Canadian GP: Free Practice 1 - Re-Cap & Results

Good morning everyone, it's time for a re-cap of Free Practice 1. My sincere apologies for anyone following me on twitter yesterday for commentary coverage. We were unable to bring you much due to technical issues. We're trying to have it fixed by Free Practice 3 in about 4 and a half hours. Hopefully, it will be ok!

So, let's start with P1, luckily no major rain fall and the drivers had a nice hour and a half to get some good times in. Only a few incidents, with Nico Hulkenberg spinning out at the chicane and Romain Grosjean heading to the Force India pit crew on accident, instead of Lotus. 

Alexander Rossi made an appearance, driving for Kamui Kobayashi. Rossi is from America and currently races in GP2, for those unfamiliar with the name. Rossi hopes to have a future in F1 sometime in the next year or so. 

It was Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari, who topped this session, with the Mercedes close behind, rounding up the top 3. 

So, on to the times:

1. Fernando Alonso - 1:17.238 / Ferrari

2. Lewis Hamilton - 1:17.254 / Mercedes

3. Nico Rosberg - 1:17.384 / Mercedes

4. Sebastian Vettel - 1:18.131 / Red Bull

5. Valtteri Bottas - 1:18.361 / Williams

6. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:18.435 / Red Bull

7. Jenson Button - 1:18.446 / McLaren

8. Kevin Magnussen - 1:18.514 / McLaren

9. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:18.578 / Ferrari

10. Jean-Eric Vergne - 1:18.643 / Toro Rosso

11. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:18.733 / Force India

12. Sergio Perez - 1:18.959 / Force India

13. Adrian Sutil - 1:19.108 / Sauber

14. Romain Grosjean - 1:19.142 / Lotus

15. Daniil Kvyat - 1:19.177 / Toro Rosso

16. Pastor Maldonado - 1:19.340 / Lotus

17. Felipe Massa - 1:19.575 / Williams

18. Esteban Gutierrez - 1:19.804 / Sauber

19. Jules Bianchi - 1:20.200 / Marussia

20. Max Chilton - 1:20.844 / Marussia

21. Marcus Ericsson - 1:21.404 / Caterham

22. Alexander Rossi - 1:21.757 / Caterham

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

No copyright infringement intended.

Monaco GP: Free Practice 1 - Re-Cap & Results

Thanks to all who joined me during my live commentary coverage of Free Practice 1 of the Monaco GP Weekend. For those who didn't get a chance to watch/listen or read the coverage of FP1 - Here's the Re-Cap plus all the times from the session!

With the session started and clouds already rolling about in the sky of Monaco, it was no clue rain would be expected. Although it didn't rain during the session, it did start afterwards. Hoping for a dry FP2!

Chilton was the reason for the first Yellow Flags when he had a spin. After the car was recovered, the session continued. It was a battle for fastest time between Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, with Redbull driver, Daniel Ricciardo trying to edge in-between them.

Kevin Magnussen was having a great lap until he had to slow down when he nearly drove into the back of Sergio Perez's Force India

Sutil crashed into the Barriers near Mirabeau, causing another Yellow Flag moment for the session, thus ending his FP1 along with Chilton who had his ended with that spin. Sutil's team mate, Esteban made a quick turn into the escape path near the chicane, not long after and then his car locked up and stopped. Luckily, the session was over and all 3 cars should be fine by FP2.

With only a minute or so left, Alonso also hair a nerve raising moment when he ran wide near the same part of Mirabeau where Sutil crashed.

No major damage done and no one hurt, so overall, not a bad session! Now, onto the times.

TIMES:

1. Lewis Hamilton - 1:18.271 / Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg - 1:18.303 / Mercedes
3. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:18.506 / Red Bull
4. Fernando Alonso - 1:18.930 / Ferrari
5. Sebastian Vettel - 1:19.043 / Red Bull
6. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:19.467 / Ferrari
7. Valtteri Bottas - 1:19.494 / Williams
8. Sergio Perez - 1:19.666 / Force India
9. Kevin Magnussen - 1:19.789 / McLaren
10. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:19.856 / Force India
11. Jenson Button - 1:20.033 / McLaren
12. Esteban Gutierrez - 1:20.118 / Sauber
13. Romain Grosjean - 1:20.207 / Lotus
14. Pastor Maldonado - 1:20.241 / Lotus
15. Jean-Eric Vergne - 1:20.260 / Toro Rosso
16. Felipe Massa - 1:20.517 / Williams
17. Adrian Sutil - 1:20.736 / Sauber
18. Daniil Kvyat - 1:20.914 / Toro Rosso
19. Jules Bianchi - 1:21.310 / Marussia
20. Marcus Ericsson - 1:22.063 / Caterham
21. Kamui Kobayashi - 1:22.492 / Caterham
22. Max Chilton - 1:25.817 / Marussia

Remember to follow us on Twitter @F1Insider78 for LIVE COMMENTARY coverage of Free Practice 2, starting in about 45 minutes!

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No copyright infringement intended.

Spanish GP: Free Practice 1 - Re-Cap & Results

The first two Free Practice sessions for the 5th round of the F1 2014 season took place yesterday and I'm here with a short re-cap of the first session and of course, also I will post the times.

Driver Changes For Session 1: Giedo Van Der Garde in for Esteban Gutierrez and Felipe Nasr in for Valtteri Bottas.

This session wasn't Vettel's favourite, as his car stopped after only 4 laps with a huge wiring issue which also kept him out of FP2. Giedo Van Der Garde suffered a brake failure during a lap and had to do everything he could to keep the Sauber from going head first into the wall. 

Perez also suffered an issue, when one of his mirrors came loose and he grabbed it, holding it in his car as he steered with one hand. The team told him to box when he radioed them to say he lost a mirror. 

It was Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton who stayed on top, and in Second was not Rosberg, but Jenson Button, with his team-mate, Magnussen, coming in 7th. McLaren is looking much stronger this weekend than in the previous GP's.

Now, on to the times!

TIMES: 

1. Lewis Hamilton - 1:27.023 / Mercedes

2. Jenson Button - 1:27.891 / McLaren

3. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:27.973 / Redbull

4. Fernando Alonso - 1:28.128 / Ferrari

5. Nico Rosberg - 1:28.169 / Mercedes

6. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:28.337 / Ferrari

7. Kevin Magnussen - 1:28.423 / McLaren

8. Pastor Maldonado - 1:28.744 / Lotus

9. Sergio Perez - 1:28.779 / Force India

10. Felipe Massa - 1:28.791 / Williams

11. Daniil Kvyat - 1:28.792 / Toro Rosso

12. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:28.828 / Force India

13. Jean-Eric Vergne - 1:28.859 / Toro Rosso

14. Felipe Nasr - 1:29.272 / Williams

15. Adrian Sutil - 1:29.688 / Sauber 

16. Jules Bianchi - 1:29.820 / Marussia

17. Romain Grosjean - 1:29.944 / Lotus

18. Giedo Van Der Garde - 1:30.440 / Sauber

19. Max Chilton - 1:30.942 / Marussia

20. Sebastian Vettel - 1:30.942 / Redbull

21. Kamui Kobayashi - 1:30.997 / Caterham

22. Marcus Ericsson - 1:31.421 / Caterham

FP2 Re-Cap will be up soon!

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

No copyright infringement intended. 

Chinese GP: Free Practice 1 - Re-Cap & Results

We're about an hour away from Free Practice 2 at Shanghai International Circuit, so it's time for a Re-Cap of what happened earlier in Free Practice 1. As always, I'm doing LIVE COMMENTARY COVERAGE on my Twitter @F1Insider78 - So make sure to join in for FP2!

The session started out with a very cloudy and overcast appearance, along with cold temperatures. Cold temperatures make it hard to get heat into the tyres and we saw some drivers struggling with that in the Session. I must note that Giedo Van Der Garde took over for Adrian Sutil for the session while Felipe Nasr took over for Bottas. Although there wasn't any Red Flags, we did see quite a few drivers going off into the gravel and/or spinning the car. It started with Maldonado, who spun out, and while he was emerging back out onto the circuit, he spun again. Kvyat also spun into the gravel, but luckily recovered.

Kimi Raikkonen was one of the few who were unable to get out there during the session, with his Ferrari having more than 1 issue. Another driver who was out of the session for 40 minutes was Esteban Gutierrez, who had his Chassis replaced after Bahrain, but was now facing Clutch issues. He did however get to do a few laps at the end of the session. As for Sergio Perez, he was having problems with the rear brakes locking up, early in the session and by the end of it, he ended up with DRS and Technical issues, which had him heading back into the pits. The car should be ready by Free Practice 2. 

Lewis Hamilton also had an unlucky later half of the session, when he headed back into his garage and they covered it up. Supposedly they had the whole floor of the car off and are still working on it. His team-mate, was having troubles with his brakes locking up as well.

All-In-All, not a very action-packed session, but we'll probably see more laps being completed in FP2. Fastest of the Session was Fernando Alonso, while ironically, his team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen did not even set a time.

Here is the full list of times:

TIMES:

1. Fernando Alonso - 1:39.783 / Ferrari
2. Nico Rosberg - 1:40.181 / Mercedes
3. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:40.772 / Redbull
4. Jenson Button - 1:40.970 / McLaren
5. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:41.175 / Force India
6. Kevin Magnussen - 1:41.366 / McLaren
7. Jean-Eric Vergne - 1:41.505 / Toro Rosso
8. Lewis Hamilton - 1:41.560 / Mercedes
9. Sebastian Vettel - 1:41.629 / Redbull
10. Felipe Massa - 1:41.699 / Williams
11. Daniil Kvyat - 1:41.977 / Toro Rosso
12. Romain Grosjean - 1:42.090 / Lotus
13. Felipe Nasr - 1:42.265 / Williams
14. Giedo Van Der Garde - 1:42.615 / Sauber
15. Sergio Perez - 1:42.733 / Force India 
16. Pastor Maldonado - 1:43.731 / Lotus
17. Kamui Kobayashi - 1:44.038 / Caterham
18. Esteban Gutierrez - 1:44.162 / Sauber
19. Jules Bianchi - 1:44.270 / Marussia
20. Max Chilton - 1:44.782 / Marussia
21. Marcus Ericssson - 1:44.836 / Caterham
22. Kimi Raikkonen - NO TIME SET / Ferrari

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No Copyright Infringement Intended. 

Bahrain GP: Free Practice 1 - Re-Cap & Results

       We're officially into Round 3 of the F1 2014 season and this GP Weekend is taking place in the warm and Sunny, Sakhir, Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit. Free Practicce 1 took place around 24 hours ago and there wasn't too much drama going on. Some drivers were having issues with the rear locking up at certain turns. We also had some new names for the day including: Felipe Nasr taking over for Valtteri Bottas at Williams, Robin Frijns taking over for Kamui Kobayashi at Caterham and Giedo Van Der Garde taking over for Esteban Gutierrez at Sauber! 

    Now, let's go ahead and get right to those times!

TIMES:

1. Lewis Hamilton - 1:37.502 / Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg - 1:37.733 / Mercedes
3. Fernando Alonso - 1:37.953 /Ferrari
4. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:38.120 / Force India
5. Jenson Button - 1:38.636 / McLaren
6. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:38.783 / Ferrari
7. Kevin Magnussen - 1:38.949 / McLaren
8. Daniil Kvyat - 1:39.056 / Toro Rosso
9. Sergio Perez - 1:39.102 / Force India
10. Sebastian Vettel - 1:39.389 / Redbull
11. Felipe Massa - 1:39.533 / Williams
12. Jean-Eric Vergne - 1:39.862 / Toro Rosso
13. Felipe Nasr - 1:40.078 / Williams
14. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:40.406 / Redbull
15. Adrian Sutil - 1:40.652 / Sauber
16. Pastor Maldonado - 1:40.793 / Lotus
17. Jules Bianchi - 1:40.889 / Marussia
18. Giedo Van Der Garde - 1:40.913 / Sauber
19. Romain Grosjean - 1:41.036 / Lotus
20. Max Chilton - 1:41.794 / Marussia
21. Robin Frijns - 1:42.417 / Caterham
22. Marcus Ericsson - 1:42.711 / Caterham

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No Copyright Infringement Intended.

Malaysian GP: Free Practice 1 - Re-Cap & Results

Free Practice 1 just finished up about an hour and a half ago and I have all the times from the session. We had a few cars stopping and/or smoking out on track including Kevin Magnnussen, who lost power and Pastor Maldonado who had to be taken back to the pits when his car started smoking. Romain Grosjean was out for most of the session and neither Lotus ended up setting a time. Another driver to not set a time was Force India's, Sergio Perez, who was having a Fuel issue.

Here are the times:

TIMES:

1. Lewis Hamilton - 1:40.691 / Mercedes
2. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:40.843 / Ferrari
3. Nico Rosberg - 1:41.028 / Mercedes
4. Jenson Button - 1:41.111 / McLaren
5. Kevin Magnussen - 1:41.274 / McLaren
6. Jean-Eric Vergne - 1:41.402 / Toro Rosso
7. Sebastian Vettel - 1:41.523 / Redbull
8. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:41.642 / Force India
9. Felipe Massa - 1:41.686 / Williams
10. Valtteri Bottas - 1:41.80 / Williams
11. Fernando Alonso - 1:41.923 / Ferrari
12. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:42.117 / Redbull
13. Adrian Sutil - 1:42.365 / Sauber
14. Daniil Kvyat - 1:42.869 / Toro Rosso
15. Esteban Gutierrez - 1:42.902 / Sauber
16. Jules Bianchi - 1:43.825 / Marussia
17. Marcus Ericsson - 1:45.775 / Caterham
18. Max Chilton - 1:46.911 / Marussia
19. Kamui Kobayashi - 1:51.180 / Caterham
20. Sergio Perez / No Time Set / Force India
21. Pastor Maldonado / No Time Set / Lotus
22. Romain Grosjean / No Time Set / Lotus

Stay tuned for Session 2, takng place in about 40 minutes, and I will be doing live-commentary as always on my twitter @F1Insider78 - Come join and send in your Questions & Comments!

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No Copyright Infringement Intended. 
 

 

F1Insider Special: P1 & P2 After Quotes.

"What we've seen today is that most teams are getting the hang of things and getting better at taking care of the problems that occur with the cars. There's no promise that certain cars will finish or not finish the race on Sunday. It's touch and go at the moment.

   Force India looks strong and I'm happy about that, being a part of the Force India family, we're not overly nervous, but we don't want to be overly confident. Like Checo said, there are areas that need to be improved. We'll see how things go tomorrow. I'm a huge supporter in that team and I want things to work out well.

   Mercedes and Ferrari are also looking well-shaped so far and it is nice to see Redbull not having as much trouble as they had in testing. Williams could really be back this year and it would be sweet relief for Massa to get a win. As for the others, there's things that need to be sorted out.. I'm sure things will fall into place after a few races. Everything is important right now and everything needs to work properly. Hopefully enough cars finish Sunday to fill up the top 10 points positions."

Quote by Amy Hawk (This quote is available for use by owners permission. Please contact.)

Australian GP: Free Practice 1 - Results

With day 1 of the Australian GP weekend complete, I now have all the times from the first 2 practice sessions. Let's go over what happened in Session 1.

The day started off (And stayed) hot, hot, hot. Track temp' was over 95 degrees with the air temperature got to around 77-ish. One of the biggest questions for the start of the session was "Will Redbull run?" - Well, indeed they did. They may not have had the best times, but at least they set times. Some teams including Caterham and Lotus were unfortunate and did not set times in the first session. Here is how things turned out.

 TIMES:

1. Fernando Alonso - 1:31.840 / Ferrari
2. Jenson Button - 1:32.357 / McLaren
3. Valtteri Bottas - 1:32.403 / Williams
4. Felipe Massa - 1:32.431 / Williams
5. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:32.599 / Redbull
6. Nico Rosberg - 1:32.604 / Mercedes
7. Sebastian Vettel - 1:32.793 / Redbull
8. Kevin Magnussen - 1:32.847 / McLaren
9. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:32.997 / Ferrari
10. Jean-Eric Vergne - 1:33.446 / Toro Rosso
11. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:33.533 / Force India
12. Sergio Perez - 1:33.855 / Force India
13. Daniil Kvyat - 1:34.272 / Toro Rosso
14. Esteban Gutierrez - 1:35.578 / Sauber
15. Adrian Sutil - 1:36.445 / Sauber
16. Max Chilton - 1:40.859 / Marussia
17. Jules Bianchi - 1:46.922 / Marussia
18. Marcus Ericsson - No Time Set / Caterham
19. Lewis Hamilton - No Time Set / Mercedes
20. Kamui Kobayashi - No Time Set / Caterham
21. Pastor Maldonado - No Time Set / Lotus
22. Romain Grosjean - No Time Set / Lotus


Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No Copyright Infringement Intended.

James Calado to Force India.

Today, along with the announcement of Daniel Ricciardo heading to Red Bull in 2014, Sahara Force-India made the announcement that 24 year old, British GP2 driver, James Calado will join their team as the new Reserve driver. He will start this weekend in Monza where he will do Free Practice 1.

James Calado did very well in The Young Drivers Testing earlier this year and Force India is very happy to have him on the team.


Article Written By: Amy Hawk.