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Tags: F1 News > Williams F1 IPO
Video: Inside track on the F1 testing ahead of Jerez
Posted on | February 9, 2011 | by | No Comments

Tomorrow (Thursday 10 February) sees the start of the second official F1 test at Jerez in Spain, a faster circuit than Valencia which hosted the first outing.

Everyone except Hispania will have new cars on test. Already we have seen some interesting solutions on some of the cars as well as some high degradation on the new Pirelli tyres. Valencia was mainly about bedding in new technology, in Jerez we will start to see some performance.

In this exclusive video, which I shot on Monday at Williams, technical director Sam Michael talks about the tyre degradation, the other cars and about the radical Williams back end and gearbox. He says that many of the solutions on the 2011 cars would have been impossible two years ago. He makes the fascinating assertion that the technical level in F1 is now so high that, “Nothing is impossible.”

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http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/02/se...ment/Senna and Heidfeld to try out as Kubica replacement
Posted on | February 9, 2011 | by | 3 Comments

Renault has issued a statement tonight saying that both Bruno Senna and Nick Heidfeld will be given a chance to test the new car at this weekend’s Jerez test with a view to replacing team leader Robert Kubica, badly injured in a rally accident on Sunday.
“Vitaly (Petrov) will drive the R31 on Thursday and Friday, as originally scheduled. For Saturday and Sunday, the team will give mileage to Bruno Senna and will also evaluate Nick Heidfeld, who is a potential replacement for Robert Kubica as a race driver. The exact running order for the weekend will be confirmed on Friday evening, ” said the statement.Team principal Eric Boullier said yesterday that “we need to understand if we are making a choice for short or long term, but we are coming around to thinking the latter.”

Heidfeld represents a solid choice. He is very experienced, strong technically and has a lot of experience of the Pirelli tyres as he is the official tester for the Italian marque. Senna did not really get a chance to show what he can do in last year’s Hispania and it would be good for him to get a chance. But with Petrov still learning the ropes in the other car, if the team is thinking about a driver to get a minimum of 150 points on the board with what looks like a quick car this year then they may vote for Heidfeld.

Kubica continues to please the medics treating him in Italy. He has moved the fingers of his right hand, partially severed in two places in the horrific crash. But it will be a week before doctors will know whether the blood supply is secure and the hand will survive. You get the feeling though that Kubica will recover as fast as it’s possible to.

As his friend and doctor Riccardo Ceccarelli said, “Two days ago we were praying for him to live, now we are beginning to dream.”

According to stories in the Gazzetta dello Sport, Kubica was joking with Boullier yesterday saying that he is indestructable, “You know I’m a robot?” he joked with his team boss. Meanwhile Petrov brought him a spring loaded hand strengthener.

[Yandrak]

Este es un pirata patan totalmente subjetivo.

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http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/02/sp...of-season/


Sport and world politics set to collide at start of season?
Posted on | February 15, 2011 | by | 29 Comments

Like many people working in F1 I have a rather uneasy feeling about the opening Grand Prix at Bahrain, having witnessed the scenes in Tunisia and Egypt in recent weeks and hearing what some are saying about making the race a target for protest.

It’s not the event itself that we need to worry about, as that will be extremely well protected, it’s the comings and goings of the people who work in the sport, which is more tricky to protect. And of course, the drivers. Remember the coverage Jenson Button got when he and his entourage were held up at gun point by an armed gang in Brazil? They got away, but no coverage at all was given to the two groups of mechanics and technicians who were actually robbed by the gang.



Bahrain a target? (Darren Heath)

“For sure F1 is not going to be peaceful this time,” said Nabeel Rajab, vice-president of campaign group Bahrain Center for Human Rights. “They’ll be lots of journalists, a lot of people looking and [the government] will react in a stupid manner as they did today and yesterday. And that will be bloody, but will be more publicised.”

Of course it is the easiest thing in the world in a climate like the one we have at the moment, for a dissenting voice to say something about using the global platform of an F1 race to raise awareness of a protest against the government. It doesn’t mean they will follow through and even if they do, it doesn’t mean that it will affect the event. It is such a big thing for the Bahraini government that they will take extensive steps to contain trouble and the circuit is well out of town, in desert land, so is easy to ringfence.

The protests are not against the race, per se, they are against the government in Bahrain and there was a flashpoint in the last few days after police killed a man at the funeral of another who was killed in protests. I’m not an expert on the politics of the gulf region, but there is clearly a domino effect taking place and no-one knows how far it will go. There is no doubt that the region is changing fast. Popular feeling is the driver and the media and internet are the tools being used. TV stations like Al Jazeera give the people the chance to tell their own story and mobile phones and social network sites allow them to mobilise.

One of the things that struck me most forcibly on the day that President Mubarak finally stood down in Egypt was a soundbite interview I heard on Radio Four in the UK where a man said, “We are free, thank you Facebook!”

On another note, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is under intense pressure now that a court date has been set for early April for him to face charges of paying for sex with an under-age prostitute and abuse of power. The prime minister’s behaviour brought the crowds – mostly women – out on the streets in Italy over the weekend to protest.

This seems a world away from F1, but it’s not. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has been an outspoken critic of Berlusconi’s but has also been unwilling to stand against him. If Berlusconi loses office, then Italy will be plunged into a vacuum with a new leader required. The options are pretty tired and boring. If the perfect storm of circumstances occurs, then it is conceivable that Montezemolo would offer to step forward to lead Italy out of the mire. Certainly he has been taking care of the positioning required, establishing his movement “Italia Futura” and making gestures like draping the new Ferrari F1 car in the Italian flag and calling it the F150th Italia – Ferrari being a potent symbol of how great Italy can be on a world stage.

If Montezemolo were to take himself off to do real politics, it would change the dynamic of the ongoing negotiations between the teams and the sport over the next Concorde Agreement. He is a powerful force on the teams’ side. Like the Grand Prix in Bahrain all of this seems trivial in the context of global political events – and it is.

But it’s a big deal for the sport. It’s starting to feel to me like this is the year when F1 and world politics collide.

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Pirelli promises lively races as it nominates race tyres
Posted on | February 16, 2011 | by | No Comments

Pirelli has announced that it will supply the hard and soft tyres from its range for the opening four rounds of the 2011 season. It has made the announcement now, with two official tests still to come, in order for the teams to work on dialling their cars in to the selected tyres.



You'll see plenty of this (Darren Heath)

However what they did not mention in their statement today is that the soft tyre for the next test in Barcelona and the opening races, will be different from the one that the teams have tested with so far. This keeps the teams guessing a bit as it has been the tyre the teams have used as their reference thus far.

The drop off in performance has been pretty steep in the first two tests and the revised soft tyre will likely be a notch harder and more durable. Certainly the requirements of the opening four circuits, Bahrain, Melbourne (where it can be unexpectedly cold sometimes) Malaysia and China are quite different. But with so little time for Pirelli to develop their tyres, chosing the hard and soft from the range – the ones which have been most developed – is the safest route to go. The degradation on the hard tyre has been quite high too.

There is no doubt that the tyres are going to be a big talking point in the early races – they are the polar opposite of what we had last season with drivers able to pit on lap one for the hard tyre and go to the end of the race.

Pirelli says that it wants to promote exciting racing, putting the onus on the teams’ tacticians to come up with the best strategy, “Pirelli’s aim is to have two pit stops at every race, helping to increase the spectacle,” said its statement. It looks likely to achieve that goal, judging from testing.

With a combination of a large step in performance between hard and soft (although that may come down a little with the revised soft next week) and the high degradation rates, the conditions are potentially a perfect storm for creating unpredictable races. The best teams (with the best tyre model in its simulator) and most adaptable drivers will find the best way as always.

“This decision has been made in accordance with the track characteristics in the Middle and Far East, which offer high grip and a wide variety of speeds and corners, as well as ambient and track temperatures that are likely to be high,” said Pirelli.

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/02/pi...ace-tyres/

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Renault go for experience in super sub Nick Heidfeld
Posted on | February 16, 2011 | by | 47 Comments

The Renault F1 team has been extensively restyled this season already with the arrival of Lotus and today it announced a forced change with Nick Heidfeld replacing his former team mate Robert Kubica. Although there had been speculation about the team looking at other options, it always looked likely that they would go for Heidfeld.


Heidfeld, a veteran of 172 Grands Prix without a victory, was out of work after opting to give up his secure testing contracts with Mercedes and Pirelli for a five races deal with Sauber at the end of last season. But the injuries incurred by Kubica in a rallying accident ten days ago mean that the Pole is likely to miss most if not all of the season. He had a third operation today to repair his broken elbow. Although no official time for his recovery has been given, specialists in hand surgery suggest the nerves and tendons in his right hand will require a year to heal.

“I would have liked to come back to Formula One in different circumstances, but I’m proud to have been given this chance,” said Heidfeld.

Meanwhile the team boss Eric Boullier has said that the decision needed to be taken quickly to avoid derailing what was looking like a promising season for the team. Experience was the watchword for him and his engineers with an aggressive new car to sort out and new Pirelli tyres to be understood. They might have opted for hunger in the form of Nico Hulkenberg, but have decided to play it safe with Heidfeld. He ran Kubica close in their days together at BMW Sauber and if the tyres suit his style of driving can be a very potent performer.

“The team has been through a very difficult couple of weeks and we had to react quickly,” said Boullier. “We gave Nick a chance in Jerez last week and he really impressed us. He’s quick, experienced and is very strong technically with his feedback and understanding of the car. We always said the priority was to have an experienced driver in the car and we feel he is the ideal man for the job.”

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/02/re...-heidfeld/

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Barcelona Test day 4 – Massa shows qualifying pace
Posted on | February 21, 2011 | by | No Comments

Today was the final day of the test at Barcelona, a momentous day with the announcement that the first race of the season in Bahrain has been cancelled. This means that the F1 teams will be back here for a further test on 8th March, which replaces the one scheduled for Bahrain.



Massa gets on it (Photo:Ferrari)

Felipe Massa set the fastest time today on a qualifying simulation, the Brazilian showing that these new Pirelli tyres suit his style more than last year’s Bridgestones. I think he will be more competitive in qualifying this year than he was last year.

The Ferrari is a good car, there’s no doubt about that, close to the pace of the Red Bull, but we haven’t really seen what the Red Bull can do fully extended on a qualifying run. It seems as though the two cars are reasonably close on race pace in long runs, but the feeling from engineers I’ve spoken to is that the Red Bull is probably around 4/10ths faster than the Ferrari at this stage, which is quite a bit.

But a lot can change, as we saw last year, with development. Ferrari need to keep the pressure up on that front and they need to innovate. As we have seen all winter, they are setting a lot of store by the way they go racing, the strategy decisions Pat Fry and Neil Martin will take and so on. By making fewer mistakes than the opposition they can gain a lot, even if they don’t have the outright fastest car. And in Fernando Alonso they have the strongest driver in the field over a race distance. They will keep Red Bull honest all year.

The postponement of the first race is potentially good news for McLaren, who have a problematic car at the moment and they need more time to sort it out. It’s not as big a drama as 2009, where the car had some fundamental aerodynamic issues, but the car is complex, loaded with technology and clearly has handling issues. Also it seems as though Lewis Hamilton is eating up the tyres more quickly than many drivers and is getting frustrated by that.

Today he was unable to get on the throttle through Turns 11 and 12, for example, losing tons of time in the process. Tyre management is going to be vital this season, which is more of a Jenson Button strength than a Hamilton one.

I had a long chat with Pirelli motorsport boss Paul Hembery today. Pirelli have come in for some stick for the way the tyres are degrading, but he argues that this has a lot to do with them being designed for a higher working range of temperature. If the Spanish GP were held today, for example, it would be at least a three if not four stop race. However Hembery believes that when the race is held here in May in warmer conditions it will be a two stop race.


There has been a lot of talk about the way the track doesn’t rubber in with these tyres. That is due to a treatment they use on the tyre related to increasing the working range. Again it’s not something that will stay that way for ever.

I noticed when cars came in to the pits from long runs a build up of ‘marbles’ on the floor of the car just ahead of the rear wheels. Again this effect is due to the tyres chunking in the low temperatures and again Pirelli say it will be better in a higher temperature range. That’s why the loss of Bahrain test is a blow to them, as they were hoping for validation of their theory.

Currently the gap between the supersoft and the medium tyres is too great, which would make qualifying and races very interesting and would put pressure on the leading teams in the early stages of qualifying, if the smaller teams all ran the supersoft, to do the same. The supersoft tyres also don’t last very long. Pirelli are going to have to do some more work on the super soft, but they’ve bought themselves the time to do that by announcing that the tyre will not be used before the start of May at the earliest.

The performance gap between the soft and the hard, which they will use in the opening races, is around 8/10ths of a second. In these cool conditions the soft lasts around 12 laps, the hard around 20-22 laps. Being able to do the extra odd lap here or there is absolutely critical to race strategy as if you cannot make eke the tyre out you might be forced to stop four times in the race, which loses you 25 seconds and could be the difference between finishing fourth and ninth, for example.

The major update kits the teams had planned for Bahrain test will be brought here on March 8th and we will see the picture change a little in some respects. Mercedes are staking a lot on their update kit and believe they will move forward. They are just behind Renault at the moment in the pecking order, but they have stronger drivers. Williams is stronger than last year, as is Toro Rosso, which has a very nice car.

Sauber has benefitted from taking not just the Ferrari gearbox, but also the hydraulics and rear suspension this year and from a solid aero programme laid out last summer by James Key, the technical director. These midfield teams moving forward means that Force India is under a bit of pressure and could start the season just behind them. Lotus appears to have gained about a second relative to the field and is closer to the midfield teams, while Virgin doesn’t appear to have closed the gap by much.

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/02/ba...ying-pace/

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F1 test analysis: A couple of graphs to get you thinking..
Posted on | February 22, 2011 | by | No Comments

We’ve heard a lot recently about the Pirelli tyres not lasting long and how this will affect race strategy this season, with three and even four stops a possibility at some races, based on current wear rates.

I’m grateful to my old friend and colleague Kaz Kawai from Japanese Fuji TV, who has patrolled the pit lane with me for over 20 years, for sending me some graphs illustrating the difference in the way the Bridgestone and Pirelli tyres function.

We had all got used to the dependability of the Bridgestones and in fact they had gone too far to the conservative side, with performance which was too perfect. Don’t forget that they developed their technology in the days when they were engaged in a tyre war with Michelin, who were very scientific in their approach and hard to beat.

But once Michelin pulled out and Bridgestone became sole supplier, with the same tyres for everyone, what we were left with was tyres which were too good.


Take a look at this graph from last year’s pre season testing at Barcelona, held in similar conditions to what we experienced this week.

You can see the consistency of the lap times, how little they wear, in fact the trend is upwards, showing that as the fuel burns off the laps get faster. The tyres were so good the fuel effect was significantly greater than the tyre wear.

Contrast that with the second graph (below) from Sunday’s long runs on Pirelli tyres. The trend is dramatically the other way, despite the car getting lighter as the fuel burns off and this is a graphic illustration of tyre degradation in action. It’s what the engineers and drivers are trying to find a solution to in the testing.

Look at the steep drop off in performance in the final lap or two before a stop. It’s really dramatic. As for the difference between hard and soft tyres, look at Webber’s graph, the blue one, his second set was new soft tyres and the third set was new hard tyres – there’s quite a significant difference in the rate of drop off, I’m sure you’ll agree. The softs last around 12-14 laps the hards around 20-22 laps.

Making the tyres last a couple of extra laps more than your rivals will be one of the critical areas this season in being competitive in races.

I’ve picked a graph from testing last season for comparison, rather than the race because the conditions are the same. Pirelli say that their wear rates will be less severe in May at the Grand Prix because the tyres are designed for a higher working range temperature than we have at the moment.

I think it’s a fascinating picture and very easy to understand
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/wp-content...e-1116.png

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Hemos escuchado mucho recientemente acerca de los neumáticos Pirelli no duró mucho tiempo y cómo esto afectará la estrategia de la carrera de esta temporada, con tres y hasta cuatro detiene una posibilidad en algunas carreras, basado en las tasas actuales de desgaste.

Agradezco a mi viejo amigo y colega Kaz Kawai de japonés Fuji TV, que ha patrullado el pit lane conmigo durante más de 20 años, para que me envíe algunos gráficos que ilustran la diferencia en la forma de la función de neumáticos Bridgestone y Pirelli.

Nos habíamos todos acostumbraron a la fiabilidad de la Bridgestones y de hecho había ido demasiado lejos para el lado conservador, con un rendimiento que era demasiado perfecto. No olvide que desarrollaron su tecnología en los días cuando se estaban inmersos en una guerra de tiro con Michelin, que eran muy científico en su enfoque y difícil de igualar.

Pero una vez que sacó Michelin y Bridgestone se convirtió en el único proveedor, con los mismos neumáticos para todo el mundo, lo que nos quedamos con los neumáticos que eran demasiado buenos.


Echa un vistazo a este gráfico desde pre temporada el año pasado pruebas en Barcelona, que se celebró en condiciones similares a lo que hemos experimentado esta semana.

Puede ver la coherencia de los tiempos de vuelta, lo poco que usan, de hecho la tendencia es al alza, mostrando que como el combustible burns fuera de las vueltas obtengan con mayor rapidez. Los neumáticos fueron tan bien el efecto de combustible fue significativamente mayor que el desgaste de los neumáticos.

Contraste con el segundo gráfico (abajo) de carreras de larga del domingo sobre neumáticos Pirelli. La tendencia es dramáticamente la otra manera, a pesar del coche obtener más ligeros, como el combustible quema y esta es una ilustración gráfica de degradación de tiro en acción. Es lo que los ingenieros y los controladores están tratando de encontrar una solución a en la prueba.

Ver la caída pronunciada fuera de rendimiento en la última vuelta o dos antes de una parada. Es realmente espectacular. Como la diferencia entre los neumáticos duros y blandos, vistazo gráfico de Webber, el uno azul, su segundo conjunto fue nuevos neumáticos blandos y el tercer set fue nuevos neumáticos duros – hay una diferencia significativa en la tasa de caída, estoy seguro de que va de acuerdo. Los programas duran alrededor de 12-14 vueltas los intransigentes alrededor de 20-22 vueltas.

Hacer que los neumáticos durar un par de vueltas adicionales más que sus rivales será una de las áreas críticas esta temporada en ser competitivo en las carreras.

Yo he elegido un gráfico de prueba de la temporada pasada para la comparación, en lugar de la carrera porque las condiciones son las mismas. Pirelli decir que sus tasas de desgaste será menos severas en mayo en el gran premio, porque los neumáticos están diseñados para una temperatura de rango de trabajo mayor que el que tenemos en este momento.

Creo que es una imagen fascinante y muy fácil de entender.

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/wp-content...re-910.png
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/wp-content...e-1116.png

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Mercedes now fully in control of its Formula 1 team
Posted on | February 28, 2011 | by | 10 Comments

Mercedes has announced today that parent company Daimler and its partner Aabar has bought the final 24.9% stake in the team, which had remained in the hands of Ross Brawn, Nick Fry and the management team.

That management team, which saved the Brackley outfit from closure in 2009, operated as Brawn GP that year and then sold a controlling interest in the team to Mercedes, will remain on board but without holding equity.



Brawn: In the money (Photo: Mercedes)

This is a very logical step for all parties. For team principal Ross Brawn this is the completion of a process which has made him a very significant amount of money in the last 24 months. As technical director of Ferrari for 10 years and then team principal of Honda for two years his salary will have been in the multiple millions of pounds a year. But this Honda to Brawn to Mercedes transaction is likely to have netted him in excess of £50 million, even if the valuation of the team was significantly less than the €265 million Williams is valued at in its current flotation document.

Dr Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG, said that this move by Daimler shows how serious they are about succeeding in F1, despite the fact that most other manufacturers in the last two years have gone in the opposite direction; either pulling out completely like Honda, Toyota and BMW or scaling down to having merely a presence as a supplier, in the case of Renault. Incidentally there is another interesting announcement due in the next 24 hours regarding a Renault backed deal for Red Bull with Infiniti – the Renault/Nissan luxury brand. There are various theories at large about the nature of the tie-up, but all will become clear shortly.

Daimler will hold 60% of the stock with Aabar the rest. With Mubadala having been requested to sell its stake in Ferrari back to the company at the end of last year, Aabar’s stake in Mercedes represents the main interest of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds in Formula 1 teams.

Operationally the team will still operate out of Brackley with engines coming from Brixworth, near Northampton. Brawn remains as team principal in charge of all technical operations, but will no longer sit on the board, which will have three Daimler representatives and two from Aabar.

Brawn reports to Norbert Haug as head of Mercedes motorsport, who in turn reports to Zetsche. But I checked with Mercedes and on all decisions on the technical side Brawn has final say. He had spread himself a bit thin last season, trying to cover too many areas and so recently hired former Renault man Bob Bell as technical director to take a lot of the load off him. This should result in a stronger management structure.

Zetsche said: “The acquisition of a majority stake holding in our Silver Arrows team sends a clear signal that we intend to achieve technical and sporting success on world motorsport’s biggest and most important stage – and to do so in cost-effective conditions,” he said.

For all the complaints from union leaders in Germany about the company splashing the cash at a time of global cutbacks, withougt doubt the attraction to Mercedes is that they are going racing at a time when the Resource Restriction Agreement means that costs are under control and a well run, well sponsored team such as Mercedes, can even run at a profit. Mercedes has some of the strongest partners in the sport, so sponsor revenue is high.

They also have a solid customer base for engines, which is a profit centre.

As for Ross Brawn, he made the point that he plans to stick around for a few years yet, “Daimler and Aabar’s acquisition of the remaining 24.9 per cent stake in Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix will be a further step in the consolidation and strengthening of our team for the future, ” he said. “I remain fully committed to our team for the long-term, along with the management team and all of our employees. We all look forward to the challenge of making our team successful, and proudly representing Mercedes-Benz and the racing tradition of the Silver Arrows.”

Mercedes has had a tricky start to its second iteration in F1 (the first was in the 1950s). Last season the car suffered from lack of investment, resource and focus during the design phase of 2009, while this year’s car has not been very quick in testing. There are some cooling issues on the car, but it would be a mistake to judge them before we see the full package at Melbourne as they always planned to test a fairly basic car and then bring an update kit before the first race with refinements, especially in aerodynamics.

That said they will be coming from quite a long way behind when they bolt on the update pack next week for the final test in Barcelona. The cancellation of the Bahrain test and race will have bought them an extra week, but it will also have given the competition an opportunity to refine their cars too. Based on what we’ve seen so far, Mercedes has a good 7/10ths of a second a lap to make up to its rivals, possibly more.

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