Just in the morning I wrote that I had a strong hunch that Hamilton was going to drive from pole to victory today. That, however, wasn´t exactly what happened on the streets of the Principality today! Hamilton had every reason to win the race though. The Briton took a strong start and maintained his lead. Sebastian made strong effort to get past Rosberg going into turn one but the German Mercedes pilot wasn´t going to surrender so Sebastian had to settle for third. Kvyat in his Red Bull took an impressive start and made his way past his team-mate Ricciardo. Kimi´s start was decent as well but all the Iceman could do was to keep his 6th place. Already on the second lap Alonso in his McLaren collided with Force India´s Hulkenberg causing the German to hit the barrier. Hulkenberg had a front wing damage and he had to pit for a new front wing. A few laps later Alonso was given a 5-second time penalty for causing the collision.
Soon it became obvious that Rosberg couldn´t quite match Hamilton´s pace and in no time there was a several-second gap between the Mercedes team-mates. Further down in the back Verstappen´s driving caught my eye. Maldonado had some brake issues in his E23 and Verstappen didn´t hesitate to overtake the Venezuelan making his way up to P8. Maldonado was the first one to retire from the race only a couple of laps later. But despite Maldonado´s difficulties the overtaking move was impressive.
Little by little Kimi managed to close the gap to Ricciardo in P5. When Kvyat pitted for a fresh set of prime tyres, Kimi jumped 5th. The Iceman was already within DRS distance from the Australian and tried to put up a fight. At the same time on lap 30 Verstappen made his first and only pit stop. Everything didn´t go to plan: there were difficulties with getting one of the rear tyres attached. Max dropped down to P13 behind Bottas when he rejoined the track. Such a pity! Though I knew there were more overtaking moves to come ;)
Ricciardo pitted one lap before Kimi did and Kimi benefitted from this strategy making his way ahead of Ricciardo in P5! In terms of the top three the order remained unchanged after the first pit stops: Hamilton had a firm lead, Rosberg was second and Sebastian third. Although Nico seemed to be within Sebastian´s reach there were minimal chances to overtake. I was so sure Hamilton was going to cruise to the victory! On lap 43 Alonso had to retire due to a technical failure, which was actually no surprise.
Not everyone was on a 1-stop strategy. Verstappen in his Toro Rosso pitted for second time on lap 47. Some 10 laps later we saw some brilliant overtaking moves from this highly talented Dutchman. Sebastian in P3 was lapping cars and Verstappen came up with clever strategy: he drove as close to Sebastian as he could and when Bottas was shown blue flags and the Finn had to slow down to let Sebastian past, Verstappen benefitted from the situation by attacking Bottas right after Sebastian. This was an absolutely genius move, which Verstappen repeated a moment later. This young man really knew how to put up an entertaining show! On lap 61 Verstappen tried to use this same strategy to get past Grosjean in P10 but Grosjean had been adviced about Verstappen´s move on the team radio and it didn´t work out for the third time. With 14 more laps to go Verstappen tried to make his way past Grosjean but the attempt lead into a collision and Verstappen crashed into the barrier nose first in high speed. Luckily Verstappen got away with no injuries but what a shame that he couldn´t finish the race! I´m sure he would have finished in the points!
Safety car was deploeyd due to Verstappen´s crash. The race took a strange turn as Hamilton was called to the pits when safety car came out. At that point Hamilton had about a 19-second lead over his team-mate but it turned out not to be enough when Hamilton rejoined the track: the Briton dropped down to P3! Rosberg took the lead clearly but for a moment it was unclear whether Sebastian had been ahead of Hamilton when crossing the white line. But Sebastian had been an inch ahead and the second place was his! Hamilton must have been devastated when the reality hit him in the race! It turned out to be a mistake made by the team: they had calculated the gap between Hamilton and Rosberg wrong... After the re-start Hamilton tried everything to make his way past Sebastian but not even the fresh set of option tyres helped him succeed in that! Hamilton had dominated the race from the very start but during the safety car episode his convincing lead turned into disappointing P3.
Ricciardo had also pitted during the safety car and Kimi in P5 lost the position to the Australian on the closing laps. Ricciardo even hit Kimi´s car when overtaking the Iceman but the collision caused no further action by the stewards. We saw team orders from Red Bull today: Kvyat let his team-mate Ricciardo past because the Australian was much quicker on the new super soft tyres and the team thought Ricciardo could have had a chance to attack on Hamilton and Vettel. However, by the final lap of the race Ricciardo hadn´t been able to make an overtaking move so the team told him to give his position back to Kvyat, which seemed like a fair move. So Rosberg took his third win in-a-row on the streets of Monte Carlo in a very lucky way! Sebastian finished second and Hamilton was absolutely devastated having to settle for third. Kvyat finished 4th, Ricciardo 5th, Kimi 6th, Perez 7th, Button scored his first points for McLaren Honda by finishing 8th, Nasr 9th and Sainz 10th. Bottas in his Williams was left out of points in P14 so it was an utterly poor race for Williams.
The beginning of the race didn´t seem too exciting but the turn at the end caught me by surprise! I still consider it unbelievable that Hamilton didn´t win the race. In terms of the championship the result today really spices things up: there´s only a 10-point gap between the Mercedes team-mates in favor of Hamilton. Some people say there isn´t such thing as luck in Formula 1 but even Nico himself admitted that he got really lucky today. Sebastian was clearly very happy about his second place. So was I! :D Sebastian seems so comfortable in the SF15-T, I know he´ll take the struggle to Mercedes this year. In terms of Kimi I really hope that in Canada there´ll finally be the long-awaited problem-free weekend for the Iceman!
Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel
sunnuntai 24. toukokuuta 2015
Monaco GP / Qualifying: Long-awaited first-ever pole in Monte Carlo for Hamilton!
I was certainly looking forward to a thrilling qualifying as Mercedes had been beaten to the fastest time by Ferrari in FP3. And qualifying definitely threw up several surprises. Like expected Mercedes and Ferrari didn't have to run on the supersofts in Q1. Still the Mercedes duo were the fastest men on track with Rosberg having the upper hand on his home streets. The Ferrari duo Vettel and Räikkönen sat out the second runs but this time this risky tactics paid off. All the others made their second runs on the supersofts. One of the surprises was to see Toro Rosso's Verstappen making it as high as 3rd in Q1! Toro Rosso's pace had looked good already in the free practice sessions. Both Sauber and Marussia drivers were out of Q2 but the highest profile casualty in Q1 was Valtteri Bottas, who struggled with heavy understeering issues.
Q2 saw everyone out on the red-marked super soft tyres. Alonso in his McLaren was completely out of luck in the second session gliding to a halt on the exit to Sainte Devote when his MP4-30 switched itself off. His team-mate Button on the other hand had promising pace but couldn't quite make it into the final session. Rosberg went wide going into turn one on his second attempt triggering yellow flags, which ruined Button's last flying lap. Rosberg and Hamilton were once again topping the timesheets followed by Vettel and Räikkönen. Grosjean in his E23 was the first man to miss out on Q3. The Frenchman has also been handed a 5-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change so he'll drop down to P16. Button, Hulkenberg and Massa were also dumped out in Q2. Not a very flattering moment for the Williams team: for the first time this year Williams weren't represented in the pole shootout!
By the start of Q3 there was a slight chance of rain so everyone rushed out when the final and decisive session got underway. Everyone else except the Toro Rosso duo were on a new set of super soft tyres. Just as it appeared Rosberg had the upper hand, the Mercedes team-mates' fortunes turned again. Hamilton took the provisional pole. After the first attempts Kimi was only down in 9th place! Kimi hadn't had a problem-free weekend this time, either. The Iceman had walloped the wall at Sainte Devote and punctured a tyre in FP3. In Q3 the Finn had again touched the wall on his first run. Kimi had complained of oversteering. Perez in his Force India had to sit out the second runs because he had run out of tyres. Rosberg blew his final effort by locking up heavily once again at Ste Devote. So Hamilton grabbed the long-awaited first-ever pole in Monte Carlo! Rosberg was three tenths off his team-mate's pace. In spite of the promising pace in FP3 Sebastian had no chance to challenge the Mercedes duo in the qualifying. The German had to settle for third on the grid. Red Bull were back on form on the streets of the Principality and Ricciardo and Kvyat were very evenly matched. Ricciardo qualified 4th and Kvyat 5th ahead of the Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen in P6. Sebastian and Kimi were separated by 6 tenths of a second, which caught me by surprise. Perez qualified 7th, Sainz 8th, Maldonado 9th and Verstappen was left in P10. Sainz, however, has to start to the race from the pit lane because the Spaniard failed to stop at the FIA weighbridge in Q1.
The race will get underway in a few hours' time. I'm afraid the win will be firmly within Hamilton's grasp if only the Briton doesn't fail at the start. Monaco is known for minimal chances for overtaking so strategy plays a decisive role. I'd be absolutely delighted if Sebastian could split the Mercedes at the end of the race! Kimi on the other hand must succeed at the start. The Iceman has to make his way past both Red Bulls if he wants to take part in the battle for the podium places! It has proved to be very difficult for Kimi to put together a problem-free weekend this season but luckily the Iceman tends to be on fire when the race day arrives. I'm sure Kimi will offer us an awesome show also today! I have a hunch that Rosberg will be in trouble with his team-mate and that there will be no stopping Hamilton from winning today.
Q2 saw everyone out on the red-marked super soft tyres. Alonso in his McLaren was completely out of luck in the second session gliding to a halt on the exit to Sainte Devote when his MP4-30 switched itself off. His team-mate Button on the other hand had promising pace but couldn't quite make it into the final session. Rosberg went wide going into turn one on his second attempt triggering yellow flags, which ruined Button's last flying lap. Rosberg and Hamilton were once again topping the timesheets followed by Vettel and Räikkönen. Grosjean in his E23 was the first man to miss out on Q3. The Frenchman has also been handed a 5-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change so he'll drop down to P16. Button, Hulkenberg and Massa were also dumped out in Q2. Not a very flattering moment for the Williams team: for the first time this year Williams weren't represented in the pole shootout!
By the start of Q3 there was a slight chance of rain so everyone rushed out when the final and decisive session got underway. Everyone else except the Toro Rosso duo were on a new set of super soft tyres. Just as it appeared Rosberg had the upper hand, the Mercedes team-mates' fortunes turned again. Hamilton took the provisional pole. After the first attempts Kimi was only down in 9th place! Kimi hadn't had a problem-free weekend this time, either. The Iceman had walloped the wall at Sainte Devote and punctured a tyre in FP3. In Q3 the Finn had again touched the wall on his first run. Kimi had complained of oversteering. Perez in his Force India had to sit out the second runs because he had run out of tyres. Rosberg blew his final effort by locking up heavily once again at Ste Devote. So Hamilton grabbed the long-awaited first-ever pole in Monte Carlo! Rosberg was three tenths off his team-mate's pace. In spite of the promising pace in FP3 Sebastian had no chance to challenge the Mercedes duo in the qualifying. The German had to settle for third on the grid. Red Bull were back on form on the streets of the Principality and Ricciardo and Kvyat were very evenly matched. Ricciardo qualified 4th and Kvyat 5th ahead of the Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen in P6. Sebastian and Kimi were separated by 6 tenths of a second, which caught me by surprise. Perez qualified 7th, Sainz 8th, Maldonado 9th and Verstappen was left in P10. Sainz, however, has to start to the race from the pit lane because the Spaniard failed to stop at the FIA weighbridge in Q1.
The race will get underway in a few hours' time. I'm afraid the win will be firmly within Hamilton's grasp if only the Briton doesn't fail at the start. Monaco is known for minimal chances for overtaking so strategy plays a decisive role. I'd be absolutely delighted if Sebastian could split the Mercedes at the end of the race! Kimi on the other hand must succeed at the start. The Iceman has to make his way past both Red Bulls if he wants to take part in the battle for the podium places! It has proved to be very difficult for Kimi to put together a problem-free weekend this season but luckily the Iceman tends to be on fire when the race day arrives. I'm sure Kimi will offer us an awesome show also today! I have a hunch that Rosberg will be in trouble with his team-mate and that there will be no stopping Hamilton from winning today.
sunnuntai 10. toukokuuta 2015
Spanish GP: Rosberg took win as my hunch said!
For me Spanish GP differs from all the other grands prix because Circuit de Catalunya brings back so many memories. It was only three months ago when I spent three awesome days beside the track watching the last pre-season test session live! It´s different to watch the action on that particular track on TV as I look at the corners and think "Yes, that´s the place where I went to on my first day and took those great photos" and so on. At the end of the day it´s so different to actually see all those cars drive live in front of your very eyes! Something that you´ll never forget.
The start was absolutely breathtaking. Rosberg stormed from pole to lead but Sebastian managed to make his way past Hamilton, whose start was anything but perfect. Kimi in P7 took an aggressive start as well and the Iceman passed both Toro Rosso drivers jumping 5th right behind Bottas in the FW37. My prediction about Toro Rosso´s race pace soon turned out to be true: there was no chance either Sainz or Verstappen could match Kimi´s pace. Also Massa in the Williams had an easy task to overtake the Toro Rossos one by one.
Rosberg in the lead had a safe 3-second gap to Sebastian but Hamilton on the other hand was right at Sebastian´s tail. But thanks to Ferrari´s excellent straight-line speed the Briton had no real chance to overtake the German even if he was within DRS distance. Hamilton was the first top driver to pit on lap 14. Everything didn´t, however, go to plan during the pit stop: there were difficulties to get the Briton´s rear left tyre attached, which cost several extra seconds. When Sebastian pitted a lap later he managed to rejoin the track ahead of Hamilton.
After the first pit stops the order remained unchanged: Rosberg was leading the race with Sebastian 2nd, Hamilton 3rd, Bottas 4th and Kimi 5th. Kimi´s tyre choice differed from that of his rivals: Kimi opted for a fresh set of hard tyres for his second stint whilst all the other top drivers had opted for another set of option tyres.
In the midfield Pastor Maldonado´s promising race was ruined due to a rear wing failure. During the Venezuelan´s pit stop the mechanics detached a big part of his rear wing but against all odds the rear wing didn´t fly off at any part of the race. McLaren´s Alonso on the other hand suffered from brake problems and the Spaniard was about to hit one of the mechanics in the pits as he was unable to stop his car in time. Luckily no one got hurt!
Hamilton made his second pit stop a lot earlier than his rivals, which meant the Briton had a different strategy: he was on a 3-stop strategy. In spite of the varying strategies and tyre choices the Spanish GP evolved as quite a boring race. Sebastian lost his 2nd place to Hamilton during his second and last pit stop and after that the pecking order was quite clear: Rosberg had over a 10-second lead over his team-mate and Sebastian in P3 had a clear gap over Bottas in P4. Luckily Kimi offered the spectators some entertainment after his second pit stop. The Iceman had rejoined the track about 10 seconds behind Massa in his Williams but on the new set of medium tyres Kimi was absolutely flying and closing the gap to Massa massively fast. And when Kimi had caught Massa up he didn´t hesitate to overtake the Brasilian! After getting past Massa Kimi started to chase Bottas, who was some 8 seconds ahead of his countryman.
With less than 10 laps to go Kimi was right at Bottas´s tail! But Williams didn´t turn out to be an easy car to overtake. In the previous race Valtteri had done excellent job by holding back Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari and this time there was the other Ferrari lurking from Valtteri´s mirrors. And even if Kimi got within DRS distance he had no chance to overtake his compatriot. Williams could easily match Ferrari´s straigh-line speed.
So once again it was a very predicted 1-2 for Mercedes. The only refreshing thing about this was the fact that Nico Rosberg took his first win of the season (like my hunch said) and decreased the gap to Hamilton into 20 points in the championship standings. Sebastian finished 3rd ahead of Bottas in P4 and Kimi in P5. Massa finished 6th, Ricciardo 7th, Grosjean 8th, Sainz 9th and Kvyat 10th. Verstappen was left out of points in P11. I was very happy about Sebastian´s third place but all in all this was such a boring race as the Mercedes duo were so much quicker than all the rest. Hopefully the Monaco GP will be a different story. There in the narrow streets of Monaco it´ll be all about a great qualifying result!
The start was absolutely breathtaking. Rosberg stormed from pole to lead but Sebastian managed to make his way past Hamilton, whose start was anything but perfect. Kimi in P7 took an aggressive start as well and the Iceman passed both Toro Rosso drivers jumping 5th right behind Bottas in the FW37. My prediction about Toro Rosso´s race pace soon turned out to be true: there was no chance either Sainz or Verstappen could match Kimi´s pace. Also Massa in the Williams had an easy task to overtake the Toro Rossos one by one.
Rosberg in the lead had a safe 3-second gap to Sebastian but Hamilton on the other hand was right at Sebastian´s tail. But thanks to Ferrari´s excellent straight-line speed the Briton had no real chance to overtake the German even if he was within DRS distance. Hamilton was the first top driver to pit on lap 14. Everything didn´t, however, go to plan during the pit stop: there were difficulties to get the Briton´s rear left tyre attached, which cost several extra seconds. When Sebastian pitted a lap later he managed to rejoin the track ahead of Hamilton.
After the first pit stops the order remained unchanged: Rosberg was leading the race with Sebastian 2nd, Hamilton 3rd, Bottas 4th and Kimi 5th. Kimi´s tyre choice differed from that of his rivals: Kimi opted for a fresh set of hard tyres for his second stint whilst all the other top drivers had opted for another set of option tyres.
In the midfield Pastor Maldonado´s promising race was ruined due to a rear wing failure. During the Venezuelan´s pit stop the mechanics detached a big part of his rear wing but against all odds the rear wing didn´t fly off at any part of the race. McLaren´s Alonso on the other hand suffered from brake problems and the Spaniard was about to hit one of the mechanics in the pits as he was unable to stop his car in time. Luckily no one got hurt!
Hamilton made his second pit stop a lot earlier than his rivals, which meant the Briton had a different strategy: he was on a 3-stop strategy. In spite of the varying strategies and tyre choices the Spanish GP evolved as quite a boring race. Sebastian lost his 2nd place to Hamilton during his second and last pit stop and after that the pecking order was quite clear: Rosberg had over a 10-second lead over his team-mate and Sebastian in P3 had a clear gap over Bottas in P4. Luckily Kimi offered the spectators some entertainment after his second pit stop. The Iceman had rejoined the track about 10 seconds behind Massa in his Williams but on the new set of medium tyres Kimi was absolutely flying and closing the gap to Massa massively fast. And when Kimi had caught Massa up he didn´t hesitate to overtake the Brasilian! After getting past Massa Kimi started to chase Bottas, who was some 8 seconds ahead of his countryman.
With less than 10 laps to go Kimi was right at Bottas´s tail! But Williams didn´t turn out to be an easy car to overtake. In the previous race Valtteri had done excellent job by holding back Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari and this time there was the other Ferrari lurking from Valtteri´s mirrors. And even if Kimi got within DRS distance he had no chance to overtake his compatriot. Williams could easily match Ferrari´s straigh-line speed.
So once again it was a very predicted 1-2 for Mercedes. The only refreshing thing about this was the fact that Nico Rosberg took his first win of the season (like my hunch said) and decreased the gap to Hamilton into 20 points in the championship standings. Sebastian finished 3rd ahead of Bottas in P4 and Kimi in P5. Massa finished 6th, Ricciardo 7th, Grosjean 8th, Sainz 9th and Kvyat 10th. Verstappen was left out of points in P11. I was very happy about Sebastian´s third place but all in all this was such a boring race as the Mercedes duo were so much quicker than all the rest. Hopefully the Monaco GP will be a different story. There in the narrow streets of Monaco it´ll be all about a great qualifying result!
Spanish GP / Qualifying: Rosberg grabbed his first pole of 2015!
Yesterday was an exceptional Saturday for me as I was unable to watch the qualifying live on TV. But there was a zumba marathon event taking place in the town and since there have been no such events for a long time I really wanted to attend. I took close care that I didn´t check my Facebook or Twitter so I didn´t get to know who had taken pole until I watched the qualifying later on in the evening.
The Force Indias, the Saubers and the Marussias started to Q1 on the softer compound of the Pirelli tyres whilst the top teams like Mercedes, Ferrari and Williams made their first runs on the hard tyres. The Mercedes duo Hamilton and Rosberg and Vettel in the Ferrari were the only drivers not having to use the option tyres in the first session. Those three made their second runs also on the orange-marked hard tyres. Kimi on the other hand was in P11 after his first flying lap so the Iceman had to use a set of option tyres on his second run. Hamilton and Rosberg topped the time sheets in spite of their tyre choice. What caught my eye was the fact that Sebastian was a second off Hamilton´s pace in spite of the fact that they had set their times on the same rubber! Ericsson in the Sauber was the first man to miss out on Q2. Both Force Indias and Marussias were also out of the second phase.
After Q1 the ball was in Rosberg´s court. After the first attempts the top five drivers were Rosberg, Hamilton, Räikkönen, Vettel and Bottas. Rosberg had clearly found his self-confidence again as the German had a 6-tenth margin over his team-mate! The top five stayed in their pit garages as the rest of the field headed out for their second runs. The top three remained the same but Massa in the Williams made 4th. The Toro Rosso rookies Verstappen and Sainz made remarkable job and definitely stood out of the pack: Verstappen made P7 and Sainz P8 whilst the Red Bull duo was left in 9th and 10th places. Both Lotus drivers were out of Q3, so were the re-liveried McLarens of Alonso and Button.
The decisive final session involved five top teams: Mercedes, Ferrari, Williams, Toro Rosso and Red Bull. Kimi in his SF15-T and Verstappen in the Toro Rosso were the only drivers to make their first run on the used set of option tyres. Rosberg claimed provisional pole by a 3-tenth margin over his team-mate. Massa, Sainz and the Red Bull duo Kvyat and Ricciardo settled for one attempt only. Rosberg maintained his edge over his team-mate and grabbed his first pole of 2015 by a quarter of a second. The Ferrari team-mates enjoyed differing fortunes: the German was third but the Finn was bumped down to 7th. The team ran Sebastian with the new configuration of the aero package and Kimi with the old. Bottas at the wheel of his FW37 made excellent job by making it P4. Even both Toro Rossos made it ahead of Kimi in the Ferrari with Sainz in P5 and Verstappen in P6! Toro Rosso´s single-lap pace was impressive and both drivers delivered when it mattered. Who says Verstappen is too young for F1? The Dutchman has definitely justified his place in F1 by his performance. Kvyat had to settle for P8, Massa qualified disappointing P9 and Kvyat´s team-mate Ricciardo was left 10th.
I don´t know what happened to Kimi in the final session. In Q2 the Iceman had still been ahead of his team-mate but at the end of Q3 Kimi was a second slower than his team-mate Sebastian! Kimi has been struggling with grip all weekend and the upgrades haven´t turned out to be a clear advantage in terms of the car´s performance. P7 is definitely a difficult place to start to the race today as Circuit de Catalunya isn´t known for lots of chances for overtaking. But Ferrari have strong race pace, that´s for sure. Williams have been struggling with tyre management so in that sense Ferrari have an advantage over Williams. And in spite of the glorious single-lap pace I don´t expect Toro Rosso to be that strong in the race. Kimi just have to take a phenomenal start and make his way past the Toro Rossos and Bottas on the opening lap! Which of course is more easily said than done!
I´m afraid Mercedes are so quick that they will disappear in the horizon in no time unless they face some technical issues. Ferrari have an advantage over Mercedes in terms of tyre degradation but it won´t help if the Mercedes are a second per lap quicker than the Ferraris... But I´m definitely looking forward to a thrilling fight! I have a hunch that Rosberg will win today.
P.S. Right before the start of the race I heard Kimi had had problems with one of the tyre heating blankets in the qualifying. The issue had ruined Kimi´s set of new option tyres, which meant that Kimi had to make his last attempt in Q3 on a used set of medium tyres! No wonder the Finn ended up in P7! What a shame! And not Kimi´s fault in any way! So gutted for Kimi!
The Force Indias, the Saubers and the Marussias started to Q1 on the softer compound of the Pirelli tyres whilst the top teams like Mercedes, Ferrari and Williams made their first runs on the hard tyres. The Mercedes duo Hamilton and Rosberg and Vettel in the Ferrari were the only drivers not having to use the option tyres in the first session. Those three made their second runs also on the orange-marked hard tyres. Kimi on the other hand was in P11 after his first flying lap so the Iceman had to use a set of option tyres on his second run. Hamilton and Rosberg topped the time sheets in spite of their tyre choice. What caught my eye was the fact that Sebastian was a second off Hamilton´s pace in spite of the fact that they had set their times on the same rubber! Ericsson in the Sauber was the first man to miss out on Q2. Both Force Indias and Marussias were also out of the second phase.
After Q1 the ball was in Rosberg´s court. After the first attempts the top five drivers were Rosberg, Hamilton, Räikkönen, Vettel and Bottas. Rosberg had clearly found his self-confidence again as the German had a 6-tenth margin over his team-mate! The top five stayed in their pit garages as the rest of the field headed out for their second runs. The top three remained the same but Massa in the Williams made 4th. The Toro Rosso rookies Verstappen and Sainz made remarkable job and definitely stood out of the pack: Verstappen made P7 and Sainz P8 whilst the Red Bull duo was left in 9th and 10th places. Both Lotus drivers were out of Q3, so were the re-liveried McLarens of Alonso and Button.
The decisive final session involved five top teams: Mercedes, Ferrari, Williams, Toro Rosso and Red Bull. Kimi in his SF15-T and Verstappen in the Toro Rosso were the only drivers to make their first run on the used set of option tyres. Rosberg claimed provisional pole by a 3-tenth margin over his team-mate. Massa, Sainz and the Red Bull duo Kvyat and Ricciardo settled for one attempt only. Rosberg maintained his edge over his team-mate and grabbed his first pole of 2015 by a quarter of a second. The Ferrari team-mates enjoyed differing fortunes: the German was third but the Finn was bumped down to 7th. The team ran Sebastian with the new configuration of the aero package and Kimi with the old. Bottas at the wheel of his FW37 made excellent job by making it P4. Even both Toro Rossos made it ahead of Kimi in the Ferrari with Sainz in P5 and Verstappen in P6! Toro Rosso´s single-lap pace was impressive and both drivers delivered when it mattered. Who says Verstappen is too young for F1? The Dutchman has definitely justified his place in F1 by his performance. Kvyat had to settle for P8, Massa qualified disappointing P9 and Kvyat´s team-mate Ricciardo was left 10th.
I don´t know what happened to Kimi in the final session. In Q2 the Iceman had still been ahead of his team-mate but at the end of Q3 Kimi was a second slower than his team-mate Sebastian! Kimi has been struggling with grip all weekend and the upgrades haven´t turned out to be a clear advantage in terms of the car´s performance. P7 is definitely a difficult place to start to the race today as Circuit de Catalunya isn´t known for lots of chances for overtaking. But Ferrari have strong race pace, that´s for sure. Williams have been struggling with tyre management so in that sense Ferrari have an advantage over Williams. And in spite of the glorious single-lap pace I don´t expect Toro Rosso to be that strong in the race. Kimi just have to take a phenomenal start and make his way past the Toro Rossos and Bottas on the opening lap! Which of course is more easily said than done!
I´m afraid Mercedes are so quick that they will disappear in the horizon in no time unless they face some technical issues. Ferrari have an advantage over Mercedes in terms of tyre degradation but it won´t help if the Mercedes are a second per lap quicker than the Ferraris... But I´m definitely looking forward to a thrilling fight! I have a hunch that Rosberg will win today.
P.S. Right before the start of the race I heard Kimi had had problems with one of the tyre heating blankets in the qualifying. The issue had ruined Kimi´s set of new option tyres, which meant that Kimi had to make his last attempt in Q3 on a used set of medium tyres! No wonder the Finn ended up in P7! What a shame! And not Kimi´s fault in any way! So gutted for Kimi!
sunnuntai 19. huhtikuuta 2015
Bahrain GP: Hamilton took win in a thrilling race!
The setting sun looked breathtaking when the cars were ready for the warm-up lap. Unfortunately Jenson Button was unable to start to the race due to severe technical issues in his MP4-30. Felipe Massa´s Williams was also hit with electrical problems and the Brazilian was unable to start to the warm-up lap. Williams managed to solve the issue and Massa started to the race from the pit lane.
The start in the darkening night of Bahrain was absolutely thrilling. Hamilton maintained his lead and Sebastian followed the Briton closely. Kimi at the wheel of his Prancing Horse took an impressive start and going to the turn 1 he made his way past Rosberg, who dropped down to P4. Everything looked promising for Ferrari. Soon it became obvious that Rosberg was dangerously fast behind Kimi. On lap 4 Nico was within DRS distance from Kimi and managed to squeeze past the Iceman. The other Finn Valtteri Bottas was driving in P5 only a couple seconds behind Kimi. Only a few laps later Rosberg had closed the gap to Sebastian and was right at the German´s tail. Sebastian made a mistake and went wide but managed barely to maintain his second place. At Sakhir we saw very truculent Nico Rosberg: the German had clearly decided to attack in an aggressive way. And that´s definitely what Nico has to do if he aims to beat his invincible team-mate Hamilton in the near future!
On lap 9 sparks were flying and my heart jumped into my mouth when Nico made his aggressive overtaking move and passed Sebastian in his Ferrari after a fair fight. Sebastian was the first top driver to pit for a fresh set of soft tyres on lap 14. Mercedes had to react as well and Nico pitted on the following lap. However, Sebastian benefitted from the undercut and moved ahead of Rosberg. Hamilton pitted on lap 16 and rejoined the track right ahead of Vettel and Rosberg. At the same time Rosberg made another aggressive overtaking move on Sebastian and took P3 (Kimi hadn´t pitted yet and was driving in the lead).
Kimi pitted not until on lap 18 and the Iceman´s strategy differed from that of his rivals´. After the pit stop Kimi headed back to the track on the harder compound of Pirelli tyres. I was a bit suspicious about Kimi´s lap times: could the Iceman set lap times competitive enough to still fight for a podium finish? Kimi answered me very shortly: he set absolutely stunning lap times and was even a second per lap faster than the top three drivers!
Again Sebastian was the first top driver to make his second pit stop. Prime tyres for him for the last stint. Hamilton pitted from the lead a lap later with similar strategy. Also Rosberg made his last pit stop but for the second time Sebastian managed to jump him during the pit stops! I felt so delighted that Sebastian had once again got ahead of Rosberg but my delight was sooo premature... Only a short moment later Sebastian made another mistake and went slightly off track so it was an easy task for Nico to move ahead of the German Ferrari driver. There were more setbacks to come: Sebastian told the team that there was something wrong with his front wing and he had to pit for a nose change. Sebastian rejoined the track right behind the Finnish Williams pilot Bottas in P5.
Kimi was still driving in the lead but the Finn didn´t have a problem-free race, either as the Iceman reported that he was having problems with the radio. Kimi pitted not until on lap 41 for a fresh set of soft tyres. I knew we were about to see Kimi on fire after that: the Iceman was going to storm towards Rosberg! And Kimi´s performance on the fresh tyres was breathtaking: he was 2-3 seconds faster per lap than Rosberg. It was exactly the Kimi I have missed! I had absolutely no doubt that he was inevitably going to catch up Rosberg.
I thought Sebastian would have had a strong chance to get past Bottas but I was wrong. Williams´s straight line speed was faster than that of Ferrari and Bottas drove very wisely not making any mistakes. Sebastian drove behind Bottas for the last 20 laps but it seemed that there was nothing the German could have done to overtake the stubborn Finn ;) Kimi on the other hand had caught up Rosberg when there were only 2 laps to go. Going into turn 1 Rosberg went wide and Kimi thanked for the opprtunity by passing Rosberg with style! A moment later we heard Rosberg complaining about a brake issue on the team radio. Though I´m convinced that Kimi would have managed to pass Nico even if there hadn´t been any brake issues!
Hamilton won the race under the fireworks and Kimi took stunning P2. Rosberg had to settle for P3 and Bottas managed to drive to the chequered flag in P4 right in front of Sebastian in his Ferrari. Ricciardo had a dramatic end to his race in P6: right after crossing the finish line the Australian was hit with an engine failure! Grosjean in his Lotus finished 7th, Perez in Force India 8th, Kvyat in his Red Bull 9th and Bottas´s team-mate Massa 10th. Toro Rosso´s performance was a huge disappointment: both cars were lacking pace really badly and both Sainz and Verstappen faced DNF due to technical failures.
It was enjoyable to watch Kimi on the podium today. Although the Iceman wasn´t entirely happy with his performance as he had to settle for P2 instead of the win. But it was such a pleasure to see the fighting Kimi back on track! It´s obvious that Kimi and Sebastian make a fantastic line-up and the atmosphere in the team is awesome. I´m absolutely convinced that Maurizio Arrivabene is the perfect Team Principal for Ferrari. What a charismatic leader with an awesome attitude and philosophy! I was slightly disappointed that Sebastian made those mistakes, which cost him the podium place but mistakes are part of motor racing and I´m sure the German will bounce back stronger when the F1 circus moves to Europe in three weeks!
Hamilton has a convincing 27-point lead in the drivers´ standings with his team-mate Rosberg second. Sebastian in P3 is only 1 point behind Rosberg and Kimi made his way up to P4 in the standings. Kimi is now 23 down on his team-mate. There are 52 points separating Mercedes and Ferrari in the constructors´ standings in favor of Mercedes. This is a good sign in terms of the upcoming races: Mercedes aren´t as dominant as they were last season! All teams bring major updates to Barcelona so it´ll be very interesting to see, which team will make the biggest step forward. These three weeks can´t go fast enough... Roll on Barcelona!
The start in the darkening night of Bahrain was absolutely thrilling. Hamilton maintained his lead and Sebastian followed the Briton closely. Kimi at the wheel of his Prancing Horse took an impressive start and going to the turn 1 he made his way past Rosberg, who dropped down to P4. Everything looked promising for Ferrari. Soon it became obvious that Rosberg was dangerously fast behind Kimi. On lap 4 Nico was within DRS distance from Kimi and managed to squeeze past the Iceman. The other Finn Valtteri Bottas was driving in P5 only a couple seconds behind Kimi. Only a few laps later Rosberg had closed the gap to Sebastian and was right at the German´s tail. Sebastian made a mistake and went wide but managed barely to maintain his second place. At Sakhir we saw very truculent Nico Rosberg: the German had clearly decided to attack in an aggressive way. And that´s definitely what Nico has to do if he aims to beat his invincible team-mate Hamilton in the near future!
On lap 9 sparks were flying and my heart jumped into my mouth when Nico made his aggressive overtaking move and passed Sebastian in his Ferrari after a fair fight. Sebastian was the first top driver to pit for a fresh set of soft tyres on lap 14. Mercedes had to react as well and Nico pitted on the following lap. However, Sebastian benefitted from the undercut and moved ahead of Rosberg. Hamilton pitted on lap 16 and rejoined the track right ahead of Vettel and Rosberg. At the same time Rosberg made another aggressive overtaking move on Sebastian and took P3 (Kimi hadn´t pitted yet and was driving in the lead).
Kimi pitted not until on lap 18 and the Iceman´s strategy differed from that of his rivals´. After the pit stop Kimi headed back to the track on the harder compound of Pirelli tyres. I was a bit suspicious about Kimi´s lap times: could the Iceman set lap times competitive enough to still fight for a podium finish? Kimi answered me very shortly: he set absolutely stunning lap times and was even a second per lap faster than the top three drivers!
Again Sebastian was the first top driver to make his second pit stop. Prime tyres for him for the last stint. Hamilton pitted from the lead a lap later with similar strategy. Also Rosberg made his last pit stop but for the second time Sebastian managed to jump him during the pit stops! I felt so delighted that Sebastian had once again got ahead of Rosberg but my delight was sooo premature... Only a short moment later Sebastian made another mistake and went slightly off track so it was an easy task for Nico to move ahead of the German Ferrari driver. There were more setbacks to come: Sebastian told the team that there was something wrong with his front wing and he had to pit for a nose change. Sebastian rejoined the track right behind the Finnish Williams pilot Bottas in P5.
Kimi was still driving in the lead but the Finn didn´t have a problem-free race, either as the Iceman reported that he was having problems with the radio. Kimi pitted not until on lap 41 for a fresh set of soft tyres. I knew we were about to see Kimi on fire after that: the Iceman was going to storm towards Rosberg! And Kimi´s performance on the fresh tyres was breathtaking: he was 2-3 seconds faster per lap than Rosberg. It was exactly the Kimi I have missed! I had absolutely no doubt that he was inevitably going to catch up Rosberg.
I thought Sebastian would have had a strong chance to get past Bottas but I was wrong. Williams´s straight line speed was faster than that of Ferrari and Bottas drove very wisely not making any mistakes. Sebastian drove behind Bottas for the last 20 laps but it seemed that there was nothing the German could have done to overtake the stubborn Finn ;) Kimi on the other hand had caught up Rosberg when there were only 2 laps to go. Going into turn 1 Rosberg went wide and Kimi thanked for the opprtunity by passing Rosberg with style! A moment later we heard Rosberg complaining about a brake issue on the team radio. Though I´m convinced that Kimi would have managed to pass Nico even if there hadn´t been any brake issues!
Hamilton won the race under the fireworks and Kimi took stunning P2. Rosberg had to settle for P3 and Bottas managed to drive to the chequered flag in P4 right in front of Sebastian in his Ferrari. Ricciardo had a dramatic end to his race in P6: right after crossing the finish line the Australian was hit with an engine failure! Grosjean in his Lotus finished 7th, Perez in Force India 8th, Kvyat in his Red Bull 9th and Bottas´s team-mate Massa 10th. Toro Rosso´s performance was a huge disappointment: both cars were lacking pace really badly and both Sainz and Verstappen faced DNF due to technical failures.
It was enjoyable to watch Kimi on the podium today. Although the Iceman wasn´t entirely happy with his performance as he had to settle for P2 instead of the win. But it was such a pleasure to see the fighting Kimi back on track! It´s obvious that Kimi and Sebastian make a fantastic line-up and the atmosphere in the team is awesome. I´m absolutely convinced that Maurizio Arrivabene is the perfect Team Principal for Ferrari. What a charismatic leader with an awesome attitude and philosophy! I was slightly disappointed that Sebastian made those mistakes, which cost him the podium place but mistakes are part of motor racing and I´m sure the German will bounce back stronger when the F1 circus moves to Europe in three weeks!
Hamilton has a convincing 27-point lead in the drivers´ standings with his team-mate Rosberg second. Sebastian in P3 is only 1 point behind Rosberg and Kimi made his way up to P4 in the standings. Kimi is now 23 down on his team-mate. There are 52 points separating Mercedes and Ferrari in the constructors´ standings in favor of Mercedes. This is a good sign in terms of the upcoming races: Mercedes aren´t as dominant as they were last season! All teams bring major updates to Barcelona so it´ll be very interesting to see, which team will make the biggest step forward. These three weeks can´t go fast enough... Roll on Barcelona!
lauantai 18. huhtikuuta 2015
Bahrain GP / Qualifying: Sebastian splits the Mercedes!
Me and my family had been invited to a relative´s birthday party today but luckily I managed to get home right in time for the qualifying. The night was already darkening at Sakhir. I love these night races! The artificial lights make the F1 cars look even more magical than in daylight. The setting at Sakhir is so perfect: I love that little pond next to the circuit with those alight palm trees! I wish I could experience all that live some day!
Q1 was business as usual: almost all teams made their first runs on the harder compound of Pirelli tyres. Alonso in his McLaren set his fastest lap time on the soft tyres and managed to make it as high as P9! That showed McLaren had clearly managed to take a step forward. Although Alonso´s team-mate Button had a disastrous qualifying: his MP4-30 quit even before the Briton had set a lap time. Sebastian at the wheel of his SF15T came out not until there were only 6 minutes left in the clock. The German made his first and only run on the soft tyres but Sebastian seemed to be a bit lost with his rhythm. Kimi had made his first attempt on the harder tyres but the Iceman had locked up his tyres which caused flat spots on his front tyres. On his second attempt the Finn made his way up to P5. In the first session the Williams drivers looked dangerously competitive: Bottas split the Mercedes duo, Hamilton being the faster one of the Mercedes team-mates. Maldonado in his E23 suffered from an engine issue and the Venezuelan was the first one to miss out on Q2. Kvyat was out of the second session as well, which was a huge disappointment for the Russian Red Bull driver.
In Q2 Hamilton showed that once again it was hammer time: the Briton nailed a magical lap time, which made him 1,2 seconds faster than his team-mate Rosberg! To be honest, I was a bit worried about Rosberg. He has been so tame this season! He seems to be somehow lost in the battle against Hamilton. This time it was Kimi splitting the Mercedes duo! Ferrari´s pace looked very convincing, especially because Kimi had set his fastest lap time on the used set of soft tyres. Grosjean in his Lotus made a great impression as well being 7th fastest of the second phase. What caught me by disappointment was to see Toro Rosso´s Verstappen being knocked out of Q3! The Dutchman had had brake issues during the free practices and in the qualifying he had some under/ oversteer issues but in the post-qualifying interview he didn´t want to use them as an excuse to not making it into Q3. His team-mate Sainz was 10th fastest and barely made his way into the final phase of the qualifying. Force India´s Perez, both Saubers and Alonso were also out of Q3.
When Q3 got underway the Ferraris were the very first to come out on track. After the first attempts Hamilton had a firm grip on the pole. Ricciardo in his Red Bull was second but the Australian was the only one, who had set his lap time on a fresh set of soft tyres. There was absolutely nobody who could challenge the British Mercedes driver for pole today. But what was absolutely delighting was the fact that Sebastian managed to split the Mercedes and make it P2! Kimi drove the best qualifying of the season and qualified in P4 being 3 tenths of a second slower than his team-mate Sebastian. The Iceman had already beaten his team-mate in Q2 but when the times really mattered, Sebastian managed to nail it. The Williams duo locked the third row Bottas being the faster one of the Williams team-mates. Ricciardo qualified 7th, Hulkenberg 8th, Sainz 9th and Grosjean 10th.
The starting positions for tomorrow´s race are absolutely pulsating: a Mercedes-Ferrari battle will feature large in tomorrow´s race. It´s so thrilling to see if Sebastian will be able to challenge Hamilton for the lead coming to the turn 1. Hopefully Kimi will take as electric a start as a week ago in China and will get past Rosberg on the opening lap! In hot conditions like Malaysia and now Bahrain Ferrari really seem to be flying! In Malaysia Ferrari had a clear advantage over Mercedes in terms of tyre degradation but I don´t know if the same implies in Bahrain. Ferrari´s race pace on the long runs has been even better than that of Mercedes so I´m sure Mercedes will face a clear threat from the red cars tomorrow. It would be such a fascinating thought to see Ferrari take a 1-2 under the bright lights of Sakhir. But I definitely want to see the Iceman on the podium!
Q1 was business as usual: almost all teams made their first runs on the harder compound of Pirelli tyres. Alonso in his McLaren set his fastest lap time on the soft tyres and managed to make it as high as P9! That showed McLaren had clearly managed to take a step forward. Although Alonso´s team-mate Button had a disastrous qualifying: his MP4-30 quit even before the Briton had set a lap time. Sebastian at the wheel of his SF15T came out not until there were only 6 minutes left in the clock. The German made his first and only run on the soft tyres but Sebastian seemed to be a bit lost with his rhythm. Kimi had made his first attempt on the harder tyres but the Iceman had locked up his tyres which caused flat spots on his front tyres. On his second attempt the Finn made his way up to P5. In the first session the Williams drivers looked dangerously competitive: Bottas split the Mercedes duo, Hamilton being the faster one of the Mercedes team-mates. Maldonado in his E23 suffered from an engine issue and the Venezuelan was the first one to miss out on Q2. Kvyat was out of the second session as well, which was a huge disappointment for the Russian Red Bull driver.
In Q2 Hamilton showed that once again it was hammer time: the Briton nailed a magical lap time, which made him 1,2 seconds faster than his team-mate Rosberg! To be honest, I was a bit worried about Rosberg. He has been so tame this season! He seems to be somehow lost in the battle against Hamilton. This time it was Kimi splitting the Mercedes duo! Ferrari´s pace looked very convincing, especially because Kimi had set his fastest lap time on the used set of soft tyres. Grosjean in his Lotus made a great impression as well being 7th fastest of the second phase. What caught me by disappointment was to see Toro Rosso´s Verstappen being knocked out of Q3! The Dutchman had had brake issues during the free practices and in the qualifying he had some under/ oversteer issues but in the post-qualifying interview he didn´t want to use them as an excuse to not making it into Q3. His team-mate Sainz was 10th fastest and barely made his way into the final phase of the qualifying. Force India´s Perez, both Saubers and Alonso were also out of Q3.
When Q3 got underway the Ferraris were the very first to come out on track. After the first attempts Hamilton had a firm grip on the pole. Ricciardo in his Red Bull was second but the Australian was the only one, who had set his lap time on a fresh set of soft tyres. There was absolutely nobody who could challenge the British Mercedes driver for pole today. But what was absolutely delighting was the fact that Sebastian managed to split the Mercedes and make it P2! Kimi drove the best qualifying of the season and qualified in P4 being 3 tenths of a second slower than his team-mate Sebastian. The Iceman had already beaten his team-mate in Q2 but when the times really mattered, Sebastian managed to nail it. The Williams duo locked the third row Bottas being the faster one of the Williams team-mates. Ricciardo qualified 7th, Hulkenberg 8th, Sainz 9th and Grosjean 10th.
The starting positions for tomorrow´s race are absolutely pulsating: a Mercedes-Ferrari battle will feature large in tomorrow´s race. It´s so thrilling to see if Sebastian will be able to challenge Hamilton for the lead coming to the turn 1. Hopefully Kimi will take as electric a start as a week ago in China and will get past Rosberg on the opening lap! In hot conditions like Malaysia and now Bahrain Ferrari really seem to be flying! In Malaysia Ferrari had a clear advantage over Mercedes in terms of tyre degradation but I don´t know if the same implies in Bahrain. Ferrari´s race pace on the long runs has been even better than that of Mercedes so I´m sure Mercedes will face a clear threat from the red cars tomorrow. It would be such a fascinating thought to see Ferrari take a 1-2 under the bright lights of Sakhir. But I definitely want to see the Iceman on the podium!
tiistai 14. huhtikuuta 2015
Aki Hintsa: The anatomy of winning by Oskari Saari
Aki Hintsa: The anatomy of winning was published in March 2015. It tells the story of the man behind Formula 1 champions and reveals the secret to success. Aki Hintsa is a Finnish pshysician specializing in preventive medicine. At the beginning of his career Hintsa worked as a missionary doctor in Ethiopia in the 1990s. He is best known for his work in F1 as a doctor and coach. Hintsa worked in the facades of F1 for 11 years before he quit his job after the 2013 season.
Hintsa´s practices have made drivers turn into champions. The book contains never-before-published information from the inner circle of F1 in a compelling and humorous way. For example there's a hilarious story of what happened when Dr Hintsa decided to challenge Kimi Räikkönen for a race on snow mobiles... It also contains Hintsa´s comprehensive model for personal success, which anyone can apply in his/her personal life. Hintsa has a holistic approach to human well-being and health. The journey towards success begins with three fundamental questions: Who are you? What do you want? Are you in control of your life? Hintsa´s practices have been the key factor behind the success of not only F1 drivers but also many top level business executives.
Nowadays Hintsa concentrates on running a unique clinic in Geneva with clients including prominent figures and top athletes. The aim of the clinic is to improve the client´s physical and non-physical performance and quality of life in a holistic, individually tailored manner. The author of the book is Oskari Saari, a journalist, producer and nonfiction author. He´s known throughout Finland (and worldwide) as the commentator on the Formula 1 races.
The book made a huge impression on me. The story was so compelling that it was difficult to let the book off my hands in the evening. Before reading the book I knew very little about Aki Hintsa although I´ve been a huge Formula 1 fan since 1994. Actually the only thing I knew was that Hintsa worked as McLaren team doctor. It was absolutely thrilling to read all those inside stories about the cooperation between Hintsa and such F1 champions as Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel. Though I´m a passionate Vettel fan, I had no idea that Hintsa has been such a key figure behind the German´s success. A couple of months ago it was breaking news that Sebastian had bought himself a summer cottage in Joutsa, Central Finland. Who else would have been the seller but Aki Hintsa himself!
Nor had I any idea that Sebastian´s former performance coach Tommi Pärmäkoski was part of Hintsa´s team as well! Tommi worked as Sebastian´s coach from 2009 to 2011 and this was the start to a legendary success story. During those years Sebastian won two world championships. I always had the intuition that Sebastian and Tommi were a perfect team and that Tommi had great expertise in terms of psychological performance. A flashback hit me when I read in the book about the Turkish GP in 2010. The Red Bull team-mates Vettel and Webber had had tight battles for victories already earlier that season but the Turkish GP was a turning point in terms of Vettel´s career. Webber was driving in the lead until Sebastian tried to overtake his team-mate and the situation lead into a collision and both Sebastian´s and Mark´s race was ruined. Sebastian´s gestures on the live TV coverage showed that the situation was out of control. I remember my own reactions after this very GP. I was very worried that this collision between the team-mates could ruin Sebastian´s hopes for winning the championship. I had a strong hunch that this episode would either make Sebastian a stronger racer if he was able to deal with the situation and keep his feet firmly on the ground. Or it would ruin the German´s hopes to fight for the championship that season. Luckily Sebastian managed to turn the difficulties into success and he won his very first world championship that year. I doubt what would have happened if Tommi hadn´t been there with his psychological skills! Hintsa´s model was all about helping the driver manage extreme stress due to the physical and mental demand of the races.
It seems to me that Aki Hintsa was one of the few people who understood that Kimi had to be given the personal space he needed. There was absolutely no way Kimi could have been forced to do things he hated: huge amount of PR work and being in the lime light all the time. Demanding these things from Kimi would have meant deteriorated performance from Kimi in the races. Luckily Hintsa managed to make McLaren Team Principal Ron Dennis convinced of this aspect. This is only one aspect which shows Hintsa´s exceptional psychological knowledge.
The book made me pore over my own life. Would I be able to answer questions like who I really am and am I in control of my own life? They sound like simple questions but they are more complex than they sound. So there´s a very deep aspect in this book as well. One of the best things is that an ordinary person like myself can learn and apply Hintsa´s model and aim for an improvement in the quality of my life.
So far the book hasn´t yet been translated into English but I´m sure it will be. Every passionate Formula 1 fan should definitely read it! For a fleeting moment reading the book makes you a part of the inner circle of F1. In addition to being a talented F1 commentator Oskari Saari has impressive skills as a writer. I hope there´re many more F1 related books to come in the future!
Hintsa´s practices have made drivers turn into champions. The book contains never-before-published information from the inner circle of F1 in a compelling and humorous way. For example there's a hilarious story of what happened when Dr Hintsa decided to challenge Kimi Räikkönen for a race on snow mobiles... It also contains Hintsa´s comprehensive model for personal success, which anyone can apply in his/her personal life. Hintsa has a holistic approach to human well-being and health. The journey towards success begins with three fundamental questions: Who are you? What do you want? Are you in control of your life? Hintsa´s practices have been the key factor behind the success of not only F1 drivers but also many top level business executives.
Nowadays Hintsa concentrates on running a unique clinic in Geneva with clients including prominent figures and top athletes. The aim of the clinic is to improve the client´s physical and non-physical performance and quality of life in a holistic, individually tailored manner. The author of the book is Oskari Saari, a journalist, producer and nonfiction author. He´s known throughout Finland (and worldwide) as the commentator on the Formula 1 races.
The book made a huge impression on me. The story was so compelling that it was difficult to let the book off my hands in the evening. Before reading the book I knew very little about Aki Hintsa although I´ve been a huge Formula 1 fan since 1994. Actually the only thing I knew was that Hintsa worked as McLaren team doctor. It was absolutely thrilling to read all those inside stories about the cooperation between Hintsa and such F1 champions as Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel. Though I´m a passionate Vettel fan, I had no idea that Hintsa has been such a key figure behind the German´s success. A couple of months ago it was breaking news that Sebastian had bought himself a summer cottage in Joutsa, Central Finland. Who else would have been the seller but Aki Hintsa himself!
Nor had I any idea that Sebastian´s former performance coach Tommi Pärmäkoski was part of Hintsa´s team as well! Tommi worked as Sebastian´s coach from 2009 to 2011 and this was the start to a legendary success story. During those years Sebastian won two world championships. I always had the intuition that Sebastian and Tommi were a perfect team and that Tommi had great expertise in terms of psychological performance. A flashback hit me when I read in the book about the Turkish GP in 2010. The Red Bull team-mates Vettel and Webber had had tight battles for victories already earlier that season but the Turkish GP was a turning point in terms of Vettel´s career. Webber was driving in the lead until Sebastian tried to overtake his team-mate and the situation lead into a collision and both Sebastian´s and Mark´s race was ruined. Sebastian´s gestures on the live TV coverage showed that the situation was out of control. I remember my own reactions after this very GP. I was very worried that this collision between the team-mates could ruin Sebastian´s hopes for winning the championship. I had a strong hunch that this episode would either make Sebastian a stronger racer if he was able to deal with the situation and keep his feet firmly on the ground. Or it would ruin the German´s hopes to fight for the championship that season. Luckily Sebastian managed to turn the difficulties into success and he won his very first world championship that year. I doubt what would have happened if Tommi hadn´t been there with his psychological skills! Hintsa´s model was all about helping the driver manage extreme stress due to the physical and mental demand of the races.
It seems to me that Aki Hintsa was one of the few people who understood that Kimi had to be given the personal space he needed. There was absolutely no way Kimi could have been forced to do things he hated: huge amount of PR work and being in the lime light all the time. Demanding these things from Kimi would have meant deteriorated performance from Kimi in the races. Luckily Hintsa managed to make McLaren Team Principal Ron Dennis convinced of this aspect. This is only one aspect which shows Hintsa´s exceptional psychological knowledge.
The book made me pore over my own life. Would I be able to answer questions like who I really am and am I in control of my own life? They sound like simple questions but they are more complex than they sound. So there´s a very deep aspect in this book as well. One of the best things is that an ordinary person like myself can learn and apply Hintsa´s model and aim for an improvement in the quality of my life.
So far the book hasn´t yet been translated into English but I´m sure it will be. Every passionate Formula 1 fan should definitely read it! For a fleeting moment reading the book makes you a part of the inner circle of F1. In addition to being a talented F1 commentator Oskari Saari has impressive skills as a writer. I hope there´re many more F1 related books to come in the future!
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