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Pirelli have faced criticism for their Formula One tyres in 2013, and this week agreed to tweak the compounds ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix. Efforts will be made to increase the durability of the rubber, as well as maintain the excitement of the races.

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier isn’t impressed with this news, believing it to be unfair to make changes like this mid-season. He says: “Just imagine for a moment that, because a football team can’t run as fast as its opponent, the dimensions of the pitch are changed at half time... Last year, when we were designing our 2013 car, each team received information from Pirelli and everyone did the best job they could to develop a chassis which would make the best use of the tyre characteristics... As with every season, some teams do a better job than others with their designs, and some drivers are more adaptable than others.”

However, the Italian tyre manufacturer are hoping the tweaks won’t favour anyone in particular, saying: “These changes are being made for Pirelli, not for anyone else. We didn’t want to over-react, because by doing that we could then be helping certain teams.”

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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The McLaren team have confirmed today they have a new engine and technology partner for the 2015 season, securing a multi-season deal with Honda. With the regulations changing for next year, Formula One is attempting to make itself more appealing to power plant manufacturers, who left the sport in droves when the financial crisis hit.

Honda have become the first to make a return to the sport after previously fielding a works team until the end of 2008, and participating as an engine supplier in the 1980s. President of Honda, Takanobu Ito said: “The new F1 regulations with their significant environmental focus will inspire even greater development of our own advanced technologies and this is central to our participation in F1.”

Team Principal of McLaren, Martin Whitmarsh, points out that the team will still be working with Mercedes-Benz until the handover, and says: “We’ll maintain a full commitment to our existing and long-standing partner, for which we retain the utmost respect.”

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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• File: Pirelli acquiesce …
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Complaints about the 2013 range of F1 tyres have been prevalent since the start of the season, but after the Spanish Grand Prix, they sky-rocketed. Red Bull, in particular, were very vocal about their feelings, with team boss Dietrich Mateschitz telling Autosport: “This has nothing to do with racing anymore. This is a competition in tyre management... There is no more real qualifying and fighting for the pole, as everyone is just saving tyres for the race.”

With criticism reaching record levels, Pirelli have agreed to re-evaluate the tyres in time for the Canadian Grand Prix. Motorsport director of the Italian company, Paul Hembery, said in a statement: “Our aim is to provide the teams with a new range which mixes the stability of the 2012 tyres and the performance of the current ones. As a company, we have always moved quickly to make improvements where we see them to be necessary.”

He also pointed to the fact that they don’t have a current car to test the tyres with as part of the problem, saying although they do have detailed simulations, they may have under-estimated how aggressive the cars would be this season.

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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• File: Fernando Alonso sc …
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The Mercedes front row didn’t last long as the Spanish Grand Prix got underway. Lewis Hamilton lost his second place to Sebastian Vettel and quickly fell down the order. Nico Rosberg held out in the lead for a few laps, but couldn’t challenge the front-runners and was soon dropping back as well. As the pit stops began to shake out, Fernando Alonso moved into the lead of the race, with Vettel and Lotus driver Kimi Räikkönen remaining in contention for the victory.

Romain Grosjean’s rear suspension failed and he had to retire from the race just nine laps in. Giedo van der Garde was also forced to retire when a wheel came loose, whilst Jean-Éric Vergne retired from damage to the car. The Toro Rosso driver was hit coming into the pit-lane by Nico Hülkenberg, who was given a 10 second stop/go penalty for the unsafe release. Pastor Maldonado also received a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane.

Alonso led comfortably to the end of the race, with Räikkönen holding on to second. Felipe Massa managed to move up to third, pushing Vettel off the podium, and making a strong finish for Ferrari.

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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• File: Nico Rosberg heads …
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The sun was shining over the Circuit de Catalunya as qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix got underway. Giedo van der Garde managed to finish top of the backmarker teams, just ahead of Jules Bianchi. The surprise in Q1 came from both Williams drivers dropping out of the session, particularly as Pastor Maldonado won this race from P1 last year.

Both Toro Rosso drivers made it through to Q2, and managed to finish 11th and 12th with Daniel Ricciardo ahead. Jenson Button was still struggling in his McLaren and dropped out in the second session, despite teammate Sergio Pérez getting through to the top ten.

The final shootout saw Kimi Räikkönen set the first benchmark, until Nico Rosberg pushed him down. Sebastian Vettel left it for a one-lap shot but couldn’t get higher than third place, Mark Webber was eighth. Rosberg improved on his own time to secure pole position, followed by teammate Lewis Hamilton, just two tenths down.

Home favourite Fernando Alonso was fifth with his Ferrari teammate just behind him. Notably, all ten drivers set a lap time, with Pérez finishing ninth ahead of Paul di Resta in tenth.

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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• File: Alonso and Vettel …
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Overnight rain meant the track at Barcelona was damp as the first practice session of the weekend got underway. Some were happy to make the most of the conditions, others, such as Jenson Button, preferred to sit out the session and not risk any of the new updates on the car.

Fernando Alonso looked quick throughout, taking the top spot midway through, and returning there at the end of the ninety minutes. The times started dropping as the track dried out, and the Toro Rosso of Jean-Éric Vergne managed to finish third, behind the two Ferraris.

The sun came out for the second session, and it worked in Red Bull's favour. The pair of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber battled for the top spot throughout, with Vettel eventually ending the day P1. Alonso was still going well, which cheered up the home fans no end.

There were worrying moments for Lewis Hamilton, who spun to one side of the track, and then ended up in the grass on the other side as he tried to correct it. Paul di Resta also had to stop when his rear left tyre disintegrated, losing all the central tread. It was a close session with the top six drivers within four tenths of each other.

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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Technical Director at Lotus, James Allison, is leaving his role after eight years with the team. His current destination is unknown, but Lotus have wasted no time in announcing his replacement, promoting Nick Chester to the top technical role. Chester was previously Engineering Director and before that a Race Engineer. He also worked for the Arrows Grand Prix team for several years.

Eric Boullier, Team Principal at Lotus, has spoken of his new signing and the departing Allison, saying: “Nick really has his work cut out, but we know he is more than capable of handling the tasks ahead. As a team and individually, we would all like to thank James Allison for his efforts during his three stints at Enstone and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”

Allison has working for Lotus on three separate occasions, but now turns to the rest of the field for another opening. There’s no word on where he is going, but rumours place him at Mercedes’ door.

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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Lewis Hamilton’s move to Mercedes has brought him plenty of attention and lots of challenges, but it has also granted him some relief. Along with the split from his manager dad Anthony Hamilton in 2010, the switch from McLaren has given Lewis a new perspective.

Talking to the Daily Mirror, he points out that his father and Ron Dennis are both very similar characters, “ambitious and powerful” and adds: “I have been in a very controlled environment since I can remember and it’s not until the last couple of years that I’ve come out of that control.”

Hamilton has also said that he’s now in a place where he’s not letting what people say affect him, after allowing that kind of thing to depress him previously. He says: “It saps your energy and it saps your will to want to do things... There was a point where I was driving and I was crashing for no reason. I was just not on the ball...”

He’s feeling better now, of course, and looking forward to this weekend’s race in Spain, saying: “I'm feeling very comfortable in the car now and we know the areas that we need to improve so a lot of effort is being put in to close that gap to the front-runners.”

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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Fresh from the decision to bring a revised hard compound to the Spanish Grand Prix, Pirelli have now revealed they will also be providing some extra sets of tyres to teams to try and encourage running in practice.

This season has seen tyre conservation reach a tipping point, with drivers content to wait in their garages until the last possible moment, denying fans of any track action for much of the practice and qualifying sessions.

Now, Pirelli are trying to address that, and their statement read: “There will be an extra set of prototype hard tyres allocated for free practice to encourage all the teams to run throughout the entire length of the sessions, rather than opt to conserve tyres for the rest of the race weekend.

"These tyres will not be the same as the P Zero Orange hard tyres... but are instead a specially-created compound with the emphasis on durability so that the teams run for as long as possible. To distinguish these tyres, they will not carry any colour markings.”

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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Organisers of the British Grand Prix have revealed they are keen for drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton to see some success over the next few weeks, to boost ticket sales for the Silverstone-based event. A track and media day was held to promote the upcoming event, and managing director of the circuit, Richard Phillips, admitted there was one driver they did not want to do well.

Talking about ticket sales, he said: “If you look at the cycle, on the Monday after a grand prix Sunday, you tend to see a spike. The weekend we had Lewis on the podium there was a spike, and when you see Vettel there is less of a spike.”

The circuit is also putting measures in place to avoid a repeat of the traffic congestion seen last year, when fields used as car parks had to be closed due to poor weather. Phillips again said: “We had ten years before that of reasonable weather conditions so we need to keep things in proportion, but we cannot rest on our laurels. We have had to put a lot of measures in place to ensure that people have a good time in 2013.”

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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• File: Pirelli announce a …
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F1’s sole tyre supplier Pirelli have released their traditional information about the compounds in use for the next few races, but along with the specified rubber, they have also revealed a change to the hard tyre.

As motorsport director Paul Hembery explains: “We took the decision – in consultation with all of the teams – to change the hard compound from Spain onwards, as we did in Barcelona two years ago when we also introduced a new hard tyre for the rest of the season. This latest version of the hard compound is much closer to the 2012 tyre, with the aim of giving the teams more opportunity to run a wider range of strategies.”

The new hard tyre will be seen in use in Spain, along with the medium tyres, with both aiming to deal with the high-speed circuit effectively. For the street circuit of Monaco, the two softest compounds will be seen - the softs and supersofts. And finally, for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, where the track surface can be a unique challenge, teams will get to choose between the supersofts and the medium compounds.

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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• File: Sebastian Vettel s …
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Nico Rosberg’s pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix did not last long. He put on his best defensive moves but the Mercedes didn’t have the pace to fight anywhere near the top, and he gradually dropped further and further down.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel managed to sneak in front and from there he never looked back. The lead changed hands a few times as the early pit stops unfolded, but Vettel pulled out such a gap that he was never going to be troubled.

The Lotus drivers had a good day, with Kimi Räikkönen moving up to second and Romain Grosjean third, a double podium celebration for the team. Meanwhile, Jean-Éric Vergne was the only retirement of the race, after a collision early on saw his car damaged beyond repair.

There was some inter-team jostling for position at McLaren, as Sergio Pérez got ahead of Jenson Button but not before a small bit of contact between the two. Side by side racing was the order of the day, and it continued right to the chequered flag, the normally dull Bahrain shedding its reputation to provide an exceptionally exciting afternoon.

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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• File: Nico Rosberg takes …
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The first session of qualifying in Bahrain began slowly, under glorious sunshine. The expected four dropped out early, with Charles Pic beating both Marussia drivers and his teammate by about a second. They were joined by Pastor Maldonado and Esteban Gutiérrez dropping out in the first session.

Q2 saw more action early on, with Webber and Vettel heading out straight away, they were comfortably through to the final session. Both Force India drivers managed to get up into the top ten, whilst Romain Grosjean and Sergio Pérez missed out where their teammates prevailed.

The top ten shootout saw four drivers set an initial time, with most leaving it for a one-lap final run. Jenson Button abandoned his lap and didn’t set a time, Fernando Alonso abandoned his lap after seeing he was third fastest. Felipe Massa set his time on hard tyres, at odds to the rest of the top ten.

But it was Nico Rosberg who surprised all, even Ross Brawn, by pipping Sebastian Vettel to pole position - the German will start the race from the front, and said he’s hoping to kick-start his season.

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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• File: Felipe Massa and K …
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First practice always gets off to a quiet start, and when drivers finally did take to the track in Bahrain, they discovered a dusty surface awaiting them. Several participants found themselves running wide at various corners, but there were no major incidents throughout the first ninety minutes.

There were two Friday drivers in action, with Heikki Kovalainen in for Caterham, and Rodolfo González in the car for Marussia. Felipe Massa set the fastest time with his teammate directly behind, the pair followed by Nico Rosberg and then Sebastian Vettel.

The second session did feature one small incident, when Esteban Gutiérrez lost the back-end of his Sauber and swiped into the Caterham of Charles Pic. Gutiérrez gained a puncture, whilst Pic remained unscathed.

Fernando Alonso set an early benchmark, soon to be beaten by Mark Webber. Both were topped by the Lotus of Kimi Räikkönen, possibly spurred on by radio about Romain Grosjean posting faster times, and possibly not. Meanwhile, Paul di Resta was putting in a good day's work by finishing fifth in both first and second practice.

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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After just three races of the 2013 season, Caterham have decided to restructure their driver lineup, bringing former team member Heikki Kovalainen back into the fold.

Reserve driver, Ma Qing Hua, who made an appearance during Free Practice in China, is moving on to other opportunities with Caterham that the team have yet to announce, and so Kovalainen is returning as a reserve driver, along with the other reserve, Alexander Rossi. However, Rossi will be spending most of his time in the GP2 series driving for the Caterham squad, a seat just vacated by Ma Qing Hua.

Kovalainen is due to take part in Friday practice in both Bahrain and Spain, with the team suggesting his input will help them with their updates to the car as he takes on a “formal technical development role.”

Team Principal at Caterham, Cyril Abiteboul, says of the change: “Heikki has six years of F1 experience behind him so he is perfectly placed to give us an objective view of the 2013 tyres against his experience with the 2012 compounds. Having invested in Heikki for our first three years of competition, it would be a waste not to leverage the valuable expertise he brings.”

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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• File: Pirelli make last …
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The tyre compounds available for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix will be the hard tyre, the orange sidewalls, and the medium compound, the white sidewalls. This is a change on Pirelli’s part, as before the season began, they had announced the hard and soft tyres to be in use in the desert.

Coming off the back of a difficult weekend in Shanghai, Pirelli have decided to move the compounds to just one step apart, with motorsport director Paul Hembery saying: “It’s one of the most demanding tracks of the year for the tyres, mostly because of the high ambient and track temperatures. We expect about three stops per car.”

Despite the last minute switch, Hembery had previously been reluctant to give in to pressure from teams and drivers who found the soft tyre almost unusable in China. Most kept their soft tyre stint short as tyre degradation was so high, and many thought the action was compromised for tyre-saving purposes.

Immediately after the race, Hembery said: “We have to review Bahrain, we need those four races and if we do make changes we’ll announce them after Bahrain and before Barcelona.”

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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The race began in China under sunny skies, and Lewis Hamilton led the pack away from pole position. Kimi Räikkönen got a bad start, and it wasn’t long before he was pushed out wide by Sergio Pérez, losing a bit of control and crashing into the back of the McLaren. He suffered damage to the front wing and nose of the car, but continued the whole race regardless, ending on the podium.

Meanwhile another crash came between the two Force India drivers, and between Sutil and Esteban Gutiérrez, the latter knocking both drivers out of the race. Mark Webber was another retirement after one of his rear wheels detached from the car and left him stranded.

At the front, there were several different race leaders as the strategies unfolded, but Fernando Alonso found his way to the front and remained there to the chequered flag. Räikkönen was second, with Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel taking the battle for the final trophy to the line, the Mercedes driver just pipping the Red Bull to third place.

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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• File: Lewis Hamilton tak …
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Mercedes managed to show good pace throughout the Free Practice sessions in Shanghai, and that translated to qualifying on Saturday. Each and every qualifying session started with an extended period of waiting, as drivers were wary of using up their tyres. The soft compounds are a particular concern, degrading very quickly over just one or two laps.

Nevertheless, when the action did begin, we saw both Toro Rosso drivers getting out of Q1, dumping Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Gutiérrez in the drop zone instead. Daniel Ricciardo went on to get into the top ten, and qualified seventh!

Mark Webber came to a halt off track during Q2, after a fuel problem saw his session end early, he qualified 14th. Sebastian Vettel ran wide on his only flying lap of Q3, and he abandoned it, ending up ninth, ahead of Nico Hülkenberg who didn’t set a time, and Jenson Button who slowed to set a lap of a whopping two minutes.

At the front, Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso.

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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• File: Felipe Massa and N …
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Nico Rosberg found himself on top of the timesheets in the first practice session in China, a year on from his pole position and maiden win at the same location. Lewis Hamilton slotted in nicely in second, a good start for the Mercedes duo.

Sergio Pérez had less luck, following in the footsteps of Hamilton by crashing off into the gravel trap by the pitlane. Esteban Gutiérrez also had a moment in the gravel. Caterham ran the first Friday driver of the season with Ma Qing Hua in for Charles Pic.

Max Chilton had a difficult afternoon, after breaking down just eight minutes into the start of the second session in Shanghai. A power failure saw him return to the garage, the mechanics worked hard to get him back out again with ten minutes to go, but the car pulled to a halt for a second time.

Meanwhile, the Mercedes pair looked strong to start with again, but they were beaten by a flying Felipe Massa. When the longer fuel runs began, tyre degradation was talk of the town, with Lewis Hamilton reporting: "Never seen the tyres behave this way." Oh, and Pérez managed to spin off into the gravel again.

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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• File: Sebastian Vettel u …
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Sebastian Vettel and his teammate Mark Webber are the focus of attention as Formula One returns from a three week break for the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend. With emotions having a chance to settle after the German ignored team orders to take victory ahead of Webber in Malaysia, we’re all wondering how the pair will get on in Shanghai.

For his part, Vettel is not sorry about what happened, although he did apologised to the team immediately after the race. Now, in an Infiniti-backed interview, he has said while he is sorry for putting himself above the team, he’s not sorry for doing his job. He said: “I don’t apologise for winning. I think that’s why people employed me in the first place and why I’m here. I love racing so that’s what I do.”

Meanwhile, German magazine Sport Bild has reported that Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has said team orders are no longer allowed within the squad. The reported quote is simply that “team orders won’t be given by us anymore.”

This is an original article published by F1Minute.com

© Copyright 2007-2013 • Christine Blachford • All Rights Reserved

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