[Scorpion 10]

'Formula 1: Drive to Survive' set for Netflix release in March.

Teaser

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Source: formula1.com

[fz_rider]

4 day first Test session at Catalunya ended on 21st with Nico Hulkenberg posted fastest lap of the day as well as first test session. Although these times does not indicate performance level, but the number of laps covered by the teams are of utmost importance. Ferrari powered cars looked the strongest in terms of mileage count, followed by Honda, Renault and Mercedes.


Day 4:

1. Nico Hulkenberg GER Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m 17.393s 24 laps

2. Alexander Albon THA Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1m 17.637s 136 laps

3. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m 17.785s 34 laps

4. Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m 17.857s 57 laps

5. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m 17.977s 58 laps

6. Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow SF90 1m 18.046s 138 laps

7. Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team MCL34 1m 18.431s 132 laps

8. Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing C38 1m 18.511s 154 laps

9. Romain Grosjean FRA Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m 18.563s 64 laps

10. Kevin Magnussen DEN Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m 18.720s 66 laps

11. Pierre Gasly FRA Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda RB15 1m 18.780s 146 laps

12. Lance Stroll CAN SportPesa Racing Pont F1 Team RP19 1m 19.664s 72 laps

13. George Russell GBR ROKiT Williams Racing FW42 1m20.997 17 laps

14. Robert Kubica POL ROKiT Williams Racing FW42 1m 21.542s 48 laps


Day 3 :

1. Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1m 17.704s 137 laps

2. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing C38 1m 17.762s 138 laps

3. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m 18.164s 80 laps

4. Sebastian Vettel GER Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow SF90 1m 18.350s 134 laps

5. Max Verstappen NED Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda RB15 1m 18.787s 109 laps

6. Nico Hulkenberg GER Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m 18.800s 63 laps

7. Romain Grosjean FRA Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m 19.060s 69 laps

8. Pietro Fittipaldi BRA Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m 19.249s 48 laps

9. Carlos Sainz Jr. ESP McLaren F1 Team MCL34 1m 19.354s 90 laps

10. Sergio Perez MEX SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team RP19 1m 20.102s 67 laps

11. Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m 20.693s 88 laps

12. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m 20.818s 94 laps

13. George Russell GBR ROKiT Williams Racing FW42 1m 25.625s 23 laps


Day 2 :


1. Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow SF90 1m18.247s 157 laps

2. Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team MCL34 1m18.553s 104 laps

3. Kevin Magnussen DEN Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m19.206s 59 laps

4. Alexander Albon THA Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1m19.301s 132 laps

5. Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing C38 1m19.312s 101 laps

6. Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m19.535s 89 laps

7. Pierre Gasly FRA Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda RB15 1m19.814s 92 laps

8. Nico Hulkenberg GER Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m19.837s 95 laps

9. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m19.886s 28 laps

10. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m19.928s 74 laps

11. Lance Stroll CAN SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team RP19 1m20.433s 79 laps

12. Pietro Fittipaldi BRA Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m21.849 13 laps


Day 1


1. Sebastian Vettel GER Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow SF90 1m18.161s 169 laps

2. Carlos Sainz Jr. ESP McLaren F1 Team MCL34 1m18.558s 119 laps

3. Romain Grosjean FRA Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m19.159s 65 laps

4. Max Verstappen NED Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda RB15 1m19.426s 128 laps

5. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing C38 1m19.462s 114 laps

6. Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1m19.464s 77 laps

7. Sergio Perez MEX SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team RP19 1m19.944s 30 laps

8. Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m20.127s 69 laps

9. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m20.135s 81 laps

10. Nico Hulkenberg GER Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m20.980s 65 laps

11. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m20.983s 44 laps

[motorworks]

It looks like Mercedes duo Hamilton and Bottas have together put in more laps than the Ferrari drivers, just marginally. Most number of laps by an individual driver is by Seb, I think.

However, Mercedes have been known to not show their true pace in testing and usually do come out as the fastest in the first race post testing.

I actually wish Ferrari is sandbagging and surprise everyone at the Australian GP. Mercedes and RBR seem to be applying psychological pressure on Ferrari by stating that the red team looks to be the fastest of anybody.

Next week we have another 4 days of testing, but one can never conclude anything from these tests. It does look like Mercedes and Ferrari are going to be close, same as last year. RBR with the Honda engine is in unknown territory, but as a team they are known to do something out of the box, whether its aero or race strategies. So expect them to keep showing glimpses of brilliance every now and then.

[Chetan_Rao]

Discarding outright times for a moment, Ferrari seem to have consistent pace and better balance than Merc based on the first test. That's a positive base to build from.

Peak performance will probably be unknown until Practice 3 on Raceday 1.

[RacingForIndia]

It's been almost half a decade since the Macaa fans had reason to rejoice. Topping the time sheets is such a sweet thing. I am fully aware that this is the silly season but hey, a fans got to rejoice when he has to rejoice.
Go Macaaaaa!

[StarrySky]

I've been an F1 fan for about 25 years now (but, not the kind to memorize all the stats). However, the closest I've ever got to F1 has been seeing a couple of parked demo cars. Watching the cars live has been on my to-do list for some time now. The kids have their week-long winter vacations in February. Last year, I had thought of combining a vacation trip with F1 testing at Barcelona. But, it didn't work out as the vacation dates did not match with the F1 test days. Fortunately this year, the first week of testing coincided with the winter vacations. When I checked the schedule, I found that a home La Liga game of FC Barcelona was also scheduled for the Sunday before the first week of F1 tests start. Watching Messi play live has been another one in the to-do list (never managed to watch SRT play live, still regret it). By the way, I have to mention that I am a Kimi fan and I was as excited to watch him drive as seeing the cars themselves. So, the plan was made. Get to Barcelona by the afternoon on Sunday, watch the Barcelona game and attend the F1 test day on Monday. I booked our tickets with this schedule in mind. As it turned out, FC Barcelona re-scheduled their game from Sunday to Saturday, probably due to the mid-week Champions League game. So, no Messi - just Kimi. Now, although the F1 test days were scheduled, the teams had not announced their driver line-ups for each day. Kimi being the senior driver at Alfa, I was reasonably certain that he would be in the car on Day 1. However, with the Barcelona game experience in mind, I decided to keep my options open.

The circuit is outside the city and according to many websites, it's a bit far from the nearest train station. Being a test day, there were no shuttle buses to the circuit from the railway station or the city. So we had to either take a taxi from the nearest train station or walk. Now, walking was ruled out with the kids. I figured that being the first day, teams may be doing installation runs and other checks during the morning session and they would be busier on the track in the afternoon. Also, although I would've loved spending a whole day at the circuit, I was quite sure the rest of the family would be bored. So I decided to rent a car from the city and go to some other interesting places outside the city during the morning and attend the test day during the afternoon.

We reached the circuit during the lunch hour as scheduled. I hadn't pre-booked any tickets because I wasn't sure till Saturday on which day Kimi would be driving. We bought general admission tickets at the circuit. The other tickets (pit-walk etc) are sold only in limited numbers and we need to be present at the specified date and time. I did ask for the pit walk tickets, but they were not available for that day. Only the main grandstand opposite the pits and grandstand F near Turn 1 were open. We made our way to the main grandstand, and found seats opposite the Alfa pits (surprise! surprise!). Vettel was already out on circuit. We waited till Kimi came out on the track. It was great to watch the cars zoom past on the start-finish straight, but it wasn't much fun trying to photograph them. Most teams, apart from Williams, made an appearance on the track after lunch. It wasn't a good start for McLaren after lunch as the car stopped at the pit exit. After spending about an hour at the main grandstand, we walked to grandstand F. This proved to be a very good decision. The cars were slower - although there still very fast - and it was possible to see the drivers really work hard. In case of guys like Hamilton who wear white gloves it was possible to see them turn the steering wheel. From grandstand F, we could watch the cars approaching Turn 1 along the main straight, Turns 2 and 3, catch a glimpse of them at Turn 5 and Turn 7. I was like a kid at the candy store. At first, I spend a lot of time taking photos on the camera. Then I handed the camera to my daughter and took some pictures on the phone. Sometime later, I thought I was just wasting time trying to take pictures of the cars every time they went by. Instead, I decided to just enjoy the experience - watching the cars and the drivers as they worked hard through Turn 1, and just listening to the noise they made. I would've liked to walk around the circuit to watch the cars from different spots around the track. I decided against it as I thought it would be too boring and tiring for the kids. My 7-year old son's enthusiasm was growing thin anyway - I mean there are only so many times seeing dad's favourite driver Kimi in the red and white Alfa and a red Ferrari can be exciting to a kid. We spend more than 3 hours at the circuit before heading back to our hotel. Now, I have seen F1 cars in action live, but F1 is not off my to-do list. It's going right back into the list. I want more!!

Here are some of the better pictures that we took:

Kimi coming out for his first run of the afternoon:


Williams was there, with a car that couldn't run!


Vettel doing a practice start at the end of the pitlane:


A bad start to the afternoon for McLaren:


Kimi coming out for another run:

[Hatari]

What is going on at Williams! I hope they sort their problems out.
Time to ask the question if Claire Williams is the best person to lead the team.

https://www.gpfans.com/en/articles/4...williams-team/

Williams Chief Technical Officer Paddy Lowe appears to have departed the team following the troubled launch of their 2019 car which ended pre-season testing in Barcelona slowest of all, having missed the opening two and half days of running at the Circuit de Catalunya.

A short statement from the team on Wednesday evening said that Lowe was ‘taking a leave of absence for personal reasons’ and the team declined to comment further when asked for further clarification on his future.

https://theparcferme.com/williams-ma...hanges-to-car/

Williams are now making some last-minute changes to their suspension and mirrors to ensure legality ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.

[SilentEngine]

Interesting news coming in, where driver with FLAP will get a point, provided they finishe in top 10. While the idea is to make it interesting towards the end and provide opportunity for someone in lower positions to sneak in a point, I think this will mostly be used by the top 3 teams to get that extra point. Given the gap between top 3 cars and the rest, where usually the gap at the end is enough to have an extra pit stop without losing track position, we can expect to see driver in P5/P6 coming in for fresh rubber towards the end.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/47497979

Originally Posted by StarrySky

Sometime later, I thought I was just wasting time trying to take pictures of the cars every time they went by. Instead, I decided to just enjoy the experience - watching the cars and the drivers as they worked hard through Turn 1, and just listening to the noise they made.

Hope you get to see a live race at the track! It gives a unique perspective. I still remember 2013 Singapore GP that I experienced live. I was near a stand at turn 1. It was interesting to see different lines that drivers take. For example, Alonso had a relatively wide approach to turn 1, while Kimi was quite opposite. It was almost like throwing the car straight into the corner and then negotiating it on the exit. It was also interesting to see the gap between Button and Kimi reducing lap after lap.

[polopm]

Originally Posted by Hatari

What is going on at Williams! I hope they sort their problems out.
Time to ask the question if Claire Williams is the best person to lead the team.

https://www.gpfans.com/en/articles/4...williams-team/


https://theparcferme.com/williams-ma...hanges-to-car/

She is not right for Williams F1, should swallow her ego and go on and lead some other division of the company. Unfortunately old teams like Williams and McLaren have got into this kind of rut. McLaren seems to be finally coming out of the hole. This year is screwed for Williams I guess.

[fz_rider]

Nice article on how much a driver has earned for his team. Since pay package is highly preferential in nature, Vettel tops the list being a Redbull and Ferrari driver.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/2.../#41c8de274804

[motorworks]

Just after 6 races, we have some rumours that Vettel could be retiring by end of 2019!
Highly unlikely, given he has a contract till the end of 2020. And Ferrari would not want him to do so, since they do not have any ideal replacement lined up and also Leclerc is still settling down.
And even if Vettel did walk away post 2019, I would understand! Its been a tough 5 year stint already and with Mercedes looking unbeatable this year and probably even next, it would be just a formality for other drivers to fight for the last podium position. And 2021 can be a lottery, even some one like Renault could be back on top. Or it could be Mercedes all over again since its the same engine anyway.

[myavu]

It is not Engine any more. It's Mercedes' magic with the chassis. They cracked the aero regulation introduced in the beginning of the year. Their front wings are keeping the new narrow treaded tires' heat right in the operational window for optimum grip. They are the down-force king now. Topping it with an immaculate 5 time World Champion who is not stopping anytime soon and a beard counterpart who takes porridge as fuel and just delivering on equal terms. The fineness of entire Mercedes team is miles ahead of the competition.

On the engine side it is Ferrari now. They had mastered it and a step above Mercedes. But with a different aero concept and an above average drivers and strategists they are digging again and again.

I don't believe Vettel will simply walk away at the end of 2019. But then on a fine day of early December 2016 we heard that Rosberg just retired. So anything can happen.

[motorworks]

Going in to the Summer break, the buzz seems to be around driver contracts, especially in Mercedes. I would be surprised if Mercedes did not opt for Ocon. They need to find the next young gun. RBR have Max, Ferrari have Leclerc. Hamilton is likely to stop by 2020 or 2021. And hence Mercedes needs to put a young driver, Ocon or even Russell in that second seat. They have Hamilton to secure the driver championship anyway. They need to find out if they have a future champion in Ocon or Russell and they have the next 2 years to do so. Bottas in all fairness, has not lived up to the worthiness of a Mercedes drive, which is clearly the best car by far. I thought even Rosberg gave a tougher fight to Hamilton.

Apart from Mercedes, the other driver under pressure is Gasly. Look at Max, he is 2nd in the WDC, and Gasly is no where close. RBR does not have the record of getting outsiders, so would Kvyat get a second crack? Or Albon? I think its too early for both of them to come under pressure in a top team.

Would be great move for RBR to get some one like Hulkenberg. He will be a lot mature, more closer to Max than anyone else.

Other than these, other seats remain quite the same as this year. Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Racing point, McLaren have no changes. Dan Ric is with Renault, no change there as well. Williams might get Kubica to walk out and get Latifi.

And the other team where there should be changes is Haas. Grosjean should be asked to leave, KMag being retained. And if Bottas does get left out of Merc, then Haas would be his likely destination.

[Makin Rulesz]

Red Bull have swapped Pierre Gasly with Alexander Albon for the remainder of 2019 season. This was bound to happen considering the string of poor performances by Gasly while the same car with Max was winning the races.
Link

[ashwin.terminat]

Pierre Gasly to be replaced by Alex Albon for the next 9 rounds of the 2019 F1 Championship:


https://www.racefans.net/2019/08/12/...de-verstappen/