Monday 1 June 2015

Canadian Grand Prix: The Wall of Champions


The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the Canadian Grand Prix is the "Wall of Champions". What makes the "Wall of Champions" so synonymous with the Canadian Grand Prix and why has it been called that?


It all started back in 1999 during the Canadian Grand Prix, a race which saw no less than four crashes at the final chicane on the high speed circuit. 

The final corner of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve became well known for crashes involving former World Champions including British hero Damon Hill, title contender Michael Schumacher and home favourite Jacques Villeneuve all become victims of the tricky right to left kink.  

The three drivers were out the race on the spot and the new name for the “Bienvenue au Quebec” [Welcome to Quebec] wall came into fruition: the "Wall of Champions". 

The wall became ironically known as the "Wall of Champions". The wall also was involved in a crash with Ricardo Zonta, who was, at the time, the reigning FIA GT sports car champion. In recent years, GP2 Champion Nico Rosberg and CART Champion Juan Pablo Montoya have also fallen victim to the wall. In 2011 Friday practice the wall claimed reigning F1 Champion Sebastian Vettel.

Before the wall was named it also claimed victims such as 1992 World Sportscar Champion and long time F1 driver Derek Warwick who spectacularly crashed his Arrows-Megatron during qualifying for the 1988 Canadian Grand Prix.


Full list of victims:
Alexander Wurz in 1997.
Damon Hill in 1999.
Michael Schumacher in 1999.
Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 and 1999.
Ricardo Zonta in 1999.
Nico Rosberg, 2005 GP2 Champion.
Nick Heidfeld in 2001.
Rubens Barrichello in 2002.
Jenson Button in 2005.
Tiago Monteiro in 2006.
Juan Pablo Montoya in 2006.
Vitantonio Liuzzi in 2007.
Kamui Kobayashi in 2010.
Sebastian Vettel in 2011.
Bruno Senna in 2012.
Pastor Maldonado in 2012.

Monday 25 May 2015

'Woooppps' - By Jake Davis



This fantastic weekly F1 Toon was designed and created by Jake Davis Creative. Prints are available in sizes A4, A3 and A2. Commissions are also available. If you would like to order a PRINT of this fantastic F1 Toon feel free to contact him via:
                                                                                                                     E-mail - davisjake@hotmail.co.uk
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Sunday 24 May 2015

Box, Box, Box - By Chris Rathbone


Weekly Formula 1 cartoons by Chris Rathbone... Get your hands on prints, mugs and t-shirts of your favourite drivers from the world of Motorsport.
Twitter - @R4THBONE 
Website - http://rathbonecreative.com 

Wednesday 13 May 2015

Jenson D.I.Y - Jake Davis



This fantastic weekly F1 Toon was designed and created by Jake Davis Creative. Prints are available in sizes A4, A3 and A2. Commissions are also available. If you would like to order a PRINT of this fantastic F1 Toon feel free to contact him via:
                                                                                                                     E-mail - davisjake@hotmail.co.uk
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Pirelli's analysis of the Barcelona In-season test

Photo Credit - Pirelli.
Every single slick compound of Pirelli’s 2015 range took to the track for the first in-season test of the year at Barcelona: the third test session in total to be held this year at Montmelo, following two pre-season tests there as well.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was fastest in the test, going quickest on the opening morning using the P Zero Yellow soft tyre. The teams used mostly the hard and medium compounds for the Barcelona test, although there was some runs on the supersoft as well: the tyre that will be seen in action for the first time this year at the Monaco Grand Prix in just over a week. Pirelli also brought some prototype tyres for the teams to test, with a view to developments for next season.

Four teams – Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and Toro Rosso – each devoted some time to tyre testing for Pirelli, even though this is no longer compulsory under the 2015 regulations. This allowed Pirelli to try out some evolutions for the future in a well-known environment, which is not otherwise possible during the course of the year with the current cars.

Conditions remained dry and warm throughout both days of the test, with similar conditions to those experienced for the race last weekend. This enabled valid comparisons to be made, with plenty of useful data obtained. Most teams also ran their development or reserve drivers for some of the time, giving them valuable experience of the latest Pirelli compounds.

Paul Hembery: “We tried out a number of different solutions for the future, thanks to the four teams that were testing for us. With all the teams now knowing their cars and this track very well, a considerable number of kilometres were run, which obviously helped our data acquisition. The track had also evolved somewhat compared to the race, which resulted in slightly quicker lap times. Even though there are no specific tyre test days this year, the prototype information we have gained will be useful when it comes to developing our 2016 tyre range for next year.”


Tyre sets brought to Barcelona test: 274 (including carry-over sets from previous tests)
(12 supersoft; 51 soft; 114 medium; 24 hard; 26 intermediate; 18 full wet; 29 prototype)

Tyre sets used during Barcelona test: 290 
(4 supersoft; 25 soft; 104 medium; 12 hard; 0 intermediate; 0 full wet, 6 prototype)

Monday 11 May 2015

'Emergency Stop' - By Chris Rathbone


Weekly Formula 1 cartoons by Chris Rathbone... Get your hands on prints, mugs and t-shirts of your favourite drivers from the world of Motorsport.
Twitter - @R4THBONE 
Website - http://rathbonecreative.com 

Tuesday 5 May 2015

Tweaked livery - By Chris Rathbone


Weekly Formula 1 cartoons by Chris Rathbone... Get your hands on prints, mugs and t-shirts of your favourite drivers from the world of Motorsport.
Twitter - @R4THBONE 
Website - http://rathbonecreative.com 

'FIGHT NIGHT' - BY JAKE DAVIS

This fantastic weekly F1 Toon was designed and created by Jake Davis Creative. Prints are available in sizes A4, A3 and A2. Commissions are also available. If you would like to order a PRINT of this fantastic F1 Toon feel free to contact him via:
                                                                                                                     E-mail - davisjake@hotmail.co.uk
                                                                                                                     Twitter - @JakeDDCreative