venerdì 30 novembre 2018

2018 POST-SEASONAL FIA F2 TESTING, DAY 2: ¡ARRIBA JUAN MANUEL!

Good evening! I'm here for a quick post about Louis' results in post-seasonal F2 testing with Carlin. In the morning he completed 38 laps, ending in 8th place with a time of 1:52.416. In the afternoon he had a little improvement: he put less laps under his belt, 26, but he closed his session with a time of 1:50.283.
The fastest driver was the Hispano-American rookie Juan Manuel Correa, to whom the title of this post is dedicated; tomorrow will be the last day of testing in Abu Dhabi.

giovedì 29 novembre 2018

2018 POST-SEASONAL FIA F2 TESTING, DAY 1: THE KNIGHT AND THE SAMURAI

Yes guys, my blogger duty for this season is not over yet. I had almost forgot that there is also post-seasonal F2 test... I will talk about them today, tomorrow and on Saturday.
Knight Louis will spend these days of testing with Carlin, pairing with Nobuharu Matsushita, who recently has been confirmed by the British team for 2019. #JapanPower As you know, I'm a big lover of Japan and its culture, I'd love to visit it, maybe on honeymoon, and I couldn't be happier to see my beloved Louis paired with a Japanese driver!
Our hero in the morning completed 23 laps with a time of 1:51.651, and in the afternoon he completed 27 laps with a time of 1:49.984: this was the best time of the day! For the first time in the GP2/F2 history, a female driver hit the track: the Colombian Tatiana Calderon, also known as "Tata", who is the Sauber reserve and test driver. 
I'll be back tomorrow! 

mercoledì 28 novembre 2018

2018 FORMULA ONE PIRELLI TESTING: LOUIS' BIG DAY

Good morning! Are you excited as much as me?
This is the most important day in Louis' life as a racing driver. In fact, he drove for the first time a F1 car, none other than for Haas, the team for which his tutor RoGro races!
At 6:39 AM (Italian time) Louis completed 6 laps with a time of 1:43.638... after 10 months since I opened my blog you must know my obsession for lap times! Fun fact: he was so much excited that he was not able to put on his racing suit. A mechanic had to help him, there is a pic on Twitter.
After an hour of testing, his time was 1:41.197. At 8:00 AM, he had completed 29 laps with a time of 1:40.154 on the ultrasoft rubber. At 10:04 AM, before the lunch break, he was one of the drivers who completed most of the laps: 51.
11:00 AM: drivers came back to hit the track. Our hero was 7th with a time of 1:39.751. At 11:05 AM he had 60 laps under his belt. 14 minutes later, he improved his time to 1:39.069. #HitMeBabyOneMoreTime 
At 11:38 AM Lou switched to hypersoft tyres and completed some brief stints. At 12:14 AM his laps were 68.
At 1:14 PM Lou's laps were 74, and less than 40 minutes to the end they were 90, a number that here in Italy is associated to fear! At 2:29 PM he completed the 100th lap.
This also was a remarkable day for the Lord and Master of the Universe, aka Prince Charles Leclerc, as he made his official debut with the Prancing Horse, for Pierre Gasoline, who made his debut for RedBull in which he will take Dani-Smile's place, for Bobby the Cube, which comes back to F1 after 8 years, for Sir George, who celebrated his FIA F2 title driving for Williams, for Carlitos, which had so much fun driving McLaren as his childhood hero Fernando did... Unfortunately my Italian goodfella Antonio Giovinazzi, the Prince of Martina Franca, stopped on track, causing a red flag.
I enjoyed so much these tests! Now the season is officially done and dusted. Stay tuned on my blog for some extra surprises!

domenica 25 novembre 2018

ROUND #12, UAE, SPRINT RACE: FINAL MASQUERADE

"The light on the horizon

Was brighter yesterday
Shadows floating over
Skies begin to fade
You said it was forever
But then it slipped away
Standing at the end of
The Final Masquerade"
(Linkin Park, "Final Masquerade")
Good Sunday morning! This is the very last race of the season. The word "last" always carries with her a veil of melanchony, no matters what's the topic we're talking about.
We started with an aborted start as Prince Sean didn't stop correctly in his box and Handsome Sergio's car stalled.
Antonio the Squire overtook Roby Merhi, as a proud Italian it made me happy! Knight Louis began the race as 3rd, then he slipped back to 5th and 6th.
Artëm the Russian Cossack fought hard in order to pass Louis, but he failed. Our little big hero ended 6th with a time of 2:01.070. Not a bad way to end the season, but I admit it, I would have prefered him on the podium.
And the winner is... ANTONIOOOOO! In Italy we are all happy for his win!
I'm satisfied about this season, it was not perfect but Louis showed a great potential. He climbed the podium twice and had great battles. I'll be back to my blog on Wednesday to review Louis' test with Haas. He'll be with Pietro Fittipaldi, who was his teammate back in 2016.

sabato 24 novembre 2018

ROUND #12, UAE, FEATURE RACE: ALL HAIL SIR GEORGE!

Good Saturday afternoon! Welcome to the first Abu Dhabi race! 
The race started with a series of cars stalling on the starting grid, in particular Nicholas' DAMS, which was hit by Arjun, Raj's lookalike; luckily they emerged both unscathered. The Safety Car entered the track.
Alex the Thai Massager saw his title hopes vanish... I'm sorry for you, Alex, but at least I will see you in Formula E! And something epic happened: Sir George's brother-in-law took the lead of the race. 
Louis was constantly 4th in the first part of the race, then he slipped back to 11th and climbed from 8th to 6th, where he ended the race with a time of 1:58.653. Tomorrow he'll start 3rd!
But the party is all for Sir George, who won the race and above all became the 2018 champion! Good job, Sir George! Next year we will see him racing for Williams by Robert Kubica's side. 
See you tomorrow for the final act of this exciting championship, the first one covered by my blog, the first one of a long series!

venerdì 23 novembre 2018

ROUND #12, UAE, QUALIFICATIONS: LUCKY LOU

Good evening! Finally I'm at home after an adventurous journey on the train from Bergamo to Lecco. As I promised you, here I am with a review of qualifications.
The pole position belongs to the Champion-to-be, Sir George, who shares the first row with his brother-in-law, Quick Nyck aka The Flying Dutch. 
Knight Louis is going to start from 6th position; he likes this track and he wants to do a good job in the land of his main sponsor, ADSS. Before I forget, I write his time: 1:50.038. Before him there is the Almond-Shaped-Eyed Prince Charming Jack, who for sure has a very big smile on his face.
See you tomorrow for the Feature Race! 

ROUND #12, UAE, FREE PRACTICE: MAY THE FINAL ACT START!

Salam from Abu Dhabi! Well... I wish I was in Abu Dhabi! Now I'm in Bergamo at university and from the window I can see a cloudy sky. And outside it's freezing! By the way, it's the first time I write an article from my smartphone.
Our hero Louis started in 4th position, while Antonio the squire was 1st.
While the session was going on, Louis started to lose positions. And after 15 minutes Antonio lost his leading position in advantage of Sir George.
After 20 minutes of session Louis climbed back to 9th position and then to 7th, where he remained until the end. And as tradition wants, here you have his time: 1:52.518!
I have to underline that this weekend Dan Ticktum makes his F2 debut with Arden.
See you this evening for the Qualifications!

mercoledì 21 novembre 2018

LOUIS & HAAS: IS THE MARRIAGE POSSIBLE?

Is Louis getting married soon? No, girls, don't worry...
According to what Louis declared to Autosport, the young Swiss driver is seriously considering Haas as the team be would choose for a future arrival in F1.
Our hero thinks that Haas, who is one of the best teams apart from the top ones, noticed his potential and likes him as a driver. Currently Louis has 42 points on his Super Licence.
We hope to see him in Formula One so he can show all his talent! 

giovedì 8 novembre 2018

MY INTERVIEW FOR WHEELS&HEELS


Anna Mangione interviewed me about my blog for her project "Wheels&Heels" dedicated to women and girls who do something for motorsport. Here you have the English version of this interview... Enjoy!



Hello Vittoria, if we're talking about motorsport in which is Vittoria Silvestrini committed.

Hello. I manage a little amateur blog dedicated to Louis Delétraz, young Swiss racing driver, son of Jean-Denis, who raced in F1 with Larrousse and Pacific in 1994 and in 1995. On that blog first and foremost I write articles about his sporting commitments, but also about various activities who see him as a main charachter, such as commercials, charity events, TV appearances, trivia about him, fanfictions...



Tell us how your passion was born and when you developed the idea that you wanted to commit yourself in this world?

I've been into motorsport since my earliest childhood. My parents and maternal grandparents used to always follow the races and it was easy for me to get closer to races. I remember that my dad recorded on VHS the 2000 Malaysian Grand Prix and after dinner I always wanted to watch it, I remember exactly that I watched it more and more eating Danette on my old sofa. And talking about toys, I was addicted to model cars. Then from elementary school on I started to get into other cathegories and disciplines too, such as rallies or endurance and, from middle school on, lower formulæ too. Since 2012 I've been attending races at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, where I could meet many drivers and characters related to the motorsport world.



You are a girl who's fan of Louis Delétraz, tell us about how your blog was born and how you go on with this great support?

Before 2014 I didn't know who Louis was. Then in that year I went to Monza to see a race of him and I heard his name, but I don't know why I forgot about him as soon as possible. In 2017 he made his debut in Formula 2 with Racing Engineering, it all started from there... when he turned 20 I send my birthday wishes via e-mail and he replied me via Instagram direct. I've been in contact with him since then. Late in 2017 I started to plan about the blog, which became operative in January 2018. As I wrote before, I don't talk only about Louis as an athlete, but also of his more human side. In my articles I adopt a rather light and ironic tone, which is well appreciated by my readers!



What would you recommend to who, like you, wants to open a blog? Have you ever thought about making it a job for your future?

In my opinion a good fanblog mustn't limit itself to give aseptic informations which you can find on any "serious" site, but it must have a "personal" touch, the author's soul and his passion for the topic or the character about which the blog is must shine through. To tell the truth I'm not sure if I want to make it a job... I'm a Communication Sciences student, after I will have obtained my bachelor's degree I'll can think about it!



Delétraz is a young motorsport star, now in Formula 2, how do you want to evolve the blog to make his following grow up?

I try to advertise my blog as much as possible, both with social networks and with the good old word of mouth: for example, when I go to the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, I always talk about it with the characters I meet. Louis really deserves to be more known, he is a driver with a great talent and above all a magnificent person. I'd like so much to see him in F1, maybe with Sauber, not only because he's Swiss, but also and above all because I've been a Sauber supporter since 2002!



Vittoria between yesterday and today... an already-conquered victory and a dream for the future

I believe that my name is really appropriated for this situation... unfortunately in my early teenage I had so many problems due to my passion, some of my classmates thought it was not a feminine thing... later I had refuses from boys too. But now I jumped behind all this and I follow my heart without caring about other people's judgements.



What do you think about the current role of women in motorsport?

Until ten years ago you didn't see so much of them, but now I notice with pleasure that their number is increasing. In my opinion it's good that there is a place for them too, but often, and I'm sorry to say that, they talk about them only to underline the fact they're women, maybe underling they're good looking too.



Finally write a quote which represents yourself

"Be yourself, no matter what they say"

SEAT FITTING: DONE!

Great news from Brazil: Louis made his seat at Haas F1 Team, as I saw on his Instagram profile. The Swiss driver arrived to São Paulo yesterday in order to familiarize with his new team. 
I hope he will get well with Haas... luckily he has his close friend Romain who looks after him and helps him! I don't know what he would do without RoGro...

giovedì 1 novembre 2018

LOUIS IN ABU DHABI PIRELLI POST-RACE TESTS WITH HAAS

I couldn't be happier! My little sweet Swiss chocolate is going to face an important challenge in his racing career. Yes, he will make his Formula One debut... but not during an official race. Instead, he will take part in the Pirelli post-race tests in Abu Dhabi, late in November. 
I'm so proud of this talented driver and lovely guy. His main sponsors are from UAE, so it's not difficult to imagine the reasons of his debut in Yas Marina.
Allez Louis! Nous sommes tous avec toi! (Since this year at university I have a French exam, I think it's nice to put some French expressions in my articles)
Haas is also the team for which his mentor Romain Grosjean races. Little gossip: Romain no longer lives in Geneva, he now moved to California to be closer to his team.