Rosberg sets fastest time on Day 2

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes set the fastest time on day 2 of the final preseason test by setting a blistering time of 1m 22.792s, which was by far the fastest time set over the six days of testing at Barcelona. Rosberg used soft tires on this lap and went eight-tenths quicker than Felipe Massa's fastest time yesterday.

Valterri Bottas was second fastest over a second slower than Rosberg and four-tenths slower than Massa went yesterday. Felipe Nasr went third for Sauber while Sebastian Vettel was fourth for Ferrari.

In fifth was Jenson Button who put in 101 laps for McLaren-Honda which is by far the teams most productive day of the preseason. Pastor Maldonado followed in sixth, Max Verstappen was seventh, Daniil Kvyat eighth, and Nico Hulkenberg ninth as he debuted the new VJM08.

Day 2 Testing Times

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m 22.792s, 106 laps

2. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1m 23.995s, 90 laps
3. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1m 24.071s, 141 laps
4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1m 25.339s, 143 laps
5. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1m 25.590s, 101 laps
6. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1m 26.705s, 140 laps
7. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1m 26.766s, 139 laps
8. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1m 26.965s, 84 laps
9. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1m 28.412s, 77 laps

Massa fastest on day 1

Felipe Massa topped the time sheets on the first day of the last preseason test at Barcelona with a 1. 23.500s. This time was set during a three lap qualifying stint on soft tires which shows that Williams likely has decent pace this year.

Lewis Hamilton went fast for Mercedes in the morning but an MGU-K problem led to no running at all in the afternoon. McLaren's difficult preseason continued as Jenson Button suffered a hydraulic issue after just seven laps to end his running for the day.

Day 1 testing times

1. Felipe Massa     Williams    1:23.500  103 laps 
2. Marcus Ericsson  Sauber      1:24.276  122 laps
3. Lewis Hamilton   Mercedes    1:24.881   48 laps
4. Daniil Kvyat     Red Bull    1:25.947   75 laps
5. Romain Grosjean  Lotus       1:26.177   75 laps 
6. Kimi Raikkonen   Ferrari     1:26.327   80 laps 
7. Carlos Sainz     Toro Rosso  1:27.261   85 laps 
8. Jenson Button    McLaren     1:3.479     7 laps 

Driving Schedule for Second Barcelona Test

Here is a list of who is driving on what day for the upcoming Barcelona test this Thursday through Sunday.

Ferrari:                      Thursday: Raikkonen

                                Friday: Vettel

                                Saturday: Raikkonen

                                Sunday: Vettel

Force India:              TBA

Lotus:                       Thursday: Grosjean

                                Friday: Maldonado

                                Saturday: Grosjean

                                Sunday: Maldonado

McLaren:                  Thursday: Button

                                Friday-Sunday: TBA

Mercedes:                 Thursday: Hamilton

                                Friday: Rosberg

                                Saturday: Hamilton

                                Sunday: Rosberg

Red Bull:                  Thursday: Kvyat

                                Friday: Kvyat

                                Saturday: Ricciardo

                                Sunday: Ricciardo

Sauber:                     Thursday: Ericsson

                                Friday: Nasr

                                Saturday: Ericsson

                                Sunday: Nasr

Toro Rosso:             Thursday: Sainz

                               Friday: Verstappen

                               Saturday: Sainz

                               Sunday: Verstappen

Williams:                  Thursday: Massa

                                Friday: Bottas

                                Saturday: Massa

                                Sunday: Bottas

Manor says they are on track for 2015, Will Stevens named as driver

The Manor F1 team, formerly known as Marussia, released a statement to its Facebook page  stating that the car they will use for this year's championship is at an advanced stage and that they plan to be on the grid for the Australian Grand Prix. The team also confirmed that British driver Will Stevens will drive one of the cars this season. Stevens was a reserve driver for Marussia for part of last season and raced for Caterham at the season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Manor says they are now in a position to provide updates on a regular basis now and that they will soon announce the rest of their drivers for the 2015 season.

I hope that Manor can make it on the grid this year because I think it is good for Formula 1 to have more cars. I think that 18 cars is too small of a grid. Hopefully, Manor can be more competitive than they have been in recent years and compete with other teams at the back of the grid but I don't really see this as a possibility, especially since they will not have completed any preseason testing.

As far as a second driver, I would like to see Alexander Rossi get a chance as he was connected to the team the second half of last year but I'm expecting the seat will likely go to the driver that can provide the most money.

Do you think Manor will make it to the grid at Melbourne? If so, how competitive do you think they will be? Also, who would you like to be in the other race seat? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Alonso leaves hospital

McLaren announced that Fernando Alonso has left the hospital today and will go home to rest this weekend. Reserve driver Kevin Magnussen will take his place during this weekends test at Barcelona.

Past Driver Profile Giancarlo Baghetti

I thought it would be interesting to profile some of the lesser known drivers from the past in Formula 1. Everyone knows about Senna, Schumacher, and Prost, but not everyone knows a lot about drivers that did not win races or titles. So for the first driver to profile I chose Giancarlo Baghetti.

Giancarlo Baghetti was born in Milan, Italy on Christmas Day in 1934 He had a wealthy father which allowed him to get a better start for his racing career. Baghetti did some early racing in production cars until he finally move up to Formula Junior in which he was pretty successful in.

Following his success, Baghetti was then chosen by Federazione Italiana Scuderie Automobilistiche (FISA) which was a group of team owners that got together to give young Italian drivers a chance to prove themselves in Formula 1. FISA was able to get Baghetti a modified version of a 1960 Ferrari Formula 2 car which was a prototype for the famous shark nose Ferrari 156.

With this car Baghetti was entered in his first Formula 1 race which was the non-championship 1961 Syracuse Grand Prix. In a field which included drivers such as Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, and many other notable driver, Baghetti was able to qualify in second position and then was able to win the race by 5 seconds over Dan Gurney in second place using the Ferrari's strong straight line speed.

Coming off of this strong result, Baghetti then entered the non-championship 1961 Naples Grand Prix. This race however was held the same day as the Monaco Grand Prix so the field was a lot weaker then the one Baghetti faced in Syracuse. In his second race, Baghetti managed to qualify in third position and once again led his Ferrari to victory. This meant Baghetti had one his first two Formula 1 races even though they were non-championship races.

Coming off of these strong results, the Ferrari factory team took notice and put him in the team to replace Olivier Gendebien who had left the team and entered Baghetti in the 1961 French Grand Prix in the iconic Ferrari 156 at the Reims circuit. Baghetti did not have a strong qualifying result managing just 12th place, but on race day many of the top names ran into problems including his three Ferrari teammates on the day. This led to a shoot out between Baghetti in his Ferrari and Dan Gurney in his Porsche. Baghetti was able to use his Ferrari's speed again to slipstream past Gurney to produce one of the most surprising victories of all time. Baghetti became the first driver to win his first ever World Championship event excluding the first World Championship race and the Indianapolis 500. This is a feat that has not been matched since.

Baghetti at the 1961 French Grand Prix

Baghetti then entered the British Grand Prix which did not go as well. He only managed to qualify 19th but retired due to an accident early on and then in the Italian Grand Prix he had a strong qualifying result of sixth but retired early due to an engine problem. Baghetti did manage to set the fastest lap for this race however.

Baghetti ended his 1961 season by winning the non-championship Coppa Italia which was held at the Vallelunga Circuit. Baghetti entered this race in a Porsche and did not have as much competition without many big names. Baghetti's 1961 season seemed to be a success winning four of the six Formula 1 races in which he entered. Baghetti however, would not win another Formula 1 race in his career.

Baghetti entered four World Championship races in the 1962 season in which his best finish was fourth at the Dutch Grand Prix. Baghetti also finished fifth at the Italian Grand Prix which was good enough to give him five points which placed him 11th in the championship. Baghetti also contested in two non-championship races in 1962 for Ferrari which included a second place finish at the Mediterranean Grand Prix at Pergusa.

For 1963 Baghetti switched to the ATS team which was a breakaway from Ferrari. The chassis used was designed after the Ferrari 156 but by this time the car was outdated and Baghetti struggled. Both Baghetti and teammate Phil Hill failed to score any points throughout the year. In 1864 Baghetti tried racing in outdated BRM cars in he which again failed to score any points in. Following this, Baghetti entered just the Italian Grand Prix the next three years in which he failed to finish in 1965 and 1967, and was not classified in 1966. Baghetti also failed to finish the two non-championship races he took part in as well.

This led to an end to Baghetti's Formula 1 career which had started with so much promise. After his racing career was over, Baghetti became a photographer in which he worked for Playboy and was the publisher for the Auto Oggi magazine. Baghetti died of cancer in Milan on November 27, 1995.

If you have a driver that you would like to see profiled in the future, let me know in the comments section below.

Alonso to spend another night in hospital

According to this McLaren press release, Fernando Alonso will spend another night in hospital after his testing accident on Sunday. The team states that Alonso is staying in hospital for observation more than anything else. The team states that Alonso has been interacting with family and friends.

Alonso suffered a concussion following his accident Sunday after hitting the inside wall at turn 3 of the Circuit de Catalunya. Following the crash, Alonso was taken to the hospital. McLaren has said the cause of the crash was a strong gust of wind which sent Alonso's car off the track.

Hopefully we will see Alonso back on the track this weekend for the final preseason test.

Grosjean tops time sheets for Lotus on final day, Alonso in hospital after crash

Romain Grosjean set the fastest lap on the final day of the second preseason test at Barcelona with a 1m 24.067s. He did so on a set of supersoft tyres which was the fastest lap of the entire week.

However, the main story of the day was the crash of Fernando Alonso. Alonso hit the inside wall between turns 3 and 4 at the Circuit de Catalunya. McLaren initially said that Alonso was "conscious and speaking," and that he was being "airlifted to hospital for further checks." McLaren later released a statement that said "he was uninjured but will remain in hospital overnight."

Also on track, Nico Rosberg set the second fastest time of the day with a 1m 24.321s. What was most noteworthy about this time however was that it was set on the medium compound tyres. This is a bit worrying for the competition because he was only three-tenths slower than Grosjean on tyres that were two compounds harder. 

Also of not on track was Toro Rosso rookie Carlos Sainz crashed at turn 3 but he was ok.

Sunday testing times
1. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1m 24.067s, 111 laps
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m 24.321s, 131 laps
3. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1m 24.941s, 104 laps
4. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1m 24.956s, 73 laps
5. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1m 25.345s, 129 laps
6. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1m 25.604s, 88 laps
7. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1m 26.312s, 76 laps
8. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1m 26.591s, 36 laps
9. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1m 27.956s, 20 laps

Formula 1 Drivers no Longer Allowed to Change Helmets

Formula 1 announced today that drivers are only allowed to change their helmet once per season. This regulation is so so drivers (most notably Sebastian Vettel) cannot show up to each race with a different helmet which causes confusion for some fans. Formula 1 has been looking for ways in recent years for us to have something to associate with each driver. This started last year with each driver getting a permanent number to keep for their career and now we will be able to have a helmet to associate with each driver.

Is this the helmet Sebastian Vettel will stick with in 2015?

I personally don't have a problem with drivers changing helmets as much as they want. I have always felt that a helmet is something personal and if the driver wants to have a different design every race then they should be allowed to do so. If Formula 1 wants to make sure a driver is recognizable, they should make sure that each driver's number is largely displayed on each car so it is easily visible for everyone to see. 

How do you feel about drivers changing helmets throughout the season?  Do you like seeing drivers keeping the same helmet throughout the season or do you think they should be allowed to change as much as they want? Please let us know in the comments section below

Driving Schedule fror Barcelona Test

Here is a list of who is driving on what day for the upcoming Barcelona test this Thursday through Sunday.

Ferrari:         Thursday: Kimi Raikkonen
                    Friday:     Kimi Raikkonen
                    Saturday: Sebastian Vettel
                    Sunday:   Sebastian Vettel

Force India:  Thursday: Pascal Wehrlein
                     Friday:     Sergio Perez
                    Saturday:  Pascal Wehrlein
                    Sunday:    Nico Hulkenberg

Lotus:           Thursday: Pastor Maldonado
                     Friday:      Jolyon Palmer
                    Saturday:  Pastor Maldonado
                    Sunday:    Romain Grosjean

McLaren:     Thursday: Jenson Button
                    Friday:     Jenson Button
                   Saturday:  Fernando Alonso
                   Sunday:    Fernando Alonso

Mercedes:    Thursday: Lewis Hamilton
                    Friday:     Nico Rosberg
                   Saturday:  Lewis Hamilon
                   Sunday:    Nico Rosberg

Red Bull:     Thursday: Daniel Ricciardo
                    Friday:     Daniel Ricciardo
                   Saturday:  Daniil Kvyat
                   Sunday:    Daniil Kvyat

Sauber:         Thursday: Felipe Nasr
                     Friday:     Marcus Ericsson
                    Saturday:  Marcus Ericsson
                    Sunday:    Felipe Nasr

Toro Rosso:  Thursday: Max Verstappen
                     Friday:     Carlos Sainz
                    Saturday:  Max Verstappen
                    Sunday:    Carlos Sainz

Williams:      Thursday: Susie Wolff
                    Friday:     Valterri Bottas
                    Saturday: Felipe Massa
                    Sunday:   Valterri Bottas & Felipe Massa

Also of note for this test is that Force India will be using an updated version of last year's VJM07.

Should Formula 1 have a reform of its regulations?

There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about Formula 1 changing many regulations for the 2017 season from the engine formula to the way the cars look. These regulations could have a massive change on the way people look at Formula 1.

Many people say that the new turbo engines have not been exciting enough and that the sound is not as good as the previous V8 engines or the V10s prior to that. The reason for going to these engines though was that they are more fuel efficient which would give Formula 1 more of a "green" image which the FIA thought was needed. These new engines however, have been very expensive which has led to many of the current teams struggling financially.

There are people that are calling for Formula 1 to go back to louder engines that will bring back some excitement to the sound of Formula 1. Many people would also like for Formula 1 to change the look of the cars as well. They feel that along with the engines, the look of a Formula 1 car is not as exciting as it used to used to be.

One reason to not make a massive regulation change is once again it will cost a lot of money in research and development for all of the teams in which many of them are struggling financially already. If Formula 1 loses more teams, it will be difficult to attract fans with such a small grid. Also, some of the racing the past few years has been very good as well. With a massive regulation change, we might lose some of the on track action which could lead to races becoming more boring.

Ayrton Senna driving the McLaren MP4/6

I think the one thing that Formula 1 is missing these days is a wow factor with the cars. I think in order for them to attract new fans there needs to be something exciting to draw them towards Formula 1. I feel that even though the current regulations have produced some good on track action, people are not drawn towards the look and sound of a Formula 1 car. I would like to see Formula 1 change the way the cars look so when people look at them they will be in awe of the look. I feel if enough research is done by Formula 1 and the FIA then they would be able to change the way the cars look without changing the way they race. I would also like to see them tweak the engine formula so the sound of a Formula 1 car is once again amazing. I feel that this can be done without making the cars use too much more fuel as they currently do.

I feel that a wow factor to Formula 1 cars will attract more fans to the sport in the future than the current regulations of quieter fuel efficient engines do. Also, I feel this wow factor will definitely attract more young fans to the sport who may be too young to completely understand the fuel efficiency of a Formula 1 car. These young fans are the future fans and drivers of the sport and if they are not attracted to Formula 1 there will no longer be a Formula 1 in the future.

How to you feel about Formula 1 possibly reforming its regulations in the future? Should they change the look and sound of the cars or do you think the regulations they currently have are good? Please share your opinion in the comments section below.

Should Formula 1 open up its engine regulations?

There has been a lot of discussion in recent years about engines in Formula 1 and how open the regulations should be. The dominance of the Mercedes engine last year has opened up even more discussion about this topic. Each engine manufacture is only allowed a certain number of parts to change before submitting its final design to the FIA for the season. The current regulation in which the engines are frozen has had some people worried that Mercedes engines will dominate the sport until a new engine regulation is made.

2015 Honda F1 engine

The argument that can be made to keep the engine regulations frozen is that opening the engines up for development will increase costs in a sport which is already having difficulty keeping cost under control. This could lead to having grids which could be at an all time low which could potentially harm the image of F1 and also make the current engine manufactures look toward other forms of motorsport.

I think that in order to increase the competition in F1 the engine regulations need to be opened up a little bit. I think that completely opening up the regulations could make costs too much for the teams but I think a bit more of a development race could make things more interesting. I think one way in which this could be done is to allow for a certain number of periods in which a new engine design could be allowed. For example, each engine manufacture would submit a design to the FIA that could be used for the flyaway races to begin the season. Then they could change a certain number of parts to change before another design is frozen for the European season and then this process could happen again for the flyaway races at the end of the season in which they can change a certain number of parts again.

I think that this could allow for more competition throughout the season which could allow the manufactures more chances to catch up to each other if they get off to a slow start but this will still not be completely open regulations in which cost could escalate too quickly.

How do you feel about the current regulations in Formula 1? Do you think they should stay as they are or should they be opened up more? Let us know in the comments section below.

Renault still looking for more performance out of 2015 engine

French engine manufacture Renault has stated that they were not running its engine to full potential at the recent Jerez test. 

Renault's Rami Taffin has told F1i that they were only running the new engine "80 or 90 percent at the test." 

Renault say they will look to increase the pace of the engines over the next two preseason tests at Barcelona before the season opener in Australia next month. They believe that the cars can go between 1.5 and 2 seconds faster when the engines reach full potential. Renault, which supplies the Red Bull and Toro Rosso teams hopes the upgraded engine will help them take a step towards catching Mercedes although they understand it will be a difficult task. 

Adrian Newey states, "I think it's going to be extremely difficult. The Mercedes engine power advantage last year, about 10 per cent, is not really something that we can close in the space of one season."

I think in order for Red Bull to have a realistic shot at the championship, Renault needs to really close the gap in the engine department to Mercedes. Red Bull typically has a strong chassis but the engine power was lacking last year which only allowed them to compete for wins when Mercedes faltered. If the Renault engine can make the gap close then look for Red Bull to be able to challenge for the Drivers' and Constructors' titles in 2015. However, I think that the gap from last year is too much to overcome in one off season especially with the engine freeze allowing them to only change a certain number of parts in the engine.

Do you think Renault can close the gap to Mercedes this year? Let us know in the comments section below

For more on what Renault is expecting this year check out this link

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/renault-not-yet-exploring-limits-of-2015-engine