Racing
January 26th, 2012 at 02:57am
Under Racing
The first pictures of the Caterham CT01 have appeared ahead of its official publication tomorrow.
Images taken from the current issue of F1 Racing have been posted online.
Caterham later issued an official image of the new car. The CT01′s distinctive stepped nose is a consequence of new rules aimed at lowering the noses of the cars.
More information on the 2012 F1 season.
2012 F1 season
Browse all 2012 F1 season articles
By Mikel
January 26th, 2012 at 02:57am
Under Racing
Pirelli's 2012 F1 tyre range
Pirelli will supply softer tyres in 2012 in a bid to further improve the standard of racing in Formula 1.
The tyre manufacturer revealed its 2012 F1 tyre range on Wednesday, including new soft, medium and hard tyre compounds. The super-soft compound remains unchanged, but all four dry-weather tyres will have a different construction in 2012 with a squarer profile.
Pirelli will also introduce a new wet-weather tyre. The intermediate tyre remains unchanged but the colours used to distinguish them will be revised – the intermediate tyre now has green colouring and the wet-weather tyre uses blue.
The dry-weather tyres will retain their 2011 colouring: red for super-soft, yellow for soft, white for medium and silver for hard.
According to Pirelli the banning of exhaust-blown diffusers has influenced their choice of tyres for 2012: “This new measure, which should result in a reduction of aerodynamic downforce acting on each tyre, requires a wider and more even contact patch.
“This objective has been met by having a less rounded shoulder on each tyre and using softer compounds, which produce better grip and more extreme performance.”
Pirelli added they intend to reduce the performance gap between the compounds from the 1.2-1.8 seconds seen last year to 0.6-0.8 seconds.
The new tyres will make their first appearance at the start of F1 testing at Jerez on February 7th.
Pirelli president and CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera said: “After the positive experience of last year, the teams asked us to continue providing tyres with the characteristics that contributed to spectacular races in 2011.
“And this is what we have done, optimising the compounds and profiles in order to guarantee even better and more stable performance, combined with the deliberate degradation that characterised the P Zero range from 2011.
“We’re expecting unpredictable races, with a wide range of strategies and a number of pit stops: all factors that both competitors and spectators greatly enjoyed last year. The development work on the new compounds took place throughout the 2011 season, thanks to the impressive learning curve and reaction times from our engineers, who are ready to continue those evolutions during the season ahead.”
More information on the 2012 F1 season.
2012 F1 season
Browse all 2012 F1 season articles=
Image © Pirelli
By Mikel
January 26th, 2012 at 02:57am
Under Racing
Throwing caution to the wind, Pirelli plans a new range of tires for the 2012 Formula 1 season that it hopes will make for even better racing.
The key changes involve making all of the regular, dry weather tires softer — so they degrade quicker — and lessening the differences between them.
Cosmetically, a key change is that the different colors should be easier to see.
The whole bit is right here in a statement from Pirelli.
It sounds like a goal of all this is to offer teams a little more in the way of strategy options. You might recall that last season saw a lot of teams hold out on running on the slower, harder of the two tire compounds. But even with that, by many accounts, Pirelli’s tires were the key reason why there was so much good racing. (Take that, DRS!)
From the company’s press release:
The evolution of the Pirelli tyres for 2012 has also taken into account the regulation changes introduced by the FIA regarding blown exhausts. This new measure, which should result in a reduction of aerodynamic downforce acting on each tyre, requires a wider and more even contact patch. This objective has been met by having a less rounded shoulder on each tyre and using softer compounds, which produce better grip and more extreme performance. The performance gap has changed as well between the different compounds, which all now perform better. During the 2011 season, there was a difference of between 1.2 and 1.8 seconds per lap among the different compounds. This year, the objective is to reduce that to less than a second: between six and eight tenths.
Pirelli held a press conference today, during which motorsport director Paul Hembery said the following, according to the BBC:
“We have had to make changes and the objective of those changes is to make the racing closer.
“There is a smaller gap in performance between the compounds. Last year the teams were making choices based on tyres that had a 1.5 seconds difference – we have tried to get that down below one second and the aim is to have it at around 0.8 seconds.”
“We were going through races where teams would maximise use of the sets of the higher performing compound, which were soft in 2011, and minimising use of the hard or medium. From that point of view the second compound would not come into the strategy.
“We want a lower gap between compounds, with the slower tyre degrading slightly less. Then teams will have to make a decision on which tyre to go with.
“Last year we made it too easy for the teams by using soft compounds at each weekend, so they based their weekends around that. This year we want to mix it up more.”
It all sounds promising. It is, of course, clear manipulation of the racing — but maybe that’s OK. Is it what we as fans have to live with in a world of hyper-aero and ultra-designed F1 cars? Perhaps it is a factor you like added to the mix?
By Mikel
January 25th, 2012 at 10:52pm
Under Racing
The 2012 Formula 1 season has begun!
Caterham, the former Team Louts (not to be confused with the current team named Lotus) unveiled its 2012 car today. In doing so, it became the first.
It did it, as we mentioned, by having a photo of the car run on the cover of F1 Racing magazine. It also has it on its Twitter feed.
Yeah.
Until Todd rounds up the photo, I’ll direct you to Autosport, which has it. It also has this description:
The car, which will be powered by Renault engines, features a platypus-style nose with front suspension mounts that raise above the noseline. Features such as these may prove to be quite common this year due to the new regulations covering the nose area.
It also appears to be more aggressive aerodynamically than its predecessors, which were deliberately conservative, and features tightly-sculpted, low rear bodywork with slim and short sidepods to maximise the low drag effect in that area.
I’ve got little more to add, as the photo — as you’ll see — is dark and shows almost nothing.
Sort of like I expect the team’s season to go.
By Mikel
January 25th, 2012 at 11:55am
Under Racing
In the round-up: Marussia will be absent from the start of F1 testing in Jerez.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
Marussia to miss first pre-season test (Reuters)
“Marussia said on Tuesday their revised plan was to run last year’s car at the second test in Barcelona from February 21st and then the new car at the same circuit from March 1st.”
De la Rosa calm over new HRT car (Autosport)
“The plan is to test with the old car at Jerez, and then run the new car in the Barcelona test on February 21st. That’s the plan.”
Heikki Kovalainen on Twitter
“Back home, really good days in UK, the car is being built and all in schedule to hit the track on the 7th of February… Can’t wait!”
Seat fitting for Alonso and Massa (Ferrari)
“Today, for the first time, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso made actual contact with the car they will drive in the 2012 world championship.”
US shifts embassy staff to avoid Bahrain clashes (The Washington Post)
“The US State Department says it is moving American Embassy employees to safer locations in Bahrain after ongoing political unrest elevated security worries in the strategic Gulf kingdom.”
Watson – F1 more entertaining (Sky)
“That in itself provided a lot of overtaking, not necessarily what I would call motor racing, but it provided a lot of entertainment and for the audience they saw racing cars doing something they hadn’t seen them do in quite a while and that was passing one another.”
F1 driver to help Scottish caravan show celebrate 25th birthday (Caravan Times)
“The Scottish Caravan and Outdoor Leisure Show gets underway next week and cutting the ribbon to help the renowned event celebrate its 25th anniversary will be Formula One driver Paul di Resta.”
Webber reveals details of 2012 Tasmania Challenge (F1)
“The gruelling event sees adventure-loving competitors enjoying the chance to trek, mountain bike, climb and kayak at stunning locations across the Australian state.”
Formula 1 sponsorship survey
If you have a few minutes to spare, please help out Pierre Maupilier who is looking for response to this survey to help with his dissertation.
Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.
Comment of the day
Another of those “you know you’re an F1 Fanatic when…” comments, this one from Kristian:
I’m in the process of converting all my VHS F1 season reviews from 1981 to 2002 to DVD. As I am worried that the quality will deteriorate over time. Just got 1981-1983 to go. They are fantastic to watch!
Kristian
From the forum
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Mouse_Nightshirt and Taimur!
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
Preparing for their first season of F1, Toyota completed a three-day test at the Paul Ricard circuit in France on this day ten years ago.
By Mikel
January 25th, 2012 at 11:55am
Under Racing
We discussed some of the rumors and concerns over the HRT team in Monday’s podcast right here. While we weren’t sure, at the time, as to if HRT would be bringing the new car to the second test of the winter season, it seems that driver Pedro de la Rosa is more optimistic about the chances telling AUTOSPORT:
“The plan is to test with the old car at Jerez, and then run the new car in the Barcelona test on February 21. That’s the plan,” de la Rosa told Autosport.
“It’s been said there are delays, but I don’t see it that way. I think the whole process of producing the car started very late and the team is making a superhuman effort to have the new car on track on February 21.
“I’m very calm. From the day I signed I knew that this was more or less the plan. It hasn’t been modified.”
Rumors of the teams challenges in their move from Germany to Spain have added to the notion that they are not running on all 8 cylinders and that perhaps the team will be lucky to even make the grid in Australia in MArch. While those are simply rumors, de la Rosa knows this was going to be a struggle the day he signed to drive for the team in 2012:
“The plan is to have a pre-season that is as long as possible. It’s always best to do as many kilometres as possible. But it’s not a critical situation because it’s going according to plan.
“Things get more intense when those plans have to change because the parts are late or because there are problems, but it’s not the case. I think that having two tests before Australia we will be fine. There are bigger teams who have also opted to do this too.”
Will HRT make the grid in Australia? Can they test the new car in late February? Will they show up for the first running during the Friday practice for the first grand prix of the season and fail to qualify like 2011? It is difficult to say but for the teams sake, I do hope they can make it as I was actually pleased to see their reliability last year once they got the niggles worked out and they didn’t finish last in 2011…that honor befell Virgin Racing.
By Mikel
January 25th, 2012 at 11:55am
Under Racing
News from the Marussia Virgin Racing team is that things have slipped and the new car will most likely be on track at the second test in late February. According to team boss John Booth, they had hoped to field the car in the first test so rookie Charles Pic could get some seat time according to an AUTOSPORT interview:
“We had been looking to take part in that (first) test with the 2011 MVR-02 for the purpose of providing Charles (Pic) with some valuable running to assist with the preparation for his debut season,” team principal John Booth told autosport.com.
“This was with a view to introducing the new car, the MR01, at Barcelona two weeks later.”
At this point, let’s hope the team make good use of the time and create a car that can finish anywhere but last like the 2011 effort. With Pat Symond’s consulting and the driving talents of Timo Glock and Charles Pic, I’m still holding out hope that this team can make a difference in 2012 and claw its way into contention with Caterham. The decision to miss the first test wasn’t planned, however, and perhaps rushing the car isn’t the answer:
“Unfortunately our programme has slipped and there seems little point in fielding the new car before we can optimise the run plan for it,” said Booth.
“Whilst this is not ideal…we will at least get some important running with the new car ahead of Australia and hopefully gain more constructive track time than we might otherwise have achieved had we rushed the car out for the second test.”
By Mikel
January 25th, 2012 at 11:55am
Under Racing
I wrote an op Ed piece a month or so ago about Virgin Racing’s Jerome D’Ambrosio and how I felt he had a good freshman year in 2011. In my opinion it was good enough to warrant a second season but Marussia Virgin Racing felt differently choosing to release him from their employment. My Op Ed was ill-timed as this occurred mere days after my claiming the Belgian should stay.
The good news is that Jerome has not left F1 completely as the Lotus team has announced his duties at the official third driver for the 2012 season. Jerome will attend all the races and perhaps most importantly keep his foot in the door.
“It’s a great feeling to be joining Lotus F1 Team,” said D’Ambrosio. “It’s an exciting next step in my career. I contested a complete season in F1 as a race driver for a smaller team where I learnt a lot about Formula 1.
“Now, I have the opportunity to work with one of the top teams with great potential for my future development. With my recent race experience, I know I can make a valuable contribution.
“Of course, I would love to be racing, but racing with a top team. Being associated with Lotus F1 Team should be more beneficial and this is the choice I have made. This opportunity is one I couldn’t afford to miss. My desire to get back in a race seat in the future is motivating me to do the best job possible in my new position.”
Anything can happen in F1 and perhaps with this team especially as team boss Eric Boullier has proven he has little patience for drivers he feels are not getting 100% from the car as evidenced in the 2011 sacking of Nick Heidfeld. Should Roman Grosjean or Kimi Raikkonen fail to live up to expectations, perhaps Jerome will get another shot. It sounds like a long shot but then I felt the same about Bruno Senna who say in for Heidfeld. Boullier said:
“To have a third driver who is highly motivated, fresh and talented and who contested the full 2011 season is highly beneficial for us. In Jerome we have someone we know well who integrates beneficially with the squad.
“He impressed as reserve driver for us in 2010 and at the end of that year he made a strong showing in the young driver test. He also showed strongly in his rookie season as an F1 race driver. I am looking forward to working with Jerome again and think he is a perfect addition to our driving strength.”
By Mikel
January 25th, 2012 at 11:55am
Under Racing
It’s all sunshine and light coming out of the Lotus team today following Kimi Raikkonen’s two-day pre-test test with his new Formula 1 team.
“It went well today and overall the two days have been helped me a lot,” Raikkonen said of his test with Lotus, according to Autosport. “Even though I was using a two year-old car and the Pirelli demonstration tyres, I learnt about working with the team and the engineers which means I can focus on the new car once we get to Jerez for the first official test.
“It was great to be driving an F1 car again and from that respect I feel very positive.”
Kimi was in an 2010 Renault with Pirelli demonstration tires. The team put him through a variety of fuel loads and he finished up more than the equivalent of two race distances.
“We enjoyed another good day with Kimi in Valencia,” Lotus’s Trackside Operations Engineer Alan Permane said. “The morning was spent doing set-up work in particular with front and rear cambers. In the afternoon we ran very low fuel qualifying simulations with two new sets of tyres followed by a 27 lap run starting with a full tank of fuel.
“Kimi’s pace improved from yesterday as we would expect and we completed several start, pitstop and clutch simulations. We were even able to finish early as we completed our programme ahead of time. Overall it has been a productive and valuable two days.”
OK, can I sound a word of caution? They finished early? That sounds like the old, ice cream-eating Kimi, sort of, doesn’t it? I’m sure it isn’t that, but… well, I’d think everyone would want to squeeze the most out of every second available.
By Mikel
January 25th, 2012 at 07:14am
Under Racing
Let’s face it, times are tough. The economic situation has just about every corner of life reeling with uncertainty and motor sport is no different. We’ve discussed the notion of teh pay-to-drive model in Formula One recently in which a young driver brings cash to the team in return for a seat be it the main driver role or as a reserve driver. Williams F1 hired Pastor Maldonado in 2011 for one simple fact, he had backing in the form of Venezuelan cash from the government of Venezuela. This year, they’ve chosen to hire Bruno Senna who also has financial backing to drive.
The model has been scorned by several former drivers and fans alike and yet it is continuing to be an element in the series that has crept from the poorest teams up the grid to the midfield teams who historically didn’t seek paying drivers. Team such as Sauber, Williams, Lotus Renault (who now say they are not using pay drivers) and Toro Rosso. While the justifications are numerous, the reality is perhaps more simple is scope…tough times mean less sponsors for the teams and the cash needed to continue to race is being found in drivers who happen to have sponsor backing.
This seems to be the impact that Formula One is experiencing due to the difficult economy and while it would be understandable as F1 represents the most expensive racing series on the planet, it isn’t alone in its suffering for sponsors. NASCAR legend Jack Roush is finding it difficult to lure sponsors after having one of their best seasons in the teams history in 2011. Roush told USA Today:
“We came off our best year in terms of performance only to find it was not the best year to attract sponsors,” said Roush, who came within a point of winning the Sprint Cup title with driver Carl Edwards but captured the Nationwide crown behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
“I’m disappointed because of the 100 or so people we had to lay off — people who depended on us,” Roush said. “And going from four to three teams, we didn’t have a seat for David Ragan. That’s unfortunate.”
NASCAR has long been a sponsorship magnate in the United States and no form of motor sport is bigger or more brand-centric than this legacy stock car series. NASCAR itself has been expanding into other series such as Grand Am but remains steadfast in their premier event as well as the junior series such as Nationwide and ARCA feeders. The lack of sponsorship for historic NASCAR Sprint Cup teams such as Roush is also being echoed by individual drivers who are veterans in the midst of sponsorship struggles themselves. Drivers such as Kyle Bush, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer.
NASCAR Pay-to-drive
Roush Fenway Racing (RFR) had a timing issue in that 10 of their major sponsors contracts all expired at the same time and they were able to retain 8 of the 10 at some level of sponsorship according to USA Today. RFR’s Steve Newmark said that while the team is struggling and veterans are having a hard time, young drivers are nearly out of luck without cash in their pocket:
“It impacted a lot of younger drivers. If they’re not bringing sponsorship with them, they’re not getting a seat.”
Paying to drive is not a new phenomena in racing but its prevalence in the last few years speaks to the economic impact on motor sport and while we F1 fans have all been exposed to it, suffice to say we are not alone as America’s biggest racing series is also steeped in fickle sponsors and the need to hire paying drivers. There are world’s of difference between the two series but when money comes tough, the similarities are always cash. It makes the wheels go round as 100 people unfortunately found out at RFR.
By Mikel
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