Alvin's Formula One Blog

A look back at the 2016 F1 season in numbers with Pirelli. I know some of it is unnecessary but it's interesting that they keep track of so many things. "This has been an incredible season both on and off the track," says Pirelli Motorsport Director, Paul Hembery, as the Italian manufacturer reflects on the busiest F1 season ever. "So here are a few facts and figures as a souvenir of a year that will go down in history. "Pirelli has introduced a brand new compound - the ultrasoft - and also new regulations that allowed teams to use three compounds during each race, selected in advance. This extra tactical intrigue proved to be a highlight of the year, enhancing the show still further. "We also had the final season of tyres with a deliberately high level of degradation, as from next year we adopt a new philosophy in line with the latest direction for the sport. "At the same time as completing this season, we were testing for the next one: both...

Hey everybody. We're back with another guest post by Joshua Madisson. The news had barely got around the world that Nico Rosberg had won the Formula 1 World Championship, before it was revealed he had also announced his retirement. This came just five days after lifting the trophy. He is leaving at the highest possible point in a career and said in his statement "I have climbed my mountain, I am on the peak, so this feels right,". But this leaves not only F1 without one of its stars, but also Lewis Hamilton needing a new teammate . Rosberg is only 31, but has been racing for 25 of those years. He is the second big name to retire after Jenson Button who also called it time. Button was honoured by the University of Bath this week for his services to the sport and contribution to British racing. Unlike when Button won his F1 Championship with Brawn, Rosberg is not going to try and add to his collection. The German’s experience is quite extensive considering his young...

500 million  human lives disrupted on April 17th, 2016. The survivors of the nuclear race called the race Judgment Day. They lived only to face a new nightmare: the war using the machines. The computer which controlled the machines, FIAnet, sent two ideas through. Their mission: to destroy any semblance of family life in young adults by getting them hooked onto racing with machines. The leader of the resistance..uh wuh whut? Yeah! Yeah! I'm awake! Shut yer trap. These are strange times we live in. We have all sorts of sports where people physically partake in the testosterone drenched quest of greatness but somehow we still can't get out of our seats or throw down that controller. Racing by proxy has arrived folks. And it's no XBOX. Drone racing they call it. And to tell you all about is Joshua Madisson, our regular guest writer. Drones is a word we all have had to get used to talking about. Whether it is on the news in wars, or Amazon suggesting using a new deliver...

You've read this before. An F1 car vs a road car. There is really no match here. But still the facts are staggering in the least. So to whet your appetite for the second race of the season, here is an infographic of an F1 car against a road car. If you enjoyed this posting, please do share it with your network so more people can enjoy it as well. Also, check out my Lewis Hamilton inspired designs at my online shop. Unique, personal Triple F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton inspired designs for the loyal Lewis Hamilton fan. Support Lewis this season by owning this collection. Get yours now! 1. Hamilton Tees (fixed designs) - http://shop.spreadshirt.com/hamiltontees/ 2. Lewis Hamilton T-shirt (design your own) - http://lewishamiltontshirt.spreadshirt.com/ Thank you for your support. May you enjoy it with this new season and your favorite team/driver wins! Here is a sample.

In a bid to spice up racing this year, the tyre rules were tweaked to give teams a choice of three compounds rather than two at a race weekend. Of the 13 sets available to drivers over a weekend, Pirelli sets aside one of each -- leaving 10 sets available for each driver to choose between for the race weekend. Of the three compounds set aside by Pirelli, the softest will always be the one set aside for qualifying, with one each of the other compounds allocated for Sunday. The regulations state two different compounds must be used during the race, though that does not have to be both of the tyres set aside for use by Pirelli for Sunday. OK, you've read the explanations; how Pirelli will nominate two mandatory race sets for each car and one set of the softer compound will have to be kept for use in Q3 only, and at least one of the two sets must be used during the race... yadda, yadda, yadda. So what? Do you get it? I still am confused. So many questions. Will the top 10 start o...

F1Fanatic is one of the best, if not THE best F1 sites out there. There I said it. Keith who runs it is a very knowledgeable and connected individual in the world of F1. He may not be right all the time but his site has relevant content that is presented in a way that is easy to consume for us F1 fans. I'm not paid to rave about him or his site by the way. Although if anybody thinks I should be..thanks! I just wanted to share what a great site F1Fanatic is. And if you're any type of F1 fan, bookmark the place. So the reason I wanted to post about this today is because F1Fanatic has done such a great job putting together all the information we need about all the new 2016 cars. For those who like to pore over details, this posting from F1Fanatic is excellent. It's interactive, you can put 2 different cars side by side then move the slider to reveal or hide more of one car or the other. You have to see it to understand. And there are views from the top, front, side and r...

Have you ever heard of the term "Gobledygook"? It's a term I learnt a long time ago when I was much younger. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the short definition is "speech or writing that is complicated and difficult to understand." The full definition is "wordy and generally unintelligible jargon". Wikipedia groups gobledygook together with gibberish: Gibberish and gobbledygook refer to speech or other use of language that is nonsense, or that appears to be nonsense. Lately the F1 rules by the FIA seems to be nonsense, isn't it? Especially with qualifying. The new rules on qualifying has been bent over so much that I have trouble figuring out what is going on. And that was last year. I finally got around to it and now they've twisted it even more. Then they said they won't have it by Melbourne but will start at Spain as Bernie Ecclestone claimed the relevant software and broadcast graphics would not be ready in time. No...

The 2016 season is almost upon us. Launch season is here. The first test session of the season is only next week. All drivers have been confirmed. So what will the cars look like? We can only guess. We'll have to wait till next week at least to have a look when the first test starts in Barcelona. How will they sound? We've been told that they'll sound louder and better. The main “improvement” in the quality of F1’s sound for 2016 will come from new regulations allowing two exhaust pipes instead of one. Mercedes’ technical chief, Paddy Lowe, is convinced the system will work, although he admits he is unsure of how much louder, exactly, the new 2016-spec. engines will be. According to Williams technical chief Pat Symonds it will be up to 25 per cent louder. Although Symonds admits the wastegate "doesn't open very much" on modern-day engines, with the turbo units designed to be as efficient as possible, the layout of the exhaust system used in 2014 and 201...

I read an interesting article today written by Keith of F1Fanatic. I always reads his blog and his views are quite on the spot of things F1. The article was about F1 attendance figures at the live races, on track. We know as F1 fans that attendance figures have dropped due to many factors. One of the fan favorite and most enduring factor is cost. Every F1 fan would like to attend a live F1 race at least once in their lifetime or maybe even a few. But sad to say the price of admission has prevented us from going. Yes we can buy the cheapest ticket but that is reserved for the hardcore fan who doesn't mind the heat or cold or rain. Keith commented that: It’s an unfortunate fact of Formula One that merely being well-attended is not enough for a race to keep its place on the calendar. So many races are now subsidised by governments that promoters cannot expect to cover the hosting fees Ecclestone demands by selling tickets. A case in point is the United States Grand Prix, wh...

Hello everyone. It's been some time since I posted. Been busy and had nothing worthwhile to write about. Too many rehash news to bother. The new season is upon us and some exciting things happening. One of it is that Magnussen is back. The underated Dane didn't have such a good time at McLaren but he may have a second chance to show what he's made of. If it doesn't work out, he can always form a retro 80s boy band. He certainly has the hair for it. To explain about his potential we have a guest writer this time, Joshua Mason speaking about the Dane. The Young Viking Returns 1000 years ago the Vikings crossed the seas to pillage our lands and create kingdoms of their own. While those barbaric times are over, the modern equivalent battles, of high end Sport, are experiencing the same thing. Kevin Magnussen of Denmark has returned to Formula 1 and after failing to impress Mercedes enough, he has been given a lifeline in the form of Renault’s return. Will they ...

Formula One racing’s governing body the FIA has released a revised provisional schedule for next year’s world championship, with the season set to get underway in Australia in March, not in April as previously indicated. A record 21 races remain on the calendar, with the brand-new event in Baku, Azerbaijan taking place the week after Canada - one of six back-to-back Grand Prix weekends. Also announced at Wednesday’s World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) meeting in Paris were new rules to increase the noise of cars. From 2016, all cars must have a separate exhaust wastegate tailpipe through which all and only wastegate exhaust gases must pass. This move will not have any significant effect on power or emissions. Several other changes were announced to the F1 regulations. They were: Cars must now comply with all cockpit and safety equipment requirements during testing; such as the position of the driver’s head, all headrest padding, cockpit padding and ease of driver egress. Sport...