Monaco GP: Circuit Preview

  (I do not own this image. Photo credit goes to: www.vr.picparc.co.uk) 

My favourite Grand Prix is almost here, the beautiful and incredible Monaco GP. This street circuit is one of the most popular on the current F1 Calendar. There are many events that are held during the GP weekend including the Amber Lounge Fashion Show and the Charity soccer event. F1 drivers tend to take part in both of those events and also attend multiple parties and media events.

The "Circuit De Monaco" is located in Monte Carlo, Monaco and is a Street Circuit. It opened back in 1929 and the current version of the circuit is 2.075 miles and has 19 turns. As many, this one also runs clockwise. The drivers will do a whopping 78 laps here and it's one of the few circuits where the lap total is over 65.

This is by far, one of the most dangerous circuits as well and one of the only ones with a tunnel. If the tunnel wasn't distracting enough for a driver, when you exit, you're faced with a tight chicane. Many people have crashed at that area, but recently, the safety has become much better. 

Now, let's take a quick look-back at last years Monaco GP!

Nico Rosberg took Pole Position for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team and was the leader for the entire race. Sebastian Vettel came in Second and Mark Webber in Third, making it a double Red Bull podium. 

One of the most exciting moments was a very tight passing battle between Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez. There was a moment they were so close to eachother that Kimi ended up giving Perez no room and the McLaren was scraping the side of the wall. Although there was no crash, it was still a hair-raising moment.

Retirements included: 

Sergio Perez with brake failure, but he still qualified as finishing 16th, as he had completed over 90% of the race. 

Romain Grosjean, Pastor Maldonado & Daniel Ricciardo all had to retire from collisions.

Charles Pic retired with a Gearbox issue and Jules Bianchi retired with a brake problem.

Felipe Massa was forced to retire with a Suspension issue.

So, with everything said, we're probably in for another exciting and head-turning race at Monaco and I'll be bringing you all the updates and commentary for the Free Practice Sessions as well as the Drivers quotes and re-caps of all sessions. 

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

No copyright infringement intended.

Photo credit goes to: www.vr.picparc.co.uk

Monaco GP: Schedule

We're in the middle of May and that means it's time for one of my favourite Grand Prixs! The Grand Prix de Monaco! Monaco has one of the most famed street circuits and I always look forward to this race. 

One thing that is different is that there is no F1 Activities on Friday, where as usually, that's when the first two Free Practice Sessions take place, instead they will take place on Thursday and the drivers press conference will take place on Wednesday. So, here is the full schedule and remember the times are in Local Monaco Time, if you'd like it converted to your time zone, just let me know.

SCHEDULE:

May 21st - Wednesday

15:00 - Drivers Press Conference (Located In Press Room)

May 22nd - Thursday

10:00 - 11:30 - Free Practice #1

14:00 - 15:30 - Free Practice #2

16:00 - 17:00 - Press Conference (Located In Press Room)

May 23rd - Friday

- No F1 Activities

May 24th - Saturday 

08:00 - 08:30 - Team Pit-Stop Practice

08:00 - 08:30 - Paddock Club Pit Lane Walk

11:00 - 12:00 - Free Practice #3

12:15 - 13:45 - Paddock Club Pit Lane Walk

14:00 - Qualifying

May 25th - Sunday

08:00 - 09:00 - Paddock Club Pit Lane Walk

12:25 - 13:15 - Paddock Club Pit Lane Walk

12:30 - Drivers Track Parade

12:45 - 13:15 - Starting Grid Presentation

13:45 - National Anthem

14:00 - Race

(Times & Schedule subject to change.)

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

No copyright infringement intended.

In-Season Test #2 - Barcelona - Day 2 Re-Cap & Results

The in-season test at Barcelona is now over and it's time for a re-cap of day 2. I was unable, (once again), to complete commentary as there were technical issues. But - I still have all the time results and it was Lotus who finished fastest yesterday! 

We had multiple red flags with cars stopping again, including Daniil Kvyat, Daniel Juncadella, Susie Wolff and then Esteban Gutierrez's Sauber caught fire at the rear. Mechanics were quick to put the fire out though and no injuries were sustained. 

Overall, the star of the day was Pastor Maldonado. Yep, you read that right. Maldonado ended up getting the Lotus to go fastest overall and held his place at the top of the time-sheets all day. Now, here are the rest of the times.

TIMES:

1. Pastor Maldonado - 1:24.871 / Lotus
2. Nico Rosberg - 1:25.805 / Mercedes
3. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:26.480 / Ferrari
4. Esteban Gutierrez - 1:26.972 / Sauber
5. Susie Wolff - 1:27.280 - William
6. Jules Bianchi - 1:27.718 / Marussia
7. Sebastian Vettel - 1:27.973 / Redbull
8. Daniel Juncadella - 1:28.278 / Force India
9. Stoffel Vandoorne - 1:28.441 / McLaren
10. Daniil Kvyat - 1:28.910 / Toro Rosso 

Caterham did not take part in Day 2, as the Chassis of the car was too damaged due to Kobayashi's crash on Day 1.

I will be posting the Circuit Preview and Schedule for the Monaco GP soon, so look for it in the next day or so!

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

In-Season Test #2 - Barcelona - Day 2 Line-Up

Day 2 of Testing in Barcelona will be taking place in the morning and as always, I will be doing live commentary & updates on twitter @F1Insider78

Here is the driver line-up for Day 2.

LINE-UP:

Redbull - Sebastian Vettel
Mercedes - Nico Rosberg
McLaren - Stoffel Vandoorne (R)
Ferrari - Kimi Raikkonen
Force India - Daniel Juncadella (R)
Lotus - Pastor Maldonado
Sauber - Esteban Gutierrez
Williams - Susie Wolff (R)
Toro Rosso - Daniil Kvyat
Caterham - Robin Frijns (R)
Marussia - Jules Bianchi

(R) = The driver is currently a reserve/test driver for the team.

Article Written By: Amy Hawk
No copyright infringement intended.

In-Season Test #2 - Barcelona - Day 1 Re-Cap & Results

The first day of the in-season test at Barcelona is now done and complete, so time for a re-cap and I will also be posting the times.

The morning started off sorta' rainy and very cold. Vergne caused 2 Red Flags when the Toro Rosso stopped once and then twice in the span of 2 hours. Raikkonen and Chilton also stopped once and caused Red Flags. Later on, Hamilton, who ended the morning session on top, stopped in the pit-lane.

After lunch, we had technical issues so I missed quite a lot, but what I do know is that Kobayashi had an accident and crashed the Caterham, while Max Chilton in the Marussia, was fastest out of the whole session. Sebastien Buemi, reserve for Redbull, had a difficult session when he endured gearbox problems. The weather was better though, as the track cleared up and most drivers were putting on Medium tyres. Sauber & Toro Rosso were the teams carrying out testing for Pirelli this time around. 

Now, on to the times:

1. Max Chilton - 1:26.434 / Marussia

2. Charles Pic - 1:26.661 / Lotus

3. Lewis Hamilton - 1:26.674 / Mercedes

4. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:26.965 / Ferrari

5. Jean-Eric Vergne - 1:27.724 / Toro Rosso

6. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:27.727 / Force India

7. Felipe Massa - 1:27.756 / Williams

8. Jenson Button - 1:28.333 / McLaren

9. Kamui Kobayashi - 1:30.101 / Caterham

10. Sebastien Buemi - 1:31.440 / Redbull

11. Giedo Van Der Garde - 1:31.783 / Sauber

I will be posting the Line-Up for day 2 in a bit!

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

No copyright infringement intended.

Penalty Points - Who has them?

Any F1 fan is aware that the sport of Formula 1 Racing goes through never-ending changes. Some of those changes include rules & regulations. This year introduced the new "Penalty Points System" - A new way of punishing a driver for doing a fault. 

If a driver causes a collision, or does some sort of other disapproving behavior, the FIA/Stewards can choose to give them Penalty Points &/or another punishment such as a Grid Penalty, a Drive-Through penalty or even a Race Ban. Penalty Points are put on the drivers' Super License and once they have 12 Points, they have an automatic race ban. 

So, with that said, I'll be keeping track of the total of points that the drivers have throughout the season! Let's go ahead and take a look at how things are at the moment.

PENALTY POINTS COUNTER:

1. Pastor Maldonado - 4 Points
2. Jules Bianchi - 4 Points
3. Valtteri Bottas - 2 Points
4. Kevin Magnussen - 2 Points
5. Adrian Sutil - 2 Points

If a driver is not listed, it means he does not currently have any penalty points.


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

Alexander Rossi to drive in Canada and USA Practice Sessions

                                                 (Image from Flickr.com - I do not own this photo.)

California native, Alexander Rossi will drive in Free Practice 1 during the Canadian and US Grand Prix Weekends, for Caterham, his current team where he is a reserve/test driver. Rossi is one of the few drivers who are being talked about for the newly signed Haas F1 Team.

Rossi has 3 Championship titles, (Formula BMW World, Formula BMW America and Skip Barber Western Regional), and is looking to race for Formula 1 as part of a main-line up soon.


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

In-Season Test #2 - Barcelona - Day 1 Line-Up

We've now approached the second set of testing. This one is taking place in Barcelona, Spain, where the Spanish GP just took place. This is the line-up for Day 1. I will be doing live-commentary/updates for the testing on my twitter @F1Insider78

Day 1 / Tuesday

Redbull - Sebastien Buemi (R)

Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari - Kimi Raikkonen

Lotus - Charles Pic (R)

McLaren - Jenson Button

Force India - Nico Hulkenberg

Sauber - Giedo Van der Garde (R)

Williams - Felipe Massa

Toro Rosso - Jean-Eric Vergne

Caterham - Kamui Kobayashi

Marussia - Max Chilton 

(R) = The person is currently a reserve/test driver for the team.

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

No copyright infringement intended.

Feature: Spanish GP - Our Post-Race Quote

Amy Hawk, F1Insider78 - "I think the race was quite entertaining and first I'd just like to say congratulations to Lewis Hamilton on his 4th consecutive win. That's a huge accomplishment. Force India had a strong performance and the team got another double-points finish, so I'm very happy with that. It's a shame, really that Sauber is struggling at the moment. Both drivers, (Esteban & Sutil), really do have a lot of potential and motivation to get some points. I really hope things get better for the team.

I heard Maldonado now has a total of 4 penalty points after his contact early on in the race with Marcus Ericsson. I'm not sure how long the stewards are going to put up with the way Maldonado has been acting in the car. It's very distracting to the other drivers. Other than that, another good race. In-Season testing starts Tuesday and then we have a week and a half before Monaco. It's always a huge event, so I'm excited for it. I'd love to see Perez and Hulkenberg finish in the top 5 at Monte Carlo. It'd be great."

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No copyright infringement intended.
Quote belongs to F1Insider78 and it's reporter, available for use with permission.

Spanish GP: Race - Re-Cap & Results

Another race down and now 2 weeks until one of the biggest races on the F1 Calendar: Monaco! - I hope you all enjoyed yesterday's Spanish GP. It was a good one, despite it being a bit slow with not many people able to pass.

Hamilton drove to the top, taking his 4th consecutive win this season. His team-mate, Nico Rosberg once again came in Second and Daniel Ricciardo rounded up the podium in 3rd, finally getting his first real podium after a fuel flow limit breech had him disqualified from his 2nd place Finish in Australia.

McLaren struggled again, unable to find a pace to take them into the points, Jenson just missing out, as he finished in 11th, while Magnussen finished right behind him in 12th. Sauber was also having problems with the cars, even after improvements they made over the week.

Vergne retired early on with an exhaust problem and Kobayashi experienced brake failure, causing him to retire as well. Someone who nearly had a retirement was Marcus Ericsson when Pastor Maldonado cut him off and nearly slammed into the Caterham. Pastor recieved his 4th penalty point after the race and he was given a 5-Second-Drive-Through-Penalty during the race.

Overall, it was a good race for Force India, who finished with double points again and also for Romain Grosjean who finished the race without an accident and got points as well.

Now, on to the results!

RESULTS:

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

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

3. Daniel Ricciardo / Redbull / Australia / + 15 Points

4. Sebastian Vettel / Redbull / Germany / + 12 Points

5. Valtteri Bottas / Williams / Finland / + 10 Points

6. Fernando Alonso / Ferrari / Spain / + 8 Points

7. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari / Finland / + 6 Points

8. Romain Grosjean / Lotus / France / + 4 Points

9. Sergio Perez / Force India / Mexico / + 2 Points

10. Nico Hulkenberg / Force India / Germany / + 1 Point

11. Jenson Button / McLaren / Great Britain / + 0 Points

12. Kevin Magnussen / McLaren / Denmark / + 0 Points

13. Felipe Massa / Williams / Brazil / + 0 Points 

14. Daniil Kvyat / Toro Rosso / Russia / + 0 Points 

15. Pastor Maldonado / Lotus / Venezuela / + 0 Points 

16. Esteban Gutierrez / Sauber / Mexico / + 0 Points

17. Adrian Sutil / Sauber / Germany / + 0 Points

18. Jules Bianchi / Marussia / France / + 0 Points

19. Max Chilton / Marussia / Great Britain / + 0 Points

20. Marcus Ericsson / Caterham / Sweden / + 0 Points

21. Kamui Kobayashi / Caterham / Japan / RETIRED - Brake Failure / + 0 Points

22. Jean-Eric Vergne / Toro Rosso / France / RETIRED - Exhaust / + 0 Points

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

No Copyright Infringement Intended.