2005/2006 F1 News and Testing.

[lineaR]

I was going to upload some pics and vids from yesterday at Silverstone, but there are loads of vids here. Vids from testing 05/06 start on page 2 and feature most of the top teams.

 

[Flibster]

might mean that we see some more overtaking???

if someone has gone for a more balanced trumpet they could be able to get the power down earlier and more efficiently as someone else that set up for max power and maybe get along side the said peaky boy?


does that make sense??

Possibly..

However - it could also mean that like with a turbo engine - no power until a certain point - then the full 700bhp - then nothing again...

Would make driving a bit harder for the drivers.

 

[Flibster]

Montagny joins Super Aguri for Bahrain and Malaysia

Super Aguri today confirms that former Renault F1 test and development driver Franck Montagny has signed a contract with the team to be its third driver for the opening two rounds of the 2006 F1 season.

Franck will be on-stand by as third driver for the team at the Bahrain and Malaysian Grands Prix whilst also providing valuable F1 experience and technical knowledge to the fledgling team.

Could be usefull for them.

 

[Flibster]

Prodrive to build F1-spec factory

Prodrive's expected entry into Grand Prix racing in 2008 has moved a step closer, with the team announcing on Wednesday plans to build a Formula One-spec factory in Warwickshire.

The announcement, which comes after autosport.com revealed on Monday that Prodrive boss David Richards is on the verge of giving the green light to his F1 operation, will see the company develop a 200-acre facility at Honiley.

The hope is the site will include new offices, design studios, R&D laboratories and a conference centre. A Prodrive statement also said: "It could also become the home for a new British Formula One team."

Plans for the site, which will become known as 'Fulcrum', are currently subject to planning permission but the hope is that work can begin early next year.

Richards said: "The British automotive and motorsport industries are coming under increasing pressure from competition overseas. By developing the Fulcrum, we can provide high level technical skills and resources which will help the region's vehicle manufacturers and motorsport teams succeed and, at the same time, encourage more inward investment to the West Midlands."

Speculation about Richards' plans grew this week when autosport.com revealed that he had held talks with FIA president Max Mosley and F1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone about plans for the sport from 2008.

"It is also understood that the Subaru World Rally Team's former performance director David Lapworth is involved in the plans for the Formula One operation at Honiley.

Richards himself has made no secret of his desire to move Prodrive into F1. He said at the Autosport International Show in January: "I would not say it is unfinished business, but Prodrive is a motorsport business and that is at the heart of everything that we do.

"We are involved in most aspects of it, but we are currently not involved in F1 - although we do supply some components.

"I will only go there (into F1) when the situation allows us to be competitive and to make a profit - and the changes coming for 2008 might allow that to come to fruition."

Oooooh.....

Dave Richard has been nothing but successfull when running his own team...

Looks a nice design as well tbh.

 

[Flibster]

Mosley urges carmakers to commit to F1

FIA president Max Mosley has written to Formula One's manufacturers today urging them to commit their future to the sport before entries to the 2008 championship close later this month.

At the same time, Mosley has warned them they will be frozen out of rules talks if they miss the deadline.

Mosley unveiled his idea for the early deadline for 2008 entries last month, but his plans for the seven-day 'window of opportunity' have now been formally put to the teams in a letter, a copy of which has been obtained by autosport.com.

He is hoping that the FIA World Council will approve, at their next meeting on March 22, plans to open entries for the 2008 championship on March 24 and then close them again on March 31.

In the letter, sent today to all F1 team principals and manufacturers' representatives, as well as those teams who have expressed an interest in joining the championship, Mosley explained that the motivation behind the move was to allow the FIA to establish the framework of rules for 2008 in consultation with those teams competing in the championship.

Mosley has made it clear that he wants the FIA World Council to approve the early cut-off point on 2008 entries simply because it will allow in-depth talks on rules to begin immediately.

"The reason we are proposing this relatively early closing date is that both the Sporting and Technical regulations may need some limited fine tuning before they are finalised, and we intend to give the teams that are committed to participating at least eighteen months' notice of changes which may affect the design of the cars," wrote Mosley.

"This means that many of the 2008 regulations must be fixed no later than 30 June 2006.

"Once the entries have closed, the participants in the 2008 Championship will be known, enabling the FIA and those teams to use the three months from 31 March to 30 June 2006 for the discussion and agreement of any final adjustments to the regulations.

"Naturally, discussions on the fine tuning of the 2008 regulations will only involve those that intend to participate in the Championship."

Mosley added that the 2008 Sporting Regulations, which have been put together in consultation with those teams already committed to F1 after 2007, are likely to be submitted to the World Motor Sport Council in the week after the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The letter also makes it clear that Mosley wants the manufacturers to remain committed to F1 - but believes they must accept that his cost-cutting drive is aimed at securing their future, not as a way of driving them out.

"The FIA very much hopes that all the teams and manufacturers competing in this year's Championship will also enter for 2008," added Mosley. "Some of the sporting changes proposed for 2008 may be seen as radical, as are some aspects of the Technical Regulations already adopted.

"However, the objective is to reduce costs, improve the spectacle and at the same time, maintain and, where possible, increase current safety levels.

"The FIA believes that at a time of painful restructuring in large sections of the automobile industry, it is only a financially viable Formula One that can hope to retain the major car manufacturers as participants in the medium and long term, not to mention the independent teams. Hence the need to reduce costs.

"The FIA fully understands that one of the objectives of the major car manufacturers is to demonstrate technical excellence, but believes that this can be achieved without excessive expenditure.

"Bearing in mind that much of the engineering effort in the road car sector is aimed at technical excellence at low cost, it is appropriate that the World Championship regulations should attempt to bring this approach into Formula One.

"The credit which a major car company will gain from winning the World Championship will not be any the less if money is no longer being spent on technologies which are largely irrelevant to road cars and often entirely concealed from the public.

"We very much hope that all the current participants will support this approach and submit their entries in due time."

Mosley is believed to be at the Geneva Motorshow today for talks with car manufacturer representatives. It comes amid speculation that the breakaway Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association (GPMA) are on the verge of reaching commercial terms with Bernie Ecclestone to remain committed to F1 – pending discussions on rules.

An FIA spokesman confirmed to autosport.com that a letter had been sent by Mosley to the teams today, but declined to comment on its contents.

 

[Flibster]

THE FULL LETTER

To all team principals and manufacturers' representatives
known to have an interest in the 2008 Formula One World Championship

1 March 2006

Gentlemen

On 22 March 2006, the World Motor Sport Council will be invited to approve Formula One Sporting Regulations for 2008. These proposed regulations include a provision that entries for the 2008 Formula One World Championship should open on 24 March 2006 and close on 31 March 2006.

The reason we are proposing this relatively early closing date is that both the Sporting and Technical regulations may need some limited fine tuning before they are finalised, and we intend to give the teams that are committed to participating at least eighteen months' notice of changes which may affect the design of the cars. This means that many of the 2008 regulations must be fixed no later than 30 June 2006. Once the entries have closed, the participants in the 2008 Championship will be known, enabling the FIA and those teams to use the three months from 31 March to 30 June 2006 for the discussion and agreement of any final adjustments to the regulations. Naturally, discussions on the fine tuning of the 2008 regulations will only involve those that intend to participate in the Championship.

The draft 2008 Technical Regulations were, of course, published prior to 31 December 2005 as required by the Concorde Agreement. A preliminary draft of the 2008 Sporting Regulations has already been circulated to the teams which have committed to the 2008 Championship as well as to certain new teams which have indicated that they may wish to enter. We will be happy to provide a copy of this preliminary draft to any other team that requests it, though this may not be exactly identical to the final draft which will be submitted to members of the World Motor Sport Council in the week following the Bahrain Grand Prix with a recommendation that it be accepted. We intend to be able to make a final draft available as soon as it is ready.

The FIA very much hopes that all the teams and manufacturers competing in this year's Championship will also enter for 2008. Some of the sporting changes proposed for 2008 may be seen as radical, as are some aspects of the Technical Regulations already adopted. However, the objective is to reduce costs, improve the spectacle and at the same time, maintain and, where possible, increase current safety levels.

The FIA believes that at a time of painful restructuring in large sections of the automobile industry, it is only a financially viable Formula One that can hope to retain the major car manufacturers as participants in the medium and long term, not to mention the independent teams. Hence the need to reduce costs.

The FIA fully understands that one of the objectives of the major car manufacturers is to demonstrate technical excellence, but believes that this can be achieved without excessive expenditure. Bearing in mind that much of the engineering effort in the road car sector is aimed at technical excellence at low cost, it is appropriate that the World Championship regulations should attempt to bring this approach into Formula One. The credit which a major car company will gain from winning the World Championship will not be any the less if money is no longer being spent on technologies which are largely irrelevant to road cars and often entirely concealed from the public.

We very much hope that all the current participants will support this approach and submit their entries in due time.

Yours sincerely,

Max Mosley

 

[Flibster]

Mondini to drive third MF1 in Bahrain

Swiss driver Giorgio Mondini will be the MF1 Racing team's Friday driver at the Bahrain Grand Prix next week.

The team are entitled to use a third car after finishing in ninth place in last year's championship. They have three test drivers, but it will be Mondini who will be in action in the first race of he season.

German Markus Winkelhock will take over Friday testing duties in the next race in Malaysia.

 

[Flibster]

Winkelhock, not Mondini to drive in Sakhir

Midland F1 have corrected their earlier statement saying Giorgio Mondini would be driving their third car at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

In their press release following yesterday's test at Silverstone, the team said Mondini would drive in the Sakhir race while teammate Markus Wilkenhock would take over in the following race in Malaysia.

However, speaking to autosport.com, a team spokeswoman said it would in fact be the opposite way, with the German driver in action at Bahrain.

Markus is the son of Manfred, who drove in Formula One from 1980 to 1985.

 

[Flibster]

Raikkonen sets blistering Valencia pace

Kimi Raikkonen finished his pre-season testing programme in promising form after posting the fastest time of the winter at the Valencia circuit.

The McLaren's driver lap of 1:09.423 was over half a second faster than the previous best, set by Raikkonen himself earlier this year.

The Finn, at the wheel of the MP4-21, enjoyed a trouble-free day and covered a total of 120 laps, five more than teammate Pedro de la Rosa.

Raikkonen was happy with the week's work, but was still cautious about McLaren's form for Bahrain.

"It has been a good week," Raikkonen told autosport.com. "At least we did not break down and we did some mileage. We did what we could, so we'll see. We still have work to do and I really don't know how well we will do in the race. We will see."

De la Rosa worked with the hybrid car fitted with a V10 engine to complete a fruitful day for his team, who wrapped up their preparations for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Anthony Davidson was again the busiest man on track for his Honda team, the Briton managing 143 laps in the RA106 on his way to the third fastest time. Davidson will complete the Valencia test tomorrow, when he will shake down the third Honda chassis to be used in Bahrain.

David Coulthard returned to action following his back injury and the Scot enjoyed a trouble-free session, covering 76 laps for his Red Bull team.

Toyota drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli began a two-day test for the Japanese squad, but the German's programme was hindered when he stopped on track with a smoking engine.

Schumacher managed just 59 laps but still outpaced Trulli, sixth quickest.

The second red flag of the day was caused by Williams test driver Alex Wurz, slowest today on the final day of testing for the British squad. The Austrian lost a lot of time while his team fixed a problem with a sensor.

"We lost lots of time when they had to fix but it was good test," he told autosport.com. "But now we are racing. We have done what we could here so, see you in Bahrain."

Today's times:

[b]Pos	Driver		Team                      	Time		Laps[/b]
1.	Raikkonen	McLaren-Mercedes	(M)	1.09.423	120
2.	de la Rosa	McLaren-Mercedes	(M)	1.09.852	115
3.	Davidson	Honda			(M)	1.10.301	143
4.	Coulthard	Red Bull-Ferrari	(M)	1.11.078	76
5.	R.Schumacher	Toyota			(B)	1.11.129	59
6.	Trulli		Toyota			(B)	1.12.159	80
7.	Wurz		Williams-Cosworth	(B)	1.12.257	70

All Timing Unofficial

 

[Flibster]

Rain hinders Ferrari at Mugello

Poor weather thwarted Ferrari's testing programme at the Mugello circuit again, with the conditions making it impossible to carry out any significant work.

Rain and snow during the night had left the track in poor condition.

Michael Schumacher managed just 17 laps while teammate Felipe Massa covered 32, both men at the wheel of the 248 F1.

Schumacher was the quickest of the two with a best time of 1:23.564, nearly four seconds faster than Massa's 1:27.314.

The team will continue working at Mugello tomorrow, with Schumacher on track.

 

[6thElement]

De la Rosa worked with the hybrid car fitted with a V10 engine to complete a fruitful day for his team, who wrapped up their preparations for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Erm why??

 

[Flibster]

Erm why??

No idea...

 

[Arc]

Possibly doing testing on some other systems or aero work, could literally be anything. Or Mercedes are having trouble making enough V8's that work for longer than 5 minutes .

I was being sarcastic...

Oh were you, I couldnt tell. More smilies needed in your posts .

Its been discussed seriously before about DTM cars being F1 safety cars though.

 

[Flibster]

Using race cars as safety cars wouldn't work - they have the same problems as the F1 cars.

Most of them require more than 5 people just to fire the thing up - not really that usefull.

Fast road cars are generally the best option.

 

[Flibster]

Imola debut unlikely for new Super Aguri

Super Aguri have admitted that there is a chance their definitive 2006 car may not be ready for the San Marino Grand Prix in April, as the team had originally planned.

With an intensive programme needed to get the modified 2002 Arrows A23 cars that they will start the season with ready to comply with 2006 regulations, the team have had to divert resources away from preparing their new SA06 car.

And that means it is now touch and go whether the car will make its debut at Imola or will have to wait until the next race, the European Grand Prix, on May 7.

Aguri's managing director Daniel Audetto told autosport.com: "There is a strong possibility of that (not making Imola), because we have had to dedicate more time to the SA05 (the modified Arrows car).

"We had to go through a lot of modifications to pass the crash tests, and comply with new safety and aero rules. It has been a lot of work and meant only a few people have been able to work on the 2006 car.

"But I don't want to say that the car will definitely not be in Imola, so let's see. We are still pushing for that."

Aguri are also likely to only have one of their new cars ready when it does make it debut - which means that Yuji Ide may have to continue with the SA05 for several more races.

"We would like to give both drivers the same possibility if we can," added Audetto. "But if we can at least have one for Takuma Sato then that is what we will do."

Once the SA05 cars are shipped off to Bahrain, then Aguri will start putting all their efforts into getting their 2006 cars ready.

That focus will also likely mean that the team will not waste resources trying to get a third 2005-chassis ready to take part in Friday practice. The team will probably only run a third driver once the new car is ready.

"We prefer to concentrate on the 2006 car, without any pressure and without any stress," explained Audetto. "There is not much we can learn from the SA05, and to be last by six seconds or last by five seconds does not make much difference.

"We want to use the beginning of the season to learn; make good pitstops, learn some good strategy and give everyone in the team some confidence. It will be like a training session.

"But we are not losers. We are very professional and will take all the positives we can from this learning period."

 

[Flibster]

Testing blow for British-based F1 teams

An airfield used by British-based F1 teams for straight-line testing, has agreed to cease all F1 activity until a court trial in May, following complaints about excessive noise.

Elvington Airfield in Yorkshire is regularly used by British-based F1 teams including McLaren.

However, as the F1 teams increased their use of the track - particularly during 2005 when the 30-day test limit was in force - local residents decided that they'd had enough.

The case had been due to be heard Pickering Magistrates Court next week, with local residents and noise experts giving evidence. However, at an interim hearing at York Magistrates Court on Tuesday (27), it was decided to adjourn the trial until May, which will allow City of York Council to carry out further noise assessments. In the meantime another interim hearing will be held in April.

The airfield was served with a noise abatement notice last year, when local residents declared that enough was enough, the owner of the airfield have now had to halt all testing until the court has made its decision, or unless the council and Elvington Park Ltd, owners of the airfield, can reach an agreement.

 

[rpstewart]

The traditional season preview has appeared on the Autoport web site, there's a big article on the new qualifying regs but it's hoooooge so rather than putting the whole thing up and repeating a lot of what has already been posted I'll limit myself to the new bits, some of which are very different to what we're used to.

The change to Saturday's schedule starts in the morning. Previously we had two 45-minute sessions running from 9:00am to 9:45am and from 10:15am to 11:00am, but those have now been combined into a single period from 11:00am to 12:00pm. Teams no longer have that half hour break between sessions, which allowed them to make major set-up changes without losing track time.

<SNIP>

It won't be easy to get everything done in that hour. Significantly, if there is a red flag or delay of any kind, no time will be added on at the end. The action will stop at noon to guarantee that there are two clear hours prior to the start for qualifying at 2:00pm.

A couple of normal red flags could reduce that already meagre one hour to just 40 minutes, and a more serious incident - maybe involving barrier damage - could wipe out the whole session. Anyone who gambled by doing minimal laps on Friday could be in trouble.

Eeek! Sato in a slow SA05 could cause some major panics on Saturdays

Every driver now has seven sets of dry tyres for the course of the weekend (the rules now specify sets rather than a total number of tyres, to avoid any dodgy misinterpretations). This is a change from the four sets of last year, when of course the same tyres were used for qualifying and the race.

Obviously there will be a lot of emphasis on how the tyres are managed throughout the weekend, especially in qualifying. Will everyone throw on new tyres at the end of each of the three sessions? Will the quicker guys attempt to scrape through the first (and even second) session on older, scrubbed rubber, like an athlete doing just enough to qualify for an Olympic final? This year you can start on new tyres, so if possible the top runners will attempt to save two or three new sets for Sunday.

Could get interesting, going for a 3 stop race might mean compromising qually performance and hence getting a grid position which negates the 3 stop advantage. Complex? You betcha!

Prior to 2003, when everyone was running at once in traditional qualifying, drivers would fine-tune aero or suspension set-up between runs. That is not allowed now, with the exception of adjusting the front wing, which was permitted under the one-lap system. Thus, a driver returning after his first lap demanding improvements is going to be disappointed.

Going to be some annoyed drivers out there....

The qualifying format itself is straightforward. All 22 cars will be out in the first 15 minutes, and it promises to be hectic - expect a lot of blue flags and waved fists, especially at Monaco!

As was normal prior to the single lap system, drivers will once again face the frustration of being subject to random weight checks on return to the pits, which could cost them track time and even stop them getting out for their final runs.

Getting more annoyed....

There is one major novelty in the way the first two sessions will operate. When the chequered flag comes out, that's it - the timing will stop, and if you are still on a lap, it won't count. So you might as well just trundle back to the pits.

In the past, if you crossed the line just a second before the flag came out, you could still complete that lap. Now you will have to cross the line a couple of minutes before the flag comes out, in order to get round and record a time. Allowing for the time to get out of the pitlane, it means that typically you'd have to leave your garage some three minutes from the end of the session in order to get in one final lap. Thus, the session starts to look pretty short!

They're positively fuming now! Imagine getting baulked on an out lap and failing to get your quick lap in

This system applies only at the end of the first and second periods, however, and not at the end of the crucial top ten run-off, when it's business as usual.

If there are any stoppages in this (or any other) qualifying session, the lost time will be added on, in contrast to morning practice. However, using the above figures you can see that if a red flag comes much after the 12-minute mark, the chances of being able to fit in an extra lap are slim. So there will be no point in returning to the track at the restart.

Drivers are a little calmer but confused rather than annoyed now.....

After the first 15-minute session, the slowest six cars - to be highlighted in red on the official timing screens - will be eliminated, leaving 16 for the second session. A driver has to actually set a lap time to get through to the next round, so if seven fail to record a lap, none of them will be eligible to continue.

Those who don't set a time will ultimately line up in the following order: a driver who started a flying lap will take precedence over a driver who left the pits but didn't start a flying lap, who in turn will start ahead of anyone who didn't leave the pits. If more than one driver falls into any category, they will line up in numerical order.

However, there is a major drawback that drivers have not faced in qualifying since 2002. A yellow flag will effectively neutralise the track, and anybody deemed not to have slowed down sufficiently faces a penalty. If it happens near the end and you are on your hot lap, you are stuffed. If you back off, you go slow, if you go too fast, you could get a penalty.

So leaving all your eggs in the last-lap basket could be quite risky. Of course, the same applies to any top runners cocky enough to only go out in the closing minutes of either of the first two sessions, hoping that one quick lap will get them through. All it will take is Yuji Ide in a gravel trap at 2:13pm and some Renault, Honda and McLaren drivers could be among those eliminated. Teams will no doubt soon learn that they should put a banker lap in early.

I can see some complaints about excessive use of yellow flags coming....

Another fascinating aspect is what happens to those who set a time that gets them through to the next stage, but subsequently spin off or stop with a mechanical gremlin (and you can forget all about running back to take the spare car, as we saw so often in the past). To participate in the next round, the car has to physically get back to the pits, even if it's on a tow rope.

Most modern tracks have internal access roads, which improves the chances of getting a car back. But others don't, such as Melbourne, Monaco and Silverstone, to name but three. All abandoned cars have to come back via the circuit itself, after the session. Significantly, there will be a window of just a couple of minutes between sessions one and two, and two and three, during which the track will be open to recovery vehicles.

Whether you get your car back really is a question of the efficiency of the marshals, where the car is parked, and sheer luck. Indeed, there have been suggestions that the only fair way to deal with it is that any car that doesn't make it back to the pits under its own steam at the end of the session should not be allowed to participate in the next.

Remember that there's no refuelling after the start of session 3, so if you get the car back to the garage just as the action is getting underway, you are stuck.

Read that last paragraph again - if you drop it and get back to the pits for session 3 you have to qualify on what's left in the tank. More importantly you need to RACE with what's left in the tank

Unlikely we'll see it but worrying nonetheless.

There's always been some confusion about who lines up where when several drivers have been penalised, but that has been clarified in the 2006 Sporting Regulations. Anyone with a 10-place penalty (engine change) that puts them behind the slowest car from the first session will be ahead of those automatically sent to the back of the grid (post-qualifying engine change) and finally those who've had their qualifying times deleted for an indiscretion.

If that's a clarification I'd hate to see the previous version

 

[Flibster]

Just read through all that myself...

It's explained it well - it's still not crystal though...

Would also like to apologise for any spelling cockups today - Have just got a new keyboard and am getting used to it before the F1 season kicks off.

The one from last year was truly knackered.

Simon/~Flibster

 

[J1nxy]

Would also like to apologise for any spelling cockups today - Have just got a new keyboard and am getting used to it before the F1 season kicks off.

The one from last year was truly knackered.

Simon/~Flibster

I think we need to change the regulations to make sure your keyboard has to last at least 2 seasons with out change to reduce costs

Sorry for the miss understanding re the DTM more smiles duely noted

 

[Flibster]

I think we need to change the regulations to make sure your keyboard has to last at least 2 seasons with out change to reduce costs

Sorry for the miss understanding re the DTM more smiles duely noted

It did - thats the bloody scary thing - although towards the end it was kind of like a Mercedes engine - occasionally stopped working for no known reason.

Simon/~Flibster