The French prime minister is set to hold a press conference tomorrow afternoon where he is due to officially announce the return of the French GrandPrix to the 2013 Formula One calendar. It is expected that the Paula Ricard circuit will host the event. The circuit lasted hosted the French GrandPrix in 1990.
France has not been on the F1 calendar since Magney Cours was dropped from the calendar in 2008 as it was too expensive.
I believe that it's about time that France is back on the F1 calendar because firstly Renault are French and they play a key role in the sport as they supply engine's to RedBull, Williams, Lotus and the Cateham F1 team's so that is a third of the F1 grid. French oil company Total are also involved in the sport as a sponsor and supplier to both RedBull Racing and the Lotus F1 team.
For the time in a number of season's there are three French driver's in F1 with Romain Grosjean at Lotus, Charles Pic at Marussia and Jean Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso.
France is also the home of the FIA the world motorsport governing body. So France is certainly a key market for the sport.
The issue that may cause a problem is the fact that we have 20 race's on the calendar this year and with the two spanish circuit's alternating from next season and the addition of New Jersey to the calendar for next year the sport will have to find room for the race.
Thursday 29 March 2012
Wednesday 28 March 2012
SKY and the Beeb go head to head for China
The next race in China in the middle of April is going to an extremely interesting race for more then one reason. The first question is who will be ahead in development race? and the second is who will come out on top between Sky Sports F1 HD and BBC F1 as they head to head as for the first time this season both channels will show the race live.
So comparison's are going to made between the two. Since the start of the season the Beeb have shown a delayed highlight's package of Australia and Malaysia. It will be the first time that the two station's have been on-air at the same time.
Having watched the Sky Sports F1 live coverage and then watched the Beeb's highlight's package I have to say that I love the Sky coverage I think this is due to the fact that Sky have a number of the Beeb's key personnel like Martin Brundle and David Croft.
So comparison's are going to made between the two. Since the start of the season the Beeb have shown a delayed highlight's package of Australia and Malaysia. It will be the first time that the two station's have been on-air at the same time.
Having watched the Sky Sports F1 live coverage and then watched the Beeb's highlight's package I have to say that I love the Sky coverage I think this is due to the fact that Sky have a number of the Beeb's key personnel like Martin Brundle and David Croft.
Vettel in hot water over Malaysian GrandPrix gesture.
Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel could find himself in trouble with Formula One's governing body the FIA after an onboard camera shot emerged of Vettel apparently raising his middle finger to HRT driver Narain Kartikeyan during Sunday's Malaysian GrandPrix in which the pair were involved in an on track incident.
Vettel was also in hot water yesterday after apparently deliberately disobeying a direct order from his team to retire his car from the Sunday's race on the final lap of the race. Seb's season has got off to a terrible start as the German has failed to win so far this season as McLaren have been very quick.
In the two races so far this season Vettel has scored a second place in Australia and no points in Malaysia, meanwhile team-mate Mark Webber has recorded two fourth place finishes and currently lies fourth in the championship ahead of Vettel. The FIA are apparently set to investigate Vettel's action's during the Malaysian GrandPrix weekend.
Meanwhile RedBull are apparently going to sit down with Vettel over the next couple of week's to discuss why he appeared to ignore a direct order from his race engineer. I believe that the pressure is getting to Vettel already this year due to a poor start to his campaign as I believe he didn't expect the team to be trailing behind McLaren.
Vettel was also in hot water yesterday after apparently deliberately disobeying a direct order from his team to retire his car from the Sunday's race on the final lap of the race. Seb's season has got off to a terrible start as the German has failed to win so far this season as McLaren have been very quick.
In the two races so far this season Vettel has scored a second place in Australia and no points in Malaysia, meanwhile team-mate Mark Webber has recorded two fourth place finishes and currently lies fourth in the championship ahead of Vettel. The FIA are apparently set to investigate Vettel's action's during the Malaysian GrandPrix weekend.
Meanwhile RedBull are apparently going to sit down with Vettel over the next couple of week's to discuss why he appeared to ignore a direct order from his race engineer. I believe that the pressure is getting to Vettel already this year due to a poor start to his campaign as I believe he didn't expect the team to be trailing behind McLaren.
Tuesday 27 March 2012
Parr to leave Williams
Williams F1 Chairman Adam Parr has announced that he will leave the team at the end of this week. Parr has been with the Grove-based team since 2006 and has played an instrumental role in turning the team's fortune's around in the opening rounds of the 2012 season.
The Williams team endured their worst season in their history in 2011 a season in which they only scored 5 points. They have already outperformed where they were last year as Bruno Senna scored a fantastic 6th place in last weekend's Malaysian GrandPrix.
I think that this is brilliant for the team, they have a new driver in Bruno Senna and a new engine supply with Renault so it is going to very interesting to see how the team get on. The news that Adam Parr is leaving the team came as a massive shock as it was believed that Parr was the natural successor to Sir Frank Williams however that is no longer the case.
The Williams team endured their worst season in their history in 2011 a season in which they only scored 5 points. They have already outperformed where they were last year as Bruno Senna scored a fantastic 6th place in last weekend's Malaysian GrandPrix.
I think that this is brilliant for the team, they have a new driver in Bruno Senna and a new engine supply with Renault so it is going to very interesting to see how the team get on. The news that Adam Parr is leaving the team came as a massive shock as it was believed that Parr was the natural successor to Sir Frank Williams however that is no longer the case.
Sunday 25 March 2012
Alonso wins but Perez stars for Sauber in Malaysia
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso won today's chaotic race in Malaysia. The start of the race was rain delayed but when it got underway Sauber's Sergio Perez was the real star of the race. Perez finished the race on the podium in second place.
It was a disasterous race for Jenson Button who started the race from the front row of the grid but really struggled with his tyre's and eventually finished the race in 14th. Mark Webber had a really good race for RedBull as he finished in 4th place just behind Lewis Hamilton.
It was a day to forget for reigning champion Sebastien Vettel who was forced to retire from the race on the final lap. It was another great race for Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus. The Iceman was forced to start the race from 10th on the grid but drove a great race to finish 5th. F1 now take's a three break before the Chinese GrandPrix in Mid April.
It was a disasterous race for Jenson Button who started the race from the front row of the grid but really struggled with his tyre's and eventually finished the race in 14th. Mark Webber had a really good race for RedBull as he finished in 4th place just behind Lewis Hamilton.
It was a day to forget for reigning champion Sebastien Vettel who was forced to retire from the race on the final lap. It was another great race for Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus. The Iceman was forced to start the race from 10th on the grid but drove a great race to finish 5th. F1 now take's a three break before the Chinese GrandPrix in Mid April.
Saturday 24 March 2012
Another race, another McLaren front row lock out
Quali for tomorrow's Malaysian GrandPrix at the Sepang circuit in Sepang saw McLaren once again locked out the front row of the grid for the second week in succession with Lewis Hamilton taking pole with Jenson Button in second.
It was a great day for Michael Schumacher who claimed his best start position since his F1 return in 2010 as he will start the race from third for Mercedes GP AMG. It was aa great day for the Lots team who have shown great pace so far this weekend, as Romai Grosjean will start the race from 6th place after team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was handed a 5 place grid penalty after a gearbox change.
Kimi will start the race from 20th place but he has shown great pace so we shall see what happens tomorrow. It was a great session for Mark Webber as for the second race in a row he out qualified RedBull team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
It was a great day for Michael Schumacher who claimed his best start position since his F1 return in 2010 as he will start the race from third for Mercedes GP AMG. It was aa great day for the Lots team who have shown great pace so far this weekend, as Romai Grosjean will start the race from 6th place after team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was handed a 5 place grid penalty after a gearbox change.
Kimi will start the race from 20th place but he has shown great pace so we shall see what happens tomorrow. It was a great session for Mark Webber as for the second race in a row he out qualified RedBull team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
Friday 23 March 2012
Raikkonen handed 5 place grid penalty
Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus have a lot of work to do in tomrrow's qualifying session for the Malaysian GrandPrix. After Friday FP2 the team discovered a problem with Kimi's gearbox which required it to be replaced.
This means that Kimi who struggled in FP2 has been given an automatic 5 place grid penalty for Sunday's race. Kimi started last weekend's Australian GrandPrix from 17th place after missing out in Q1, however he drove a great race in Melbourne and finished the race in the point's in 7th place.
After FP2 the team were frastrated as Kimi had a problem with his KERS unit and they are still trying to find a solution to his power steering issue. With the prospect of rain for Sunday's race it is going to be very interesting to see what happens as Kimi and the team have done very limited wet running.
This means that Kimi who struggled in FP2 has been given an automatic 5 place grid penalty for Sunday's race. Kimi started last weekend's Australian GrandPrix from 17th place after missing out in Q1, however he drove a great race in Melbourne and finished the race in the point's in 7th place.
After FP2 the team were frastrated as Kimi had a problem with his KERS unit and they are still trying to find a solution to his power steering issue. With the prospect of rain for Sunday's race it is going to be very interesting to see what happens as Kimi and the team have done very limited wet running.
Thursday 22 March 2012
Force India to pay £700,000 to former wind tunnel partner
The Sahara Force India Formula One team has been ordered to pay former wind tunnel partner Aerolab £700,000 in damage's as a result of Force India's failure to pay outstanding charges. Aerolab later ended their agreement with Force India and went on to set up a partnership with the Caterham team (then Lotus)
where former Force India technical chief Mike Gascoyne was now employed.
Gascoyne was sacked by Force India in 2008 and went on to help businessman Tony Fernandez set up the Lotus (Caterham team). The court awarded Force India £25,000 for the accidental use of Force India intellectual property on the 2010 Lotus car. The matter has now been referred to the FIA.
In my opinion this is a crazy situation, and I think that the team's should concentrate on the racing and not the politics. This weekend sees the team's in Malaysia for round 2 of the 2012 F1 season. The race is Caterham's home race so hopefully the team will be able to have a good result.
where former Force India technical chief Mike Gascoyne was now employed.
Gascoyne was sacked by Force India in 2008 and went on to help businessman Tony Fernandez set up the Lotus (Caterham team). The court awarded Force India £25,000 for the accidental use of Force India intellectual property on the 2010 Lotus car. The matter has now been referred to the FIA.
In my opinion this is a crazy situation, and I think that the team's should concentrate on the racing and not the politics. This weekend sees the team's in Malaysia for round 2 of the 2012 F1 season. The race is Caterham's home race so hopefully the team will be able to have a good result.
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Preview Malaysia
This weekend sees the F1 circus roll into Kuala Lumper for round two of the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship at the Sepang circuit. I absolutely love the circuit because it reminds me of the classic Hockenheim circuit layout as it has two extremely long straights. The FIA confirmed today that unlike in Australia where there were two DRS zones this weekend's race will only feature one DRS zone.
The weather in Australia last weekend was very unpredictable with rain on Friday during practice which meant the team's had very little dry running in the build-up to qualifying. This weekend in Malaysia the weather is due to be very stormy and when it rains in Malaysia it is like a monsoon. So where we are expecting rain for the weekend the temperatures are going to be very high making it very humid. On Friday temperatures are expected to reach 32 degrees and on both Saturday and Sunday the temperature's are expected to reach 30 degrees.
It is going to be interesting o see if the order will have changed at all this weekend. Last year the race was dominated by Sebastian Vettel and RedBull, this year however I have a feeling that the team's will be a a lot closer if the race in Australia was anything to go but of course all circuits have very different characteristics. For example, we have just come come from Albert park in Melbourne which is a mix of public roads and park land whereas the Sepang circuit is a permanent facility.
Last weekend, McLaren dominated in qualifying locking out the front row and I wouldn't be at all surprised if they do it again this weekend. However I believe that Lotus will also be up there with Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean challenging RedBull and Mclaren as the team showed great pace in Australia, when Grosjean started 3rd and Kimi came through the field from 17th to finish 7th.
The E20 certainly has the pace over a race distance. Kimi has had mixed results in Malaysia however he got his first F1 victory there in 2003 with McLaren and he believes that with the car that Lotus have given him they will be challenging for the podium this weekend. I believe that this is the case. Kimi showed last weekend that he hadn't lost any of his speed during two year's away from the sport.
It will be very interesting to see if HRT will be allowed to race this weekend as they were well outside the 107% rule in Australia meaning that they were not permitted to race at that event.
The team were still building Pedro Dela Rosa's car on Saturday morning before qualifying and I thought it was absolutely crazy when I saw that they had to shave carbon fibre off the nose in order to fit it to the car. And I for one think this is extremely dangerous as in opinion it weakens the structure of the car. So we'll just have to wait and see if the team are allowed to race in Malaysia.
I also thought that it was ridiculous when I heard that Sky Sports F1 HD had more personnel at the race then HRT did. That is just crazy!!
I believe that this weekend's race is going to be another extremely close race and in fact the next few races in Malaysia, China and Bahrain are going to be very close in opinion it won't be until we get to Spain in May for the first race of the European season when we will see the development race really begin as the start of the European season is traditionally when we see the team's with major upgrades.
the timetable for this weekend's race is a follows:
Friday
Free Practice 1- 2:00AM
Free Practice 2 - 6:00AM
Saturday
Free Practice 3 - 5:00AM
Qualifying - 8:00AM
Sunday
Race - 8.00AM
All times are +8 hours
The weather in Australia last weekend was very unpredictable with rain on Friday during practice which meant the team's had very little dry running in the build-up to qualifying. This weekend in Malaysia the weather is due to be very stormy and when it rains in Malaysia it is like a monsoon. So where we are expecting rain for the weekend the temperatures are going to be very high making it very humid. On Friday temperatures are expected to reach 32 degrees and on both Saturday and Sunday the temperature's are expected to reach 30 degrees.
It is going to be interesting o see if the order will have changed at all this weekend. Last year the race was dominated by Sebastian Vettel and RedBull, this year however I have a feeling that the team's will be a a lot closer if the race in Australia was anything to go but of course all circuits have very different characteristics. For example, we have just come come from Albert park in Melbourne which is a mix of public roads and park land whereas the Sepang circuit is a permanent facility.
Last weekend, McLaren dominated in qualifying locking out the front row and I wouldn't be at all surprised if they do it again this weekend. However I believe that Lotus will also be up there with Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean challenging RedBull and Mclaren as the team showed great pace in Australia, when Grosjean started 3rd and Kimi came through the field from 17th to finish 7th.
The E20 certainly has the pace over a race distance. Kimi has had mixed results in Malaysia however he got his first F1 victory there in 2003 with McLaren and he believes that with the car that Lotus have given him they will be challenging for the podium this weekend. I believe that this is the case. Kimi showed last weekend that he hadn't lost any of his speed during two year's away from the sport.
It will be very interesting to see if HRT will be allowed to race this weekend as they were well outside the 107% rule in Australia meaning that they were not permitted to race at that event.
The team were still building Pedro Dela Rosa's car on Saturday morning before qualifying and I thought it was absolutely crazy when I saw that they had to shave carbon fibre off the nose in order to fit it to the car. And I for one think this is extremely dangerous as in opinion it weakens the structure of the car. So we'll just have to wait and see if the team are allowed to race in Malaysia.
I also thought that it was ridiculous when I heard that Sky Sports F1 HD had more personnel at the race then HRT did. That is just crazy!!
I believe that this weekend's race is going to be another extremely close race and in fact the next few races in Malaysia, China and Bahrain are going to be very close in opinion it won't be until we get to Spain in May for the first race of the European season when we will see the development race really begin as the start of the European season is traditionally when we see the team's with major upgrades.
the timetable for this weekend's race is a follows:
Friday
Free Practice 1- 2:00AM
Free Practice 2 - 6:00AM
Saturday
Free Practice 3 - 5:00AM
Qualifying - 8:00AM
Sunday
Race - 8.00AM
All times are +8 hours
New chassis for Massa in Malaysia this weekend
Ferrari confirmed today that Felipe Massa will be given a new chassis for this weekend's Malaysian GrandPrix after struggling for performance during last weekend's season opener in Australia. The Brazilian struggled for pace on Saturday and qualified 16th for the race.
He struggled throughout the race and eventually retired on lap 46 following an accident. Meanwhile his Ferrari team mate Fernando Alonso who also struggled in qualifying finished the race in 5th place after starting from 12th on the grid. The team were so annoyed with the result that while the rest of the team flew to Malaysia for this weekend's race in Kuala Lumper team boss Stefano Domenicali and technical director Pat Fry flew back to the team's base in Marnello for an emergency meeting.
The team have started preparing chassis 294 for Massa to use this weekend. They are hoping that the chassis change will help clear up any problems Massa had with the pace of the previous car.
Monday 19 March 2012
Button wins Australian thriller!!
McLaren's Jenson Button started the 2012 F1 season in style yesterday as he dominated the Australian GrandPrix in Melbourne. The 2009 champion started on the front row of the grid in second behind McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton however, Jenson made a much better start then Lewis and managed to get past him into turn one and went on to dominate the race to claim his third win in Australia in four year's.
RedBull's Sebastian Vettel finished in second place while a dejected Lewis Hamilton finished in third. It was a race to forget for Lotus driver Romain Grosjean who had stared in qualifying on Saturday by his E20 in third on the grid, however by the end of the race Grosjean had gone out of the race.
In contrast his team-mate and fellow F1 returnee Kimi Raikkonen had a very poor qualifying on Saturday following a mistake started the race from 17th on the grid came through the field to finish a fantastic 7th place collecting 6 points.
Meanwhile it was a great race for the Williams team as Pastor Maldonado found himself battling with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and looked set to score points for Williams however he ran slightly wide just before the end of the race resulting in a violent crash ending his race.
After a very poor showing in qualifying on Saturday Ferrari managed to score points as Fernando Alonso brought his car home in 5th place just behind the RedBull of Mark Webber who scored his best ever home GrandPrix result with 4th place.
The race was fantastic, I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait until Malaysia this weekend.
RedBull's Sebastian Vettel finished in second place while a dejected Lewis Hamilton finished in third. It was a race to forget for Lotus driver Romain Grosjean who had stared in qualifying on Saturday by his E20 in third on the grid, however by the end of the race Grosjean had gone out of the race.
In contrast his team-mate and fellow F1 returnee Kimi Raikkonen had a very poor qualifying on Saturday following a mistake started the race from 17th on the grid came through the field to finish a fantastic 7th place collecting 6 points.
Meanwhile it was a great race for the Williams team as Pastor Maldonado found himself battling with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and looked set to score points for Williams however he ran slightly wide just before the end of the race resulting in a violent crash ending his race.
After a very poor showing in qualifying on Saturday Ferrari managed to score points as Fernando Alonso brought his car home in 5th place just behind the RedBull of Mark Webber who scored his best ever home GrandPrix result with 4th place.
The race was fantastic, I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait until Malaysia this weekend.
Thursday 15 March 2012
Less then 24 hours to go
So here we are finally!!! There are now less then 24 hours until the new Formula One season gets underway. I can't wait!!! This season is shaping up to a cracker. Final preparation's have been made. The first press conferences are over and done with. Soon the talking will be over and that's when the track action gets under way. Practice one gets underway at 1.30AM Irish time tomorrow morning.
Force India announced today that McLaren test and reserve driver Gary Paffett will replace regular test driver Jules Bianchi for this weekend's race. So it will be interesting to see if Gary gets a run a run in in the Force tomorrow morning in Practice.
Marussia's Maria De Villota is in Australia with the team for her first GrandPrix weekend. I think it would be fantastic if she gets to drive the car tomorrow morning. I saw a photograph of her today in the Marussia overalls and her helmet so hopefully she will join Charles Pic in the second Marussia tomorrow for at least one of the session's tomorrow.
The race in Albert Park takes place at start of Autumn Down Under so the weather is going to be changeable.
In other news, Argentina could make a comeback to the F1 calendar as soon as next season as reports coming from the country say that a three year deal has been struck for a race to go ahead next season in Mar Del Plata, which is around 400 Kilometres from Buenos Aires where Argentina last hosted a GrandPrix back in 2998.
Should the race in Argentina go ahead next year it would mean that there will be two new circuits for 2013 as Formula One is set to add a second US race next year in New Jersey. It would also mean that South America would have two races which I believe is fantastic for the sport.
It is fantastic for the sport as we have two new races in the US. It is my belief that should Argentina come back next year Valencia will be the track that makes way for that event which if that were to happen would mean that we would have 6 European races on the calendar next season.
Now there could potentially be a problem for the sport if they are going to Argentina and that is the cost of going to an extra fly-away race as Bernie Ecclestone has again brought up the issue of placing budget caps on team's. As it stand's in 2012 Formula One has fly away races in Australia, Malaysia, China, Bahrain, USA, Canada, Singapore, Brazil, Japan, Korea and India.
So watch this space!!!
Force India announced today that McLaren test and reserve driver Gary Paffett will replace regular test driver Jules Bianchi for this weekend's race. So it will be interesting to see if Gary gets a run a run in in the Force tomorrow morning in Practice.
Marussia's Maria De Villota is in Australia with the team for her first GrandPrix weekend. I think it would be fantastic if she gets to drive the car tomorrow morning. I saw a photograph of her today in the Marussia overalls and her helmet so hopefully she will join Charles Pic in the second Marussia tomorrow for at least one of the session's tomorrow.
The race in Albert Park takes place at start of Autumn Down Under so the weather is going to be changeable.
In other news, Argentina could make a comeback to the F1 calendar as soon as next season as reports coming from the country say that a three year deal has been struck for a race to go ahead next season in Mar Del Plata, which is around 400 Kilometres from Buenos Aires where Argentina last hosted a GrandPrix back in 2998.
Should the race in Argentina go ahead next year it would mean that there will be two new circuits for 2013 as Formula One is set to add a second US race next year in New Jersey. It would also mean that South America would have two races which I believe is fantastic for the sport.
It is fantastic for the sport as we have two new races in the US. It is my belief that should Argentina come back next year Valencia will be the track that makes way for that event which if that were to happen would mean that we would have 6 European races on the calendar next season.
Now there could potentially be a problem for the sport if they are going to Argentina and that is the cost of going to an extra fly-away race as Bernie Ecclestone has again brought up the issue of placing budget caps on team's. As it stand's in 2012 Formula One has fly away races in Australia, Malaysia, China, Bahrain, USA, Canada, Singapore, Brazil, Japan, Korea and India.
So watch this space!!!
Wednesday 14 March 2012
Weather to add extra excitement to season opener!!
The weather looks set to play a major part at this weekend's season opener in Melbourne's Albert Park circuit. Forecasters are predicting heavy rain showers and potential thunder storms throughout the weekend.
Should the predicted wet weather appear it is going to throw a spanner in the works as all the preseason testing form could go out the window. During preseason testing there was very little wet weather running in Spain.
With the prospect of rain at the circuit which is only used for Formula One it is going to make the circuit extremely slippery. The rest of the year the circuit is used as a public road through Albert Park so it is going to be extremely interesting to see how this year's Pirelli tyre's cope with the predicted conditions.
I fully expect that we will see the safety make an appearance at some point during Sunday's race. The temperatures are going to play a key part over the weekend. On Friday for the opening Practice session's they are expecting high's of 23oC, low's and low's of 17oC. On Saturday temperature's will be high's of 20oC and low's of 12oC and finally on Sunday for the race there will be high's of 22oC and low's of 12oC. It will certainly be an extremely interesting season opener this weekend.
Should the predicted wet weather appear it is going to throw a spanner in the works as all the preseason testing form could go out the window. During preseason testing there was very little wet weather running in Spain.
With the prospect of rain at the circuit which is only used for Formula One it is going to make the circuit extremely slippery. The rest of the year the circuit is used as a public road through Albert Park so it is going to be extremely interesting to see how this year's Pirelli tyre's cope with the predicted conditions.
I fully expect that we will see the safety make an appearance at some point during Sunday's race. The temperatures are going to play a key part over the weekend. On Friday for the opening Practice session's they are expecting high's of 23oC, low's and low's of 17oC. On Saturday temperature's will be high's of 20oC and low's of 12oC and finally on Sunday for the race there will be high's of 22oC and low's of 12oC. It will certainly be an extremely interesting season opener this weekend.
Lotus sign deal with Microsoft
Following on from yesterday's announcement that the Caterham F1 team have signed a sponsorship deal with Visa today it was the Lotus F1 team's turn to announce a new sponsor. The team have signed a three year agreement with Microsoft Dynamics.
The new partnership will help the Lotus team to expand their business operations and will see Microsoft staff working at the team's Enstone HQ in the UK.
I believe that is fantastic news for Formula One we have the announcement of two new sponsors in the sport in the last two day's. I am sure that new sponsors will be announced in the coming day's and week's.
the weekend doesn't just see the start of the new Formula One season, it is also the start of a new era in F1 broadcasting as Sky Sports F1 are showing every practice, qualifying and of the course the race live and uninterrupted. There was also great news for the Marussia F1 team and Formula One in general as the team announced that they have signed Spanish driver Maria De Villota. She is attending her first race for the team this weekend so I think it would be fantastic if she gets the opportunity to drive the car On Friday in Practice.
The new partnership will help the Lotus team to expand their business operations and will see Microsoft staff working at the team's Enstone HQ in the UK.
I believe that is fantastic news for Formula One we have the announcement of two new sponsors in the sport in the last two day's. I am sure that new sponsors will be announced in the coming day's and week's.
the weekend doesn't just see the start of the new Formula One season, it is also the start of a new era in F1 broadcasting as Sky Sports F1 are showing every practice, qualifying and of the course the race live and uninterrupted. There was also great news for the Marussia F1 team and Formula One in general as the team announced that they have signed Spanish driver Maria De Villota. She is attending her first race for the team this weekend so I think it would be fantastic if she gets the opportunity to drive the car On Friday in Practice.
Tuesday 13 March 2012
Caterham join forces with Visa
In the first major sponsorship announcement of the year the Caterham F1 team announced today that they have entered into a multi year agreement with Visa one of the world's leading credit card company's. The deal is a corporate partnership which will see the company become the team's official hospitality and experiential partner.
The deal also means that the Visa logo will appear on the Caterham CT01 aswell as the on the driver's and team's clothing.
The deal is announced on the eve of the opening GrandPrix of the 2012 season. I believe that is this is great news not just for the Caterham team but for Formula One as a sport because the announcement means that despite the current economic down turn the company's like Visa are still extremely keen to be associated with Formula One, the pinnacle of Motorsport.
The deal also means that the Visa logo will appear on the Caterham CT01 aswell as the on the driver's and team's clothing.
The deal is announced on the eve of the opening GrandPrix of the 2012 season. I believe that is this is great news not just for the Caterham team but for Formula One as a sport because the announcement means that despite the current economic down turn the company's like Visa are still extremely keen to be associated with Formula One, the pinnacle of Motorsport.
Monday 12 March 2012
The week is finally upon us!!!!
So Formula One rolls into Albert Park, Melbourne this week for the opening race of the 2012 season. All eye's will be on RedBull's Mark Webber who is competing in what could very well be his last Australian GrandPrix. I for one don't believe that for a second as I think Mark will have a fantastic season this year and will be back to his best like we saw in 2010 when he came very close to winning the driver's title.
I am hoping however that Kimi and Lotus have a great weekend as the Iceman returns to F1. I believe that the team's will be a lot closer this season if winter testing is anything to go by. Do I think that any team will spring a surprise? Yes I think Toro Rosso and Lotus could spring a surprise. I also believe that this year will be a break-through year for the Caterham F1 team.
The team are just about to start their third season in the sport and their is a real buzz around the team as they are moving to a new facility in the UK, They have a new driver in Vitaly Petrov, who replaced Jarno Trulli over the winter and it was announced on Friday that the team have signed American driver Alexander Rossi as their test and reserve driver. So the team are certainly laying the foundations for a strong year this year. They performed very well in preseason testing.
This year I believe that the midfield team's have really upped their game and it is going to an extremely exciting year. A season in which in my opinion will see RedBull's dominance of the sport will come to an end.
With Ferrari claiming that they will not be competing for the podium in Australia this weekend it is the perfect time for Lotus or Mercedes to step up and stack their claim for third place behind RedBull and McLaren. Will Nico Rosberg take his first race win? Can Schumacher get back on the podium or will he be able to win a GrandPrix adding to his 91 victories?
I am hoping however that Kimi and Lotus have a great weekend as the Iceman returns to F1. I believe that the team's will be a lot closer this season if winter testing is anything to go by. Do I think that any team will spring a surprise? Yes I think Toro Rosso and Lotus could spring a surprise. I also believe that this year will be a break-through year for the Caterham F1 team.
The team are just about to start their third season in the sport and their is a real buzz around the team as they are moving to a new facility in the UK, They have a new driver in Vitaly Petrov, who replaced Jarno Trulli over the winter and it was announced on Friday that the team have signed American driver Alexander Rossi as their test and reserve driver. So the team are certainly laying the foundations for a strong year this year. They performed very well in preseason testing.
This year I believe that the midfield team's have really upped their game and it is going to an extremely exciting year. A season in which in my opinion will see RedBull's dominance of the sport will come to an end.
With Ferrari claiming that they will not be competing for the podium in Australia this weekend it is the perfect time for Lotus or Mercedes to step up and stack their claim for third place behind RedBull and McLaren. Will Nico Rosberg take his first race win? Can Schumacher get back on the podium or will he be able to win a GrandPrix adding to his 91 victories?
Saturday 10 March 2012
Caterham sign Rossi
The Caterham Formula One team have announced that they have signed American racing driver Alexander Rossi as their new test and reserve driver for the 2012 F1 season. The 20 year old American will continue to race in the European Formula Renault series.
He will also take part in Friday Practice for the the Norfolk based team. This means that there will be an American driver on track at November's US GrandPrix in Austin Texas. Rossi will become the first American driver to participate in his home event since Scott Speed raced in the 2007 US GrandPrix in Indianapolis.
I believe that it would be fantastic to see an American driver racing in at his home GrandPrix. We will just have to watch this space. Caterham team boss Tony Fernandes may decide to put Rossi in a race sit for the US GrandPrix as it would be great exposure for his team and for the sport aswell. The GrandPrix of Texas is due to host the second last race of the season on November 18.
He will also take part in Friday Practice for the the Norfolk based team. This means that there will be an American driver on track at November's US GrandPrix in Austin Texas. Rossi will become the first American driver to participate in his home event since Scott Speed raced in the 2007 US GrandPrix in Indianapolis.
I believe that it would be fantastic to see an American driver racing in at his home GrandPrix. We will just have to watch this space. Caterham team boss Tony Fernandes may decide to put Rossi in a race sit for the US GrandPrix as it would be great exposure for his team and for the sport aswell. The GrandPrix of Texas is due to host the second last race of the season on November 18.
Friday 9 March 2012
One week to go!!!
The talking is
over, winter testing is finished, Sky Sports F1HD has been launched Formula One
2012 has finally arrived. There are only seven day’s to go until F1 returns to
the race track down under in Australia. In my opinion if tonight’s F1 Show on
Sky Sports F1HD was anything to go by Sky are going to do a fantastic job with
Formula One this year.
All the team’s
have passed their preseason crash test’s some later the others. However that
won’t matter once Practice 1 rolls around next Friday in Albert Park Melbourne.
It is always a carnival atmosphere in Melbourne for the first race of the
season. I would love to go to the Australian GrandPrix. I am considering going
next year but I will wait and see.
This season is
goig to be an extremely close season and I don’t think for a second that
RedBull Racing will have it all their own way in 2012. They are hoping to
become the first triple consecutive Driver’s and Constructor’s chmapions in
2012.
It is great to
see the return of the Iceman to F1, there are new driver’s on the grid who are
unknown quantities, The Marrussia team are the only team on the grid who have not managed to run their 2012
car leaving the team on the back foot heading into the first race of the
season.
I believe that
the Caterham team have turned a corner for 2012 and I fully expect that they
will be challengingfor poit’s finishes this year. The team have very
experienced driver’s this year with Hekki Kovailanen joined by former Renualt
driver Vitaly Petrov who replaces Jarno Trulli for this year. I for one would
be delighted to see the team score their first ever point’s in Formula One.
The main thing
that I am lookig forward to in 2012 is the return of Kimi Raikkonen with the
Lotus F1 team. It would be fantastic if the team can carry their great
performances in preason testing forward to the first race in Australia next
weekend a track where the team scored a podium finish with Vitaly Petrov last
season.
With Ferrari
having issues in the last test of the winter and the team admitting to having
problems with the car Lotus could potentially be in a great position along with
Mercedes AMG to challenge for third place in the Constructors standing’s in
2012/
Spain to alternate races from next year?
Following on from the news yesterday that the French GrandPrix is on the verge of a comeback to the F1 calendar if the organizers can reach an agreement to alternate with the Belgian GrandPrix it has been reported that the two Spanish GrandPrix venue's will alternate their event's from next season. The Spanish GrandPrix in Barcelona is traditionally the scene of the opening round of the European season and it is also where all the team's conduct their preseason testing.
The race in Valencia made it's debut in 2008 as the European GrandPrix as Germany decided to alternate their GrandPrix between Hockenhein and the Nurburgring which was the old Euroean GranPrix. In my opinion it is crazy for a country to have more then one GrandPrix, ut doesn't matter how popular a driver is it is unfair and it is not good for the sport to have too strong a presence in one country. As it is the European GrandPrix in Valencia is not particularly popular among the local population in Valencia.
I think it is great that firstly the sport is returning to the United State's this year with the race in Austin Texas and then as of next season team's will be racing around New Jersey with the Manhattan skyline as the back drop. It is great for the States and for Formula One because the US is such a big market and is extremely important to the major car manufacturers in Formula One.
The race in Valencia made it's debut in 2008 as the European GrandPrix as Germany decided to alternate their GrandPrix between Hockenhein and the Nurburgring which was the old Euroean GranPrix. In my opinion it is crazy for a country to have more then one GrandPrix, ut doesn't matter how popular a driver is it is unfair and it is not good for the sport to have too strong a presence in one country. As it is the European GrandPrix in Valencia is not particularly popular among the local population in Valencia.
I think it is great that firstly the sport is returning to the United State's this year with the race in Austin Texas and then as of next season team's will be racing around New Jersey with the Manhattan skyline as the back drop. It is great for the States and for Formula One because the US is such a big market and is extremely important to the major car manufacturers in Formula One.
Thursday 8 March 2012
France set for F1 comeback?
France could soon find itself back on the Formula One calendar in the near future. The news comes after it was revealed that the Paul Ricard circuit could be the destination for the a future GrandPrix. France last hosted an F1 GrandPrix back in 2008 at the Magny Cour circuit.
Should the race go ahead it would likely alternate with the Belgian GrandPrix in Spa. I would love to see the French GrandPrix back in Formula One as it would certainly be a race that I would love to go to.
Should the race go ahead it would likely alternate with the Belgian GrandPrix in Spa. I would love to see the French GrandPrix back in Formula One as it would certainly be a race that I would love to go to.
Wednesday 7 March 2012
Marussia sign Maria de Villota
The Marussia Formula One team announced today that they have signed former Daytona 24 Hour driver Maria de Villota as the team's official test driver for the 2012 season. The Spaniard first drove an F1 car last season when she tested the Renault R29. She became the first female racing driver since Katherine Legge in 2005 to drive a modern Formula One car.
Maria will drive for the team at the Abu Dhabi young driver programme later this season. It is not yet known whether or not she will test for the team during Friday practice session's. I believe that it would be great to see her driving the Marussia car during a GrandPrix weekend.
The news that Maria has signed for the team is not just great news for Marussia but it is also fantastic news for Formula One as a sport. In my opinion Marussia would be very foolish not to put Marie in the car during the season as it would bring great exposure for the team.
Maria will drive for the team at the Abu Dhabi young driver programme later this season. It is not yet known whether or not she will test for the team during Friday practice session's. I believe that it would be great to see her driving the Marussia car during a GrandPrix weekend.
The news that Maria has signed for the team is not just great news for Marussia but it is also fantastic news for Formula One as a sport. In my opinion Marussia would be very foolish not to put Marie in the car during the season as it would bring great exposure for the team.
Tuesday 6 March 2012
Sky Sports F1 HD launches on Friday
This Friday 9th March sees the eagerly anticipated launch of Sky Sports dedicated Formula One channel Sky Sports F1HD. The channel is available to all existing Sky Sports customers free of charge. Sky have invested heavily in their Formula One coverage for 2012. They will show extended live coverage of all 20 races this season.
In the build-up to each GrandPrix weekend Georgie Thompson will present a Formula One magazine show on Friday evening's. Davd Croft and Anthony Davidson join the Sky Sports F1 HD team as they commentate on live coverage of Friday and Saturday practice sessions all live on Sky Sports F1 HD. Natalie Pickham joins the Sky team as Friday pit-lane reporter as role that she filled for BBC F1 last season.
David Croft will then be joined the commentator box on Saturday and Sunday by Martin Brundle. The pair did a trial run at Sky's new purpose built F1 studio a couple of week's ago as a dress rehearsal for the new season and it went extremely well. Ted Kravitz also joins Sky Sports F1 HD as pit-lane reporter, it will very interesting to see if Sky Sports continue the Ted has news feature haha.
In the build-up to each GrandPrix weekend Georgie Thompson will present a Formula One magazine show on Friday evening's. Davd Croft and Anthony Davidson join the Sky Sports F1 HD team as they commentate on live coverage of Friday and Saturday practice sessions all live on Sky Sports F1 HD. Natalie Pickham joins the Sky team as Friday pit-lane reporter as role that she filled for BBC F1 last season.
David Croft will then be joined the commentator box on Saturday and Sunday by Martin Brundle. The pair did a trial run at Sky's new purpose built F1 studio a couple of week's ago as a dress rehearsal for the new season and it went extremely well. Ted Kravitz also joins Sky Sports F1 HD as pit-lane reporter, it will very interesting to see if Sky Sports continue the Ted has news feature haha.
Alguersuari joins the BBC 5 Live commentary team
BBC Sport announced today that former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari has joined their Formula One line-up the Spaniard will join James Allen in the BBC 5 Live commentary box for the 2012 season. Alguersuari was dropped by Toro Rosso at the end of the 2011 season along with his team mate Sebastian Buemi and they were replaced at the team by Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.
With the announcement that Alguersuari has joined the BBC their F1 team is not complete. For their radio coverage of Formula One the BBC have an all new lineup with James Allen and Jaime Alguersuari replaces the Sky Sports F1HD bound David Croft and Anthony Davidson.
In the pit-lane for the BBC this year is Lee McKenzie who decided to stay with the BBC instead of following many of her colleagues to Sky Sports. This year Lee is joined by former Jordan and Jaguar technical chief Gary Anderson who takes over from Ted Travitz Gary will also be with Eddie, Jake and DC during the build up to races to discuss the new regulations and to talk about any technical issues that may come up over the course of a GrandPrix weekend. This is a position that Gary has also held with Ireland's Formula One broadcaster Setanta Sports.
While the front of house team remains the same with Jake Humphrey presenting alongside Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard for a fourth consecutive season there is a change in the TV commentary box as former Eurosport F1 commentator Ben Edwards takes over from Martin Brundle as the BBC's lead commentator, he will be joined in the commentary box this year by David Coulthard who returns to the commentator box for a second year.
Monday 5 March 2012
The wait is nearly over!!
The wait is nearly over for those
of you like myself who are massive Formula One fans. The opening race of the
2012 season in Melbourne, Australia gets underway in 13 day’s. This year
promises to be a fantastic year. The first thing that we have to look at is the
fact this year there isn’t just one world champion on the grid but there are 6
with the return of 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen who is back in Formula
One for the first time since the end of 2009.
The Finn has signed a two year deal
to race for the Lotus team. He is joined at Lotus by fellow F1 returnee and
reigning GP2 champion Roamain Grosjean.
Lotus are not the only team with an all-new driver line-up for 2012 as
Toro Rosso two new driver’s as Australian Daniel Ricciardo joins the team after
an impressive debut with HRT in 2011, he is joined at the team by RedBull
backed Jean-Eric Vergne.
I believe that RedBull will not
have it all their own way this year, they have strugged in preseason testing
but have shown good pace. The team introduced a new chassis for the last two
day’s on winter testing in Barcelona at the weekend but unfortunately for the
team and reigning champion Sebastian Vettel they had reliability issue’s as
they had a gearbox failure during the final test session.
I believe that the BBC are going to
have to work extra hard this season for the ten races that they are showing
live as they have a lot to make up for with the announcement last July that
they would share F1 coverage with Sky Sports in 2012 in order for the BBC to
save money. As a result of this deal the BBC F1 team have lost many of their
key people including Martin Brundle, Ted Kravitz and David Croft.
However the Beeb have managed to
hold onto Jake Humphrey, Eddie Jordan, David Coulthard and Lee McKenzie. In
fact Lee McKenzie has been tipped to fill in presenting BBC’s F1 coverage in
July when Jake will be busy presenting coverage of the London 2012 Olympic
Games.
So we are set for some very
exciting and intriguing battles both on and certainly off the race track this
season.
I for one cannot wait until the new
F1 season gets underway. It is going to be a very big year for two drivers in
particular Mark Webber and Felipe Massa will be both out to impress their
respective bosses as both are out of contract at the end of 2012.
After a very strong 2010 campaign
Webber really struggled to match the pace of Vettel in 2011 scoring only one
victory compared to Vettel’s eleven. He will be hoping to hit the ground
running when the teams take to the track in Melbourne.
As for Felipe Massa, I am extremely
surprised that Ferrari has held onto him for 2012, as he did not perform at all
for the team last season as the Brazilian failed to score a single podium let
alone a win for the Scuderia. The Italian team endured a very tough season last
year by their standards as they only managed to win one race when Fernando
Alonso won the British GrandPrix at Silverstone. The team have made some major
changes to their technical department to help them regain an edge over their
rivals this includes recruiting Pat Fry from McLaren as their new technical
chief so only time will tell if the changes have worked for the team. Their
last driver’s title came in 2007 when Kimi Raikkonen won.
It would appear that the McLaren
team have built have a very good car for 2012 as both Jenson Button and Lewis
Hamilton have performed well in preseason testing. Button is into his third
season with the Woking squad and after has certainly established himself as
team leader at McLaren after comprehensively beating Lewis Hamilton in 2011 to
finish a distant second in the championship.
Lewis will have to pull something
very special out of the bag this season as he is under pressure to perform in
what is the final year of his current McLaren contract. A deal which there
appears to be no urgency to extend despite speculation in recent day’s that
Mercedes are possibly lining up for a move on Hamilton should Schumacher retire
at the end of this season as his contract with Mercedes runs out.
Mercedes Benz motorsport boss
Norbert Haug has been very quick to quell the Hamilton speculation as the team
have said that they will sit down with Schumacher to sort out their plans for
next season when both party’s are good and ready.
However I believe that if Mercedes
were to lure Hamilton away from McLaren they would have a fantastic line-up
with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg who know each other very well after being
team-mates in the junior formulae and who would be very evenly matched and would
really push each other to get the best out of the car. E will just have to
watch this space.
With so many seat’s potentially up
for grabs for the 2013 season this year promises to be and incredible season
which I CANNOT wait to get underway. Iwill certainly be setting my alarm clock
for 4.30AM on Sunday March 18th!!
Kubica comeback still a while away yet
Former Renault F1 driver Robert Kubica is still a long way off a decision on his Formula One future. The Polish driver missed the entire of the 2011 Formula One season after he was nearly killed in rally crash in Italy last January.
He partially severed his left hand in the accident and fractured his leg after part of the car's suspension penetrated his car. He underwent several surgery's and had to have his hand reattached following the accident. In January of this year while recovering from his accident the Pole suffered a major setback after he slipped and fell on an icy road reopening a fracture in his right leg.
I feel really sorry for Kubica because he is an extremely quick driver and has had his fair share of bad crashes. At the 2007 Canadian GrandPrix in Moontreal he crashed extremely heavily and missed the following race n the United States his place was taken by none other then Sebastian Vettel.
It had been thought that that Kubica was going to be allowed to run in an old Renault however his contract ran out in December last year. It is thought that Kubica may be in line to replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari for 21013 should the Italian team decide to drop the Brazilian.
Setanta to carry LIVE F1 Coverage in 2012
Sentata Sports Ireland has announced that they will carry Live coverage of all 20 race's of the 2012 Formula One season. Last year Setanta carried coverage of all races, however they bought the commentator and live pictures from BBC Sport.
It is going to be extremely interesting to see what way Setanta Sports do the commentary. They have announced that they are showing Live coverage of Practise and the race coverage, however I believe what they are going to do is buy the coverage from Sky Sports. The reason I believe this is because Setanta used to employ former Jordan technical director Gary Anderson as their pit-lane reporter however he has been announced as the BBC's new technical correspondent.
When Setanta Sport took over the coverage of Formula One from RTE they had David Kennedy and Declan Quigley commentating from the grandstands during the each race so it will be interesting to see what Setanta do with their F1 coverage. If they are sending staff to each GrandPrix I believe that there is absolutely no way that they will be able to compete with Sky Sports F1 HD as BSKYB are investing millions of pounds into their coverage of the sport over the next coupe of years.
I do however believe that an Irish broadcaster has Live coverage of Formula One for 2012 no matter what form it takes even if it is bought from Sky which I believe it will be as Setanta Sports is available on subscription to Sky but is also available free to UPC Digital subscribers, as this June Bank Holiday Dublin will play host to Formula One as Bavaria City Racing comes to the street's of Dublin.
It is going to be extremely interesting to see what way Setanta Sports do the commentary. They have announced that they are showing Live coverage of Practise and the race coverage, however I believe what they are going to do is buy the coverage from Sky Sports. The reason I believe this is because Setanta used to employ former Jordan technical director Gary Anderson as their pit-lane reporter however he has been announced as the BBC's new technical correspondent.
When Setanta Sport took over the coverage of Formula One from RTE they had David Kennedy and Declan Quigley commentating from the grandstands during the each race so it will be interesting to see what Setanta do with their F1 coverage. If they are sending staff to each GrandPrix I believe that there is absolutely no way that they will be able to compete with Sky Sports F1 HD as BSKYB are investing millions of pounds into their coverage of the sport over the next coupe of years.
I do however believe that an Irish broadcaster has Live coverage of Formula One for 2012 no matter what form it takes even if it is bought from Sky which I believe it will be as Setanta Sports is available on subscription to Sky but is also available free to UPC Digital subscribers, as this June Bank Holiday Dublin will play host to Formula One as Bavaria City Racing comes to the street's of Dublin.
Marussia launch MR01 at Silverstone while HRT run new car in Barcelona.
The Marussia Formula One team unveiled their 2012 car dubbed the MR-01 to the media at Silverstone this morning. The Cosworth powered car is one of only two cars on this year's grid not to feature a stepped nose. McLaren are the only team who do not have a stepped nose on their car, ironically since last year Marussia have had a technical partnership with McLaren Applied Technology a division of the McLaren Group parent company of the McLaren Formula One team.
The design of the new MR-01 was overseen by Marussia's technical consultant and former Renault technical chief Pat Symonds. The new car made it's track debut at Silverstone this morning. Their driver's Timo Glock and new signing Charles Pic will share driving duties today and tomorrow. The team are in a race against time to get their car's ready for the season opener in Melbourne next weekend.
Meanwhile as all the other team's packed up and went home from Barcelona, HRT ran their new car for the first time today, the team are using a rule where are allowed to carry out filming testing day's. There are a number of restrictions in place however as the team are only allowed to run Pirelli's demonstration tyre's and are limited to running the car over 100 kilometres.
The design of the new MR-01 was overseen by Marussia's technical consultant and former Renault technical chief Pat Symonds. The new car made it's track debut at Silverstone this morning. Their driver's Timo Glock and new signing Charles Pic will share driving duties today and tomorrow. The team are in a race against time to get their car's ready for the season opener in Melbourne next weekend.
Meanwhile as all the other team's packed up and went home from Barcelona, HRT ran their new car for the first time today, the team are using a rule where are allowed to carry out filming testing day's. There are a number of restrictions in place however as the team are only allowed to run Pirelli's demonstration tyre's and are limited to running the car over 100 kilometres.
Sunday 4 March 2012
Lotus on top as 2012 preseason testing ends
Lotus GP ended preseason testing in Barcelona today in the best possible way as Kimi Raikkonen topped the timesheets for the Enstone-based team. Kimi's fastest time of 1m22.030s set in this morning's session was enough for the Finn to stay top for the rest of the day. Kimi completed a comprehensive 65 lap race simulation during which time he used four sets of Pirelli's 2012 spec rubber. three sets of the soft compound and one set of the more durable hard tyre. During this period Kimi set consistent times and was only ever 1.3 seconds slower then his fastest time. This bods very well for the start of the season in Melbourne in two week's time as Lotus have performed extremely well during preseason testing and in my opinion have looked to be the most consistently quick team of the Winter testing period.
Not only did Kimi set the fastest time of the day, he also set the fastest time of the entire test programme in Barcelona over the last two week's despite the fact that Lotus did not run at all during the first week of testing in Barcelona. The team will also be delighted with the fact that Kimi was able to complete the most number of lap's today as the Iceman completed a staggering 121 lap's, racking up the mileage on the E20.
Elsewhere Fernando Alonso completed Ferrari's test programme in 2nd place 0.220s behind Raikkonen. There were two major surprises from today's test, the first was that reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel driving the 'new' RedBull RB8 was at the bottom of the timesheet's in 11th place following a gearbox problem and an off track moment in which he damaged the front wing on the RedBull. The German only managed to complete 23 lap's of the Circuit De Catalunya.
RedBull have a race against time now to sort out their car before their car's are dispatched to Melbourne later this week.
The second surprise of the day was that the Williams of Bruno Senna finished the day in 3rd place just 0.226s behind Raikkonen. Now I know not to read too much into the preason testing times as all the team's are testing different things however I believe that this season could be an extremely close season among the top team's. It's all to play for a the first race of the season in Melbourne which is just two week's away, infact by this time two week's we will know who the winner of the first race was.
I have also been very surprised by McLaren's pace during preseason testing. The team have been up and down the timesheets throughout but have proven to a built what appears to be an extremely reliable car. Lewis Hamilton finished preseason testing in 6th place today.
I also believe that the Caterham team are going to be a big surpirse this year, I reckon they will be regularly challenging for points this season as the team have been performing very well in preseason testing. Their new signing Vitaly Petrov finished today in 7th place ahead of the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher.
So in conclusion, preseason testing has shown many surprises with many team's showing very strong form so we will have to wait and see who is the fastest team in Melbourne, one thing is for certain I firmly believe that RedBull Racing's two year dominance of the sport may be challenged in 2012!!
Not only did Kimi set the fastest time of the day, he also set the fastest time of the entire test programme in Barcelona over the last two week's despite the fact that Lotus did not run at all during the first week of testing in Barcelona. The team will also be delighted with the fact that Kimi was able to complete the most number of lap's today as the Iceman completed a staggering 121 lap's, racking up the mileage on the E20.
Elsewhere Fernando Alonso completed Ferrari's test programme in 2nd place 0.220s behind Raikkonen. There were two major surprises from today's test, the first was that reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel driving the 'new' RedBull RB8 was at the bottom of the timesheet's in 11th place following a gearbox problem and an off track moment in which he damaged the front wing on the RedBull. The German only managed to complete 23 lap's of the Circuit De Catalunya.
RedBull have a race against time now to sort out their car before their car's are dispatched to Melbourne later this week.
The second surprise of the day was that the Williams of Bruno Senna finished the day in 3rd place just 0.226s behind Raikkonen. Now I know not to read too much into the preason testing times as all the team's are testing different things however I believe that this season could be an extremely close season among the top team's. It's all to play for a the first race of the season in Melbourne which is just two week's away, infact by this time two week's we will know who the winner of the first race was.
I have also been very surprised by McLaren's pace during preseason testing. The team have been up and down the timesheets throughout but have proven to a built what appears to be an extremely reliable car. Lewis Hamilton finished preseason testing in 6th place today.
I also believe that the Caterham team are going to be a big surpirse this year, I reckon they will be regularly challenging for points this season as the team have been performing very well in preseason testing. Their new signing Vitaly Petrov finished today in 7th place ahead of the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher.
So in conclusion, preseason testing has shown many surprises with many team's showing very strong form so we will have to wait and see who is the fastest team in Melbourne, one thing is for certain I firmly believe that RedBull Racing's two year dominance of the sport may be challenged in 2012!!
Update from this morning's test
RedBull Racing had a problematic morning as Sebastian Vettel could only manage a handful of lap's due to a gearbox issue, the German later lost track time again after breaking the front wing on his RB8. His team-mate Mark Webber said yesterday that he saw little improvement in the 'new' heavily revised chassis that the team sent out to Barcelona on Friday night.
So far today Kimi Raikkonen has completed a total of 90 lap's in E20 and is currently on track with Pirelli's hard tyre compound.
So far today Kimi Raikkonen has completed a total of 90 lap's in E20 and is currently on track with Pirelli's hard tyre compound.
Kimi back up to speed as Alonso leads final morning
Lotus were right back up to speed as Kimi Raikkonen set the third fastest time in this morning's session. So far the Finn has completed 38 laps with a fastest time of of 1m.301s just 0.51s behind Fernando Alonso in 1st. Bruno Senna is currently 2nd for Williams, with 18 minute's to go before the end of the morning session.
RedBull haven't had the best start to the last day of testing as Sebastian Vettel is rooted to the bottom of the timesheet's in 10th, with a fastest time of 1m.23.608s 1.3 seconds behind Fernando Alonso. The German has only managed to complete 15 lap's.
I find it extremely interesting that all the car's are extremely close with only 1.3 seconds separating 1st from 10th.
I believe that if this a sign of thing's to come it's going to be an extremely close season. All the big team's and midfield team's have posted fast time's throughout preseason testing. Toro Rosso have been extremely quick over the last few day's and Lotus have certainly recovered from their problem's from last week.
Kimi Raikkonen has just gone top for Lotus, two tenths of a second ahead of Fernando Alonso as this morning's session comes to an end.
The times from this morning are as follows:
1st Kimi Raikkonen Lotus, 1m.22.030s
2nd Fernando Alonso Ferrari, 1m.22.250s
3rd Bruno Senna Williams, 1m.22.296s
4th Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1m.22.312s
5th Kamui Kobayashi Sauber, 1m.22.386s
6th Lewis Hamiltn McLaren, 1m.22.430s
7th Vitaly Petrov Caterham, 1m.22.795s
8th Michael Schumacher Mercedes, 1m.22.939s
9th Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso, 1m.23.393s
10th Sebastian Vettel RedBull, 1m.23.608s
Testing resumes after lunch
RedBull haven't had the best start to the last day of testing as Sebastian Vettel is rooted to the bottom of the timesheet's in 10th, with a fastest time of 1m.23.608s 1.3 seconds behind Fernando Alonso. The German has only managed to complete 15 lap's.
I find it extremely interesting that all the car's are extremely close with only 1.3 seconds separating 1st from 10th.
I believe that if this a sign of thing's to come it's going to be an extremely close season. All the big team's and midfield team's have posted fast time's throughout preseason testing. Toro Rosso have been extremely quick over the last few day's and Lotus have certainly recovered from their problem's from last week.
Kimi Raikkonen has just gone top for Lotus, two tenths of a second ahead of Fernando Alonso as this morning's session comes to an end.
The times from this morning are as follows:
1st Kimi Raikkonen Lotus, 1m.22.030s
2nd Fernando Alonso Ferrari, 1m.22.250s
3rd Bruno Senna Williams, 1m.22.296s
4th Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1m.22.312s
5th Kamui Kobayashi Sauber, 1m.22.386s
6th Lewis Hamiltn McLaren, 1m.22.430s
7th Vitaly Petrov Caterham, 1m.22.795s
8th Michael Schumacher Mercedes, 1m.22.939s
9th Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso, 1m.23.393s
10th Sebastian Vettel RedBull, 1m.23.608s
Testing resumes after lunch
Saturday 3 March 2012
Perez stays top as steering issue curtails Kimi
Sauber's Sergio Perez managed to mantain his place at the top of the timesheets in Barcelona today as day 3 of the final preseason test came to a close. The Mexican completed 114 lap's with a fastest time of 1m 22.094s to finish just nine thousandths of a second ahead of McLaren's Jenson Button. It was another great day for the Toro Rosso team as Daniel Ricciardo finished the day in third place just ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
It was tough day at the office for Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus however as a steering problem this morning meant that Kimi lost an hour of this morning's session and only managed to complete 43 lap's today. The finn finished the day at the bottom of the timesheets in 10th place. However I believe he will bounce back tomorrow as Winter testing and the 2012 preseason test programme concludes.
It was tough day at the office for Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus however as a steering problem this morning meant that Kimi lost an hour of this morning's session and only managed to complete 43 lap's today. The finn finished the day at the bottom of the timesheets in 10th place. However I believe he will bounce back tomorrow as Winter testing and the 2012 preseason test programme concludes.
HRT to miss Barcelona test
The HRT Formula One team has announced that they will miss the rest of the Barcelona preseason test. the 2012 preseason test programme finishes tomorrow evening and despite not being able to run their new car so far the team are hoping to run the car in Barcelona on Monday.
The FIA Sporting Regulations state that preseason testing must be finished by 5th March however team's are allowed to run their car's after this date for 'filming and promotional purposes'. HRT are expecting to run a limited programme on Monday however they will not be permitted to run the car on 2012 spec Pirelli tyres.
The FIA Sporting Regulations state that preseason testing must be finished by 5th March however team's are allowed to run their car's after this date for 'filming and promotional purposes'. HRT are expecting to run a limited programme on Monday however they will not be permitted to run the car on 2012 spec Pirelli tyres.
Sauber fastest in morning practice on day 3
Sauber's Sergio Perez was the fastest driver for Sauber F1 this morning as day 3 of the final preseason test got underway. The Mexican was just ahead of Daniel Ricciardo who finished second. McLaren and RedBull have brought major upgrades for the final test despite this however, Mark Webber is currently 7th while Jenson Button is 9th.
It has been a very low key morning for Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus, the Finn returned to the cockpit of the E20 for the first time since Jerez at the start of February. Unfortunately for Kimi and the team he has only managed to complete 14 laps and is 4.6 seconds behind Perez.
It has been a very low key morning for Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus, the Finn returned to the cockpit of the E20 for the first time since Jerez at the start of February. Unfortunately for Kimi and the team he has only managed to complete 14 laps and is 4.6 seconds behind Perez.
Friday 2 March 2012
'New chassis' for RedBull enroute to Barcelona
Lotus F1 have been the team to beat for the last two day's in Barcelona however that is likely to change tomorrow morning, with the news that reigning champion's RedBull Racing have sent a 'new chassis' not just new parts but a whole new car to Barcelona in time for tomorrow morning's 9AM start.
Sebastian Vettel finished today's session in third place and the team decided that they would bring a new chassis to the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. So watch this space to see how RBR do over the final two day's of preseson testing.
Sebastian Vettel finished today's session in third place and the team decided that they would bring a new chassis to the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. So watch this space to see how RBR do over the final two day's of preseson testing.
Grosjean stays top on Day 2
It was another great day for the Lotus team today as for the second day in a row Romain Grosjean was the fastest driver by the end of the session. Grosjean completed a total of 123 laps and ended the day with a time of 1m 22.614s. The Frenchman was just over half a second faster then second placed Jean Eric Vergne. Reigning champion Sebastian Vettel was 3rd fastest.
The major surprise of the day came as Caterham's Heikki Kovailanen finished the day 5th overall completing 124 laps. For the first time in preseason testing for 2012 a team ran two car's on the same team. Williams ran both their driver's Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado. Unfortunately for Williams both driver's were 9th and 10th out of ten drivers. However this doesn't mean much in preseason testing.
As I mentioned earlier this week the biggest test for the team's will come during Friday Practice One for the Australian GrandPrix on 16th March.
Testing continues tomorrow when Kimi Raikkonen takes over from Romain Grosjean for the final two day's of 2012 preseason testing. The Lotus team will be hoping that the Iceman can continue where Grosjean left off by being fastest on Saturday and Sunday. It would be the perfect way for the team finish preseason testing after they missed the entire test session in Barcelona last week.
Next Sunday 11th March from 8 - 9PM Kimi will attempt to become the fastest F1 driver around the Top Gear test track as he is the Star in the Reasonably Priced Car for the season finale of the popular TV series.
The major surprise of the day came as Caterham's Heikki Kovailanen finished the day 5th overall completing 124 laps. For the first time in preseason testing for 2012 a team ran two car's on the same team. Williams ran both their driver's Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado. Unfortunately for Williams both driver's were 9th and 10th out of ten drivers. However this doesn't mean much in preseason testing.
As I mentioned earlier this week the biggest test for the team's will come during Friday Practice One for the Australian GrandPrix on 16th March.
Testing continues tomorrow when Kimi Raikkonen takes over from Romain Grosjean for the final two day's of 2012 preseason testing. The Lotus team will be hoping that the Iceman can continue where Grosjean left off by being fastest on Saturday and Sunday. It would be the perfect way for the team finish preseason testing after they missed the entire test session in Barcelona last week.
Next Sunday 11th March from 8 - 9PM Kimi will attempt to become the fastest F1 driver around the Top Gear test track as he is the Star in the Reasonably Priced Car for the season finale of the popular TV series.
Vergne fastest on second morning as Lotus continue to improve
Toro Rosso once agin showed that they are quick as F1 newcomer Jean Eric Vergne was fastest for the team in this morning's test session. The Frenchman completed completed 31 laps with a fastest time of 1m 23.126s to finish just ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. It was another strong performance from the Lotus team as Romain Grosjean secured the 3rd fastest time.
Testing resumes after lunch and as usual I will have a full round-up of today's action this evening.
Testing resumes after lunch and as usual I will have a full round-up of today's action this evening.
Williams steps down from team Board
The Williams F1 team announced this morning that team co-founder Sir Frank Williams is stepping from the team's board of directors. The team have been quick to point out however that Frank is not retiring from Formula One as he will stay on as team principal.
The news comes as little surprise as Patrick Head, the former technical director of the team resigns from the board of directors and called time on his long F1 career last year to concentrate on Williams Hybrid Energy business.
The team also announced today that Frank Williams daughter Claire will take up a position on the board of management as director of Marketing and Communications taking over from Dominic Reilly who will leave the team at the end of March.
The changes at Williams come on the foot of the team's worst ever F1 campaign in 2011 as they only managed to score 5 points in 19 races. The team have moved quickly to ensure that they don't have a repeat performance in 2012 by recruiting Bruno Senna to drive alongside Paster Maldonado. The team also have a new engine supplier for 2012 as Renault take over from Cosworth at the Grove based team. And finally the team has hired ex McLaren chief designer Mike Coghlan who was at the centre of the sports spy scandal in 2007, to head up the team's technical department.
Hopefully with the change's that the team have made for 2012 they will be able to return to a position in which they are regularly scoring points. The team's last world championship win came in 1997. I believe that the team have done a fantastic job in bringing in Bruno Senna as he is an extremely talented driver as he proved last season when he drove for Lotus Renault.
Time will tell if the changes that been made have been affective or not.
The news comes as little surprise as Patrick Head, the former technical director of the team resigns from the board of directors and called time on his long F1 career last year to concentrate on Williams Hybrid Energy business.
The team also announced today that Frank Williams daughter Claire will take up a position on the board of management as director of Marketing and Communications taking over from Dominic Reilly who will leave the team at the end of March.
The changes at Williams come on the foot of the team's worst ever F1 campaign in 2011 as they only managed to score 5 points in 19 races. The team have moved quickly to ensure that they don't have a repeat performance in 2012 by recruiting Bruno Senna to drive alongside Paster Maldonado. The team also have a new engine supplier for 2012 as Renault take over from Cosworth at the Grove based team. And finally the team has hired ex McLaren chief designer Mike Coghlan who was at the centre of the sports spy scandal in 2007, to head up the team's technical department.
Hopefully with the change's that the team have made for 2012 they will be able to return to a position in which they are regularly scoring points. The team's last world championship win came in 1997. I believe that the team have done a fantastic job in bringing in Bruno Senna as he is an extremely talented driver as he proved last season when he drove for Lotus Renault.
Time will tell if the changes that been made have been affective or not.
Thursday 1 March 2012
Returning Lotus fastest on Day 1
It was a great return to preseason testing for Lotus F1 as Romain Grosjean topped the timesheet's on the opening day of the final preseason testing in Barcelona. The team were forced to miss all of last week's session in Barcelona due to a chassis problem however that was put behind them today as the team's hard work paid of. Romain completed 73 lap's setting a fastest time of 1m 23.252s.
The Frenchman was two tenths of a second faster then Jenson Button in second. In today's session the team's were again extremely close as 2.3 seconds separated Romain Grodjean from Pastor Maldonado who was in 10th place for Williams.
Nico Rosberg won the prize for most laps the German completed 128 laps of the Circuit Du Catalunya to finish the day 5th fastest. Once again I have been very pleasantly surprised by the pace that Toro Rosso and Lotus have shown throughout testing. I have also been shocked by Ferrari's apparent lack of performance Felipe Massa finished the day in 8th place. I know not to read too much into preseason testing times as we don't know what the team's are trying out.
The real test for the team's will come in just over two week's time when on track action gets underway for the Australian GrandPrix.
Testing at Barcelona continues tomorrow.
The Frenchman was two tenths of a second faster then Jenson Button in second. In today's session the team's were again extremely close as 2.3 seconds separated Romain Grodjean from Pastor Maldonado who was in 10th place for Williams.
Nico Rosberg won the prize for most laps the German completed 128 laps of the Circuit Du Catalunya to finish the day 5th fastest. Once again I have been very pleasantly surprised by the pace that Toro Rosso and Lotus have shown throughout testing. I have also been shocked by Ferrari's apparent lack of performance Felipe Massa finished the day in 8th place. I know not to read too much into preseason testing times as we don't know what the team's are trying out.
The real test for the team's will come in just over two week's time when on track action gets underway for the Australian GrandPrix.
Testing at Barcelona continues tomorrow.
Barichello joins Kanaan at KVRacing for 2012
KVRacing
announced today that they have signed Brazilian ex-F1 driver Rubens Barrichello
for the 2012 IndyCar season. The Brazilian joins countryman and IndyCar veteran
Tony Kanaan along with EJ Viso at the team.
Barrichello, became
the most experienced F1 driver in the sport’s history and has raced for Jordan,
Stewart, Ferrari, BAR- Honda, Honda, Brawn and Williams. He endured an
extremely tough final season in Formula One in 2011 with the Williams team a
season which saw the former chamionship winning team only score 5 points. It
was the team’s worst performance in it’s history.
Barrichello has
signed up to compete in the entire 2012 Indycar season. This also includes the
2012 Indianapolis 500. He joins a long list of ex F1 driver’s to make the
switch to America’s premium single seater motor racing category. Other F1
driver’s to compete in IndyCar include, Mario Andretti, his son Michael, Justin
Wilson, Juan Paoblo Montoya, Jacques Villenuve and Nigel Mansell who famously
left F1 after winning the 1992 F1 championship to compete in IndyCar before
returning to F1 in 1994 temporarily taking over the Williams car following the
tragic death of Ayrton Senna.
Barrichello
tested for KVRacing, Technology last month and was instantly quick, setting
competitive times from the word go. In fact he faster then Tony Kanaan during
testing, as the team testing their new chassis the DW12 that is new to the IZOD
IndyCar Series for 2012.
Morning update: Button fastest
Today sees F1 roar back into action for the final preseason test in Barcelona in Spain before the team's head to Melbourne, Australia for the first race of the season in just over two week's time. This week's test is crucial for the Lotus F1 team after they missed all of last week's session. So far this morning Romain Grosjean has put in solid time's and currently lies in 5th place. The Frenchman has so completed 29 laps with a fastest time of 1m 24.232s.
McLaren's Jenson Button is the current pace setter. Robert Perez is 2nd, with Mark Webber is 3rd. Ferrari have had a sluggish start to the day as Felipe Massa currently lies 7th for Ferrari while Nico Rosberg is 8th.
As the team's break for lunch Romain Grosjean has moved from 5th to 3rd and has completed 37 lap's so far today. I will have a full update on today's running this evening.
McLaren's Jenson Button is the current pace setter. Robert Perez is 2nd, with Mark Webber is 3rd. Ferrari have had a sluggish start to the day as Felipe Massa currently lies 7th for Ferrari while Nico Rosberg is 8th.
As the team's break for lunch Romain Grosjean has moved from 5th to 3rd and has completed 37 lap's so far today. I will have a full update on today's running this evening.
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