Pastor Maldonado Receives Gearbox Penalty For Bahrain

The Williams of Pastor Maldonado will take an unfortunate 5-place grid penalty for this weekends Bahrain Grand Prix, as the Venezuelan driver will suffer a gearbox change. The same penalty has struck both Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton this season, and could well result in a tough race for Maldonado.

With the two Williams’ drivers’ of Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado scoring a wonderful double points finish in China, the Williams team found an issue with the gearbox used during that race and therefore require a new one in the Venezuelan’s car.

The regulations stipulate that a driver must complete a minimum of five races with one particular gearbox, with the only exception being if a driver fails to finish a Grand Prix. With Maldonado finishing 8th in China, this was not the case and as a result he has suffered the penalty.

Pastor Maldonado has only ever raced at the Sakhir International Circuit twice, in both GP2 and GP2 Asia. In GP2 he only ever managed to finish as high as 16th in 2007 with Trident Racing, whereas in the 2008-09 GP2 Asia season he failed to finish both races in Bahrain with ART Grand Prix.

Picture Copyright © Williams F1 Team

Silverstone Receives Increased Capacity For 2012 British GP

With the 2012 British Grand Prix ticket sales already 10 per cent up compared to last seasons race, Silverstone is set to receive an added boost of two new grandstands in preparation for this years event. These proposed plans will add an extra 3,500 plus seats to the vastly improving circuit, which has progressed in leaps and bounds in recent years. 

The two new grandstands will be located in the Luffield Complex and on the National Pits Straight, and will be named the Luffield Complex Grandstand and Silverstone Grandstand respectively.

“We had fantastic crowds on all three days of last year’s British Grand Prix and interest in this year’s event has been even higher,” explained Silverstone’s Managing Director, Richard Phillips. “Increasing our capacity will enable even more fans to experience the spectacle, excitement and drama of Formula One at Silverstone. We pride ourselves on striving to provide the best experience for fans – with grandstands and General Admission areas offering exceptional views of the track, first class spectator facilities and a host of exhilarating off-track entertainment, the fans can expect another fantastic three days at this year’s British Grand Prix.”

This comes just under a month after plans for a ‘Space Age’ Silverstone by 2027 were unveiled, a deal which could bring 95,000 further grandstand covered seats, an open-air music arena, kart circuit, museum, entertainment hubs and hotels to Silverstone. With such ambitious plans for a circuit which was set to be replaced by Donington only several years’ ago, it seems these plans are already ongoing as Silverstone’s future looks ever more brighter.

Picture Copyright © Force India F1 Team

IndyCar Receives Rules Revamp For 2012

 

Only a month after becoming the IZOD IndyCar Series President and Race Director, Beaux Barfield has already rewritten new rules for the 2012 season. Coupled with the new Dallara DW12 chassis and the introduction of Chevrolet and Lotus as engine suppliers with Honda, IndyCar will be slightly different in 2012.

In 2012, long-time IndyCar engine suppliers Honda have been joined by two new manufacturers’ in Chevrolet and Lotus. With this in mind, IndyCar will run a Manufacturers’ Championship. Much like the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship, points will be awarded at each race and will tally up towards the end of the season until eventually a Manufacturers’ Champion is crowned.

To assist communications between the teams, race officials and race control, a new instant messaging system is set to be introduced for 2012. Coupled with the teams’ radio communications with their drivers, track conditions and other important information will be quickly transmitted from the track to the Race Director and vice-versa.

Double-file restarts, which were introduced last season, are set to be retained in 2012 with the only exceptions being races held at Indianapolis, Texas and Fontana. This particular rule requires the cars to end a caution period just how they started the race, unlike beforehand when they restarted in single file. 

It has also been rumored by Beaux Barfield that standings starts could well be introduced at some races towards the end of the season, reminiscent of how Formula 1 races are started. IndyCar has always started their races as rolling starts, where the field complete a particular amount of laps behind the safety car before they begin the race. This particular tradition is completed at much higher speeds, and is the only way races can be started on ovals. Naturally standing starts would only work on street and road courses, with ovals remaining as a rolling start procedure.

Another change to the rules for 2012 is how qualifying is set to be held at the Iowa Corn Indy 250 in June. Usually qualifying is held in a single-car format, however this has been changed for this race only to feature heat races to determine the grid. It has been agreed that 30-lap races will determine the grid, with races taking place in three groups. Positions for these races will be decided by practice times. 

With these new changes taking place in 2012, it’s fair to say IndyCar will be slightly different when the season gets underway at St. Petersburg in March. It’ll be interesting to see which of the three manufacturers’ come out top, and how the new qualifying system for Iowa works out.

Picture Copyright © Motor Authority

2012 Pirelli Tyres Receive New Markings

The Pirelli tyres for the coming 2012 season have received new markings to help make it clearer to fans which type of tyres the drivers are using throughout the season, with a new range of wet tyres also unveiled.

The colors which depict the different types of tyre have been slightly tweaked, with the writing becoming more bolder with the bands near the lettering becoming slightly larger. There has also been a slight change to help fans differentiate between the white (medium) tyres and the silver (hard) tyres with the writing on the silver variant becoming more darker.

Pirelli have also changed the range of wet tyres that will be on offer to the F1 teams throughout the season, with the P-Zero range being replaced by the Cinturato range which Pirelli made famous in the 1950s. The colors of the wet tyres have also been changed, with the full wets now in blue with the intermediate tyres in green.

In 2012, Pirelli also hope to help make F1 more exciting, with a more aggressive approach from Pirelli in its tyres compounds. Pirelli will also allow the Formula One Management (FOM) more access more data, with the idea that the data will then be able to be adopted in an on-screen graphic which will be able to show the fans how old a particular tyre is.

Pirelli have also slightly changed the construction of the tyre, with the end result being a slightly squarer variant which is aimed at helping improve grip and handling for the 2012 season.

Pirelli enter their second year as sole tyre supplier for the F1 teams after replacing Bridgestone, who were the sole supplier after Michelin ended their involvement in F1 after the 2006 season.

Russian driver Vitaly Petrov was today hinted at potentially joining Pirelli as their test driver, however both Petrov and Pirelli denied these rumors.

Paul Ricard To Receive Makeover For French GP Return

It has been announced that the Paul Ricard circuit will receive a makeover which will include additional grandstands and viewing areas if the track hosts the allegedly returning French Grand Prix in 2013.

The French Grand Prix has been rumoured at returning to the Formula 1 calendar in 2013, a move which could see the race alternate with the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa. The circuit has been used extensively since it held its last race in 1990 as a test circuit, with it’s grandstands which were used throughout its time as the French Grand Prix host demolished.

However it has been announced that if the circuit is elected as the host of the French Grand Prix, it will receive a makeover which will consist of 50,000 temporary seats as well as access for a further 20-30,000 people on the hills that line the French circuit reminiscent of the how track used to function. These changes would be funded by, it has been added, by public and private partners.

These changes would begin in the first quarter of 2012, regarding the track is announced as the host of the 2013 French Grand Prix.

Pastor Maldonado To Receive Penalty For Abu Dhabi

Venezuelan rookie, Pastor Maldonado, will receive a 10 place grid penalty for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in two weeks time after being forced to use a 9th engine due to the limit of 8 engines per driver.

Maldonado suffered a terribly unlucky Indian Grand Prix weekend when he suffered from an engine failure and a gearbox failure resulting in further misfortune for the Williams team who have suffered their worst season in F1 since their inaugural season way back in 1978. In that time the Williams team have had a highly successful career winning 9 Constructors’ Championships, 7 Drivers’ Championships and 113 race victories, the last being the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix thanks to Juan Pablo Montoya.

Williams have been the centre of attention lately in relation to their drivers for the next year, with 2007 World Champion and ex-Ferrari and McLaren driver, Kimi Raikkonen, possibly with a chance of securing Rubens Barrichello’s seat with Pastor Maldonado looking set to become his team-mate thanks to his huge funding from Venezuela.

Whatever the case for next season at Williams, the only direction is forward for them and it is undeniable that Kimi Raikkonen would be a huge bonus for a team currently floundering at the bottom of the F1 pecking order.