Alvin's Formula One Blog

Here is the conclusions from PlanetF1. Original article is here . Driver of the Day for Max, farewell to Felipe and congrats to the other Felipe. Donington 1993. Barcelona 1995. Monza 2008. Interlagos 2016 Max Verstappen finished third on Sunday but by all accounts put in the drive of the day. “Mega…You’re witnessing something special today,” his boss Christian Horner said. Special is an understatement. The teenager’s drive in the wet is among some of the all-time great drives in adverse weather and reminiscent of Ayrton Senna’s spectacular drive at Donington in 1993, Michael Schumacher’s maiden victory for Ferrari in the rain in Spain two years later, and Sebastian Vettel’s remarkable win for Toro Rosso eight seasons ago. As this column has noted before, Verstappen has an impressive toolkit. In 2016 he has proved he can defend, attack, overtake. And he has got race craft and one-lap pace too. On the evidence available at Interlagos he can do it all in the wet too. Any on...

Enjoyed the Italian GP? I didn't. A bad start from Lewis handed the race to Rosberg. "Pure class"? I disagree but I still will post this article just so that we can see at the end of the season how deluded Rosberg was. Of course he has a chance at the title but on pure pace and skills, Lewis wins hands down. Only luck can win it for Rosberg. This article was written by Michelle Foster of PlanetF1. The original article can be found here. Pure class from Nico Rosberg at a grand prix that proved that speed doesn’t guarantee good racing. Rosberg’s got something It was a classy win for Nico Rosberg as he raced unchallenged to his maiden Italian Grand Prix win. Detractors will say it was an easy one, made uncomplicated by Lewis Hamilton’s start misfortunes, but Rosberg still did had to do the work. He still had to lay down the fast laps, build a lead over the Ferraris – and over Hamilton by more than a second per lap in the opening stage – and he had to maintain hi...

Formula 1 heads to the 'Temple of Speed' at Monza this weekend for an Italian Grand Prix where fast laps and low downforce will be key talking points. The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is one of the most iconic racetracks on the Formula 1 calendar. It was built in 1922 and has staged more world championship grands prix than any other circuit in the world. Only once, in 1980, has the circuit not been on the F1 calendar. Up until the early ’60s, racing took place on a fearsome six-mile oval. But the death of Wolfgang von Trips and 15 spectators in the 1961 Italian Grand Prix resulted in future races taking place on a shorter road course, with the last true ‘slipstreaming’ battle taking place in 1971, after which chicanes were installed to slow the cars. The track is still the fastest in Formula 1, with today’s cars exceeding 200mph (322km/h) on four occasions around the lap. The average speed is in excess of 150mph (241km/h), so the teams use one-off low-downforce aerodyna...

This weekend F1 roars back into life after the summer break at the Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium one of the heritage jewels in the F1 calendar. With 19 corners on a 7km lap, Spa is the longest track on the calendar and one of the toughest on engines, with two sustained periods of flat out full throttle each lap; from La Source hairpin to Les Combes chicane which is around 25 seconds and then later in the lap the run through Blanchimont to Bus Stop chicane. The first national race of Belgium was held in 1925 at the Spa region's race course, an area of the country that had been associated with motor sport since the very early years of racing. To accommodate Grand Prix motor racing, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps race course was built in 1921 but it was only used for motorcycle racing until 1924. After the 1923 success of the new 24 hours of Le Mans in France, the Spa 24 Hours, a similar 24-hour endurance race, was run at the Spa track. Since inception, Spa-Francorchamp...

CONCLUSIONS FROM THE ITALIAN GP Original article HERE Pressure point, Monza magic, Nico's chances are slipping and more in our Conclusions From The Italian GP. Pressure Point At Spa all the talk was about a right-rear tyre, and at Monza it was all about a left-rear tyre. "No questions, just execute," were the words relayed to Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes pitwall urged the Championship leader to pull out more of a gap over Sebastian Vettel in the closing stanza of the Italian Grand Prix but were reluctant to give their man a reason for the request. Hamilton duly won by around 25 seconds, but the nature of the messages suggests that Mercedes feared the repercussions of official sanction over a potential breach of the regulations. After the race Mercedes were indeed summoned by the stewards because Hamilton's left-rear tyre pressure was 0.3psi lower than the mandated minimum. Although Hamilton's 40th career victory was briefly at risk, the officials d...

The first national race of Belgium was held in 1925 at the Spa region's race course, an area of the country that had been associated with motor sport since the very early years of racing. To accommodate Grand Prix motor racing, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps race course was built in 1921 but it was only used for motorcycle racing until 1924. After the 1923 success of the new 24 hours of Le Mans in France, the Spa 24 Hours, a similar 24-hour endurance race, was run at the Spa track. Since inception, Spa-Francorchamps has been known for its unpredictable weather. At one stage in its history it had rained at the Belgian Grand Prix for twenty years in a row. Frequently drivers confront a part of the course that is clear and bright while another stretch is rainy and slippery. The Belgian Grand Prix was designated the European Grand Prix six times between 1925 and 1973, when this title was an honorary designation given each year to one grand prix race in Europe. It is one of the mo...

Silverstone always serves up a good race because of the layout of the circuit and the British weather. Sebastian Vettel found that out nicely when he made the right call for intermediate tyres late in the race and landed in P3 after an uneventful race for him. Lewis Hamilton made an inspiring call late in the race for the same tyres and won the race. Although to be honest without the rain, Nico Rosberg would have overhauled him in the last couple of laps as Nico was taking chunks out of his time with slick tyres on a wet track. That disn't make sense really. How can he be so fast on slicks on a wet track like that? Anyway here is what PlanetF1 had to say about it. PF1'S CONCLUSIONS FROM BRITAIN Original article HERE It was a great opportunity for Williams right up until the moment it wasn't... Williams waste an opportunity Silverstone is a special circuit for Williams, one of F1's most special constructors. Clay Regazzoni swept to the team's first e...

That was a boring race. Really. A few laps in and it was processional. I thought the track was supposed to make it a good race but somehow it fizzled out. It's not helped by the fact that Lewis lost the lead at the start and didn't have the pace to challenge all race long. Yes there were some good battles at the back but still most laps were slow. Even the commentators were struggling with what to say. Here is what PlanetF1 had to say about it. Danger is never far away, McLaren into the abyss, game of moans and more in our conclusions from the Red Bull Ring. DANGER IS NEVER FAR AWAY As Formula 1 grapples with its latest identity crisis, much debate has centred on whether F1 is a business or showbiz, and whether F1 cars are fast and exciting enough. The discussion was rendered moot on lap 1 of the Austrian Grand Prix when Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari lost the rear on a straight and slapped Fernando Alonso's McLaren. The two cars came to a rest with Alo...

A standard dream of any F1 fan is to be able to work in F1 itself or around it. Imagine being able to earn money while doing something that is directly or indirectly involved in the best and most exciting sport on the planet. I have had that pleasure between 2000 and 2009 when I was involved in supplying F1 simulators to sponsors of F1 such as TAG-Heuer, Mercedes and many more. It was a simulator designed and built by me and my friends which ran an F1 game. It was half a F1 car and we lugged it around the world. Even though it was not a direct job inside F1, it was still enormously satisfying being able to go to different cities and sharing my excitement of the F1 world with many people. Here is a photo of the simulator. Now, it is not that easy to get yourself involved in F1 but what if you could? What would your current skill set do for your F1 career? How would you fit into F1? Well Williams F1 Team and Randstad have an app that could size you up and tell you where and how yo...