Sebastian Vettel

Dan Ricciardo = Australia’s New Hero

Formula 1, Spultured

ricciardo

He’s the young pup who started out in Formula 1 with his teeth covered in braces and his ambitions high to make it to the top. Well, four years later and this rising star has clinched his maiden Grand Prix win in Montreal, with his dentist gifting Ricciardo the biggest smile any racer has ever had, making Aussies more proud than ever.

The world was not ready for his smile, let alone the skill and determination this Australian has to offer. Many non-believers thought he would end up in the same position as Mark Webber being defeated by his four-time world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel.

Oh boy, were they wrong.

Of course the Merecedes’ Silver Arrows have dominated the 2014 season so far, but Ricciardo has been the talk of the pits with his dominance in the Infiniti Red Bull team this year. He also broke the Mercedes winning streak, being the first driver this year to defeat the victorious Nico Rosberg and the swag of Lewis Hamilton.

Not only is the rookie sitting third in the championship, he’s out-performing Vettel. VETTEL! The guy who was booed every time he was on the podium last year. Just, wow.

Only two Australians have tasted Formula 1 world championship glory – Sir Jack Brabham and Alan Jones – I wouldn’t mind betting$1,000 that Ricciardo makes that tally three.

Ricciardo may have an Italian last name, but his heart is full of Aussie gold. He has the Australian fighting spirit and has blood the colour of wattle. This bloke is going to break history, and eventually will give us the Formula 1 championship that Webdog was so close to claiming.

And you know what, who cares about the Queen’s fake birthday. Let’s make this public holiday dedicated to Daniel Ricciardo and his firstFormula 1 victory. Happy Daniel Ricciardo Day people, hope you had a lovely long weekend.

And Dan, cheers to your maiden victory at the Canadian Grand Prix!

 

Published by Spultured

(Image source: ABC)

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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

Australia v Vettel

Formula 1, The Australia Times

Published on The Australia Times Issue 3

Sebastian Vettel. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Sebastian Vettel. Source: Wikimedia Commons

By Loren Hazelwood @LorenHazelwood

Sebastian Vettel. A name well-known in Australian households for being the German that caused fans to yell at their TV sets every time he was near or in front of our Australian Mark Webber.

He’s won world championship after world championship, and the more he won, the more frustrated Australian fans have become, saying, “Why can’t Webber achieve the same results?”

Well, this year should be completely different for our Aussie fans.

With Webber now retired and racing for Porsche, young-pup Daniel Ricciardo has graduated from his team at Torro Rosso, joining the German at the top of Formula 1. And to most people’s surprise (Vettel’s in particular), the young Aussie has outperformed his teammate on numerous occasions this season.

With the new generation of Australian racing overseas, Ricciardo has built respect with his new teammate, managing to outshine his world champion colleague.

In three out of four races this year, Ricciardo has blitzed Vettel in qualifying, and has also finished races in front of the German, causing a bit of tension in the pit paddock at Red Bull.

At the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, Vettel was in front of Ricciardo, with both running different tyre strategies. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner immediately went on the radio to Vettel sending him a team order to let through our Aussie racer.

Vettel’s reply was simply, “Tough love.”

Ricciardo then raced Vettel passing him into Turn 1, enabling Ricciardo to finish fourth, with Vettel fifth overall.

Although Vettel is currently in front of Ricciardo in the Drivers’ Championship, this won’t stop Ricciardo over-achieving at his new squad.

With the new 1.6-litre turbo-charged power trains, this season of Formula 1 has been nothing but completely unpredictable.

We thought we’d see many surprises, but would never predict seeing an Australian finally stand on the podium in Melbourne only to later be stripped of second place due to a fuel system failure.

Everyone could see from the Australian Grand Prix that Ricciardo had pace, and that he knew how to drive these innovative cars.

With a year that has so far been dominated by Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton taking the last three race victories, it’s easy to say that Red Bull seem not to have the pace and straight-line speed they had over the last four years.

Vettel has been struggling with the new car technology, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Ricciardo passed the world champion in the Drivers’ Championship.

Australia only has two Formula 1 World Champions including Alan Jones and Sir Jack Brabham. Webber was extremely close but was outshone by Vettel; can our Ricciardo defeat the German and make it three drivers to take the momentous championship? Only time will tell…

Nico Rosberg takes victory at Grand Prix

Formula 1, On The Record

By LOREN HAZELWOOD

 

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Nico Rosberg crossing the line in Melbourne. Credit: AFP

After a strong pre-season testing, Formula One favourite Mercedes proved too strong at the weekend’s Grand Prix with driver Nico Rosberg taking the victory at Melbourne’s Albert Park street circuit.

Rosberg managed to win the first Grand Prix of the season by over 23 seconds, with Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo crossing the line in second place. However, he was later disqualified due to the fuel flow reading after the race.

Because of Ricciardo’s disqualification, McLaren’s rookie driver Kevin Magnussen stole the show, finishing second on the podium for his first ever Formula One race.

Mercedes was the strong favourite to win right from the start with driver Lewis Hamilton putting the car on pole position during qualifying.

The start of the race saw everything unfold, with Rosberg getting the jump and leading into the first corner.

Ricciardo was right behind in second place, making the country proud as he put the new Red Bull on the front row.

Turn one also saw the first crash for the season with Williams driver Felipe Massa being forced off the circuit after Kamui Kobayashi’s car had a rear brake-by-wire failure, causing Kobayashi’s Caterham to crash into the side of Massa.

With Rosberg and Ricciardo leading the pack, Hamilton started to fall backwards with the Mercedes V6 Turbo-charged engine having a failing cylinder, forcing him to retire early.

Reliability issues also saw current world champion Sebastian Vettel having to retire with the car down on power, while the two Lotus cars raced by Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado both stopped on the circuit with few laps to spare.

The battle of the race was further down the field with William’s driver Valtteri Bottas making a great comeback and managing to finish in fifth position after brushing the wall and damaging his rear right tyre.

McLaren’s new car was looking strong, with driver Jenson Button also finishing on the podium due to Ricciardo’s after-race penalty.

Meanwhile Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished in fourth place.

German Rosberg currently leads the Formula One Drivers’ Championship, with Round Two of the FIA Formula One Championship being held at Malaysia from 28-30 March.

Screen Shot 2014-03-18 at 4.48.07 PM

2014 Formula 1 season preview

Fiasco Sports, Formula 1

With cars changing and the future of the sport flashing before our eyes, Fiasco Sports looks at what is changing for the 2014 Formula 1 season. 

 

Source: Formula 1 official

Source: Formula 1 official

Recent testing at Jerez has shown that luck in Formula 1 can change almost immediately.

Red Bull Racing’s engineers had to fly back to England to work on electrical issues with the new RB10 car, some issues still being unresolved with the new design at the Bahrain testing, with Adrian Newey explaining, “we have gone too aggressive with the new car design, and that has cost us testing laps.”

Source: Ausmotive

Source: Ausmotive

Mercedes and Ferrari look to be strong, according to the test days and the amount of laps they have completed and the driver line-ups.

It is set to be a competitive season with Kimi Raikkonen joining Fernando Alonso at Ferrari.

The 2014 season will see three new young drivers step-up from the development ranks to Formula 1, including McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen, Toro Rosso’s Danill Kvyat and Caterham’s Marcus Ericsson. 

Source: Ausmotive

Source: Ausmotive

Due to new weight regulations, teams are required to reconsider car design for the 2014 championship to enhance better fuel consumption as well as using a different size motor, with the 2014 cars using a V6 1.6 litre turbo-charged engine.

Below is a breakdown of what has changed for each individual team for the 2014 championship, including drivers, chosen race numbers and the updates for the team’s cars.

Source: Ausmotive

Source: Ausmotive

Red Bull Racing
Sebastian Vettel #1
Daniel Ricciardo #3
RB10: The Renault-powered Formula 1 car requires to be cooled more than any other engine, the new design is too aggressive causing the car to overheat.

Ferrari
Fernando Alonso #14
Kimi Raikkonen #7
F14 T: Ferrari have developed a car retaining last year’s pull-rod suspension, but have changed nearly everything else by increasing the cooling system while keeping adequate aerodynamic downforce and changing the body shape to balance the weight of the car.

Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton #44
Nico Rosberg #6
F1 W05: The Mercedes-powered car includes an elegant design. Mercedes having a strong advantage working directly with the motor suppliers and being able to mould the car to the engine, rather than build the motor to the car like other teams, giving them the edge gaining important laps during testing.

McLaren
Jenson Button #22
Kevin Magnussen #20
MP4-29: McLaren have chosen the “anteater” nose style and the rear wing has completely changed this year, being held up by one single pillar. McLaren will continue to use Mercedes engines for the 20th season, before heading to Honda for 2015.

Lotus
Romain Grosjean #8
Pastor Maldonado #13
E22: Lotus were one team that didn’t feature at the first pre-season test in Jerez, unveiling the car at Bahrain and believing they can be the lead Renault team this year, currently working on optimising the power delivery allowing drivers to more time to get used to it.

Force India
Nico Hulkenberg #27
Sergio Perez #11
VJM07: Force India has changed their livery to a black-dominant colour, utilising an unusual nose design, with the team continuing to partner with Mercedes who will supply the entire drive train.

Source: Ausmotive

Source: Ausmotive

Sauber
Adrian Sutil #99
Esteban Gutierrez #21
C33: The Ferrari-powered Formula 1 car has included new elements used for the Ferrari’s F14, while opting for an unusual nose design.

Toro Rosso
Jean-Eric Vergne #25
Daniil Kvyat #26
STR9: The Renault-powered car began work during the summer of 2012, with the team working on the aero-package of the car and focusing on the development of creating a more current and competitive shape.

Williams
Felipe Massa #19
Valterri Bottas #77
FW36: Due to new regulations, Williams have decided to attach the end plates to a new ‘beam wing’, which is placed less than 150mm above the reference plate, where there are no restrictions, utilising the rear diffuser and making the new innovation just as effective as 2013′s rules.

Marussia
Jules Bianchi #17
Max Chilton #4
MR03: Using a Ferrari engine for 2014, the MR03 compared to other cars on the grid is using a more simplistic design; similar to McLaren they are using a single-pillar rear wing.

Caterham
Kamui Kobayashi #10
Marcus Ericsson #9
CT05: For the fourth year in a row, Caterham will use Renault F1 Sport engines, while unveiling a car with a very unusual nose design in striking green paint.

Source: Ausmotive

Source: Ausmotive

Some changes have also occurred with the official 2014 race calendar, with the Korean and Indian races dropped for the Austrian and Russian Grand Prix.

The official Formula 1 Championship will kick off with the Australian Grand Prix held in Melbourne’s Albert Park on March 16, starting the nineteen-round season.

Round Date Race
1
Mar 16
Australian Grand Prix
2
Mar 30
Malaysia Grand Prix
3
Apr 7
Bahrain Grand Prix
4
Apr 20
Chinese Grand Prix
5
May 11
Spanish Grand Prix
6
May 25
Monaco Grand Prix
7
Jun 9
Canadian Grand Prix
8
Jun 22
Austrian Grand Prix
9
Jul 6
British Grand Prix
10
Jul 20
German Grand Prix
11
Jul 27
Hungarian Grand Prix
12
Aug 24
Belgian Grand Prix
13
Sep 7
Italian Grand Prix
14
Sep 21
Singapore Grand Prix
15
Oct 5
Japanese Grand Prix
16
Oct 12
Russian Grand Prix
17
Nov 3
United States Grand Prix
18
Nov 10
Brazilian Grand Prix
19
Nov 23
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

 

Written by Loren Hazelwood. @LorenHazelwood

– See more at: http://fiascosports.com/2014-formula-1-season-preview/#sthash.G9w3IMPz.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

Double points to be awarded in 2014 F1 finale

Fiasco Sports, Formula 1

The FIA today have announced that double points will be received in a bid to bring excitement to the final race of the Formula 1 Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships. 

Formula 1 to battle it out right to the final round. Photo: Joe Armao/Sydney Morning Herald

Formula 1 to battle it out right to the final round. Photo: Joe Armao/Sydney Morning Herald

The final round of the FIA Formula 1 calendar will see double points awarded for the 2014 season.

This move is one of many made recently by the Formula 1 Commission and Strategy Groups this week.

The change was made to increase the fight of the Formula 1 title going into the final round of 2014, as current Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel won this years title with few rounds to spare.

This change will also apply to not only the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship, but also the Contructors’ Championship.

If this system was implement over the last six years, two of the final results of the Drivers’ championships would have been different, Felipe Massa would have pipped Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and Fernando Alonso would have won Vettel’s world championship last year.

Other changes for the 2014 FIA Formula 1 season include drivers’ being able to choose their numbers, rather than run the number the constructor finished the previous year, with the drivers’ championship order to be used to resolve any issues over number allocation.

A budget cap for 2015 is also currently being discussed by the Commission and Strategy Group to keep the costs fair for each team.

Written by Loren Hazelwood. @LorenHazelwood

– See more at: http://fiascosports.com/double-points-to-be-awarded-in-2014-f1-finale/#sthash.xKaSNGcN.dpuf

Cheers Mark, G’Day Dan

Formula 1, Spultured

Well, another season of Formula 1 is done and dusted, with the time now coming to say goodbye to our Aussie mate, Mark Webber.

And what a great finale at Brazil. Webber got an OK start (for him…) before carving through the field, making outstanding passes on Lewis Hamilton and one of his best mates Fernando Alonso, proving to me that he still has it – even at his last race. Watching him just made me realise this was going to be the last time we were going to see old mate Webber on the track in a Formula 1 car.

Webber had a fantastic career, showing us Australians that he could do it and by hell – he has made us proud. It was just fantastic to see him holding the Aussie flag on the podium in Brazil and I’m sure he will be doing our country just as proud while racing for Porsche next year.

Before all of the fame and fast race cars, Webber took the gamble to go from racing Formula Fords in Australia to trying his hand in Europe. Along the way he made it look possible that even without a lot of money, you could still make it to the pinnacle of motor racing.

webber

And thank God he did. With Webber departing from Red Bull Racing and ditching his rival Sebastian Vettel, our fresh new Aussie talent Daniel Ricciardo gets his chance. Stepping up from the Toro Rosso Formula 1 team to Red Bull Racing, he gets his show with arguably the strongest team in the series, period.

Ricciardo of course will have a tonne of pressure next year, but the young Aussie knows he can do it. Moreover, the blonde German won’t threaten him, something which is slightly hard to imagine considering his teammate is a four times world champion.

So Mark, you have done Australia proud over the years. From your first Grand Prix in Australia, to finishing on the podium in your final race, we have been lucky to have someone like yourself. You demonstrated to the world what true Aussie grit really is. Thankyou, you’ve been a blast to watch.

Now c’mon Dan, show this German how it is done.