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.

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. 

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.