F1 2011 Launch Catch Up – McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, Sauber, Toro Rosso, Renault…
Catching up on the launches in one mega post. Here in you’ll find quick interviews with senior members of the team and photos from the Red Bull, Sauber, Renault Lotus, Toro Rosso, Mercedes and McLaren launches.
Apologies for being somewhat late, the whole blog isn’t running at full power until the season starts again.
Red Bull RB7
The world champions launched their new car, named the RB7. A clear advancement on the hugely successful RB6, hopes are high that this machine can deliver once again.
“This year is no different to any other,” said Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull.
“I think if we had not have won either championship last year there would have been that expectation and obviously the pressure that comes with that. We’ve achieved that and achieved that in a short space of time and I think it is like winning your first grand prix.
“Out of that comes confidence but not arrogance, but the team goes into this year very, very motivated and very committed but you have to remember we are still an independent team with a customer engine that achieved some remarkable things last year and that is our target again, again, obviously this year.”
Sauber C30
The independent Swiss team pulled the covers of their new car, the C30 marking the second incarnation of the team in its modern era. The new car is backed heavily by Mexican giants Telmex and will be raced by Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez.
Former Force India but now Sauber technical director James Key said: “Our aim in the development of the Sauber C30-Ferrari has been to build on the strengths of the C29 and to eliminate its weak points.
“In addition, it is also important for us to go into winter testing with a car we understand, and we have worked hard on ensuring the characteristics of the car are heading in a direction we believe in. There will be much to learn about the new Pirelli tyres and in this respect we want to ensure there are no surprises with the way the car is handling.”
“My rookie season was a very challenging, very exciting period,” Kamui Kobayashi commented at the launch as he enters his second full season of racing.
“Now it’s still exciting but it’s a different role. It’s more the experienced driver in the team. I am thinking how I can bring a good level to the team.
“I have to be ready to lead the team. That’s why Peter Sauber and the team chose me for this year. This is definitely my challenge and let’s say I am ready to be the leader for the team.”
Renault Lotus R31
Newly backed by Group Lotus, Renault pulled the covers off their new car – the R31 – to a mass of media wondering what the final paint scheme would look like, and wondering how the Lotus name debate would go on. The debate on the name may still be rumbling, but there is no debate over how fabulous the car looks in classic JPS brown and gold.
Featuring front blown exhausts, it looks fast and could be a title contender. And with Bruno Senna as a spare driver, it harks back wonderful memories seeing the yellow helmet inside a JPS liveried Lotus.
“I’m happy that we had some creative designs on the car. We clearly back our team and definitely our technical team because we want to be fast, we want to be at the front.” said team principal Eric Boullier
“We know it takes time. You have to be creative. You have to find different ways of creating downforce or performance points. We have been taking this path because we believed, quite early in 2010, that we could find more gains going this way.
“In the wind tunnel, or on paper shall we say, the car already has more performance than 12 months ago. If it’s on the car it’s because we believe it works. But we will see on the track.”
Meanwhile Robert Kubica, the number 1 driver was somewhat cautious on their chances ”I think realistically speaking is far too early to say what will be possible to achieve this year,”
“Last season was quite disappointing and let’s hope this year will be different. I think definitely we are more prepared this year, because of the more stable situation in the team than last winter, when I joined the team.
“The winter of 2009 and 2010 was very difficult for Renault and I think this year the engineers and designers had a much easier time and much more time to design the car and I think they have done a really good job.”
Scuderia Toro Rosso STR6
Toro Rosso, always in their senior brothers shadow has brought a new design to the table and hopes it will deliver them more success this season in the capable hands of Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi.
The pairing are aiming for 6th place in the Ferrari powered beast.
“My expectations are to do a decent year and we have to have the target to be eighth and as I said, we are good to be ninth but we have to do better. And at the end of the year we have to bring back an eighth place,” said Giorgio Ascanelli.
“Last year we didn’t have a wind-tunnel, the CFD was not mature in order to define the car,” he added. “Therefore, we did not change very much apart from those elements linked to the change of regulation between 2009 and 2010.
“This year the tools which design the car in its performance aspect, which are again the wind tunnel and CFD, are more mature, which means that although we are still learning how to make the best of them I think we have started using them properly.
“For this year, we have to aim for eighth place, because that is our target and I didn’t think that was possible if we had gone with some sort of conventional car.”
Mercedes Benz WO2
Mercedes Benz will be hoping that their second modern F1 car can deliver them some more success than last season. With Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg behind the wheel they have plenty of potential. A well sponsor backed car now features the light green of Petronas merging into the brushes silver paintwork. Ross Brawn, the technical mastertmind behind multiple drivers world championship wins will be eager to deliver the German squad some success.
“It is always a thrill to see a new car ready to take the track for the first time and this year is no exception,” said Brawn. “After our first year as the Mercedes-Benz works team, we are now seeing the benefits of our chassis and engine groups working well together.
“With a good technical structure and a strengthened race engineering organisation, both at the factory and the race track, I am confident that we have done and will continue to do a better job this year in all key areas.
“We want to be setting the standard right from the start but if we are not, we will respond very strongly to get ourselves into the game. Everyone is excitedly waiting to see what the new season will reveal.”
Meanwhile top driver Michael Schumacher was upbeat on the chances of the car delivering him a record breaking 8th world championship.
“I very much look forward to the new season. We have said it several times already but again, we are really to building up something big together. I am very confident that this season we will be standing on the podium much more regularly; ideally in the middle!”
McLaren MP4-26
McLaren launched their radical new car in Berlin in a ceremony hosted by lead sponsors Vodafone. The car will be raced by two former world champions, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.
The new car features L-Shaped sidepods, and a two tier floor amongst other technical advancements. The squad are already looking at incorporating a front blown exhaust similar to the Renault Lotus’ design.
Lewis Hamilton was very happy with the machine on launch day.
“I hope the car proves just as innovative once we take to the track next week,” said Hamilton. “I head into 2011 in a relaxed but determined frame of mind.
“I’ve spared nothing during my winter fitness preparations and, in many ways, I feel as fit, focused and refreshed as I did ahead of my first season in Formula 1 in 2007.
“Having spent the past few weeks talking with our designers and engineers, I feel extremely happy that we’ve created a car that will once again allow us to fight at the front.”
Toro Rosso Announce 2011 Launch Date
Scuderia Toro Rosso have announced that they will be launching their 2011 Formula One car on February 1st.
The launch will take place at the Valencia Circuit on the day that official pre-season testing starts. Swiss based squad Sauber are also launching their new car at the circuit.
The Faenza based team will have Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi driving for them once again.
Toro Rosso Sale Denied – Many Interested In Purchasing Team
Dietrich Mateschitz has been forced to deny that one of his Formula One teams, Scuderia Toro Rosso is up for sale.
It had been reported online earlier this week that the team, based in Faenza, was up for sale at a paltry €30million. The team was formerly known as Minardi until the end of 2005 when Mateschitz took control of the outfit and rebranded it to fit in with his Red Bull portfolio. Designed as a feeder team to the main Red Bull squad, it had been using repaints of the senior teams cars until this year when the rules on customer cars was finally sorted.
The team are most famous for producing the 2010 title challenger Sebastian Vettel who joined at the end of 2007, winning their first and only Grand Prix at Monza in 2008. He was then promoted to the senior Red Bull Racing team.
“There are constant rumors about it, but now we have no plans to sell Toro Rosso,” Mateschitz’s PA told 422race.com.
Despite the denial of sale there are reported to already be a number of people interested in purchasing the team, should Mateschitz decide to sell. These include Carlos Slim, the Mexican entrepreneur who has always been interested in buying in to the F1 dream. Another interested party is Jacques Villeneuve along with the Duragno group who failed to succeed in becoming the 13th team for 2011. Stefan GP have also been linked with purchasing the team now they have severed all links with the former Toyota outfit.
Toro’s Rule Out Using F-Duct System
Scuderia Toro Rosso have ruled out using an F-Duct system on their car, stating that it is too expensive for the potential gain.
The small junior Red Bull team is going it alone from their parent team this season with their own car design and development programme based at their headquarters in Faenza Italy. They say that they have other aerodynamic developments to add to the car which will provide a greater benefit for the same cost.
“That’s because if I have ten euros in my pocket and I’m hungry, I buy two sandwiches with it instead of three grams of caviar,” Ascanelli told Autosprint
“Maybe we’d be able to find some advantages after five months of development, but in that same time span we can improve even more by developing other parts of the car.
“That kind of system is no good for those who, like us, began to get the wind tunnel to work properly only in November.”
In-Depth: Buemi’s Horror Smash In Chinese Grand Prix Free Practice
Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi was lucky to get out of his car unharmed this morning in Free Practice 1 in China after a massive accident at the end of the back straight.
Buemi, who drivers for the Scuderia Toro Rosso team, was doing approximately 195mph on the straight which is fed from a high speed banked turn not long before the end of the lap on the Shanghai Circuit, when disaster struck. A failure of the upright structure caused the front right tyre to detatch from the vehicle, but the failsafe mechanism caused the front left tyre to part company with the STR4 chassis as well.
As a result of losing both front wheels, Buemi was a helpless passenger as his Red Bull branded car went toboganning down the straight and into the gravel trap before catching a concrete wall and sliding to a halt in the sand.
The driver was shaken and alarmed, and ran back to his team garage to argue with his mechanics about what had just happened. He was incenced at the dangerous situation he was in.
A Toro Rosso spokesperson told us that an upright on the front right hand side of the car, which had been re-designed for the weekend had suffered a “complete and total failure”. The subsequent pressure load forced onto the opposing component on the left hand side “was far too much for it to cope with” and that failed too. It was a new design brought in for this weekend. Alarmingly, the wheel tethers failed and the two front Bridgestone tyres were flung across spectator fences. It is unknown is Toro Rosso will recieve a fine and reprimand for this, as safety with tyres is paramount following the death of Henry Surtees in F2 last season, the young 19 year old was struck a fatal blow to the skull from a loose tyre via a failed wheel tether.
Buemi said this evening, once calmed, that he is prepared to drive again tomorrow.
“The track was really wide there, with a lot of run off. It looked quite spectacular but from inside the car, it was not so big. Afterwards [once the car stopped], it took a bit of time to understand what happened, but it was not too bad. Something broke, and it happens. We’ve changed the [parts on the] car, and it will be fine to go out again. As a driver we don’t think about it any more.”
“It is a bit difficult because we don’t really know how the car is going. We have [Jaime] Alguersuari’s data so we have to study that for tomorrow, as going into FP3 means we will have a lot of work to do, to be ready for qualifying.”
Stefan GP NOT Given Entry As Official 2010 Entry List Announced
Stefan GP have not been granted an entry into the 2010 Formula One season, and will not be allowed to compete unitl potentially 2011 as the FIA consider opening up entries fo the next season of racing to newcomers.
Stefan have already got a car and sent equipment to Bahrain, and despite USF1 not competing this season the Serbian outfit cannot take their place.
“Having considered the various options, the FIA confirms that it is not possible for a replacement team to be entered for the Championship at this late stage,” the FIA said.
“In the coming days the FIA will announce details of a new selection process to identify candidates to fill any vacancies existing at the start of the 2011 season.”
USF1 are listed as deferring their entry until 2011 on the list, and Sauber retain the BMW moniker at the start of the name while Campos become HRT as mentioned yesterday.
Official 2010 Entry List
1 Jenson BUTTON (GBR) VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES (GB) 2 Lewis HAMILTON (GBR) VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES (GB) 3 Michael SCHUMACHER (D) MERCEDES GP PETRONAS FORMULA ONE TEAM 4 Nico ROSBERG (D) MERCEDES GP PETRONAS FORMULA ONE TEAM 5 Sebastian VETTEL (D) RED BULL RACING (AUT) 6 Mark WEBBER (AUS) RED BULL RACING (AUT) 7 Felipe MASSA (BRA) SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO (I) 8 Fernando ALONSO (ESP) SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO (I) 9 Rubens BARRICHELLO (BRA) AT&T WILLIAMS (GB) 10 Nico HÜLKENBERG (D) AT&T WILLIAMS (GB) 11 Robert KUBICA (POL) RENAULT F1 TEAM (FRA) 12 Vitaly PETROV (RUS) RENAULT F1 TEAM (FRA) 14 Adrian SUTIL (D) FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM (IND) 15 Vitantonio LIUZZI (I) FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM (IND) 16 Sébastien BUEMI (CH) SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO (I) 17 Jaime ALGUERSUARI (ESP) SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO (I) 18 Jarno TRULLI (I) LOTUS RACING (MAL) 19 Heikki KOVALAINEN (FIN) LOTUS RACING (MAL) 20 TBA HRT F1 TEAM (ESP) 21 Bruno SENNA (BRA) HRT F1 TEAM (ESP) 22 Pedro DE LA ROSA (ESP) BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM (CH) 23 Kamui KOBAYASHI (J) BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM (CH) 24 Timo GLOCK (D) VIRGIN RACING (GB) 25 Luca DI GRASSI (BRA) VIRGIN RACING (GB)
Hulkenberg Fastest On Day 2 of Barcelona Final Test
Nico Hulkenberg narrowly beat Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on the second day of the final test in Barcelona.
The German driver did just under 100 laps as many drivers concentrated their morning runs on qualifying performance, and the afternoon on higher fuelrace based simulations with Bahrain being just 2 weeks away.
De la Rosa was 3rd with another impressive performance from Sauber, with Liuzzi showing the Force India pace with an impressive 4th.
Vettel and Alguersuari were close in 5th and 6th, despite the Toro Rosso now running its own chassis and aerodynamic package separate from the Red Bull teams, both ahead of Michael Schumacher in 7th however.
The new teams of Lotus and Virgin were still at the bottom of the timesheets however.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:20.614 99 2. Alonso Ferrari (B) 1:20.637 134 3. de la Rosa BMW-Sauber (B) 1:20.973 114 4. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:21.056 90 5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:21.258 125 6. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:21.571 104 7. M.Schumacher Mercedes GP (B) 1:21.689 85 8. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.152 93 9. Kubica Renault (B) 1:24.912 53 10. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth (B) 1:25.524 70 11. Glock Virgin-Cosworth (B) 1:25.942 52
Jerez Test Day 4: Button Quickest
Jenson Button set the fastest time of the day, and the fastest time of the week on the final day of testing in Jerez yesterday.
The McLaren driver was narrowly quicker than an improved Robert Kubica, and Kamui Kobayashi brought Sauber back to the front of the times.
Vitantonio Liuzzi was fast in the Force India, slightly faster than Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari.
Jarno Trulli propped the tables after some mammoth long runs on his first day with the Lotus.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Jenson Button McLaren 1m18.871s 108 2. Robert Kubica Renault 1m19.114s + 0.243s 117 3. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1m19.188s + 0.317s 117 4. Tonio Liuzzi Force India 1m19.650s + 0.779s 80 5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m20.061s + 1.190s 130 6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m20.436s + 1.565s 137 7. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1m21.053s + 2.182s 139 8. Mark Webber Red Bull 1m21.194s + 2.323s 87 9. Nico Hulkenberg Williams 1m21.919s + 3.048s 137 10. Timo Glock Virgin 1m22.433s + 3.562s 28 11. Jarno Trulli Lotus 1m23.470s + 4.599s 141
Jerez Testing Round 2 Day 1: Vettel Quickest
Sebastian Vettel made the most of the poor conditions, slotting the new Red Bull Rb6 onto the top of the timesheets on the second part of the Jerez test, day 1.
The Red Bull Racing favourite slipped ahead of Lewis Hamilton in 2nd, and Felipe Massa in 3rd both drivers making good times given the conditions.
Pedro de La Rosa was 5th, lamenting the conditions but still ended ahead of Michael Schumacher. Paul di Resta got his first taste of testing, gaining 8th place in the Force India as he shared the cockpit with Adrian Sutil.
Lotus made their debut with the T127 and Malaysian driver Fairuz Fauzy getting behind the wheel with a solid day of testing, and Lotus declaring themselves pleased. Virgin looked to be struggling a little still, not finding their feet as quickly as Lotus.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.593 99 2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:23.017 72 3. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:23.204 72 4. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.322 79 5. de la Rosa BMW-Sauber (B) 1:23.367 76 6. M.Schumacher Mercedes GP (B) 1:23.803 111 7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:24.272 28 8. di Resta Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:25.088 74 9. Petrov Renault (B) 1:26.237 55 10. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:27.320 109 11. Fauzy Lotus-Cosworth (B) 1:31.848 76 12. Glock Virgin-Cosworth (B) 1:32.417 10
Jerez Test Day 3: Washout Continues But Alguersuari Fastest
The third day of the second test at Jerez was another washout, with Jaime Alguersuari coming out fastest after a scorching lap early on in the day in the cooler damp conditions.
Many of the drivers elected to do long runs on extreme wet tyres, with Rubens Barrichello clocking a massive 120 laps today.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa did some long runs, as did Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton who was low down the times.
Lucas di Grassi got his first taste of the Virgin, which kept its wing on today, and also kept itself stuck to the bottom of the timesheets.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:19.919 76 2. de la Rosa BMW-Sauber (B) 1:20.736 58 3. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:21.428 48 4. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:21.603 72 5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:21.783 59 6. Petrov Renault (B) 1:22.000 68 7. Rosberg Mercedes GP (B) 1:22.820 53 8. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:23.217 120 9. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:23.985 68 10. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth (B) 1:37.107 8
Jerez Test Day 2: Kobayashi Fastest As Virgin Takes Off Its Clothes…
Kamui Kobayashi continued to prove the great pace of the new sauber car topping the time sheets on another cold and damp day in Jerez.
Buemi was also fast, as was Hulkenberg and Liuzzi.
Michael Schumacher was back int he car in his gleaming scarlet helmet, narrowly beating Fernando Alonso’s time as it seemed the front runners in Valencia were now doing long fuel runs.
Meanwhile Red Bull still launguished down at the bottom of the timesheets, following their ufnortunate break down yesterday.
But the catastrophic failure goes to Virgin, who in another day of running managed to have their car undress itself on the circuit. The front wing unit totally collapsed and Timo Glock had to crawl back to the pits, before Virgin announced they would abandon running due to a lack of parts. Not a good start.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Kobayashi BMW-Sauber (B) 1:19.950 103 2. Buemi Toro Rosso Ferrari (B) 1:20.026 121 3. Button McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:20.618 83 4. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:20.629 67 5. Liuzzi Force India- Mercedes (B) 1:20.754 80 6. M.Schumacher Mercedes GP (B) 1:21.083 124 7. Alonso Ferrari (B) 1:21.424 129 8. Kubica Renault (B) 1:22.003 103 9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.043 99 10. Glock Virgin-Cosworth (B) 1:29.964 11
Jerez Test Day 1: Rosberg Quickest As Virgin Well Off Pace
Nico Rosberg was fastest on a very wet and cold first day of this weeks test in Jerez.
The German romped home in his Mercedes Benz. Sebastien Buemi looked impressive in the Toro Rosso, while Fernando Alonso the home favourite was down in 4th.
Vitantonio Liuzzi did over 70 laps in the new Force India, narrowly beating Vitaly Petrov’s time as he adjusts to driving Formula One cars.
Timo Glock brought out the Virgin into competitive running for the first time, after a series of installation laps his fastest effort was some 17 second a-drift of the best times.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m20.927s 57 2. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 1m21.031s +0.104 84 3. Nico Hulkenberg Williams 1m22.243s +1.316 118 4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m22.895s +1.968 88 5. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1m23.287s +2.860 55 6. Jenson Button McLaren 1m24.947s +4.020 68 7. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India 1m24.968s +4.041 71 8. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m25.440s +4.513 27 9. Mark Webber Red Bull 1m26.502s +5.575 50 10. Timo Glock Virgin 1m38.734s +17.807 5
Valencia Testing: Alonso Keeps Ferrari Dominance Going On Final Day
Fernando Alonso jumped into a Ferrari F1 car for his first competitive running on this the final day of testing and was immediately quick. The Spaniard, who is hoping to win his 3rd world title with the Scuderia set the fastest lap time of anyone all week, and even had some fun baiting Jenson Button in the McLaren during the closing stages of the day.
Button, the current world champion only went on to finish 5th on his first day of driving the McLaren.
Pedro de La Rosa continued to show that sponsorless Sauber were a good bet for the season, and Michael Schumacher another golden-oldie came in 3rd, with his doctor giving him the all clear on the neck front.
Jaime Alguersuari was very close to Schumacher’s time, a good performance in the Toro Rosso for the young Spaniard.
Ross Brawn was confident, despite seeing his team not dominating testing like they did to everyone’s surprise last season.
“It’s always very difficult to judge. On full tanks yesterday (Tuesday) we didn’t look too bad but we’re a little bit off on pace and (there are problems with) the handling and balance of the car which we can fix for (the next test in) Jerez,” he told the BBC. “We know what the problem is.
“Of course the other teams will be progressing as well so we are reasonable, not as quick as Ferrari and Lewis looked quick yesterday. So it looks like we’ve got a bit of work to do.”
Testing continues soon in Jerez, stay posted on The F1Fanatics Blog, or check out our new Twitter page!
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Alonso Ferrari (B) 1:11.470 127 2. de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari (B) 1:12.094 80 3. M.Schumacher Mercedes GP (B) 1:12.438 82 4. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:12.576 97 5. Button McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:12.951 82 6. Petrov Renault (B) 1:13.097 75 7. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:13.669 126
Valencia Testing: Massa Again Fastest On Day 2
Felipe Massa kept Ferrari a-top of the timesheets in Valencia on the second day at the circuit.
The Brazilian, who is making a great comeback drive following his injury last season, was the only man to break into the 1.11s times.
He was followed by Kamui Kobayashi who proved the BMW Sauber Ferrari has some gusto if not the sponsors with another stellar effort, which was quicker than the McLaren of 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton who got his first taste of the new car today.
“It was a night and day difference and feeling compared to the first lap and the first test day in 2009,” Hamilton told reporters at the end of the day.
“I have a positive feeling. I’ve obviously kept a close eye on the development of the car and the results we got at the end of 2009 – so seeing this car evolve and having the input into it, I was very excited to get in the car today to see what parts we have improved.”
Robert Kubica did some long runs in the bumble-bee Renault, and scored 4th place ahead of Nico Rosberg who had the whole day to himself in the Mercedes.
Rubens Barrichello was 6th in the Williams on his second day with Nico Hulkenberg scheduled to take the wheel tomorrow.
Tomorrow is likely to be a very exciting day with 3 world champions at the wheel, Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button all star.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:11.722 124 2. Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari (B) 1:12.056 96 3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:12.256 108 4. Kubica Renault (B) 1:12.426 119 5. Rosberg Mercedes GP (B) 1:12.899 119 6. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:13.377 102 7. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:13.823 107
Valencia Testing: Massa Fastest On Day 1
Felipe Massa eased Ferrari fans and technicians fears over the potential performance of the new F10 on day one of the Valencia test series by slotting the new car into first place on the time sheets.
Admitedly, it is the first test but Massa will be very pleased with his performance which was a few tenths of a second faster than his nearest rival.
That nearest rival was 38 year old Pedro De la Rosa, driving the new Sauber C29, and looking forward to his first season in Formula One since 2002. His time may have been inflated slightly due to his advanced testing knowledge after all of those seasons with McLaren, but nevertheless Peter Sauber will be happy with today’s performance.
Michael Schumacher came in 3rd, the German who has made his sensational comeback to Formula One with Mercedes Benz will be pleased with his times which were consistently quicker than team mate Nico Rosberg. The old master clearly hasn’t lost it, and said he was like a child with a new toy.
“In a way it is like 1991, honestly,” Schumacher told reporters after the test. “When I came into F1 I was shocked on the first lap and extremely excited on the second lap and further laps. And it is exactly the same today.
“I feel like a young boy that has a toy in his hands and enjoys himself.”
Paffett was 5th in the new McLaren, with Lewis Hamilton taking over the reigns from the former DTM champion tomorrow. Rubens Barrichello made 6th on his first Williams outing, and one breakdown.
The bottom two were Sebastien Buemi who showed pace in the new STR despite only a handful of laps, and Robert Kubica who was happy despite expressing some concerns over the narrower tyres and their effect on understeer.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:12.574 102 2. de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari (B) 1:12.784 74 3. M.Schumacher Mercedes GP (B) 1:12.947 40 4. Rosberg Mercedes GP (B) 1:13.543 39 5. Paffett McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:13.846 86 6. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:14.449 75 7. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:14.762 18 8. Kubica Renault (B) 1:15.000 69
Toro Rosso Launch STR5 Their First In-House Designed Car
Scuderia Toro Rosso’s launch of the STR5 may have been low-key today in Valencia, but it was a pivotal moment in the history of the team which used to be the fans favourite Minardi.
Up until now, Toro Rosso, who joined F1 in 2006, have used and shared car parts with major backer Red Bull. However with the ban on customer cars, they have been forced to go it alone the TR5 is the product of that. And my, it looks lovely!
Toro Rosso have always had a nice paint scheme, in my personal opinion I think it looks better than the one on the RBR itself. the junior team faces a tough test with two good drivers hauling the Ferrari powered machine around, Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari.
“2010 is a landmark year for Scuderia Toro Rosso as the new regulations demand that we go it alone in terms of designing and building our car in-house,” said team boss Franz Tost.
“After four years of working in collaboration with Red Bull Technology, the TR5 is the first car that is one hundred percent down to our own endeavours.
“Creating the necessary infrastructure to tackle this task has been our biggest challenge, possibly more difficult than actually producing the car itself. We have taken on an additional eighty staff and expanded our facility to accommodate them, including a Machine Shop to increase our production capacity.
“In addition, we have commissioned a wind tunnel in Bicester, England, which we bought from Red Bull. It will take time for the highly skilled team we have assembled to learn to work together as efficiently as possible.
“Making predictions for the coming season is a dangerous trap, but if pushed, I would say we must aim to finish in the top eight in the Constructors’ Championship, while giving our young drivers everything they need to improve, as well as optimising our infrastructure in order to be as competitive as possible in 2010 and beyond.”
Alguersuari Confirmed At Toros – 3 Spaniard’s On 2010 Grid
Jaime Alguersuari has been confirmed as the second driver at the Scuderia Toro Rosso team alongside Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi.
Alguerusuari was drafted in mid way through the 2009 season, and being only 19 at the time of his debut performed well, and will be rewarded with a full season as a result.
2010 is a big year for the Toro Rosso team, they will be fully designing their car for the first time, in a slight move away from parent owner Red Bull, as other teams have complained over the similarities between their cars, and also a change in the rules regarding customer cars.
Jaime’s signing means that with Fernando Alonso and Pedro de La Rosa, Formula One has three Spanish drivers for the first time.
“Considering that he made his debut only halfway through 2009, at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with no prior testing, he did a good job, making steady progress throughout the second half of the year, with a mature approach considering he is still only nineteen years old,” said team boss Franz Tost.
“This season, he will again face a steep learning curve, as all the circuits in the first part of the season will be new to him. Jaime’s appointment also confirms our team’s commitment to bringing on graduates of the Red Bull Young Driver Programme.”
Young Drivers Confirmed For Jerez Tests
Many of the Formula One teams have confirmed they will be testing an array of rookie talent from the world of lower formula’s at the forthcoming Jerez tests.
The tests take place over the dates 1st-3rd December.
Red Bull Racing will be testing British F3 champion Daniel Ricciardo, while sister team Toro Rosso will test Brendon Hartley and highly acclaimed Italian Mirko Bortolotti – the man responsible for beatingthe Fiorano lap record in the Ferrari F2008 last winter.
Ferrari themselves will be testing the cream of the talent from Italian F3, Williams take onboard a test for Andy Soucek his prize for winning the Formula 2 series.
Meanwhile BMW Sabuer will give two rookie’s their chance despite their depart from Formula One, with Alexander Rossi and Esteban Gutierrez taking the wheel.
Buemi Signs Contract With Toro’s For 2010
Sebastien Buemi and Scuderia Toro Rosso have confirmed the Swiss driver will be continuing to drive for the Toro’s into 2010.
He was widely regarded as likely to return with the Red Bull junior team, who will be designing and building their own car for the first time next season.
“We have re-signed Buemi for next season, but we have not yet signed Jaime [Alguersuari],” a spokesman told BBC Sport.
Buemi, who is seen by many as a potential future front running driver, said he had discussions over a contract with the Toyota F1 Team before they pulled out of the sport.
“I had some contact with other teams because of my good results at the end of the season,” he told the Television Suisse Romande programme Sport Dimanche.
“Toyota could have been a possibility because they had not yet hired any drivers. That was not the only one, and anyway I was always talking with Red Bull. Finally I signed with Toro Rosso for 2010.”
Belgian GP 2009: Kimi Raikkonen Takes Ferrari’s First Win Of Season!
Kimi Raikkonen delivered an emphatic first win of the season for Ferrari this afternoon after a highly exciting Belgian Grand Prix.
Suprise pole sitter Giancarlo Fisichella came in 2nd place, Force India’s first ever points and thus podium, while Sebastian Vettel kept his championship hopes alive while others around him faltered with 3rd place.
Race Review
The getaway from the line was mostly noted for Rubens Barrichello’s anti-stall kick in, forcing Kimi Raikkonen around his outside and bunching everyone up into La Source hairpin.
Raikkonen dived onto the astroturf around the outside of the turn and raced down to Eau Rouge with Fisichella in the lead and the BMW’s far up the pack. Further back in the field various cars including Fernando Alonso, Jaime Alguersuari, Adrian Sutil, Timo Glock, Jarno Trulli and Lewis Hamilton were all tangling with bits of bodywork flying everywhere.
The cars were bunched as they headed down the straight to Les Combes, where Romain Grosjean tagged Jenson Button forcing him into a spin. Jaime Alguersuari tried to miss Button and ended up ramming Lewis Hamilton forcing them both out as well as Button and Grosjean. This left us with a Safety Car situation with all these cars hanging off the track.
Some drivers including Rubens Barrichello decided to pit in.
When the safety car finally returned to the pits, Kimi Raikkonen using his KERS system to full effect managed to get ahead of Fisichella and that is where he would stay for the rest of the race. The gap between the two was not very large, and the pitstops [all on the same laps for the pair] didn’t yield a position change. Had Raikkonen not being using the KERS system then he would almost certainly have lost the place to Fisichella, whose Force India car looked frighteningly quick.
Sebastian Vettel had a very quiet drive to 3rd place, managingto make use of accidents and retirements.
Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld managed to get a great result for their BMW team, with 4th and 5th places. They stayed out of trouble throughout the race, but were almost certianly helped along by faster rivals being knocked out in the first corner accident.
7th place finisher Rubens Barrichello never looked like troubling those at the front after his poor start. He did well to end up in the points, but in all honesty was lucky to finish with his Brawn GP car pluming smoke for the final 3 laps. The Brazilian’s car then set on fire as he returned to the pitlane after the race!
Just finishing ahead of Rubens was Heikki Kovalainen, the sole finishing McLaren using good strategy to make the position from a poor qualifying start. 8th was Rosberg picking up vital points, but Mark Webber really should have been there but he had a pitlane incident where he was released into the path of Heidfeld, focing the German to nearly crash and got given a drive-through penalty for it.
Timo Glock should also have finished higher than 10th, but a fuel rig failure ruined his chances of points from early good running.
Sutil, Buemi and Nakajima came next in the classifications with fairly average races, and Luca Badoer brings up the rear of the field [again] in what is likely to be his last Ferrari race.
Fernando Alonso retired with a broken front left wheel and suspension, while we do not know Jarno Trulli’s problem possibly a fuel pressure issue.
Classified Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1.23.50.995 |
| 2 | G. Fisichella | Force India Mercedes | +0.939 |
| 3 | S. Vettel | Red Bull Renault | +3.875 |
| 4 | R. Kubica | BMW Sauber | +9.966 |
| 5 | N. Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | +11.276 |
| 6 | H. Kovalainen | McLaren Mercedes | +32.763 |
| 7 | R. Barrichello | Brawn Mercedes | +35.461 |
| 8 | N. Rosberg | Williams Toyota | +36.208 |
| 9 | M. Webber | Red Bull Renault | +36.959 |
| 10 | T. Glock | Toyota | +41.490 |
| 11 | A. Sutil | Force India Mercedes | +42.636 |
| 12 | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso Ferrari | +46.106 |
| 13 | K. Nakajima | Williams Toyota | +54.241 |
| 14 | L. Badoer | Ferrari | +1.38.177 |
Fastest Lap: S. Vettel (Red Bull) 1.47.263
Retirements
| Driver | Team | Lap | Reason |
| F. Alonso | Renault | 27 | Tyre/Suspension |
| J. Trulli | Toyota | 21 | Fuel Pressure (Poss.) |
| J. Button | Brawn Mercedes | 1 | Accident |
| R. Grosjean | Renault | 1 | Accident |
| L. Hamilton | McLaren Mercedes | 1 | Accident |
| J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 1 | Accident |
Belgian GP 2009: Fisichella Takes Shock Pole Position
Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella has delivered the small team it’s first ever pole position after a stunning qualifying session in Belgium, where the form book really was turned on it’s head.
Fisichella the flambouyant Italian was amazingly fast throughout the session in the heavily revised Force India car, and the investment has paid dividends to its owner Vijay Mallya.
Although likely to be light on fuel, this must signal the first points of the season for the team based in Silverstone. If not that, it signals to Ferrari that Giancarlo Fisichella could deliver something for them, unlike Luca Badoer who did not help his cause by qualifying last and ending Q1 in the wall.
Jarno Trulli made second place in the significantly faster Toyota, and Nick Heidfeld made a shock return to the top with 3rd position.
Rubens Barrichello will start 4th, the highest qualifying Brawn after Jenson Button faltered and did not get out of Q2. He will start in 14th tomorrow, a big harm to his world championship chances.
Kimi Raikkonen did much better than Badoer and will start 6th, those around him must be concerned about his KERS system.
Vettel and Webber made 8th and 9th for Red Bull, so should make valuable ground tomorrow.
The improving McLaren’s have struggled in Spa this afternoon, with Hamilton making just 12th place and Kovalainen 15th. Another big name between them is Fernando Alonso in 13th.
We thought the Toro Rosso’s looked good, but neither managed to get out of Q1 with Buemi starting 16th and Alguersuari 17th.
Romain Grosjean lines up alongside Badoer at the back, after the young French/Swiss made progress.
Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 1. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:45.102 1:44.667 1:46.308 2. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:45.140 1:44.503 1:46.395 3. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:45.566 1:44.709 1:46.500 4. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:45.237 1:44.834 1:46.513 5. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:45.655 1:44.557 1:46.586 6. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:45.579 1:44.953 1:46.633 7. Glock Toyota (B) 1:45.450 1:44.877 1:46.677 8. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:45.372 1:44.592 1:46.761 9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:45.350 1:44.924 1:46.788 10. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:45.486 1:45.047 1:47.362 11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:45.486 1:45.119 12. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:45.239 1:45.122 13. Alonso Renault (B) 1:45.767 1:45.136 14. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:45.707 1:45.251 15. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:45.761 1:45.259 16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:45.705 17. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:45.951 18. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:46.032 19. Grosjean Renault (B) 1:46.307 20. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:46.359
Belgian GP 2009: Hamilton Fastest In Frantic FP2
Weather conditions changed for the better in Fp2 at Spa this afternoon. This led to frantic activity as teams and drivers tried to make up for time lost in the rainy morning session.
Hamilton was fastest, just hundredths of a second ahead of Timo Glock and Kimi Raikkonen.
Raikkonen’s team mate Luca Badoer stuck in last place, and Ferrari seem incredibly disappointed with his performance.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:47.201 29 2. Glock Toyota (B) 1:47.217 + 0.016 29 3. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:47.285 + 0.084 26 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:47.329 + 0.128 31 5. Grosjean Renault (B) 1:47.333 + 0.132 34 6. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:47.506 + 0.305 27 7. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:47.559 + 0.358 33 8. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:47.578 + 0.377 33 9. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:47.579 + 0.378 36 10. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:47.602 + 0.401 25 11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:47.702 + 0.501 38 12. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:47.743 + 0.542 33 13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:47.790 + 0.589 29 14. Alonso Renault (B) 1:47.862 + 0.661 30 15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:47.961 + 0.760 32 16. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:48.017 + 0.816 30 17. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:48.125 + 0.924 34 18. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:48.130 + 0.929 37 19. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:48.360 + 1.159 29 20. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:49.211 + 2.010 30
Belgian GP 2009: Trulli Fastest In Rain Affected FP1
Jarno Trulli set the fastest time in what was a mostly rain affected first session at Spa Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix.
A lot of cars did slow wet runs, and Lewis Hamilton + Sebastian Vettel failed to set times. That means Luca Badoer isn’t last!
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:49.675 13 2. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:50.283 + 0.608 18 3. Alonso Renault (B) 1:50.368 + 0.693 13 4. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:51.045 + 1.370 20 5. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:51.529 + 1.854 24 6. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:52.321 + 2.646 18 7. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:52.930 + 3.255 16 8. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:53.383 + 3.708 11 9. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:53.650 + 3.975 12 10. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:55.068 + 5.393 20 11. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 2:03.972 + 14.297 11 12. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 2:04.505 + 14.830 13 13. Grosjean Renault (B) 2:05.513 + 15.838 13 14. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 2:05.614 + 15.939 14 15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 2:05.705 + 16.030 15 16. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 2:05.839 + 16.164 10 17. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 2:06.181 + 16.506 6 18. Glock Toyota (B) 2:06.331 + 16.656 15 19. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1 20. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 4
European GP 2009: Barrichello Takes Emotional Victory
Rubens Barrichello took a highly emotional victory in this afternoon’s European Grand Prix, winning his first race for 5 years – his last victory was at the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix with Ferrari.
It puts Barrichello right back into title contention. Lewis Hamilton will be aggrieved not to have won, having led most of the way he was let down by a pit crew failure. Kimi Raikkonen stormed through to finish in 3rd position.
Race Review
Both McLaren’s made a good start off the grid, as did Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button. Button tried to go down the inside of Vettel who made a slow start, but the German forced the Briton into the pitlane exit area where he let off the throttle. The resulting masses of space and the KERS system allowed Raikkonen to easily sweep around the outside and into 4th position.
Button lost multiple places further back, and was forced to rescinde a place to Australian Mark Webber after cutting a corner following Fernando Alonso who at the time was defending against Webber.
Sebastien Buemi was cut up in the first few turns and lost his front wing, having to crawl back to the pit for a new one. He was joined by Romain Grosjean who lost his wing when Timo Glock made a very late overtaking dive at the inexperienced Frecnhamn turned into the Toyota.
These position changes allowed those at the back, including Luca Badoer to make up a few places.
The top order remained relatively unchanged as the drivers hit their pitstops. Lewis Hamilton was pulling out a good lead with fastest lap times.
The next action was when Sebastian Vettel’s engine blew for the second time this weekend. Vettel was angered post race, and indeed we’re pretty sure any continuation of the RBR/Renault deal is now off the cards and the team could be switching to either Ferrari again or perhaps Mercedes Benz.
The Force India’s got themselves in the mix today too, along with the BMW’s but only Robert Kubica would come away with a point.
As the drivers hit their second stops, it was evident that Barrichello was trying to catch Hamilton. The Brit had a good lead and all was good until he pulled into his pitbox and the tyre men were not ready with new tyres. This led to pantomime scenes and lost Hamilton many seconds of time, allowing Rubens through and pretty much ended his chance of winning. Hamilton’s Father was nonchalant smacking his fists together in he back of the garage.
Kimi Raikkonen also made an unseen overtake on Heikki Kovalainen securing the Iceman a quality 3rd position.
The only other DNF of the race was Sebastien Buemi whose brakes gave up late on and led to a huge spin incident.
Kazuki Nakajima suffered a puncture and a delamination of the tyre half way around the lap very late on too. Luca Badoer and Romain Grosjean had pitlane comedy when Badoer was released, he let Grosjean through, side by side, but then as he put the power down Badoer went over the white line and got himself ANOTHER pitlane penalty. Throw in a huge spin for the Italian driver and it has left many questioning whether he will ever race a Ferrari again. (I’m free next weekend if you need me Ferrari?!).
And that was that, another pretty lacklustre European Grand Prix in Valencia, made interesting by pitlane comedy and Luca Badoer. It is good to see Rubens Barrichello win again, and by his tears of joy in the car and parc ferme we know how much it means to him. Wonderful dedication to Felipe Massa at the end also. Could Rubens be the World Champion?
Classified Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | R. Barrichello | Brawn Mercedes | 1.35.51.289 |
| 2 | L. Hamilton | McLaren Mercedes | +2.358 |
| 3 | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | +15.994 |
| 4 | H. Kovalainen | McLaren Mercedes | +20.023 |
| 5 | N. Rosberg | Williams Toyota | +20.870 |
| 6 | F. Alonso | Renault | +27.744 |
| 7 | J. Button | Brawn Mercedes | +34.913 |
| 8 | R. Kubica | BMW Sauber | +36.667 |
| 9 | M. Webber | Red Bull Renault | +44.910 |
| 10 | A. Sutil | Force India Merc | +47.935 |
| 11 | N. Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | +48.822 |
| 12 | G. Fisichella | Force India Merc | +1.03.614 |
| 13 | J. Trulli | Toyota | +1.04.527 |
| 14 | T. Glock | Toyota | +1.26.519 |
| 15 | R. Grosjean | Renault | +1.31.774 |
| 16 | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 17 | L. Badoer | Ferrari | +1 lap |
| 18 | K. Nakajima | Williams | + 3 laps |
Fastest Lap: T. Glock (Toyota) 1.38.683
Retirements
| Driver | Team | Lap | Reason |
| S. Buemi | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 42 | Brake Failure |
| S. Vettel | Red Bull Renault | 24 | Engine |
