Formula One 2014

[ocred]

Formula E - anyone else hear of this? It's a new world championship that started this weekend, like F1 but with electric cars. A good few ex Grand Prix drivers are taking part suchh as Jarno Trulli, who is also a team owner and Nick Heidfeld as well as Nicolas Prost (son of Alain). Incidentally both were involved on a shunt on the last lap in the season opener in China

[SteveB]

Formula 1 teams have had restrictions placed on radio messages.

The list of banned and allowed messages is two pages long and has nearly 50 items.
Example of what teams cannot tell their drivers
 Sector time detail of a competitor or where he is faster or slower
 Adjustment of power-unit or gearbox settings
 Information on fuel flow or fuel saving
 Clutch maps and settings, including for the start
 Brake balance or brake-by-wire
 Answering a driver's direct question
 Information on tyre pressures
 Balancing the state of battery charge or adjusting it for performance
 Anything that is, or sounds like, a coded message

Example of what teams can tell their drivers
 Their own lap or sector time detail
 A competitor's lap time
 Gaps to a rival
 Telling them to push hard, or who they are racing
 Warning of a puncture
 Tyre choice at the next pit stop
 The number of laps a rival has done on a set of tyres in a race, and the type of tyre he is on
 Information about a problem with a competitor's car
 The safety car
 Driving offences by a rival
 Front wing settings at the next pit stop
 Track condition or weather
 Team orders
 Information on damage to the car or need to retire
 Number of laps remaining

Teams are concerned the new ruling could lead to reliability problems and even safety issues.

[SteveB]

Two Mercedes drivers, how it has gone so far,

Australia Nico Rosberg -1st Lewis Hamilton -Retired
Malaysia Nico Rosberg- 2nd Lewis Hamilton -1st
Bahrain Nico Rosberg -2nd Lewis Hamilton -1st
China Nico Rosberg -2nd Lewis Hamilton -1st
Spain Nico Rosberg - 2nd Lewis Hamilton -1st
Monaco Nico Rosberg - 1st Lewis Hamilton - 2nd
Canada Nico Rosberg - 2nd Lewis Hamilton - Retired
Austria Nico Rosberg -1st Lewis Hamilton - 2nd
Britain Retired Nico Rosberg - Retired Lewis Hamilton - 1st
Germany Nico Rosberg - 1st Lewis Hamilton - 3rd
Hungary Nico Rosberg - 4th Lewis Hamilton - 3rd
Belgium Nico Rosberg - 2nd Lewis Hamilton - Retired
Italy Nico Rosberg - 2nd Lewis Hamilton -1st

Total points Nico Rosberg - 238 Lewis Hamilton - 216

[SteveB]

This weekend, Singapore Grand Prix

 Circuit: Marina Bay Street Circuit
 Circuit length: 5.065 km
 Race laps: 61
 Race distance: 308.828 km
 Circuit lap record: 1m 48.574s - Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 2013
 There has been at least one safety car in every Grand Prix(6) run at Marina Bay
 Maximum number of world championship points still available to a single driver is 175
 Weather forecast – potentially, stormy and rainy for race and practices.

Practice 1 Fri 11:00
Practice 2 Fri 14:30
Practice 3 Sat 11:00
Qualifying Sat 14:00
Race Sun 13:00

[SteveB]

A look ahead to the 2015 Formula One races
The 2015 F1 calendar remains the same as this year except for the addition of the Mexican Grand Prix. This means 20 races compared to the current 19.
The Mexican race will be held at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez in Mexico City.

Dates
 March 15 – Australia
 March 29 – Malaysia
 April 5 – Bahrain
 April 19 – China
 May 10 – Spain
 May 24 – Monaco
 June 7 – Canada
 June 21 – Austria
 July 5 – Great Britain
 July 19 – Germany
 July 26 – Hungary
 August 23 – Belgium
 September 06 – Italy
 September 20 – Singapore
 September 27 – Japan
 October 11 – Russia
 October 25 – U.S.
 November 1 – Mexico
 November 15 – Brazil
 November 29 – Abu Dhabi

[SteveB]

Qualifying results for Singapore grand Prix. Race tomorrow.

1 L Hamilton Mercedes
2 N Rosberg Mercedes
3 D Ricciardo Red Bull
4 S Vettel Red Bull
5 F Alonso Ferrari
6 F Massa Williams
7 K Raikkonen Ferrari
8 V Bottas Williams
9 K Magnussen McLaren
10 D Kvyat Toro Rosso
11 J Button McLaren
12 J Vergne Toro Rosso
13 N Hulkenberg Force India
14 E Gutierrez Sauber
15 S Perez Force India
16 R Grosjean Lotus
17 A Sutil Sauber
18 P Maldonado Lotus
19 J Bianchi Marussia
20 K Kobayashi Caterham
21 M Chilton Marussia
22 M Ericsson Caterham

[ocred]

2 cars fail on the formation lap and one them is Rosberg but he starts from the pit lane. Hamilton's race to lose at this stage

[SteveB]

2 cars fail on the formation lap and one them is Rosberg but he starts from the pit lane. Hamilton's race to lose at this stage

And he does win to go three points ahead in the championship with five races to go.

1 L Hamilton Mercedes
2 S Vettel Red Bull
3 D Ricciardo Red Bull
4 F Alonso Ferrari
5 F Massa Williams
6 J Vergne Toro Rosso
7 S Perez Force India
8 K Raikkonen Ferrari
9 N Hulkenberg Force India
10 K Magnussen McLaren
11 V Bottas Williams
12 P Maldonado Lotus
13 R Grosjean Lotus
14 D Kvyat Toro Rosso
15 M Ericsson Caterham
16 J Bianchi Marussia
17 M Chilton Marussia
18 J Button (ret.) McLaren
19 A Sutil (ret.) Sauber
20 E Gutierrez (ret.) Sauber
21 N Rosberg (ret.) Mercedes
22 K Kobayashi (ret.) Caterham

[SteveB]

Standings after Singapore

1 L Hamilton Mercedes 241
2 N Rosberg Mercedes 238
3 D Ricciardo Red Bull 181
4 F Alonso Ferrari 133
5 S Vettel Red Bull 124
6 V Bottas Williams 122
7 J Button McLaren 72
8 N Hulkenberg Force India 72
9 F Massa Williams 65
10 S Perez Force India 45
11 K Raikkonen Ferrari 45
12 K Magnussen McLaren 39
13 J Vergne Toro Rosso 19
14 R Grosjean Lotus 8
15 D Kvyat Toro Rosso 8
16 J Bianchi Marussia 2
17 A Sutil Sauber 0
18 M Ericsson Caterham 0
19 P Maldonado Lotus 0
20 E Gutierrez Sauber 0
21 M Chilton Marussia 0
22 K Kobayashi Caterham 0
===================================
Races remaining.
Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka, 3-5 October
Russian Grand Prix
Sochi, 10-12 October
United States Grand Prix
Austin, 31 Oct-2 Nov
Brazilian Grand Prix
Sao Paulo, 7-9 November
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Yas Marina, 21-23 November

Five races left = only 150 points remaining in the final five races of the season. (double points for the last race.) (42 points total between first and second)

[ocred]

Nico only managed to stay out for a couple of laps. Momentum is with Hamilton now going into the last few races