Motorsport

Todt steers F1 into tranquil waters

Alan Henry — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:13:46 GMT

Behind the scenes in F1 there are definite signs that the sport is moving into more tranquil waters under the stewardship of new FIA president Jean Todt.

Whatever one thought of Max Mosley, his predecessor in this exacting role, his was always going to be a tough act to follow for the Frenchman who was boss of the Ferrari F1 team for so many glorious years.

Alonso wins Bahrain Grand Prix - report and picture gallery

First signs are that Todt is proving to be clear-sighted and measured. He clearly appreciates the dilemma faced by the new teams in F1 as they face the singular challenge of getting up to a competitive speed, but by the same token he believes that the 107 per cent qualifying cut-off should be re-introduced to the sport in a bid to put competitors under a realistic degree of pressure which is commensurate with the status of the F1 business as a whole. In that respect there are surely few in the paddock who believe he is mistaken in his reasoning.

There is nothing like intense pressure to stimulate a competitor into raising the standard of its game and the starkness of being consigned to the list under the heading ‘DNQ’ is humiliating to the point where it challenges your very presence in the paddock.

The other thing one most applaud the governing body for is the initiative whereby retired F1 drivers will be drafted in as guest stewards during the course of the season. Alain Prost filled the role at Bahrain and we, amongst others, we will be seeing Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell acting in this crucial advisory capacity later in the year.

Wise hands giving a gentle touch to the tiller in potentially difficult situations will be a positive development indeed.

F1 2010 starts with a row

Alan Henry — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:15:48 GMT

Renault F1 managing director Bob Bell has ensured that the new world championship season has got off to a potentially acrimonious start in Bahrain this weekend by slamming the FIA for giving its approval to the new rear wing design on the latest McLaren-Mercedes which he says is “totally illegal.”

Questions had been raised in private by at least two teams about the McLaren system which enables drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button to close off a vent in the cockpit of their cars which has the effect of stalling the rear wing in order to generate more straight line speed.

It remains to be seen whether Renault submits a formal protest over the wing’s eligibility after Sunday's race.

"It is fundamentally clear the McLaren wing design is totally illegal,” said Bell in a mood of exasperation.

"They have driven a cart horse through the spirit of the rules and regulations. They have opened up another arms race. It's going to cost everybody a lot of money. The governing bodies need to be a lot stronger with these things."

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has insisted one clever person within his organisation has simply managed to find a way to circumvent those rules.

This is precisely the sort of dispute the FIA was hoping to avoid as a new generation of budget-caped F1 teams join the field which, it had been hoped, monopolise the media’s attention rather than another arcane and protracted row about technicalities.

Technorati Tags: Renault, F1, McLaren, Mercedes, Button, Hamilton, Bob Bell

Jenson versus Lewis

Alan Henry — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:11:12 GMT

Forget Michael Schumacher and his Mercedes. Look past Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari. And don't spend more than a few seconds worrying about Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in their Red Bulls. No Sir!

Because when the cars roll out onto the circuit at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit on Friday, the British tabloid media will be besotted with nothing else but Jenson versus Lewis and the unfolding saga of McLaren.

If I may borrow from Basil Fawlty, it's the bleedin' obvious that's going to be the problem. The fact that, from the very first session, one of them is always going to be quicker than the other.

You might think at this point that I've taken leave of my senses - temporarily or otherwise - but the point I'm trying to make is that this will be a fertile breeding ground for the 'Red Tops' excitement. And McLaren had better be ready for it.

Lewis faster than Jenson: "The sitting tenant is being favoured by the establishment." Jenson faster than Lewis: "The team has fallen out of love with Lewis, but this honeymoon period with their new star will soon be over."

Lewis faster than Jenson; "Ah, they've favoured him by letting him use the only one of those new wings that they've brought along this weekend." Jenson faster than Lewis; "Oh yes, so that new wing didn't work and they've dumped it on Lewis "

I'm not for a moment suggesting that the McLaren pits will revert to the seismic battle ground experienced in the days of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

But by the same token, anybody who thinks that Button and Hamilton will be staging some sort of cuddly automotive Teddy Bear's picnic needs to shape up and get real. And get out of the way to avoid being run over.

Technorati Tags: Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, F1

Red Bull F1 at an unfair disadvantage?

Alan Henry — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:40:33 GMT

Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull Racing, has predicted that Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber could be battling a performance deficit of as much as half a second a lap when they race against their Mercedes-engined rivals when the new F1 season kicks off in Bahrain on 14 March.

Horner believes that the Renault engined cars – including those of works drivers Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov – lost out to Mercedes when the F1 engine specifications were frozen last year and that the rules effectively “froze in” a performance advantage for Mercedes, McLaren and Force India.

Renault reveals Lada F1 car

“This could mean that we are facing a half second a lap deficit to the Merc-engined cars,” said Horner this week. “It would be a great shame if under an engine freeze the outcome of the championship should be determined by engine power when the whole idea is that engines should not be a performance differentiator. You can’t blame Mercedes for that, but you wouldn’t want Renault chased out of F1 because they felt they could not compete either.”

Even so, Christian remains cautiously optimistic that Sebastian is poised to fulfil his potential and Mark will be right with him. “The cream always rises to the top,” he grinned knowingly.

Good news for Lewis Hamilton - bad news for everyone else

Steve Sutcliffe — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:54:18 GMT

There are two bits of news concerning Lewis Hamilton that will have sent shudders along the F1 pitlane this week.

The first was the time Lewis set in his McLaren during F1’s last official test session at Barcelona; he was quickest out of all 23 drivers, with a time of 1min 20.472sec, fractionally ahead of Mark Webber’s fiendishly rapid looking Red Bull (1min 20.496sec), Felipe Massa’ Ferrari (1min 20.539sec) and Adrian Sutil in the Force India (1min 20.611sec).

Intriguingly, Nico Rosberg managed to out-pace Michael Schumacher in his Mercedes, just, although they didn’t actually run on the same day, so we still don’t know for sure how close to Schuey Rosberg will get.

Hamilton seeks new F1 manager

The second piece of news concerning Lewis Hamilton will, if anything, be even more significant to the rest of the grid, you suspect, because Lewis has announced that he will no longer be managed by his Dad. Hamilton senior is leaving the partnership, it seems, to grow his various other business interests. As a result this will allow Lewis to have his Dad “just as my Dad” he told Autosport. “We always did business things, not father and son things” said Lewis.

God help the rest of the F1 grid this year if Lewis lands himself a savvy manager (you wouldn’t bet against it, perhaps Flavio Briatore might be interested…) and with Lewis claiming to be “in the best place I’ve ever been in my life” emotionally.

Roll on Mother’s Day, otherwise known as 14 March.

US F1: the dream that turned sour

Alan Henry — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:02:24 GMT

US F1 was always going to be the most difficult of the new teams to get off the ground for the 2010 world championship, but last week America’s latest effort to join the Grand Prix elite finally stalled in the slow lane before ever seeing a test track, let alone an F1 paddock.

I feel huge sympathy for my good friend Peter Windsor over this. Peter, who many years ago was one of Autocar’s most respected sports editors, always had a dream that he wanted to get involved in his own team. For the past 12 months or so, his keen anticipation of 2010 was obvious and the enthusiasm with which he attacked the task consistently unwavering.

But that all came to an end last week when the US F1 operation in Charlotte, North Carolina, stopped answering the telephone and the handful of remaining workers were advised that they would have to take unpaid leave.

Windsor’s business partner Ken Anderson’s optimism was less convincing. One minute he was ‘working with the FIA’ to see how many races the team could be permitted to miss.The next minute he was ‘working with the FIA’ to see if the team’s entry could be deferred until 2011.

Frankly, I would be utterly amazed if the sport’s governing body, having given US F1 a ‘franchise’ it couldn’t live up to, would take any more calls from him. Even assuming the US F1 switchboard was working.

Ferrari accuses FIA of starting a 'holy war'

Alan Henry — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:54:50 GMT

I’m not quite certain whether or not Luca di Montezemolo and his fellow Ferrari directors have collectively had a bang on the head just recently or they’ve decided to try and teach a donkey to dance (first step, smack it round the head to get its attention) but the official Maranello website has gone for the FIA’s jugular in blaming the governing body’s former president Max Mosley for starting a ‘holy war’ that drove half the manufacturers out of the sport.

Clearly Maranello’s rampaging seems to have ignored the fact that BMW were useless at F1 these past couple of years, and Toyota arguably even worse, and it’s just possible that Honda were busy going nowhere as well. But Ferrari’s point is that swapping these big names for Lotus F1, Virgin Racing, Campos Meta and US F1 and a bunch of Serbians with their second-hand Toyotas is hardly a fair deal which adds credibility to the sport.

On the face of it, these manufacturers left for widely differing reasons, but Ferrari exclusively blames it all on Mosley being hell-bent on implementing a “controversial and ill-conceived” budget cap.

"Of the 13 teams who signed up – or were induced to sign up – for this year's championship, to-date only 11 of them have heeded the call, turning up on-track, some later than others, and while some have managed just a few hundred kilometres, others have done more, but at a much-reduced pace,” says a highly provocative item on the Ferrari website in the Horse Whisperer column.

"As for the twelfth team, Campos Meta 1, its shareholder and management structure has been transformed, according to rumours which have reached the Horse Whisperer through the paddock telegraph, with a sudden cash injection from a munificent white knight, well-used to this sort of last-minute rescue deal. However, the beneficiaries of this generosity might find the knight in question expects them to fulfil the role of loyal vassal.”

Can’t think who the hell this white knight might be, can you Bernie?

Can the absent teams - and drivers - make Bahrain?

Alan Henry — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:28:00 GMT

With just over three weeks to go before the F1 teams gather in Bahrain for the opening round of the world championships more question marks are hanging over the participation of both the US F1 and Campos Meta teams, neither of whom are ready to participate in this week’s test at Jerez or next week’s final pre-season session at Barcelona.

This isn’t a matter of life and death in itself, but since neither Campos’s Bruno Senna nor USF1’s Jose Maria Lopez have yet qualified for a super licence, they will both need to cover 300km of ‘observed testing’ before turning up at Sakhir for the opening race. Unless they do that – as Force India’s nominated third driver Paul di Resta was scheduled to complete today at Jerez – then they won’t be permitted to compete at the first race.

Lotus F1 returns; Massa fastest - read the latest F1 testing news

One way out, I suppose, would be for US F1 to buy the Dallara chassis that Campos obviously hasn’t got the cash to pay for, but it’s getting a bit late in the day for that sort of muddled compromise.

Oh yes, and just to be clear, a colleague in one of the established teams confirmed to me this week that he’s trawled through a copy of the Concorde Agreement and there is no – absolutely no – provision for a team to miss any races; one, two, three, or four.

Jean Todt, the FIA president, has also made this crystal clear. So where this leaves Senna and Lopez, or their teams, is anybody’s guess. A sad state of affairs indeed.

Looking for chinks in an upbeat Schuey's armour

Alan Henry — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:00:51 GMT

Michael Schumacher’s buoyant confidence about the Mercedes team’s prospects for the upcoming F1 world championship season spilled over this week, to the point where the 41-year old predicted that the former Brawn squad would be in a position to challenge for the world championship in 2010.

Which, translated, means that he thinks he will be able to bid for an amazing eighth title crown.

Schuey crash odds put at 40/1

Schumacher is certainly cast in the role of F1’s Peter Pan, although rather than being the little boy who never grew up, he is more the young man who never grew old. It’s not just his motivation which seems quite extraordinary, but the fact that he has kept himself fit and well-toned throughout three years of retirement out of the F1 game.

Looking for weak points in the Schumacher psyche may be a fruitless effort. But I was interested to hear from a good friend that the legendary Mario Andretti, having won the 1978 world championship at the age of 38, was aware as he went into his forties that it took slightly longer to recover to peak form for consecutive races.

With four back-to-back pairings on the 2010 grand prix calendar, should this offer a ray of hope that Schumacher could leave an unexpected Achilles heel uncovered?

Possible, but most improbable. Michael is determined to race for three more seasons, and possibly beyond. But Alonso, Hamilton, Button and Kubica will all be watching closely to see if there is so much as a smattering of vulnerability from the ‘Old Man.’

And when it comes to wheel-to-wheel combat it will be heart-stopping to see precisely who backs out first.

Bring it on!

Lotus F1 - an icon returns

Mark Tisshaw — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:35:00 GMT

Whatever they may say, there’s a great deal of expectation on the shoulders of the ‘new’ Lotus Formula One team. For this team carries the name of the second most successful 'manufacturer' team in the sport’s history.

Colin Chapman’s team from Hethel, winning seven constructor and six driver world championships, dominated the 1960s and 1970s. But the core of the team was ripped out following Chapman’s death in 1982 and Team Lotus suffered a slow and painful demise before finally being put out of its misery at the end of 1994.

Lotus F1 car launched

Fast forward 16 years and Lotus has become the second of F1’s four new teams to launch its 2010 cars and its entry seems the most credible. Question marks remain over Campos’s and USF1’s ability to make the grid, and Virgin’s CFD-designed car seems worryingly off the pace, not to mention suffering front wing failure in Jerez yesterday. And then there’s the mysterious Serbians Stefan GP waiting in the wings.

Lotus’s driver line-up resembles that of a strong mid-field team. Heikki Kovalinen and Jarno Trulli are both race winners and can be devastatingly quick, although doubts still remain over their pace over a full race distance.

Lotus has also had the benefit of designing its car in a wind tunnel and seems to have some serious financial backing from Proton and the Malaysian government, as well as team owner Tony Fernandes of Air Asia fame – a man also being linked with a takeover of practically every football club in the country.

Mike Gascoyne should provide the team with the kind of strong, individual leadership he threatened at Toyota, but was never allowed to make as decisions filtered between Cologne and Japan. He will be an asset to Lotus should he be allowed to get on and run the team without any internal interfering.

British fans love an underdog and Lotus will certainly provide that. If the team (or any of the new teams) score a smattering of points this season, it will be an even greater achievement than Brawn’s title success last year. With the infrastructure Honda left behind and the vast sums thrown by Honda in 2008 at 2009’s car, Brawn was no start-up manufacturer. This year’s lot are.

The romantic feeling surrounding Lotus and an over-reliance on its name and past glories could also be its undoing. Originally, the team is based in an ageing industrial unit in Norfolk – not exactly the McLaren Technology Centre. The exact involvement of Group Lotus also remains a mystery and needs clarifying.

We’ve already got one F1 icon on Bahrain’s grid – a certain Michael Schumacher. But the return of Lotus could be just as big a coup for the sport. Schuey’s not got to be around forever – with the right investment, expectations and leadership Lotus could well be the only one of four new teams to outlast Schumacher’s second coming.

Mazda MX-5 race - it's all over

Matt Prior — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:15:00 GMT

Thursday, 17:00: Everyone gets a stint, with four refuelling stops between our five drivers. The track dries a little throughout, but we don't make much progress.

Our final placing is 27th which, out of 29, means I've had better races. Mind you, I've had worse ones too. And I've driven few better handling cars. I'd quite like another go now. Only next time with a ringer to take the start.

Thurs, 14:40: So that's my stint over. I've had better, if I'm honest.

Started 18th, got a bit bullied, took a knock on the left (nobody's fault) which I think put the tracking out because it started to oversteer even more than normal. Particularly out of right handers. And left handers. And under braking and, er, acceleration. Put me out of sync a bit too, in truth.

So it took me a while but then I got into a bit of a groove, took a few places back and was lapping in 1m:49s (about the same as my mates/journos from rival mags in the other UK car, which we'll all pretend to each other is unimportant...). I came in after an hour (almost) where I started. Honour (almost) upheld.

The fastest bloke out there is Belgian Jeffrey van Hooydonk, whose career includes not a little F3000; he's about 5sec faster than me. Of course with straight tracking, a better set-up, more time, more bravery, etc, blah, and so on, etc ... I'd still be nowhere near him, frankly.

But does it make him happy? Does it really? Will it give him a sense of self-satisfaction tonight? Yeah, I think so too. The git.

Anyway, fuel might come in to it later. There's a 130 litres limit, and some teams might get close to using all of theirs. We won't, so there's a chance of making up some places towards the end if the most lead-footed teams run out.

And if you're ever in the market for a racing car and find a tidy used MX-5, just keep an eye on the tracking...

Thurs, 11.30: We've opted to stay indoors during free practice this morning because it's raining gently and the conditions are likely to change between now and the race. I'll get a couple of sighters before the start, so can suss track conditions then. Might not have been a bad idea: a driver from the pole-sitting German car has binned their car.

We've instead spent time going through strap-fitting and fuelling drills, which should save more time than we'd have found running around this morning.

Race starts at 13:00 local time. Quite nervous about it.

16.50, Wednesday: Qualifying, everyone gets one hot lap. Even wetter so even slower, despite the fact we've softened the dampers and unhooked the rear anti-roll bar. Traction is improved but braking isn't and I'm a big girls' blouse into too many corners. Will therefore start 18th tomorrow.

14.00, Wednesday: Today there are two practices, nearly complete, and a qualifying session later. All will be in horrid weather.

There are two UK teams sharing one mechanic, who has been a bit busy, er, tidying up some loose trim on the other car, so I'm not sure we've found a great wet set-up on the car I'm in.

At least, that's my excuse (convincing?) for the fact that we're running mid-order pace going into the one-shot qualifying. That, of course, and the fact that among the rival teams' ringers is a bloke with F3000 podiums to his name, while another is a full-time Intercontinental Rally Championship jockey.

I'm doing my car's qualifying and, unless I get quicker sharpish I'll end up starting about 20th tomorrow. Or, in other words, right where I don't want to be.

Ecclestone confirms Serbian F1 ambitions

Alan Henry — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:34:00 GMT

Any cynics who did not believe that Serbian businessman Zoran Stefanovic has serious plans for entering F1 with the assets of the former Panasonic Toyota team will have to think again pretty promptly, as the newcomer’s possible participation has been clearly acknowledged by Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 commercial rights holder.

Bernie also made it clear last weekend that, according to the terms of the Concorde agreement, teams are permitted to miss three races each year, a revelation which, I have to confess, I was unaware of, but which could throw a crucial lifeline to the Campos and US F1 teams who could ideally use a little more time to prepare their cars for the world championship fray.

“I think we won't see Campos and I don't think we will see the Americans,” Bernie told the Sunday Express. “They are going to ask to miss three races. In the Concorde Agreement, the teams are allowed to miss three races.”

He added: “They [Stefan] are going to take over Toyota completely – the team and motorhomes. They have got the money from the government; I've spoken to the prime minister. They are ready to rock-and-roll but they've not got an entry.”

Not yet, anyway. Although US F1 are struggling to be ready in time, they are resolutely determined to be on the grid as promptly as possible. Campos may, on the other hand, be seriously faltering. If they fail to make it, then expect the Toyota TF110 to be on the grid at least in time for the fourth race in China on April 18.

Why I'll be at Le Mans this June

Andrew Frankel — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:01:16 GMT

Busy on the weekend of 12-13 June? You may be now. Jaguar is going back to Le Mans. If like me you’re old enough to remember the Silk Cut Jags tearing up the tarmac back in the days of Group C, news rarely comes better than this.

Yes it will be just a single car and, no, it won’t be competing for outright honours and it’s not even a British let alone a works entry, but do not let that deter you. Here’s why: the car is being entered by American racer Paul Gentilozzi whose team has raced Jaguar XKRs in every Trans-Am championship held from 2003 to date and won every one of them. Moreover he has already signed former Indycar winner Scott Pruett to drive and former F3000 and Le Mans veteran Marc Goossens. This is not a bunch of no-hope dreamers, but one very well financed, professional and prepared team.[/intro]

Jaguar confirms Le Mans return

History is also starting to repeat itself. The last time Jaguar had been away from Le Mans for too long was in the mid 1980s when an American privateer with a highly successful race team decided to enter the race to compete for class honours. And although Bob Tullius’s Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5 failed to realise its full potential, it certainly did enough to gain the undivided attention of Jaguar in the UK. Within two years Jaguar had commissioned Tom Walkinshaw to design, build and race its own car and the rest, including Jaguar’s two most recent Le Mans wins, is history.

Who should fill the third seat in the car? Clearly he needs to be British, super quick, and with Le Mans winning pedigree, ideally in a Jaguar. Both Andy Wallace and Martin Brundle qualify but so too does none other than David Coulthard. It is a fact remembered by too few that back in 1993 DC shared an XJ220 with David Brabham and John Nielsen, winning their class before being excluded for a technical infringement long after the race was over. He has unfinished business in France.

Then again they could put Donald Duck behind the wheel and I’d cross the channel to see it. If you were lucky enough to witness what a Le Mans crowd does when it sees a Jaguar in the pit-lane, you will too.

Stefan is F1’s mystery team

Alan Henry — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:34:00 GMT

Zoran Stefanovich seems to know something that nobody else in F1 does. The Serbian businessman is currently preparing to test his own F1 car and insists that he has already freighted some of the surplus Toyota F1 equipment to Bahrain in preparation for the first race of the season.

Trouble is, as things stand at the moment Stefanovcich has no entry for the 2010 world championship. But he is determined to press ahead with a test at the Portimao circuit in Portugal later this month with former Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima scheduled to be behind the wheel.

Valencia F1 testing round-up - including hi-res pictures

Serbia’s first F1 team also seems to have secured the services of former McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan, who left the Woking team under a cloud of smouldering Ferrari drawings which had illicitly come into his possession and ended up being incinerated in his back garden. But not before a local photocopying shop contacted Ferrari to tell them that his missus had been in making duplicates of many Maranello drawings.

So which team does Mr Stefanovich believe will fail to make it onto the grid this season, thereby making room for the re-branded Toyota squad to join in?

Newcomers Campos,Lotus, Virgin and US F1 maintain they will all be there.

We will keep you posted!

Rubens sends a warning to Rosberg

Alan Henry — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:38:22 GMT

It may have been slightly tongue-in-cheek, but only very slightly. After the first day of testing in preparation for the new F1 season, Rubens Barrichello offered a warning that Nico Rosberg should get out of the Mercedes team as quickly as possible to avoid being thrashed by Michael Schumacher.

It's early days for reaching such a dramatic conclusion, I would have thought, but at least Rubens knows about that of which he speaks. Having spent six seasons from 2000 as Michael’s wing man in the Ross Brawn-run Ferrari squad, Rubens knows only too well just what a stifling environment it can be paired with statistically the most successful driver of all time.

Valencia testing - 50 day one pictures

Asked at the end of Monday’s test at Valencia if he had any advice for Nico, he replied "Yeah. Get out of there! That is the only thing I can tell him. He needs to drive fast and don't crash: Ross will always tell you that before the race."

Although Barrichello acknowledged that his commens were somewhat extreme, he does think that the speed that Schumacher showed on his return to F1 action at Valencia should serve as a warning to Rosberg.

"He [Nico] is a great talent and I wish him all the best, and maybe tomorrow you will see the newspapers saying, 'Rubens tells Nico to get out of there', but I am not being bad about it," he said.

"Knowing what I know, and seeing how fast Michael went today, it is going to be a tough job. I wish him all the best because I think he is a talented boy who can be world champion. If he has the chances of being world champion in the same team as Michael, then he can be world champion anywhere. Let's put it this way."

On the other hand, as John Surtees once noted about Jim Clark “it must always be the ambition of any driver to get into a competitive car and go wheel-to-wheel with the competitor who is widely regarded as the best.”

Nico Rosberg now has the same opportunity afforded to Barrichello. If he can match the nine Grand Prix victories Rubens notched up as team-mate to Michael, I reckon Keke’s boy will be doing pretty well.