Formula 1

[alpiner]

Hulkenberg and Raikkonen the key drivers as thoughts turn to 2014There is always some movement of drivers in F1 from one season to another and there is usually one driver who holds everything up.This year the situation is slightly different as the retirement of Mark Webber creates an opening at the sport’s top team, Red Bull. This has fired a starting gun on driver movements for 2014.As a result there is some action in the paddock with drivers’ agents getting busy making conversation with team bosses.Kimi Raikkonen is in the frame for the Red Bull ride, up against Daniel Ricciardo and Jean Eric Vergne. While Sebastian Vettel was effusive in his praise for Raikkonen yesterday in the FIA press conference, hosted by JA, that could just as easily be because he knows that the Finn won’t be his team mate, as that he will.Raikkonen has his supporters within the team, but there is a sense that, for Red Bull’s junior programme and its backers, Ricciardo is in the box seat at the moment. He said on Saturday that nothing is decided yet and Raikkonen reiterated that on Sunday.Meanwhile Lotus are very keen on Nico Hulkenberg. He has been in discussions with them for some time. If Raikkonen stays at Lotus, it will be interesting to see whether they look to hire Hulkenberg anyway, or whether they stick with Grosjean, who had his strongest weekend for a while in Germany.The team is never quite sure what it’s going to get with the Frenchman on any given weekend and he still has only 35% of the points of Raikkonen – although twice recently he has been instructed to let him through.Hulkenberg provides a more consistent proposition and is highly rated by everyone he has worked with.He finds himself in an awkward situation, with Sauber at something of a financial crossroads. The Swiss team is tight on money at the moment and the story in the paddock on Sunday was that Sauber has released him from his contract should he wish to leave.With Felipe Massa struggling again at Ferrari, as the negotiations over 2014 start to ramp up, one wonders whether they will find a way to give him yet another chance or whether this is finally the end of the road for the Brazilian.As lead driver in Ferrari’s ‘satellite’ team, Hulkenberg has been on Maranello’s radar this season, although he has always insisted his move there was not a holding pattern waiting for a Ferrari seat.The interest from Lotus makes his situation more interesting and raises his stock – one way or another it seems he may finally get his chance with a leading team next year, if the cards fall right for him.http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2013/07/hulkenberg-and-raikkonen-the-key-drivers-as-thoughts-turn-to-2014/

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Andy Murray has an easier job than me, says Lewis HamiltonMercedes driver claims car performance makes his task harder than winning WimbledonLewis Hamilton reckons Andy Murray has it easy because the Wimbledon champion only has a tennis racket to control. Hamilton, in a particularly morose frame of mind, was pining over his lack of a win since moving to Mercedes; his dour mood exacerbated by his break-up from the singer Nicole Scherzinger.He says the variables which he has to put up with mean his hopes of a second world title are fainter than ever. Unlike Murray, who beat Novak Djokovic to win Wimbledon on Sunday, just after Hamilton had finished fifth in the German Grand Prix, he does not see his fortunes changing soon.“I’m in a different position to Andy Murray, he said. “He’s been very solid, but it’s just him and his racket. There are so many elements in racing – the car, the suspension, the electronics, the engine, the tyres – that have to be performing for you. It doesn’t matter if I’m in the same head zone as Murray, it all gets taken away by the tyres.”Hamilton has been on pole position in three of the nine grands prix this season. But, though he was leading his home race a week ago until an exploding Pirelli tyre cost him victory, he has yet to score a win. He believes a combination of new rules on tyre use – introduced in the wake of myriad deflations at the British Grand Prix – their revised construction and the ban on Mercedes running in the upcoming Young Driver Test at Silverstone (following their “secret” test in Barcelona in May) will hurt the team’s progress.“I don’t think people realise how much of a negative it is for us to be missing the test, Hamilton said, looking ahead to the next race in Budapest. “We’ll be going to Hungary and others will have tested different tyre pressures. We will go into it blind. We shouldn’t be in this position.”On his title hopes, Hamilton added: “There’s really no point thinking about it – especially as [sebastian Vettel] is nearly 60 points ahead.”Domestic matters have also led to Hamilton’s glass-half-empty outlook. He said: “I need to keep myself busy otherwise my mind will wander. Being behind the wheel is still one of my favourite places, or being in the studio making music. I’m more successful in the studio at the moment.”http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing/andy-murray-has-an-easier-job-than-me-says-lewis-hamilton-8696200.html

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Gary Anderson says F1 pit stops should be slowed downThe lesson of the German Grand Prix, in which a cameraman in the pits was injured by an errant wheel from Mark Webber's Red Bull, is that Formula 1 pit stops need to be slowed down.They have got so fast - the top teams are routinely changing four wheels in 2.5 seconds - that it has gone too far.They are lovely to watch, but you can't see what's going on.I would suggest reducing the number of people allowed to work on the pit stop to two on each wheel, a front and rear jack, and the 'lollipop' man who controls the driver.That would be 10 people who touch the car, plus one.At the moment, there are about 20 - three on each wheel, two jacks, two spare jacks, two car steadiers and two pit-lane watchers.In Webber's stop, the lollipop man could not see what was going on with the right rear wheel. He thought it was on; it looked on. If there were fewer people, there would be less confusion.Do that, and the pit stop would take in the region of four seconds, which is still fast, but enough time to react to problems. In 2.5secs it is difficult to make decisions based on what you see, as opposed to what you think you're seeing.F1 was lucky on Sunday because the injuries sustained were far less bad than they could have been. If nothing happens, someone is going to get seriously hurt.Perhaps it is time for the drivers to get involved. They were very outspoken ahead of Germany on the safety aspect of the tyres, threatening to boycott the race, and they could say that the risk of a wheel hitting them - or anyone else - on the head is something that needs to be taken more seriously.Or maybe the teams' association Fota should take the lead.Other than at the pit stop, Red Bull showed in Germany that no matter what you throw at them they are pretty good at responding.Vettel drove a very good race. He was very aggressive at the start, and he made good use of the fact that Red Bull have a good balance between their qualifying and race performance.That's the opposite of Mercedes, who after another poor race now must accept that they have to wind off some of their qualifying performance to help their tyre usage in the race.The Red Bull is a very good car, and Vettel now has 157 points, which is 47 more than he had this time last year. That is not a good omen for his challengers.LOTUS BACK ON FORMLotus have had a bad run of races, but they found some improved pace in qualifying in Germany and that made the difference.They have always had a very good car on race day; starting further forward gives them a chance to fight for the win.But I think a bit of indecision at the end of the race possibly cost them the win.When Romain Grosjean made his final stop on lap 40, forcing Vettel to come in the following lap, I'm sure they were committed to Kimi Raikkonen going to the end without stopping.It was a great dummy, because they had both bases covered. They had Grosjean challenging Vettel on fresh tyres and Raikkonen out front on used tyres with the potential to go all the way.But then eight laps later they pitted Raikkonen, and I think they convinced themselves during those eight laps that they weren't going to make it.But his lap times were good, consistently in the mid-1:35s, and nothing indicated he needed to pit.Yes, Raikkonen went a bit faster on the soft tyre, but he had had a 15-second lead over Vettel with 11 laps to go and the Red Bull was only going 0.5secs a lap faster. I think he could have survived that and come home with a win.Lotus were obviously concerned about a repeat of China last year, when Raikkonen dropped from second to 11th when his tyres went off. But if you're going to win races and titles you have to make these decisions.And if you change them, it has to be for the right reasons.Najviše što je izdržala medium guma na ovoj trci je 27 krugova, Kimi je trebao da vozi 35. Veliko je pitanje šta bi se desilo u poslednjih 5-6 krugova kada bi guma bila zaista na izdisaju. tada sigurno ne bi postojala razlika po krugu u odnosu na Vettela od samo pola sekunde. FERRARIYou could level the same observation at Ferrari. There was nothing wrong with their decision to qualify on the medium tyre so they could start on it - it meant they qualified seventh and eighth rather than a couple of places higher up and it gave them a good option on strategy.But, having made the decision, they didn't commit to it. They brought Fernando Alonso in for his fist stop on lap 12. McLaren's Jenson Button, on the same strategy, ran for another nine laps.If that strategy was going to work, your whole philosophy had to be to get beyond lap 20.Ferrari technical director Pat Fry said after the race that they did that because Alonso's pace was dropping away, but it wasn't. He was consistently in the low 1:38s and his final lap before his stop was only 0.058secs slower than the previous one.Yes, he was losing time to Vettel, but when Alonso came out he was only going about 0.7secs a lap faster. At that margin, it is going to take 20 laps to make up the time he lost in the stop. That's a whole stop lost. And he didn't make up the time because after about seven laps he was in the low 1:38s again.Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa had another nightmare weekend. After crashing during free practice in Monaco, Canada and Silverstone, he simply lost it braking for Turn One on lap four.That's a basic error a driver of his calibre should not be making and it came at a very bad time.The summer is the time the teams make their decisions on their future driver line-ups.If I was Ferrari, I would take someone else to partner Alonso next year. They need two drivers scoring consistent points in the constructors' championship, which is where the money gets paid.They need someone more consistent, even if he is not quite as quick as Massa can be when he is on form.I would go for Marussia's Jules Bianchi, who is part of Ferrari's young driver scheme.Alonso is their main man until at least the end of his contract, which they say runs through 2016. And they seem to have lined up Vettel to replace him. So the lead driver position is sorted. They need a decent back-up driver, a good number two.Someone like Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber probably has more pace right now, but he's going to want to be winning races sooner rather than later. Bianchi has talent and would accept a support role, which is what Ferrari need.TYRE CHANGES MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCETyres were the major talking point going into Germany after the series of dramatic failures at Silverstone.Pirelli took a revised tyre to the Nurburgring race , replacing the steel construction with a Kevlar one, and they laid down operating procedures for the tyres. These included minimum pressures, maximum cambers - the amount the tyre leans away from vertical - and forbidding switching the tyres from side to side.These have been designed all year, but the teams have not been paying attention, which is fair enough. They were allowed freedom. Now they're not.The reason Pirelli did that is not because they know for certain that that is the acceptable working range for their tyre, but because it means they have a set of defined parameters to work from if something goes wrong.Before, it was impossible to be sure about the cause of the failure - on one car it might be because the camber was too big; on another because the pressures were too low. Pirelli was getting a random set of information.I would expect Pirelli to continue with this approach when it introduces yet another new tyre design for the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of the month.Germany was a one-off race, because only the design of the rear tyres was changed. The smaller contact patch that design gives meant the rear tyre was a bit more critical than the front.Take Paul Di Resta, for example: he tried to do a long stint from the safety car intervention until the end of the race, the sort of strategy he has tried many times before, and it did not work for him. The rear tyres dropped off too much and he had to stop again. Force India je blaga prema gumama kao i Lotus. Nije mi jasno zašto je Gary mislio da bi ovo uspelo Lotusu, pogotovo što su bili u borbi za pobedu kada se guma mnogo više opterećuje. I think that will fix itself for Hungary, when another new design is introduced front and rear, but that will probably mean the tyre's potential life is not as good.http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/23230229?

[Jimmy Kowalski]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvO9fzPp-SEThe disastrous consequences of Red Bull’s botched pit stop for Mark Webber were captured in this video shot by a fan at the German Grand Prix.Webber’s right-rear wheel was not properly attached to the car before it was released and it came off as he rejoined the pit lane.The video shows several people jumping clear of the wheel. It then struck an object and bounced into FOM cameraman Paul Allen. He was taken to hospital with broken bones and bruising but according to an FOM statement yesterday he is “expected to make a full recovery”.Red Bull were fined €30,000 (£25,830) for unsafely releasing Webber’s car from the pit box. It is the second time this year a wheel has come off one of their cars following a pit stop.Bernie Ecclestone: “There was a whole bunch of mechanics and the tyre could have hit any one of those guys. The cameraman just happened to be looking the wrong way at the wrong time. In future, all our camera crews will only be allowed to film from the pit wall.”

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Boullier: “I am in contact with Nico”Lotus Team Principal Eric Boullier has revealed that his team are in talks with Nico Hulkenberg for the German to drive for them in 2014.The Sauber driver’s contract with the Swiss team was terminated after they failed to pay him in May and June. The small team is struggling financially and the termination means that he could leave whenever he wants, however it looks likely that he will stay on until the end of the year.Meanwhile Lotus are having to face up to the fact that they could well lose their number one driver Kimi Raikkonen to the temptation of Red Bull Racing in 2014 and are in talks with Nico for a potential drive should the Finn leave.Raikkonen’s management will meet with Lotus this week to discuss contracts, but Boullier revealed to France’s L’Equipe that Hulkenberg is a potential candidate for next season: “I am in contact with Nico,”The Frenchman also reportedly dropped Paul Di Resta’s name into the hat. The Force India driver was the hot topic of discussion last year after being linked to drives at Mercedes and McLaren before continuing with Force India.There is no doubt that Hulkenberg had talent but if he does move to Lotus in 2014, it would mean he has driven for a different team in each season of his four-year career after starting with Williams before moving to Force India for 2011 as their reserve driver. He was then promoted to a race seat in 2012 and moved to Sauber for 2013.Raikkonen is not in any rush to make up his mind but Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko said that a decision is expected to be made “in the summer.” Talking to Austrian Television he said: “Budapest is the beginning of the summer break. Spa at the end. So it [the decision] will fall some time in August,”Marko is also looking for a drive who can commit long-term to the team: “It shouldn’t be for only one year, but for the next three years, continuity has distinguished us as a team.”He admitted that they want two strong drivers and have plenty of choice: “We have plenty of choice, there is Kimi and there are many others — almost everyone would want to be with us.“We need two strong drivers, so you also can win the constructors’ championship. The opposite is Ferrari, who put everything on Alonso and the drivers’ championship. But we want both.”http://richlandf1.com/?p=11513

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Zylon visor saved Chilton in Germany ?...after debris flicked up by another car - probably a pebble - struck the new bullet-proof Zylon strip that runs above the drivers' visor.

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I cannot bail out Sauber, says EcclestoneFormula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has said he will not come to the aid of the Sauber F1 team, despite the squad’s current financial plight.Ecclestone has helped teams in the past, but when asked if he could do the same this time, he told Swiss broadcaster, SRF, that wouldn’t be possible: “We have agreements that require us to treat all the teams equally,” he explained.“They're a good team [though] and I'm sure there is more than one possible buyer,” he added. “I don't want to imagine F1 without Sauber. Ideally, they will find new sponsors in the long term, but even companies who are willing to support them in the short term would be fine. The team deserves to be helped.“I don't know exactly what their financial situation is, but I know it's not as good as it should be.”Ecclestone also said that Sauber is not the only team that is struggling to make ends meet: “There are others that are spending more money than they have,” confirmed the 82-year-old.http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/297483/i-cannot-bail-out-sauber-says-ecclestone/

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Alonso gives first half of season an eightFerrari driver Fernando Alonso says he would give the F138 chassis a score of eight out of ten for the first half of the 2013 Formula 1 campaign, having notched up victories at Shanghai and the Circuit de Catalunya plus a further three podium finishes.The two-time World Champion, who lies second to Red Bull rival Sebastian Vettel in the championship standings, explained that although the Maranello-based outfit's latest design is not the fastest on the grid at present, it is a "very complete" car.http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/297534/alonso-gives-first-half-of-season-an-eight/

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Video - How Red Bull kept the RB9 in fronthttp://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2013/0/1087.html?

[ducca]

Newey je jebeni genije, gde samo nalazi ideje za te sitne update-e

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Pored Neweya aerodinamiku radi i Peter Podromou koji je šef tog dela ekipe.Jako talentovan inženjer nekada šef aerodinamike u McLarenu. Od 2006. je u Red Bull-u.

[ducca]

Tnx za info. Propraticu doticnog i njegov dalji put...

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Cela ekipa Red Bulla je sastavljena od pravih ljudi..ogibljenje,elektronika, menjači..Novca ne fali pa samim tim ni rezultataChapman je sigurno najveći vizionar među dizajnerima, ali baš me interesuje šta bi Newey uradio da su pravila konstruisanja bolida slobodnija. Od mlađih mislim da je bivši Lotusov tehnički direktor James Allison budućnost. Ferrari će dobiti ogromno pojačanje ukoliko je tačna glasina da prelazi u Maranelo. Kada se samo setim onog prednjeg izduva na R30..tačno je da ideja nije uspela, ali to je menjanje samog temelja u konstrukciji. Takvi ljudi urade velike stvari

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Alonso 'fighting Vettel', not just Newey this yearA year ago, Fernando Alonso said he was not fighting Sebastian Vettel -- he was fighting Red Bull designer Adrian Newey. The comments were interpreted as a jibe at F1's reigning world champion, but a year on, the Ferrari driver says he has changed his tune."Right now we are fighting against Sebastian," he is quoted by Germany's Auto Bild. "I said in the second half of the year (2012) that I was not any more fighting against Sebastian or Mark (Webber), but against an aeroplane -- so strong was the Red Bull. Maybe some people misunderstood; I was simply trying to say that it's hard to fight against the car that can potentially be first and second in every race. This year it's no longer the case. Sebastian is ahead because he does the best job," Ferrari's Alonso added.But that doesn't mean Alonso, 34 points behind at almost the half-point of 2013, is giving up. "As long as we are not 50 or 60 points behind, we do not give up," said the Spaniard. "Sebastian was 44 points behind last year and still won the title in the end. Everything is possible."Even possible, he insisted, is the image of Vettel in a pair of red overalls in the future -- although some in the paddock can't imagine Alonso actually welcoming the German to Maranello. "I think we respect each other very much," said Alonso, "and it would also be good for the team, maximising the performance of the car and also the points."

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Putin supports Sauber?Sauber has announced partnerships with a number of Russian entities, including the Investment Cooperation International Fund, the Fund for Strategic Development of the North-West and the National Institute of Aviation Technologies. The aim of the relationship is to promote Russian involvement in Formula 1, with technological transfer, driver development and to showcase Russian know-how. The Investment Cooperation International Fund was established by the President in league with the the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russian Federation and the Ministry of Regional Development and its aim is to develop technology and to upgrade Russian industry. The fund has offices in Zurich, Barcelona and Hong Kong and aims to attract direct investment in Russia.The National Institute of Aviation Technologies is one of the leading scientific research institutions in Russia, and the aim is for Sauber to benefit from the advanced know-how of Russian scientists and engineers. The objective of the partnership is to open up new perspectives and revenue streams by commercialising jointly developed technologies.The partnership includes further activities for the promotion of the inaugural Formula 1 Grand Prix in Sochi in 2014 and attracting the talented young Russian generation towards motorsport. In particular, a development programme will be set up for the Russian driver Sergey Sirotkin to prepare him as a racing driver for the team in 2014.The inclusion of the Fund for Strategic Development of the North-West is interesting in that this not-for-profit organisation finances projects that will support the economic, scientific and cultural heritage of the North-West region of the Russian Federation. This is centred on St Petersburg. This is the clearest indication yet that the Russian GP may end up somewhere other than Sochi, as there is no really logical reason for a regional development agency to invest in a sport that will be showcased at the other end of the country.There had been talk before the announcement that the Russian deal would involve Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, two Russian businessmen with strong links to Putin, who run a string of large businesses and this year have become major players in racing with their support of SMP Racing, in league with the Russian Automobile Federation. They are sponsoring no fewer than 14 young drivers, who are involved in various karting and junior championships. Their aim is to create a route for young Russian racers to make it to F1. The programme seems to be modelled on the Red Bull Junior Team. SMP Racing is also funding cars in various GT Championships and is talking about doing a deal to build their own LMP2 car in 2014. The Rotenbergs have solid links with Ferrari. They are running no fewer than four Ferrari 458 Italias and there is talk of a Ferrari engine for the rumoured prototype.Some detect the hand of Vladimir Putin behind the SMP Racing project as he seeks to gain as much as possible for Russia from Grand Prix racing, following his decision to support a Russian GP.http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/putin-supports-sauber/?

Edited July 15, 2013 by alpiner