Saturday, April 15, 2006

This week’s testing schedule

An extended break following the Australian Grand Prix means the Formula One teams now have two weeks in which to go testing ahead of the first round of the European season at Imola on April 23. And after Fernando Alonso’s and Renault’s dominant performance in Melbourne, they will be eager to make the most of the time available.

Two circuits will host this week’s testing, which is due to get underway on Tuesday at the Vallelunga track near Rome. Ferrari test drivers Luca Badoer and Marc Gene will be working on some major engine and aero upgrades which the team plan to debut at San Marino.

Honda will also be there, no doubt aiming to improve their reliability and cold-tyre performance following Jenson Button’s last-lap retirement at Albert Park, and Williams will have test driver Alex Wurz working to solve the issues that saw Mark Webber retire from his home race with transmission failure.

The week's other major session runs for three days from Wednesday at the French circuit of Paul Ricard, which is set to play host to Renault, McLaren, Toyota and BMW Sauber. Red Bull will also be there, with Toro Rosso expected to lend race driver Vitantonio Liuzzi for their sister team’s two-day programme.

Check back throughout the week for daily updates on the teams’ progress. Note - all schedules are provisional and subject to change.

Gascoyne suspended by Toyota

Toyota have suspended technical director Mike Gascoyne indefinitely after what the Japanese team described as a ‘fundamental difference of opinion’.

After enjoying their best season to date last year, finishing fourth in the constructors’ championship, Toyota endured a difficult start to their 2006 campaign. They scored just one point from the first two races, but looked to have turned a corner at last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, where Ralf Schumacher finished on the podium.

However, in a statement the team said on Wednesday that: "Due to a fundamental difference of opinion with regard to the technical operations of its Formula One team, Toyota Motorsport has suspended its Technical Director Chassis, Mike Gascoyne, until further notice. Toyota Motorsport will not make any additional comments on this matter at this time."

Gascoyne, one of the most highly-regarded engineers in Formula One racing, joined Toyota at the end of 2003 after successful spells with Jordan and Renault.

From f1.com

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Honda defend snap decision to halt Button


Honda has defended its decision to sacrifice world championship points within sight of the chequered flag on Sunday.

Fifth-placed Jenson Button's V8 blew spectacularly in the last corner of the Australian grand prix, and he was reportedly told on the in-car radio to pull the smoking car over before it crossed the finish line.

If he had coaxed the white racer a little further, he would have bagged the points but earned a ten-place qualifying penalty for the next event at Imola.

Conversely, when a failure occurs during a race, no penalty applies. ''At the moment we believe it was the right decision,'' said team boss Nick Fry, who divulged that Button's race engineer made the snap call.
Fry indicated that the engineer - Andy Shovlin - was already planning victory at the Imola race.

He told Auto Motor Und Sport : ''If you have to start (the next race) from eleventh or worse, then you have no chance.''

Renault's Pat Symonds, too, called the hurried thinking on the Honda F1 pitwall 'intelligent'.


Monday, April 03, 2006

Australian Analysis - a tale of tyre temperature

The real secret of the Australian Grand Prix - apart from avoiding the many accidents - was maintaining tyre temperature. And in the final analysis only Renault truly managed this. Once again the excellence of the R26 chassis played a key role in Fernando Alonso’s stylish victory. The Spaniard reported that he was pleased with the car’s balance all the way through, as rivals moaned unhappily of understeer and oversteer as they tried to keep their tyres hot after the four safety-car periods.

It was not all sweetness for ‘les bleus’, however. Giancarlo Fisichella’s car stalled at the start and the Italian began his race from the pit lane, and subsequently he lost his telemetry and had to dictate relevant readings to his pit crew while trying to push forward in the opening stages. Then the clutch malfunctioned after his final stop, after a middle stint married by terrible understeer.

Renault may be the class of the field, but even they have their problems.

McLaren had many. They started with Montoya’s spin even before the grid had formed, and continued as the Colombian was one of many to struggle with tyre temperature. This led to a spin before the first safety car, and then his off-course moment on lap 46 which led to his retirement. The impact as he bounced over the kerb activated a default system which switched off the engine, so that was that.

Kimi Raikkonen, meanwhile, struggled once a front wing endplate fractured as a result of vibrations caused earlier on when he flat-spotted his tyres. That generated serious understeer which really hurt his progress, and it wasn’t until he had the front wing replaced in his final stop on lap 34 that the balance was restored. By then it was too late.

Toyota lost Jarno Trulli on the first lap after his collision with David Coulthard, but Ralf Schumacher’s third place was a timely fillip and was all the more creditable given the drive-through penalty he received for speeding in the pit lane. He explained that he inadvertently hit the limiter button twice.

BMW Sauber were very happy with their speed in qualifying, but even more so with their performance in the race, but had the F1.06s been able to maintain their tyre temperature Nick Heidfeld could certainly have been on the podium. As it was, fourth and sixth (Jacques Villeneuve running a single-stop strategy because of having to start 19th) gave them a healthy dose of points and endorsed the decision to hand select engine components after parts that did not come up to production tolerances had been responsible for the failures that Villeneuve suffered in Bahrain and Heidfeld in Malaysia.

Ferrari and Bridgestone also found it hard to generate tyre temperature, and in the early going Michael Schumacher struggled notably. Things were better in his second stint and he was able to set the race’s third fastest lap, but tyre wear later accounted for his heavy accident in the final corner as he understeered on to the grass. After all their effort building up a new car around the spare chassis, Felipe Massa’s mechanics were distraught when he was taken out in the second corner melee.

Williams had a torrid time, with Nico Rosberg being a first-lap casualty, but Mark Webber looked strong in the lead on lap 22 during the pit stops, and was due to run another five or six laps before refuelling. This time it was a gearbox problem that stopped him, just as the Williams FW28 was about to unlock its potential.

The race was bitterly disappointing for Honda. They went to the line feeling quietly confident after Jenson Button’s pole position, but it soon became clear that problems maintaining tyre temperature would really hurt them. Button said his RA106 felt like a car without wings as it slithered haplessly round and was overtaken by Alonso’s Renault at the first restart, and Raikkonen’s McLaren at the second. “I don’t want to start from pole position and go through that again,” Button said tersely, after the engine failure that cost him any points.

It was not a happy day for Red Bull either, though it should have been. Vitantonio Liuzzi drove forcefully and passed Michael Schumacher (for the fourth time in his Formula One career) even though the STR1s were running Michelin’s harder tyre compound. The Italian believed he could have challenged for fifth or sixth place, and was disappointed by slow pit stops and then very angry after claiming he was squeezed on to the grass and into a huge accident by Jacques Villeneuve on the 38th lap. Team mate Scott Speed could not match his pace, but kept Coulthard’s surviving Red Bull at bay to the flag to score his and the team’s first championship point.

Coulthard was not happy to be beaten by the American, and later protested that he had overtaken him under yellow flags at the Liuzzi incident. The stewards agreed and added 25 seconds to Speed’s race time, dropping him to 11th place, and gifting Coulthard his point in the process.

Christian Klien had a tough day, clobbering the unfortunate Massa and Rosberg on the opening lap and later crashing heavily as a result of damage inflicted to his own car.

Midland brought one car home, with Christijan Albers finishing 11th, but Tiago Monteiro retired his M16 with differential failure.

To bring both cars home in only their third Grand Prix was a great achievement for Super Aguri, especially as Ide’s SA05 was reportedly doing display-car duty outside an Australian burger bar only two months ago. Takuma Sato was one of the stars of the race as he resolutely kept Rubens Barrichello and Coulthard behind him for many laps in the first stint.

Renault remain the class of the field, though it is evident that McLaren have great potential, and in that respect 2006 is currently mirroring the same stage of the 2005 season. The blue cars have almost twice as many points as the silver arrows, however, after only three races. Honda, Ferrari and Williams have shown patchy form, while BMW Sauber surprised in Australia. There is a three-week break before Imola, and you can be sure that everyone will be burning midnight oil in prodigious quantities in the meantime in order to try and resolve their respective shortcomings.

From f1.com

Technical Analysis - Australia - MP4-21



McLaren MP4-21 - rear wing

Small changes for Melbourne following informal communications from the FIA post-Malaysia. The revisions are concentrated on the endplates, in the cut area just behind the flap (red arrows). This area is now bent slightly outwards, with reinforcement along the bend to restrict the flexibility of the endplate and the flap under high loads. The connecting points between the endplates and the main wing profile have also been strengthened accordingly.

Technical Analysis - Australia - TF106



Toyota TF106 - front barge boards

An interesting, if minor, aero development spotted on the Toyota in Australia was changes to the barge boards, which sported an additional inner fence in their foremost section. This creates a channel which more effectively diverts the lower portion of the airflow, increasing the efficiency of the bottom of the car. Quick direction changes dominate the Albert Park circuit and here the revisions resulted in better stability and improved grip.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Alonso wins dramatic Australian F1 GP


Renault's Fernando Alonso won an incident-packed Australian Grand Prix today to take a 14-point lead in the Formula One standings after three races. The 24-year-old world champion claimed his second victory of the season when he established an early lead then held off McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen to win by less than two seconds on a dramatic afternoon at Albert Park.

"The car was perfect. We were not in danger of losing the race at any time," said the Spaniard of his 10th career win. "There were no problems at all."

Michael Schumacher, Germany's seven times world champion, was among a handful of drivers who were involved in high-speed crashes that interrupted the race. "It's clear we have work to do," said a dejected Schumacher. Felipe Massa, Schumacher's team mate, also wrecked his Ferrari when he slammed into a wall while Juan Pablo Montoya, Christian Klien, Jarno Trulli, Nico Rosberg and Vitantonio Liuzzi were also involved in accidents.

"It was a weekend to forget," Jean Todt, the Ferrari team boss, said. "Going home without points is a very bitter feeling, given that we have all we need to succeed.

Honda's engine burst into flames
Jenson Button, who started on pole position, avoided most of the mayhem only to pull over agonisingly within sight of the finish line when his Honda's engine blew and burst into flames. He had been in fifth place. The failure also ended Button's run of 12 races in a row in the points. Almost half the drivers failed to complete the 57-lap race, while the safety car was introduced on four separate occasions.

Ralf Schumacher steered his Toyota to third place, despite a stop-go penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limit, ahead of fellow German Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber and Alonso's Italian team mate Giancarlo Fisichella.

2006 Drivers Championship

2006 Drivers Championship After Australia

1 Fernando Alonso Spanish Renault 28

2 Giancarlo Fisichella Italian Renault 14

2= Kimi Räikkönen Finnish McLaren-Mercedes 14

4 Michael Schumacher German Ferrari 11

4= Jenson Button British Honda 11

6 Juan Pablo Montoya Colombian McLaren-Mercedes 9

7 Ralf Schumacher German Toyota 7

8 Nick Heidfeld German Sauber-BMW 5

8= Jacques Villeneuve Canadian Sauber-BMW 5

10 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 4

11 Mark Webber Australian Williams-Cosworth 3

12 Rubens Barrichello Brazilian Honda 2

12= Nico Rosberg German Williams-Cosworth 2

14 David Coulthard British RBR-Ferrari 1

14= Christian Klien Austrian RBR-Ferrari 1


Penalty loses Speed his first point


Scott Speed has been handed a post-race penalty of 25 seconds for paying insufficient attention to yellow flags in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. That dropped the American to 11th place and thus lost him, and the Scuderia Toro Rosso team, their first world championship point.

Moving up to eighth and gaining a point as a result was Red Bull’s David Coulthard, who claimed after the race that Speed had passed him under yellow flags. The stewards also fined Speed US$5000 for use of abusive language to another competitor, thought to be Coulthard, during the post-race hearing.

In a separate incident, Takuma Sato, who finished 12th for Super Aguri, was reprimanded by the stewards for ignoring blue flags.


Saturday, April 01, 2006

Button snatches pole in Australian F1 GP

Britain's Jenson Button survived a "manic" final qualifying session today to snatch pole position for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. Button managed to safely avoid the chaos of several accidents, traffic jams and foul weather to lap Melbourne's Albert Park circuit in one minute, 25.229secs to capture his third career pole and Honda's first in 38 years.

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, last year's winner, clocked the second best time to join Button on the front row of the grid, just ahead of Fernando Alonso, his Renault team mate and Spanish world champion. Kimi Raikkonen and his McLaren team mate Juan Pablo Montoya were fourth and fifth while Michael Schumacher, the seven times world champion, had to settle for 11th in his under performing Ferrari.

"I'm still shaking with the excitement and it was a very hectic session, it was mad for us. Trying to get a lap time in was very difficult but we managed it." said Button. He timed his run to perfection, rocketing to the top of the time sheets when he finally found a clear road in front of him to complete his flying lap with just minutes to go in the last session. It gave him his third pole position after twice securing pole for BAR in 2004 and 2005 as well as Honda's first as a wholly owned outfit since John Surtees started at the front at the 1968 Italian Grand Prix.

Sessions interrupted by accidents
The first two qualifying sessions, in which the slowest 12 cars were eliminated, were both interrupted by accidents while the remaining 10 drivers were forced to take it easy at the start of the last session when light rain began to fall.

Although all 22 cars were ranked in order after today's three stage qualifying session, the final grid positions will not be determined until a few hours before tomorrow's race as teams can elect to drop back 10 places if they want to change engines.

Technical Analysis - Australia - BMW Sauber F1.06


BMW Sauber F1.06 - rear wing

Another team invited by the FIA to make changes to their wings prior to Australia, BMW Sauber have revised the junction of the rear wing's endplates and its main profile and flap. The shape of the elements has not changed, but the connecting points between them (areas in orange) have been reinforced to prevent any unwanted flexibility and freedom of movement between them.

From F1.com

Technical Analysis - Australia - Super Aguri SA05


Super Aguri SA05 - double-decker front wing

It may only be an interim car, before the arrival of the team's 2006 machine later in the year, but the SA05 has already seen a fair amount of development since its debut. A double-decker front wing has been introduced in Australia. The additional upper elements are an integral part of the endplates, as on the Renault and Midland. This solution provides increased downforce with a relatively small drag penalty. A logical, straightforward change from a young team looking to quickly improve their performance.

From F1.com

Over 20 applicants for 2008 championship

I find this quite surprising:

A total of 22 teams have applied to participate in the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship.

The figure was released by the FIA following Friday’s entry deadline. It will now be up to the sport’s governing body to decide who gets the 12 available slots.

All applicants have been invited to a meeting in London on April 10, 2006. The FIA will announce the list of successful entries on April 28, 2006.


Friday, March 31, 2006

Technical Analysis - Australia - BMW Sauber F1.06



BMW Sauber F1.06 - front wing endplates

For Melbourne, the team introduced a revision to the front wing design seen in Bahrain and Malaysia. The main profile is largely unchanged, but the endplates now feature an upward-curving fin (yellow and detail), which closely resembles the one adopted on last season's Sauber. This fin reduces turbulence and hence improves the airflow passing close to the front wheels. This solution is likely to be alternated with the original flat fin over the course of the season, depending on how tight and twisty the circuit. The small change may provide an overall aero efficiency gain of around three percent.

Technical Analysis - Australia - Ferrari 248 F1



Ferrari 248 F1 - revised front wing

Ferrari's front wing was the subject of much discussion at the last round in Malaysia. Onboard TV shots showed the upper profile bending downwards at speed, opening up a gap between the wing element and the nose cone, prompting many to question whether this constituted a moveable - and hence illegal - aerodynamic device. In theory this design should help push back the car's centre of aerodynamic pressure. This means the rear would run closer to the ground, increasing the available downforce created by air passing underneath. Furthermore, the front end would become slightly more understeery - and hence controllable - at high speed. Such principles are no huge secret, but only the top teams are likely to find ways of designing structures that may flex at high speed, but still pass the relevant FIA tests. Nothing illegal was found on Ferrari's car at Sepang, but for Melbourne reinforcements have been applied where the upper wing profile meets the nose (see detail), making for a more rigid connection.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Ferrari deny FIA intervention over wing


A Ferrari spokesman has denied that Ferrari only changed its front wing design for the Melbourne race because the FIA caught the Maranello based team cheating.

After the notorious 'flexi-wing' saga, the red squad presented a new wing to FIA scrutineers on Thursday; one whose upper element can presumably no longer move, twist or flex because it is now secured to the front nose.

But the head of Ferrari's motor sport press office, Luca Colajanni, insisted that the change was simply a normal aerodynamic development, not the result of an FIA request.

“We will use a different front wing here,” he said at Albert Park, “to increase our efficiency, not because we have to.”

Albert Park - the technical requirements

Melbourne’s Albert Park is a circuit composed of public roads, which means it has an unusual track surface that changes significantly over the course of the weekend, as rubber is laid down on the racing line. The circuit is characterised by a series of hard phases of acceleration and bumpy braking areas ahead of the chicanes. These factors influence the set-up of both the chassis and the engine, as Renault’s engineers explain…

Chassis

Suspension: We must find a compromise between a set-up that is stiff enough to give the car a responsive change of direction in the slow chicanes, but soft enough to ensure we have good braking stability to avoid locking the wheels under heavy braking.

Aerodynamics: The downforce level used at this race is medium-high, as we aim to give the drivers the best possible traction out of the slow corners.

Tyres: A street circuit is always very ‘green’ when we begin running, and track conditions only begin to improve after several sessions. This is true at Melbourne, and tyre wear varies according to the track conditions. Wear levels are normally higher on the first day as the tyres slide more because of the lack of available grip, and gradually diminish during the weekend.

Braking: The circuit includes six major braking zones from around 300 kph. The brakes are used heavily in Australia, and we pay particular attention to brake cooling to avoid oxidisation.


Engine

Performance: With 69 percent of the lap spent at full throttle, Melbourne is a demanding engine circuit. Pure performance is not the critical parameter, rather we focus on good torque to launch the cars out of the slow corners.

Cooling: The relatively cool temperatures and high atmospheric pressure (1010 millibars) mean the engine develops more power, which provides some moving parts with a severe test. We look for the best possible cooling compromise to minimise the stress on these components.

Electronics: Every circuit demands a specific electronic configuration, with tweaks to the engine mapping, traction control settings, gear ratios, and fuel consumption. We work during practice to best adapt these parameters.