Category: Motorsports

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Formula 1

2014 Sauber C33 revealed

2014 Sauber C33

Sauber has taken a low key approach to unveiling its 2014 F1 car, the C33. Just two photos have been released before official testing begins tomorrow night (Australian time). From that we can probably surmise that the C33, like a lot of its rivals, looks absolutely terrible from the front.

Reading through the Sauber press release you get the feeling they have no idea what is about to happen next. Such is the state of anticipation the teams find themselves as these new 2014 regulations are about to get real.

Eric Gandelin, Chrief Designer, takes the lead in trying to explain the feeling within the team: “The radical changes to the technical regulations for 2014 mean that it’s even harder than usual to make predictions for the new season.

“We know what kind of package we’ve put together here, but it is difficult to foresee what shape our rivals are in. The earliest opportunity to gain an impression of where the teams are in relation to one another will come during testing. The path we have followed with the design of the Sauber C33-Ferrari allows us maximum flexibility, so that we can react quickly.

“It is also clear that reliability will be an important factor in the first few races in particular. So this is an area which we have given very high priority.”

Gandelin goes on to add that the C33 which turns up to race in Melbourne will be quite different to the car that starts testing in Jerez this week, with new performance parts scheduled for the two Bahrain tests next month.

“On the one hand this gives us time to maximise the development of these performance relevant parts, and on the other hand we can run the car during the first test and check all the systems, which we feel is crucial, considering all the technical changes,” Gandelin said.

UPDATE 28 January: Sauber tweeted a close up of the C33 nose overnight—it’s a boy! (See below.)

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Ferrari Formula 1

2014 Ferrari F14 T revealed

2014 Ferrari F14-T

Ferrari has just released images and brief details for its 2014 F1 car, the F14 T. On the one hand we’re thankful that we don’t have another skinny anteater nose. But we can’t really say this is the prettiest Formula 1 car we’ve ever seen.

The most common comparison with the F14 T is the Beluga cargo plane. Which is a shame really. It’s been too long since we’ve been able to look at an F1 car and think of it as a thing of beauty.

The name F14 T was chosen from the results of an internet poll. You can read the name as FIAT if you like, but it does actually reference the current year and the fact the car is now turbocharged. A nice bit of serendipity then.

Official photos and press material are available below. We’re still trying to work out if this looks better than any of the other 2014-spec F1 cars we’ve seen so far. It’s a bit like trying to choose the best needle to stick in your eye.

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Video

2014 Mercedes AMG W05 drive by

The Mercedes AMG F1 Team has completed a filming day with its new 2014 F1 car, the W05, at Silverstone. While we heave to wait a few more days to see official photos the actual car itself they did release this brief video of the car driving at full noise.

So what will this brand new 1.6 litre V6 turbo “power unit” era sound like? Not as bad as most people were expecting.

You can hear a bit of turbo whine as the W05 flashes past and then plenty of energy recovery gubbins as the car exits stage right and brakes going into Copse corner.

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Formula 1 Lotus

2014 Lotus E22 previewed

2014 Lotus E22

Lotus has thrown its toys out of the cot and spent a fair portion of the time McLaren was launching its new car by publishing a series of childish tweets (see below). The episode reached a climax when the team released this teaser image of its 2014 F1 car, the E22.

Of course, Lotus is pissed off at McLaren for what appears to be the certain poaching of its Team Principal Eric Boullier. We have to question, though, are schoolyard antics and name calling the correct response for what is supposed to be a professional F1 team, albeit one who does like to communicate with a very informal voice?

Anyway, that’s the side show, the main event is that two-pronged nose on the E22. The car won’t make its debut until the second week of pre-season testing in Bahrain (19–22 February).

[Source: Twitter]

UPDATE: Lotus has revealed a new photo from above, clearly showing the uneven twin forks on the nose of the E22.

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Formula 1 Lotus McLaren

Eric Boullier quits Lotus F1 with immediate effect

2013 Bahrain Grand Prix

In sensational F1 news Eric Boullier has resigned from the Lotus F1 Team and is expected to be named as the McLaren Team Principal, replacing Martin Whitmarsh.

It’s not been confirmed as yet, but it seems apparent Whitmarsh has been sacked by McLaren and he was not present at the team’s launch of its new MP4-29.

Team owner Gerard Lopez will step in to fulfill the Team Principal role for Lotus in the 2014 season, starting immediately. An official team statement from Lotus can be read after the break.

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Formula 1 McLaren

2014 McLaren MP4-29 revealed

2014 McLaren MP4-29

Damn, that nose on the MP4-29 pretty ugly. Let’s hope that’s the worst of what we see in the coming weeks.

A full suite of press material, videos, photos and PDFs showcasing the MP4-29 can be found after the break. But what’s just as interesting in the McLaren material is what is not said.

Firstly, there is not one single mention or explanation of that horrendous nose in any of the official guff below. It’s too late McLaren we have noticed it and it is fugly.

Secondly, the name Martin Whitmarsh is not present at all, which means we can surmise Big Ron has wasted no time and sent Whitmarsh packing and signed off on his P45.

This ties in perfectly with today’s big F1 news that Eric Boullier has resigned from Lotus with immediate effect. It’s expected Boullier will replace Whitmarsh as McLaren’s Team Principal; not Ross Brawn, or Sam Michael as one fanciful rumour suggested this morning.

While there’s no official announcement on Boullier’s arrival just yet, McLaren has confirmed it has signed key staff from the likes of Red Bull and Lotus, including Ciaron Pilbeam formerly race engineer to Mark Webber.

Also, last year we were informed Vodafone would be ending its long-term relationship with McLaren and that the Woking-based team would announce its new title sponsor in December 2013. It stood to reason that a team such as McLaren would already have a new deal in place and it would just be a matter of time before we found out who it would be.

Then we were told the sponsorship announcement would be put off to coincide with the launch of the MP4-29 to maximise the exposure for said new sponsor. That made perfect sense, too. But last week the word from McLaren was there would be no title sponsor announcement in the short-term future but they’ve still got heaps of cash anyway so no need to panic.

And yet, with all of these dramatic changes taking place at McLaren you get the sense that panic stations are indeed the order of the day. No wonder Ron Dennis is back in the building.

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Formula 1

FIA WMSC bans tyre blankets from 2015 and more

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

The FIA World Motor Sport Council met overnight, along with Bernie Ecclestone and the F1 Strategy Group. The outcome of that shindig is a series of changes for both the 2014 and 2015 F1 seasons.

For 2014:

  • The Stewards may now impose a five second time penalty which can be taken before work is carried out on the car in a pit stop
  • Team personnel must also wear helmets during qualifying, as well as the race
  • Drivers may not stop on the slowing down lap to save fuel for sampling and subsequent analysis; this will not be considered justifiable reason for stopping
  • For 2014 only, each team will be allowed six curfew ‘jokers’, previously there were two permitted. This is to allow more flexibility for working on the new engines and cars
  • The weight of the car, without fuel, must not be less than 691kg at all times during the Event. The weight limit has increased by 1kg to take into account the difference in weight between the tyres in 2013 and 2014

For 2015:

  • To be considered as a constructor, teams will now not need to design and manufacture suspension and brake ducts
  • The car minimum weight has been increased by 10kg, to 701kg, for 2015
  • All tyre heating devices will be prohibited in 2015
  • For safety reasons, the front part of the chassis will not be able to climb too steeply rearward of the front of the chassis

There’s nothing too radical in the amendments to the 2014 regs, although the banning of drivers stopping on the cool down lap to preserve fuel for sampling purposes will place further demands on teams who have to make do with just 100kg of fuel in 2014, compared with 160kg last year.

The changes for 2015 are a little more significant, especially the freedom for teams to buy off-the-shelf suspension components and brake ducts. A ban on tyre blankets will at least tell us once and for all how effective they really are.

In addition to these approved changes a draft set of “cost reduction and cost control regulations” will be presented to the WMSC in June with a view to having effect for the 2015 season.

[Pic: Ferrari]

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Toyota WEC

Toyota TS040 Hybrid LMP1 begins testing

Toyota TS030 Hybrid LMP1

Testing for Toyota’s successor to the TS030 Hybrid (pictured above) has begun with the new TS040 Hybrid taking to the Paul Ricard circuit in France earlier this week. Three days of testing were completed in all with Alexander Wurz and Anthony Davidson sharing the driving duties.

According to an unnamed Toyota Motorsport GmbH staffer, “It was the best roll-out we have had since we returned to endurance racing in 2012.”

The TS040 uses a normally aspirated V8 engine coupled to front and rear axle mounted energy recuperation systems. Further closed test sessions are scheduled at the Portimão and Aragon circuits before the TS040 makes its full debut ahead of the official WEC test session in March.

[Source: Autosport]

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Porsche WEC

Porsche 919 hybrid to use 2.0 litre V4

Porsche 919 hybrid event

The Porsche 919 hybrid will use a 16 valve 2.0 litre turbocharged V4 engine, according to Autocar.

V4 engines have inherent balance issues so at first this may seem an odd choice for Porsche. However, a quick glance at the history books shows Porsche has raced at Le Mans with flat-four engines at Le Mans in the 1950s. The spec sheet on these engines described them as have a 180° vee, and perhaps that may be the direction Porsche is taking in 2014.

A 2.0 litre four cylinder engine should help Porsche achieve good fuel economy, which is vital in the new LMP1 regulations. A single conventional turbo will be placed between the two cylinder banks.

We’ve known for some time that Porsche is developing a four cylinder boxer for its road cars and you don’t need to stretch the imagination too far to see some marketing and research opportunities with this V4 race engine.

The regs also allow for a maximum of two energy recuperation systems and Porsche will send the power from both to the front wheels of the 919, while the V4 will power the rear wheels.

The two recuperation systems will be called KERS and ERS, with the former charging a lithium-ion battery via the front brakes and the ERS collecting energy from the turbo’s exhaust gasses.

A third 919 chassis is being built and is expected to have its track debut in the middle of next month when Porsche returns to Bahrain for more testing.

[Source: Autocar]

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Formula 1

VIDEO: A guide to 2014 F1 power units

A guide to 2014 F1 power units with Craig Scarborough

It’s great to see Craig Scarborough pimping himself around the place spreading the word of F1. This time he’s teamed up with Peter Windsor’s The Racer’s Edge to take us through the inner workings of the 2014 power units.

To you and me that’s a 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 and some electric bits, but after you watch this video you’ll be much better informed!

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Porsche WEC

Webber to race with Bernhard and Hartley

Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley

Mark Webber will race with German Timo Bernhard and Kiwi Brendon Hartley in 2014, according to Autosport.

It’s an interesting mix and certainly the pairing of Webber (182cm) and Hartley (184cm) makes sense as both men are relatively tall. Although, Bernhard (172cm) is quite a bit shorter and will require a seat insert you’d imagine.

That leaves Marc Lieb (182cm), Romain Dumas (174cm) and Neel Jani (172cm) to drive the other 919.

Porsche isn’t expected to officially confirm these lineups until the press conference to launch the 2014 WEC season and 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place.

Meanwhile, testing for the 919 hybrid has resumed. Webber, Bernhard and Dumas were in Bahrain last week putting a pair of cars through their paces. One of the cars is brand new, while the other is the 2013 car.

[Soure: Autosport]

UPDATE: Semi-official confirmation of this news from the GT Porsche twitter account can be seen after the break.

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Red Bull Racing gets ready for 2014

Daniel Ricciardo

Red Bull Racing is entering its tenth Formula 1 season this year and they’ve previewed what is to come by compiling a highlights package of the last nine years.

Their 2014 challenger, the RB10, will be revealed for the first time on 28 January. Presumably that means moments before the first test gets underway, as has been the case in past years.

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