Barrichello begins IndyCar test at Sebring
F1 Fanatic round-up
Rubens Barrichello, IndyCar, Sebring, 2012
In the round-up: Rubens Barrichello tests for IndyCar team KV Racing at Sebring.
Barrichello joined friend and fellow Brazilian Tony Kanaan at the two-day test.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
Barrichello and his first lap! (YouTube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DVyPpWlF6U
Barrichello has no plans beyond 2-day IndyCar test (Associated Press)
“I have been a racer for too long to just give it all away right now. I have a lot of speed in myself. I know that and I want to continue to race.”
“Tony Kanaan leaves pits for the first time and stalls, Rubens Barrichello says ‘last time I get advice on car from TK’.”
McLaren dismisses PURE rumours (Autosport)
“McLaren has had absolutely no contact with PURE for many months. Moreover, the contact we did have with PURE, many months ago, was of an entirely informal nature, and was merely a courtesy gesture.”
Sutil apologises in court for Lux attack (Reuters)
“‘I did everything to try to settle this row,’ Sutil told the court, adding he had even offered to support a Lux charity project in Africa.”
Bahrain has failed to grasp reform – so why is the grand prix going ahead? (The Guardian)
“Reporters Without Borders has just named Bahrain one of the world’s top 10 most repressive regimes, while Freedom House downgraded Bahrain from ‘partly free’ to ‘not free’.”
Interesting to note Reporters Without Borders ranks China, which of course is another F1 host nation, below Bahrain.
Nico Hulkenberg's helmet
Hulkenberg’s 2012 helmet design.
Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.
Comment of the day
Beneboy was not moved by my optimistic view on the season ahead:
I’m finding it increasingly difficult to get even a little bit excited about the start of the season.
Ugly cars, stupid rules, artificial overtaking, boring circuits and a complete denial of reality from FIA/FOM/Teams that the main problem with F1 is that the cars have become so dependent on aerodynamics that the driver is almost an irrelevance and that the racing has become close to non-existent without the use of artificial devices such as DRS and silly tyre rules.
I’m in the process of moving home at the moment and I’m struggling to decide if I want to get Sky or not, I do like other sports that they show but the only reason it’d be worth paying for is to get Sky F1 HD but I’m struggling to justify spending hundreds of pounds to watch a sport that has become one big corporate middle finger aimed directly at the fans.
Beneboy
From the forum
- Great videos of F1 drivers racing in other series
- 2012 BMW DTM livery revealed and I reckon there’s a hint of Benetton B194 about it
- Some great ideas for F1 car livery designs
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Sharan!
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On this day in F1
We were treated to a trio of launches on this day last year: Renault, Sauber and Lotus unveiled their new cars on the same day:
davros said on 31st January 2012, 7:49
That Indycar really is horrific looking.
Sean Newman said on 31st January 2012, 11:47
Yes but still better looking than a F1 car unfortunately.
BasCB (@bascb) said on 31st January 2012, 8:02
On a different note, spanish sources are talking up Jaime Alguersuari’s chances of landing a Mercedes 3rd driver role pointing out that the Abu-Dhabi owners (Abu-Dhabi -> Aabar ->Mercedes) of CEPSA were non too impressed with Red Bull dropping ALG who had become something like their public face recently in international expansion plans.
The article also hints at Petronas rethinking their involvement in the sport, after already dropping sponsorship of the Yamaha MotoGP team, opening up the way for CEPSA to get involved with Mercedes.
Lets see how that pans out in the coming weeks
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 31st January 2012, 9:25
Oh, great. Then we’re going to have two red-and-silver Mercedes-powered teams.
BasCB (@bascb) said on 31st January 2012, 12:33
Although it seems that CEPSA were the ones sending invitations to the STR car launch today, making it doubtfull they are going to sponsor Mercedes any time soon.
Mikkel Sørensen (@msoerensen) said on 31st January 2012, 8:17
Can someone tell me how fast those Indycars are around a relatively twisty track compared to an F1 car?
Sean Newman said on 31st January 2012, 11:59
A Formula One car would be way faster of any kind of track apart from a banked oval. Although some would argue a F1 car if properly set up could potentially be quicker on some ovals also. It would be a brave driver to try though. Stability and safety would be a big concern.
Formula One cars are much lighter and would brake and accelerate far faster. This is the main reason for the difference.
I’d guess about six to eight seconds a lap on most Grand Prix tracks. Possibly even ten or eleven seconds a lap around Monaco!
SempreGilles (@sempregilles) said on 31st January 2012, 8:22
I hope Rubens lands a seat in Indycars. That will be a very good reason to try and follow the whole season instead of just the Indy 500.
As for Aerodynamics: It’s such a shame the whole car is a earo device. It would be easy to freeze front and rear wing development and then lift the freeze on engines. But this wouldn’t solve the problem because the whole car is made to generate downforce.
I do think FIA needs to look at that sort of solution. Maybe have teams build a car that without wings is neutral (not producing any downforce or lift), and then homologate 3 front and 3 rear wings at the start of the season (High, medium and low downforce). This way could stop the current dependency on earo and make overtaking easier, and stop cars from getting a whole lot faster.
Mike (@mike) said on 31st January 2012, 18:06
That would not only be extremely difficult to both build and enforce, but would also be absurdly dangerous.
Mike (@mike) said on 31st January 2012, 18:08
Nice to see someone having and expressing ideas though! :D
Dan Thorn (@dan-thorn) said on 31st January 2012, 8:24
I understand the COTD is purely opinion but I’m not sure where he’s coming from. Formula 1 has been like that for decades, why choose this season to be the final straw?
necrodethmortem (@necrodethmortem) said on 31st January 2012, 10:25
My guess is the knee-jerk reactions to try and solve the problem, like DRS and purpose-built unreliable tires, instead of a more back-to-basics approach.
Have to agree if that’s the case. If they really were concerned that F1 wouldn’t be the fastest form of motorsport anymore, they wouldn’t limit the engine power to 750bhp for instance.
beneboy (@beneboy) said on 31st January 2012, 12:17
@Dan Thorn
I’ve not had to pay hundreds of pounds to watch a season of F1 before.
Alianora La Canta said on 1st February 2012, 0:09
I think it may be the straw that broke the camel’s back, rather than anything else.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 31st January 2012, 11:11
This sounds promising:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97233
McLaren are preparing themselves for a fight over the MP4-27′s legality.
pemsell (@pemsell) said on 31st January 2012, 13:49
I wonder why this has since been removed, cant see it anywhere on the site now.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 31st January 2012, 14:56
See:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/groups/f1/forum/topic/mclaren-claim-they-had-faster-car-towards-end-of-2011/
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989) said on 31st January 2012, 14:21
Geoff McGrath said that the car has innovations that are evident from first time you see it
the RB7 was also very innovative last year with the EBD but the red bull team didn’t say that there were doubts about it’s legality!!!!!!!!!!
i don’t know what the word ”innovative” mean in Mclaren’s dictionary but i think this is a big risk to take especially when we know that the FIA is intended to ban every controversial innovation
Mike (@mike) said on 31st January 2012, 18:09
Unfortunately for Mclaren this has been the trend :/
Patrickl said on 1st February 2012, 16:30
RBR knew perfectly well that their car was illegal on many points. That they didn’t openly state so doesn’t mean they weren’t prepared for legality issues.
Sean Newman said on 31st January 2012, 11:45
I thought Rubens had promised his wife he would never race on ovals?
Perhaps he might share a ride.
beneboy (@beneboy) said on 31st January 2012, 13:18
Thanks for the COTD @keithcollantine, and thanks to all those who agree or disagree enough to post their thoughts; I was expecting to get flamed and have my fanatic credentials questioned after posting it but it appears I’m not the only one who’s finding it difficult to get excited about the sport these days.
I think this season may be a game changer for British F1 fans; we’ve all become accustomed to getting F1 for “free” (TV tax aside) but now that we’re being asked to pay hundreds of pounds for the right to watch all of the races live I suspect that many people will find that what used to be an annoyance with the way the sport is run is now enough to stop them paying to watch the races which could result in them following the sport in a less than fanatic manner, or not at all.
I can’t remember the last time I failed to watch a race live (excluding falling asleep during a boring Tilke GP) but I now find that I’m faced with a decision to spend hundreds of pounds to watch all of the races live, watch half live and half as re-runs or to simply stop following the sport entirely. For someone who has been following F1 for over 25 years and who considers it to be their favourite sport this isn’t an easy decision to make.
BasCB (@bascb) said on 31st January 2012, 15:00
Its a good COTD, nicely showing the thinking of a long standing F1 fan. And its also contoversial enough to capture the discussion.
Thanks for it @Beneboy
Accidental Mick said on 31st January 2012, 15:43
I’ve been watching F1, and the preceeding series, for over 50 years. At first, just the British events (Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Goodwood) but. as the television coverage grew. eventually all the races.
When, for a few seasons, I just hadn’t got time to watch every race (very young children, renovating houses) I found watching just the occaisional race boring because I lost track the “behind the scenes” stories.
I am retired now and cannot justify the expense of Sky (and would resent paying anyway).
I will probably watch Australia just for old times sake but I expect that will be it.
Mike (@mike) said on 31st January 2012, 18:12
That is very saddening to hear.
The Limit said on 31st January 2012, 13:19
I hope Rubens Barrichello gives Indycars’ a go, he’s still got what it takes and it would be a great thing for American openwheel racing to have a driver of his standing in the series. As a diehard Indy fan, there has not been much cheer in recent months since the tragic death of Dan Wheldon. Thank God, atlast some possible good news for a change!
BasCB (@bascb) said on 31st January 2012, 13:51
Look at this nice little piece of motorsport news posted by Saward: Colinb Kolles will be back on track running a Lotus powered Lola chassis in the LMP2 championship!
TheJudge (@thejudge) said on 31st January 2012, 14:46
Personally I think that Rubens would kick some ass in this series if he’d decide to race there.
electrolite (@electrolite) said on 31st January 2012, 16:01
An option for Jaime Alguersuari, in the possible shape of a Mercedes third driver role?
http://www.f1zone.net/news/abu-dhabi-link-could-power-alguersuari-to-mercedes/11789/
Fixy (@fixy) said on 31st January 2012, 17:14
I don’t like drivers changing their helmets. Nico’s new design is quite different to his previous one, and I haven’t warmed with it yet.
krildon said on 31st January 2012, 18:10
Is it just me or do the new Indy cars look so much better than the current F1 cars? Especially with the new 2012 silliness at the nose , not that I don’t still like them but the Indy-cars look somehow more menacing (as single-seaters should!)
Dizzy said on 31st January 2012, 19:04
Much of that so called action was artificial though & thats why I think 2011 will be forgotten as we go into the future.
I largely hated the on-track action last year, All the DRS moves were dull & unexciting & a lot of the tyre related passing was similar.
I’ll watch the start of 2012 & if things are the same I’ll just stop watching, I can’t stand the direction F1 is going with all these tupidly absurd gimmicks that do nothing but create artificial & boring racing.