FORMULA 1 - 2014

[MIKA27]

Wolff to get two FP1 sessions in 2014 as Williams extends her contract

Williams is pleased to confirm that Susie Wolff will be continuing as the team’s Development Driver for 2014 in an expanded role that will see her take to the wheel of the Williams Mercedes FW36 in two FP1 sessions this season.

Susie joined Williams in April 2012 and has played a valuable role in helping to develop the FW34, FW35, and the new Williams Mercedes FW36. In 2014 Susie will continue to work in the Williams simulator to help further develop the FW36.

Driving for Williams in two FP1 sessions this season will see Susie become the first female driver to compete in a Formula 1 Grand Prix session in over two decades, and builds on her promising performance for Williams in last year’s Young Drivers Test in Silverstone.

Prior to joining Williams Susie spent seven seasons driving in DTM, and was twice nominated for the prestigious BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award.

Speaking about Susie’s continued role with the team, Pat Symonds, Chief Technical Officer, said: “Susie has become a valued member of our driver line up and 2014 will see her take on more responsibilities as we seek to make a strong step forward in performance. Susie has demonstrated a natural talent for developing a car and providing strong feedback and these sort of characteristics will be key this season as teams seek to quickly understand and refine the radically overhauled 2014 cars.”

Speaking about her continuation with the team Susie added; ”I’m grateful for the support and belief Williams continues to show in me and 2014 promises to be a very important milestone in my career. My responsibilities within the team have steadily increased as I have proved myself, culminating in the opportunity to test the car at Silverstone and conduct straight line aero tests last season.

Competing in two FP1 sessions, alongside an additional full test day this season will be a big step and I am looking forward to the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the FW36 on a grand prix weekend. It’s a challenge that I will relish and it will be a great chance for me to continue assisting the team.”

[MIKA27]

Ecclestone pushing for Socchi night race

Formula 1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone wants the Russian Grand Prix to be held at night.

The inaugural event at winter olympics venue Sochi this year, however, will be a normal day race.

But The Times said that Formula 1′s under pressure Chief Executive wants the floodlit roofs of the olympic stadium and ice rinks to provide the backdrop for the race in future.

“The idea is a clever one,” said correspondent Kevin Eason, “given that the olympic park looks more like a vast car park than a picturesque sports arena in daylight.”

Ecclestone confirmed: “I think that they would go for the idea. At night the stadiums are very colourful with lots of lights and the backdrop to a race would be fantastic.”

“[The surrounding area] was a bit of dump, quite honestly,” he admitted. “But they have spent a lot of money and there is a lot going on and the place is changing all the time.”

[MIKA27]

Some of F1 ‘s new V6 turbo cars are very fast others are not

At full tilt in a straight line, this year’s Formula 1 cars emit a tamer sound than the class of 2013, however, the top speeds of the new turbo V6s are significantly higher, thanks to reduced downforce and an impressive engine-plus-ERS maximum of almost 900 horse power.

In Nico Rosberg’s hands, the currently dominant new W05 Mercedes is almost as quick over a full lap as the German’s pole of 2013.

Cornering speeds are lower, but at full speed, the cars are much faster — Fernando Alonso’s 2014 Ferrari clocked 336 km/h in Bahrain, compared to a top speed of 314 during the island Kingdom’s grand prix last year.

“We are incredibly fast on the straights,” Rosberg told Auto Motor und Sport. ”I would guess that at Monza we will be doing 360.”

That may not be the case for the entire field, however. The fastest of the struggling Renault-powered cars in Bahrain clocked a top of just 308 km/h – slower than in 2013.

World Champion Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull was a further 7 km/h slower than that.

So it’s a particularly challenging time for a team like Caterham, struggling not only with the troubled Renault V6 but also a small budget amid the enormous, and very expensive, technical revolution.

“Currently we are not on Formula 1 level,” Kamui Kobayashi, 10 seconds off the pace on Saturday, is quoted by Speed Week. “It’s more GP2 level.

“We have so many problems with the car and the times are incredibly slow,” said the Japanese.

“When you look at what Mercedes is doing, it’s overwhelming, but it also shows us what is possible and in what direction we need to develop.”

[MIKA27]

Sutil: No time to mess around

With just four days of testing remaining before the teams head to Australia, Adrian Sutil has warned Sauber that they need to get it right.

The former Force India covered just seven laps on the final day of the second test due to an issue with his C33's chassis.

Discovering a problem with the internal part of the monocoque, Sauber was forced to make changes and reinforce the new chassis which meant Sutil only ventured out late in the afternoon.

Missing the bulk of the day, the German has yet to put in a race run in the new car, something he says Sauber need to do before the testing concludes.

"Things have improved quite a lot and we have a much better package," he told crash.net.

"The car was ready to test here and we had our aero package fitted which meant it felt much more driveable than at Jerez.

"That first test was basically a roll out for us but conditions were much better here and we were able to make progress.

"However, there is no time to mess around and we have four more days before Melbourne and need to get a race run under our belt.

"We have to do some long runs, and then we can see where we stand."

[MIKA27]

Teams vote in favour of new qualifying format

A shake-up to the qualifying format has been given the go-ahead by all 11 teams on the grid, meaning it must now be approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council.

That's likely to be a formality and therefore it's almost guaranteed to be in place before the Australian Grand Prix in under 20 days time.

During a meeting in Bahrain last week, the teams convened to discuss how to stop drivers sitting out Q3 in order to save tyres.

A number of changes were put forward, but it's believed they've now unanimously decided upon a couple of tweaks. Q1 will now last 18 minutes, two less than previously, whilst Q2 will remain at 15 minutes and the final top-ten shootout, Q3, will be extended by two minutes to 12 in total.

The 16 cars which make it though to Q2 will receive an extra set of option (softer) tyres, but these tyres can only be used during Q3 - so those who don't progress will get to keep them for the race, but those who do make it into the top-ten shoot-out must use the additional options to set their final time, but must then hand them back to Pirelli after.

Those in Q3 will then start the race on the tyre in which they set their fastest lap on in Q2.

This ensures that all the cars in Q3 are competing on the same tyre, without the incentive to stay in the garage, but the strategic element of starting on the prime (harder) option remains a possibility if they choose to use that tyre in Q2. It also gives those starting outside the top-ten an additional set of new tyres.

Those in Q2 get to keep the additional set which Q3 runners had to hand back, whilst the bottom six cars will have used less tyres in the first place.

The change is likely to be confirmed ahead of the next pre-season test in Bahrain next week.

[MIKA27]

We'd be better taking a GP2 car to Australia - Kobayashi

Kamui Kobayashi has given a damning verdict on Caterham's chances at the season opener in Australia, claiming it might be better to take a GP2 car.

The team struggled to complete a respectable number of laps during the first test in Jerez. However things improved during the second test in Bahrain, but the Japanese driver is still questioning the cars reliability as well as its speed.

"We are not at race pace," he said.

"In race condition at the moment we should bring a GP2 car - it is like that, the lap time is similar to GP2.

"We have so many car problems and we need to do a lot of work. If we had to race now, I think it is not [at the level of] F1."

Kobayashi is confident that should they work through the problems, then a respectable lap time is possible.

"But when I look at the base lap time it is amazing - the possibility is there. We need to work a lot and it looks like we have a lot of steps to do. We will try and work and progress. I just need to believe in them and then we will see in Melbourne." Asked if he was worried, he replied:

"Of course. When we look at the lap times we need to be worried. I cannot be happy. I have to think what I need to do and time is very limited. With all the changes time is very important.

"We need to influence the laps time and investigate and prioritise to ensure we finish races. We need to think about this side as well as performance. We are limited but we have to try whatever we can."

[MIKA27]

Lotus 'twin nose' an advantage over rival designs

Lotus believe their nose design, dubbed the 'twin-tusk thanks to its appearance, is providing a performance advantage over the lower noses adopted by rival teams.

There are three main variants, the 'anteater' adopted by the majority, the lower 'vacuum' adopted by Mercedes and Ferrari and then Lotus' unique concept which has two nose, though only once is counted under the regulations because of their varying lenghts.

Speaking to Autosport about it, technical director Nick Chester revealed that according to their simulations, which have been backed up by on-track running, the 'twin-tusk' design is proving advantageous.

"From the aero numbers we are getting back from the car, it does seem to be performing," he said.

"I'm not going to give you a number on how much better we think it is than a standard low nose, but we did see what we thought was a significant benefit, which is why we chased it."

He admitted he was surprised no other outfit had developed a similar solution, and hinted that it would now be too late in the season to copy.

"The one thing that is difficult with the nose is that it is quite hard to structurally develop and crash test it," he explained.

"Obviously, it is a different structure to a standard nose and it did take quite a lot of iterations to get it to a point where we were happy and it went through the crash test."

[ayedfy]

I just bought tickets to the Melbourne race, my first ever GP. For those who've been, what were your experiences like? Any veterans care to weigh in on where to go, how to plan the day, etc?

[MIKA27]

I just bought tickets to the Melbourne race, my first ever GP. For those who've been, what were your experiences like? Any veterans care to weigh in on where to go, how to plan the day, etc?

Hi Ash - I tend to go to most of the Melbourne Grand Prix and each year the venue whilst the same, have various stalls change. The layout is the same.

I often grab tickets to the Moss Stand which is right on the starting grid next to Fangio stand. Have you purchased a daily admission ticket or a package?

So long as there is beer and food, I'm a happy man!

I have attended throughout the years and have seen both wet and dry races, I have met many international fans who have become life long friends and to me, this is more valuable than the actual race itself. I have known this particular group of Finnish fans since 2000 and we started chatting as we were all Mika Hakkinen fans. Since then, we keep in contact via email, Skype and they fly down each and every season to the Melbourne GP.

One of the most memorable was back in 2004, a particularly wet practice session on Friday, rooster tails of water 12 feet high, qualy was nice and dry, Schumacher took pole position and I was sun-burnt to a crisp! Afterward in the paddock, I was fortunate to meet Michael Schumacher and had a very large Adshell Formula 1 poster autographed by him along with majority of the drivers (I still have the poster!). I then attended the Grand Prix ball which also was a memorable event.

I find that walking about, meeting new people the best part of attending any Grand Prix - Weather you are with friends or on your own, it's never too hard (Especially in Melbourne) to start a conversation. The day also host various other events, Porsche Cup, V8 Super-cars, celebrity races and normally a concert. You won't get bored.

[MIKA27]

Tech Talk: Who nose if the Twin Tusk concept will work for Lotus?

The Lotus team caused somewhat of a furore when they released a teaser render of the car ahead of the actual unveiling of the E22. The furore centered around their twin tusk asymmetric nose, as for many it seemed to defie the regulations.

I had however proposed a similar solution several weeks before the car was launched having re-visited my notes made when the regulations had been released some time ago. Although the nose tip is required to be set at 185 mm from the reference plane and must contain a horizontal projection of 9000mm2 50mm behind this it does not go as far to say that at 50.01 mm behind this you cannot create another structure.

This is where we find Lotus carving an advantage, with the right hand (left as you view the image) tusk just over 50mm longer than the other. Whereas the rest of the field has converged on either the ‘Finger’ or ‘Anteater’ style noses the Lotus variant offers the opportunity to condition more airflow centrally.

You’ll also undoubtedly note that the E22′s nose seems longitudinally shorter than some of it’s counterparts at that’s to leverage an advantage in terms of how much height can be retained between the tusks. The height rentention is one of the main advantages of using this style of nose as it allows more airflow to pass under the chassis and onward to the floor.

It does however come with the drawbacks associated with asymmetry and will likely lead to some eratic airflow behaviour in yaw, the loss is probably deemed negligible enough though to warrant the better mass flow.

In terms of other teams using this idea, it could prove difficult unless they’ve already been working on it. This is due to the fact that most teams conduct their initial test phase in CFD, which is usually only done with half the car (from the centreline outward).

Lotus must have completed their CFD runs modelling the whole car, to take in account the inconsistencies that asymmetry can produce and is further echoed by the teams use of asymmetric parts further downstream.

The regulations going forward put a much heavier restriction on the use of both CFD and Wind Tunnel testing to offset the return of in-season testing. This will undoubtedly hinder any teams wanting to assess the twin tusk concept as the computing power to process the whole car vs half of it is more than double.

Lotus are expecting other teams to ask the FIA for clarification on their nose design when the competition begins in Melbourne but thus far it has stood upto the test of the FIA’s regulations. Lotus are reportedly working on a more aggressive version of the nose going forward too.

Lotus Technical Director Nick Chester said of the concept, ”Some teams have had the luck to have visibility [of the E22] quite early and I thought one or two teams might have tried it or maybe developed it. I think one of things that’s difficult with that nose is that it’s quite hard to structurally develop it and crash test it. It might be that they were already on a path where it was too late to develop that kind of nose.

“Obviously it’s a very different structure to a standard nose and it took quite a lot of iteration to get it to a point where we were happy and it got through the crash test.”

“From the aero numbers we are getting back from the car it does seem to be performing. I’m not going to give you a number on how much better we thought it was than a standard low nose, but we did see what we thought was a significant benefit, which is why we chased it,” added Chester.

[ayedfy]

Hi Ash - I tend to go to most of the Melbourne Grand Prix and each year the venue whilst the same, have various stalls change. The layout is the same.

I often grab tickets to the Moss Stand which is right on the starting grid next to Fangio stand. Have you purchased a daily admission ticket or a package?

So long as there is beer and food, I'm a happy man!

I have attended throughout the years and have seen both wet and dry races, I have met many international fans who have become life long friends and to me, this is more valuable than the actual race itself. I have known this particular group of Finnish fans since 2000 and we started chatting as we were all Mika Hakkinen fans. Since then, we keep in contact via email, Skype and they fly down each and every season to the Melbourne GP.

One of the most memorable was back in 2004, a particularly wet practice session on Friday, rooster tails of water 12 feet high, qualy was nice and dry, Schumacher took pole position and I was sun-burnt to a crisp! Afterward in the paddock, I was fortunate to meet Michael Schumacher and had a very large Adshell Formula 1 poster autographed by him along with majority of the drivers (I still have the poster!). I then attended the Grand Prix ball which also was a memorable event.

I find that walking about, meeting new people the best part of attending any Grand Prix - Weather you are with friends or on your own, it's never too hard (Especially in Melbourne) to start a conversation. The day also host various other events, Porsche Cup, V8 Super-cars, celebrity races and normally a concert. You won't get bored.

I've bought a general admission ticket for the Sunday. Thank you very much for the detailed response, you've given me a lot to think about and get excited for! I'll be going alone, so it's nice to hear that there's a good possibility of bonding with fellow fans.

[MIKA27]

I've bought a general admission ticket for the Sunday. Thank you very much for the detailed response, you've given me a lot to think about and get excited for! I'll be going alone, so it's nice to hear that there's a good possibility of bonding with fellow fans.

Whilst I normally attend most seasons, I haven't purchased this seasons Moss Stand tickets as I have other plans this weekend with the family.

In saying this howevr, it seems my plans may change and if so, I too will purchase general admission ticket for race day. if this is the case and I'll know in a few days time, I'll send you a PM and perhaps we can catch up and have a cigar?

Regards

Mika

[MIKA27]

Smedley leaves Ferrari and follows Massa to Williams

Former Ferrari Race Engineer Rob Smedley is following Brazilian driver Felipe Massa to the Williams Formula 1 team, where he will take on the new role of Head Of Vehicle Performance.

Williams said on Tuesday that Smedley, whose radio conversations with Massa during races have made him an F1 personality, would start work before the Bahrain Grand Prix, in April.

The Briton had been expected to move to Williams after Massa, with whom he had forged a close working relationship, joined the team from Ferrari at the end of 2013.

At the German Grand Prix in 2010, it was Smedley who gave Massa the message ‘Fernando is faster than you’ when Ferrari controversially decided to impose team orders to ensure that Spaniard Fernando Alonso won the race.

The order, which has gone down in F1 lore, was devastating for Massa who had been on course for his first win since 2008 – the year before he suffered a near-fatal head injury. He finished second.

Massa’s race engineer this year will be Andrew Murdoch, who worked previously with departed Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado.

Williams said Richard Lockwood had also joined the team from Marussia as Head Of Race Strategy.

Technical head Pat Symonds said that the latest appointments reflected the former Champions’ determination to move back up the grid after a disappointing 2013 season. Williams finished ninth overall last year with a meagre five points.

“2014 gives us the biggest change to the technical regulations that I have seen in my career, and so it will be important to add further depth to the talent that we already have here,” Symonds said in a statement.

[MIKA27]

Ecclestone backs Putin’s anti-*** legislation in Russia

Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecxclestone has ignited a storm by announcing that he backs Russian president Vladimir Putin’s stance on *** rights.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, Ecclestone said, “He [Putin] hasn’t said he doesn’t agree [with homosexuality] just that he doesn’t want these things publicized to an audience under the age of 18.”

“I completely agree with those sentiments and if you took a world census you’d find 90% of the world agree with it as well,” said the F1 boss.

CNN reports that Putin’s government recently-introduced anti-*** legislation “prohibiting spreading *** propaganda to minors” has been the focus of much criticism.

“I’ve great admiration for him [Putin] and his courage to say what he says. It may upset a few people but that’s how the world is. It’s how he sees [the world] and I think he’s completely right,” added Ecclestone.

Formula 1 goes to Sochi this year for the first ever Russian Grand Prix, a deal which was negotiated between Putin and Ecclestone, and fully endorsed by the Russian leader.

Ecclestone has a history of making politically incorrect gaffes:

Ecclestone on Adolf Hitler in 2009: “In a lot of ways, terrible to say this I suppose, but apart from the fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he was in the way that he could command a lot of people, able to get things done.”

The self made billionaire later apologised to the Jewish Chronicle: “I’m just sorry that I was an idiot. I sincerely, genuinely apologise. What I regret is people who have taken this the wrong way and have been offended. I’m really, really sad about that because I have done an awful lot for Jewish communities throughout – charities and whatever.”

Ecclestone on Saddam Hussein in 2009: “Politicians are too worried about elections. We did a terrible thing when we supported the idea of getting rid of Saddam Hussein, he was the only one who could control the country.”

Ecclestone on racism levelled at Lewis Hamilton during testing, in Spain, in 2008: “I don’t think it was anything to do with racism. There were a few people in Spain and that was probably beginning as a joke rather than anything abusive. I think people look and read into things that are not there… These things are people expressing themselves.

[MIKA27]

Alonso enjoys ‘special training’ with Maradona in Dubai

Monday in Dubai was day of mixed training for Fernando Alonso as part of an initiative organised by Ferrari sponsor, Santander, including filming and photography while going through a multi-discipline training programme which ended with a football session with Diego Maradona.

Fernando began with some cross training, based on a military style programme, which involved jumping in and out of tyres as quickly as possible. It’s an exercise that works on reflexes and muscle tone.

The second part of the programme saw Alonso tackle a kart race at Dubai Kartdrome, the discipline that is the first career step for all aces of the track and even if they reach the heights of Formula 1, drivers love to return to these machines when they can.

After that, Fernando was able to enjoy one of his favourite pastimes, cycling, which is something the Spaniard uses as one of his main fitness tools in between races and during the winter.

The day of training came to an end at the Dubai Football Academy, with another sport that Fernando, along with millions of others, loves, namely football.

He took part in a game between two teams that also included former Real Madrid player Michel Salgado and no less than Maradona. On this occasion, Alonso had to bow to the Golden Boy, but only by a score of 5-4.

[MIKA27]

Red Bull denies secret test for troubled RB 10 in Spain

Struggling World Champions Red Bull have denied claims that they are secretly running the troubled Renault-powered RB10 between the two Bahrain tests.

Spaniard Pius Gasso, a respected and reliable Formula 1 source and former racing driver, said that he believes that an RB10 is running at the Idiada facility in Spain, south of Barcelona, ahead of the resumption of official testing later this week in Bahrain.

Gasso even tweeted a link to an audio file of the alleged ‘secret’ testing.

Another source told Speed Week correspondent Matthias Brunner that Red Bull’s Idiada running would be contrary to the tight testing limitations.

“They would only be able to drive at Idiada with a current car if they had declared it a ‘Promotional Event’ as stipulated by the regulations. And the rules say clearly that it would be purely for marketing and PR purposes,” said the source.

A Red Bull spokeswoman said simply: “We are not at Idiada!

[MIKA27]

Vettel not involved in Nurburgring buyout bid

Sebastian Vettel’s spokesperson, Britta Roeske, has denied reports that the the reigning World Champion is involved in a possible buyout of the Nurburgring.

With the German Grand Prix venue’s future uncertain, we reported last week that embattled Formula 1 Chief Executive Bernie Ecclestone is no longer a candidate to buy it.

Ecclestone had confirmed in January that he had made a bid for the financially-troubled track.

“We want to make sure there is a Formula 1 race in Germany every year in the future,” he said at the time.

But last week, it emerged that Ecclestone was not among the latest candidates – entities from Dusseldorf and the US, and a private equity firm – are now seriously in the running to buy the Nurburgring.

Germany’s Sport Bild now claims that German driver and reigning World Champion Vettel could be involved in a Nurburgring buyout bid.

But the Austrian news agency APA quoted his spokesman Roeske as saying: “There’s nothing to [the report].”

The current bidding process will reportedly conclude at the end of March.

[MIKA27]

Nasr the real Williams Third Driver not Susie Wolff says manager

Felipe Nasr’s manager, his uncle, is adamant that the Brazilian is the real Third Driver at Williams this year.

The comments made by Amir Nasr, a well-known figure in the world of Brazilian motor racing, follow news that Susie Wolff will drive the new Williams on the Fridays of both the British and German grands prix this year.

Just days earlier, the Grove based team appointed the Banco do Brasil-backed 21-year-old Felipe Nasr to the Test and Reserve role, saying that he will appear in the Mercedes-powered FW36 on five Friday mornings in 2014.

Speaking to Jovem Pan radio, Amir Nasr played down suggestions that Felipe’s new role could be a shared or back-seat one, such as when Lotus Reserve Davide Valsecchi last year was overlooked when Kimi Raikkonen headed for back surgery.

“Felipe is the real third driver of the team – it is in the contract,” Amir Nasr insisted.

“In case of any problem with the race drivers, he is the natural replacement.

“He will have to go to all of the grands prix and he will work in the simulator each week to compensate for the lack of track time.

“It is a more complex task than it seems,” Amir added.

Amir Nasr said that only a one-year contract with Williams was agreed because the chance that the British team can offer him a race seat for 2015 is slim.

“Williams has two very good [Race) Drivers,” he said. “Massa has a three-year contract while Bottas is 23 and a potential World Champion.

“We could not agree a longer contract because we would not have a guarantee that he would be promoted,” Amir explained.

[MIKA27]

Ferrari to receive major upgrade

Ferrari Director of Engineering Pat Fry confirmed that the Formula One team will upgrade its car during the final Bahrain test this week.

Although the Maranello team was satisfied with how last week testing sessions at the same circuit progressed from a reliability perspective, Fry added that its main pre-season upgrade was still to come.

"We had a few bits to test correlation and things like that [last week] and then the main upgrade will come through the various stages of the final test," Fry told ESPN.

James Allison, the team's Technical Director added that the team had to iron out several problems during last week's test at Sakhir before they could start experimenting with race setups.

"We worked on learning how to get the best from the 2014 clutch and on tuning the new brake-by-wire system," Allison is quoted by the official Ferrari website.

"We looked in detail at balancing the temperature of all the cooling fluids, a key part of this year's rules, and we began gradually expanding the operating window of the new Energy Recovery System.

"We have been able to start to open up our understanding of the handling characteristics of the car and to begin to learn what sort of setup parameters the tyres respond to. Continuing with this work will be an important part of the programme over the last four days here in Bahrain."

[MIKA27]

Sauber struggling with new brakes

Esteban Gutierrez has revealed that Sauber are having problems with the new brake-by-wire system in their 2014 car.

Sauber have struggled with the new system - which adjusts brake balance electronically in order to facilitate the effective harvesting of energy by the recovery systems - throughout pre-season, which is the reason behind Adrian Sutil's off-track incidents at Jerez and Sakhir.

"As a driver it's all based on the feeling because obviously you need to communicate with the team what you feel and what you need to be more confident and to get more performance from the car," Gutierrez told crash.net when asked about the car's brake balance.

"This is affecting the car balance as well so you need to relate everything to speak about the car balance. You can't just speak purely about the car balance; when you have all these issues on the braking you need to solve the braking issues and then go on to the next step."

However, with less than three weeks before the start of the season and only one pre-season testing session left, Sauber are treating the problem as a priority, the Mexican added.

"It's more complex because you have a system which is working and trying to compensate for something from the recovery system and it has torque variations as well to make in relation to the downshifts. So this is something that we need to put together and make progressive," he continued.

"We are making progress but we have this as a priority at the moment."

[MIKA27]

Computer virus stifled Marussia

Marussia Team Principal John Booth has confirmed that the Banbury team struggled with a computer virus during last week's pre-season test in Bahrain.

Marussia had to cancel Wednesday's session completed due to the virus, meaning drivers Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi only managed 29 laps in their MR03, fewer than every other team.

"It started off with the first disaster, which was a computer Trojan-type virus in the racks, which cost us the best part of the day, so that set the tone for the week," Booth confirmed.

"On the second day, we did 17 laps and it was ok, working through problems but then on Friday we lost most of the day with an engine issue and it took all day to change. The final day was a series of little problems and little problems with these cars take so long to fix."

"In the morning, we had an ERS [warning] light came on but it turned out to be a false signal, so that was two hours lost.

"Then there was a fuel system problem, which is not a Ferrari problem, it's ours. Things like that keep bogging us down, but I don't think we had the same problem twice, which is odd because usually you get recurring problems."

[Fosgate]

It's unfortunate that F-1, cart, open wheel racing in general is not as popular as it was when I was a kid. My uncle drove Gordon Johncock's hauler up through his win at the Indy 500 until he hung it up. He would stop by the house many times talking about the races he had seen and the conversations he had with "Gordy" and other drivers like Mears, the Unsers, Foyt etc. Of course he would come with a carload of leftover shirts, hats, toys etc from the previous year that didn't sell and all new designs were coming the next year. Good times.

[ayedfy]

Whilst I normally attend most seasons, I haven't purchased this seasons Moss Stand tickets as I have other plans this weekend with the family.

In saying this howevr, it seems my plans may change and if so, I too will purchase general admission ticket for race day. if this is the case and I'll know in a few days time, I'll send you a PM and perhaps we can catch up and have a cigar?

Regards

Mika

Would love to, let me know!

[MIKA27]

Tost: If everything works in Bahrain there is a real opportunity to catch up to Mercedes

Toro Rosso’s Team Principal laments the fact that his team’s new car, the STR9, has done so few laps in testing, due to problems with the new V6 turbo Power Unit, yet he remains convinced that Renault will recover from the problem plagued start to their season… he upturn perhaps beginning with testing in Bahrain this week.

Speaking to Speedweek, Tost said, “It is difficult to assess the performance of the car. We hardly know how the car handles, because we have done so few laps. Both the reliability and performance represent two unknowns.”

But the Austrian believes that the last test in Bahrain was a step up from the debacle of Jerez late last month.

“In addition to the much nicer weather [in Bahrain], the power unit performed better. Renault made progress.”

But he is also aware of what rivals were achieving at the same time, “The Mercedes factory team is clearly in the lead, followed by McLaren and Ferrari. Williams and Force India also showed good performance. With Ferrari I have a feeling they are not showing their whole hand. Of course, it is beyond my knowledge, how much fuel the teams were using to set these fast times.”

At the end of last year Toro Rosso terminated their engine supply deal with Ferrari, and now like their sister team – Red Bull – are powered by Renault which has advantages.

“There is an intensive exchange of ideas between the two teams, together with Renault with regards to the Power Unit,” said Tost of the new association.

Franz Tost and Gerhard Berger during testing in Bahrain

The new generation F1 cars are complex machines, which are not easy to work on. Tost explained, ”The entire construction of the car is more complex. There is a turbo engine and a complicated exhaust system, two energy recovery systems with electric cables and wires for cooling.”

“Not to mention the bulky battery. Everything must of course be accommodated in a confined space. Thus to best prepare a car, takes a lot of time especially during the tests.”

However, despite the trials and tribulations, Tost remains upbeat, “The time to Melbourne is tight. But if everything works at the second test in Bahrain, there is a real opportunity to catch up to the Mercedes team.”

“With the new Power Unit package in this form, Formula 1 is again pioneering new technologies and this is important,” added Tost.

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Marko: We are in complex difficulties and are clearly behind schedule

After the dizzying heights of utter domination late last season and eight Formula 1 world titles in four years, Red Bull finds itself in deep crisis, just two weeks before the Melbourne season opener.

Not only has the new RB10 struggled merely for laps amid engine supplier Renault’s obvious problems, the Adrian Newey-penned car has also been slow.

In an analysis, Speed Week found that if the times in Bahrain testing last week were actually set during a qualifying session in Melbourne, both Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo would have failed to meet the 107 per cent qualifying rule.

“We are in complex difficulties,” Red Bull’s Helmut Marko admitted to Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper.

“We can solve it only in conjunction with Renault. Unfortunately, we are going from problem to problem and are clearly behind schedule.”

The reigning World Champions only have four more official test days, in Bahrain this week beginning on Thursday, to prepare for the Melbourne season opener.

Asked if the problems can be solved by then, Marko answered: “That is open and cannot be predicted. We will have developments in Bahrain for the third test but, as I said, everything is very complex.”

Marko said it is not the first time Red Bull could head into a new season without having even completed a single race distance with its new car.

“Yes, we’ve had that once, but I repeat; we cannot hang our heads,” he insisted. “We need to look and think ahead.”