Friday, 2 April 2010
Friday, 12 February 2010
Formula One Circuits 2010
With the expansion of two races since last year; a long overdue return of the Canadian and introduction of Korea to the Grand Prix calendar, provided it is finished to FIA regulations, an important season is in store for 2010. Old teams have folded, old drivers have been encouraged to return, some teams have changed allegiances and some seem as though they will struggle to make the first grid.
In six decades of Formula One racing the number of races contested in a season has varied from 7 to 19 races. The selection of suitable grand prix for the World Championship is dependent on a number of factors which include racetrack safety, television scheduling and crowd attendance.
In recent years Formula One has ventured into the Asian market, leading to several more traditional grand prix events being cancelled in favour of new, innovative races targeted in the Asian market. The rapid expansion of the sport has also led to an expanded racing schedule, with the season extended to incorporate new races.
The 2010 Formula One World Championship includes:
•The Bahrain Grand Prix, Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir. 14th March 2010
•The Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne. 28th March 2010
•The Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur. 4th April 2010
•The Chinese Grand Prix, International circuit in Shanghai. 18th April 2010
•The Spanish Grand Prix, Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona. 9th May 2010
•The Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo port district. 16th May 2010
•The Turkish Grand Prix, Istanbul Park in Istanbul. 30th May 2010
•The Canadian Grand Prix, Gilles Villeneuve Circuit near Montreal. 13th June 2010
•The European Grand Prix, Valencia port district in Spain. 27th June 2010
•The British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit in England. 11th July 2010
•The German Grand Prix, shared with Hockenheimring and Nürburgring. 25th July 2010
•The Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungaroring circuit in Budapest. 1st August 2010
•The Belgian Grand Prix, Circuit Spa-Francorchamps in Spa. 29th August 2010
•The Italian Grand Prix, Monza circuit in Italy. 12th September 2010
•The Singapore Grand Prix, Marina Bay circuit in Singapore. 26th September 2010
•The Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka circuit in Suzuka. 10th October 2010
•The Korean Grand Prix, International Circuit at Yeongam. 24th October 2010
•The Brazilian Grand Prix, Interlagos at Sao Paolo. 7th November 2010
•The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix,Yas marina circuit. 14th November 2010
The circuits used to host grand prix play as big a role in the outcome of Formula One races as car performance and driver skill. While track safety has been emphasised in recent years, the addition of street races and night races has managed to keep Formula One racing as exciting as before.
In six decades of Formula One racing the number of races contested in a season has varied from 7 to 19 races. The selection of suitable grand prix for the World Championship is dependent on a number of factors which include racetrack safety, television scheduling and crowd attendance.
In recent years Formula One has ventured into the Asian market, leading to several more traditional grand prix events being cancelled in favour of new, innovative races targeted in the Asian market. The rapid expansion of the sport has also led to an expanded racing schedule, with the season extended to incorporate new races.
The 2010 Formula One World Championship includes:
•The Bahrain Grand Prix, Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir. 14th March 2010
•The Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne. 28th March 2010
•The Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur. 4th April 2010
•The Chinese Grand Prix, International circuit in Shanghai. 18th April 2010
•The Spanish Grand Prix, Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona. 9th May 2010
•The Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo port district. 16th May 2010
•The Turkish Grand Prix, Istanbul Park in Istanbul. 30th May 2010
•The Canadian Grand Prix, Gilles Villeneuve Circuit near Montreal. 13th June 2010
•The European Grand Prix, Valencia port district in Spain. 27th June 2010
•The British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit in England. 11th July 2010
•The German Grand Prix, shared with Hockenheimring and Nürburgring. 25th July 2010
•The Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungaroring circuit in Budapest. 1st August 2010
•The Belgian Grand Prix, Circuit Spa-Francorchamps in Spa. 29th August 2010
•The Italian Grand Prix, Monza circuit in Italy. 12th September 2010
•The Singapore Grand Prix, Marina Bay circuit in Singapore. 26th September 2010
•The Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka circuit in Suzuka. 10th October 2010
•The Korean Grand Prix, International Circuit at Yeongam. 24th October 2010
•The Brazilian Grand Prix, Interlagos at Sao Paolo. 7th November 2010
•The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix,Yas marina circuit. 14th November 2010
The circuits used to host grand prix play as big a role in the outcome of Formula One races as car performance and driver skill. While track safety has been emphasised in recent years, the addition of street races and night races has managed to keep Formula One racing as exciting as before.
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Friday, 4 December 2009
Ricciardo’s Making The Right Moves On Track
04 | 12 | 09
The final day of the final test of 2009 saw a Red Bull Racing driver top the timesheets: our Junior Team driver Daniel Ricciardo.
The Australian has had a long year going from winning the British F3 title to completing the three days in Jerez. And he was more than pleased with the work he, and the team, had put in.
“It puts a big, proud smile on my face definitely,” he said. “It was a great day and we were able to get some real pace out of the car and myself. I was becoming much more confident after a couple of days in the car and I think the team were quite satisfied. I think they got some good data for next year.”
His final day saw him a good 1.3 seconds faster than his nearest rival, so what did he put that extra pace down to?
“We tried different set-ups and tyres as well so that helped out a bit, but just getting more familiar with the car and used to the surroundings.” And was that easy to do within a new garage and a new environment?
“Working within a Formula One team was completely different to anything I’ve ever experienced, but it was really good. I think I adapted quite well and understood that there are a lot of people and that they’ve all got their purpose within the team. We all got along and had a good three days together.”
Mark Webber also phoned through his encouragement straight after the final test.
“I spoke to him a couple of hours ago to let him know how it all went,” said Daniel. “He was very positive about it all and gave me some encouragement - hopefully I’ll do a bit of training with him next year and hopefully he’ll be able to tell me how to get a bit more out of the car.”
And finally, that nickname which has been doing the rounds. Is he really called Disco Dan by his mates?
“I don’t really have a nickname! But that was one I was called when I first started racing. I’m not really a dancer - we all like to have a bit of fun, but no I don’t have any particular moves to talk about.”
Well, not off-track anyway:
1. Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1m17.418s 77
2. Di Resta Force India 1m18.736s + 1.318s 53
3. Paffett McLaren 1m18.746s + 1.328s 59
4. Conway Brawn 1m19.096s + 1.678s 77
5. Hulkenberg Williams 1m19.226s + 1.808s 106
6. Baguette Sauber 1m19.356s + 1.938s 70
7. Turvey McLaren 1m19.358s + 1.940s 32
8. Ericsson Brawn 1m19.382s + 1.964s 49
9. Di Grassi Renault 1m19.602s + 2.184s 123
10. Hildebrand Force India 1m19.873s + 2.455s 41
11. Sanchez Ferrari 1m21.147s + 3.650s 39
12. Zampieri Ferrari 1m21.279s + 3.861s 42
12. Zipoli Ferrari 1m21.725s + 4.307s 41
13. Hartley Toro Rosso 1m22.493s + 5.075s 50
15. Bortolotti Toro Rosso 1m23.271s + 5.853s 34
16. Tung Renault 1m32.477s + 15.059s 4
.Related ArticlesJerez Test, Day Three: Ricciardo Fastest
03 | 12 | 09
Driver: Daniel Ricciardo; Car: RB5-02; Time: 1:17.418; Laps: 77; Circuit [...]
Read the full article
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Daniel’s Jerez Test, Day Two: Horner’s Debrief
More Priceless Stuff Added To Fan Awards Prize Draw
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Daniel’s Jerez Test, Day One Debrief
Jerez Test, Day One
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The final day of the final test of 2009 saw a Red Bull Racing driver top the timesheets: our Junior Team driver Daniel Ricciardo.
The Australian has had a long year going from winning the British F3 title to completing the three days in Jerez. And he was more than pleased with the work he, and the team, had put in.
“It puts a big, proud smile on my face definitely,” he said. “It was a great day and we were able to get some real pace out of the car and myself. I was becoming much more confident after a couple of days in the car and I think the team were quite satisfied. I think they got some good data for next year.”
His final day saw him a good 1.3 seconds faster than his nearest rival, so what did he put that extra pace down to?
“We tried different set-ups and tyres as well so that helped out a bit, but just getting more familiar with the car and used to the surroundings.” And was that easy to do within a new garage and a new environment?
“Working within a Formula One team was completely different to anything I’ve ever experienced, but it was really good. I think I adapted quite well and understood that there are a lot of people and that they’ve all got their purpose within the team. We all got along and had a good three days together.”
Mark Webber also phoned through his encouragement straight after the final test.
“I spoke to him a couple of hours ago to let him know how it all went,” said Daniel. “He was very positive about it all and gave me some encouragement - hopefully I’ll do a bit of training with him next year and hopefully he’ll be able to tell me how to get a bit more out of the car.”
And finally, that nickname which has been doing the rounds. Is he really called Disco Dan by his mates?
“I don’t really have a nickname! But that was one I was called when I first started racing. I’m not really a dancer - we all like to have a bit of fun, but no I don’t have any particular moves to talk about.”
Well, not off-track anyway:
1. Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1m17.418s 77
2. Di Resta Force India 1m18.736s + 1.318s 53
3. Paffett McLaren 1m18.746s + 1.328s 59
4. Conway Brawn 1m19.096s + 1.678s 77
5. Hulkenberg Williams 1m19.226s + 1.808s 106
6. Baguette Sauber 1m19.356s + 1.938s 70
7. Turvey McLaren 1m19.358s + 1.940s 32
8. Ericsson Brawn 1m19.382s + 1.964s 49
9. Di Grassi Renault 1m19.602s + 2.184s 123
10. Hildebrand Force India 1m19.873s + 2.455s 41
11. Sanchez Ferrari 1m21.147s + 3.650s 39
12. Zampieri Ferrari 1m21.279s + 3.861s 42
12. Zipoli Ferrari 1m21.725s + 4.307s 41
13. Hartley Toro Rosso 1m22.493s + 5.075s 50
15. Bortolotti Toro Rosso 1m23.271s + 5.853s 34
16. Tung Renault 1m32.477s + 15.059s 4
.Related ArticlesJerez Test, Day Three: Ricciardo Fastest
03 | 12 | 09
Driver: Daniel Ricciardo; Car: RB5-02; Time: 1:17.418; Laps: 77; Circuit [...]
Read the full article
Jerez Test, Day Two
Daniel’s Jerez Test, Day Two: Horner’s Debrief
More Priceless Stuff Added To Fan Awards Prize Draw
What Would You Like To See In The Red Bulletin?
Daniel’s Jerez Test, Day One Debrief
Jerez Test, Day One
The Whole Team Celebrates The Season’s Success
Top Gear Is The Very Art Of Red Bull Racing
Rolling Out The Red (Bull) Carpet For RoyaltyRelated Links
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Daniel’s Jerez Test, Day Two: Horner’s Debrief
On the second day of running in Jerez we spoke to Christian Horner about the importance of these tests and what he’s looking for over the three day sessions.
First of all, why are we here testing in Spain?
“It’s a great way to have a look at the youngsters; it’s a very good initiative that lets us have 12 young drivers out here today. From a Red Bull perspective in Daniel we’ve got one of our most exciting prospects in the car. He acquitted himself well on his first day. 112 laps on a physically very demanding track… he’s done a great job.”
Is the team testing the car or just testing the driver?
“One of the reasons we’ve elected to run the same driver for three days is because some our work at this test is focussed on next year, so it’s good to have continuity. Rather than chopping and changing we wanted to run the same driver over three days to have a consistency of feedback. It’s the only test between now and next February which makes it very, very important.”
And how did Daniel look to you?
“He’s had a very good first day: his times were competitive, his feedback was good and he had a good level of fitness, so it’s a good start into a Formula One career. And this is more than about just speed. It’s about being a complete package. Speed; fitness; feedback; intelligence; feel. They’re all factors and they’re all part of what we’re evaluating.”
For more on the junior drivers’ testing, see the January edition of The Red Bulletin, or visit the website www.redbulletin.com in the new year.
First of all, why are we here testing in Spain?
“It’s a great way to have a look at the youngsters; it’s a very good initiative that lets us have 12 young drivers out here today. From a Red Bull perspective in Daniel we’ve got one of our most exciting prospects in the car. He acquitted himself well on his first day. 112 laps on a physically very demanding track… he’s done a great job.”
Is the team testing the car or just testing the driver?
“One of the reasons we’ve elected to run the same driver for three days is because some our work at this test is focussed on next year, so it’s good to have continuity. Rather than chopping and changing we wanted to run the same driver over three days to have a consistency of feedback. It’s the only test between now and next February which makes it very, very important.”
And how did Daniel look to you?
“He’s had a very good first day: his times were competitive, his feedback was good and he had a good level of fitness, so it’s a good start into a Formula One career. And this is more than about just speed. It’s about being a complete package. Speed; fitness; feedback; intelligence; feel. They’re all factors and they’re all part of what we’re evaluating.”
For more on the junior drivers’ testing, see the January edition of The Red Bulletin, or visit the website www.redbulletin.com in the new year.
Q and A with Daniel Ricciardo
By Jamie O'Leary Wednesday, December 2nd 2009, 08:54 GMT
British Formula 3 champion Daniel Ricciardo was delighted with his first day in a Formula 1 car during young driver testing at Jerez yesterday.
After setting the fourth fastest time for Red Bull Racing, and completing 112 laps, he told reporters about how his day had gone.
Q. Sum up your first day in a Formula 1 car.
Daniel Ricciardo: The day was good. I finally got to tackle one of these things around a racetrack. It went well. I did the most laps of anyone and had a good pace, so it was good.
Q. How was it compared to the F3 car?
DR: It's another step up. To be honest, the F3 car prepared me well for this. The level of grip compared to the power is actually quite similar between the two cars. The F1 car, as funny as it sounds, is a bit underpowered compared to how much grip it has. It was just a case of me getting used to higher corner speeds and better brakes.
Q. Describe your early spin.
DR: The track was very cold and green, I guess. I'm not going to make any excuses. I just got out of the corner and lost some traction and spun. But it was okay. It could have been far worse.
Q. Were you on the hardest tyre compound when you spun?
DR: I can't remember. We all started with new tyres and they still had the shine on them. It's probably the main reason you had a spin.
Q. Did you spin to avoid Brendon Hartley?
DR: They were two totally separate incidents. Once I was in the spin, I noticed he was stopped as well, and we arrived within a few metres of each other, so it would have been a bit embarrassing if we'd collected each other. It was completely a separate incident, and luckily for me, it was the best scenario it could have been.
Q. Was the biggest problem just getting used to the car?
DR: Yes. The first few runs I concentrated on getting used to it. We then had quite a bit of aero work to do, so we just quietly worked on it throughout the day. Stuff for next year that the team wanted to try out.
Q. How did it feel to get the test drive for this week?
DR: When they finally confirmed it there was a huge smile on my face. I got on the phone to the team to find out that it was all happening. Then I found out when it was going to be and how many days. Once I got all the confirmations, that was a big relief because it's what I've been working for all year.
Then driving out of the pitlane... That was a moment, because even when you get the confirmation, it doesn't really hit you until you're out on the track. That was sweet. I was nervous and excited, but more excited. It seemed to work out already.
Q. How big a responsibility is it to know that the team that finished second in the world championship has entrusted the car to you for all three days, when no other team is running just one driver?
DR: It dawned on me when I got the confirmation. Red Bull won the last three grands prix of the year, so this is probably the fastest car here. That was a huge privilege and quite an honour. I definitely recognise that, but at the same time I don't want to dwell on it too much and won't put too much pressure on myself because of it. I did notice it though.
Q. Is the aim to secure the test and reserve drive for 2010 to go alongside your Formula Renault 3.5 race programme?
DR: Yes. It would be great to get something like that for next year. We'll see how the test goes, but not much has been touched on that just yet. If this test goes well then that position could be up for grabs.
Q. How much rivalry will there be between yourself and Brendon Hartley next year if you are team-mates in Formula Renault 3.5, and test drivers for Red Bull and Toro Rosso? Are there bragging rights up for grabs between an Aussie and a Kiwi?
DR: To be honest, we get on well. We only live 10 minutes from each other near the factory and we have a good relationship. There's been no tension between us, no rivalry, and if it stays like that it will help. That way we can push each other in the right direction rather than trying to take each other down.
Q. Did your routine change when you found out this test was coming up?
DR: Only really with regards the training on my neck. I was told not to change too much from what I've been doing this year because it would be more of a shock to the body if I did. So it's just more fine-tuning from what I've done already. It seems to be working. At the end of the day I wasn't falling over or anything, so that's all okay. We'll see how it goes over the next few days.
Q. How was your neck?
DR: It was a bit of a strain on all the fast left-handers, but I didn't have any padding today, so we'll see tomorrow if I need to ask for it.
Q. How does the car compare to the Formula Renault 3.5?
DR: Higher corner speeds definitely, but the 3.5 with braking it's not too bad because that car has carbon brakes too. So the feeling of the car is not too different compared to the F1. For sure the F1 will still stop more and faster because it has so much more downforce. I guess the 3.5 is a bit underpowered too, which helps.
Q. How much support has Mark Webber given you?
DR: He's been good. He called the night before the test. Obviously he couldn't be here because he had the operation on his leg last week. But he gave me some advice, tips, told me to chill out and just enjoy it. That's the best advice I've been given. It takes the pressure off. I'll give him a call tonight and tell him how it went.
Q. Was the driving or giving the team technical feedback the hard bit?
DR: To be working with quite so many people was an experience. Having so many people around the car was a big shock at first, but at the end of the day, once the engine's on and you're out of pitlane, it's just me and the car, so that's not a problem. Once you're out on track they talk to you on the radio.
With the driving, sure I still have to find bits and pieces, but nothing really stood out as being too difficult to get used to. The biggest challenge really was in the slow corners as you try to manage the power. In an F3 car you get out of the turn, stomp on the throttle and it drives away. You need to be a bit more fragile with this car.
Q. You seemed very relaxed this morning, almost abnormally relaxed. Is that normal for you when you drive the car?
DR: During a race weekend I'm a bit more tense. In general I try to be relaxed and chilled out. Some things I've seen other drivers do is a bit too much. I try to be chilled out. Tonight I'll sleep well and try not to think too much about today, whereas some guys will still be racing at 100mph in their sleep. I'll chill out, listen to some music and relax.
Inside the car, it's serious, but with the helmet off I'm relaxed, and I'm just starting to get to know the team. We're already having little jokes, which releases a bit of the tension.
British Formula 3 champion Daniel Ricciardo was delighted with his first day in a Formula 1 car during young driver testing at Jerez yesterday.
After setting the fourth fastest time for Red Bull Racing, and completing 112 laps, he told reporters about how his day had gone.
Q. Sum up your first day in a Formula 1 car.
Daniel Ricciardo: The day was good. I finally got to tackle one of these things around a racetrack. It went well. I did the most laps of anyone and had a good pace, so it was good.
Q. How was it compared to the F3 car?
DR: It's another step up. To be honest, the F3 car prepared me well for this. The level of grip compared to the power is actually quite similar between the two cars. The F1 car, as funny as it sounds, is a bit underpowered compared to how much grip it has. It was just a case of me getting used to higher corner speeds and better brakes.
Q. Describe your early spin.
DR: The track was very cold and green, I guess. I'm not going to make any excuses. I just got out of the corner and lost some traction and spun. But it was okay. It could have been far worse.
Q. Were you on the hardest tyre compound when you spun?
DR: I can't remember. We all started with new tyres and they still had the shine on them. It's probably the main reason you had a spin.
Q. Did you spin to avoid Brendon Hartley?
DR: They were two totally separate incidents. Once I was in the spin, I noticed he was stopped as well, and we arrived within a few metres of each other, so it would have been a bit embarrassing if we'd collected each other. It was completely a separate incident, and luckily for me, it was the best scenario it could have been.
Q. Was the biggest problem just getting used to the car?
DR: Yes. The first few runs I concentrated on getting used to it. We then had quite a bit of aero work to do, so we just quietly worked on it throughout the day. Stuff for next year that the team wanted to try out.
Q. How did it feel to get the test drive for this week?
DR: When they finally confirmed it there was a huge smile on my face. I got on the phone to the team to find out that it was all happening. Then I found out when it was going to be and how many days. Once I got all the confirmations, that was a big relief because it's what I've been working for all year.
Then driving out of the pitlane... That was a moment, because even when you get the confirmation, it doesn't really hit you until you're out on the track. That was sweet. I was nervous and excited, but more excited. It seemed to work out already.
Q. How big a responsibility is it to know that the team that finished second in the world championship has entrusted the car to you for all three days, when no other team is running just one driver?
DR: It dawned on me when I got the confirmation. Red Bull won the last three grands prix of the year, so this is probably the fastest car here. That was a huge privilege and quite an honour. I definitely recognise that, but at the same time I don't want to dwell on it too much and won't put too much pressure on myself because of it. I did notice it though.
Q. Is the aim to secure the test and reserve drive for 2010 to go alongside your Formula Renault 3.5 race programme?
DR: Yes. It would be great to get something like that for next year. We'll see how the test goes, but not much has been touched on that just yet. If this test goes well then that position could be up for grabs.
Q. How much rivalry will there be between yourself and Brendon Hartley next year if you are team-mates in Formula Renault 3.5, and test drivers for Red Bull and Toro Rosso? Are there bragging rights up for grabs between an Aussie and a Kiwi?
DR: To be honest, we get on well. We only live 10 minutes from each other near the factory and we have a good relationship. There's been no tension between us, no rivalry, and if it stays like that it will help. That way we can push each other in the right direction rather than trying to take each other down.
Q. Did your routine change when you found out this test was coming up?
DR: Only really with regards the training on my neck. I was told not to change too much from what I've been doing this year because it would be more of a shock to the body if I did. So it's just more fine-tuning from what I've done already. It seems to be working. At the end of the day I wasn't falling over or anything, so that's all okay. We'll see how it goes over the next few days.
Q. How was your neck?
DR: It was a bit of a strain on all the fast left-handers, but I didn't have any padding today, so we'll see tomorrow if I need to ask for it.
Q. How does the car compare to the Formula Renault 3.5?
DR: Higher corner speeds definitely, but the 3.5 with braking it's not too bad because that car has carbon brakes too. So the feeling of the car is not too different compared to the F1. For sure the F1 will still stop more and faster because it has so much more downforce. I guess the 3.5 is a bit underpowered too, which helps.
Q. How much support has Mark Webber given you?
DR: He's been good. He called the night before the test. Obviously he couldn't be here because he had the operation on his leg last week. But he gave me some advice, tips, told me to chill out and just enjoy it. That's the best advice I've been given. It takes the pressure off. I'll give him a call tonight and tell him how it went.
Q. Was the driving or giving the team technical feedback the hard bit?
DR: To be working with quite so many people was an experience. Having so many people around the car was a big shock at first, but at the end of the day, once the engine's on and you're out of pitlane, it's just me and the car, so that's not a problem. Once you're out on track they talk to you on the radio.
With the driving, sure I still have to find bits and pieces, but nothing really stood out as being too difficult to get used to. The biggest challenge really was in the slow corners as you try to manage the power. In an F3 car you get out of the turn, stomp on the throttle and it drives away. You need to be a bit more fragile with this car.
Q. You seemed very relaxed this morning, almost abnormally relaxed. Is that normal for you when you drive the car?
DR: During a race weekend I'm a bit more tense. In general I try to be relaxed and chilled out. Some things I've seen other drivers do is a bit too much. I try to be chilled out. Tonight I'll sleep well and try not to think too much about today, whereas some guys will still be racing at 100mph in their sleep. I'll chill out, listen to some music and relax.
Inside the car, it's serious, but with the helmet off I'm relaxed, and I'm just starting to get to know the team. We're already having little jokes, which releases a bit of the tension.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Engine parity key to RBR Renault deal
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner says moves to ensure there is engine parity in Formula 1 next year are vital - with the issue stalling his team's new supply deal with Renault for 2010.
The Milton Keynes-based team is still waiting for confirmation about its engine plans for next year - despite having Renault listed as its 2010 partner by the FIA earlier this week.
The official 2010 entry list published on Monday said that Red Bull Racing would be supplied by the French car manufacturer - which appeared to rule out a switch to either Cosworth or Mercedes-Benz.
However, Horner has revealed that despite submitting Renault as its proposed engine supplier next year, Red Bull Racing still does not have a contract in place for next year.
He thinks it will take at least another week before the situation becomes clear - with a decision about F1 engine parity key to the matter.
It is understood that one of the topics up for discussion in next week's Formula 1 Commission meeting is whether anything needs to be done to ensure all engines are equal in performance.
The FIA said earlier this year that if teams agreed action was needed to make engines more equal, then it would be open to changing the rules.
Speaking to AUTOSPORT about the situation, Horner said: "I wouldn't read too much into the entry list. We're obliged to put an engine as per the regulations. But we are allowed to change the engine at any point up until the first race.
"Obviously we have to put an engine on the list and the most likely engine to have in the car next year, at this moment, subject to Renault's confirmation, is a Renault engine. We have to put engine on the list, and that's the logical choice so far."
Horner revealed that Renault is reluctant to commit to the deal, however, until it knows exactly what the plans are for engine parity in 2010.
"We've enjoyed three good working years with them," he said. "They're a very good partner and it's been a very successful collaboration with them.
"They've supported us well through difficult times this year, particularly with Sebastian Vettel's car, where we've had to limit the engine mileage. They obviously have concerns over engine parity at this point in time, and until engine regulations are clear, I can understand a hesitation on their side."
He added: "I think it depends on what's done with the engine regulations moving forward in terms of parity. The teams have decided that the engine should not be a performance differentiator under the frozen rules. I think it's vital, not just in the case of Renault, but in the case of all the engine manufacturers, that a solution is found."
Despite not yet having a Renault deal in place, Red Bull Racing is not actively chasing other options.
A move to Mercedes-Benz, which had been close at one stage this year, was blocked by McLaren, while Horner has also now played down the chances of a switch to Cosworth either.
"At this stage, realistically no," he said when asked if Cosworth was an option. "In principle we have an agreement with Renault and hopefully in the next week or so everything will be finalised."
The Milton Keynes-based team is still waiting for confirmation about its engine plans for next year - despite having Renault listed as its 2010 partner by the FIA earlier this week.
The official 2010 entry list published on Monday said that Red Bull Racing would be supplied by the French car manufacturer - which appeared to rule out a switch to either Cosworth or Mercedes-Benz.
However, Horner has revealed that despite submitting Renault as its proposed engine supplier next year, Red Bull Racing still does not have a contract in place for next year.
He thinks it will take at least another week before the situation becomes clear - with a decision about F1 engine parity key to the matter.
It is understood that one of the topics up for discussion in next week's Formula 1 Commission meeting is whether anything needs to be done to ensure all engines are equal in performance.
The FIA said earlier this year that if teams agreed action was needed to make engines more equal, then it would be open to changing the rules.
Speaking to AUTOSPORT about the situation, Horner said: "I wouldn't read too much into the entry list. We're obliged to put an engine as per the regulations. But we are allowed to change the engine at any point up until the first race.
"Obviously we have to put an engine on the list and the most likely engine to have in the car next year, at this moment, subject to Renault's confirmation, is a Renault engine. We have to put engine on the list, and that's the logical choice so far."
Horner revealed that Renault is reluctant to commit to the deal, however, until it knows exactly what the plans are for engine parity in 2010.
"We've enjoyed three good working years with them," he said. "They're a very good partner and it's been a very successful collaboration with them.
"They've supported us well through difficult times this year, particularly with Sebastian Vettel's car, where we've had to limit the engine mileage. They obviously have concerns over engine parity at this point in time, and until engine regulations are clear, I can understand a hesitation on their side."
He added: "I think it depends on what's done with the engine regulations moving forward in terms of parity. The teams have decided that the engine should not be a performance differentiator under the frozen rules. I think it's vital, not just in the case of Renault, but in the case of all the engine manufacturers, that a solution is found."
Despite not yet having a Renault deal in place, Red Bull Racing is not actively chasing other options.
A move to Mercedes-Benz, which had been close at one stage this year, was blocked by McLaren, while Horner has also now played down the chances of a switch to Cosworth either.
"At this stage, realistically no," he said when asked if Cosworth was an option. "In principle we have an agreement with Renault and hopefully in the next week or so everything will be finalised."
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Teams bosses vote Vettel best '09 driver
Sebastian Vettel may have lost out on the world title in 2009, but he has been rated as the season's best driver by team bosses in AUTOSPORT's annual top ten.
AUTOSPORT once again enlisted, in total privacy, the driver ratings from all ten of the current team principals to figure out who the key men in the paddock believe was the star driver of the year.
With the rankings then converted into points (on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis), the results were collated and have been published for the first time in AUTOSPORT's F1 Season Review, on sale in newsagents now.
And it is Vettel who has come out on top, over world champion Jenson Button - with last year's number one rated driver, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, coming a close third.
The full AUTOSPORT F1 Team Principals' top ten results for 2009 are:
1. Sebastian Vettel 76
2. Jenson Button 67
3. Lewis Hamilton 65
4. Fernando Alonso 39
5. Rubens Barrichello 35
6= Kimi Raikkonen 30
6= Mark Webber 30
8. Felipe Massa 19
9. Robert Kubica 10
10. Adrian Sutil 8
Vettel was clearly delighted about being ranked as the best driver by team principals, but equally knows that the real target is to achieve the number one spot on track.
"It's an honour to be recognised after such an exciting season with many ups and downs," he told AUTOSPORT. "However, the votes won't help me be faster on the track next year and it will still be down to me to prove myself again next season."
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner, who joined in fellow team principals in contributing his own rankings for the vote, was equally happy with the outcome.
"Sebastian had a great year in 2009 and I am certain he has the makings of a future world champion," Horner told AUTOSPORT.
"It's easy to forget how young he is sometimes. He's very mature in how he works with the car and his engineers - and it's remarkable to think that he can only just hire a rental car.
"It's great to see that his talent has been recognised by others and we're very much looking forward to working with him again in the coming seasons."
AUTOSPORT once again enlisted, in total privacy, the driver ratings from all ten of the current team principals to figure out who the key men in the paddock believe was the star driver of the year.
With the rankings then converted into points (on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis), the results were collated and have been published for the first time in AUTOSPORT's F1 Season Review, on sale in newsagents now.
And it is Vettel who has come out on top, over world champion Jenson Button - with last year's number one rated driver, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, coming a close third.
The full AUTOSPORT F1 Team Principals' top ten results for 2009 are:
1. Sebastian Vettel 76
2. Jenson Button 67
3. Lewis Hamilton 65
4. Fernando Alonso 39
5. Rubens Barrichello 35
6= Kimi Raikkonen 30
6= Mark Webber 30
8. Felipe Massa 19
9. Robert Kubica 10
10. Adrian Sutil 8
Vettel was clearly delighted about being ranked as the best driver by team principals, but equally knows that the real target is to achieve the number one spot on track.
"It's an honour to be recognised after such an exciting season with many ups and downs," he told AUTOSPORT. "However, the votes won't help me be faster on the track next year and it will still be down to me to prove myself again next season."
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner, who joined in fellow team principals in contributing his own rankings for the vote, was equally happy with the outcome.
"Sebastian had a great year in 2009 and I am certain he has the makings of a future world champion," Horner told AUTOSPORT.
"It's easy to forget how young he is sometimes. He's very mature in how he works with the car and his engineers - and it's remarkable to think that he can only just hire a rental car.
"It's great to see that his talent has been recognised by others and we're very much looking forward to working with him again in the coming seasons."
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Red Bull 'can take fight' to big teams
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner is confident that the outfit will be a contender for the world championship next year despite many expecting the "natural order" to be restored with McLaren and Ferrari at the front.
Red Bull won six races this year and finished second in the Constructors' Championship after its Adrian Newey-designed RB5 launched the team to the front of the field.
Despite recognising that the team will face tough opposition next year, he believes that Red Bull will be a frontrunner next year.
"We have got some formidable opponents," Horner told AUTOSPORT. "McLaren and Ferrari are big teams that have demonstrated this year their ability to come back after bad starts by both winning grands prix in the second half of the season.
"They are going to be pushing extremely hard, but we can take the fight to them next year with continuity in many areas including drivers and personnel."
Horner added that he believes that the team came of age this year and that he is confident that the form will be maintained.
"We are confident that we have got a great team of people here that has really come of age this year," said Horner.
"The new regulations provided that opportunity and the lessons learned this year will only stand us in good stead for 2010."
Red Bull won six races this year and finished second in the Constructors' Championship after its Adrian Newey-designed RB5 launched the team to the front of the field.
Despite recognising that the team will face tough opposition next year, he believes that Red Bull will be a frontrunner next year.
"We have got some formidable opponents," Horner told AUTOSPORT. "McLaren and Ferrari are big teams that have demonstrated this year their ability to come back after bad starts by both winning grands prix in the second half of the season.
"They are going to be pushing extremely hard, but we can take the fight to them next year with continuity in many areas including drivers and personnel."
Horner added that he believes that the team came of age this year and that he is confident that the form will be maintained.
"We are confident that we have got a great team of people here that has really come of age this year," said Horner.
"The new regulations provided that opportunity and the lessons learned this year will only stand us in good stead for 2010."
Monday, 2 November 2009
Abu Dhabi race analysis - Red Bull finish 2009 season on a high
They may not have won either championship, but they did dominate the latter part of the '09 season. Sebastian Vettel’s imperious performance at Yas Marina gave Red Bull Racing their third win on the trot, with Mark Webber’s second place securing their fourth one-two of the year. But it wasn’t only Red Bull celebrating on Sunday night. The inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - F1 racing’s first twilight event - was deemed a huge success by all concerned and threw up some thrilling action, most notably Webber’s duel with Jenson Button. We take a team-by-team look at the race…
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel P1
Mark Webber, P2
Once Hamilton ran into brake problems, Vettel was untouchable as he roared to his fourth victory of the season in tremendous style. Webber admired that he couldn’t quite match him this time and later lost a lot of ground to Button when his RB5 did not prove well suited to the softer Bridgestone option tyre. He said it lacked feel, was less stable than the harder prime, and cost him vital fractions in each corner, but he kept his head and always put his car where Button wanted to put his Brawn. Great stuff! The success left the team second overall in both championships, and celebrating six wins and 16 podiums, a mighty impressive tally.
Brawn
Jenson Button, P3
Rubens Barrichello, P4
Button was very happy to be a fighting third, right in Webber’s wheel tracks, but thought in hindsight that two stints on the option tyre might have been better than two on the prime, which had been the better tyre in practice and qualifying. For him, it promoted understeer in the race conditions, and he was delighted to find his BGP001 transformed after his final stop and the switch to the option. Barrichello damaged his right front wing endplate in a brush against Webber’s left rear wheel on the opening lap, and promoted understeer that held him back to fourth and prevented him regaining second place in the championship from Vettel.
BMW Sauber
Nick Heidfeld, P5
Robert Kubica, P10
BMW signed off in style as Heidfeld bagged a strong fifth place, not quite able to run with the top four but comfortably ahead of the rest. He ran at Brawn pace for a while, and a long middle stint paid off. The result moved the team up to sixth place overall, at Williams’ expense. Kubica was also a challenger for points, until his second stint was very slow after he’d started well. The Pole wasn’t impressed with Buemi, with whom he raced wheel to wheel until spinning, and said that the Swiss left him no racing room at all. Kubica also raced with signatures from all the team personnel on his helmet, prior to his switch to Renault for 2010.
Toyota
Kamui Kobayashi, P6
Jarno Trulli, P7
Kobayashi drove a storming race to take sixth place and was easily the best of the single stoppers. His dice with Button was a highlight of the race even if their respective fuel loads were very different. Trulli’s seventh place brought Toyota’s season score to 59.5 points, leaving them fifth behind Brawn, Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari.
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, P8
Jaime Alguersuari, Retired lap 18, gearbox
Once again Buemi scored for Toro Rosso, but one point for a well-driven eighth was not enough to move them above 10th place overall. Alguersuari was one of the race’s two retirements; after trying to use Vettel’s pit when he tried to get attention to a gearbox problem and his own team were not expecting him, the Spaniard stopped out on the circuit the next lap when the gearbox broke.
Williams
Nico Rosberg, P9
Kazuki Nakajima, P13
Rosberg simply didn’t have the pace to do better than ninth, and as a result Williams slipped down to seventh place overall as BMW Sauber scored well with Heidfeld. Nakajima’s 13th place cemented his failure to score a single point over the season. All change for 2010?
McLaren
Heikki Kovalainen, P11
Lewis Hamilton, Retired lap 20, brakes
Hamilton said all weekend that the MP4-24 was the best it’s been all year here, and he led away comfortably until he began to experience problems with excessive right rear brake pad wear just before his pit stop. The team put him into a brake conservation mode, but the problem persisted and on lap 20 there was no alternative but to withdraw the car on safety grounds. Kovalainen made a great start thanks to his KERS, to jump from 18th to 13th, but it didn’t get better than that. His single-stop strategy meant he was more often than not in a fuel heavy car when it mattered most, and when the KERS packed up in his second stint his chances of improving further evaporated.
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, P12
Giancarlo Fisichella, P16
The Ferrari F60 came to the end of its useful life here, and it seemed tired and uncompetitive due to the lack of development. Raikkonen pushed hard and did what he could, but lost time when running light on fuel when the two Brawns came out of their pit stops just ahead of him. He felt that cost him his chance of points. Fisichella headed a train down the back for some time, and his undistinguished Ferrari race career came to an end with a lowly 16th place. The team were thus unable to fight back ahead of McLaren, and finished fourth overall.
Renault
Fernando Alonso, P14
Romain Grosjean, P18
Alonso ran 34 laps on his first fuel load, and thus vaulted from an initial 17th place (after overtaking Grosjean) to finish 14th in his last outing for Renault. That said it all about the R29 here. The Franco Swiss driver ran quite well until he got surprised by Fisichella near the end, and as he ran very wide he also lost a place to Sutil and thus finished 18th and last.
Force India
Tonio Liuzzi, P15
Adrian Sutil, P17
Liuzzi made a super start and got the maximum out of his VJM02 on a circuit that did nothing to play to its strengths. Once he switched to the option tyre he ran into the sort of problem that Webber experienced, and plenty of oversteer. Sutil ran last for a long time, but made up some ground when he was switched to a two-stop strategy as his first set of tyres proved problematic. Right at the end he was able to capitalise when Fisichella surprised Grosjean, to move past the Renault driver for 17th.
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel P1
Mark Webber, P2
Once Hamilton ran into brake problems, Vettel was untouchable as he roared to his fourth victory of the season in tremendous style. Webber admired that he couldn’t quite match him this time and later lost a lot of ground to Button when his RB5 did not prove well suited to the softer Bridgestone option tyre. He said it lacked feel, was less stable than the harder prime, and cost him vital fractions in each corner, but he kept his head and always put his car where Button wanted to put his Brawn. Great stuff! The success left the team second overall in both championships, and celebrating six wins and 16 podiums, a mighty impressive tally.
Brawn
Jenson Button, P3
Rubens Barrichello, P4
Button was very happy to be a fighting third, right in Webber’s wheel tracks, but thought in hindsight that two stints on the option tyre might have been better than two on the prime, which had been the better tyre in practice and qualifying. For him, it promoted understeer in the race conditions, and he was delighted to find his BGP001 transformed after his final stop and the switch to the option. Barrichello damaged his right front wing endplate in a brush against Webber’s left rear wheel on the opening lap, and promoted understeer that held him back to fourth and prevented him regaining second place in the championship from Vettel.
BMW Sauber
Nick Heidfeld, P5
Robert Kubica, P10
BMW signed off in style as Heidfeld bagged a strong fifth place, not quite able to run with the top four but comfortably ahead of the rest. He ran at Brawn pace for a while, and a long middle stint paid off. The result moved the team up to sixth place overall, at Williams’ expense. Kubica was also a challenger for points, until his second stint was very slow after he’d started well. The Pole wasn’t impressed with Buemi, with whom he raced wheel to wheel until spinning, and said that the Swiss left him no racing room at all. Kubica also raced with signatures from all the team personnel on his helmet, prior to his switch to Renault for 2010.
Toyota
Kamui Kobayashi, P6
Jarno Trulli, P7
Kobayashi drove a storming race to take sixth place and was easily the best of the single stoppers. His dice with Button was a highlight of the race even if their respective fuel loads were very different. Trulli’s seventh place brought Toyota’s season score to 59.5 points, leaving them fifth behind Brawn, Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari.
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, P8
Jaime Alguersuari, Retired lap 18, gearbox
Once again Buemi scored for Toro Rosso, but one point for a well-driven eighth was not enough to move them above 10th place overall. Alguersuari was one of the race’s two retirements; after trying to use Vettel’s pit when he tried to get attention to a gearbox problem and his own team were not expecting him, the Spaniard stopped out on the circuit the next lap when the gearbox broke.
Williams
Nico Rosberg, P9
Kazuki Nakajima, P13
Rosberg simply didn’t have the pace to do better than ninth, and as a result Williams slipped down to seventh place overall as BMW Sauber scored well with Heidfeld. Nakajima’s 13th place cemented his failure to score a single point over the season. All change for 2010?
McLaren
Heikki Kovalainen, P11
Lewis Hamilton, Retired lap 20, brakes
Hamilton said all weekend that the MP4-24 was the best it’s been all year here, and he led away comfortably until he began to experience problems with excessive right rear brake pad wear just before his pit stop. The team put him into a brake conservation mode, but the problem persisted and on lap 20 there was no alternative but to withdraw the car on safety grounds. Kovalainen made a great start thanks to his KERS, to jump from 18th to 13th, but it didn’t get better than that. His single-stop strategy meant he was more often than not in a fuel heavy car when it mattered most, and when the KERS packed up in his second stint his chances of improving further evaporated.
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, P12
Giancarlo Fisichella, P16
The Ferrari F60 came to the end of its useful life here, and it seemed tired and uncompetitive due to the lack of development. Raikkonen pushed hard and did what he could, but lost time when running light on fuel when the two Brawns came out of their pit stops just ahead of him. He felt that cost him his chance of points. Fisichella headed a train down the back for some time, and his undistinguished Ferrari race career came to an end with a lowly 16th place. The team were thus unable to fight back ahead of McLaren, and finished fourth overall.
Renault
Fernando Alonso, P14
Romain Grosjean, P18
Alonso ran 34 laps on his first fuel load, and thus vaulted from an initial 17th place (after overtaking Grosjean) to finish 14th in his last outing for Renault. That said it all about the R29 here. The Franco Swiss driver ran quite well until he got surprised by Fisichella near the end, and as he ran very wide he also lost a place to Sutil and thus finished 18th and last.
Force India
Tonio Liuzzi, P15
Adrian Sutil, P17
Liuzzi made a super start and got the maximum out of his VJM02 on a circuit that did nothing to play to its strengths. Once he switched to the option tyre he ran into the sort of problem that Webber experienced, and plenty of oversteer. Sutil ran last for a long time, but made up some ground when he was switched to a two-stop strategy as his first set of tyres proved problematic. Right at the end he was able to capitalise when Fisichella surprised Grosjean, to move past the Renault driver for 17th.
Sunday, 1 November 2009
Red Bull duo surprised by Hamilton pace
Red Bull Racing pairing Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber have admitted that they were surprised by Lewis Hamilton's qualifying pace after the McLaren driver took pole by over six tenths of a second.
Vettel and Webber will start second and third despite heading into the weekend as favourites to take top spot on the grid.
"Both of us were surprised by the gap," said Vettel. "Lewis has been strong all weekend and McLaren are strong here - we saw in Q1 and Q2 that they were strong - so let's see the strategies.
"It was maximum we could do, car is working well here but KERS button, which we have on steering wheel, is not working! The car has good race pace, so I am looking forward to tomorrow."
Webber is hopeful that Red Bull will be able to take the fight to the McLaren driver in tomorrow's race as the team seeks to end the season with a sixth win.
"No doubt McLaren are quick. I am surprised by Lewis's time. This is a reflection of the second half of the season, but it was a good job by the team and we want to finish on a high.
"Lewis has been strong at a lot of venues, Seb and I pushing as hard as we can, very much a message of how the second part of the championship has gone, I am happy considering how I did the lap."
Webber is also hopeful that the new Yas Marina circuit will allow overtaking, even though it isn't the easiest track to pass at on the calendar.
"There's a very long straight, but everyone is running similar wing levels on their car," said Webber. "I think it is not going to be Interlagos, but it might be better than Barcelona."
Vettel and Webber will start second and third despite heading into the weekend as favourites to take top spot on the grid.
"Both of us were surprised by the gap," said Vettel. "Lewis has been strong all weekend and McLaren are strong here - we saw in Q1 and Q2 that they were strong - so let's see the strategies.
"It was maximum we could do, car is working well here but KERS button, which we have on steering wheel, is not working! The car has good race pace, so I am looking forward to tomorrow."
Webber is hopeful that Red Bull will be able to take the fight to the McLaren driver in tomorrow's race as the team seeks to end the season with a sixth win.
"No doubt McLaren are quick. I am surprised by Lewis's time. This is a reflection of the second half of the season, but it was a good job by the team and we want to finish on a high.
"Lewis has been strong at a lot of venues, Seb and I pushing as hard as we can, very much a message of how the second part of the championship has gone, I am happy considering how I did the lap."
Webber is also hopeful that the new Yas Marina circuit will allow overtaking, even though it isn't the easiest track to pass at on the calendar.
"There's a very long straight, but everyone is running similar wing levels on their car," said Webber. "I think it is not going to be Interlagos, but it might be better than Barcelona."
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Vettel out to clinch runner-up spot
Sebastian Vettel is determined to wrap up second place in the drivers' world championship at this weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver currently holds second, two points ahead of Rubens Barrichello, meaning that he is likely to hang on to the runner-up spot by finishing within one place of the Brazilian.
Despite Vettel's obvious disappointment in Brazil at failing to take the title fight down to the final round, he is happy with his season.
"Generally I'm not here to finish second or third," the German said. "This hasn't changed, but for now third is worse than second, so I want to be second in the championship.
"Of course it's normal to be disappointed [as he was in Brazil], but when you look at the positives, this has been a very good season for us. A lot of things happened and we learned a lot of lessons.
"All in all, there are a lot of things we can do better next year, but for now the focus has to be on securing second place in the drivers' championship and having a very good race on Sunday."
Vettel said that strategic errors from Red Bull, plus his own on-track mistakes, had robbed him of vital points across the season.
"Sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where you're not strong enough to win, but still it matters to bring the car home third or fourth or fifth and collect points," he added.
"I think that at every race this year we were strong enough to finish in the top five, unlike anyone else, except maybe for Monza.
"Sometimes you may call it bad luck, but at other times we made mistakes with the strategy. Other times it was a mistake from myself.
"All in all, we had five races where we didn't finish or didn't score points. What's important is we learn from this and don't make the same mistakes next year."
The Red Bull driver currently holds second, two points ahead of Rubens Barrichello, meaning that he is likely to hang on to the runner-up spot by finishing within one place of the Brazilian.
Despite Vettel's obvious disappointment in Brazil at failing to take the title fight down to the final round, he is happy with his season.
"Generally I'm not here to finish second or third," the German said. "This hasn't changed, but for now third is worse than second, so I want to be second in the championship.
"Of course it's normal to be disappointed [as he was in Brazil], but when you look at the positives, this has been a very good season for us. A lot of things happened and we learned a lot of lessons.
"All in all, there are a lot of things we can do better next year, but for now the focus has to be on securing second place in the drivers' championship and having a very good race on Sunday."
Vettel said that strategic errors from Red Bull, plus his own on-track mistakes, had robbed him of vital points across the season.
"Sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where you're not strong enough to win, but still it matters to bring the car home third or fourth or fifth and collect points," he added.
"I think that at every race this year we were strong enough to finish in the top five, unlike anyone else, except maybe for Monza.
"Sometimes you may call it bad luck, but at other times we made mistakes with the strategy. Other times it was a mistake from myself.
"All in all, we had five races where we didn't finish or didn't score points. What's important is we learn from this and don't make the same mistakes next year."
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Our Brazilian Track Record
Our long haul trip to Brazil will take us to a track which is renowned for its bumpy nature and the fact that it’s at altitude.
It’s also a bit of a roller coaster, from the steep drop at the first set of corners to the grid which is actually on a slope and gets steeper towards the back, making race start for poor qualifiers even more of a challenge.
And that bumpy surface isn’t the only pain in the neck for the drivers because, like Istanbul Park, Autodromo Carlos Pace is one of the few anti-clockwise tracks.
It boasts instantly recognisable corners, such as the Senna Esses (that steep first corner drop), the hairpins at turns eight and eleven and the sweeping final corner, which leads up to the start-finish line. Each of the 71 laps is only 4.3km long, considerably shorter than most other circuits, and the lap times are reduced even further by the high speeds the cars attain through the Cafe Corner and along the home straight. The fastest lap time around Sao Paulo is a blink-and-you-miss-it 1:11.473 set by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2004.
Often called Interlagos (two lakes, now no longer there) from the district in which it’s situated, the circuit is actually named Autodromo Carlos Pace Sao after the Brazilian F1 driver who died in 1977.
The circuit has been home to the Brazilian Grand Prix on and off since the event was first staged in 1973 in a race fittingly won by Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi. The race moved to Rio de Janerio during the late ’70s and’ 80s, but returned to Sao Paulo in 1990 after a major re-development during local hero Ayrton Senna’s heyday. A trip to Senna’s grave in the city, to pay respects to the three-time world champion who died in 1994, is often one of the pilgrimages fans, drivers and members of the Paddock make when visiting Brazil.
Last year the race was the final date in the calendar and famously saw Lewis Hamilton clinch the world title from race winner Felipe Massa in the final lap and our own David Coulthard dedicate his final grand prix race to Wings For Life the spinal injury research foundation of which he is an ambassador.
Our own track record here looks like this:
2005
David Coulthard DNF
Christian Klien 9th
2006
David Coulthard DNF
Robert Doornbos 12
2007
David Coulthard 9th
Mark Webber DNF
2008
David Coulthard DNF
Mark Webber 9th
It’s also a bit of a roller coaster, from the steep drop at the first set of corners to the grid which is actually on a slope and gets steeper towards the back, making race start for poor qualifiers even more of a challenge.
And that bumpy surface isn’t the only pain in the neck for the drivers because, like Istanbul Park, Autodromo Carlos Pace is one of the few anti-clockwise tracks.
It boasts instantly recognisable corners, such as the Senna Esses (that steep first corner drop), the hairpins at turns eight and eleven and the sweeping final corner, which leads up to the start-finish line. Each of the 71 laps is only 4.3km long, considerably shorter than most other circuits, and the lap times are reduced even further by the high speeds the cars attain through the Cafe Corner and along the home straight. The fastest lap time around Sao Paulo is a blink-and-you-miss-it 1:11.473 set by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2004.
Often called Interlagos (two lakes, now no longer there) from the district in which it’s situated, the circuit is actually named Autodromo Carlos Pace Sao after the Brazilian F1 driver who died in 1977.
The circuit has been home to the Brazilian Grand Prix on and off since the event was first staged in 1973 in a race fittingly won by Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi. The race moved to Rio de Janerio during the late ’70s and’ 80s, but returned to Sao Paulo in 1990 after a major re-development during local hero Ayrton Senna’s heyday. A trip to Senna’s grave in the city, to pay respects to the three-time world champion who died in 1994, is often one of the pilgrimages fans, drivers and members of the Paddock make when visiting Brazil.
Last year the race was the final date in the calendar and famously saw Lewis Hamilton clinch the world title from race winner Felipe Massa in the final lap and our own David Coulthard dedicate his final grand prix race to Wings For Life the spinal injury research foundation of which he is an ambassador.
Our own track record here looks like this:
2005
David Coulthard DNF
Christian Klien 9th
2006
David Coulthard DNF
Robert Doornbos 12
2007
David Coulthard 9th
Mark Webber DNF
2008
David Coulthard DNF
Mark Webber 9th
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Webber suffers catalogue of woes
Mark Webber’s nightmare Japanese Grand Prix weekend got no better on race day as a catalogue of misfortunes left him two laps behind his victorious Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel at the finish.
After a practice crash necessitated a chassis rebuild, Webber started the race from the pit lane and immediately suffered further setbacks that put paid to any chance of a decent result.
He pitted three times in the first four laps, the first two to secure a loose cockpit surround and the third to replace a punctured tyre – turning the rest of the race into little more than a test session.
“I had to make two pit stops on the first two laps, so it was all over from there,” said Webber.
“On the first lap, the headrest came loose in the car, so I had to come in and get that fixed.
“I went back out, but the same thing happened so I had to come in again in order for the guys to tape it down.
“We tested some things today, and tried some other items for future races.
“That's all we could really do from there.”
Webber showed what might have been by setting the race’s fastest lap while running in experimental mode in the final stint.
Team boss Christian Horner sympathised with the Australian’s predicament.
“For Mark, this was the weekend from hell – with a chassis change overnight, then issues on the first lap with a headrest that had somehow come loose and then a puncture,” he said.
“After that the race was little more than a test, but it's encouraging that right at the end he got the fastest lap time as a small consolation
After a practice crash necessitated a chassis rebuild, Webber started the race from the pit lane and immediately suffered further setbacks that put paid to any chance of a decent result.
He pitted three times in the first four laps, the first two to secure a loose cockpit surround and the third to replace a punctured tyre – turning the rest of the race into little more than a test session.
“I had to make two pit stops on the first two laps, so it was all over from there,” said Webber.
“On the first lap, the headrest came loose in the car, so I had to come in and get that fixed.
“I went back out, but the same thing happened so I had to come in again in order for the guys to tape it down.
“We tested some things today, and tried some other items for future races.
“That's all we could really do from there.”
Webber showed what might have been by setting the race’s fastest lap while running in experimental mode in the final stint.
Team boss Christian Horner sympathised with the Australian’s predicament.
“For Mark, this was the weekend from hell – with a chassis change overnight, then issues on the first lap with a headrest that had somehow come loose and then a puncture,” he said.
“After that the race was little more than a test, but it's encouraging that right at the end he got the fastest lap time as a small consolation
Monday, 28 September 2009
Horner hails 'great' season for Red Bull
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says his team has enjoyed a great season despite the missed opportunities that have cost the outfit a better shot at the titles.
The Milton Keynes-based squad is 42 points behind Brawn in the championship standings with just three races remaining, while Sebastian Vettel is 25 behind Jenson Button with 30 to play for.
Team-mate Mark Webber is already out of contention after retiring from the Singapore Grand Prix.
Red Bull's season has been hit by problems more often that Brawn's, meaning the Renault-powered squad has lost vital points when its car was very strong.
Despite that, Horner says the team has every reason to be proud of its performance this season.
"When you reflect on the season as a whole there's been opportunities that have been lost, but we've had a great season," Horner said in Singapore.
"We've had 12 podiums so far, we've had three wins, we've had four poles. We have scored 109 [sic] points so far and the car has consistently been the best chassis throughout all the circuits that we've been to.
"Obviously there was the controversy with the double diffuser at the beginning of the season, and we had to redesign a lot of the rear end of the car. But I think the team has done brilliant job this year, I really do.
"The team can be proud of what it has achieved this season and there's still three races to go, which is the opportunity for three potential race wins."
He added: "If you had said 12 months ago that we'd be sitting at this stage of the championship I don't think anybody would have believed you. For us we are going to just focus on the remaining three races, as we did this weekend, and it could quite easily had paid off."
Although Horner conceded the team's championship chances are very slim, he insists Red Bull will continue to push hard to try and win the last three races of the year.
"Theoretically we need to win every race with Jenson DNFing in most of them. In reality it's a mountain to climb, but mathematically there's still a chance so we are going to attack the three remaining weekends and try to win all three.
"We had great pace here on a track which theoretically shouldn't have suited the car really well and both drivers had very, very strong pace. We are looking forward to Japan in less than a week."
The Milton Keynes-based squad is 42 points behind Brawn in the championship standings with just three races remaining, while Sebastian Vettel is 25 behind Jenson Button with 30 to play for.
Team-mate Mark Webber is already out of contention after retiring from the Singapore Grand Prix.
Red Bull's season has been hit by problems more often that Brawn's, meaning the Renault-powered squad has lost vital points when its car was very strong.
Despite that, Horner says the team has every reason to be proud of its performance this season.
"When you reflect on the season as a whole there's been opportunities that have been lost, but we've had a great season," Horner said in Singapore.
"We've had 12 podiums so far, we've had three wins, we've had four poles. We have scored 109 [sic] points so far and the car has consistently been the best chassis throughout all the circuits that we've been to.
"Obviously there was the controversy with the double diffuser at the beginning of the season, and we had to redesign a lot of the rear end of the car. But I think the team has done brilliant job this year, I really do.
"The team can be proud of what it has achieved this season and there's still three races to go, which is the opportunity for three potential race wins."
He added: "If you had said 12 months ago that we'd be sitting at this stage of the championship I don't think anybody would have believed you. For us we are going to just focus on the remaining three races, as we did this weekend, and it could quite easily had paid off."
Although Horner conceded the team's championship chances are very slim, he insists Red Bull will continue to push hard to try and win the last three races of the year.
"Theoretically we need to win every race with Jenson DNFing in most of them. In reality it's a mountain to climb, but mathematically there's still a chance so we are going to attack the three remaining weekends and try to win all three.
"We had great pace here on a track which theoretically shouldn't have suited the car really well and both drivers had very, very strong pace. We are looking forward to Japan in less than a week."
Saturday, 26 September 2009
GP Singapore: Qualifying
26 | 09 | 09
Seb will start in second in tomorrow night’s Singapore Grand Prix. Mark was fourth quickest in a Q3 which was red-flagged after Barrichello hit the wall in the final few seconds.
Car 15 Sebastian Vettel, Position 2nd
“Unfortunately, when the red flag came out it was my first run on new tyres. I had previously been on used tyres, so my flying lap wasn’t as easy or relaxed as it might have been. But, at the end of the day, it’s great to be back qualifying near the front, especially on a street circuit. The car has been very good all weekend and I’ve been feeling comfortable. It was a shame the red flag came out, but we’ll keep pushing tomorrow. Let’s see – it’s a long race and it will be tough, but we have all that it takes, so I’m looking forward to it.” Practice 3
Vettel: P2, Best Time: 1:47.909, Laps: 17
Car 14 Mark Webber, Position 4th
“You never think your first run is going to be for the grid, so I think everyone always leaves a little bit of a margin. I was on scrubbed tyres and was banking on a big lap in my second run. I’m not sure who was on new tyres, but we’re fourth so let’s see – it could have been a lot worse. My guys have been absolute superstars this weekend, putting the car back together after yesterday, in very tough working conditions for them here. I have a lot of motivation to reward them tomorrow.”
Practice 3
Webber: P13, Best Time: 1:48.876, Laps: 15
Christian Horner, Team Principal: “An exciting qualifying session. It was disappointing that it got red flagged just before the end, as both our guys were on really strong laps and we felt we could lock out the front row today. But, both drivers drove very well throughout all the sessions and second and fourth are good starting places for tomorrow’s race, which will be long and tough. The spectacle of seeing the cars driving under the lights again here is fantastic.”
Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer Track Support: “A mixed feeling again today. It’s a very good qualifying result, we didn’t expect to be as quick as we are, so second and fourth is very good, but I think we were quicker than our final times show. We didn’t demonstrate exactly what we can do, due to the red flag interrupting the final runs, but let’s see tomorrow. I think we can have a strong race and close the gap to the Brawns here.”
Seb will start in second in tomorrow night’s Singapore Grand Prix. Mark was fourth quickest in a Q3 which was red-flagged after Barrichello hit the wall in the final few seconds.
Car 15 Sebastian Vettel, Position 2nd
“Unfortunately, when the red flag came out it was my first run on new tyres. I had previously been on used tyres, so my flying lap wasn’t as easy or relaxed as it might have been. But, at the end of the day, it’s great to be back qualifying near the front, especially on a street circuit. The car has been very good all weekend and I’ve been feeling comfortable. It was a shame the red flag came out, but we’ll keep pushing tomorrow. Let’s see – it’s a long race and it will be tough, but we have all that it takes, so I’m looking forward to it.” Practice 3
Vettel: P2, Best Time: 1:47.909, Laps: 17
Car 14 Mark Webber, Position 4th
“You never think your first run is going to be for the grid, so I think everyone always leaves a little bit of a margin. I was on scrubbed tyres and was banking on a big lap in my second run. I’m not sure who was on new tyres, but we’re fourth so let’s see – it could have been a lot worse. My guys have been absolute superstars this weekend, putting the car back together after yesterday, in very tough working conditions for them here. I have a lot of motivation to reward them tomorrow.”
Practice 3
Webber: P13, Best Time: 1:48.876, Laps: 15
Christian Horner, Team Principal: “An exciting qualifying session. It was disappointing that it got red flagged just before the end, as both our guys were on really strong laps and we felt we could lock out the front row today. But, both drivers drove very well throughout all the sessions and second and fourth are good starting places for tomorrow’s race, which will be long and tough. The spectacle of seeing the cars driving under the lights again here is fantastic.”
Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer Track Support: “A mixed feeling again today. It’s a very good qualifying result, we didn’t expect to be as quick as we are, so second and fourth is very good, but I think we were quicker than our final times show. We didn’t demonstrate exactly what we can do, due to the red flag interrupting the final runs, but let’s see tomorrow. I think we can have a strong race and close the gap to the Brawns here.”
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Red Bull puts engine decision on hold
Red Bull Racing's 2010 engine plans are on hold until after it finds out about Renault's Formula 1 future in next week's FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting, AUTOSPORT has learned.
The Milton Keynes-based team had hoped to make a switch to Mercedes-Benz for next year, but that ambition cannot move forward because the FIA has not yet granted the German manufacturer the right to supply an extra team beyond McLaren, Brawn GP and Force India.
Furthermore, Mercedes-Benz cannot increase its supply of power units without approval from partner McLaren - something that has not yet been forthcoming amid the fallout from the plans for Mercedes to buy into Brawn GP.
Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug said at last weekend's Italian Grand Prix that its engine plans were now resting on approval from McLaren and the FIA, having originally hope to announce the engine plans in Monza.
"McLaren and us are exclusive partners," said Haug. "Without the allowance, without the co-operation....we are not ready [to announce the plans]. Whether we will have yet another customer team, that is not decided yet. It needs to be decided with the FIA as well."
That situation has left Red Bull Racing unable to finalise its engine plans for next year. The situation is further complicated by the fact that current partner Renault may not be in F1 in 2010 if it is banned or chooses to quit in the aftermath of the Singapore GP race-fix allegations.
The uncertainty about engines is a big problem for Red Bull Racing, after its progress into world championship challengers this year shows that its ambition is now for titles. Accepting a second-rate engine deal is not on the team's agenda - which is why it has only been considering the Mercedes-Benz or Renault route.
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has said that he will not worry more about its engine situation until after next week's FIA World Motor Sport Council hearing into Renault.
"Obviously we need to wait for the scenario of the 21st," Horner told AUTOSPORT. "We have a strong relationship with Renault, who have been a very good partner of the team for the last three years, and we will wait and see how things pan out."
The imposition of an engine freeze in F1, allied to restrictive design rules, makes the packaging of different engine types much easier to sort out than in the past – as Brawn GP showed this year when it installed a Mercedes-Benz power-unit on the eve of the campaign.
The Milton Keynes-based team had hoped to make a switch to Mercedes-Benz for next year, but that ambition cannot move forward because the FIA has not yet granted the German manufacturer the right to supply an extra team beyond McLaren, Brawn GP and Force India.
Furthermore, Mercedes-Benz cannot increase its supply of power units without approval from partner McLaren - something that has not yet been forthcoming amid the fallout from the plans for Mercedes to buy into Brawn GP.
Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug said at last weekend's Italian Grand Prix that its engine plans were now resting on approval from McLaren and the FIA, having originally hope to announce the engine plans in Monza.
"McLaren and us are exclusive partners," said Haug. "Without the allowance, without the co-operation....we are not ready [to announce the plans]. Whether we will have yet another customer team, that is not decided yet. It needs to be decided with the FIA as well."
That situation has left Red Bull Racing unable to finalise its engine plans for next year. The situation is further complicated by the fact that current partner Renault may not be in F1 in 2010 if it is banned or chooses to quit in the aftermath of the Singapore GP race-fix allegations.
The uncertainty about engines is a big problem for Red Bull Racing, after its progress into world championship challengers this year shows that its ambition is now for titles. Accepting a second-rate engine deal is not on the team's agenda - which is why it has only been considering the Mercedes-Benz or Renault route.
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has said that he will not worry more about its engine situation until after next week's FIA World Motor Sport Council hearing into Renault.
"Obviously we need to wait for the scenario of the 21st," Horner told AUTOSPORT. "We have a strong relationship with Renault, who have been a very good partner of the team for the last three years, and we will wait and see how things pan out."
The imposition of an engine freeze in F1, allied to restrictive design rules, makes the packaging of different engine types much easier to sort out than in the past – as Brawn GP showed this year when it installed a Mercedes-Benz power-unit on the eve of the campaign.
Monday, 14 September 2009
GP Italy: Result
13 | 09 | 09
Sebastian secured a point at Monza, finishing eighth. He moved into the points after Lewis Hamilton crashed out on the final lap. Mark's afternoon ended on lap one after a collision forced a premature end to his race.
Car 15 Sebastian Vettel, Finish Position:8th, Start Position: 9th
“I think we had a good start and a good first lap, but then I was struggling to stay with the cars in front. The biggest issue today was the first five to ten laps when I was struggling with low grip, I was sliding a lot and lost a lot of time. Overall, we didn’t have the speed and perhaps this wasn’t the best track for our car. For the next race we will put more downforce in again and maybe we’ll be better, we will see. The Championship isn’t over – our target is to do our best, we’re here to win races and the Championship, so we have to focus on that, all the rest is out of our hands.”
Car 14 Mark Webber, Finish Position: DNF, Start Position: 10th
“I had a reasonable start, I was trying to find a good line through the chicane. I had Sebastian in front, so I was pretty clean as I didn’t want to get tangled up with him. Both of us got through the first chicane, I was following Sebastian into the next, but then had a racing incident with Robert Kubica. It seems like his front wheel was inside my rear left at the second chicane, it was difficult to know he was there. We had contact which flicked the car into the air a little bit, then nosed it into the guard rail. The car was undamaged, but I couldn’t get it out and back onto the track. I couldn’t have done anything differently. It’s frustrating to retire through such a small incident, especially when all the guys have put so much effort into preparing the car. It’s not great for the Drivers’ Championship, but this is my first DNF of the year. We will bounce back from this and do what we can in the final races.”
Christian Horner, Team Principal: “A disappointing start to the race when Mark was tipped out by one of the BMWs and Sebastian lost quite a bit of time in the first stint behind Kubica, who then had a damaged front wing. Thereafter we were lucky to pick up one point following Hamilton’s accident. Unfortunately we just weren’t quick enough today – it’s been our worst performance of the year at a track which has exposed some of our weaknesses. Hopefully the remaining circuits will come back more in our favour.”
Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer Track Support: “What a disappointing result. To get only one point and have a retirement is very bad for us. Brawn scored a one-two finish, so congratulations to them – but our result is hard to swallow. It’s going to be very difficult in both titles for us, but we won’t give up – we still have four races in which we can fight.”
Sebastian secured a point at Monza, finishing eighth. He moved into the points after Lewis Hamilton crashed out on the final lap. Mark's afternoon ended on lap one after a collision forced a premature end to his race.
Car 15 Sebastian Vettel, Finish Position:8th, Start Position: 9th
“I think we had a good start and a good first lap, but then I was struggling to stay with the cars in front. The biggest issue today was the first five to ten laps when I was struggling with low grip, I was sliding a lot and lost a lot of time. Overall, we didn’t have the speed and perhaps this wasn’t the best track for our car. For the next race we will put more downforce in again and maybe we’ll be better, we will see. The Championship isn’t over – our target is to do our best, we’re here to win races and the Championship, so we have to focus on that, all the rest is out of our hands.”
Car 14 Mark Webber, Finish Position: DNF, Start Position: 10th
“I had a reasonable start, I was trying to find a good line through the chicane. I had Sebastian in front, so I was pretty clean as I didn’t want to get tangled up with him. Both of us got through the first chicane, I was following Sebastian into the next, but then had a racing incident with Robert Kubica. It seems like his front wheel was inside my rear left at the second chicane, it was difficult to know he was there. We had contact which flicked the car into the air a little bit, then nosed it into the guard rail. The car was undamaged, but I couldn’t get it out and back onto the track. I couldn’t have done anything differently. It’s frustrating to retire through such a small incident, especially when all the guys have put so much effort into preparing the car. It’s not great for the Drivers’ Championship, but this is my first DNF of the year. We will bounce back from this and do what we can in the final races.”
Christian Horner, Team Principal: “A disappointing start to the race when Mark was tipped out by one of the BMWs and Sebastian lost quite a bit of time in the first stint behind Kubica, who then had a damaged front wing. Thereafter we were lucky to pick up one point following Hamilton’s accident. Unfortunately we just weren’t quick enough today – it’s been our worst performance of the year at a track which has exposed some of our weaknesses. Hopefully the remaining circuits will come back more in our favour.”
Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer Track Support: “What a disappointing result. To get only one point and have a retirement is very bad for us. Brawn scored a one-two finish, so congratulations to them – but our result is hard to swallow. It’s going to be very difficult in both titles for us, but we won’t give up – we still have four races in which we can fight.”
Monday, 7 September 2009
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Christian Horner asseses 2010
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner believes any one of Jenson Button’s three title rivals can still overturn the Briton’s season-long points advantage in the final five races of the season.
Despite claiming just 11 points in the previous five rounds, Brawn driver Button retains a 16-point lead at the head of the drivers’ standings ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello, with RBR duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber a further three and four and a half points back respectively.
But asked if he thought Button remained the clear favourite given he had the points on the board, Horner said: “His form obviously has been not great in the last few races so I’d say it is all open.
“You have four guys there who are going to have an interesting run-in to the end of the series.
“Both our guys are still in the hunt and Rubens obviously over the last few weekends has taken 10 points out of Jenson so he is going to be feeling pretty optimistic as well.
“So it is a four-horse battle.”
Having slashed Brawn’s once huge constructors’ points lead to just 15.5 heading into the Valencia/Belgium double-header, Red Bull left Spa 23.5 points adrift largely as a result of having failed to score any points at the previous weekend’s race.
Horner though feels his team have been the stronger overall package in recent months, giving him optimism about its chances heading into the decisive phase of the season.
“They [Brawn] have not been having a good run,” he said.
“Obviously they had the win in Valencia, but certainly Jenson since Turkey I don’t think we have seen him on the podium.
“We have done a bit of damage early on at Silverstone and in Germany, a podium in Hungary, a podium here [Spa] with alternating drivers which therefore again endorsees [our policy that] it would be wrong to back one driver at the moment.
“There is still a long way in the championship to go and the points are concertinaing and I think we’ll get an exciting finish to the series.”
Heading to high-speed Monza next week, however, Horner concedes the team will have to run its RB5 with lower downforce levels than some of its rivals to compensate for a relative straight-line speed deficit, the team having been less competitive in the fast sectors one and three at Spa.
Nevertheless with Monza also containing some fast, sweeping corners, the RBR team principal still expects his squad to still have the speed to challenge its title rival.
“Monza historically is a power track and I think the guys with the KERS are obviously going to be pretty strong there,” Horner said.
“So we will probably have to run a little bit less downforce but there are still some quick corners there and I still think we can take on the Brawns there.”
Despite claiming just 11 points in the previous five rounds, Brawn driver Button retains a 16-point lead at the head of the drivers’ standings ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello, with RBR duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber a further three and four and a half points back respectively.
But asked if he thought Button remained the clear favourite given he had the points on the board, Horner said: “His form obviously has been not great in the last few races so I’d say it is all open.
“You have four guys there who are going to have an interesting run-in to the end of the series.
“Both our guys are still in the hunt and Rubens obviously over the last few weekends has taken 10 points out of Jenson so he is going to be feeling pretty optimistic as well.
“So it is a four-horse battle.”
Having slashed Brawn’s once huge constructors’ points lead to just 15.5 heading into the Valencia/Belgium double-header, Red Bull left Spa 23.5 points adrift largely as a result of having failed to score any points at the previous weekend’s race.
Horner though feels his team have been the stronger overall package in recent months, giving him optimism about its chances heading into the decisive phase of the season.
“They [Brawn] have not been having a good run,” he said.
“Obviously they had the win in Valencia, but certainly Jenson since Turkey I don’t think we have seen him on the podium.
“We have done a bit of damage early on at Silverstone and in Germany, a podium in Hungary, a podium here [Spa] with alternating drivers which therefore again endorsees [our policy that] it would be wrong to back one driver at the moment.
“There is still a long way in the championship to go and the points are concertinaing and I think we’ll get an exciting finish to the series.”
Heading to high-speed Monza next week, however, Horner concedes the team will have to run its RB5 with lower downforce levels than some of its rivals to compensate for a relative straight-line speed deficit, the team having been less competitive in the fast sectors one and three at Spa.
Nevertheless with Monza also containing some fast, sweeping corners, the RBR team principal still expects his squad to still have the speed to challenge its title rival.
“Monza historically is a power track and I think the guys with the KERS are obviously going to be pretty strong there,” Horner said.
“So we will probably have to run a little bit less downforce but there are still some quick corners there and I still think we can take on the Brawns there.”
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Red Bull at spa
Realistically, it became clear after Qualifying that third was going to be the most likely best finish for a Red Bull Racing car in the Belgian Grand Prix.
However, the manner in which we achieved that, courtesy of Sebastian Vettel didn’t actually follow the expected script. A second corner bingle on the opening lap played into our hands by wiping out Jenson Button, along with Lewis Hamilton, Jaime Alguersuari and Romain Grosjean, the Renault driver tangling with the championship leader.
In the ensuing chaos and Safety Car period, it was Mark Webber who was our best placed car, running fifth, with Sebastian in his grid position, eighth. With some of the fancied runners out of the way, it was looking good for a big points haul, but unfortunately, Mark got hit with a drive-through penalty after he came very close to colliding with Nick Heidfeld, as both men left pit lane together after refuelling.
Sebastian had one of the heaviest fuel loads of those who were two-stopping and this allowed him to slot in third behind Raikkonen, who had charged through from sixth on the grid to lie second on the opening lap behind unexpected pole man, Giancarlo Fisichella, before dispensing with the Force India once the Safety Car came in.
“A Force India?” we hear you cry in disbelief. Yes indeed, because after getting over the shock of seeing the Italian driver on pole, the so called experts reckoned he would have a tough time staying at the pointy end of the field.
Far from it, he ran like a train, pushing the Ferrari throughout the 44 laps. Maybe rumours that he will replace Massa-replacement Luca Badoer in Monza in a fortnight’s time might actually come true. This would lead to former Toro Rosso driver, Tonio Liuzzi slipping into the empty Force India cockpit. With Ferrari back on form after this first win of the season, it could be a very Italian Italian Grand Prix indeed.
Behind the top three, it was a good day for BMW, with Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld coming home fourth and fifth ahead of Kovalainen’s McLaren. The last two points positions were filled by the Brawn of Rubens Barrichello and the Williams of Nico Rosberg.
With only five races to go, the championship situation leaves Brawn and Red Bull Racing supporters with hardly any fingernails left to chew on. We’ve taken four points out of the leaders in the Constructors, Barrichello has closed up to Button, as has Sebastian, who leapfrogs his team-mate to lie third once again.
Now it’s the slipstreaming, eye-popping, super-fast fest that is Monza, the Temple of Speed, Da da daaaaa!
However, the manner in which we achieved that, courtesy of Sebastian Vettel didn’t actually follow the expected script. A second corner bingle on the opening lap played into our hands by wiping out Jenson Button, along with Lewis Hamilton, Jaime Alguersuari and Romain Grosjean, the Renault driver tangling with the championship leader.
In the ensuing chaos and Safety Car period, it was Mark Webber who was our best placed car, running fifth, with Sebastian in his grid position, eighth. With some of the fancied runners out of the way, it was looking good for a big points haul, but unfortunately, Mark got hit with a drive-through penalty after he came very close to colliding with Nick Heidfeld, as both men left pit lane together after refuelling.
Sebastian had one of the heaviest fuel loads of those who were two-stopping and this allowed him to slot in third behind Raikkonen, who had charged through from sixth on the grid to lie second on the opening lap behind unexpected pole man, Giancarlo Fisichella, before dispensing with the Force India once the Safety Car came in.
“A Force India?” we hear you cry in disbelief. Yes indeed, because after getting over the shock of seeing the Italian driver on pole, the so called experts reckoned he would have a tough time staying at the pointy end of the field.
Far from it, he ran like a train, pushing the Ferrari throughout the 44 laps. Maybe rumours that he will replace Massa-replacement Luca Badoer in Monza in a fortnight’s time might actually come true. This would lead to former Toro Rosso driver, Tonio Liuzzi slipping into the empty Force India cockpit. With Ferrari back on form after this first win of the season, it could be a very Italian Italian Grand Prix indeed.
Behind the top three, it was a good day for BMW, with Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld coming home fourth and fifth ahead of Kovalainen’s McLaren. The last two points positions were filled by the Brawn of Rubens Barrichello and the Williams of Nico Rosberg.
With only five races to go, the championship situation leaves Brawn and Red Bull Racing supporters with hardly any fingernails left to chew on. We’ve taken four points out of the leaders in the Constructors, Barrichello has closed up to Button, as has Sebastian, who leapfrogs his team-mate to lie third once again.
Now it’s the slipstreaming, eye-popping, super-fast fest that is Monza, the Temple of Speed, Da da daaaaa!
Monday, 31 August 2009
Red Bull: Button's form will hurt soon
By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde Monday, August 31st 2009, 10:32 GMT
Red Bull Racing's team principal Christian Horner says Jenson Button cannot afford to continue with his streak of poor results if he is to win the championship this year.
The British driver won six of the first seven races of the season but has not been on the podium in the last five and retired for the first time at the Belgian Grand Prix last Sunday.
Team-mate Rubens Barrichello is now 16 points behind, with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel 19 adrift.
Both drivers have been stronger than Button in recent races, as the Briton has struggled to show competitive pace with his Brawn car.
Horner reckons Button will need to find his form soon if he wants to stay on top of the championship table.
"Rubens has taken 10 points out of him in the last two races and Sebastian six points here, and he's not had a good weekend since Istanbul in early June," Horner said.
"He can't continue to have race weekends like he's had without being punished points wise in the next couple of events.
"It's still a four-horse race between now and the end of the championship."
Horner is adamant that both Vettel and Mark Webber are still very much in the hunt for the title.
"It's all left to play for, and I think there's going to be another twist in the championship between now and the end of the year," he added.
"Sebastian has moved to within 19 points, and although Mark didn't score, both still have a real chance of overhauling over him."
The Red Bull boss made it clear, however, that the team has no plans to support just one of its drivers yet.
"With one-and-a-half-points between the drivers it would be wrong at this stage to back one over the other. We'll continue to do what we've done all year and support both of them with equal priority."
Red Bull Racing's team principal Christian Horner says Jenson Button cannot afford to continue with his streak of poor results if he is to win the championship this year.
The British driver won six of the first seven races of the season but has not been on the podium in the last five and retired for the first time at the Belgian Grand Prix last Sunday.
Team-mate Rubens Barrichello is now 16 points behind, with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel 19 adrift.
Both drivers have been stronger than Button in recent races, as the Briton has struggled to show competitive pace with his Brawn car.
Horner reckons Button will need to find his form soon if he wants to stay on top of the championship table.
"Rubens has taken 10 points out of him in the last two races and Sebastian six points here, and he's not had a good weekend since Istanbul in early June," Horner said.
"He can't continue to have race weekends like he's had without being punished points wise in the next couple of events.
"It's still a four-horse race between now and the end of the championship."
Horner is adamant that both Vettel and Mark Webber are still very much in the hunt for the title.
"It's all left to play for, and I think there's going to be another twist in the championship between now and the end of the year," he added.
"Sebastian has moved to within 19 points, and although Mark didn't score, both still have a real chance of overhauling over him."
The Red Bull boss made it clear, however, that the team has no plans to support just one of its drivers yet.
"With one-and-a-half-points between the drivers it would be wrong at this stage to back one over the other. We'll continue to do what we've done all year and support both of them with equal priority."
Saturday, 29 August 2009
Vettel happy to miss first practice
Sebastian Vettel said he was actually happy to be unable to run in first practice for the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull Racing driver has only two new engines available until the end of the season before he gets a penalty for using a ninth power unit, having lost two at the European Grand Prix last weekend.
His situation means Red Bull will limit his mileage in practice.
But with the first session at Spa being hit by rain, Vettel felt there was not much to lose by not going out.
"We didn't have so much running time today, especially in the morning, but that was actually quite good for us," said Vettel, who 25 laps in the afternoon.
"We knew we would face a difficult Friday as we have that much mileage available because of my engine situation, so it was a little lucky to have the rain this morning.
"In the afternoon, I felt comfortable with the car, we didn't have any problems and I'm quite happy with the performance. We need see exactly where we are tomorrow, but think it's been a good start to the weekend. I love this circuit, it has excellent corners and is a lot of fun."
Team-mate Mark Webber, fourth quickest, felt the team had extracted the maximum from the day.
"I think that's the most we could have hoped for during today's session," he said. "You always expect to lose a session in Spa to the changeable weather conditions and that was the case this morning. We had pretty productive afternoon with plenty go through.
"We didn't always move in the right direction, but that's not always a bad thing as we learn from it. So, that's today and now we'll put it all in focus for tomorrow - not a bad start for us."
The Red Bull Racing driver has only two new engines available until the end of the season before he gets a penalty for using a ninth power unit, having lost two at the European Grand Prix last weekend.
His situation means Red Bull will limit his mileage in practice.
But with the first session at Spa being hit by rain, Vettel felt there was not much to lose by not going out.
"We didn't have so much running time today, especially in the morning, but that was actually quite good for us," said Vettel, who 25 laps in the afternoon.
"We knew we would face a difficult Friday as we have that much mileage available because of my engine situation, so it was a little lucky to have the rain this morning.
"In the afternoon, I felt comfortable with the car, we didn't have any problems and I'm quite happy with the performance. We need see exactly where we are tomorrow, but think it's been a good start to the weekend. I love this circuit, it has excellent corners and is a lot of fun."
Team-mate Mark Webber, fourth quickest, felt the team had extracted the maximum from the day.
"I think that's the most we could have hoped for during today's session," he said. "You always expect to lose a session in Spa to the changeable weather conditions and that was the case this morning. We had pretty productive afternoon with plenty go through.
"We didn't always move in the right direction, but that's not always a bad thing as we learn from it. So, that's today and now we'll put it all in focus for tomorrow - not a bad start for us."
Friday, 28 August 2009
Red Bull driver in engine trouble
Sebastian Vettel's two Renault engine failures at Valencia last weekend means he will have to ease back on practice mileage for the rest of his 2009 championship challenge.
"The last thing I want is a penalty," the Red Bull driver is quoted as saying on Thursday from Spa-Francorchamps.
"That means I will drive less on Friday in practice," said Vettel according to the German news agency SID.
"Naturally that's not an advantage, but it's better to sit and drink some coffee (by not running much in practice) than have to start ten places behind," he explained.
It is believed that, in addition to the fresh V8 unit that will be in his car for Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, the German has just one more fresh Renault engine in the bag for the remainder of the season - meaning each must last an average of three races.
"For sure from now onwards we cannot have any mistakes or failures again," Vettel commented. "That's for sure."
"The last thing I want is a penalty," the Red Bull driver is quoted as saying on Thursday from Spa-Francorchamps.
"That means I will drive less on Friday in practice," said Vettel according to the German news agency SID.
"Naturally that's not an advantage, but it's better to sit and drink some coffee (by not running much in practice) than have to start ten places behind," he explained.
It is believed that, in addition to the fresh V8 unit that will be in his car for Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, the German has just one more fresh Renault engine in the bag for the remainder of the season - meaning each must last an average of three races.
"For sure from now onwards we cannot have any mistakes or failures again," Vettel commented. "That's for sure."
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Belgian Grand Prix preview
The 2009 title chase took another twist at Valencia, with the advantage swinging back towards Brawn GP after its recent dip in form, and Rubens Barrichello scoring an emotional first Formula 1 victory in nearly five years.
But as the F1 circus moves from the rather characterless portside circuit to the classic Spa-Francorchamps venue this weekend, there are plenty of reasons to suppose the balance of power may change again.
Red Bull Racing’s desultory Valencia showing has left it with a mountain to climb over the remaining six races if it to haul in Brawn in the constructors’ championship and (particularly) Jenson Button in the drivers’ contest – so it must make substantial inroads this weekend, preferably with a one-two finish.
If everything goes according to plan for the Milton Keynes-based squad, such a result should be eminently achievable, for Spa’s flowing layout and abundance of medium- and high-speed corners could have been tailor-made for Red Bull’s RB5 chassis.
The last time F1 visited a similar high-speed circuit, at Silverstone in June, the RB5 was in a league of its own, and Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber annihilated the opposition.
A second factor favouring Red Bull is the likelihood that the ambient, track and therefore tyre temperatures will be much lower than they were in Valencia.
Chilly conditions stymied Brawn’s BGP 001 at Silverstone and the Nurburgring in particular, and Ross Brawn admitted last weekend that he was unsure whether the team had got on top of this problem since the sweltering Valencia heat made it hard to gauge.
Cool temperatures actively suit the RB5, which has shown a disturbing propensity for eating up its rear tyres in hot conditions – so the effect of any change in temperatures on the Brawn/Red Bull state of play is amplified.
Ironically there was a heatwave in Belgium’s Hautes Fagnes region last week, but ambient temperatures are back on their way down and forecast to drop below 20C over the weekend.
Often the fickle Ardennes weather plays a rather larger role than merely affecting tyre temperatures, of course, as we saw with the shower that triggered a dramatic conclusion to last year’s race.
At the time of writing, showers are predicted for Friday and Saturday, with race day expected to be dry – but Spa has a micro-climate all of its own and even short-range weather forecasts are notoriously unreliable.
The Red Bulls were mighty in monsoon conditions in Shanghai back in April, and two of Vettel’s three grand prix victories have come in the wet.
But given that it RBR expected to have a car advantage anyway, and that wet races always increase the risk of spins and carnage, you’d have to think the team fancies its chances without the help of Mother Nature.
On paper, then, Red Bull is the best bet to win at Spa – but lurking over the team is the spectre of reliability problems.
The RB5 has been more fragile than the Brawn all season, and after two engine failures in Valencia Vettel has now used up six of his eight Renault units allocated for the year.
If the eighth engine lets go before the end of the season, Vettel will have to accept a 10-place grid penalty for making use of a ninth power plant – a scenario team boss Christian Horner has admitted is “almost inevitable”.
That may happen sooner rather than later since the next two races, Spa and Monza, are the toughest on engines on the whole calendar.
With Eau Rouge taken comfortably flat-out, the section from La Source to Les Combes is now the longest continuous full-throttle stretch in F1, much of it uphill.
The big question is how much the engine concern will hamper Vettel’s approach to the remaining six grands prix, and whether the team will conclude that it makes Webber its only realistic title contender.
At least for this weekend – with such a strong chance of a Red Bull victory – it would make sense for Vettel to continue to race flat-out, and hope for the best; but in subsequent races the team may feel the need to detune the engine to prolong its life.
From Brawn’s perspective, Barrichello’s Valencia victory was both good and bad news since it made him Button’s closest rival in the points standings once again, ensuring that the Brazilian will fancy a title shot of his own and will not be amenable to playing a supporting role any time soon.
Although he actually extended his points lead over the Red Bull drivers, Button was thoroughly dissatisfied with his seventh place in Spain – and rightly so, since Barrichello showed Brawn had a car capable of winning.
What this weekend should reveal is whether Brawn’s improved form was largely down to the hot temperatures, or whether it has made underlying performance gains that will enable it to fight for victory at most of the remaining races.
While the fortunes of the two title-contending teams have ebbed and flowed in recent weeks, McLaren has transformed its performance in the most impressive fashion, with Lewis Hamilton dominating in Hungary and only narrowly missing out on a second consecutive win in Valencia.
The Woking team doesn’t expect to be quite as competitive at Spa, since high-speed corners are still not the MP4-24’s forte.
But the car has gained so much downforce with recent updates, particularly an improved twin-diffuser design, that it is sure to contend for points and possibly a podium.
Both Hamilton and team-mate Heikki Kovalainen love the circuit, but the Finn really needs to deliver a convincing race performance to boost his chances of retaining his drive for 2010.
Ferrari should not be discounted either.
Kimi Raikkonen has the best Spa record of anyone on the current grid, having won here with McLaren in 2004 and ’05 and then with Ferrari in ’07.
The laconic Finn seems to have found some good form at the moment, having finished second at the Nurburgring and third at Valencia, but reckons the team can forget about challenging for its first win of the year since it has stopped developing the F60 and moved its focus onto the 2010 car.
After struggling mightily in Valencia, Felipe Massa’s stand-in Luca Badoer has been given one more race to show he is worthy of a Ferrari drive.
Now that he has a full race weekend under his belt and is returning to a familiar circuit, the 38-year-old Italian feels sure he can make a big step forward; he certainly needs to, as Ferrari does not enjoy qualifying and finishing at the back of the grid, whatever the circumstances.
Renault’s new recruit Romain Grosjean did a solid job on his debut in Spain, and impressively set a (marginally) faster race lap than his double world champion team-mate Fernando Alonso.
That, plus the fact that he won last year’s GP2 feature race at Spa, should allow the young Frenchman to attack his second F1 weekend with confidence.
But as the F1 circus moves from the rather characterless portside circuit to the classic Spa-Francorchamps venue this weekend, there are plenty of reasons to suppose the balance of power may change again.
Red Bull Racing’s desultory Valencia showing has left it with a mountain to climb over the remaining six races if it to haul in Brawn in the constructors’ championship and (particularly) Jenson Button in the drivers’ contest – so it must make substantial inroads this weekend, preferably with a one-two finish.
If everything goes according to plan for the Milton Keynes-based squad, such a result should be eminently achievable, for Spa’s flowing layout and abundance of medium- and high-speed corners could have been tailor-made for Red Bull’s RB5 chassis.
The last time F1 visited a similar high-speed circuit, at Silverstone in June, the RB5 was in a league of its own, and Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber annihilated the opposition.
A second factor favouring Red Bull is the likelihood that the ambient, track and therefore tyre temperatures will be much lower than they were in Valencia.
Chilly conditions stymied Brawn’s BGP 001 at Silverstone and the Nurburgring in particular, and Ross Brawn admitted last weekend that he was unsure whether the team had got on top of this problem since the sweltering Valencia heat made it hard to gauge.
Cool temperatures actively suit the RB5, which has shown a disturbing propensity for eating up its rear tyres in hot conditions – so the effect of any change in temperatures on the Brawn/Red Bull state of play is amplified.
Ironically there was a heatwave in Belgium’s Hautes Fagnes region last week, but ambient temperatures are back on their way down and forecast to drop below 20C over the weekend.
Often the fickle Ardennes weather plays a rather larger role than merely affecting tyre temperatures, of course, as we saw with the shower that triggered a dramatic conclusion to last year’s race.
At the time of writing, showers are predicted for Friday and Saturday, with race day expected to be dry – but Spa has a micro-climate all of its own and even short-range weather forecasts are notoriously unreliable.
The Red Bulls were mighty in monsoon conditions in Shanghai back in April, and two of Vettel’s three grand prix victories have come in the wet.
But given that it RBR expected to have a car advantage anyway, and that wet races always increase the risk of spins and carnage, you’d have to think the team fancies its chances without the help of Mother Nature.
On paper, then, Red Bull is the best bet to win at Spa – but lurking over the team is the spectre of reliability problems.
The RB5 has been more fragile than the Brawn all season, and after two engine failures in Valencia Vettel has now used up six of his eight Renault units allocated for the year.
If the eighth engine lets go before the end of the season, Vettel will have to accept a 10-place grid penalty for making use of a ninth power plant – a scenario team boss Christian Horner has admitted is “almost inevitable”.
That may happen sooner rather than later since the next two races, Spa and Monza, are the toughest on engines on the whole calendar.
With Eau Rouge taken comfortably flat-out, the section from La Source to Les Combes is now the longest continuous full-throttle stretch in F1, much of it uphill.
The big question is how much the engine concern will hamper Vettel’s approach to the remaining six grands prix, and whether the team will conclude that it makes Webber its only realistic title contender.
At least for this weekend – with such a strong chance of a Red Bull victory – it would make sense for Vettel to continue to race flat-out, and hope for the best; but in subsequent races the team may feel the need to detune the engine to prolong its life.
From Brawn’s perspective, Barrichello’s Valencia victory was both good and bad news since it made him Button’s closest rival in the points standings once again, ensuring that the Brazilian will fancy a title shot of his own and will not be amenable to playing a supporting role any time soon.
Although he actually extended his points lead over the Red Bull drivers, Button was thoroughly dissatisfied with his seventh place in Spain – and rightly so, since Barrichello showed Brawn had a car capable of winning.
What this weekend should reveal is whether Brawn’s improved form was largely down to the hot temperatures, or whether it has made underlying performance gains that will enable it to fight for victory at most of the remaining races.
While the fortunes of the two title-contending teams have ebbed and flowed in recent weeks, McLaren has transformed its performance in the most impressive fashion, with Lewis Hamilton dominating in Hungary and only narrowly missing out on a second consecutive win in Valencia.
The Woking team doesn’t expect to be quite as competitive at Spa, since high-speed corners are still not the MP4-24’s forte.
But the car has gained so much downforce with recent updates, particularly an improved twin-diffuser design, that it is sure to contend for points and possibly a podium.
Both Hamilton and team-mate Heikki Kovalainen love the circuit, but the Finn really needs to deliver a convincing race performance to boost his chances of retaining his drive for 2010.
Ferrari should not be discounted either.
Kimi Raikkonen has the best Spa record of anyone on the current grid, having won here with McLaren in 2004 and ’05 and then with Ferrari in ’07.
The laconic Finn seems to have found some good form at the moment, having finished second at the Nurburgring and third at Valencia, but reckons the team can forget about challenging for its first win of the year since it has stopped developing the F60 and moved its focus onto the 2010 car.
After struggling mightily in Valencia, Felipe Massa’s stand-in Luca Badoer has been given one more race to show he is worthy of a Ferrari drive.
Now that he has a full race weekend under his belt and is returning to a familiar circuit, the 38-year-old Italian feels sure he can make a big step forward; he certainly needs to, as Ferrari does not enjoy qualifying and finishing at the back of the grid, whatever the circumstances.
Renault’s new recruit Romain Grosjean did a solid job on his debut in Spain, and impressively set a (marginally) faster race lap than his double world champion team-mate Fernando Alonso.
That, plus the fact that he won last year’s GP2 feature race at Spa, should allow the young Frenchman to attack his second F1 weekend with confidence.
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
David Coulthard's Red Bull guide to Spa
We asked Mr Coulthard what it was like driving a Formula One car through Eau Rouge, one of the most famous sections of track on the calendar, and what he liked about the track and its surroundings...
“I would say that at least 90% of the drivers would put Spa forward as their favourite grand prix circuit. It is the unique challenge of the track which involves a lot of climbs - most famously Eau Rouge - and a lot of dips on the back of those climbs like Pouhon in the middle of the lap.
“The start of the lap is a fairly straight forward hairpin La Source. Out of La Source you're immediately thinking about the daunting, flat-out in sixth gear Eau Rouge corner, which, although easier today than it was several seasons ago because of the improvements in the cars is still an awesome feeling. The feeling of the car being compressed into the tarmac and the lateral load and the sidewalls of the tyres literally stretching on the side of the wheels is just incredible and just to top it off when you come up over the top of Eau Rouge you have got no visibility, no knowledge of, at 170 miles an hour, what lies above and you rely completly on the flag marshals if there is an incident.
“Eau Rouge still lives up to its billing, no question. You drive a car at that speed through that level of compression and elevation, then that's a rush, that's a roller coaster ride. You know that if the car fails at that point it's going to be a huge accident, so I don't care what any driver says, you don't go through there making adjustments on your steering wheel. Both hands are on the grips and you're fully focused.
“That really gets your adrenaline pumping for the rest of the lap.
“The next area of significance is the drop down through Turn Ten, a double apex fifth gear very fast left-hander where you feel as if your neck has been pulled from your shoulders. Then you get the fast chicane through 12 and 13, 13 where Schumacher famously spun across the kerbs in 1994 and was disqualified for his plank being too thin.
“The end of the lap is signified by the exit of turn 14 which dictates your speed all the way through flat-out Turns 15, 16 and 17 and it's a long section flat-out until you get to the big stop at the old Bus Stop chicane.
“Unfortunately this was changed a couple of years ago and it's definitely nowhere near as good a corner as it used to be, but it brings you back down to a very low speed before you exit on to the start-finish line and hopefully deliver a good lap time. It's a long lap at very high speeds and there's always a high possibility of wet weather.
“It's a beautiful region, but it's countryside, so it doesn't have the glitz and glamour of a Monte Carlo but it's been on the grand prix calendar for decades and it deserves that billing. It's a nice track and it's nice to go to all these different regions, you don't want them all to be sweat boxes.”
“I would say that at least 90% of the drivers would put Spa forward as their favourite grand prix circuit. It is the unique challenge of the track which involves a lot of climbs - most famously Eau Rouge - and a lot of dips on the back of those climbs like Pouhon in the middle of the lap.
“The start of the lap is a fairly straight forward hairpin La Source. Out of La Source you're immediately thinking about the daunting, flat-out in sixth gear Eau Rouge corner, which, although easier today than it was several seasons ago because of the improvements in the cars is still an awesome feeling. The feeling of the car being compressed into the tarmac and the lateral load and the sidewalls of the tyres literally stretching on the side of the wheels is just incredible and just to top it off when you come up over the top of Eau Rouge you have got no visibility, no knowledge of, at 170 miles an hour, what lies above and you rely completly on the flag marshals if there is an incident.
“Eau Rouge still lives up to its billing, no question. You drive a car at that speed through that level of compression and elevation, then that's a rush, that's a roller coaster ride. You know that if the car fails at that point it's going to be a huge accident, so I don't care what any driver says, you don't go through there making adjustments on your steering wheel. Both hands are on the grips and you're fully focused.
“That really gets your adrenaline pumping for the rest of the lap.
“The next area of significance is the drop down through Turn Ten, a double apex fifth gear very fast left-hander where you feel as if your neck has been pulled from your shoulders. Then you get the fast chicane through 12 and 13, 13 where Schumacher famously spun across the kerbs in 1994 and was disqualified for his plank being too thin.
“The end of the lap is signified by the exit of turn 14 which dictates your speed all the way through flat-out Turns 15, 16 and 17 and it's a long section flat-out until you get to the big stop at the old Bus Stop chicane.
“Unfortunately this was changed a couple of years ago and it's definitely nowhere near as good a corner as it used to be, but it brings you back down to a very low speed before you exit on to the start-finish line and hopefully deliver a good lap time. It's a long lap at very high speeds and there's always a high possibility of wet weather.
“It's a beautiful region, but it's countryside, so it doesn't have the glitz and glamour of a Monte Carlo but it's been on the grand prix calendar for decades and it deserves that billing. It's a nice track and it's nice to go to all these different regions, you don't want them all to be sweat boxes.”
Monday, 24 August 2009
Red Bull rules out KERS for Belgian GP
Red Bull Racing has ruled out introducing its KERS system at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, although the team is yet to decide if it will use it in other races.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit revealed over the European Grand Prix weekend that it was evaluating the possibility of using KERS for the first time at Spa in order to boost it chances in the championship.
But team boss Christian Horner admitted that racing KERS at Spa could prove distracting, although he claimed Red Bull will still consider using it at the Italian Grand Prix.
"Spa is not so different to Silverstone and we had a strong car there, so to introduce KERS at this stage could only be disruptive," said Horner.
"We will make a decision for Monza after Spa. It would be the Renault/Red Bull KERS one that was developed at the beginning of the season. We will continue to look at it."
Ross Brawn, whose team is leading the championship ahead of Red Bull, believes introducing KERS at this point of the season could prove very good if things go right, but a disaster if they don't.
"It could be a fantastic decision, or it could be a disaster," said Brawn. "One or the other. You've got to admire the effort they are making. I would not like to tackle a KERS system mid-season with no testing, but they have had the benefit of some experience with it, we've had no experience.
"We had some in the early days, and I guess it is a Renault system and that was raced for at least a few races early on this year."
Brawn admitted running KERS was not a possibility for his team, despite Mercedes-Benz having offered the system.
"It is not an option for us. Mercedes and McLaren very kindly offered it to us, but in installing the engine at such a late stage we put quite a lot of weight on the car because we had to modify the chassis and modify the gearboxes.
"The cooling is not optimised, there is too much oil cooling and not enough water cooling. We don't have enough ballast on the car to run a KERS system. The McLaren-Mercedes system is probably the lightest but we don't have enough ballast to take off the car and run to the weight limit, so for us it is not really an option."
The Milton Keynes-based outfit revealed over the European Grand Prix weekend that it was evaluating the possibility of using KERS for the first time at Spa in order to boost it chances in the championship.
But team boss Christian Horner admitted that racing KERS at Spa could prove distracting, although he claimed Red Bull will still consider using it at the Italian Grand Prix.
"Spa is not so different to Silverstone and we had a strong car there, so to introduce KERS at this stage could only be disruptive," said Horner.
"We will make a decision for Monza after Spa. It would be the Renault/Red Bull KERS one that was developed at the beginning of the season. We will continue to look at it."
Ross Brawn, whose team is leading the championship ahead of Red Bull, believes introducing KERS at this point of the season could prove very good if things go right, but a disaster if they don't.
"It could be a fantastic decision, or it could be a disaster," said Brawn. "One or the other. You've got to admire the effort they are making. I would not like to tackle a KERS system mid-season with no testing, but they have had the benefit of some experience with it, we've had no experience.
"We had some in the early days, and I guess it is a Renault system and that was raced for at least a few races early on this year."
Brawn admitted running KERS was not a possibility for his team, despite Mercedes-Benz having offered the system.
"It is not an option for us. Mercedes and McLaren very kindly offered it to us, but in installing the engine at such a late stage we put quite a lot of weight on the car because we had to modify the chassis and modify the gearboxes.
"The cooling is not optimised, there is too much oil cooling and not enough water cooling. We don't have enough ballast on the car to run a KERS system. The McLaren-Mercedes system is probably the lightest but we don't have enough ballast to take off the car and run to the weight limit, so for us it is not really an option."
Sunday, 23 August 2009
Christian Horner Q and A
Red Bull simply weren’t quick enough It was not a glorious weekend for Red Bull. Two engines failures for Sebastian Vettel, leaving him with only two fresh V8s for the six remaining races, and Mark Webber missing a points-scoring position by one place. The only good news for team principal Christian Horner, was that Rubens Barrichello, not standings leader Jenson Button, won the race. But that is pretty cold comfort for a team aiming for both championships...
Q: Christian, was what happened this weekend the worst case scenario?
Christian Horner: Yes, it doesn’t get much worse than losing another engine and going back home with no points for either driver. It is really disappointing for Sebastian, who had two engine failures over the weekend - the fourth now in total - which makes it quite difficult with the engines for the rest of the year. And Mark basically struggled all weekend to find pace in the car. We simply were not quick enough this weekend.
Q: Regarding Sebastian’s engine failure, do you know what exactly happened?
CH: Right now we don’t know exactly what happened, but the fact is the failure is terminal.
Q: Four engines failures leaves a lot of questions. You are in the middle of talks about an engine contract for next season. Will you stay with Renault or change supplier? CH: I think it is still a long way to go in this championship and obviously our options are open. But you cannot make a decision based on one weekend, you have to look at the whole season and Renault so far has given us a great service and support. It was really unfortunate to have two engine failures in one weekend.
Q: Was this weekend the end of your championships dreams?
CH: I don’t think so, if you look at the amount of points that Jenson scored today - he only took another two points. It’s true it doesn’t make it any easier to catch him, but it is far from a disaster.
Q: What will the strategy for Sebastian be now that he has only two new engines left?
CH: It’s almost inevitable that we will have an engine penalty at some point because yes, we’re running out of engines. We need now to analyze the mileage that we’ve left on the engines that we have and look at which engine we will use at what circuits.
Q: Two engine failures in one weekend is a very unusual occurrence these days…
CH: It’s obviously an expensive failure.
Q: What happened to Mark? He fell back from seventh to ninth place…
CH: Unfortunately, we weren’t quick enough. Jenson was very quick on his out-lap and we had a slow final stop, again precautionary with the fuel rig that has been somewhat temperamental today. And that cost him ultimately.
Q: Mark and Sebastian scored zero points this weekend. Does that mean that there is still equal treatment of both drivers?
CH: Absolutely. Rubens is back in the drivers’ championship again so the only positive aspect of this weekend is that Jenson didn’t score too many points. If he had scored a further ten points, the damage would have been significantly greater. We will be back in one week in Spa and hopefully we can have a better weekend there and forget this one very quickly.
Q: So the only good thing that you take home from this weekend is that it was Rubens who won and not Jenson…
CH: Yes, Jenson is eight points away from a potential maximum score. Adding only two points to his total is less damaging, but yes, we’ve missed a chance to reduce the gap to him. But on the other hand this result today doesn’t help us in the constructors’ championship. If I think it over, there hasn’t been any good news this weekend.
Q: Obviously your hopes for a better result in Spa are based on the fact that the track should suit the RB5 and that the temperatures are not as high there as they have been here…
CH: Yes, it could be. The weather is always a factor there. It can be a lottery sometimes. The Brawns were very quick today - by the way congratulations to Rubens, he did a fantastic job - but there are hopefully some circuits coming up that will play back to our strengths.
Q: There have been rumours that you might run KERS in Spa. Is that under consideration?
CH: Ha, we might use KERS but have no engines left, because that’s the only thing we have! Sure, we are looking at KERS on a race-by-race basis but I would say that it is unlikely.
Q: Christian, was what happened this weekend the worst case scenario?
Christian Horner: Yes, it doesn’t get much worse than losing another engine and going back home with no points for either driver. It is really disappointing for Sebastian, who had two engine failures over the weekend - the fourth now in total - which makes it quite difficult with the engines for the rest of the year. And Mark basically struggled all weekend to find pace in the car. We simply were not quick enough this weekend.
Q: Regarding Sebastian’s engine failure, do you know what exactly happened?
CH: Right now we don’t know exactly what happened, but the fact is the failure is terminal.
Q: Four engines failures leaves a lot of questions. You are in the middle of talks about an engine contract for next season. Will you stay with Renault or change supplier? CH: I think it is still a long way to go in this championship and obviously our options are open. But you cannot make a decision based on one weekend, you have to look at the whole season and Renault so far has given us a great service and support. It was really unfortunate to have two engine failures in one weekend.
Q: Was this weekend the end of your championships dreams?
CH: I don’t think so, if you look at the amount of points that Jenson scored today - he only took another two points. It’s true it doesn’t make it any easier to catch him, but it is far from a disaster.
Q: What will the strategy for Sebastian be now that he has only two new engines left?
CH: It’s almost inevitable that we will have an engine penalty at some point because yes, we’re running out of engines. We need now to analyze the mileage that we’ve left on the engines that we have and look at which engine we will use at what circuits.
Q: Two engine failures in one weekend is a very unusual occurrence these days…
CH: It’s obviously an expensive failure.
Q: What happened to Mark? He fell back from seventh to ninth place…
CH: Unfortunately, we weren’t quick enough. Jenson was very quick on his out-lap and we had a slow final stop, again precautionary with the fuel rig that has been somewhat temperamental today. And that cost him ultimately.
Q: Mark and Sebastian scored zero points this weekend. Does that mean that there is still equal treatment of both drivers?
CH: Absolutely. Rubens is back in the drivers’ championship again so the only positive aspect of this weekend is that Jenson didn’t score too many points. If he had scored a further ten points, the damage would have been significantly greater. We will be back in one week in Spa and hopefully we can have a better weekend there and forget this one very quickly.
Q: So the only good thing that you take home from this weekend is that it was Rubens who won and not Jenson…
CH: Yes, Jenson is eight points away from a potential maximum score. Adding only two points to his total is less damaging, but yes, we’ve missed a chance to reduce the gap to him. But on the other hand this result today doesn’t help us in the constructors’ championship. If I think it over, there hasn’t been any good news this weekend.
Q: Obviously your hopes for a better result in Spa are based on the fact that the track should suit the RB5 and that the temperatures are not as high there as they have been here…
CH: Yes, it could be. The weather is always a factor there. It can be a lottery sometimes. The Brawns were very quick today - by the way congratulations to Rubens, he did a fantastic job - but there are hopefully some circuits coming up that will play back to our strengths.
Q: There have been rumours that you might run KERS in Spa. Is that under consideration?
CH: Ha, we might use KERS but have no engines left, because that’s the only thing we have! Sure, we are looking at KERS on a race-by-race basis but I would say that it is unlikely.
Sebastian Vettel Q and A
I am still in the race for the title The word ‘surrender’ does not figure in the vocabulary of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel. So this weekend’s race, and his early retirement from it, must be considered a setback, not the end of his title challenge. After two engine failures this weekend, the only thing looming heavily over his championship ambitions is having enough engines left to compete for the crown, and unfortunately that is out of his hands…
Q: Sebastian, have you overcome the disappointment of the race?
Sebastian Vettel: The disappointment still lingers, that’s for sure. When I recap the race I have to say that the start was quite good. Kimi (Raikkonen) got me but I was able to find my place in the field and by the end of my first stint I was able to regain ground on him and had a comfortable edge on Nico (Rosberg). When I pitted to refuel there was no indication that something was going wrong, but when I left the pit I was surprised how well the tyres worked, and I found it a bit strange that the car was not laying lower. When I was braking I discovered perfect grip and the last thing that would have come to my mind was that I had effectively no fuel on board. After half a lap I was told about that fact and that I had to pit again to refuel. At that point that was the end of the race I had in mind. But then to discover some laps later that this was not the end of the story - my engine blew, for the umpteenth time this year.
Q: This weekend saw you suffer two engine failures. Do you have any explanation?
SV: No, not at all - and also not for the question of why my car had two failures and not another car.
Q: Could it be your driving style?
SV: I already said jokingly that probably I don’t accelerate enough. But honestly there’s no explanation, though we know that it was a different defect to the one on Saturday morning. That’s it.
Q: Aside from the engine it didn’t seem that the RB5 ran well on this track with its slow corners. We are heading for Spa next week, a high-speed circuit. Can you attack again there?
SV: I like Spa very much, it’s a fantastic track. The driver who doesn’t like Spa must be doing something wrong. I am really excited to go there. Here the whole weekend was difficult. We’ve not been fast enough, there was a big gap to the front, but on the Saturday morning session we pulled all our strengths together and were able to trim the car in the right direction so that qualifying for me was not too bad. So my idea was to have a good race. What then happened in the race was definitely not on in my plans, and unfortunately we’ve had a number of races so far that didn’t work out as anticipated. Things were going wrong, and somebody who wants to fight for the championship cannot afford such mistakes.
Q: It seems to be the same old story again here - the RB5 prefers cooler temperatures. With Spa things could look better - are you hoping for rain?
SV: I don’t mind if it rains, but generally I think that this track should suit our car better.
Q: Have you given up all hope of the championship after today?
SV: I still think that I am in the race for the title. And be sure, I will not give up fighting for it. True, it isn’t ideal - not finishing five out of 11 races cannot be considered ideal - but I still believe in my chances.
Q: Sebastian, have you overcome the disappointment of the race?
Sebastian Vettel: The disappointment still lingers, that’s for sure. When I recap the race I have to say that the start was quite good. Kimi (Raikkonen) got me but I was able to find my place in the field and by the end of my first stint I was able to regain ground on him and had a comfortable edge on Nico (Rosberg). When I pitted to refuel there was no indication that something was going wrong, but when I left the pit I was surprised how well the tyres worked, and I found it a bit strange that the car was not laying lower. When I was braking I discovered perfect grip and the last thing that would have come to my mind was that I had effectively no fuel on board. After half a lap I was told about that fact and that I had to pit again to refuel. At that point that was the end of the race I had in mind. But then to discover some laps later that this was not the end of the story - my engine blew, for the umpteenth time this year.
Q: This weekend saw you suffer two engine failures. Do you have any explanation?
SV: No, not at all - and also not for the question of why my car had two failures and not another car.
Q: Could it be your driving style?
SV: I already said jokingly that probably I don’t accelerate enough. But honestly there’s no explanation, though we know that it was a different defect to the one on Saturday morning. That’s it.
Q: Aside from the engine it didn’t seem that the RB5 ran well on this track with its slow corners. We are heading for Spa next week, a high-speed circuit. Can you attack again there?
SV: I like Spa very much, it’s a fantastic track. The driver who doesn’t like Spa must be doing something wrong. I am really excited to go there. Here the whole weekend was difficult. We’ve not been fast enough, there was a big gap to the front, but on the Saturday morning session we pulled all our strengths together and were able to trim the car in the right direction so that qualifying for me was not too bad. So my idea was to have a good race. What then happened in the race was definitely not on in my plans, and unfortunately we’ve had a number of races so far that didn’t work out as anticipated. Things were going wrong, and somebody who wants to fight for the championship cannot afford such mistakes.
Q: It seems to be the same old story again here - the RB5 prefers cooler temperatures. With Spa things could look better - are you hoping for rain?
SV: I don’t mind if it rains, but generally I think that this track should suit our car better.
Q: Have you given up all hope of the championship after today?
SV: I still think that I am in the race for the title. And be sure, I will not give up fighting for it. True, it isn’t ideal - not finishing five out of 11 races cannot be considered ideal - but I still believe in my chances.
Saturday, 22 August 2009
Red Bull considering KERS for Spa
Red Bull Racing is considering introducing KERS from the Belgian Grand Prix in a bid to boost its world championship ambitions, AUTOSPORT can reveal.
With the Milton Keynes-based outfit locked in a close fight with Brawn GP for the title, the team is now undergoing a detailed investigation into whether fast-tracking KERS onto the car for next weekend's race at Spa-Francorchamps will give it an advantage.
Although earlier this season it appeared that F1 was shying away from KERS, the role the regenerative energy devices played in Lewis Hamilton's recent Hungarian GP victory has forced a rethink.
And Red Bull's team principal Christian Horner has confirmed to AUTOSPORT that a decision will be made in the next few days about what to do for Spa - where KERS is expected to produce a considerable benefit.
"We continue to evaluate KERS on an ongoing basis," he explained. "Obviously KERS' performance at the last race and probably here are making an obvious benefit, so it is something we have not abandoned for this year.
"We have the system there and are evaluating the system on a race-by-race basis."
When asked what the chances were of Red Bull giving KERS the green light for a shock introduction in Belgium, Horner said: "We will evaluate it after this weekend."
AUTOSPORT understands that Red Bull Racing is the only team that is transporting its cars back to its factory in between the European Grand Prix and Belgium next weekend.
Should Red Bull Racing give the green light to KERS then it could swing the world championship momentum in its favour – as Brawn GP has ruled out being able to run the technology this year.
Team principal Ross Brawn told AUTOSPORT: "Due to the modifications we had to do to the car to fit the engine, we piled a lot of weight into it and we do not have the weight capacity to run KERS. So unfortunately it is not an option for us."
When asked how decisive the KERS factor could be, especially with tracks like Spa and Monza coming up on the calendar, he said: "If it catches fire it could be completely bad for them. It is quite a challenge to introduce it in the middle of the season with no testing."
With the Milton Keynes-based outfit locked in a close fight with Brawn GP for the title, the team is now undergoing a detailed investigation into whether fast-tracking KERS onto the car for next weekend's race at Spa-Francorchamps will give it an advantage.
Although earlier this season it appeared that F1 was shying away from KERS, the role the regenerative energy devices played in Lewis Hamilton's recent Hungarian GP victory has forced a rethink.
And Red Bull's team principal Christian Horner has confirmed to AUTOSPORT that a decision will be made in the next few days about what to do for Spa - where KERS is expected to produce a considerable benefit.
"We continue to evaluate KERS on an ongoing basis," he explained. "Obviously KERS' performance at the last race and probably here are making an obvious benefit, so it is something we have not abandoned for this year.
"We have the system there and are evaluating the system on a race-by-race basis."
When asked what the chances were of Red Bull giving KERS the green light for a shock introduction in Belgium, Horner said: "We will evaluate it after this weekend."
AUTOSPORT understands that Red Bull Racing is the only team that is transporting its cars back to its factory in between the European Grand Prix and Belgium next weekend.
Should Red Bull Racing give the green light to KERS then it could swing the world championship momentum in its favour – as Brawn GP has ruled out being able to run the technology this year.
Team principal Ross Brawn told AUTOSPORT: "Due to the modifications we had to do to the car to fit the engine, we piled a lot of weight into it and we do not have the weight capacity to run KERS. So unfortunately it is not an option for us."
When asked how decisive the KERS factor could be, especially with tracks like Spa and Monza coming up on the calendar, he said: "If it catches fire it could be completely bad for them. It is quite a challenge to introduce it in the middle of the season with no testing."
Friday, 21 August 2009
Vettel extends contract with Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel has committed his long term future to Red Bull Racing, after extending his deal with the team until 2012.
The German, who joined the team at the start of this season on a two-year deal, has impressed after taking two wins and is battling with his team-mate Mark Webber and Jenson Button for the world championship.
Vettel's form, and the promise shown by Red Bull, has convinced the two parties to extend their deal further - with his new contract running until 2011. There is also an option on him for 2012.
The Vettel announcement comes a few weeks after Red Bull Racing also extended Webber's deal until the end of next year.
Vettel, who has been supported by Red Bull's young drivers programme since the age of 12, is the youngest winner in F1 history, having taken a shock triumph for Scuderia Toro Rosso in last year's rain-hit Italian Grand Prix.
He entered F1 as a test driver for BMW Sauber and competed in one race for the team, as a stand-in for Robert Kubica at the 2007 United States Grand Prix.
A deal was then agreed to move him across to Scuderia Toro Rosso from that year's Hungarian Grand Prix, and he stayed with the Faenza-based outfit until the end of last season.
The German, who joined the team at the start of this season on a two-year deal, has impressed after taking two wins and is battling with his team-mate Mark Webber and Jenson Button for the world championship.
Vettel's form, and the promise shown by Red Bull, has convinced the two parties to extend their deal further - with his new contract running until 2011. There is also an option on him for 2012.
The Vettel announcement comes a few weeks after Red Bull Racing also extended Webber's deal until the end of next year.
Vettel, who has been supported by Red Bull's young drivers programme since the age of 12, is the youngest winner in F1 history, having taken a shock triumph for Scuderia Toro Rosso in last year's rain-hit Italian Grand Prix.
He entered F1 as a test driver for BMW Sauber and competed in one race for the team, as a stand-in for Robert Kubica at the 2007 United States Grand Prix.
A deal was then agreed to move him across to Scuderia Toro Rosso from that year's Hungarian Grand Prix, and he stayed with the Faenza-based outfit until the end of last season.
Friday, 14 August 2009
Lauda: Brawn favourites, but Red Bull pairing is stronger
If back in March you had tried to predict August’s championship standings, it’s virtually guaranteed that you’d have got it dramatically wrong. Both the team and driver rankings are topsy-turvy, with backmarkers and midfielders from 2008 leading the way, as the traditional frontrunners fight to close the gap.
Was Niki Lauda surprised by the reversal in fortunes? And how does he think the rest of the year will pan out? We spoke to the three-time world champion…
Q: Ross Brawn’s rise from Honda technical director to Brawn GP owner has taken the team to a shock lead in both championships. Did this story surprise you? And do you think they’ll run out of momentum in the hunt for the title?
Niki Lauda: Believe me, their success caught me with the same surprise as everybody else. They have managed to come up with a fantastic package that has to be beaten first. But since the start of the season all the others have caught up, especially Red Bull Racing with their new aero package, and to my surprise McLaren, with their win (the first for a KERS car) in Budapest. Ross has to keep up with his development speed, but clearly at the moment they are the favourites for both championships.
Q: You’ve already mentioned the performance of Red Bull Racing. It seems that magical Adrian Newey touch has finally come to the fore again. What do you think they can achieve? The championship?
NL: You cannot trust anybody to win the championship. All you can do is observe how they perform. And so far they have come very close to the Brawns and on some occasions have beaten them. I predict that it will be a nip-and-tuck race between the two with the championship totally open. That’s why we are enjoying such a fantastic season!
Q: Of course, the ability to win both titles is linked to the drivers. Which is the more promising driver pairing in your eyes: Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello or Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber?
NL: Vettel and Webber is the better pairing.
Q: What is going on at Ferrari and McLaren? How do you explain their performances in comparison to their dominance in 2008? They are getting better, but their 2009 championship dreams are well and truly over …
NL: Of course both teams will develop their car come hell or high water and at the moment McLaren seem to be on a more promising path, as we saw in Budapest. I expect them to raise their game massively for the upcoming races.
Q: BMW have announced their withdrawal from Formula One racing. What do you believe is the reasoning behind this decision? Is it all to do with their poor performance this year?
NL: For sure their weak performance might have been an issue, but it was no different for them as it was for all the KERS cars. They have all underestimated the aerodynamic disadvantage they would have. That’s why all the KERS teams were in the doldrums, and as I just said, McLaren is the first team to come out of it. The internal reasons for BMW to withdraw I don’t know about, and really don’t want to know. But if a company makes such a move you have to accept it.
Q: Peter Sauber or anyone else taking over the team would be looking to repeat the success of Brawn GP. Can it be copied?
NL: Why not. All it takes is a sponsor willing to take over and start again.
Q: Toyota started the season well but their form has been very up and down. What’s going wrong in Cologne?
NL: I have no idea what’s going wrong again.
Q: Williams have showed good practice and qualifying performances, but they haven’t quite managed to translate this into podium results. Where do they hit issues?
NL: It’s true, they have been very competitive in practice and qualifying, but my impression is that their competitors have a little bit more up their sleeves in the race than Williams. But overall their performance is promising.
Q: Renault’s poor performance must be hard to swallow for former world champion Fernando Alonso…
NL: Yes, Alonso is the best driver on the grid, and he knows exactly where Renault has its Achilles heel. And whenever, due to track or climate, his car supports his skills and he is able to show that, he’s in a league of his own. There are always rumours that link him with a team with a distinctively different colour code. He will know what to do.
Q: Toro Rosso recently sent their experienced driver Sebastien Bourdais packing and took on the talents of another rookie. What’s been your impression of both Sebastian Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari?
NL: Bourdais never performed and so the decision of Toro Rosso to try another rookie was absolutely correct. I think they have a very promising pairing and we will have to wait and see how those two youngsters develop.
Q: What about Force India?
NL: They have their ups and downs and sometimes Sutil enjoys some very good performances in qualifying. Unfortunately he has not been able to transform it into race results yet. My guess is that the team still has to find its way and has to stabilise before making a step forward.
Q: You now boast over 40 years of Formula One experience and have seen many teams come and go. We are expecting three new ones next season. Will they see success in 2010?
NL: I have no idea. There are so many components that play a role. A Formula One team doesn’t come up just like that. But for sure it would be desirable to see new blood in the paddock.
Was Niki Lauda surprised by the reversal in fortunes? And how does he think the rest of the year will pan out? We spoke to the three-time world champion…
Q: Ross Brawn’s rise from Honda technical director to Brawn GP owner has taken the team to a shock lead in both championships. Did this story surprise you? And do you think they’ll run out of momentum in the hunt for the title?
Niki Lauda: Believe me, their success caught me with the same surprise as everybody else. They have managed to come up with a fantastic package that has to be beaten first. But since the start of the season all the others have caught up, especially Red Bull Racing with their new aero package, and to my surprise McLaren, with their win (the first for a KERS car) in Budapest. Ross has to keep up with his development speed, but clearly at the moment they are the favourites for both championships.
Q: You’ve already mentioned the performance of Red Bull Racing. It seems that magical Adrian Newey touch has finally come to the fore again. What do you think they can achieve? The championship?
NL: You cannot trust anybody to win the championship. All you can do is observe how they perform. And so far they have come very close to the Brawns and on some occasions have beaten them. I predict that it will be a nip-and-tuck race between the two with the championship totally open. That’s why we are enjoying such a fantastic season!
Q: Of course, the ability to win both titles is linked to the drivers. Which is the more promising driver pairing in your eyes: Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello or Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber?
NL: Vettel and Webber is the better pairing.
Q: What is going on at Ferrari and McLaren? How do you explain their performances in comparison to their dominance in 2008? They are getting better, but their 2009 championship dreams are well and truly over …
NL: Of course both teams will develop their car come hell or high water and at the moment McLaren seem to be on a more promising path, as we saw in Budapest. I expect them to raise their game massively for the upcoming races.
Q: BMW have announced their withdrawal from Formula One racing. What do you believe is the reasoning behind this decision? Is it all to do with their poor performance this year?
NL: For sure their weak performance might have been an issue, but it was no different for them as it was for all the KERS cars. They have all underestimated the aerodynamic disadvantage they would have. That’s why all the KERS teams were in the doldrums, and as I just said, McLaren is the first team to come out of it. The internal reasons for BMW to withdraw I don’t know about, and really don’t want to know. But if a company makes such a move you have to accept it.
Q: Peter Sauber or anyone else taking over the team would be looking to repeat the success of Brawn GP. Can it be copied?
NL: Why not. All it takes is a sponsor willing to take over and start again.
Q: Toyota started the season well but their form has been very up and down. What’s going wrong in Cologne?
NL: I have no idea what’s going wrong again.
Q: Williams have showed good practice and qualifying performances, but they haven’t quite managed to translate this into podium results. Where do they hit issues?
NL: It’s true, they have been very competitive in practice and qualifying, but my impression is that their competitors have a little bit more up their sleeves in the race than Williams. But overall their performance is promising.
Q: Renault’s poor performance must be hard to swallow for former world champion Fernando Alonso…
NL: Yes, Alonso is the best driver on the grid, and he knows exactly where Renault has its Achilles heel. And whenever, due to track or climate, his car supports his skills and he is able to show that, he’s in a league of his own. There are always rumours that link him with a team with a distinctively different colour code. He will know what to do.
Q: Toro Rosso recently sent their experienced driver Sebastien Bourdais packing and took on the talents of another rookie. What’s been your impression of both Sebastian Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari?
NL: Bourdais never performed and so the decision of Toro Rosso to try another rookie was absolutely correct. I think they have a very promising pairing and we will have to wait and see how those two youngsters develop.
Q: What about Force India?
NL: They have their ups and downs and sometimes Sutil enjoys some very good performances in qualifying. Unfortunately he has not been able to transform it into race results yet. My guess is that the team still has to find its way and has to stabilise before making a step forward.
Q: You now boast over 40 years of Formula One experience and have seen many teams come and go. We are expecting three new ones next season. Will they see success in 2010?
NL: I have no idea. There are so many components that play a role. A Formula One team doesn’t come up just like that. But for sure it would be desirable to see new blood in the paddock.
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Monday, 10 August 2009
DC’s Guide to The European Grand Prix in Valencia
David Coulthard takes us around a track which he got to know in its inaugural race last year. So, did Valencia live up to the hype?
“There was much excitement going to the new track and on the whole they had done a very good job of making an urban racetrack have a fairly regular feel, by that I mean you don’t have the Armco as close as you have on a Monaco-type street circuit.
“Turn 1 is an easy, flat turn which runs into the first real corner of the track which is Turn 2, a second-gear, tight right-hander, a short blast out of that up through 3 into what is quite a tricky chicane through 4 and 5. Tricky in that if you get off line a little bit you lose a lot of performance on the long run through 6 and 7 before the big stop into 8 which takes you over one of the unique features of the track.
“The off the bridge into an incredibly tight turn 10 which leads to the longest straight on the track, and one of the better overtaking opportunities, down into turn 12 through 13/14 that’s a fairly straight forward, third gear left-hander, right-hander and then down the next section is twisty but flat-out.
“You then arrive into one of the big stops of the track which is the Turn 17 hairpin. Out of that, one of the feelings you have as a driver is that the car’s just building speed, building speed all the way through 18-19. Turn 20 you’re flat so it’s quite an exciting section, you then run down through 24, the next significant corner, and as you come through that entry flat you’re then hard on the brakes trying to keep the car positioned for the last corner which is a hairpin bend on to the start-finish straight and the end of what is a technically interesting circuit, but certainly not the best on the calendar.
“Personally I thought the venue was over-rated. There was a lot of hype in the build-up to the Valencian Grand Prix and expectation was simply too high for it to deliver. The street circuit is Monaco; everything is always going to be a disappointment in comparison, so it’s a hard sell. I don’t think it’s a classic grand prix track because it’s going to be a compromise between what’s available within the streets and what they actually lay down as fresh tarmac.
“As far as car set-up is concerned, it’s not a Monaco track that particularly favours mechanically stable cars - and obviously to have a mechanically stable car you need an aerodynamically stable car - but Monaco is a particular track. This is less particular in terms of its demand on the car. I see the status quo remaining: whatever we see at the end of play in Budapest would will carry over to Valencia.”
“There was much excitement going to the new track and on the whole they had done a very good job of making an urban racetrack have a fairly regular feel, by that I mean you don’t have the Armco as close as you have on a Monaco-type street circuit.
“Turn 1 is an easy, flat turn which runs into the first real corner of the track which is Turn 2, a second-gear, tight right-hander, a short blast out of that up through 3 into what is quite a tricky chicane through 4 and 5. Tricky in that if you get off line a little bit you lose a lot of performance on the long run through 6 and 7 before the big stop into 8 which takes you over one of the unique features of the track.
“The off the bridge into an incredibly tight turn 10 which leads to the longest straight on the track, and one of the better overtaking opportunities, down into turn 12 through 13/14 that’s a fairly straight forward, third gear left-hander, right-hander and then down the next section is twisty but flat-out.
“You then arrive into one of the big stops of the track which is the Turn 17 hairpin. Out of that, one of the feelings you have as a driver is that the car’s just building speed, building speed all the way through 18-19. Turn 20 you’re flat so it’s quite an exciting section, you then run down through 24, the next significant corner, and as you come through that entry flat you’re then hard on the brakes trying to keep the car positioned for the last corner which is a hairpin bend on to the start-finish straight and the end of what is a technically interesting circuit, but certainly not the best on the calendar.
“Personally I thought the venue was over-rated. There was a lot of hype in the build-up to the Valencian Grand Prix and expectation was simply too high for it to deliver. The street circuit is Monaco; everything is always going to be a disappointment in comparison, so it’s a hard sell. I don’t think it’s a classic grand prix track because it’s going to be a compromise between what’s available within the streets and what they actually lay down as fresh tarmac.
“As far as car set-up is concerned, it’s not a Monaco track that particularly favours mechanically stable cars - and obviously to have a mechanically stable car you need an aerodynamically stable car - but Monaco is a particular track. This is less particular in terms of its demand on the car. I see the status quo remaining: whatever we see at the end of play in Budapest would will carry over to Valencia.”
Friday, 7 August 2009
From the Red Bull website
Just fifteen and a half points now separate us from series leaders, Brawn GP, thanks to Mark Webber finishing third in the Hungarian Grand Prix, standing on the podium today for the sixth time this season.
When you take part in a sport with two racers per team, you can’t always end up with smile all round and unfortunately, Sebastian Vettel failed to finish the 70 lap race, retiring after just 29 laps, with damaged suspension, the result of a first lap collision with Raikkonen’s Ferrari. It means that Mark sneaks past Seb in the title race, to go second in the championship for the first time this year.
With leader Jenson Button having a tough day on his way to seventh place and two points, our Aussie is now just under two race wins behind in terms of points. We now have to wait four weeks to resume battle in Valencia and for two of those, the Formula One World Championship takes its first ever official holiday in its 59-year history. It’s going to be frustrating for the designers and engineers champing on the bit to carry on moving forward with the development of RB5, but at least their kids might recognise them now and their pets might not growl when they walk in the front door at home!
You’ll never guess who won? Lewis Hamilton. Yes, really, the reigning world champion produced a typically aggressive and faultless performance, making the most of his KERS at the start to go from fourth on the grid to second immediately after the start, behind pole man Alonso and Mark, who predictably got ahead of his team-mate, who was on the dirty side of the track. It was the Englishman’s and McLaren’s first victory of the year.
You can’t win all the time, even if we had been hoping for a hat-trick of victories after Silverstone and Nurburgring. But did you see the winner’s trophy? Looked a bit naff to be honest, so we won’t miss it too much in our Milton Keynes Trophy Cabinet.
When you take part in a sport with two racers per team, you can’t always end up with smile all round and unfortunately, Sebastian Vettel failed to finish the 70 lap race, retiring after just 29 laps, with damaged suspension, the result of a first lap collision with Raikkonen’s Ferrari. It means that Mark sneaks past Seb in the title race, to go second in the championship for the first time this year.
With leader Jenson Button having a tough day on his way to seventh place and two points, our Aussie is now just under two race wins behind in terms of points. We now have to wait four weeks to resume battle in Valencia and for two of those, the Formula One World Championship takes its first ever official holiday in its 59-year history. It’s going to be frustrating for the designers and engineers champing on the bit to carry on moving forward with the development of RB5, but at least their kids might recognise them now and their pets might not growl when they walk in the front door at home!
You’ll never guess who won? Lewis Hamilton. Yes, really, the reigning world champion produced a typically aggressive and faultless performance, making the most of his KERS at the start to go from fourth on the grid to second immediately after the start, behind pole man Alonso and Mark, who predictably got ahead of his team-mate, who was on the dirty side of the track. It was the Englishman’s and McLaren’s first victory of the year.
You can’t win all the time, even if we had been hoping for a hat-trick of victories after Silverstone and Nurburgring. But did you see the winner’s trophy? Looked a bit naff to be honest, so we won’t miss it too much in our Milton Keynes Trophy Cabinet.
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Friday, 24 July 2009
Webber critical of F1’s youth policy
Mark Webber has questioned the wisdom of parachuting young drivers with minimal experience into Formula 1 race seats – arguing that the sport’s top flight should be reserved for seasoned racers and not used as a training ground.
Jaime Alguersuari is set to become the youngest driver ever to start a grand prix in Hungary on Sunday, aged 19 years and 125 days, and will be on a steep learning curve having had only a couple of straightline tests in which to familiarise himself with the Toro Rosso car he will be driving.
Webber was careful not to imply his new Red Bull stable-mate didn’t belong in F1, but suggested the sport was not well served by an influx of young inexperienced drivers with comparatively thin CVs.
Asked how he would have coped with joining F1 as a 19-year-old, Webber said: “I probably wouldn’t have been ready, to be honest, but these days they seem to be ready a lot earlier.
“I’ve never been a big fan of Formula 1 being a learning school, but it seems like it is these days.
“I don’t think Formula 1 is a learning school; when you arrive in Formula 1 you should be ready, it’s not a place to learn.
“Anyway, some guys are doing that, but it’s harder without testing these days.
“I think we’re going to see a bit more of it in the future.
“I mean it’s not like a few years ago when we had a guy lapping eight seconds off the pace, which was totally ridiculous.
“Jaime won’t be like that; he’ll be quick enough and he’s going to learn.
“But they are becoming younger every time now, so that’s the way it is – after Formula Ford they want to be in Formula 1.
“It’s quite cheap if you can do it that way, but it’s not that easy when you arrive.”
Felipe Massa was even more outspoken, claiming Alguersuari is simply too young and inexperienced to be promoted to F1, particularly since he has had no meaningful testing mileage, and that it risks damaging the Spaniard’s long-term prospects.
“For me he’s too young,” said Massa.
“When I came into Formula 1 I was just 20 and for me it was also quite young.
“I was too inexperienced to ask what I needed from the car so I made some mistakes. For sure I had a very difficult car to drive, but anyway, it was not easy for me.
“But even for myself – and I can say it was too early for me – I did the whole winter [of testing], so I did many tests in Formula 1.
“He’s never driven a Formula 1 car, or he has only driven it in a straight line or whatever.
“It’s not good for him; he can burn himself very quickly.
“Maybe he’s an incredible talent and he will do much better than everybody thinks, but for me it’s not good for him.
“I’m surprised a team would put a guy like this in the car. For me it’s not right.”
BMW Sauber veteran Nick Heidfeld does not share Webber and Massa’s concerns, however, advancing a simple explanation for why the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Sebastien Buemi and now Alguersuari have reached F1 at a younger age than was typical in the past.
“The fact that drivers start to become younger and younger is pretty normal, or easy to explain, because they just start younger in karting,” said the German.
“When I did Formula Ford you were only allowed to do it when you were 18; now I think you’re allowed to do it when you are 16.
“For me it’s not so much about age – Mark won his first race [aged 32], and when Michael [Schumacher] won his last world championship he was not the youngest. Age is not that important.”
And Alguersuari’s compatriot Fernando Alonso, who likewise was 19 when he made the step up to F1 in 2001, pointed out that youth was no hindrance for him as he learned the ropes.
“All my career was like this,” said Alonso.
“When I was in go-karts, when you race in Cadets the drivers are normally between eight and 12 years old, and I was winning when I was eight.
“Then you go to the next category, I was 12 and it was people from 12 to 16, and I was winning.
“All the steps in my career I was three or four years younger than my main competitors, so when I arrived in Formula 1 it was not a surprise for me to be racing against older people.”
Jaime Alguersuari is set to become the youngest driver ever to start a grand prix in Hungary on Sunday, aged 19 years and 125 days, and will be on a steep learning curve having had only a couple of straightline tests in which to familiarise himself with the Toro Rosso car he will be driving.
Webber was careful not to imply his new Red Bull stable-mate didn’t belong in F1, but suggested the sport was not well served by an influx of young inexperienced drivers with comparatively thin CVs.
Asked how he would have coped with joining F1 as a 19-year-old, Webber said: “I probably wouldn’t have been ready, to be honest, but these days they seem to be ready a lot earlier.
“I’ve never been a big fan of Formula 1 being a learning school, but it seems like it is these days.
“I don’t think Formula 1 is a learning school; when you arrive in Formula 1 you should be ready, it’s not a place to learn.
“Anyway, some guys are doing that, but it’s harder without testing these days.
“I think we’re going to see a bit more of it in the future.
“I mean it’s not like a few years ago when we had a guy lapping eight seconds off the pace, which was totally ridiculous.
“Jaime won’t be like that; he’ll be quick enough and he’s going to learn.
“But they are becoming younger every time now, so that’s the way it is – after Formula Ford they want to be in Formula 1.
“It’s quite cheap if you can do it that way, but it’s not that easy when you arrive.”
Felipe Massa was even more outspoken, claiming Alguersuari is simply too young and inexperienced to be promoted to F1, particularly since he has had no meaningful testing mileage, and that it risks damaging the Spaniard’s long-term prospects.
“For me he’s too young,” said Massa.
“When I came into Formula 1 I was just 20 and for me it was also quite young.
“I was too inexperienced to ask what I needed from the car so I made some mistakes. For sure I had a very difficult car to drive, but anyway, it was not easy for me.
“But even for myself – and I can say it was too early for me – I did the whole winter [of testing], so I did many tests in Formula 1.
“He’s never driven a Formula 1 car, or he has only driven it in a straight line or whatever.
“It’s not good for him; he can burn himself very quickly.
“Maybe he’s an incredible talent and he will do much better than everybody thinks, but for me it’s not good for him.
“I’m surprised a team would put a guy like this in the car. For me it’s not right.”
BMW Sauber veteran Nick Heidfeld does not share Webber and Massa’s concerns, however, advancing a simple explanation for why the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Sebastien Buemi and now Alguersuari have reached F1 at a younger age than was typical in the past.
“The fact that drivers start to become younger and younger is pretty normal, or easy to explain, because they just start younger in karting,” said the German.
“When I did Formula Ford you were only allowed to do it when you were 18; now I think you’re allowed to do it when you are 16.
“For me it’s not so much about age – Mark won his first race [aged 32], and when Michael [Schumacher] won his last world championship he was not the youngest. Age is not that important.”
And Alguersuari’s compatriot Fernando Alonso, who likewise was 19 when he made the step up to F1 in 2001, pointed out that youth was no hindrance for him as he learned the ropes.
“All my career was like this,” said Alonso.
“When I was in go-karts, when you race in Cadets the drivers are normally between eight and 12 years old, and I was winning when I was eight.
“Then you go to the next category, I was 12 and it was people from 12 to 16, and I was winning.
“All the steps in my career I was three or four years younger than my main competitors, so when I arrived in Formula 1 it was not a surprise for me to be racing against older people.”
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