Review of the tenth round of the 2015 F1 season at the Hungaroring outside of Budapest, for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Last time out I said it was the best race of the race of the season so far, for this seasons Hungarian Grand Prix I am predicting this race was the best race of the season! With Lewis Hamilton on pole and Nico Rosberg on the front row for Sunday's race, you would have thought it will be a predicted win for Lewis Hamilton with Nico Rosberg second. And at the start it was third on the grid Sebastian Vettel had a brilliant start and took the lead and stayed there throughout a dominating race win for Sebastian Vettel, to win this seasons Hungarian Grand Prix for his second race win of the season.
Now, Vettel has match Ayrton Senna's Forty-One Grand Prix wins. Vettel dedicated his win to Jules Bianchi and his family following Bianchi's death last week.
While, second place was unpredictable after half way through the race, when Kimi Räikkönen who was second from the start, then his hybrid system failed on him to retired lead Nico Rosberg to second place. That was until seven laps remaining, when Daniel Ricciardo attempted to pass Rosberg at turn one, resulting in a collision and damage, forcing both drivers in the pits. Ricciardo only needed a new front wing and only dropped to third, while Rosberg got a puncture and limped back to the pits, dropping to eighth. Then Daniil Kvyat in his Red Bull took second place and finished in second place to give Daniil Kvyat his first podium in Formula 1 and becoming the highest place Russian finish in Formula 1 eclipsing Vitaly Petrov third place finish from Australia 2011. Kvyat was five second behind, then Kvyat was handed a ten-second penalty for taking advantage of the track boundaries, which means Kvyat was fifteen seconds behind Vettel in the end.
Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo finished in third place in the Red Bull to complete the podium despite colliding with both Mercedes drivers in the race, Ricciardo was twenty-five seconds behind Vettel at the end of the sixty-nine lap race.
And for was the first time since the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix that any of the factory Mercedes cars failed to finish on the podium. With the highest Mercedes driver was current F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton finished in sixth place after a poor first lap and colliding with Daniel Ricciardo, resulting in Hamilton needing a new front wing and also given a drive-through penalty. Hamilton was fifty two seconds behind Vettel in the end. While Nico Rosberg finished in eighth after colliding with Daniel Ricciardo with seven laps to go, which resulted with a puncture in the end. Rosberg was fifty-nine seconds behind Vettel in the end of the race.
Now with nine races to go, Lewis Hamilton leads from team-mate Nico Rosberg with 21 points behind Hamilton. While, Hungarian Grand Prix race winner Sebastian Vettel is third in the standings with 42 points behind Hamilton.
Rate the Teams and Drivers
Mercedes - 6
Lewis Hamilton - 7 (pole, finished sixth)
Nico Rosberg - 5 (finished eighth)
Red Bull Racing - 9
Daniel Ricciardo - 8 (finished third, and fastest lap)
Daniil Kvyat - 10 (finished second)
Williams - 5
Valtteri Bottas - 6 (finished thirteen)
Felipe Massa - 5 (finished twelfth)
Ferrari - 8
Sebastian Vettel - 9 (race win)
Kimi Räikkönen - 7 (DNF, Hybrid failure)
McLaren - 9
Jenson Button - 8 (finished ninth)
Fernando Alonso - 10 (finished fifth)
Force India - 6
Nico Hülkenberg - 6 (DNF, Front wing)
Sergio Pérez - 6 (DNF, Brakes)
Toro Rosso - 8
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 7 (DNF, Fuel pressure)
Max Verstappen - 10 (finished fourth)
It was confirmed yesterday (23/7/15) that Sauber F1 Team will retain Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr for the 2016 Formula 1 season.
Overall, its a good decision from Sauber to keep Felipe Nasr for another season as his scored most for the points for Sauber in his rookie season. And maybe a quick decision from Sauber to keep the talented driver before another team have the opportunity to sign him up for their team.
As for Marcus Ericsson, despite scoring less points then team-mate Nasr, he has not impress me much this season with his pace and points scoring. But, overall Sauber have kept both drivers due to the money they can bring into the team (around £15 million from each driver). And that does help Sauber to secure their future for next season.
Predictions for this weekends Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix at Hungaroring outside of Budapest.
And so predictions for the race itself, Lewis Hamilton for the win in his Mercedes, Nico Rosberg second in the other Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas third in his Williams. Don't forget Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean, the Force India drivers, the Ferrari drivers either for a podium place as-well.
Before I start, motorsport is dangerous sport. No matter if its Go-Karting, motorbikes, Formula 1, Indy Car, any kind of Motorsport is dangerous, but motorsport can be safer between tracks, fans, spectators, tracks marshals, people in pits, cars and drivers too.
This morning (18/7/15) it was announced by Jules Bianchi's family that the 25-year-old died on Friday night, nine months after his crash in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
Bianchi had been in a coma since the accident, in which he suffered a diffuse axonal injury after colliding with a recovery vehicle while driving for Marussia.
He was initially treated at the Mie Prefecture medical centre in Japan before being transferred to a facility in Nice a month after the crash.
Although rehabilitation therapy began late last year, in May Bianchi's father Philippe admitted that the family's hopes were fading and his death was announced in the early hours of Saturday morning.
As this is the first time that a Grand Prix driver to die from injuries sustained in a Formula 1 Grand Prix race since Ayrton Senna and Roland Roland Ratzenberger at Imola from the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.
Bianchi career included European Formula 3 Champion in 2009. A Formula Renault 3.5, and GP2 Race winner while contracted to Ferrari as a development driver.
Bianchi stepped up to Formula 1 with Force India as their third driver in 2012, before getting a race seat with Marussia the following season. He famously scored the team's first points with ninth place in last seasons Monaco Grand Prix, which was his best result in his 34 Grand Prixs' in Formula 1.
Thoughts goes out to Jules Bianchi's family and friends at this period of time. Its a sad day for Motorsport in general. A driver that had the talent to go to the top and would have been a Ferrari driver next season alongside Sebastian Vettel and maybe a F1 World Champion to challenge the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton to championships if he was still alive.
His crash that lead to his death has helped to make Formula 1 which includes starting the race few hours earlier in Pacific rounds to avoid the bad light and introducing VSC (Virtual Safety Cars) which may help to void this horrible accident again.
Rest in Peace Jules Bianchi, you will be much sadly missed.
Review of Round Seven of the 2015 United SportsCar Championship at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, north of Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada.
Taylor Racing team won the race overall and Prototype class too of Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor in their Corvette DP, Chevrolet 5.5L V8. While, Action Express Racing team finished second place in their Corvette DP, Chevrolet 5.5L V8, the team of Dane Cameron and Eric Curran; they were half a second behind the leaders. Meanwhile, Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian team finished third place in their Ligier JS P2, Honda HR28TT 2.8 L V6 Turbo, the team of Oswaldo Negri, Jr. and John Pew; they were five seconds behind the leaders.
In Prototype Challenge Class (all teams using Oreca FLM09 race car), CORE Autosport team won Prototype Challenge Class and finished in eighth place overall; with the drivers of Jon Bennett and Colin Braun; they were three laps behind the leaders.
In GT Le Mans Class, Porsche North America team won GT Le Mans Class and finished in twelfth place overall in their Porsche 911 RSR; with the drivers of Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy; they were six laps behind the leaders.
While GT Daytona Class did not participate for this race.
Review of Round Eight of the 2015 TCR International Series season was at the Red Bull Ring, on the outskirts of Spielberg, Styria, Austria.
In the first race, WestCoast Racing driver Gianni Morbidelli originally took the race win in his Honda Civic TCR. But he later received a post-race drive through penalty, which means 30 seconds are added to his race time and relegated Morbidelli to eleventh place. Meaning that Target Competition driver Stefano Comini took the race win in his SEAT León Cup Racer.
Second was Target Competition driver Andrea Belicchi in his SEAT León Cup Racer, he was half a second behind Comini in the end. While, third place was Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver Pepe Oriola in his SEAT León Cup Racer to complete a SEAT podium whitewash, he was six tenths of a second behind Comini in the end.
While in the second race, Liqui Moly Team Engstler driver Pol Rosell took the race win in his Volkswagen Golf TCR. Second was Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver Pepe Oriola in his SEAT León Cup Racer, he was four tenths of a second behind Rosell in the end. While, third place was Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver Jordi Gené in his SEAT León Cup Racer, he was one and half a second behind Rosell in the end.
Next stop Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore for Round Nine of the 2015 TCR International Series season in ten weeks time.
Review of Round Eight of the 2015 World Touring Car Championship season was the was the Race of Portugal, on the Circuito Internacional de Vila Real, Vila Real, Portugal.
In the first race, Citroën Total WTCC driver and current WTCC Champion José María López took the race win in his C-Elysée WTCC. Second was Citroën Total WTCC driver Sébastien Loeb in his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC to complete a Citroën one-two finish, he was one and half a second behind López in the end. While third place was Zengő Motorsport driver Norbert Michelisz in his Honda Civic WTCC and also took Independents class win, he was five seconds behind López in the end.
While in the second race, Citroën Total WTCC driver Ma Qing Hua took the race win in his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC. Second Citroën Total WTCC driver Yvan Muller in his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC to complete another Citroën one-two finish, he was five seconds behind Ma in the end. While third was Honda Racing Team JAS driver Gabriele Tarquini in his Honda Civic WTCC, he was eleven seconds behind Ma in the end.
Meanwhile in the Independent Class, was won by Zengő Motorsport driver Norbert Michelisz in his Honda Civic WTCC. He finished in fourth place overall and twelve seconds behind Ma in the end.
Next stop Race of Japan at Twin Ring Motegi for Round Nine of the 2015 World Touring Car Championship season in nine weeks time.
