2005/2006 F1 News and Testing.

Flibster · 10 Feb 2006 at 14:59

Renault fix rear wing problem

Renault have succeeded in finding a fix to the rear wing problem suffered by Heikki Kovalainen earlier this week - meaning their testing programme is now back on track.

Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella had been forced to share a low-mileage rear wing during testing on Thursday while the team got to the bottom of the structural problem discovered on Wednesday.

But after analysis at the team's Enstone factory, and a big effort from the team on Thursday night, the team were able to resume normal testing activities with two cars today.

Renault's technical director Bob Bell said: "The rear wing is a brand new design, and we noticed a small structural problem this week on two examples, leaving us with just one lower-mileage wing available at the test - which meant we only ran one car at a time on Thursday.

"Obviously, a potential problem with the rear wing assembly can have serious consequences if it fails, so we took a very prudent approach and immediately brought the wings back to Enstone.

"After rigorous analysis, we determined the solution that was required, and the team worked through the night yesterday to implement it. The modified components arrived this morning in Jerez, and the cars were both running again at 09:00."

Flibster · 10 Feb 2006 at 15:00

Renault happy with less teams on Michelin

Technical director Bob Bell admitted his Renault team are benefiting from the decrease in the number of teams working with Michelin this year.

Toyota and Williams left the Michelin camp at the end of last year, leaving Michelin with five teams compared to Bridgestone's six. Last year, the French tyre maker had seven teams, compared to three on the Japanese tyre.

"Michelin are showing a real determination to win," Bell said, when asked how competitive Michelin are.

"They are pushing harder than ever. With fewer teams running Michelin tyres this year, we are also enjoying a closer and more direct collaboration."

Richard T · 10 Feb 2006 at 15:01

rpstewart said:
That is good going and I think an appropriate time to say thanks for all your efforts.

agreed

Well done Simon and thanks

Flibster · 10 Feb 2006 at 15:04

rpstewart said:
I wonder if Donkey (if he's still under contract ) could make the switch to STR? Would be nice to see Donkey on tour again.

Donkey retired. Even his web site no longer exists...

rpstewart said:
That is good going and I think an appropriate time to say thanks for all your efforts.

Murf said:
I'll second that. I don't post much but I check this thread daily. Excellent read and excellent work.

Cheers.

I have no idea how much time I spend doing these F1 threads...
May have to time the first one for Bahrain *going to miss the Australian F1's back party.*

Arc said:
Yeah but Ron likes to hide those stories away from the press.

But they still come out.

Although for that drunk in someone garden he apparently received a written warning.

Simon/~Flibster

Flibster · 10 Feb 2006 at 15:41

No advantage for V10s, says Berger

Scuderia Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger has said he does not understand why rival teams are upset about his outfit running V10 engines this year - because he is adamant they will not have an advantage over the V8 runners.

Midland F1's managing director Colin Kolles said last week he was furious that Toro Rosso were running a V10 engine – and said there would be a 'problem' if the Red Bull junior team outqualified his outfit in Bahrain.

But despite continued doubts about whether the FIA's 'equivalency' restrictions on the V10 engine have gone far enough, Berger has said that he thinks the current level of performance for his team's engines is about right.

When asked for his thoughts on other teams' concerns about the V10 engine situation, Berger told autosport.com: "For other teams, you mean basically Midland.

"I think this is the regulation. I do not see any advantage at the moment and all the lap times are where they should be. We have a good car but we are not doing the quickest times. You know, okay, we are quicker than Midland but so what?

"I think when they decided on the equivalency there were a lot of thoughts behind it and lots of calculations must have been done. We know we are definitely not having an advantage over the V8 Cosworth engine and, although we may have an advantage over another engine, for me at the moment this figure is a fair solution."

Berger has said that he does not expect a swift improvement of form over Minardi's pace for Toro Rosso this year, and claims he is looking at up to three years for the outfit to be competitive.

"You have to see the reality," he said. "It is not reasonable to say that we can go first and second. We will have to see over the first three years. Within three years we have to establish a good pace, put good people together – but knowing that the resources are limited.

"Still, I believe with the right people we can do something together and of course we have direct competitors – Midland and Suzuki. That is the first stage of direct competition. Then let's try to see the next step."

Flibster · 10 Feb 2006 at 15:42

Berger says F1 needs the FIA

Former grand prix driver and new team owner Gerhard Berger has added his weight to Flavio Briatore's belief that Formula One's future can only be secured by the FIA.

Although the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association are still pressing ahead with their plans for a breakaway series, Berger has made it clear that his Scuderia Toro Rosso outfit are fully supportive of FIA president Max Mosley's vision.

He echoes Briatore's claims from his interview in Auto Motor Und Sport that the manufacturers would be the wrong people to run F1 because there would be too many vested interests.

"We are very much in line with the FIA," Berger told autosport.com during a break in testing at Jerez in Spain on Friday. "I am a believer in the FIA, simply because it is important to have independent bodies making decisions without individual interests.

"It will be strange to get teams involved (in running the sport) as everyone has his own agenda and interest.

"You have to accept that when the FIA makes decisions it sometimes fits your idea and sometimes it does not. It is important to have an independent body, and I am a supporter of it."

Flibster · 10 Feb 2006 at 15:43

Briatore: manufacturers should commit to F1

Renault boss Flavio Briatore believes the time has come for Formula One's manufacturers to accept that their best hope for the future is in aligning themselves with Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone.

Although the five members of the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Toyota and Honda , have agreed to stay committed to their breakaway plans until later this year, Briatore has made it clear that he has no doubts where his team are likely to focus beyond that.

In an interview with Auto Motor Und Sport, Briatore said that the only sensible solution for the future was the low-cost F1 being planned by Mosley - and warned that the sport could 'destroy' itself if the breakaway happened.

"It is very simple," said Briatore. "The cards are on the table and everybody is free to decide what he prefers. The ones who want to compete with reasonable cost have to stay in Formula One. The rest have to do something different.

"We only should have one thing in mind. It took ages to bring this sport to the level that we have now. It can take only one season to destroy it all."

Briatore claims that the idea of manufacturers running a championship does not make sense, because of the amount of self-interest likely to exist between the competitors. He thinks only Mosley and Ecclestone are able to look at the bigger picture and help secure the long-term future of the sport.

"People in this business have a very short memory," he explained. "For most of us the world ends at the door of our own garage. Max and Bernie see the whole picture. Mosley has to act as he does, because we never find an agreement. It is normal that doing this results from time to time in not so good decisions.

"But all in all he does a very good job. Bernie made us all rich. I do not understand the people, who complain all the time, that they do not get enough money. I know colleagues who started as normal people in this business. Now, they are normal people with a private jet."

Although Mosley's plans to reduce technology and costs in F1 from 2008 have been on the receiving end of criticism from some manufacturers, Briatore actually believes they do not go far enough.

"Max is right with his new rules," he said. "We must cut the cost to guarantee a future to Formula One. For me he could have gone even further with his cost saving measures."

He added: "A Grand Prix is a two-day event. Friday should be a test day. Then we would not need to test during the season at all. The single tyre supplier and a few additional standard parts on the car will support that. I would cut testing before the season to one week. That should be enough to see whether the new cars are running and everything is safe. We burn millions of dollars with testing and nobody watches us. What a waste of money."

And Briatore has even suggested that the best solution would be for the sport to impose a budget cap - which would be enforced by the FIA in the same way that the Inland Revenue oversees company's accounts.

"The ideal situation would be to have a budget cap of 100 million dollars for each team," he said. "The job of the FIA would then be to police the budgets, just like the tax office is controlling your income and expenses. In such a formula, efficiency would win. Who makes the most with a given amount of money?"

Flibster · 10 Feb 2006 at 15:44

Red Bull spend too much, says Briatore

Red Bull Racing need to win a race this season if they are to justify the huge amount of money they are pumping into Formula One.

That is the view of Renault boss Flavio Briatore, who claims that Red Bull's massive recruitment drive from rival teams has led to the outfit losing sympathy from some of their rivals.

"Red Bull seems to be on a big shopping tour at the moment and they are spoiling the costs with exaggerated salaries," said Briatore in an interview with Auto Motor Und Sport.

"In the past we all thought that it was Ferrari who spent the most money. Maybe we have to reconsider that.

"Taking into account how much money Red Bull invests, they have to win their first race this year. Red Bull got a lot of sympathy in their first season, but they are starting to lose that."

Briatore's comments about Red Bull Racing needing to win a race this year have come at the same time as the team's leading figures bid to play down mounting expectations surrounding the outfit.

David Coulthard claimed the realistic target this season was for Red Bull Racing to finish consistently in the points and maybe grab just a single podium finish.

"I think we have to be careful and set realistic targets, and the realistic target is that I think we should be aiming for consistent points finishes and a possible podium," he said in an interview with autosport.com.

Sporting director Christian Horner added: "It is always a fine balance and I think that David's public perception is very high and this year is going to be another building year for Red Bull Racing. We will make progress from where we were last year, but ultimately we won't be winning races this year on pure pace.

"Our targets are quite clear, we want to be challenging some of the big boys ahead of us, we think we can compete with Williams, we got quite close to BAR last year, BMW are going to be a big force to be reckoned with as well. So we are confident we can move forward and build on that progress."

Flavio's not going to be popular this year....

He's running his mouth off - but he's not in charge of the future of Renault in F1 ...

He's going to pee off some big people in F1.

Arc · 10 Feb 2006 at 16:05

Briatore may not be saying the most popular things but in the end they have to be said.

Just got a feeling that people are looking at F1's future through rose tinted glasses and thinking everything will work out ok and we'll be back to the good old days of racing. It could end up turning into a disaster if they dont sort something out soon.

Flibster · 10 Feb 2006 at 17:21

Rossi won't win in F1, say Alonso

World champion Fernando Alonso believes that Valentino Rossi's switch to Formula One will end in disappointment - because he doubts the Italian will be able to win.

Although speculation is mounting that Rossi will eventually make the jump from motorcycles to F1 with Ferrari, Alonso is sceptical about whether the MotoGP champion will be as good in cars as he is on bikes.

When asked whether be believed Rossi could actually win in F1, Alonso told Spanish radio station Cadena SER: "Sincerely...no, I don't think so.

"Last week he did his first test with other drivers, but his engine was quite different from ours. It's like if I would try motorbikes. I could take part, have fun, but I could never beat (Dani) Pedrosa. I couldn't beat people that started in mini-bikes when they were three..."

Alonso's doubts about Rossi's potential come after analysis by this week's Autosport magazine reveals that Rossi was theoretically able to set a time just a few tenths slower than Michael Schumacher.

Taking into account the restricted V10 engine that Rossi was running in his F2004, Autosport reports that Rossi would have been able to set a best time of 1:10.8 seconds with a proper V10. This compared to Schumacher's best lap at Valencia in a F2004 of 1:10.2 seconds.

Flibster · 10 Feb 2006 at 17:21

Bahrain issuing free F1 visas

Ahead of the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix the government is offering free F1 Visas. Travellers visiting Bahrain for the race will be able to obtain their free 'F1 visa' if they have with them a valid ticket to the race, a proof of purchase or official association with the FIA Formula One World Championship. The F1 Visa scheme begins on February 26 and runs until March 12. Upon arrival in Bahrain F1 visa holders will get fast-tracked through the airport

Flibster · 10 Feb 2006 at 20:22

Looks like I was very wrong - here it is peeps...hot off the presses..

McLaren reveal 2006 car livery

McLaren-Mercedes have revealed their 2006 car livery today, a month ahead of the first race at Bahrain.

The MP4-21 marks the first livery design for McLaren with no tobacco title sponsor, after West pulled out of the sport in August last year.

McLaren has no title sponsor for 2006, having signed a deal with Vodafone for 2007, but their primary sponsor decal on the car is whiskey brand Johnny Walker.

All I can say is....

Mmmmm.......

Flibster · 10 Feb 2006 at 21:18

McLaren unveils unique livery

The Team McLaren Mercedes Formula One team has revealed a unique new car livery which will adorn the team's cars in the future.

The new livery has an innovative surface coating, which achieves a high level of reflectivity. The technology used was perfected by McLaren during the past six months and is completely new to Formula One.

"A lot of research and months of work have gone into creating this unique chrome finish," explained McLaren Marketing Managing Director Ekrem Sami. "We are always looking at innovative ways to allow our sponsor partners to differentiate their brands from the competition through their partnership with the team and this unique livery is designed to be extremely photogenic. Team McLaren Mercedes had the highest audited 'Share of TV Voice' in 2005 - and we hope that this new identity will contribute to us retaining that status."

"When we created our previous livery in the mid nineties we established what we believed then was an innovative and groundbreaking new identity for McLaren Mercedes," continued Sami. "What we have launched today is as revolutionary and we hope it will be the foundation of the team's livery for many years to come."

The team can look back on a lot of success during the nine years of the former livery. At the very first race after its introduction in Melbourne in 1997 the team won and since then it has taken nearly 30 per cent of all Grands Prix victories.

The team took the opportunity to show the new livery to McLaren Group and Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines employees this evening. Two of the Groups better known personalities, drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya, were both impressed with their cars' 'new clothes'.

"I have only seen illustrations of the new livery until now but they do it no justice," said Kimi. "It looks fantastic and should create a bit of a stir when we drive it on tracks around the world. If we can make the car as fast as it looks then we will be in good shape."

"Wow," said Juan Pablo. "What a beautiful looking car. I have obviously been testing the MP4- 21 quite a bit already but seeing the car like this is something else."

Memphis · 10 Feb 2006 at 21:41

That, in my opinion, is stunning.

Wont it have a nice blinding effect in brighter climates though?

Flibster · 10 Feb 2006 at 22:07

Have to say - now I've had a chance just to looka t it - it's pretty bloody stunning.

But yes - bright sunlight could be blinding for cameramen and other drivers.

Simon/~Flibster

Darryn · 10 Feb 2006 at 22:15

Not really a McLaren fan (since DC left/was booted), but that is simply stunning.

Cannot wait for the BGP to see it in the flesh.

Would also like to thank Mr Flibster for his outstanding work keeping us up to date.

Richard T · 10 Feb 2006 at 22:25

Memphis said:
That, in my opinion, is stunning.

agreed

Flibster · 10 Feb 2006 at 22:35