Hungarian Grand Prix Preview- The title race starts now

After a long summer break we head to Budapest for what could be one of the most crucial rounds of the championship so far. Pirelli are bringing their new revised tyres which could arguably shake up the field entirely and we will find out how badly Mercedes suffer after missing the Young Drivers Test.

  This combination means that midfield teams such as Williams and Force India have a real shot of achieving a big result. 

Pirelli's lifeline

But the main question on everyone's lips is how are the revised tyres going to hold up around the Hungaroring. The circuit is quite slow and has plenty of tight corners, partner that with temperatures which are expected to soar on the track it means that the tyres are going to be put under a lot of stress. Ten of the corners at the circuit where McLaren have had such a presence over the past 10 years are taken at under 155/KPH and the cars require the same downforce level as a circuit like Monaco. The perfect platform to become a hero or a villain. Pirelli have the chance to prove a lot of critics wrong this weekend but they have to get this right. They have re added the Kevlar belts seen at the Nurburgring which were also used in 2012 but can they hold on? Everyone makes mistakes but when there are such a spread of them in such a short space of time eventually resulting in the safety of the driver being at risk then drastic measures have to be taken. Pirelli need a race with no complaints and no incidents involving a tyre fault or this could well be the beginning of the end for them.

Mercedes rue missed opportunity

Every formula one team took to Silverstone recently for the Young Drivers Test, well every team except Mercedes that is. Normally it's what it says on the tin. A test...for young drivers. But the 2013 test was a little different as teams were Able to test Pirelli's new tyres ahead of the Grand Prix this weekend. This was absolutely crucial as the teams had the chance to collect enough data and statistics to make Oxford university jealous. Longevity, temperatures, potential strategies, how they run with different downforce levels or fuel loads amongst many more factors that could come into play this weekend. Mercedes missed their chance due to the secret test which took place earlier in the season. Because of this and because of how much data the teams would have collected it means that Friday practice is going to be like getting your homework done at 9AM the morning it's due when your lesson is in 20 minutes. It will be a frantic rush to catch up and make up all of the ground lost. We have no way of knowing how much ground the rest of the field have gained on the team who sit second in the constructors standings until qualifying where the silver arrows always seem to shine. Only time will tell if they are going to struggle around the demanding Hungaroring or if Ross Brawn is going to pull a bunny out of his hat. 

Team to watch

Whilst they have not had the easiest or strongest start to the season, McLaren have always shone at this circuit taking a total of eleven victories with six of those being in the past eight years. Perhaps the Young Drivers Test will have been the catalyst needed to get their season pointing in the right direction. Maybe not a podium place but expect to see a strong presence in qualifying and maybe even a double points finish during the race.

Driver to watch

The circuit has always been one that Finnish drivers seem to excel at. Heikki took his only Formula One Victory there back in 2008 and Hakkinen also took two wins at the Grand Prix. Raikkonen has not won there since 2005 but last year took second place with Romain also on the podium in third. The two races previous to that when he was driving a Ferrari, the Iceman also came second and third. He will be chasing victory number 21 this weekend and the Lotus could be the key to unlock the door that victory sits behind.

Top 5 prediction

Fernando Alonso

Kimi Raikkonen

Sebastian Vettel

Felipe Massa

Paul Di Resta

Read More

Read between the dotted lines- The Red Bull Traction Control Saga

The canadian Grand Prix as everyone knows was a race which  was maybe a bit too quiet after the Pirelli Tyre war had simmered down, the politics in Formula One remained almost unheard of and it was a great week of racing. Until now that is..


Mark Webber is the latest driver to be at the centre of suspicion as videos and images arise of apparent traction control use following the incident with Van Der Garde. The images and the video show after the Aussie pulls away out of the hairpin, two lines appear which then slowly dot away due to wheelspin. The question here is was this down to bumps on the circuit or have Red Bull tried to implement a very subtle traction control system which may not have been subtle enough?


One key thing to consider is if the Red Bull's have been using Traction Control wouldn't it be more apparent at earlier circuits in which the car carries less downforce or will struggle for grip? The Monaco circuit for example would be a more noticeable circuit for sure but did the Red Bull gain any kind of advantage there? No is the answer however they did pull off a solid second and third place. 

Catalunya, another venue in which the use of the device would have been clear. The final sector has always been tricky since the inclusion of the chicane and many cars have had minor moments and full spins in the past. Surely it would have given them a much bigger advantage and the Red Bull's would have gained a considerable amount of time each lap.

 But in Canada where the so called Traction Control has been noticed, winner Sebastian Vettel gained an incredible 2.5 second advantage on Lewis Hamilton by the end of the first lap alone. So has the reason for the RB9's speed been found?

 Traction Control as we all know is banned by the FIA but most teams have tried to master the art of engine mapping with all having different results. Engineers may intentionally reduce the amount of torque available in the mid RPM range, or where a driver's RPM will most likely max out when exiting a corner. By reducing the torque when the driver is on full throttle exiting a corner, the car does not max out and experience oversteer or anything similar, thus creating a similar effect. But if all teams use it and it isn't illegal does this put the argument to rest?

The FIA have searched but found nothing suspicious on the RB9 to date. So the question is what was creating those lines as Webber exited the corner? Was it just generated by wheel spin? Were there bumps on the track caused by debris or was it degrading rubber?The answer remains unclear, but what are your thoughts? Was it something as simple as a bump in the tarmac or are Red Bull going to be crossed off Santa's list this year? Leave your opinions below.

Read More

Top 5 picks for Webber's replacement in 2014.

Yesterday Red Bull announced that they have extended triple world champion Sebastian Vettel's contract until the end of the 2015 season. Whilst this is great for the German it does surface the question of if Mark Webber leaves then who will be his replacement? It is a widespread rumour  that the Aussie will be moving to the World Endurance Championship driving for Porsche next season and whilst Webber has not 100% confirmed or denied this rumour, the events of the 2013 season thus far are certainly hinting at a departure from the sport.

So what happens to Red Bull if Webber leaves? The answer is simple, they need to find a replacement who will deliver the same if not better performances and someone who could be a long term number 2 driver to support Sebastian. Below I have listed my top 5 picks for the seat if Mark were to leave and the reasons why.



5.) Nico Hulkenberg:

The German Sauber driver has turned a lot of heads over the past couple of seasons. With a career highest of fourth position and a pole in Brazil 2010, Nico has proved that he has potential. His 2013 season however is not as successful thus far. Picking up just 5 points from the opening 7 rounds (however that's all of the points Sauber have scored this year) If Hulkenberg wants to be considered for the Red Bull seat next season and doesn't quite have the car for consistent points finishes, what he needs to do is attack and show the world that despite the car not being as competitive as it has been in previous years, he can still fight for the lower points and have some exciting battles on the circuit. But with his talent and what he have already seen from him, I
wouldn't write him off just yet.

4.) Paul Di Resta

Since his debut in 2011, Paul Di Resta has continued to improve and impress as his career goes on. 34 points this season alone out of the teams total of 51 and a season best of fourth in Bahrain, Di Resta again is looking very strong in a Force India. The ever competitive midfield in Formula One is where you can expect to see the Scotsman at his best, with a driving style that combines aggression with calmness he has a mature mindset and coming from DTM, it's easy to see how the skills needed to run bumper to bumper and be cool calm and collected when in group racing have transpired into F1.

3.) Kimi Raikkonen

Having won the opening round of the season, the Iceman was out to win a championship and he had made that point crystal clear looking at his race results. Three second places in a row saw him move up to second in the championship whilst teammate Grosjean struggled to get the consistency needed to support Kimi and aid Lotus's Constructors bid, much like Alonso and Piquet JR partnership at Renault a few years back. But the key here is that over the past two seasons Kimi has been with Lotus, he has taken 11 podiums and 2 victories. The only issue here is that I don't think the partnership would work. It would mirror the Alonso and Hamilton McLaren partnership in 2007, two drivers who want the spotlight with the team backing their "Golden Boy". This could even be the case at Red Bull now following the Multi 21 incident and the numerous other encounters the two teammates have had in the past. As good as Raikkonen would be in a Red Bull, I just feel that he is too dominant to be a number 2 driver, team orders can make or break a drivers championship and if Raikkonen had to yield to allow Vettel to pick up some crucial points for the championship ending his own, would he?




2.) Daniel Ricciardo & John-Eric Vergne

Yes that's right I've chosen two drivers for number two. Toro Rosso was the proving ground for Sebastian Vettel in 2008. He took his first victory for the Red Bull sister team at Monza that year and now he's a triple world champion. No other driver however has been able to achieve the same feat or indeed anywhere close. Sebastian Bourdais and Jaimie Algesuari are just a couple of names to mention. But Daniel Ricciardo looks like he could be the man to change that. However in doing so, he needs to out qualify and finish better than his team mate Vergne who has been on a great tun lately. Red Bull boss Christian Horner has said  "Daniel is a very, very talented driver. He has come from the Red Bull junior programme and has done a great job. We have an eye on him. "We're also looking at what Jean-Eric Vergne is doing, and it's nice to see the progress they're making." Vergne picked up a fantastic result this weekend at Canada finishing in a career best of 6th position. The Toro Rosso pair are alternating who is quicker almost every race now and it will be very interesting to see if Red Bull choose Daniel or John for the 2014 seat. 


1.) Nico Rosberg

Three pole positions and a victory are the way Nico Rosberg has started the opening half of his season. Alongside his new teammate Lewis Hamilton who is signed at Mercedes until 2016, Rosberg has been on fire as of late. His learning curve over the past five years or so has been great to watch as his totals now add up to two race wins and four pole positions with the potential for many more. Often considered the nice guy of Formula One,  the 28 year old in my eyes would be the perfect replacement for Webber. Still relatively young, quick, consistent and smart. He does not often go for moves unless he knows 100% that they will pay off. He respects team orders (Malaysia this year is a good example however he made his feelings clear to the team) and works very well as a second driver.

Only time will tell who Christian chooses as his new number two driver but there is a lot of speculation circling at the moment, the next few races in particular will perhaps make things a little clearer but we need to wait until the end of the season for a more realistic idea of who the driver could be.
Who would you choose if you were in Horners position? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or tweet them to me @LiamJSimRacing

Read More

Race Marshalls: A Thank You

On the evening after the Canadian Grand Prix, the world was made aware of a shocking incident. One of the Marshal's who was helping to recover Esteban's car from the side of the track was hit by the recovery vehicle. It was said that he dropped his radio and as he bent over to pick it up he stumbled.
 This is a terrible accident and one that has shocked the world but also made us aware of how much the Marshall's truly give for us.

Every weekend, weather it be at a small Hill Climb event, a NASCAR race in America or Formula One, race marshall's are in the thick of the action. Keeping the drivers and fans safe and clearing up any debris or accidents in a very short amount of time. They risk their lives week after week so some of the best drivers in series all over the world can compete and entertain the fans. Without them, there simply would not be any Motorsport and they frankly do not get enough recognition for the blood sweat and tears they put in to making events such as the Canadian Grand Prix possible.

After the race a few drivers tweeted out their respect including second place finisher Fernando Alonso: “Today there is nothing to celebrate. Terrible news arrive with the death of a marshal this race. Very sad. R.I.P.”
    
 When I commentated on the BARC Finals at Thruxton, I sat in the restaurant area among them. All in their bright orange jackets on top of the world and excited for another fantastic day of Motorsport. It was a fantastic feeling and I wasn't even marshalling. But just to feel their excitement and passion for Motorsport was something surreal.

On behalf of everyone who is involved with or simply loves racing, I send my condolences and all of my thoughts to the friends and family of that brave Marshall and a thank you to every single person who travels to a circuit every weekend to Marshall. Getting up at ridiculous times in all weathers making sure that the racing goes on and coming home late after making sure the track is in perfect condition, exhausted, drained and filled with adrenaline.

Yesterday was a very sad day in Motorsport, and one which will remain in the memories of fans, drivers and marshalls alike for a long time.

Rest In Peace

Read More

My Top 5 Monaco Moments

Monaco, the jewel in the crown for the Formula One season. A race which every driver wants to win. It carries such a reputation with it when legends such as Senna and Graham Hill dominated the track year after year. But the streets of Monte Carlo can often show another side to a driver. A side which provokes hatred or love from the spectators and a side which can earn you a place in the hall of fame, or the hall of shame.
These are my personal top 5 Monaco moments.

Number 5:- Triumphant Trulli (2004)
Jarno Trulli had always shown that he had a considerable amount of pace inside his Renault R24 but could never tick that final box of winning a Grand Prix. So, how do you go about winning your first Formula One Race? The answer, at the streets of Monaco in 2004. The Italian took a mighty pole position from Jenson Button and was looking to make it a perfect weekend in one of the most eventful races of the season. With only 9 drivers finishing it almost became like a last man standing event! Alonso, Michael Schumacher and both Mclarens had all retired along with the other 9 drivers who couldn't make it to the end. But it was the patience and the perfect strategy that saw Jarno Trulli break the spell of Ferrari and Michael Schumacher and show the world that they can be beaten. It was to be his only ever victory in Formula One, but he did it on the grandest stage of them all.


Number 4:- Schumacher's true colors shine through (2006)

A race dominated by spaniard Fernando Alonso and the news dominated by the antics of 7 time World Champion Michael Schumacher. At the end of qualifying Michael had pole position within reach, but Fernando was flying around the streets of Monte Carlo and in the final minute of the session, the German parked his car into the penultimate corner, stopping the session and seeing him keep his pole position. 
   After the session he claimed that he simply locked his brakes and almost hit the barrier, but the onboard footage was enough to see that this was no accident. This effort to keep his pole position had the reverse effect. Michael started from the very back of the grid
 Alonso was able to keep his lead during the race and cross the line  to win his first of two Monaco Grand Prix's to date. Michael still defied the odds and from 22nd on the grid brought his Ferrari home in 5th place at least getting some points for the team. But this impressive drive has been still over shadowed to this day by his actions at Rascasse.

Number 3:- A Fairytale ending (2008)

One of the most eventful races in recent memory saw Lewis Hamilton take his first ever Monaco win.
After Massa dominated qualifying in a dry session, the heavens opened the next day, meaning drivers would start the race on Wet tyres. The first pit stop came on lap 6. No this was not down to a Pirelli tyre wear pit stop, but for Lewis Hamilton who had touched the wall on the exit of Tabac picking up a puncture. The Mclaren team tried something extremely risky and fitted the Intermediates on the car. He came out in fifth due to the field being spread out all over the circuit and fate played into his hands nicely. Massa was running away with the race until Coulthard and Bourdais collided on lap 8. The safety car was brought out and all of his hard work was lost.

    Later on saw Nico Rosbergs massive incident at the swimming pool again bringing out the safety car. But just as the fans thought the action was coming to a close, Kimi Raikkonen lost control of his Ferrari exiting the tunnel and hitting the back of Sutil who was up until that point having a sensational race.

 But at the end of the race it was Lewis Hamilton who at one point looked like he stood no chance of finishing in the top 5, came through and won the race. His first Monaco GP win was delivered in style.

Number 2:- "Sennasational" (1992)

Nigel Mansell in 1992 was tipped to win the championship. His Williams-Renault was the fastest car on the grid and his driving was relentless. But none of that mattered at Monaco. Mansell was dominating the race until the final stint. A loose wheel nut forced him to pit in, bringing him out behind one of the only men to give him the race of a lifetime– Ayrton Senna. It took just two laps of Mansell coming out behind Ayrton for the lead to be crushed from six seconds to two. He then spent the last five laps desperately trying to get past, ducking and diving at every possible opportunity. Corner after corner Nigel tried his absolute best to push past the young charger but Senna was too smart that day. He took the chequered flag for the fifth time as a winner in Monaco and his fifth Monaco win, equalling the record of British racing icon Graham Hill. One he would beat year later.

Number 1:- An underdog story (1996)

My personal favorite moment in all of Monaco's exciting history has to be the year where Olivier Panis took his first and only Grand Prix win. In  races which see the attrition rate sky rocket, the winner is normally the man that keeps his nose clean, his head down and drives his own race. This was proven once again at the Monaco Grand Prix, 1996.
 The race started on a drying track and the odds favored the Pole sitter Michael Schumacher and his rival Damon Hill who was keen to win at Monaco like his father before him.The two sat on the front row but the Germans race ended much quicker than he imagined as he crashed heavily in the opening stint. Hill realised the opportunity he had  and continued to lead through the race until his engine suffered a failure which was rare for the team.
  Jean Alesi was granted the lead but it was almost like every driver in the lead was cursed as Jean later retied with a suspension failure.
  Panis was now in the lead in his Ligier and all he had to do was stay in front of David Coulthard. In a dash to the line Panis took the chequered flag and won his only ever Grand prix race, and Ligiers first in 15 years. Only 4 cars finished out of 22 starters making it one of the most exciting races in Monaco history.

Read More

Real Reacing 3:- A Journalistic review

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say this but since the dawn of iPhones and Android phones we as sim racers have longed for a realistic racing game with licensed cars, tracks and good physics to replace those 2D bike racers which sound like a hedge trimmer on concrete! This is where EA come in with their new FREE title Real Racing 3. Now EA have been making racing games for years, they've had the F1 license in the past and of course their baby Need For Speed is now a household name but could they conquer the phone market?


 CONTENT:- Before we even touch on the gameplay lets just take into account how much content this game has. 45 cars (at the time of release) with more being added, 22 car grids, tracks like Spa, Laguna Seca, Silverstone and Hockenheim with countless variations. The cars feature manufacturers such as Porsche, Audi,Lamborghini, Dodge and Bugatti. For a FREE game that is an incredible list. With cars like the R8 LMS Ultra GT3, if they decided to add a custom mode where you can set the stipulation of a race which doesn't count towards your career, you could potentially make a little endurance GT series!


 GAMEPLAY:- The game represents the kind of career mode that Forza has with multiple different series and progressing your driver level in order to unlock the cars to compete in them. The higher your rank the harder the challenges, the faster the cars and the quicker the AI. It's a rewarding method to say the least. Upgrading your cars and buying new ones with the money you earn in game or money you put into the game (Come on it's EA, there were always going to be micro transactions) does encourage you to play on and unlock even more. Now this is all great but it's been done countless times before except not on a phone and not free to play. So what makes this stand out and why am I so addicted to it?
                 The answer,Time Shifted Multiplayer. Now what's that you all sit there stunned by EA confusing out minds with big words. Essentially what it enables you to do is connect the game to your Facebook account and race your friends. But not in the traditional way, instead your friends take the form of AI opponents that you race against based on their strength. So if your friend completed an event and his best time was a 1:39:00, his AI in your game would represent that pace. This alone makes it SO competitive. There is nothing more rewarding than slamming your best friends time by a good few tenths of a second and then him coming back to beat it by a few hundredths.
                Not only do you get money for every event you do which is handy for these friend wars but the events can be replayed meaning that you and your friend can be battling for the fastest time all night long and earning credits to spend.
        The only downside I could think of whilst playing this is having to repair or service your car after every race, it's nowhere near as damaging as you level up but to start with if you earn $1000, a good $300 will be spent on repairing the windscreen yo
u smashed in by hitting one of the AI cars. Servicing is a bit of a pain but a realistic pain as the parts will wear down the more you use them. Servicing gets them back to peak performance at a cost and a period of time. You can speed this up using some of the tokens (separate to credits) but these are harder to come by and I would much rather wait and spend them on a new car. But the money is easy to earn and you wont be spending hours upon hours trying to earn enough to put new parts on the car.
     The AI do seem to be very basic, not in the fact that they're slow, but in the fact that they will just not move off of their racing line. They do overtake eachother but they have no spacial awareness of you whatsoever. But as the game goes on this does improve and it does feel like a simcade racing game. Another example of the hybrid genre would be the Grid series or the F1 series. Taking the best of both Arcade and Simulation and putting them in a blender.


 CONTROLS:- I was honestly quite surprised by how good the gameplay was. Utilizing the classic tilt motion control you assume it's a beautiful game with an awful control scheme. BUT EA threw a curve ball. By allowing you to remove the braking assists and throttle assists as well as Automatic gears it actually makes the game rather exciting. You could easily buy a specialised pad for your phone and use that with no issue at all. The handling is smooth and the touch pedals are very responsive.
   It also has many different options so you can customise it to your liking. If you want all the assists off then you can do that or you can race with minimal assists. The sort of options menu you would expect to see in a Forza game.


 GRAPHICS:- Possibly the best graphics I have EVER seen on a mobile phone. 3 years ago I would never have thought a game this good could be played on a phone. It looks simply beautiful. It will look a lot better on tablets and iPads but for a Samsung Galaxy S2 it looks great. Crisp, clear and smooth. It does suffer a little from frame loss especially when you go into Eau Rouge at Spa for instance but that's due to having to process so much at one time.


 SCORE:- Overall this is a MUST for any racing fan. If you like F1 or BTCC or even NASCAR you will still find something to love about this. The TSM works fantastically and it's visually stunning. The best part is that this game is free! It's not a pay to win despite the option for micro transactions and it really does take hours out of your social life. Performance will vary depending on your phone but it's free you're not going to lose anything!
 Graphics- 9/10
 Physics- 8/10
 Gameplay- 8/10
Content- 9/10
Sound- 7.5/10
 OVERALL- 8/10

Read More