F1Minute - Bitesize Formula One News

With the new elimination style qualifying underway, we saw the expected results of Manor and Haas dropping out early, but the surprise of Daniil Kvyat also failing to get out of Q1. The Red Bull driver was left in the garage rather than out on track defending his lap time which put him firmly in 18th place.

Everyone has been looking forward to the return of Formula One, building up to the brilliant moment where the cars hit the track for the very first time and… it was wet. Rain stopped play quite significantly on Friday in Melbourne, although nothing stopped Lewis Hamilton from topping FP1 and FP2.

The FIA have been trying to restrict what teams advise their drivers over the radio during races and sessions since the end of 2014, and ahead of the Australian Grand Prix this weekend, they’ve issued some new guidance on the subject. Race director Charlie Whiting sent a new directive to the teams instructing them on further radio restrictions.

Just one day before the cars hit the track for the brand new F1 season, Aston Martin revealed their own intentions towards the sport – forming a partnership with Red Bull Racing for the two to create their own hyper-car called the AM-RB 001. Essentially, Adrian Newey gets to put his design skills to the test yet again, but this time on a road car.

The Sauber team have confirmed that technical director Mark Smith has resigned from his position ahead of the first race in Melbourne which is now just days away. A statement from the team said: “He has already left the company,” and went on to wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

Ferrari led five of the eight days of pre-season testing in Barcelona, with Sebastian Vettel finishing the final day on top for the Scuderia. Although Mercedes were quite openly concentrating on durability over pace, it does seem as though Ferrari have picked up their performance at least a little.

Kimi Räikkönen has become the first driver to test out a potential cockpit protection device, with the Ferrari team running the so-called halo head protection in Barcelona. The device involves arches either side of the driver’s helmet meeting in a central column right in front of the driver’s face. After a very short installation run, Kimi returned to the garage to declare that the visibility, despite appearances, was okay. He said: “We’re a bit limited in the front but I don’t think it’s the final version. There was surprisingly little difference.”

The first week of Barcelona testing has come to a close, four days of teams trying out the new ultrasoft tyres, testing various wings and setups, and giving their new driver lineups a run. Mercedes were absolutely incredible, completing 675 laps over four days across two drivers.

The F1 Strategy Group met in Geneva this week to discuss potential changes to improving the Formula One show, and the F1 Commission have accepted a handful of the proposals. The biggest one is a change to the qualifying format, although it is broadly similar to what we have already. Rather than drivers participating in each session and waiting until the end to see who finishes where, it will become an ongoing elimination process instead.

It was a busy day for three teams who pulled the covers off their 2016 challengers in very different ways. Ferrari had an online launch to promote the SF16-H and it’s new livery - with yet more white creeping in to the iconic red paint scheme. Team boss Maurizio Arrivabene said: “I think this year we need to push a bit more. We’d like to fight until the end for the championship.”