Most liked posts in thread: F1 - 2012

Steve · Feb 7, 2012

More of the Red Bull:

Steve · Feb 7, 2012

Holy crap, HRT are already on the track at the first test session!

They took a different route with their nose, sort of a cross between the stepped and McLaren's version. I think McLaren no longer has the lowest nose in F1...

Steve · Feb 8, 2012

McLaren insists it has not missed a trick with its 2012 F1 nose design (AUTOSPORT.com)

By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, February 8th 2012, 20:06 GMT

McLaren is adamant that it has not made a mistake with its nose design for 2012 - even though every other team so far has opted for a stepped version with their new Formula 1 cars.

The low-chassis concept that McLaren has pursued in recent years means the British outfit has not needed to feature a stepped nose section like its rivals.

But the fact that the team is alone in going down that route has prompted questions about whether it has done the right thing.

Technical director Paddy Lowe has dismissed concerns though, and said that his outfit evaluated the alternative and decided that the solution it eventually chose was better overall.

"This new rule came along and, like every year, you do revisit this stuff," he said in an exclusive interview with AUTOSPORT. "So we revisited it, did our sums again and decided that we would stick with the philosophy we have got.

"Different teams will come out with different answers to those equations always, because they have different sensitivities. There is no good or bad way - so that rule has not affected us.

"For those teams that went down that [high chassis] trend, which Red Bull Racing started off, pushing particularly the front of the chassis and the nose high, they have continued to pursue that policy. And being the quickest car, it is no surprise that it became fashionable as a direction. A lot of people have migrated in that direction now, although I don't think it was so true last year.

"They, then, are the ones that have been affected by the new rules and have had to drop the nose and introduce a compromise to that concept because you have got a step. Some people have some interesting ideas around the use of that step, and we are looking with interest at all of that stuff."

He added: "My model of it is that it's not a case of us missing some trick. It is not a trick or a loophole that we did not spot. We have always known that you can lift your chassis there, but have chosen to not do it now. We did not do it before either, when there was not nearly the same constraint that you have now. That is the philosophy we have gone with."
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Minidave · Feb 8, 2012

Yes, but Red Bull is the only one that has a vent in the middle of the step - what do they know that the other teams that are copying them don't?

It is interesting how all the other teams have taken the "if you can't beat 'em, copy 'em" route, and Big Mac is going a different way.....

Stay tuned, we'll know more in a few weeks.

Steve · Feb 8, 2012

Newey says that vent is just for cooling...something. Might be the drivers, might be KERS or he might be lying...

minimark · Feb 9, 2012

A duct like that creates downforce...

Notice in NASCAR they will have strips of tape on the front grills at the fast tracks, removal of a strip of tape will help understeer, but it does create more drag. The addition of this tape during set up gives them another option during the race to adjust the handeling with...so to go out on a limb, I'd bet this Red Bull cooling duct can be opened and closed in increments.....2cents

Steve · Feb 9, 2012

New test rigs:

Steve · Feb 9, 2012

Pat Fry says Ferrari not happy with where it is at the moment with new F1 car (AUTOSPORT.com)

By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, February 9th 2012, 17:07 GMT

Ferrari has admitted its new car is not delivering what it had been hoped for so far - but it has faith that it can get on top of its issues before the first race of the season.

After three days of extensive evaluation of its new F2012 at Jerez in Spain this week, Ferrari has confessed it is not yet in a position to feel totally comfortable with the progress it is making.

While main title rivals McLaren and Red Bull Racing have both openly declared their satisfaction with the early indications from their car, Ferrari is more circumspect about where it is at with its new challenger.

When asked by AUTOSPORT about whether Ferrari was where it wanted to be at this stage of testing, technical director Pat Fry said: "I am not happy with where we are at the moment.

"I think there is a lot of room for us to improve from where we are. Reliability wise it is good. Performance wise I think we are okay, but we can play around with the performance and improve [the car in] some corners and some particular parts of the corner, but I would not say I am happy yet until we get the whole thing working."

Fry suggested that the biggest issue Ferrari was facing was in trying to understand how to get its car into the perfect set-up, having opted for a radical design this season.

And, with just two more tests after this week's running in Jerez, Fry admitted that there was pressure to get on top of matters quickly.

"Certainly the three tests rather than four does compress things a little bit," he said. "I think we have got a lot of work to do.

"The basic platform is okay. We are looking at the various characteristics â€“ and all the bits we have to test. We can play around with the through corner characteristics, so we can do different things at corner entry, mid corner to exit, and it is really trying to find the right balance of those things.

"We are working through a reasonably large matrix here, so on each run we are trying almost a different configuration. There is a lot of analysis here and then back at the factory. We are using the simulation and the simulator to make sure everything ties in, so we can put the right package together."

He added: "I think everything is a lot more compressed, so there is a lot of pressure on everyone. You have to try and make decisions quickly.

"We have a one-week break coming up, but then it is two solid weeks and then you are packing the freight for Melbourne. So there is a lot of work for everyone to do. It is the same for every team up the pit lane."

Fry said that there was no interest from his team in chasing headline-grabbing quick laptimes because, having lost a shakedown test to snow last week, it needed to maximise its running over the next few weeks.

"We are not concentrating on taking the fuel out and trying to set a laptime. With only 12 days of testing before the next race, we have to make the most of all the time we have got.

"We were set back a little bit by the foot of snow in Fiorano, certainly the first morning of Felipe [Massa] was spent doing what we would have done there, so we are now trying to play catch up. Right now, it is about trying to get the right package together."

Fry made it clear, however, that the difficulties the team was having with the car were not related to its decision to run a pull-rod front suspension.

"The front suspension is not that a big a deal to be honest," he said. "It is a small aero benefit, a small centre of gravity benefit, and I know it is different from what people have done in the past - but it is not that big a risk to be honest.

"With a sensible structure to come you sort it out. We have gone for every last little bit of performance. That was a small benefit and it cost us a small amount of weight, but the weight is low down and in the end it was the right thing to do."

Fry said that Ferrari was flying out new hydraulic parts overnight to ensure there was no repeat of the problem that prevented Alonso running for a part of Thursday.

"The first two days we did not really have any reliability issues as such. Today there was a small hydraulic issue. We will get some new bits this evening which hopefully will see that one put to bed.

"That side of it, I think â€“ the car, reliability wise, seems quite good as normal. Performance wise, it is literally trying to get the right bits together so a lot of analysis is needed."

Asked for what his message would be to Ferrari fans, Fry said: "We are all working very hard..."
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minimark · Feb 9, 2012

...and I just talked a whole lot but never said anything.:wink:

Minidave · Feb 9, 2012

Or, he said everything - "this is why we'll be starting mid-field at best"

Or, maybe he's sandbagging?

You're right, he didn't say anything really! :mad2:

minimark · Feb 9, 2012

Has Ferrari ever gotten in a rush to unzip their pants for all to see....? :ihih:

Redbeard · Feb 9, 2012

minimark said: ↑

Has Ferrari ever gotten in a rush to unzip their pants for all to see....? :ihih:
Click to expand...

Not lately as there isnt much to show...

goaljnky · Feb 9, 2012

F1: 2012 Pecking Order Already Emerging?

From SpeedTV:

Forecasts based on early test results are usually unreliable, but a picture of the 2012 pecking order may already be emerging.

On Wednesday at Jerez, Michael Schumacher moved to the top of the times in last year's Mercedes, followed by Mark Webber in Red Bull's new title-defending RB8.

"The car was pretty competitive in winter testing last year and it's the same again this year," said the Australian driver.

Much more than a second off the pace, meanwhile, was the radical new Ferrari, whose Felipe Massa could not conceal his negative body-language when speaking with the press.

While he said the F2012 has "enormous potential," expert observers report that he was fighting notably with the handling of the car around the southern Spanish venue.

"There is a lot of work to be done, perhaps more than we expected," acknowledged the Brazilian.

"It is a very, very, very different car," Spain's El Mundo newspaper quotes him as saying.

Italian veteran Jarno Trulli, however â€” a permanent fixture on the grid since the mid-'90s â€” scoffed at those who are already picking winners and losers.

"Are you kidding?" he said in La Repubblica newspaper. "Only a fool would look at the times in the first days of testing."

Nevertheless, the paddock rumor mill is buzzing, including with suggestions Schumacher's best time was boosted by highly competitive components destined for his so-far unrevealed 2012 Mercedes.

Another rumor is that the W03, to also be raced by Nico Rosberg, is ready to test but Mercedes is holding back a radical secret weapon at the front of the car.

Webber, however, dismissed Schumacher's quick time.

"With the Brazil version of our previous car, I would have done a time in the 1.16s," he said, apparently scoffing at Schumacher's mid-1.18 best.

Even the seven-time World Champion admitted Wednesday's result is not a sign of things to come.

"I don't think we can realistically achieve a championship car from where we started last year," said the 43-year-old German.
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goaljnky · Feb 9, 2012

F1: Mercedes On Top Again In 2011 Car

More from SpeedTV:

Testing continued for a third day at Jerez Thursday as most teams changed their drivers, and three World Champions joined the action.

Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton enjoyed their first experience with the 2012 Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren, respectively.

In addition, Romain Grosjean took over the Lotus from Kimi Raikkonen, Jean-Eric Vergne replaced Daniel Ricciardo at Toro Rosso, and Bruno Senna stepped into the Williams vacated by Pastor Maldonado. It was Sennaâ€™s first appearance on track for his new team.

Nico Rosberg was back in the 2011 Mercedes, putting the team first on the time sheet for the second straight day, but it was Grosjean who was fastest of those in 2012 machinery.

"I am one of the happiest guys in the world right now," said Grosjean, who returns to the former Renault team after competing in GP2 for one season. "For sure there's margin for improvement in the tests ahead, but it's a great start to the year."

Grosjean set a best time of 1m 18.419s in the E20 that trailed only Rosberg's lap of 1:17.613.

â€œIt seems that the tires are closer performance-wise this year, with the rear tires also looking a bit stronger,â€ said Rosberg. â€œPirelli have done a good job so far. You canâ€™t really compare the lap times with other teams, but it was interesting to learn a lot with our 2011 car. Now Iâ€™m really looking forward to the two Barcelona tests with our new Silver Arrow.â€

Reigning World Champion Vettel drove 96 laps in the RB8 with a best lap of 1:19.297 that was third quickest out of 10 drivers.

â€œItâ€™s been two months since we were in the car, so it does take a couple of laps to get back in the rhythm, but the car feels fine and as we expected,â€ said the German. â€œThereâ€™s quite a loss of grip due to the regulation changes, but you get used to it quickly and then start to explore how the new car feels. So far we can be happy, we had a couple of issues, but itâ€™s normal when the car is new.â€

Following Vettel in the top five were Hamilton and Vergne.

Nico Hulkenberg, who was expected to take over the Force India in the afternoon, was unable to get on track after reserve driver Jules Bianchi crashed the car at the very start of the morning session.

Dutchman Giedo van de Garde took over the Caterham from Heikki Kovalainen, prior to handing the car to Jarno Trulli on Friday.

Absent Thursday was the HRT team, which has only planned to do two days of running with Pedro de la Rosa and last yearâ€™s car.

Unofficial Thursday test times from Jerez
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes*, 1:17.613, 118 Laps
2. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:18.419, 117 Laps
3. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:19.297, 96 Laps
4. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:19.464, 80 Laps
5. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1:19.734, 79 Laps
6. Sergio Perez, Sauber, 1:19.770, 48 Laps
7. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:20.412, 67 Laps
8. Bruno Senna, Williams, 1:21.293, 125 Laps
9. Giedo van der Garde, Caterham, 1:23.324, 74 Laps
10. Jules Bianchi, Force India, no time, 2 Laps
Click to expand...

Minidave · Feb 10, 2012

GMM newswire....

After step noses and clever exhausts, the latest buzzword in the Jerez paddock is Lotus.

The former Renault team is turning heads with its new black and gold E20 car, which has been consistently the quickest 2012 car throughout the opening test of the preseason.

"I am one of the happiest guys in the world right now," said Romain Grosjean on Thursday after easily outpacing Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.

The reigning GP2 champion was also quicker than the 2012 McLaren, driven for the first time on Thursday by Lewis Hamilton.

"The Lotus looks quite impressive," stated Hamilton.

"At the moment they are quicker and more consistent and there are more question marks about us, Ferrari and McLaren," said Sebastian Vettel.

After watching the action trackside from a corner, Force India's Nico Hulkenberg told Auto Motor und Sport that the E20 is "A missile with an incredible amount of grip."

"The Red Bull and the Lotus make the best impression," agreed 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg, who is also at Jerez.

Lewis Hamilton described Grosjean's best time â€” 1.18.4 â€” as "very good," while Red Bull's Mark Webber wanted to know what compound of Pirelli tire was fitted to the Lotus.

Told it was the medium, the Australian admitted: "Then it was a very good lap."

Grosjean smiled and said: "The car is easy to drive and predictable everywhere, especially in the fast corners, and when you go over the limit it is easy to get back."

Said Webber: "If Grosjean can do those laptimes then we will all have to watch Kimi (Raikkonen)."

Yes Webber is correct in saying that the one to watch will be Raikkonen...

...The Iceman Cometh!

Steve · Feb 14, 2012

'Renault engines offer fuel advantage' (GPUpdate.com)

13 February 2012

Renault Sport F1, the engine supplier of Lotus (formely a fully-fledged works team), Reigning World Champions Red Bull, Williams and Caterham, argue that its 2012 powerplants will hold a fuel and driveability advantage over the rest of the field.

With the act of re-fuelling being banned from 2010, a battle has been taking place to balance fuel usage and on-track performance. During the past two years the fine line between too much and not enough fuel has been difficult to decifer, but Renault says the teams it provides can race with a lower fuel load than its closest rivals.

"The Mercedes engine is about 15 horsepower more powerful than ours," Jean FranÃ§ois Caubet, Director of Renault F1 Sport, told Spain's AS. "The Ferrari also offers more power, but in terms of driveability and fuel economy the Renault engine is in front."

When discussing race advantage, Caubet explained that Renault-powered cars can line-up on the grid with 15 to 18 litres (approximately 20-24km) less fuel than its rivals.

"Red Bull can start races with 15 to 18 litres less petrol in the tank compared to the competition,'' he added of the crucial weight saving. "That makes the difference.
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Steve · Feb 14, 2012

Doubts Linger About Red Bull â€˜Coolingâ€™ Inlet (formula-one.speedtv.com)

When Adrian Newey said a mysterious 'letterbox slot'-shaped air inlet in the stepped nose of his new RB8 car is for driver cooling, a wave of speculation eased.

But not everyone inside the F1 paddock was entirely happy with that answer.

When the 2012 Red Bull was launched recently, it was apparent the stepped nose design differed from its rivals in the form of a sizeable inlet where the monocoque meets the new mandatory lower nose height.

Some surmised it must be for KERS cooling, or perhaps even an F-duct style channel through to the diffuser.

Amid suggestions Mercedes has come up with an F-duct style channel in its 2012 front wing, Red Bull designer Newey explained that the nose slot is in fact simply to cool the drivers.

"Traditionally the driver cooling slot is at the front of the nose," explained Newey, "but really for styling as much as anything we moved it to where you now see it to break up the aesthetics of the ramp."

There are, however, doubts about that explanation, particularly with close-up images showing that the main inlet is actually divided into two channels at the middle.

Indeed, the Telegraph last week quoted Newey as having said the slot is "primarily" for cooling, which suggests that it might have another use.

According to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, "the competition is suspicious," having already been outsmarted by Newey in past years in the area of flexing wings and blown diffusers.

When asked about Newey's driver-cooling explanation for the big letterbox slot-style inlet, an unnamed rival engineer smiled and said: "Then the drivers are going to get their feet wet when it rains."

Asked last week about the cooling inlet amid Jerez's cold temperatures, Mark Webber reportedly grinned and said to Autosprint: "The toes are a bit too cold now actually."
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Steve · Feb 16, 2012

A bit long and thinky for a racing thread but a good read IMO. The Bahrain controversy is sounding much like just more of the same from last year, here's one view of whether F1 should go there this year.

Why this year's Bahrain Grand Prix should not be taking place (Guardian.co.uk)

Bernie Ecclestone's dismissal of this week's street violence as 'a lot of kids having a go at the police' had horrible echoes of Mike Gatting's infamous remark in 1990.

When I started this weekly blog I wanted it to be light and fluffy, like freshly beaten egg white, the top of a cappuccino or the economic musings of George Osborne.

But today this corner feels as dark as Pluto's armpit and I feel in sombre mood. I'm talking about the Bahrain Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place on 22 April. From this distance the race will probably take place, barring another flashpoint of major significance.

But should it? I mean, all things considered, should it really go ahead? I'm not banging on about human rights now, even morality, because we'd be here all day. No, I'm looking at the Bahrain Grand Prix purely as a sporting event.

I first met John Arlott, the great former cricket correspondent of the Guardian, in 1970. This sounds like a digression, but it's not. I had just landed my first newspaper job, working on a small weekly in Lewes, and used to mooch about the County Ground in Hove hoping to meet the leviathans of the press box, Woodcock (the Times), Swanton (Telegraph) and Arlott.

Arlott was my favourite, a judgment only partly influenced by the fact that whenever I met him he would give me a pound note. Perhaps he felt sorry for this apprentice, with his scuffed shoes, drip-dry nylon shirts, greasy black hair and acne.

For his pound he wanted me to dictate his typewritten reports to the copytakers at the Guardian. He didn't like doing this himself because when he read out his own stuff, he was always tempted to revise and rewrite it.

In 1970 the sporting talk, apart from England's chances of retaining the football World Cup in Mexico, centred on the cricket tour by South Africa, and we longed to see such great players as Barry Richards, Mike Procter and Graeme Pollock.

"It shouldn't take place," I will always remember Arlott telling me, rolling his rheumy-red eyes which always looked as though they had been invaded by a bottle of his favourite claret.

"Why, because of apartheid?" I asked. "No," he said. "Well, yes, of course because of the system of apartheid in South Africa [once, when presented by an immigration landing card and asked his "Race" Arlott entered "human".]

"But what I mean is that if the South Africa tour does take place the cricket will be played behind barbed wire. There will be dogs and police and protesters and violence and not many spectators. And sport should never be played in that environment. Sport is an enjoyment, a celebration, and it should always be played in that setting."

The tour, of course, was cancelled and Arlott's profound wisdom survives the test of time. I was reminded of his words when, 20 years later, I covered Mike Gatting's rebel tour of South Africa by a group of misguided and mercenary England cricketers. At least I covered the tour until I was flung out of the country and banned for life for penning my thoughts on apartheid.

When Gatting was asked about one particular riot he replied, infamously: "There were a few people singing and dancing and that was it."

I was reminded of that less than appropriate summation when Formula One's commercial-rights holder Bernie Ecclestone, responding to this week's violence that marked the anniversary of Bahrain's "Day of Rage", told me: "There were a lot of kids having a go at the police. I don't think it's anything serious at all."

Well, I've never been to Bahrain, though I may have the opportunity in a couple of months' time. Meanwhile, though, I feel a deep unease. I know the country is changing, but there are still too many surviving hardliners in the police and military.

I have spoken to people who are out there and their reports of violence and torture are just too vivid to be untrue.

It took me back to 1990 and the terrors of South Africa, to a time when some naive folk still clung to the notion that politics and sport could be kept apart.

South Africa was never going to stay the same, but the country's sporting isolation played a big part in the changes that took place.

Last year the debate about the Bahrain Grand Prix, which was ultimately abandoned by that country's government, wounded Formula One. It is doing so once again. It may well go ahead but against a backdrop of protest and repression and few spectators, will it be a true sporting event? I think I know what John Arlott would have said.
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Redbeard · Feb 16, 2012

A few kids having a go at the Police? Really? Damn. Would someone please fire this guy? I honestly don't get why the FIA has kept him on.

Nathan · Feb 16, 2012

His wallet is the biggest, thats why.

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