Chinese GP: Free Practice #1 - Re-Cap & Times

CHINESE GP - FREE PRACTICE #1 - RE-CAP & TIMES

    Max Verstappen topped the times in a wet FP1, where only 14 drivers managed to set a lap time.

    Running was limited by weather conditions in Shanghai, but it wasn't the rain causing trouble. Smog made the visibility poor in the city, and the red flag was brought out only five minutes after the start of the session as the medical helicopter was unable to operate in the conditions. The weather led to the closure of the city airport, which didn't bode well for the possibility of better conditions.

    The green flag was brought out at about the midpoint of the session, only for running to be halted again 20 minutes later for the same reasons. The session was not restarted.

    In that time, drivers headed out on a mixture of wet weather and intermediate tyres, trying to get the most from the wet track. Multiple drivers including Kevin Magnussen and Felipe Massa spun in the greasy conditions, but only Renault's Nico Hulkenberg had a serious incident. The German beached his car in the gravel at turn three, bringing out the virtual safety car.

    Verstappen ended the session top with a 1:50.491, but it was nothing for the team to be enthusiastic about with such disrupted running.

    The truncated session will make FP2 even more essential as teams try race and qualifying simulations. Kevin Magnussen completed the most laps, managing to make his way around the circuit eight times plus instillation laps.

TIMES:

1. Max Verstappen - 1:50.491 / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands
2. Felipe Massa - 1:52.086 / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil
3. Lance Stroll - 1:52.507 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
4. Carlos Sainz - 1:52.840 / Toro Rosso-Renault / Spain
5. Romain Grosjean - 1:53.039 / Haas-Ferrari / France
6. Daniil Kvyat - 1:53.314 / Toro Rosso-Renault / Russia
7. Fernando Alonso - 1:53.520 / McLaren-Honda / Spain
8. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:54.038 / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Australia
9. Valtteri Bottas - 1:54.664 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland
10. Kevin Magnussen - 1:55.104 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark
11. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:55.608 / Renault-Renault / Germany
12. Stoffel Vandoorne - 1:57.445 / McLaren-Honda / Belgium
13. Marcus Ericsson - 2:15.138 / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
14. Antonio Giovinazzi - 2:15.281 / Sauber-Ferrari / Italy
15. Jolyon Palmer - No Time Set / Renault-Renault / Great Britain
16. Sebastian Vettel - No Time Set / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany
17. Kimi Raikkonen - No Time Set / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland
18. Esteban Ocon - No Time Set / Force India-Mercedes / France
19. Sergio Perez - No Time Set / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico
20. Lewis Hamilton - No Time Set / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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United States GP: Free Practice 2 - CANCELED

Friday's FP2 session was canceled due to heavy rain & lightning brought in by Hurricane Patricia. The venue was closed off & the day came to an early end due to safety measures.

    Running was continued on Saturday for FP3, although fans & spectators were still not allowed inside the circuit grounds.

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Article Written By: Amy Hawk
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Japanese GP: Race - Re-Cap & Results

Before we get into our Race Re-Cap, we would like to say that our thoughts and prayers are with Jules Bianchi, his family and everyone who is deeply concerned at this time. We will have a full article on his situation later today. 

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Many will argue about this years Japanese GP. Some will say it should have been canceled, some will say it was "OK" conditions for racing. One thing is for sure.. After the race, our hearts were heavy.

The race started behind the Safety Car. Rain was light but the spray coming from the cars caused drivers poor visibility. After 2 laps, the race was Red Flagged and delayed. All drivers were told to return to their starting spots on the grid.

After a 10 minute delay, the race was back on and once again, behind the Safety Car. It was not until lap 9, that the Safety Car was called in and drivers were allowed to race. During that time, however, Fernando Alonso had retired with a Power Unit Failure.

There was hesitation on overtaking with conditions proving to be trickier than originally imagined. Still, Lewis Hamilton passed his team-mate, Nico Rosberg and took the lead of the race.

Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo were eager to overtake both Williams Martini Racing drivers, Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Even with rain continuing to come down in uneven showers, they showed some safe wheel-to-wheel racing.

It was told if Drivers completed 40 laps, full points would be awarded. There was a chance they would stop after lap 40, but the race continued on and the rain came down much harder. Felipe Massa admitted to screaming over the radio for the race to be stopped, but it was not.

Adrian Sutil aquaplaned off the circuit a few laps later. He climbed out of the car and a crane was called to recover his stricken Sauber. As Jules Bianchi came around on the next lap, he too aquaplaned and left the circuit. His car slid sideways into the recovery crane heavily. An Ambulance was called when Marussia did not receive a response from Bianchi on radio.

Jules was transported via Ambulance to a nearby hospital and has since underdone brain surgery. We can confirm he was unconscious but breathing on his own and is now in the ICU.

The race was Red Flagged as soon as the FIA knew of the severity of the accident. All drivers got to the hospital to be with Bianchi. They have tweeted and talked to media regarding the accident and all send their love and support to Jules and his family. 

It was a very shocking and saddening end to a very nerve-wracking race. We, in respect of the accident, post-poned any articles until we learned the condition of Jules and we are continuing to think of him and pray for him and his family. As we mentioned earlier, we will have an article on the situation later today.

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RESULTS:

1. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 25 Points

2. Nico Rosberg / Mercedes-Mercedes / Germany / + 18 Points

3. Sebastian Vettel / Red Bull-Renault / Germany / + 15 Points

4. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-Renault / Australia / + 12 Points

5. Jenson Button / McLaren-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 10 Points

6. Valtteri Bottas / Williams-Mercedes / Finland / + 8 Points

7. Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil / + 6 Points

8. Nico Hulkenberg / Force India-Mercedes / Germany / + 4 Points

9. Jean-Eric Vergne / Toro Rosso-Renault / France / + 2 Points

10. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / + 1 Point

11. Daniil Kvyat / Toro Rosso-Renault / Russia

12. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland

13. Esteban Gutierrez / Sauber-Ferrari / Mexico

14. Kevin Magnussen / McLaren-Mercedes / Denmark

15. Romain Grosjean / Lotus-Renault / France

16. Pastor Maldonado / Lotus-Renault / Venezuela

17. Marcus Ericsson / Caterham-Renault / Sweden

18. Max Chilton / Marussia-Ferrari / Great Britain

19. Kamui Kobayashi / Caterham-Renault / Japan

20. Jules Bianchi / Marussia-Ferrari / France / DNF - Accident

21. Adrian Sutil / Sauber-Ferrari / Germany / DNF - Accident

RETIRED - Fernando Alonso / Ferrari-Ferrari / Spain / Power Unit Failure

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Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

No copyright infringement intended.

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British GP: Free Practice 3 - Re-Cap & Results

Welcome! We've just gotten done with a very rainy Free Practice 3 and have some not so great news.

Marussia suffered a double-misfortune when Max Chilton was out of the session early with a gearbox problem. They now have to change the gearbox and he is being given a 5-Place-Grid-Penalty for Sunday's race. Jules Bianchi crashed out of the session when he took his Marussia straight into the barriers. Although he's OK, the car suffered some damage to the front. Hopefully both cars are ready in time for Qualifying.

The rain was coming down pretty hard, so not many laps were set this time around, but all-in-all another good session.

TIME SHEET:

1. Sebastian Vettel - 1:52.522 / Red Bull-Renault

2. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:52.631 / Red-Bull-Renault

3. Pastor Maldonado - 1:53.044 / Lotus-Renault

4. Romain Grosjean - 1:53.566 / Lotus-Renault

5. Adrian Sutil - 1:53.585 / Sauber-Ferrari

6. Daniil Kvyat - 1:53.654 / Toro Rosso-Renault

7. Kevin Magnussen - 1:53.911 / McLaren-Mercedes

8. Jenson Button - 1:54.041 / McLaren-Mercedes

9. Valtteri Bottas - 1:54.217 / Williams-Mercedes

10. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:54.558 / Ferrari-Ferrari

11. Jean-Eric Vergne - 1:54.602 / Toro Rosso-Renault

12. Esteban Gutierrez - 1:54.761 / Sauber-Ferrari

13. Felipe Massa - 1:55.003 / Williams-Mercedes

14. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:55.688 / Force India-Mercedes

15. Sergio Perez - 1:56.918 / Force India-Mercedes

16. Marcus Ericsson - 1:57.091 / Caterham-Renault

17. Jules Bianchi - 1:57.566 / Marussia-Ferrari

18. Kamui Kobayashi - 1:57.914 / Caterham-Renault

19. Lewis Hamilton / No Time Set / Mercedes-Mercedes

20. Nico Rosberg / No Time Set / Mercedes-Mercedes

21. Fernando Alonso / No Time Set / Ferrari-Ferrari

22. Max Chilton / No Time Set / Marussia-Ferrari

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Article Written By: Amy Hawk

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Monaco GP: Free Practice 2 - Re-Cap & Results

Time for the re-cap of Free Practice 2! It got quite rainy while GP2 was out doing their practice session on the circuit and it began to hail shortly after. So, for F1, the first 40-ish minutes of practice were spent watching the drivers hang around in their garages while talking to their engineers and/or other team members.

Once the track was dry and cars started heading out, the first one to face a major problem was Kimi Raikkonen, who suddenly got stuck in Gear 3 and had to head to the pits. Turned out he had a Gearbox problem and his session was then over.

His team-mate, Fernando Alonso, ended up setting the fastest time of the Second Session, while Hamilton came in a close Second, with Vettel rounding it up in 3rd. Force India and McLaren also looked strong in the session.

At the end, Marcus Ericsson in the Caterham, had a bit of a spin and ended up with the nose of the car just barely tapping the wall. Although there was no major damage, his session was over.

Now, on to the times!

TIMES:

1. Fernando Alonso - 1:18.482 / Ferrari

2. Lewis Hamilton - 1:18.901 / Mercedes

3. Sebastian Vettel - 1:19.017 / Red Bull

4. Jean-Eric Vergne - 1:19.351 / Toro Rosso

5. Valtteri Bottas - 1:19.421 / Williams

6. Sergio Perez - 1:19.668 / Force India

7. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:19.712 / Force India

8. Jenson Button - 1:19.721 / McLaren

9. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:19.779 / Red Bull

10. Kevin Magnussen - 1:20.230 / McLaren

11. Felipe Massa - 1:20.394 / Williams

12. Daniil Kvyat - 1:20.622 / Toro Rosso

13. Adrian Sutil - 1:20.811 / Sauber

14. Pastor Maldonado - 1:20.977 / Lotus

15. Esteban Gutierrez - 1:21.467 / Sauber

16. Romain Grosjean - 1:21.700 / Lotus

17. Kamui Kobayashi - 1:21.924 / Caterham

18. Jules Bianchi - 1:21.937 / Marussia

19. Max Chilton - 1:22.683 / Marussia

20. Nico Rosberg - 1:22.862 / Mercedes

21. Marcus Ericsson - 1:23.164 / Caterham

22. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:45.509 / Ferrari

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

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Kobayashi crashes Ferarri at Moscow Event.

The Moscow City Racing event took place on Sunday, and Kamui Kobayashi crashed the Ferarri F60 into a barrier, when he lost control on the slippery grounds. Kamui was unhurt, but probably pretty embarrassed. The Ex-F1 driver is currently driving for Ferarri GT. He made this statement after the accident.

"The track was very slippery and there was a marked bump at that point, which is why I hit the barrier. A shame, but I am pleased the team let me out again after a few minutes. It was great to be able to represent Scuderia Ferarri at such an important event. For this I would once again like to thank the team and its sponser Kaspersky Lab. It is important to be able to bring Formula 1 close to the public with promotional events like this: a shame about the rain as otherwise the crowd might have been even bigger."

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.