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Red Bull RB8 launch – first pictures and video of Red Bull’s 2012 F1 car | 2012 F1 cars

Keith Collantine — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:09:04 +0000

The Red Bull RB8, the car the team aim to defend their championship titles with, was revealed today in Jerez.

Its predecessors the RB7 and RB6 won two constructors’ championships and took Sebastian Vettel to a pair of drivers’ titles. Red Bull will be hoping the RB8 can make it three in a row.

There is little change at the team which has been the dominant force in F1 for the last two-and-a-half years. Vettel and Mark Webber form the driving line-up, and Adrian Newey remains at the head of the technical team.

Red Bull RB8 pictures

More images will be added here

Red Bull RB8 launch video

2012 F1 cars

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Image © Red Bull/Getty images

Sauber C31 launch – first pictures and video of Sauber’s 2012 F1 car | 2012 F1 cars

Keith Collantine — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:02:59 +0000

Sauber have unveiled their contender for the 2012 F1 championship.

The C31 was revealed today in Jerez and will be driven by Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez this season.

Sauber finished seventh in the championship last year. However just days before the launch of their new car the team announce technical director James Key, who had been with them since 2010, was leaving the squad.

Sauber C31, 2012

Chief designer Matt Morris says the team’s 2012 F1 car is a combination of new ideas and concepts developed from its predecessor.

Following the launch of the Sauber C31 in Jerez, Morris said: “The C31 is revolutionary where we had fresh ideas, particularly at the rear of the car, and it is an evolution where we knew we could carry over certain approaches. We had to improve on the weaknesses we identified on the C30, but at the same time we wanted to maintain its strengths.

“We had established some good directions to go in towards the end of last year with the C30 which we wanted to continue with, particularly some of our DRS developments, and some of the ways we were opting for with the car’s set up in order to improve our qualifying performance without compromising our race pace.”

Morris added he expects the ban on exhaust-blown diffusers to help the team: “Because of the new definition in the rules we know that the disadvantages we had last year with a lack of the strong exhaust effect will be less of an issue for us now. As a result we evolved further our directions from C30 regarding the overall aero development of the car.”

He added the car “will look quite different in Melbourne” once further upgrades are added to it.

Sauber C31 pictures

Kamui Kobayashi driving the Sauber C31

2012 F1 cars

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Image © Sauber F1 Team

Ferrari have “taken a few more risks”, says Fry | 2012 F1 season

Keith Collantine — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:17:01 +0000

Ferrari chassis director Pay Fry says the team have taken “more risks” with their new F1 car.

Fry described the Ferrari F2012 as “quite a step away from where we have been.”

He said: “It’s certainly taken a few more risks on the basic car layout and things like that. All in all everyone’s done a good job. Now we just need to knuckle down and start pushing again for all the upgrades for the first race and through the year.”

The first upgrades to the car will arrive in time for the start of the season: “We’re working on upgrading the aero, mainly,” said Fry.

“There will be an update for the third test and the first race. And then, in reality, it’s just a constant aero development all through the year.”

Ferrari F2012

He added: “The biggest differentiator is aerodynamics, still. I think there’s a lot less you can do now with engines affecting the aerodynamics.

“The engineering side of engine performance moves back to actually producing horsepower and making it fuel-efficient, rather than the opposite that we had been doing.

“I think it is just going to be a constant aerodynamic development all through the year, really.”

Chief designer Nikolas Tombazis described the demand for results at the team following the 2011 season, in which they won just once:

“As chief designer I feel even more pressure than normal this year because we are really all very keen and very eager to get back to being competitive and hopefully winning again.

“That pressure I believe is felt by everyone from the very upper levels of the company to the lower levels, this pressure is very tangible. It’s something that we’re all working to hopefully get a good result and relieve that pressure.”

2012 F1 season

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Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

Ferrari F2012 key changes explained | 2012 F1 season

Keith Collantine — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:22:02 +0000

Ferrari chief designer Nikolas Tombazis explained the key features of the new F2012, starting with the latest example of the distinctive 2012-style noses.

Ferrari F2012 nose

“The front wing is an evolution of the wing we introduced in the last races of last season. That was introduced in order to learn some initial lessons about this subject and we understood quite a lot and we have further developed it, and there’s going to be further development at the third test before the start of the season.

“The nose has a rather ungainly shape on the top. That is the result of the regulation which requires us to have the nose quite low, and an aerodynamic desire to have the lower part of the chassis as high as possible.

“So even though it is aesthetically not very pleasing, we believe it is the most efficient aerodynamic solution to that area of the car.

Ferrari F2012

“Going slightly further back, we get into one of the innovations of this car, which is the front suspension. For mainly aerodynamic reasons we have selected the pull-rod solution.

“It took us quite a lot of work in the structural and design office and vehicle dynamics departments, in order to regain all the mechanical characteristics that we wanted the front suspension to have. We believe we’ve achieved that, but we also have, I believe, an aerodynamic advantage out of the solution.

“Moving back we reach the area of the sidepod inlets. There we have reviewed completely the project and we have changed out philosophy for the lateral crash structures. The crash test we had to do was much more difficult to homologate the car. But it has left us with some aerodynamic advantage in the area of the main turning vanes and the vertical profiles that lie next to the sidepod inlet.

Ferrari F2012

“Going further back we have a much more narrow profile especially at the low part of the ‘coke panel’. That has been made possible out of the repackaging of the chassis and engine rear part, and also out of the gearbox that has been completely reviewed and made narrower.

“Whereas in the upper part of the sidepods we have a fairly wide solution because we have to host the new exhausts which are a result of the new regulations regarding exhausts.

“So we have had to abandon to low exhausts of the previous years because of the regulations. We spent quite a lot of resource and time in investigating the new exhaust scenarios and in fact it will be an area we will research during winter testing before we finalist the exact configuration for the first race.

“Regarding the gearbox, we have obviously got the external shape which is new and narrower but we have two different approaches from our side.

“One of them is the rear suspension we have adopted, like quite a few of the others in recent years, a pull-rod solution. But we’ve also hosted part of our radiator cooling on top of the gearbox so as to reduce the cooling area required at the lateral part of the car.

“The rear wing is basically similar to last year’s, but we have refined it and pushed the sections of the aerodynamic profile small, in order to produce more downforce.”

Tombazis said the consequence of Ferrari’s more aggressive approach to 2012 was that very few parts from the previous car had been carried over to the new one:

“The F2012 has a relatively small amount of carry-over compared to previous cars. The very desciptions I made indicate we have reviewed almost the whole car. So components that are either physically the same as last year or conceptually the same are much fewer, therefore we’ve had to work much harder in the technical office and in production in order to be able to do all this work.”

2012 F1 season

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Images © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

Domenicali: F2012 is “not so pretty… but that doesn’t count”

Keith Collantine — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:17:12 +0000

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali admits the team’s new car is unattractive but says its performance is more important.

Speaking following the unveiling of the new Ferrari F2012, Domenicali said: “Well, actually, it’s not really so pretty from my personal perspective.

“But this is a value that doesn’t count in Formula 1. As you know these kinds of choices are coming from both technical and regulations constraints. And the choice is to try to maximise the performance of the car.

“And as our chairman has already said the fact that it is ugly or very nice doesn’t count a lot. The most important thing is that the car has to be performing. And in that respect we will see really if it’s true or what is the level of our competitiveness at, I would say, just the qualifying at the Grand Prix in Melbourne.”

Ferrari F2012

Domenicali said the car was the product of a change in direction from the team: “I’ve asked for a change in the approach of the design of the car and what you can see from the car we have launched just now, it’s for sure very different.

“It’s a different approach both from the mechanical point of view and also from the aerodynamic point of view. So that is for sure something that it seems we have achieved. But I will be happy only when I will see that this car will be competitive.”

He expects the same teams to be competitive in 2012 and said he’s not underestimating Mercedes:

“I would say that the competition will be against the usual drivers and teams. They are all very strong, I respect all of them. I would say as always we have Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes – do not underestimate them because for sure they want to show how good they are after some difficult seasons.

“And we have Kimi [Raikkonen] back again. I know that he is very strong. He will want to show his level of competitiveness, because he is very, very strong.

“So I think it will be a very interesting season, I’m very convinced about it. There will be a lot of drivers who will want to fight for the win.”

Domenicali added that 2012 will be an important year for the sport: “There are a lot of political things we need to address. We need to make sure the regulations are right for the future. We will guarantee the transfer of technology from F1 to the road car side.

“We need to make sure that the commercial for the future will consider the need of the tifosi (fans), the need of the tracks, of the organiser, of the television, the media and the new media, and we need to actively go to the young generation.

“So a lot of points that, for sure, are important. Because we as Ferrari have been in Formula 1 since the first day, and we want to stay there for a long, long time.”

Ferrari have also confirmed an extension of their sponsorship from Santander, who will back the team until 2017.

2012 F1 season

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Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

Ferrari F2012 launch – first pictures and video of Ferrari’s 2012 F1 car | 2012 F1 cars

Keith Collantine — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:20:16 +0000

Ferrari F2012

Ferrari have revealed their 2012 F1 car in Maranello. The team’s latest challenger has been named the F2012.

After Fernando Alonso narrowly missed out on the championship in 2010, Ferrari endured a poor season by their standards last year. Alonso won just once and Felipe Massa never finished higher than fifth.

The team vowed to take a less conservative approach with their new car.

“The main changes when compared to 2011 concern the height of the front section of the chassis, the position of the exhaust pipes and the mapping for the electronic engine management,” said a statement released by the team.

“Practically every area of the car has been fundamentally revised, starting with the suspension layout: both the front and rear feature pull-rods, aimed at favouring aerodynamic performance and lowering the centre of gravity.

“The front wing is derived from the one introduced on the 150° Italia in the final part of its racing life and has been evolved from there. Further evolutions are planned in this area for the opening races of the season.

Ferrari F2012

“The nose has a step in it that is not aesthetically pleasing: with the requirement from the regulations to lower the front part, this was a way of raising the bottom part of the chassis as much as possible for aerodynamic reasons. The sides have been redesigned, through modifications to the side impact structures, the repositioning of the radiators and revisions to all aerodynamic elements.

“The lower part of the rear of the car is much narrower and more tapered, a feature achieved partly through a new gearbox casing and a relocation of some mechanical components. In recent years, the area of exhausts has been crucial in terms of car performance and much effort was expended on this front, based on changes to the regulations introduced this year. The rear wing is conceptually similar to the one used in 2011, but every detail of it has been revised and it is now more efficient.

“Naturally, it is still fitted with DRS (a drag reduction system,) which is operated hydraulically. The front and rear air intakes for the brakes have been redesigned and work was carried out in collaboration with Brembo to optimise the braking system.”

Heavy snow in Maranello forced the team to cancel their launch ceremony and scrap plans for a shakedown run on their Fiorano circuit.

Here are the first pictures of Ferrari’s new F1 car:

More images will be added here.

2012 F1 cars

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Images © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix programme | 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Keith Collantine — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:17:52 +0000

F1 Fanatic Abu Dhabi Grand Prix programme

Have all the important information for this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at your fingertips with the F1 Fanatic race programme:

The race weekend

2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix preview – Will Abu Dhabi finally give us a race worth watching?

2011 F1 championship points – Full drivers and teams points standings heading into this weekend’s race.

Reserve drivers

The following changes to the usual driver line-up will be made for first practice only:

Jean-Eric Vergne will drive Sebastien Buemi’s car at Toro Rosso.

Robert Wickens will drive Jerome D’Ambrosio’s car at Virgin.

Romain Grosjean will drive Bruno Senna’s car at Renault.

Nico Hulkenberg, Karun Chandhok and Narain Karthikeyan – who have all driven in previous practice sessions this year – will not be driving this weekend.

Tyres

Pirelli will bring the medium (white colouring) and soft (yellow) tyres for this weekend’s race.

Stewards

Derek Warwick is the driver’s advisor to the stewards for this weekend’s race.

He joins Venezuelan automobile club president Vincenzo Spano and Auto Sport Suisse president Paul Gutjahr on the stewards’ panel.

The track

Yas Marina, 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

The Yas Marina circuit is holding the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for the third time, and for the first time it is not the final race of the season.

The track passes underneath a hotel and over a pit lane exit. But novelties aside the track is flat and featureless with few high-speed corners.

Despite its wide, long straights the venue has proved very difficult to overtake on – Fernando Alonso famously spent most of last year’s race stuck behind Vitaly Petrov’s Renault.

Yas Marina circuit information – all the track data.

Double DRS zones again in Abu Dhabi – Two DRS zones may help overtaking this year.

The weather

The weather tends to be stable in this region and three hot, dry days are expected:

2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weather forecast – Typically hot weather expected in Abu Dhabi

Following the race live

F1 Fanatic Live will be open for your comments during every session.

Join us for every lap of the race, qualifying and practice at these times:

Friday 11th November 2011

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Free Practice 1: 13:00-14:30 (UK time: 9:00-10:30)
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Free Practice 2: 17:00-18:30 (UK time: 13:00-14:30)

Saturday 12th November 2011

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Free Practice 3: 14:00-15:00 (UK time: 10:00-11:00)
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Qualifying: 17:00 (UK time: 13:00)

Sunday 13th November 2011

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: 17:00 (UK time: 13:00)

More session times and live coverage details here: 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix TV Times

You can follow F1 Fanatic on Twitter for updates throughout the race weekend:

And you can use the F1 Fanatic Live Twitter app to get updates from the drivers, teams and media at the circuit:

F1 Fanatic Live Twitter app

2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix highlights

2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
in pictures

Sebastian Vettel went into the final race of 2010 in third place and came out as champion.

Team mate Mark Webber, who was also in contention for the championship, struggled all weekend. As Alonso pitted to keep Webber behind him, he dropped too far behind Vettel, who claimed a surprise championship victory.

Vettel has won both the previous races at this circuit.

2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix review – Vettel grabs title as Alonso and Webber falter

How Alonso lost the championship in Abu Dhabi – The strategic mistake that left Alonso vulnerable

Alonso’s role in Ferrari strategy revealed in pit messages – Alonso urged Ferrari to react to Webber’s moves

Previous Abu Dhabi Grands Prix

2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Vettel leads Red Bull one-two in finale

Join in the 2011 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship

There’s F1 races tickets DVDs and more to be won. Play for free by guessing the top five in each race.

You can enter and edit your predictions up to the start of qualifying on Saturday:

F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship

Programme image design by PJ Tierney. See his new F1 poster designs here.

2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Image © Red Bull/Getty images

Massa’s crash and more fans’ videos from the Indian Grand Prix | F1 video

Keith Collantine — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:25:38 +0000

Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Buddh International Circuit, 2011

Felipe Massa’s crash in qualifying was one of the moments caught on video by fans during the Indian Grand Prix weekend.

Here’s a collection of videos from the first ever race at the Buddh International Circuit.

Practice

Drivers and fans alike explore the new track. Here’s turn three:

Lots of fans watched at the high-speed turns six and seven which caught several drivers out during the weekend:

Here’s a view from the distinctive, looping turn ten:

A long shot of Sebastian Vettel going through the latter part of the lap:

Qualifying

One of the Ferraris takes to the grass in turn seven:

The cars blast out of turn four during qualifying:

Felipe Massa hits a kerb, breaks his suspension and crashes out at the end of Q3:

Race

The build-up to the race begins – drivers do their installation laps as the teams set up on the grid:

A view from the final corner of the cars on their installation laps:

The race starts:

The field heads out of turn four on the first lap:

Applause for Vettel as he wins the first ever Indian Grand Prix:

Spotted any more fans’ videos from the Indian Grand Prix? Did you film any yourself? Share them in the comments.

2011 Indian Grand Prix

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2011 Indian Grand Prix programme | 2011 Indian Grand Prix

Keith Collantine — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:00:33 +0000

Have all the important information for the first ever Indian Grand Prix at your fingertips with the F1 Fanatic race programme.

The race weekend

2011 Indian Grand Prix preview – New track, different winner? F1 arrives in India

Liuzzi to stand down for Karthikeyan in India – Narain Karthikeyan will get to race in his home Grand Prix as HRT take Vitantonio Liuzzi out of the car for this race

Chandhok will not race in Indian Grand Prix – Lotus will stick with their usual driver line-up

Two DRS zones for the Indian Grand Prix – Drivers will get two opportunities per lap to use their Drag Reduction Systems

2011 F1 championship points – Full drivers and teams points standings heading into this weekend’s race.

Reserve drivers

The following changes to the usual driver line-up will be made for first practice only:

Karun Chandhok will drive Heikki Kovalainen’s car at Lotus

Tyres

Pirelli have brought the hardest tyre in their range, the hard tyre, for this race. The tyre can be identified by the silver colouring on the sidewalls. As usual, the soft tyre will also be available, with its yellow colouring.

In Friday practice the teams will have an extra set of soft tyres plus a further set of development tyres for next year.

Pirelli’s Paul Hembery explains the reasoning behind the choice of tyres for the Indian Grand Prix:

The track

Buddh International Circuit

The Buddh International Circuit is holding its first ever F1 race.

The track, designed by Hermann Tilke, is 5.137km (3.192 miles) long and includes a mixture of long straights with slow corners, and some faster bends later in the lap.

Buddh International Circuit – track information – Lap time estimates and more data

India’s F1 track: Another cookie-cutter circuit? – Does the Buddh International Circuit offer anything to distinguish itself on F1′s increasingly homogeneous calendar?

Neel Jani drives the first laps of India’s F1 track – Video of the Red Bull show car lapping the new circuit

A lap of India’s F1 track with Sebastian Vettel – Video preview of the new circuit

The weather

Hot and dry conditions are expected for the race.

2011 Indian Grand Prix weather forecast – No rain but plenty of dust for first Indian race

Following the race live

F1 Fanatic Live will be open for your comments during every session.

Join us for every lap of the race, qualifying and practice at these times:

Friday 28th October 2011

Indian Grand Prix Free Practice 1: 10:00-11:30 (UK time: 5:30-7:00)
Indian Grand Prix Free Practice 2: 14:00-15:30 (UK time: 9:30-11:00)

Saturday 29th October 2011

Indian Grand Prix Free Practice 3: 11:00-12:00 (UK time: 6:30-7:30)
Indian Grand Prix Qualifying: 14:00 (UK time: 9:30)

Sunday 30th October 2011

Indian Grand Prix: 15:00 (UK time: 9:30)

More session times and live coverage details here:

You can follow F1 Fanatic on Twitter for updates throughout the race weekend:

And you can use the F1 Fanatic Live Twitter app to get updates from the drivers, teams and media at the circuit:

F1 Fanatic Live Twitter app

Join in the 2011 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship

There’s F1 races tickets DVDs and more to be won. Play for free by guessing the top five in each race.

You can enter and edit your predictions up to the start of qualifying on Saturday:

F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship

Image design by PJ Tierney

Neel Jani drives the first laps of India’s F1 track | F1 video

Keith Collantine — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:07:46 +0000

Neel Jani became the first driver to lap the Buddh International Circuit in an F1 car when Red Bull brought their show car to the track last week.

Here’s footage of Jani in action:

Mercedes published some data based on their simulation of the track:

Initial simulation suggests that the cars will spend around 65% of the lap at full throttle, with the longest full throttle period of 14.5 seconds, between turns three and four.

The cars will exceed 285kph (177mph) at three points around the lap, while the fastest corner is expected to be turn 12, which is expected to be taken at 255kph. The maximum G-loading around the circuit is expected to be 4.0G, at turns five, nine and eleven. [...]

The circuit has similarities to [Istanbul Park in] Turkey, with a long main straight and a very long, sweeping corner (turns ten and eleven) that resembles the triple-apex turn eight in Turkey. However, while turn eight was taken with an average corner speed of 270kph, in India the corners are expected to be taken at 170 kph (turn ten) and 210kph (turn eleven) respectively. The lap time and speed will be very much dependent on the grip level achieved by the Pirelli tyres on the new asphalt surface.

A lap time of 1:25.000 would correspond to an average lap speed of 218kph, while a lap time of 1:30.000 would equate to an average lap speed of 205kph.

Neel Jani at Buddh International Circuit – pictures

2011 Indian Grand Prix

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