Monthly Archives: February 2014
From Autosport Nico Hulkenberg set the fastest time on the first day of the second pre-season Formula 1 test in Bahrain, as Mercedes-engined teams filled three of the top four spots on the timesheet. The Force India driver completed 78 laps of running and was the only man to crack the 1m36s. His 1m36.880s best on soft tyres put him inside Sebastian Vettel’s fastest race lap in last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix…. Read More
From Autosport Formula 1’s new regulations for 2014 will not diminish the skill needed to make a difference behind the wheel, reckon leading figures from the sport. The hugely complicated new turbo V6 regulations have put a premium on engine performance, with reliability already singled out as a key factor in the fight for title glory this year. The importance of fuel economy in the new rules and the greater role of teams… Read More
From Autosport Simona de Silvestro has joined the Sauber Formula 1 team as an ‘affiliated driver’, the Swiss squad announced on Friday. The 25-year-old has competed in IndyCar for the past four years, finishing 13th in the standings with KV Racing Technology in 2013. De Silvestro was rookie of the year in 2010 and became the first woman to finish on the podium on a street circuit in IndyCar in Houston last… Read More
From GrandPrix 247 New details of the plan to spice up Formula 1 qualifying for the 2014 season have emerged. At a meeting in Bahrain scheduled for 21 February, Formula 1′s major players will move to ensure that the final Q3 segment is exciting under the radically different regulations. The fear is that, to preserve tyres and for reasons of reliability, drivers may sit out the session for tactical reasons. It was… Read More
From GrandPrix 247 Mixed reports are emerging from the past weekend’s Lotus ‘promotional event’ at Jerez – which broke the spirit of the 2014 Formula 1 regulations – with the Enstone outfit claiming all went well and according to plan. However, an eye witness claims that little went on, and what did happen on track was not at racing speed. Despite ignoring a request for comment from GP247 with regards to feedback… Read More
I have wanted to write this post for quite sometime. If I’m honest, since the end of the 2012 season, but I did not want to look like a sore loser and who really wants to read a cranky blogger’s conjecture at the end of the day? I again had the urge to write this post at the end of last season but in the interest of not wanting to rain on… Read More
From James Allen on F1 Posted on February 2, 2014 The first test session at Jerez last week threw up some major surprises and interesting talking points, including the failure of Renault and the innovative aerodynamics on the McLaren. Here JA on F1 technical adviser Mark Gillan, former chief operations engineer at Williams and Toyota explains how the F1 teams approach the pre-season tests and analyses what they will be doing now,… Read More
From GrandPrix 247 Peter Prodromou may not, after all, defect from Red Bull to McLaren as has been widely reported. McLaren is said to have signed Red Bull’s highly-rated aerodynamics chief late last year, but the reigning World Champions then insisted that Prodromou’s full contract be honoured, which would see Prodroumou remain at Milton Keynes until the end of 2014. Now, the German-language Speed Week reports that Red Bull has used that… Read More
From GrandPrix 247 Formula 1 superstar Sebastian Vettel’s coasting to a fourth successive world drivers title last year had an adverse effect on global TV audiences, as the 26-year-old Red Bull driver won 13 of the 19 races in easing to the title. However, it wasn’t to television spectators liking as the total slumped from 500 million in 2012 – when Vettel and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso battled it out to the final… Read More
From GrandPrix 247 Ex-Ferrari driver Felipe Massa has tipped his former teammate Fernando Alonso to dominate Kimi Raikkonen at the great Italian team in 2014. Maranello marque Ferrari replaced the long-serving Brazilian with Finn Raikkonen, its 2007 world champion, over the winter, with Massa having to move to the once-great British team Williams. Ferrari justified the move on the basis that Massa couldn’t support teammate Fernando Alonso’s title-charging points hauls on a… Read More
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