Austrian GP preview

By Simon Baggus

We will all be watching as the lights go out in Austria

You have to go back to 1964, at Zeltweg Airfield, where the first Austrian Grand Prix was held. It had been a success but was then deemed to unsafe to race on. The race was removed from the F1 calendar until 1970, where a new circuit, purpose built for F1, made its way back onto the calendar.

The legendary Osterreichring was the new home, again located close to Zeltwerg. The Austrian GP was at this venue for 18 consecutive years. 1987 the year it was closed, this time being regarded too dangerous to race on.

The Austrian GP again, was removed from the F1 calendar, this time for a whole decade. The track needed updating and modernising.The track had several changes to its layout and re opened as the A1-ring. The A1-ring went onto hold championship events from 1997 to 2003.

In order for the circuit to be reaccepted by Formula One, several changes again, had to be made. This time, the circuits length had been reduced, the sweeping curves had been cut short or bypassed and a slower, twisting infield section had been inserted. 

From the outset, the circuit seemed to many to be a shadow of its former self and when we return there this weekend, with the circuit re named the Red Bull Ring, there will no doubt be a cloud of doubt as to what it will bring. 

All we can say is that it has long fast straights, with tight and twisty corners, that will again, be a problem on brakes. 

Ironically with Rosberg leading the championship this year, one of the highlights from this circuit was of his father Keke Rosberg, who recorded one of the closest ever finishes in Grand Prix history, just 0.08 separating himself and winner Elio De Angelis. 

Schumacher won last time in Austria

Last time out, in Canada, Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo scored a memorable maiden win. Capitalising on a troubled race for previously dominant Mercedes, the result was a major step forward for the Austrian-licensed team and it will be looking to continue that good form at its home track.
 
In the Drivers’ Championship, second place in Montreal allowed Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg to extend his title lead over team-mate Lewis Hamilton to 22 points. The Briton will be keen to redress the balance in Spielberg, but on a circuit unfamiliar to the bulk of the current field, this latest iteration of the Austrian GP could turn out to be one of the most unpredictable of the season so far.

Mercedes are by no means still the class of the field, lets not forget that please, they only suffered mechanical failures and Red Bull pounced on the opportunity. 

Hamilton has it all to do and for some reason everyone still seems to think this championship is his, but Rosberg is going about his business plucking away in the championship and this weekend is no different. He will draw on his fathers experience of past times to help him.

Ricciardo will look to keep his momentum going and to beat him team mate Sebastian Vettel, who has been told to up his game. 

Ricciardo would love another win

Force India ran fantastically in Canada and Austria should bring the same, they will resume their battle with Williams but they will both be hoping for an incident free weekend. I am sure something will be said this weekend about it and both Massa and Perez have their views on it. Lets see who comes up best. Putting your money on Hulkenberg is not a bad bet. 

Ferrari, need a miracle, lets be honest. They can draw on Alonso and Raikkonen, two of only three drivers to race on the track last active in 2003. Although how much help this is going to bring is yet to be seen. 

Button is the only other driver to have raced on the track in 2003, still active in the sport. McLaren puts everything on his shoulders as Magnussen will be of no use to extract information to help the team. Just like many a driver who come to this track as a Virgin race driver.

Lotus will be hoping to just get two cars home this weekend and with the upturn in performance they could be in the points. Grosjean seems to be the one the team is getting behind for the remaining races to this season. Not a bad bet is that of this being Maldonado's one and only season in Lotus and maybe his last season in Formula One.

Torro Rosso are still there and still scoring points. which is encouraging. Austria brings a new challenge to all teams and they will be hoping to sneak in and score more points at the rear of the top ten. Again JEV needs to be on his best form as his position in the team has started to be jeopardised.

Sauber look like it will be a season to forget, will they score any points, i don't think so, will they perform any better this weekend, no, not at all. If i was head of Sauber now, i would stop all progress to this years car and start work on the following season.

Marussia may even beat Sauber and be comfortably ahead of them come season end. 9th in the championship would be a major achievement for the outfit, but if Chilton carries on under performing, they may need to look at another driver. Chilton has nothing to hold on to anymore, as his record of consecutive finishes are now gone. Bianchi will need another strong showing to keep his place in the team. Austria could see them finish ahead of 3 or 4 teams near the rear of the field.

Caterham are at the rear of the field now, still the only team to not score any points. Will they make it to the end of the season? Many rumours are Caterham will pull out and rumours are they will not be here this weekend. If they are it will be another race at the rear of the field.

Rosberg will want to beat Hamilton yet again

All i can say is Buckle up and enjoy the ride. If the past is anything to go by, this track will produce a thriller. Rosberg and Hamilton will resume their battle up front, Lets see who is best of the rest, lets see how many actually make the chequered flag. This could be an historic event in the making.

Thank you

Simon Baggus

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Schumacher

Michael Schumacher
By Simon Baggus

Schumacher pictured here in 2003

Michael Schumacher was born on the third of January 1969 in Kerpen, Germany. The birth of a champion in the making.

Michael Schumacher has rewritten the record books and many believe it will never be broken. He is the only driver to have taken five driver world championships in a row, surpassing the late great Juan Manuel Fangio. Fangio took four straight titles in a row, now being joined with Sebastian Vettel in the quadruple club.

A young Michael

His Formula One debut was at Spa Francorchamps in 1991, driving for the then active Jordan race team, owned by the ever present Eddie Jordan in the modern formula.

Schumacher had retired before the race end, but with Schumacher putting the car P7 in qualifying, he quickly turned heads in the paddock, as the Jordan was a bit of a dog in its day.

1991 was dominated by Senna and this would be the last world championship Ayrton Senna would win, with his Honda powered McLaren

He switched teams in a blink of an eye and two weeks after Spa you would see the man in a Benetton, where he rewarded them with a fifth place at Monza.

1992 was his first full season as a Formula One driver and at the year end he ended up P3 in the driver standings, regularly appearing on the podium, with a win at the track he made his debut on the previous year, Spa Francorchamps.

1993 gave him his second win of his career amongst eight other podiums that season, as Prost went on to win the world title in his Williams. Senna coming home in second place before his switch to Williams as Prost retired for good.

1994 was the beginning of Michael Schumacher and his legacy. He was world champion, although not without controversy with Damon Hill in the final race at Adelaide. He then retained his world champions status come the following season with an emphatic nine wins, showing he was the real deal.

Title rivals in 1994

He was then signed by Ferrari in 1996. This partnership was to be the best partnership to ever grace the Formula One world, alongside team mate, Rubens Barrichello, who joined the team in the year 2000.

From 1996 until the year 2000 Ferrari and Schumacher won nothing, but not without more controversy, failing in his attempt to take Jaques Villeneuve out in the title decider at Jerez. but when the new millennium hit us, all things changed.

Schumacher took five straight world drivers titles in the years 00',01',02',03' and 04'. His best year being 2004 when he won 12 of the first 13 rounds.

Schumacher in his 2006 Ferrari, his last season

Schumacher, coupled with a Ferrari engine and chassis that was the class of the field, along with Bridgestone tyres, which he and his team had mastered, made him unstoppable. Something Sebastian Vettel had also mastered in recent years. Vettel on the other hand though has been prone to abuse, claiming it was his car and not him that gave him his four championships.

The year 2005 and major rule changes were put in place to even the field out. That it did, as Schumachers reign had ended. He took only one win and five podiums that year, finishing third in the championship behind A very young and fresh faced Fernando Alonso, driving a Renault, who was your double world champion in 2005 and 2006.

2006 was to be Michaels final season in F1 and his chances of winning the title that year looked slim with a dominant Alonso, controlling the first half of the championship. Michael did begin to catch Alonso though and they were level on points with two races to go, sadly engine troubles ruled him out after all. Kimi Raikkonen took over in Michaels place and was duly crowned the champion in 2007, by one point, from rookie Lewis Hamilton.

Schumacher and his return was not a success

Three years on the sidelines and Schumacher was not satisfied. He made his comeback with the new Mercedes GP team in 2010. Mercedes GP was an evolution from Brawn GP, who had won the world drivers and constructors title in its one and only year as a team.

Mercedes wanted an all German outfit, they recruited Nico Rosberg as his team mate. Nico Rosberg actually outscored Schumacher two to one in that years world championship and what looked like a dream becoming true, turned out to be just a dream.

Schumacher in action

Two more years with the Mercedes team and still little success, one podium was all the seven time world champion could achieve, where Rosberg took the one and only Mercedes win, as there time as partners drew to a close.

What seemed to be a match made in heaven turned out to be far from it with crashes, mistakes, and a lack of race craft from the man. Three short years is all it took for his second retirement, this time for good. Making the way for one Lewis Hamilton.

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Simon Baggus

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Canadian GP review

Canadian GP review
By Simon Baggus

Well well, i could not have been so wrong in my preview to the Canadian GP. There i was blabbering on how i thought it was going to be a boring F1 weekend and i was hung out to dry on that prediction.

Qualifying went to the norm, with Mercedes locking out the front two positions. Surprising for many was how good Nico Rosberg was to claim the top spot, Hamilton just saying he under-performed sitting in second. 0.079s was the difference.

Another surprise was Sebastian Vettel managing to slot home into third on the grid just ahead of both Williams drivers of Bottas and Massa, with Ricciardo starting in sixth place, the race winner that nobody would have predicted. Again the marginal difference between these four drivers alone was only 0.041s. Incredible stuff really.

Alonso was seventh, Vergne was eighth, Button was ninth and Raikkonen rounded out the top ten, just 0.04s slower than Alonso. Did Ferrari and there upgrades improve the car, not really.

Starting from eleventh with free tyre choice was Hulkenberg, who chose a very long first stint in the race on the 'prime'. Behind 'the Hulk' was, Magnussen, Perez, Grosjean and Kvyat.

Sutil led the rear of the field from Maldonado, Chilton, Bianchi, Kobayashi and Ericsson, who has his garage working overtime, as he crashed out in Q1, damaging the left rear of the car.

Gutierrez did not take part in qualifying due to his crash in FP3, which damaged his chassis, he starts from the pit lane.

Canada woke to race day in Montreal, poised to see a spectacle. It did not disappoint, let me tell you that much.

Rosberg leads Hamilton into turn one

The formation lap complete and Go, Go, Go. Hamilton and Rosberg drew neck and neck off the start, Rosberg taking the racing line, forced lewis to go onto the grass and back out of it. Promoting Vettel up to second around the second corner, i was already on the edge of my seat!.

The first part of the race ran like clock work. The Mercedes pair driving off into the distance, in there own private battle. Hamilton never really more than 1.5 seconds away from Rosberg.

Lap one though and my eyes could not believe that i was actually seeing Max Chilton retire, what has this world come too (insert sarcasm). Chilton understeered as Bianchi made an aggressive attack around the outside and Chilton could not control it, sliding into the side of Bianchi, thus sending him into the wall and out of the race. Chilton causing his own fate at the same time. Safety car period for seven laps.

Rosberg held the lead through the first pit stops, followed by Hamilton, who made his way past Vettel, but Hamilton was hounding Rosberg now and looked to be setting up a move.

But Lap 22 and the ever reliable Maldonado, determined to set a new world record by the looks of things, pulls up in the pits with a poorly Lotus and retires.

Lap 25 and Kobayashi spins, he is also out of the race as he finds out there is a problem with his car.

Lap 27 then, lap 27. My my people, very interesting indeed, very reminiscent of a corner in Monaco, were Rosberg locked up and went straight on to bring out the yellows, when he was under pressure from Hamilton.

Final corner and Hamilton had closed the gap nicely, surely eyeing up a pass on the very next lap. Rosberg had a very big lock up, decides against making the corner and shoots straight on over the run off area. Rosberg rejoins the track ahead of Hamilton, sets his fastest lap of the race at the same time and builds a nice cushion again of about 1.5s to stop Hamilton attacking.

Rosberg was investigated by the stewards but was only given a final warning, even though he gained an advantage.

A brilliant battle developed in the middle of the race, with Perez giving us one of his trade mark long stints that seem impossible, going 34 laps on the 'option' tyre. Perez was running third and rejoins eleventh.

Perez headed a pack before his pit stop which included Force India team mate Hulkenberg, Vettel, Bottas and Ricciardo.

Lap 37 and 38 was the turning point in this race. Mercedes Surprisingly, seemed to suffer an electrical problem at the same time on both cars and had to race without the hybrid system for the duration remaining. They were losing 2/3 seconds per lap to the chasing pack, who were 25s down the road.

Incredible and climatic, Mercedes looked like they were going to be caught, who by, well Hulkenberg was in third at the time and only 20s down the road, with the Bulls and the Williams not far behind.

A minor spin for Raikkonen on lap 41, just to please the fans at the Chicane. He carries on after losing a few positions.

A rare mistake by the Finn

The final pitstops were in full motion around the lap 44 mark for pretty much most teams. Massa led the race for a brief moment before having to be pulled in for a final pitstop and the battle commenced at the head of the field. Hamilton was now in the lead after Massa peeled in, as Rosberg lost two seconds in his pitstop.

Lap 46, this time Rosberg hounding Hamilton, seemed at first to send Hamilton into a mistake as he ran wide at the chicane, only later to find out it was a brake issue. They seemed to have contact at the final corner, this time Hamilton going straight on to take avoiding action, but what we had witnessed was a loss of brakes, this was tragedy.

Lewis Hamilton was out of the Canadian GP, could you believe it, what a dramatic twist in the championship battle. I did not want to get out of my seat, i even sacrificed eating, my own health here, to watch the end of the canadian GP before i departed for work that evening.

With Rosberg down on power and the pack right with him now, headed by Perez, from both the Red Bulls. This was going down to the wire, with Massa also closing quickly on a new set of tyres.

Ricciardo set up a pass on Perez and then he was on a mission to hunt down Rosberg, he did not want to miss out on his maiden F1 victory.

Lap 68 and Ricciardo made the pass, he pulled to the outside of Rosberg and nipped into the lead before the final turn. Game, set and match Riccardo, as one lap later a massive accident happened at turn one and the race was stopped prematurely.

Ricciardo wins his maiden F1 GP in Canada!

A race winner at last and well deserved

What looked as if Massa mis judged his braking point going into turn one, turned out to be a sudden change of direction by Perez, causing both to collide, sending them both spinning off into the barriers at the first turn, experiencing up to 27 G's.

Vettel meantime was in the middle of all this and managed to weave his way through the carnage to hold onto third in the race.  Button come out of no where in a late charge to pass Hulkenberg and Alonso on the final lap to take fourth, by everyones surprise and Bottas took seventh from Vergne, Magnussen and Raikkonen, to round out the top ten points scorers.

Perez and Massa ended up being classified eleventh and twelfth, with Sutil and Guttierez rounding out the remaining finishers.

DNF's then for, Hamilton, Grosjean, Maldonado, Kvyat, Chilton, Bianchi, Kobayashi and Erricson in a race that was highly dramatic.

Ricciardo then has beat Vettel in the last five races, Rosberg now has a 22 point lead in the drivers championship from Hamilton, Massa cant stay away from barriers and Chilton had his first dnf, to name but a few highlights, in what was a thrilling race

A big shunt for Massa

Thank you for reading, i hope you enjoyed it.

See you in to weeks time for what is a return to Austria.

Simon Baggus

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Canadian GP preview

Canadian GP preview
By Simon Baggus

The wall of champions says it all, it has cost many a champion their race

The Canadian GP was introduced onto the calendar in 1967 but did not move to its current location, on the Ile de Notre Dame, a man made island in the St Lawrence River, Montreal, until 1977.

Designed by a man named Roger Peart, it contains long, fast straights and tight, slow corners and chicanes and although it is not an over-demanding track for drivers alike, it presents a problem for brake-wear. The track has ample overtaking opportunities at the hairpin and down the long straights in-particular, with the DRS activation zones.

The race itself produces some exciting, action packed battles, with many experienced champions having been caught out by the circuits characteristics, including the 'wall of champions'.

The first Canadian GP held at here, in 1978, was won by non other than, Gilles Villeneuve, the home grown talent, who, on his own, sparked the Formula One love in Canada in the 1970's. It was his first win of his career also.

1982 brought tragedy to Gilles Villeneuve, who sadly lost his life in the 1982 Belgian GP qualifying. This is when the Canadian GP circuit was renamed in his memory.

Robert Kubica, who is deeply missed by most of the F1 community, won here in 2008 for BMW Sauber which brought to an end Montreal's 31 year run as a Formula One circuit, as it was dropped in 2009 to make way for the newly built Abu Dhabi GP in 2009.

It returned in 2010 with backing from the Canadian government.

Two highlights of recent years that stand out for me are that of 2007 and a fresh faced Lewis Hamilton. Lewis Hamilton had been on the podium every race since the beginning of the season in his debut year and this was his first win of the season, holding of the challenges of 4 safety car periods, wet weather, dry weather and obviously the drivers. He held the championship lead right until the last race, only to lose by a single point to Kimi Raikkonen.

The second one was that of Jenson Button in 2011, finding himself in last place and much work to do, his team mate at the time, Lewis Hamilton had retired from the race, but he romped back up through the field and with half a lap to go, had his sights on Sebastian Vettel. Applying pressure on the current champion he forced Vettel into a mistake, which sent the crowd, the drivers, the pits and everyone behind the T.V wild. He went onto win a race which will go down as a great in modern history.

Your podium in 2013, Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton 

This years Canadian GP then, i can't see being much of a thriller, sorry F1 fans.

The fact is Mercedes are still the class of the field and with Canada rewarding straight line speed, expect Hamilton and Rosberg to be in a race of their own, far far away in the distance. Their battle will resume from Monaco, still hot and fiery, with revenge in Hamilton's eyes and a smirk on Rosberg's face, both have determination and desire, but are very different in their approaches.

I do expect Hamilton to have the edge on Rosberg, he seems to light up the circuit in front of him here and has great success winning three times since 2007. He will be looking to add a fourth, to close the gap in the championship, whilst Rosberg will be looking for his first here, to extend his gap in the championship.

Red Bull have come out second best across the first lot of races, but that doesn't mean they are in for an easy ride here in Canada, with their engine still down on power, they could be sitting ducks to Mercedes power.

Ricciardo seems to be in the form of his life in this years Red Bull and will be looking to carry the momentum forward and build on a strong third place from Monaco. Sebastian Vettel will just be looking to have a problem free weekend, to get to the finish and score some decent points, maybe he will swap his chassis on the sly, who knows!

Ferrari have under performed to their standards, but Alonso once again has kept them in the mix. Raikkonen has improved in the last few races but got off to a slow start. Ferrari come here with a brand new package, a new car practically, in the search to rescue their season before its too late.

Force India have quietly gone about their business, plucking away at every race to score decent points, that put them fourth in this years constructors championship, behind the top three that have been mentioned.

Hulkenberg, like Ricciardo, has been outstanding and has scored points at every race so far this season in his Force India, he is a contender for driver of the championship in my eyes and will be looking to bag some big points this weekend, in his Mercedes powered car. Perez has been less consistent, although he was on the podium in Bahrain. He has been at the lower end of the points compared to his team mate, but has contributed non the less.

Hulkenberg in Monaco, his third 5th place finish of the year

McLaren have been like Ferrari, very poor all season, failures, non point finishes and under performing at all levels. Magnussen had so much hype and began strong but has looked more like a rookie as the season goes on, Button has complained about him on more than one occasion and Button himself has not lived up to his world champion status.

McLaren seems to be the slowest of all Mercedes powered cars also and this doesn't do themselves any favours in the constructors. Canada will be a place they hope to have a turning point, being Mercedes powered they hope to capitalise on their opponents and have a decent run just like Australia and Button will hope his experience will help the team to better things.

Williams have been battling it out mid pack all season with Ferrari,Force India and McLaren and will be hoping for another strong showing in Canada. Williams sit level on points in the constructors championship with McLaren heading into Canada and Bottas has been great all season sitting ahead of both McLaren drivers and his team mate Massa in the drivers championship. Massa has come into Williams and has had problems compared to Bottas, he will be hoping for a good showing in Canada but the top ten will be very close for all non works Mercedes powered cars.

Torro Rosso may see themselves outside the top ten in Canada even though they have been a consistent pairing in Kvyat and Vergne and have been pretty equal throughout the year, bagging points finishes between on a few occasions so far. Their power unit may succumb to that of Mercedes power and with Lotus stepping up their game, could find themselves even further behind.

Grosjean finished 8th in Monaco

Lotus have finally gathered momentum, well Grosjean and Lotus have. Maldonado is an exception who should not be on the grid, he has had crashes, failures and dangers that no-one on an F1 grid should be experiencing anymore. Except him to be somewhere at the back or retired before the end of the race, Grosjean has scored the only points for Lotus so far and you can expect him to be up their and in the points once again in Canada.

Marrusia scored their first ever points in Monaco and will no doubt give them a massive financial benefit come the year end, was it a one off, absolutely, Monaco is that type of track, with so many retirees and mechanical issues, they picked up the left overs. Can they repeat it in Canada, absolutely not, Bianchi as good as he is and i think he is good, who deserves to be in a much better team, will not be able to repeat Monaco and i'm sure they will be fighting with Caterham once again, if not just ahead of them at the rear of the field. One thing Max Chilton will be clinging onto, keeping his name to fame, is a 100% finishing record, apart from that he cant deliver much else.

Sauber are just awful this year, a car they claimed to get better after upgrades is still slumped at the bottom of the constructors with no points to their name. Sutil and Gutierrez wont be able to pick any points up in Canada either as their car is still one of the heaviest on the grid, which will surely slow them down, with Canada rewarding speed, this looks grim for the Sauber outfit, although Gutierrez has been the better of the two.

Caterham lay dead last with no points, a rookie who is not ready for F1 and Kobayashi, who can't do much with the car either. This team looked to be on their last legs. Tony Fernandez has put the team up for sale, he has had enough, will they be on the grid next year, only time will tell. All they can hope for in Canada is to get both cars home and a miracle for the rest of the year.

Title protagonists

So tension builds with these two title protagonists, what will be the outcome on Sunday afternoon, will team orders be put into place? will a collision occur? will their be any bad sportsmanship again? tune in to find out. All i can say is it will go down to the wire this year and the double points at the last race of the year could just be the title decider.

See you back here for the review of the Canadian GP early next week.

Simon baggus

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