2005/2006 F1 News and Testing.

[Flibster]

FIA Rules Out Replacing Belgian Grand Prix

F1's governing body has ruled out replacing the axed Belgian grand prix in 2006.

Although the stage of nineteen races was originally set for this year's championship battle, the FIA will reject the offers of would-be venues like Rio de Janeiro and settle instead for a three week break between Monza and Shanghai.

''The FIA does not seek to replace the grand prix of Belgium,'' an FIA official said.

Indeed, replacing Spa Francorchamps would be problematic, because the venue in the Belgian Ardennes - and Bernie Ecclestone - intend to reinstate the event in 2007.

FIA president Max Mosley said about the 'classic' circuit this week: ''I think everyone realises that we have got to have it on the calendar.''

According to Germany's Auto Motor Und Sport magazine, the likely 2007 deal - with Bernie as promoter - will extend for no less than eight years.

 

[Flibster]

Way back in the mists of time *360 posts ago actually - or 11 days...* this post went up...

Now Mansell has responded...

Mansell hits back at Piquet

Nigel Mansell has hit back at former rival and teammate Nelson Piquet over the Brazilian's harsh comments about the Masters Grand Prix.

Piquet, who raced against Mansell in the 1980s and 90s, branded the series as "rubbish" and claimed he would never take part in it.

"That's a series for people with no money who are hoping to gain it back somehow," Piquet, who at 53 is eligible to race in the series, said earlier this month.

"Beyond that, I don't see any reason to race in such rubbish. After having raced in F1, you go back at 50 years of age at the wheel of a car that looks like it? No way."

Mansell, who won the inaugural GPM event in South Africa at the end of last year, said Piquet was jealous his former rivals were enjoying themselves.

"I have known Nelson for a long time and if he said that he was probably just jealous that he wasn't there competing and enjoying himself," Mansell told reporters on Thursday.

"If he said it at all. It is something that he would perhaps say to rev someone up. We are all too long in the tooth now to even be bothered by what he says."

Mansell also admitted he is hoping the series will resume this year.

"I hope so. I have got to be brought up to speed and I have got a meeting with [GPM boss] Scott Poulter next week to be brought up to speed with where it is at," Mansell added. "I believe everything is fixed for Qatar but it is question of whether all the finances are there to get it done.

"They have had problems with the promoter from South Africa, which is very unfortunate because if they had that cash then they wouldn't have a problem at all, but looking back on South Africa it was a monumental experience and a great spectacle and with 110,000 people enjoying it."

Mansel I think has hit the nail on the head with this one.

Simon/~Flibster

 

[rpstewart]

Schumacher says Ferrari problem solved
Michael Schumacher is confident that Ferrari have finally got on top of the engine problems that have marred their test in Bahrain so far this week.

The former World Champion has only been able to complete a total of 60 laps during his two days of testing at Sakhir, with vibrations from Ferrari's V8 engine causing havoc with the rest of the car.

The vibrations were understood to be stressing the 248's clutch electronics units - which left it unable to recognize any data sent by driver input or the engine.

Schumacher claims, however, that a solution has now been put in place that should allow the team's testing programme to get back on track in Bahrain today.

"The small problem has been solved," Schumacher told Gazzetta dello Sport. "We identified with certainty the reason for the malfunctioning of the clutch.

"Yes, for two days I've been more still in the garage than lapping on the track, but this is also what testing is about, sometimes."

Now I'm no expert but this has got me thinking. You don't solve an engine vibration problem overnight, you need to look in detail at the way the engine behaves and how the parts move etc I would think that this is slightly beyond an overnight task. Sounds like they've stuck a bit of padding round the clutch electronics to stop them shaking about.

 

[rpstewart]

Swapsies!

McLaren sign Red Bull chief designer
McLaren have boosted their technical line-up with the capture of Red Bull Racing's chief designer Rob Taylor, autosport.com can reveal.

The news, which was exclusively predicted by Autosport magazine earlier this month, comes at a time when the Woking-based outfit were surrounded by rumours of a brain-drain following the departure of Adrian Newey and other leading technical staff.

Taylor, who was the chief designer of Red Bull's RB1, will renew his working partnership with friend Mike Coughlan after they were colleagues at John Barnard's B3 Engineering company and then later Arrows. Taylor switched to Jaguar as chief designer following the collapse of Arrows.

Although there has been no official announcement of the deal, a McLaren spokeswoman confirmed to autosport.com that Taylor would be joining them imminently.

"We can confirm that McLaren have further strengthened their technical team by employing Rob Taylor as senior design team leader," said the spokeswoman. "Rob will report to chief designer Mike Coughlan."

It is not clear when Taylor will join McLaren, as he is currently on gardening leave from Red Bull Racing, but it is thought it will be just after the start of the 2006 season.

Taylor's switch from Red Bull Racing comes at a time when McLaren have lost several senior figures.

As well as Newey's defection, McLaren will lose head of aerodynamics Peter Prodromou later this year to Red Bull Racing as well. The team have also lost ex-chief aerodynamics engineer Nicholas Tombazis, who will join Ferrari next month.

McLaren's F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh told Autosport recently that the team still had plenty of strength in depth with their technical team.

"When an organisation demonstrates its ability to produce competitive cars it will always get some team members approached by competitors," he said. "That's been the case throughout my 17 years at McLaren.

"We still have excellent strength in depth across our engineering structure."

 

[Flibster]

Team Schumi to hit the grid?

Eddie Jordan has claimed that Michael Schumacher could prolong his F1 career by forming his own team and believes that the German may already be in talks with Volkswagen.

Jordan gave Schumi his F1 break fifteen years and isn't convinced that the former World Champion is ready to bow out of the sport at the end of the season.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he encouraged Volkswagen, using their Audi brand, to come to the F1 table. 'Team Schumacher Audi F1' or 'Team Schumacher Volkswagen F1' would immediately attract huge following in Germany - and worldwide," he told F1-Racing magazine.

"I'm not saying it'll definitely happen, but I believe the idea is being discussed, and I can imagine Michael doing it. He's still a very powerful figure, and his name carries huge weight in F1. Schumi could certainly open doors that other people would find locked."

The magazine speculates that, to ease the burden on Schumi, Ross Brawn, whose Ferrari contract expires at the 2006, could be tempted to join the team and that it would be based at Enstone if, as speculated, Renault pull out of F1.

"None of this is certain, but I could see Michael and Ross basing their team at the Enstone facility they had so much success at before," added Jordan.

Remarkably, a spokeswoman for Schumacher, refused to rule out the possibility.

"This is a new rumour, although it's not too full of fantasy, considering the link between Michael and Ross. But it's pure rumour - Michael has said countless times that there are few things he would be less interested in doing."

 

[Flibster]

Ferrari Needs to Find and Maintain Reliability

Although most observers have been impressed with Ferrari's winter form, Felipe Massa reckons the team must improve 'a lot' in the three weeks before Bahrain.

Actually at the scene of the Sakhir opener for testing, Massa led a field of six on Thursday -- but his mount was a 2004 F1 model with a V10 engine.

Dead last, and more than 2 seconds adrift, Michael Schumacher had endured yet another day of technical trouble at the wheel of the new 248.

In comments reported by Speed TV, originating in La Gazzetta dello Sport, Brazil's Massa tried to downplay the significance of the times.

''The important thing here is to find and maintain reliability,'' said Schumacher's teammate, who noted that the 2006 car will now be fitted with new parts.

Massa continued: ''At that point, I'm sure, the times will improve.''

 

[Flibster]

Renault behind 'engine freeze' idea

Renault are the driving force behind a controversial plan to freeze engine development in Formula One, autosport.com has learned.

This new information suggests the French manufacturer is about to turn its back on plans for a breakaway series and commit long term to Formula One.

FIA president Max Mosley caused a stir earlier this week when he announced an idea to prevent engine manufacturers from developing their power-units for three years from the start of 2008, once their design has been submitted.

This would lead to a dramatic reduction in costs, which Mosley believes is necessary to secure the sport's future, but goes against some manufacturers' ideals of advancing technology in F1.

Although there are some suggestions that the engine proposal has served to raise tensions between Mosley and the rebel Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association (GPMA), autosport.com can reveal that the idea has actually come from one of the members of that group - Renault.

With the French car manufacturer's CEO Carlos Ghosn recently making it clear that his company would remain in F1 only as long as it made commercial sense, there has been mounting pressure on the team's management to ensure they can justify the investment needed to compete.

Sources claim that part of this push involves campaigning for reduced costs and has included the radical idea to freeze engine development.

The FIA has, however, refused to confirm whether Renault are the ones pushing for the 'engine freeze' idea – although interestingly they have not denied it.

A spokesman for the FIA said: "It would be inappropriate to comment."

The push for the engine freeze seems to put Renault in a different camp to some other manufacturers, who are determined to ensure that F1 remains very much the pinnacle of high-technology, and highlights the possibility of an open split in the GPMA ranks.

Although the five GPMA members, BMW, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Renault and Toyota, have all signed an agreement that binds them together to the breakaway cause until September, there are mounting suggestions that Renault are going to break that deal and sign-up with Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA in the next few months.

That idea has grown strength in recent weeks, especially on the back of claims from Renault boss Flavio Briatore that the only realistic option for the future is for the manufacturers to abandon the GPMA and sign up to F1.

"It is very simple," said Briatore in an interview with Auto Motor Und Sport recently. "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."

Talking about the possibility of the manufacturers running their own series, Briatore added: "People in this business have a very short memory. 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."

 

[rpstewart]

I doubt we'll see VAG in F1, certainly not in the short term. They're too heavily involved in sports cars with Audi, rallying with Skoda & touring cars with Seat to take on another even more expensive programme.

I don't see what the marketing benefit would be; obvious comparisions would be drawn with BMW and Merc whereas with Audi winning 5 out of the last 6 Le Mans 24hrs they can play a huge reliability card.

 

[Zip]

Ive skim read the past few pages and noticed BMW Sauber dont get a mension much. (unless ive missed it). How are they coming along and how do you think they will perform this season?

 

[Flibster]

Mercedes engine is the least powerful on the grid'

McLaren could be losing as much as 35bhp to their Cosworth-powered rivals ahead of the new season with their Mercedes engine reputedly the weakest on the grid.

According to a specially-commissioned survey for F1-Racing magazine, Cosworth have been packing the heaviest punch in winter testing despite being the only privateer engine builder on the grid.

While Mercedes' 2.4 V8 engine is estimated to be revving a maximum of just 710bhp, Cosworth's is apparently reaching 745bhp, with Ferrari and Honda at 730bhp.

The unreliability of the Mercedes engine was the principal factor in McLaren’s failure to win either World Championship last season and earlier this week - a week which also witnessed Kimi Raikkonen enduring yet another engine malfunction - Mercedes boss Nobert Haug admitted that the team was struggling to compete.

Some teams are ahead of us, which we wouldn't mind but only if we had another month to prepare," he told Motorsport Aktuell magazine.

"We have not had a dream start. We are behind where we want to be."

 

[Flibster]

Ive skim read the past few pages and noticed BMW Sauber dont get a mension much. (unless ive missed it). How are they coming along and how do you think they will perform this season?

Not much of a mention because they're not really doing much.

No reliability issues that I can see - but no startling performances either..

I expect them to take up Saubers regular slot...best of the last..

Simon/~Flibster

 

[rpstewart]

Ive skim read the past few pages and noticed BMW Sauber dont get a mension much. (unless ive missed it). How are they coming along and how do you think they will perform this season?

BMW are keeping very quiet which is a fairly sensible strategy. They've not had a chance to make much difference since taking over so the 2006 car is more a Sauber-BMW than the other way round.

Heidfeld was pretty good in the new car's early tests but they haven't done much testing in the last couple of weeks so it's difficult to say what's going on. Sauber have what is widely regarded as the best wind tunnel in F1 so they may be using that more than actual testing.

 

[Flibster]

2006 German Grand Prix is safe

This year's German Grand Prix appears to have been saved following a crisis meeting between race organisers and local officials on Friday.

Financial problems at the Hockenheim circuit had cast a doubt over this year's race, but a meeting in Stuttgart with government officials, banks and track representatives has at least guaranteed the 2006 event.

Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug was also involved in the meeting.

Gunther Oettinger, Prime Minister of Baden-Wurttemberg, told German media: "We have a good chance that insolvency is avoided at Hockenheim."

The Minister of economics, Ernst Pfister, added: "Hockenheim will organize the race (in 2006)."

But although the 2006 event looks set to have been saved, the long-term future of Hockenheim is far from secure.

Officials have said they want to carve out a new deal with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone to cut back on the annual increase in race fee, which is believed to go up by 10 percent each year.

The financial problems have been caused by the debts that were accrued when the circuit was modernised in 2001.

If a reduction of race fees is not possible, then there is a chance of the race alternating on the calendar with the Nurburgring from 2007. Hockenheim's current deal runs until 2008, while the Nurburgring has a contract to host the European GP until 2009.

 

[Flibster]

Raikkonen flies at Valencia

Kimi Raikkonen gave his McLaren team something to smile about after posting the quickest time of the year in the fourth and final day of testing at the Valencia circuit.

The Finn, whose team have been hampered by engine problems so far, posted a fastest lap of 1:09.983, the best by a V8-engined car this year.

The time was set in the morning, when Raikkonen concentrated on short stints with his McLaren MP4-21.

His teammate Pedro de la Rosa worked on longer runs with the second McLaren, the Spaniard finishing down in fifth place after 113 laps.

The Renault team enjoyed another positive day despite Giancarlo Fisichella finishing nearly a second behind Raikkonen in the R26 car. The Italian, who caused one red flag during the day, completed 81 laps while teammate Heikki Kovalainen covered a colossal 161 in the second Renault.

David Coulthard was again the only Red Bull driver on track, the Scot continuing with the development of the revised package introduced this week. Coulthard, however, did not enjoy a good day and completed only 34 laps.

The MF1 team completed their four-day test at the Spanish circuit, with Tiago Monteiro joining teammate Christijan Albers and test driver Adrian Sutil , who yesterday made his Formula One debut.

Monteiro drove the new MF16 while Albers and Sutil were at the wheel of the hybrid car.

Between them, the Midland drivers caused three of the four red flags of the day, with Monteiro going off late in the afternoon after having stopped on track with apparent problems earlier on.

Today's times:

[b]Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps[/b]
 1.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:09.983  81
 2.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  1:10.912  83
 3.  Kovalainen    Renault              (M)  1:11.071 161
 4.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  1:11.076  34
 5.  de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:11.245 113
 6.  Sutil         MF1-Toyota           (B)  1:13.027  73
 7.  Albers        MF1-Toyota           (B)  1:13.520  55
 8.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota           (B)  1:13.815  93

[i]All Timing Unofficial[/i]

 

[Flibster]

FIA moves to close qualifying loophole

Motor racing's governing body has moved to alleviate fears of drivers adopting bizarre 'go-slow' tactics in qualifying this year by introducing a 110 percent rule, autosport.com can reveal.

While the teams continue to ponder the implications of the new knock-out qualifying format, and try and pre-empt problems that may arise, the FIA has made it clear that it is only too willing to try and make the new system a success by agreeing to act on possible loopholes.

Sources have revealed that the most recent concern voiced by teams at a Technical Working Group meeting was of drivers deliberately going on an economy run to save fuel in the early stages of the final 20-minute session that decides the top 10 grid positions.

Teams are allowed to refuel their cars at the end of qualifying by an FIA-determined number of litres per lap they complete. Therefore, drivers can theoretically get a strategic advantage in the race if they burn off less fuel in qualifying than the FIA figure.

The go-slow tactics also opened up the possibility of dawdling drivers causing a danger on the track, as their speed could have caused problems for other drivers putting in quick laps in the early part of the session.

F1 teams are understood to have requested that some regulation be put in place to prevent these economy runs, and autosport.com understands that the FIA has now written to the teams explaining the solution.

The clarification means that, for the final 20-minute session, any driver who sets a lap that is more than 110 percent of his fastest qualifying lap will not have that lap count towards the tally of laps that they are allowed to refuel for after the session. It means that any drivers going slow will lose out on fuel, which could prove costly in the race.

A FIA spokesman told autosport.com: "The so-called 110% rule will ensure that drivers do not do very slow in or out laps in the third period of qualifying in an attempt to save fuel.

"If they are outside 110% of their own fastest lap that lap will not count towards their fuel credit."

The FIA originally introduced the fuel credit system in a bid to prevent teams from making expensive modifications to their engines to burn off maximum fuel in the early stages of the final session.

FIA president Max Mosley said earlier this week: "We will tell them, you have done eight laps, so you are allowed to put in 20 litres or whatever. Otherwise it would have been like having them going around with flamethrowers coming out of the back."

 

[SoliD]

Just reading through crash.net and found this article

http://www.crash.net/news_View~t~Club--Abbey-and-Bridge-to-face-the-axe-~cid~1~id~125507.htm

If this goes ahead i am truly ashamed at our government and this country if nothing is safe from housing development, silverstone is a british legend known worldwide, and should not be tampered with, the government should help out or the brdc sort themselves out rather than have to sell out to have housing which will surely only complain about noise levels and get silverstone cut down on race meetings even though they get there after the circuit has been there for god knows how many years.

SO annoyed at this idea, even if it doesnt ever happen its an absolute joke to even be contemplating something like this.

 

[rpstewart]

Fisichella targets Bahrain GP win
Giancarlo Fisichella has set his sights on winning the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix as he targets the drivers' title.

"Yes I hope so [to win in Bahrain], but the important thing is to win the rest of the season and score lots of points," Fisichella said. "Last year I had some problems, so I didn't have enough points to fight for the championship. This year, I want to win."

The Renault driver had a perfect start to his 2005 season, winning the Australian Grand Prix from pole position.

After that, however, Fisichella endured a poor streak of results and did not return to the podium until his home Grand Prix in Italy, the 15th round of the championship, where he finished in third place.

The Roman finished the championship in fifth place after not winning another race.

Fisichella's confidence for the 2006 season comes from the fact that he believes the new R26 car is better than last year's machine.

"It is good," he said. "I have got a good feeling with the R26. I am really comfortable in the car, and we have made a step forward compared to last year, especially with the rear end of the car. It is more stable under braking and in the middle of the corner, and the traction is a good improvement as well.

"Even though we have lost power with the change to the V8 engine, we have definitely made a step forward with the car.

"It feels very comfortable for me. Things are improving day by day, and I am getting a better feeling with the car. At the moment, I am concentrating on the job, and I am feeling confident for the season."

 

[Flibster]

Max and Bernie disagree about V8s

F1 power-players Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley do not agree about the merits of the new V8 engine rule for 2006.

Mosley, the FIA president, insists that the V10 axe and arrival of a more restrictive V8 formula reduces the 'need' for mammoth engine development costs.

"The rules make it possible for independent commercial suppliers such as Cosworth and Mechachrome to remain fully competitive while spending a mere fraction of the manufacturers' budget" he told F1 Racing magazine.

In another racing magazine, however - Italy's Autosprint - F1 supremo Ecclestone admitted that he is no fan of the lesser V8 grunt.

The 75-year-old said it would have been cheaper to simply rev-limit the V10s. "The V8 formula has cost a fortune to develop" Britain's Bernie explained, "so there could have been a way to save much more money."

 

[rpstewart]

Ferrari facing reliability issues

Ferrari's technical director Ross Brawn has admitted the Italian team are still struggling with the 248 F1 car reliability, although he downplayed the seriousness of these problems.

Brawn joined his team at the Bahrain International Circuit for intensive pre-season testing, with less than three weeks to go until the first round of 2006 takes place at the same track.

Asked if the team has progressed to his satisfaction, Brawn said: "It's not perfect. The car's not bad, the car is working well. But it's not as reliable as I would hope at the moment - in fact we were not running [on Wednesday afternoon] because of a technical problem."

But Brawn was adamant these problems were not extraordinary, and he added: "I don't think I've had a perfect winter yet. This is the time when you're sorting all your problems out and you hope to get them all fixed before the first race.

"So I'd say it's normal this time of year, but it's not perfect."

Brawn said reliability was a particularly important issue this year, as he believes several teams are showing both pace and reliability, making the competition even tougher.

"The competition is so strong, they have become so reliable, that you really have to have both reliability and pace," Brawn said.

"Even though we have a new engine formula this year, you can see from testing that the general levels of reliability are good.

"I'm sure we'll see a few more failures than perhaps has been normal (because of the new engine rules), but there's three or four teams out there that are very strong in performance and are going to finish races. So you've got to have both."

But the Briton said the competition was good for Ferrari and the engineers. "It's what takes us forward," he said.

"When you consider that we have different cars, different engines, different tyres, different drivers - yet we're all within a few tenths of a seconds of each other, and why is that? It's because we drive each other.

"So we'll come here, we'll judge our performance, we'll go back to the factory, and decide what we have to do if we don't feel competitive enough. There'll be all sorts of things.

"So we're all pushing each other. If there is no competition, you just stagnate. And for us, as an engineering company, it's important. For Ferrari it's important. We genuinely get spin-off between racing and road cars, and there's things on the new road cars that come from the racing programme.

"So it's pretty important for motivation, it's pretty important for our business. So we welcome the competition... as long as we're the front runners!"

Not sure what's the problem here, Ferrari redefined the levels of reliability and consistency in F1 to the point that even McLaren struggled to keep up. I wonder if concentrating on testing the F2004 is the cause or result of this?

 

[J1nxy]

Well maybe he should have told Max that before the muppet got his hands on the rule book...again.

Steve