F1 2019

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The 2019 Renault RS 19

What is going on at Williams
Despite being one of the first teams to launch their car, Williams appear to be having trouble with suppliers and may need to cancel their filming day this Saturday. I've also been trying to find out about their new title sponsor ROKiT, who appear to be a British-based telecommunications company, they also seem to be a start-up with little brand awareness. Anyone know about them and how long they have been in the telecommunications business, they appear to have started this year 2019 and there is little about them on the internet.

The company seems to belong to Jonathan Kendrick a millionaire from the midlands in the UK and John Paul DeJoria an American who started the hair-care products company Paul Mitchell. ROKit Telecoms is a subsidiary of the ROK Stars group of companies and ROKit looks like it has just launched a new mobile phone and is planning to develop "smart cities" across the globe. It all sounds very ambitious but where is the money coming from? I think Haas may have a similar problem with Rich Energy, where are these apparently small start-ups getting the money to be title sponsors for F1 teams? I imagine there are lots of raised eyebrows around the paddock about both of these new title sponsors, I guess time will tell if they have the cash to back up their big plans or just chancers with Champagne tastes but lemonade pockets.

I'm also interested to see how long Claire Williams can remain deputy team principal of the team, she is in charge of the day to day running of the team now Frank is too ill to travel. If she wasn't Franks daughter would she have been sacked after the appalling season Williams had in 2018, finishing last in the constructors table. It will also be interesting to if Paddy Lowe can get a car together that can sort the team out, this 2019 car is 100% a Paddy Lowe car so there are no excuses really. I'd love to see Williams running at the front or even high-up in the midfield, but I have a feeling that will not happen in 2019.

The new Managing Director at McLaren F1
The McLaren website have just confirmed that Andreas Seidl will take up his post as Managing Direct of the F1 team on May the 1st. The German, who used to be the boss of Porsche's World Endurance Championship team also worked in F1 for BMW from 2000-09. It seems that McLaren have decided they needed someone to take direct operational responsibility for the F1 team, after the debacle of the last few seasons. His appointment ensures that there is now a senior manager with oversight of and sole responsibility for the F1 team with no other distractions. Lets hope that this moves McLaren up the grid, it has been a poor show from both McLaren and Williams over the last few years and its about time they were both back fighting for wins.

 

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Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team unveiled the W10

The Racing Point Formula 1 team has unveiled its 2019 car

Red Bull RB15 2019 car

 

[spitfire]

Not gonna miss that Red Bull in a race!

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

My god modern F1 cars are ugly things.

 

[a_chap]

I was going to say that but I chickened out...

 

[cybershot]

Red bull’s test livery is always more interesting than the actual one.

 

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The McLaren MCL 34

The 2019 Alfa Romeo that will have its full lunch on Monday

Testing starts Monday so we should see some on track action, I think Mercedes are still favorite to have the fastest car again this season, but Ferrari are talking a big game. It will be interesting to see how Red Bull get on with their new Honda ICE and power-unit.

 

[cybershot]

A few more logos on the McLaren this year (but still no massive side one), I hope they weren't hoping for much TV time, especially those little ones on the black side!

 

[spitfire]

McLaren is horrible.

 

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Pietro Fittipaldi gets some testing time in the Haas
Good news for Brazilian F1 fans as Pietro Fittipaldi the Grandson of Emerson Fittipaldi will get some time behind the wheel of a 2019 car next week when he does a little testing for the Haas team. He will only test on day 3 and 4 of the first test, but it means that at least one Brazilian could be up for a full-time drive in the next couple of years (He shouldn't find it too hard to get some good sponsors as his granddad still has a lot of pull in Brazil). He is also the reserve drive for Haas, so should K-Mag or Grosjean get sick or have an accident Pietro could get a drive. I hope neither of them have an accident but a couple of weeks off with the Flu

The 2019 Ferrari SF90 (or this seasons runner up I hope)

 

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Rob Smedley back in F1 already
Before working for Williams and raising through the ranks to become head of performance engineering, Smedley work under Ross Brawn at Ferrari. It seems the two have remained close friends as Brawn has offered him a job with the Formula one group. Smedley will be become a "technical consultant", but rather than working on the development of future grand prix racing technical regulations, his technical expertise will be put to use on the broadcasting and coverage of F1 on Liberty Medias new platforms for fans to watch the races.

Both Brawn and Smedley believe that there's a really rich seam of technical content, of data, of the way that teams operate, that actually never gets covered by the current broadcasters. Personally I think they are correct, which I think was demonstrated when Pat Symonds joined the Sky crew for a few months, giving his insights in to some of the more technical side of the sport. I'm looking forward to his input when Liberty finally get their act together with their streaming platform, I'm sure someone will stream it so we can watch it for free

Billy Monger to join channel 4 F1 coverage
Channel 4 has confirmed its presenting and commentary line-up for the 2019 Formula 1 season, with Billy Monger joining its punditry team. Channel 4 will this year only show highlights of all 21 Grands Prix and will also broadcast the British Grand Prix live. It previously showed half of the season’s events live but from 2019 Sky Sports has gained exclusive rights. Ben Edwards and David Coulthard will continue to form its commentary line-up while Monger joins Coulthard, Mark Webber and Eddie Jordan on its punditry team. Steve Jones remains as Channel 4’s Formula 1 anchor.

Monger sustained life-changing injuries in a British Formula 4 crash in April 2017, with both of his lower legs amputated, but remarkably returned to single-seater racing in a modified car in British Formula 3 less than 12 months later. Monger took two pole positions and three podiums en route to sixth in last year’s championship standings.

 

[Limejuice]

I'd welcome a bit more technical content. I mean, Ted Kravitz on Sky does cover some of it.

At the start of last season he tried to explain the role and strength of the new halo gizmos. He was reduced to using toy cars and a model London bus on the pit lane wall. That was a BAFTA moment, if ever there was one.

But anything that adds a whiff of WD40 is good by me. And who knows, perhaps some kid watching might be inspired to become the next Adrian Newey.

 

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I'd welcome a bit more technical content. I mean, Ted Kravitz on Sky does cover some of it.

At the start of last season he tried to explain the role and strength of the new halo gizmos. He was reduced to using toy cars and a model London bus on the pit lane wall. That was a BAFTA moment, if ever there was one.

But anything that adds a whiff of WD40 is good by me. And who knows, perhaps some kid watching might be inspired to become the next Adrian Newey.

I agree Teds bus thing was TV gold. I think the reason Sky don't really get in to the nitty-gritty is because they think it will turn casual fans off, but I don't think that is the case. We often watch races with friends who just happen to be visiting and who could be described as casual fans, but many want to know and understand the technical side of things. As I mentioned above, Pat Symonds contribution when he was on Sky for a short while were great and really informative. I think the TV channels that cover F1 have missed a trick not having some really in-depth sections looking into the technical side.

 

[Badgers]

F1Countdown.com

 

[cybershot]

I agree Teds bus thing was TV gold. I think the reason Sky don't really get in to the nitty-gritty is because they think it will turn casual fans off, but I don't think that is the case. We often watch races with friends who just happen to be visiting and who could be described as casual fans, but many want to know and understand the technical side of things. As I mentioned above, Pat Symonds contribution when he was on Sky for a short while were great and really informative. I think the TV channels that cover F1 have missed a trick not having some really in-depth sections looking into the technical side.

Sky are dumb. They have a whole channel devoted to f1 with clearly not enough content to put on it without repeating everything over and over and showing classic races. Clearly there’s a place for that too but for people who are buying sports packages purely for F1 (like my OH) they are getting really poor value for money. I don’t think the channel even gets looked at when it’s not a race weekend, some better original content (not chat shows with hosts and guests with absolutely no charisma) would go a long way. I’m surprised in all honesty they aren’t trying to get more motorsports and turn it into a motorsport channel but I guess while they continue to throw more and more money at the premier league and in the process actually continue to lose other sports, they probably aren’t going to be willing to spend more money on geeky F1 programs that would require snazzy computer graphics and CAD type diagrams.

 

[cybershot]

This was on bbc two last night. Iplayer link below for those paying a tv license. Which as I assume everyone here watches at least one race a year live we’re all paying! If not, you’ll need to find another source.

BBC iPlayer - Williams: Formula 1 in the Blood

 

[Badgers]

This was on bbc two last night. Iplayer link below for those paying a tv license. Which as I assume everyone here watches at least one race a year live we’re all paying! If not, you’ll need to find another source.

BBC iPlayer - Williams: Formula 1 in the Blood

Cheers for reminding me, will watch that later.

 

[weltweit]

Did anyone see the documentary on Williams on the BBC last night?

BBC iPlayer - Williams: Formula 1 in the Blood

 

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Morning of first day test
Sebastian Vettel sets the pace after the first morning of testing in 2019! After three hours of running, he tops the leaderboard with a 1:18.425.
In contrast to last season's snowy weather, the teams and drivers have been rewarded with clear skies and bright sunshine as the first runs of 2019 are completed for all except Williams. Williams hope to be in tract tomorrow, for some reason their car isn't ready yet

Valtteri Bottas was first out on track after a desperate dash out of the garage. During the morning, there were just two red flag incidents. Kimi Raikkonen ran wide and put the car in gravel just five minutes into the proceedings. While Romain Grosjean later stopped out on track due to a fuel pressure loss.

Red Bull had some trouble. It took an age for Max Verstappen to emerge out of the garage to have a real crack at a timed lap. After his installation lap, the Dutchman sat in the garage for a long period of time and it looked like the mechanics were working on something. Was it the engine? Who knows? But once the RB15 went out on track, it seemed to perform well. Verstappen tallied up 19 laps in a decent stint with a time of 1:21:808. Verstappen returned to the track for a second stab and moved into second place with a time of 1:20.174.

Ferrari showing Mercedes the way. During pre-season, it's hard to understand exactly what the teams are running with or aiming for. However, with Vettel topping both the time and the lap count, they've done some eye-catching stuff. Meanwhile, Mercedes put in plenty of laps. Bottas started to make serious lap times towards midday and moved up to third with a 1:20.285.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Number of laps is the thing to watch, not times. At this point it’s all about getting the reliability...

 

[Limejuice]

Did anyone see the documentary on Williams on the BBC last night?

BBC iPlayer - Williams: Formula 1 in the Blood

Very interesting programme. In many respects, it confirmed what I thought about FW, that he was / is a bit of an arsehole.

Both he and Patrick Head looked down on Mansell, as some sort of whiny, provincial oik, even though he won a world championship for them. He didn't stick to the number 2 driver's script. They seemed to lionise the dashing, devil-may-care toff types, and sneer at workmanlike hard graft. Damon Hill wasn't mentioned (although that might have been due to editing), another driver pushed out after winning a world championship.

And what a dysfunctional family! FW treated his wife like crap. Wife was a near-bunny-boiling stalker. Claire and brother not on speaking terms because the brother felt he was entitled to take over the team from FW. Said brother skulking in the archives saying that Claire "doesn't know this place exists".

Shame, really. I think I learned too much about Williams, and I'm not sure I give a crap any more if the team hauls itself clear of the mire.

 

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Full day one of testing results
Above I posted the morning news only, here are the full day results.

1. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:18.161 169 Laps
2. Carlos Sainz McLaren 1:18.558 119 Laps
3. Romain Grosjean Haas 1:19.159 65 Laps
4. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:19.426 128 Laps
5. Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1:19.462 114 Laps
6. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:19.635 77 Laps
7. Sergio Perez Racing Point 1:19.944 30 Laps
8. Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:20.127 69 Laps
9. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:20.135 81 Laps
10. Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:20.980 65 Laps
11. Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:20.983 44 Laps

Could all cars use a standardised gearbox from 2021
Formula 1 appears set to use standardised gearboxes in 2021 after the FIA officially put out a tender for potential suppliers. Under the tender announced today, the governing body explained what exactly would be required. “The aim of single source supply is to retain current levels of F1 gear change performance for all cars at a much-reduced cost to the competitors while also removing the requirement for teams to design or source their own gearboxes. The unit can be carried over between seasons so removing the need for costly continual performance development. In order to retain competitor’s own freedoms for suspension and for the gearbox aero surfaces, the outer housing will remain team specific with the common, self-contained gearbox cassette mounted inside. The unit will need to be designed in conjunction with all the existing competitors and PU suppliers to ensure it can function as well as possible in all cars and best endeavours should be made to satisfy as many competitors and PU supplier requests as practical in a unit for everyone, Clearly, the competitors that currently produce their own gearboxes will have knowledge built up that should be sought and taken account of if possible. In particular, their best design practices should be sought and a coherent set of design practice actioned during the process" said an FIA spokesman.

Other testing news
Williams have yet to take to the track in their car and it looks likely they will not get the car out until Wednesday at the earliest
Charles Leclerc has a good morning topping the time sheets on his first outing in his Ferrari
Alexander Albon spun his Toro Rosso on the first lap. The session was red-flagged just after it had started. It seems that change made overnight to the steering wheel setting caused the problem.
Daniel Ricciardo suffered a high-speed rear wing failure on his Renault during testing this morning, he didn't hit anything but this has cost Renault testing time.

 

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Formula 1 Pre-Season Test 1 - Tuesday

1. Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow SF90 1m18.247s 157 laps
2. Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team MCL34 1m18.553s 104 laps
3. Kevin Magnussen DEN Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m19.206s 59 laps
4. Alexander Albon THA Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1m19.301s 132 laps
5. Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing C38 1m19.312s 101 laps
6. Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m19.535s 89 laps**
7. Pierre Gasly FRA Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda RB15 1m19.814s 92 laps
8. Nico Hulkenberg GER Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m19.837s 95 laps**
9. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m19.886s 28 laps*
10. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m19.928s 74 laps*
11. Lance Stroll CAN SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team RP19 1m20.433s 79 laps
12. Pietro Fittipaldi BRA Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m21.849 13 laps**

*Morning only
**Afternoon only

Williams car still not in Spain
Williams are hoping to get their car on a flight tonight in an effort to get some testing in Wednesday afternoon. The team say there will still be "a fair amount of work to do" when it arrives and it's unlikely the car will run in the morning session. Williams are looking to bounce back from a miserable 2018 this year when they finished last of all the teams in the constructors championship, and would have hoped to have had as much track time as possible over the eight allotted days of winter testing. Williams have an all-new driver line-up of Robert Kubica and George Russell for the new season.

Team boss Claire Williams said "We have had an incredibly busy winter at Grove getting the FW42 prepared for the season ahead and, despite everyone's best efforts, we need some more time before it will be ready to run, our absolute priority is to always ensure we bring a car to the track that is the best that it can be and sometimes that takes longer than you'd anticipate or like". I bet Frank is apoplectic!

Summary of testing day 2
What have we learnt so far, well Charles Leclerc looks to be fast, his first drive in a Ferrari was less than a tenth slower than his team mate Sebastian Vettel managed yesterday, while we don't know fuel-loads etc. he has for sure shown he will be quick in the car, being so on the pace compared to a four-time world champion is showing quality. Ferrari have now topped both days of testing. Obviously, we all know that testing isn’t a true show of a team’s real pace, but topping two days in a row will not go unnoticed. Vettel and Leclerc having such similar pace could suggest that we’re going to see an epic battle for supremacy at Ferrari, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet.

Are Mercedes hiding their pace, Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were 6th and 10th respectively for the day’s running, over a second from Leclerc’s pace and I'm sure Mercedes are not a second slower than the Ferrari. Mercedes employed a similar strategy last year, where they did not show their true speed until the first race weekend in Australia, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them do the same again this year.

Alex Albon made a nightmare start to his testing week by spinning off and beaching his Toro Rosso in the gravel trap after just four corners, bringing out the red flag immediately. Albon was able to get back on track after his car was recovered, but the same could not be said for Pierre Gasly. Pierre Gasly slammed into the barriers after a spin, bringing his session to a close with just over an hour left, and the car will need to go under some repairs overnight to be ready for tomorrow.


It wasn’t Daniel Ricciardo’s fault, but Renault’s new Australian driver also had an excursion off the track. Ricciardo’s rear wing flew off dramatically on the start-finish straight, and he was pitched into a spin, coming to rest before hitting the barriers.

 

[Limejuice]

The McLarens look to have some pace and reliability as well. I bet that feels good after so many seasons in the wilderness.

 

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News and rumors
Red Bull appear to have some problems with a power unit issue caused by the level of vibrations from the team's new Honda power unit, sound familiar? This issue has existed for a while, both McLaren and Toro Rosso have reportedly had to deal with the same kind of issue in the past and it seems as though the Japanese manufacturer has been unable to find a fix to their problem. While it is early in the season right now the team will be hoping the issue can be fixed before they arrive in Melbourne for the season opener next month.

Williams finally got their car out on track this afternoon with George Russell behind the wheel, they have lost 2 and half days of testing and this will hurt them for the rest of the testing period. So what are the reasons behind this delay? Reports of mutiny in the ranks have begun to circulate in the press, with chief technical officer Paddy Lowe being predicted as one of the first heads to roll if the turmoil continues.

Mexican GP is under threat with the new President saying that there is no Government money to support the race. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is looking to introduce major reforms to Mexico including a program of cuts to his government's budget and the public money which is used to fund the race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is set to be one of his first targets. He said "I do not know how the F1 contracts are. If they are not signed, we will not be able to [offer money], in some cases, events were financed by the tourism development fund and that fund is committed to the construction of the Maya Train (a new railway linking major tourist destinations). 2019 sees the last year of the current deal between Mexican GP organisers and Liberty Media and while the event only returned to F1 in 2015, it has become a favourite for the atmosphere in the stadium section, something that has also brought strong commercial value to the race. Negotiations continue over a new contract, but without the government backing that many Grand Prix's receive around the world an agreement became much less likely.

The Nexflix series I mentioned in last years thread will be released on March the 8th, called Formula 1: Drive to Survive. It will run for 10 episodes and this is the official description from F1 and Netflix; As a new generation of drivers step out of the shadows, Formula 1 has opened its doors to give unprecedented access to the top drivers, team principals and owners, to set the scene for a new wave of gripping competition and challenges. Not only does the series focus on all the latest action on the track, but also takes time away from the circuit to provide a unique insight to the teams and the people that make the championship what it is.

Here is the trailer


I'll post up the day 3 testing results later when day 3 has finished

 

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End of day 3 test

1. Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1m 17.704s 137 laps

2. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing C38 1m 17.762s 138 laps

3. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m 18.164s 80 laps**

4. Sebastian Vettel GER Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow SF90 1m 18.350s 134 laps

5. Max Verstappen NED Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda RB15 1m 18.787s 109 laps

6. Nico Hulkenberg GER Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m 18.800s 63 laps*

7. Romain Grosjean FRA Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m 19.060s 69 laps**

8. Pietro Fittipaldi BRA Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m 19.249s 48 laps*

9. Carlos Sainz Jr. ESP McLaren F1 Team MCL34 1m 19.354s 90 laps

10. Sergio Perez MEX SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team RP19 1m 20.102s 67 laps

11. Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m 20.693s 88 laps*

12. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m 20.818s 94 laps**

13. George Russell GBR ROKiT Williams Racing FW42 1m 25.625s 23 laps

*Morning only

**Afternoon only

 

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What's up at Williams
Staff at Williams F1 are taking to social media claiming, it isn't all areas of the company that are not working correctly and also indicating morale is at an all time low. The problem among staff is that the bosses will not point the finger of blame where they believe it should be pointed, instead they say management has implicated every department, indeed every employee, whether culpable or not. This strategy of shielding those responsible places unfair burdens of guilt on innocents, in turn destroying overall morale, just when management should boost spirits. This smacks of denial. Williams is in crisis, and the fact Claire Williams also stated an “inquest” is still underway strongly suggests both urgency and internal control systems are lacking. Where are the problems? Are they in design/technical/engineering departments, at in-house manufacturing operations levels, or during the outside procurement process. Williams will not say.

Williams was asked how it came to pass that the team slid from a fixture in the championship top five to finishing last one year and showing up late for the start of the next, all in three straight years, saliently during the tenure of Paddy Lowe as technical director,. her response was one of protectionism rather than confidence-instilling “There are a lot of elements to that. But I don’t think that it’s appropriate for me to, as I always say, air our dirty laundry in public. I don’t think it’s right to do that. It’s not right to do that to the people that are working so hard at Grove. We’ve just put it wrong and we need to fix that and hopefully you’ll see a much more successful Williams in the coming years”.

USGP also under threat
Following on from my post above about Mexico and the government saying it would not fund the F1 race there, the USGP at the Circuit of The Americas is also threatened by a $25m US GP funding hit. The Texas state government have refused to release the funds for the 2018 race because of a legal technicality, with state government claiming that COTA has not submitted a human trafficking prevention plan prior to the deadline of September 19 last year and they will not fund this years race unless a prevention plan is lodged. Unlike Mexico the State government of Texas supports the race in Austin as it brings in a lot of money for the local area and the State, but there are a growing nimber of Texan politicans who are saying the State can not afford to subsidize the race and the money should be spent elsewhere.

Red Bull ahead of Mercedes according to Marko
Not much to say about this really as it seems Helmut Marko is just doing what Helmut Marko does “We see Ferrari ahead of us at the moment, but we are not worried about the times,” said Dr Helmut Marko. “We are ahead of Mercedes". When asked about the rumors of excessive engine vibrations, Marko just said “We are totally satisfied, the package works as expected”.

Clearly to see the real pace of all the cars we will have to wait until the first race, but I'll be very surprised if Red Bull are quicker than Mercedes.

 

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Final day of first test results (day 4)
1. Alexander Albon THA Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1m 17.637s 86 laps
2. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m 17.785s 34 laps*
3. Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m 17.955s 23 laps**
4. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m 17.977s 58 laps*
5. Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow SF90 1m 18.046s 113 laps
6. Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing C38 1m 18.511s 109 laps
7. Romain Grosjean FRA Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m 18.563s 64 laps*
8. Kevin Magnussen DEN Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m 18.720s 36 laps**
9. Pierre Gasly FRA Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda RB15 1m 18.780s 103 laps
10. Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team MCL34 1m 19.543s 90 laps
11. Lance Stroll CAN SportPesa Racing Pont F1 Team RP19 1m 19.664s 59 laps
12. Nico Hulkenberg GER Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m 20.095s 10 laps**
13. Robert Kubica POL ROKiT Williams Racing FW42 1m 21.542s 48 laps*
14. George Russell GBR ROKiT Williams Racing FW42 No time 1 laps**

* Morning only
** Afternoon only

Want to see some cars track and some action, here is some of the action from today (day 4) and there is a little action

 

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Eric Boullier get a new job
Former Lotus boss and McLaren sporting director Eric Boullier has taken on a new role as part of the organisation team for the French Grand Prix. Boullier was largely seen as the fall guy when he parted ways with the Woking-based team last summer as part of CEO Zak Brown's overhaul of the operating structure. However, the Frenchman remains a respected figure for what he achieved with Lotus, as they ended 2013 as the closest team to Red Bull under his guidance. In his new position, Boullier is joining the ranks as a strategic advisor and global ambassador to the event at Paul Ricard, which rejoined the Formula 1 calendar last year. Boullier will no doubt bring valuable experience to the table as Paul Ricard looks to solve some of the issues which emerged during F1's return last year. It will be interesting to see if he has any solutions to the chronic traffic issues that were predicted and indeed, took place in 2018 with only one road leading to Le Castellet.

Some data from the first test
Going strictly by the data below it suggests Renault and Toro Rosso have the upper hand but of course that's unlikely and the picture is skewed by undisclosed fuel levels, as well as strict testing programmes, therefore making an assumption based on times/tyres alone would be unwise. Ferrari have been touted as favourites with Mercedes and Red Bull not far behind, though Charles Leclerc suggested Ferrari's rivals weren't showing their true hand just yet and that could well be the case. Renault look to have made a step forward, but the order does seem largely unchanged, with the biggest gain coming from Alfa Romeo which could well be a leading midfield runner. The most notable thing from the times is that Hulkenberg's 1:17.393 is two seconds quicker than the best time achieved at the opening 2018 test (1:19.333 set by Lewis Hamilton). Although the weather was poor last year, it shows that the 2019 regulations, which many expected would slow the cars, most likely hasn't had that much of an impact.

Laps by team and Kilometres
Mercedes 610 2854 km
Ferrari 598 2798 km
Alfa Romeo 507 2360 km
Toro Rosso 482 2244 km
Red Bull 475 2211 km
McLaren 445 2071 km
Renault 433 1918 km
Haas 384 1788 km
Racing Point 248 1154 km
Williams 88 410 km

Laps by engine and Kilometres
Ferrari 1,489 6945 km
Honda 957 4455 km
Mercedes 946 4418 km
Renault 878 3989 km

Laps by driver
Hamilton Mercedes 307
Vettel Ferrari 306
Bottas Mercedes 303
Leclerc Ferrari 295
Albon Toro Rosso 268
Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 255
Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 255
Gasly Red Bull 238
Verstappen Red Bull 237
Norris McLaren 236
Hülkenberg Renault 226
Kvyat Toro Rosso 214
Sainz McLaren 209
Grosjean Hare 198
Ricciardo Renault 186
Stroll Racing Point 151
Magnussen Hare 125
Perez Racing Point 97
Fittipaldi Hare 61
Kubica Williams 48
Russell Williams 40

Top ten fastest laps
Driver Time Day Tyre
Nico Hulkenberg 1:17.393 Four C5
Alexander Albon 1:17.637 Four C5
Daniil Kvyat 1:17.707 Three C5
Kimi Raikkonen 1:17.762 Three C5
Daniel Ricciardo 1:17.785 Four C5
Valtteri Bottas 1:17.857 Four C5
Lewis Hamilton 1:17.977 Four C4
Charles Leclerc 1:18.046 Four C3
Sebastian Vettel 1:18.161 One C3
Lando Norris 1:18.431 Four C4

 

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Has Ted Kravitz been sacked by Sky F1
There is a bit of a Twitter storm going on apparently, claiming that Ted Kravitz has been sacked by Sky F1. It appears to have been started after Sky F1 issued a press release (below) about it coverage of the up coming season, it lists many names that will be involved but Ted is not mentioned. It includes a returning name to Sky, that of ex-F1 driver Karun Chandhok, who I am told was the pit lane reporter for the channel 4 coverage, do Sky need two pit land reporters?

According to a television engineer who was speaking off the record "Ted has fallen out of favour with the new Sky F1 boss Scott Young and has not had his contract renewed". Kravitz worked with ITV since the beginning of their F1 coverage in 1997, initially as a producer, and then as a pit-lane reporter from 2002. He replaced James Allen who was promoted to the post of race commentator, following the retirement of Murray Walker. In December 2011, it was announced that Kravitz would follow Martin Brundle and others from the BBC to join BSkyB’s Sky Sports F1 coverage in 2012. He hasn't taken part in Sky's coverage of the first test and we will have to see if he is part of the 2nd test coverage. This could all be Twitter bullshit, but as you will see from Shy's press release below his name is conspicuous by its absence.

Skysports F1 press release:
Sky Sports F1 coverage will reflect the changes and excitement with some new and returning faces joining the lineup. 2009 world champion Jenson Button joins the team, adding to Sky Sports' roster of world champions alongside Damon Hill and Nico Rosberg.

Martin Brundle's expert analysis and famed grid walks will be a key feature in the coverage, as well as in commentary with David Croft. Karun Chandhok who worked on Sky Sports F1 in the past returns to the fold, ready to give his insight as a former driver with years of experience in the sport together with Johnny Herbert and Paul Di Resta.

Sky Sports will broadcast all 21 races in 2019 starting with the Australian Grand Prix on March 17 from Melbourne. Every practice session, qualifying session and race will be shown exclusively live, with the exception of the British Grand Prix.

Three McLaren team members received medical treatment after a fire in the team’s garage
The British team, along with Racing Point and Williams were completing filming days, a day after the first pre-season test finished, with the trio limited to 100km of on-track running. A McLaren spokesperson said: “There was a small fire in the garage during the team’s private filming day. The fire was quickly extinguished by the team, and circuit emergency services and medical teams attended immediately in support. Three team members were taken to the medical centre for treatment and were released shortly after”.

The incident brought back memories of 2012 when a fire broke out at Barcelona in the Williams garage, not long after Pastor Maldonado had secured a shock win for the team at the Spanish Grand Prix.