Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1

Brackley-based Mercedes GP will race under a modified name next season, with performance brand AMG being added to the team’s official title. Now to be known as the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, company Vice President Norbert Haug says the move further attaches the subsidiary to the Silver Arrows squad.

"Our new team name fuses the proud traditions of AMG and the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows at the pinnacle of motorsport," Haug said on Monday. "These three letters are synonymous with high technology, sporting performance and excitement and this step is a further strong sign of the strategic commitment Mercedes-Benz has made to Formula 1.
"16 of the 24 drivers on the grid at the season's final Grand Prix in Brazil have, or have had, a connection to Mercedes-Benz. In addition to the role of a works team, our commitment to Formula 1 comprises the customer engine programme and supply of the official Safety and Medical Cars."
Team Principal Ross Brawn joined forces with Mercedes in 2009, just a fortnight after the team completed its double title-winning campaign under the Brawn GP guise.

F1: Red Bull drivers tried brand new Indian GP track on simulator

Mark Webber:

"We have completed some good simulator work, but in terms of the kerbs and other subtle final details, these will obviously come into place right at the end, so I'd say we have an 85% understanding of what the track is going to be like.

Webber and Vettel had a taste the Buddh circuit on the simulator

Photo by: xpb.cc

It's always nice to drive at a new venue and in the simulator it looks like quite a quick flowing track, very rewarding. It's going to be pretty warm, which is going to be a challenge for the tyres. I've never been to India before. There are some amazing cricket players from India - it's their number one sport and I'd love to watch Australia play cricket there someday. I'm looking forward to the weekend."

Sebastian Vettel:

"By the time we race in India, I'll have done several laps of the track on the simulator. What Iknow so far is that the track is 5.14km and in the industrial town of Noida, about 50 minutes by car from New Delhi. The track is a combination of slow corners and high-speed straights which flow into each other.
The altitude difference is extreme, rather like in Spa or Turkey, which will give the driving an additional element. Incidentally, we're expecting the track to have the second highest average speed of the season after Monza. That means that we'll be completing a lap at an average speed of 235kph, so there should be plenty of good opportunities to overtake. I'm really looking forward to India; Ialways do when we drive on a new track."

New Jersey Grand Prix for 2013 set to be announced

Formula 1 will hold a Grand Prix in New Jersey in 2013, West New York mayor Felix Roque has claimed.

The United States will feature on the Formula 1 calendar for the first time since 2007 with next year's race in Austin, Texas.
New Jersey governor Chris Christie could announce the deal at a press conference scheduled for Tuesday.
Roque said: "It's incredible. This is going to be an economic boom for this whole region."

Continue reading the main story

They compare it to Spa but it will have the feel of Monaco

West New York attorney Joe DeMarco

It has been claimed that the race will take place on a four-lane motorway that runs alongside the Hudson River in Weehawken, West New York.
"It will provide a very challenging course," West New York attorney Joe DeMarco said.
"They compare it to Spa in Belgium but it will have the feel of Monaco."
Lewis Hamilton won the last US Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2007.
The event's eight-year run there came to an end when F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone failed to agree new terms with the circuit's owners.
Ecclestone's plans to take a race to the New York area were first revealed when he began talks with representatives of Monticello Motor Club (MMC) in New York in 2009.
Austin-based promoters Full Throttle Productions overcame competition from MMC to stage a race at a purpose-built track with a deal through to 2021.
But, two years on, a deal has now been reached with a consortium of investors and city and state governments for a race to take place in New Jersey.

Singapore race strategy a knife edge

This weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix will be absolutely fascinating from a strategy point of view. Find out how some teams will try to do the race with only one stop, how much effect the Safety Car can have on the outcome and check out a new feature: the League Table of Team’s Pit Stop Performance; there are some surprises here!
Contents – The Key Strategy considerations
• Track characteristics
• Form guide
• Weather forecast
• Likely tyre performance
• Number and likely timing of pit stops
• Chance of a safety car
• Recent start performance & Pit Stop League Table

Track characteristics
Marina Bay, Singapore – 5.073 kilometres. Race distance – 65 laps = 309.3 kilometres. 23 corners in total.. Street circuit around Singapore’s Marina Bay area.
Aerodynamic setup – High downforce. Top speed 305km/h (with Drag Reduction System active on rear wing) – 290km/h without.
Full throttle – 43% of the lap time (low). Total fuel needed for race distance – 165 kilos (very high). Fuel consumption – 2.5 kg per lap (ave/high)
Time spent braking: 21% of lap. Number of brake zones – 16. Brake wear- Very high. Toughest race of season for brakes as no cooling opportunities.
Loss time for a Pit stop = 24 seconds (very high)
Total time needed for pit stop: 26 seconds (very high)
Fuel effect (cost in lap time per 10kg of fuel carried): 0.35 seconds (high)
In just three years the Singapore Grand Prix, F1’s only night race, has established itself alongside Monaco as one of the two most important races on the calendar for the sport, the teams and sponsors.
But the race on the Marina Bay Circuit is also one of the longest and toughest of the year for cars and drivers. The race can last up to two hours and with high temperatures , humidity and constant braking and turning, it is a real hardcore marathon. There have been internal discussions among teams and administrators about possibly shortening the race.
It is also one of the hardest races of the season for the brakes, not because of big stops from high to low speeds, but because of the frequent brake use and no straights to for the brakes to cool. This places an extra strain on the tyres as the red hot brakes inside the wheels cook the tyres from the inside.
As the track is at sea level, the air pressure is higher, the air is more dense and this means that the fuel consumption is higher. The stop and start nature of the track further adds to this. So the cars start heavier than at many places with 165 kilos of fuel on board -15 kg more than the average. This adds to the punishment of the tyres in the early stages of the race.
We are likely to see plenty of new development parts on the cars this weekend. This will be the last race at which we see teams bring significant upgrade packages to their cars. As the first of a series of six flyaway races to close the season and with the championship more or less decided, there will only be some minor development steps after this.

Form Guide
The Singapore Grand Prix is the 14th round of the 2011 FIA F1 World Championship. With Sebastian Vettel winning in Spa and Monza, he is in a position to be crowned world champion for the second consecutive season if he wins here with neither Fernando Alonso or Jenson Button on the podium.
Vettel and Alonso battled for the win at Marina Bay last season in a close fight throughout the race, which was won by Alonso, the only two time winner here.
Amazingly, Red Bull’s 100% record in qualifying this season remains, with only seven rounds to go, could they possibly go a whole season owning pole position?
As far as drivers’ and teams’ form at Singapore is concerned; Alonso won the race in 2008 with Renault and 2010 with Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton won the 2009 edition for McLaren.
Weather Forecast
The weather forecast for this weekend is for high temperatures, around 31 degrees, with thunderstorms forecast for each day and a 60% chance of rain. Given the frequency of evening rain in the region it is amazing that it has yet to affect the Singapore Grand Prix.

Likely tyre performance and other considerations
Pirelli tyre choice for Singapore: Soft (yellow markings) and supersoft (red markings). This combination was seen in Monaco, Montreal and Budapest.
In Singapore the great challenge is to look after the rear tyres, which get damaged by the constant stopping and accelerating at the circuit’s 23 corners. Meanwhile the fastest corner on the circuit is taken at only 170km/h so it is difficult for driver to get energy into the front tyres and get them ‘switched on’. Add in the factor of the red hot brakes cooking the tyres from the inside and tyre management becomes a huge challenge.
In Budapest the Pirelli supersoft tyre was expected to last 20 laps, but after the track was cleaned by rain before the race they only went for 14 laps. The Marina Bay circuit ramps up in grip over the weekend, but teams will closely monitor its performance in Friday and Saturday practice to see how far they can push it.
After the controversy over camber angles in Spa and the subsequent FIA edict in Monza, Pirelli have relaxed their recommendation for Singapore and teams can run up to 4 ¼ degrees camber. There are no sustained high wheel rotation speeds to worry about so blistering will not be a problem. The edict in Monza would have been very hard to enforce, incidentally, because there is a big difference between when the car is stationary and when it is at speed and any team on the wrong side of the FIA would have appealed. In that process it would have been up to the other teams to prove they would have complied.
Number and likely timing of pit stops
This is set to be a fascinating race, as the strategy models say that the most attractive way is to make only making one pit stop; the time lost from making a pit stop is huge in Singapore at 26 seconds. This will be very hard to achieve for cars which do not have a new set of supersoft tyres – ie drivers in the top ten who will be obliged to start on the supersofts on which they qualify.
Teams like Sauber and Toro Rosso and even Ferrari, which are gentler on their tyres, could have a strong result here. Qualifying outside the top ten, it is not hard to envisage a Sauber or Toro Rosso starting on a new set of soft tyres and making one stop for a new set of supersofts. The chance of a Safety Car is very high (see below) and six or seven laps behind the safety car would be a real bonus to one stoppers, extending the tyre life.
Safety cars can make or break your race depending on when they fall. They are bad news for anyone attempting a multi-stop strategy, but with the long pit lane at Marina Bay this isn’t likely.
But should a safety car fall at an opportune moment for a driver aiming to make a two stop strategy, it could be ideal. The front runners are likely to be planning to divide the first half of the race into two stints on supersoft with a switch to softs for the remainder of the race, but will stay flexible in case a Safety Car helps them out.
Chance of a Safety Car
The chance of a Safety Car at Singapore is very high. There has been at least one Safety Car at every Singapore GP so far with an average of 6.7 laps spent under Safety Car. This will further encourage teams hoping to one stop in the races.
Recent start performance
Starts are a critical part of the race and strategy can be badly compromised by a poor start, while good starts can make strategists change their plans in the hope of a good result.
Michael Schumacher is having a great year off the start line, with another great start in Monza gaining four places. In total he has gained 35 places on the first lap this season, but he has also lost 14 giving him an aggregate gain of 21 places.
The importance of the start is also well illustrated by Jaime Alguersuari in Monza – he gained seven places from 18th on the grid and got ahead of his team mate Buemi and Bruno Senna. He was able to carry this through to the chequered flag to record a career best 7th place.
As far as 2011 start performance is concerned drivers have gained (+) or lost (-) places off the start line this season on aggregate as follows:
Gained
+21 Schumacher *
+19 Buemi #
+16 Glock
+13 Liuzzi
+9 Ricciardo
+8 Alonso***, Kobayashi**,
+6 Trulli, Kovalainen, Heidfeld ******,
+5 Di Resta,
+4 Massa
+3 D’Ambrosio
Held position
-
Lost places
-2, Chandhok
-4 Hamilton, Vettel
-5 Alguersuari####
-9 Sutil ##
-10 Button,
-11 Rosberg*****, Maldonado
-12 Senna
-13 Perez ###
-15 Petrov,****
-18 Barrichello
- 22 Webber
* Schumacher had one bad start in Australia, losing 8 places but since then has been the season’s outstanding starter. He gained 9 places in Spa and four in Monza.
** Kobayashi lost 10 places in Spain, prior to that he had gained 8 in 4 starts.
*** After losing places in the first three races, Alonso has reversed that trend. His starts in Barcelona and Monza were outstanding.
**** Petrov had a good record until he lost 4 places at the start in Valencia. He was on a +2 balance before Monza where he was taken out at the start.
***** Rosberg lost four places at the start in Silverstone and was on a +6 balance before Monza where he was taken out in the first corner
****** Heidfeld had gained 20 places but lost 12 at the start in Germany
******* Di Resta had consistent start form and gained 7 places in the first nine races, but lost 12 at the start in Germany.
# Buemi made up nine places at the start in Hungary having started 23rd on the grid
## Sutil had a positive start balance until Hungary where he lost 12 places at the start
### Perez lost nine places off the start in Hungary.
#### Alguersuari was doing well with a +6 record prior to Spa, where he was hit by another car and lost 18 places. In Monza he gained 7 places at the start.
Bonus Feature – Pit Stop League Table
Of course good strategy planning also requires good pit stop execution by the mechanics. We have seen tyre stops of under three seconds this season. Here, with thanks to our friends at Mercedes GP Petronas is the league table of average of the stops made (taking out all anomalies)
The table allows for an average amount of time for the loss time of travelling down the pit lane: for example Monza was 17.6 secs:
1. Red Bull – 21.81
2. Mercedes – 21.94
3. McLaren – 22.06
4. Ferrari – 22.36
5. Force India – 22.48
6. Lotus – 22.71
7. Renault – 22.72
8. Sauber – 22.81
9. Williams – 22.96
10. Toro Rosso – 23.05
11. Virgin – 23.65
12. HRT – 25.14
The things which stand out here are a) Force India and Lotus punch well above their weight in terms of pits stop performance compared to car performance and championship position. Look at the gap in performance between Lotus and the other new teams; b) Red Bull and Mercedes are consistently the fastest at pit stops; c) remember that the speed of a stop is not just about the pit crews, it is also about the drivers hitting their marks. It’s about discipline as a team.
The UBS Strategy Briefing is written by JA on F1 with input and data from strategists and engineers from several leading F1 teams.

BBC Looses F1 Coverage Deal for 2012 and beyond!

This is disgusting.
We pay for a TV license to "pay for" programming that we want to see.

I want to see F1, I want to see full F1 season coverage.

I am not represented in the BBC License Fee Charter, so why should I pay it now?

I only ever watch Eastenders and F1 since March 2009

Everything else is pants!

The BBC make millions of pounds selling their shows across the world on U.S TV, Europe etc.

"The office" is a good example, im sure the BBC get a kick back from every episode that is written/shot/on air.

Not to mension the large number of cable/sat TV channels that show repeats of old BBC shows.

They have a steak in each one of them, and those channels show TV adverts all day long generating revenue!

So why do I loose my F1?

Schumacher upbeat ahead of home race

Michael Schumacher is hopeful that the promise shown by his Mercedes GP squad at Silverstone can be translated into a better performance next weekend, with the German preparing for his home event at the Nürburgring. The seven-time Champion says he has 'a good feeling' ahead of the race, admitting that a strong result here is vital.

Schumacher finished ninth at Silverstone after colliding with Kamui Kobayashi

"With two home races in a row, we are fortunate to be given an extra boost as we head to the Nürburgring next week for the German Grand Prix, just two weeks after Silverstone," Schumacher explained.
"This season has been a difficult one for performance predictions so far; however I can predict one thing for sure: the extra boost we are receiving will be transformed into extra motivation.
"We saw some improvements over the Silverstone weekend with our new exhaust system, along with improvements to how we work with the tyres, so we go to the next race weekend with a good feeling added to our fighting spirit. We definitely want to show our home crowds our best level of performance possible.
"It will be the first time that I race through the corner which is named after me (Turns 8 and 9), and obviously I would like to believe that this is not only making me proud, but also even faster."

Button targets podium in home Grand Prix

Next weekend’s British Grand Prix will be the twelfth for Jenson Button, although the 2009 World Champion is yet to record a rostrum result in his home race. After debuting for Williams eleven years ago, Button’s best Silverstone finishes to date are his fourth place results for BAR and McLaren in 2004 and 2010, respectively.
“Hopefully I can get onto the podium and that’s my aim- for some reason I’ve never been on the podium at the British Grand Prix,” he said in a Tuesday interview for McLaren title sponsor Vodafone.

“I think Lewis (Hamilton) and myself were a bit negative after the (Valencia) race because we just weren’t quick enough. But, looking at it now, we have some good improvements for Silverstone. I don’t know whether it’s going to be enough to fight with the Red Bulls or to get onto the podium, but we have improvements and we’re positive that we’re going to get the best out of them. We’ll see. We want to put on a good show for the British fans and I think that’s why we were a little bit negative after the last Grand Prix.”
When asked if Sebastian Vettel’s championship advantage of 77 points can be cut down, Button replied:
“He’s got a big advantage after eight races but…who knows. We’re not going to stop trying. We’re going to be trying our best, we’re a fantastic team and I feel that, if we keep pushing hard, we’ll slowly, slowly pull them back. I hope so.
“It’s tricky because they’re doing a great job, and they are doing a great job. The only people that have beaten them have been us – Lewis and myself – so we are the challengers.”

Pirelli considers qualifying tyre for 2012

A quicker tyre for qualifying is one of the ideas Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli is discussing ahead of the 2012 season. Another suggestion from Paul Hembery, the company’s Motorsport Director, is to take three Slick compounds to each race.
“We are already thinking about next season now and see where the weaknesses are in our system,” Hembery explained to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

Pirelli's Paul Hembery

“For example, when the first two practice sessions are held in wet conditions, we really need an extra set of Intermediates, and we have already agreed that next year this should be included in the rule.
“We have more ideas, too. Perhaps we can develop a total of up to six different (dry weather, Slick) compounds and give teams three different types to choose. There are lots of options. We could also create a tyre with much grip for one lap, a special qualifier. Ultimately, the decision is down to the teams; if they don’t want it, we won’t do it.”
Qualifying tyres were last seen in F1 in the 1980s.

Mosley hits out at decision to reinstate Bahrain

Former FIA President Max Mosley has taken the same stance as Red Bull driver Mark Webber over the restored Bahrain Grand Prix, claiming the decision to set a new date for the event is a ‘mistake’. A unanimous vote at a World Motor Sport Council gathering on Friday resulted in the race being rescheduled for October 30, but Mosley believes the outcome could be costly for the sport. 

"Sporting bodies also have to overlook human rights violations in places where events are held and even in some member countries of the federations themselves," Mosley explained in a column for the Daily Telegraph.  

"There are several reasons for this. First, to apply the highest standards of human rights you would have to exclude a very large number of countries from international sport, including at least one close ally of the United Kingdom. 

"Secondly, if you were to apply anything less than the highest standards, you would be faced with endless debate about where to draw the line. Third, it is not the function of a sporting body to seek to dictate to governments what they can and cannot do. Politics should be left to the politicians. 

"Why is this different to running an event in any number of countries where people are oppressed, kept in poverty, held without trial and mistreated (or worse) in prison? Surely the line has to be drawn when a sporting event is not mere entertainment in a less-than-perfect country, but is being used by an oppressive regime to camouflage its actions." 

Mosley also stated that the FIA's choice will last in the memories of many people after the violence seen within the country earlier in the year, arguing that it could be very costly for the sport.

"If a sport accepts this role, it becomes a tool of government. If Formula 1 allows itself to be used in this way in Bahrain, it will share the regime's guilt as surely as if it went out and helped brutalise unarmed protesters. The decision to hold the race is a mistake which will not be forgotten and, if not reversed, will eventually cost Formula 1 dear."

FIA reveals 21-race calendar for 2012

Formula 1 governing body the FIA has released the first draft of the 2012 race calendar, following a World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) meeting in Barcelona on Friday. The calendar features a number of notable changes, not least that it increases in length once again to 21 races.

Beginning in Bahrain and ending in Brazil over eight months later, the schedule features five pairs of back-to-back weekends with the usual four-week summer break between Hungary and Belgium. The European season setup will begin in Turkey again, with Korea being brought forward to the fifth slot, in April. After a four-year absence, the United States returns with its brand-new Hermann Tilke-built track in Austin, Texas. Staged in June, the race will run a week after the Canadian Grand Prix.

The FIA also notes that it is now working alongside the FIM, governing body for MotoGP, to ensure that events do not clash.

The provisional 2012 F1 calendar is as follows:

Round 1 Bahrain, Sakhir – 11 March
Round 2 Australia, Melbourne – 18 March
Round 3 Malaysia, Sepang – 1 April
Round 4 China, Shanghai – 8 April
Round 5 Korea, Yeongam – 22 April
Round 6 Turkey, Istanbul – 6 May *
Round 7 Spain, Barcelona – 20 May
Round 8 Monaco, Monte Carlo – 27 May
Round 9 Canada, Montreal – 10 June
Round 10 United States, Austin – 17 June
Round 11 Europe, Valencia – 1 July
Round 12 Great Britain, Silverstone – 15 July
Round 13 Germany, Hockenheim – 29 July
Round 14 Hungary, Budapest – 5 August
Round 15 Belgium, Spa – 2 September
Round 16 Italy, Monza – 9 September
Round 17 Singapore – 30 September
Round 18 Japan, Suzuka – 14 October
Round 19 India, Greater Noida – 28 October
Round 20 Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina – 11 November
Round 21 Brazil, São Paulo – 25 November


* Subject to confirmation

Mark Webber Not Happy With Bahrain Decision

Mark's thoughts on yesterday's announcement to reschedule the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix
“My opinion is unchanged since I was first asked about this in late February. Even though a decision has been made, I’ll be highly surprised if the Bahrain Grand Prix goes ahead this year.”

Mark Webber not happy with FIA decision

Photo by: xpb.cc

"In my personal opinion, the sport should have taken a much firmer stance earlier this year rather than constantly delaying its decision in hope of being able to re-schedule it in 2011. It would have sent a very clear message about Formula One’s position on something as fundamental as human rights and how it deals with moral issues.”
"It’s obvious that the parties involved have struggled to reach a decision but sadly I feel that they still haven’t made the right one. Like it or not, Formula One and sport in general isn’t above having a social responsibility and conscience. I hope Formula One is able to return to Bahrain eventually but now isn’t the right time.”
"As a competitor I do not feel at all comfortable going there to compete in an event when, despite reassurances to the contrary, it seems inevitable that it will cause more tension for the people of that country. I don’t understand why my sport wishes to place itself in a position to be a catalyst for that."

Source: markwebber.com

Monaco GP Red Bull Friday Practice Report

1st Practice P1, 2nd Practice P5

“It’s been positive so far. Both tyres are working well and seem to be lasting, which is important.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing signing autographs for the fans

Photo by: xpb.cc

We will see how the conditions are on Sunday, but the super soft tyre seems to be the preferred one for qualifying. It seems to be quicker and you can extract more lap time out of it. I had a good feeling straight away in the car; it’s fun driving around here; it’s a different track and it’s quite bumpy and rough. I brushed the wall after three laps, so hopefully that’s that done for the weekend! The car looks competitive, but everyone is very close to each other, so it looks tight.”

Car 2 MARK WEBBER

1st Practice P-, 2nd Practice P8

“I had a gear selection issue this morning, which meant I lost some lap time, otherwise it wasn’t too bad. This afternoon was always going to be the case where you’re going out a little bit behind, but we still got a lot of good information. It’s easy to get out there and try and get to where you should be and make mistakes, but we got the information and have a lot to go through. We should be alright by Saturday. We will get back into the groove on Saturday and recover the weekend.”

SEBASTIAN VETTEL
First Practice Session
Position: 1, Best Time: 1:16.619, Laps: 25,
Chassis No. 3
Second Practice Session
Position: 5, Best Time: 1:15.667, Laps: 46,
Chassis No. 3

MARK WEBBER
First Practice Session
Position: -, Best Time: No time, Laps: 3,
Chassis No. 1
Second Practice Session
Position: 8, Best Time 1:16.642, Laps: 42,
Chassis No. 1


Source: Red Bull

Charlie Whiting: Two DRS zones in Canada and Valencia

There will be two DRS zones during the upcoming Canadian and European Grands Prix, FIA Technical Delegate Charlie Whiting has confirmed. For the race at Montreal, drivers will be allowed to use the device on the back straight after Turn 10 and once again along the pit-straight, while in Valencia the zones will be placed between Turns 10-12 and Turns 14-17.

"The DRS zone will be on the last straight and the pits straight," said Whiting when asked by Autosport to confirm where the two zones will be in Canada. "There will be one detection zone. The initial detection will be after Turn 10, then they can have another go (on the main straight)."

Whiting also explained why the FIA chose not to introduce two zones in Turkey, as well as the reason for sticking to that plan for this weekend's race in Barcelona. 

"We only had the software available to us in Turkey," Whiting added. "I thought it was too new (to use it there) so I wanted to make sure there were no bugs in it.

"We don't think there's anywhere suitable here (in Barcelona) because they have to be consecutive straights. It becomes more complicated the further apart they are because there's more likelihood of a change in position of the drivers. So the first realistic opportunity we felt was Montreal. In Valencia, currently, it will be between Turns 10 and 12 and between 14 and 17."

Vettel studying Webber's overlay data hard

Interesting to see Vettel studying Webber's overlay data hard today. McLaren solid quali trim +Ferrari good on race run but Red Bull immense

We need to push for more, admits Brawn

Ross Brawn admits that Mercedes GP are yet to achieve a pace with which they can enjoy consistent runs at the front of the field, with the silver arrows having suffered a highly frustrating start to the season. Heading to Turkey, the Champion team of 2009 sit fifth in the championship and over two 1-2 finishes away from Red Bull Racing.

“The team and drivers have worked extremely hard in the short break before the European season begins to ensure that we continue to move forward,” the Team Principal began. “We have a fundamentally good car and we need to achieve its full potential in the races to come.

“The Chinese Grand Prix reminded everyone at the team what it is like to fight for a race. We didn't succeed on that occasion but it's a feeling that we would like to experience more often.

“When the car is working properly, we can be more competitive and the solutions we are bringing to Turkey will help us achieve this level more consistently.

“However, we also know that we need to push for more performance if we want to fight regularly at the front. The first three races have been a challenge but we have pulled together and will continue working hard to make progress.”

A closer look at the pace of the F1 cars post Melbourne

Over the winter we were told by teams and drivers that it was very hard to guess what the pecking order was simply from looking at testing.
With so many variables like the DRS wing, KERS and fuel loads, establishing a clear picture was difficult during the four official tests.
On top of that the McLaren car which turned up in Melbourne at the weekend was so utterly transformed, performance wise, from the one which stuttered through testing that it was unrecognisable.
This shows that the scope for rapid development with these new rules is significant, at least in the early stages of the season. So the gaps will change a lot in the next few races.

Most of the downforce on an F1 car is generated by the diffuser and with these being cut back from single to double diffusers this year, the pressure is on to get the exhaust gases blowing across them and to find every possible way to maximise the downforce of the car, efficiently, with not to much drag. Hence the exhaust arms race going on at the moment, which was started by Renault.
Red Bull has clearly got the most advanced car; Vettel was 17km/h faster through the high speed chicane at Turn 11 than Hamilton’s McLaren and more like 25km/h faster than the midfield teams.
The time sheets from the first Grand Prix of the season tell a partial picture, as not everyone was able to unlock the pace in their car; Ferrari and Mercedes in particular were not as fast as they expected to be in qualifying and at the other end of the grid, Lotus did not show the step closer to the established teams on Saturday they believed they had achieved.
Vettel was on pole by 8/10ths from Hamilton, with Alonso six tenths slower than the McLaren, Petrov three tenths behind. To me that indicates that the Renault is probably as fast as the Ferrari. Rosberg was a couple of tenths behind, with the Sauber there too. Williams didn’t show what they can do in qualifying or the race, really. It was a messy weekend for them.
However looking through the fastest laps from the race points out a few more important indicators about performance. Jarno Trulli’s fastest lap was a 1m 32.550, one second slower than the Force India of Adrian Sutil. This is still not as close as Lotus thought they were, but still a big improvement on their qualifying pace and on where they were last year.
Meanwhile Virgin’s pace in the race highlights just how far off they are, D’Ambrosio’s fastest lap was two seconds slower than Trulli’s. They are adrift at the back of the field, and judging from a comparison of the lap times that Liuzzi turned in his brief spell on the track, there is a danger that Hispania might actually be faster than Virgin, once it gets a chance to do some set up work, in Sepang.
Meanwhile at the front, Vettel and Hamilton were cruising on Sunday, Hamilton had a damaged floor and Vettel just maintained his pace to manage his tyres. He could have gone a lot faster if he needed to.
So the fastest race lap was the Ferrari of Felipe Massa, pushing very hard in the closing stages after a late pit stop for new tyres, Alonso was also quick after his third stop. Although these laps on fresher tyres do not tell the whole story, they do show that there is pace in this Ferrari. Its problem is high tyre wear.
Sergio Perez amazingly set the 7th fastest lap – fourth fastest team – on tyres that had done 16 laps and when the car was still heavy on fuel. The Sauber is quite a car it seems, capable of qualifying in the top ten and easy on its tyres, with plenty of raw pace. That’s a points scoring combination.
Toro Rosso were consistent; they qualified 10th and 12th and in the race set the 10th and 11th fastest laps.
However we must be careful, Melbourne often shows a picture which isn’t born out by the races that follow. KERS will be more important in Sepang and Shanghai and whatever system Red Bull has, it’s going to need some help from it at those two circuits. Tyre wise Sepang is smooth, like Melbourne, although with some higher speed corners, so the tyre wear will be slightly higher, but not back to Barcelona levels.

Race results - 2011 Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time
1.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	1:29:30.259
2.	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+22.297
3.	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	+30.560
4.	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+31.772
5.	Mark Webber	Red Bull	+38.171
6.	Jenson Button	McLaren	+54.304
7.	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+1:25.186
8.	Sebastien Buemi	Scuderia Toro Rosso	+1 Lap
9.	Adrian Sutil	Force India F1	+1 Lap
10.	Paul di Resta	Force India F1	+1 Lap
11.	Jaime Alguersuari	Scuderia Toro Rosso	+1 Lap
12.	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	+1 Lap
13.	Jarno Trulli	Lotus F1	+2 Laps
14.	Jerome d` Ambrosio	Virgin Racing	+4 Laps
15.	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	+9 Laps
Did not finish
16.	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	+10 Laps
17.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes Grand Prix	+36 Laps
18.	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus F1	+39 Laps
19.	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes Grand Prix	+39 Laps
20.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+49 Laps
21.	Sergio Perez	Sauber	+58 Laps
22.	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+58 Laps

Massa samples new Saudi Arabian circuit

Last Thursday saw Ferrari’s Felipe Massa travel to Saudi Arabia in order to try out a brand-new race track, the Reem International Circuit close to capital city Riyadh.

The event, organised by Ferrari sponsor and Marlboro parent company Phillip Morris International, involved the Brazilian driving around 40 guests at the track in a Ferrari F430 challenge. Also present was Team Principal Stefano Domenicali, watching the action from the pit wall.

Team Principal Stefano Domenicali also attended

“It’s always nice to visit somewhere new and I’m just sorry I can’t spend more time here,” said Massa, who replaced team-mate Fernando Alonso, with the Spaniard having been described as ‘under the weather’ by the Italian team.

“The track is very interesting and fun, so I hope I get a further opportunity to drive here. At the moment, our work in the build up to the start of the World Championship is intense and so we have to get back to base soon.”

“Events and venues like these are important to boost motorsport in countries which have only recently embraced it,” Domenicali added. “For Ferrari, the Middle East is a very important market which we watch very carefully.”

Force India gets its day in court against Lotus

It has just been announced that Force India’s case against 1 Malaysia, the owner of Team Lotus, for infringement of intellectual property, will be heard in the High Court in London on January 16 2012.
Force India is also pursuing Lotus Technical director Mike Gascoyne personally as well as Aerolab, the wind tunnel where the two teams were working on cars when the alleged IP leakage is said to have occured.
This may prove to be Lotus’ third appearance in the High Court in 12 months, following the one starting two weeks today between Group Lotus and 1 Malaysia Group over the termination of the licence to use the Lotus name in F1. Depending on the outcome of that hearing, another case to settle the dispute as to who is the real Lotus in F1 may follow in the Autumn.
In a briefing note to journalists, Force India says that it “believes that Aerolab Srl. may have, during the course of its contract with the team, disclosed Force India F1 Team Ltd.’s intellectual property to 1 Malaysia Racing Team Ltd. and Mike Gascoyne, with whom Aerolab Srl. was at that time working through a sister company. The intellectual property was used in the development of the Lotus T127.”
There are also proceedings in the Italian court on this matter, with the same plaintiffs plus Tony Fernandes and the director of Aerolab, Jean Claude Migeot, a former F1 designer.
1 Malaysia did not have a great deal of time to design and develop a car. It was granted an entry for 2010 on 12 September 2009, just six months before the first race of 2010.
Gascoyne had used Aerolab for wind tunnel work when he was technical director of Spyker and then briefly Force India, before he and Vijay Mallya’s team went their separate ways.

But in November, Force India became concerned when Lotus issued a photo of its design in the wind tunnel and Force India felt that there was some cross over in the front wing design in particular. At the time they also noted that the Lotus was fitted with their wind-tunnel tyres.
At the time Gascoyne pointed out that the wind tunnel model was made by Fomtech and observed, “Some of the staff had been working on different projects. And whereas you cannot copy anything or take anyone else’s IP, you can use your expertise – and you will base that on what you know and what directions you know have been happening. That is what has happened.”

Murray Walker: Artificial rain not Formula 1

Legendary Formula 1 commentator Murray Walker has expressed his opinions over Bernie Ecclestone’s idea to introduce fake rain in a bid to spice up races courtesy of an automated sprinkler system, with the 87-year-old dubbing the idea as unnatural and not in the nature of the sport.

“I’m an old-fashioned traditionalist,” Birmingham-born Walker explained on BBC Radio 5 live’s season preview podcast. “I yearn for the days when the driver got in the car and there was a clutch pedal, a gear lever and a steering wheel and he went for it.

‘I would far rather have the races with rain coming totally unexpectedly’ – Murray Walker

“Nowadays there are so many artificial aids, so many buttons for the driver to press - it’s going to be terribly confusing for them this year - but the thought of turning sprinklers on during a race…it’s so artificial and so contrived that it’s not going to be Formula 1 anymore.

“I would far rather have the races with the rain coming totally unexpectedly; when you go to Belgium and Spa, for instance, you can be sure that there’s going to be rain at some time during the meeting but you don’t know when it’s going to be. But I would hate to know that, at whatever race you are going to, there was going to be an artificially induced wet track.”

He added that such novelties would simply not be necessary as long as the audience is well-informed:

“You know as well as I do that there is no such thing as a dull Formula 1 race. There can be a processional Formula 1 race, but there’s always something dramatic and exciting if you know where to look. Formula 1 is a very complicated sport but there is always something dramatic going on.”

Williams' radical gearbox hard to copy

Sam Michael is confident Williams' innovative 2011 car will be hard for the British team's rivals to copy.
The Oxfordshire based team's technical director singled out only four innovations of note among the class of 2011: Renault and Red Bull's exhaust systems, the Toro Rosso double-floor, and Williams' ultra compact and low gearbox.
He is quoted by The Sun as saying the first three innovations will be quite easy to copy "whereas a gearbox is a completely different kettle of fish".
Australian Michael said all the teams have been closely studying each other's new cars, but "We have no idea where everyone is".
Following the launch of the FW33's new livery, a photograph of the newly painted car circulating at an unidentified circuit with Pastor Maldonado at the wheel was published by Brazil's Globo Esporte.

F1 Barcelona Day 1 Testing: The line-up

Formula 1 testing resumes on Friday, with the fraternity all present at the Circuit de Catalunya on the outskirts of Barcelona. Following heavy rain for the area on Thursday morning, more showers threaten to affect proceedings on-track today.


The Friday line-up for Barcelona looks like this:


Red Bull Sebastian Vettel

McLaren Jenson Button

Ferrari Fernando Alonso

Mercedes Michael Schumacher

Renault Heidfeld and Petrov (morning, pit-stop practice), Vitaly Petrov (afternoon)

Williams Rubens Barrichello & Pastor Maldonado

Force India Paul di Resta

Sauber Kamui Kobayashi

Toro Rosso Jaime Alguersuari

Team Lotus Heikki Kovalainen

Hispania Narain Karthikeyan

Virgin Jérôme d’Ambrosio


Running time
9am – 2pm, 3pm – 5pm (local time, GMT +1)

Bob Bell to become Mercedes Technical Director

Mercedes GP has announced that Bob Bell, formerly Technical Director and temporary Team Principal of Renault F1, will be joining the silver arrows from April this year. The Northern Irishman will mostly hold a factory-based role, allowing team head Ross Brawn to enjoy ‘greater freedom to oversee the full programme’.

With his motorsport career set to move into its third decade, Bell has previously worked at McLaren, Benetton and Jordan as well as Renault, being present with the Enstone-based squad as it raced to double World Championship success in 2005 and 2006.

“I am both delighted and honoured to be joining Mercedes GP as Technical Director,” he commented.

“It will be a privilege to be a part of such a strong and determined organisation and to be able to contribute to furthering the enviable heritage of Mercedes-Benz in motorsport.”

“We are delighted to welcome Bob in the position of Technical Director,” Brawn added. “Bob's appointment is a key step in the strengthening of our excellent technical team and we are pleased to have recruited one of the most experienced engineers in the sport.”

Di Montezemolo considering politics again

Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo has again sparked rumours that he may soon switch to a career in politics, with the 63-year-old having also been connected with such a move in the past.

“In Italy we need to rediscover the culture of consensus, to rediscover a sense of community, not always everyone against each other,” he is quoted as saying by Reuters.

“We need to carry out a series of fundamental reforms that are neither of the left or of the right, a reform of the state, a reform of tax laws and a pact for growth.

“Unfortunately many Italian politicians do not have a culture of competition - just take a look at the electoral law. If I, as a voter, cannot decide who to send to parliament because someone else (a political party leader) has to decide, that is the very opposite of competition.”

Di Resta intelligence should pay off, says Franchitti

Multiple IndyCar Champion Dario Franchitti is confident that cousin and Formula 1 newcomer Paul di Resta will succeed in 2011, with the DTM Champion of last year moving into the Force India team alongside Adrian Sutil.

Dario Franchitti

“I'm confident he will do the job,” Franchitti told the Press Association. “Now he is there he can build on foundations, improve the car, beat his team-mate, move up the grid, all of those things. It's going to be hard work, but he has all the attributes to do it.

“He has a tremendous amount of talent and he's a very smart guy, which is key to Formula 1. Everybody in F1 has a gift, to a certain degree, but he has an intelligence too, and determination. I hope we're going to see him really get a chance to show what he has got.”

‘Indian GP reason for Karthikeyan F1 return’

This year’s inaugural Indian Grand Prix is playing a crucial role in the Formula 1 comeback of Narain Karthikeyan, according to principal sponsor and car manufacturer Tata, which is India’s largest company.

Karthikeyan is back in Formula 1 after a five-season absence

2011 sees Karthikeyan return to the sport for Hispania Racing after last being seen on the grid with Jordan six years ago, with Tata having backing having been in place since 2002.

“It has been a long association between Karthikeyan and Tata,” R. Ramakrishnan, Vice President for the commercial passenger business unit of Tata, explained to the IANS news agency.

“The New Delhi race was certainly one reason why we supported him. Besides this, we remain committed to motorsport activities as it helps tremendously in brand enhancement.”

Bahraini marshals to work at Indian GP

The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) has revealed that, for the country’s maiden Formula 1 Grand Prix this October, some 110 Bahraini race marshals will be recruited in order to sustain that the event runs smoothly.

Construction work continues in India ahead of its first F1 race

On the 20-race calendar of 2011, India and the Greater Noida-based venue falls into the crucial final trio of events, sandwiched between Korea and Abu Dhabi.

“We've reached an agreement with the Bahrain Motor Federation and 110 experienced marshals will be on duty during the Indian GP,” FMSCI President Vicky Chandhok, father of ex Hispania racer Karun, explained to the Hindustan Times.

“In addition to that, we will have 230 marshals from India to shadow the Bahraini officials.”

Pirelli taking modified soft compounds to Barcelona

Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli has announced that it is in the process of transporting modified Soft and Super Soft compound tyres to the Circuit de Catalunya ahead of four days’ testing, commencing on Friday. The Barcelona test will be the teams’ last chance to trial all four Slick compounds (Hard, Medium, Soft and Super Soft) at the same time before the season starts.

Following the first two tests in Valencia and Jerez, Pirelli has elected to make changes to its Soft and Super Soft PZero tyres, with the modifications arriving thanks to feedback from the teams and much data analysis by the company’s technicians. From the Bahrain test, only the Medium and Hard compounds will be on offer.

“We managed to collect a lot of data from our test with all the teams in Jerez and we’ve been very busy evaluating it to see what we can learn,” Pirelli Motorsport Director Paul Hembery explained on Thursday morning.

“What’s interesting is that the emphasis during testing is changing; as the teams get up to speed with their new cars the work has become much more focussed, with some longer runs and potential race setups being evaluated.

“We’ve also got some evolutions of the Super Soft and Soft tyres, which was always part of our development schedule.”

Chinese Grand Prix to remain until 2017

The Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai will be staying on the Formula 1 calendar until at least 2017, it has been confirmed, with the news following much speculation that the event – which debuted in 2004 - was soon to be axed.

The Shanghai International Circuit has most recently been in the news for problems involving sinking ground at three corners – the chief cause of drainage problems during the wet 2010 event.

However, the race will remain an F1 fixture for at least seven more seasons, courtesy of a deal between organisers Shanghai Juss Event Management Co. and Bernie Ecclestone’s Formula One Administration (FOA).

“F1 is a calling card for Shanghai,” Zhao Wen, vice mayor of Shanghai, explained to reporters on Wednesday. “I am confident about the success of the event in the years ahead. We've learned that high ticket prices have led to fans staying away and will try to improve the situation in the following years.”

Bahrain Unrest

MikeGascoyne

  

GP2 race has been cancelled in Bahrain. Big uncertainty about testing there next week. Hope our GP2 guys get home safely

Pirellis on course to demand two stops

Pirelli’s tyres are on course to demand drivers make two stops on a regular basis in races during the forthcoming season, according to the Italian firm’s motorsport director Paul Hembrey.
Formula 1’s new sole tyre supplier has deliberately developed tyres that will be more challenging for drivers to manage during the course of races in 2011 in a bid to add to the spectacle, and Pirelli has been pleased with the performance of its new rubber so far.
After the conclusion of the second pre-season test in Jerez over the weekend, Hembrey says the data Pirelli has managed to collect from the performance of the tyres over longer runs shows that in most circumstances drivers won’t be able to make one set of tyres last almost an entire race distance.
“From what we learned from those [teams’ long runs] so far, we believe that we’re still on course to see two pit stops per race, which obviously might be one stop on some circuits and three stops on others, depending on the individual cars and track characteristics.
“A number of drivers have mentioned to me that our tyres are going to be great fun to race with, which is exactly what we are aiming for.”
With a number of teams having continued to encounter teething problems with their 2011 cars, Hembrey says the relative lack of mileage for some teams also didn’t help Pirelli’s data-gathering process – although he has nonetheless been pleased with the reliability of its tyres.
“We’ve accumulated a huge amount of data, which we will now be analysing closely before the next test in just a few day’s time in Barcelona,” he added.
“Unfortunately there were several red flags over the four days here due to cars going off and other non-tyre related incidents, which meant that there were quite a few teams that did not manage to complete the full programmes that they anticipated.
“That affected us to some extent too but from our general point of view, we enjoyed perfect reliability once more and saw some longer runs than we had seen previously at Valencia.”

Ferrari racks up most mileage at Jerez

After Force India had toured the Valencia circuit most times at the first pre-season test of 2011, Ferrari achieved more mileage than anybody as Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso lapped the Jerez circuit some 463 times between Thursday and Sunday. Two tests now remain before the start of the campaign, in Barcelona and Sakhir.


The Jerez mileage leaderboard is as follows:


Ferrari 463 laps of Jerez 
2,050.2 km / 1,273.9 mi

Red Bull 394 laps of Jerez
1,744.6 km / 1,102.7 mi

Mercedes 338 laps of Jerez
1,496.6 km / 929.9 mi

Toro Rosso 327 laps of Jerez
1,447.9 km / 899.7 mi

Sauber 320 laps of Jerez
1,416.9 km / 880.4 mi

Renault 275 laps of Jerez
1,217.7 km / 756.6 mi

Force India 264 laps of Jerez
1,168.9 km / 726.3 mi

Williams 253 laps of Jerez
1,120.3 km / 696.2 mi 

McLaren 233 laps of Jerez
1,031.7 km / 641.1 mi

Virgin 216 laps of Jerez
956.4 km / 594.3 mi

Lotus 198 laps of Jerez
876.7 km / 544.7 mi

Ecclestone concerned about strife in Bahrain

Bernie Ecclestone on Tuesday refused to say the 2011 season opener in Bahrain next month will not be called off due to strife in the island Kingdom.
Inspired by recent anti-government revolts in Egypt and Tunisia, thousands of pro-democracy protesters are clashing with riot police armed with tear gas and batons, and three people have reportedly already been killed.
The vice president of Bahrain Center for Human Rights was quoted on Tuesday as warning that the Grand Prix next month "is not going to be peaceful".
Asked if the event might have to be called off, F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone said: "I have no idea. It's hard to establish exactly what is going in."
The Briton said he has been trying to contact Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman ibn Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa.
"He is a bit busy, as you can imagine, so I don't know yet exactly what is going on," Ecclestone told the Daily Telegraph.
"The danger is obvious isn't it? If these people wanted to make a fuss and get worldwide recognition it would be bloody easy, wouldn't it? You start making a problem on the start grid in Bahrain and it would get worldwide coverage," he added.
"As I say, I'm speaking with the Crown Prince later on. We're watching events closely. We'll rely on what they think the right thing to do is," said Ecclestone.
Bahrain's Sakhir circuit is scheduled to host a round of the GP2 Asia series this weekend, before the F1 circus arrives for its season opener and a pre-race test.

Citroen says Raikkonen free to make F1 return

Kimi Raikkonen can pull out of the 2011 world rally championship to return to F1 if he wants to.
That is the claim of Citroen's rally chief Olivier Quesnel, amid reports the 2007 world champion is now contractually committed to rallying for this season.
The Finn and his management have not yet responded to multiple attempts by the Formula One media to confirm rumours that Raikkonen, 31, is a candidate to replace the injured Robert Kubica at Renault this year.
After making his full-time world rally debut with Citroen last year, the former McLaren and Ferrari driver has announced he will drive a Citroen DS3 under the Ice 1 entry in 2011.
"If he wants to leave, I couldn't say anything because he is a client," Quesnel told RMC Sport.
"He has rented a car from us and drives with his own sponsors," added the Citroen boss.
"I suppose there may be considerable pressure from Bernie Ecclestone, the FIA and the whole world of F1 who want to see him come back because he is still an emblematic driver for the sport."
However, Quesnel indicated that he doesn't think Raikkonen is too keen to go back to F1.
"If he is taking phone calls, they would have to be very convincing to get him back there," he said.

Pirelli to organise Option markings for Bahrain

Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli is yet to confirm how it will distinguish the two available tyre types during Grand Prix weekends this season, but insists that a system will be in place for the opening race in mid-March.

Since 2007 and with four dry tyre compounds available, drivers have been obliged to use the two on offer per race weekend - both the harder (Prime) and Option (softer) – over the course of a race distance.

As seen in recent seasons, former supplier Bridgestone placed a green stripe on the Option compound in order for quick recognition during Grands Prix. However, Pirelli is yet to decide its final means of identification.

“There is no news yet but it will be ready for the Bahrain Grand Prix,” a company spokesperson explained to GPUpdate.net on Wednesday morning.

 

Heidfeld and Liuzzi in frame for Renault drive

With Robert Kubica almost certain to miss the majority of, if not all, of the 2011 season following his Italian rally accident on Sunday morning, a number of names are now being linked to the vacant Lotus Renault GP seat alongside Vitaly Petrov.

Although all thoughts continue to remain with the injured Pole, who requires at least another two operations following initial seven-hour surgery on Sunday, a selection of drivers are already being named as possible replacements – not least 2007 World Champion and current World Rally driver Kimi Räikkönen.

With Kubica out of action, the search is now on for a substitute

However, Team Principal Eric Boullier has now also mentioned former Sauber and Force India racers Nick Heidfeld and Vitantonio Liuzzi as candidates.

“We spent about a quarter of an hour with Robert (in hospital),” Boullier explained to IVG.it. “We joked and were in good spirits. Of course, he immediately wanted to know the team’s schedule for this season.

“We are searching for a Kubica replacement. The possible names are (reserve driver) Senna, Liuzzi and Heidfeld. The team is close to Robert, though, and we are waiting with open arms, hoping he can return by the end of the season.”

FIA Academy names 12 winning drivers

A total of twelve drivers have been handed places for this year’s inaugural FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy, with the entire scheme being organised and run by the motorsport governing body plus Alexander Wurz and Robert Reid.

Selected from a variety of motorsport formulae, the 12 drivers are:

- Kevin Abbring, 21, Netherlands
- Paul-Loup Chatin, 19, France
- Albert Costa, 20, Spain
- Alon Day, 19, Israel
- Philipp Eng, 20, Austria
- Robin Frijns, 19, Netherlands
- Timmy Hansen, 18, Sweden
- Egon Kaur, (23, Estonia
- Andreas Mikkelsen, 21, Norway
- Alexander Rossi, 19, USA
- Richie Stanaway, 19, New Zealand
- Stoffel Vandoorne, 18, Belgium

All 12 men will now be coached in the car by ex Formula 1 pilot Wurz and out of the car by Reid, former World Rally Champion co-driver of the late Richard Burns. The first Academy workshop will be staged in Edinburgh on Saturday 26 February.

Glock adopts realistic approach

Timo Glock says Virgin has to remain realistic about how much of a relative step forward it can make with its second Formula 1 car – but thinks it can set its sights on catching the teams at the back of the midfield pack.
Virgin and fellow 2010 new teams Lotus and Hispania were cut adrift at the back of the field in normal conditions last season but the former two teams in particular are eyeing significant progress in their second campaigns.
Lotus has been particularly bullish about its prospects and has spoken about challenging the likes of Williams and Renault by the end of the year.
Asked at the launch of the new Virgin challenger on Monday if he was concerned that the ambitious Lotus outfit might pull away in 2011, Glock argued that the large gap both teams found themselves trailing the top squads by last year would be too large to bridge over one winter – therefore it was wise to set more achievable targets.
“It’s difficult to say, I just try to be realistic,” he told reporters on Monday.
“We were three to four seconds off the pace – sometimes even more – [last year] same with Lotus and I don’t think it’s just possible to catch up four seconds over the winter time or three [seconds].
“Realistically for us I think we should be two seconds behind the top teams, [which] would be great, maybe two and a half, and then close to the midfield teams – that’s the target.
“If Lotus is pulling away then they did a fantastic job over the winter. I think they’ve got different possibilities than us, different budget than us and a lot of experienced people from Toyota.
“So let’s see. I think our car looks quite a step forward, so I hope we are in front of Lotus at the end of the tests and the end of the year.”
None of last year’s newcomers managed to get near a points finish but Glock wants to see Virgin moving up on some of the grid’s more established teams with its new MVR-02.
However, after its debut campaign was beset by reliability problems, Glock admits that above all else he just wants to complete more mileage on a consistent basis from the car's first test next week onwards.
“[An] Acceptable level would be very close to teams like Sauber, Toro Rosso, maybe Force India,” the German driver said.
“But being strong at the tests already, not in terms of performance, but in terms of making…. I just want to drive 800ks a day and I want to fall to bed and say ‘hey, I did enough today’ and it was not that the car broke down again.
“That’s what we have to make sure, that at the first test we have to hit the track and we have to drive, drive, drive and see where the bad points are on the car to already sort this out before the first race, because if it comes to the first race and you have a list of problems [that] you have and you cant sort it out you are already in trouble and you start on the back foot.”
Speculation at various stages of 2010 suggested Glock may have been seeking to leave Virgin and rejoin a more established team as his new employer struggled at the back of the field.
The former Toyota man admits there were various times when he called into his question his bold decision to move to the start-up operation, but says he never expected its first year to be easy and first 12 months proved to be a “character-building” experience.
“To be honest I had some thoughts about ‘bloody hell, what am I doing here’ because fighting the whole weekend and then you go into the race and after 10 laps you got a radio call ‘Timo, you have to come back to the pits’…it was just quite tough, quite hard,” Glock confessed.
“As well like races in Korea where we sorted out everything, we were quick, I was quick, in the wet conditions and [we were] just unlucky [to be] taken out by Sebastien Buemi.
“But that’s how racing is and that’s how a first year of a complete[ly] new F1 team is.
“It was a good experience for me, a good experience for the team, and character building and now we should be on a way to be in a better position.”

Why racers take risks and why we love them for it

‘Did you never think of stopping Robert (Kubica) from taking part in rallies?’ asked L’Equipe newspaper to Renault team boss Eric Boullier today.
“Not for one second,” replied Boullier, “He could just as easily have been knocked over by a bus. Robert is a racer, he loves cars and he lives for nothing but racing. Competing is his essence. At 14 he slept in a kart factory because he loved racing. From the outset it was agreed among us that Robert would do rallies as well as F1. It was vital for him. His strength comes from that passion. I never thought about the risk. Motor sport is dangerous, but he loves it.”

Photo: Darren Heath

I have found the reaction to Robert Kubica’s accident fascinating and enlightening. There is the team principal above, who understood him and attempts here to justify the decision to let him compete elsewhere, then the rival team bosses who are both appalled by the injury and surprised by Renault’s relaxed attitude to Kubica’s extra curricular activities. There are the fans and media, some of whom castigate him for taking unnecessary risks so close to the start of the season and others who simply feel terribly sorry for him and his plight.To recap, the latest bulletins from the doctors suggest a horrendous injury to his right arm which caused him to lose a lot of blood and despite some heroics by surgeons, the experts in the field to whom I’ve spoken suggest he may never regain fine motor function in that hand and if so his F1 career is unlikely to continue. Of course there are always miracle comebacks, but that is what will be required here for him to race an F1 car again. Renault disagree and say the doctors are exaggerating and that he will recover within a year.
Kubica was injured in a rally car, when a pole supporting an armco barrier, appears to have pierced the floor of the Skoda he was driving and caused the injury. A freak accident, like the one Frank Williams suffered on the road. A few years ago Kubica walked away from an accident in Montreal which was many times worse in terms of impact energy, but F1 cars are built much more strongly than rally cars.
So why did he do it? Why did he take the risk of losing everything just to satisfy some urge to drive fast? And will this put an end to drivers doing anything but the most safe hobbies in future?
I grew up with a father who was a racing driver. He raced for Team Lotus in the 1960s. If you’ve not lived with it, it’s hard to explain the ‘daredevil gene’ racers have, which forces them to race. It’s a restlessness, a need to challenge oneself. At the margin it’s almost a kind of rage.
I don’t have it, I recognised that early on, but throughout 22 years working in F1 I’ve seen it countless times in the eyes of the racers I’ve encountered. Why else did Valentino Rossi and Kimi Raikkonen do rallies while holding down major roles with leading teams? Why did Jim Clark or Stirling Moss drive every kind of car they could get their hands on?
Juan Manuel Fangio once said, “There are those who keep out of mischief, and there are the adventurers. We racing drivers are adventurers; the more difficult something is, the greater the attraction that comes from it.”
This is the best quote I’ve ever come across to explain why racers race and it also why we love them for it. Nowadays F1 cars are still challenging to drive on the limit, but they are so safe that drivers have become quite matter of fact about the risk in their job.
1970s F1 driver Patrick Depailler used to enjoy hang gliding in his spare time. He had a bad accident and was still recovering from it when he was killed in F1 testing in 1980. No-one would allow an F1 driver today to go hang gliding, but the question is, in this age of ultra professionalism, should drivers be forced to avoid all dangerous sports in their spare time? I think they might after this and a little bit more of that racer spirit will be lost.
This looked set to be a breakthrough year for Renault after two years of struggle. Team owner Gerard Lopez said last summer that he wanted to build the team around Kubica, so should Renault have stopped him taking part in the meaningless rally in Italy which has now put the team’s whole season in jeopardy? Who is going to score 150 plus points for them?
Other team principals I’ve spoken to today say that their drivers would not be able to take part in such activities. Insurance is a big factor. To insure an F1 driver for F1 driving is actually quite cheap now, because the cars are so safe. A team will typically insure a driver against being unavailable to them. So if a driver is unavailable, the insurance company will pay out for his replacement. They may also pay out for his salary.
The driver, on the other hand, will typically insure himself against injury and loss of earnings. The premiums rise significantly the more they take part in dangerous side sports like rallying. Kubica’s manager Daniel Morrelli is a very precise, careful individual and he will no doubt have taken care to ensure that his client was correctly insured.
Bruno Senna is reserve driver and if he has brought money to the team, as has been suggested, that may come with a clause which gives him the drive da facto. If not, Renault may look to someone like Nico Hulkenberg, who will have a clause in his Force India reserve driver contract releasing him if a race seat comes up elsewhere. That is standard. It may be Nick Heidfeld who gets yet another chance.
But one thing’s for sure, Renault will have to look to someone else to drive for them this year.

By James Allen

Raikkonen to replace injured Kubica?

Kimi Raikkonen is top of Lotus Renault's list to replace the injured Robert Kubica following his crash at a rally event on Sunday morning.

Kimi Raikkonen relaxing before Rally Finland in 2010. Photo by Red Bull GmbH and GEPA pictures GmbH.

Despite original fears that the 26 year-old might loose his right hand following the accident in Italy, surgeons have confirmed that he is expected to make a recovery but that he is not likely to return until the end of the year. This has left Renault with few options open to it to find a suitable replacement before the season kicks off in Bahrain on March 13th.
As the 2007 Formula One world champion, Raikkonen would seem to present the perfect choice in terms of previous success although he recently announced his plans for 2011 in the World Rally Championship. Last year, the Finn made his WRC debut with the Junior Citroen WRC team and now as team owner/driver - the same as Petter Solberg, and like Solberg, he has in place a contract with the French-based manufacturer to campaign the 2011 season with Citroen.
There are however, potential stumbling blocks over a possible deal with Raikkonen. A much publicised spat with the Renault management last year following reports the Finn was negotiating a drive for 2011 and also the salary demands he is likely to command. It was rumoured in his final year with Ferrari in 2009, the ex-world champion was in receipt of little less than £25m and while his absence from the sport will have devalued his stock slightly, the fact that his contract with Citroen may have to be bought - from their fiercest rival, that tally could possibly surpass the monumental mount he received 3 years ago.
Nick Heidfeld however, presents a safer investment option for the Enstone outfit. While unlikely to win races on a regular basis, he is a proven 'points generating' driver and the belief is that with all top line drivers unavailable for hire, if Renault's aim is to collect as many points as possible in place of the injured Kubica, Heidfeld could be given the nod.
While Bruno Senna was confirmed as the teams third and reserve driver at the recent R31 launch, it is understood that Lotus Renault team principal Eric Boullier is now in the search for a more established 'name' to fill the seat vacated by Kubica and that negotiations with Raikkonen have begun to try and buy him out of his contract for a reasonable price.