2015 Japanese Grand Prix - Race Analysis: Hamilton wins comfortably in Suzuka as Ferrari don't challenge.

The 2015 Japanese Grand Prix has finished and it saw Lewis Hamilton finish 1st for the 41st time, equaling the great Ayrton Senna's record. It was the 8th 1, 2 for Mercedes this season with Nico Rosberg finishing 2nd. Sebastian Vettel picked up another podium for the Scuderia.

Race winner Lewis Hamilton.

The race was held over 53 laps and Lewis Hamilton led every lap. Lewis got the edge on pole sitter Nico Rosberg from the start when they went side by side into Turns 1 and 2. Lewis went up the inside and he squeezed Nico right out onto the curb, dropping him to 4th by the time they reached the esses. Vettel got the jump from 4th on Valtteri Bottas and he was ahead of the fin by Turn 1.

The first lap saw 3 punctures for Daniel Ricciardo, Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez. They all pitted on lap 1. This saw the likes of Maldonado, Hulkenberg and Alonso the big gainers off the line, all going into the points by the end of lap 1.

The race start.

Hamilton set the pace early with the fastest lap and he pulled away from Vettel straight away. The first overtake we saw was from Marcus Ericsson as he passed Fernando Alonso round the outside at Turn 1. As we neared the 10 lap mark many people were pitting, including Valterri Bottas who undercut from 3rd trying to get in front of Vettel in 2nd. This also protected him from Rosberg in 4th. Bottas didn't get Vettel but he definitely closed up through the pit stop phase. Some people opted for the hards in the 2nd stint (Raikkonen, Rosberg, Vettel) and some opted for the mediums (Hamilton, Bottas)

In the 2nd stint Rosberg really closed up on Bottas for 3rd place and on lap 17 made an overtake through the last chicane. Rosberg then undercut his 2nd stop and Ferrari were caught napping as Sebastian Vettel was jumped by the now flying Rosberg. However it was't all bad for the Italian tram as they managed to get Raikkonen ahead of Bottas for 4th.

However Rosberg's pace wasn't enough and he finished a mere 16 seconds off Hamilton. Vettel did close the gap considerably to his compatriate for 2nd place, but didn't make a move.

Sebastian Vettel

Meanwhile there was no crashes or retirements in the race anywhere with the biggest moment being Will Stevens having a big spin at 130R. He had no damage and he ended up facing the right way and only lost a little bit of time. Daniil Kvyat struggled throughout the race with bad brakes and he was really struggling. Felipe Nasr didn't finished but was classified as he completed 90% race distance. This means it is only the 5th time in Formula 1 that there hasn't been a retirement from a race.

Overall the order finished:

1) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
2) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
3) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
4) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
5) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes
6) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes
7) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes
8) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
9) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault
10) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault
11) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda
12) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
13) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault
14) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
15) Daniel Riccardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault
16) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda
17) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
18) Alexander Rossi - Manor-Ferrari
19) Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari
20) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari

The best race for me went to Nico Hulkenberg who finished in 6th place after starting from 13th on the grid. He was one driver who really stayed out of trouble and ran his own race which saw him pick up some points which Force India desperately needed since Lotus have just had a double points finish. Sergio Perez couldn't back Hulkenberg up after a lap 1 puncture ruined his race.

As I just said, Lotus also drove a great race after having problems all weekend with money. It will be a big confidence boost for the team to see they are still capable of scoring points, and to have both drivers doing it will put a smile on everyones face.

Toro Rosso also managed to have a double points finish in 9th and 10th with Max Verstappen getting the better of Carlos Sainz. They drove well and Sainz did very well after needing a wing change on his 2nd stop.

Williams really lost out at the top with Massa's race being ruined 10 seconds into the race and Bottas losing 3rd, then losing 4th and eventually only managing 5th. Ferrari definitely showed Williams that they have the better long run pace.

Felipe Massa received a puncture on lap 1.

The best battle of the race was for 12th position between Ericsson, Perez and Kvyat. Ericsson on older tires managed to hold off the very quick Perez and Kvyat for many laps until he ran a little wide at spoon, and Perez needed no other invitation, getting ahead before 130R. It was the first of many moves that stuck for Perez. Kvyat followed laps later through the chicane as Ericsson let through Raikkonen.

More to follow on the Japanese Grand Prix

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2015 Japanese Grand Prix - Practice 3 Analysis: Ricciardo gives Red Bull a fighting chance

The final practice session for the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix has ended and to the delight of almost everybody the rain stayed away. We finally saw roughly what the pecking order would be for qualifying and Mercedes managed to up one on there Ferrari counterparts.

The session saw Nico Rosberg finish on top with a lap time of 1:33.995, 3 tenths ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton. The blood red Ferrari couldn't match the Mercs in the qualifying runs as they found themselves a full second adrift in P6 and P8. To be fair though Sebastian Vettel (P8) lost a lot of time on his lap from Daniil Kvyat. However when Mercedes and Ferrari ran there longer runs Sebastian Vettel appeared to be much faster than Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Kimi Raikkonen, with 1 tenth separating all 4 drivers at one point. A difference between the two teams could be set up as Martin Brundle pointed out when he was track side at Degnar 1 and 2. He stated that the Ferrari looks "weak" through both Degnars. However these times aren't 100% representative as we can't be fully sure of the fuel loads that both teams ran.

Red Bull had a strong session on one side of the garage with Daniel Ricciardo finishing a very strong 3rd for the Milton-Keynes team. Results like these are what Red Bull need as they consider leaving the sport. Ricciardo drove 22 laps and as far as I was aware he didn't make any major mistakes during the run. He had pace on the hard tires as well as the mediums in the quali simulations. On the other side of the garage Kvyat was really struggling as he ran wide twice through Degnar 2. For me this will be a corner to watch for Kvyat in qualifying as it appears he isn't full on top of it. Ricciardo wasn't the only one strong on Hard tire runs though as 20 minutes in all 4 Renault powered cars were in the top 5.

Another consistent performer and surprise from FP3 was Williams who were in the top 6 when the Hard tires were being run. They then managed to keep that pace up when running the qualifying simulations. I did think Williams would be strong here as the mainly high speed and medium speed corners would suit there engine and chassis package. For them, Turns 11 (Hairpin) and 16, 17, 18 (Casino Triangle) will be important as they are the slowest and need good traction, something Williams have struggled with.

Once again Toro Rosso also prove to be relatively strong here with there high quality chassis. Toro Rosso would have been a very strong prospect if they had a better engine in the back.

Overall the session finished like this:

1) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
2) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
3) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault
4) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes
5) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
6) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
7) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault
8) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
9) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes
10) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault
11) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes
12) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda
13) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
14) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault
15) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
16) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda
17) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
18) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
19) Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari
20) Alexander Rossi - Manor-Ferrari

Daniel Ricciardo was the star of the session and he is definately one to watch in qualifying. He was driving unbelievely fast in FP3 and outclassed his car. With Ferrari and Mercedes fighting for the pole, Ricciardo could throw a spanner in the works.

Japanese Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 2 Analysis: Kvyat puts Red Bull on top as they show strength in wet condtions.

Practice 2 for the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix has finished and once again we saw limited running as rain affected most of the session. Daniil Kvyat drove his Red Bull to the top of the time sheets and bettered the efforts of both Mercedes who followed closely in 2nd and 3rd.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

The session started off with intermediate conditions and they looked to be improving to perhaps even have slick running. However that wasn't the case as with about 30 minutes to go in the session the rain picked up and we saw full wet conditions. This affected Fernando Alonso as the McLaren missed the inters running due to an unscheduled engine change which saw him miss the first hour of the session. He finished 18th with a time on the full wets.

McLaren's Fernando Alonso had a very disrupted session with an engine change.

Daniil Kvyat was the star of the session as he managed to finish ahead of two Mercedes that look back to normal. Even with many drivers struggling, there were little mistakes from the Mercedes team which makes Kvyat's lap more outstanding. Many people were struggling in the changeable conditions. Early on Sergio Perez was complaining of a lot of understeer and he couldn't match the initial pace of Kvyat. 18 minutes into the session Pastor Maldonado ran across the grass on the exit of Turn 2. It was a lazy mistake and it looks as though he was too busy adjusting settings on the wheel. Minutes later Sebastian Vettel ran wide at Turn 1 and came inches to beaching himself in the gravel trap. Then 41 minutes into the session Max Verstappen took a trip through the gravel at the hairpin (Turn 11) after he locked up going into the slowest corner on the Suzuka track.

Then running was really disrupted as the rain began to come down, and for a period of 10 minutes Fernando Alonso had the track to himself as he got in some valuable wet weather running. Towards the end of the session both Mercedes and Ferrari's joined him on the track as they practiced starts at the end of the pit lane.

Ferrari front wings.

Once again though most of these times are highly irrelevant as wet weather times can't reflect race pace in dry conditions on Sunday. This means that the most important session now becomes Saturday Practice 3 as teams will have a choice to check long run pace or simulate qualifying. The teams will probably opt for the long run pace to see if the option tire can run long enough too run the two stop strategy.

This is how the running finished:

1) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault
2) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
3) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
4) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault
5) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
6) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
7) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault
8) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault
9) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
10) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
11) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes
12) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda
13) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
14) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
15) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes
16) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
17) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda
18) Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari
19) Alexander Rossi - Manor-Ferrari

Valtteri Bottas (Williams-Mercedes) did not set a laptime.

As I said earlier these times are relatively irrelevant as the wet running cannot dictate the pace of the cars in the dry. Free Practice 3 will definitely be a session to watch! Catch it tomorrow!

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Japanese Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 1 Analysis: Wet conditions interrupt running in Suzuka.

The very wet Friday Practice 1 session has finished and to be 100% honest you can't gain anything from the very little running. Only 12 times were set as 8 cars choose not to run in the conditions.

Fans at Suzuka.

The session was mainly run in the full wet tires and we had to wait 55 minutes before we saw the first timed laps from Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso's. These times were set with full wet conditions and were round the 1:51s. The first person to run the inters was Valtteri Bottas, but it proved to early as he had a big moment on the exit of Turn 2 and found himself 5 seconds off Verstappen's pace.

As more times were set towards the end of the session, more drivers began to struggle in the conditions that were balanced between full wets and inters. Most notably Felipe Massa who was complaining of understeer as he struggled to get his Williams through the first sector. Felipe Nasr also had a moment at Spoon curve as he went wide and nearly found himself in the gravel. Kimi Raikkonen also had a moment right as the chequered flag fell when he went wide at Turn 1.

Sebastian Vettel

There hasn't been anything to learn in this session in terms of Mercedes and Ferrari as wet conditions can't show us true pace. Ferrari appear confident, whilst Mercedes seems very worried as they believe that Ferrari now have a power unit on par with the Mercedes. The rain is set to continue through Friday Practice 2 and we will likely see a very rushed and very interesting Saturday Practice 3.
There wasn't much on track action in this session but there was plenty to talk about off the track. Lotus continue with financial troubles, there freight for this weekend arrived late and they didn't do any running in Practice 1 supposedly because they can't afford a crash. Red Bull are also still having problems for there 2016 campaign. The team is likely to be Ferrari powered but many reports are coming out saying the team won't be Red Bull sponsored next year. Another bit of news from the paddock is the announcement that on Tuesday Haas F1 will announce there 2015 race drivers. Many drivers are still in the running for the two seats from Esteban Gutierrez, Jean-Eric Vergne and even the possibility of Romain Grosjean.

Marcus Ericsson.

Overall the strongest looking car from this practice session was definitely the Toro Rosso as Carlos Sainz topped the session with Max Verstappen in 6th, Obviously these times are highly irrelevant but a definite pattern throughout the season is that the Toro Rosso is a very strong car in wet conditions.

Overall the session finished like this:

1) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault
2) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault
3) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
4) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
5) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
6) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault
7) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
8) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
9) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
10) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes
11) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
12) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda

Drivers who didn't set times:

Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault
Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes
Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
Jolyon Palmer - Lotus-Mercedes
Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari
Alexander Rossi - Manor-Ferrari
Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda

The second Friday Practice session is set to get underway in just under 2 hours. Heavy rain continues to pelt the Suzuka circuit and it looks as though it will be a very similar session to this one. Saturday Practice will be the most crucial session this weekend if the teams can't have normal running on the Friday.

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Japanese Grand Prix 2015 - Preview: Will Mercedes Singapore woes follow them to Suzuka?

With the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix just a few days away now, the Formula 1 season is really heating up. Lewis Hamilton goes into the race with only a 49 point gap to Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari. Mercedes were beaten on genuine pace in Singapore by both Ferrari and Red Bull. The team has no explanation, and all fans are wondering will this pace continue over to Suzuka?

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton

Theoretically this track should really balance the Ferrari and the Mercedes on pace. The problem is we aren't 100% sure whether Ferrari were fast in Singapore or Mercedes were slow. Martin Brundle stated that the altered layout in Singapore was about 5 tenths slower than the 2014 version. In 2014 Mercedes took pole with a time of 1:45.681, whereas in 2015 Hamilton set a 1:45.300. He was 3 tenths faster in 2015, which if you take the track change into account makes it a total of 8 tenths faster in 2015. However in the Hungarian Grand Prix's Nico Rosbergs 2014 pole time (1:22.715) vs Lewis Hamilton's 2015 pole time (1:22.020) its a 7 tenths difference. This to me shows that Mercedes continued with relatively normal pace in Singapore, which means Ferrari have made massive gains on the Silver Arrows.

So realistically Ferrari's form could continue in Suzuka. The track does suit a car that has a strong chassis which can grip to the left and right medium speed esses, whilst a car which can take fast corners like 130R at maximum speed. There is a need for a competitive power unit at Suzuka because of the long straight that precedes the penultimate right/left chicane, a good spot for overtaking. The Red Bull and McLaren's will find themselves on the end of many overtakes through the third sector.

Layout of the Suzuka Circuit

Suzuka won't fully discount Red Bull, but it definitely won't have them near the top of the field. Sector 1's twisty esses will suit the RB11 strong chassis, but the final sector's straight will put a lot of strain on the failing Renault power unit. Singapore was definitely a race the team targeted to go well at so expect potential for engine penalties here in Suzuka.

If Mercedes don't improve there pace from Singapore, Williams could be a team on par with them. The slow corner traction problems of the Williams (which has been there weakness all year) seemed be solved and that was clearly evident from Valtteri Bottas 5th place in Singapore. There are only a few slow corners in Suzuka (Turn 11 hairpin and Turn 17 chicane) and Williams will be hoping nail them.

Felipe Massa at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The battle for 5th will probably once again be advantage Force India as it clearly showed in Singapore the much stronger aero package they have over Lotus, Toro Rosso and Sauber. Lotus will then have the power unit advantage over Sauber (unless they are running the new Ferrari spec power unit, which I can't confirm at this stage) but Toro Rosso have showed that they have the chassis to deliver. We could see the unique situation where Toro Rosso get Force India in sector 1, but Force India will bounce back in sector 3 with the Mercedes power unit. The battle in the midfield for sector 2 will be an interesting one.

Sahara Force India driver Sergio Perez (MEX)

Honda will probably find themselves struggling and on level with Sauber. Manor will again occupy 19th and 20th.

This is how I roughly predict the pecking order to be in Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.

1) Ferrari
2) Mercedes
3) Williams-Mercedes
4) Red Bull Racing-Renault
5) Sahara Force India
6) Toro Rosso
7) Lotus-Mercedes
8) Sauber-Ferrari
9) McLaren-Honda
10) Manor-Ferrari
The Japanese Grand Prix will begin on Friday the 25th of September and go through to Sunday the 27th of September. It is a 53 lap race which could have the potential to show both rain and shine. It will truly be a test of Mercedes and Ferrari.

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Singapore Grand Prix 2015 - Race Analysis: Vettel takes stunning win as Hamilton hits car troubles.

Round 13 of the Formula World Championship took place on the tight and twisty street circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore and it saw Sebastian Vettel take home his 42nd career win overtaking the great Ayrton Senna for third on the list of all time wins. Vettel won from the pole whilst leading every lap for the Scuderia Ferrari. The team has now achieved there goal of 3 wins in the 2015 season.

Race winner Sebastian Vettel goes through Turn 3

The race got off to a relatively clean start with the only start problem coming for Max Verstappen as he stalled off the grid and he had to be restarted in the pits, albeit a lap behind everyone else. The top 7 stayed unchanged off the start with most of the switches coming more in the mid field, The best starts came from Force India who found themselves in 9th and 10th after starting from 11th and 13th. The first lap saw Sebastian Vettel absolutely going 110% and gaining a three second advantages over Ricciardo in P2 as he came onto the start of lap 2.

There was no changes to the order as we neared the first pit stop windows on lap 11. The first overtake of the day came from Romain Grosjean as he overtook Fernando Alonso after performing the undercut. However the action began on lap 13 when Massa was coming out of the pits and Hulkenberg was just coming through Turns 1 and 2. As they both entered Turn 3, it appeared as Nico Hulkenberg didn't sight Massa and turned in on him. Hulkenbergs front left hit Massas sidepod and he lost control on the car and hit the wall, taking him out of the race and bringing out the safety car. Hulkenberg has been given a 3 place grid drop in Japan for the incident. Many people (including most of the leaders) used the safety car to pit for there first stops.

Massa and Hulkenberg collided bringing out the safety car on lap 13.

With the field all bunched up on the restart Sebastian Vettel choose not to use his aggressive strategy he used in the first stint and simply backed Ricciardo up and saved his tires. Ricciardo couldn't get close enough to pass him. The safety car worked well for both Mercedes as they jumped Kvyat who was in P4. This meant Hamilton was now in 4th with Rosberg just behind in 5th. Massa ended up retiring from the incident with Hulkenberg not long after the restart, after he began to have gear box problems.

With Sebastian Vettel still leading from Ricciardo then Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton (in 4th) still saw himself an opportunity to win the race. But it wasn't to be for the Brit because on lap 26 he reported a loss of power, it wasn't a full loss but he was 5 seconds a lap slower than everyone. After a few laps he couldn't find a solution and dropped to the back of the field. Hamilton eventually elected to retire to save his engine for the next race.

Lewis Hamilton retired from the race with an unclear electrical/pedal issue.

Another safety car was called out on lap 37 when one fan got a little lost and found himself walking down the side of the track. The fan was on the track for a good 20 seconds before jumping the fence and exiting the track. He has been arrested. The safety car came at the perfect time to pit for fresh rubber, and almost the whole field did.

On the second restart things got more twitchy as lapped Alexander Rossi found himself between Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen. We saw Carlos Sainz become another victim of a "gearbox ghost" as he mysteriously dropped into neutral on the restart.

A fan takes a walk on the track.

Later in the race Fernando Alonso retired from the race with gear box problems, whilst his team mate was getting racy with Pastor Maldonado which saw Jenson lose his front wing. Button ironically commented on the track invader after the race saying: "He was safer than some of the drivers".

Heading into the last laps the top 6 were sealed, but Sergio Perez was under pressure from Verstappen and Sainz for his 7th place. Toro Rosso asked Verstappen to let Sainz through as they thought he would have a better shot at Perez, to which Max simply replied: "No!". Verstappen couldn't catch Perez as he held onto 7th. Felipe Nasr did well to pressure Romain Grosjean into a mistake at Turn 7 which saw the Brazilian pick up his first point since Monaco.

The race lasted the full 61 laps and Sebastian Vettel crossed the line to take the chequred flag in style with Daniel Ricciardo just seconds behind him. It was a bigger gap to Raikkonen in third who claimed his second podium in the season.

The ending race order was:

1) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
2) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault
3) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
4) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
5) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes
6) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault
7) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
8) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault
9) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault
10) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
11) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
12) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
13) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes
14) Alexander Rossi - Manor-Ferrari
15) Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari
16) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda (DNF)
17) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda (DNF)
18) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes (DNF)
19) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes (DNF)
20) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes (DNF)

(Left to Right) Daniel Ricciardo (2nd), Ferrari technician, Sebastian Vettel (1st) and Kimi Raikkonen (3rd)

It wasn't the most exciting race, but it was one that saw many fans pleased as it wasn't a Mercedes fighting for the top spot. I was personally very pleased to see such a dominant performance from Sebastian Vettel and I would love to continue to see the Scuderia on the top step. Bring on Japan!

More to come on the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix!

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Singapore Grand Prix 2015 - Qualifying Analysis: Vettel takes advantage of Mercedes struggles to seal a brilliant pole.

It has finally happened. The Mercedes power unit dominance in the V6 Turbo Hybrid era has ended with a brilliant pole position lap from Sebastian Vettel in the prancing horse at this years Singapore Grand Prix. Vettel stormed to pole with a 1:43.885 lap, 5 tenths ahead of his nearest rival Daniel Ricciardo.

Pole sitter: Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari

The Mercedes problems from Friday Practice 3 continued onto qualifying as they didn't top Q1, Q2 or Q3 only managing a mediocre 5th and 6th place on the grid. It is Mercedes worst qualifying since the 2013 US Grand Prix where Lewis Hamilton only qualified 5th with Rosberg in 14th. This is also the first time since the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix that a Mercedes powered car hasn't been on pole.

Mercedes only managed 5th and 6th.

Everyone has been talking about the amazing performance of Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari and a lot of people have forgotten about Kimi Raikkonen who managed an excellence 3rd place on the grid to really back his team mate up. He couldn't quite make it a 1, 2 for Ferrari as Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull spoiled the party. Ricciardo had a great lap after a poor first sector and mediocre second sector but he bounced right back to go purple in the final sector, leaving millimeters between him and the wall in Turn 21. Daniil Kvyat backed his Red Bull team mate up with a career best 4th place on the grid.
Williams would have also been happy with there grid slots as they overcame there traction problems and got both cars into Q3. Bottas got the better of Massa though and finished 7th with the Brazilian coming home in 9th place. Max Verstappen of Toro Rosso split the two Williams and finished in 8th.

Romain Grosjean rounded out the top 10 as he managed to squeeze into Q3 for Lotus. He didn't have his team mate to back him up as Pastor Maldonado showed his inexperience and why he truly is a payed driver as he could only managed 18th place on the grid. There really is no excuse for such a poor effort when your team mate can get up to 10th.

It was unlucky 11th again for Nico Hulkenberg after he missed out on Q3 due to yellow flags on his final run. They were bought out after Carlos Sainz hit the wall coming out of Turn 19. This disrupted the laps of everybody and saw both Force India's, McLaren's and Sainz himself instantly lose there chance to get into Q3. Force India will have been very disappointed after thinking they were in for strong Q3 points.

Daniel Ricciardo starts from the front row for Red Bull.

The last 5 slots on the grid were Maldonado as well as both Saubers and Manor-Marussias. Felipe Nasr led that pack in 16th, with his team mate Ericsson behind in 17th. Then came Maldonado's poor effort with Will Stevens getting the better of his team mate in the Manors taking the back row.

The grid order for Sunday looks like this:

1) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
2) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault
3) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
4) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault
5) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
6) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
7) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes
8) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault
9) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
10) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes
11) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes
12) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda
13) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
14) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault
15) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda
16) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
17) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
18) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
19) Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari (5 Place Grid Penalty)
20) Alexander Rossi - Manor-Ferrari (5 Place Grid Penalty)

For me, Practice 3 and Qualifying has raised so many questions. Can Mercedes still win at Marina Bay? Red Bull gave them a real fight last year, as Lewis Hamilton feared his tires blowing up. Is 5th too far back for them? They haven't showed any long run pace and I don't think they have fixed there degradation problems. Can Red Bull win for the first time in 2015? This is realistically there last shot, and Daniel Ricciardo is pretty well placed to take Vettel off the line. Can Ferrari hold on and take there third win of the season and achieve the target they set for themselves at the start?

I can't wait for all these questions to be answered when the lights go green in just under 12 hours!

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Singapore Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 2 Analysis. Kvyat shows Mercedes that Red Bull are a realistic shot for Sunday.

It was a much more interesting and action packed session at Marina Bay today, and we finally saw an answer to Mercedes dominance, provided by Red Bull's young Russian Daniil Kvyat. Red Bull finished a convincing 1st and 3rd as they showed pace which could cause an upset in qualifying and the race.

Lewis Hamilton (Left) was off the pace in 4th.

Mercedes should be concerned if they were running a normal agenda in Practice 2 because the time the session was held corresponds with Qualifying and the Race meaning track conditions will be relatively similar. The Mercs could only manage a mediocre 4th and 7th with Lewis Hamilton beating his team mate Nico Rosberg with a gap of 3 tenths separating them.
Ferrari were another strong performer in Practice 2 and they look as though they could also be in the running on Sunday as Flying Fin Kimi Raikkonen showed team mate Sebastian Vettel how its done finishing just 3 hundredths of a second behind Kvyat in P2. Vettel couldn't match and finished in 5th just a mere 8 thousandths of second behind Hamilton, For me I think Ferrari could be competing realistically against Mercedes on Sunday.

Kimi Raikkonen managed 2nd place.

After Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes the next strongest team set for strong points was without a doubt Sahara Force India. Good laps from Sergio Perez saw him take 6th ahead of team mate Nico Hulkenberg who finished 9th just behind Fernando Alonso. Force India would be happy to score a lot of points here to put a gap to Lotus for 5th in the constructors championship and begin to challenge Red Bull for 4th as we head into the power dominated tracks like Russia and USA.

As mentioned above in 8th place was Fernando Alonso in the McLaren-Honda. I'm sure the whole team would be seriously happy with the result as they set themselves the task of getting both cars in the points. Jenson Button didn't quite provide the same lap times as Alonso as he was back in 14th.

Williams are a team who are really struggling in Singapore's low traction corners and tight, twisty sections. Felipe Massa could only manage an 11th place whilst Bottas was down in 17th. From onboard laps you could really see how much the Williams was struggling in the slow tight and twisty complex of sector 3.

Felipe Massa finished 11th.

Lotus were another team off the pace with Grosjean and Maldonado finishing in 16th and 18th respectively.

Toro Rosso and Sauber both had average days in the office as Verstappen finished in 10th with Sainz in 15th place. Sauber were 12th and 13th with just 4 hundredths of a second separating Ericsson from Nasr.

Last but not least, Manor finished with Alexander Rossi beating Will Stevens down in 19th and 20th. Stevens bought out a Red Flag near the start of the session as he lightly hit a tire barrier. He only got 3 laps of Soft tire running.

Official timing as follows:

1) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault 
2) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari +0.039s
3) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault +0.114s
4) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes +0.337s
5) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari +0.345s
6) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes +0.517s
7) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes +0.639s
8) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda +0.817s
9) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes +1.152s
10) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault +1.285s
11) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes +1.542s
12) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari +1.613s
13) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari +1.653s
14) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda +1.746s
15) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault +1.870s
16) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes +1.954s
17) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes +1.976s
18) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes +3.952s
19) Alexander Rossi - Manor-Marussia +10.597s
20) Will Stevens - Manor-Marussia +13.790s


This sessions results pose a lot of questions for Saturday and Sunday. Personally I think Mercedes still have the advantage in the 1 lap pace because they seem to be able to turn the engine up, put in a quick lap and snatch a 1, 2. Sunday is really where its going to count and Mercedes have shown they really don't have the tire deg against the likes of Red Bull. Both Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo did a 12 lap stint on Supersofts and Hamilton average lap times were only 1:50.8s whereas Ricciardo was averaging 1:50.3s. This 5 tenth gap could be the difference between first and second in the race and I wouldn't be surprised if we see Red Bull take a victory here at Marina Bay.

Qualifying commences in just under 12 hours.

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Singapore Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 1 Analysis. Alexander Rossi crashes on F1 debut.

The first practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix was relatively uneventful as we finally saw Nico Rosberg in front of team mate Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes star man Hamilton was a mere 3 tenths off the pace of his team mate and had a Red Bull breathing down his neck for P2.

Nico Rosberg topped the session

The 1 and half practice session isn't the most important as it is held at different times to the highly important qualifying and race. This means tire deg and chassis balance are very different in this session,

We once again saw Mercedes on top as usual, but as mentioned earlier it wasn't a Ferrari that took the best of the rest. Many people expected Red Bull to be strong at the street circuit and Daniel Ricciardo didn't disappoint finishing just a few hundredths off Lewis Hamilton in P2. It wasn't all good for Red Bull though as Daniil Kvyat was kept in the garage for a majority of the session with a fuel flow problem. He only managed 8 laps which only resulted in 18th place.

Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull finished in P3.

Ferrari came next as they were a few tenths off the pace of Ricciardo. Sebastian Vettel led home team mate Kimi Raikkonen in P4 and P5. You could tell all session Sebastian Vettel was pushing really hard as he was leaving just millimeters between the wall at Turn 21.

In 6th place was quite surprisingly, Valtteri Bottas, Williams are very known for running higher fuel and conserving engines in Friday session, and usually find themselves outside the top 10. This should hopefully give Bottas some real confidence heading into the rest of the weekend as he is looking to get the edge over Felipe Massa who is currently beating him in Drivers Championship by 6 points. Massa does has some ground to make up on his Finnish team mate after he could only managed 17th place.

Next was Toro Rosso in 7th and 9th split by the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg. Toro Rosso will be looking for strong points here as they have the chassis to do so. Max Verstappen led home Carlos Sainz with a mammoth 6 tenths gap between 7th and 9th. Hulkenberg in 8th was 4 tenths adrift of Verstappen.

Sauber and McLaren definitely didn't show any real pace only managing 13th and 16th, and 11th and 15th respectively. McLaren are definitely looking stronger than the previous races in Monza and Spa.

Fernando Alonso of McLaren

The session was very boring and very minimal action happened right up till the end. The session ended with a red flag from the new boy of Alexander Rossi in the Manor-Marussia. As he went under the grandstand the youngster appeared to take a little too much speed and over-steered into the wall breaking both his front and rear right suspension. He will be lucky to get any running FP2 as it is a timely repair job.

However all of these times are very irrelevant (as mentioned earlier) with the time of the session not matching the time of qualifying and the race. For me I'll really be interested in the pace of FP2, held at similar times to when the Qualifying and Race is.

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Singapore Grand Prix Preview - Marina Bay layout will play to Red Bull strengths.

With just over a few hours now till the Singapore Grand Prix on the streets of Marina Bay, the teams are preparing for a much different weekend to Belgium and Italy. The tight and twisty street track suits a car with a good chassis and will see the likes of Red Bull be bought back into the picture as the power unit deficits aren't as important.

Marina Bay lit up at night.

Last years race was the turning point of the 2014 F1 season where Nico Rosberg retired and lost the championship lead to Lewis Hamilton. Marina Bay also bought good memories for Red Bull as they had there 2nd double podium of the season with Vettel leading home Ricciardo.

Red Bull will be hoping to echo that form this weekend, even if there competitiveness has dropped this season. Even with there Renault power unit problems, I can confidently say that the RB11 is probably the best chassis on the grid ahead of the Mercedes and Ferrari. This will be the last real chance for Red Bull to score decent points and put a gap to Force India in the constructors as almost every round after Singapore is power dependent to some degree.

Red Bull are looking for strong points in Singapore.

McLaren will also suit the Marina Bay street circuit as they continue to also have power unit woes with Honda. I don't think Honda will be looking for points, even if they seem to think they have one of the best chassis on the grid. I think we can all be honest and say McLaren don't have the engine or the chassis to be competitive on any track, the gap is just too much. But if you look at where McLaren have scored points this season: Monaco, Hungary and Britain. Both Monaco and Hungary don't need strong power units, and Silverstone needs good downforce, so don't fully discount McLaren from pulling something out of the bag.

Force India are another team I can realistically see putting in a good performance in Marina Bay. Confidence will be high for the team, coming off a double points finish with there new "b" spec car working perfectly. The chassis should be generate a good amount of downforce for the team and they'll have the power unit to back them up. This will allow them to get ahead of Lotus and Sauber who don't have the chassis and power units (Sauber) to match the Silverstone based squad.

Sauber are looking like they might have some more pace as they bring there first major aerodynamic upgrades since Australia. Felipe Nasr is certain that the updates are crucial to the development of there 2016 package.

Felipe Nasr of Sauber

News from the other end of the paddock is that Manor-Marussia have given Alexander Rossi, a GP2 race winner, his first real taste of Formula 1 in the place of Roberto Merhi. He will drive in every round but Abu Dhabi and Russia.

I imagine that once again Mercedes will dominate in practice and qualifying as per usual. Nico Rosberg will have a slight advantage because he has a brand new fresh engine in his car for the Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton will be looking for his seventh straight pole position as he really begins to dominate the championship.

There has been talk of the race being canceled this weekend due to smog, but with nothing official from the FIA yet I seriously doubt that happening.

The Singapore Grand Prix starts with practice on the 18th of September.

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Italian Grand Prix 2015 - Race Analysis. Raikkonen mistake costs Ferrari win at Monza.

The Italian Grand Prix was run yesterday over 53 laps and it saw pole sitter Lewis Hamilton once again take top spot on the podium. It was a relatively boring race compared to the likes of Hungary and Silverstone, but still a classic Monza race that we won't forget. It saw everything from first lap incidents, last lap retirements and all the chaos in between.

The Ferrari fans had lined the stands cheering on Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen who had qualified very highly and looked strong contenders for a win. But it turned out it wasn't there day as when the lights went green Kimi Raikkonen failed to get off the grid and remained stationary for a few seconds before pulling away. The damage had been done though and Raikkonen dropped to 20th by turn 1.

The Ferrari fans showed there amazing support for there local heros.

The cars piled into the first chicane and Lotus continued to have there knack for first lap incidents as Grosjean was tapped and his rear suspension broken forcing him to retire, whilst Maldonado didn't make the corner and went over the rumble strip which snapped the floor of his car in two also forcing him to retire. The double DNF was made worst because it allowed Force India to have an easy shot at regaining 5th back in the constructors.

Lotus scored 0 points as both cars retired on Lap 1

By the end of the first lap Hamilton had pulled away from Vettel followed by Massa, Bottas, Rosberg and Perez.

Except for Kimi Raikkonen making his way through the field the order changed little till the first pit stops which started around lap 19 as most teams opted for the one stop strategy. The biggest change in position was Nico Rosberg who tried the undercut on the Williams of Massa and Bottas. Williams reacted by boxing Massa the next lap but the damage was done and Rosberg jumped both drivers in the process.

Hamilton continued to pull away from Vettel and was looking like making a 20 second gap. Rosberg began to slowly close down Vettel in 2nd.

Toward the end of the race things got much more exciting. Firstly about 15 laps from the end Nico Hulkenberg was in 7th and was complaining of lack of rear grip and traction. He was under pressure from Marcus Ericcson and Daniel Ricciardo and Force India considered a two stop but ultimately decided against it and it didn't lose anything as Hulkenberg held off both drivers till the end.

Then about 5 laps from the end Lewis Hamilton's engineer (Peter Bonnington) came on the radio and asked Lewis to "push really hard,  and don't ask why". It perplexed all the viewers and the only thing Martin Brundle could think of in the com box was a potential slow puncture and Mercedes wanted the 25 second gap to make a pit stop. It wasn't explained to the end of the race when it was discovered the tire pressure had dipped below optimal and Mercedes were considering a precautionary pit stop to stop the chance of a puncture. Mercedes (as well as Ferrari) were summoned to the stewards after the race concerning low tire pressure but no further action was taken.

Then in the other Mercedes just a few laps from the end, Nico Rosberg's engine gave a cough, and another cough and then caught fire as he pulled off to the side of the second chicane. He retired from the race and lost 25 points in the championship to Lewis Hamilton and now only a 21 point gap between himself and Sebastian Vettel in third. This retirement promoted Felipe Massa back to 3rd and Valtteri Bottas was still right behind him in 4th. A good battle for the last spot on the podium began and team orders didn't intervene.

Nico Rosberg retired from the race with just a few laps left.

Lastly it was more bad luck for McLaren as they lost Fernando Alonso just a few laps from the end, especially after a good battle between himself and Button was brewing up, it was disappointing. But McLaren should be pleased they managed to run most of the Grand Prix without problem.

This was the ending race order:

1) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
2) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari + 25.042s
3) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes + 47.635s
4) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes + 47.996s
5) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari + 68.860s
6) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes + 72.783s
7) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes + 1 LAP
8) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull-Renault + 1 LAP
9) Marcus Ericcson - Sauber-Ferrari + 1 LAP
10) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull-Renault + 1 LAP
11) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault + 1 LAP
12) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault + 1 LAP
13) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari + 1 LAP
14) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda + 1 LAP
15) Will Stevens - Manor-Marussia + 2 LAPS
16) Roberto Merhi - Manor-Marussia + 2 LAPS
17) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes DNF
18) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda DNF
19) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes DNF
20) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes DNF

The next race on the calender is the much loved Singapore Grand Prix which is held under lights on a tight and twisty street circuit. It saw last years turning point in the season where Hamilton gained the lead in the championship. The Singapore Grand Prix will take place from 18th of September to 20th of September. See you then!

Round 13 heads to Singapore!

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Italian Grand Prix 2015 - Qualifying Analysis. Raikkonen and Vettel split Mercedes dominance.

Qualifying for the 2015 Italian Grand Prix took place yesterday and Ferrari proved that they could rise to the occasion and pressure of the Tifosi at Monza. Ferrari took there best qualifying of the season with Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively behind a very dominant Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes.

Tensions were high heading into qualifying as Nico Rosberg took an engine change which saw him use a fairly worn engine instead of the new prototype Mercedes were testing this weekend. Due to the engine being an older one Rosberg will not incur any grid penalties. Lewis Hamilton will continue to run the prototype engine.

Polesitter Lewis Hamilton

As Q1 rolled around all cars took there first runs on the white striped medium (Prime) tires except for both McLaren's and Manor-Marussia's. At the session started work was still being done on the Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull. They looked unlikely to post times.

There was an early frustration for Nico Hulkenberg as he was twice held up by Marcus Ericcson on a flying lap (at Parabolica and the 2nd chicane). Towards the end of the session it looked as though 1 McLaren-Honda would make Q2, but Daniel Ricciardo spoiled the party as he managed to get out of the garage and set a lap time good enough for 15th pushing Button down into the cut off zone. Max Verstappen also managed to get out of the garage, albeit with 20 seconds to go. It proved though they had rushed the decision because as he went through Turn 3 the rear bodywork of his car flew off due to it not being sealed down tight enough. The FIA later have said Verstappen will have a drive through penalty which must be served in the first 3 laps of the race. So at the end of Q1 both McLarens were gone with Button leading Alonso, and both Manor's with Stevens leading Merhi, whilst Max Verstappen didn't set a lap time and finished 20th

Felipe Nasr of Sauber

Q2 started and it was to be a terrible session for Red Bull. There Renault power unit worries continued to grow because for the first time since 2008 a Red Bull didn't make Q3. Daniil Kvyat was 14th whilst Ricciardo choose not to set a lap time and finished 15th. Grid drops will see them start from further back. The other 3 unlucky people to be knocked out were Pastor Maldonado who missed Q3 by under a tenth and will start 11th, Felipe Nasr in the Sauber and the Toro Rosso of Sainz who finished 13th. However he will be dropped down the grid due to engine penalties.



So Q3 started and it was 7 Mercedes powered cars and 3 Ferrari powered. It was a phenomenal session as Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel both put in 2 of there strongest qualifying laps of the season to see them qualify 2nd and 3rd respectively. Ferrari have worked very hard since Q1 where the gap to the Mercedes was over a second and now Lewis Hamilton could only grab the pole by under a quarter of a second. Nico Rosberg couldn't match his team mates efforts as he could only manage a very low 4th on the grid.

Sebastian Vettel (L) and Kimi Raikkonen (R) line up 3rd and 2nd respectively.

Williams opted to give Massa a tow on his laps by sending Bottas out just ahead of him, giving Massa extra slipstream on the straight. This saw him get the better of Bottas in qualifying and they line 5th and 6th respectively. The race will be interesting for Williams as Massa definitely wouldn't have been 5th without the tow. It will be interesting to see in Bottas will have the race pace to overtake him.

Felipe Massa of Williams lines up 5th

Sergio Perez managed 7th for Force India as they look for some strong points on Sunday. He achieved his main objective of out-qualifying Lotus and a good race could see Force India regain 5th in the Constructors Championship. On the other side of the garage it wasn't good news as Nico Hulkenberg's car lost all power on his in-lap and we are unsure yet if the problem promotes a grid drop or not. Hulkenberg finished the session in 9th as he did manage to set one lap.

Nico Hulkenberg will start 9th after problems in Q3

Lotus take 8th as Superman Romain Grosjean continues his good form and he once again outqualified his team mate Pastor Maldonado.

The last spot in the top 10 goes to Marcus Ericsson who managed to get into Q3. If he can hold his own on Sunday he could bring home some much needed points for Sauber.

The grid (including confirmed grid penalties) will look like this:

1) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
2) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
3) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
4) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
5) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
6) Valterri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes
7) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
8) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes
9) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes
10) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
11) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
12) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
13) Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari
14) Roberto Merhi - Manor-Ferrari
15) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda (Grid Penalty)
16) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda (Grid Penalty)
17) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault (Grid Penalty)
18) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault (Grid Penalty)
19) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault (Grid Penalty)
20) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault (Grid Penalty)

The Italian Grand Prix gets underway in just under 10 hours. It will be constested over 53 laps and is expected to be a 1 stop race. There will be an interesting battle up front, can Ferrari win at Monza for the first time since 2010? Will Raikkonen take the lead into Turn 1? Can Force India find some of the FP1 and FP2 pace they had? and can Red Bull still score points? Find out later today!

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Italian Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 3 Analysis. Vettel splits Mercedes as morning rain disrupts running.

In the last practice session for the 2015 Italian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton again secures P1 but the gap to Ferrari closes down to 0.264 seconds.

The running in the session was mainly disrupted by a big early morning downpour which saw the first times set on the intermediate tires. The teams managed to have a qualifying simulation in the last 10 minutes of the session in which good was shown by Vettel, both Williams and even the two Saubers. Whereas Force India opted for a race simulation which saw them finish in 8th and 12th.

Rain disrupted a lot of running in FP3.

The biggest moment of the session was definitely Daniel Ricciardo who stopped on the outside of the Turn 4 chicane. "It's something terminal on the engine, it unfortunately looks like an engine change" said Red Bulls Christian Horner. The engine was brand new and it is going to promote more penalties and waste a fresh engine. This deepens the cut that Red Bull already have this weekend and they will definitely be struggling on Sunday.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo had a session ending engine failure

Williams finally began to show the pace they are capable of with Bottas leading Massa by 2 tenths in 4th in 5th. Williams will be hoping to get a car onto the 2nd row of the grid and spoil the party of Ferrari with Kimi Raikkonen clearly under performing after he only managed 7th behind Pastor Maldonado.

Williams are looking like a strong prospect for qualifying.

It was a positive day for Sauber as there Ferrari power unit is beginning to work well with Ericsson finishing 9th and Nasr in 11th. The Swiss outfit will be looking for more points to take a fight to the struggling Toro Rosso in the constructors championship for 7th place. A good race is the most crucial part of the weekend for Sauber as they will instantly out qualify the two Toro Rosso's which are set for big grid drops.

Nico Rosberg will have work to do in qualifying as Sebastian Vettel managed to creep into the P2 slot. However Mercedes may have been running heavier fuel which would ultimately make there pace slower.

Qualifying is now just under 2 hours away. Lets not kid ourselves as we know that Lewis Hamilton will be on pole position. The real question is who is going to take P2? Can Sebastian Vettel mount that challenge? Can Williams get a car on the front row? Could Force India spoil the party after strong Friday pace?

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Italian Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 2 Analysis. Front runners close the gap to Mercedes

Todays 2nd practice session at the 2015 Italian Grand Prix was again dominated by both Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg with the Brit beating his team mate by 2 hundredths of a second to P1. It was again a relatively quiet session with no red flags with the only real excitement coming from a few people who went through the gravel at the Ascari Chicane.

Sebastian Vettel again finished in third for the Scuderia but he was 7 tenths off Lewis Hamilton's time. In a post session interview Vettel told the media: "We can and we have to improve for tomorrow (Saturday)". Ferrari will be under huge pressure from the Italian public at there home Grand Prix this weekend and will be expected to close the gap to Mercedes. The other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen finished in 6th and again behind two very competitive Force India's.

Speaking of Force India it was again another strong session from them which proves that they have some pure pace in there car. This time there drivers switched with Hulkenberg following home Perez in 4th and 5th. The team is in a very good position to gain some strong points on Sunday and they have proved they have the quickest car in a straight line which ultimately means they won't be easy to overtake in the race. Williams and Ferrari will definitely be worried about the threat they pose.

Force India's Nico Hulkenberg is looking very good for strong points.

Lotus had a better session this time around and Romain "The Superman" Grosjean led home Pastor Maldonado in 7th and 8th. This was by far a better performance from the team than FP1. There main competitors this weekend will be Force India due to the 1 point gap they have in the constructors championship, Lotus do need to find more pace to be at Force India's level.

Williams had another typical Williams session as they again opted not to show there true pace in 9th and 10th. This time Valterri Bottas led Felipe Massa with a gap of just over 2 tenths.

Williams Valterri Bottas goes through Turn 11 of Parabolica.

Sauber had a positive session as Felipe Nasr finished 11th and Ericsson 12th, perhaps putting Sauber in with a chance for some points on Sunday.

It was a very difficult day for the Renault powered teams of Red Bull and Toro Rosso as they struggled to find pace and grip. Max Verstappen provided a heart in your mouth moment when he went through the gravel at the Ascari Chicane and came to a stop just centimeters from the barrier which would have ended his session. The Red Bull's had a really bad day in the office with Daniel Ricciardo finishing in 12th and Dany Kvyat in 20th place. Ricciardo missed a good chunk of running with a software problem that was affecting his gearbox which if damaged would promote a 5 place grid drop. Toro Rosso weren't much better with 13th and 14th, Max Verstappen getting the edge over Carlos Sainz.

Daniel Ricciardo lost valuable time with a software problem affecting the gearbox.

It was another bad day for McLaren with only 3 laps of running for Jenson Button down in 19th place. Fernando Alonso had a trouble free session in 16th with 31 laps of running under his belt.
A really good day for Manor Marussia saw Will Stevens lead Roberto Merhi home in 17th and 18th place.

Overall the strong competitors heading into Practice 3 and Qualifying are definitely Force India after finishing both Friday sessions in 4th and 5th. Can they realistically mount a fight against Vettel for the 3rd position on the grid and on Sunday? Can Lotus find more pace and repeat the great race pace they had in Spa? and can Red Bull realistically even be in the Top 10 of the grid (not counting penalties)?

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