FIA

Ten years later: Diamonds announced lost after strapped to F1 car

Fiasco Sports, Formula 1

A bizarre story has filtered from the Formula 1 paddock, and it’s not to do with this weekend’s race.

Christian Klein's F1 car been taking back to pit paddock after Lap 1 crash. Photo: AP Image/Remy de la Mauviniere

Whoever thought it would be a good idea to place two diamonds on the nose of a Formula 1 car, ripping around the streets of Monaco?

Well, in 2004 for the movie premiere of Ocean’s Twelve, movie producers decided to place diamonds worth $300,000 on the front of Austrian driver Christian Klein’s Jaguar.

Of course traditionally on an opening lap at Monaco, the car was involved in a crash and the diamonds were – well, nowhere to be seen.

Due to strict FIA Formula 1 regulations, the team were not allowed to search the track hours after the race.

No one knows what happened to the diamonds – however it is to be believed that a lucky spectator found the sparkling rock.

According to script writer Doug DeMuro, the diamonds were not insured.

Written by Loren Hazelwood. @LorenHazelwood

– See more at: http://fiascosports.com/ten-years-later-diamonds-announced-lost-after-strapped-to-f1-car/#sthash.zbmI1y5o.dpuf

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Hamilton takes hat-trick win in China

Fiasco Sports, Formula 1

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton claimed his third consecutive race victory, finishing first at the Chinese Grand Prix. 

Race winner Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images

British driver Lewis Hamilton has broken a personal racing record, winning three consecutive rounds in the Formula 1 Drivers Championship.

Hamilton lead from pole, taking the chequered flag at the Shanghai circuit, finishing ahead of his German teammate Nico Rosberg. 

Hamilton drove away from the start, racing his own race ahead of the rest.

Rosberg endured telemetry dramas throughout the entire Grand Prix, forcing the German to report the data from his steering wheel to the data engineers, costing Rosberg at the very beginning of the race.

Red Bull Racing were unable to catch Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, with the Spaniard able to race his #14 Ferrari to third, despite clashing with former teammate Felipe Massa at the start of the race.

Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo fell shy of his first podium finish in Formula 1, crossing the line only 1.2s behind Alonso, despite starting the race on the front row.

Ricciardo and German teammate Sebastian Vettel battled mid-race, with Vettel being told by team principle Christian Horner to surrender his position to Ricciardo because the Australian was faster.

Vettel quoted, “tough luck” on the radio communications and let Ricciardo race Vettel for fourth position.

Vettel was outshone by his new Australian teammate, finishing behind the Red Bull rookie in fifth place.

Both Force India drivers scored points, Nico Hulkenberg racing his way to the end to defeat Williams driver Valtteri Bottas for sixth and Sergio Perez falling seconds shy from Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari to finish ninth. 

Rookie Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kyvat finished tenth, the 19-year-old consistently scoring points.

McLaren failed to make it into the points, Jenson Button finishing 11th and Kevin Magnussen crossing the line 13th.

Rosberg still leads the Formula 1 Drivers Championship, Hamilton close behind in second.

Mercedes extend their comprehensive lead in the Constructors Championship.

Round 5 of the Formula 1 World Championship will be hosted in Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix on 11 May.

Chinese Grand Prix Results

Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1h36m52.810s
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +18.686s
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +25.765s
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault +26.978s
5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault +51.012s
6 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes +57.581s
7 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes +58.145s
8 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +1m23.990s
9 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes +1m26.489s
10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault +1 lap
11 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap
12 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault +1 lap
13 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap
14 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault +1 lap
15 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes +1 lap
16 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
17 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault +1 lap
18 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari +1 lap
19 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari +2 laps
20 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault +2 laps
RET Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 27 laps
RET Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari  4 laps

– See more at: http://fiascosports.com/hamilton-takes-hat-trick-win-in-china/#sthash.7Gj9w88L.dpuf

Nosing into the 2014 Formula 1 Season

Formula 1, Spultured

Ricciardo RB10 stop Jerez D3_600

So most of us motorsport fans are thinking, what is the deal with the new Formula 1 front-ends? They look weird, but knowing the deal with Formula 1 there is a reason why the cars have changed.

The FIA have decided to add new rules into the sport for 2014, making this year’s cars arguably the most unattractive of our time, but hey… It will be better for the trees.

Formula 1 has changed the size of the engine to a turbo-charged 1.6-litre V6 in a bid to make the cars more environmentally friendly.

Not only have the cars changed for this year, but so have the teams. In fact you could say there was a bit of shuffling going on in the pits during the off-season. Three rookies will also attack the field this year, and Kamui Kobayashi is back for Caterham.

Unfortunately for us Aussies, there is only one Australian participating in the Formula 1 season this year. Young Daniel Ricciardo replaces Mark Webber at Infiniti Red Bull Racing, partnering new-dad Sebastian Vettel.

The biggest test of this year you ask? Well, Kimi Raikkonen back at Ferrari – of course. Going back to a former team with a former world champion by the name of Fernando Alonso is sure to be interesting and very competitive.

And because of our good German friend Sebastian Vettel winning the past four Drivers’ Championships, the FIA has decided to introduce a ‘double points’ feature for the final round, just to make it a little more interesting. Even though the Red Bull driver won the last championship with races to spare, the FIA believe this will spice up the final round.

Another fun fact, drivers this year are able to choose what number they want to race with for the Formula 1 season. Interestingly, Pastor Maldonado chose unlucky 13.

Pre-season testing kicked off a few weeks ago in Jerez, which saw the favourites for this year, Red Bull, flying back to headquarters in England to work on electrical faults. Further testing got under way in Bahrain over the weekend and you know it’s going to be a strong season when the testing can’t identify who will win the first round in Australia.

So, in summary – new cars, new engines, new points advantages, new numbers… I mean, this season is going to be more unpredictable than ever, so please don’t head down to your local TAB and place a bet on the Australian Grand Prix. In case you’re wondering, it all kicks off March 14 on the streets of Melbourne.

#KeepCalmF1SeasonIsNear

@LorenHazelwood