Most liked posts in thread: F1 - 2012

Steve · Dec 11, 2011

Jenson Button the taxi driver:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aua3UuT_FI4]Jenson & Walkers make Sandwich more exciting - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KKH_vsJVPo]Locals shocked to see Jenson Button in Sandwich! - YouTube[/ame]

Minidave · Dec 11, 2011

I'd be very surprised to see a Button in my sandwich!

Steve · Dec 12, 2011

A couple Lotus stories:

Lotus says Renault choosing Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean for 2012 and dropping Vitaly Petrov is a statement of intent (autosport.com)

By Jonathan Noble | Monday, December 12th 2011, 18:43 GMT

Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar says Renault has delivered proof of its resolve to get back to the front in Formula 1 after opting for talent over sponsorship in its driver choice for 2012.

On the back of the bold decisions to lure Kimi Raikkonen back to F1, and sign Romain Grosjean at the expense of Vitaly Petrov, Bahar believes the soon-to-be-called Lotus outfit has shown how committed it is to success.

"It shows the determination that we have, and it shows that there is understanding of what it will take," explained Bahar during a media lunch in London on Monday.

"The team's two main partners [Gerard Lopez and Eric Lux] said, 'look this isn't about commercial matters and going for the highest bidder, it was about going for the best drivers we can get.'

"We did an analysis together and we said, although Vitaly has a sweeter commercial element to him, we shall go for pure racing. It may be more difficult for us commercially but we are up for the challenge. And we will raise the money if it is necessary."

Bahar believes that following a difficult 2011 campaign, where Renault drifted down the order after taking podium finishes in the first two races of the season, a big reshuffle was needed to lift spirits for next year.

When asked by AUTOSPORT if he felt the team needed to act so boldly, Bahar said: "I think it did, and will continue to need this. With last year's performance nobody was really happy, especially with the development it took, so it was in every shareholder and partner's interest to go for the best possible set-up we have.

"We have to make a lot of changes and improvements to the technical areas, but the management knows that and they are working very, very much on that. I am sure it will be better. I am sure."

Bahar has also thrown his full support behind the job that team principal Eric Boullier is doing - despite recent wild speculation suggesting that the Frenchman could be replaced by former grand prix driver Gerhard Berger.

"Eric's job is not the easiest one," explained Bahar. "It is the same as with any football manager, after a not so good year you are often criticised. He will be criticised and it is not the last time he will be criticised, but the important thing is what he learns out of it, and he identifies the areas where he has to strengthen it.

"And he has identified it. He has a clear plan going forward and we trust him to manage it perfectly. There is no reason to doubt him. But, the operational involvement is mainly driven by Genii â€“ Gerard Lopez and Eric Lux â€“ and we trust them, we have a good relationship and they are doing it."
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Full story here.

Lotus to switch to black and gold livery for its IndyCar, GP2 and GP3 teams (autosport.com)

By Jonathan Noble and Matt Beer | Monday, December 12th 2011, 17:45 GMT

Lotus has announced that the teams it works with outside Formula 1 will switch to black and gold livery for 2012 to bring them in line with the grand prix squad's image.

Amid the dispute over the rights to use the Lotus name in F1 this year, Tony Fernandes' Team Lotus used traditional Lotus green and gold, while the Group Lotus-backed Renault team ran in the black and gold colours made famous when the original Lotus F1 operation had John Player sponsorship. But the Group Lotus-sponsored teams in IndyCar, GP2 and GP3 all ran in green and gold.

Lotus CEO Dany Bahar now says that for 2012 black and gold will become the standard livery for Lotus motorsport. Fernandes' renamed Caterham squad is keeping green and gold colours in F1.

"All the works supported racing activities will be black and gold, and all the customer racing will be green and yellow or whatever," said Bahar when asked by AUTOSPORT about 2012 livery plans.

Lotus currently backs ART in GP2 and GP3, while in IndyCar it will switch from being a sponsor of the KV team to a factory engine supplier to Bryan Herta Autosport, Dreyer & Reinbold and HVM.

The only exception to the black and gold rebranding will be HVM, which will retain a green-based livery at the request of its nuclear industry sponsor.

Bahar added that he was delighted that Lotus was increasing its IndyCar involvement to coincide with the return of open engine competition after six years of an all-Honda field. Lotus and Chevrolet are also providing engines for the series' new generation rules.

"IndyCar is different, it is the first time that they name a car after a brand - as before you would never say that [Helio] Castroneves was driving for whoever, it was always the Penske team.

"It wasn't the car, but now it is different, you have an engine and you have a car â€“ so it is not super important the livery is there, as more important to have the name of the car or the name of the engine, which we have got in F1 now and in IndyCar as well.

"So it was always the aim, not to be a sponsor or sticker, but to be the car itself. It took some time to get there but we got there."
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Steve · Dec 14, 2011

Wow, Toro Rosso dumped both Beumi and Alguesuari!

New line-up for Toro Rosso in F1 2012 (crash.net)

Scuderia Toro Rosso has named Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne as its two drivers for F1 2012.

Ricciardo and Vergne have both come through the Red Bull Junior Driver programme and the decision to promote them was apparently taken by the team in 'conjunction with Red Bull'.

Toro Rosso will now go into the new season with a completely new line-up, the first time it has done so since its debut year back in 2006.

â€œI am pleased that we have been able to reach an early decision on our drivers for next year, because it means we can all give our full attention to 2012, without any distractions,â€ said team boss, Franz Tost.

â€œOver the past year, both Daniel and Jean-Eric have proved their worth and I expect them to make a significant contribution to the team's performance next year.

â€œDaniel has the benefit of having actually raced in Grand's Prix for much of this year [with HRT], while Jean-Eric proved he could adapt quickly to the demands of driving a F1 car.

â€œAs they have both worked with the team and its engineers very recently, this should allow us to get up to speed right from the start of winter testing in a couple of months time.â€

Tost meanwhile paid tribute to outgoing drivers' Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari, both of whom are surplus to requirements and now face an uncertain future.

â€œI must thank Sebastien and Jaime for all their hard work over the past three seasons. They have delivered some excellent performances which have helped the team move forward and develop. We wish them well for the future. However, one has to remember that when Scuderia Toro Rosso was established in 2005, it was done so with the intention of providing a first step into F1 for the youngsters in the Red Bull Junior Driver programme,â€ Tost explained.

â€œIt is therefore part of the team's culture to change its driver line-up from time to time in order to achieve this goal.â€
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Nathan · Dec 16, 2011

Nico HÃ¼lkenberg named to Force India team pusing out Sutil

The Force India Formula One team on Friday confirmed that driver Nico HÃ¼lkenberg will move from his third-driver role to a race seat for 2012, partnering with Paul Di Resta.

Team boss Vijay Mallya waited to make the announcement until the day after the team's Christmas party--which he signalled as a deadline for a decision some time ago. HÃ¼lkenberg was forced to be content driving only in Friday practice sessions this year after being dropped by Williams at the end of last season--despite a strong rookie showing that saw him take pole position in Brazil.

The announcement means that former Force India driver Adrian Sutil, who finished ninth in the 2011 world championship, is now relying on landing a seat at Williams. However, he faces stiff competition, given that several other drivers, including some with sponsorship budgets, are now on the market.

"In Paul and Nico we have two extremely talented drivers with tremendous potential,â€ Mallya said. â€œI think Paul caught the eye of everybody in the pit lane during his rookie season. His speed, maturity and racecraft confirmed that we were right to believe in him, and we look forward to working with him again next year.

â€œAs for Nico, we identified him as a rising star at the end of 2010 and chose to evaluate him during the course of this season. Despite having only limited time in the car, he convinced us that he deserved a race seat for 2012.

â€œOur new lineup means we say â€˜goodbye' to Adrian Sutil, who has been with the team since we entered the sport. He has been an integral part of our success over the past four seasons and we wish him well for the future.â€

HÃ¼lkenberg said, â€œI'm obviously delighted to be staying with Sahara Force India and to be given the chance to race next year. It wasn't easy to watch from the sidelines this season, but I did my best to help the team and show what I was capable of.

"I'm extremely motivated for 2012 and would like to thank everyone for believing in me and giving me this chance. I'm keen to get down to work over the winter to develop our new car and help the team build on this year's achievements. The first test in Jerez can't come soon enough.â€

Di Resta added, â€œI'm really looking forward to my second season of Formula One and continuing to grow and develop with Sahara Force India. I've said all along that I love being part of this team: They are ambitious, hungry for success and we work well together.

â€œI'm really excited about 2012, and there is a real sense of belief that we can continue to push the top teams and take another step forward. I'd also like to thank the team for all their hard work this year and for all the support they've given me. I'll take some time out over the next few weeks to recharge my batteries and hopefully come back even stronger in 2012.â€

Force India has not yet named its third driver for 2012.
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Steve · Dec 26, 2011

Williams chairman Adam Parr believes F1 team has learned vital lessons through its difficult 2011 campaign (autosport.com)

By Jonathan Noble and Adam Cooper | Monday, December 26th 2011, 10:30 GMT

Williams had to live through the disappointment of its worst ever season in Formula 1 if it was to fully understand what changes are needed to move it further up the grid.

That is the view of team chairman Adam Parr, who believes that although the lacklustre showings of 2011 were hard to deal with at the time, they were essential for highlighting the areas where Williams was weak.

In an exclusive interview with AUTOSPORT, Parr said that the year gone showed that the structure Williams had in place before the arrival of Mike Coughlan, Mark Gillan and Jason Somerville was not good enough.

"In reality we've been in the middle ranks for some years now," he explained. "You don't have to do anything if you're plodding along in the middle in this sort of cotton wool world, and I think what's happened to us is that we have really seen not only that the current level of performance is unacceptable, but also the need to make radical changes.

"It was actually put very nicely by Mark Gillan. Patrick [Head] said to him, 'I wish this season was over,' and Mark said, 'Everything that we're experiencing out there is vital.'

"If Mark and the other new members of the team had joined at the end of the season, they wouldn't have seen many of the underlying problems.

"They would have seen the performance, but I think we've all had the opportunity to really get deep into the roots of it."

Parr adds that the fact Williams has gained an understanding of its deficiencies gives him reason to feel confident about its potential to recover.

"The good news is that sometimes in life you're not performing, but you don't know why," he said. "We understand precisely where we're weak, where the opportunities are, and what we have to do to get there.

"The next question is, do we have the people and resources in place to make those changes? And the answer is, absolutely.

"To be honest we needed some fresh eyes, turning over the rocks, looking at all the nasty stuff under the rocks, and bringing it to the surface, and just getting it out there.

"I've been here for five years and you adapt to the environment you're in and the way you do things, and you accept it. And what we have learned this year is that we can't accept certain things."
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Steve · Dec 27, 2011

A seasonal ditty from PlanetF1.com:

An F1 Christmas Carol

Ebernie-zer Scrooge Ecclestone is visited by four familiar ghosts who get the miser to change his money-grabbing ways, in a tale by Charles Dickens, adapted by Andrew Davies.

Old Mosley's career was dead as a doornail. I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge what is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But Jacob Marley Mosley's F1 career was surely as dead as a door-nail.

Mr Ebernie-zer Scrooge Ecclestone knew it was dead. Of course he did. Ebernie-zer and he were partners for many years. He was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole friend and sole mourner. And even Ebernie-zer was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event of his friend's F1 career passing.

Scrooge never painted out Old Mosley's name from his sign and there it stood above the door - Ecclestone and Mosley. Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone Ebernie-zer - a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. No wind that blew was bitterer than he.

The door of Ebernie-zer's counting house was open. His clerk, Whiting, copying letters by candle light in front of a meagre fire.
"A merry Christmas Uncle! God save you cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew walked in from the street.
"Bah, Humbug," replied the old man "If I could work my will every idiot who goes about with Merry Christmas on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart!"
"Uncle," returned the nephew, "though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket I believe that Christmas has done me good, and will do me good, and I say, God bless it."
"Good afternoon to you" said Ebernie-zer.

His work concluded for the day, the old man returned to his chambers to take a bowl of gruel in front of a low fire. It was a very low fire indeed and he was obliged to sit close to it to extract the least sensation of warmth from such a handful of fuel. As he cowered by the fire his glance happened to rest upon a disused bell that hung in the room and communicated for some purpose long forgotten. It was with great astonishment and with a strange dread that as he looked, he saw the bell begin to swing...

The bell was succeeded by a clanking noise, deep down below, as if some person were dragging a heavy chain over the casks in the wine merchant's cellar. Ebernie-zer then remembered to have heard that ghosts in haunted houses were described as dragging chains. The cellar door flew open with a booming sound and before him stood a towering ginger apparition wreathed in chains. "I know him!" cried Scrooge, "It's Old Mosley."

"How now!" said Ebernie-zer, caustic and cold as ever. "What do you want with me. Who are you?"
"You know very well who I am," said the spirit. "In life, I was your partner - Jacob Marley Mosley. 'Max' to my one and only friend Ebernie-zer Scrooge Ecclestone!" The spectre's voice disturbed and penetrated the very marrow of Scrooge's bones.
"Humbug" he cried, "I tell you! Humbug."
At this the spirit raised a frightful cry and shook its chain with such a dismal and appalling noise that Ebernie-zer held on tight to his chair.
"Mercy!" he said "Dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me? Why are you fettered?"
"I wear the chain that I forged for myself in life" replied the ghost. "I made it link by link and yard by yard. I girded it of my own free will. For every person wronged, for every decision made in anger or contrariness another link was added. Added by me, though I did not know it. For the Michelin tyres fiasco, a yard; for favouring Ferrari, two more yards; for imposing my special advisor at grands prix, three yards; for punishing Ron beyond the limits no man should bear, five more yards."

"Would you like to know," pursued the ghost, "the weight and length of the chain that you bear yourself? It was as full and heavy and as long as this, several years ago when my Formula 1 career died. You have laboured on yours dilligently since. It is a ponderous chain, Ebernie-zer."
"Max," he said imploringly, "Speak comfort to me."
"I have none to give. Tonight you will be visited by three spirits. Without their visits you cannot hope to shun the path that I tread, weighed down by these chains of my past. I must bear my shackles for eternity, you still have the chance to redeem yourself."

Ecclestone was very much dismayed to hear the spectre's tale and began to quake exceedingly.
The spectre moved to the window. Outside the air was filled with phantoms wandering hither and thither in restless haste and moaning as they went. Every one of them wore chains like Old Mosley's ghost. Scrooge saw a fellow he knew - Briatore - shackled to an old safe. He was desperate to help a destitute old woman struggling in the street, yet his immortality prevented it. The misery and helplessness of them all was clear to see. The spectre after listening for a moment joined in the mournful dirge and floated out upon the bleak dark night leaving Ebernie-zer Scrooge Ecclestone alone. He shut fast the window and went straight to bed without undressing and fell asleep upon an instant.

When Ebernie-zer awoke he could scarely distinguish the transparent window from the opaque walls of the chamber. The curtains of his bed had been drawn suddenly aside, by a hand, and his ferret eyes came face to face with a strange figure, like an old man viewed through some supernatural medium. The figure itself fluctuated in its directness being now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now a pair of legs without a head of which dissolving parts no outline would be visible in the dense gloom.
"Are you the Spirit, sir, whose coming was foretold to me," asked Scrooge with an undisguised tremor in his voice, "who and what are you?"
"I am the Ghost of Formula One Past," said the spirit.
"Long past?" enquired Scrooge.
"No, your past."
Then a clear shot of light gave Ebernie-zer a shocking revelation. "Ken?" he muttered. "Ken Tyrrell. Is that you, Ken?"
"Rise and walk with me," said the phantom, "I am taking you on a journey. I am taking you back."
With that he clasped Ebernie-zer's arms and they were through the wall - to an industrial estate in Chessington.
"Blimey," said the old miser, "that's the Brabham factory. And the windows are newly painted..."
"Go ahead. Look inside." commanded the spirit.
"I spent so many happy years here. I was so proud of Brabham," exclaimed Ebernie-zer.
"And what of the toilet?" enquired the spirit. A light twinkled in Scrooge's eyes.
"Ah...I put a timer on the light switch so the mechanics wouldn't go in there and read the newspaper," responded Scrooge, chuckling, "And I made the hatch on the spares counter lower so they couldn't waste time leaning on it and chatting the day away."

"Come," beckoned the spirit, "I have more on this earth to show you." With that he took the arm of the small white-haired old man and with a flash of blinding light, they were instantly in the paddock of a motor racing circuit, in bright summer sunshine.
"Hmmm, I know this place well. This is Brands Hatch," mused Ebernie-zer. "Blimey those are pretty old motors. Is this a historic F1 meeting?"
The question faded upon his lips as he saw familiar faces in the crowd that thronged the paddock. "Why, there's Graham Hill and Colin Chapman and Ken, that's you talking to Jackie Stewart - with big sideburns" he exclaimed.
"These are but shadows of the things that have been," said the ghost. They have no consciousness of us. We are in the 1970s," said the Ghost, "Look around you."
"Yes," said Scrooge running a calculating eye over the cars. "This machinery would fetch a lot of money if we could get it back to 2011."
"No," said the spectre, "look at the crowds; look at them lining every inch of the hillside. There are many thousands here and they have paid but little to follow the sport they love. And this is not even race day."
"But why do you tell me this...?"

Ebernie-zer's question was posed too late. For the spirit was gone and in an instant he was returned to the dingy gloom of the bed chamber. Alone again, but for how long? Old Mosley had said there would be three visitations. He grew uncomfortably cold when he began to wonder which of his bed curtains the second spirit would draw back. He put them every one aside with his own hand and laying down again established a sharp look-out all around the bed. But then a booming noise from the adjacent room commanded Scrooge's presence and he felt himself drawn to the door.
"I am the Ghost of Christmas Present" said the spirit. "Look upon me."
In easy state upon the couch there sat a jolly giant who bore a glowing torch, in shape like a pitboard, that shed its light on Ebernie-zer as he came peeping round the door.
"Upon my life," declared Ebernie-zer, aghast, "It looks remarkably like Hans Joachim Stuck - you once bounced me on your knee like a baby."
"Yes," said the toweringly tall spirit, levering himself to his full gangling height. "Because I am large and you are not. And I could."
"Spirit." said Scrooge submissively, "Conduct me where you will. I went forth last night on compulsion and I believe there is a thread to this lesson.
"We will go," said the phantom curtly, and with that they took off in a whirlwind of motion. They travelled far. To a dozen grand prix circuits around the world. Past empty grandstand seat after empty grandstand, in Korea and Malaysia and China.

"Where are we now?" cried out Ebernie-zer after dizzying rows of empty grandstands seats had past his vision, "This place is the loneliest of them all."
"This is Sakhir circuit," said the phantom quietly. "Shall I show you what really goes on in this country?"
"No, no; there's no need," cried Ebernie-zer, "the Crown Prince has told me everything's fine here."
"And do you believe him...?" The spectre's tone was grave and measured.
"I haven't got time NOT to," said Scrooge. "We've got 20 grands prix on the calendar. I can't investigate every country. I'm not John Simpson."
"Silence!" shouted the phantom, shaking with rage. "Are you not the person who once said that losing F1 drivers was like a form of 'natural culling'? Ebernie-zer Scrooge Ecclestone, there is more to F1 than a large race hosting fee for your miserable business!"
"How can you say that?" retorted Scrooge, "I waived the Bahrain fee last year."
A sound like distant thunder came from within the tall beast of a man, rolling like thunder between valleys, gathering force before emitting itself in a volley of noise so loud it might have knocked down many walls of Jericho - "Bollocks!" roared the spectre.

Ebernie-zer cowered in fear, holding his hands tight to his ears and shutting his eyes in terror. When he opened them again he was amazed to find himself returned to his bed chamber. All was dark. All appeared calm. Scrooge straightened himself. 'One to go,' he thought. But that final shade could articulate a particular range of terrors - if secrets from the past should emerge in the future. And there were many many secrets.
A sudden breath of wind upon his cheek told him he was not alone. A shadowy figure in hooded cowl silently approached the miser, his face drawn back and indistinguishable. When it came near him Ebernie-zer bent down upon his knee, for in the very air through which this spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and misery.

The figure did not speak, but pointed to the window. Compliantly Scrooge shuffled to the crack'd and grubby pane. Expecting to see the grim street below he was taken aback to see a vision of himself under the most extreme and torrid questioning from a youthful figure with a persistent microphone.
"I know that voice," muttered Ebernie-zer, "that's young Kravitz."
Now, in his business life the old man was regularly subjected to a stream of questions from the journalistic profession but he prided himself on his ability to dodge each and every one of them. He regarded himself as a Chess Grand Master and young Kravitz as an enthusiastic nine-year-old who had just been given Board 6 on his primary school team. He would win every time. "Shadow, is this the future that I see?" Ebernie-zer queried. The figure remained silent.

Scrooge listened closely to the conversation played out on the glass in front of him, his eyes forming the familiar squint for which he was known, a squint born of years listening to Cosworth DFVs and wincing at their horrible sound.
"Please can you tell viewers why F1 is going to so many grands prix in the Axis of Evil" asked young Ted Kravitz.
"Europe's got no money," retorted Scrooge.
"But it's got fans, it's got passion and it's got history..."
"I don't care about the fans."
"So let me take you through a list of the countries that we're supposed to be going to this year," said Ted. "What about Iran and the Iranian Grand Prix?"
"They can get a bit lively, but I think they'll add something to F1 - I've helped design a new corner, The Glorious Revolution Esses"
"Somalia can hardly be a good place to go to?"
"They've been saving so hard, bless 'em. Those pirates, I think they're just bored, they've got nothing to do. We'll sort them out"
"North Korea?"
"At least we'll have full grandstands won't we. We'll just have to tell them when to cheer."
"The Dagestan GP?"
"I can't find this one on the map. But I'm sure it'll be fine. I've had worse treatment in Knightsbridge. We'll see. Let's hope so."
"And what about the instability in Yemen?"
"That's the problem with the Internet; one person has a revolution and they all want one. We'll see."
"The Democratic Republic of Congo?"
"We'd have some great dances before the race, wouldn't we...Let's hope so. We'll see."

By the time the questions came to an end Ebernie-zer Scrooge Ecclestone's answers had become more and more ridiculous. For want of respite the old man had buried his head further and further into his hands in shame.
"Do I really sound that shallow and out of touch?" he cried. "Do I spectre? Do I sound like a complete laughing stock when I'm being interviewed; full of hesitances, platitudes and distractions? Full of nothing but old man's talk...?" The ghost was silent. The ghost was motionless. The ghost said and did nothing and simply faded away before his eyes, as if it were a subtle recreation of Kimi Raikkonen's career.

The next morning Ebernie-zer woke with a start. What a night he had endured! What a nightmare! But he was determined to act upon the visions that had passed so vividly before his sleeping eyes. It was Christmas morning and as usual in West London, children were out throwing snowballs in the street.
"I'm going to change," said Ebernie-zer to no-one but himself. "I am going to cut race hosting fees in half, no, a quarter I say - and slash ticket prices. I am going to sponsor Eddie Jordan's hairpiece like it was Niki Lauda's cap."

"I am going to award races to countries that have real, live, living motorsport fans. I am going to give more TV money to the teams so we can have a full grid and the very best drivers on the grid, not just ones who have to pay their way. I am going to make sure we go to the very best circuits and that we never return to Valencia. I am going to make things right in F1 once again and sod CVC!"
And he did.

He became as good a friend to F1, and as good a man as the good old city knew or any other good old city, town or borough in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him but he let them laugh and little heeded them for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe for good at which some people did not have their fill of laughter. His own heart laughed and that was quite enough for him. He often thought back to the night when he was visited by Old Mosley and the three ghosts - and his actions that very first Christmas morning afterward. That day he gave the people something that excited their appetites prodigiously - a fine, plump race in Turkey.

- Three cheers for Mr. E, a toast to the kindest man ever to govern the sport! Hip hip...

Charles Dickens, 1843
With F1 advice from Andrew Davies
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Steve · Jan 11, 2012

Their innovative exhaust system backfired on them last year...let's see how this one goes...

Lotus's rivals set to be forced to copy innovative reactive ride height system (autosport.com)

By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, January 11th 2012, 14:01 GMT

Lotus's rivals look set to be forced to copy its innovative reactive ride height system ahead of the 2012 season, with the FIA happy the concept is totally legal.

There has been much intrigue in recent days about the mechanism that Lotus was reported to have tried out at the Abu Dhabi young driver test last year.

The mechanical system helps maintain a standard ride height during braking - when often the front of the car would dip down.

Rivals teams are understood to have looked into the system and its legality over recent days - with a report in Gazzetta dello Sport this week suggesting it was driver adjusted by the use of a pedal in the cockpit.

However, if the drivers were changing the ride height of the cars under braking then that would be a breach of the rules.

Article 3.15 of the F1 Technical Regulations states: "With the exception of the parts necessary for the adjustment described in Article 3.18 [the DRS], any car system, device or procedure which uses driver movement as a means of altering the aerodynamic characteristics of the car is prohibited."

AUTOSPORT can reveal, however, that the adjustment to the ride height - which improves aerodynamic performance and stability on the Lotus under braking - does not come from the driver.

Instead it is reactive to brake torque and is linked directly to the suspension - so cannot be classified as a moveable aerodynamic device in the way that independent mass dampers were.

The fact that the driver is not involved, and that the system is a part of the suspension, means it complies fully with the F1 regulations.

AUTOSPORT understands that Lotus has been in liaison with the FIA throughout the development of the brake system, having first been proposed in 2010 and been given an official green light by the governing as long ago as January last year.

With the FIA happy that the brake system is legal, it means that its main rivals will now have to propose their own systems to the governing body if they want to adopt such a concept for the forthcoming season.

AUTOSPORT also understands that at least one front-running team has already submitted plans for a similar ride-height adjustment device to be used in 2012.
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farkus · Jan 12, 2012

ah geez, Grace...Robert Kubica re-broke his leg. :mad2:

Robert Kubica has broken his right leg in a fall in Italy, the same leg he had broken in his rally accident last February.

Reports claim that Kubica slipped on an icy road close to his home in Pietrasanta and was taken to hospital in nearby Viareggio where x-rays showed that he had reopened the fracture in his right tibia sustained in last year's crash.
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minimark · Jan 12, 2012

Dang.....very sad news.

Steve · Jan 13, 2012

Oh man, that guy can't catch a break can he? (pun intended)

Steve · Jan 13, 2012

Wish I could find a pic of this thing...

'Ugly' Ferrari fails FIA test (crash.net)

Reports claim that Ferrari will need a second shot at passing the mandatory FIA crash test that will allow it to take part in pre-season testing.

Ferrari's efforts to supplant Red Bull at the top of the F1 tree may have suffered a temporary setback amid reports that its 2012 car failed the mandatory FIA crash test.

Several sources, led by Finland's Turun Sanomat and Eurosport, claimed that the car - currently carrying the factory number 663 - was submitted for testing several weeks ago, but had to reworked with additional structural reinforcement, before it could be returned for a second attempt in the coming week. Under revised 2012 regulations, all cars have to have passed the stringent assessment before being allowed to take part in pre-season testing, something that both Caterham and Force India have managed to do.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has already warned Ferrari fans not to expect an attractive car this season, as the Scuderia attempts to produce a machine capable of closing the gap to Red Bull and McLaren.

â€œIt's definitely different, because it represents a clear break with the past in terms of the design philosophy," he commented at this week's Wroom media event in Italy, "It's not that pretty, because the shape defined by the technical regulations does not leave much scope, but, and this is what counts really, our hopes are that it is at the very least quick!â€

â€œI asked our engineers, as far back as last summer to look into every little nook and cranny of the rules to push it to the limit, but up until we see the other cars we will not know if we have taken it to the limit or are within it. To really understand the hierarchy, we will have to wait for qualifying in Melbourne.â€
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Steve · Jan 16, 2012

Robert Kubica leaves hospital after leg surgery (autosport.com)

By Jonathan Noble and Michele Lostia | Monday, January 16th 2012, 12:52 GMT

Robert Kubica has returned to his home in Monaco to continue rehabilitation, following the latest operation required after a fall that injured his leg last week.

Kubica reopened a fracture in his right tibia, originally broken in his horrific rally crash last year, when he fell near an apartment he was staying at in Viareggio in Italy.

Medical tests on the leg at Mantova Hospital showed that the calcification of the bone had not happened properly last year - as a result of the Polish driver being forced to remain in bed for a long period after his crash.

Following an operation last week to reduce the fracture and pin the bone, doctors cleared Kubica to return home - but he must wait another two or three weeks before resuming his physical training.

Despite the injury setback, it is believed that the leg fracture will not have an impact on Kubica's final recovery time - because that is still limited by the nerve regrowth of his right arm and hand which will still take several months.
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Steve · Jan 16, 2012

Apparently the ugly Ferrari passed it's second crash test thanks to a few added layers of carbon fiber. Unconfirmed rumors claim it has a "dolphin nose" ... whatever that means.

minimark · Jan 16, 2012

Dang it, want to see a pic..... :sly:

Steve · Jan 17, 2012

Rubens is out.

Williams confirms Bruno Senna will race for the team in F1 in 2012 (autosport.com)

By Pablo Elizalde | Tuesday, January 17th 2012, 12:15 GMT

Bruno Senna will drive the second Williams car during the 2012 Formula 1 season, as the team from Grove finally announced who will partner Pastor Maldonado.

Senna, the nephew of three-time world champion Ayrton, made his grand prix debut with the Hispania team back in 2010, but could not secure a seat for the start of the 2011 season.

He eventually replaced Nick Heidfeld at the Renault team from last year's Belgian Grand Prix, but the team decided to hire Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean for the 2012 season. Senna managed two points in eight races during 2011.

After months of speculation, Williams confirmed on Tuesday that the 28-year-old Brazilian will race alongside Maldonado this year.

Senna will make his debut with the team on February 9th at Jerez during the first test of the year.

"Bruno only started racing when he was 20 years old but quickly proved his talent in F3 and GP2," said Frank Williams.

"In a tightly fought 2008 GP2 season, Bruno finished second in the Championship with notable victories in Monaco and Silverstone, the latter in the wet. The circumstances of Bruno's two seasons in Formula 1 have not given him an ideal opportunity to deliver consistently so it was essential that we spent as much time with him as possible to understand and evaluate him as a driver.

"We have done this both on track and in our simulator and he has proven quick, technically insightful and above all capable of learning and applying his learning quickly and consistently. Now we are looking forward to seeing that talent in our race car."

Senna added: "I feel very privileged that Williams has selected me as one of their race drivers. The team has a great heritage and I hope I can help write a good chapter in their history. The evaluation process has been intense and methodical but the time I have spent in the factory has demonstrated that the team has great people and all the resources needed to achieve better things this season.

"It will be very interesting to drive for a team that my uncle has driven for, particularly as quite a few of the people here actually worked with Ayrton. Hopefully we can bring back some memories and create some great new ones too.

"I also want to get some good results in return for the support my country has given me to help get me to this position today. I am very proud to be Brazilian and more motivated than ever to demonstrate what I can do. Ever since I first sat in a go-kart I never wanted to do anything else."

The move means Rubens Barrichello looks set to be absent from Formula 1 for the first time in 20 years.

The Brazilian said on Twitter after the announcement that his "future is wide open".
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Steve · Jan 17, 2012

Tech Talk: The big rule changes for 2012 (uk.eurosport.yahoo.com)

By Eurosport | Will Gray
After the inaugural year of Pirelli tyres and the increasing use of blown diffusers, two significant technical changes will come in for 2012 â€” but what are they and how will they affect the racing?

OFF-THROTTLE BLOWING BAN

Innovative off-throttle blown diffusers made a radical difference to F1 aerodynamics last year, with teams creating a constant airflow through the engine and using that flow out the exhausts to accelerate air through the diffuser and increase the downforce without the traditional problems of instability when the engine is not on throttle.

It's a complex system and one that takes many man-hours to get right, so it was deemed inappropriate for the resource restriction approach F1 is trying to take and has been banned this year. This ban is simple to introduce, with the FIA just dictating the use of periscope exhausts that exit out the top of the bodywork rather than underneath.

But the FIA has gone beyond that to ban any off-throttle air blowing at all, because of concerns that it could be used in other ways.

The use of the standard ECU, which has been long part of F1, allows the engine mapping itself to be monitored, and that will enable the FIA to implement a complete ban on off-throttle blowing â€” so teams cannot take advantage of blowing air over areas like the suspension or rear wings to gain extra aerodynamic downforce.

This decision came towards the end of last season, when all teams were well into their 2012 development. Some teams will have designed their cars with a view to maximising the off-throttle blowing through periscope exhausts â€” and they will be hit hardest by the decision.

One aspect of that is fuel tank size, as more fuel is needed for off-throttle blowing â€” so those teams who went down this line may have bigger tanks than they would have planned, with a knock-on effect on the packaging of their car.

SOFTER TYRES

Pirelli will push their development to go for softer compounds this year, having decided there was too big a gap between the two tyre choices in 2011, something that led to more obvious optimum strategies and prevented teams using a variety of approaches to the races.

This year will see a complete step change in Pirelli's tyre range, with the soft tyre used in Brazil at the end of last year becoming the medium tyre for this year. The new soft tyre was tried out in Abu Dhabi last year, while the 2012 hard tyre, tested in Brazil, showed performance much closer to the 2011 medium compound.

The tyre manufacturer's target is to reduce the performance gap between the two tyre choices on a grand prix weekend to one second, and they have also confirmed they will be more aggressive in their choices of tyres (two tyres must be selected from the four in existence) at some circuits.

The approach should lead to harder tyres being more durable and softer tyres being faster but with more degradation, with the net result being more exciting racing.

But that's not all. The tyres have a different aerodynamic profile and although it may be hardly noticeable to the eye, any change in tyre profile can have a big effect on the aerodynamics of a car because of the dynamics of a rotating body.

On top of that, the rear tyre has increasing grip levels and that changes the overall balance of the car â€” so the changes Pirelli will bring in are set to create a lot of work for the teams and could present pitfalls or opportunities throughout the grid.

OTHER CHANGES

The FIA have made some other key changes to the sporting regulations. These include a formalisation of the defensive racing rule preventing drivers from moving back onto the racing line having moved off it to defend a position and also harsher punishments for shortcuts.

In a safety car period, any lapped cars will now be allowed to unlap themselves - which is great news for racing because it will mean the front runners will be nose to tail without backmarkers interfering when the safety car peels off and the race restarts.

Finally, and perhaps quite significantly, a driver can now use any tyre on the opening day of practice rather than a restricted number from his race weekend selection â€” meaning tyre tactics can be played out right from the start of the race weekend and teams could save more of the tyres they favour for the race, with the hope that it could end the tyre saving tactics seen in qualifying last year.
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Steve · Jan 20, 2012

Pirelli seeking F1 test car to develop 2013 tyres (autosport.com)

By Edd Straw | Friday, January 20th 2012, 10:30 GMT
Pirelli's plans for developing its 2013 Formula 1 tyres are in a state of flux as it is currently without a suitable test car.

The Italian company has been in talks with the teams over a suitable machine for its test programme to succeed the 2009 Toyota TF109 that it has previously used. But Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery claims that teams are reluctant to run the risk of any squad gaining an advantage by having its 2011 machine used for testing.

This is despite all data being shared openly between the teams and Pirelli using its own test driver to conduct the work.

"There has been a suggestion that we could modify the 2009 Toyota, but the car is now in a museum and it is not a realistic proposition," Hembery told AUTOSPORT. "We've not yet been given what we think is a suitable option.

"We would like a 2011 car from somebody, but we don't really care who it is from. We want to do our testing with precision and feel that the older the car gets, the further away it is from a state of the art car.

"We understand the teams' point of view that they don't want to give an advantage to anybody, but at a certain point we will have to make our own decision to achieve what we have to because nobody will give us any credit for not using a suitable car if things go wrong."

Discussions with the teams are ongoing and Pirelli is keen to come to a consensus solution. But Hembery admitted that it was possible that the company could opt to do a deal with an individual team directly if no acceptable car is agreed upon.

"It's quite possible, yes," said Hembery when asked if Pirelli could buy a car from a team. "We are not interested in assisting one particular team and we need to do our job. We have some interesting ideas for 2013, but need to do work on them.

"We are going to do a lot on the simulator and probably we will do work with the teams in simulation by giving them all a black box with 20 specifications and ask them to drive on them. That I certainly don't exclude and I'm sure they will agree.

"But In terms of finalising the tyres, particularly the compound work, we do need a number of sessions. No more than three probably, just to finalise the work. We will get there, I'm sure."
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Nathan · Jan 20, 2012

They should use an HRT for the testing.

ScottinBend · Jan 20, 2012

.....nah, bet they could get a USF1 car real cheap!

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