FIA invites new teams to apply for 2011 formula one season

March 20th, 2010 at 11:55pm Under Racing

The FIA which is the governing body for formula one has announced the last day to apply for the 2011 formula one season. The purpose of the announcement is to fill in any vacancy that might be created in the 2011 season.

The FIA will judge the new entrants on the following parameters :

1) the technical ability and resources of the team

2) the ability of the team to raise and maintain sufficient funding to allow participation

3) the team’s experience and human resources

4) the FIA’s assessment of the value that the candidate may bring to the championship as a whole.

Teams which were trying to enter this year but couldnt are also expected to apply via this scheme. The FIA will announce the list of accepted F1 teams later on in the 2010 formula one season.

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Schumacher voted most popular F1 driver

March 20th, 2010 at 11:55pm Under Racing

It may not surprise many people to learn that Michael Schumacher is the most popular driver in F1.

But his margin of victory shows just why his return to F1 this year is huge news. In last month’s FOTA/LG/F1 Racing survey he garnered more than twice as many votes as the next most popular driver, Fernando Alonso, with 19.5% to 9.7%.

In third place was a driver who isn’t even racing in F1 any more – Kimi Räikkönen.

Over 90,000 fans responded to the survey earlier this year. Of course what we really want to find out is what they had to say about F1 and how they responded to questions such as whether F1 races should be shortened. Expect those results soon.

Read more: FOTA launch F1 fan survey

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F101: F1 beginners guide~ Flags

March 20th, 2010 at 07:19pm Under Racing

So we’ve covered the important rules and regulations on F101, but there are a few other things that we haven’t spoken about. For a start there are many different flags that are used by the track-side marshals during a Grand Prix, so this week on F101, I’m going to give a quick low-down on each [...]

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Why F1 doesn’t need the 107% rule

March 20th, 2010 at 07:55am Under Racing

The 107% rule would make life even harder for teams like HRT

FIA President Jean Todt has hinted strongly that the 107% rule could be revived in the near future.

Neither HRT car would have qualified for last week’s Bahrain Grand Prix had the rule been in place (see below). But why bring back a rule which would only serve to make life even harder for the sport’s most vulnerable teams?

The 107% rule, which prevented any driver who failed to qualify within 107% of the pole sitter’s time from starting the race, was dropped at the end of 2002.

Since Bahrain it’s been suggested that having cars that are more than 7% slower than the quickest runners on-track at the same time isn’t safe.

This is clearly not the case. The slowest qualifier for last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours was 29% slower than the pole sitter.

The Circuit de la Sarthe is narrower than most F1 circuits and they race at night – so I’m not buying any claim that F1 drivers can’t cope with lapping cars that are 7% slower than them.

The 107% rule is a bad rule. It harms the sport and it harms small teams like HRT for which every minute of track running and every second of television exposure they can get is precious.

Throwing them out of a race weekend when they’ve already gone to the huge expense of flying to Bahrain or Malaysia only makes it even harder for them to compete in the future.

If the FIA really wants to stop cars that are too slow from competing then it should be done without forcing the teams to fly their cars halfway around the world first. They could hold a pre-season qualification test to make sure all the cars can lap within a certain time of each other – but with a cut-off closer to 29% than 7%.

A snobbish attitude to new teams which aren’t on the pace yet does F1 no favours. An important part of racing is having to share a track with other cars and finding ways to get around them. It’s an area where F1 is hardly excelling at the moment.

Having to deal with slower cars and lapped traffic is the down-side of being the race leader. In series like IndyCar, where backmarkers aren’t given the blue flag ordering them to get out of the leaders’ way, it helps keep the front runners within sight of each other, encouraging closer racing.

And isn’t that something we’d all like to see?

Bahrain Grand Prix Q1 with the 107% rule

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Read more: 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix – the complete F1 Fanatic review

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Big F1 rumor: USF1 and Stefan GP talking merger

March 20th, 2010 at 07:55am Under Racing

The two teams on the outside looking in on the 2010 Formula 1 season are reportedly talking about joining forces, a growing number of news outlets are reporting.
USF1 and Stefan GP seem to each have something key the other is missing. USF1 has an entry slot in F1 and Zoran Stefanovic, Stefan…

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Bonus Twitter Item of the Day: Chandhok burns midnight oil

March 20th, 2010 at 07:55am Under Racing

While I’ve ostensibly already posted a Twitter Item of the Day, I’m going to call that one a “Your View” officially in order to post another little Twitter item.
This one continues my theme of “That Karun Chandhok seems a decent, down-to-earth enough…

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Reports: Renault can update engine, Stefan can’t get a clue

March 20th, 2010 at 07:55am Under Racing

It’s a slow news day today, and what little is out there seems to have Autosport written all over it.
The site is reporting that the FIA has given Renault the OK to make some significant upgrades to its engines “for cost and reliability reasons.”
AUTOSPORT understands that the…

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FIA issues call for new team in 2011

March 20th, 2010 at 07:55am Under Racing

The FIA today laid out the welcome mat for a new team in 2011, officially releasing a “call for expressions of interest” from teams wanting to enter Formula 1 next year. The new team should be announced by July.
It also leaves open the possibility of identifying one or more…

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Twitter Item of the Day meets Your View: Fav F1 memory?

March 20th, 2010 at 07:55am Under Racing

A convergence of features today, in an effort to shake loose news from the F1 world. [It isn't just you, it is quiet.]
The Force India Twitter feed just sent this along:
clubforce
What is your favourite #F1 memory? 4 minutes ago via CoTweet
Why VJ, that’s a great question for our Your View…

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Jerome d’Ambrosio and Jan Charouz test Renault R29 at Silverstone (Pictures)

March 20th, 2010 at 03:34am Under Racing

Jan Charouz drove a 2010-liveried Renault R29 at Silverstone

Renault test drivers Jerome d’Ambrosio and Jan Charouz sampled the team’s 2009 F1 car in a shakedown test at Silverstone earlier this week.

It was the first time behind the wheel of an F1 car for both drivers.

Belgian d’Amborsio and Czech driver Charouz were each limited to a maximum of 50km of running under the testing restrictions.

Ho-Pin Tung, the third member of Renault’s young driver programme, did not participate in the test.

Images (C) Renault/LAT

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