F1 Matters

Dijon 1979

2007-06-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

One of the most famous races in the history of F1 happened on July 1, 1979 at the circuit of Dijon - Prenois, near Dijon, France.

The race will be remembered for the first victory of a turbo-charged car in F1 (by Jean Pierre Jabouille in Renault), as well as Renault's first victory in F1. Trivia lovers will also recall that the French race was won by a French driver (Jabouille), driving a French car (Renault), on French tyres (Michelin) and powered on French fuel (Elf).

However, the race will forever be remembered for the fierce battle for second place between Gilles Villeneuve in Ferrari and Rene Arnoux in the second Renault. In what has come to be regarded as one of the finest examples of top class racing, both drivers fought extremely hard to outdo the other, and yet did so in a fair manner, without putting anyone in jeopardy. Both drivers trusted each other as racing drivers, and they later remarked that even the thought of pushing the other off track never even occured to them. It was pure racing, and it was exhilerating to watch.

Here is the link to the youtube video. I strongly urge you to watch the last two laps of the race atleast. It is one of the best pieces of F1 driving you will ever see.

The race commentary in the final two laps went as follows :

"And Arnoux is going to do it .. Rene Arnoux is challenging for second as they come up to Villeroy, but Villeneuve will not give way. Arnoux has got the inside line and the shorter line , and he takes second place as they go into the right hander and the left of Sabelieres, and now Renault are indeed first and second in the French Grand Prix. "

" And the French crowd is going mad ! Roaring in the background ! The twin turbo Renaults appeared at Monaco, not their circuit; and now we are into the start of the 79th and the last lap , with Rene Arnoux second... AND VILLENEUVE goes... INCREDIBLE !! Villeneuve stood on everything, locked up his tyres, got the line and he is back into second position on the last lap, and the French crowd aren't very happy about that.."

" And he's closed right up on Villeneuve and he is going to try again, coming into the start of the last lap, behind Jochen Mass in the A2 Arrows... and Arnoux.. does he ? does he ? Villeneuve locks up .. Villeneuve has had to go wide and Arnoux is on the inside as they go round the Villeroy.. "

"He's got the shorter line, he's got second position.. he's got second position.. he's through ! They bang wheels ! He's off ! He's off ! And he's back again ! Rene Arnoux, off the circuit and back again and he is... and now Villeneuve is in second position ! And this is the last lap ! And Villeneuve goes over the corrugations and he nearly loses the front as they go up the Parabolique, on the 80th and the last lap. And he's back, he's in second position.. Villeneuve is second in the Ferrari. Down to third position goes Arnoux.. ".

"80th lap in this 80 lap race , and there is less than a third of it to go. Now, can Arnoux, on the tremendously fast la Combe - Courbe de Pouas section, 150 miles an hour, get past ? They go past Jochen Mass...".

"..and Jabouille wins ! Jean Pierre Jabouille has won in the Renault, who is going to be second ? Into the Courbe de Pouas they come, and there is Ricardo Patrese .. and VILLENEUVE IS SECOND ! ".

An image of the Dijon circuit :

A true classic !

'New Chicken' for Super Aguri

2007-05-09T11:08:00.000-07:00

From Update F1 Forum, I came across this interesting interview that Peter McCool, chief designer of Super Aguri F1, gave to crash.net.

"In true SAF1 style, we bit off more than we should have done," he confessed, "We have introduced a new carbon gearbox and a comprehensive aero package that includes a revised floor, a new chicken, chimney, T-wing and a whole new rear wing package."

Strange, intriguing things happen in F1, but whats with the chicken ?! I am totally lost on this one !

Gilles Villeneuve - 25 years

2007-05-09T09:51:00.000-07:00

It has been 25 years since Gilles Villeneuve died, during qualifying for Belgian GP at Zolder on May 8, 1982.
Here is an extremely well written article by Steve Turnbull, editor of Update-F1. An excerpt :

But the final word, the explanation as to why this man was a cut above, and why his like will never be seen in the modern mind-set of Formula One, goes to Gilles himself, when talking to his great friend, Roebuck:
“How the hell can you drive a race car, fight with people, and think all the time about points for a bloody championship? How can you settle for a safe third or something, because it’s four points? Jesus, people like that should be accountants, not racing drivers.”

Norris McDonald wrote a very nice piece on wheels.ca here. It has detailed account of Gilles' early racing years, his drive for racing, his desire to push to the limits, and his much-loved simplicity. I quote from the article :

He was adored for one reason above all: he was a racer. He wanted to win races and championships, yes, but more than anything he wanted to win every lap he was out on the track, whether it was a practice lap, a qualifying lap or the 35th lap of a 72-lap Grand Prix.

When Motorsport magazine put Gilles on their 75th anniversary cover in April 1999, editor Andrew Frankel explained :

No single shot can sum up 75 years of motorsport so we looked for one which made us feel good about racing. And Gilles in a 12-cylinder Ferrari said it all ... in the firmament of great racing drivers, his star shines more brightly than that of multiple world champions.

Before joining Ferrari, Gilles had a meeting with Enzo Ferrari, and Enzo is said to have compared Gilles to the great Nuvolari !

However, the last word must go to arguably the most heart-rending obituary ever written - Nigel Roebuck, a close friend of Gilles wrote this in Autosport on May 13, 1982.

Polite, honest, and straightforward, he had a tremendous sense of humour and a simple love of life. His attitude to motor racing was unfashionably romantic. In a bland, commercial, world, he loved it for its sake. The jet set made him cringe, and he had an instinctive abhorrence of anything bogus. For me, and, I suspect, many thousands of others, the light has gone out in motor racing.

A fitting image.. Gilles pushing to the limit and beyond.

More pictures in my last year's post.

Schumacher's Party at Shanghai

2006-10-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

We all know Schumacher was extremely delighted with the win at Shanghai. This track was supposed to be the most difficult of the last 3 flyaway races, and with all the weather and tyre trouble Ferrari had, to get a win was quite obviously more than what they bargained for.
So, Schumi threw a huge party at Shanghai apparently. The news comes from German news paper "Bild Zeitung", which specialises in useless gossip (like the English tabloids).

The popular German newspaper said Ferrari's 37-year-old star - albeit sticking to coca-cola - partied until 6 in the morning in the city's Marriott hotel.

The party was reportedly also attended by 2007 Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen, Schumacher's current teammate Felipe Massa, Renault rival Giancarlo Fisichella and personal press officer Sabine Kehm.

Predictably, championship rival Fernando Alonso was not spotted.

Is that why Alonso launched a tirade against Fisi yesterday ?!

The rise of BMW

2006-10-01T03:46:00.000-07:00

At the start of the season, this would have seemed rather silly. After all, Sauber were nowhere at the end of last season. Having been taken over by a manufacturer has its benefits though. BMW left Williams and took over Sauber. It is a matter of irony now that BMW are where Williams used to be (3rd/4th best team), and Williams are now where Sauber used to be (6th/7th best team).
BMW have developed into a force to be reckoned with over this season. Earlier this season, their cars were difficult to handle (and JV had to suffer!); then they had that oh-so-brilliant idea of putting horns on the car (aerodynamic devices !). But into the last quarter, they have had consistently good cars, good drivers and good results.
At midseason, Mclaren were thought to be the team that could influence the outcome of the championships, as they were the only team that seemed to be on pace. With two races to go, you have to say that its BMW now who can influence the WCC. (Not the WDC, I think no matter what, barring strange things happening, Michael and Alonso will finish 1-2 or 2-1). BMW cars though, can get ahead of Massa or Fisi, and that can be very crucial to the WCC.
And slightly OT, it is so hard to spot a McLaren on track these days ! The only time you see it, is when you see Kimi getting out of it with the car either lacking various body parts or with smoke coming out of it !!
BMW look to have a great future next season, what with Kubica showing what a talent he is, and Heidfeld consistently finishing in points.

Shanghai !

2006-10-01T03:23:00.000-07:00

Shanghai proved much more exciting than expected, thanks mainly to the varying track conditions and varying tyre performance.

The debate post-Shanghai seems largely to center on what Michael's win was down to. People argue it was the much-touted wet skills of Schumi, and some others say it was Renault's mistake.

Well, as always, I think the answer lies midway between all of them, a combination of all. Schumacher did well to master the conditions, when most other drivers were spinning like a Muralitharan offspinner [:D]. He did not make a single mistake, unlike Alonso (who it may be remembered, went off track while in lead of over 15 seconds over Kimi and over 22 seconds over Michael). Renault made a mistake with their tyre choice at the first pitstop, made a more critical error at the second, which gave Alonso no chance to even catch up to the leader.

It was disappointing to see Fisi finish nearly 40 seconds behind, after leading the race until the second pitstops. And he claims to be happy because Renault are in the constructors championship lead, and he is third in WDC. I just think he throws away race wins like they were growing in his garden. He doesnt seem to value winning as much as Michael or Alonso or Kimi.

But, the most impressive driver for me, for a second race in a row, had to be Kubica. He was unfortunate to be bumped out on lap 1 by Doornbos, but had climbed up to 13th again in a matter of 5 laps (contrast that with Massa, who was 16th starting 20th at the same time). He was simply outstanding in those initial wet conditions, and considering Heidfeld's strong running, he was surely in contention for 4th or 5th spot, until he made that risky choice of dry tyres.

And finally, that last lap mayhem. Sato and Albers must be punished for causing that. Heidfeld was understandably disappointed, losing his 4th place, and calling it "the worst race of my life, not just F1, my entire life" !!

A Long Time..

2006-09-17T04:58:00.000-07:00

It has been a long while since this blog has been updated. The reasons for that are many, but none worth any illustrious mention !

So, since my last post, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. This shall, hence be a stock-taking post, where I will just reflect on things past, in no particular order.

MF1, previously Jordan, is now Spyker. This had been threatening to happen, and finally did. Hopefully the Dutch group will show more interest in racing (given their past, that is a reasonable expectation), and Alex Shnaider can perhaps buy a English Premier League club. (Spurs would be a good bet, I think).

Two of the most colorful characters in F1 have left F1. JPM for NASCAR, where he is better suited I think, and JV to I dont know where, but possibly to some series in USA, but more likely to a blissful married life. Will they be missed ? You bet.

The biggest news, of course has to be that of Schumi's retirement. It will be hard to see an F1 grid next year without Schumi in a red Ferrari. Next year, Alonso will delight us by showing how highly over-rated a driver he is, and Massa and Kimi will destroy him. But, Schumi will be sorely missed.

Alonso's behaviour under pressure leaves a lot to be desired. He can learn a lot from Kimi and Michael in that regard. For the past 2-3 months, as his lead has reduced, his behaviour (from Hungary, then Turkey and now Monza) has been rather rude.

Lots of other news, that would normally make it to my blog, but will stay out because this post will get too long otherwise.

Here's to an exciting championship !

"Just Married" !!

2006-06-10T04:07:00.000-07:00

Jacques Villeneuve married recently, and his BMW car this weekend has "Just Married" written on its rear wing !

Silverstone Is Here !

2006-06-10T03:53:00.000-07:00

Days are moving too fast to keep up with, esp. as far as updating this blog goes !

So, with that disclaimer out of the way, let us see what this weekend at Silverstone has in store for us. With little over half an hour remaining for the qualifying, it is interesting to see the practice 3 times.

Michael is on top of course, and Massa's third position confirming the Ferrari's pace on this aero dominant track. The cars currently regarded as having the best aero package, Renault, find themselves in P5 and P6. Kimi managed to get his McLaren into P4, but JPM was down in 15th with some problems. Nothing surprising there, really.

What is surprising really is the performance of BMW-Sauber. Yesterday Kubica put in a storming lap to take the honours in free practice 2. Many dismissed it as a 'Friday driver anomaly', but Nick Heidfeld confirmed BMW's pace with P2 in the third practice session, and Villeneuve was in P8, not too much off the pace. Having been used to seeing BMW's consistently outside top 10, this is a big boost for the team, and they will be looking to do here what Red Bull did in Monaco.

The other teams to have impressed are Torro Rosso and Midland. Both STRs (in P9 and P10) got the better of their Red Bull counterparts, while Monteiro took his Midland to P13 above both Coulthard and Montoya.

Now, its only a practice session, but things are fairly indicative. Dont be surprised to see Christian Albers into round 2 in qualifying, or both BMWs into top 10. An interesting qualifying is in store !

Silverstone Tech File

2006-06-05T23:31:00.000-07:00

From Pitpass.com :

The demands of the Silverstone circuit for the cars and engines has changed significantly with the advent of V8 engines in 2006. The first half of the circuit, all the way to turn 8, now sees very little braking at all and the engines under prolonged load. The second part of the circuit includes more slow corners, and places a premium on a good low speed balance and traction. Overall, Silverstone is a selective circuit, that allows a strong, harmonious chassis-engine package to shine.

Aerodynamics

Downforce levels at Silverstone are medium-high – almost identical to Barcelona. The downforce is required for the quick corners in the opening part of the lap, and the relatively short straights and braking zones mean that any deficit in straightline speed is unlikely to see competitors overtaking you. The lack of heavy braking also means we run some of the smallest brake ducts of the year to optimise aerodynamic performance.

Ride

The circuit is not particularly bumpy, so achieving good ride is not usually a big problem. The exception to this is under braking for turn 8, where the uneven surface can unsettle the car. The drivers also tend to drift out onto the kerbs exiting the quick corners in order to take the fastest line, which can make the circuit seem bumpier than it is.

Suspension

We run the car with a forward mechanical balance at this circuit – essentially, with a stiff front end and softer rear end. The stiff front gives the car a good change of direction in the high and slow speed corners, while the softer rear end gives better grip under traction, exiting turns 9, 11 and 16 in particular.

Tyres

The numerous high-speed corners mean Silverstone is a demanding circuit for the tyres, as they work hard over a lap. However, the difference compared with a circuit such as Barcelona is that none of the high-speed corners are particularly long. In general, if temperatures are cool and tyres are graining then the left-front will suffer in particular, while in higher temperatures, the left rear will be the limiting tyre.

Ambient conditions

As a former airfield, Silverstone is inevitably exposed to the wind – and this can have a big impact on car performance. Gusting wind alters the aerodynamic balance of the car and makes handling unpredictable, particularly in the high-speed corners. The driver must be able to judge the direction and strength of the wind, and adjust his driving accordingly.

Engine

The percentage of the lap spent at full throttle has climbed significantly with the advent of the V8 engines – from 59% last year to 71% this. Silverstone is now one of the harder circuits in terms of the demands it places on the engine, which also needs to be responsive at high revs as the drivers take the quick corners on either full or partial throttle. However, by race 8, issues such as cooling are well under control and, particularly after having already tested at the circuit, will pose no problems.

Aintree

2006-06-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

This is another of those "not a history lesson" posts which come before historic Grands Prix.
Before the Nurburgring GP, I had written a post about the Nordschleife track - which is no longer used for racing. Since its the British GP this weekend, its time to talk about a long forgotten race track where the British GP used to be held almost 50 years ago.

Welcome to Aintree.

It is of course famous for the first ever GP held there - back in 1955 - when Stirling Moss won the British GP from Juan Manuel Fangio, and became the first British driver to win a British GP. The race (and the qualifying) was a closely fought affair between the two drivers, as Moss took pole by 0.2 seconds and won by a similarly narrow margin. That race also marked the debut of Jack Brabham in a Cooper-Bristol.

Being right next to the Grand National horse racing course (in Liverpool), the facilities were good, and spectators were plenty.

Start of the 1961 British Grand Prix won by Count Wolfgang (Taffy) von Trips - Ferrari 156 (3rd Ferrari - white helmet far right).

27 Formula 1 cars line up for the start - the legendary Tatts Corner is immediately behind these cars. Despite the rain, the stands are full to capacity. Apparently, all of the department stores in Liverpool sold out of plastic macs that day!

Aintree hosted an F1 GP from 1955 to 1962, and after that , continued to host many other events - most notably, the Aintree Festival of Motorsport. But, development work has destroyed a big part of this track, and last year, work began on building another grandstand for the racing course right where the historic Tatts corner stands.

The narrow strip of tarmac between the green fence and the white running rail is all that remains of this famous corner.

Someday, I will get to writing a more detailed post about Aintree (I know I am yet to do one on Nordschleife!).. which it truly deserves, for it is a track of enormous significance to the world of motorsport.

The Renault Tiger

2006-06-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

Renault will be running a special livery on their cars for the British GP this weekend - it features .. a tiger. [ Renault to run 'Tiger' livery in Britain]
Now, I really cant make any sense of having a tiger on your racing car. Unless you are Takuma Sato or Yuji Ide, and devour other cars with consummate ease. But trust the PR people to make sense of anything. Everything is "in tune with the company's spirit" , or "shares the fundamental values and the desire to win". So, what did the Renault F1 team say about the tiger ?

The powerful eyes of the tiger are displayed on the front and rear wings, while on the sidepods, the animal is portrayed crouched, ready to pounce. Alert to its constantly-changing surroundings, instinctively using attack as the best form of defence, the tiger is the perfect motif to symbolise the Renault F1 Team's challenge at this weekend's British Grand Prix.

Ooh.. even the tiger would be laughing.

A Lap of Silverstone

2006-06-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

From Planet F1 , Gary Paffet describes a lap of the Silverstone..

"A flying lap of Silverstone begins with the extremely fast and challenging Copse. You arrive at the right hander at 190mph, before dabbing the brakes as you swing through the bend.

"A short burst of power takes you to one of the best complex of corners we have at any grand prix track, the Maggots-Becketts-Chapel bends.

"Throughout the complex you maintain speeds of 125mph to 190mph as you take the sequence of right and left flicks flat out, before being swung onto the fastest section of the track, Hanger Straight.

"Taken flat out with a top speed of 195mph, this long blast leads to Stowe. Due to the late apex you are braking all the way into the corner, flicking down the gears to 115mph.

"The worst thing you can get here is understeer as it will affect your lap time a lot in that particular corner.
"You then roll out into a very straight forward exit along Vale that takes you down into Club, before braking for the long right-hander.

"You go down the short straight to the left of Abbey, which is taken at 70mph, has a very fast entry and is a good place for overtaking.

"There is the flick right of Farm and you then go up and over the hill into Bridge corner, which is taken flat out.
"You then enter the stadium complex and some of the best overtaking opportunities on the track.

"It starts with a quick entry into Luffield in fourth gear. It's quite fun to drift the car out there and it tends to dance around with the back end.

"You come out and get on the brakes straight away for the tight left of Priory, which is immediately followed by the 65mph tight left of Brooklands.

"The final corner in the complex is Luffield. The sweeping right of Woodcote is the final corner, you accelerate through the two apexes as you swing back onto the pit straight to begin another lap."

That final corner is sooo slow !! But the Becketts complex is truly awesome. And, here is hoping for a wet race and a Alonso DNF !

Of rumours and other things..

2006-06-03T03:43:00.000-07:00

Right, so I am back after a week of inaction.
Enough has been said, written, and insinuated about the Monaco Grand Prix Qualifying.
In the absence of Spa (and hence, Eau Rouge), Rascasse might just become the most famous corner this year. However, I do believe that incident was not entirely deliberate - it began as a mistake definitely. Just so you know.

So, what really brought me to post here today was some rumours.. I make no claims about their authenticity however. The big one is that Kimi may *NOT* join Ferrari after all, but may instead move to Renault. Clearly, if that happens, one of Alonso or Kimi is going to end up looking a fool. If Renault continue their impressive ways, Alonso will be questioning himself "WHy?!!". On the other hand, if Alonso wins the championship with McLaren, Kimi might as well go back to fishing in the lakes in Finland. So, why would Kimi join Renault ? Because, Renault want to keep winning till 2012, and Fisichella is no title contender.

Which brings me to the second rumour. Fisi is out next season. Yes, you heard that right. Fisi has been unimpressive all through his two years at Renault, and this looks to be the ideal time to get rid of him. Heikki Kovalanein seems likely to take the Renault second race seat next season. Personally, I think Fisi is past his best - he has been absolutely destroyed by Nando in Renault.

A good place to tell you whom I would want out of F1 - Fisi, Trulli, Ralf [The torro rossos and Midlands and Aguris dont count - drivers can come and go as they please]. Trulli and Ralf are wasting 2 places on the grid - Toyota could do with better drivers.

People whom I would want to see in better cars - Webber, JV and David Coulthard. I think all of them are GP-winners material (not championship contenders perhaps..). I think with RBR having Adrian Newey on board, next years Red Bull cars are going to be very good, and perhaps then DC could get a few more wins. JV should really be in a Ferrari or McLaren !! And Webber - perhaps Renault would be good for him. :)

People whom I want to see in F1 in future - Heikki Kovalanein, Hamilton, Marco Andretti. I think their driving this season has been impressive.. though Marco Andretti has still a long way to go.

Test drivers who should get a race drive - Alex Wurz, Ant Davidson. I dont need to say anything more !

More later !

Is that a steering wheel or what ?!

2006-05-27T03:57:00.000-07:00

At Monaco, McLaren unveiled their new steering wheel. Now, we always suspected that a F1 car steering wheel was more like the inside of spaceship cabin than a steering wheel, and that suspicion has been confirmed by this new steering wheel. With so many buttons on it that could even put Captain Kirk to shame, F1 cars' steering wheels are so complex that you cant help but wonder how these drivers manage to keep their cars on the road and off other cars. Have a look :

Now, of course those buttons make no sense to us mortals. So, here's Kimi Raikonnen explaining what those things actually do. And if you always wished that F1 cars had a 'overtaking' button, well guess what ? They do have one !! Its called the "increase-the-max-engine-rev-button" :) Read on for more..

From top:

+1 and +10 (green, far left and far right)
Used in conjunction with the MSG OK button (marked with a cross, right) to flick through car function menus, allowing the driver to override certain functions in the case of malfunction. The MSG OK button changes the respective menu of each of the two buttons.

PLS (yellow, with P, left)
Activates the pit-lane speed limiter when entering the pits.

PTT (red, left)
Pit radio button. Used to call the pit crew via radio communication.

DRINKS (grey, left)
Provides drinking fluid to the driver. Operates an electric pump to bring the liquid from a reservoir in the cockpit through a tube to the driver’s mouth.

TC OFF (blue, left)
Switches off the traction control. Mainly used during the formation lap to allow the driver to spin the rear wheels and generate heat in the tyres. Also used when exiting the driver’s pit position, allowing wheelspin, which deposits rubber on the tarmac, providing more grip during pit stops.

A and B (black/purple, black, left)
Used to change the traction control setting ,for hi revs and low revs. The various positions enable the driver to find the correct level of traction control interevention. The optimum level changes due to numerous variables, including the level of grip provided by the tarmac, the track temperature, the amount of rubber deposited on the track etc.

Lower left switch (with positions 2 through 8)
This presets the lowest gear for each corner, allowing the driver to change down through the gearbox quickly, without fear of selecting too low a gear.

C, D and E (black/red, black/white, black/blue, along base of wheel)
These switches adjust the car’s differential setting. These depend on various factors related to the overall set up of the car, the fuel load variation, low gear revs and high gears revs.

F (black/green, bottom right)
This button - a very important one - operates and changes the engine braking settings. As the race progresses and the car’s brakes become gradually less efficient, it is useful to be able to increase the amount of engine braking action.

G (black/yellow, right)
This button sets the rev limit for the engine - the highest revs it can reach in each gear before changing up. A higher setting allows the driver to extract more performance; a lower setting puts less stress on the engine.

H (black/orange, right)
This switch changes specific traction control and differential settings in accordance with the tyres being used - grooved, intermediate or wet - to account for the different levels of grip provided by each type.

R (red, right)
Allows the driver to select neutral and reverse gear.

OT (yellow, right)
The overtaking button. This temporarily increases the engine’s maximum rev limit when extra power is needed for a short period. When the button is released the rev limit returns to its default setting.

Random Pictures from Monaco

2006-05-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

Some random pictures ...

Here is the Kimi, the iceman in a icecar. The occasion ? Unveiling of the new McLaren ..err.. steering wheel.

This is the steering wheel : lets just hope it doesnt go flying across the McLaren garage out of Kimi's hands.

Here is Michael Schumacher on track during practice. Beautiful landscape, no ?

And in case you forgot him, Narain Karthikeyan is still around ! As a test driver of Williams F1 team, he was at Monaco too.. (well, who isnt ?!)

More later, folks !

Where did Johnny Walk away ?

2006-05-18T07:17:00.000-07:00

Currently, a few teams, including Red Bull, Toyota, Renault and McLaren are testing at the French race track of Paul Ricard.

Now, it so happens that alcohol advertising seems to be banned there (not sure why though), and so McLaren have had to take off their Johnny Walker decals on the sidepods which said "Keep Walking". (As an aside, their cars do seem to be just walking right now).

So, what do the brilliant designers at McLaren do ? They decide to put in some efforts to eradicate global illiteracy, and put in half of the alphabet on the sidepod. Here is a photo :

I am extremely curious to see the other side of the car and see if they have the remaining alphabets on the other sidepod. For the sake of completeness, I do hope so !

More Spanish Delight

2006-05-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this post is not about F1, but the amazing run Spanish sportsmen are having deserves mention here.

Following the triple delight on Sunday, Spain had more to cheer when Barcelona won the Champions League final against Arsenal last night. And to complete an amazing week for the Spanish (and a miserable week for English football) Sevilla won the UEFA cup, beating Middlesborough in the final.

More on flexy wings

2006-05-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

Just as expected, other teams are now going to copy Ferrari's revolutionary flexy wing design to improve their performance, after FIA refused to rule that they were illegal.

An article here says McLaren are scheduled to introduce some flexible parts for the Monaco race, and even Williams are tipped to do the same. Renault have also been noticed to be running some flexible parts in Barcelona (wonder if that made the difference in the race result ? - apparently, these flexy parts can save upto 3 tenths of a second per lap - which is huge, and more importantly less than the gap between Alonso and Schumacher's average lap times)

We can be sure that this controversy will go on, and we could even have cars writhing around on the track at this rate !!

Spanish Triple Delight

2006-05-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a good day if you were a Spanish - Spain had triple successes in the world of sports on Sunday.

First, Rafael Nadal won the Rome Masters, beating archrival Roger Federer in a thrilling five setter. He equalled the record for most consecutive clay court victories - 5 - held by Guilerimo Vilas.

Second, Dani Pedrosa, "the 51kg kid genius from Barcelona" won his first MotoGP race at China, in his first season in the premier Queens category. He was the winner of the 250cc championship last year, and he has firmly answered all critics with this brilliant race. He achieved a hat-trick of successes - pole, fastest lap and victory - in yesterdays race.

Third, Fernando Alonso won the Spanish GP - the first Spanish to win at home in over 50 years - beating Michael Schumacher into second. He regained his 15 point lead in the championship, and has a total of 54 points from a maximum of 60.

It was that kind of a day, when even a Spanish cricket team could have hoped to beat Australia !!

Showdown

2006-05-14T04:33:00.000-07:00

With 15 minutes to go for the race to begin, I found some interesting comments made by Renault engineering director Pat Symonds here. I will just copy the relevant parts here :

"My main concern really is the times Michael did on Saturday morning with old tyres, just before he changed to new tyres," Renault engineering director Pat Symonds told Autosport. "It makes it look like their tyre degradation is going to cause us real problems to do anything with today."

After Schumacher's victory in Imola the team conducted many simulations to see if they could have done anything differently to match the Ferrari's pace on old tyres, but to no avail.

"I am not saying that we could have done better," said Symonds, "But you still learn a little about the approach and what to look for. And here we were looking very, very carefully at what their (Ferrari's) time was on old tyres, and it scared me when I saw it."

The Bridgestone tyres seemed to cause some slight understeer problems for the other teams, but Ferrari was far from crippled by the issues in qualifying. "Ferrari are amazing," said Renault boss Flavio Briatore after qualifying. "The Michelin tyre is working very well here and it looks like Bridgestone only works with Ferrari. It is something really, really strange. It is something that we need to think about."

Race on !

Sebastian Montoya

2006-05-14T04:24:00.000-07:00

Juan Pablo's son Sebastian was at the Spanish GP.

F1 Future Secure

2006-05-14T04:02:00.000-07:00

Planet F1 reports that the long-standing dispute between Bernie and GPMA (comprising Toyota, Renault, McLaren, BMW and Honda) has finally been resolved at Barcelona today. They have agreed to be a part of Formula One for 2008 and beyond. The existing 'Concorde' agreement expires at the end of 2007.

The five manufacturers had been holding out for a larger share of the financial pie, among other things - and while the terms of the agreement are not yet clear, they have now reached a settlement with the commercial rights owner Ecclestone.

The deal is expected to be completed when Donald McKenzie, the head of CVC - who own Formula One - arrives in Barcelona today for the Spanish GP. With this, all existing 11 teams are sure to be on the grid in 2008, when they will be joined by the new team Prodrive.

Schumi plays football

2006-05-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a pic of Schumi playing beach football, in a promotional event for Vodafone.

Looks like having a Brazilian in the team for soo long has taught him lot of footballing skills !

The timing screens of Q1

2006-05-13T07:32:00.001-07:00

At the Montmelo race track, the intense testing during offseason has led to the teams being really really close this weekend. And this is why every tenth of a second is so crucial. All teams are at their best here, and this is where you get to see the real potential of the cars. As they say in the paddock, if your car works here, it will work everywhere.

And so, as the first qualifying session unfolded, the time difference between teams was so small, that a couple of tenths could get you up 5 or 6 places. Indeed, at the end of Q1, from Alonso in P1 to Raikonnen in P12, the drivers were covered by 0.8 of a second, and Nico Rosberg in P16 was just 1.4 seconds off the pace.

This is a track where every millisecond counts, which is why Renault have gotten themselves into a nice position - they can control the pace of the race in the first stint, and really pull away when they need to. Michelin have a slight advantage at this track, but Ferrari seem to have the superior race pace and strategy.

This is about as close as it gets.

Strategy-wise

2006-05-13T07:32:00.000-07:00

Remember last week ? Nurburgring ?

Michael had more fuel in his car which meant he was not on pole. Alonso compromised his race strategy by going for pole. Renault seem to have the same strategy this weekend too. They seem to have fuelled both cars light, and the idea must be to have Fisi hold back Schumi while Alonso pulls away from the field, making the most of his light fuel load. If it works, this situation will lead to Alonso pulling out enough of a gap that he can manage for the rest of the race, for Schumi will surely get ahead of Fisi in the first round of stops.

However, this strategy has the following problems :
a) Fisi is a championship contender too. He is not around to help Alonso, and he will be desperate to prove himself after a couple of bad races. So he is going to be pushing Alonso hard, though the team will tell him to hold back Michael.
b) Ferrari's straight line speed advantage + the long straight => if Schumi gets close to Fisi, this blockup will last no more than a couple of laps.
c) Finally, this strategy will fall flat on its face when Schumi just gets past Fisi at the start itself. Then, it will be a repeat of the 'ring, and while it is a lot lot closer here, in a straight fight between the two, MS is going to come up trumps.

The key question really is how long will MS get bottled up behind Fisi ??

Top Speeds

2006-05-13T07:31:00.000-07:00

This is the most interesting part of the qualifying session. Ferrari have a HUGE HUGE advantage down the long main straight, because of their top speeds:

1. Felipe Massa - 319kmh
2. Michael Schumacher - 314kmh
3. Giancarlo Fisichella - 311kmh
4. Jacques Villeneuve - 308kmh
5. Nick Heidfeld - 308kmh
6. Fernando Alonso - 308kmh

Looks like the rear flexy-wings are doing an awesome job. This has always been an aero circuit, and with such a strong aero advantage down the long straight, Ferrari are clearly the car to beat tomorrow.

Schumi to wait till end of season

2006-05-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

This one is a rumour about all those "where will schumi go" rumours. The rumour is that these rumours will not end until the end of the season.

Full Story

Schumi is now expected to wait till season end to make his decision, as Ferrari are willing to wait for him to decide and have given him a free hand. My suspicion is that Schumi is waiting to see how the development of next year's car progresses and how well this season ends.

More fodder for rumour mills though !

If you cant beat 'em ....

2006-05-11T11:03:00.000-07:00

... join 'em. So goes the famous saying.

Here, I had mentioned how Honda were crying hoarse about the new flexy wings of the Ferrari. FIA later ruled that the wings were legal and not in violation of any rules.

Now, most other teams intend to do what Ferrari have done and go for these flexy wings.
[ Source ]
"It's pretty obvious what Ferrari are doing and we're going to have to do something similar to compete," an unnamed source told Autosport magazine.

He added: "We won't be the only team doing this, either, and you'll see the changes pretty quickly - certainly within weeks."

We can be pretty sure Honda will be amongst the first teams to copy the flexy wing design, seeing that they have been in considerable discomfort with Ferrari's wings all throughout the season.

Villeneuve's form this season

2006-05-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

To be really honest, Jacques Villeneuve has been having a really solid season. He has been doing better than his team-mate, who has remained largely anonymous. Jacques is really driving well, pushing hard and occasionally even getting into the final 10 of qualy.

But rather unfortunately for him, Mario Theissen does not seem to be noticing. Despite a great qualy and a hard fought one point during the race, all Dr. Mario said was that they were too slow and had a miserable weekend. Which perfectly described Nick's weekend.

JV drove a solid race at BMW's home track, and there wasnt even as much as a hint of thanks and support for JV from his team director. Super-Mario seems obsessed with Nick, and he should be grateful for JV saving the team's face to some extent.

JV, on this form, could earn a race seat next season without resorting to obscure clauses in agreements.

Catalunya - the known devil

2006-05-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

Teams test so often at this circuit that all drivers and engineers know this circuit better than the back of their hands. But all the data that they collect while testing is almost obsolete now, because of many reasons - reasons which make Catalunya more like a known devil.

Firstly, the track conditions have changed a lot since the winter testing conditions. The track has been recently relaid and while the surface is usually considered abrasive, the re-laying means that not a great deal of data is available.

Secondly, the wind conditions make evaluating any setup a difficult task. We already saw that last week at the 'Ring, when drivers complained of winds making braking difficult. With changing wind conditions, the challenge is to find a robust setup to achieve good aero efficiency.

Thirdly, the cars themselves have changed a lot since the winter testing, with most cars having atleast one upgrade, and the performance of these newer parts has never been tested.

Finally, the changing track and air temperatures mean that the grip levels also cannot be accurately estimated, and a robust setup is again crucial.

So, while all teams test here often, Friday practice is still very important (as in other races) to get the right setup and the right kind of tyres. This is considered a "Michelin" circuit, but with B-stones improving, and Michael driving a rejuvenated Ferrari, things could get interesting.

Broken engine !

2006-05-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

We have all heard of an engine failures during the race. How about engine damage in transit ?

Jacques Villeneuve's BMW engine was apparently dropped during transit from Nurburgring to Catalunya, which means he will have to cop a 10-place penalty for the starting grid at Barcelona.

Full story

The German press agency, SID, has reported that the engine was dropped during transit from the Nurburgring and therefore a change is necessary. "It happened at Nurburgring on Sunday when the engine was prepared for transportation," team boss Mario Theisson told Autosport.

"It was probably damaged so we decided to give him a fresh one and take the penalty of ten grid positions," he added. "We thought the risk would be too high to have him race that engine here."

Teams seem to be finding newer and newer ways of having an engine replacement !

Pedals on Spa

2006-05-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

With the Giro d' Italia (the cycling race) starting this year in Belgium, stage 4 included the legendary motorsport circuit Spa-Francorchamps. Here are some pics :

On the foothills of the Ardennes mountains..

Through the Eau Rouge..

The peloton riding through the Spa..

The Bleeding Obvious !

2006-05-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

Aguri Suzuki has put in his entry for the stating-the-bleeding-obvious award with this statement made to f1total.com :

"The performance of our car is lower than the others and we will struggle until we have the SA06.".

It would also perhaps qualify for the hope-springs-eternal award, but Jenson Button leads that race by a mile. Perhaps the only race he could ever lead by a mile, and even win !

Chiefs and their cars

2006-05-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Reportedly, Super Aguri team chief Aguri Suzuki, will test the controls of the current SA05 car when its successor SA06 is ready in a couple of months. Aguri have been using a modified 4 year old Arrows car for their first few races, and work is on to complete their own car in time.

Once the new car is ready, Aguri plans to try and drive the old SA05 himself. Aguri drove in more than sixty grands prix in the 80s and 90s and even tasted a podium finish. He said that he wouldn't want to drive the current car because, if he crashed, the team could be left with a shortage of parts for the upcoming grands prix !!

Coming to think of it, since SAR team want an all Japanese lineup, Aguri himself could be the second driver for the team, now that Ide is out. After all, one cant do too badly than Yuji Ide, and surely not someone with 60 GPs worth experience !!!

Bit of trivia :
The last F1 chief to try a formula one racer was Niki Lauda, who in 2002 steered a Jaguar around the Valencia track.

$143m

2006-05-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

That is package offered to Kimi Raikonnen by Renault to drive for them for 4 years (according to some paddock sources in Nurburgring).

Click here for the story.

Germany's 'Auto Motor Und Sport' magazine reveals this week that Kimi secretly met with Flavio Briatore at the Nurburgring.

Reportedly, the Renault principal offered Raikkonen - under contract to McLaren but possibly already with a pre-agreement Ferrari deal - an incredible $143 million for four years, or nearly $36m a year.

A Lap of Circuit De Catalunya (Montmelo)

2006-05-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

From Pedro De La Rosa:

Accelerating downhill along the start-finish straight you hit 316km/h in sixth gear before braking hard for the right-hander of Elf. You can hit up to 2.4G under braking as your speed reduces to 137km/h in second gear.

"The second corner is an uphill left flick taken at some 187km/h in third and flat out in qualifying to get a quick time. The long, fast sweep of Renault follows, which is taken in fourth and is also taken pretty much flat.

"You come to a short straight before Repsol, reaching some 286km/h in sixth gear before braking hard for this right hander. You enter Repsol in third gear at 131km/h, carrying as much speed as possible as it allows you to brake very deep into the corner.

"A short burst of acceleration and you reach the Seat hairpin, the slowest corner of the circuit. Hard on the brakes the track drops as you swing through this tight left-hander at 97km/h in second gear. Accelerating out of Seat, the track sweeps through a gentle left curve reaching 265km/h in fifth gear before once again braking hard for the left hander of Würth, which is taken in second at 145km/h and where it is important to run over the exit curb to make a wider exit.

"A short uphill straight leads you onto Campsa, negotiated at 256km/h in fourth gear. It is important to carry a lot of speed through this corner and come out very fast, using all the exit curb again, as this will give you extra speed onto the Nissan straight.

"You arrive at 295km/h to La Caixa, which has been modified last year, with a tighter entry to the corner and short straight taking the circuit back to the previous track. It is taken in second gear and is the slowest section of the circuit. There is a small left kink before you rejoin the old track, but it is taken flat using all the inside curb.

"Banc de Sabadell, another hairpin follows. You just have to brake gently but with speed as you turn in, as the rear end always tries to snap away here. There are only two corners left which are the best and fastest of the circuit. The first one is taken flat out in qualifying, and in the race you lift slightly to negotiate it at 237km/h in fourth gear.

"You come out directly onto the last corner, New Holland, which is taken in fifth gear at 228km/h, with a small lift on entry. It is very important to come out quick of this last corner as the pit straight that follows is very long.

EA F1-2002 does not have the modification at La Caixa :( But, I have always managed to do well on this track :)

Race over for Ide

2006-05-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

In a expected move, the FIA has withdrawn Yuji Ide's license, meaning he will not take part in any FIA sanctioned events for the rest of the year.

Click here for the story

Montagny will get his second and third chances at a Grand Prix in Barcelona this weekend and Monaco after that.

But Super Aguri team, who were the first to introduce an all-Japanese lineup into F1, are hunting for replacement for Ide. One possibility touted for the future is Sakon Yamamoto, who tested for Jordan at his home race last season and is currently racing in Japan's Formula Nippon. Ide was runner-up in that series last year. GP2 driver Hiroki Yoshimoto has also been linked to the team.

The team owner, Aguri Suzuki, said "Discussions with a number of parties continue regarding the permanent positions of second race seat and third driver ".

This looks like its race over in F1 for Yuji Ide. Though Suzuki hopes he will come back to F1, it is unlikely he will ever race again in a GP for a long long time.

One comment sums up his short stint in F1 : He made the much-missed Alex Yoong look like Michael Schumacher.

Montoya 'the second choice' for McLaren !

2006-05-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

As if it wasnt bleeding obvious, McLaren's chief executive, Martin Whitmarsh has said the team would prefer to retain Kimi Raikonnen as Fernando Alonso's team-mate next season. The point really is if Kimi wants to continue at McLaren.

The start to McLaren's 2006 challenge has not been exactly spectacular, but neither has it been a disaster. Compared to this point last season, they have more points and better reliability. But while the MP4-20 was clearly the fastest car, MP4-21 seems to be way off the pace of Renault and Ferrari.

And this is what could convince Kimi to leave McLaren. In 4 years, they have failed to give Kimi a championship winning car. He was close in 2003, and 2005 - and clearly in both cases, it was the car's unreliability that cost him dearly. Kimi would love to drive in a car that can be both fast and reliable - cars like the Renault or Ferrari.

It is a decision thats going to be tough. He could be shown up by the maestro at Ferrari. He could have trouble adjusting to a new team after 4 years at one team. But, he could have a better chance of winning a championship.

But what about Montoya ? Where does this leave him ? Montoya himself is not too happy with McLaren treating him as "No.2 driver", even though he has managed more or less to be as fast as Kimi this season and late last season. Rumour has it that he could leave McLaren even without waiting for Kimi's decision. Where he could go is another question (and fodder for another post!), but it does explain why McLaren are desperate now to hang on to the Iceman Finn, and have given him a free hand to decide about his future.

Lots of possibilities could emerge out of this situation. Some young faces could come in, some well known faces could go out. Keep watching this space for more.

Montagny's first race...

2006-05-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

... unfortunately ended in a retirement.

The Super Aguri reserve driver is now hoping to get another chance at Spain this weekend, and possibly even at Monaco. With the tight twisty lanes of Monaco a nightmare for the rookies, Yuji Ide is unlikely to be granted permission to race until he has more practice in a F1 car.

The choice between Ide and Montagny is a no-brainer really, but Super Aguri have a lot of sponsorship riding on the "All Japanese" driver line up, and it may be difficult for Montagny to race more than an odd race now and then this season.

The choice of Super Aguri second driver is to be made in the next couple of days after Aguri Suzuki, the team owner is through with some important meetings with the sponsors.

The Alonso turnaround

2006-05-09T11:14:00.000-07:00

Just a week ago, Fernando Alonso was claiming that Ferrari's win at Imola was a one-off. Through the Nurburgring weekend, he was forced to gradually revise that opinion until yesterday, he finally said this :

"I think it's not a surprise that Ferrari are fighting. I expect McLaren will arrive also. Honda are really strong in some races, so nothing changes from the beginning of the championship. There are four teams, sometimes one is quicker, sometimes another one is slower, but all four teams are strong and ready to fight."

But he just spoiled it for himself with this last comment :

"Michelin has been in a dominant position in Barcelona.. I think in the next two races Michelin will be stronger than Bridgestone. "

He perhaps needs to be reminded that out of the last 5 races at Barcelona, 4 were won by Michael on Bridgestone tyres.

He may or may not win this years WDC, but he is surely on target for the Foot-in-the-mouth award.

Barcelona Tech File

2006-05-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

From Eurosport :

Barcelona is a circuit that every F1 team knows well as they complete thousands of miles there in testing throughout the season. The mix of high-speed corners, a very long straight and an abrasive track surface, makes the Circuit de Catalunya a uniquely complete circuit.

CHASSIS

Aerodynamics: Aerodynamic efficiency is always a key factor at this circuit. Barcelona offers every type of corner in its layout, and the straights are invariably preceded by quick corners. This means the team actually runs quite high downforce levels, in spite of the long main straight, as it is important to get good exit speed from these corners. That, ultimately, is what conditions the car's speed on the main straight. That means this a race where we use a high downforce set-up.

Suspension: When we look at suspension settings, we have to find the best compromise to give the drivers a well-balanced, responsive car. This means we will use relative stiff settings at the front of the car to get a good change of direction, while the rear will be slightly softer in order to get the best possible traction out of the slow corners. Ride height is also an important parameter to consider -- generally we can run the car quite low, which allows optimum aerodynamic performance.

Tyres: The Circuit de Catalunya is well known for being a particularly tough circuit, particularly because it includes so many long, high-speed corners. These put the tyres under high loadings, and particularly the front left tyre which has to work very hard in all the quick corners. We will therefore pay particular attention to tyre degradation when making our choice, and we may alter settings such as camber angles to limit tyre wear if necessary.

ENGINE

Performance: Barcelona is not generally thought of as an engine circuit as the engine is not under particular stress at any point. There are relatively few hard accelerations from low revs, and the main priority is for the power delivery to be progressive and driveable in order to maintain the best handling balance, and limit tyre wear. 69% of the lap is spent at full throttle.

Gearbox: Given the length of the main straight at this circuit, the choice of gear ratios is quite tricky. In fact, for top gear we have to contend with possible over-revving if the wind blows down the main straight, or if the driver is in a competitor's slipstream. Similarly, a headwind can cost performance. Choosing the final drive is an important part of the work during the practice sessions.

Giles Villeneuve

2006-05-08T23:34:00.000-07:00

There is so much to write about Giles, that its a monumental task. Someday I will get to it.
Perhaps, his own words say a lot about him:

I love driving the car right to the limit, feeling it drifting and knowing the car is right at its maximum. Hitting that limit, the absolute flat-out fastest that a car will go through a corner, is a tremendous feeling - an absolutely fantastic sensation. It doesn't matter if there's anyone watching or even if there's a stopwatch on me. By itself, it is enough.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of photographs of the greatest racer in F1.

Here is Giles doing a lap on three wheels with a broken suspension in his Ferrari at Zandvoort in 1979. He always gave his 100% even when the car was way below his potential.

Giles was a simple, uncomplicated person. Here he is with his family (Joann - his wife, and Jacques and Melanie - his kids)

Dad at work ! Jacques and Melanie with their father.

Interesting Pictures from the 'Ring

2006-05-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Ferrari Team celebrating their 1-3 at Nurburgring.

You couldnt have missed this pair at the 'ring ! Jean Todt with Michelle Yeoh.

Felipe Massa with girlfriend Rafaela Bassi at the 'ring before the race.

Flavio Briatore with Miss Germany.

Cora Schumacher - the wife of Ralf Schumacher - was there too.

24 Years.

2006-05-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Date : May 8, 1982
Place : Zolder, Belgium

Giles Villeneuve, trying to get pole to beat his team-mate Didier Pironi and make up for the gross injustice at the previous race in Imola, was on his flying lap. He came up to the slow moving March of Jochen Mass, and in an unfortunate coincidence, Mass moved away from the racing line just as Giles prepared to overtake him. The Ferrari went flying, landing nose first. Giles was thrown into the barriers.

That was the end of one of the best drivers ever to have been in F1.

A true racer, he died doing what he loved best - always pushing to the maximum.

Cheers to the great man.

Confessions !

2006-05-08T07:05:00.000-07:00

Confirming all suspicions that Alonso gave up the fight as soon as Michael went into the lead ( see here for an earlier post on this matter ), Alonso has admitted that he turned down the revs and settled for second.

Click here for the story on F1 Central

Alonso, said: ''Ferrari were a bit faster than us today, and while our tyre performance was okay, they certainly had more speed.''

Renault boss Flavio Briatore, too, confessed that the Ferrari-Bridgestone-Schumacher package was 'too strong' in the Eifel region.

Hamilton at McLaren ?!

2006-05-08T06:57:00.000-07:00

This is surely one of the silliest and least credible rumours to arise :

Click here for the story on Planet-F1

Lewis Hamiton is now loeading the GP2 championship with a double victory at Nurburgring this weekend. He has been sponsored by McLaren right from his karting years, and with such inspired form, he is not too far away from a Formula One seat.

However, Ron Dennis has often said in the past that he would rather have Hamilton enter F1 through another team and make his way to the top teams. Plus, with so much moolah now floating around in McLaren, they can easily afford drivers of much better and proven calibre than a rookie.

The race for Alonso's team-mate is getting interesting by the day.. !

The Championship scene

2006-05-07T23:53:00.000-07:00

Schumacher might have won the Euro GP in spectacular style, but the fact remains that he could only make up 2 points on Alonso. But with the tyres being so evenly matched, Alonso remains at a slight advantage.

This is because (as Martin Brundle pointed out) there are more Michelin runners likely to do better than Michael on a Michelin friendly track , than there are Bridgestone runners likely to do better than Alonso on a Bridgestone friendly track.

What that means is that when Michelin are on top, Alonso will win and he will find some of Montoya/Kimi/Button/ between himself and Michael. On the other hand, when Bridgestones are on top, Michael will win, but there is no one from the Bridgestone camp to challenge Alonso for second, and Alonso will gladly take second.

Michael and Ferrari need to hope that a) there are more Bridgestone friendly circuits and b) Massa and perhaps Kimi need to get ahead of Alonso when Michael wins.

Jubilant Ferrari Pit Crew

2006-05-07T23:43:00.000-07:00

Ferrari pit crew did an amazing job to turn around Michael in 6.8 seconds to ensure he came out ahead of Alonso.

Nurburgring Foot-in-the-mouth Award

2006-05-07T23:28:00.000-07:00

This award, for the European GP goes, in general terms, to the Renault F1 team for so spectacularly counting out Ferrari, and thinking Imola was a one-off.

More specifically, this award goes to Rod Nelson, who is Fernando Alonso's race engineer, for saying this :

To be totally honest, I thought their performance in Imola would be an isolated thing and I was surprised to see them so competitive in qualifying here. However, I think they have gone for quite soft tyres this weekend. They are quick on one lap, but they seem to lose performance after two or three laps. So we are feeling pretty confident.

Rod must be busy eating his words now, as must the entire Renault team including Alonso .
Renault failed to see the obvious signs in Free Practice and quite clearly, were shocked and rattled by Ferrari's consistent pace throughout the weekend.

Alonso was mentally prepared to lose ??

2006-05-07T23:11:00.000-07:00

Alonso lost the European Grand Prix all right, but it was the manner in which he lost that is quite perplexing. Quite obviously, Michael was in a class of his own - but Alonso didnt even try and put pressure on Michael once Michael got ahead at the pitstops.

When Michael came out ahead of Alonso after the second stop, the gap was about 4 seconds. In the next 2-3 laps, it had grown to around 8 seconds. Alonso readily settled for the second place.

Even after the race, he said it was a matter of when the Ferrari would overtake him, which clearly indicated that he was not even going to try for the race win. Indeed, he found himself under pressure from Massa late in the race !

It is quite a shame that Alonso should not even try for wins, and that too so early in the season, because he is a good driver and is capable of pulling off great moves (like the one in Suzuka last year). He is already thinking of protecting his lead in the championship, with just 5 races gone. He did the same last year when Kimi had a better car and was starting to win most races - just sit back and take the second place without any risks.

Quite a shame really.

Norbert Haug -the Rumsfeld of F1!

2006-05-07T23:04:00.001-07:00

Before the race on Sunday, Norbert Haug, competition director of Mercedes, comparing McLaren's Michelin tyres and Ferrari's Bridgestones:

We can't really say that we have a tyre disadvantage, but perhaps they have a slight advantage.

Donald Rumsfeld would have been proud of that one.

F1 Truckies

2006-05-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

We have all heard of engineers, mechanics, press officers and even lollypop men in a F1 team (thanks to Button's pitstop at Imola!, but have you heard about F1 Truckies ?

Well, if you think thats oh-so-unattractive, think again. For the chief truckie of a F1 team earns about 30,000 pounds as salary, and the other truckies in late 20,000 pounds.

Why do they get paid so much ? Martin Popple, the chief truckie of the former BAR team answers :

I joined BAR from Arrows and I've been with them since the team started so I've helped to build everything up. I designed the layout of the trucks and supervised the build, and I also helped with organising all the pit and garage equipment and flyaway kit - including our new paletiser system; we are the first team to do that. Now it's all up and running my job is to keep everything operating smoothly; to make sure the equipment is always in good order, ensure everything is on the trucks before we leave for the race and make sure we get to and from the circuit on time. There are 6 truckies who travel to races with BAR and in addition to making sure the trucks are operational and functional all the time, we all have specific jobs during the race weekend. Two guys look after the tyres, two guys look after fuel, one does the air hoses and I'm floating between all of them keeping an eye on things.

Hmmm.. that was an interesting glimpse into the working of an F1 team.

By the way, if this job description sounds interesting to you, go get an HGV1 license and apply to some teams !!

Alonso running light ??

2006-05-06T07:31:00.000-07:00

Alonso managed to get pole at the Nurburgring today, just about getting ahead of Michael Schumacher by a mere 0.2 seconds.

However, it is likely that Alonso was running light on fuel to get that pole. If we look at how far down the grid the other Renault is, and even allowing for the fact that Fisi was held up by Villenueve, it is quite apparent that the Ferraris are more than a match for the Renault this weekend. Especially if you consider that both Ferraris were consistently quick throughout the weekend and finished 2-3 in the Qualifying.

Important in this context, are Alonso's comments to 'Gazzetta dello Sport' today morning :
"The risk of incidents in the first corner are reduced if you start right at the front," he said. "So far our strategies have worked well, but stupid things can happen". He said he wanted a fuel strategy geared to give him the quickest car after an hour of qualifying.

Also, F1 Racing has just carried an article which quotes Ross Brawn also predicting that Alonso is running light.

"I will be surprised tomorrow if they have more fuel on board than us based on all the times we've analysed since first practice," Brawn said after qualifying. "I think in the last few races they've carried too much fuel in qualifying and they've obviously changed their approach here."

However, Ferrari are renowned for their mindgames, and this could just be one of them. But it is quite clear that Ferrari have proved to be genuine challengers this weekend.

Alonso's Friday Dinner - The Humble Pie

2006-05-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

Alonso looks like he is going to have the humble pie for dinner tonite.
Before the Euro GP race weekend, Alonso practically ruled out Ferrari as a contender for this race. He also reckoned that Imola was a flash in the pan for Ferrari.
Here , he says "I expect more competition from McLaren than Ferrari this weekend".

Now, after Friday practice sessions, which saw Michael finish ahead of all the racing drivers (testing drivers are in a separate class on Fridays!) in Free Practice 1, and finish just 0.04s behind Alonso in Practice 2. See here for the timings of all drivers.

It does seem that Ferrari are able to sustain their form. Alonso had this to say after the Friday practice (click here for the complete story) : "The pace looks quite good but the times are very close, and we need to do more running to get a clearer picture of who our rivals will be."

Alonso clearly looks rattled !! This is going to get more and more interesting, but this circuit is traditionally a Michelin circuit, so Renault should be able to win here. The important thing really is if Michael and Ferrari can keep up with the pace and challenge them here.
This race could set the tone for the championship.

Kimi Raikonnen and the Nurburgring

2006-05-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of points to ponder for Kimi fans before he starts off this weekend at the Nurburgring :

2003 Euro GP : Kimi was leading the GP when an engine failure meant the end of his race. Michael Schumacher, despite a spin after collision with Montoya, went on to finish 4th. Kimi lost the championship by 1 point.

2004 Euro GP : Kimi was running second until the first round of pitstops, and in an almost Trulli-like manner, had held up an entire train of challengers. His V10, expectedly failed, and once again, Raikonnen left the 'ring with nothing.

2005 Euro GP : Kimi, leading the GP was on his last lap. Engine failure again you ask ? Naah. The suspension gave way this time, and what could have been 20 point lead for Alonso became an eventually unmanageable 32 point lead. Kimi effectively lost the championship here.

2006 Euro GP : ????

This is going to be a really crucial race for the McLaren team in terms of their hopes for the championships.

The Town of Adenau

2006-05-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

The town of Adenau falls in the path of the Nordschleife race track. Here is a picture of it. The track is in the foreground - notice the greenery and the hills surrounding the track.

I tried to get a screenshot of the onboard footage from the 956, but it was not too clear. So, this will have to do until I get to the more detailed post about Nordschleife.

Truly awesome track.

History (Nurburgring)

2006-05-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

No, this is not a history lesson.

This weekend is the Euro GP at Nuerburgring. This post is not about Nurburgring though. Its about the Nordschleife. A 22 km race track which was deemed too dangerous for modern F1 cars.

I happened to see a video of Derek Bell doing a lap of that track in a Porsche 956, and you have to trust me - its an awesome circuit. And just as well that modern F1 cars dont race on it, for they simply wouldnt survive the steep rises, the bumps and the sheer damage to the suspension that could occur. You only have to go about an year back to see what suspension damage a flatspotted tyre can do to a F1 car of today.

Not only is the Nordschleife considered a difficult track, what makes it legendary is the place itself. Surrounded by hills and forests, with a great view of the Nurburg castle, this track could only possibly be rivalled by the equally legendary Spa-Francorchamps.

I am going to write a more detailed post on the Nordschleife and Nurburgring and the now-extinct Sudschleife sometime soon. The history lesson will have to wait.

Flexy Ferrari !

2006-05-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

This post should have come a few days ago, but got lost in a power cut. So here goes again.

At the start of the season, Ferrari F248 was rumoured to have an "aerodynamic advantage" over the grid. Nobody of course knew what it was, and no one would know until the start of the season.
In Bahrain, Ferrari got pole and Michael finished in 2nd place. The Ferrari seemed to be able to carry a lot more speed going into the corners. Honda complained that the front wings were "flexing" in motion, which was illegal.

So, in Sepang all cameras were trained on the front wing of F248, and sure enough, the wings seemed to flex while braking into corners, ostensibly allowing the car to take more speed. Ferrari agreed to modify the wings for Oz GP, where they had a largely anonymous race.

Now, move to Imola. Ferrari on pole. Michael wins. Honda complain. Again.

This time though, Ferrari have challenged Honda to complain to FIA about their wings. Honda boss Nick Fry says he has video evidence of the "flexy" wings of Ferrari, and Ferrari have retorted by saying they too have video evidence of cars which could be deemed illegal.

Honda really should quit whining. If there are any car videotapes they should be watching, it is of their own cars. They should realise that they are better off improving their car rather than complain about others.

And to be honest, the flexible wings looked really cool and it was an innovative design by the Ferrari team to improve the aerodynamic performance. Quite unlike the pathetic and woeful attempt by Honda to conceal, of all things , a fuel tank (Imola '05) !!!

A Lap of the 'ring

2006-05-04T06:24:00.000-07:00

From Planet-F1 :

McLaren test driver Gary Paffett describes what it's like to put in a lap at the Nurburgring in a F1 car...

"Powering along the start-finish straight at the Nürburgring you reach 300km/h in sixth gear, before braking hard for the entrance to the Mercedes Arena, which is a tight right hand hairpin that sees you drop into first gear.

This is immediately followed by a long 180-degree left hander and a 90-degree right hander, which swings you back round onto the straight. Powering up through the gears on the approach to the fast left of Valvoline Kurve, you brake from speeds of 275km/h in sixth gear to 196km/h in fourth gear to negotiate the sweeping bend.

A short burst on the throttle takes you to the second gear Ford Kurve, this bumpy right hander is taken at 112km/h. On the exit you accelerate downhill up to 297km/h in sixth gear as you approach the hairpin, which is taken at 94km/h in second. It is crucial to take a good line through the hairpin so that you can push hard and early on the throttle on the exit.

Up the hill towards the Michelin Kurve you reach speeds of 258km/h, lifting slightly for the left-right flick of the chicane, before braking hard for Michelin, dropping down to 148km/h in third for the 90-degree left-hander.

A similar right-hander, which is one of the most crucial corners on the circuit, follows and takes you onto the back straight. Taken flat-out, the fast, sweeping straight, with a slight right kink, sees you reach 310km/h in sixth gear as you approach the Veedol-S chicane, the main overtaking opportunity at the circuit. This is another tough braking point as you drop from the highest speed at the Nürburgring to 107km/h in second to negotiate the chicane where you have to drive aggressively over the curbs in order to carry the speed through the corner.

Accelerating out, a short burst on the throttle sees you reach 254km/h in fourth before dabbing the brakes for the final corner. Taken at 113km/h and using the whole curb as you exit, the right-hander flicks you back onto the start-finish straight to begin another lap."

Having played on this track often in the EA Sports' F1-2002 game, I absolutely agree with Gary that you need to take the curbs of Veedol-S chicane aggressively for a good lap time - countless have been the times when I have got a drive-through penalty for being a little too smart in that chicane !!!

Ide Axed !

2006-05-04T06:13:00.000-07:00

Super Aguri reserve driver Franck Montagny will replace Yuji Ide in the second race car for the Euro GP this weekend. Apparently, the FIA recommended that Ide get some more miles in a F1 car during testing rather than risk other drivers safety.

Click here for the story

More than Ide going out, I am looking forward to seeing Montagny race. A former Renault test driver (during 2003 and 2004), he was also the third driver for Jordan last year. It is high time he got to drive a race car in a GP, for he is one of the more deserving drivers out there - definitely more deserving than the man he is replacing.

It will be interesting to see how he does in comparison to Sato, even if it is in a Super Aguri. It is really 'phenomenal' for this guy from Fuers in France to finally race in GP !! Here is hoping he has a great first race !

Prodrive in F1

2006-04-28T23:54:00.000-07:00

Prodrive, run by former Benetton and BAR team boss David Richards, will join the current 11 teams as a new entry in the 2008 Formula One championship.

Out of 22 teams that had applied for the 12 slots in 2008, the 11 existing teams' application was accepted, and the new team to join them would be Prodrive.

Prodrive have been doing well in the other formulae and in other forms of motorsports and it would be interesting to see if they can step up to the world of F1. They should however be helped by the cost-cutting measures Mosley plans to introduce in the sport by 2008 - which was also the prime reason why 22 candidates had applied to be a part of the sport.

The most famous rejection was that of Paul Stoddart - who wanted to bring Minardi back to F1 in 2008. His application was rejected, and so we will continue to be deprived of the Bernie - Stoddart battles !!

Whither Honda ?

2006-04-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

The F1 season is 4 races old now, and for me the biggest surprise has been the performance of Honda F1 team.

I know Jenson has qualified really well in all the races and Honda supporters may well point to a spate of bad luck events hindering their chances, but the fact remains that Honda have nothing to show for their efforts.

This has to be viewed in the perspective of the winter testing times. Honda racked up millions of miles with little reliability problems, and it seemed before the start of the season that Renault and Honda would be the teams to really look ahead to. Jenson's first win was almost taken for granted ! And with one of the seemingly best driver pairings on the grid of Rubens and Jense, Honda threatened to take the battle to Renault for championships.

Four races on, Honda have suffered many engine failures - the most spectacular being the one at Oz, with Jenson's engine collapsing on the last lap. Ironically, the team asked him to pull over and forfeit the points finish so they could get a fresh engine without penalty at Imola. And guess where Jenson finished at Imola ? 7th.

The car seems to be lacking pace over the race distance too, and this was never so dramatically evident as at Oz GP, when Button slipped gradually throughout the race from pole to 5th or so by the end of the race. Rubens has had trouble with braking, and in general, his form has looked a shadow of his (admittedly overshadowed) form at Ferrari.

Honda need to get more out of their car to be able to challenge the Renaults and even Ferrari. And soon - otherwise this could be a long difficult season for Honda.

Schu at Ferrari ?

2006-04-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

According to the German newspaper Bild , Schumacher has been offered a $86.6m package to stay at Ferrari for 2 years with a "championship" get out clause. Which means if Michael wins the 2006 or 2007 championship, he can leave Ferrari the next day. Tempting.

And with scenes witnessed at Imola last weekend, I dont see why Schumacher will ever even think of leaving Ferrari! Tifosi are amongst the most passionate of fans you will ever see in any sport.. and for Michael, Ferrari is like a family.

I suspect Michael will have 2 more years in the Ferrari. His team-mate ? Wait and watch.

That Pitstop at Imola

2006-04-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

Post Imola '06, it is tempting to conclude that Alonso lost the race when he pitted earlier than Michael, even though he had more fuel.

However, Michael did an amazing job before that pitstop to control the pace of the race. The commentators did briefly speculate if he was running in economy mode to conserve fuel so that he could lap later than Alonso - while that seems improbable, it certainly seems true that Michael slowed down considerably when he had Alonso behind him.

An article on Planet F1 has Pat Symonds explaining why Renault called in Alonso for his second pitstop earlier than scheduled.

Interestingly, he also believed Michael had a lot more performance in that car during the second stint and he was probably 'sandbagging' to fool Renault into believing they had a chance.

This is what Pat Symonds said :

The really significant thing was that on the free lap after Fernando pitted, Michael showed he had some performance in reserve. On the lap we pitted, he did a lap of 1:25.7 - where his average speed in the ten previous laps, was 1:27.4. The lap times during the second stint had not suggested he had that performance in reserve.

This is backed up by the timings shown during the race. When Alonso pitted, the gap was 0.3-0.4 seconds. Alonso pitted for 6.7 seconds, while Schumacher pitted for 7.1 seconds. Yet, Michael was ahead by 1.4 seconds when he came out of the pits !

Michael must have been laughing when Alonso pitted !!! What a great drive !