F1 2016: Brazilian GP

In a weekend full of excitements, full of emotions and full of waiting (let's be honest), one of the best races of 2016 took place in Brazil. A race full of safety cars and red flags, we eventually saw some great races by some big and some less big teams. The last home race for Felipe Massa, perhaps the most noticable. Who were this weekends winners and losers? Let's take a look!

Winners:

Max Verstappen:

Source: Click here

Perhaps his best drive so far? Red Bull gambled on the intermediates, had to take a extra pitstop under the last safety car and from that moment on the Dutchman was (quite literally) on fire. From P16 in lap 55 to a podium finish (Lap 71), and the easy-looking way he did it, showed his true skills as a rain driver. And of course, his mighty save can not be missed.

Though I do not always agree of the Driver of the Day, this time it was more than obvious to see Max been given it. 

Felipe Nasr:

And if Max did not perform that well, Felipe Nasr might have been the perfect Driver of the Day. Haven't seen him making a single mistake and took great advantage of the weather situation, he managed to score Saubers first points of the season. With those 2 points, they also pass MRT for 10th place in the constructors championship. 

Losers:

Romain Grosjean:

He did a magnificent job on Saterday, taking P7, but he managed to crash his car on his way to the starting grid. It must be said: The complete straight was a hell to drive, and he wasn't the only one to be caught on that part (Felipe Massa, Marcus Ericsson, Max Verstappen). I'm sure he could have finished in the points, but it wasn't supposed to be.

Source: Click here

Jolyon Palmer:

At first I did not even notice what happened, but what a way to end your race. He just drove on the back of Daniil Kvyat, who (in this case) had nothing to be blamed for. It was a pity, as I felt Jolyon was doing a much better job during the last couple of weekends. 

Hamilton VS. Rosberg: Who is favorite for the F1 World Championship?

We are heading towards the last 2 weekends of F1 this year: First we will head to Brazil this weekend, which is followed by the Abu Dhabi GP in 2 weeks time. Who (statistically) has the biggest chance of winning the World Championship: Nico Rosberg or Lewis Hamilton? Let's find out!!

Nico Rosberg:

Nico Rosberg has had a very strong season so far. Starting with 4 wins in a row, he took a big advantage over his main rival Lewis Hamilton in the championship. He lost that lead over the course of the season, up until after the summer break where he got back in winning moods. He holds a 19-point advantage right now, which means he can come home second in both races and still be world champion.




Lewis Hamilton:

Whereas Nico's season has been great, Lewis' hasn't been. Although he scored a quad triple win in July, all the failures he suffered made his championship one with a immense battle. He still has a chance of winning the title, but must hope for failures on the other side of the garage or a Red Bull/Ferrari having a great day.



Statistically:

I don't just want to post this based on my own opinion. That's why I want to compare some statistics and see if it's showing us a clear image of what we could expect.

In Brazil, there seems to be a clear favorite. Nico Rosberg has (almost) dominated against Lewis Hamilton since 2007, in terms of race results. Especially since them being teammates, Rosberg has always finished higher than Lewis.

Rosberg was the fastest of the 2 6 times, whereas Hamilton was the best of the 2 in 3 races. Also, those 3 were all in his Mclaren-Mercedes time, when Rosberg was part of Williams (2006-2009) and Mercedes GP (2010 to now)

In Abu Dhabi, it's way closer between the 2 rivals. Both drivers were the quickest of the 2 twice in normal race conditions: Lewis retired in 2009, Nico hit trouble in 2014 (You know, where he did not want to box the car and wanted to go to the end). And in the 2012 edition, they both did not see the finish flag (Rosberg finding a certain HRT on his way: Specifically Karthikeyan's HRT, Click here for footage) It's fair to say they both have a big chance of winning it.

So who is the favorite to win the 2016 Formula 1 world champion? Based on the mentioned statistics above, it's fair to say Nico has the bigger chance. He seems to be the favorite driver of the 2 to win in Brazil and that would mean he would be world champion as well (As he would gain 7 points, giving a 26 point advantage). Lewis really has to hope on bad luck for Nico to have a chance or a great day for Red Bull, other than that there is almost no chance to win it. It would be hard to see all the failures have led to this, but it has had an affect on the title race.

Who will win the drivers world championship you think? Leave a comments with your expected world champion!!

F1: US and Mexico GP

[WEC] Audi to leave WEC after 2016 season

Shocking news from the world of endurance racing: Audi is going to leave the WEC after the current season. After a 18-year long commitment to endurance racing in the LMP class, they will shift their focus to other racing classes.

Source: Click here

As 2-times WEC champions and 13 time overall winners in the 24 Hours of Le mans since 2000, Audi have announced to withdraw their cars from the WEC after the current season. With only 1 win so far this season and a couple of podium finishes, this year hasn't been a success for Audi. They were not even close during the 24H, the highlight of the season.

Audi wants to put their focus on other racing series, especially the DTM and the FIA Formula E. They just lost the drivers title in the DTM to Marco Wittman, but won the title in the team championship with Team Abt. They also work together with Abt in the Formula E, the team that lost the drivers championship during the last weekend last season.

There are still 2 races left this season: Begin November in Shanghai, China and the last race will take place in Bahrain. They can still win the WEC titles, but will need a bit of luck in the process. They are 59 points down on Porsche in the constructors championship and the driver combination Duval/Di Grassi/Jarvis are 28,5 points down on the leadings in the driver standings.

[F1] EMy expectations of the US GP

Force India released Nico Hülkenberg, confirmed by Renault F1! [UPDATE]

What seemed to just be a rumor for the last couple of days, have now been confirmed by Force India on Twitter: Nico Hülkenberg is released by Force India. After a 3-year-stint with the team, Nico is going for a new challenge. 

What seemed to be a suspicious tweet from Nico Hülkenberg about a Borussia Dortmund match, now may be more likely a tweet about his future. A future that seems to be with Renault F1, his first true factory team. After Williams, Force India and Sauber, this is his fourth different team he will be part of.

The rumor started during the weekend of the Japanese GP, in which the story was that Nico wasn't paid salary for a couple of months. One of the stakeholders, Dutchman Michiel Mol, could not confirm or deny any part of the story, as he stated in the dutch show F1 Fans Only following the Japanese GP. He was not informed about this situation or could not talk about it.

Though the signing still has to be confirmed, it's more than likely. Any other topteam is not in need of a new driver, whereas Mercedes GP, Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren are all set in terms of 2017 line up. Williams Martini Racing is in need for drivers, but does not seem to be a better team at the moment. Renault doesn't seem as well, but has the financial backing to develop towards the front of the field and has stated to have a long-term project on it's hands.

[Update] Renault has officially confirmed that Nico Hülkenberg will join them from 2017 onwards. The deal is for multiple years. Good luck to Nico in this new challenge!!

Renault says it needs 5 years to return to the top

Source: Click here

Since it's return, they have only scored 8 points. The return to Formula 1 with a factory team hasn't been a great success, but there is no panic around. They were not expecting wonders and they still do not expect those. Renault has stated that the target is to get back to the top within 5 years, of which this one is the first one.

Even though Renault only scored 8 points, it's a great overall performance though. Renault took the unstable Lotus team late December over, so they has just over 2 months to get ready for Melbourne. In terms of development, they were quite a bit down on both the performance of the car and the power unit. The power unit seems to be quite competitive, as Red Bull is close to Mercedes and seems to be ahead of Ferrari, but the performance of the car is still a bit down.

Goal for the next couple of seasons is to slowly improve that performance. Next year is all about being in midfield and point-scoring positions. For 2018, podium finishes are expected to happen and in the further 2 years the team should be competitive enough to race for race wins and perhaps a world championship.

With the liking of Nico Hülkenberg, who is rumored to have interest from Renault, the Enstone-based team is making steps the right way. Although he has not yet scored a podium finish, his performance is the classes towards F1 showed this true talent. And of course, not to forget about his Le Mans win last year, in his first entry.

What are your expectations? Can Renault return to competitive form within the next 5 seasons? Leave it down in the comments!!