Formula One

[Sweltered]

Wish I'd known, Sebring is not far from here, I could have taken my son along to see who he is named after

[Frosty]

First test of the 2012 season and we had to wait until 1100 for Mark Webber to drive out the Red Bull garage with the shiny new RB8.
Kimi, in his new Lotus, is leading with the fastest lap, 1:19.670, so far , however everyone is talking about the new McLaren! I think they guessed what the new regs would be for this season and they started developing the shape of this years car last year? That's why they do not need the ''stepped nose( or Platypus Nose as it seems to be called now) '' and can use a gradual inclined shape.
Lots of test laps, mileage, development parts and other toys to try.
T.I., any thoughts or info from your contacts on the RB8 vent on top of the chassis, in the area of the front suspension, where the height -change can be seen?
More to come in the next few days, sorry that I couldn't have informed you sooner, sweltered, that Rubens was in your back yard, I'll try and get the info faster next time!

fROSTY

[The Insider]

frosty,

I haven't seen any of the RB lads, and to be honest, if the media haven't covered the reason behind the vents then the lads won't say, they would set themselves up to get in trouble, every team I've worked at always tell you to say "NOTHING".

I WILL be in Spain this week, not at the test, but at a track near the border with Portugal just the other side of Seville, I'm doing an event for Williams F1 Team, running two of last years cars at a PR event.

I will pick up the news from the lads when I'm there and let you know what I'm hearing.

Be good to be back at a track with some proper machinary again.

Keep you posted.

TI

[The Insider]

Jerez Test,

Well it looks like most teams running their new cars are running reliably, they won't be as quick as last years cars at the moment without the "Blown Defusers but I am having a little snigger to myself tonight, "The Spags" are struggling AGAIN

Never mind eh??

You all know how much I love them and what REALLY pleases me is the fact that their boss 'Luca di Montezemolo' stands up at the factory and tells them all that Ferrari DO NOT need British Engineers to design a race winning car.

OH REALLY

Let you know how it goes in Spain with Williams, looking forward to a long chat with young Senna about the obvious.

TI

[Frosty]

I hope you enjoy the Spanish event with Williams,T.I. Bruno is currently lapping Jerez at 1:23.217 - 8th fastest today, so far.
Don't look though, because Alonso has popped up as the fastest lap of 1:18.877, on day 4 of the testing.

The Lotus,the E20 as it seems to be getting called, with either driver in control, does seem to be very fast? Perhaps this could be, as I noted earlier in this thread, a very good time for Kimi to return to F1. Romain also seems to be enjoying driving the car with both of them getting a great feel for it and, more importantly, getting to trust the car and push it to it's limits. The Lotus could be fighting consistently high up the grid this year? The Force India, which Paul de Resta will be piloting, also seems to be giving both him and Nico Hulkenberg positive feedback. Hopefully another good season ahead for Paul?
Can the Red Bull make up for the loss of the '' Blown Diffuser '' generated downforce? Lewis is testing today, as is Sebastian!It will be interesting, therefore, to see what these two guys can do compared to Jenson and Mark?

HRT, who have just spent two days at Jerez with last years car, are I believe trying to get this years car ready to test in Barcelona from the 21st Feb. There may well be a problem as it seems that they have failed to pass 3 of the 17 crash test and the new chassis was deemed illegal? Having to remanufacture parts will mean that they will stuggle to get a car ready to test run before Melbourne. Not good news for their drivers?

Lots to look out for and an awfull lot of miles left before Melbourne on March 16th.

fROSTY

[The Insider]

frosty

Early days all round, don't judge ANY of the times, no one will be showing their hands just yet, it's ALL about systems checks and analysing reliability at the first test.

We MUST remember that the cars now carry 160kg plus of fuel compared to 100kg when they were refuelled in stops, it's a massive difference and makes it a lot easier to pop up at the top of the time sheets at the end of a test with 10kg of fuel onboard and one flying lap compared to running a steady 60kg during the whole four days.

I remember a certain team running the car MASSIVELY UNDER WEIGHT at every pre season test in 2000 to gain a major sponsor, it's all mind games at the moment, times count for NOTHING.

You will know where everyone is at the end of qualy in Melbourne, thats the acid test, not before.

I will be slightly more up to speed after this week with the Grove boys in Spain.

Keep you posted.

TI

[The Insider]

Bruno Senna,

Guys, I can honestly say that today was one of the most unique and bizarre in my fourteen years of working in and around F1.

This morning at 0855 CET I helped Bob Davies at Williams F1, strap Bruno Senna into a Williams F1 Car, it truly was surreal, not sure how to explain exactly how I felt, the great SENNA name was on the car and when you see Bruno's face in a helmet, is SO like his uncle's, the late great Ayrton Senna.

The connection for me (apart from most of us realising that Ayrton WAS THE GREATEST EVER F1 driver) was the fact that my great friend and room mate at Arrows (Dave Crabbers Crabtree) was Ayrton's No 2 Mechanc for five years at McLaren.

Strange and satisfying day all round.

More info when I return to the UK folks.

TI

[Frosty]

You have certainly had a unique and amazing day, well done T.I., thanks for taking the time to share this with us and I look forward to all the detail on your return.

fROSTY

[bill]

Guys,

I haven't heard anything about Petrov going to Caterham, thats a new on me, that said it wouldn't surprise me in the least, he has cash and isn't half bad really.
TI

So no surprise after today's announcement T.I.

[Frosty]

It wasn't too much of a surprise to me, Bill?

fROSTY

[The Insider]

Petrov

There you go then, no surprise after all.

The reality IS that Trulli was garbage and it was passed time he was gone, he wasn't interested and Caterham will use that as an opening into the Russian market.

That about closes the driver market for this season.

You have to ask if this was part of the deal for Tony Fernadez giving up the Lotus name, could have been agreed months ago with Genii who own Lotus at Enstone.

They do a lot of business in Russia and part of the agreement could well be governement introductions for Caterham Cars in the region, smells of that to me a little.

I might be talking rubbish though.

When I get home I'll let you all know about my couple of days with Senna.

TI

[The Insider]

Working with Senna (Bruno that is)

Well, where do I start??

The purpose of this event was to run Bruno Senna AND Pastor Maldenado for three days at the Monteblanco Circuit situated just to the east of Seville.

The team were filming the new 2012 Wiliiams video, there was a huge film crew comprising many camera and sound men, static and mobile booms, camera’s. tripods, screens and a mountain of other kit, there were almost as many film crew than there were team members.

It was impressive stuff, and from what I’ve seen of the footage they shot it WILL be an excellent piece of film, let me assure you, it's no easy task to co ordinate that amount of staff and equipment combined with the running of two modern F1 cars on a track.

For me, it wouldn't be every day I had the opportunity to work on an F1 car that bares the great name of “Senna”

I for one never imagined that during my F1 career I would actually get that opporunity, but I did, and it WAS unique.

After sharing a room at Arrows GP for two years with Dave (Crabbers) Crabtree I learned a great deal about Ayrton Senna and his life, as a friend to Dave, a professional AND being (in my opinion) THE GREATEST F1 Driver EVER.

It was clear that he (Ayrton) was somewhat different to the other drivers of his generation in many ways, but Dave ALWAYS said exactly that in a very sincere way, and he REALLY meant it.

I think I mentioned before about the day he sat on the end of his bed on the Monday after the 2002 Brazilian GP and started going on about Schumi being the greatest driver of his generation but he wasn't Senna?

He then looked me right in the eye and agressively said the following.

“People don’t understand mate, Ayrton was DIFFERENT, he was BIGGER than F1 and would have went on to be president of this country”

I truly believe Dave was right.

Here is a little clip of Dave from Youtube, it was part of the 1993 documentary “A Season with McLaren”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTE5Lq3xF4M

So, last Monday morning at 0855 I helped Bob Davis (a 20 years plus Williams veteran) strap Bruno Senna into a 2011 Williams F1 Car.

It was a strange feeling looking at the name on the car just behind the drivers head, it felt somewhat surreal that I was working with the nephew of the late and great Ayrton Senna, however; it was a lot more emotional as I moved to the front left wheel ready to unplug and remove the tyre blanket for his first run of the day.

The sun was bright and shining straight into the garage, as I glanced right I caught Bruno looking up at me, a cold shiver ran right up my spine, he is the SPITTING IMAGE of his uncle when he puts that helmet on, it’s uncanny how alike his facial features actually are combined with how similar his helmet colours are to the great man himself.

The boy Senna though, is definately his own man, he carries that MASSIVE name with some ease, he is polite, well mannered, professional and articulate, I was very impressed with him both in an out of the car, he really is a PR dream and when in front of a camera easily delivers the team's corporate line and sponsor spin with an manner that belies his years.

His technical feedback is as good as most I have heard over the years, he can communicate the cars characteristics easily and is fully aware of where the car is technically in High, Medium and Low Speed Corners.

There are little things that impressed me too, we had finished packing up at the end of the event, the Williams lads had left for the airport for the flight to Barcelona, they had to sqeeze in an Aero Test at the Idiada Circuit before the Barcelona test that started this morning, Bruno was doing the last of the photo shoots, I was with him positioning the car, we finished and went back to the garage, there were only five of us there.

He changed from his overalls into his civilian clothes then proceeded to neatly fold his socks, flameproof underwear and racesuit, NONE of them (drivers that is) EVER do that, the lad is so well mannered and respectful.

He then turned to me, shook my hand and thanked me for everything I had done over the three days, he then asked me to pass on his regards to Crabbers and told me to thank him on behalf of his family for all the great work he did for his uncle, thats CLASS.

All in all I had a great time and it was a pleasure to work with Bruno.

I don't know if he can come close to Ayrton on the track, but one thing is for sure, the lad will always have a career in motorsport and F1, if he's not racing then he's PERFECT for TV.

Take a look at this shot of Bruno and tell me it's not his uncle looking at you.

TI

[Frosty]

I said that I was looking forward to the detail of your unique day, I'm glad you also used unique in your update, but the three days you have described, with Bruno and the Williams Team, has, I'm sure other Forum Formula One Members will agree, confirmed that we should really get a ''Sportsman Dinner'' evening sorted after this seasons racing!

Let's hope Williams, with the Renault Engine plus Alex Wurz as the drivers mentor, is a great platform for Bruno to show his talent, as a driver, this season. He has lapped Barcelona, earlier today, 8th fastest , at 1:25.755. Sebastian, 1:23.265, has pulled the Red Bull to the top of the timing sheets with the Force India of Nico second fastest less than 0.2 of a second behind.
Barcelona should show us how the banning of last seasons ''blown diffuser'' has changed possible lap times. This is a circuit which will give great payback to a car with good downforce.

Mercedes launched their new car too, the W03, which Michael Shumacher at the wheel for its installation and first day of tests on track. Once again, the designers have decided to give their car a flat nose. It seems that McLaren are the only Team to use an inclined front? Hamilton lapped the Barcelona circuit in 1 Min :23.590 seconds.

All the times are about 2 seconds slower than the previous season's pole position lap, I know there is still a lot of testing to do and you shouldn't read too much into the lap times, but this years racing could be very close. It's just a huge pity that Sky have the rights to most of the live coverage, there doesn't seem to be any special deals to take their service, though there could be closer to the start of the Grands Prix or during the season.

Thanks again T.I., your time taken to share your experiences is very much apprieciated.

fROSTY

[The Insider]

frosty,

Many thanks for your kind words, it's really appreciated.

'The Sportsmans Dinner'

We really should think seriously about that one, I wouldn't have to do it alone, I have a top friend at Red Bull who was also at Stewart GP, he is Scottish too and is a brilliant guy, he would be great value on the night.

Food for thought indeed.

Lotus

I see the team have pulled the plug on this Barcelona Test, they had a chassis issue yesterday with the driver complaining that the car felt 'STRANGE'

That can only be chassis inserted mounts in the tub, I saw something similar at Arrows in 2001, that was on the front end though.

Today in Autosport my old friend Gary Anderson is saying the same thing, he seems to think it is a problem at the rear of the chassis with the engine mounting studs, whatever, when you hear the driver say that ''the car feels strange'' you know something is way wrong with the overall rigidity of the car, Barcelona has very high lateral G corners and is always a good test of how well you have constructed the chassis.

If it was an ancillary problem you would get a technical message from the driver, he would offer his opinion on where he thought the issue was, then after a good spanner check, nine times out of ten the problem is normally evident, in this case it sounds more serious.

You don't pull out of a test and send the tub home without it being a critical problem that can ONLY be fixed at the factory.

That issue will cost them dearly in track time, which in all honesty at this time of year, IS EVERYTHING.

Marussia-Virgin F1 Team:

All is not well down there, they are NOWHERE with the new car, I predict a massive struggle for them at the start of the season, if they make Australia with two cars then I'm glad I don't work there, IT WILL BE TOUGH for all the lads

Cosworth:

As you all well know I worked at St James Mill Road in Northampton for two years, I really enjoyed my time there, the whole site smells of Motorsports history and I have very fond memories of the people and the place.

Last week in Spain I took my chance to speak to Bruno Senna, Pastor Maldenado AND Vallteri Bottas about the difference between the Cosworth CA V8 and the Renault.

NOW, bare in mind that the Cosworth Engine was designed over the 2005 season for a mere £15m which is NOTHING compared to the fortunes spent by the major manufacturers like Renault, Ferrari and Mercedes.

The only reason Cosworth couldn't keep up was money, I worked in the Commercial Department as right hand man to the
Commercial Director Bernard Ferguson, we tried EVERY avenue to sell that engine as a going concern to several teams, the final nail in the coffin was losing the Williams deal for 2007, you can't blame the team, Toyota offered them an engine at half the price and that sunk us, ironically the same team took that VERY engine three or four years years later along with Virgin, Team Lotus and HRT.

Here is what Bottas said today in the press.

Valtteri Bottas has given some insight into Williams' decision to switch to Renault Formula One power for this year.

For the past two years, the famous British team has been independent UK marque Cosworth's highest profile customer.

But for 2012 the Grove based team has switched to Renault, the maker of World Champion Red Bull's engines, as well as fellow customers Lotus and Caterham.

"The Renault engine is more powerful," revealed Williams' test driver Bottas.

"It is also smaller in size, which is good for the aerodynamics, and has a lower fuel consumption," he told the MTV3 broadcaster.

The 22 year old Finn, who is managed by Williams co-owner Toto Wolff, will drive the FW34 on Wednesday at the Barcelona test.

Cosworth still supplies the struggling Marussia and HRT F1 teams.

NOW, what he never mentioned is the drivability, thats the key issue, the smooth delivery of power throughout the range, the Renault is miles ahead, it bloody should be, they have spent almost half a billion Euro's designing and developing it.

Strangely everyone is quick to critisize Cosworth, not maliciously, they just fail to point out the key restriction of development.........MASSIVE CASH.

The numbers don't lie.

Cosworth is STILL a British Icon and one of the last bastions of true British Engineering history, a bit like Rolls Royce really.

Only my opinion for what it's worth.

TI

[The Insider]

From F1SA Website today:

Spag Racing

"Ferrari seem to be having a few difficulties," Auto Motor und Sport quotes him (Ross Brawn) as saying today, referring to his former Maranello based employer.

Red Bull reserve Sebastien Buemi, having watched from a trackside position on Wednesday, said Fernando Alonso looked uncomfortable with the handling of the F2012.

"I think we are probably not the quickest today," Spaniard Alonso agreed, "but neither are we the slowest.

"At the moment we are not where we want to be, nor where we want to be in Australia, but I remain optimistic.

"We just have to hope that we have completed this learning process we are going through with a very complex car by the time the season starts," Spanish reporters quote the former two time World Champion as saying.

Oh Dear

TI