F1 - GP (General Purpose)

Chode ^ | 8/5/2009 | Chode

[Chode]

i hope he recovers, but that wouldn't be a bad team...

[Chode]

God willing and his head is clear, i hope so

tough hit for sure...

[Chode]

Alonso to Ferrari could herald golden age

Fernando Alonso's move to Ferrari, which was finally announced on Wednesday, is the most exciting shift in the Formula 1 fabric for years.

Assuming F1's traditional giants can both get back to the front, with Alonso at Ferrari going up against Lewis Hamilton at McLaren it sets the best two drivers in the world against each other in the two most famous teams.

Think of James Hunt against Niki Lauda, Alain Prost versus Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher taking on Mika Hakkinen. This is the historical lineage in which Alonso and Hamilton are taking their places, and they have all the qualities required to live up to those expectations.

Schumacher v Hakkinen is perhaps the closest comparison.

Alonso's year as Hamilton's team-mate at McLaren in 2007 may have been tempestuous in the extreme, but there is not the personal animosity between the two that there was for a long time between Senna and Prost.

Nor, though, are they exactly the partners in playboy excess that were Hunt and Lauda. Instead, their relationship is based on a deep respect for each other's abilities and a similarly powerful will to win.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2009/09/alonso_to_ferrari_could_herald.html

Hockenheim holds on to German GP

Hockenheim will continue as one of Germany's two Formula 1 circuits until at least 2018 after an agreement was reached over the track's F1 future.

Formula One Administration (FOA) and circuit chiefs have agreed a deal to cover any loss the event makes.

A statement on www.hockenheim.com read: "The FOA and the Hockenheim-Ring GmbH will share in the entrepreneurial opportunities and risks of the event."

Hockenheim, which alternates with the Nurburgring, first held the GP in 1970.

Promoters have predicted a 6m euro (£5.5m) loss on next year's Grand Prix.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8283837.stm

[God luvs America]

and Kimi back to McClaren??? I sill remember in ‘06 as his car died in Monaco, Kimi walking to the luxury yatch he was renting to swig champaign...don’t some people learn???

[Chode]

as long as the car performs, it should be a good year.

[Chode]

Lotus target February car launch

Lotus are confident their new car will be ready by mid-February ahead of the start of the 2010 Formula One season.

The Malaysian-funded team announced a scale model has been cleared to undergo windtunnel testing in the near future.

Technical director Mike Gascoyne said Lotus' priority is for two cars on the grid at the start of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in March next year.

"There is no escaping the challenges we face to get the car ready for the first race of next season," said Gascoyne.

"But I am confident that we are up to the task.

"Our target is to get the car ready by the middle of February so that we can carry out pre-season testing for Bahrain in mid-March.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8308035.stm

[Chode]

Williams confirmed on Wednesday that they will cease using Toyota engines at the end of this year. The British team’s cars have been powered by the Japanese automaker’s V8s for the past three seasons, scoring 93.5 world championship points together. Williams will announce their 2010 supplier in due course.

“At a time of great difficulty for us as a team, Toyota stepped forward and agreed to supply us with engines for 2007 through to the end of 2009,” said Frank Williams...

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/10/10082.html

[frithguild]

Maybe Cosworth power for Williams as well as USF1, Campos Meta, Manor and Lotus. With McLaren’s “tortious interference” blocking Red Bul from Mercedes power, who knows. Let’s see if the boys in Northampton can develope the same horsepower and the Merecedes, with its frozen development.

The return of the Lotus Cosworth - music to the ears. I do hope its black gold piping on the body would be a little over the top though.

I would post an image, but F1 site prevents it. It looks alot like the Force India car.

[frithguild]

Cosworth model:

Force India car:

[frithguild]

A comment on tires for next year, incombination with the refeuling ban:

"The other factor will be the tyres. Currently Bridgestone are saying that the tyre will be rated for 200 kilometres (125 miles). It's not clear what would happen if you ran it for longer than that. The races are obviously 300 kilometres (185 miles), so there will be some interest in how people choose to deploy different tyres; and we shouldn't rule out the point that the regulations, unlike when we had no refuelling before (pre-1994), do require one tyre change - you've got to run Option (softer compound) and Prime (harder compound).

On question - if you have no choice but to use it, why does the FIA insist on calling it the "Option" tire? I should be the "No-option" tire.

[Chode]

did they acquire all the Lotus rights and property(if any) or did they just get the name?

wasn't there some legal action about using the name or something???

tires... with only one stop, looks like building a lead up to tire change will be the deciding factor

[frithguild]

David Hunt purchased Team Lotus at a bankruptcy sale in 1994 and has granted rights to use the name to the 2010 Malaysian effort. Lotus Cars Limited, founded by Colin Chapman, has issued statements in June 2009 that it is in no way associated with the prospective 2010 team and “Group Lotus plc will take all necessary steps to protect its name, reputation and brand image.” Team Lotus, formerly Litespeed, apparently has a bevy of x-Lotus Cars Limited employees.

[Chode]

thx... Clark and Hill were my first racing hero's along with Chapman/Lotus, and as a kid i was in heaven growing up around the track and meeting them.

my parents worked at the track as i did when old enough

i even worked some of the drivers parties at the now burnt down Onyx Club at the track

a Lotus/Cosworth will be a sight for sore eyes and music to the ears for sure...

[Chode]

Todt elected new FIA President

Jean Todt has succeeded Max Mosley as President of Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, after comfortably winning a vote of the FIA General Assembly in Paris on Friday. Mosley, who backed Todt’s campaign against sole opponent Ari Vatanen, had held the role since 1993.

Frenchman Todt has been involved in motorsport since 1966 and is arguably best known as the Ferrari team principal who guided Michael Schumacher to five world championships. He received 135 votes to former world rally champion Vatanen’s 49, with 12 abstentions or invalid votes, and will now serve a four-year term.

Born in Pierrefort, Todt graduated from the School of Economics and Business in Paris and had a successful career as a rally co-driver from 1966 to 1981, ending with a manufacturers’ world title win with Talbot Lotus.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/10/10135.html

[Chode]

No Donington GP, says Ecclestone

Donington has held one Formula 1 race before, the 1993 European Grand Prix

Formula 1 commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone has categorically insisted there will be no British Grand Prix at Donington Park next year.

"There's no Donington," said Ecclestone at the new Yas Marina track in Abu Dhabi ahead of the final race of 2009.

The proposed move from Silverstone to Donington collapsed because the company redeveloping the circuit failed to show it had the £135m funding required.

Silverstone are trying to ensure there will be a British Grand Prix in 2010.

The company which owns the Northamptonshire circuit, Silverstone Holdings, stalled when a new deal was being renegotiated.

That allowed Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd - who lease Donington Park from the owning Wheatcroft family - to sign a 17-year deal with Ecclestone, which is now dead in the water.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8332525.stm

[God luvs America]

the negotiations with Silverstone should be interesting...

[Chode]

i read someplace McLaren is trying to help out

[Chode]

AYRTON SENNA'S NEPHEW BRUNO SIGNS F1 DEAL WITH CAMPOS

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Bruno Senna, nephew of three-time world champion Ayrton Senna, will drive next year for Formula One newcomer Campos, the team announced Saturday.

The 26-year-old is the first driver signed to one of the new F1 teams joining in 2010.

"It is a great pleasure to welcome Bruno Senna in the team," Campos chief executive Enrique Rodriguez de Castro said in a statement.

De Castro described Senna as "one of the most promising up-and-coming drivers of his generation."

"For Campos Meta 1 it is an extraordinary honour to be returning the name Senna to Formula One."

Senna was close to joining Brawn GP ahead of the 2009 season, but that seat was ultimately filled by Brazilian compatriot Rubens Barrichello.

http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/story/?id=296713

[FourPeas]

Don’t I remember Bernie declaring somewhere that F1 would never return to Silverstone?

[FourPeas]

It was easier to find that I expected:

Bernie Ecclestone vows never to return to Silverstone