{"id":3595,"date":"2017-04-13T17:42:12","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T17:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/f1vault.co.uk\/?p=3595"},"modified":"2017-04-13T17:42:12","modified_gmt":"2017-04-13T17:42:12","slug":"f1-today-13042017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/f1-today-13042017\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 Today – 13\/04\/2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

McLaren to wait a month for engine fix<\/strong><\/p>\n

McLaren may have to wait at least another month for a complete fix to the vibration issues which have plagued the team throughout testing and the first two races.<\/p>\n

Honda had an overhaul of their package for this season but admitted that they thought it would be \u201ctoo easy\u201d to catch up and have lacked power and reliability since testing.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest problems is excessive vibration on upshifts, which McLaren’s Fernando Alonso says is “hurting our confidence and driveability out of the corners”. Honda is working on an upgraded unit for Monaco or Canada, to fix the lack of performance.<\/p>\n

Honda boss Yusuke Hasegawa told Autosport \u201cI don’t think the drivers agree, but I think we have improved [on the vibrations] since the beginning of the season. We improved gradually but it is still not completely solved of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked by Autosport about the progress in curing the vibration issues, Hasegawa said \u201cWe cannot tell you an exact date but here or at any grand prix, if we have the chance, we would like to update our engines.\u201d Hasegawa added there was also changes made for China last weekend.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Button set to race <\/strong><\/p>\n

McLaren\u2019s Jenson Button is set to replace Fernando Alonso for the Monaco Grand Prix. Alonso will be missing the race as he has decided to race at the Indianapolis 500.<\/p>\n

McLaren executive director Zak Brown says two-time champion Alonso’s replacement is “not in place”. But there is no other serious option than Button, who is contracted to McLaren as a reserve driver and will race barring unexpected circumstances.<\/p>\n

The British driver has a contract with the team, which commits him to standing in if any race driver who was not able to take part in a grand prix this year. As part of that contract, the team also has an option on signing him to race in 2018.<\/p>\n

In Bahrain Brown told a press\u00a0conference, held to discuss Alonso’s Indy programme, that “conversations were ongoing” over the Spaniard’s replacement.<\/p>\n

Adding \u201cWe have a few different options, we will state who that is when we know. Eric [Boullier], who runs the F1 team, is ultimately responsible for making the recommendation as to what driver should go in the car and I think he will be here at the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hamilton hopes Button races<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton says he hopes that Jenson Button will replace Fernando Alonso for the Monaco Grand Prix. The Spaniard is missing the Monaco race to take part in the Indianapolis 500.<\/p>\n

Button has a contract with the team, which commits him to standing in if any race driver who was not able to take part in a grand prix this year. The 35-year old is the favourite and is the driver most likely to take up the seat.<\/p>\n

Hamilton told Motorsport.com \u201cI hope Jenson comes back, it would be great for the sport to have Jenson back. I still think he is one of the best drivers, his calibre is very high, and he is experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamilton says that he would never skip a race to race somewhere else but supports the decision and believes F1 drivers should take in other events where possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirstly, it is great that a driver is able to do it, we should be allowed to do more than one series. There was a time when drivers could do multiple series so it is pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn’t want to miss out any races in F1, you need to do all the races. I would like to do MotoGP, I’d love to ride a MotoGP bike \u2013 or a NASCAR race, like the Daytona 500.\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Hamilton says he will be watching to find out how Alonso handles the challenge of oval racing, saying it\u2019s a different style of racing. Saying \u201cThe set-up, the banking, how much you lift, how much you use the tyres \u2013 it’s definitely a lot to learn in a short space of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rowland joins Renault <\/strong><\/p>\n

Oliver Rowland has been announced as a development driver for Renault. The twenty-four-year-old graduated from the Renault academy and his development role will involve significant simulator time as well as track opportunities.<\/p>\n

This season the Yorkshireman will race in the Formula Two championship with Dams. He said \u201cI would love to be in F1 next year, that has to be the target. I will work as hard as I can to achieve that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am really pleased with today’s announcement, and it is another step in the right direction, but you have got to carry on the momentum.\u201d Last year Roland completed his debut season in GP2, now renamed F2, last year and led after five rounds before finishing ninth.<\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton and Jolyon Palmer, both of whom won Formula One’s feeder series, are Great Britain’s only representatives on the current F1 grid.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Too early to say 2017 is Hamilton v Vettel \u2013 Bottas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Valtteri Bottas insists that it is too early to say this season will all be about the battle be about \u00a0Lewis Hamilton versus Sebastian Vettel, as Mercedes’ new recruit aims to join the battle at the front.<\/p>\n

Bottas has had a mixed start to his first season at Mercedes, he finished third in Melbourne, but China was mixed with a race spin meaning he finished sixth.<\/p>\n

The Finn is currently third in the championship, twenty points behind Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, who are tied on points at the top of the championship.<\/p>\n

Despite widespread expectations that the battle for the title between two of the sport’s heavyweights if Mercedes and Ferrari remain level-pegging for performance, Bottas believes he is improving and will soon step up another level.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Sky Sports, Bottas said \u201cIt is way too early to say there are only two drivers for the championship. It’s a long season, so I wouldn’t say it’s just all going to be about Lewis and Sebastian. The season is long and things can change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bottas says the team can see his performance and that his pace is real. He also says he is keen to get the proper results as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

He added \u201cIf I keep doing what I’m doing, and that is progress every single day with the team, I feel will be at a very, very good level very soon. So I don’t feel any panic or rush to prove [that].\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wehrlein hits back to critics \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pascal Wehrlein has hit back at his critics following his withdrawal from the Australian and Chinese Grand Prix\u2019s. The German withdrew because of a back injury from January\u2019s Race of Champions.<\/p>\n

After Friday practice last weekend, he agreed\u00a0Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff that he would also miss China while getting back to full fitness.<\/p>\n

This prompted criticism from within the paddock, with suggestions that a driver should try to compete at all costs, and that driving the car would be the best way of keeping fit.<\/p>\n

Wehrlein today in Bahrain said, \u201cI don’t care too much what the others said, because they didn’t know my situation and they were commenting on my situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think for me it was the right decision, and it was felt together with Monisha and with Toto. What the others drivers think, it’s their opinion. If you don’t know which injury someone had, you shouldn’t criticise him. It’s quite simple, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

New information has emerged about the accident, with him saying he was unable to move for long periods. This meant he lost a lot of muscle.<\/p>\n

He added \u201cI’m feeling definitely a lot better, so no comparison to Melbourne. I’m now back to where I should be to drive the car properly, and it’s good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Williams has edge \u2013 Sainz<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toro Rosso\u2019s Carlos Sainz believes that Williams has engine modes from Mercedes which “no one understands” and is a key factor, in why Williams are leading the midfield pack at the moment.<\/p>\n

Despite Toro Rosso currently being fourth in the constructors, Sainz believes that Williams holds a slight edge from Mercedes engine modes.<\/p>\n

When asked about the gap between Williams and Toro Rosso, Sainz told Autosport \u201cIt is not a lot. I think in qualifying they have those three-tenths, but in the race, we cut it back because the engine mode of Mercedes in qualifying is something that still no one understands.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see from Lewis [Hamilton] the way they suddenly turn it up in Q3. They [Williams] obviously turn it up also. But I think in the race we can still play a bit with them even if they are a tiny bit faster.\u201d Sainz said.<\/p>\n

Williams so far this season have been the fourth fastest qualifier behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. Despite this the Spaniard expects the midfield battle to fluctuate all year. \u201cIt is going to change race by race, I am 100% sure. Especially because it looks like Force India here brings an upgrade.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says there properly have an upgrade for Barcelona.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trailer for McLaren film <\/strong><\/p>\n

The trailer has been released for a film about the McLaren founder Bruce McLaren. The film titled \u2018McLaren\u2019 will be released in cinemas and on DVD at the end of May.<\/p>\n

The film will tell the story of how a New Zealander built one of the most successful teams in Formula One and become one of the most renowned outfits in motorsport. The film debuted last month at the Australian Grand Prix to a select assembly from the media.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That\u2019s all from F1 Today this week and we will be bringing you full coverage of the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend, with commentary of every session @F1VaultLive on Twitter. F1 Today returns next week, with Notebook Friday evening. Preview\u00a0here<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

McLaren to wait a month for engine fix McLaren may have to wait at least another month for a complete fix to the vibration issues which have plagued the team throughout testing and the first two races. Honda had an overhaul of their package for this season but admitted that they thought it would be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[43,242,243,369,707,754,921,954,1031,1287,1289,1363,1364,1366,1461,1495,1656,1791,1843,2025,2031,2105,2149,2152,2188],"class_list":["post-3595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-analysis","tag-43","tag-bahrain-gp","tag-bahrain-grand-prix","tag-carlos-sainz-jr","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-formula-one","tag-honda","tag-indy-500","tag-jenson-button","tag-mclaren","tag-mclaren-honda","tag-monaco-gp","tag-monaco-grand-prix","tag-monisha-kaltenborn","tag-oliver-rowland","tag-pascal-wehrlein","tag-renault","tag-sebastian-vettel","tag-lewis-hamilton","tag-toro-rosso","tag-toto-wolff","tag-valtteri-bottas","tag-williams","tag-williams-mercedes","tag-yusuke-hasegawa"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3595\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}