Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

Update 3.57 : And we begin with the 3rd practice session . Rain is underway !!!

Update 4.05 : A lot of cars on track already in this 1 hour practice session

Update 4.12 : Problem Gutierriez ,gearbox problem , spots of rain

Update 4.16 : 9 drivers have set a time , Button not happy with his car at the moment

Update 4.19 : again a 1 - 2 for Mercedes ( Rosberg - Hamilton ) at the moment

Update 4.26 : A lot of cars pushing to the limit ,a bit to hard because they going of track in the gravel

Update 4.29 ; Rosberg " these tyres are finished guys , I made a a bit too much mistakes " . Tyres lastest only 8 laps . 30 minutes to go in this session !

Update 4.46 : Grosjean seriously frustrated about his lous car !!!!

Update 4.55 : A lot of drivers still complain about the Pirelly tyres . Gearbox change for Bottas ,so this will be a penalty afterword the qualifying !

Update 5.01 : Session has ended . Lotus car of Maldonado is standing on track , also problem with his car !

The result of the 2nd practice session :

1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:29.625
2. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:29.782 +0.157
3. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 1:30.132 +0.507
4. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing - 1:30.381 +0.756
5. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:30.510 +0.885
6. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:30.538 +0.913
7. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:30.898 +1.273
8. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:30.920 +1.295
9. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren - 1:31.031 +1.406
10. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:31.054 +1.429
11. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 1:31.060 +1.435
12. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:31.119 +1.494
13. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:31.283 +1.658
14. Adrian Sutil - Sauber - 1:32.355 +2.730
15. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber - 1:32.468 +2.843
16. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso - 1:32.495 +2.870
17. Jules Bianchi - Marussia F1 Team - 1:33.486 +3.861
18. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:33.646 +4.021
19. Max Chilton - Marussia F1 Team - 1:34.757 +5.132
20. Marcus Ericsson - Caterham - no time
21. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - no time
22. Kamui Kobayashi - Caterham - no time

Lewis Hamilton puts Mercedes on top in practice 2 :
Lewis Hamilton recovered from a disastrous morning to top the first day of practice for the Formula 1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix in his Mercedes. The 2008 world champion stopped on only his second lap of the first session thanks to a sensor calibration problem, meaning he had not completed a flying lap heading into the afternoon. Hamilton was one of the last of the frontrunners to set a time on fresh Pirelli soft tyres in practice two, waiting until the second half of the session before setting his time.
A stunning final sector allowed him to depose Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg at the top of the timesheets by 0.157 seconds.
Nobody else was able to get close to Rosberg, who had underlined the strength of Mercedes by setting the fastest time achieved on medium-compound Pirellis earlier in the afternoon. Rosberg looked set to retain his position on the faster rubber after knocking Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo, who was among the earliest drivers to bolt on the softs and briefly went fastest, off top spot at around the halfway mark of the 90-minute session, only for Hamilton to show his pace. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who was Rosberg's closest rival on the medium rubber, ended up third fastest, half-a-second off Hamilton. While the Spaniard was unable to match the Mercedes over the full lap, he was the quickest of all in the first sector at Albert Park. Sebastian Vettel rounded out an encouraging first day of the season for Red Bull in fourth overall despite an off-track moment at Turn 1 early in the session having dropped a wheel onto the grass at corner entry. He ended up three-quarters of a second down in fourth place, with team-mate Ricciardo sixth fastest, 0.157s slower than Vettel. Splitting the Red Bulls was three times Australian GP winner Jenson Button, who was fastest in sector two but struggled with understeer. Kimi Raikkonen was seventh fastest, although his session was interrupted by what is believed to have been a gearbox glitch when he was preparing for a practice start. The lead Williams of Valtteri Bottas was eighth overall, 1.3s down, although on medium rubber the deficit to the Mercedes had been around half that. Several drivers had off-track moments during the session, with Kevin Magnussen enduring a bumpy ride after running wide exiting Turn 12 early on and Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne going straight on at Turn 3 and through the gravel trap. Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez also had a grassy moment exiting Turn 2 while scrapping for territory with Vettel. Late in the session, Nico Hulkenberg locked the rears under braking for Turn 9 and spun into the gravel. Almost simultaneously, Romain Grosjean buried his Lotus in the gravel at Turn 6 after losing the rear under braking and slapping the wall with the left-rear corner. Only 19 drivers were able to set a time, with Kamui Kobayashi's Caterham unable to run thanks to a "power unit-related fuel system issue" that struck in morning practice. Team-mate Marcus Ericsson was at least able to get onto the circuit, but a hydraulics problem on his installation lap forced him to return to the pits and the team was unable to get him back out again. Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado did leave the garage, but was unable to make it out of the pitlane after stopping with a suspected ERS problem that the team did not have time to resolve. This rounded off a dismal day for Lotus, with Grosjean the second slowest of the drivers who did set a time before his late off.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Next practice session will be on Saturday morning 04.00u CET till 05.00u ,followed at 07.00u with Qualifying

And the 2nd practice session starts !

Update 6.37u : the car of Kobayashi will not come out this session , power unit problem

Update 6.40 u 10 minutes past and already 13 cars have set a time

Update 6.46 u : the Torro Rosso's are struggling with there cars on the track

Update 6.59 u : Raikkonen wanted to do a start at the end of the pit ,car stalled ,problem 1st gear ,had to push back to the box of Ferrari

Update 7.23 u : The Mercedes drivers ( Rosberg - Hamilton ) are at the moment the fastest , there 1 - 2

Update 7.39 : With 21 minutes to go , most of the teams are doing long runs

Update 7.45 u : Raikkonen almost touched the wall

Update 7.58 : Hulkenberg stuck in gravel ,Grosjean hit the wall with his rear ,broke his suspension and got stuck in gravel

Update 8.04 : session has ended !

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Here are the results of the 1st free practice session :

1. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari -1:31.840
2. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:32.357 +0.517
3. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:32.403 +0.563
4. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:32.431 +0.591
5. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:32.599 +0.759
6. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:32.604 +0.764
7. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing - 1:32.793 +0.953
8. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren - 1:32.847 +1.007
9. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:32.977 +1.137
10. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 1:33.446 +1.606
11. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:33.533 +1.693
12. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:33.855 +2.015
13. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso - 1:34.272 +2.432
14. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber - 1:35.578 +3.738
15. Adrian Sutil - Sauber - 1:36.445 +4.605
16. Jules Bianchi - Marussia F1 Team - 1:40.859 +9.019
17. Max Chilton - Marussia F1 Team - 1:46.922 +15.082
18. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - no time
19. Kamui Kobayashi - Caterham - no time
20. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - no time
21. Marcus Ericsson - Caterham - no time
22. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - no time

Fernando Alonso's 2014 season got off to the perfect start as he set the pace in Friday's opening practice in Melbourne while others struggled.
Putting in the laps in his F14T, the double World Champion posted a 1:31.840 to edge McLaren's Jenson Button by half a second.
Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were next in line ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. Having the better of the running at the reigning World Champions, the Australian driver completed 26 laps with a best time of 1:32.599. It was a marked contrast to Sebastian Vettel's fortunes as the German sat out the first half of the session and only just managed to reach double figures as he covered 10 laps. The good news, though, is his 1:32.793 was good enough for seventh place. Nico Rosberg split the Bulls in sixth while his team-mate Lewis Hamilton didn't even complete a single lap. Billed as the early season favourite, Hamilton broke down on his installation lap and reported to his team: "Car's stopped, some smoke out of the back." Kevin Magnussen was the top rookie in eighth place ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Jean-Eric Vergne. It was a dismal session for Lotus as Romain Grosjean never made it out and Pastor Maldonado completed just two laps. Caterham also failed to set a time.

That's it for now . At 6.30u CET will be the 2nd free practice session !

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Ps: as we can see the fastest time so far in this session ( 1:31.840 ) is almost 4 seconds slower as last year

10 minutes gone already ...and some cars are not ready to come out yet !!!

Update 03.10 u : 50 minutes to go in this session and only 10 cars have set a time !

Update 03.24 : Vettel finally comes out the box with just 35 min. to go in this session , 13 cars have set a time ...but still some Teams (as Lotus ) are working on there cars !

Update 03.35 : Vettel is going for his 1st timed lap with only 25 minutes to go in this session !

Update 03.56 : Maldonado doing his 1st installation lap ... going 2 times off track in a slow speed, but came back in the pit ....seems to be some serious problems at Lotus !!!

Update 04.00u : 1st practice Session has ended !

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

And we have begon ..... whoehoe !!!

Update : Lewis Hamilton ...has his car stopped on the track ....already a problem... a bit of smoke comes out of his car !!!!!

Overview driver helmets season 2014

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Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Tomorrow morning starts the first practice sessions of the new F1 season . Therefore it's the time to know the numbers of the drivers from this season, all riders have a solid start number from now on . Only the world champion, Sebastian Vettel, in this case, may choose to exchange his starting number :

Red Bull
1. Sebastian Vettel (number 5 if no reigning world champion)
3. Daniel Ricciardo

Ferrari
14. Fernando Alonso
7. Kimi Raikkonen

McLaren
22. Jenson Button
20. Kevin Magnussen

Mercedes
44. Lewis Hamilton
6. Nico Rosberg

Lotus
8. Romain Grosjean
13. Pastor Maldonado

Force India
27. Nico Hülkenberg
11. Sergio Perez

Sauber
99. Adrian Sutil
21. Esteban Gutierrez

Scuderia Toro Rosso
25. Jean-Eric Vergne
26. Daniel Kvyat

Williams
19. Felipe Massa
77. Valtteri Bottas

Caterham
9. Marcus Ericcson
10. Kamui Kobayashi

Marussia
4. Max Chilton
17. Jules Bianchi

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

( I'm ready for tonight's 1st practice sessions ... I have taken a vacation day ...it's a tradition since many years that I take 1 with the start of the season as well at the end of the season

So , we're back

Thanks oberon

Two links before you vote

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Have a nice reading

schubert

Australian Gran Prix – Melbourne circuit;

Albert Park has some elements of a street circuit and others of a permanent circuit
Pirelli has chosen the “White medium” and “Yellow soft” compounds for this weekend
(all the tyres in the 2014 range are slightly harder and more durable than their equivalents last year)

Podium 2011: Vettel(Red Bull) – 2° Hamilton and 3° Petrov. Fastest lap: Massa
pole position : Vettel 1'23''529

Podium 2012: Button(Mc Laren) – 2° Vettel and 3° Hamilton. Fastest lap: Button
pole position : Hamilton 1'24''922

Podium 2013: Raikkonen (Lotus) – 2° Alonso and 3° Vettel. Fastest lap: Raikkonen
pole position : Vettel 1'27''407 * damp track

the winners (current pilots)
3 wins: Button (2009-2010-2012)
2 wins Raikkonen (2007-2013)
1 win: Vettel(2011) Hamilton(2008) and Alonso(2006)

pole position (current pilots)
3 pole: Vettel(2010-2011-2013)
2 pole: Hamilton (2008-2012) and Button(2006-2009)
1 pole: Raikkonen(2007)

Fastest lap (current pilots)
5: Raikkonen (2002-2003-2006-2007-2013)
1: Alonso(2005); Rosberg(2009); Massa(2011); Button(2012)

Podium(winner+second+third)
5 (2+1+2) Raikkonen (two wins + one second place + 2 third place)
5 (1+2+2) Alonso
4 (1+1+2) Hamilton
3 (3+0+0) Button
3 (1+1+1) Vettel
One third place also for Massa and Rosberg.

Good news about Schumi and this time they are true, since they come from his agent Sabine Kehm,
who said that there are little improvements and his family is sure that he will wake up, even if this fight
remains long and hard, but all the energy of his family and his fans will help Michael to win also this battle
Come on Schumi, you can do it

Round 1, Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne

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Albert Park Circuit Data
•Length of lap: 5.303km
•Lap record 1:25.125 (Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004)
•Start line/finish line offset: 0.000km
•Total number of race laps: 58
•Total race distance: 307.574km
•Pitlane speed limits: 60km/h in practice and 100km/h in qualifying and race

DRS Zones & Circuit Notes
•The kerb on the exit of Turn 12 has been levelled and renewed (with the same design of kerb).
•DRS sectors will be the same as those used in 2013. Activation One is 762m before Turn One, Activation Two is 510m before Turn Three. They share a single detection point, located 13m before Turn 14.

Friday :
1st Free Practice Session : 02:30 - 04:00 CET
2nd Free Practice Session : 06:30 - 08:00 CET
Saturday :
3rd Free Practice Session 04:00 - 05:00 CET
Qualifying : 07:00 CET
Sunday :
Race :| 07:00 CET

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

shaky-schumi wrote:This is how the Williams Mercedes FW36 F1 car is presented in this years color . We have back the Martini logo/sponsor in the Highest race category !!!

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Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

this reminds me old golden times :

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Brabham BT44b 1975

The season of Formula 1 is about to begin in Melbourne(Albert Park)
This year there will be many changes and the most important is: the new f1 2014 Power Unit(PU)
It is comprised of a 1.6-liter turbocharged V6 engine mated to a new Energy Recovery System(ERS) with two electric motors – one recovering energy from the brakes(MGU-K) and the other from the exhaust(MGU-H) – storing the energy in an onboard battery Together they're capable of producing 760 horsepower – around 600 horses comes from the internal-combustion engine and the rest from the hybrid assist.
Drivers are allowed only five power units per season and the specification was already frozen for this year on February 28
Different penalties on the starting grid will be applied for each additional element used. In case of replacement of a complete power unit (beyond the 5 permitted) the pilot must start the race from the pit lane.
In addition, each driver will be allowed just 100 kg (140 litres) of fuel per race in 2014,
easy to understand that decisive for the victory will be therefore reliability and the fuel consumption optimization

other change: Less downforce in rear zone due a single exhaust pipe and also narrower front wing; the car minimum weight limit has been increased to 690 kg. For these reasons, the lap times should be higher. in Bahrain Felipe Massa ended testing with the fastest time overall of 1m 33.258s, while Nico Rosberg’s pole time for the 2013 grand Prix was 1m 32.330s.

This year will be very important the Power Unit(PU)
Mercedes AMG – Mc Laren – Williams and Force India are powered by Mercedes
Scuderia Ferrari – Sauber and Marussia are powered by Ferrari
Red Bull – Lotus – Toro Rosso and Caterham are powered by Renault

The preseason tests(Jerez and Bahrain) have been dominated by Mercedes powered teams
and especially the new Mercedes AMG F1 W05 (Hamilton and Rosberg) seems the best.
Ferrari a step below
Williams (Massa and Bottas) could be the surprise of the season.
Also Mc Laren MP4-29(Button and Magnussen, a rookie very fast) seems a good car.

Great difficulties for the team powered by Renault
Red Bull continued to struggle with reliability problems. and during the tests they chalked up a total of just over 1,700 kilometres (Mercedes and Williams 5000 km for each, Ferrari 4500 km)

Last thing. This year there will be other new absurd penalty for drivers and the new double points system to the final race in Abu Dhabi. A rule unsportsmanlike, only for the show.

The thrill is rising up ... this week... the F1 will start !

this year is different, this year is special, new rules, new limits, new cars, new frontiers to be reached for the technicians and the teams.

I am very excited because for the first time after years i really don't have a clue about who is the stronger and the faster.
For the first time after a long long time i really don't know who can be the real pretender of the championship title !!!

I don't know even if there are many or few reliability problems !
It could be happening that few cars will reach the finishing line...
looks like to get back to the '80 when everything can happening !!

Good luck everybody !
Ferrari win !!!

GO KIMI GOOOO !!!!!

p.s. Schumi, never give up, never surrender !! go Schumi gooo !!!!