Mercedes whose drivers stand first and second, with Nico Rosberg currently 84 points ahead of 3rd place Daniel Ricciardo.

In previous years, we could be confident in predicting that the Number 6 or Number 44 silver arrow would be crowned World Champion, but, even though the likelihood of it happening is slim, it isn't out of the question that if Ricciardo, Alonso or even Bottas bridge the gap to the Mercedes by November and if they have the racing gods on their side, then with 50 points on offer for the winner in Abu Dhabi, the Championship is still open.

Executive Director of Mercedes AMG Petronas, Toto Wolff, who on Tuesday of this week sustained a fractured shoulder, collar bone, elbow and wrist in a cycling crash along the Danube River, stated it was a mistake by Formula One to award double points for the finale.

Toto Wolff

  ''I don't think it is fair and I don't think we should have done it.''

''But the commercial rights holders, who takes the sponsorship and cares about the TV audiences, said we need to keep the excitement until the last race, and it looks like he was right.''

It would be unimaginable for a driver to be denied the Championship because of the double points system; a cruel hand of fate robbing the title that all but had his named carved into it, being handed to another who clinched it in the dying embers of the season. Wolff pointed out that scenario would devastate the psyche and mind frame of the individual,

''I think the driver who loses the title because of double points will need some psychological treatment, but we are not there yet.''

How would double points in the past rewritten F1 history?

'If only...' Felipe Massa on the podium at the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix

 In 2003, Kimi Raikkonen would have won his first World Championship beating the legendary Michael Schumacher by 5 points.
Felipe Massa was celebrating in Brazil as he thought he was the new 2008 Champion, only for Hamilton to cross the line in 5th and beat him by a single point. If double points would have been available, Massa would have been crowned champion.
And finally the image of Fernando Alonso standing statuesque and empty as he watched Sebastian Vettel bask in the celebrations of winning the 2012 World Championship would have been reversed as the Spaniard would have earnt his 3rd World Title with his 36 points for 2nd place and Vettel only finishing 6th, enough to win the Championship by 7 points.

Crowds love an underdog story; a tale of one rising from adversity and winning against all odds. But when that comes at a cost- not only for the drivers, but to fans and audiences across the world who invest their time following the sport religiously seeing events unfold only for the ending to be that of a champion unveiled who may not be, in essence, truly deserving of it, may leave a bitter taste in the mouths in those who believe the likes of Rosberg and Hamilton have already done enough to be deserving of called champion.

Would it be a bad thing to see Daniel Ricciardo or Valterri Bottas take advantage of the double points system? Of course not; the desired effect would have been attained- audiences glued to their seats and talk of what had taken place in a wider spectrum for many weeks to come, keeping the interest in F1 burning bright.
Beneficially, it would not just count commercially but prove the talents of this golden age of new up-and-coming drivers like Ricciardo, Bottas and Magnussen who rightfully sit equal alongside the current masters of the sport like Alonso, Vettel and Button.

That is the reason why we'll all be watching on Sunday 23rd November- there is still a long way to go in this Championship and in the back of our minds an inquisitive voice may sound over the V6 engines and red lights and say, ''...What if...?'' 

'Die Perfekte Woche'

The Perfect Week

In a week which Nico Rosberg will surely never forget, he won the German Grand Prix in front of his home crowd, edging out his lead in the Driver's Championship by 14 points to team mate Lewis Hamilton who fought his way from the back of the grid to take a podium finish.

Wet weather hung over Hockenheim prior to the race, and thanks to the cloud coverage it brought down the track temperature, that all the teams had to battle with throughout the weekend, which would help reduce tyre wear for the 67 laps to come.

The only drivers not to start on the super-soft tyre would be Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean and Lewis Hamilton starting in 20th place- but as he did not take part in Q2 or Q3 because of the crash at Sachs Curve due to brake failure, he would have 4 new sets of the option tyre at his disposal.
Caterhams Marcus Ericsson started from the pit lane after not setting a time in Qualifying and therefore not reaching the 107% cutoff rule.

Frightening moment as Massa flips onto the roll hoop of his Williams

 As the lights went out it was a good start by both Rosberg and Bottas on the front row of the grid. Watching as the cars made it down into the first corner, and everyones hearts were in their mouths as Felipe Massa's Williams was shunted from behind by Kevin Magnussen which caused the car to flip over and come to a rest back on all four wheels. Thankfully, Felipe was uninjured and is testimony once more to the stellar standards in driver safety in Formula One.
Massa's luck continues to desert him as once again he is taken out of a race where he was on target for a podium.
This accident brought the safety car out for 3 laps before normal race conditions continued. Lewis Hamilton was already making ground on the field wereas Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo suffered due to Massa's accident, finding himself down in 14th place.

Daniil Kvyat and Sergio Perez made contact on lap 9, taking the Russian off but Kvyat was able to rejoin.
A great battle then ensued for 6th place between Perez, Ricciardo, Raikkonen and Hamilton that led to Lewis braking late and clipping Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari; taking off a part of the Scuderia's front wing. More of the Finn's front wing would again be taken off as he found himself sandwiched between 4-time World Champion Vettel and 2-time World Champion Alonso going into the hairpin.

The action didn't cease as more bodywork would fly as old team mates Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button collided. The Mercedes, expecting a straightforward pass down the inside, made contact with the sidepod of Jenson's Mclaren, removing components of Hamilton's front wing. Although the damage was slightly affecting the aerodynamics of the car around his front left tyre, it was decided on changing the balance of the car rather than lose time replacing the nose.

On lap 46, the rear of Kvyat's Toro Rosso caught ablaze ending his race, but thankfully he was able to jump out of the car safely.
Disappointingly for Adrian Sutil in front of his home crowd, he retired from the race after a spin on the pit straight.
In the remaining laps, Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso showed their class with wheel to wheel racing lap after lap in the battle for 5th place which would eventually be won by Alonso.

Das Beste: Rosberg celebrating after his win.

Rosberg crossed the line 20.7 seconds ahead of 2nd place Valterri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton finishing in a crucial 3rd position to keep the gap between him and his team mate as little as possible as they prepare for the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend. 

Race Results

 

Rosberg Takes Pole.

Nico Rosberg beat the Williams of Valterri Bottas and Felipe Massa to claim Pole Position at his home Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton spun off into the barricade in Q1.

With the track temperature at just below 60 degrees, tyre degradation was a real concern for the teams, in contention with dealing with the decision by the FIA to ban the FRIC (Front and Rear Inter-Connected) System on the grounds of breaching technical regulations by positively influencing the aerodynamics of the car. Outlawing the system was thought to possibly damage Mercedes the most whose FRIC system was the most efficient on the grid, but there was no signs of this damaging the Mercedes performance in Hockenheim.

Q1 began with Marussia's Jules Bianchi taking to the 2.8 mile, 17 turn circuit as all 22 drivers looked to advance to the next session.
As the times kept falling, Kevin Magnussen, Lewis Hamilton and then Valterri Bottas, with a time of 1:18.213, all topped the timesheet. Then, with over 7 minutes remaining, the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton veered off the track, spinning through the gravel and into the wall which brought out the red flags to temporarily end proceedings.
From his team radio, Lewis was obviously shaken up by the impact, and was taken to the medical centre to check his knees. But the Brit was luckily uninjured.
The cause of the incident at the Sachs Curve was the right front brake disc failing which caused the front of the car to snap left and spin. Those brakes which failed were replaced that morning with ones from a different make- Brembo.

Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes after the impact at Sachs Curve

Once the action got back underway and the remaining time for Q1 end, it saw the cars of Adrian Sutil, Jules Bianchi, Pastor Maldonado, Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson who didn't set a time due to a hydralic leak from the throttle.

Hamilton would start in 16th place for the race as his time was enough to put him through to Q2 in the previous session. There was a dramatic end to the 15 minute session were Sergio Perez had just one lap to get his Force India into the final shootout and was able to knock Jenson Button down into 11th, knocking him outside of the top 10. Joining Jenson were Kimi Raikkonen who's still showing signs of finding the Ferrari's brakes difficult to master, as well as Jean-Eric Vergne, Esteban Gutierrez and Romain Grosjean.

The top 3 drivers for the German Grand Prix

 Going into Q3 and there were no scares for Nico Rosberg, not with team mate Lewis Hamilton unable to contend Pole Position. The Williams of Bottas and Massa were 0.2 and 0.5 of a second off of Rosberg's Pole time of 1:16.540.
Kevin Magnussen recaptured the form he showed at the start of the 2014 calendar with a solid 4th place in front of the Red Bull's of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel. Red Bull were promised 3% more power from the Renault engine for this Grand Prix, but four-time World Champion Vettel admitted that wasn't the case and the RB10 is still suffering with a lack of speed.

Rosberg, with his first Pole Position at the German Grand Prix, gave himself the best possible opportunity to edge his lead out in the Driver's Championship even more to capitalise on Lewis' misfortunes.

Qualifying Results 

* Esteban Gutierrez will start in 17th due to a 3 place grid penalty occurred at the British Grand Prix
**Lewis Hamilton had to change the gear box so he drops 5 places to 20th
***Marcus Ericsson failed to set a time and therefore will start in the pitlane.

Hat-Trick As Rosberg Ends FP3 Fastest

Nico Rosberg ended Free Practice 3 with a hat-trick for Mercedes as the Silver Arrows again topped the timesheets prior to Qualifying for the German Grand Prix.
Hamilton was 2nd- half a second down on his team mate and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was only fractions behind in 3rd.
The Williams duo of Massa and Bottas performed strongly, lapping times which saw them in P4 and P5.

Nico Rosberg awash in red, black and gold for his home Grand Prix.

Below is the full timesheet for Free Practice 3

Free Practice 3

 

Mercedes Continue German Celebrations

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets at Hockenheim today in Free Practice 1 and 2 for the German Grand Prix.
Rosberg, who this week got married, saw his national side lift the World Cup and signed a new contract with Mercedes looks to add winning his home Grand Prix to that list to round off an incredible 7 days.
Williams Development Driver, Susie Wolff, ran in FP1 and finished an impressive 15th- just 0.227 seconds slower than her team mate Felipe Massa.
Kimi Raikkonen returned to the track after a horrendous crash at Silvestone 2 weeks ago where he sustained bruising to his leg and knee. The Finn was fourth fastest in FP1, beating Alonso by half a second.

Below are the full standings of FP1 and FP2.

Free Practice 1

 

Free Practice 2