Tag: Formula One 2011

I’ll start upfront by admitting that this does not seem to be McLaren’s year.  As one of the commentators helpfully pointed out, Vettel could DNF the next 3 races and still lead the Driver’s Championship.  In the spirit of schadenfreude I’ll point out the same applies to Scuderia Marlboro UPC in spades.

That said there are big changes at Silverstone.  The first is the track itself where they have repositioned the pit and renumbered all the turns.  The new Paddock Building is not as horrendously ugly as it could be I suppose, but the snide sniping at the fact the press pen doesn’t have any windows where you can check your imported Maine Weather Stick (remember- if it’s wet, it’s raining) has already begun.

The FIA Rules committee frowns on the practice of using Pit Lane to shorten your lap even though it’s perfectly possible and difficult to prevent even with the speed limit.

This is not their only folly, the principal one under discussion this weekend will be their jihad against Off Throttle Exhaust Blown Diffusers.  A diffuser is a bit of aerodynamic undercarriage designed to replace the downforce lost when the FIA shrank the rear wing to encourage overtaking because big ones were spoiling the air for following cars (the opposite of Turn Left drafting).  In order to make it more effective they blow the exhaust from the engine across it (usually back to front) to increase the wind speed.

Now the fact is that when you usually need this downforce is just at the moment when you take your foot off the gas which not only reduces the ambient air speed but also the exhaust volume.  Smart engineers have learned how to increase the exhaust volume when you take your foot off the gas.

The FIA has now ruled this ‘movable aerodynamics’ and disallowed it, starting with Engine Mapping (different software setups controlling off throttle engine speed between Qualifying and race day) at the last race in Valencia, and now limiting off throttle exhaust output to 10% of maximum in every instance.

The problem with this is it makes cars fall off the track and find walls and gravel pits when the difference between the downforce produced by the ginormous front wing and the teeney tiny back one unbalance the car in a turn.

Made worse by rain, which always seems to be a factor at Silverstone.  Both practices so far were in the wet and the forecast for Sunday is typically English- a pronounced sense of damp.  Hamilton is openly rooting for the race to take place at the bottom of the Channel, perhaps because he feels things can’t get much worse.

If today’s Qualifying takes place under dry we’ll get for the first time a sense of how badly the FIA has screwed up.  The agreement between the teams and the FIA expired long ago and the current extension is done next year.  Many people are unhappy and Barack Obama Bernie Ecclestone may be facing a revolt by his base.

There are other issues I’ll maybe get to tomorrow when I’m less pressed for time.  Surprising developments below.

As they never quite got tired of pointing out during all 24 Hours of Le Mans, Sports Cars race harder, faster, and longer in a single day than Formula One does in a whole season.

Pedro de la Rosa gets a ride with Sauber today, coming from the McLaren reserves to replace Sergio Perez who is not yet recovered from his Monaco concussion.  bmaz reports on the Bahrain decision I covered Friday.

Scuderia Marlboro UPC did a little better in qualifying than I expected, but it doesn’t mean much for anyone as they are forcasting a 60% chance of rain.  To make things even more (ahem) interesting they’ve all dialed down the downforce because of the long straights and it’s not the kind of thing you’re allowed to adjust.  Virgin will start it’s second car despite missing the 107% cut off.

Hopefully during the boring parts I’ll find a source for the Le Mans results, it was actually much closer than I predicted, a mere 13 seconds after 24 hours that Audi won over Peugeot with their single remaining car.

• F1: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Pretty tables below.

Also known as the Canadian Grand Prix the track itself is notable for an extremely long straight down the backside of Ile Notre-Dame now punctuated with a chicane that’s actually hardly noticable but which complies with FIA regulations.  The other one at the end of the Start/Finish straight is jocularly called “Welcome to Quebec” for it’s tendency to collect cars who’s brakes have failed under the stress.

During yesterday’s practice they were running the Softs and Super Softs, but they’re expecting a rainy weekend so as per usual it’s not an indicator of actual performance.  Last year Hamilton and McLaren had a particularly good day.  The year before that it got dropped in favor of Abu Dhabi.

At least Bernie got negotiated down from the $35 million he initially demanded to a mere $15 million taxpayer dollars.

Other than that I’m not sure what there is to say.  Vettel has a commanding lead in the Driver’s Standings, Red Bull is not quite so convincing in the Constructor’s Championship.  Scuderia Marlboro UPC needs several miracles to avoid being overtaken by some of the mid-range teams like Mercedes, Renault, and Force India and Maranello is unhappy about it.

Race coverage tomorrow is on Fox starting at 1 pm.

Developments and surprises (if any) below.

So a couple of weekends ago I talked about Lime Rock and I mentioned then that Sport Car racing is a little bit different from most other kinds of motor sports.

One of the differences is the length of the races.  Many of the events are timed rather than a fixed distance and some last quite a while.  This weekend is the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency commonly known as Le Mans.

It’s run on the Circuit de la Sarthe which at 8.5 miles is one of the longest still used for racing.  The Ligne Droite des Hunaudières (better known as the Mulsanne Straight) is 3.7 miles long though they added 2 chicanes in the ’90s when the FIA decided that no straight section of track over 2 kilometers would continue to be allowed.

Other safety changes include not letting any driver do a shift of over 4 hours or drive more than 14 hours in total.  You must have a team of at least 3 drivers.  The top 2 classes are Le Mans Prototypes 1 & 2 and the other 2 classes are GT 2s and GT 1s (for the last year) and GT AMs (their successor).

It really is an endurance race.  Cars are required to turn off their engines in the pits so there’s always the question of if you can start them up again.  It’s very hot which is tough on tires and the high speeds (over 200 mph in many sections of the track) put a lot of strain on the brakes when you want to change direction (say for a corner or something trivial like that).

Just as in the iconic movie Le Mans, interesting things can happen at any time, though in fact they rarely do.  Speed will have 18 hours of live coverage starting at 8:30 am with breaks for the Turn Left Pocono 500, Qualifying at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (at 2 pm), and Motorcycle racing from Mt. Morris.

This year they’ll be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the 1991 Mazda win and the 44th of Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt spraying Henry Ford II and Carroll Shelby with champagne instead of drinking it starting the tradition of wasting good wine.

If anything actually exciting occurs feel free to make note of it below.

Update:  Now with Grid positions.

Between the Belmont, Le Mans, and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve it’s shaping up a busy weekend.  You may well ask, “ek, why do you talk about sports so much?”

It’s a metaphor.

Consider today’s offering from The Gulf Daily News–

OVERTAKEN BY LIES..?

By ANWAR ABDULRAHMAN, The Gulf Daily News

Posted on Friday, June 10, 2011

Bahrain always assumed that the Western world was too wise and mature to mix politics with sport. But the way it is behaving towards our Grand Prix fixture begs many questions now about its judgement.

…

No country in the world can guarantee itself totally free of some form of domestic disturbances – and we fully understand that when lives and security are endangered, such events can be postponed, as happened here.

But to now use human rights allegations as an excuse to deprive Bahrain of such an important sporting occasion, contradicts every ethic and value, as well as the spirit of global competition in its broadest sense.

Because you know, after all, Jesse Owens humbled Hitler in Berlin (not actually the story you think it is, the real one is Marty Glickman).

But our hole is not yet to China, let’s dig a little deeper.

Unfortunately, hidden hands are at work to discredit Bahrain government’s positive measures which have restored law and order to the country. It seems as if there is a willingness for members of this sporting body to be swayed by opposition claims of ongoing and brutal repression.

…

The facts of the matter are simple. The government of Bahrain has advised that the country is a safe and secure destination to host the Bahrain Grand Prix in October this year. The FIA, F1 management and the teams should not allow political machinations of a disaffected and small opposition group to affect the decisions taken by the FIA which quite rightly are based entirely on logistics and security considerations.

For members of the F1 fraternity to single out Bahrain over questions of human rights issues is unacceptable victimisation. A number of other countries which host F1 are considered to be far more repressive. The same stance should apply to Bahrain as to these other nations.

Certainly Bahrain should share part of the blame for innocently allowing both international media and human rights organisations to twist the truth. For years they have been fed a dubious diet of information. However, we have relied on individuals like Lord Gilford and public relations organisations such as Bell-Pottinger (whose staff deserted the kingdom en masse as soon as trouble started). They have milked the country’s financial resources for a long time, yet failed to deliver any positive result.

From now on we hope such tasks will be undertaken by organisations with true local links, knowledge and understanding, as well as a genuine love for Bahrain.

The defamation of Bahrain was started by so-called native opposition elements, therefore only local, loyal media and public relations companies with a vested interest in the future of this country can be relied upon.

There are many highly capable, mature, experienced Bahrainis and expatriates who have been in this field all of their professional working lives.

They are the ones fully aware of internal politics, and only experts of such calibre can explain and influence Western thought and decision-making.

In fairness and to his credit Mr. Abdulrahman calls out Max Mosley as the fascist he is but to decry as he does “mixing sport with politics”…

My father is no different than any powerful man, any man with power, like a president or senator.

Do you know how naive you sound, Michael? Presidents and senators don’t have men killed.

Oh. Who’s being naive, Kay?

This could never happen here.  We’re “exceptional”.

Surprise!  Hispania Racing Team will start Monaco.  The refs have given them a pass despite Karthikeyan’s suspension problems and Liuzzi’s hard park which prevented them from setting a qualifying time.  The update on Perez is that he has a concussion and a sprained thigh.  The concussion means he can’t race and unlike IndyCar it’s the driver, not the car, that qualifies.

Hamilton got pretty screwed by Perez’s crash since he was saving tires in the pits and was only able to qualify 7th after half an hour of Red Flag while they reset the track.  Then he was penalized down to 9th for blowing off a chicane.

Speaking of tires, when asked why there was so little ‘clag’ or scrubbed off rubber on the track a Pirelli representative laughed and pointed out the dramatically lower speeds at Monaco.  This is significant because the projections are that even the Super Softs are good for 23 laps and it’s only a 78 lap race.  Likewise non-competitive teams like Scuderia Marlboro UPC should suffer less from their lack of downforce and horsepower.

But they will suffer from grid position, it’s practically impossible to pass and anyone looking to make up positions will have to do it in the pits or by avoiding the mistakes of those ahead.  I stand by yesterday’s prediction, “Yet another snooze fest made exciting by flaming chunks of twisted metal which will be made more numerous by the frequent appearance of the safety car.”

Speed’s coverage starts with GP2 at 6 am, pre-race at 7:30, and roll off at 8.  I’ll also be covering the Indianapolis 500 today which starts on ABC at 11 am and tomorrow I might have a word or two about Lime Rock.

• F1: Monaco Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Pretty tables below.

I’m sorry, I’m just not as enthused about Monaco as everyone else.  It’s a short, twisty, narrow course without many opportunities for overtaking.

Those who do like it for reasons other than tradition and glamor, point out that these are just the qualities that make it a great equalizer where more horsepower and superior aerodynamics don’t count for as much to which my reply is- so you’re relying on sheer dumb luck then?

Partisans of McLaren are much encouraged by the tight finish at Catalunya.  People who root for Scuderia Marlboro UPC are encouraged by…

Not much actually.  Their best news is that the rumors flying around Hamilton last week are now swirling around Button.  Otherwise while their team chief is professionally optimistic, Alonso is entirely unhappy with their performance so far and is demanding a faster car.

Moving back to McLaren, the Marlboro Scuderia may be picking up damaged goods (assuming either McLaren driver is insane enough to switch).  Button had a near collision with a forklift as they were setting up their palatial compound and Hamilton is very, very, unhappy with Scuderia Toro Rosso (the Red Bull team with the less reliable and powerful Ferrari engines) and/or Mercedes depending on who you read.

In other off track news, despite Bernie’s naturally dictatorial nature it seems unlikely the Bahrain Grand Prix will be rescheduled.  This has less to do with the protests of human rights organizations or any sympathy for the serfs and is more about scheduling and transportation.  In a story straight out of the PR department, Formula One gets to claim to be environmentally friendly by transferring KERS technology from the Nissan Leaf.  Team Lotus gets to keep their name.

Oh, you want racing news.  Have I mentioned it’s all about the tires?  Pirelli is debuting new Super Softs this weekend which will be mixed with the softs to ensure pit stops and simulate excitement.  Vettel says the Super Softs are good for 23 laps though so who knows?

My prediction?  Yet another snooze fest made exciting by flaming chunks of twisted metal which will be made more numerous by the frequent appearance of the safety car.

As usual, surprising developments below.

So have I mentioned tires are the story?

Teams are going to absurd lengths to save their Softs and in this race particularly so since Pirelli is introducing their new Super Hards and they are a full 2 seconds a lap slower.  While Hards and Super Hards are supposed to produce durability benefits that offset their lack of speed, there is absolutely no evidence that they do so even with the small number of non lemming-like teams that have dared to persue unorthodox strategies.

This leads to spectacles like Istanbul where Red Bull ran their hot Qualifying laps and parked (which McLaren emulated yesterday) and the 6 also rans from Scuderia Marlboro UPC, Renault, Mercedes, and Williams staying off track until a mere 2 minutes were left in Q3 (Schumacher didn’t bother turning in a time).  I hope Bernie heard the boos and jeers from the crowd at the empty track that were quite audible to the cameras in Pit Lane, but he’s such a arrogant and greedy bastard I doubt it.

Bottom line for racing?  Red Bull and McLaren have an extra set of Softs and everyone else pretty much doesn’t.

But it goes to a bigger picture mentioned by one of the commentators- Formula One used to be about technology, innovation, and going fast.  There used to be a U.S. series like that too called Champ or CART who’s turbo-charged cars in the early ’80s were actually faster than F1 because they also allowed more down force.

It’s successor, ‘IndyCars‘, is open wheel NASCAR- bumper cars so evenly matched (supposedly to highlight ‘driver skills’) that the only thing to watch is who ends up in a flaming chunk of twisted metal, modern gladiator games with rules designed to enforce nose to tail racing and bunch cars up whenever someone gets too far ahead so as to ensure more crashes for the blood thirsty fans.

Did I mention the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 is next week?  Dad would want me to.

Circuit de Catalunya is notoriously boring and I expect nothing different today (the front five are exactly the same as they were last year).  Next week is also Monaco which is all about glitz, glamor, and tradition.  No actual racing is allowed.

I’ll probably produce 2 separate pieces, one for Monaco and one for Indy.  I’ll have to watch them both anyway since Richard will quiz me at the end, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to keep my eyes open.

As usual I used up all my good material yesterday so I really encourage you to click that top link.

• F1: Circuit de Catalunya Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Speed has GP2 at 6 am to rubber in the track, Formula One at 7:30 am with a repeat at 4:30 pm.

Pretty tables below.

Well this is it, Rapture Day, and yet you’re all still here.  Shame on you.  It’s still early enough though that you can go outside and if you find a pile of clothes on your neighbor’s lawn and the car in the driveway you can acquire a new ride.  They won’t need it.

To the more mundane.  Williams has gotten off to it’s slowest start ever and has already announced changes to it’s technical team, director Sam Michael leaves at the end of the season.  Adrian Sutil is under investigation for getting into a fight with someone from Renault at a bar in Shanghai and stabbing him in the neck with a champagne glass.  Then there is Formula One: Texas Subsidy Style where Rick Perry fires 100,000 teachers and gives Bernie Ecclestone $250 million to subsidize the new race.

Oh, you want racing news.

Lots of technical changes at Circuit de Catalunya.  It’s one of the off season testing tracks and in recent years has been extremely uncompetitive and boring.  F1 officials are hoping all the new rules, the tear away Pirellis, the KERS kinetic energy recovery system, and the DFR down force reducer will change that.  In particular they’re hoping the DFR will finally have an impact and are activating it over the longest section of track yet this season.  Everyone has once again tweaked their aero bits.

What will probably have the greatest impact though is the new Pirelli Super Hard tires.  The Drivers hate them.  They’re 2 seconds slower and don’t last any longer than the softs.  You only get 3 sets of softs for both racing and qualifying and as Alonso puts it, “It’s difficult to think about going in Q1 with the hard tyre, so I think 95 per cent of the people will try to use one soft unfortunately in Q1. We’ll see if anyone takes the risk.”

Speaking of Scuderia Marlboro UPC and how Formula One kisses their ass at every opportunity, there is the blown diffuser controversy.  Red Bull and McLaren along with some of the other teams are using engine management (mapping) to keep the amount of forward moving engine exhaust over their under car diffusers constant regardless of throttle position.  Just before this race and without any time to design or test new systems for the next 3 races (Monaco is next week and Canada shortly after) they decided it violated the movable aerodynamic parts rule they decided to ban it.

While you may argue about whether this disadvantages McLaren or Red Bull more, there is no doubt at all which team in the top three doesn’t use it because their engineers have been too stupid for the last two years to make it work.  Oh, and the rumors about booting Massa and replacing him with Hamilton are apparently true, though Hamilton would have to be an idiot to transfer to a team with third rate equipment like Scuderia Marlboro.

Fortunately they’re delaying a final decision until a regularly scheduled review next month.

But apparently flexible wings are just fine even though nobody has been able to duplicate them yet despite seeing the dangly wires after Vettel’s practice crash in Turkey.

My Dad has requested I mention today is Indianapolis 500 Pole Day.  This is the 100th anniversary of the race.  TV coverage is from noon to 2 pm on ESPN2 and from 3 to 6 pm on ABC with post qualifying coverage from 6 to 8 pm again on ESPN2.

Speed coverage of Formula One starts with the Debrief at 7 am and Qualifying at 8 am.  Tomorrow GP2 starts at 6 am with the race at 7:30 am.

As usual any surprising developments below.

Some of you might get the impression that I’m a big fan of Formula One racing.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  My dad, Richard, is hugely into all motor sports, even the Turn Left red neck bumper car travesty of twisted chunks of flaming metal.  By comparison Formula One has dignity.

But not much.

Ecclestone is a corporate whore who hired the son of a Nazi that likes his sex with 5 or 6 workers dressed in jackboots.  He’s probably just as responsible for the repression of the Bahrain Democracy movement as the Emir so he wouldn’t have nasty icky protesters spoiling his circus.  Under his direction driving is pay to play, a seat goes for over a million in sponsorships and without it you watch from the stands no matter how good you are.

In short an example of Galtian Greed that makes selfish George Steinbrenner seem all warm and fuzzy by comparison.  At least George wanted to win.

Which is why it’s no surprise to read stories like this-

Texas Taxpayers Finance Formula One Auto Races as Schools Dismiss Teachers

By Darrell Preston and Aaron Kuriloff, Bloomberg News

May 11, 2011 12:43 PM ET

As many as 100,000 teachers in Texas may be fired because of spending cuts to cope with the state’s budget crisis, according to Moak Casey & Associates, an Austin-based education consultant. For $25 million a year, the state could pay more than 500 teachers an average salary of $48,000.

…

If the financing works as projected, the decision will use $250 million in state tax revenue for the races over 10 years.

“With places struggling, spending that much money on an essentially one-off event is tough to do,” said Michael Cramer, a former president of baseball’s Texas Rangers and hockey’s Dallas Stars who runs the sports and media program at the University of Texas at Austin. “It’s a very high cost of entry.”

Texas, like other states cutting budgets for schools, nursing homes and basic services, uses economic-development spending to bring in jobs and seed growth. That often involves giving up tax revenue generated by a project to pay part of the cost. New Jersey is providing $200 million of tax-increment financing to help develop the American Dream in the Meadowlands, which will be the biggest mall in the U.S. when it opens.

“I’m not sure of the wisdom of using tax dollars to fund a racetrack,” said Siwak, the Austin teacher. “They’re giving so much tax dollars away I don’t think they could make it up with the racetrack.”

…

The state’s $25 million is being paid to London-based Formula One Management Ltd. to hold the race in Austin, Sexton said. Formula One, owned by London-based CVC Capital Partners Ltd., a private-equity firm, is run by Bernie Ecclestone, the chief executive officer of the series.

“It’s going to Mr. Ecclestone and Formula One to get them to bring the event here,” Sexton said.

Paying such a fee goes beyond the intended use of the state fund, which was set up to support bringing annual events to Texas by rebating increased taxes they generate to cover costs including security and traffic control, said Richard Viktorin, an accountant with Audits in the Public Interest. The Austin- based group opposes government support for the races.

…

“It’s off-balance-sheet financing for a rich man’s sport,” Viktorin said. Combs is “supposed to be a fiscal officer for the state. She’s not controlling that fund.”

…

Austin and the state are unlikely to recover their investment directly, Cipolloni said. However, the race will expose the city to a wide audience of tourists and executives that could help recruit companies and create jobs, he said.

“They won’t collect tax money equal to the $25 million” from the state, Cipolloni said. “It’s just a way to get exposure for the city.”

As State Faces Deep Cuts, Texas Commits $250 Million Of Taxpayer Money To Auto Racing

By Marie Diamond, Think Progress

May 12th, 2011 at 3:45 pm

The motorsport franchise left the U.S. four years ago because of low attendance, but the effort to bring it back – and base it in Texas – has been spearheaded by B.J. “Red” McCombs, the co-founder of conservative media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications. Despite being consistently ranked as one of Forbes 400 richest Americans – with a net worth last estimated at $1.4 billion – McCombs has gotten state Comptroller Susan Combs to agree to build a racing track in Austin at taxpayer expense. Austin’s city government may also invest an additional $4 million a year in tax revenue to facilitate the plan.

…

Corporate backers of the plan and their GOP allies insist that F-1 racing will pump money and jobs into the Texas economy. But sporting experts say the state is betting taxpayer money on an uncertain investment. Michael Cramer, a former president of the Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars, told Bloomberg, “With places struggling, spending that much money on an essentially one-off event is tough to do.”

F-1 races have tried and failed to gain traction in the U.S. in different cities since since the 1970s. Even Bernie Ecclestone, the CEO of the F-1 series admitted that, “No one wanted to hold it,” until the Austin promoters stepped in.