Max Verstappen is 'fed up'! But he's had such a start to the 2017 Formula 1 Season - 3 DNFs out of 7 races, so we don't blame him. If he's 'fed up' in just 7 races, we wonder what state would poor Fernando Alonso be in after nearly 50 such races with McLaren Honda.
Alonso to Williams in 2018? Or will it be the IndyCar series? If only the McLaren win in the 'F1 Raft Race' influenced his decision. But very coyly, McLaren seem to be distancing themselves from Honda's recurring and seemingly unsolvable woes. What are their plans for 2018? Renault?
In this week's episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Mithila and Kunal express disappointment with Daniel Ricciardo, debate Force India's no-use of team orders, and wonder if Toto Wolff has a veiled message for Nico Rosberg - should he decide to make a comeback. Tune in!
(Season 2017, Episode 22)
Subscribe to the Inside Line F1 Podcast on iTunes and audioBoom for your weekly dose of Formula 1 humour.
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Wednesday, 14 June 2017
Tuesday, 13 June 2017
How To Conquer 24 Hours of Le Mans, by Select Car Leasing
With the 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend, Select Car Leasing thought it'd delve into the event and check out the cars in detail and see how they're made in order to deal with this gruelling race.
It also got Giedo van der Garde to tell us how he prepares for Le Mans 24 Hours and about the chief differences between Le Mans and Formula 1.
While in something that is vital to many motorsport fans it's also thrown in a few tips to help you watch the full 24 hours without nodding off...
How To Conquer 24 Hours of Le Mans by SELECT CAR LEASING.
It also got Giedo van der Garde to tell us how he prepares for Le Mans 24 Hours and about the chief differences between Le Mans and Formula 1.
While in something that is vital to many motorsport fans it's also thrown in a few tips to help you watch the full 24 hours without nodding off...
How To Conquer 24 Hours of Le Mans by SELECT CAR LEASING.
Monday, 12 June 2017
Firstpost Video - Canadian Grand Prix Review
Here's the latest Firstpost Video Grand Prix Review.
Mithila and Kunal from the Inside Line F1 Podcast look at last weekend's Canadian Grand Prix. They talk about Mercedes's post-Monaco bounce back, Sebastian Vettel's comeback, the Force India pace and soap opera, Romain Grosjean, Fernando Alonso and other Montreal matters. You can watch below:
Mithila and Kunal from the Inside Line F1 Podcast look at last weekend's Canadian Grand Prix. They talk about Mercedes's post-Monaco bounce back, Sebastian Vettel's comeback, the Force India pace and soap opera, Romain Grosjean, Fernando Alonso and other Montreal matters. You can watch below:
Canadian Grand Prix review for Motor Verso - Great expectations
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| Photo: Octane Photography |
Yes Mercedes bounced back at a track that was thought to be the sort it struggled on, and claimed a one-two. And of the pair local specialist Lewis Hamilton was on another level. But equally Ferrari isn't relenting, and the quality of Sebastian Vettel's recovery drive underlined the point.
So not all expectations were confounded.
Here's my review of the Canadian GP action for Motor Verso: http://www.motorverso.com/canadian-gp-2017-report-great-expectations/
Do check out the Motor Verso site too; you'll find motoring news, car reviews and features - the team on the site carry out week-long test drives of the latest cars - as well as photos and videos of the machines.
Sunday, 11 June 2017
Canadian GP Report - A walk in the park
Apparently Mercedes's calculations in advance called it a dead heat. There was, we expected, to be nothing between Merc and Ferrari in this one.
We should have known though that things are rarely that simple in Montreal. The bald facts are that in the Canadian Grand Prix Merc took an imperious one-two. And of its driver pairing Lewis Hamilton made good on his local specialist status by existing in another race, to the point that the TV director appeared to disregard him. Lewis's engineer, not just because of the Ile Notre Dame surroundings, called it a "walk in the park".
It was made so from the off. Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari usually is to be feared from the launch but today it wasn't stellar and from second he was mugged at turn one by a racy Valtteri Bottas (who looked for a nanosecond that he might spear his Mercedes team mate) and a racier Max Verstappen, who came from nowhere to sweep around the outside to take second place. Seb thus was fourth and already the race had gone a long way to be framed.
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| Lewis Hamilton won in a race of one Photo: Octane Photography |
It was made so from the off. Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari usually is to be feared from the launch but today it wasn't stellar and from second he was mugged at turn one by a racy Valtteri Bottas (who looked for a nanosecond that he might spear his Mercedes team mate) and a racier Max Verstappen, who came from nowhere to sweep around the outside to take second place. Seb thus was fourth and already the race had gone a long way to be framed.
Saturday, 10 June 2017
Montreal Qualifying - The empire strikes back
It could hardly have been in a less appropriate place. But in usually-madcap Montreal, normality returned.
It was the sort of track that had been tripping previously-imperious Mercedes in 2017 - low grip; slow turns; softest tyre compounds. But the silver team might be learning at last.
Practice running suggested it was at least in the game this time; unlike in Monaco its pace didn't evaporate as the weekend went on. And in qualifying the story got more familiar, with the Mercs growing in potency as the hour went on.
And Lewis Hamilton - who'd especially struggled in the circumstances outlined - claimed pole position by acing the Montreal track. That last bit being something altogether more usual. Ever the showman he saved by far his best for last too.
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| Lewis Hamilton - and Mercedes - struck back in Montreal's qualifying Photo: Octane Photography |
Practice running suggested it was at least in the game this time; unlike in Monaco its pace didn't evaporate as the weekend went on. And in qualifying the story got more familiar, with the Mercs growing in potency as the hour went on.
And Lewis Hamilton - who'd especially struggled in the circumstances outlined - claimed pole position by acing the Montreal track. That last bit being something altogether more usual. Ever the showman he saved by far his best for last too.
In Retrospect: The 1999 European Grand Prix, by Steven Critchley
F1 action will return to Baku's treacherous street circuit on 25 June, after a successful hosting of last year's European Grand Prix, which returned to the calendar after a three-year absence. This time, it will be host to the inaugural Azerbaijan Grand Prix, once more testing the technical abilities of constructors in a more diverse way, while also forcing drivers on the circuit to time their overtakes to perfection.
As a street circuit, Baku offers little margin for error from anyone, regardless of how experienced or decorated they may be. Another battle of Ferrari versus Mercedes is expected, but the negation of the disparity that once existed is reflected by Mercedes's Valtteri Bottas being priced at 28/1 on bet365's F1 betting odds to win this year's title. However, the unpredictability that typically characterises a new F1 circuit was in full evidence last year, when Sergio Perez enjoyed a rare moment in the sun in an unfancied Force India car and finished third.
19 June 2016: Drivers speak to press after the inaugural F1 race in Baku.
As a street circuit, Baku offers little margin for error from anyone, regardless of how experienced or decorated they may be. Another battle of Ferrari versus Mercedes is expected, but the negation of the disparity that once existed is reflected by Mercedes's Valtteri Bottas being priced at 28/1 on bet365's F1 betting odds to win this year's title. However, the unpredictability that typically characterises a new F1 circuit was in full evidence last year, when Sergio Perez enjoyed a rare moment in the sun in an unfancied Force India car and finished third.
19 June 2016: Drivers speak to press after the inaugural F1 race in Baku.
Wednesday, 7 June 2017
Canadian GP Betting Preview - Value with Vettel
Pride comes before a fall, as my mother likes to say.
After starting to crow last time about how this betting preview column was developing rather a charmed existence, in Monaco it had a car crash. But for a few reasons, Canada this weekend could be a good place for a bounce back.
A few themes have developed in 2017 F1. Ferrari is good everywhere. Mercedes is not good on low grip tracks that are made up mainly of slow corners, as well as on softer tyre compounds. See Russia and Monaco. And in Montreal it'll face pretty much exactly the same again.
Therefore the smart money could be on Sebastian Vettel, and he's not even odds on for the Canadian pole and win. He can be backed at 21/10 for the former and 8/5 for the latter, and both appear great value.
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| There are plenty of reasons to think Sebastian Vettel will lead again this weekend Photo: Octane Photography |
A few themes have developed in 2017 F1. Ferrari is good everywhere. Mercedes is not good on low grip tracks that are made up mainly of slow corners, as well as on softer tyre compounds. See Russia and Monaco. And in Montreal it'll face pretty much exactly the same again.
Therefore the smart money could be on Sebastian Vettel, and he's not even odds on for the Canadian pole and win. He can be backed at 21/10 for the former and 8/5 for the latter, and both appear great value.
Inside Line F1 Podcast - Indy vs. F1, Settle This The Boxing Way
There's Lewis Hamilton on one side and ALL the Indy drivers on the other. They're at a war of words, thanks to Hamilton questioning the level of talent competing in the American open-wheel single-seater series. How do we settle this? Let's have the world's best racers challenge each other, boxing style. A fully blown PR event, racer vs. racer - in a single-make car, anyone like this idea?
In this week's episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Mithila and Kunal talk about the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix, a possible reunion between Alonso-Renault, Red Bull Racing's silly caravan racing video and if like the Indy Car Championship, should Formula 1 publicise driver earnings for each race too? There's just so much both the series can learn from each other.
Finally, which driver will crash into the Wall of Champions? And with a 25 points deficit, Canada is definitely going to see some 'HAMmer Time'!
Subscribe to the Inside Line F1 Podcast on iTunes and audioBoom for your weekly dose of Formula 1 humour.
Tune in!
(Season 2017, Episode 21)
In this week's episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Mithila and Kunal talk about the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix, a possible reunion between Alonso-Renault, Red Bull Racing's silly caravan racing video and if like the Indy Car Championship, should Formula 1 publicise driver earnings for each race too? There's just so much both the series can learn from each other.
Finally, which driver will crash into the Wall of Champions? And with a 25 points deficit, Canada is definitely going to see some 'HAMmer Time'!
Subscribe to the Inside Line F1 Podcast on iTunes and audioBoom for your weekly dose of Formula 1 humour.
Tune in!
(Season 2017, Episode 21)
Monday, 5 June 2017
Montreal Preview - In the spirit of Gilles
You've probably noticed by now that the folks in and around F1 don't always agree on everything. Or on much at all.
And that applies absolutely to its venues. Yet there are a few on which there is nevertheless close to unanimity. One is that the annual visit to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix, the latest of which is this weekend, is one to relish.
There are many reasons for this. Gripping drama and madcap action are positive expectations at this race. The layout ensures plenty of overtaking opportunities. The nearby walls at the parkland track can and frequently have punished even small errors. It even has its own 'Wall of Champions' which as its name suggests has ensnared a few of the best.
It is a place that rewards the brave. The track with the nearby walls cited is made up essentially of straights separately by chicanes and a hairpin. Pivoting and hustling the car through the chicanes, being bold on the brakes and shaving the forbidding concrete at great speed are what's needed.
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| The Montreal weekend has an inimitable quality Photo: Octane Photography |
There are many reasons for this. Gripping drama and madcap action are positive expectations at this race. The layout ensures plenty of overtaking opportunities. The nearby walls at the parkland track can and frequently have punished even small errors. It even has its own 'Wall of Champions' which as its name suggests has ensnared a few of the best.
It is a place that rewards the brave. The track with the nearby walls cited is made up essentially of straights separately by chicanes and a hairpin. Pivoting and hustling the car through the chicanes, being bold on the brakes and shaving the forbidding concrete at great speed are what's needed.
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