If you had the best Spanish F1 driver of all time on your books, and you had just renegotiated his contract to secure his services for a further five years, the eve of the Spanish Grand Prix would be the ideal time to announce the new deal. Which is exactly what Ferrari has just done. Just a shame, then, that it looks like Fernando has just let one rip.
This time last week the FIA had written to the Formula One teams declaring the engine mapping allowing exhaust gasses to flow into blown diffusers while the driver was off-throttle would be drastically altered. The change was to take effect at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix. Under the FIA’s plan up to 90% of the benefit gained was to be taken away.
However, the changes have since been put on hold now won’t come in place until after the Canadian Grand Prix at the earliest. This will follow the latest Technical Working Group meeting in mid-June.
As usual for F1, it’s a complicated tale and accusations of inter-team rivalry are at play. It’s believed that Lotus Renault GP and Red Bull Racing have the most to lose. But these comments from McLaren’s Tim Goss are telling, “I think all of the major teams are up to the same tricks with regards to engine mapping. Certainly we exploit them.
“If the latest guidelines that the FIA have given us on use of engine to drive exhaust systems came in then it would be a performance setback to us. I know it would almost certainly be a performance setback to our major competitors.”
Goss was quoted by James Allen and if this story interests you we recommend following the source link below for more.
[Source: James Allen on F1]
Imagine you designed the car in which Ayrton Senna was killed; it would be a heavy burden to carry. And so it has proven for Adrian Newey, Chief Technical Officer at Red Bull Racing and former design guru with Williams F1.
Newey’s creations have won 119 races, seven constructors’ titles and crowned six world champions. They are astounding achievements. On current form it looks likely that two new additions will be added at the end of the 2011 F1 season.
The death of Ayrton Senna continues to haunt Newey, however. In a recent article with The Guardian Newey said he is unlikely to watch the Senna documentary because, “It would not be an easy thing to do.”
Speaking candidly Newey revealed how the death of Senna and subsequent manslaughter charges brought against himself and Patrick Head made both men question their involvement in Formula One.
A quick shout out to Sydney readers to let you know you can now buy tickets online for the screening of Senna at the Sydney Film Festival on Sunday 19 June. Adult pricing is $17 and the movie will be screened at the State Theatre.
For those who cannot make it to this viewing, the general release of the film commences on 11 August, so you won’t have to wait too long.
[Source: Sydney Film Festival | Thanks to Ricky for the tip]
A little later than usual, here’s your hit of Formula One images from the 2011 Turkish Grand Prix. It was a walk in Istanbul Park for Sebastian Vettel. It was also the origin for the latest, and to date, most fervent, rumours suggesting Michael Schumacher will retire at the end of this season. He is contracted with Mercedes GP until the end of next season. We’ll keep an eye on that one and see how it progresses.
For now, sit back and enjoy 82 of the best images from Turkey. The pics of Nico Rosberg in pit lane illustrating the seating position of an F1 driver is quite interesting.
Sebastian Vettel has qualified on pole for the last five grands prix; that includes Abu Dhabi last year and all races so far in 2011. Meanwhile, so far this year, Webber has only managed to force a Red Bull Racing front row lockout once, at last weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix.
So how does Vettel do it? What does Mark need to do to edge out his younger and apparently faster teammate?
In this fascinating clip from BBC, Martin Brundle talks us through the final qualifying laps of the two men and explains where the time was won and lost.
[Thanks to the Tims for the tips]
Just four races into the 2011 Formula One season and current world champ Sebastian Vettel is showing the required form to secure a second title. Following his third win of the year at the Turkish Grand Prix the Red Bull Racing driver holds a 34 point lead over his nearest rival in the title race (Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 59pts). To use football parlance, the young German has dropped only seven points from a possible 100.
It’s been a staggering start to the year that must have his rivals wondering if it’s time to start thinking if second is the best they can hope for.
Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber lost a position at the start to Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) but managed to wrest it back and following a early tyre change settled into a four-stop rhythm. The Australian traded places with Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and a new set of tyres on his last change was enough to help Webber secure second place ahead of Alonso.
Aside from Vettel’s comfortable position in the title race the talking points to emerge from Istanbul centre around the DRS and Michael Schumacher. The Drag Reduction System made overtaking too easy in race conditions and let’s hope that is simply a feature of the Istanbul Park layout.
Meanwhile, Schumacher, who was on the pace all throughout practice could only qualify in eighth. During the race a clumsy move on Petrov forced him to pit early for a new wing and in the laps that followed he looked horribly outclassed in wheel-to-wheel racing. It was almost sad to watch.
After the break you can read the full transcript from the post-race press conference.
[Pic: Red Bull Racing/Getty Images]
Another Grand Prix, another pole position for Sebastian Vettel. The reigning champ has now put his Red Bull Racing machine on pole for all four races in 2011. His best time of 1:25.049 was four tenths quicker than his teammate Mark Webber (1:25.454), who achieved his best qualifying result for the year to date. Nico Rosberg (1:25.574) also notched up his best quali result for 2011 and showed signs of an improving Mercedes GP outfit by qualifying in third place.
Interestingly, the Red Bull duo completed just one quick lap in the third qualifying session, opting to conserve tyres for the race. It’s a tactic that’s already been used in 2011, but it certainly attracted attention to see Vettel climb out of his car with 90 seconds of the final session remaining. Supreme confidence shown by the Red Bull team and perhaps a clear indication of a “catch us if you can” attitude to their rivals.
Make sure you read the full transcript from the post-qualifying press conference below. There’s some interesting discussion about the Webber–Vettel incident from last year. And, Rosberg’s final line, in written form at least, seemed particularly cutting; especially when you consider the glum face produced by Michael Schumacher (1:26.646) after qualifying in eighth place.
[Pic: Red Bull Racing/Getty Images]
Last month’s story about News Corp considering forming a consortium to buy the rights to Formula One has suddenly become more serious with confirmation that the, erm, wheels are in motion.
News Corporation and Italian investment company EXOR released a joint statement which reads, “EXOR, one of Europe’s largest listed investment companies, and News Corporation, the global media group, confirm that they are in the early stages of exploring the possibility of creating a consortium with a view to formulating a long-term plan for the development of Formula 1 in the interests of the participants and the fans.
“Over the coming weeks and months, EXOR and News Corporation will approach potential minority partners and key stakeholders in the sport. There can be no certainty that this will lead to an approach to Formula 1’s current owners.”
EXOR is controlled by the Agnelli family, who have close ties to Ferrari. Indeed, the company owns 30% of Italian car giant Fiat, owners of Ferrari, as well as a 60% stake in Juventus football club.
[Source: Autosport]
Last weekend there was a World Series by Renault event held at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. A perfect excuse, really, for Lotus Renault GP reserve driver Bruno Senna to get out on track in his F1 car between racing action to lay some rubber and entertain the crowd.
The kick here is that young Bruno recorded his antics on his mobile phone while out on track. The YouTube description even includes this delightful disclaimer, “Video made with my phone camera during the demo at Spa! Please note I drove within safe limits and not flat-out. Don’t use your phone and drive!!”
After the break you can see the view from inside and outside the car.
[Source: Lotus Renault GP]
Motorsport Retro brings word of some very tasty archival pics of Ayrton Senna’s racing career. The collection has been sourced from the Cahier Archive and if you follow the source link below you can see more great pics like the one above. Better still, if you check out the Cahier Archive website, you can buy prints of the images you like.
[Source: Motorsport Retro | Pic: Cahier Archive]
A few days ago Mark Webber used his twitter account to share a fascinating insight into his formative years. It was created back in 1995 and showed a three-pronged pathway to reach Formula One. The plan showed Webber could achieve his ultimate goal by basing himself in Asia, Europe or the United States. History tells us that Webber took the conventional European approach and that he did indeed reach his aim for an F1 career, albeit one year later than planned.
In the spirit of Webber’s “Aussie Grit” we’ve dug up a couple of YouTube clips featuring two of Mark’s standout F1 highlights. The first is from his debut race at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix, the second shows Webber talking us through the final lap of his maiden victory at the 2009 German Grand Prix.