McLaren Remain Confident They Can Catch Red Bull

McLaren have confirmed that they are remaining confident they can catch Red Bull in the closing four rounds of this exceedingly entertaining season, with both Button and Hamilton remaining fully focused on finishing first and second in the remaining races. This comes as Sam Michael confirms the team will be introducing several upgrades in the closing stages of the season.

Despite Red Bull’s sudden resurgence in the last two race weekends at Japan and Korea, which has seen reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel dominate by leading every racing lap, the Woking-based outfit are remaining focused on catching the Red Bull duo and winning the remaining four races. With a certain Fernando Alonso also undoubtedly set on the same ambition, the final four races of the season have all the ingredients of being a sensational spectacle as several previous World Champions aim at reeling in Sebastian Vettel.

“We’re going to push to the end – our target at McLaren is to win every race, and we’ll do our best to achieve that,” explained Sam Michael, during a Vodafone phone-in. “Red Bull took quite a big step across Singapore and Suzuka, so they will be tough competitors, but our target is still to beat them. The gaps are very small now, so it only takes one or two tenths to swing from one way to another, and that can be driven off [one team’s] development working, or another team not bringing enough.”

The final four races of the season includes several tracks of differing characteristics, including a semi-street circuit at Abu Dhabi and an entirely new circuit in America which is undoubtedly going to cause a few surprises up and down the paddock. Throughout these final races, Sam Michael has confirmed that McLaren will continue to introduce upgrades on their car, as they continue their aim of remaining a competitive force.

“We do believe we can take the challenge to them; we are turning up trying to finish first and second in the last four races.” Continued Sam Michael, “Our target is still to do as well as we can, and to achieve that we need the car. At this point we normally don’t go into specific details, but we do have upgrades coming [for the next races].”

Whether or not these ambitious aims work out for McLaren will be an intriguing factor in the final races of the season, as Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel battle for the Drivers’ Crown in what has been an incredibly competitive season. Although both Button and Hamilton agree that their Championship chances are now over, their burning desire for victory obviously remains red hot!

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McLaren Confirm Double-DRS Plans

McLaren have confirmed they are considering developing their own rendition of the Double-DRS device, which was pioneered by Mercedes at the beginning of the season. This comes after it was decided to make the device illegal for next season, after fears it could spark a costly development race between the teams.

The Double-DRS device first appeared on the Mercedes W103 at the start of the season, and had its legality questioned at the Chinese Grand Prix by Lotus after Nico Rosberg stormed to his maiden Grand Prix victory. The device channels air through a hole in the rear wing endplate which is exposed once the DRS device is activated, which is then channeled through tubes underneath the car towards the front wing which is then stalled.

Lotus have become the latest team to experiment with the device, after extensively testing their own rendition during practice for the German and Hungarian Grands Prix. It is believed that their device uses a fluid switch to stall the rear wing when the car reaches a certain speed, thus providing the car with an advantage even when the DRS device is not activated. With the next two races at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza both held on fast flowing circuits, this particular device could prove imperative to success.

“It’s not like the Lotus one, but we have got a system like that,” explained Sam Michael in an interview with AutoSport. “As for the chances of us bringing it, I don’t know yet. We will look at all the programmes and see if it is feasible, because it requires work and it detracts from normal upgrades as well. So it is quite difficult to make the system work, as Lotus are discovering. But like anything in the pit lane, if we see a new idea then the guys jump on it, they analyze it and, if we decide that it will be a benefit to the team, then we will bring it.”

McLaren are currently 2nd in the Constructors’ Championship, and have endured mixed results since Jenson Button’s glorious victory at the season opener in Australia back in March. With Lewis Hamilton only 47 points behind Championship leader Fernando Alonso, the Double-DRS device could become the key to the Briton’s chances of becoming World Champion.

Picture Copyright © McLaren F1 Team

Sam Michael On Red Bull And McLaren’s Pit Stop Blunders

Last time out at the European Grand Prix, the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel showed immense pace in relation to the rest of the field. Until the safety car period on lap 27, the reigning World Champion was in a world of his own in the lead of the race. If the German hadn’t have retired shortly afterwards, he would most likely have stormed to his second win of the season.

As it transpired, Fernando Alonso stole victory away from Red Bull in an emotional victory for the Spaniard. McLaren, however, suffered a dismal end to the race as Lewis Hamilton crashed out after a collision with Pastor Maldonado. Along with another pit stop blunder, this was a weekend to forget for the Woking-based outfit. However, the team’s Sporting Director Sam Michael believes Red Bull’s pace at Valencia was most likely circuit-specific and expects the gap between McLaren and Red Bull to close up once again this weekend.

“It [Red Bull’s pace] probably has got some circuit-specific nature to it.” Explained Sam Michael, “If you look forward to Silverstone it’s definitely more in line with where the McLaren’s strengths are. However, it’s clear Red Bull have taken a step forward, although I don’t think it’s as big as the pace that Sebastian Vettel showed in that first stint and we are hoping to correct that at Silverstone. We have upgrades going to Silverstone as well, as we do at every race. So we are hoping they can bring at least a tenth. So regardless of where Red Bull were in Valencia – and they were very strong – our target is to be on the front row and challenging for a win.”

When asked why he thinks Sebastian Vettel’s first stint at the European Grand Prix wasn’t reflective of the pace of the RB8, he explains that it most likely has a lot to do with the Pirelli tyres.

“I’d be pretty surprised if they maintained a second-a-lap gap to the rest of the field.” Continued Sam Michael, “It was impressive pace but ultimately, as we’ve seen throughout this year, if you get the tyres working properly and you fall into that window then you can generate enormous amounts of grip. We’ve seen that probably four or five times this year. So Sebastian [Vettel] was certainly better on the tyres in that first stint. I think it was reflective of that rather than the car.”

Throughout the 2012 season, it’s fair to say that a lot of points for McLaren have been lost due to pits stop blunders. Jenson Button suffered one during the Chinese Grand Prix, which ruined his chance of victory. Lewis Hamilton has endured the majority of these blunders, with the latest episode occurring at the European Grand Prix. However, Sam Michael has explained how McLaren are not trying to be the quickest in the pits, but instead the most consistent team with the quickest average pit stop time.

“Our target is consistency.” Said Sam Michael, “Our target is not the fastest stationary time but the fastest average time. Our internal target is to achieve three-second pit stops consistently. Consistency always has been our goal and all of the technology that we have added has actually been to add consistency, rather than speed.

“Everyone has similar pains. Look at Red Bull in Montreal, they had a problem with a front-right tyre. Look at Ferrari in Valencia last week – the front-left tyre wasn’t even changed when they changed the front wing on Massa’s car. Mercedes are still having problems retaining wheel nuts. So we’re not unique in having issues with equipment or technical process. We do take it very seriously internally.”

However, with McLaren aiming for victory at this weekends British Grand Prix, another pit stop error during the race could be detrimental to any chances of victory for either Button or Hamilton. Sam Michael is confident these errors have been identified and rectified, and with 800 practice pit stops completed earlier in the week, there is no denying the McLaren mechanics are trying their best.

“We identified the problem in Valencia and why that failed and the design has been modified for Silverstone.” Continued Sam Michael, “On Monday this week, we completed 800 pit stops on the jacking systems, with no faults at all. So during a race weekend, we would probably do about 50 pit stops, including all of the practices. So effectively we did 16 Grand Prix weekends on Monday. So we believe that we have solved it, but at least we have done good due diligence on the new design we have got for Silverstone.”

With McLaren confident their pit stops will not suffer the same embarrassing blunders during this weekends British Grand Prix, they will undeniably be hoping that they can bring the fight to Red Bull as they try and take victory in front of their adoring home fans.

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Williams Reveal FW34 Prior To Start Of Testing

Williams have revealed their 2012 challenger, the FW34, at Jerez prior to the start of pre-season testing which begins today. The car, as expected, features the new step nose design as well as a front wing which is barely held on by the nose cone. 

With the fog still thick around parts of the Jerez circuit, the teams today prepare for the first day of official pre-season testing. With Toro Rosso ending yesterday’s proceedings with the launch of their car, Williams have today opened them with the unveiling of their new car.

Unlike other unveilings these last few days, the car was simply rolled out of their garage in the pit-lane, with drivers’ Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna posing with the car for photo shoots. 

Williams’ have replaced F1 veteran Rubens Barrichello with fellow Brazilian Bruno Senna, resulting in Barrichello heading off to IndyCar for testing in America. GP3 Series Champion, Valtteri Bottas, will complete several Friday practice sessions throughout 2012 as he becomes the Williams reserve driver.

With Sam Michael leaving the team for McLaren, this Williams is the first car designed by a technical team which is headed by Mark Gillan, with Williams desperate to improve over a disastrous 2012.

Last season the team suffered its worst ever season in Formula 1 in its long history, scoring only a handful of points and finishing ahead of only Team Lotus, Virgin Racing and HRT in the Championship Standings. Hopefully the Renault powered FW34 can bring the team back to the midfield after a terrible 2011 campaign.

Sam Michael To Move To McLaren Official

Following yesterdays speculation that Williams Technical Director, Sam Michael, was off to McLaren at the end of the season, it has now become official that this is no longer speculation, but reality.

Sam Michael officially resigned as Technical Director of Williams in May following their worst start to an F1 season in their long career, however he agreed to stay on as Technical Director until the end of the season. However it has now been revealed he won’t be seeing the whole season out, and the next race at Singapore will be his final race as a Williams employee before becoming the Sporting Director of McLaren, a move that will give him specific responsibility of the development and management of trackside operations.

The role in which Sam Michael will now command was last held by Dave Ryan, who was involved in the controversial “lie-gate” story during the 2009 Australian Grand Prix and was subsequently fired by the team when Lewis Hamilton was disqualified for misleading the race officials under Dave Ryan’s orders.

The question now arises as to how Williams will shape up after this affair? Will they come out stronger after their restructure or will they continue their downward spiral? I’m sure a lot (if not all) of the F1 fraternity will be hoping to see Williams back to their old ways in a few seasons time.

Picture Copyright © Williams F1 Team

Sam Michael Off To McLaren?

Recent rumors have been floating around about where ex-Williams Technical Director Sam Michael will end up in 2012. However, some rumors have placed him at joining McLaren, a team that currently already have two Technical Directors as it is!

Sam Michael replaced legendary Technical Director Patrick Head in 2004, who stepped aside to lead the team’s Research & Development Division. Unfortunately for Sam, however, the team have been on a slow downward spiral since then, and have subsequently lost their BMW power, and are now running Cosworth engines after having the worst start to an F1 season in their long history. In May 2011, Sam Michael officially announced his resignation from Williams F1, a move which will take place at the end of this season.

This speculation now leads to a new and interesting question: Where would Sam Michael fit in to McLaren? Would he replace Paddy Lowe or Neil Oatley, or maybe ever both of them? I highly doubt it, and remember this is only pure speculation that Sam Michael is McLaren bound. After all it was in May that he was speculated in a move to the struggling HRT team, as well as the Virgin F1 team.

However if this speculation does become a reality, it will be interesting to see how McLaren fair in 2012 as they have not had a Technical Director as successful as Adrian Newey who designed their immensely successful McLaren MP4/13 which dominated the 1998 F1 Season with Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.

As with all things, time will tell where Sam Michael will eventually end up. I for one can’t see him joining McLaren, but weirder things have happened in F1.

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