Rookie Syndrome Plaguing McLaren?

McLaren Mercedes has not had the best of years so far. So far they’ve only seen the podium twice. Mclaren rookie, Kevin Magnussen and teammate, Jenson Button, scored second and third places finishes at the opening round of Formula One in Australia earlier this year. Other than that, both drivers have had some lackluster finishes in the 2014 season. Kevin’s second best finish was seventh place in Austria, while Jenson’s was a fourth place finish in Canada. 

Some people inside, and outside of McLaren have been quick to make Kevin Magnussen the scapegoat. McLaren Mercedes’ racing director, Eric Boullier, said that Kevin is currently dealing with “rookie syndrome”. According to Boullier, all of the feedback that the team is getting is truly helping the team along, but Jenson Button isn't so convinced. "Kevin is inexperienced, and although he is learning quickly, there is a still tenth or two [not] there from him not having as much information or experience as we should have."

Jenson is the most experienced F1 driver on the grid. Kevin is one of the least experienced F1 drivers on the grid. Of course, jenson has much more knowledge on racing, data, feedback, and media. While yes, kevin is new to all of this, he is no slouch.  

McLaren’s average grid start is ninth, Kevin’s average race finish is eight, and Jenson’s is ninth. They’re currently sitting in sixth in the Constructors Championship. Jenson is eighth in the Drivers Standings, and Kevin is tenth. For the most part, the driver’s results are fairly even. The team is not its usual championship winning self, but it could definitely be doing much worse. There are so many reasons as to why they aren’t currently contending for the Constructors or Drivers Championship. One reason could be the chassis and its aerodynamic capabilities. The other could be their Mercedes power units just can’t compete with those of Mercedes AMG or Sahara Force India. The new 2014 regulations have thrown most teams for a loop, and McLaren Mercedes seems to be one of those teams. Quite possibly it’s just small mistakes from both drivers that are costing them points. Only McLaren knows. 

So can Magunessen’s so-called “rookie syndrome” be to blame for McLaren’s poor season? I think not. You win as a team and you lose as a team. There are improvements that need to be made all around. You can’t throw the blame on one person’s shoulders.   

The 2014 Formula One World Championship is far from over, the next round takes place July 4-6, at Silverstone Circuit, in the United Kingdom. 

-Dallas Hollins

www.InsidePitRow.blogspot.com 

Find us on Twitter & Instagram: @InsidePitRow

Photo credit: Motorsport.com

The Trouble Brewing Between Red Bull Racing and Renault

      Trouble may be brewing between the Infiniti Red Bull racing team and its engine supplier, Renault. Reports are, Red Bull might send Renault a bill at the end of the season over financial damage from lost performance. We all know that the race team we’ve seen this year, and the race team we’ve seen for the past four season, don’t seem to be the same. Four time world champion, Sebastian Vettel, has failed to finish two races this season. His teammate, Daniel Ricciardo has scored one win and two other podium finishes for the team, but was disqualified in Australia and failed to finish in Malaysia. Many teams have struggled with the new 1.6-litre V6 turbo engine that was mandated for this season. With the exception of those carrying Mercedes power units, of course. 

Another speculation is that Red Bull is talking to Volkswagen about supplying the team with their engines for next year. Volkswagen is already in other racing series, so branching out to F1 might be a good idea for both Red Bull and Volkswagen. One thing we do know is that Infiniti Red Bull Racing is going to go over their data from the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix and previous races this season in order to figure out a plan for next season. Something needs to be fixed in order for them to get back to where they were last year and the years before, whether it’s on Red Bull’s end or Renault’s. The team has two very talented drivers in the cockpit of their cars, but a million things have to go right in order for there to be success amongst a team. Something just isn’t there. 

When asked about the financial woes and the rumors about Volkswagen, team advisor, Dr. Helmut Marko, said it all was simply “nonesense”. But is it? Sure, Red Bull won their first race of the season two weeks ago in Canada, but the team has had a lackluster season in 2014, compared to what we’ve seen from them the past four years. While sending a bill to Renault might be a tad extreme when you look at the two’s success with one another over the past four years. However, talking to another manufacturer about supplying engines for next season, is not. 

Maybe Daniel Ricciardo’s win and Sebastian Vettel’s third place in Canada are a change in the tide for Red Bull and Renault. After all it was the best result they’ve had all season. The team is in second place in the Constructor’s Championship, 119 points behind Mercedes AMG. There are twelve races left this season, meaning if both Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton somehow manage not finish the next handful of races, Infiniti Red Bull Racing has a big chance to streak away with the Constructor’s Championship at the end of the year. Sure, that’s a lot to ask for, but after watching the Canadian Grand Prix, we all learned that absolutely anything can happen. 

The next round in the 2014 Formula One World Championship takes place June 20-22, in Spielberg, Austria.  

-Dallas Hollins

www.InsidePitRow.blogspot.com

Find us on Twitter & Instagram: @InsidePitRow

Picture credit: Motorsport.com

Erica Enders-Stevens Wins Big in Tennessee

      Erica Enders-Stevens is on a roll, racking up points and winning Wallys left and right. Last weekend in Bristol, Tennessee, Erica won her third race this season, further extending her Pro Stock points lead to 908 in the NHRA Mello Yello Championship. She has more wins this year than any of the other ladies competing in the series. Enders-Stevens also collected her tenth victory of her career, making her the third woman to make it into double digit wins, right behind Shirley Muldowney and Angelle Sampey. 

The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series heads into its eleventh event June 19-22, in Epping, New Hampshire.  

-Dallas Hollins 

www. InsidePitRow.blogspot.com

Find us on Twitter & Instagram: @InsidePitRow

Canadian Grand Prix Review

You can scratch the Bahrain Grand Prix off the top of your list of most exciting races of the 2014 Formula One season. The Canadian Grand Prix has clearly surpassed the excitement that Bahrain provided us. Lewis Hamilton was out qualified by his teammate for the second race in a row. Yet once again, Mercedes started on the front row for the race. Points leader, Nico Rosberg, lead the field into the first corner. While Lewis Hamilton fell back into third, behind the four time World Champion, Sebastian Vettel. Marussia may experienced the highest of highs in Monaco, but in Canada, they experienced the lowest of lows when their drivers, Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi took each other out on the first lap. A few laps into the race, as expected, Lewis Hamilton passed Sebastian Vettel, then caught up with his teammate, Nico. 

Halfway through the race, both of Mercedes’ cars were experiencing mechanical issues. Both Lewis and Nico were losing around three seconds per lap, but they still maintained a decent gap on the rest of the field. On the forty-fifth lap, Lewis Hamilton lost his brakes. He overshot his teammate by cutting through a corner, he then gave the spot back to Nico before he broke it to his crew over the radio that his breaks had gone out as he pulled in to the pits and retired the car. 

      Nico stretched his lead out until the final ten laps. the Infiniti Red Bull machine of Daniel Ricciardo was gaining, but it looked as though Nico was going to hold on to the lead to win the race, while Daniel Ricciardo would finish in second and Sebastian Vettel would end up third. With two laps to go, Ricciardo drove past Nico Rosberg to take the lead. Sergio Perez took his Sahara Force India machine to the fourth spot until Felipe Massa took Perez and himself out in a high speed crash. Fortunately, neither were hurt badly. The race finished under caution with Daniel Ricciardo getting his maiden win, destroying Mercedes AMG's perfect season. Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, and Nico Hülkenberg round out the top five. 

Rosberg has a twenty-two point lead over his teammate and rival, Lewis Hamilton. The next race is in Spielberg, Austria, at the Red Bull Ring June 20th-22nd.

-Dallas Hollins

www.InsidePitRow.blogspot.com

Find us on Twitter & Instagram: @InsidePitRow

Photo Credit: Motorsport.com

Ronnie Renner Claims Gold Medal #6

  

  Ronnie Renner has won his 6th X Games Gold Medal in the Step Up competition. The thirty-six year old had absolutely no problem clearing the thirty-four foot high bar, so much so that he had feet to spare as he went over. Of course, it should be easy.  He made history in 2012 when he cleared the bar at forty-seven feet at X Games LA. Not only is this Ronnie's sixth gold medal, it's his eleventh overall in his twelve year X Games competition history. Bryce Hudson walked away with silver, while 2013 X Games Munich Step Up Gold Medalist, Libor Podmol took home the bronze. 

This is the second day of X Games Austin competition. Look for more Moto X competition Saturday, June 7th, on ABC at 11:00 A.M. PST, and ESPN at 5:00 P.M. PST.

-Dallas Hollins

www.InsidePitRow.blogspot.com

Find us on Twitter & Instagram: @InsidePitRow

The Rivalry: Lewis vs. Nico

There’s almost nothing worse than your own teammate being your biggest rival. He’s on the same equipment, technology, crew, and the team shares each of the driver’s data. Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton know all about what this is like. You could see the tension between the Mercedes drivers at the start of the 2014 F1 season. But according to former karting boss, Dino Chiesa, the feud has been there since they were teenagers. Chiesa claims that Rosberg was the one who worked the hardest because he didn’t have as much talent as Hamilton. “Rosberg has always worked harder and does all the dirty work, the set-up, working with the mechanics and engineers. Lewis has never worked as hard behind the scenes as Nico.” 

Rosberg hinted at a rivalry with his teammate during a pre-season interview with Telegraph Sport saying, “It will definitely be harder, yes. The more success we have the tougher it is.” So far this year, every Q3 has ended with the Mercedes drivers qualifying one-two. With the exception of the Australian Grand Prix, Lewis and Nico have managed to finish one-two in every race. Nico is a measly four points ahead of Lewis in the driver's standings. Hamilton has four wins, Nico has two. Keep in mind that there have only been six races so far this season. 

In Bahrain, Lewis made it clear about where he stood with Nico. “We are not friends. Nico and myself can count our friends on one hand. He doesn’t come in my five friends, I am not in the five friends he has. We are colleagues.” The race itself was very close, and Nico was not happy about finishing second to Lewis. During the Spanish Grand Prix, Lewis questioned his engineers about the strategy he was placed on in comparison to the one they gave Nico. 

Once in Monaco, Lewis told the press that he was hungrier than Nico because unlike his German teammate, he wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. During the final qualifying session on Saturday, Nico made a mistake on the last lap that caused a yellow flag, impeding Lewis’s lap, in which he had just set his fastest sector. Lewis was not pleased with Nico on Saturday, and he definitely wasn’t pleased when Rosberg got an early lead and kept it until the checkered flag dropped. There was no interaction between the two during the podium presentation. Mercedes non-executive chairman, Niki Lauda was very upset with the way the two drivers handled themselves at the Monaco Grand Prix, saying that he was to talk to both Nico and Lewis about their actions. 

Last week, Lewis posted a picture of he and Nico as teenagers with the caption: “We’ve been friends for a long time & as friends we have our ups & downs. Today we spoke & we’re cool, still friends #noproblem". They might still be friends, but the rivalry is very much there. With the intense battles on the track, and the not-so-friendly words spewed away from the track, these two are always in each other’s heads. The next race is the Canadian Grand Prix, this weekend May 6th-8th, in Montreal Canada.  

-Dallas Hollins 

www.InsidePitRow.blogspot.com

Find us on Twitter & Instagram: @InsidePitRow

Photo Credit: Motorsport.com, Instagram.com

Monaco Grand Prix Review / Canadian Grand Prix Preview

The 2014 Monaco Grand Prix was by far one of the best we've seen so far this year. The final qualifying session had quite a bit of drama. In Q3 with one lap to go, Nico Rosberg overshot a corner and drove his Mercedes-powered racecar into a runoff area, thus causing a yellow flag, and impeding the other drivers' final lap. It may or may not have been pure coincidence that Lewis Hamilton, Rosberg's teammate and biggest rival, had just set his fastest time in the first sector. Even after an investigation made by race control, Nico Rosberg maintained his pole position for Sunday's race. An off-pole Lewis remained tight-lipped during the post-qualifying press conference, but his body language spoke volumes. The 2008 Formula One World Champion was not pleased with his teammate's actions. Mercedes didn't have too much to be upset about because both of their cars started on row one for the sixth consecutive race this season. The race itself went as expected, Mercedes finished first and second. However, it was Nico Rosberg who graced the top step of the podium with Lewis in second, and Infinity Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo rounding out the top three. This is Nico's second win of the year, the first being the Australian Grand Prix, as well as his his second victory in Monaco. 

There wasn't too much excitement on the first few rows, but the drive of the day is a two-way tie between Marussia's Jules Bianchi, and Sahara Force India's Nico Hülkenberg. Jules had an absolutely fantastic drive from nineteenth to ninth, scoring the team's first ever points paying position in their eighty three race history. Nico Hülkenberg on the other hand, drove from eleventh to an impressive fifth-place finish, driving on super-soft tires for the last fifty one laps of the race. He scored a solid ten points which pushed him to fifth-place in the points, while Sahara Force India is fourth in the Constructor's standings. 

So what's to come this weekend at the Canadian Grand Prix? Lewis is a three-time winner of the Canadian Grand Prix, while points leader Nico Rosberg's highest finish at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is fifth. You can't count out either of Infinity Red Bull Racing's drivers, especially Sebastian Vettel, who won last year's Canadian GP. Sahara Force India, McLaren, and Williams will also be in the fight for points. We might just see Marussia take the fight to the top ten once again. There's one thing I know for certain, the Canadian Grand Prix will be a blast! It starts this weekend, June 6th-8th, in Montreal, Canada.

-Dallas Hollins 

www.InsidePitRow.blogspot.com 

Find us on Twitter & Instagram: @InsidePitRow

Photo Credit: Motorsport.com