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ONLINE AROUND THE WORLD ON F1 GP MONDAYs >> Issue 223 >> MONDAY JuN 22 2015

momentum swingsRosberg's title charge gathers steam in Austria

Austrian Grand PrixJune 18, 2015Photographer: Patrik Lundin, Sutton ImagesCamera: Nikon D4Shot at 200mm, 1/640 sec f/2.8

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Austrian Grand PrixJune 19, 2015Photographer: Mirko Stange, Sutton ImagesCamera: Nikon D4SShot at 16mm, 1/640 sec f/11

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Austrian Grand PrixJune 20, 2015Photographer: Patrik Lundin, Sutton ImagesCamera: Nikon D4Shot at 50mm, 1/1250 sec f/6.3

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Austrian Grand PrixJune 20, 2015Photographer: Mark Sutton, Sutton ImagesCamera: Nikon D4Shot at 24mm, 1/400 sec f/6.3

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Austrian Grand PrixJune 19, 2015Photographer: Mark Sutton, Sutton ImagesCamera: Nikon D4Shot at 500mm, 1/1600 sec f/4

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Austrian Grand PrixJune 20, 2015Photographer: Patrik Lundin, Sutton ImagesCamera: Nikon D4Shot at 600mm, 1/640 sec f/10

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Austrian Grand PrixJune 20, 2015Photographer: Jose Rubio, Sutton ImagesCamera: Nikon D4Shot at 200mm, 1/800 sec f/13

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Austrian Grand PrixJune 22, 2015Photographer: Mirko Stange, Sutton ImagesCamera: Nikon D4Shot at 21mm, 1/320 sec f/4.5

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Red Bull owner Dieter Mateschitz has swatted away rumours linking the team with a move to Ferrari power for 2016.

“There is nothing to it,” Mateschitz said on Thursday.

"With a customer engine you will never again be world champion. And if we see that we have no chances anymore, because we are also restricted in aerodynamics, we will simply lose interest."

His comments came in reaction to Helmut Marko’s suggestion a B-spec Ferrari engine would

still be more competitive than the current Renault. Having endured a torrid start to the season, the Red Bull management hasn’t been shy in criticising its engine partner.

"Beside taking our time and money they have destroyed our enjoyment and motivation," Mateschitz said of Renault’s efforts.

"No driver and no chassis in this world can compensate for this horsepower deficit.”

The Austrian billionaire has previously threatened to leave the sport, breaking a contract which binds

the team to compete until 2020, should his team not return to winning ways.

“That’s obviously a worry for Formula 1,” Red Bull's F1 boss Christian Horner admitted to Sky Sports. “Someone like Dietrich Mateschitz puts so much into the sport, not just F1 but all motorsport. We need to be able to re-engage him.”

Bernie Ecclestone however doubts the former world champion team will follow through with its threat.

“What they are saying is it's not our fault that

our performance is what it is,” Ecclestone said on Saturday. “That's what their complaint is.

“They’ve been used to winning with Renault and now... So, he is a bit frustrated,” he added.

“I don’t think they will quit. I know Mr Mateschitz very well. There’d be more chance of him pulling out if he was winning than when he was losing.

“He’s been in F1 longer than people realise and he’s always supported it. Actually, I think he’s a reasonably intelligent guy. He knows what he says and what the effects are.”

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red rag to a bull

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The disastrous 2015 season only got worse for Red Bull in Austria when it confirmed both drivers would take engine penalties.

Heading into its home race, at a circuit owned by the team’s parent company, the team announced both Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat would take new power units, and therefore would each be

handed a ten-placed grid penalty.Not expected to perform

strongly at Austria, Red Bull’s decision was made in order to maximise its potential at the British Grand Prix. It will also be hoping the power unit lasts the distance until at least the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix too, since overtaking there is all but impossible.

Complicated engine rules allow just four of each engine component, the fifth of which is penalised with a ten-place grid penalty while any subsequent component attracts a five-place penalty. The process then repeats if a sixth of any component is needed.

Combined penalties meant Jenson Button received a

25-place penalty in Austria – despite the fact there are just 20 cars on the grid - after Honda deemed it necessary to take an entirely new power unit following practice. Given Button qualified just 17th, his penalty would have seen him start 42nd, so he was forced to serve a stop-go penalty in the race as well.

Fernando Alonso was also handed a 25-place penalty; 20 for an engine change and a further five places for a gearbox change ahead of qualifying.

With just nine rounds of the championship run, the complicated grid penalties are set to be an unpopular feature for the remainder of the season.

MANAGING EDITOR Chris Lambdenpublisher@gpweek.com

EDITORMat Coch

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSFormula 1:Mike DoodsonPaolo Filisetti (F1 Tech Editor)Sean KellyF1 Business:Christian Sylt, Caroline ReidSocial Media:Ernie Black

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the exception becomes the rule

Victory at Le Mans for Nico Hulkenberg marked the first time since 1991 that an active Formula One driver has won the French classic.

That year it was Bertrand Gachot and a young Johnny Herbert, who’d failed to qualify his Lotus for at the Canadian Grand Prix the week before.

At the wheel of the third Porsche entry, Hulkenberg teamed up with Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber, the trio putting in a near perfect drive to win the race.

The Hulkenberg car took the lead when the sister Porsche driven by ex-Red Bull race winner Mark Webber was given a sixty-second stop-go penalty after Brendan Hartley passed under yellow flags.

Once in the lead, solid pace from all three drivers ensured Hulkenberg's car stayed out front to lead a Porsche 1-2.

“To come there, first attempt, and to win it with my team and my teammates has just been incredible,” Hulkenberg said in Austria.

The Force India driver had almost been joined by Fernando Alonso, his place in the team understood to have been blocked by Honda.

“It was very close this year,” Alonso admitted when asked if he’d considered racing at Le Mans.

“I considered to race in Le Mans in the future - and when in the future I don't know.”

Hulkenberg’s victory has sparked interest from the current crop of drivers who are now eyeing similar opportunities.

“Yeah, it was cool,” smiled Daniel Ricciardo. “It's nice to have a weekend off but when I was watching it I was obviously thinking it would be nice to be racing as well, on this weekend off.

“Nico's made us all look good and I think he's made it all seem possible for us now. So, maybe we'll get the praise from our teams to venture into these things for the future.”

HeAD CAseLewis Hamilton has confirmed he’s switching helmet suppliers. After a 20 year hook up with Arai, Hamilton’s skid lid will now be supplied by Bell.

FACT CHeCKINGAn angry Kimi Raikkonen confronted a journalist who’d penned a story suggesting the Finn will take a pay cut to stay with Ferrari. Raikkonen enquired: “so you just come up with bulls***, yes or no?”

THe GReATeR GOOD(WOOD)Staying with Kimi, the Iceman will return to the Goodwood Festival of Speed later this week where he’ll join Fernando Alonso’s 2010 challenger.

MAD MAXFormer FIA President Max Mosley has released his autobiography. The Englishman’s time falls short of a wharts and all expose, but does provide give a unique take on his time in motorsport.

A TYReD TALeMichelin has taken to social media to confirm it's submitted an application to become Formula 1's tyre supplier from 2017. It's understood the French company wants to increase wheel's to 18" from the current 13" spec to make the tyres more road relevant. Pirelli has also submitted an application.

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hulkenberg has drivers dreaming

BrieFly

F1 >>> newsF1 >>> news

Bernie ecclestone was beating a hasty retreat after calling Formula 1 “a crap product to sell.”

The quote was made in an interview with AFP, in which he reportedly said: “I was talking to some engineers the other day and I told them that I was always pretty good at selling used cars, and I still am, but I told them they have given me a crap product to sell.”

However the F1 supremo attempted to deny he ever made the statements when asked about them in Austria.

“I don’t know who said that,” he claimed. “Bad quote.

“The product at the moment is a bit top heavy with one team winning a lot of races, probably too easy,” he continued.

“So when Ferrari are getting their act together we’ve seen a big improvement and exactly the same thing happens with McLaren.

“There’s always people complaining about something,” the 83-year-old added. “The winners never complain. The losers complain. All I’ve ever said is that it’s a pity that one team is at the moment dominating the sport.”

Many of the sports problems were summed up following qualifying when both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button were handed 25 place grid penalties, despite there being only 20 cars on the grid.

“We need to have a very, very good look at all our sporting regulations,” Ecclestone admitted.

“Don’t go over the white line, don’t do this, don’t do that. It’s not what the public understand. They don’t understand and when they don’t understand they don’t care, basically.”

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bernie doesn't talk crap

After a near faultless performance from the start, the Victorian gaff rig cutter Partridge 1885 owned by the Jean Boulle group won the prestigious 2014 Rolex trophy at Les Voiles de saint-tropez, the regatta which closes the mediterranean race season and attracts 300 classic and modern yachts every year.

It was a superb win for this yacht, built in 1885, which coped admirably with unpredictable conditions. Skippered by Alexander Laird, Partridge and her crew set the bar high by winning the first race in both real and corrected time, before raising her game in the second

to finish a comfortable first 24 minutes ahead on corrected time.

And while she did not manage to pull off the hat-trick on the final day, she did more than enough to clinch victory in the overall ranking.

“It’s a great honour to win the Rolex Trophy. The crew has been incredible and throughout the week we were very focused on manoeuvring and calling tactics as the weather conditions weren’t easy. I’m very happy as it’s an accolade for us and above all for the boat,” said Alexander Laird, skipper of Partridge.

Like many yachts built in the late 18th and early 19th century, their history involves many

fine years sailing in the English Channel, before eventually being abandoned in a mudflat.

The story of Partridge runs a similar course until she was rescued from anonymity in 1980 from the Blackwater River in Essex. After a long restoration, completed in 1998, Partridge began a new career in the South of France where her elegant silhouette has graced many a regatta over the years. With this excellent win, Partridge can add another trophy to her list.

At the 2015 Monaco Classic Week (September 9-13), this doyenne of the Mediterranean classic yacht circuit will celebrate her 130th anniversary.

Partridge 1885 retains pole position to clinchRolex Trophy 2014 at Les Voiles de saint-Tropez

Imola has emerged as a potential saviour for the Italian Grand Prix.

The circuit, which for more than two decades hosted the San Marino Grand Prix, has thrown its hat into the ring by offering to share the hosting of the Italian race with Monza.

Discussions between Monza circuit officials and Bernie Ecclestone broke down over the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, primarily over money. Ecclestone has stated that, while Monza is part of Formula 1's history, promoters must pay the going

rate in order to host a race beyond its current deal. The current contract secures the race only for 2016, with nothing in place for 2017 and beyond.

However last the week Daniele Manca, Mayor of Imola, met with Ecclestone to discuss the future of the race.

"Imola is proposing to alternate with Monza," Ecclestone told Gazetta Dello Sport.

"We could do that,” he continued. "I want to ensure Italy stays on the calendar."

Imola has hosted the Italian Grand Prix once, in 1980, but has

otherwise hosted the San Marino Grand Prix from 1981 to 2006. The circuit underwent a revamp in 2007 in which the Variante Bassa was straightened.

Monza has recently received 20 million Euros from the Lombardy regional government, however those funds cannot be used for sanctioning fees and instead are going towards reorganising the circuit and facilities. It leaves promoters 10 million Euros to find to satisfy Ecclestone’s demands. It's best hope now is to seek assistance from the national government.

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imola to save italian gp?

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When the Queen's Birthday Honours were published last week, there was a welcome award for Patrick Head, co-founder of Team Willy. Within the next month or two, Patrick will be making the trip from his central London penthouse to Buckingham Palace (probably not on his motorbike) to be dubbed a knight of the realm, following the steps taken back in 1999 by his business partner Frank Williams. It's a well-deserved honour for a widely respected engineer whose cars won nine constructors' world championships and carried the men who steered them to eight drivers' titles between 1980 and 1997.

Knighthoods for motor racing 'greats' have always been thinner on the ground than they have for the grandees of other sports, so the founders of the Williams empire have done well. It's now more than ten years since Patrick, who turned 69 earlier this month, stepped down as Technical Director at Grove, and three since he relinquished his trackside F1 duties. I hope I will be forgiven for pointing out that since 1997 there have been no more constructors' titles for Williams and only a smattering of GP wins.

One therefore imagines that if McLaren supremo Ron Dennis didn't already have enough on his plate on F1 with the ongoing Honda nightmare he might well be wondering why his own team's CV (ten drivers' titles and seven constructors' trophies, seven of them since 1984) has not attracted closer attention from Her Majesty's advisers.

In fact Ron, 68, is already a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and has been showered with other awards, including doctorates from three of our noblest universities. Several times he has welcomed a British Prime Minister to visit the supremely high-tech factory where the McLaren group employs (and trains) some of the country's most outstanding engineers. While he himself has modestly pointed out that he has no hand in the design of the cars that bear the McLaren name, nor does he drive them, it will surely have crossed his mind that one day he, too, may be asked to go down on one knee by the Queen.

Ron's self-imposed ambition has been to establish McLaren as the British Ferrari. Having achieved that aim on the race tracks and being well on the way to doing it with his supercars, not to mention becoming a supplier of world-class electronic devices, he should be in the running for a tap on the shoulder with a sword wielded by his sovereign. After all, they know each other already, because back in 2004 it was she herself who opened the McLaren premises in Woking.

Ron has a reputation for prickliness, as David Coulthard recently told the Daily Telegraph.

"I spent nine years at McLaren – more than any other driver – and there are times when Ron can be difficult to work for," wrote DC. "While Ron the man can be very generous and caring, as a businessman he can be cold, calculating and notoriously demanding."

Among the complexities in Ron's approach to managing McLaren is a reluctance to get rid of employees, even those who don't fit in or who aren't pulling their weight. It has been suggested to me that this hesitation is rooted in the fact that to dismiss someone whose engagement was approved by him indicates a failure of his own judgment. It extends even to drivers, notably in 1995 with Nigel Mansell (who wasn't pulling his weight) but also to Juan Pablo Montoya, who scarpered when he sensed towards the end of 2006 that the team's affection for him was waning.

Under the circumstances one can only imagine how difficult Ron found it for himself when the time came, last year, to part company with Martin Whitmarsh, a close friend to whom he had delegated the task of running the racing team, only for its fortunes to decline steadily. Perhaps even more surprising was his decision to re-assume ultimate control of racing, albeit with the popular and efficient Eric Boullier brought in from Renault to handle things on the ground.

It promises to be a long, hard

struggle before we discover whether the return of Ron will bear the same fruits that he and Honda enjoyed together all those years ago. While none of the chaos on the F1 front can be attributed to the McLaren side of the partnership, let alone to Ron himself, he must now address the glaring lack of a major sponsor on the cars. Somewhat unfortunately, he has dared to suggest that F1 may now be a bit too big for just one title sponsor.

"We haven't given up on the idea of attracting larger sums of money to our car," he said earlier this year,

"but what we don't want to do is put big brand names on at low levels of money. Title sponsorship doesn't exist any more as a concept. Where the budgets are for a competitive team, no company will come in and give you that kind of money."

If that sounds like a hi-falutin' excuse for not being able to attract a suitable big name aboard, so be it. I incline towards the view that the reason why McLaren hasn't found a prestige partner rests with the miserable fact that last year's result produced a second consecutive 5th place in the constructors' championship.

David Coulthard, meanwhile, believes that McLaren - perhaps unlike Williams - has the potential, under Ron Dennis, once again to rise.

"He remains McLaren's greatest strength," says DC. "The state of the business and the car company today form part of his vision."

Meanwhile, Her Majesty's sword will remain sheathed.

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OPINION

how does 'sir ron' sound to you?

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At my local is a bloke, Bob, who has an opinion about everything. There’s one in every pub. Bob sits at one end of the bar and solves the world’s problems each and every night with the sort of insight achieved only through the bottom of a pint glass. Doing a spot of home renovations? He knows how to do it all. Looking for a new car? He’s an expert on those, too.

Bob’s like that awful photo frame you were given one Christmas that only comes out when that person comes to visit. But he’s a good sounding board for public opinion, and he thinks Formula 1 stinks.

The cars aren’t fast enough, loud enough and all these bloody rules make it too difficult to follow he reckons. His opinion comes with a grain of salt of course, more often than not he finds it too difficult to walk in a straight-line.

He makes a valid point. Formula 1 has got too complicated.

On Sunday morning I ran my eye over the provisional grid and spotted Fernando Alonso in 19th when I’d expected him to be in 20th. Penalties are applied in chronological order, so I’d expected to see him drop to the back for his engine penalty, get bumped up

when Jenson Button had his penalty applied only to fall to the back again when his gearbox penalty was applied. But that didn't seem to be the case.

Puzzled by this I enquired as to why Nando wasn’t last. The banter than ensued proved not only are the rules ridiculously complicated that even the teams themselves aren’t one hundred per cent sure how they all work. Eventually I accepted the explanation given to me, though I’m still not entirely sure it’s correct.

That plays nicely to Bob's point. If the teams themselves find things complicated how the hell are the rest of us meant to figure it out?

A friend of mine who works in the corporate world explained to me that she typically encounters two reactions when people face something they don't understand; fear or anger. It's the fight or flight mentality, with some wanting to yell and scream while others want to hide under the desk.

Take mobile phones for example. Few among the older generation are comfortable with them, primarily becuase they don't understand them. They're therefore weary of them and are likely to get frustrated or angry when they can't figure them out. If a casual fan doesn’t understand what is happening in Formula 1 they’re likely to get frustrated and give up.

So if we all agree and accept that Bob is right and the sport has got too complicated, what can we do about it?

The first thing is we all need to stop moaning about it. And I don’t

mean we the fans but we the media. It’s us hacks who set the tone and the current bashing the sport gets isn’t constructive.

Sure, Mercedes is winning a lot but before that it was Red Bull and before that it was Ferrari. The sport is cyclical and the current state of affairs owes nothing to the rules – if it wasn’t Mercedes with hybrid engine regulations it would be someone else under whatever other regulations there might have been.

Instead we need to acknowledge that, for all its flaws (who is perfect?) the sport is producing some pretty good racing. Cast your minds back to the 2000’s or earlier and racing was processional and unreliability an accepted part of racing. Somehow we remember that as the glory years becuase it's romanticised by us in the media.

However the changes that have been made over the last years have, by and large, have worked. The racing is better than it’s been in a long time, and that’s extraordinarily positive.

Really, it’s only some of the little one percent things that need to be tightened up. Penalties for more places than there are on the grid, for example, could be better solved. So too could the complicated rule making process.

Those discussions need to happen behind closed doors but the single most important consideration must be what my mate Bob at the pub thinks because he speaks for the masses. As much as I hate to admit it, for once I think he might be right.

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OPINION

solving the world, one pint at a time

THE MOMENT...James Hunt claimed pole position for the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix, the last British driver to secure top spot before Lewis Hamilton on Saturday. Hunt would go on to finish the race fourth while John Watson racked up Penske's only Formula 1 win.

(Sutton Images archive 1960-2015. Over 900,000 images available online for search and print order)

THE MOMENT...McLaren drivers Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard commit the ultimate sin by colliding at the start of the 1999 Austrian Grand Prix. The Finn dropped to the back of the pack following the collision before climbing back to third at the finish as Eddie Irvine won for Ferrari.

(Sutton Images archive 1960-2015. Over 900,000 images available online for search and print order)

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After winning three of the last four races, momentum is shifting in Nico Rosberg's favour following a commanding Austrian Grand Prix victory

Three in four

There are less than 200 metres between pole position and the first corner in Austria. That was more than enough for Nico Rosberg.

After getting a near perfect start he put in an error-free performance behind the wheel to command the Austrian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton was his nearest rival but, as has often been the case between the two Mercedes drivers, there was never any immediate threat.

Hamilton being on pole was an anomaly. He may have put in the better lap when it mattered on Saturday afternoon but Rosberg had been the stronger of the two silver drivers all weekend. Second place for Hamilton on Sunday should therefore be viewed as in line with expectations; not a bad result, simply one which saw him achieve what was realistically going to be his peak performance for the weekend. Rosberg somehow just had the measure of him.

If the result between Rosberg and Hamilton was no surprise there was some eyebrow raising being done over at Ferrari. Just what the Italian team was doing in qualifying with Kimi Raikkonen is beyond comprehension. Ferrari has to shoulder some of the blame for the farcical sequence of events that saw the Fin qualify just 18th, though it was Raikkonen's fault alone that he buried himself under Fernando Alonso in the race.

It was such an unusual incident that it's difficult to think a driver of Raikkonen's calibre could simply drop the car as he did, but he admitted as much post-race. Alonso was an innocent bystander in it all.

On the other side of the red garage Sebastian Vettel had a disappointing race. While the German's performance was sound - not spectacular but error free, which is what is expected of top line drivers - his team's was.

Somewhere upstream from the mechanic fitting the right rear wheel there was a problem. It may lay in the design office, in quality control or somewhere else but the simple fact is a less than compliant wheel-nut cost Ferrari a podium. In the grand scheme of things it's absolutely inconsequential. Ferrari is well clear of Williams in the constructors' championship so the loss of points is insignificant and it's hardly going to catch Mercedes. Still, that Maurizio Arrivabene has called for a post-mortem is positive. It shows the team has fighting spirit and is being ruled by logic and reason. Importantly, there has been no finger pointing, simply the statement that the error cost a podium and that something needs to be done to understand how. Wind the clock back twelve months and it's difficult to imagine the same approach being taken.

Arrivabene was also correct in pointing out that Ferrari remains some way off the back of Mercedes. Though it looked to have closed to gap in practice, when it mattered the Mercedes drivers were able to canter clear.

Williams made the most of its opportunity to steal third. Both Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas were fast across the weekend but some way short of the pace of Ferrari and Mercedes. For Massa to stand on the podium was a fine piece of opportunistic driving.

There were also sound performances from the two Force India drivers who achieved more than could have realistically been expected. Nico Hulkenberg dropping down the order was always going to happen, he'd over achieved in qualifying, but at least he made Valtteri Bottas work hard for fifth place.

Sergio Perez had a combative race to ninth. After being knocked out of

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the first phase of qualifying to race into the points deserves mention. Attrition contributed to his performance, but he still beat two Red Bulls and two Saubers to get there.

The ten points Perez and Hulkenberg gained in Austria could prove to be worth many millions of dollars come seasons end, so it's little wonder the team left Spielberg in a good mood.

There are still serious questions to answer at Lotus. Austria was another missed opportunity for strong points with Romain Grosjean retiring. Since Pastor Maldonado finished seventh,

there's no reason to suggest that the sister car couldn't have been eighth, which would have pushed Force India down the list a little and protected its position in the constructors championship.

Maldonado's race was scrappy. His move on Max Verstappen late in the race was clumsy. That he got the position owed more to a mistake from Verstappen than Maldonado's own performance but for the team it was only a job half done.

It's been the story of Lotus' season; plenty of promise and a fine car only for problems to beleaguer the team. What it

needs more than anything else is weekends like Canada where it got both cars home, and in the points. It has the car to do it.

McLaren does not. It barely has the car to finish a race with yet another double retirement. It was Fernando Alonso's fourth in a row, the worst run of his career. That was not McLaren's fault, and who knows how far the Spaniard would have got had he remained in the race, but Jenson Button's mystery retirement hardly filled the teams boots with confidence. Despite the hyperbole, there has been no visible improvement from McLaren in recent races

despite an influx of development parts. While it's positive that work is ongoing on the chassis side it's not there that really needs the attention just now.

Red Bull was left red faced in Austria after an embarrassing state of affairs saw the senior team beaten by it's little brother once again. Max Verstappen should have been seventh but for a mistake which gifted the place to Maldonado. He'd been under pressure, but at the level expected of any Red Bull driver it was an error that won't be viewed kindly by Helmut Marko. Still, he managed eighth, Daniel

Ricciardo in the highest finishing Red Bull was only tenth.

Early race contact hurt Daniil Kvyat, though that strikes as a useful excuse and easier to digest than the fact the car was uncompetitive.

Ricciardo climbed to tenth after starting towards the back and taking a five second penalty. Ricciardo's was a positive performance, realistically the most he could have expected from the race. Tp be brutally honest it was probably more than was expected as had Grosjean and Raikkonen stayed in the race it's fair to suggest they'd

have both finished in front of the Australian. Instead he walked away with points after a weekend the team will want to forget which if nothing else puts a feather in his own hat.

The drivers championship battle has now closed to just ten points with Rosberg having won three of the last four races. The German has been slowly building momentum in recent weeks but with the British Grand Prix next, home soil for Hamilton, the championship is entering an important phase.

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Pos DRiVeR teAm Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPs

1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:12.218 1:09.062 1:08.455 302 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:10.976 1:08.634 1:08.655 313 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:11.184 1:09.392 1:08.810 214 Felipe Massa Williams 1:11.830 1:09.719 1:09.192 275 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:11.319 1:09.604 1:09.278 226 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:11.894 1:09.598 1:09.319 267 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:11.307 1:09.631 1:09.612 288 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:12.092 1:10.187 1:09.694 329 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:12.001 1:09.652 1:09.713 2910 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:11.821 1:09.980 No Time 2211 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:11.661 1:10.374 2212 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:12.388 1:10.426 2013 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:11.158 1:10.465 2314 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:11.973 1:10.482 1915 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:12.508 1:10.736 2216 Sergio Perez Force India 1:12.522 1317 Jenson Button McLaren 1:12.632 1218 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:12.867 1019 Roberto Merhi Manor 1:14.071 1220 Will Stevens Manor 1:15.368 11 Q1 107% Time 1:17.273

Formula 1 round 8 austrian gp – Qualifying

QUALIFYING

Last time Nico Rosberg ended a qualifying session with a close up view of the Armco he was on pole in Monaco, much to Lewis Hamilton’s frustration as conspiracy theories ran rampant.

There was nothing sinister to his mistake in Austria. The German was pushing hard and with rain having made venturing off line a treacherous, Rosberg was simply caught out. After touching the wet astroturf on the

outside of the penultimate corner he had no grip when it came time to turn into the final corner.

By that point Rosberg’s fate was in his own hands. Second fastest after his first flying lap, teammate and provisional pole sitter Lewis Hamilton had already spun off into the carpark at turn one. It was a similar mistake to that made twelve months ago where he lost the rear under braking.

Rosberg was faster than

Hamilton's best effort at the second split but with the pressure was on and a short lap heavily penalising the smallest mistake it all proved too much.

It was far from a Mercedes cake walk. Sebastian Vettel had been fastest in two of the three practice sessions as the gap between the two leading teams shrunk to next to nothing.

Saturday but Sunday was a day to forget for Kimi Raikkonen, who disappointed in the second

Ferrari to be slowest of all but for the two Manor’s. For no obvious reason Raikkonen was 18th; slower than even Jenson Button in the pedal powered McLaren.

McLaren’s situation is dire. No matter where Jenson Button qualified he was going to start last, and take a drive through penalty at least, courtesy of a whopping 25-place grid penalty. There are only 20 cars on a Formula One grid, and Button was the fourth slowest. Post-

session Fernando Alonso received a further five place penalty too for a gearbox change, on top of his own 20-place penalty. Combined, McLaren received a 50-place grid penalty.

They weren’t alone. Red Bull had penalties for both Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, though nothing quite as drastic as that received by McLaren.

Ricciardo struggled with brake temperature, the Australian running off the circuit in the

second phase of qualifying before being eliminated from the session entirely. It probably made no difference in the grand scheme of things given he was slapped with a ten-place penalty for an engine change anyway. So too was Kvyat, meaning both Red Bull’s started well down the order with little hope of a strong result.

That’s because not only is Raikkonen starting down the order but also because Nico Hulkenberg showed strong pace.

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Anything but perfect

QUALIFYING

The Mercedes powered Lotus’ also had pace, making competition for the top ten particularly ferocious.With Mercedes, Ferrari and Williams at the front it leaves just four points paying positions to race for and as many as eight cars vying for them.

Brake problems for Romain Grosjean gave a glimmer of hope that there may be a chance for others to elbow the Frenchman out of the top ten.

A power circuit, Austria has three big braking

events each lap, placing an emphasis on the ability to slow the car and accelerate clearnly. It favoured engines with punch, something both the Honda and Renault lacked.

Mercedes could therefore rightly be expected to dominate with the Sauber’s likely to be a contender for points should the cookie crumble in its favour. Ferrari would prove a factor, but just how real its practice pace was would only become clear on Sunday afternoon.

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such was th pace of Mercedes in Austria that even with a five second penalty for Lewis Hamilton and a vibrating front wheel for Nico Rosberg they were still comfortably in control.

Throughout practice there were suggestions Ferrari could match the silver team on pace. The long runs looked promising and the lap times, around the short Spielberg circuit, were all pretty similar. Mercedes wasn't on the back foot, but it certainly wasn't striding clear. Ferrari, we all thought, had its best chance since Malaysia to snag a win.

Until the race, that is.From the start the two silver cars shot

away like the proverbial rat up a drainpipe. Third placed Sebastian Vettel, even without his unco-operative wheel nut, never stood a chance. If we're honest about it, neither

relly did Hamilton."It was a great start and I managed to

defend in the first couple of corners and then I really just tried to push flat out," Rosberg explained. "I was really happy with the car and happy to see the gap open up to Lewis, so it really worked out perfectly today."

Once Rosberg had moved into the lead it was his race to lose. He'd been the faster and more consistent of the Mercedes drivers throughout the weekend and only an unusual qualifying session saw Hamilton take pole.

"In the second stint Nico generally had better pace," Hamilton confessed.

Had Lewis managed to stay inside the line at pit exit, and make a better start, it may have been closer, but Rosberg always seemed to have him covered.

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shooting clear

Ferrari's Maurizio Arrivabene was left fuming after a wheel-nut problem at sebastian Vettel's pit stop cost the squad a podium place.

Vettel had been running in a comfortable third place before being delayed at his sole pit stop when mechanics struggled to fit the right rear wheel. It cost the German some ten seconds, enough time for fourth placed Felipe Massa to steal third.

Though Vettel closed in the final laps he was never able to challenge Massa, leaving the Ferrari driver fourth and his Italian boss ropeable.

"We threw away one more time for a stupid piece that we need to fix as soon as possible. This is not the first time and it is not acceptable," Arrivabene lamented.

"It was a problem with the wheelnut. It is not the first time so we have now to make sure that it does not happen again.

"It was not a problem of the mechanics – it was our problem and we have to make sure that we fix it."

The weekend had promised so much for the Prancing Horse after showing well in practice leaving many pundits to tip the Austrian race Ferrari's best chance to win since Sepang.

The race didn't start well though. Kimi Raikkonen's day ended after just two corners when he lost the rear of his car under acceleration, taking Fernando Alonso out in the process, while Vettel never had the pace to match the Mercedes duo at the front of the race.

"There is no images on the camera of Alonso, so we have to trust Kimi who said that the car had wheelspin," Arrivabene explained of Raikkonen's race-ending crash.

"Sebastian made a great race. I have to say Mercedes are still strong."

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Ferrari boss left fuming

Force India left Austria having scored ten points and risen to fifth in the constructors' championship.

It was the British team's best race of the year and only the second time both drivers have finished in the points - the first being the Australian Grand Prix when only 11 cars finished.

The weekend ran pretty well for the team, with Nico Hulkenberg surprising to split the two Williams during qualifying. In the race he duly converted that to sixth place while Sergio Perez raced his way up to ninth.

"We always knew it would be difficult to keep the Williams of Bottas behind me, so bringing the car home in sixth was probably the maximum we could achieve," Hulkenberg admitted. "It's been a great weekend: I found a nice rhythm and I have been very happy with the performance of the car."

"Realistically it would have been difficult to have finished higher up the order," agreed deputy team boss Bob Fernley.

Hulkenberg enjoyed an early battle with Bottas, losing out shortly before his pit stop. However slick work from Force India meant he regained the

position over Bottas during the pit cycle, setting up one of the most entertaining battles of the race.

Sergio Perez meanwhile stayed out of trouble to charge from the back of the grid to ninth after being eliminated in the opening part of qualifying on Saturday.

"Considering our position on the grid, it was a good race," said Perez. "I think we could have been a couple of places ahead if everything had gone to plan, but it’s still a good result."

Perez struggled in the latter part of the race with vibrations and a slow pit stop but otherwise

drove a clean race that saw him wheel to wheel with both Lotus drivers.

"In the first stint I had a lot of pressure from both the Lotus drivers, but we held strong and the race was looking really good," the Mexican explained.

"We lost some time in a slow pit stop and it was a bit difficult to recover after that."

The result sees the squad jump Lotus in the constructors' championship and comes the race before the debut of its long awaited B-spec car, which the team hopes will be a sizeable step forward.

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using the Force

» ROSBERG’S WIN MEANS HE ONLY HAS SIX FEWER POINTS THAN HE HAD AT THIS STAGE LAST SEASON, DESPITE HAMILTON'S APPARENT DOMINANCE

» MERCEDES IS ONLY ONE RACE BEHIND FERRARI'S F1 RECORD FOR MOST CONSECUTIVE RACES WITH TWO CARS ON THE PODIUM, SET IN 1952-53

» MERCEDES HAS CONSECUTIVE 1-2 FINISHES FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SEASON

» HAMILTON IS ON THE PODIUM FOR THE 15TH CONSECUTIVE RACE, TYING FERNANDO ALONSO (2005-06) FOR THE SECOND LONGEST STREAK OF ALL-TIME, BEHIND ONLY MICHAEL SCHUMACHER'S 19 (2001-02)

» HAMILTON ALSO LED A 17TH CONSECUTIVE RACE, TYING JACKIE STEWART'S RECORD SET IN 1969-70, ONE OF THE OLDEST F1 DRIVER RECORDS

» MASSA'S 41ST TOP SIX FINISH SINCE THE START OF 2011 IS ONLY HIS SEVENTH PODIUM IN THAT TIME, AND HIS FIRST IN 2015

» MASSA GOES THROUGH 1000 CAREER POINTS

» VETTEL HAS FINISHED IN THE TOP FIVE AT EVERY RACE THIS SEASON BUT IS OFF THE PODIUM FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE RACE

» BOTTAS' FIFTH PLACE MEANS WILLIAMS

HAS 129 POINTS. IT ONLY HAD 85 POINTS AT THIS STAGE IN 2014

» HULKENBERG GIVES FORCE INDIA ITS FIRST TOP SIX FINISH OF THE YEAR

» MALDONADO SCORES IN CONSECUTIVE RACES FOR ONLY THE SECOND TIME IN HIS CAREER (AFTER ABU DHABI AND USA 2012)

» MALDONADO HAS SCORED AS MANY TIMES IN THE LAST TWO RACES AS HE DID IN THE PREVIOUS 45 GRANDS PRIX COMBINED

» VERSTAPPEN SCORES FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS SEASON AND IS THE TOP RENAULT CAR, AS HE WAS IN QUALIFYING

» PEREZ SCORES POINTS FOR THE SECOND YEAR RUNNING IN AUSTRIA

» RICCIARDO FINISHES 10TH, BUT PRESERVES RED BULL'S 26-RACE SCORING STREAK

» ALONSO RETIRED FROM FOUR CONSECUTIVE GRANDS PRIX FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS 15-YEAR F1 CAREER

» MCLAREN HAS PREVIOUSLY LOST BOTH CARS EARLIER IN A RACE ON TWO OCCASIONS (USA 2006, MEXICO 1987), BUT IT WAS ALSO ON THE LAST ROW OF THE GRID, MAKING AUSITRIA POSSIBLY ITS WORST EVER RACE

Pos DRiVeR CountRY teAm time/LAPs Pts

1 NICO ROSBERG GER MERCEDES 1:30:16.930 252 LEWIS HAMILTON GBR MERCEDES +8.800s 183 FELIPE MASSA BRA WILLIAMS +17.579s 154 SEBASTIAN VETTEL GER FERRARI +18.181s 125 VALTTERI BOTTAS FIN WILLIAMS +53.604s 106 NICO HULKENBERG GER FORCE INDIA +1:04.075 87 PASTOR MALDONADO VEN LOTUS +1 lap 68 MAX VERSTAPPEN NED TORO ROSSO +1 lap 49 SERGIO PEREZ MEX FORCE INDIA +1 lap 210 DANIEL RICCIARDO AUS RED BULL +1 lap 111 FELIPE NASR BRA SAUBER +1 lap 012 DANIIL KVYAT RUS RED BULL +1 lap 013 MARCUS ERICSSON SWE SAUBER +2 laps 014 ROBERTO MERHI ESP MANOR +3 laps 0RT ROMAIN GROSJEAN FRA LOTUS DNF 0RT CARLOS SAINZ ESP TORO ROSSO DNF 0RT JENSON BUTTON GBR MCLAREN DNF 0RT WILL STEVENS GBR MANOR DNF 0RT KIMI RAIKKONEN FIN FERRARI DNF 0RT FERNANDO ALONSO ESP MCLAREN DNF 0

Points – Drivers: Hamilton 169, Rosberg 159, Vettel 120, Raikkonen 72, Bottas 67, Massa

62, Ricciardo 36, Kvyat 19, Hulkenberg 18, Grosjean 17, Nasr 16, Perez 13, Maldonado 12,

Verstappen 10, Sainz 9, Ericsson 5, Button 4

Constructors: Mercedes 328, Ferrari 192, Williams 129, Red Bull 55, Force India 31, Lotus

29, Sauber 21, Toro Rosso 19, McLaren 4

Some facts you may have thought of, and most you certainly didn’t know about the AUSTRIAN GP!

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Formula 1 round 8 austrian gpstat wrapwIth Sean Kelly

The last time a Mercedes AMG did not claim a pole position21/06/2014

Points – Red Bull’s average points per race in 201331.4

Points – Red Bull’s average points per race in 20156.9

Lewis Hamilton’s 17 consecutive races led tied Jackie Stewart’s record from 1969-70. Michael Schumacher never bettered 15 in a row, while Ayrton Senna could only manage 12 in a row17

Points – If Ferrari and Williams counted as a single constructor, they would still be 7 points behind Mercedes in the championship7

The last time a female started a Formula One race. Lella Lombardi finished as the last classified runner in 12th place, 4 laps down on winner John Watson19760.547

Adding up all of the grid penalties for this race came to 70 places. 50 of those belonged to McLaren70

Brazil – McLaren locked out the front row, with Red Bull one row behind2012

Seconds – Lewis Hamilton’s pole time in the 2015 Austrian GP was only 0.547s slower than the fastest-ever lap of the Red Bull Ring, set by Michael Schumacher in 2003, in a car with a 3.0-litre V10 engine, unlimited fuel flow, 100kg less weight and in the middle of a tyre war

2015 Austria– McLaren locked out the last row, with Red Bull

one row ahead

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the numbers

TECHNICAL

LiKe mcLARen, LiKe ReD BuLL ...Te

CH

NIC

AL

PAoLo FiLisettiTechnical Editor

This weekend provided one of those interesting comparisons– or indeed similarities – between cars and teams, where a key person has moved from one team to the other.

The eighth race of the season, in Austria, also provided interesting elements from a technical point of view in terms of the development of some cars. In particular this race had a double element to the technical story.

One was a sort of verification of the upgrades brought by Ferrari to Canada that, due to the mixed fortunes that characterised the Canadian weekend for the Italian team, didn’t really provide enough information on whether those upgrades actually improved the SF15-T performance or not.

It was interesting to note on this track, in the Stirian region, the technical gap separating the Italian cars from the Mercedes W06 Hybrid was effectively reduced, even if not to a measure capable of providing winning results in the short term.

At the same time, it was interesting to see how McLaren, notwithstanding its awful situation in terms of their Honda power unit, tries to improve the car,

following a predetermined development programme, that included the debut of the ‘short’ nose cone.

This element was hugely delayed due to problems encountered in passing the mandatory crash tests. In Austria, the Woking-based team brought just one new nose, run by Fernando Alonso, while his team-mate Jenson Button stuck to the standard longer version. At Silverstone, both the cars will feature the new version of the nose.

Certainly, considering the current difficult situation in terms of reliability and performance of the power unit, it is difficult to properly judge the value of this development, although it was possible to look at how this development was integrated in the original project. In

particular, we found many similarities in this respect with the shorter nose of the Red Bull, introduced on the car a few races ago.

In particular it is interesting to note how the bottom section of the nose features a dramatically similar design, in terms of airflow management. An array of turning vanes feeds the splitter area of the bottom of the car, following an identical concept. The squared nose section certainly provides an increased airflow passing underneath, even though it appears to us that the main target the engineers wanted to reach was providing a less disturbed airflow to the side sections of the wing, to reduce the need of higher flap angles to provide an increased downforce level.

The layout of the extremities of the wing and also the bottom section of the main plane look dramatically similar to the RB11 ones. It’s interesting to note also the series of vertical fins placed underneath to increase the airflow speed, hence generating a low pressure under the main profile, as on the car built in Milton Keynes.

Ironically we could say that the two teams, now sharing similar misfortunes mainly due to their power units, seem to be sharing the same principles in terms of aero development. This isn’t too much of a surprise, as the influence of Peter Prodromou, current chief aerodynamicist at McLaren, is still evident on his former team's car.

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seen at spielberg

The remnants of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari made for a sorry sight following his opening lap crash with Fernando Alonso.

PASSING SHOT

Despite attacking his teammate throughout the opening lap, Lewis Hamilton's hopes of victory faded by the time the field had reached the first corner.

PASSING SHOT

Nico Hulkenberg fought a tough rear-guard action in the opening phase of the race before bringing his Force India home sixth.

PASSING SHOT

Damage on the opneing lap compromised Daniil Kvyat's race, the Russian ending the day out of the points in a weekend that saw Red Bull score just a single point.

PASSING SHOT

Never challenged from the start, Nico Rosberg proved the man to beat all weekend to claim his third win of the season.

PASSING SHOT

NEXT: Silverstone! Last year, Lewis Hamilton took a popular win in front of his home crowd. With Nico Rosberg gaining momentum and just 10 points seperating the Mercedes pair, can Hamilton put in a repeat performance?

PARTING SHOT