Here are the best lap times from the Valencia test: Code: Pos Driver Team Best Laps 1. Alonso Ferrari 1:11.470 127 2. Massa Ferrari 1:11.722 226 3. Kobayashi Sauber 1:12.056 96 4. de la Rosa Sauber 1:12.094 154 5. Hamilton McLaren 1:12.256 108 6. Kubica Renault 1:12.426 188 7. M.Schumacher Mercedes 1:12.438 122 8. Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:12.576 97 9. Rosberg Mercedes 1:12.899 158 10. Button McLaren 1:12.951 82 11. Petrov Renault 1:13.097 75 12. Barrichello Williams 1:13.377 177 13. Hulkenberg Williams 1:13.669 126 14. Buemi Toro Rosso 1:13.823 125 15. Paffett McLaren 1:13.846 86 Obviously it's too early to make any definitive statements, but it seems as if Ferrari is definitely onto something...
As an add on to the Stefan GP story, apparently Bernie Ecclestone doesn't believe that either Campos or USF1 will make it and he's lobbying for Stefan to get an F1 spot. There are also rumors about the possible drivers. Kazuki Nakajima seems to be fixed and then there are also rumors about Ralf Schumacher making his comeback. I think that this would be a rather bad combo. Nakajima is notorious for crashing his car and Schumacher has done nothing in DTM over the last years. If I was at Stefan, I'd try to sign Sébastien Bourdais, I think he's very underrated. I never understood why Toro Rosso sacked him...
Yeah it's called running on low loads. If someone is able to find the full lap times that would be great. Then we'd be able to see a better average than a 1 lap.
I don't have the numbers, but from the commentaries, Alonso, Massa and Hamilton were the most impressive drivers as they posted constantly fast lap times. I'd think that Mercedes also has another trump card they haven't played yet. Ross Brawn is known for that and he also hinted at the car changing quite a bit until Bahrain. So to me, it really looks like a close season with four teams competing on the top. Ferrari seems to be slightly ahead right now, but that doesn't mean much.
I hope it's a competitive season as with the new point system things can get out of hand really quickly.
Also, Mercedes has just announced that they've signed Nick Heidfeld as test driver. There have been rumors before but it has taken until now for the negotiations to succeed. So they really have an all German team now. Not a bad move IMHO, Heidfeld is a good driver and brings in a lot of additional experience which could help developing the car. On the other hand, I don't really understand the need for a dedicated test driver, now that testing has been severely limited. One would think that the two regular drivers need all the practice they can get. But since every team has a third driver, I guess there is some use for that...
With the new rules in place a third driver is useless. I've just read that the F1 is thinking of forcing 2 stops at each race. That would suck if one of the front runners has to start from the back and now would be forced to 2 stop instead of 1 to catch up.
Maybe they still have a third driver in case one of their regular drivers is injured and has to be replaced...? That would suck indeed...
So there are news regarding the upstarts. Peter Windsor, head of the USF1 team admitted that there are problems. He said that one sponsor has jumped the ship, but he also claims that they filled the gap. He also admitted that they lag behind with their car development. Windsor was however confident that the team will be in Bahrain in time, although they probably won't be able to do much testing before that. "We won't be pretty, but we'll be there" he said. I'm still skeptical regarding USF1. It all seems to be very shaky...and should they make it, they'll probably lag behind the rest of the field badly... The other doubtful candidate is Campos. Apparently there are good news for the Spanish team though. Team insiders have said that the team has found an investor and has now all the money it needs. There have also been rumors that the Stefan GP team bought the Campos chassis from Dallara in order to prevent Campos from starting. These claims have turned out to be wrong. Instead, Stefan GP made a contract with Dallara to help them evolve the 2010 Toyota designs they bought. So right now, both USF1 and Campos seem to be able to make it, which means bad news for Stefan GP who would be out. Personally, I think that Stefan should be allowed to participate, regardless of whether Campos and USF1 make it or not. They're clearly the most advanced out of these three, and probably even ahead of Lotus and Virgin. They seem to have a good organization and everything that's needed for F1. The FIA should be happy to get another team instead of restricting the field.
Well when you buy a chasis, engine and gearbox from toyota you should be able to compete right away so yes Stefan GP should be ahead of some. Honestly I think if you and I bought Toyota team we do better than any American team. We could name the team 'kronictown' as benz is currently in use
Red and Black, can't go wrong with that... *** Bourdais could be an asset for many teams indeed but in the F1 milieu is like many other milieus, you're either in or out...Seems like Seb is not part of this world or at least part of the deciders minds despite having proved in 2008 that he could drive an F1 car. He did not fit in at Toro Rosso but with a bit of distance it's not too surprising : he does not exactly look like and think like someone who would be out of the Red Bull driver academy. He took that chance because it was the last one to put a toe in the sport but it did not pay off. I wouldn't go as far as saying that Bourdais is championship material but seeing someone like de la Rosa getting the Sauber drive is really a sign that certain drivers enjoy a particularly good reputation in the directors circle... It has also to be said that SeaBass is not willing to be a pay driver even if I'm not sure he could bring the cash anyway. Certain person also bring to the fore his personality, it's true he might not be the easiest going guy in the world but that's usually due to his thirst for progress in the team which is not such a bad thing normally...Anyway, even a guy who's fun, friendly and cool like Montagny didn't get a seat so that's not the decisive factor... And no Bourdais is no a-hole, I don't think he would have had that kind of relationship with Paul Newman otherwise. Well, winning 4 consecutive championships for his team might help a bit... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jptO1j1db7M"]YouTube- Paul Newman & Sebastien Bourdais at THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID[/ame] I was looking for an other interview where Paul speaks about him on French TV but it looks like it has disappeared...
Today was the first test day in Jerez. Nico Rosberg topped the time table, but it started raining early on, so the times aren't really meaningful. The McLaren had weird instruments on board. It raised suspicions that there were problems with the car, but McLaren said that it was merely due to get better data in order to compare it to their wind tunnel data.
The new "new" Lotus T127. Nice "kit" though. Resurrecting the old Lotus colours with British Racing Green and Gold. Hopefully, next time around it'll be the Black and Gold of the JPS livery...We do have some sexy liveries this season, very distinctive and some welcome references to the past and traditions with Mercedes, Renault and Lotus. The car itself looks boxy and basic but that's not necessarily a bad thing to have a "no fuss" design when you enter your first season in the sport.
Respuesta: Re: F1 - 2010 Season Time for the FIA to issue a hard deadline to Campos and USF1 for them to give definite assurances that they will compete. Otherwise, then let the Serbians in. http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=477369900374&id=86924854254
Still no real news on the struggling teams, but there are rumors: 1) Campos could be taken over completely by co-owner Jose Ramon Carabante, which would presumably ensure that there'll be enough money to go into this season. Also, Campos said that they'll probably miss the last tests in Barcelona, but that there could be a shakedown. There are three candidates to join Bruno Senna as second driver: Karun Chandhok, Bertrand Baguette but also Jose Maria Lopez (should USF1 not make it). 2) The New York Times reports that it's pretty much over for USF1. Apparently, they can't pay their bills anymore. The crash tests in England have been canceled and there are no scheduled tests. Driver Jose Maria Lopez is apparently looking for alternatives (Campos or Stefan) as is Chad Hurley, one of the main investors. 3) All the while Stefan GP is doing just fine. Apparently they're in talkes with Jacques Villeneuve who'd like to return to F1. Stefan GP, who has bought the rights to use Toyota's design for this year, is scheduled to test at the Portimao circuit at the end of the month. The team has also sent equipment both to Bahrain and Malaysia in case it receives an entry to race.
Respuesta: Re: F1 - 2010 Season Why couldn't Stefan GP have bought Toyota's car and everything when Toyota was still in F1? We wouldn't ve having all this trouble to complete the grid.
Re: Respuesta: Re: F1 - 2010 Season I really wonder how the new teams were selected anyway...I'm no insider, but I would have thought that Prodrive was the leading contender after almost making it before with the older (more expensive) rules... Anyway, Campos is now officially saved. As I wrote before, Jose Ramon Carabante has taken over the team completely. Colin Kolles will be managing director. There is still no second driver yet, but Argentinian news sources claim that Jose Maria Lopez will switch from to Campos since USF1 seems not to make it...apparently Ecclestone himself is involved in all this. Speaking of USF1, they've announced vie their Twitter account that they're still up and running, but nobody really believes it. Otherwise, there are no news at all. The new car should have been presented by now, but they didn't do so without any comment whatsoever. Stefan on the other hand has finished their car (no pictures yet) and is ready to go into the season. They have signed Kazuki Nakajima and team boss Zoran Stefanovic said that they're very close on signing Jacques Villeneuve and an unnamed third driver.
Lotus Racing behind the scene video. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idtAvNkaMBQ"]YouTube- Lotus Racing - The Story So Far[/ame] Speaking of Lotus, Heikki will be the sole Finnish driver this season (how unusual is that, to have a Finn that won't be in a position to win) and features in this nonsensical ad for Finland F1 broadcasting channel. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw5sfoJQAes"]YouTube- Heikki Kovalainen MTV3 Commercial[/ame] http://www.f1-action.net/videos/14004
Bad news for USF1. From the NY Times: One year after announcing grand plans to build a Formula One race team in the United States, Ken Anderson conceded on Friday that it would not be able to make the grid for the 2010 season opener March 14 in Bahrain because of financial problems. [...] He said the Concorde Agreement, governing the relationship between Formula One teams and the F.I.A., allows for a team to miss as many as three races in a season. But an F.I.A. clarification Feb. 10 indicated that teams would be penalized for missing races. Anderson said the team was awaiting a decision by Jean Todt, the federation’s president, perhaps as early as this weekend. The team would rather miss the first four races [...] Asked if the F.I.A. penalty for missing races could be severe enough to put USF1 out of business, Anderson said: “I guess anything’s possible. But what would be the point of that? Why would they give us a franchise and just, the first time there’s a bump in the road, yank it and put it out of business? That’s definitely not the message that I’m getting from them. They want to help us, not shut us down.” ... Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/sports/autoracing/21autos.html?ref=global