Winter Testing Day 2 - Re-Cap & Times / Barcelona

Day 2 of testing saw Vettel at the top of the time sheets again, with Ricciardo and Perez rounding up the top 3.

    There was a slight delay from Haas due to the team having to wait for their new front wing to be shipped in after Grosjean had a mishap and lost the wing during the first day of testing. However, later on, they were able to get to running with a new front wing secured. Esteban Gutierrez completed 79 laps total and finished in 6th.

    During the AM part of the session, Max Verstappen abruptly stopped on track. Many thought it was a car issue and some type of failure. However, Max was later interviewed and explained it was just a "Precaution" to stop the car and have it be brought back to the garage.

    Renault had another troublesome day with Palmer's running ending in the mid-afternoon due to an engine failure.

    Toro Rosso will be bringing new car parts to the second round of testing next week. The drivers are already looking forward to this & know there's much more to see from the now-Ferrari-powered team.

Here are the results from Day 2

TIMES/LAPS:

1. Sebastian Vettel - 1:22.820 / Ferrari-Ferrari / 126 Laps
2. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:23.525 / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER / 112 Laps
3. Sergio Perez - 1:23.650 / Force India-Mercedes / 101 Laps
4. Nico Rosberg - 1:24.867 / Mercedes-Mercedes / 172 Laps
5. Marcus Ericsson - 1:25.237 / Sauber-Ferrari* / 108 Laps
6. Esteban Gutierrez - 1:25.524 / Haas-Ferrari / 79 Laps
7. Valtteri Bottas - 1:25.648 / Williams-Mercedes / 134 Laps
8. Pascal Wehrlein - 1:25.925 / Manor-Mercedes / 71 Laps
9. Fernando Alonso - 1:26.082 / McLaren-Honda / 119 Laps
10. Jolyon Palmer - 1:26.189 / Renault-Renault / 42 Laps
11. Max Verstappen - 1:26.539 / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / 121 Laps

* - Notes using 2015 car

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Article Written By: Amy Hawk
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Williams Reveal 2016 Car & Livery

Williams will be sporting the iconic martini stripes for a third season. The Williams Mercedes FW38 was unveiled ahead of pre-season testing, launched on Twitter only a few hours before rivals Ferrari.

The past two seasons have seen Williams as a front running team, finishing third in the constructors’ championship in 2014 and 2015. The team hopes to continue that momentum in the upcoming season.

“Staying where we are will be a challenge in itself, but we are determined to keep improving because only winning will ever be good enough,” said Sir Frank Williams, Founder and Team Principal.

“We have a very stable team going into 2016, with Felipe and Valtteri teaming up for a third successive season,” Williams continued. “They work well together and both have the ideal blend of speed and consistency. Our technical team has also remained very consistent which will be to our advantage and we have some of the best engineering minds on the grid at our disposal.”

Now, the attention turns to testing and the season ahead.

“I have a lot of confidence in the team at Williams,” said driver Felipe Massa, who will be racing with Williams for a third season this year. “I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the FW38 to see how it performs.”

Valtteri Bottas will be racing with Williams for his fourth season. Bottas has been impressing over the past three years, and has earned the admiration of many in the Formula One world.

“This is always a really interesting and exciting time of the year because we have a new car and we can’t wait to get it out on track to see how it feels and how fast it is,” he said. “It’s been a good winter and from what I’ve seen we seem to be headed in a good direction with this car.”

Williams are yet to put a driver on the top step of the podium under the new engine regulations, but were the first team besides Mercedes to put a car on pole.

“As a team we need to be able to win races,” Bottas said. “I’m sure we have made improvements everywhere as a team, so we’re definitely looking to fight for better results this year.”

Williams stated that the car launched would not be the final product, and that more updates were planned for the first race in Melbourne.

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring

No copyright infringement intended - Photo rights belong to the owner.

McLaren Launch 2016 Car

McLaren will be hoping their 2016 season won’t be as dark as their new livery. The new car, complete with black and red livery, was revealed last week ahead of pre-season testing.

The new car features a steeper, “stubby” nose and, beneath the carbon fibre chassis, a Honda engine. Honda’s return to Formula 1 last year wasn’t quite what everyone expected, but McLaren hope the new power unit will be something to impress this season.

“The aero package shows fantastic attention to detail,” said driver Fernando Alonso. “The whole car is beautiful in fact – it’s particularly nicely packaged from an aerodynamic point of view as I say – and I’m 100 per cent ready for the challenge ahead.” 

Team mate Jenson Button commented on the positive energy at the team going into McLaren Honda’s second season under the current regulations. After a tough year last season, everyone is expecting improvements.

“There are a lot of positives we can build on, and a strong platform to take forward,” he said. “I’m not about to make any over-optimistic predictions – Formula 1 is far too unpredictable for me to do that – but, from what I’ve seen so far, the aero detailing on the car looks fantastic, and I’m really looking forward to beginning the process of testing those new innovations when I get behind the wheel tomorrow.”  

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
No copyright infringement intended - Photo rights belong to the owner.

Mercedes Launch 2016 Car

The first glimpse of Mercedes’ new challenger was at a shake down at Silverstone last week, where both drivers got their first chances to drive the new car.

Two days later, pictures were released of the championship contender.

The silver and blue chrome look which has been a familiar sight at the front of the grid will be back again. Sponsor Petronas returns and will once again feature on the side pod.

But underneath that livery, Mercedes have been working to once again step ahead of the competition, as technical officer Paddy Lowe explained:

“While the car may look very similar to its predecessor from the outside – as is inherent within stable regulations – underneath there are quite a lot of mini revolutions that make up an overall evolution for the new season.”

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
No copyright infringment intended - Photo rights belong to the owner.

Ferrari's 2016 Car Launch

Around 130,000 people turned to the Ferrari website to watch the unveiling of their 2016 challenger. The 62^nd Ferrari built single seater has a shorter nose and a tapered rear end.

Of course, the thing that immediately caught most fans’ eyes is the new livery. The traditional Ferrari red is, as always, the dominate colour, but striking white features have been getting fans excited. It’s a throwback to the seventies.

The move away from pull-rod front suspension might be what gets the fans excited once the car gets onto the track. The team has moved to a more conventional push-rod suspension, which should lead to a sharper front end, complementing the driving styles of both Vettel and Räikkönen. Changes to the power unit, making it more compact, may also make a difference on track.

But will it be enough to pass Mercedes?

“Our competitors are strong,” said technical director James Allison. “We have to go forward and improve. We are very confident that we can achieve good results this season.”

“We would like to fight until the end of the championship,” said Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene. “I know it’s not going to be easy because our competitors are not sleeping, but we are all committed to do our best.”

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring

No copyright infringement intended - Image rights belong to the owner. 

Winter Testing Day 2 - Line-Up / Barcelona

BARCELONA TEST - DAY 2 - LINE-UP:

Mercedes: Nico Rosberg

Ferrari: Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull: Daniel Ricciardo

Williams: Valtteri Bottas

Toro Rosso: Max Verstappen

Sauber: Marcus Ericsson

Force India: Sergio Perez

Haas: Esteban Gutierrez

Manor: Pascal Wehrlein

Renault: Jolyon Palmer

McLaren: Fernando Alonso

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Article Written By: Amy Hawk

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Winter Testing Day 1 - Re-Cap & Times / Barcelona

Day 1 of testing got off to a fantastic start with multiple teams lauching their cars in the pit-lane. Mercedes, Force India and others revealed their cars, showing off new livery, colors and specs of their 2016 rides. Sauber is the only team to be using their 2015 model for this round of testing.

    Toro Rosso looked to be having a pretty good run until gearbox problems hampered Sainz' run on the track. However, it was still a productive day and the young Spaniard racked up 55 laps altogether.

    The only who was driving who is not one of the main drivers of the 2016 line-up was, Alfonso Celis, for Force India. He was recently brought in and is part of the team as a development driver.

    Haas F1 team made their debut with Romain Grosjean behind the wheel. Grosjean was dropped from Lotus (Now Renault), in favor of Jolyon Palmer, who took over most of Grosjean's 2015 FP1 sessions. Grosjean had a productive day behind the wheel apart from a slight mishap that left the car without a front wing.

Here are the times from the session.

TIMES/LAPS

1. Sebastian Vettel - 1:24.939 / Ferrari-Ferrari / 69 Laps
2. Lewis Hamilton - 1:25.409 / Mercedes-Mercedes / 156 Laps
3. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:26.044 / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER / 87 Laps
4. Valtteri Bottas - 1:26.091 / Williams-Mercedes / 80 Laps
5. Alfonso Celis - 1:26.298 / Force India-Mercedes / 58 Laps
6. Jenson Button - 1:26.735 / McLaren-Honda / 84 Laps
7. Carlos Sainz - 1:27.180 / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / 55 Laps
8. Marcus Ericsson - 1:27.555 / Sauber-Ferrari* / 88 Laps
9. Pascal Wehrlein - 1:28.282 / Manor-Mercedes / 54 Laps
10. Romain Grosjean - 1:28.399 / Haas-Ferrari / 31 Laps
11. Jolyon Palmer - 1:29.365 / Renault-Renault / 37 Laps


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Article Written By: Amy Hawk
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Red Bull Launches 2016 Car

Red Bull have revealed their 2016 challenger.

The traditional purple-blue is gone, replaced with a striking matt black. Of course, title sponsor Infiniti is also gone, replaced by Tag Heuer.

“We decided that with a clean sheet of paper to go with something a bit more innovative, aggressive, that will stand out in the crowd and stand out in a few more driver’s mirrors,” said Horner.

Red Bull’s chassis will be launched at the pre-season testing in Barcelona.

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
Edited By: Amy Hawk
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Winter Testing Day 1 - Line-Up / Barcelona

Winter Break is officially over and it's time for everyone to get back to work. The first test of the pre-season is upon us and as always, we'll be reporting everything! So, let's kick off day one with who will be driving! 

BARCELONA TEST - DAY 1 - LINE-UP:

Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari: Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull: Daniel Ricciardo

Williams: Valtteri Bottas

Force India: Alfonso Celis

Toro Rosso: Carlos Sainz

Renault: Jolyon Palmer

Sauber: Marcus Ericsson

McLaren: Jenson Button

Manor: Pascal Wehrlein

Haas: Romain Grosjean

(Subject to change)

Article Written By: Amy Hawk

Renault Launch 2016 Livery - Magnussen & Palmer Confirmed

Renault’s return to Formula One has caused quite a stir in the motorsports world and, when the company called the world’s motorsports media to a launch in France, they went rushing.

It appeared, afterwards, that there wasn’t really much to see. The car they put on display wasn’t the one they will be racing in next year, and the livery might change before too long too. The news that ex-McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen would be replacing Pastor Maldonado was already common knowledge, so did we really learn anything from the launch?

Formula One isn’t the only motorsports venture the car manufacturer is a part of. Renault’s name reaches far and wide and we really caught a glimpse of that at the launch.

“Motorsports still spark the imagination of both enthusiasts and everyday drivers,” said CEO Carlos Ghosn. “We are putting a comprehensive programme in place today.”

Renault has two aims going into the future. First, it wants to promote the Renault Sport brand to wider audiences, which is where the Formula One team comes in. The plan is that Renault’s involvement in the world wide sport will boost awareness of the brand, especially in markets where it is a newcomer.

The second is to showcase other aspects of the Renault range through their ventures in the Clio Cup series and Formula E. Renault committed itself to Formula E until at least season four with Renault e.dams, the current team champions. Renault will develop and supply the full powertrain to the team in the coming seasons.

So we didn’t see the car and we might not even have seen the livery, but the launch did show us the key personnel for Renault’s return to Formula One.

First, there are the drivers. Jolyon Palmer was confirmed at the end of last season to be racing for the outfit Renault took over from, alongside Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado. Recently, it became clear that Magnussen would be taking over from Maldonado, which was confirmed at the launch in France.

Mercedes development programme driver, Esteban Ocon, was also confirmed as the Third and Reserve driver.

Behind the scenes will be Bob Bell, who was appointed F1 Chief Technical Officer, Nick Chester, the Chassis Technical Director, and Rémi Taffin, the Engine Technical Director.

We also learned where things would be taking place. The Renault R.S.16 Chassis will be developed at Enstone, UK, whilst the power until will continue to be developed in Viry-Châtillon in France.

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring

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Image rights belong to the rightful owner