Category Archives: Cars

F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Qualifying results

Another Mercedes 1-2 as Rosberg grabs second Pole in a row without drama, Vettel back on form to take 3rd on the grid in Canada

After the contentious qualifying session in Monaco two weeks ago where Lewis Hamilton openly speculated that his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg caused a deliberate yellow flag to thwart his final fast lap, Rosberg responded by grabbing a straightforward Pole position in Montreal at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, besting his teammate by less than a tenth of a second. Once again the two factory Silver Arrows were untouchable with Hamilton’s 2nd position over half a second quicker that the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel, who wrung the most out of his underpowered chassis to take 3rd on a course that demands speed in the long straights. After showing signs of coming out of his season-long funk in the last couple of races it seems the German 4-time World Champion is primed to at least hold off his junior teammate Daniel Ricciardo for Best of the Rest honors come Sunday. But barring mechanical issues, Team Mercedes look to continue running away with the Championship points with the only real drama seemingly to be which of their two excellent pilots will come out on top from week to week.

Full Qualifying results below courtesy of Autosport.com:

Pos Driver                Team                 Time           Gap   
 1. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m14.874s         
 2. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes             1m14.953s  +0.079s 
 3. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m15.548s  +0.674s 
 4. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Mercedes    1m15.550s  +0.676s 
 5. Felipe Massa          Williams-Mercedes    1m15.578s  +0.704s 
 6. Daniel Ricciardo      Red Bull-Renault     1m15.589s  +0.715s 
 7. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m15.814s  +0.940s 
 8. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Renault   1m16.162s  +1.288s 
 9. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m16.182s  +1.308s 
10. Kimi Raikkonen        Ferrari              1m16.214s  +1.340s 
Q2 cut-off time: 1m16.255s                                   Gap **
11. Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes 1m16.300s  +1.246s
12. Kevin Magnussen       McLaren-Mercedes     1m16.310s  +1.256s
13. Sergio Perez          Force India-Mercedes 1m16.472s  +1.418s
14. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m16.687s  +1.633s
15. Daniil Kvyat          Toro Rosso-Renault   1m16.713s  +1.659s
16. Adrian Sutil          Sauber-Ferrari       1m17.314s  +2.260s
Q1 cut-off time: 1m18.235s                                Gap *
17. Pastor Maldonado      Lotus-Renault        1m18.328s  +2.578s
18. Max Chilton           Marussia-Ferrari     1m18.348s  +2.598s
19. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Ferrari     1m18.359s  +2.609s
20. Kamui Kobayashi       Caterham-Renault     1m19.278s  +3.528s
21. Marcus Ericsson       Caterham-Renault     1m19.820s  +4.070s
22. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari       no time

Race day is tomorrow at 2pm Eastern on NBC here in the US.

RIP Sir Jack Brabham, 1926 – 2014

The Australian triple Formula 1 World Champion Sir Jack Brabham has passed away at the age of 88. Among his many accomplishments, Sir Jack was the first and only man to win the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships in a car of his own design (1966).

Photo from www.brianwatsonphoto.co.uk

From his son David, a fantastic racer in his own right:

On behalf of the family, Jack’s youngest son David said: “It’s a very sad day for all of us. My father passed away peacefully at home at the age of 88 this morning. He lived an incredible life, achieving more than anyone would ever dream of and he will continue to live on through the astounding legacy he leaves behind.

What more can one say? Sir Jack raced in the greatest era of Formula 1 against the best drivers, won 3 championships, left on his own terms and lived to become a beloved figure in his golden years. He may have departed this world but he goes on now to join his rivals and friends Jimmy Clark, Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt among others in that great paddock in the sky. What a legacy and we should all be as lucky to shuffle off this mortal coil as accomplished and fulfilled as this great man. He truly left nothing undone. Godspeed, Sir Jack.

Motorsport Books — The Cruel Sport by Robert Daley

The companion piece to Robert Daley’s seminal Cars at Speed, The Cruel Sport is ostensibly more of a coffee table picture book. With its oversized dimensions featuring beautiful black and white photos of Formula 1′s golden era taken while Daley was a correspondent for the New York Times in the late 1950s and into the 1960s, The Cruel Sport captures the romance and danger of Grand Prix motor racing during its mythic past. Shots of the greatest drivers of the era — Phil Hill, Jack Brabham, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Dan Gurney, Jackie Stewart, et al — doing what they do best make up the bulk of this great tome with the text secondary and spare.

Scene from 1964 GP of Holland (Photo by Robert Daly)

Scene from 1964 GP of Holland (Photo by Robert Daley)

The fantastic record of the state-of-the-art cars of this era — thin, gasoline-filled aluminum monocoques surrounding the driver like a casket with a giant engine newly moved to behind his back — pay tribute to the beauty of the Ferraris, Lotuses, BRMs and all the other land rockets of the pre-safety, pre-downforce era. Interspersed throughout are brief profiles of the drivers and circuits written in Daley’s inimitable wry, Hemingway-esque prose. Showing through, as in all his writing on motorsport, is the paradoxical ambivalence of at once being highly attracted to the derring-do of the men’s wondrous achievements as pilots and revulsion at the wonton waste of life inherent during this era of Formula 1, when the death of drivers and spectators was nearly guaranteed several times a season.

Death of Lorenzo Bandini, Monaco, 1967 (Photo by Robert Daley)

In fact, the footnotes to the photos in the closing “Photo Identification” section are practically another book unto themselves, with detailed ruminations about the deaths of Graham Hill by plane accident in the 1970s and Jim Clark at Hockenheim in a Formula 2 race in 1968, among many other anecdotes. And Daley’s quietly devastating recounting of the death of Lorenzo Bandini in a Ferrari at the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix and his journalistic need to photograph it (the horrifying shot of Bandini trapped beneath his burning Ferrari is the fitting endpaper of the book) makes for essential reading in and of itself as a shattering piece of self-reflective journalism, motorsports notwithstanding. In short, along with Cars at Speed, The Cruel Sport is a must have volume for any serious racing fan and anyone who cherishes the bittersweet history of Formula 1 and the men who lived & died it in its most glorious years, as told by its finest, most clear-eyed chronicler.

Check out more of Robert Daley’s life and work at his website, robertdaleyauthor.com.

Cars we want — Porsche 911 Carrera S

Conservatism in automobile design is a rare concept. A new Mercedes, Audi or Ferrari looks nothing like a model from 20 years ago. But look at a 2014 Porsche 911 Carrerra S and you can easily make out the iconic profile and styling that debuted way back in 1964. Of course, that is also a common knock on the 911 — as Jeremy Clarkson so famously cavils, a new 911 will always look pretty much the same as last year’s 911 and one has to be a Porsche-phile to notice any subtle changes. But whether one interprets this consistency as boring repetition or virtuous traditionalism, there is one thing about a Porsche that is certain: it will never be dull to drive.

The design that started it all -- the legendary 1964 911

The design that started it all — the legendary 1964 911

That truism is more than apparent in the 2014 Carrera S. With its beefed up but classic 3.8 liter flat six aluminum block engine it achieves 400 horsepower and 350 foot-pounds of torque for a seriously fast top speed of 188 mph. Those stats don’t change whether you opt for the 7-speed manual transmission or the dual-clutch automatic Doppelkupplung (DPK). The DPK will launch you slightly faster: 0-60 in 3.9 seconds with the optional Sport Plus package vs. 4.3 for the stick. And while the 2014 edition is slightly heavier than its predecessor at about 3100 pounds it is also sleeker looking and handles better. That infamous Porsche tail snap is long gone: even with the non-intrusive traction control turned off, you really have to work to get this 911 out of shape. The rear-engined icon is now so well balanced and the rear wheels and suspension so grippy that one no longer has to be strictly a “Porsche man” to enjoy the experience. And carbon-ceramic breaks allow for crisp and quick stops when necessary.

2014_porsche_911_coupe_carrera_s

Fuel economy is surprisingly decent for such a high performance ride — about 19mpg in the city and 27mpg on the highway. The Carrera S is also available in a highly attractive Cabriolet for a bit more money and a sublime open top experience. Which brings us to price. As always, the 911 is not cheap. The Carrera S has an MSRP of just under $100k and the Cabriolet version starts at around $111k. It goes without saying that those prices do not include any of the delicious options one can add, which can easily balloon the car into the $120k+ range. So obviously, it’s not speed on the cheap. That being said, for our money the Carrera S is the best bang for the buck in the 911 line. It has cleaner lines than the wide-hipped Carrera 4 and while it lacks the all wheel drive of that variation that can also be regarded as a virtue to the rear wheel drive purist. Of course the elite Turbo models jump into a whole different cost bracket at $150-200k. And frankly, if you’re not a track enthusiast or accomplished high speed driver, the Turbos’ 500+ horsepower is probably more than most are going to be comfortable trying to tame on an Interstate. Besides, for most mortals, the Carrera S has plenty of giidyup — just check out this Drive Network test drive:

The Carrera S finds the sweet spot between performance and price, classic 911 design and seductive modernity. Yes, it looks similar to its illustrious predecessors that have emerged from the Stuttgart factory over the past 5 decades. But for the true believer that is also a large part of its considerable charm. And when you put your foot down you’ll know what all the fuss is about.

Carrera S