INDIA in F1

Tag: Mercedes

  • The smiling assassin Shanghais the leader in China to set up thrilling scenario!

    By Harish Samtani

    Shanghai, April 15: Daniel Ricciardo, the Australian driver for Red Bull, just tossed a spanner in the works of Ferrari and Mercedes with a superlative performance in the third chapter of the 2018 Formula 1 calendar.

    His team did very well to pull him back from the precipice of the cliff and just a gasp away from qualifying last. Red Bull mechanics should pat themselves by shoehorning an engine in last minute and send him on his way. And also for alertness on their race engineers who brought him and Max Verstappen in and put them on soft tyres right away when the safety car interrupted the proceedings while the rest mostly were on a slower medium compound that was meant to last the distance.

    Ricciardo returned the favour in style by bringing home the trophy. A catastrophe converted to a trophy in just under 24 hours may make a bad pun, but you get my drift.

    The racing itself must have brought tears of joy to any F1 fan regardless of their heroes. A safety car on lap 30 created by the coming together of Gasly and Hartley led to the exciting situation that followed, but who cares as to how. Just bring it on!

    Daniel Ricciardo exults after winning the trophy. Photo: FIA

    Meanwhile, if one were to pretend that all this did not happen, Ferrari had only themselves to blame for throwing away a win by bringing in Vettel too late into the box for his one tyre change. This only goes to show that human beings have their silly moments regularly!

    While Hamilton is not having the best days in his racing life momentarily, he also seems to have become a little mellow. Good for him but not so for his F1 career! His teammate Bottas, on the contrary, may not be the most-spectacular driver on the grid but he may be doing something right, just by staying out of trouble. It’s early days yet and picking up valuable points in these stages is going to serve him at the fag end of the championship.

    With three teams now in the fray, every point is worth its weight in gold. DNFs will play an important role in the F1 version of snakes and ladders. With the scramble up, the middle and down the grid, stress will tell and the ultimate winner will be not only being a result of a champion driver but a calm professional team to boot. This year has the potential of turning into one of the finest battles in recent times. Is this the perfect time of entry for Liberty, the new owners of F1? Probably yes.

    The quality competition was expected of course but not with such aggression by a few players who are giving the stewards a massive headache and tough decisions to make. When Verstappen collided with Vettel in the 43rd lap, he, in my opinion, got away cheap by getting just a 10-sec penalty.

    Anyway excitement, however, contrived by such incidents serve a larger purpose and The Show will, and must go on!

     

  • Vettel and Ferrari burn competition with a hot lap; tough task ahead for Hammy!

    Vettel….continues his charge. Photo: FIA

    By Harish Samtani

    Shanghai, 14 April 2018: The fans of Mercedes and those who believed that Ferrari couldn’t possibly sustain its superiority over the German outfit, are currently busy consuming big portions of humble pie after Saturday’s qualifying session in the Chinese Grand Prix here.

    The Scuderia steamrolled Mercedes with over a half second advantage in qualifying in a relatively cooler environment and circuit than in Bahrain that had Hamilton incredulous and questioning Ferraris’ back-to-back superior performances in qualifying.

    Vettel, the eventual pole-sitter, is on song and his last minute record breaking lap had even his team-mate stunned and Mercedes humbled. His car is not only reliable and quick, but seems to be running on rails with nary a twitch.

    The Renault-powered Red Bulls were not exactly slackers, but were made to appear so by the Maranello outfit’s duo. Even Kimi was stunned by Vettel’s last second gasp which dethroned him from his almost certain pole.

    At this rate, Hammy’s quest for title No. 5 has to wait patiently. In hindsight, the five championship title holders of the past have to be acknowledged with greater respect. There will be ifs and buts, but every year and era has its own set of challenges. No one has it easy.

    The top six cars qualified within a 0.853 seconds of each other. Grosjean rounded up the 10th position 1.760 seconds adrift in his Ferrari-powered Haas! That’s quite a bit as it is. So, it would be safe to assume that around 12-14 cars will be lapped in the 56-lap race.

    Force India had a decent outing with Perez eighth on the starter board. I suspect that they have taken a step back to go two steps forward. So, the aero package or something else has not delivered as expected, but the good thing is that once they get sorted, they are going be in the thick of action and will leapfrog over a few of the pretenders such as Haas etc. Their fourth overall in 2017 will gain even more legitimacy.

    While it is early days, the die is cast and some serious action is on the anvil on and off the track!!!

  • China GP: With chasing pack closing in on the front-runners, frenetic action on the cards!

    Circuit Map – Courtesy China Grand Prix

    By Harish Samtani

    Shanghai, April 13: The land of mystique spoke with me on arrival at the airport in Shanghai. The customs department was scrutinizing incoming passengers and I had to restrain myself from asking the stern looking officer as to what on earth was he looking for! Everything that I had with me, including my luggage and my undies, were made in China! Maybe, they had a bizarre reverse smuggling regulation in force!

    All that flippancy transformed quickly to respect once I reached the F1 circuit. China had exceeded itself in building a state-of-the-art circuit that has the approval of all the teams. From the perfect surface of the track itself to the facilities on offer were bang on.

    Add to this a picturesque location – the team paddocks are located idyllically on the banks of a meandering river and the Media Centre that has the best view ever of the circuit’s many corners and looking out on to the start/finish line. Top class. Period!

    One tends to overlook the shortcoming of lack of the English language and the overwhelming presence of the Special Forces on duty. There was a sign posted on the glass window stating that it was dangerous to take pictures from there and strictly not permitted! In short, you shoot pictures and we shoot you. Fair.

    The 5.45 Km circuit allows for a maximum straight line speed of about 320 KPH and seems to be favored by most drivers. Tyre wear isn’t all that much and hence one can expect – I am guessing – that most teams will opt for the ultra super soft option of tyre and then stop just once for a change after about 15 laps. Looks like, it’s going to be fast and furious all the way to the checkered flag.

    The other rhyming word is curious, as to the tremendous build up of tension in the midfield. The time difference is tantalizingly close from 6th downward to the 14th position. With fractions of a second separating them, finally boredom may have to take a back seat, thankfully. That is, if the cars get thru’ the first two laps without taking each other out, like they stupidly did in Bahrain.

    Photo: McLaren F1 team

    Alonso’s team McLaren had brought grief upon themselves in Bahrain by opting to focus more on cornering speed via better downforce and which as a downside affected their straight line speed by about 7 Kph. Their Bahrain Sheikh sponsor didn’t quite enjoy that event from his royal box obviously! So, one can hopefully see this legend back and thrilling his legion of faithful followers.

    Now, if one was to throw in Max Verstappen (good news that he and a forgiving and forgetting (?) Hammy have kissed and made up) and Ricciardo into the mix, it’s going to be frenetic action surely. This will hold good through the entire season, of this I am sure. Practice timings only flatter to deceive and hence I won’t dwell on that for now for the Chinese chapter.

    Photo: Redbull Racing 

    The leaderboard will have its independent numbers and stories since the big boys such as Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull are in a different league and only major mishaps can derail their charge to the top. But they are a bit confused and worried about the emergence of team Haas and Toro Rosso as challengers.

    Gasly (Toro Rosso, 4th in Bahrain) and Magnussen (Haas, 5th in Bahrain) have been quite proficient behind their respective wheels. Vicious rumors are doing the rounds about probable reasons for their superlative performance, but I think that’s rather unfair and uncalled for. Time will tell and time can be a bitch when push comes to shove.

  • Hamilton edges out Raikkonen to set the pace again: Chinese GP Free Practice

    Hamilton edges out Raikkonen to set the pace again: Chinese GP Free Practice

    Lewis Hamilton in action in the second Free Practice session of the Chinese GP on Friday. He was fastest in both the sessions. Photo: FIA

    Shanghai, April 13: Lewis Hamilton continued to set the pace in practice ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, but after enjoying a comfortable gap to rivals in first practice, the second session saw the Mercedes driver pressured as he outpaced Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen by just seven thousandths of a second.

    In the morning session at the Shanghai International Circuit, Hamilton went more than three tenths of a second quicker than second-placed Räikkönen, but in the afternoon session, the Ferrari driver looked much more purposeful.

    Half an hour into FP2, Hamilton bolted on a set of Pirelli’s ultrasoft tyres for the first time this weekend and set a benchmark of 1:33.482. Räikkönen held fire until later in the session but when he made the switch to a qualifying run he posted a time of 1:33.489 to split Mercedes’ drivers, as he had done in the morning. Valtteri Bottas thus finished in third place, just 0.026s behind his fellow Finn.

    After a low-key opening session in which he finished more than eight tenths of a second off the pace, Sebastian Vettel had a more productive afternoon, finishing fourth. The German’s lap of 1:33.590 meant that the top four drivers were covered les just over a tenth of a second.

    Behind Mercedes and Ferrari, Max Verstappen took fifth place for Red Bull Racing, with the Dutchman ending the session 0.341s behind Hamilton. While Verstappen enjoyed a smooth outing it was trickier for team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

    The Australian was unhappy with his the throttle map of his car and also complained of a ‘long’ brake pedal during the session. He finished the 90 minutes in ninth place, a second off Hamilton’s pace.

    Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg took sixth place, almost half a second off Ricciardo’s best lap. The German edged Haas’ Kevin Magnussen by 0.145s, with the second Renault of Carlos Sainz ending up eighth ahead of Ricciardo.

    McLaren’s Fernando Alonso finished in tenth place, but there was trouble for the Spaniard’s team-mate. The Belgian’s session was stopped 15 minutes from the chequered when he was released from the pit lane with a loose wheel and he had to pull over at the side of the track. He ended up 14th on the time sheet, behind Sergio Perez of Force India, Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso and the second Force India of Esteban Ocon.

    2018 Chinese Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 26 1:33.482
    2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 26 1:33.489 0.007
    3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 27 1:33.515 0.033
    4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 27 1:33.590 0.108
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 26 1:33.823 0.341
    6 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 30 1:34.313 0.831
    7 Kevin Magnussen Haas 26 1:34.458 0.976
    8 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 28 1:34.473 0.991
    9 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 26 1:34.557 1.075
    10 Fernando Alonso McLaren 23 1:34.632 1.150
    11 Sergio Perez Force India 30 1:34.792 1.310
    12 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 33 1:34.849 1.367
    13 Esteban Ocon Force India 30 1:34.874 1.392
    14 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 22 1:35.163 1.681
    15 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 37 1:35.333 1.851
    16 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 31 1:35.340 1.858
    17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 29 1:35.624 2.142
    18 Charles Leclerc Sauber 26 1:35.916 2.434
    19 Romain Grosjean Haas 26 1:36.471 2.989
    20 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 19 1:37.147 3.665.

     

  • We made mistakes and did not perform to our maximum: Toto Wolff

    Bahrain, April 4: Torger Christian “Toto” Wolff, Executive Director, Mercedes, AMG Petronas Formula One team, admitted to a few mistakes made during the season-opener Rolex Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne.

    In his own words, “Toto” explains: “We suspected that the new season would be closely fought and the first race confirmed those suspicions. We made mistakes and did not perform to our maximum – and it reminded us that this is the toughest racing series in the world, where every error is punished. It hurt to leave all those points on the table, especially because we know we had the pace to win in Australia.”

    “Back at base, we did what we always do after a tough weekend. We made sure that we understand what went wrong and put a process in place to make sure that we don’t see a similar issue in the future. These painful moments are the real learning experiences. Mistakes become training,” he added.

    “We expect Bahrain to be another challenging weekend, although the challenges will be of a completely different nature. The race in the desert is tricky because the conditions change drastically between sessions. FP1 and FP3 take place in the heat of the day whereas Qualifying and the race itself take place after sunset so it’s much cooler. That makes it extremely difficult to find the right set-up with the car.

    “Bahrain is also a power-sensitive race with the long straights. We saw in Melbourne that the Ferraris, in particular, were very quick, so I expect it to be a close battle. We’ve seen some great racing in Bahrain in recent years, particularly between our drivers back in 2014, so I think we can look forward to an exciting and competitive weekend.

    Featured this Week: What Are Engine Modes? 

    Over a million working hours have gone into designing, developing and constructing our 2018 Formula One car. While the result of some of that engineering work can easily be spotted by the untrained eye – for example, the complex aerodynamic bodywork – other equally important areas are hidden from sight.

    One of the all-important elements that lie underneath the bodywork is the Power Unit (PU). In this modern, 1.6-litre V6 Turbo era, it’s much more than just an engine. The Power Unit is made up of six different elements – the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), Turbo, MGU-K, MGU-H, Control Electronics, and Energy Store.

    These elements are combined together to deliver different Power Unit modes, which drivers and teams can utilise throughout a race weekend. Over the course of the 2018 season-opening Australian Grand Prix weekend, these proved to be a particularly hot topic and sparked plenty of debate. So, what are Power Unit modes and why are they necessary?

    PU modes are a combination of settings that adjust the performance of the ICE as well as the flow of electrical energy. The ICE performance is changed, for example, by varying the amount of fuel that is injected into the combustion chamber or by changing the timing of the ignition. For the Hybrid side of the Power Unit, the modes will alter the interaction and scheduling of the electrical energy for both deployment of the 120kW (maximum) MGU-K and recovery of both the MGU-K and MGU-H.

    The main task of PU modes is to balance performance and reliability. Formula One is all about performance, but with just three Power Units per driver in 2018 (and only two of some systems), reliability is increasingly important. This is why the drivers have reduced mileage allocations of the higher power modes.

    At Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, we use three basic modes over the course of the weekend – one for the majority of the free practice sessions, one for the majority of Qualifying and one for the majority of the race.

    All three can be altered with various sub-settings for different situations, which control whether electrical energy is being net deployed over a lap, recovered or used in a balanced manner (with energy deployment and recovery balancing each other out).

    At the start of the race, for example, performance is particularly important, so drivers will choose full deployment to either defend a good position on the grid or try and gain positions in the opening laps. But F1 is about a blend of ballsy on-track passing and tactical strategy, so the drivers will later switch to a recovery energy management mode and charge the battery – just to make sure they can have more energy available for their next attack.

    Both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas switched their race mode to lower performance during the Australian GP when they were stuck in traffic and the turbulent air of the cars ahead, in order to cool the engines and prevent them from overheating. A Safety Car presents a similar challenge – drivers want to conserve energy and the Power Unit, so the engine mode is set to reduce the duty and cool the hardware.

    Conserving damage and the reliability of the Power Unit is also important in free practice. Pushing the engines to the limit in practice just doesn’t make sense, as they need to last seven race weekends. There is one session, however, when the Power Unit is pushed to the absolute limit and gives the drivers everything it can: Qualifying.

    In terms of engine modes, the setting for Qualifying will be the most powerful one. This mode is only required for a few laps each race weekend, and usage varies according to the competitive context – sometimes this Qualifying mode will be used throughout Qualifying, sometimes only in the final Q3 session.

    The available mileage is dictated by what is termed the “phase document”, which defines the limits to which the Power Unit may be used during each race weekend, and which is the same for the works cars and the Mercedes customer teams.

    PU modes are defined when the first set of hardware is tested in Brixworth and the mileage limit is determined by the success of the long-run programme. Some of these are circuit-specific, others are more general. Making the call on which mode to use can either be the driver’s decision or through the advice of the engineering team – who will communicate over the radio which settings to adjust and which mode to switch to.

    If you hear some technical-sounding instructions over the team radio, it might well be the Power Unit mode being changed. The drivers will then change the mode through the switches on their steering wheel.

    PU modes are particularly significant at power-sensitive circuits such as Spa-Francorchamps or Monza, which are dominated by long straights and acceleration zones. The first power-sensitive track on the 2018 F1 calendar is Round 4 in Baku.

    It will be interesting to see how the storyline around engine modes develops as the season progresses, particularly when F1 reaches those more power-sensitive venues.

    Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Release

  • Bottas wins Abu Dhabi GP ahead of Hamilton

    Valtteri Bottas claimed his third victory of the year, beating Mercedes team-mate and four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton by just under four seconds at the final race of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel finished third for Ferrari.

    At the start Bottas got away cleanly from pole position and took the lead ahead of Hamilton, Vettel and Ricciardo who all retained their starting positions. Behind them Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull closed on Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen and made two aggressive attempts to pass the Finn. The second almost succeeded but in the end the Dutchman backed out of the attack and Räikkönen held fifth as they crossed the line at the end of lap one.

    Further back Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg went off track and rejoined in seventh place ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez who had got ahead at the start. The German was promptly handed a five-second time penalty for gaining an advantage.

    The order then settled and by lap 10 Bottas had eked out a two-second advantage over Hamilton, with the British driver 2.7s clear of Vettel. Ricciardo was also managing to pull away from Räikkönen who was now 3.9s in arrears to the Australian.

    That order remained the same through the first pit stops, though not for long afterwards. Following regulations stops for Verstappen, Räikkönen, Vettel and Bottas, Ricciardo dived towards the pit entry earlier than expected saying he suspected he had a puncture.

    He took on supersofts tyres and rejoined in P4 but the real problem soon became clear. “I think I’m losing power steering,” he reported and then almost immediately drove off track and stopped at Turn 5, his race over.

    At the front Hamilton was the last of the front runners to pit and his stop once again boosted Bottas into the lead. The Finn now led his team-mate by just over a second, but Vettel was now a sizeable 11.4s behind in third. Following Ricciardo’s retirement Räikkönen was promoted to third, 1.5s ahead of Verstappen in the sole remaining Red Bull.

    Force India’s Esteban Ocon was sixth ahead of the Renaults of Carlos Sainz and Hulkenberg. Sainz needed to make a first pit stop, and he did that on lap 31, in tandem with the sixth-placed Force India of Esteban Ocon.

    While Ocon rejoined in P8, there was a problem for Sainz. His crew failed to attach his front left wheel correctly and the Spaniard barely it made out of the pit tunnel and back on track. He quickly pulled over and retired.

    The stops, though, boosted Hulkenberg to P6, a position that if held would earn Renault eight points and elevate them to in the Constructors’ standings, above Toro Rosso, whose drivers, Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly, were lingering in P15 and P16 respectively.

    And there the order stagnated. At the front Bottas had a solid 1.7s advantage over Hamilton on lap 43, with Vettel a further 20 seconds back. He was followed by Raikkonen and Verstappen, while Hulkenberg was now secure in sixth place some seven seconds ahead of Perez.

    And that was how it ended, with Bottas eventually taking his third victory of the season almost four seconds clear of Hamilton and almost 20 seconds ahead of Vettel, whose third place means he finishes as runner-up to Hamilton in the Drivers’ standings, 12 points ahead of Bottas. Raikkonen’s fourth place, coupled with Ricciardo’s retirement boosts the Finn ahead of the Australian, to fourth in the Drivers’ table.

    Further back Hulkenberg held sixth place to hand Renault the same place in the teams’ standings. Perez was seventh for Force India ahead of team-mate Ocon, while Fernando Alonso handed two points to McLaren and Honda in the final race for the team and engine manufacturer as partners. Finally, Felipe Massa scored a point on his final race in Formula 1, with the Brazilian retiring after 269 F1 starts.

    2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Race
    1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 3.899
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 19.330
    4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 45.386
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 46.269
    6 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1’25.713
    7 Sergio Perez Force India 1’32.062
    8 Esteban Ocon Force India 1’38.911
    9 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1 lap
    10 Felipe Massa Williams 1 lap
    11 Romain Grosjean Haas 1 lap
    12 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1 lap
    13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1 lap
    14 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 1 lap
    15 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1 lap
    16 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1 lap
    17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1 lap
    18 Lance Stroll Williams 1 lap
    19 Carlos Sainz Renault 24 laps
    20 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 35 laps

    eom/press release

  • Bottas beats Hamilton for fourth career pole

    Bottas beats Hamilton for fourth career pole

    Bottas after taking Abu Dhabi pole. An FIA image

    Abu Dhabi: Valtteri Bottas will start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final round of the FIA Formula One (F1) World Championship from the front of the grid after the Finn beat Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just under two tenths of a second to claim his fourth career pole position. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel will start third ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who delivered a superb final flying lap to climb from sixth place after the first runs of Q3.

    In Q1, four-time champion Hamilton was one of the first on track and he quickly grabbed top spot with a lap of 1:37.473. He was eclipsed, however by Mercedes team-mate Bottas who edged ahead with a lap of 1:37.356 as Hamilton improved marginally in P2. Kimi Räikkönen took third for Ferrari ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo fifth ahead of team-mate Max Verstappen.

    Sergio Perez took seventh for Force India ahead of McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg. Behind them Renault’s Carlos Sainz was 10th ahead of the second Force India of Esteban Ocon. As the final runs began the top 11 stayed garage bound.

    At the other end of the spectrum, the men in the drop zone ahead of the final runs were Williams’ Lance Stroll in P16 followed by the Saubers of Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson and the Toro Rossos of Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley.

    And following the chequered flag only Stroll managed to escape the cut. The Williams driver’s lap of 1:39.503 elevated him to 15th place with Haas’ Romain Grosjean eliminated by just over a hundredth of a second in P16 ahead of Gasly, Wehrlein, Ericsson and Hartley.

    In Q2 it was Hamilton who set the pace. Bottas was the first to cross the line but traffic in Q3 saw the Finn set a time of 1:36.977. Hamilton was following and when he crossed the line he took P1 with a time of 1:36.742. Vettel slotted into P3 ahead of Räikkönen and Ricciardo with Hulkenberg seventh ahead of Verstappen.

    In the final runs the top five positions remained the same but Verstappen found an improvement to edge ahead of Hulkenberg, while behind the Dutchman, Perez, Ocon and Williams’ Felipe Massa, contesting his final F1 qualifying session before retirement made it through in 10th place.

    The Brazilian’s time of 1:38.565 meant that he slipped through just seven hundredths of a second ahead of former Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso who was eliminated in 11th place ahead of Sainz, Vandoorne, Magnussen and Stroll.

    While Mercedes clearly had the upper hand, it was not Hamilton who set the pace in the first runs of Q3 but Bottas. The Finn extracted the maximum from himself and his car to post a time of 1:36.231. It was a benchmark Hamilton failed to match in either his first or final run and thus Bottas took his fourth career pole position ahead of the 2017 champion. Vettel took third place, over half a second down on Bottas.

    It was Ricciardo, though, who made the biggest improvement in the session. The Australian’s first run left him in sixth place, two hundredths of a second behind team-mate Verstappen and complaining about the tyres he had run on his first flyer.

    Ricciardo was the last man out of the garage in the final runs but he made the lap count improving by more than seven tenths of a second to jump to fourth place with a lap of 1:36.959.

    Räikkönen was left with fifth place ahead of Verstappen, while Hulkenberg took seventh place for Renault. Perez qualified eighth ahead of team-mate Ocon and Felipe Massa qualified for his final grand prix in 10th place.

    2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:36.231
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:36.403 0.172
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:36.777 0.546
    4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:36.959 0.728
    5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:36.985 0.754
    6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:37.328 1.097
    7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:38.282 2.051
    8 Sergio Perez Force India 1:38.374 2.143
    9 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:38.397 2.166
    10 Felipe Massa Williams 1:38.550 2.319
    11 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:38.636 2.405
    12 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:38.725 2.494
    13 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:38.808 2.577
    14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:39.298 3.067
    15 Lance Stroll Williams 1:39.646 3.415
    16 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:39.516 3.285
    17 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:39.724 3.493
    18 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 1:39.930 3.699
    19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:39.994 3.763
    20 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1:40.471 4.240
    eom/FIA press release

  • Hamilton tops FP2: Abu Dhabi GP

    Lewis Hamilton took top spot in second practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, edging out Sebastian Vettel by just under fifteen hundredths of a second. Daniel Ricciardo finished was third, separated from Vettel by almost the same margin.

    As with the early afternoon session at the Yas Marina Circuit, it was Mercedes driver Hamilton who set the early pace, holding P1 with a time 0.8s clear of Ricciardo.

    The session’s qualifying simulations came early on however, with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas embarking on his performance run before the half hour mark and his time of 1:38.609s elevated him to the top of the timesheet.

    Vettel briefly took over before Hamilton became the only driver to break the 1m38s barrier with his P1 lap of 1:37.877. Vettel was only marginally off that pace, however, with his best effort yielding a time of 1:38.026.

    Behind the top three, Kimi Räikkönen finished the 90-minute session in fourth place 0.172s behind Ricciardo and almost two tenths clear of fifth-placed Bottas. Max Verstappen was fourth in the second Red Bull, the Dutchman having a much quieter session than his opening 90 minutes, in which he finished third, just 0.148s behind early afternoon pacesetter Vettel. In the late session Verstappen finished sixth and a full second adrift of Hamilton’s pace and seven tenths behind team-mate Ricciardo.

    The Dutchman was followed by the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, who were separated by just 0.010s. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10.

    2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 39 1:37.877
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 37 1:38.026 0.149
    3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 34 1:38.180 0.303
    4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 35 1:38.352 0.475
    5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 33 1:38.537 0.660
    6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 34 1:38.894 1.017
    7 Sergio Perez Force India 33 1:39.323 1.446
    8 Esteban Ocon Force India 36 1:39.333 1.456
    9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 41 1:39.529 1.652
    10 Fernando Alonso McLaren 28 1:39.559 1.682
    11 Felipe Massa Williams 36 1:39.635 1.758
    12 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 31 1:39.671 1.794
    13 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 38 1:40.201 2.324
    14 Lance Stroll Williams 30 1:40.329 2.452
    15 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 39 1:40.694 2.817
    16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 31 1:41.128 3.251
    17 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 43 1:41.270 3.393
    18 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 40 1:41.302 3.425
    19 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 39 1:41.496 3.619
    20 Romain Grosjean Haas 12 1:41.560 3.683.

    eom/FIA release

  • Pride at stake in Abu Dhabi GP

    By Amol S Ghokale

    Abu Dhabi: “Lewis, this is Paddy, we need you to pick up the pace, that’s an instruction,” came in a team radio for Lewis Hamilton.

    “Right now, I am losing the World Championship, so I don’t really care if I win or lose this race,” was a blunt reply from Hamilton to Mercedes’ then Executive Director Paddy Lowe.

    The clear defiance of team orders by Hamilton caused quite a stir in the F1 world as Nico Rosberg celebrated his title and subsequently announced his retirement.

    Exactly a year later, the 32-year old Brit, returns to Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi as the Four-time World Champion, as the sun sets on the 2017 Formula One season.

    As the things stand, apart from the pride there is hardly anything at stake this weekend, unlike last year, with both driver’s as well as constructors’ championships were sealed in Mexico in October itself.

    But still, there is a lot to look forward to when one takes a look back at things.

    All eyes will be on champion Lewis Hamilton after he finished fourth, starting from pit lane in the Brazilian GP a fortnight ago. His arch-rival this season, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who won a thrilling race at Interlagos, would look to end the season on a high having already lost the championship.

    Then comes their team-mates, two Finn’s – Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen, having played second fiddle all along, with moments to cherish in between as spotlight remained focused constantly on their team-mates.

    Two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo have had a season to forget in first and second half of season respectively as Red Bull struggled for reliability all along.

    The much-awaited divorce from engine supplier Renault did happen eventually as Red Bull are most likely be forced to use Honda engines from 2019 season.

    Esteban Ocon signing for Force India was definitely the best signing of the season after Bottas’ move to Mercedes from Williams. The 21-year-old French driver along with seasoned campaigner Sergio Perez secured the fourth spot in constructors’ championship for their team with some margin over their mid-table rivals Williams, Renault, Toro Rosso.

    But the success Force India enjoyed this year has come at a cost as drivers’ were put on a leash by the team after repeated collisions in Azerbaijan and Belgium. But with a good weekend at the Yas Marina Circuit, Sergio Perez, on 94 points, can reach the 100 mark. Meanwhile, Ocon, who suffered his first retirement in a single seater after 2014, is on 83 points.

    Meanwhile, Williams’ Felipe Massa will race for the ‘one last time’ second time as he finally hangs his boots this year. A possible 10th placed finish in the driver’s standing is on the cards for the icon of the sport if he manages to keep his team-mate Lance Stroll behind; for whom highlight of the season has been a surprise podium finish at the Baku.

    A sly dig Hamilton had at Fernando Alonso when the McLaren driver wished for same engines at the beginning of the season in Melbourne, with Hamilton promptly responding, “I hope not the Honda,” and Alonso’s rants on team radio are the proof of trouble McLaren had with Honda.

    McLaren were put out of their misery when at the Singapore GP it was announced that McLaren would switch to Renault engine in 2018.

    The same period followed a scramble as Toro Rosso sacked Daniil Kvyat for poor show and lost Carlos Sainz to Renault, replacing Jolyon Palmer, as part of their deal. After much speculation, Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley would take the seats at Toro Rosso for the final race of the season as well as for the next one.

    As the drama unfolded in the paddock for smaller teams, the big guns were fighting their own battles with Mercedes eventually securing the double crown for the fourth time running.

    The teams will look to try and put more and more updates on their cars with one eye on 2018 season. Although, Williams has denied that deal for Robert Kubica deal is not done, with Massa seat up for grabs, the Polish driver will test with the team during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

    19 out of 20 races are done, and now it has come down to the last one, a unique, twilight race in the desert, where the pride will be at stake with one eye on the future; probably fretting over how the future will look with halo, a protection for driver, installed on their cars, a beast, a diva, whatever they might choose to call it.

    eom/from Abu Dhabi

  • Mercedes looking to take the positive momentum into 2018

    Toto Talks Brazil 
    It might be tempting to think that, with both championships now secure, the pressure is off for the two remaining races of 2017. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

    Inside the team, we are looking at the next two race weekends as the first two Grands Prix of 2018. We have two races that we are determined to win in order to take that positive momentum into the winter. There will be no backing off just because the championship business is now done.

    In fact, these next two races speak to every principle that makes us what we are. We aspire to excellence in everything we do, from the first lap of the winter shakedown in Silverstone to the final lap of the post-season test in Abu Dhabi. And every time we race, we race to win. That is the mind set we take to Sao Paulo.

    Lewis is operating at the peak of his powers right now, and will be determined to add another victory to last year’s success; Valtteri made a promising step forward in Mexico and will aim to build from this at Interlagos.

    As recent rounds have shown, winning Grands Prix is never easy. Red Bull have taken two victories in the past four races and, although we have claimed the other two, Ferrari remain formidable opponents. With the championship now settled, the battle for 2018 has already begun.

    Featured this Week: Getting a Head Start on 2018 
    Two races to go, two World Championship titles in the bag… but are the Silver Arrows slowing down? No chance!

    Teams up and down the pit lane will already have turned their attention to next season. While in a normal year, each team will have more than half of its factory resource dedicated to the new car by the summer break, the 2017-2018 winter sees stable chassis regulations – meaning many teams were running new parts on their car as late as the US Grand Prix.

    The Silver Arrows fly to Brazil and Abu Dhabi aiming to win these final two races. But, with both titles sealed, the balance of risk for the team has changed compared to a normal race weekend. The final two Grands Prix thus present the first two test opportunities ahead of the new season, trialling new and interesting concepts that the competitive landscape on track simply didn’t allow for earlier in the year. And it comes with the added risk of costing track time in Free Practice – or, even worse, retirement on race day – if everything doesn’t go to plan.

    With both titles now destined for Brackley, the team can become a little bolder. Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport will be running a series of experiments over the final two Fridays – with the option for race day, too, if the team feels that the risk connected with any idea is manageable and there is valuable learning for 2018 and beyond.

    These two final weekends are not only an opportunity to test new parts, but also allow experiments for those tasks that the team simply doesn’t have the opportunity to complete during a normal race weekend.

    Remember though, this isn’t a luxury only available to a single team. It’s true for the entire grid – and may well have been an opportunity exploited a handful of races ago for those making the early call to focus on 2018 with a comfortable Championship position in the bag.

    The team will have an intense programme on the next two Fridays in Brazil and Abu Dhabi to make the absolute most of the opportunities that have been afforded by early title success. The team will be running a range of aerodynamic instrumentation devices – for example the aero rakes often seen in testing – with an eye on next year. These devices offer a small weight penalty and the process of running them eats up time on a Friday, so teams would not want to carry these under usual conditions, but are more willing to do so at the end of the season.

    There are various bits of pit-stop equipment that need to be tested in a live pit lane, too. These have already been run through a series of tests in a non-live setting – but Brazil and Abu Dhabi present a chance to use these in anger for the first time under race weekend conditions. Better to try these new techniques and equipment now than in Melbourne for the first time next year…

    And it’s not just the final two races that take on an increased importance ahead of 2018. The final two-day test of the year that follows the season-finale will be crucial for understanding the new Pirelli tyre compound and construction ranges set to be introduced for 2018.

    It’s not an event that draws much attention from the fans. But, the Abu Dhabi test will be the only time the teams get to see how the 2018-spec Pirelli rubber behaves before they make their tyre allocations for the start of next season. Those early tyre allocations have already been signed off by the time the teams go to pre-season testing in Barcelona at the end of February, so the Abu Dhabi test will form the basis for those early selections. With so much at stake, expect to see most teams and their race drivers on track, aiming to glean every bit of information possible from the two days of running.

    It might be almost time to close the curtain on an epic Formula One season – but the fun never really stops. There’s life in 2017 yet – and the team will be making the most of these final two Grands Prix to ensure the W09 emerges blinking into the world early next year in the best possible shape.

    eom/Mercedes AMG Petronas press release