Racing
September 3rd, 2010 at 04:55pm
Under Racing
No F1 race this weekend but I’m going to Brands Hatch on Sunday to watch the DTM and F3 Euroseries. Are you taking in any races this weekend? Are you going to Brands? Let us know in the comments.
Here’s today’s round-up:
Links
Good weekend, bad weekend (ITV)
My latest article for ITV’s F1 site.
Beginner’s Guide to CFD (Renault)
From the team who are arguably doing the best job with it – Renault.
Massa grid error prompts FIA probe (Autosport)
Seems Ferrari stand to avoid punishment here which is fair enough given that ultimately no advantage was gained. Bit strange that it got overlooked though. Kudos to antizyklon, who posted a video of it in the comments here on Monday before I saw it anywhere else.
Ferrari Virtual Academy 2010
Comment of the day
John H is not impressed with the FIA’s handling of Massa’s start:
Well, if we, the fans, had efficient ways of contacting the FIA, they would have known and could have done something about it before Sunday night.
Pretty amateurish.
John H
From the forum
GeeMac is looking for old F1 season review DVDs.
Site updates
There appear to have been no problems arising from the recent changes to the server and the site now seems to have better stability.
Happy birthday!
No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
The first ever world championship was won on this day 60 years ago by Giuseppe Farina driving an Alfa Romeo.
His victory in the final round at Monza confirmed him as the sport’s inaugural champion. He beat team mate Juan Manuel Fangio by three points. Fangio suffered a broken radiator in his car so took over the Alfa of Piero Taruffi – only for a valve to break in that one.
By Mikel
September 3rd, 2010 at 04:55pm
Under Racing
Vitantonio Liuzzi says he would have easily passed Jaime Alguersuari if the Toro Rosso driver hadn’t cut the chicane during the Belgian Grand Prix.
Alguersuari was given a 20-second time penalty by the stewards after the race, demoting him to 13th and promoting Liuzzi to tenth. Liuzzi said:
We could have easily passed him, but he did a mistake in the last corner two laps from the end, he just cut across. He gained around two seconds, and I would have easily passed him on the straight because our top speed is always strong. It was disappointing initially because we finished 11th, just outside the points, but we had to wait for the stewards to take a decision about Alguersuari’s move.
Vitantonio Liuzzi
The move was not shown during the live broadcast of the race.
He also said his front wing was damaged before his contact with Sebastian Vettel:
At the restart on the first lap I had a little contact ahead of me at Les Combes and a part of my nose was broken. So we suffered a lot with understeer and snap oversteer, because all the aero balance was affected. It was costing a lot of downforce, but not enough to stop for a new one.
[I pitted early] because of rear graining on the soft tyres. When I came in the team didn’t change the nose because they didn’t realise how bad the damage was, so I changed it only the second time, after the accident with Sebastian. When he ran over my front wing, it cost me a lot.
Vitantonio Liuzzi
He believes he would have finished closer to team mate Adrian Sutil, who was fifth, had it not been for the collision with Vettel:
It’s a shame, because without the accident with Sebastian Vettel, we could have finished in eighth position. This is what can happen in a crazy race, but I enjoyed it a lot.
Vitantonio Liuzzi
2010 Belgian Grand Prix
Browse all 2010 Belgian Grand Prix articles
By Mikel
September 3rd, 2010 at 04:55pm
Under Racing
When the sun sets on a year, be it calendar or fiscal, a team has to face the balance sheet and answer for its gains or losses. Such is the ultimate goal of an F1 team–to make money. Williams F1 is no different and while they haven’t seen the fizzy side of a podium finish [...]
By Mikel
September 3rd, 2010 at 04:55pm
Under Racing
A positive note coming from the Pirelli camp today about the success of their recent test of the new spec F1 tire. It seems the company, along with Quick Nick Heidfeld, have been doing additional testing this week according the presser: “Having run its Formula One PZero tyre for the first time in Italy last [...]
By Mikel
September 3rd, 2010 at 04:55pm
Under Racing
As enthusiastic as I am about the return of Formula 1 to the United States in 2012, I can’t help being a bit concerned about the race’s promise — and fate. F1 is an after-thought sport in America, and as many fans as the promoters of the USGP in Austin, Texas think will come from [...]
By Mikel
September 3rd, 2010 at 02:13pm
Under Racing
With the top seats at Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes already taken for 2011, the most coveted place left to fill on next year’s grid is the second Renault alongside Robert Kubica.
The team have been clear about their expectations for Vitaly Petrov, who had a mixed weekend in Spa with a points finish despite a crash in qualifying.
Has he done enough to keep his place in the team – or should Renault look elsewhere for a 2011 driver?
The disappearance of BMW and Toyota at the end of last season left some big-name drivers in small teams this year, including the likes of Jarno Trulli (Lotus) and Timo Glock (Virgin).
Unsurprisingly there have already been rumours one of these drivers might move to the increasingly competitive Renault next year as the team enjoy a resurgence in form.
Then there are the newer drivers who have come into the sport recently such as Kamui Kobayashi, Bruno Senna, Lucas di Grassi. Have any of these done enough to merit a drive with what could be a race-winning car next year?
And what of Kubica’s former BMW team mate Nick Heidfeld? His time spent tyre testing for Pirelli will surely make him an attractive pick for the team, along with his decade of F1 race experience.
It’s not easy being an F1 rookie these days as testing opportunities are so limited. Petrov’s best chance of keeping his seat is if he keeps bringing the car home in the points, potentially helping Renault beat Mercedes in the constructors’ championship.
Should they keep their faith in him for next year, or look elsewhere? Should they look beyond the pool of current F1 drivers? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.
Read more: 2011 F1 drivers and teams
Image (C) Renault/LAT
By Mikel
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:56pm
Under Racing
Pedro de la Rosa is not expecting his C29 to suit the high-speed configuration of Monza in next week’s Italian Grand Prix.
The Sauber driver said:
This track is a classic, it has a lot of personality and is different to any other we race on. This is what I like a lot about Monza, because with all the modern circuits nowadays it is exceptional to find one that is unique.
You also have to drive it differently to any other race track. Obviously the speeds are very high, you run low downforce, have very hard braking and need to cut the chicanes. This all together makes it very demanding, especially for the engines, brakes and suspension.
It is definitely not going to be an easy weekend for us, as it is not somewhere that should suit our car too well. But we have proven, for example in Budapest, that we can also do well at places which theoretically should be difficult for us.
Pedro de la Rosa
Team mate Kamui Kobayashi added he thinks Monza, “will be difficult for our car”. Technical director James Key explained the set-up demands of the circuit:
All the teams run the minimum drag levels, because the very long straights and few corners make it beneficial to run far less drag.
We will run an aero package on our car which is designed specifically for there. It consists of different rear wing options, as well as front wing versions to match them.
The important part of the set-up of the car will be to tune the downforce levels correctly to find a good compromise for some of the more tricky areas like the Lesmo corners, the Ascari chicane and the Parabolica, but at the same time also giving high braking stability, which has significant influence on the lap time.
Also important is the performance over the kerbs, particularly in the first two chicanes with probably the biggest kerbs of the year. You can find a good lap time there if the car is working well.
For us it’s difficult to pin expectations because it’s such a unique event. It’s possibly not a circuit best suited to our car, so we will work hard to make sure we can do the best possible job.
James Key
2010 Italian Grand Prix
Browse all 2010 Italian Grand Prix articles
By Mikel
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:13pm
Under Racing
Michael Schumacher is expecting a difficult race at Monza next weekend as he believes his W01 will not be well-suited to the track.
The next race in Monza might well be entertaining in a very different way as I expect it to be a real challenge for our team. We have seen already several times this year that circuits with characteristics like those of Monza do not really play in our hands.
Of course, we will go there prepared to try hard to achieve the maximum we can from our package and we will see to what extent we can achieve that and fight our way through.
On a personal level, I am very much looking forward to returning to Monza where I have been supported so warmly over so many years.
Michael Schumacher
Mercedes is believed to have the most powerful engine in F1, which should be a benefit at Monza where top speed is very important. But Mercedes haven’t been as quick in a straight line as customer teams McLaren and Force India have.
They have had a blown rear wing (a.k.a. F-duct) on their car for several races. But as the W01 does not have a shark fin the ducting for the wing is not as straight as it is on their rivals’ cars and therefore probably less efficient.
2010 Italian Grand Prix
Browse all 2010 Italian Grand Prix articles
By Mikel
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:02pm
Under Racing
Aerial photograph of the Korean F1 track
A photograph showing the state of progress of the track surface at Korea has emerged.
It’s not clear when the picture was taken but it’s possible to see some of the buildings that were in photographs released by the circuit earlier this week.
Those pictures showed little of the ground around the buildings which, as this pictures suggests, may be because it hasn’t been completed yet.
The asphalt around turns four, five and six is a paler colour to the rest, suggesting the surface-laying process had not been completed when this photograph was taken.
Korea is set to host its first Grand Prix on October 22nd-24th. Karun Chandhok is driving a demonstration lap of the circuit tomorrow.
The race promoters have been approached for comment on the image, and any responses will be added here.
Update: According to the data in the image, the picture was taken on August 30th, which was last Monday. Thanks to KerazyPete on Twitter for the tip.
Thanks to Prisoner Monkeys for the tip.
Read more: Korean track “90% complete” (Pictures)
By Mikel
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:55am
Under Racing
Jenson Button has denied he braked early for the Bus Stop chicane in the Belgian Grand Prix, causing Sebastian Vettel to crash.
Writing on his official website Button said:
No, absolutely not. Obviously, I’d lost the floor-plate of one of my front wing endplates and that was affecting the cars balance but I didn’t brake any earlier for the Bus Stop on the lap of the crash.
I’d had to crank more front wing in to help the handling, and that had made the back-end a bit more skittish, so I was just driving carefully. I knew I still had good straight-line speed, so I was concentrating on getting into the slower corners cleanly, so that I could maximise my traction at the exit and maintain the gap along the straights. But that’s just common sense when youre racing.
After the race, I actually checked the data with my race engineer, and it shows that I braked at exactly the same point on the lap before the collision. We even looked at the braking profile, and that also showed that, at the point of impact about 1.5s after I’d started applying the brakes I’d travelled exactly the same distance on both laps. So to suggest I’d braked earlier wouldn’t be accurate.
Jenson Button
Button called the crash “completely unnecessary” and admitted he is increasingly concerned about his championship situation:
My thoughts havent really changed, to be honest. At the time, I was pretty confused by what Sebastian did. Now, I still think what he did was completely unnecessary he didn’t need to pass me at that point, and I wasn’t making his life difficult, so his car shouldn’t have been on such a knife-edge when he hit me.
What’s most frustrating is that I’ve lost out on a good handful of championship points at a time when neither Sebastian or Fernando were able to score. I know there are 150 points still up for grabs, but it doesn’t help to now be 35 points behind Lewis.
On a more positive note, under the old points system, that would still only be about 15 points, so anything’s still possible. But at this point in the season, you’ve got to take every point you can and the incident in Spa certainly didn’t help.
Jenson Button
Button believes he would have finished on the podium despite his front wing problem had Vettel not taken him out:
I was in second place. Okay, you could say it wasn’t a comfortable second because I had the slight issue with the endplate, which was slowing me down, but you look at the results and two cars that were running behind me before I retired both finished on the podium. So I think its realistic to say that I could have been on the podium on Sunday.
And I knew I would have been strong in the closing laps of the race, too. We had a car that was working perfectly in the greasy conditions, and I think I would only have been stronger when the rain started to fall again. So it’s a missed opportunity.
Jenson Button
2010 Belgian Grand Prix
Browse all 2010 Belgian Grand Prix articles
By Mikel
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