F1 season 2011

[The-Crow]

2011 season changes

Adjustable rear wings
Under new moveable bodywork regulations, drivers of suitably equipped cars can adjust the rear wing from the cockpit,

No F-ducts or double diffusers
Any system, device or procedure which uses driver movement as a means of altering the aerodynamic characteristics of the car is prohibited from 2011 - that means no F-ducts. Tightening of the regulations on stepped floors means double diffusers in their original sense are also banned.

KERS
A badge of honour for some, a bugbear for others on its debut in 2009, KERS - or Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems - have been reintroduced in 2011 after the teams mutually agreed to suspend their use in 2010.

Wheel tethers
In response to several stray wheels over the course of the 2010 season, teams must now place a second tether on every wheel to improve safety.

Tyres
Following Bridgestone’s decision to withdraw at the end of 2010 after 13 years in Formula One, Pirelli take over as the sport’s sole tyre supplier. The Italian company, last part of F1 in 1991, will provide all teams with rubber for the next three years.

Gearboxes
As part of the sport’s cost-saving and environmental initiatives, gearboxes now need to last for five race weekends, instead of the previous four.

Penalties
Stewards now have the power to impose a wider range of penalties for driving and other rule transgressions. Added to their armoury are time penalties, the right to exclude drivers from race results, or suspend them from subsequent events. Also drivers drinking more than six pints of Stella before the race starts will be fined and Lada cars will get a two lap headstart.

01    2011 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX (Sakhir)                   11 - 13 Mar
02    2011 FORMULA 1 QANTAS AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX (Melbourne)        25 - 27 Mar
03    2011 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIA GRAND PRIX (Kuala Lumpur)    08 - 10 Apr
04    2011 FORMULA 1 UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX (Shanghai) *                    15 - 17 Apr
05    2011 FORMULA 1 TURKISH GRAND PRIX (Istanbul)                                06 - 08 May
06    FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA 2011 (Catalunya)                        20 - 22 May
07    FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2011 (Monte Carlo)                    26 - 29 May
08    FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2011 (Montreal)                            10 - 12 Jun
09    2011 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE (Valencia)                            24 - 26 Jun
10    2011 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX (Silverstone)            08 - 10 Jul
11    FORMULA 1  VON DEUTSCHLAND 2011 (Nürburgring)                            22 - 24 Jul
12    FORMULA 1 ENI MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2011 (Budapest)                            29 - 31 Jul
13    2011 FORMULA 1 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX (Spa-Francorchamps)                    26 - 28 Aug
14    FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D'ITALIA 2011 (Monza)            09 - 11 Sep
15    2011 FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX (Singapore)                            23 - 25 Sep
16    2011 FORMULA 1 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX (Suzuka)                              07 - 09 Oct
17    2011 FORMULA 1 KOREAN GRAND PRIX (Yeongam)                            14 - 16 Oct
18    2011 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX OF INDIA (New Delhi) *                            28 - 30 Oct
19    2011 FORMULA 1 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX (Yas Marina Circuit)                   11 - 13 Nov
20    FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL 2011 (Sao Paulo)                     25 - 27 Nov

[The-Crow]

This weekend is Testing day at Barcelona for F1 teams.

Heres Fridays report from the Official F1 site

Barcelona Test Day 18th February

A late run from reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel was enough to prevent local hero Fernando Alonso topping the times in Friday’s opening day of testing at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. Vettel lapped his Red Bull just under a second quicker than Alonso’s Ferrari.

Ferrari were running the F150th Italia in the same configuration seen at its first test. Again, the main subjects on the team’s agenda were increasing understanding of the Pirelli tyres and working on overall reliability of the car, which experienced no technical problems.

Jenson Button was fifth for McLaren in the new MP4-26, test team manager Indy Lall commenting: “We’d planned to begin the test by conducting a number of aero-mapping runs, but these were slightly disrupted because the track was still damp from last night’s rain.

Paul di Resta was an encouraging sixth fastest, despite only completing 26 laps for Force India due to a delay on new parts arriving.

A precautionary engine change cut Williams’ programme short, leaving Rubens Barrichello seventh in the times after 52 laps.

Michael Schumacher was eighth fastest in Mercedes’ MGP W02.

Narain Karthikeyan completed a mammoth 116 laps en route to ninth place for HRT, using the team’s 2010 car.

KERS problems blighted Renault’s day. Although the issue was eventually solved, it prevented much meaningful running for Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld, who instead carried out pit-stop practice,

Unofficial Friday test times from Barcelona:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:24.374, 37 laps
2. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:25.485, 101
3. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 1:25.638, 57
4. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber, 1:25.641, 78
5. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:26.365, 77
6. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:26.575, 26
7. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:26.912, 52
8. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:27.512, 90
9. Narain Karthikeyan, HRT, 1:28.393, 116
10. Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus, 1:30.065, 54
11. Jerome d’Ambrosio, Virgin, 1:30.950, 116
12. Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 1:35.174, 20
13. Nick Heidfeld, Renault, 1:44.324, 27

[TRIP5]

Word on the street is becuase of local unrest, the opening race at Bahrain may be postponed, moved or removed...any word from the Crow on this...

I need updates ;o)

xx

[neeko]

The two blogs i read to keep upto date (+BBCsport etc)

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/

Not sure if i am going to pay the £20 for the F1 app - it was great last year for free - but not sure i am going to pay for it.

Off to the Valencia GP this year - lets hope it is slightly less boring than normal.

[TightEnd]

McLaren's new car looking slow. Early days

[The-Crow]

 Barcelona day two - Vettel does it again


Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was again the fastest man around Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya on Saturday, as pre-season testing continued at the Spanish track. Reigning champion Vettel finished two-tenths up on Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari.

 FASTEST TIMES Day 2

1     Vettel       Red Bull                        1m23.315s
2     Alguersuari   Toro Rosso             1m23.519s  +0.204
3     Alonso    Ferrari                       1m23.978s  +0.663
4     Barrichello   Williams                 1m24.008s  +0.693
5     Heidfeld   Renault                    1m24.242s  +0.927
6     Kobayashi   Sauber                   1m24.243s  +0.928
7     Rosberg   Mercedes                 1m24.730s  +1.415
8     Button               McLaren         1m24.923s  +1.608
9     Di Resta   Force India                 1m25.194s  +1.879
10     Kovalainen   Lotus                    1m26.421s  +3.106
11     Petrov              Renault         1m26.884s  +3.569
12     Liuzzi               HRT                 1m27.044s  +3.729
13     Glock              Virgin         1m27.242s  +3.927
14     Teixeira   Lotus                    1m31.584s  +8.269

Day 3
Nico Rosberg stole the headlines from Lewis Hamilton at the Barcelona test as the German set the pace for Mercedes.

Hamilton held sway for much of the day despite a recurrence of reliability problems that have blighted McLaren.

 A late dash from Rosberg in one minute 23.168 seconds bettered McLaren's long-time leader by 0.690 seconds and Mark Webber's Red Bull by 1.827secs.

Fastest times, day three, third pre-season test, Circuit de Catalunya:

1 Nico Rosberg (Ger)         Mercedes                   1: 23.168
2 Vitaly Petrov (Rus)          Renault                      1:23.463
3 Lewis Hamilton (GB)       McLaren-Mercedes      1:23.858
4 Pastor Maldonado (Ven)  Williams-Cosworth       1:24.815
5 Mark Webber (Aus)         Red Bull-Renault          1:24.995
6 Jarno Trulli (Ita)                Lotus-Renault             1:25.454
7 Sergio Perez (Mex)         Sauber-Ferrari              1:25.557
8 Adrian Sutil (Ger)             Force India-Mercedes  1:25.720
9 Sebastien Buemi (Swi)    Toro Rosso-Ferrari        1:26.155
10 Felipe Massa (Brz)        Ferrari                         1:26.508
11 Timo Glock (Ger)          Virgin-Cosworth             1:26.598
12 Giorgio Mondini (Swi)     Hispania-Cosworth        1:28.178
13 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         1:28.329
14 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) Hispania-Cosworth        1:30.772

Have not heard about a delay in Bahrain yet, but if spectators start shooting at the cars, could be an interesting race

[Dino]

Bahrain postponed,first gp now march 27th in
Australia

[TRIP5]

Bahrain postponed,first gp now march 27th in
Australia

Cheers for the update...Thought as much boooooo rubbish - though I can totally understand why!

Any ideas what they're going to do...make the season longer..fit it into the mid season break..

xx

[The-Crow]

BBC news said the Crown Prince announced the cancellation this afternoon.

The cost to hold the race 25mill had been paid to the FIA

Plus a bonus fee of 12mill for being the first race of the year

Add to that the cost to build the new track  92 mill

Thats a real bad beat story.

[TRIP5]

Year but considering the implied losses of civil war and it's a mere drop in the proverbial oil well

Wonder if this means the teams will get more test time...pretty long gap to Australia...

xx

[The-Crow]

the first race in Australia was on today

I will not post who won in case you have not seen it yet  see BBC i Player

There was a minutes silence before the start for Japan and all the drivers gathered at the front of the grid . Not seen that since Senna died

But after the race

Sauber's Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi  lost their seventh and eighth places in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix after both were disqualified for technical infringements on their cars.

Following post-race checks, the Melbourne stewards decided that both Sauber C30s were in breach of technical rules 3.10.1* and 3.10.2**, in relation to their rear wings. The team plan to appeal the decision.

During the race  Martin said one car had 9 control paddles behind the steering wheel

2 for gear up and down
3 for clutch release at the start
2 for adjustable rear wing or DRS ( Drag reduction system )
2 for kers on and off

strewth

[Linux]

Remarkable docu

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00z8v18/Grand_Prix_The_Killer_Years/

[TRIP5]

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

The season has started!!!!! UL Sauber...

Roll on Malaysia

xx