Jean alesi

Jean Alesi: Well, I really tried! I changed the set-up a little bit mid-way through the session this afternoon, to see if we could make the car better, but it was a couple of tenths slower. So for my lat run I went back to the same downforce I started with and the car felt happier that way. It then was a matter of tryiong to do a lap with zero mistakes. That's very difficult here, especially when you are jumping over the kerbs and you don't know how the car will land. My last lap was a good one; I'm not really sure whether it was possible to improve on it. Johnny Herbert: This morning I had a major problem with my car after the gearbox electronics malfunctioned, and in turn damaged the box itself. I missed the majority of the session, and it's always difficult when that happens because you just don't have the time in qualifying to try to improve your set-up. This afternoon was therefore very difficult. The car still felt bad because of the lost set-up time. It was … [Read more...] about German GP Saturday Sauber notes

The big headline from the Singapore Grand Prix was the end of Red Bull’s winning run as Ferrari scored their first victory in 14 months. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Max Verstappen was the highest placed Red Bull driver in fifth, marking the first time he has missed out on the podium since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. That ended his chance of emulating Michael Schumacher’s record of finishing on the podium in every race in a season, which he achieved in 2002. Sergio Perez finished eighth in the other Red Bull, his worst result since this May’s Monaco Grand Prix, on his 250th grand prix start. The Marina Bay street circuit is one of eight in Formula 1 that Verstappen has raced on but is yet to taste victory at. Three of those tracks are ones that he has only visited once, while his two visits to Algarve and Istanbul Park has resulted in a second place finish at each. He has raced at Shanghai, which returns to the calendar next year, on five … [Read more...] about Sainz becomes F1’s newest multiple winner at Verstappen’s ‘bogey track’

Sebastian Vettel coolly claimed his fifth pole position of the season after sitting out the final moments of the top ten shoot-out. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Vettel told his team he could find a tenth of a second at most following his first run in Q3, so they kept him back in the garage while his rivals tried in vain to beat his time. Nico Rosberg almost managed to do it – falling short by less than a tenth of a second – while Romain Grosjean claimed third for Lotus. Q1 With the super-soft tyres offering a performance gain of around two seconds over the mediums there were few teams who believed they could get through to Q2 without using them. Mercedes, who’ve had their fingers burnt in qualifying already this year, chose not to risk it, giving Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton runs on the super-soft tyres. Hamilton set the pace with a 1’44.196. But Red Bull committed to the medium tyre and both their drivers made it through – Webber … [Read more...] about Vettel wins pole in the pits ahead of Rosberg and Grosjean

Row 1 1. Sebastian Vettel 1’42.841 Red Bull 2. Nico Rosberg 1’42.932 Mercedes Row 2 3. Romain Grosjean 1’43.058 Lotus 4. Mark Webber 1’43.152 Red Bull Row 3 5. Lewis Hamilton 1’43.254 Mercedes 6. Felipe Massa 1’43.89 Ferrari Row 4 7. Fernando Alonso 1’43.938 Ferrari 8. Jenson Button 1’44.282 McLaren Row 5 9. Daniel Ricciardo 1’44.439 Toro Rosso 10. Esteban Gutierrez No time Sauber Row 6 11. Nico Hulkenberg 1’44.555 Sauber 12. Jean-Eric Vergne 1’44.588 Toro Rosso Row 7 13. Kimi Raikkonen 1’44.658 Lotus 14. Sergio Perez 1’44.752 McLaren Row 8 15. Adrian Sutil 1’45.185 Force India 16. Valtteri Bottas 1’45.388 Williams Row 9 17. Paul di Resta 1’46.121 Force India 18. … [Read more...] about 2013 Singapore Grand Prix grid

Sebastian Vettel remained the driver to beat in Singapore but Red Bull’s rivals narrowed the gap during the final practice session. Vettel improved on his quickest time from yesterday by a tenth of a second but Romain Grosjean was within two tenths of a second of Vettel’s benchmark time. However at the end of the session Grosjean warned his team he was concerned the braking problem he’d experienced yesterday still hadn’t been completely cured. Nico Rosberg was third-fastest for Mercedes but over half a second slower than Vettel. As in yesterday’s second practice session drivers found the super-soft tyre was in the region of two seconds per lap faster than the medium. Mark Webber was the quickest driver on the track before the drivers began using the super-soft tyre, edging team mate Vettel by less than a tenth of a second. He ended the session fourth. The Ferrari remained the fourth-quickest car in Fernando Alonso’s hands, behind Lewis Hamilton and a full second … [Read more...] about Vettel stays on top in Singapore as Grosjean gains

Daniel Ricciardo, the Red Bull reserve driver, set the fastest time on the first day of the Young Guns test at Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi. The 21 year old Australian set a fastest time of 1m 39.616s, which compares very favourably with the pole time for last weekend's Grand Prix, set by Sebastian Vettel in the same car at 1m39.394s. Mark Webber's qualifying time was 1m39.925s. It has to be observed that the comparison of times with last weekend is slightly misleading as the track has ramped up significantly since qualifying with all the rubber that has gone down. Nevertheless it is impressive speed from the former British F3 champion, who finished runner up in the Formula Renault 3.5 series this year. Ricciardo was also very fast in last season's young guns test. You get the sense that Red Bull consider him to be the next big thing. I asked around in the paddock last weekend about his prospects and it seems that there is a plan afoot for him to run a Red Bull … [Read more...] about Ricciardo flies in Young Guns F1 test

Australian Daniel Ricciardo dominated the second day of the Young Guns test at Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi today, closing out with a time comparable with Sebastian Vettel's pole lap from last weekend, once track condition is taken into account. Ricciardo set a time of 1m 38.102s, which was 1.292 seconds faster than the pole lap last weekend. Engineers I've spoken to at the track say that the track improvement was around 1.2 seconds yesterday, compared to qualifying day, and it was even faster this morning. There was more grip and there was also a favourable tailwind. Also cones which had been on the apex of some corners were not there today, so there was some fractional gain from cutting the apex. So you'd have to work on the basis of taking 1.4s -1.5s off the headline lap times to get a comparable read to times set during Grand Prix weekend. Nevertheless it's a formidable effort by Ricciardo. Jerome d'Ambrosio's best time of 1m 38.802s, is 2.099s faster than Vitaly … [Read more...] about Rookie test ends with Ricciardo on top

Former F1 racer and 2022 Formula E world champion Stoffel Vandoorne will join Peugeot’s hypercar effort for next year’s World Endurance Championship. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The former McLaren F1 driver and current DS Penske Formula E racer will likely replace Gustavo Menezes in the current number 94 car, joining Peugeot as a full time factory driver in the Hypercar class for the first time. Vandoorne has previous WEC experience having raced for Alpine’s LMP1 team in 2019 and JOTA in the LMP2 class in 2021. He stepped into the Peugeot 9X8 at the latest WEC round at Fuji, replacing the injured Nico Muller. The 31-year-old said signing with Peugeot was a means of achieving his goal to return to the endurance series. “My goal was clearly to come back to this championship and even more now with the Hypercar class, with so many manufacturers,” Vandoorne said. “Having the opportunity to fight for the victory and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans is … [Read more...] about Vandoorne joins Peugeot’s hypercar squad for 2024

The Belgian joined Peugeot as a reserve driver for 2023 alongside a Formula E programme with fellow Stellantis-affiliated squad DS Penske, and was called up to sub for Nico Muller in Fuji when the Swiss injured his collarbone. After finishing seventh in Japan aboard the #94 Peugeot alongside Loic Duval and Gustavo Menezes , 2021-22 FE champion Vandoorne will become a full season driver for 2024, marking his first full season involvement since 2021. That year he finished second in the LMP2 standings for Jota and narrowly missed out on a class victory at Le Mans. Vandoorne had previously made two outings in 2019 in LMP1, finishing third on his debut with the SMP Racing squad at Spa, before matching that result in the final outing for the BR Engineering BR1 programme at Le Mans. "I’m really happy to join the team as official driver for the 2024 season," said Vandoorne, who previously started 41 grands prix for McLaren in Formula 1. "I have always appreciated the FIA … [Read more...] about Vandoorne gets Peugeot WEC drive for 2024 season after Fuji cameo