Lucy Bloor

My blog for all that I love: which is mainly Formula One and MotoGP

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Best of British!

What a win for Lewis and what a race. I am still so happy after my second GP experience. Since I started watching F1 in 07 I have wanted to go to a Grand Prix and see Lewis on the top step on the podium and so I am so chuffed that this box has been ticked...now I just need to meet him ;)

But what a race! Nobody expected the Williams to storm off the line and take the lead of the race. Although Lewis managed to regain second position on the first lap at turn 4, it was at the safety car restart that Bottas managed to get passed him after Hamilton went wide challenging Massa for the lead and avoiding a collision.

So a Williams 1-2 leads Mercedes to re-think. A ‘fake’ pitstop? Nope that didn’t fool Williams. So plan B, bring Lewis in early and try the undercut....success. A cracking pitstop by the Merc mechanics left the Brit with quite a lead after the Williams pair and teammate Rosberg made their stops. And Rosberg was still in P4 and unable to get past Bottas.

But in typical British style the rain came, adding more excitement to the mix. The conditions seemed to be worst around the old pitlane and dry elsewhere. Nico caught the Williams who were struggling in the conditions and put himself up to P2. Four drivers gambled on the inters but the rain stopped and the track began to dry. When the rain did return their inters were shot and their gamble had not paid off. But it was Lewis Hamilton who pitted exactly on the right lap. As the rain returned his tyres were fading and so he decided to head to the pits, and just at that moment the rain became heavier - ow did I cheer that the rain did get heavy - the cheer added when Nico Rosberg stayed out!

Adding insult to injury for Williams was that Sebastain Vettel pitted on the same lap as Lewis whilst Massa and Bottas stayed out. The German managed to leap them and take the final step on the podium.

So was a race!! Although it was tough seeing JB retire it was an amazing atmosphere at Silverstone cheering Lewis to the win - but then again I am slightly biased! 

A race I will never forget.

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Rosberg takes the win in Austria

Nico Rosberg took the chequered flag after beating Hamilton off the line and taking the lead at the first corner. 

Lewis complained after the race that the clutch under performed again which is becoming a bit of a theme this year but I’m sure he and Mercedes will sort it out ASAP

Hamilton also made a small mistake at the pit exit as he crossed the white line and received a 5 second penalty added to his race time. However, because the two Mercs were so far ahead of the rest of the pack it didn’t effect his second place but basically ruled him out the win. 

It has to be said though that Nico had the pace all weekend and deserved the win.

Behind the silver arrows, Massa was able to step onto the final step of the podium after a slow pit stop caused Sebastian Vettel to fall far behind the Williams. In the final stages of the race Vettel caught Massa but Felipe was able to maintain his podium spot. 

A scary crashed caused Vettel’s teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, to have a DNF after he lost control of his Ferrari on lap one and in doing so, took out Fernando Alonso who’s McLaren ended up on top of the Ferrari. Luckily both drivers were okay. Sadly for McLaren, there day got worse as Jenson Button also had to retire from the race. 

Bottas had some good battles and finished the race in fifth respectively. On the back of his Le Mans win, Nico Hulkenberg had another successful weekened after he finished behind the Finn in sixth.

Maldonando was able to finish the race in seventh after some major catches of his car. Young Max Verstappen finished 8th and Perez in 9th while Ricciardo was able to salvage a point as the Red Bull ring.  

2 weeks until Silverstone, I cannot wait! 

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Hamilton back to winning ways

After the mishap of Monaco Lewis Hamilton was back on the top step in Canada with teammate Nico Roaberg making it another Mercedes 1-2. Raikkonen had a spin which enabled Bottas to take the final step on the podium and kimi to finish 4th. Although the race was 'boring' at the front, I thought the race was full of action and overtakes due to Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa having to fight through the field after their cars failed them in Q1. Vettel finished 5h with Massa behind him in 6th impressively. It was also good to see a calmer Maldonado on track as he managed to finish for the first time this season. Austria should be an interesting race, bring it on!

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Really Mercedes?

So what were Mercedes thinking today? After a flawless race from Lewis after managing his brakes and creating an impressive lead to his teammate Nico Rosberg, it was all lost in the pits thanks to his team. When Max Verstappen hit Romain Grosjean and brought out a safety car, Mercedes miscalculated and decided to pit Lewis - however, there was no sign of Ferrari brining in Seb and so it backfired. Lewis came back out 3rd and with only a couple of laps left after the safety car came in, he was unable to overtake neither Seb or Nico. Mercedes surely shouldn't have panicked and out smarted themselves as it is Monaco, and we all know that in Monaco track position is everything, so why even risk it? At least Merc were honest that they made a mistake and everyone is human but this was more than just a miscalculation, it should never have occurred. Lewis though was very mature post race with his answers. He was the quickest today and should have won. The sport can be cruel sometime so let's hope for a fairer result in Canada! I cannot wait!

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That’s gotta hurt

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12473/9844918/romain-grosjean-hits-his-front-jackman-during-pitstop

Sky F1 video.

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Highlights of SpanishGP

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/32683708

BBC F1 highlights :) 

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Nico takes first win this season

Yet again the Spanish GP was a bit of a bore fest as Nico Rosberg had an easy afternoon taking his first win of the season and without much of a challenge. 

The start is always crucial in Spain with such a long drag down to the first corner and it was that which cost Lewis Hamilton. After starting second he suffered with wheel spin on the start and this enabled Sebastian Vettel to gain P2. Strong defending from an attacking Bottas kept Lewis second and challenging Seb. After Lewis struggled to overtake on track Mercedes went to Plan B - a three-stop strategy whilst Ferrari kept Seb on a two-stop and this enabled Lewis to push and gain P2.

The end of the race brought a fight between a closing Kimi Raikkonen on Bottas but Bottas was able to maintain P4. 

Maldonado once again lived up to his name and did little to avoid Grosjean hitting him which resulted in a broken rear wing and another retirement for the Venezuelan. 

The pits provided much of the action this afternoon as it became clear the home boy - Alonso - had rear brake failure as he was unable to stop in the box for his pit stop. Luckily his front jack man realised this and managed to jump out the way. Alonso however was forced to retire. The Lotus jack man did not escape that easily after Grosjean over shot his pit box and left the jack man in the air - gladly he was seen laughing about it afterwards while clutching ice near his manhood! (I do hope he’s okay!) 

Not the most exciting race but it raises questions: is Nico back in the fight? And are Ferrari closing to Mercedes or falling back to Williams?

2 weeks to find out! 

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McBusted were so amazing!!! Loved this bit!!! 

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When Hamilton met Seb

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/32374187

Love Love Love this interview!! 

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Another Win for Hamilton

It was not all plain sailing for the Brit in Bahrain as his team-mate Nico Rosberg and the two Ferrari’s posed a threat. However he controlled the race and managed to take the victory. 

Rosberg seemed to be aggressive today and determined to challenge after he had many battles with Vettel but it was not enough to hold of Kimi Raikkonen in the closing stages of the race as he was suffering with a brake issue.   

The Williams Driver Bottas was happy to see another car after a pretty lonely race and he was even happier when he managed to hold off Seb at the end for 4th place.

Ricciardo’s engine managed to blow on the last lap before taking the chequered flag in a spectacular manner which left him in 6th position.

Perez had a solid day and finished P8 whilst Massa had a busy day after having to start from the pit-lane and fight through to 10th place and grab the last championship point from Fernando’s nose. 

I for one am glad to see the Ferrari’s quick and challenging the Mercedes. It is brilliant to have four drivers challenging for the win and it is making 2015 an exciting season. 

Three weeks to wait now until F1 heads back to Europe for the next race (way too long) in Spain and we should be in for an interesting race for the win (well hopefully)!

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Kimi Raikkonen BEST team radio compilation EVER!

This is brill!

F1Fun4U

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Images from F1 Website

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Hamilton back on the top step

It was not the most thrilling race it has to be said and the race finishing under a safety car was an anti-climax but it was still good to have Formula One back after two weeks!

Hamilton managed to maintain his lead after dramatically pointing his car on the grid - by accident. Nico angrily finished second whilst Vettel won the inter team battle at Ferrari to finish on the final step on the podium in front of Raikkonen. 

The William due were in no man’s land with not much of a challenge for Massa to finish forth and Bottas fifth.

In 7th was Romain Grosjean who was happy to score the teams first points of this season. 

Verstappen sadly had a late retirement which caused the late safety car and a lot of embarrassment for the marshals removing his stricken car. It was so painful to watch even just on TV so it really must have been for the poor Toro Rosso mechanics watching the cars wing being repeatedly steered into a concrete wall. 

Nasr then finished in 8th while Daniel Ricciardo recovered from an appalling start to finish in 9th. Rounding off the top ten was the other Sauber of Marcus Ericsson. 

After a couple of incidents, ‘Crashtor’ Maldonado seemed to have an unsurprising DNF which was admittedly caused by Button in the end after the two were having a battle. Kvyat had a race weekend to forget after problems all weekend eventually came to an end with a DNF. Aldo in the DNF was Nico Hulkenberg.

Bring on Bahrain this weekend!! 

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Sebastian Vettel Team Radio Malaysia GP 2015 - Blue flag! Blue flag!

Sebastian Vettel Team Radio Malaysia GP 2015 - Blue flag! Blue flag!

This still makes me laugh, what a tune Seb!! ;’) 

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Seb unstoppable in Sepang

A great strategy helped Sebastian Vettel to beat the pre-race favourites Mercedes and gave himself his first win of the season and his first win with his new team Ferrrari. 

Hamilton was leading until Ericsson spun on lap four and brought out the safety car. Most teams decided to pit their drivers but Vettel stayed out with what was the beginnings of his winning strategy. 

While the Mercs had now committed to a three-stop strategy, Vettel was in the position for a two-stop and at the front of the pack.

After a wet Q2 and Q3 the grid was a bit mixed which made for an exciting race.

Kimi Raikkonen had to fight back through the field after a first-lap puncture at the beginning of the track (the worst possible place for poor Kimi) left him in last place. So a fourth place finish was pretty amazing and left questions of where he could of been without the puncture. 

Another first-lap incident involved Bottas and Maldonado which left Valtteri way down. He also fought back and eventually beat his team-mate Felipe Massa in the closing stages of the race to fourth place. 

Max Verstappen showed yet again that age is just a number after finishing seventh, just in front of his team-mate and in doing so became the youngest driver to score World Championship points. 

Rounding off the top ten was the two Red Bulls, Kvyat followed by Ricciardo, who were disappointed again with their speed and being beaten by their feeder team really poured salt into their wounds. 

Sadly the two McLaren drivers were unable to finish but it was good to see Roberto Merhi see the chequered flag.

Vettel’s victory shows that 2015 is not a done deal with Mercedes and that we do have a championship fight on our hands! I cannot wait to see what China will provide! 

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The Weekend Ahead

What a weekend this should be for Formula One and MotoGP fans.

It’ll be round two in Malaysia for F1 and the first race of the season for MotoGP in Qatar. I cannot wait to see all the action unfold on track. Can anyone beat the Mercedes pair? And can anyone beat the reigning Champion Marc Marquez?

It should be a cracker! 

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Ferrari close the gap to Mercedes

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12513/9777523/ferrari-close-the-gap-to-mercedes