Mercedes Test F-Duct Front Wing For 2012
Although Mercedes took part in the first test at Jerez this week using their old 2011 car, it didn’t stop them trying out new devices and setting fast laps in their three days on track. This new device they were trying out was an innovative F-Duct on the front wing, reminiscent of McLaren’s device from 2010.
With Mercedes yet to unveil their 2012 challenger, their drivers are completing extra mileage in their 2011 car this week with the aim to give their designers more design time in the hope it’ll assist them in designing a highly competitive car.
For the last two seasons, Mercedes have been scoring consistent points finishes, yet have struggled in achieving consistent podium finishes and have failed to win a race. With other teams releasing their cars prior to the start of pre-season testing at Jerez, Mercedes opted for a different route.
Mercedes have had a successful few days at Jerez, with Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg both topping the timing sheets on the second and third days of testing, albeit driving their 2011 car against others in their new cars (apart from HRT).
However it has emerged that Mercedes have been testing a new and potentially innovative device in their nose, which has turned out to be an F-Duct style system. Unlike McLaren’s system which sat on the front wing of their car, this device is only a tiny slot at the tip of the Mercedes nose which, according to a report in Auto Motor und Sport, takes the air that enters the device, and channels it down onto the front wing.
With the device estimated at providing around a 5 to 8kph benefit, could this be the device excels Mercedes to the heights of McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari?
Kimi Raikkonen Calm Ahead Of F1 Return
After unveiling his new challenger, the Lotus Renault E20, Kimi Raikkonen seemed exceedingly calm ahead of his return to Formula 1. After completing two days of running in a 2010-spec Renault last month, the Finn is confident he can perform.
“I’m happy to be back.” He commented after pulling the covers off the new Lotus with team-mate Romain Grosjean, who also makes his return to F1 this season. When asked whether he was nervous about his comeback, especially after Schumacher’s slow return to form, he didn’t seem perturbed about the whole scenario.
“No not really, it will be something slightly different to what it used to be from when I was first in Formula One.” Said Raikkonen, comparing his return to that of Schumacher, “A different team, different regulations but everybody’s different and for some people it is more difficult to get used to new stuff. It depends a lot on the car as well. If you have a good car it makes it a lot easier than if you have an average car. I was pretty happy after the first test that we did a few weeks ago. It felt pretty normal already so I think it will be okay. I’m happy so far about how things have gone.”
Kimi Raikkonen left the sport after the 2009 season after suffering two dismal years with Ferrari. In 2008 and 2009 he was only able to win three races in comparison to team-mate Felipe Massa’s 6 in one season for Ferrari.
After leaving the sport, he raced in the World Rally Championship as well as dabbling in Nascar, before eventually returning to Formula 1 with Lotus. Raikkonen is confident success can be found with the Enstone based squad, and expects decent results throughout 2012.
Rubens Barrichello Edges Closer To IndyCar
Brazilian Formula 1 veteran, Rubens Barrichello has seemingly edged closer to a future racing in IndyCar’s after he extended his test for an extra day at Sebring. Rubens Barrichello has also stated he’ll take no time in deciding whether to make the switch or not.
Rubens Barrichello was replaced at Williams for the new season by Bruno Senna, leaving him seemingly without a drive in Formula 1. With HRT as the only option remaining open to him for 2012, he decided to head for the States to test the new Dallara DW12 chassis which will make it’s debut in IndyCar this year.
Testing for the KV Racing Technology team alongside fellow countryman and good friend Tony Kanaan, Rubens Barrichello has been racing around the Sebring circuit, and has even extended his stay for an extra days running.
Rubens Barrichello’s test with the team was set to come to an end on Tuesday, however the Brazilian decided to stay on for the Wednesday to make up for his lack of track time the day before.
When asked in an interview for O Estado de S.Paulo regarding his future in motor sport, he announced a decision will be made very soon: “I don’t know how things are going to move forward now, I have not spoken with Jimmy Vasser about racing in the season. What is certain is that it [the speculation] will not last long. Whether I race or not will be known soon. There is a lot of work still to do and KV needs to know its driver.”
Rubens Barrichello has competed in 322 Grands Prix since his career began at the 1993 South African Grand Prix, achieving 11 Grands Prix wins, 68 podiums and 658 points.
Volkswagen Eyes Future F1 Involvement
German car manufacturer, Volkswagen, may well be the next car company to join Formula 1, following the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Lotus in either supplying a team with their engines or even attempting at launching their own team in the sport.
This comes after Volkswagen representative, Wolfgang Durheimer, spoke of a future for the company that includes partaking in Formula 1 to business magazine Wirtschaftswoche.
“Later this year I will put forward proposals to the executive group for (involvement in) not only the racing series that we do already. It is true — in America, Asia and the Middle East, we are not sufficiently represented in motor sport.” Said Wolfgang Durheimer, hinting that Volkswagen could well partake in not only Formula 1, but other forms of Motor Sport as well.
With Mercedes currently underperforming, could Volkswagen become the new German power within Formula 1? Mercedes need to start showing improvement this season, with their drivers in desperate need of wins and podiums.
The business magazine which Wolfgang Durheimer spoke to, Wirtschaftswoche, also stated that Volkswagen could well already have links with Toro Rosso, who are currently a breeding ground for new talent in F1 for Red Bull Racing.
Recently, big car manufacturers like Toyota and Honda have ceased to work within Formula 1, both supplying engines and running their own teams in the sport. Hopefully Volkswagen can become a success in F1, a sport they have shied away from in the past.
Frentzen Says Age Has Caught Up With Schumacher
Former F1 race winner, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, has spoken out about fellow countryman Michael Schumacher’s current form in the sport recently, stating that age has caught up with him.
Frentzen and Schumacher had a very tense relationship during their time together in the sport, which dates back to the Mercedes Junior Programme in Germany. The two came together during the 1998 Canadian Grand Prix where Schumacher exited the pit-lane and simply drove Frentzen off the track, many believing Schumacher knew exactly where Frentzen was.
Whilst Michael Schumacher went on and became seven-time World Champion, Frentzen settled for only three Grands Prix wins and 18 podiums throughout his career and retired from the sport in 2003. Whilst Schumacher returned to the sport in 2010, Frentzen admitted he never really missed F1 after his retirement, even though he has raced in DTM and Le Mans since.
“As you grow older, you tend to hesitate and become indecisive whether or not to push and take risks,” he told IANS, “You lose precious tenths of a second. I think, Michael is at that stage in his career. I think, I took the wrong decisions while Michael took the right ones. In 1994, I joined Sauber and later that year, I had an offer from Williams as a replacement for Ayrton Senna who died in a crash. I rejected the offer as Sauber had given me a break into F1. But when I eventually joined Williams in 1997, things had changed in the team. I had some good races and bad, but after I retired in 2003, I have never really missed Formula One, but have raced on and off in other series.”
With Michael Schumacher admitted he is set for a hard winter testing program with Mercedes, he’ll be hoping for a more successful 2012 after a less than successful return to Formula 1.
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 Wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix As Vettel Retires
Lewis Hamilton has secured his first Grand Prix victory since the German Grand Prix earlier in the year as he has won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix being the first driver other than Sebastian Vettel to win this particular race.
The race thrown potentially wide open when World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, suffered a rare failure on the first lap when he had a puncture which threw the car off the track, allowing the entire field the flow through before allowing him to rejoin with a totally destroyed right rear tyre as he began his limp back to the pits.
After being gifted the lead due to Vettel’s error, Lewis Hamilton immediately jumped to attention and flew into the lead, pushing over a one second lead to Fernando Alonso who was able to barge his way past 2009 World Champion, Jenson Button, who was unable to defend his position heading down into Turn 8 and who then became under severe pressure from the surviving Red Bull of Mark Webber.
As Sebastian Vettel came limping back to the pits it became apparent that the damage to the car from the flailing tyre was more than first perceived and before anyone could gather their breath from the first lap melee, Sebastian Vettel was out of the car and officially a retirement for the first time since last years Korean Grand Prix when his engine literally exploded showering the track in burning pieces of debris.
After this initial burst of excitement, many predicted an exciting battle for the win between Alonso and Hamilton reminiscent of 2007 when the two were team-mates, yet Hamilton was able to maintain the gap whereas Button had to start serious defending from Webber as the two began wheel banging in between the two DRS Zones.
The answer to Button’s lack of speed over Webber was released through a piece of team radio on Lap 12 when it was announced Button had a KERs failure and with Webber using both KERs and DRS against him, it was an intense couple of laps as the two swapped places throughout the two DRS Zones.
Shortly afterwards the front runners began their first pit stops as Felipe Massa was the first to blink as he was quickly followed a lap later by his team-mate of Alonso and the two McLaren’s of Hamilton and Button as the McLaren mechanics pulled off a stunning display of team work as they pitted both cars almost together without compromising their race pace and track position. A lap later it was Mark Webber’s turn to pit and if Red Bull’s race couldn’t get any worse it unfortunately did as their pit stop was painstakingly slow as all four tyres failed to get changed in unison, ruining Webber’s chance of continuing his battle with Button. Another rare mistake as Red Bull’s pitstops have usually been superb this season.
After these first flock of pit stops the normality was resumed at the front as Hamilton led convincingly over Alonso with Button third still without the KERs boost working. Due to Webber’s slow pit stop he had lost out to the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa and was now bogged down in fifth place only around six seconds ahead of Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes.
On Lap 20, Belgian rookie Jerome D’Ambrosio became the second retirement of the day as he suffered from mechanical issues with his Virgin Racing car, ending what could be his second-to-last race with two potential drivers aiming to take his race seat in 2012. Two laps later the Toro Rosso of Sebastien Buemi joined Vettel and D’Ambrosio as he retired with unfortunate gearbox troubles, his body language speaking much louder than words in the pits as he is also another driving fighting for his drive next season as the graduates from GP2 and GP3 are looming closer.
With the race at the sharp end of the field a stalemate and the DRS dominating the majority of the passing throughout the field, excitement was hard to come by. However on Lap 30 the woes of the Williams team continued as Pastor Maldonado received a drive thru penalty due to ignoring blue flags and several laps later he was offending again as he was side-by-side with the Toro Rosso of Jaime Alguersuari as the front runners were frantically trying to weave their way through them. Unfortunately for them, Alguersuari and Maldonado were literally neck and neck alongside each other through Turns 11, 12 and 13. Now although the rules are rules and drivers should immediately jump out of the way once they see flying blue flags, where exactly could Maldonado and Alguersuari have gone? They were both racing each other and had their battle ruined by blue flags and subsequently came under investigation for the offense, the outcome to be drawn up after the race.
Felipe Massa suffered yet another disastrous race as he spun his Ferrari heading into Turn 1 and lost out to Mark Webber, the Brazilian being in danger of becoming the first Ferrari driver since Ivan Capelli in 1992 to not get his Ferrari on the podium.
Whether the race was boring or not, it depends on your attitude to these modern Tilke designed tracks. Regardless of that, though, it is refreshing to see three drivers on the podium, not one of them being a Red Bull, and having what looks like the Hamilton of old back again. Hopefully he came maintain this and not slip back into his old ways in Brazil.
Race Classification:
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Yas Marina, United Arab Emirates; 55 laps; 305.355km; Weather: Clear. Classified: Pos Driver Team Time 1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h37:11.886 2. Alonso Ferrari + 8.457 3. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 25.881 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 35.784 5. Massa Ferrari + 50.578 6. Rosberg Mercedes + 52.317 7. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:15.900 8. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:17.100 9. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:40.000 10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 11. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 13. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 14. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 15. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 16. Senna Renault + 1 lap 17. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap 18. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 20. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps Fastest lap: Webber, 1:42.612 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 49 Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 19 D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 18 Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1
Nico Rosberg Extends Mercedes Contract
Nico Rosberg has followed in his team-mates footsteps by renewing his contract by a further two years. This comes after seven time World Champion, Michael Schumacher, also renewed his Mercedes contract yesterday.
Nico Rosberg, like his team-mate, has not won a race for the “Silver Arrows” yet, however he has scored several podiums (unlike his team-mate!) and has definitely been the stronger of the two Mercedes over the last two seasons, finishing above Schumacher last season and this season being just above him in the standings with only two races remaining.
Before joining Mercedes, Nico Rosberg drove for the Williams outfit, and had only scored two podium in four seasons with the team as well as a good deal of points finishes. One of these podiums was the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix in which was saw the infamous “crash-gate” saga begin when Nelson Piquet Jr. intentionally crashed his Renault to benefit team-mate Fernando Alonso.
In the last two seasons, Nico Rosberg has been the most consistent of the two Mercedes cars, retiring only four times so far whereas Schumacher has retired a total of seven times, albeit not always his own fault.
To see either of the Silver Arrows win a race would be a hugely memorable occasion, but to see it driven by Nico Rosberg would be something special as he hunts down that all allusive maiden Grand Prix victory. Many drivers dream of winning their first race at either their home nation or in a car of the same nationality, like Nigel Mansell at the 1985 European Grand Prix who was lucky enough to win in both a British Williams car at Brands Hatch and so it would be memorable to see Rosberg win his maiden race in a German car. It would be something else if it turned out to be at the German Grand Prix as well!
One thing’s for the certain, though, and it’s that Mercedes must have one of the strongest driving forces of the grid as both drivers strive to win a race. Schumacher desperately needs one to show he’s still a fighting force and Rosberg needs one just to show that he is going to be a fighting force in years to come!
Vettel Wins Disappointingly Farcical Korean Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel has won what has turned out to be a disappointingly farcical Korean Grand Prix as the DRS has yet again dominated a race in which drivers failed to pass unless assisted by the talentless device.
After such an exciting Qualifying session yesterday, we looked set for a stunning race and after the first 4 corners, it seemed the promise had become reality as drivers scuttled around trying to avoid each other as places were swapped at will. Button dropped down from 3rd to 5th as he drove wide on the exit of Turn 4 and Massa launched an attack on Webber up to 3rd place momentarily before loosing out to the Aussie into Turn 4. Hamilton, however, lost out to World Champion Sebastian Vettel on Lap 1 and soon after all focus turned to the DRS and who was within a second of the driver ahead to gain the advantage.
And that was unfortunately how the race was practically run, with Hamilton struggling to use the DRS to pass Vettel and later on in the race Webber failing to use the DRS to pass Hamilton. The ability of KERs cancelled out any advantage of using the DRS, and apart from Vitaly Petrov slamming into the back of Michael Schumacher (due to too much use of DRS be it noted!) that brought out the Safety Car, the race was pretty much a stale mate, something that should never be the case in Motor Sport!
Mark Webber did gain 2nd place for a slit second heading into Turn 1, but that one moment of skill from the Aussie was immediately cancelled out by Hamilton who had the DRS advantage heading down the long straight and retrieved his position back from Webber.
Meanwhile whilst all of this gadget aided racing was going on Sebastian Vettel was romping away in the lead, and eventually won the race a dominant 12 seconds ahead of eventual 2nd placed man Lewis Hamilton who managed to crack a smile during the podium ceremony.
Maybe I’m being too cynical and not accepting the new breed of F1 racing that has been born this last season, but it’s plainly obvious now that overtaking has become something of a formality and not something a driver can look back on and think “What a hard fought move! I worked hard for that!”. I’ve always thought that all of these gadgets should be forgotten about and that manual gearsticks should be brought back into the sport thus forcing drivers to work harder in the cockpit, and also forcing drivers to sometimes miss a gear which would then lead to a passing possibility un-aided by artificial “Mario Kart” like gadgets. It worked in the 70s, 80s and early 90s and in those days passing was common place with drivers working extremely hard in the cockpit, take a look at Ayrton Senna fighting his McLaren around the streets of Monaco in 1990 on YouTube and you’ll see what I mean.
Negativity aside, Vettel drove a superior race and it’s a shame such a dominant race should be marred by such farcical racing due to these false and unsporting gadgets. Yes the likes of IndyCar have a push-to-pass gadget but its use is much more free. The drivers get a fixed amount of times they can use the device which gives them a boost reminiscent of DRS and they can use it wherever they wish on the track. But once it’s all used up, you’re vulnerable to the car behind who might well have a couple of push-to-passes remaining. Maybe F1 should employ this gadget and get rid of DRS and KERs. Either way it’s not a promising future for F1, which seems to have gone full circle from the use of active suspension and traction control in the mid to late 90s and early 00s to the banning of such devices, F-Ducts last year and now DRS and KERs. What ever next to aid passing I shudder to imagine.
Anyway, next up is the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, and fingers crossed we can have a less DRS dominated race!
Race Classification:
The Korean Grand Prix Korea Auto Valley, Yongam, Korea; 55 laps; 305.909km; Weather: Dry. Classified: Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h30:01.994 2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 12.019 3. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 12.477 4. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 14.694 5. Alonso Ferrari + 15.689 6. Massa Ferrari + 25.133 7. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 49.538 8. Rosberg Mercedes + 54.053 9. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:02.762 10. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:08.602 11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:11.229 12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1:33.068 13. Senna Renault + 1 lap 14. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap 15. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 16. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 17. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 1 lap 18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 1 lap 19. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 1 lap 20. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 1 lap 21. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:39.605 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 31 Petrov Renault 17 Schumacher Mercedes 16
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