Pitpass

28/01/2012

A report in the German media claims that VW is looking to enter F1 as an engine supplier before buying into an F1 team.

Speaking to Wirtschafts Wochem, Wolfgang Durheimer, head of Bentley, Bugatti and Motorsport within the VW Group, said that he will be presenting his concept to the board, a concept which includes entering F1.

"I will be presenting my concept to the board this year, with plans that not only include the motor sport series that we are at presently represented in," he said.

"If we considerer our planned sales in the American, Asian and Middle Eastern markets, then we are not properly represented in motor sport in these markets," he continued. "In my opinion we have to correct this."

Durheimer, who previously headed Porsche, which, following a brief flirtation with F1 in the early 60s which included a win for Dan Gurney in the 1962 French Grand Prix, and which subsequently enjoyed success in the 1980s with McLaren, securing three drivers and two constructors' titles with the Woking team, believes that "F1 has the most relevance and dominates motor sport in Europe and Asia".

While Wirtschafts Wochem claims that its sources within VW suggest that the company's first move will be to enter F1 as an engine supplier, Durheimer's concept is understood to involve buying a major stake in a current team, Toro Rosso being the most likely candidate.

While F1 has been discussed within the company on many occasions, with continued speculation in recent years, the idea has been meet with resistance from Chairman Ferdinand Piech. It is not known whether he has changed his mind or why the plans could now come to fruition.

Durheimer's concept for the future of motorsport within the company also sees an expansion of its activities in the US. However, despite the prospect of two Grands Prix in America, he remains sceptical about the sport's future there. "F1 is irrelevant there," he said, "but they have Indy and NASCAR. We have to consider these series for our future concept."

Durheimer's comments coma as Audi contests the Daytona 24 hrs, with several examples of the newly developed customer Audi R8 Grand-Am, although these have been entered by two private teams.

In March 2011, the head of technical development at Volkswagen, Ulrich Hackenberg, when asked about talk of the German company expanding its motorsport activities to include F1 said: "There is certainly one or the other person out there in the world that would wish for that, but we don't have that on the programme," he told Reuters.

"I should know what I am talking about," he added, "since it would come out of my budget."

Four months later, Duerheimer, said he envisaged VW entering F1 by 2018. "I could imagine involvement in Formula One in 2018, when the company is at the forefront of the industry," he told Auto Motor und Sport. "We have enough brands that could do that."

27/01/2012

The Lotus F1 team has announced that this year's car will be named the E20, to commemorate the twentieth chassis designed at the team's base in Enstone.

The E20 will be unveiled on the team's website on February 5th and shown to the world's media the following day at Jerez, when it will briefly take to the track for filming. On February 7th, Kimi Räikkönen will start the team's test programme.

Enstone has been a Formula 1 team base since 1992, with the team then known as Benetton moving to the facility from its previous Witney, Oxfordshire, base.

This season will see the 500th Grand Prix contested by Lotus F1 Team, including those contested through its previous incarnations.

Lotus F1 Team's roots can be traced to Toleman Motorsport, which entered F1 in 1981 and started 57 Grands Prix. For 1986 the team was renamed as Benetton, and in this guise 260 races were contested until in 2002 the team became Renault F1 Team. As Renault F1 Team, 159 Grands Prix were started, with the team becoming Lotus Renault GP for 2011, contesting a further 19 events. The current total of Grands Prix stands at 495.

"Our naming of the chassis to recognise Enstone's importance to the team's evolution highlights our recognition of the contribution of the facility and the personnel who work tirelessly every year to produce the very best car possible," said Eric Boullier. "We hope that this is the case with the E20 and we are looking forward to revealing the car to the world and seeing it out on track for the first time. There are a number of technical changes from last year and we have an exciting new driver line-up to extract the maximum from the E20 through the twenty Grands Prix of the 2012 season, including the 500th race for this team through its different incarnations. We hope that the E20 proves to be a performing Enstone design."

27/01/2012

In a surprise move, former Ferrari reserve driver Jules Bianchi has joined Force India for 2012 in a similar role.

According to the Silverstone based outfit, the 22-year-old Frenchman will participate in a minimum of nine Friday practice sessions during Grand Prix weekends. In preparation for the 2012 season, he will get his first run in the VJM05 during pre-season testing next month.

"I'm obviously excited to join Sahara Force India," said Bianchi, "and the chance to get track time during race weekends is an important step for me. Being regularly in a current car is the best way to learn quickly and I hope it will put me in a strong position to one day move into a race seat. The next few months will be really exciting as I get to know the team, see how they work, and prepare for my time in the car. I would like to thank everyone for believing in me and especially Sahara Force India for giving me this great opportunity."

"I am delighted to welcome Jules into the Sahara Force India family," added Vijay Mallya. "We always keep an eye on young, talented drivers and his performance in GP2 certainly impressed us all. By giving Jules the opportunity to be part of our 2012 campaign, we continue to demonstrate our commitment to young drivers. We are proud of our track record in this regard and I have no doubt that Jules will quickly settle into the team and make a valuable contribution to our efforts on track this season."

26/01/2012

As he targets his teams first points, Caterham boss Tony Fernandes brushes aside comments that his new car is ugly, insisting that looks don't matter.

"I am thrilled that we broke cover first and that the CT01 is the first example anyone has seen of a 2012 car," he told his team's website. "Riad, Mike, Mark and the whole team did a fantastic job getting all the homologation and crash tests out of the way early, and keeping on track with the car's build schedule. I am very proud that we are able to take the covers off first and I think it looks fantastic.

"This car represents another step forward for us," he continued. "The detail right across the whole package is light years ahead of where we were when we first started out, and we are all excited about seeing what it can do when we get on track."

Asked a bout the new nose, widely thought to be common to this year's cars under the new regulations, he said: "Personally I love this car, and it's very flattering that people want to talk about our car and our team, but the main consideration is that it is quick. As long as it is quicker than last year's car I don't think the looks matter, and I am sure that when all the other cars are unveiled we will see a pretty common thread running through all of them.

"I actually think it's beautiful," he added. "It's different, and different does not equal ugly - in fact I think its difference is what makes it beautiful, but then I am probably a bit biased.

"However, it is important to remember that how the car looks and behaves is one part, admittedly a major part, but just one part of what makes this team who we are. Caterham is the name we will race under for many years to come, but we still have the same DNA we have had since day one, back in 2009. We are the same team but every day we are growing stronger and what underpins that growth is the people in our team who have been with us since the early days, and the people who have come on board and share our vision. We are still very proudly green and yellow and I think that says rather a lot about who we are.

"For me this is a new year, a new start as Caterham, and the next chapter in our story. This is the first time our whole design team has really been able to get its teeth into creating our own product and I know it will be a progression from the T128, technically and in terms of its performance."

Asked about the season ahead, Fernandes says he is confident that progress will be made. "I am an optimist but also a realist," he said. "What gives me confidence is knowing that whatever happens we will keep working harder than ever to make our dreams come true. The first test is just around the corner now and I feel a strange mix of nervousness and excitement - I always do at this time of year. But now we are in complete control of our own destiny it's a feeling I am relishing more than ever.

"We have just celebrated Chinese New Year and 2012 is the Year of the Dragon. This could just be our year and I have never felt better. I was born in the Year of the Dragon so I feel very energised and optimistic about the year to come. I am looking forward to whatever may happen - the ups and the downs. I feel very confident in the growth of the businesses Kamarudin and I run, and I am very excited about the future of the whole Caterham Group.

"Target wise, I have been quoted as saying I want us to score a point this year and that really has to be the aim. It has to be. Towards the end of last year we were so close to the midfield cars, but our lack of KERS limited our capabilities. This year, however, with the people and facilities we have in the factory and the wind tunnel, and with KERS, I am confident that we will become a danger to many of the midfield teams, and yes, I want us to achieve a point somewhere in 2012 - maybe two if we are very lucky!"

26/01/2012

Sky Sports has revealed that its news channel is to cover the forthcoming launches and pre-season tests.

Sky Sports News will offer coverage throughout this season with two dedicated reporters working amongst the teams at testing and development, plus trackside at every race.

Rachel Brookes and Craig Slater will attend the factories, test sessions and every race as Sky promises up to six days of coverage from each Grand Prix, with on-site reports beginning each Tuesday and running through the week to post race reaction. As well as following the team launches, the new channel will attend the pre-season tests at Jerez and Barcelona.

"This is the ultimate news service for F1," said Sky Sports News HD Executive Editor, Andy Cairns. " Our reporters will be trackside and in the Sky Sports News HD studio ensuring viewers are always up to date with what's happening on and off the track. And viewers with iPads will be able to follow our F1 coverage wherever they happen to be via the new Sky Sports News app which features on-demand video, the latest news and interviews, data as well as Sky Sports News itself."

Sky's dedicated F1 channel will be provided at no extra charge to all Sky TV customers who take both Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 or who take Sky's HD pack of channels. It will be found at 408 on Sky's on-screen guide, after a scheduled move of the Sky Sports channels. Sky Sports viewers without the Sky+ HD pack will receive a standard definition version.

26/01/2012

Following the unorthodox unveiling of its 2012 car, Caterham has used the social networking site Facebook to conduct an interview with its Technical Director, Mike Gascoyne.

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25/01/2012

There are reports that Rubens Barrichello is to test for KV Racing next week with a view to switching to IndyCar racing.

With Bruno Senna taking the second Williams seat alongside Pastor Maldonado, after nineteen seasons Barrichello's F1 career appears to be at an end.

However, the Associated Press claims that sources have informed it that the Brazilian veteran will spend two days at Sebring International Raceway next week with KV Racing with a view to securing a full time IndyCar drive with the team.

Neither Barrichello not KV Racing have commented on the story thus far.

25/01/2012

A rare improvement in the service offered by the Royal Mail means that Caterham's 2012 contender in unveiled a day earlier than planned.

The Malaysian team had planned to unveil the car, designated the CT01, in the latest edition of F1 Racing magazine, due to hit the doormats of subscribers on Thursday morning.

However, in a move totally out of character, the British mail service actually delivered the magazines a day ewarly leading to pictures being scanned and posted online.

Consequently, Caterham has officially tweeted pictures of the new car due to begin testing next month at Jerez.

The biggest noticeable difference is the nose, described by some as resembling a duckbilled platypus and by others as akin to a prizefighter's. The distinctive look is expected to be adopted by a number of team this year due to the new regulations.

25/01/2012

Former Renault driver, Vitaly Petrov, looks likely to secure the role of test driver with Pirelli.

As the Italian tyre manufacturer unveiled its 2012 F1 tyre range in Abu Dhabi this morning, the Russian's manager, Oksana Kosachenko, issued a statement claiming the driver had secured the role.

Pirelli subsequently issued a tweet joking that Petrov would get the job providing he beat Italian model Bianca Balti and Spanish model Ines Sastre in a scheduled kart race.

Speaking to reporters, Pirelli Motorsport Director, Paul Hembery, said that while as deal had not yet been agreed it was looking likely.

We will see how it goes," he said. "There is always a lot of tyre development work to do, and we are eager to have a driver who has experience of racing from the previous year."

Petrov, who is attending the event has been linked with the second seat at Caterham even though (present incumbent) Jarno Trulli has a contract for this season - much like Petrov's contract with Lotus F1 (nee Lotus Renault GP).

The Russian would follow in the steps of Pedro de la Rosa, Lucas di Grassi and Nick Heidfeld, who have all served as test drivers for the Italian tyre manufacturer since it announced its return to F1 in 2010.

While many thought Petrov had done enough to secure his seat with Lotus for 2012 - not to mention the two year contract agreed at the end of 2010 - the Russian was subsequently dropped in favour of Romain Grosjean.

The tyre manufacturer also admitted that it is seeking a more contemporary car for testing purposes, though it declined to say what chassis it might be. Up until now the company has used a 2009 Toyota.

25/01/2012

Pirelli has presented its new range of tyres for the 2012 season at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

The key characteristics of the new tyres - developed by Pirelli together with the teams in response to the latest aerodynamic regulations regarding blown exhausts - see squarer profiles, increased grip, and softer, more competitive compounds with consistent degradation.

The objective for the 2012 tyres is to ensure entertaining races that remain unpredictable all the way up to the chequered flag, with two to three pit stops per race and a strong emphasis on team strategies. The coloured markings on the sidewalls now change to become bigger and more easily
recognisable, while the Cinturato name that has become emblematic in Formula One history returns: the tyre with which Pirelli raced and won in the 1950s. From 2012, Cinturato will denote the full wet and intermediate tyres

Pirelli's Racing Tyre System also returns, with some new functionality. This is a platform created by Pirelli's engineers in order to record the behaviour and performance of each tyre: information that is shared with the teams and Formula One Management.

The presentation took place today at an international press conference hosted by Marco Tronchetti Provera, the President and CEO of Pirelli, Motorsport Director Paul Hembery, and Research and Development Director Maurizio Boiocchi.

"After the positive experience of last year, the teams asked us to continue providing tyres with the characteristics that contributed to spectacular races in 2011," said Provera. "And this is what we have done, optimising the compounds and profiles in order to guarantee even better and more stable performance, combined with the deliberate degradation that characterised the P Zero range from 2011. We're expecting unpredictable races, with a wide range of strategies and a number of pit stops: all factors that both competitors and spectators greatly enjoyed last year. The development work on the new compounds took place throughout the 2011 season, thanks to the impressive learning curve and reaction times from our engineers, who are ready to continue those evolutions during the season ahead."

As was the case last year, Pirelli will supply the teams with four slick tyre compounds - supersoft (Cinturato Red), soft (Cinturato Yellow), medium (Cinturato White) and hard (Cinturato Silver) - along with two types of wet weather tyre as prescribed by the FIA rules. All the P Zero slick tyres will feature a brand new profile compared to 2011 and three of them (the soft, medium and hard) will also have new compounds. The new compounds are softer, with increased grip, better performance, a longer performance peak, but an unaltered overall lifespan. Of the wet weather tyres, only the full wet - the Cinturato Blue - has changed, while the intermediate tyre, the Cinturato Green, is unaltered.

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24/01/2012

Kimi Raikkonen has completed his second and final day of running at the Circuito Ricardo Tormo in Valencia in preparation for his return to F1 with Lotus.

The Finnish driver continued where he left off yesterday, completing a further 91 laps to make a total of 171 laps over the course of the two days, the equivalent of more than two Grands Prix race distances.

"It went well today and overall the two days have been helped me a lot," said Raikkonen. "Even though I was using a two year-old car and the Pirelli demonstration tyres, I learnt about working with the team and the engineers which means I can focus on the new car once we get to Jerez for the first official test. It was great to be driving an F1 car again and from that respect I feel very positive."

"We enjoyed another good day," added Trackside Operations Engineer, Alan Permane. "The morning was spent doing setup work in particular with front and rear cambers. In the afternoon we ran very low fuel qualifying simulations with two new sets of tyres followed by a 27 lap run starting with a full tank of fuel. Kimi's pace improved from yesterday as we would expect and we completed several start, pitstop and clutch simulations. We were even able to finish early as we completed our programme ahead of time. Overall it has been a productive and valuable two days."

24/01/2012

Lotus has announced that Jerome D'Ambrosio has joined the team as its third driver for the 2012 season.

D'Ambrosio, who contested last year's season with Marussia Virgin, will attend all races in 2012, working with the race driver pairing of Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean. The 26 year-old Belgian will be ready to stand-in for either of the two race drivers if required.

"It's a great feeling to be joining Lotus," said the Belgian. "It's an exciting next step in my career. I contested a complete season in F1 as a race driver for a smaller team where I learnt a lot about Formula 1. Now, I have the opportunity to work with one of the top teams with great potential for my future development. With my recent race experience, I know I can make a valuable contribution. Of course, I would love to be racing, but racing with a top team. Being associated with Lotus F1 Team should be more beneficial and this is the choice I have made. This opportunity is one I couldn't afford to miss. My desire to get back in a race seat in the future is motivating me to do the best job possible in my new position."

"To have a third driver who is highly motivated, fresh and talented and who contested the full 2011 season is highly beneficial for us," added Eric Boullier. "In Jerome we have someone we know well who integrates beneficially with the squad. He impressed as reserve driver for us in 2010 and at the end of that year he made a strong showing in the young driver test. He also showed strongly in his rookie season as an F1 race driver. I am looking forward to working with Jerome again and think he is a perfect addition to our driving strength."

24/01/2012

Force India enjoyed an average 2011. There's no other way to really describe a season that was, on paper, no different to the year before. The team scored almost exactly the same number of points in 2011 as it did in 2010 - 69 to 68 - and never looked especially threatening in the process.

In the championship it finished one spot higher than the previous season, however much of that can be put down to the fact that Williams only managed 5 points, and Force India benefited from Sauber's dual disqualification at the season opening Australian Grand Prix. Without the stewards neither Adrian Sutil nor Paul di Resta would have scored points that weekend.

Of course none of this means it was necessarily a bad year for the Indian team, just that it wasn't any better than 2010. From another perspective in Formula One, where most involved would sell their own grandmother for performance, standing still is as good as going backwards.

There was no indication from the team that it was even remotely close to getting on terms with the front runners, though perhaps that's to be expected given its technical tie up with McLaren Applied Technologies. While it may not be the case, any technical tie-up suggests one team lacks ambition.

From a racing perspective the season uncovered Paul di Resta, the latest Flying Scotsman. Up against the highly rated Adrian Sutil he performed well and it was really only towards the end of the season that Sutil really started to get the upper hand. It was a promising debut season from the Scot, so it came as no surprise that the team retained his services. He also has close links with Mercedes-Benz thanks to his time with the company German touring cars which cannot have hurt.

Adrian Sutil's year was a testing one. His performance wasn't especially bad but he never stood out like one would expect a driver of class to. Many believe Sutil has that ability but instead he was merely consistent. It's true he out-scored his new teammate but then he should have, shouldn't he, he was the senior member of the team.

Sutil was in a no-win position in 2011. If he'd succeeded it was likely going to be the car, or di Resta was out of his depth - it would not have been a result of the German's brilliance. Conversely if he'd failed we'd have pointed at di Resta and the fact he raced with (and beat) Sebastian Vettel in the junior formulae. As it was Sutil did his job, but di Resta was a little too close for comfort.

The Chinese nightclub incident didn't help. Why would teams take a gamble on a driver with an unknown future when there are already so many talented youngsters falling over themselves looking for a drive - someone like Nico Hulkenberg, for example. Once that incident came to light it seemed Sutil's future in Formula One was on borrowed time.

Expectations from Force India are therefore low ahead of 2012. Somewhere around mid-table with a good helping of Q3 appearances and consistent points finishes at the back end of the top ten is about where the team is at.

Perhaps the coming season will be a little harder, if Williams gets its act together and Renault (err, Lotus) finally becomes a front running team instead of hanging on to the coat tails of those ahead. Should that happen there would be fewer point scoring opportunities, meaning, in all probability, a leaner season.

24/01/2012

Lewis Hamilton has told a Munich court that he will be unavailable on the date he is scheduled to give evidence at the trial of his friend Adrian Sutil.

Sutil's trial for causing bodily harm is due to start on 30 January, with Lewis Hamilton scheduled to give evidence. However, the Englishman's lawyers have informed the court that due to long standing commitments with his team, including the launch of its 2012 contender on 1 February, he in unable to attend on the scheduled day.

The trial relates to an incident at a Shanghai night club on the night of the 2011 Chinese Grand Prix - which Hamilton won - Sutil being accused assaulting Lotus Renault GP executive Eric Lux with a glass.

23/01/2012

Kimi Raikkonen has expressed his delight following his first day of re-acclimatisation running with Lotus after two years away from F1.

The Finn was clearly delighted after completing almost 190 miles of running in the 2010 R30 at the Circuito Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.

"It was a good first day!" said Raikkonen. "Having not driven a Formula 1 car for two years and obviously with a new team, there is a lot to get used to. I'm happy because I was pretty quick to get back in the groove. Obviously you get more into the zone with the more laps you complete, as you discover more about the car and the tyres. Knowing when to turn, brake, and when to get on the power didn't take long at all.

"The good thing is that running today gives me something to compare the new car to," he added, "so I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully we'll be fast straight away and it's going to be an interesting season."

"I must say today was very positive," said team boss Eric Boullier. "You can see that the whole team is pleased with Kimi's feedback, and Kimi himself seemed very happy to be back behind the wheel. He got the feel of the car very quickly and it's good to see him building a strong relationship with the team. Obviously, the R30 is different to the new car, but he is clearly excited to get started at the first test in Jerez. Our team is made up of true racing people, and Kimi fits into that very well."

"The day went pretty much as we planned, which is great," added Trackside Operations Engineer, Alan Permane. "Kimi was on the pace we expected straight away. He completed around 300km, going through three sets of tyres. It leaves us with four sets for tomorrow, meaning we can run a bit longer. We worked on getting him comfortable in the car, giving him a feel for the setup changes, and helping him get to know his engineers. It's always great to work with a top driver who is not just quick, but professional, and Kimi has all of those characteristics. His feedback is excellent, his requests are concise and to the point. We're looking forward to a good season with him."

The two-day test concludes tomorrow (Tuesday).