A gripping 3 way battle was keeping F1 fans hooked to their screens but some traffic chaos deprived us of an epic finish. It was still a weekend full of talking points though...
Vettel makes it 5 out of 6: A lot of people felt Sebastian Vettel was lucky to win this race, comments which i can understand after the race because there was such a tense finish in store, but these are unfair. He delivered a superb lap to take pole position, was making the 1 stop strategy work and withstanding the pressure from Alonso. Of course between the traffic and the tyre degradation it would have been a fascinating finish without the red flag. I reckon, barring any abnormal incidents between the front 3 or a backmarker in the way, Vettel would have either hung on or hit the 'cliff' and fallen to 3rd. Something to ponder is that in Melbourne Perez did 185km on the soft compound and when the safety car was deployed near the end Vettel had done 175km on his set of tyres (same compound) with 30km to go. Red Bull said afterwards that the wrong compound was put on the world champion's car and that what should have been a 2 stopper was adjusted, on the call of Vettel himself, to a 1 stop. However BBC reporter Ted Kravitz had doubts over whether this was actually true. Red Bull changed their pitstop procedures this weekend after concerns Ferrari were reading their strategy in Spain but maybe they should reconsider after some serious confusion at the stop!
This allowed Jenson Button into the lead and he was on the options and pushing very hard whilst Vettel took the conservative route and nursed his primes. However he kept within a pitstop so when Button pitted again he had P1 again. McLaren then opted for a 3 stopper at this point which was a strange move. They had the information that the primes would do over half a race distance and really that cost Button second place and would have meant he was the man troubling Vettel rather than Alonso. Another trick missed by McLaren, though ultimately not mattering, was not pitting Button when the safety car was deployed for a second time. He was 40 seconds ahead of Kobayashi when it was deployed so could have pitted for new primes (no options left), retained third place and caught up to Alonso again but now with fresher rubber to be able to attack better on the final laps. Of course the red flag meant everybody got a chance to change without loss. Many complained this spoilt the restart and it did but it's a very rare situation and really things should be open as conditions can be variable, it was just the circumstances of yesterday that made it a shame.
Hamilton suffers a weekend of mayhem: Lewis Hamilton loves Monaco. Just thinking about flinging a car around the tight streets of Monte Carlo leaves him with a feeling of excitement at a place where his hero Ayrton Senna was so brilliant. Things were going well on Saturday as he topped Q1 and Q2 and had 2 sets of options for the all important Q3. As his main rivals got a time in early on there was no sign of the #3 car. Eventually he appeared but had a terrible sector 1. He blamed Felipe Massa in front but the Ferrari had not blocked the McLaren. Then the big accident for Perez caused a 40 minute delay. 2:26 left on the clock meant 9 cars would get a lap in fine and McLaren had ample time to calculate that. Yet they sent him out over 2 minutes before the session restarted. Cold tyres = no grip and Hamilton soon found that out, ending up cutting a corner and having his time deleted.
So he was clearly fast but it was going to be hard work from 9th on the grid. After several laps on Michael Schumacher's gearbox he made a sweet move into Ste Devote. Then it went downhill. A bad pitstop left him in traffic. Then he made an unrealistic move on Felipe Massa. He accused the Brazilian of turning in on him. Well Lewis that might have been because he was taking a corner... Then the scrap continued into the tunnel. Hamilton got a good run on him (KERS assisted at a guess) and passed in the tunnel. Massa got on the marbles and hit the wall. Race over. Then after the red flag Hamilton was all over Maldonado and into turn 1 had a look, he got half alongside and perhaps he felt it was doable after the earlier Schumacher move but really it was just too ambitious for such a tight corner and he pitched the Williams out of the race which was such a shame. Then came the post race outburst which was all a bit silly and unneeded. Hamilton has had down beat moments in his career before but this really was the worst of the lot. However he has had a habit of bouncing back with some great results so lets see what he bounces back with in Montreal, a place where he is mighty.
Elsewhere it was delight for Kamui Kobayashi with a career best 5th, though he was lucky to escape a penalty for hitting Sutil. Stewards really got that one wrong though he would have stayed 5th anyway. Sutil was 4th having been under constant pressure from the Sauber. The pair made a 1 stop strategy work and were helped by cars in front struggling and then getting stuck in traffic. Sutil emotions are probably mixed because the incident cost him time and then he got a puncture yet he still salvaged 7th! Behind Nick Heidfeld also had a good drive through to 8th and moved up to 6th in the championship. Rubens Barrichello finally got on the score board in 2011 and Sebastien Buemi took the final point after Jaime Alguersuari crashed. In the midst of the chaos near the end, it was intriguing to hear David Coulthard, Red Bull employee, on the BBC say during the replays that "Alguersuari, the man under review" Of course it could just be a general remark about the pressure both Toro Rosso drivers are under with Daniel Ricciardo waiting in the wings but perhaps a hint that it is the Spaniard that could be in line to make way for the Australian as it stands. He does have good backing coming from Spain and his Father but at the minute Buemi is the man picking up the points.
Best wishes to Vitaly Petrov and Sergio Perez after their weekend accidents. Hopefully they'll both be racing in Montreal in 2 weeks.
Showing posts with label Jaime Alguersuari. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jaime Alguersuari. Show all posts
Monday, 30 May 2011
Sunday, 12 September 2010
Monza moments
The start Jenson Button got a great launch and Fernando Alonso needn't have squeezed across as the McLaren already had the initiative. Alonso tagged the back of Button and then went wheel to wheel with team mate Felipe Massa. Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton was now on their tails. Going into turn 4 he had a look up the inside. He tried to stay tight on the inside but couldn't take any more kerb and made contact. The first tap was ok but the second was terminal. Hamilton's mistake though a tad unlucky to be out on the spot. Hindsight shows that more caution was required. The McLaren has escaped in a few scrapes this season though and today he didn't get away with it.
Jaime Alguersuari The Spaniard lost a point in Spa after cutting a chicane and he was at it again on lap 1. The Toro Rosso passed both Force India's by doing so and was awarded a deserved drive through penalty for gaining an advantage. Getting outperformed by Sebastien Buemi and needs some good drives to finish the season strongly.
Red Bull face difficulties Mark Webber lost 2 places off the line but worse was to follow when he ended up wide into the gravel out of turn 5 and lost another 3 places. He recovered excellently, passing Schumacher, Kubica and Hulkenberg on his way to 6th position. That gave him the championship lead but he was still frustrated, probably partly because he could have built a bigger gap over team mate Sebastian Vettel and strengthening his position in the team.
Vettel recovered from a sticky brake pedal which cost him time and a position to Webber to run all the way to the final lap before making his 1 pitstop to finish in 4th.
Strategy decides the winner Alonso had got close to Button a few times but seem to be able to keep in touch whilst keeping his tyres in check. For race leader Button, it was either pit and go for a quick outlap on the hard tyres or stay out and deliver a good in lap on used soft tyres. McLaren felt pitting first was the best option but the world champion said he had poor grip initially and Alonso put the hammer down to just edge ahead when he exited from his pitstop. The Spaniard had a pitlane time that was almost a second quicker than Button and that was probably the difference between first and second.
Nico Hulkenberg The German rode his luck today after cutting chicanes 3 times which did not improve Mark Webber's mood who was stuck behind him for a while. The Williams rookie has been quietly impressive recently, always close to experienced team mate Rubens Barrichello and has been quite consistent. It hasn't been particularly flashy like Petrov and Kobayashi but that has been partly down to good qualifying performances, meaning he hasn't found himself on a recovery drive come Sunday.
So with 5 races to go, 5 drivers remain firmly in the title hunt. This race has seen a recovery to a certain extent for all 3 contenders who failed to score in Spa. Singapore will be a totally different challenge. There we will see what sort of effect the revised load tests have had on Red Bull. The streets and dust of Singapore provide a mental and physical test with a race that will run the two hour limit close. Brakes are under pressure and mistakes are punished, its a gruelling challenge and we've already seen what it can produce in the past 2 years. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were both on the podium last year and they will be desperate to repeat that.
Jaime Alguersuari The Spaniard lost a point in Spa after cutting a chicane and he was at it again on lap 1. The Toro Rosso passed both Force India's by doing so and was awarded a deserved drive through penalty for gaining an advantage. Getting outperformed by Sebastien Buemi and needs some good drives to finish the season strongly.
Red Bull face difficulties Mark Webber lost 2 places off the line but worse was to follow when he ended up wide into the gravel out of turn 5 and lost another 3 places. He recovered excellently, passing Schumacher, Kubica and Hulkenberg on his way to 6th position. That gave him the championship lead but he was still frustrated, probably partly because he could have built a bigger gap over team mate Sebastian Vettel and strengthening his position in the team.
Vettel recovered from a sticky brake pedal which cost him time and a position to Webber to run all the way to the final lap before making his 1 pitstop to finish in 4th.
Strategy decides the winner Alonso had got close to Button a few times but seem to be able to keep in touch whilst keeping his tyres in check. For race leader Button, it was either pit and go for a quick outlap on the hard tyres or stay out and deliver a good in lap on used soft tyres. McLaren felt pitting first was the best option but the world champion said he had poor grip initially and Alonso put the hammer down to just edge ahead when he exited from his pitstop. The Spaniard had a pitlane time that was almost a second quicker than Button and that was probably the difference between first and second.
Nico Hulkenberg The German rode his luck today after cutting chicanes 3 times which did not improve Mark Webber's mood who was stuck behind him for a while. The Williams rookie has been quietly impressive recently, always close to experienced team mate Rubens Barrichello and has been quite consistent. It hasn't been particularly flashy like Petrov and Kobayashi but that has been partly down to good qualifying performances, meaning he hasn't found himself on a recovery drive come Sunday.
So with 5 races to go, 5 drivers remain firmly in the title hunt. This race has seen a recovery to a certain extent for all 3 contenders who failed to score in Spa. Singapore will be a totally different challenge. There we will see what sort of effect the revised load tests have had on Red Bull. The streets and dust of Singapore provide a mental and physical test with a race that will run the two hour limit close. Brakes are under pressure and mistakes are punished, its a gruelling challenge and we've already seen what it can produce in the past 2 years. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were both on the podium last year and they will be desperate to repeat that.
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Vettel wings pole position
Red Bull did what most expected them to do and took another crushing Saturday victory as Sebastian Vettel took pole position with Mark Webber again pipped into 2nd. The Australian was unhappy afterwards after it turned out that the new front wing on his car was given to his team mate after Vettel had problems in practice. Coming into Abbey the wing on the German's car came loose. Red Bull only had 2 with them so decided, based on practice times and championship standings which Vettel has the edge in both, to give the Valencia race winner the remaining new front wing. This will do little to dispel the feelings amongst some that Vettel is the favoured driver within the team. Fernando Alonso was 3rd but over half a second off pole while Lewis Hamilton declared himself delighted to have hauled his McLaren to 4th after a difficult day. Nico Rosberg was an impressive 5th, well ahead of Michael Schumacher who was 10th. Robert Kubica put his Renault 6th ahead of Felipe Massa. Rubens Barrichello continued the Williams improvement in 8th and Pedro de La Rosa was a surprise 9th.
It was a terrible qualifying for reigning world champion who ended up 14th and described his car as undrivable after feeling good in the morning. Conditions and particularly the wind was quite changable. Add in the lack of setup time and disruptive changes McLaren have had this weekend and it is perhaps not surprisng that Button, who is certainly somebody who really needs the car working to get the best out of his package, struggled to make a positive impression. He will need to pull something special off to get a good result tomorrow and it may well be a case of damage limitation.
Another man to watch out for early on is Vitantonio Liuzzi who qualified 15th but will start 20th after being penalised for what was a clear block of Nico Hulkenberg in the Becketts section. Toro Rosso were fined for a unsafe release when Jaime Alguersuari came out in front of another car. He was the main victim of Q1 while Lotus were still best of the new teams though Virgin's updates have brought them closer. HRT take up the back row with Sakon Yamamoto 4 tenths off Karun Chandhok. Will he be able to see the 52 laps out tomorrow?
Red Bull look set for a dominating display but it has looked that way before and they have failed to deliver. On a track like this, they really need to maximise the opprtunity before them. They did dominate Barcelona qualifying and Hamilton kept in Vettel's wheel tracks on raceday. Fernando Alonso will really want to get the jump on Webber at the start and the Australian will not want a repeat of his Valencia nightmare where he lost 7 positions on the opening lap. Everybody is on the soft tyre in the top ten so expect the usual early stop when there is a gap to drop into. This may differ with a safety car but they are pretty rare for Silverstone though not improbable. It could be a key swing in the championship. Can Sebastian Vettel make it 2 wins in a row. Will Jenson Button be able to charge through the field? What colour of trousers will Eddie Jordan wear on the BBC tomorrow? All will be revealed tomorrow, race start is 1pm BST
It was a terrible qualifying for reigning world champion who ended up 14th and described his car as undrivable after feeling good in the morning. Conditions and particularly the wind was quite changable. Add in the lack of setup time and disruptive changes McLaren have had this weekend and it is perhaps not surprisng that Button, who is certainly somebody who really needs the car working to get the best out of his package, struggled to make a positive impression. He will need to pull something special off to get a good result tomorrow and it may well be a case of damage limitation.
Another man to watch out for early on is Vitantonio Liuzzi who qualified 15th but will start 20th after being penalised for what was a clear block of Nico Hulkenberg in the Becketts section. Toro Rosso were fined for a unsafe release when Jaime Alguersuari came out in front of another car. He was the main victim of Q1 while Lotus were still best of the new teams though Virgin's updates have brought them closer. HRT take up the back row with Sakon Yamamoto 4 tenths off Karun Chandhok. Will he be able to see the 52 laps out tomorrow?
Red Bull look set for a dominating display but it has looked that way before and they have failed to deliver. On a track like this, they really need to maximise the opprtunity before them. They did dominate Barcelona qualifying and Hamilton kept in Vettel's wheel tracks on raceday. Fernando Alonso will really want to get the jump on Webber at the start and the Australian will not want a repeat of his Valencia nightmare where he lost 7 positions on the opening lap. Everybody is on the soft tyre in the top ten so expect the usual early stop when there is a gap to drop into. This may differ with a safety car but they are pretty rare for Silverstone though not improbable. It could be a key swing in the championship. Can Sebastian Vettel make it 2 wins in a row. Will Jenson Button be able to charge through the field? What colour of trousers will Eddie Jordan wear on the BBC tomorrow? All will be revealed tomorrow, race start is 1pm BST
Monday, 24 May 2010
Red Bull's next race winner
Saturday 11th October 2008, 5.30am, I'm struggling to keep my eyes open as i watch the build up on ITV to the qualifying session at Fuji Speedway with Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa battling for the title. As another set of adverts appear i decide to go channel hopping and discover more motor racing on Channel 4. British F3 from Donnington Park. A title deciding race as well. So i thought i'd check this out. I like keeping an eye on GP2 etc but had to admit that i didn't know too many drivers in this field. In the opening stages there was the usual thrills and spills you'd associate with the lower classes of open wheel racing. However at the fr ont, one man was on his own, serenly pulling away lap after lap to take a crushing victory which gave him the title. Riding onboard with this Spanish teenager you could see consistency and no mistakes in what would have been a pressure situation with a championship on the line. Jaime Alguersuari was his name and i thought to myself "I'll remember that".
Despite my positive impressions of the man from Barcelona, I wasn't expecting to see him on the F1 grid less than 12 months later. Alguersuari was thrust into action at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, becoming the youngest F1 driver at 19 years old, with his only previous running in an F1 car being in a straight line test. The reason for this opprtunity coming along so quickly is that Alguersuari is part of the Red Bull driver programme which has already seen many drivers get their chance in F1, like Vitantonio Liuzzi, Sebastian Vettel and the other current Torro Rosso driver Sebastien Buemi. Felipe Massa expressed concern before the weekend that being put in so young could harm Alguersuari long-term. It's a valid point as rushing a driver in who still lacks that experience that is so important could suffer early poor results and really adversly affect his confidence. The positive for Alguersuari was that there was little expectation or pressure. With Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz owning 2 teams it basically gives him 4 seats on the F1 grid. It means that Torro Rosso can be used as a ground for blooding new talent while the main team is focused on winning races. It gave the Spanish teenager the license to learn F1. Alguersuari put in a respectable performance in Budapest, his lap times were fine considering it was his debut and his best lap in the race was less than half a second off team mate Buemi. The important thing for him was to get as much running as possible. He even continued his season in Formula Renault between Grand Prix weekends. No points came in 2009 but milage was gained, making use of all 3 days of the weekend. Japan was a rough experience for him with big crashes on both Saturday and Sunday at Degner 2 and 130R respectively.
2010 presents a proper chance to shine for Alguersuari. Pre-season testing gave him a chance to get used to his new car before going into the heat of battle. The opening races has allowed him to show glimpses of his capability. He held off the challenge of Michael Schumacher for 50 laps at Albert Park and then took his maiden points finish in Sepang which included a sensational pass on Nico Hulkneberg on the outside of turn 5. He repeated the trick on the German at his home race. There have been messy moments as well. In both Shanghai and Barcelona he collided with Karun Chandhok while lapping the Indian. A broken front wing compromised his Chinese race while knocking the HRT's front wing off in Spain earned him a drive through penalty.
Is he the future of Red Bull? Well, time is on his side. It's incredible to think he could start the 2015 season with over 5 seasons of experience yet only be 25! Short term prospects could be limited. Mark Webber's deal expires at the end of this season and though he hasn't ruled out a switch, it woulds till seem likely that he would stay on at the team. Should the Australian decide to go, other options would include Kimi Raikkonen who is currently running in his debut season in the World Rally Championship with Red Bull backing. Felipe Massa could be another option should the Brazilian lose his Ferrari seat to Webber. Buemi is also a contender, the Swiss driver having openly admitted that he would love to have a Red Bull seat in 2011. Sebastian Vettel is contracted until 2012. Mercedes would love to have Vettel leading their German aspirations but at the present time, the Red Bull is the car to have. Of course it doesn't take long for things to change in Formula 1 but Vettel will be content for the meantime, having taken the Torro Rosso route to the main team. All of this is speculation for the meantime. Red Bull have usually made driver line up decisions around July time in recent years so it'll be interesting to see if we have early confirmation around the time of the British and German Grand Prix weekends.
Alguersuari's personality perhaps is a reflection of the diving he has shown on track. He comes across as a very laid back and chilled out person. He is a huge fan of music and has DJ'ed to crowds of thousands. If his Twitter updates are anything to go by, then he is a very excitable guy! I really have been impressed by him. I think he has shown a lot of speed and while mistakes need to be ironed out, the potential is there to be a future star. Maturity will come with time, something he has plenty of. For now, his main challenge is to beat Buemi. If he can do that then he is beating one of his main rivals and is putting himself at the head of the quene for earning the promotion to Red Bull. Red Bull's next race winner? I think Jaime Alguersuari is a good possibility.
Despite my positive impressions of the man from Barcelona, I wasn't expecting to see him on the F1 grid less than 12 months later. Alguersuari was thrust into action at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, becoming the youngest F1 driver at 19 years old, with his only previous running in an F1 car being in a straight line test. The reason for this opprtunity coming along so quickly is that Alguersuari is part of the Red Bull driver programme which has already seen many drivers get their chance in F1, like Vitantonio Liuzzi, Sebastian Vettel and the other current Torro Rosso driver Sebastien Buemi. Felipe Massa expressed concern before the weekend that being put in so young could harm Alguersuari long-term. It's a valid point as rushing a driver in who still lacks that experience that is so important could suffer early poor results and really adversly affect his confidence. The positive for Alguersuari was that there was little expectation or pressure. With Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz owning 2 teams it basically gives him 4 seats on the F1 grid. It means that Torro Rosso can be used as a ground for blooding new talent while the main team is focused on winning races. It gave the Spanish teenager the license to learn F1. Alguersuari put in a respectable performance in Budapest, his lap times were fine considering it was his debut and his best lap in the race was less than half a second off team mate Buemi. The important thing for him was to get as much running as possible. He even continued his season in Formula Renault between Grand Prix weekends. No points came in 2009 but milage was gained, making use of all 3 days of the weekend. Japan was a rough experience for him with big crashes on both Saturday and Sunday at Degner 2 and 130R respectively.
2010 presents a proper chance to shine for Alguersuari. Pre-season testing gave him a chance to get used to his new car before going into the heat of battle. The opening races has allowed him to show glimpses of his capability. He held off the challenge of Michael Schumacher for 50 laps at Albert Park and then took his maiden points finish in Sepang which included a sensational pass on Nico Hulkneberg on the outside of turn 5. He repeated the trick on the German at his home race. There have been messy moments as well. In both Shanghai and Barcelona he collided with Karun Chandhok while lapping the Indian. A broken front wing compromised his Chinese race while knocking the HRT's front wing off in Spain earned him a drive through penalty.
Is he the future of Red Bull? Well, time is on his side. It's incredible to think he could start the 2015 season with over 5 seasons of experience yet only be 25! Short term prospects could be limited. Mark Webber's deal expires at the end of this season and though he hasn't ruled out a switch, it woulds till seem likely that he would stay on at the team. Should the Australian decide to go, other options would include Kimi Raikkonen who is currently running in his debut season in the World Rally Championship with Red Bull backing. Felipe Massa could be another option should the Brazilian lose his Ferrari seat to Webber. Buemi is also a contender, the Swiss driver having openly admitted that he would love to have a Red Bull seat in 2011. Sebastian Vettel is contracted until 2012. Mercedes would love to have Vettel leading their German aspirations but at the present time, the Red Bull is the car to have. Of course it doesn't take long for things to change in Formula 1 but Vettel will be content for the meantime, having taken the Torro Rosso route to the main team. All of this is speculation for the meantime. Red Bull have usually made driver line up decisions around July time in recent years so it'll be interesting to see if we have early confirmation around the time of the British and German Grand Prix weekends.
Alguersuari's personality perhaps is a reflection of the diving he has shown on track. He comes across as a very laid back and chilled out person. He is a huge fan of music and has DJ'ed to crowds of thousands. If his Twitter updates are anything to go by, then he is a very excitable guy! I really have been impressed by him. I think he has shown a lot of speed and while mistakes need to be ironed out, the potential is there to be a future star. Maturity will come with time, something he has plenty of. For now, his main challenge is to beat Buemi. If he can do that then he is beating one of his main rivals and is putting himself at the head of the quene for earning the promotion to Red Bull. Red Bull's next race winner? I think Jaime Alguersuari is a good possibility.
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