It is not the warmest of mornings in Frankfurt. Even though the sun has yet to ascend in a way that is meaningful, one can already notice a thick, dull nothing on the horizon.
Come 6am and misty strips of light precipitation are beginning to fall too. It’s bloody grim actually and rather reads like a stereotypical image of London – typical as that is where I am going.
There was rain in the end at Hockenheim yesterday, albeit in the fifteen minutes after the Grand Prix and not of the heavy kind – not that it mattered to Nico Rosberg.
After the race, the German played a laid back figure, as he calmly faced the national media in the Mercedes motorhome; his hands resting firmly behind his head. In the press conference, Rosberg made light of there being a “little celebration that evening” – that is not to say we do not have the same definition of “little”.
Irrespective of whether people consider the German Grand Prix to be his home race or not, in the grand scheme of things it matters little. Today, Rosberg may be nursing a hangover, but his focus – if he can focus – will be on the 14 point lead he now holds over teammate Lewis Hamilton.
The Briton did drive a fierce race to finish 3rd, despite starting down in 20th position, but he will understandably be conflicted. The race became a damage limitation exercise, but had he not suffered a brake failure on Saturday, he knows he could have won.
If’s and but’s – it’s all if’s and but’s and realistically, they mean nothing the morning after.
Sato won in Austria. © Auto GP Organisation.
Kimiya Sato lost a small portion of his Auto GP points lead to Tamás P’âl Kiss at the Red Bull Ring, despite taking victory in Race One.
From pole, the Japanese driver dropped to 3rd behind P’âl Kiss and Kevin Giovesi by the opening corner. Sato pitted after just four laps in the hope of jumping his rivals and while he dispatch Giovesi, Sato had to take P’âl Kiss on track, before building a 3.92s lead margin. From there, P’âl Kiss held a solid 2nd ahead of Andrea Roda, who took FMS racer Giovesi late on in the pits.
Roda turned that 3rd place into a win in Race Two. Starting in the mid-pack, the Virtuosi UK driver made several places in the early running, before sweeping into the lead during the pitstops. P’âl Kiss took another 2nd place, while Michela Cerruti took another podium, despite starting from the back. Both Sato and Giovesi retired due to suspension damage.
This was a paltry entry list for the Austrian trip. At eleven drivers, it was the lowest count for an Auto GP event since the Auto GP Organisation took over the running of the Euroseries 3000 category at the end of 2009.
Mercedes drive Nico Rosberg sailed to an easy victory at today’s German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring.
Valtteri Bottas (Williams) prevented a Mercedes 1-2 finish, as he held Lewis Hamilton at bay in a feisty battle to the flag.
Up front, the world championship leader rarely had to check his mirrors. Leading every lap, the German drew out a commanding lead, without appearing to ever push beyond the limits of his Silver Arrows machine.
Ending the 67-lap race with an advantage of 20.7s, Rosberg did not need to rip chunks out of the opposition on a lap-by-lap basis – the incremental steps were more than enough to crush the opposition.
It was an imperious drive from the Mercedes man and he showed delight in crushing his opposition at what he considers to be his second “home” race.
Pitting on lap 15 and 41, Rosberg never looked troubled and his light touch and confidence were rarely in doubt. Once the Pirelli softs had been set aside, Rosberg settled his pace on the prime tyres, allowing him to draw the lead out as battles were being fought in the distance.
Such was Rosberg’s dominance, Rosberg rarely appeared on screen, with the television directors understandably concentrating in the many (tighter) battles in the field. It is unlikely Rosberg will care – the only thing on his mind was the 25 points on offer – a prize he never looked ever losing.
Bottas and Hamilton headline
While Rosberg’s handled his machine with the delicacy required to bring his Mercedes home a victor, Bottas and Hamilton were somewhat more robust. Having made his final stop two laps later than Bottas (lap 40, as opposed to lap 42), Hamilton reeled the already fuel-thirsty Finn; however there was little Hamilton could do to impress a move on the Williams racer.
Such was the speed of the Mercedes-powered entry, Bottas eeked out enough of a gap on the straights each time by to keep the charging Hamilton behind; however the push also took some life from the Mercedes’ tyres, creating an effective status quo.
It was another fighting podium for Bottas with a team who last year struggled to pull a points finish together. Hamilton, meanwhile, can take some value from a race where started a distant 20th following yesterday’s qualifying crash and a forced change of gear box prior to the race.
Hamilton’s brilliant start was key for the Briton was already in the points by the time ten laps had elapsed. Thereafter, the 29-year-old pressed into up the order along with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and was running 2nd when Bottas stopped on lap 16. With Rosberg long gone, Hamilton used the best of the clear air to make positions untroubled by traffic and emerged 8th after his first stop.
Moves on Riccairdo, Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) and unfolding strategies brought Hamilton back into the podium places, where he escaped the clutches of Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) to make the best of more clear air and capture Bottas.
Behind the podium
Vettel took 4th in his Renault-powered Red Bull machine. The reigning champion drove a solid race from 6th on the grid, enjoying a nail-biting wheel-to-wheel battle with Fernando Alonso over the course of seven laps during the middle section of the race.
The duo also ran each other close in the opening portion of the race, culminating in a marvelous move when both went around either side of the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.
Alonso fell behind following his final stop and faced a fight from the other Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo over the latter stages of the race. It was a close run thing between the pair, with Alonso edging his Australian rival by less than a tenth-of-a-second over the line.
While a top six would acceptable in normal circumstances, Ricciardo was left to pull his way up the order after a first lap crash between Felipe Massa (Williams) and Kevin Magnussen (McLaren) forced Ricciardo to take to the gravel trap to avoid being collected. The escape route dropped Ricciardo to 15th, after which he carved his back up the order, followed by a canny Hamilton.
Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg once again showed his prowess in underpowered machinery, mixing it with Alonso and Vettel during several stages of the Grand Prix.
Hulkenberg’s pace dropped off toward the end of a very long stint in the second half of the race, causing the German to disappear from Ricciardo’s mirrors as the laps ticked over; however the Force India driver enjoyed enough of an advantage over the McLaren of Jenson Button.
Button, too, clung to some points taking 8th. Starting from the sixth row of the grid, the Briton made an encouraging start and was placed 6th in the early running, before the frailties of the current chassis McLaren played their hand once again.
The Englishman led his rookie teammate Magnussen home. The Dane may look upon 9th as a disappointing effort considering he started 4th; however Magnussen was lucky to continue after he was involved in an accident with Massa in the first corner, which brought out the safety car.
Turning into the opening curve, both Massa and Magnussen eyed a move on Bottas; however neither appeared to see the other, leading to a blind collision as the apex closed. Receiving the full brunt of the clash; Massa’s car overturned in the gravel trap and slid on its lid for several seconds, before flipping back onto its wheels. The stewards declared it a racing incident.
Perez takes final score from Raikkonen
Sergio Perez brought the second Force India home in the points. During what was, at times, an active race, Perez clashed with Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) and also enjoyed several running battles with Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Raikkonen and Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso).
As the strategies unfolded, Perez had stretched enough of an advantage over Raikkonen to keep the Finn from taking any points, with the Ferrari man coming home lapped and over eight seconds shy of his Mexican rival.
Lotus’s Pastor Maldonado narrowly beat Vergne for 12th and 13th, while Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber) made an appearance in 14th place. Jules Bianchi drove a lonely race for Marussia, as he took 15th – two places ahead of teammate Max Chilton, while the Caterham’s of Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson ended the day an invisible 16th and 18th.
There was some surprise in the final quarter when Adrian Sutil spun his Sauber exiting the final corner and stalled. The Ferrari-powered entry sat still on the start / finish straight for two laps before marshals were able to clear the stricken machine.
Kvyat did not finish either. The rear of his Toro Rosso blew itself apart on the 45th lap, while Grosjean’s Lotus also stopped on track during the 26th tour.
With ten rounds of the world championship now completed, Rosberg’s victory extends his gap over Hamilton back out to fourteen points, while Ricciardo, Alonso, Bottas and Vettel fight over 3rd place in the distance.
Hungary, the last race before the break, is only one week away and Hamilton – a former winner at the Hungaroring – will be looking to full advantage at Budapest to reel Rosberg back in.
2014 German Grand Prix (Rd 10, Hockenheim)
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1h33m42.914s (67 laps)
2. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes +20.789s
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +22.530s
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault +44.014s
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +52.467s
6. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault +52.549s
7. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes +1m04.178s
8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +1m24.711s
9. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes -1 lap
10. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes -1 lap
11. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari -1 lap
12. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault -1 lap
13. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault -1 lap
14. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari -1 lap
15. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari -1 lap
16. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault -2 laps
17. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari -2 laps
18. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault -2 laps
Retirements:
Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari +20 laps
Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault +23 laps
Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault +41 laps
Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes +67 laps
2014 German Grand Prix (Rd 10) Drivers' championship Pts 1. Nico Rosberg 190 2. Lewis Hamilton 176 3. Daniel Ricciardo 106 4. Fernando Alonso 97 5. Valtteri Bottas 91 6. Sebastian Vettel 82 7. Nico Hülkenberg 69 8. Jenson Button 59 9. Kevin Magnussen 37 10. Felipe Massa 30 11. Sergio Pérez 29 12. Kimi Räikkönen 19 13. Jean-Éric Vergne 9 14. Romain Grosjean 8 15. Daniil Kvyat 6 16. Jules Bianchi 2 Constructors' championship Pts 1. Mercedes 366 2. Red Bull-Renault 188 3. Williams-Mercedes 121 4. Ferrari 116 5. Force India-Mercedes 98 6. McLaren-Mercedes 96 7. Toro Rosso-Renault 15 8. Lotus-Renault 8 9. Marussia-Ferrari 2 10. Sauber-Ferrari 0 11. Caterham-Renault 0
Lotus F1 team have opted upon re-signing the excitable Pastor Maldonado for the 2015, it was revealed this weekend.
During Q&A on the team website on Friday evening, Lotus’s co-chairman and Team Principal, Gérard Lopez, revealed the first of his 2015 drivers.
“I don’t want to give too much away,” commented Lopez before revealing all. He continued: “As it’s half way through the season I can confirm 50% of our driver line-up for 2015 as Pastor is with us for next year.”
This season has proved a tricky one for Lotus and especially Maldonado who has struggled in the unco-operative E22 machine. Maldonado’s teammate Romain Grosjean has scored eight points and resides 14th in the standings.
Speaking of their current issues and future potential, Lopez put on a brave face. “Despite the difficulties we’ve had so far this season, [Pastor] recognises our true potential as a team and we recognise his true potential as a driver. We will achieve great things together.”
The controversial Maldonado is supported by Venezuela’s state-owned natural gas and oil company, PDVSA. It is believed the association brings something in the region of USD $20-30 million per season.
There had also been a small rumour floating around this weekend that Formula Renault 3.5 driver Jazeman Jaafar may be in line for a seat with the Enstone squad, should they secure Mercedes engines for next season.
Jaafar, a Petronas protégé, has been competing with ISR Racing this season and has scored two podiums, leaving the Kuala Lumpur native 9th in the standings. Jaafar is also set to race in next weekend’s Total Spa 24 Hour Race with HTP Mercedes alongside reigning victors Maximilian Buhk and Maximilian Gotz.
Where this leaves Grosjean is anyone’s guess, but considering Lotus’s form this season, it would surprise no one if he was found announcing a drive with another team rather soon.
Victory in Germany for Mitch Evans. © Sam Bloxham/GP2 Series Media Service.
Mitch Evans won the 200th GP2 Series race at the Hockenheimring today thanks to a mixture of clever strategy and stellar driving by the RUSSIAN TIME racer.
The 2012 GP3 Series champion kept a stifled Stoffel Vandoorne and Jolyon Palmer at bay through the final few laps, to take the race by just 0.414s after 38 tours.
Under the intense heat, tyre degradation was originally thought to be the deciding factor; however while the drop off was less than expected, the soaring temperatures did alter the on track approach considerably.
Starting 15th on the soft Pirelli tyres, Evans escaped a first lap scare when he collided with Alexander Rossi; however the Kiwi emerged undamaged. Rossi was less fortunate.
From there, Evans maintained a steady pace, before pitting on lap 13, dropping the New Zealand pilot just behind the recently stopped Stéphane Richelmi, whom was dispatched within three laps.
Now just over thirty seconds adrift of the lead, Evans began to cut small clumps of time out of the leaders; only lose tenths here and there when traffic came into play; however the RUSSIAN TIME threat remained.
As Vandoorne controlled the front with a series of laps in the 1’28” bracket, Evans launched into the 1’27s on harder Pirelli’s, yet the once the edge peeled away Evans began lapping approximately one second slower, while Vandoorne began to dip into the 1’29s.
It was enough. As Vandoorne returned to the track after stopping on lap 25, the Belgian dropped in behind Evans, but unusually held back. With a faulty radio and under the belief that Evans had still to pit, Vandoorne held steady until the later laps, before realising that the RUSSIAN TIME man had already made his compulsory tyre change.
For Vandoorne, it was too late. With the best of his tyres gone, the ART Grand Prix could little to force an error from the leader, even though Evans was beginning to struggle with his rears. Vandoorne made one final attempt on lap 38, but Evans held his nerve and his lead to take his 2nd win of the season.
Make no mistake – this was a brilliantly gauged victory for the RUSSIAN TIME team. Having discovered a problem with the front anti-roll bar after qualifying, the team realigned and pushed into the race using information from Silverstone. It worked and Evans’ intelligent drive thereafter did the rest.
Palmer dropped two seconds behind Vandoorne in the last couple of tours, but the championship leader was well ahead of 4th place driver Stefano Coletti come the end. Coletti, however, only narrowly pipped Felipe Nasr at the flag, after the pair had an astonishing battle with Simon Trummer, Johnny Cecotto Jr and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs.
After running 4th for much of the race, Nasr stopped on lap 24 – one after Coletti – however having dropped three seconds behind the Monegasque driver in the first portion of the race, there was little Nasr could do to overhaul his rival, despite Coletti setting an astonishing slow in-lap. It’s another points finish for Nasr, but also more points lost to Palmer in the standings.
Amidst the quick Coletti / Nasr fight, the early stopping Quaife-Hobbs proved a blockage late in the race, while Trummer and Cecotto Jr stumbled over each other as each tried to break the Englishman.
Trummer followed through into 6th place – setting his fastest lap on the last one –while Cecotto Jr’s pace fell away. Nathanaël Berthon persevered to take 8th after stopping on lap 13 – a brilliant drive to the points and reverse grid pole for Race Two.
Marco Sørensen finished 9th after climbing up from the penultimate row of the grid and Stéphane Richelmi closed out the top ten, scoring the final point for DAMS.
The race was briefly interrupted after the start by the safety car. Following collisions between Sergio Canamasas and Conor Daly, Artem Markelov and Jon Lancaster and the Evans / Rossi incident, the area from the exit of turn two, through the Parabolika and the Hairpin became littered with debris. With punctures a very real possibility, the race was neutralised for three laps until the carbon fibre remnants were cleared.
Daly was also hit with a drive through penalty for pit lane speeding, when his speed sensor failed for the fifth time this season.
2014 GP2 Series Round of Germany (Rd 6, Feature Race, 38 laps)
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Mitch Evans Russian Time 58m15.099s
2. Stoffel Vandoorne ART +0.414s
3. Jolyon Palmer DAMS +2.755s
4. Stefano Coletti Racing Engineering +20.191s
5. Felipe Nasr Carlin +20.687s
6. Simon Trummer Rapax +23.432s
7. Johnny Cecotto Trident +30.583s
8. Nathanael Berthon Lazarus +33.160s
9. Marco Sorensen MP +35.879s
10. Stephane Richelmi DAMS +36.857s
11. Rene Binder Arden +37.111s
12. Tom Dillmann Caterham +38.081s
13. Takuya Izawa ART +43.096s
14. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Rapax +47.572s
15. Sergio Canamasas Trident +49.996s
16. Julian Leal Carlin +58.217s
17. Raffaele Marciello Racing Engineering +1m02.333s
18. Andre Negrao Arden +1m04.818s
19. Arthur Pic Campos +1m05.181s
20. Daniel Abt Hilmer +1m09.082s
21. Conor Daly Lazarus +1m09.244s
Classified, not finished
Rio Haryanto Caterham +1 lap
Retirements:
Jon Lancaster Hilmer +14 laps
Daniel de Jong MP +26 laps
Alexander Rossi Campos +33 laps
Artem Markelov Russian Time +38 laps
Vandoorne led Palmer for much of the race. © Sam Bloxham/GP2 Series Media Service.
© Sam Bloxham/GP3 Series Media Service.
Marvin Kirchhöfer scored his first GP3 Series victory this evening, mere hours after securing his maiden pole position.
The German racer also scored the fastest lap of the eighteen-lap race, with the bonus points helping Kirchhöfer into 3rd in the championship stakes.
Series leader Alex Lynn took a reasonably comfortable 2nd position ahead of the new podium regular Emil Bernstorff.
Although Lynn maintained close proximity throughout, Kirchhöfer rarely appeared threatened under the tough Hockenheim heat.
With a clean start, the ART Grand Prix racer held the lead at just over one second for the opening two-thirds of the race, before extending the gap to almost four seconds during the final six tours.
Bernstorff held on to the leading pair admirably, with the Carlin man finishing just 4.4s down on the eventual victor.
Despite a track temperature that hovered around the 50°C, the tyres largely held intact, promoting something of static race in the higher order. With the frontrunners generally holding a set pace, few overtaking opportunities were presented.
Behind the front three, Nick Yelloly finished 4th, having been past by Bernstorff off the line, but could not keep with the tougher pace. The race was less profitable for Dino Zamparelli, whose pace collapsed in the final two laps, leading to Dean Stoneman to slip by into 5th before the flag.
Title challenger Jimmy Eriksson drove a solid race to 7th, gaining three places during the eighteen laps, including two off the line. The Swede had the next position handed to him by an errant Mathéo Tuscher, who momentarily fell off the circuit on the twelfth tour.
Tusher’s made a second error on the following lap, allowing Nissan GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough in the frame.
By this point, the charging Mardenborough had already made moves on Luis Sá Silva (lap 7), Mitch Gilbert (lap 8), Robert Visoiu (lap 13) and Richie Stanaway (lap 15), before taking Riccardo Agostini two laps from the end. Mardenborough’s late burst also gives him reverse grid pole for the Sunday morning Race Two.
Agostini hung on to claim 9th, while Visoiu passed Stanaway three laps from the end to make sure of the last points paying position.
While he would have certainly appreciated the victory, the result does give Lynn an extra advantage over Eriksson in the points standings, with the Briton leading by a solid twenty scores.
The race was not without other action. Alfonso Celis Jr and Ryan Cullen clashed on the 2nd lap at the hairpin – Celis Jr received a three-place grid penalty as a result. Also Sebastian Balthasar made silly contact with Nelson Mason, also in the hairpin, three laps from the end.
However Kirchhöfer is beginning to hit his stride and the German F3 champion, so confident of his own skills, may eventually become a championship challenger yet.
2014 GP3 Series Round of Germany (Rd 4, Race 1, 18 laps)
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Marvin Kirchhofer ART 27m47.577s
2. Alex Lynn Carlin +3.359s
3. Emil Bernstorff Carlin +4.459s
4. Nick Yelloly Status +9.770s
5. Dean Stoneman Manor +12.928s
6. Dino Zamparelli ART +14.922s
7. Jimmy Eriksson Koiranen +16.702s
8. Jann Mardenborough Arden +17.173s
9. Riccardo Agostini Hilmer +18.231s
10. Robert Visoiu Arden +18.752s
11. Alex Fontana ART +20.483s
12. Patric Niederhauser Arden +29.000s
13. Richie Stanaway Status +29.462s
14. Mitch Gilbert Trident +29.672s
15. Adderly Fong Jenzer +29.873s
16. NelsonMason Hilmer +32.628s
17. Luis Sa Silva Carlin +36.620s
18. Matheo Tuscher Jenzer +37.224s
19. Pal Varhaug Jenzer +37.444s
20. Ryan Cullen Manor +37.635s
21. Roman de Beer Trident +41.959s
22. Santiago Urrutia Koiranen +46.976s
23. Victor Carbone Trident +47.277s
24. Sebastian Balthasar Hilmer +1m22.062s
Retirements:
Patrick Kujala Manor +2 laps
Carmen Jorda Koiranen +11 laps
Alfonso Celis Jr Status +17 laps
© Sam Bloxham/GP3 Series Media Service.
© Sam Bloxham/GP3 Series Media Service.
ART Grand Prix’s Marvin Kirchhöfer claimed the first pole position of his GP3 Series career at Hockenheim today.
The German set a late lap at 1:28.647s to steal the prize from points leader Alex Lynn (Carlin).
In astonishingly hot conditions, Kirchhöfer broke into the 1’28s early, leaving the field to catch; however the former German F3 champion was jumped by Lynn as the session drew to a close.
Emerging for another quick lap, Kirchhöfer maintained a good pace, eventually pipping Lynn by just half-a-tenth, while Status GP’s Nick Yelloly was a similar distance adrift of Lynn in 3rd.
Emil Bernstorff recorded an excellent 4th in his Carlin machine, while Mitch Gilbert took 5th for Trident. ART Grand Prix driver Dino Zamparelli fills out the third row.
Richie Stanaway (Status GP) and Mathéo Tuscher (Jenzer) closed out positions 7 and 8 respectively, with Dean Stoneman (Marussia Manor) just missing out on the top eight.
Title challenger Jimmy Eriksson (Koiranen GP) originally qualified in 5th place, but a five-place grid penalty left over from Silverstone dropped the Swede down to 10th overall.
2014 GP3 Series Round of German (Rd 4, Qualifying) Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Marvin Kirchhofer ART 1m28.647s 14 2. Alex Lynn Carlin 1m28.706s +0.059s 13 3. Nick Yelloly Status 1m28.749s +0.102s 12 4. Emil Bernstorff Carlin 1m28.910s +0.263s 15 5. Jimmy Eriksson Koiranen 1m28.949s +0.302s 14 6. Mitchell Gilbert Trident 1m28.995s +0.348s 13 7. Dino Zamparelli ART 1m29.133s +0.486s 13 8. Richie Stanaway Status 1m29.205s +0.558s 13 9. Matheo Tuscher Jenzer 1m29.212s +0.565s 13 10. Dean Stoneman Manor 1m29.247s +0.600s 13 11. Alex Fontana ART 1m29.329s +0.682s 14 12. Roman de Beer Trident 1m29.338s +0.691s 15 13. Robert Visoiu Arden 1m29.400s +0.753s 14 14. Jann Mardenborough Arden 1m29.405s +0.758s 13 15. Riccardo Agostini Hilmer 1m29.516s +0.869s 13 16. Alfonso Celis Status 1m29.531s +0.884s 11 17. Patric Niederhauser Arden 1m29.672s +1.025s 13 18. Sebastian Balthasar Hilmer 1m29.849s +1.202s 1? 19. Pal Varhaug Jenzer 1m29.870s +1.223s 15 20. Luis Sa Silva Carlin 1m29.951s +1.304s 12 21. Nelson Mason Hilmer 1m30.082s +1.435s 16 22. Ryan Cullen Manor 1m30.180s +1.533s 15 23. Patrick Kujala Manor 1m30.272s +1.625s 8 24. Adderly Fong Jenzer 1m30.646s +1.999s 13 25. Santiago Urrutia Koiranen 1m30.977s +2.330s 14 26. Victor Carbone Trident 1m31.219s +2.572s 17 27. Carmen Jorda Koiranen 1m32.951s +4.304s 16
© Sam Bloxham/GP3 Series Media Service.
Richie Stanaway ended GP3 Series practice at the Hockenheimring as the quickest man yesterday.
The Status Grand Prix man ended the session just two-tenths up on ART Grand Prix racer and local man Marvin Kirchhöfer, while Stanaway’s teammate Nick Yelloly claimed 3rd.
Despite the close of the evening, practice was still held very much in hot conditions, as track temperatures remained in the mid-40s° Celsius range, ensuring
Stanaway’s quickest reference point – a 1:29.473 – came in the five minutes of the session, although the Kiwi had spent much of the session near the top of the order.
ART Grand Prix also had a second car in the top four as Dino Zamparelli ran well, just edging ahead of Patrick Kujala (Koiranen GP) and Emil Bernstorff (Carlin) – the latter of whom enjoyed an adventured through the gravel at one point.
Patric Niederhauser (Arden) was the first of the driver’s unable to breach the 1’30s barrier. He pipped points leader Alex Lynn (Carlin) by just 0.008s come the end of the 45-minute session. Lynn’s title rival Jimmy Eriksson (Koiranen) could do no better than 22nd.
There were two quite embarrassing moments, as first Adderly Fong ran wide at turn one, but kept his foot down and eventually lost control, pitching him into the inside barriers at pit exit.
Also Riccardo Agostini ended the practice beached on the fake grass in the stadium section after he ran off at the tail end of the session.
It may matter little. This is only practice and qualifying comes later this morning and conditions may vary wildly under the morning sun.
2014 GP3 Round of Germany (Rd 4, Free Practice) Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Richie Stanaway Status 1m29.473s 16 2. Marvin Kirchhöfer ART 1m29.678s +0.205s 18 3. Nick Yelloly Status 1m29.729s +0.256s 14 4. Dino Zamparelli ART 1m29.740s +0.267s 18 5. Patrick Kujala Manor 1m29.792s +0.319s 20 6. Emil Bernstorff Carlin 1m29.814s +0.341s 18 7. Patric Niederhauser Arden 1m30.085s +0.612s 21 8. Alex Lynn Carlin 1m30.093s +0.620s 17 9. Roman de Beer Trident 1m30.241s +0.768s 20 10. Riccardo Agostini Hilmer 1m30.295s +0.822s 18 11. Dean Stoneman Manor 1m30.352s +0.879s 18 12. Alex Fontana ART 1m30.459s +0.986s 19 13. Mitchell Gilbert Trident 1m30.475s +1.002s 17 14. Luis Sa Silva Carlin 1m30.543s +1.070s 18 15. Sebastian Balthasar Hilmer 1m30.609s +1.136s 25 16. Robert Visoiu Arden 1m30.621s +1.148s 20 17. Pal Varhaug Jenzer 1m30.627s +1.154s 22 18. Matheo Tuscher Jenzer 1m30.706s +1.233s 22 19. Nelson Mason Hilmer 1m30.727s +1.254s 18 20. Jann Mardenborough Arden 1m30.768s +1.295s 22 21. Alfonso Celis Status 1m30.770s +1.29?s 18 22. Jimmy Eriksson Koiranen 1m30.979s +1.506s 16 23. Ryan Cullen Manor 1m31.166s +1.693s 22 24. Adderly Fong Jenzer 1m31.792s +2.319s 13 25. Victor Carbone Trident 1m31.813s +2.340s 14 26. Santiago Urrutia Koiranen 1m32.401s +2.928s 18 27. Carmen Jorda Koiranen 1m35.289s +5.816s 19
Palmer on pole. © Sam Bloxham/GP2 Series Media Service.
Jolyon Palmer secured his third GP2 Series pole of the season at Hockenheim today.
Despite running the fewest laps of the session, the DAMS man nailed the one that counted, with a best of 1:23.383s coming on his third of eight laps.
It is a result that gives championship leader Palmer an additional four points, building his lead to 38 over Carlin rival Felipe Nasr.
ART Grand Prix’s Stoffel Vandoorne will line up aside Palmer on the front row; however the Belgian driver’s best lap was still some three-tenths shy of Palmer’s effort.
Stefano Coletti (Racing Engineering) took 3rd on the grid, leading a tightly packed trio, which also consisted of GP2 Series returnee Tom Dillmann (Caterham, 4th) and Nasr (5th).
Campos Racing’s Arthur Pic continued his solid form to secure 6th on the grid, ahead of Raffaele Marciello, who lost two quick laps due to being blocked; first by Takuya Izawa and then by Rio Haryanto, both of whom attracted three-place grid drops.
Rounding out the fourth row will be Haryanto’s Caterham teammate, Alexander Rossi, followed by Rapax racer Simon Trummer. Johnny Cecotto Jr had originally set the 7th fastest time; however the Venezuelan was docked three positions for impeding Haryanto while on a quick tour.
Disappointingly Silverstone race winner Mitch Evans could do no better than 15th in his RUSSIAN TIME entry.
Although not quickest in any of the individual sectors, Palmer pole strung all his personal bests together – a feat matched by only Coletti – to pip Stoffel Vandoorne by over two-tenths.
If anything, this was a qualifying session characterised by inconsistencies throughout the field. As temperatures continued to rise, laptimes faltered from sector to sector while the Pirelli’s peeled away at a dramatic rate.
Some relative parity existed across the middle sector; however it appears Palmer’s opposition lost out through the first and final sector, where driver’s appeared to be losing tenths at a go.
Should similar weather conditions continue tomorrow, it may result in an interesting race, although maybe not a classic – from this point, it seems unlikely those who push the hardest will be the winners.
Watch out for the unflappable one who quietly controls the race under the German heat.
2014 GP2 Round of Hockenheim (Rd 6, Race 1 qualifying) Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Jolyon Palmer DAMS 1m23.383s 8 2. Stoffel Vandoorne ART 1m23.665s +0.282s 12 3. Stefano Coletti Racing Engineering 1m23.722s +0.339s 12 4. Tom Dillmann Caterham 1m23.776s +0.393s 11 5. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m23.781s +0.398s 12 6. Arthur Pic Campos 1m23.859s +0.436s 12 8. Raffaele Marciello Racing Engineering 1m23.918s +0.535s 12 9. Alexander Rossi Campos 1m23.965s +0.582s 13 10. Simon Trummer Rapax 1m23.983s +0.600s 12 7. Johnny Cecotto Trident 1m23.860s +0.477s 14* 11. Stephane Richelmi DAMS 1m24.024s +0.641s 12 12. Rene Binder Arden 1m24.094s +0.711s 10 13. Nathanael Berthon Lazarus 1m24.253s +0.870s 11 14. Daniel Abt Hilmer 1m24.311s +0.928s 12 15. Mitch Evans Russian Time 1m24.335s +0.952s 11 16. Julian Leal Carlin 1m24.421s +1.038s 11 17. Conor Daly Lazarus 1m24.437s +1.054s 11 18. Jon Lancaster Hilmer 1m24.453s +1.070s 14 19. Andre Negrao Arden 1m24.476s +1.093s 11 20. Artem Markelov Russian Time 1m24.496s +1.113s 11 21. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Rapax 1m24.590s +1.20?s 12 22. Sergio Canamasas Trident 1m24.598s +1.215s 13 23. Takuya Izawa ART 1m24.335s +0.952s 11** 24. Marco Sorensen MP 1m24.888s +1.505s 13 25. Rio Haryanto Caterham 1m24.502s +1.119s 11* 26. Daniel de Jong MP 1m25.189s +1.806s 11
Notes:
Penalties
*Cecotto Jr and Haryanto: 3-place grid drops for blocking.
**Izawa: 3-place grid drop for blocking, plus additional penalty following Silverstone round.
Vandoorne was also quick. © Sam Bloxham/GP2 Series Media Service.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton strode to the top of times in today’s second free practice at the Hockenheimring.
The Briton set a quickest alp of 1:18.341; just 0.024s quicker than teammate and championship leader Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton set his quickest toward the end of his qualifying simulation. The Englishman ran fastest just after Rosberg suffered a brief off on his opening flyer on the super-soft Pirelli’s.
Rosberg did improve the next time by, but fell short of his archrival.
Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) was 3rd quickest for Red Bull, finishing a tenth down of the silver pair out front.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was next on the timesheets, with Kevin Magnussen’s following through in 5th for McLaren.
The session was cut short for Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi whose engine gave up at the halfway point, while Marcus Ericsson also suffered mechanical difficulties in the second green machine.
© Leigh O’Gorman.
Things are looking well for Alex Lynn. The Red Bull backed 20-year-old fronts the GP3 Series with Carlin Motorsport and heads into this weekend’s fourth round at Hockenheim a confident man.
Of course, there are threats to his lead. Sweden’s Jimmy Eriksson won last time out at Silverstone and cut Lynn’s advantage to just eight points, but last year’s Macau Grand Prix winner does not appear outwardly concerned.
Admittedly, the difficulties experienced during the second races at both Barcelona and Austria annoyed the Essex-born racer, but Lynn is learning and he knows the speed is there.
As do Red Bull – and that is why Lynn is part of the programme that has helped deliver Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat. However the pressure is on and Red Bull expects.
Rumours circulating have already placed Carlos Sainz Jr in the recently bought out Caterham F1 squad, possibly to replace Kamui Kobayshi as early as after the summer break.
And Lynn believes he is ready to join the Red Bull pack on the Formula One grid in 2015, but to where?
While Vergne has done a reasonable job at Toro Rosso so far this year, one wonders in decent is ‘good enough’ against his rookie teammate Kvyat.
If the 20-year-old Russian continues to perform, the pressure on Vergne will only increase and if a door is going to open up for Sainz Jr and Lynn, Toro Rosso and Caterham may be where the duo could slot in.
But it is early days yet and there are still lots of races to run before decisions for the future are set in stone.
© GP2 Series Media Services.
Stefano Coletti headed the GP2 Series practice session at the Hockenheimring this afternoon.
Coletti’s quickest tour – a 1:24.771 – gave the Monegasque racer a one-tenth advantage over ART Grand Prix’ Stoffel Vandoorne.
Behind the leading pair was Coletti’s Racing Engineering teammate Raffaele Marciello, who was the first driver in the 1’25s.
The in-form Marciello showed some solid single lap pace again today; however the Italian was gingerly shadowed by Campos Racing new boy Alexander Rossi and Conor Daly, who pulled some credible pace from the Venezuela GP Lazarus machine.
Stéphane Richelmi took 6th for DAMS, ahead of his championship leader teammate Jolyon Palmer, who ran in 12th, while Palmer’s title challenger Felipe Nasr assumed 8th.
Silverstone Feature Race winner Mitch Evans was down in 17th place for RUSSIAN TIME. Evans’ teammate Artem Markelov enjoyed a harsh trip through the gravel earlier in the session, excitedly kicking up dust in the process.
As expected, there were plenty of off-track excursions at turn one, forcing the stewards to issue a number of warnings through the session.
Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg headed the opening free practice session of this weekend’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
As the circuit held a temperature around 27°-28° Celsius, the championship leader’s best lap of 1:19.131 was more than enough to keep him ahead of Silver Arrows teammate Lewis Hamilton.
The field was out in force in the early session, as teams ran their 2014 machines without the current FRIC system, following its ban by FIA stewards. Practice was busy early as teams ran the Pirelli soft compound tyre, which was handed back at the 30-minute mark.
Behind the Mercedes duo was Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, albeit three-tenths shy of the top time, while Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo ended the practice in 4th. Jenson Button (McLaren) closed out the top five, ahead of Sebastian Vettel who, in 6th place, was the first of the driver’s to not break the 1’20s barrier.
Vettel did head the early portion of the session with a 1:20.295; however as the field emerged for the second half of practice, times began to tumble considerably.
Kimi Raikkonen lost a chunk of the session to a mechanical failure in his Ferrari, as did Susie Wolff, whose Williams FW36 became stuck in 1st gear on her outlap. Fortunately both were able to rejoin the session, with Raikkonen lining up 8th and Wolff impressing in 15th, just two-tenths shy of her teammate Felipe Massa. Wolff did break the pitlane speed limit during the session, early a €1,000 fine.
2014 German Grand Prix (Rd 10, FP1) Pos Driver Team Time 1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:19.131 2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:19.196 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:19.423 4. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:19.697 5. Jenson Button McLaren 1:19.833 6. Sebatian Vettel Red Bull 1:20.097 7. Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:20.105 8. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:20.210 9. Daniil Kvyat Tori Rosso 1:20.337 10. Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:20.505 11. Felipe Massa Williams 1:20.542 12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:20.586 13. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:20.592 14. Sergio Perez Force India 1:20.598 15. Susie Wolff Williams 1:20.769 16. Giedo van der Garde Sauber 1:20.782 17. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:21.603 18. Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:21.854 19. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:22.572 20. Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:22.982 21. Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:23.256 22. Max Chilton Marussia 1:23.299
Following a rather long lay off due to injury, the German Grand Prix is to be my first race weekend back since Monaco.
It goes without saying that the past two months have been incredibly frustrating, as several trips have had to be cancelled as I waited.
It was also interesting to note how distant I had gone from airport routine once in Heathrow.
Parts of the airport “experience” had simply slipped from head, most likely due to amount of time one had spent lying on a couch with feet firmly propped into the air.
Alas apart from Kimi Raikkonen’s deft “I crashed” comment to FIFA nixing Nico Rosberg’s helmut, much of the Thursday musings have slipped me by on account of being office tied in other employment.
There were further developments at Caterham when it was announced that the new owners had laid off a portion of the staff in order to make the team more “efficient.”
We’ll see.
Admittedly, there is a part of me that always shudders when operations use the term “efficiency” to disguise the fact that they are sacking people.
But that is life unfortunately.
For now, lunch awaits.
It’s been a tricky 2014 for Rossi. © GP2 Series Media Services
Alexander Rossi will join Campos Racing’s GP2 Series effort this weekend, having announced the decision to split with the Caterham F1 and GP2 teams.
Rossi will drive in place of Kimiya Sato, who will be competing at this weekend’s Auto GP round at the Red Bull Ring.
As a consequence, former RUSSIAN TIME pilot, Tom Dillmann will occupy Rossi’s former seat with the EQ8 Caterham GP2 team; however whereas Rossi takes the Campos drive for Germany only, Dillmann is to remain with Caterham until at least Hungary.
This has been a very difficult season thus far for both Rossi and Caterham. The American lies 16th in the standings during a year when pre-season promise has proved extremely flat in practice.
Commenting on his official Facebook page, Rossi said: “It’s been an emotional couple of years with the [Caterham F1] team, the highlight being driving with them in Austin last year. Now it’s time to move on. My goal is to be in F1 and add value to the sport and I’m very optimistic about my next steps; we have a great opportunity to grow the sport in the States and I believe the timing is perfect.”
Meanwhile, Campos Racing have enjoyed a reasonable first season back in GP2, primarily at the hands of Rossi’s new teammate Arthur Pic, who has scored points in six of the ten GP2 races so far.
Rossi will be hoping that form – and some familiar faces – can improve his current championship position. “I had a chance to work with the team’s Technical Director Philippe Gautheron during the latter part of the 2013 season, including my win in Abu Dhabi,” said Rossi. “I feel we have a very good opportunity for a strong race weekend in Hockenheim.”
This marks a key point in Rossi’s career to date. It is no secret the American is quick and has shown good form against some top opposition in past season’s, but the treaded path has not always been the most consistent. What Rossi does next will be very intriguing, especially when one considers the relative importance of the US market to certain parties the in Formula One paddock.
Rossi’s departure comes on the back of numerous changes within the Caterham F1 organisation, which was bought out by Swiss and Middle Eastern investors two weeks ago.
Following the sale, Colin Kolles took charge of the squad, while Christijan Albers has become Team Principal; assisted by long time Kolles associate Manfredi Ravetto. Since then, the Ravetto-managed Nathanaël Berthon has been announced as the lead Caterham Development Driver.
Meanwhile, this will be Dillmann’s second GP2 appearance of the year, having filled in for the injured André Negrão at Barcelona in May. At that round, Dillmann scored a podium in the Sprint Race after starting from pole.
The 25-year-old will be looking for more the same over the next two weeks. He commented: “Driving for a successful team means that we should be able to achieve good results together and I hope that these two race weekends will help me find a GP2 seat for the rest of the season.”
A former German F3 champion, Dillmann was one of the unmentioned keys to RUSSIAN TIME’s success. He is previously a GP2 race winner, having claimed the top spot at Bahrain for the Sprint Race in 2012 with Rapax.
Dillmann, meanwhile, scored a podium in Spain. © GP2 Series Media Services.
© FIA F3 Media Services.
Ocon strikes back? To be fair, it is not as if Esteban Ocon went away at any point during Max Verstappen’s recent run of success.
Indeed, while Verstappen’s streak of six consecutive Formula 3 race victories – seven if you include the Zandvoort Masters – was mightily impressive, Ocon was rarely far adrift.
That the French teenager pulled four 2nd place finishes during his “barren patch” at Spa-Francorchamps and the Norisring says more about Ocon’s capacity to succeed, despite the rising pressures of closing a title amidst the Verstappen steam train.
Ocon’s victories at Moscow Raceway this weekend in his Mercedes-powered Prema Powerteam machine did much to settle those burgeoning nerves; his ambitions helped by Verstappen taking one retirement, while neither Lucas Auer nor Tom Blomqvist were in a position to capitalise.
Indeed, Ocon’s lead at the front is now at its strongest this year; however one remembers the same being written about Raffaele Marciello prior to last season’s third last round European F3 round at Zandvoort {note 1}…
But Ocon is well versed in the dialect of victory and from the moment he arrived at Moscow Raceway, the odds seemed to pull toward him. That he had previous experience of the circuit certainly helped. “I know the Moscow circuit from my time in Formula Renault 2.0 and I have already been on the podium there once,” said the Normandy native in the weekend preview, adding ominously, “After two meetings in which I didn’t score a single win, my goal is to change that in Russia.”
If there is one factor that should worry his rivals, it is that Ocon does not look like breaking any time soon. There are two meetings in August – at the Red Bull Ring and the Nürburgring – and the 17-year-old will do his utmost to close the door on this championship before the two-month break.
No one likes stories hanging on a thread quite like that.
Race One
“I like to race at this circuit that has many corners, which is something that generally suits me. Overtaking is not very easy at this track,” said Ocon prior to qualifying.
Oh how right he was. That his margin was over six-tenths of a second to the next fastest man, Carlin’s Jordan King, only served to further emphasise just how much Ocon enjoys the Moscow Raceway circuit.
True, it is not everyone’s favourite by a long shot, but when you are winning, appreciation grows.
King, of course, had other ambitions. “I’d rather be closer to pole position, time wise, but it’s still good to be on the front row. The aim now is get past Ocon at the start.”
Not a chance. Off the line, the Prema Powerteam racer stormed away and eventually claimed his first success of the weekend, breaking Verstappen’s run of six consecutive wins. Of the start, Ocon said: “Probably, my start was the best I made so far this year.”
King, too, made a good getaway; just not quite good enough. “The only real good opportunity to overtake was at the start, but unfortunately for me [Ocon] made a good start as did I, so the gap remained the same.”
In what was a show of pure strength, Ocon led each lap and while the lead rarely stretched to further than a few seconds, the truth is it did not need to be stretched. Inside the cockpit, Ocon was driving a thinking man’s race, especially when it came to managing his Hankook tyres. “I reckon that I used my tyres a little too much in the opening stages, because I got slower towards the end. Nevertheless, it was enough to bring victory home,” noted the victor.
As he stamped his authority on the race, the only thing Ocon didn’t break was a sweat.
Behind the leading Prema Powerteam man, King was also beginning to conserve. “In the opening stages, I wanted to follow Esteban and I probably slightly overdid it with my tyres, too. Just like Esteban, I wasn’t able to drive as fast as our rivals Max Verstappen and Tom Blomqvist towards the end either.”
Verstappen, meanwhile, had to push his way past Blomqvist to earn the final podium position. “My start […] wasn’t perfect,” said the Dutch Verstappen, adding, “I had a good first and second lap and I was able to overtake Tom Blomqvist at an early stage.” With the battle for 2nd – 4th running tight, neither Verstappen nor Blomqvist could force an error from the in-form King, ensuring a static battle as the crossed the line.
Behind the top four, Auer drove a canny race to 5th ahead of Antonio Fuoco (6th), while the battling Nicholas Latifi and Felix Rosenqvist accepted 7th and 8th respectively. Felix Serralles (9th) and Gustavo Menezes (10th) rounded out the points.
Race Two
Ocon added to his victory tally in Race Two – a result made sweeter when title rival Verstappen retired with an alternator failure.
Again from pole, the Frenchman led for the entirety of the event ahead of the battling Fuoco and Blomqvist, while Verstappen initially followed in 4th place.
“Once again, I had a good start,” beamed Ocon, who built a solid gap in the early running to ensure the threat from behind was minimised, controlling the pace thereafter. “It was my goal to pull a gap to my rival Antonio during the first couple of laps and I succeeded,” the winner continued. “After that, I had to stay focussed to avoid making any mistakes. Moreover, I tried to save my tyres.”
Fuoco, meanwhile, admitted that it was quite close to going dreadfully wrong again, as he commented afterward. “I almost stalled at the start, but I was able to hold on to my 2nd place.” Just.
Thereafter, he faced a challenge from Blomqvist, but while it was rarely appeared to be enough to worry the Italian, Fuoco was very aware of the presence of Blomqvist’s yellow-and-red Jagonya Ayam Carlin machine. “During the race, the tyres of my car degraded. I had to be careful to prevent Tom Blomqvist from overtaking me, because he was quicker than me during the second half of the race.” Blomqvist was not quite as sure. “I had no chance to mount a challenge to Antonio, because at this track, overtaking is very difficult.”
Verstappen’s lap eleven retirement promoted Auer to 4th, ahead of King (5th), Jake Dennis (6th), Rosenqvist (7th) and Latifi (8th). Dennis van de Laar took 9th after winning an intense late bate battle with Menezes, who assumed the final point.
Race Three
Ocon completed the rout on Sunday evening with another fine drive, although this victory was no walkover by any stretch. On this occasion, the Prema Powerteam rookie was slightly sluggish away; however he managed to protect his lead into the opening corner, in spite of Blomqvist’s impressive burst off the line…
“This time, my start wasn’t as good as in the two races before…” murmured the eventual victor.
Ocon led regardless; however any potential progress was halted by an opening lap safety car, introduced when several cars came together, including the damaged Serralles, Menezes and Roy Nissany (Fortec).
If he ever appeared to be worried about Blomqvist during the brief neutralisation, then his fears were allayed quickly. It turned out that the Jagonya Ayam Carlin racer’s impressive start was a little too impressive and soon the stewards handed Blomqvist (along with teammate Sean Gelael and EuroInternational’s Santino Ferrucci) drive-through penalties for jumping the lights.
Verstappen and Fuoco also got a touch feisty from the grid too; however the Italian could not pin down Verstappen long enough to solidify the move. “At the start, I almost managed to overtake Max,” said Fuoco. “During the course of the race, he was quicker than me. Then, I rather had to look into my rear-view mirrors to make sure that nobody was able to attack me…”
A status quo followed whereby Ocon led Verstappen who led Fuoco in a close group, separated from the rest of the field. Another safety car period squared things up in the final tour and when the race went green with only a lap remaining, Verstappen made his move.
The Dutch racer relayed: “On the final lap, I simply had to try to overtake Esteban. Unfortunately, I then made a slight driving error and he was able to get past again, but I am also very happy with this second place.” Ocon added: “Max overtook me, but then came off the racing line and I was able to pass him again. It was a good battle between the two of us.”
Fuoco could do nothing about the leading pair in the final moments; however the Formula 3 rookie was pleased with the outcome. “Scoring two podium finishes in one weekend is a nice result, with which I am very happy.”
Behind the podium trio, Dennis took more points for 4th ahead of Rosenqvist. Van de Laar registered 6th place in front of Blomqvist and the improving Tatiana Calderon (8th), while Hector Hurst and Antonio Giovinazzi rounded out the points paying positions.
Ocon’s fightback reinstates his huge lead in the championship over Verstappen. As the series moves back into mainland Europe in a few weeks, Ocon now leads his Dutch rival by 116 points, while the quietly consistent Auer has jumped Blomqvist for 3rd and 4th in the standings.
For now though, it’s all about the championship leader. On this weekend, no one ever seemed close.
{note 1}
Prior to the Zandvoort meeting, Marciello was in such control of the championship ahead of rival Felix Rosenqvist, the Italian could have come to within a few points of wrapping up the title amidst the Dutch dunes.
However a disaster of a round for Marciello saw his lead cut from 72.5 to 9.5 points in the space of three races, effectively reopening the championship at the penultimate meeting at Vallelunga… where Rosenqvist crashed in qualifying, effectively reopening the door for Marciello.
© FIA F3 Media Services.
Car counts have dropped in 2014, but Renault are confident for the future. © Renault Sport Media.
Renault have announced that it is to extend the life of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series category for at least another two years.
The series has faced pressure this year due to lower car counts, driven by high budgets, an ongoing worldwide recession and same level competition.
However following a consultation between Renault, the teams and associated technical partners, the French manufacturer announced a plan of action for 2015 and beyond to consolidate the series.
“The motor racing economic context is difficult,” commented the President of Renault Sport Technologies, Patrice Ratti.
Primary amongst the technical changes include a decision to extend the life of the current Dallara chassis to the end of the 2016 season. A strategy to reduce costs of replacement parts has also been examined, while the life span of the 3.4l Zytek engines and Ricardo gearboxes are also due to be extended, in order to extend part-life between rebuilds.
“We have also decided on a large number of competitiveness improvements, either by cost reduction of replacement parts, or by extending the life span thanks to the in-depth work of our engineers and technical partners,” said Ratti. He added the changes will “the teams to reduce their costs by at least 10%, which they have already anticipated in their discussions with their drivers for 2015.”
These alterations may be the step the series needed to halt the drop in entrants. Earlier this year, the field number fell to twenty – the lowest since the category’s inception in 2005; however Ratti is confident of the future. “I am very satisfied not only with the results, but also the constructive and creative spirit that has led the working group and which has contributed to reinforce the links between Renault Sport and the teams.
“With the introduction of the Renault Sport Trophy in 2015, everything is in place to assure a glorious future for the World Series by Renault.”
A headline of the World Series by Renault, FR3.5 is watched by over 400,000 spectators across seven events in Europe.
© Renault Sport Media.
Robert Merhi was victorious in Germany. © Renault Sport Media (Antonin Grenier / DPPI)
It is safe to say that it had been something of a barren couple of years for Roberto Merhi.
A former champion in the Formula 3 Euro Series category and race winner in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, the Spaniard decided upon a sidestep to the DTM with Mercedes.
It was not unreasonable of course. Monies for a stint in the GP2 Series can be hard to come by, especially when one looks at the numbers of Euro demanded around 2012/13.
On top of that, when a team – a factory team no less – offer up a paid position to drive one of their cars in a category like DTM, there are precious few who would or could say ‘no’.
That Merhi’s two years in DTM turned into a disaster, lifted by only a few points finishes, appeared to greatly shake the Spaniard. His sole podium came at the Hockenheimring at the end of last season, but by then it was far too late. It was clear that the Mercedes was not the manufacturer to be with in DTM – regardless, the 23-year-old entered 2014 a free agent.
Tests for both Formula Renault 3.5 Series and GP2 teams in the off-season eventually led to a drive with the Zeta Corse team and Merhi has paid the team with some handsome results. Indeed, in these opening six weekends of FR3.5, Merhi has done much to rebuild his confidence and with it his reputation.
The first podium at Monza was a welcome start, but apart from a poor couple of races at Spa-Francorchamps, Merhi continued to collect highly valued points; however it is at Moscow and the Nürburgring where the Spaniard has turned it on.
Suddenly in the space of four races, Merhi has taken two victories, a 2nd place and a 4th and the momentum is his and while the title still looks good for Carlos Sainz Jr, there can be little doubt that the former-DTM racer is getting back on his feet.
“We are getting stronger and stronger at each meeting,” said the Race Two winner on Sunday and of that, there is no doubt, but what’s next? It may be difficult, if not impossible at this point, for Merhi to secure anything that will get him remotely close to Formula One – that door may also be locked – so where does the Castellón de la Plana native go from here?
Race One
Carlos Sainz Jr took his fifth Formula Renault 3.5 win of the season during Saturday’s race at the Nürburgring, despite a late rain shower placing a spanner in the works.
The Spaniard headed an on-form Roberto Merhi and Sergey Sirotkin, while title protagonist Oliver Rowland finished 4th.
For the sixth time in 2014, Sainz Jr had taken the pole position spot, but had one read the DAMS driver’s comments during the early part of the weekend, one might be forgiven for thinking the teenager’s response a touch conservative.
“No-one expected us to [take pole], because we had not been doing really great sector times,” noted Sainz Jr, adding, “Right at the end of the session it all came together and we got the lap we needed and pole by just two hundredths of a second.”
Once the lights were out, Sainz Jr led for the duration from Rowland, gently easing away from his British rival; however, as almost typical for the classic German circuit, a quick rain shower came close to turning the race on its head in the closing tours.
“It was only a question towards the end…” he said. Playing the part of the leading man made sure Sainz Jr faced the worsening conditions first and the Spaniard’s performance in the final reckoning – in comparison to his rivals – may be critical come the Jerez finale in October. “It was raining more and more and the track was getting quite wet for slicks, I just had to judge the conditions and not make any mistakes.”
With grip shorn away from beneath his Michelin tyres, the DAMS racer kept his nerve at the front of the pack and drove a mature final few tours to secure an advantage of 4.15s at the flag. “I was happy with our pace,” said the 19-year-old victor. “It was hard to build a lead in the opening laps […] and then the rain began to make things complicated.”
As his title rivals fell away, Sainz Jr clicked into championship mode and secured full Saturday points in the process. “I had to bring the car home because I wanted to avoid making a mistake at all costs.” By Saturday evening, that lead had become significant.
Sainz Jr’s cause was helped by Rowland falling back late on, through no fault of his own it must be added. The Briton could not keep up with Sainz Jr through the race; however 2nd place would still have offered a credible payout, had it come his way.
With each tour, it appeared as if the 21-year-old Rowland had done enough for the runner-up position, while at the same time watching his mirrors for an attack from Merhi.
It was not to be this time for the Racing Steps Foundation backed pilot, as he revealed: “With one a half laps to go the steering wheel suddenly flashed on and off and then just switched off completely. So I had no clutch, no gears, no DRS or anything like that which meant I had to complete the race stuck in fourth…”
The mechanical failure crucially robbed the Briton of top speed and allowing both Merhi and Sirotkin to sweep past, demoting Rowland to 4th. “When that happened I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it to the finish. So, under the circumstances, fourth wasn’t too bad – but massively disappointing nonetheless.”
Rowland had been fortunate early on though – a sluggish start could have dropped him significantly down the order, had Sirotkin also not been slow away. Amidst this, Merhi made a good start to jump Sirotkin and slot behind Rowland, but as noted by the former-DTM racer: “I tried to pass Oliver at the first corner, but he did a better job exiting the corner. Then, I tried to pour on the pressure…”
As the weather worsened, Merhi held on to 2nd spot, several seconds ahead of Sirotkin, who lost a chunk of time in the final few miles, but oh how things changed in those final miles. “Thanks to the rain arriving I went from defending third position hard to being second,” said Merhi. “Also I could have to fight for the win with one or two more laps. Anyway I’m very happy with the overall result, it’s the third podium of the season and it confirms the step ahead I’ve made with Zeta Corse.”
Sirotkin eventually finished almost ten seconds down on the race winner, but the young Russian reasonably happy with his run. “I am happy to finish third. The race pace was good, but it was hard to pass and I couldn’t find an opening on Roberto and he didn’t make a single mistake.”
Rowland, meanwhile, lost ten seconds over the final pair of tours, but he still had an enough of an advantage to stay ahead of Marlon Stöckinger (5th), who in turn edged Matias Laine (6th) and Pietro Fantin (7th). Oscar Tunjo took 8th place just ahead of Zoël Amberg (9th) and Marco Sørensen to secure his second points finish of the season.
It was more than Pierre Gasly managed. The Frenchman’s title hopes took a big hit, when he could do no better than 20th, following a clash with Roman Mavlanov on the lap two; although one could argue Gasly’s lowly qualifying position of 17th did not aid matters.
“I would say that I had some really bad luck but that is the way it goes sometimes,” said Gasly of his circumstance. The Frenchman was well aware that many of his woes could be traced to Saturday morning’s qualifying session. “With the second set [of tyres], I had a good lap going but then got blocked. On the next lap I was going well again but Sirotkin went off and came back on in front of me, ruining that lap as well.”
And like dominos, when one falls, they all fall. “That put me 17th on the grid. If that wasn’t bad enough, in the race I was hit!”
Race Two
Come Sunday afternoon, Merhi jumped up to 2nd in the title challenge, following a disastrous day for the main protagonists. From pole at the Nürburgring, Merhi led for the distance from the returning Matthieu Vaxivière and Marlon Stöckinger in a safety car interrupted event.
The Spaniard was ecstatic, but it all began to really come together on Sunday morning. “Everything has been perfect. In qualifying I had the help of the rain, as on a wet track I always feel very comfortable, and that helped to get a very important pole.”
Pole always helps, as does a good getaway, but it helps a little more when your rivals err. Merhi originally drew away from Tunjo, Sainz Jr and Rowland; however as Rowland ran slightly deep into the tight turn one, Tunjo was pitched into the apex and then Rowland, who in turn collected Sainz Jr.
The Colombian Tunjo was clear who was at fault. “At the first corner Rowland overshot the braking and pushed me to the inside before touching Sainz. So I got in a melee, I was hit again and lost the steering before having to park at the side of the track.”
Meanwhile at Fortec, Rowland was – understandably – more concerned with the title implications. “Today I’ve lost another chance to close the gap to Sainz, but it’s happened. So I’ve just got to redouble my efforts in Hungary after the summer break.”
Although neither Gasly nor Rowland held on to 2nd in the points, Sainz Jr was disappointed to have dropped valuable scores in what was a silly incident. “I got a good start, went to the outside to challenge for the lead but then got hit hard and that was the end of my race. I woke up with a 57 point lead and now I am going to bed with a 39 point lead so that is not a good day.” If nothing else, one could call the incident clumsy. And possibly very expensive.
It was not the sole circus of carbon fibre on the opening tour – moments later at turn two, another collision between several cars removed Beitske Visser, Meindert van Buuren and Matias Laine from the event.
After the safety disappeared, Merhi headed Vaxivière; however the Frenchman could not push past the determined Merhi in the remaining laps, despite intensely shadowing the Zeta Corse runner. The Spaniard however rarely seemed worried. “Despite having a rival very close, I never felt at any moment that the win was in danger as I was running very calmly.”
Through each tour, Vaxivière maintained his presence, but come 23 laps, lost out to Merhi by the tune of 1.37s, with latter claiming his second victory of the season. “The safety car wasn’t good for me because it erased my lead from Matthieu, who was very quick today. Happily, we made a good pit stop to come back out just ahead and wrap up an excellent weekend with this victory.”
In what was his comeback weekend from injury, Vaxivière was delighted to at least pick up 2nd place. “We were very fast today, but Roberto didn’t make a single mistake. He was hard to catch and it is always difficult to pass on this track. Nevertheless, I am ecstatic with this second place.”
Stöckinger had to work hard to keep Sirotkin at bay for 3rd and 4th places during the pitstops. The Russian stopped a lap prior to Stöckinger, but was unable to turn that into an advantage, with the 3rd place man defending vigorously once he emerged from the pits.
Once settled, Stöckinger pulled away from Sirotkin, leaving the latter to fend off the intentions of Amberg and Monaco winner Norman Nato; however neither Amberg nor Nato could press an error from Sirotkin – across the line, the Sirotkin-Amberg-Nato train were covered by just 1.4s for 4th-6th places.
Will Stevens took 7th, propping up a quiet weekend. The Briton only just edged out Gasly, who rose to 8th from the back of the grid, following the opening lap melee. Jazeman Jaafar assumed 9th for ISR, while Will Buller ran the Malaysian close in 10th spot.
Of note, Tech-1 Racing fielded two cars for the first time this season, GP3 Series regular Alfonso Celis Jr teamed up alongside Sørensen. Comtec Racing returned to the FR3.5 fold with Cameron Twynham behind the wheel – the team’s third driver in only their fourth round this year.
Following the recent short burst of races, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series goes on a long break, before returning at the Hungaroring for the seventh round in mid-September.
The field will have much to think about over the following weeks, especially Gasly and Rowland who have both now lost out to Merhi in the standings, but is Sainz Jr worried..?
Merhi thinks he should be: “I know that the first position is still quite far away and that it will be very hard to get there, but I’m fighting with that target in mind as long as I still have any mathematical chance.”
Alas, there are six races remaining.
Merhi delivered another win for the Zeta Corse team… © Renault Sport Media (François Flamand / DPPI)
…while Sainz Jr delivered for DAMS. © Renault Sport Media (François Flamand / DPPI)
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