Narain Karthikeyan Fills Final Vacancy On 2012 Grid
Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan has been confirmed at HRT for the coming season, filling the final vacancy on the 2012 grid. This comes only days after it was rumored he could well return to HRT, who incidentally had him replaced halfway through last season.
Narain Karthikeyan raced for the Spanish outfit for the first half of last season, before being replaced by Australian rookie Daniel Ricciardo. Karthikeyan reappeared only once again in 2011 at his inaugural home Indian Grand Prix, surprisingly replacing Tonio Liuzzi.
Narain Karthikeyan will team-mate fellow F1 returnee Pedro De La Rosa, the Spaniard making his return to full-time racing after juggling test driver roles for McLaren and the occasional race drive for Sauber.
“It has taken a lot of hard work to make this happen but I am absolutely elated to feature on the 2012 grid with HRT F1 Team.” Said Narain Karthikeyan on the official HRT website, “I was pleased with our strong performance at the Indian Grand Prix, in front of my passionate home fans and I look forward to building on this result in 2012. I have been training hard since the end of 2011, ensuring I was ready for the rigors of F1 if an opportunity arose. I am delighted to have signed with HRT F1 Team. With the new management, Pedro, and the team, there is definite potential for progress. We need to understand that F1 is new to India, we hosted our first race only last year which was a resounding success. To build on that momentum, an Indian driver will certainly keep the interest engaged throughout the season. I am proud to secure an opportunity to forge a stronger connection between India and Formula 1 once again”.
HRT will join the other Formula 1 teams at Jerez next week in preparation for the first pre-season test, with Pedro De La Rosa behind the wheel before Narain Karthikeyan joins them from the second test onwards.
Narain Karthikeyan In Line For Final HRT Drive
Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan could well be in with a chance of securing himself with a drive for HRT this coming season, even though the team replaced him halfway through last season with Australian rookie Daniel Ricciardo.
With the only vacancy remaining on the 2012 grid at HRT, various drivers have been linked with the team, from GP2 drivers’ Dani Clos and Giedo van der Garde to F1 drivers’ Tonio Liuzzi, Jaime Alguersuari and now Narain Karthikeyan. Either way the only driver who will eventually pick up the drive will have to bring with them €6 million.
Last year HRT replaced Karthikeyan halfway through the season with rookie Daniel Ricciardo, who saw out the rest of the season with the team. Narain Karthikeyan returned for his home Indian Grand Prix in place of Tonio Liuzzi.
Now it has been rumored that HRT could well be prepared to re-sign the Indian driver, even though Tonio Liuzzi is adamant he still has a contract for the Spanish outfit. Either way, with HRT suffering financially in the build up to the 2012 season, it’s undeniable that the lucky driver will turn out to be a pay driver.
Jules Bianchi Becomes Force India Reserve Driver
French Formula 1 fans will have more to cheer about today as it has been confirmed that French driver Jules Bianchi has become the new Force India reserve driver, a move which will see him partake in at least nine Friday practice sessions over the season.
Jules Bianchi has been a member of Ferrari for the last few years and has recently become the leading candidate as a potential replacement for Felipe Massa, joining Sergio Perez, Paul Di Resta and Robert Kubica in a long list of drivers potentially set to replace the Brazilian.
With the Frenchman joining Force India as their official reserve driver, it has been confirmed that Bianchi will remain part of the Ferrari Young Drivers’ Programme, even though he will take part in at least nine Friday practice sessions over the course of the 2012 season for Force India.
Last season, Bianchi finished 3rd in the GP2 Series, racing for Lotus ART and winning one race at the British Grand Prix along the way. He also competed in last seasons GP2 Asia Series, again for Lotus ART, finishing as the runner up behind Romain Grosjean who incidentally is racing for Lotus in Formula 1 this season.
Jules Bianchi will be hoping that history repeats itself this season, as the last three Force India reserve drivers have gone on to pick up a full time race seat in F1 the following season with Tonio Liuzzi, Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg all eventually becoming F1 drivers after being a Force India reserve driver.
Jules Bianchi becomes the fourth French driver in F1 for 2012, joining fellow countryman Romain Grosjean, Jean-Eric Vergne and Charles Pic.
And Then There Was One…
With Bruno Senna being officially confirmed as the No.2 Williams driver for the coming 2012 season, the question that remains now is who will pick up the final seat currently remaining on the 2012 grid at HRT?
Many drivers have been rumored at potentially joining the Spanish outfit for 2012, from drivers such as Jaime Alguersuari and Tonio Liuzzi who raced in 2011, to potential rookies of the sport such as GP2 graduates Dani Clos and Giedo Van Der Garde. However, with Liuzzi hinting that the team are currently more cash stricken that at first believed, the general belief is that whoever is lucky enough to race for HRT in 2012 will undeniably be a pay driver.
Many drivers who progress from GP2 tend to start off as pay drivers nowadays, such as Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado who has huge backing from the Venezuelan petroleum company PDVSA. Some could argue that Bruno Senna has become a pay driver, although Williams have denied these allegations stating Senna was picked on merit and not for sponsorship money reasons.
With Rubens Barrichello now potentially without a drive for 2012, could the Brazilian find himself on the grid at the season opening Australian Grand Prix in March in a HRT? This eventuality seems highly unlikely, as HRT undoubtedly need a driver with lots of money to inject into the team, and if Barrichello had such money at his disposal he’d have likely thrown it in the general direction of the Williams team instead.
With HRT moving their Headquarters to Spain and signing Spanish returnee Pedro De La Rosa, many have believed HRT were aiming for an all Spanish line-up, however this has been recently denied by the team. With Giedo Van Der Garde stating he’s still hopeful of racing in F1 in 2012, maybe he could find himself a drive with HRT.
Another potential candidate is recent F1 refugee, Jerome D’Ambrosio who last season made his debut with Virgin Racing. D’Ambrosio was replaced shortly after the end of the final race of the season by French rookie Charles Pic, and is currently keeping his head down in relation to his plans for 2012.
Whoever ends up as the HRT No.2 driver in 2012, it will definitely be a driver with a large amount of sponsorship money ready to be injected in a team who are currently struggling to make ends meet in a sport where only the strongest survive.
Tonio Liuzzi Unsure About HRT Future
Tonio Liuzzi has admitted that his future with HRT is uncertain after new Team Manager, Luis Perez-Sala, revealed they had held discussions with various drivers and are in no rush to sign a second driver. This comes only one week after Liuzzi stressed that he would be returning with HRT in 2012 and that he still had a long-term contract with the outfit.
HRT have had a recent change in management with the team aiming for a Spanish based headquarters and have appointed a new Team Manager in ex-F1 driver Luis Perez-Sala. With these new changes still taking place, the team seem reluctant to rush into anything and have insisted they will not announce a team-mate for Pedro De La Rosa in the new future.
HRT made their debut in 2010, racing four different drivers in total throughout the season. In 2011 they raced a further three different drivers in Narain Karthikeyan, Tonio Liuzzi and Daniel Ricciardo. Whilst Ricciardo has moved up the F1 ladder to Toro Rosso, Karthikeyan’s F1 career seems to have faded away whilst Liuzzi is still very much there striving to secure that final HRT seat for 2012.
“I have a contract to race next season with HRT, but the agreement was concluded with the previous owner and now the future is uncertain,” Liuzzi said to TotalRace.com. With so many 2011 drivers currently unemployed and all fighting for the last two vacancies on the 2012 grid, a drive with HRT, rather than no drive at all, is looking more favorable every day. With rumors hinting that ex-Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari and Spanish GP2 driver Dani Clos both within a chance at HRT, Liuzzi has his work cut out in the new year period.
Liuzzi Confident On 2012 HRT Race Seat
Tonio Liuzzi has announced he is confident on staying at HRT during 2012 and believes he is set to join Pedro De La Rosa, stating he has no plans on moving away from the team. This comes after the final HRT seat is one of only two seats remaining vacant on the 2012 grid.
With HRT hunting for an all Spanish 2012 drivers’ line-up, many have perceived recent Toro Rosso refugee, Jaime Alguersuari, as the main candidate for the second HRT seat, however Tonio Liuzzi is adamant that he signed a “long-term” contract at the start of 2011 and that he’ll continue driving for the team next season.
With HRT currently undergoing a revamp with ex-F1 driver Luis-Perez Sala becoming the new Team Principal and the team currently moving their racing operation from Germany to Valencia, HRT could well be looking for a new and brighter future in 2012, a future that might not include Liuzzi.
Tonio Liuzzi joined the outfit after he was replaced at Force India by Paul Di Resta, and had a less than successful 2011 season with HRT, finishing as high as 13th at the wet and crazy Canadian Grand Prix and as low as 23rd on several occasions whilst being clearly outraced by rookie Daniel Ricciardo in the latter part of the season.
With Williams set to announce Bruno Senna as their second driver for 2012, a drive at HRT has never looked so enticing!
All Change At Toro Rosso For 2012
Toro Rosso have named Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne as their new drivers for 2012, dropping Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari. This comes as a huge shock to the F1 world as it was only a few weeks ago that Toro Rosso looked set to retain their 2011 drivers.
This announcement comes only weeks after reports suggesting Daniel Ricciardo was in line to replace Jarno Trulli at Caterham with Jean-Eric Vergne settling for a test driver role with Toro Rosso. However only days after Jaime Alguersuari spoke of his confidence in his future in Formula 1, he is now among many F1 drivers searching for a seat in time for next seasons opener in Melbourne.
Daniel Ricciardo raced for HRT in 2011 after he replaced Narain Karthikeyan at the British Grand Prix and undoubtedly outdrove his former and much more experienced team-mate, Tonio Liuzzi. With HRT searching for an all Spanish driver line-up in 2012, the young Australian found himself hunting for a drive for 2012. With Toro Rosso supposedly retaining their drivers for another year, Red Bull were trying to have Ricciardo replace Trulli at Caterham with the hope he’ll one day be able to progress up the Red Bull ladder and drive for the team itself.
Jean-Eric Vergne was the runner-up in World Series by Renault in 2011 after winning 5 of the 17 races and has completed Friday tests with Toro Rosso throughout 2011 as well as taking part in the Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test with the World Championship winning Red Bull team, dominating all three days.
With such a drastic change at Toro Rosso, the question now is where will Buemi and Alguersuari end up? With Alguersuari being Spanish a potential opportunity could open up at HRT alongside veteran Pedro De La Rosa.
With only Williams, Force India and HRT now remaining to announce their full 2012 driver line-up, are we about to see more shocking changes? Williams have already confirmed Pastor Maldonado for 2012, however his team-mate is still unknown with Rubens Barrichello, Vitaly Petrov and Adrian Sutil all striving for that position, as well as Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari. Force India look set to be announcing their line-up anytime soon with Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg hinted at driving for them in 2012. And lastly HRT have yet to announce their second driver alongside Pedro De La Rosa, with the team looking for an all Spanish driving line-up.
Either way it seems there are too many drivers and not enough teams for 2012, and it is undeniable that some drivers will not be on the grid come March, the only question is which ones will be lucky enough to be snatched up by Force India, Williams or HRT?
Daniel Ricciardo Linked To Caterham For 2012
Australian 2011 Formula 1 rookie, Daniel Ricciardo, has been linked to the Caterham Formula 1 team (formerly known as Team Lotus) in 2012 if the team decide not to retain current driver Jarno Trulli.
The teams No.1 driver, Heikki Kovalainen, has confirmed his allegiance with the team whereas the future for Jarno Trulli looks highly uncertain even though the Italian finished higher up the table in the 2011 season. The Italian driver join Team Lotus in 2010 from Toyota and has ultimately been the No.2 driver to Kovalainen since the beginning as the Finn joined from McLaren.
Daniel Ricciardo has raced for HRT for the majority of this season after replacing Indian driver, Narain Karthikeyan at the British Grand Prix. However with Pedro De La Rosa joining the outfit for 2012 and the team being rebranded as the Spanish National Team for 2012, Daniel Ricciardo is now looking elsewhere for a drive next season.
What with the Aussie’s Red Bull links, the natural choice would be Toro Rosso, however it now looks likely that Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari will be retained with Jean-Eric Vergne as the test driver. This therefore presents Red Bull with a conundrum of where to send the Aussie for 2012. With Pic being signed by Marussia (Virgin) there’s no luck there, meaning the only real opportunity for a race drive in 2012 is with Caterham alongside Kovalainen.
Time will tell what the outcome will be for Ricciardo, who has undeniably outshone his more experienced team-mate, Tonio Liuzzi, this past season. Whatever the outcome, Ricciardo has certainly shown his worthiness with such decent driving in his rookie season with undeniably the worst outfit on the grid.
Mark Webber Secures First Win Of The Season
Australian Mark Webber has won his first and only race of the 2011 season as he has won the Brazilian Grand Prix after team-mate Sebastian Vettel suffered a gearbox problem that lasted the whole race.
The race started off with Mark Webber suffering his usual slow getaway as Vettel stormed into what looked like his usual dominating lead as Fernando Alonso jumped ahead of the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton who got bogged down behind Webber. Rubens Barrichello started what could be his final Brazilian Grand Prix from 12th position and suffered a terribly slow start as he slipped right the way down to 20th after getting pounced on by the Sauber’s and Toro Rosso’s.
By the end of Lap 1, Sebastian Vettel had broken out a one second lead to Webber and by Lap 2 the gap was two seconds and many believed this was the start of another Vettel dominance of pole, the win and the fastest lap.
Michael Schumacher suffered a difficult race as he was involved in an incident with local hero Bruno Senna as the two came together on Lap 10 with Schumacher picking up a puncture and Senna loosing parts of his front wing. Schumacher was lucky to make it back to the pits as his punctured tyre began falling to pieces spreading parts of the track in bits of rubber as he tiptoed to the pits. Senna was also forced to pit yet he didn’t change his front wing as predicted and only changed his tyres. The outcome of this incident was a controversial drive-thru penalty for Bruno Senna, who served it immediately which penalized him even further after his pitstop.
On Lap 14 the gap between Vettel and Webber at the front was a steady three seconds with Fernando Alonso successfully past Jenson Button and a further seven seconds behind the Red Bulls. It was on this lap that Sebastian Vettel was informed via his team radio that he was suffering from a gearbox related issue and that he would need to short shift between second and third gear to save being forced to retire due to the issue. This immediately gave Mark Webber more incentive to close the gap, and on Lap 30 Sebastian Vettel slowed to allow Mark Webber through as his gearbox problem intensified with the team pleading with Vettel to be easy on the faltering gears.
Before this swapping of the lead between the Red Bulls, the top five drivers all stopped for their first planned pitstops with the positions staying the same once all had pitted. The first retirement of the race was Timo Glock as he and the Virgin mechanics failed the communicate as the German driver sped off from his pit box without the right-rear tyre being properly secured. This ultimately ended with Glock leaving the pit lane with only three wheels on his car, forcing him to peel off the track and retire.
The second retirement of the race wasn’t far off as the Williams of Pastor Maldonado buried his car in the wall on Lap 28, ending what has been an embarrassing season for him with the Williams team, however it is widely speculated that Maldonado will race with the team next season.
With the general belief that the drivers would mainly be completing a two-stop race strategy, many of the drivers completed a three-stop race, and these second stops were completed around Lap 32 onwards. As the race wore on, the season long battle between McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was resumed on track as the McLaren was once again stuck behind the Ferrari. As Hamilton came into the pits to try and perform what is known as the undercut on Massa, Massa pitted a lap later and therefore rejoined the race still ahead of the Brit as the battle resumed on track with many in the pits holding their breath and hoping that history wouldn’t repeat itself. Unfortunately for Hamilton he failed to get close to Massa again as he exited Turn 3 and lost all his gears with a gearbox failure (something which he had been warned of several laps earlier), forcing him to retire and end what has been a dismal year for the 2008 World Champion. HRT driver Tonio Liuzzi was the last retirement as he stopped his car at the side of track, ending what has been a torrid season for Liuzzi who could well be racing in his last race for HRT.
At the end of the race it was Aussie Mark Webber who came home triumphant as he won his first race of the season, his second ever win at Brazil as he set fastest lap after fastest lap towards the end of the race, finally crossing the line with a 01:15.324 on the final lap!
With the season now over, several drivers enter the winter without a drive, including Rubens Barrichello who has been adamantly stipulating that he will return in 2012. Whether he will or not, it’s going to be an interesting winter off season as Team Lotus becomes Caterham, Virgin becomes Marussia and Renault becomes Lotus. One thing that won’t change over the winter however, and it’s that Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull are once again the guys to beat heading into 2012.
The Brazilian Grand Prix Interlagos, Sao Paulo, Brazil; 71 laps; 305.909km; Weather: Cloudy. Classified: Pos Driver Team Time 1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1h32:17.434 2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 16.983 3. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 27.638 4. Alonso Ferrari + 35.048 5. Massa Ferrari + 1:06.733 6. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 7. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap 8. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 9. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 10. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 12. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 13. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 15. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap 16. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 17. Senna Renault + 2 laps 18. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 19. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps 20. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps Fastest lap: Webber, 1:15.324 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 62 Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 37 Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 27 Glock Virgin-Cosworth 22
Hamilton And Webber Head Brazil Practice
Red Bull’s Mark Webber and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton topped todays practice sessions for this weekends Brazilian Grand Prix as the drivers got to grips with the ever challenging Interlagos circuit.
The first session saw McLaren and Red Bull resume their intense battle for the top spot as the McLaren’s of Hamilton and Button set the early pace before World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, topped the timings soon afterwards. Felipe Massa outshone his team-mate of Fernando Alonso as the local hero came home 5th just six tenths off the pace as Fernando Alonso suffered a frustrating FP1 with engine related issues forcing him to park his Ferrari at the side of the track with the threat of engine issues high this weekend for all of the field.
FP1 saw the now usual amount of Friday Drivers’ take to the track as last years pole-man, Nico Hulkenberg, replaced Adrian Sutil for the session at Force India and ended 8th overall, Romain Grosjean replaced Vitaly Petrov at Renault and suffered clutch trouble at the end of the pit-lane finishing 12th overall, World Series by Renault World Champion, Jean-Eric Vergne, replaced Sebastien Buemi at Toro Rosso and enforced his hopes of entering F1 next year by finishing 18th ahead of Brazilian GP2 Driver, Luiz Razia, who finished 20th for Team Lotus and last but not least was Czech driver Jan Charouz who replaced Tonio Liuzzi at HRT. The session ended with Mark Webber topping the timing sheets for Red Bull as he hopes to win his first ever race of 2011 at the last available chance.
The second session got underway and the Red Bull vs McLaren battle was quickly resumed as Lewis Hamilton headed the timing sheets for the majority of the session as well as a quick time at the top from the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher as he strives to achieve his first podium since his F1 return last year. Schumacher, a veteran of the sport, has won the race four times in his long career, the last being the 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix amid his Ferrari dominance.
The Sauber of Sergio Perez suffered a gearbox failure towards the end of the session on the run out of the Juncao section of the track with his Sauber running wide at first and then coming to a halt with Perez on the radio informing the team he had no gears.
With today speculated to be the only day of dry running with the threat of showers set to hit the track tomorrow and Sunday, these times could well be the quickest we see all weekend as the drivers will start from scratch if tomorrows final practice session is wet.
FP1 Classification
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m13.811s 26 2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m13.825s + 0.014 25 3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m13.961s + 0.150 20 4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m14.025s + 0.214 28 5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m14.507s + 0.696 34 6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m14.541s + 0.730 26 7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m15.162s + 1.351 28 8. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m15.178s + 1.367 28 9. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m15.241s + 1.430 31 10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m15.321s + 1.510 29 11. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m15.468s + 1.657 29 12. Romain Grosjean Renault 1m15.547s + 1.736 18 13. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m15.663s + 1.852 27 14. Bruno Senna Renault 1m15.732s + 1.921 32 15. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m15.747s + 1.936 31 16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m15.836s + 2.025 27 17. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m15.979s + 2.168 35 18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m16.052s + 2.241 33 19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m16.514s + 2.703 33 20. Luiz Razia Lotus-Renault 1m17.595s + 3.784 31 21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m18.140s + 4.329 29 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m18.653s + 4.842 29 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m18.952s + 5.141 33 24. Jan Charouz HRT-Cosworth 1m19.577s + 5.766 37
FP2 Classification
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m13.392s 35 2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m13.559s + 0.167 41 3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m13.587s + 0.195 41 4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m13.598s + 0.206 35 5. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m13.723s + 0.331 38 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m13.750s + 0.358 39 7. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m13.787s + 0.395 36 8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m13.872s + 0.480 42 9. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m14.144s + 0.752 41 10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m14.807s + 1.415 48 11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m14.856s + 1.464 38 12. Bruno Senna Renault 1m14.931s + 1.539 37 13. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m14.970s + 1.578 32 14. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m15.019s + 1.627 45 15. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m15.264s + 1.872 44 16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m15.388s + 1.996 41 17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m15.679s + 2.287 43 18. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m15.903s + 2.511 40 19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m16.298s + 2.906 36 20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m16.338s + 2.946 48 21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m18.031s + 4.639 39 22. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m18.051s + 4.659 45 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m18.367s + 4.975 42 24. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m18.476s + 5.084 42
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