The ING Renault F1 Team continues testing in Barcelona
November 18, 2008 by Christine
Filed under Press Releases
Nelson Piquet, R28-04, 85 laps, 396 km, fastest lap 1:22.348
Giedo van der Garde, R28-05, 37 laps, 172 km, fastest lap 1:23.250
The ING Renault F1 Team continued its winter testing programme today in Barcelona as the team’s regular driver Nelson Piquet was again joined by young Dutchman, Giedo van der Garde. Nelson completed a full day’s work, while Giedo drove for half the day as reward for winning the World Series by Renault earlier this year.
The team worked on a similar programme to yesterday with the main emphasis being data collection and
evaluation of the slick Bridgestone tyres. There was also further running with 2009-type set-ups to give the
team further information, which will be fed into next year’s car. Giedo enjoyed another strong outing with the team, completing 37 laps and building on the work he completed yesterday. He adapted well to the team’s technical programme and continued to give the engineers valuable feedback.
Nelson will remain in the car tomorrow as the team runs just a single car for the final day of testing.
Nelson Piquet: “It was a similar day to yesterday as we continued learning about the slick tyres and working on the car set-up by trying to simulate next year’s settings. It was a bit cooler than yesterday, but the track
conditions were not too bad and we didn’t have any problems with the car, which allowed us to get a good
number of laps in. So a positive second day, which we can build on tomorrow.”
Giedo van der Garde: “I’ve had another really enjoyable day working with the team and helping them with their preparations for next year. Towards the end of the morning I had the chance to do a couple of new tyres runs, which helped me build confidence in the car and each time I improved my lap times. We made good progress across the two half days and the team was happy with how things went so overall it has been a very positive experience. I’m grateful to the ING Renault F1 Team for giving me this opportunity.”
Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: “Another interesting day’s testing, which saw us continue with the work
we did yesterday by trying to understand the tyres, as well as some R&D work. We had a good morning running Giedo and he was quite competitive and gave good feedback to the engineers and worked well with the team. Nelson had a busy day jumping between the cars, working on the set-up and collecting basic data on the tyres, so it’s been another productive day for us.”
17-Nov-08: Takuma Sato Tops Day 1 of Barcelona Test
Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 17th November 2008.
Testing got underway at Barcelona today, with our first glimpse of the 2009 wings in action. BMW ran a very high rear wing and low front wing, and it’s not that pretty. They were also testing out KERS, with the mechanics protected with thick gloves.
Toyota were the only team not in action, and we saw Takuma Sato top the timesheets in his test for Toro Rosso. Sebastien Buemi, also in the Toro Rosso, was just three tenths slower.
There were three red flags, caused by Robert Kubica for BMW and Nico Hulkenberg for Williams, with the main disaster saved for Giedo van der Garde in the Renault. He completed 27 laps as part of his World Series prize, but crashed out and finished the day in 16th.
Elsewhere, it appears the Canadian Grand Prix will definitely be off the calendar as the Montreal Mayor has admitted: “Despite our endeavours, the unreasonable demands of Formula One exceeded the taxpayer’s ability to pay.”
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
The ING Renault F1 Team begins its winter testing programme
November 17, 2008 by Christine
Filed under Press Releases
Nelson Piquet, R28-04, 80 laps, 372 km, fastest lap 1:22.560
Giedo van der Garde, R28-05, 32 laps, 149 km, fastest lap 1:24.908
The ING Renault F1 Team kicked off its winter testing programme today at the Circuit de Catalunya near
Barcelona. Recently confirmed 2009 driver, Nelson Piquet, was on driving duty and was joined by Giedo van der Garde as the 23-year-old received his prize for winning the World Series by Renault.
The team spent the day running two R28s, working on 2009-type set-ups and evaluating the slick Bridgestone tyres. Nelson clocked up 80 laps during a productive day, while Giedo completed a further 32 laps during his afternoon run as he acclimatised to the R28 which he was sampling for the first time. The young Dutchman adapted well to the ING Renault F1 team and its way of working, which should allow him to build on today’s technical programme when he gets another run in the car tomorrow morning. Nelson will continue working with the team tomorrow and Wednesday, while Giedo will complete his test tomorrow morning.
Nelson Piquet: “It was a constructive day, although obviously we are right at the very start of winter testing and the cars will be very different next year. Still it’s nice to get a feel for how things are going to be with the sort of set-ups we will be running next year and with slick tyres. The car felt quite different today with these new settings, but the track conditions were good which helped us.”
Giedo van der Garde: “It was a great day. The last time I was in a Formula 1 car was over a year ago, so I had to get used to the speed of the car again. We improved every time we went out, working on getting a better set-up and hopefully we can continue like this tomorrow morning. It’s been nice to work with the team - they are a good bunch of people and I’m really enjoying the experience.”
Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: “It’s nice to be back testing again after a break and obviously with new rules coming into force next year, it’s going to be an interesting winter test period. We had a good first day of the programme with no major problems and we learnt what we needed to as we worked on 2009-type set-ups with slick tyres. Giedo had had a good first day with us: he has limited experience of Formula 1 and so it was a learning process, but it was a positive session and he worked well with the engineers. We’ll debrief with him tonight and give him another run out tomorrow morning.”
Quotes Roundup - Week Ending 16th Nov
November 16, 2008 by Christine
Filed under Weekly Quotes
The very best from the mouths of those in the know.
The Force India / McLaren Partnership
On what that deal means for the team, and the sport…
- “Force India Formula One team has been in existence for only one year, and inevitably our first season has constituted a learning period. But we said at the outset that we meant business and were not interested in merely making up the numbers.” Dr. Vijay Mallya
- “I would love to see a Force India car on the podium in the inaugural Indian grand Prix. Obviously that has to be a core objective as well. Now that is in 2011 and I say why not? I’m sure Martin would love to see a Force India and a McLaren racing each other” Dr. Vijay Mallya
- “We are going to learn lessons by looking over the shoulder of Force India. I believe that we will become stronger as a consequence of this. I would not have gone into this partnership unless I believed it was going to help us to win world championships in the future.” Martin Whitmarsh
Ongoing Circuit News
Canada and China both worry about the future, Singapore doesn’t…
- “We’re doing the assessment. By next year we should be able to give you an answer. We want to create a win-win situation, for our side and for Bernie and the F1 organisers as well. If this is something we can do, and our cooperation is very happy and smooth, we will consider it.” Qiu Weichang, deputy director of the Shanghai Administration of Sports
- “We need to know if we’re going to have a Grand Prix in 2009. We’re trying to find a proposal that will meet with the approval of Bernie Ecclestone and his board of directors. He’s not interested in where the money’s going to come from, he just wants to get the money to which he thinks he’s entitled.” Gerald Tremblay, Montreal Mayor
- “We have received a great many compliments from around the world since the running of the race in September, but this is an award given by our peers, the professionals who work in motor sports. It therefore is especially gratifying to receive this award.” Jonathan Hallett, Singapore GP’s media director
Upcoming Test Drivers
We’re going to see a few new names on the timesheets in Barcelona…
- “Going back to Enstone will be very special for me. I often used to go and train there when I was on the Renault Driver Development programme. So I’ll be seeing people I already know. That will help me to integrate into the team more easily.” Giedo van der Garde
- “To have this opportunity is a dream. Even though I’ve been racing for only four years, it’s as if I’ve waited for ten years to drive an F1 car. I’ve worked hard in preparing for it, on the neck particularly. GP2 in any case is a good basis.” Bruno Senna
- “I don’t expect Barcelona to be easy at all: it’s the first time that I will be testing against the regular drivers in Formula One, so that’s obviously going to be interesting!” Sebastien Loeb
12-Nov-08: Singapore Grand Prix Wins Motorsport Award
Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 12th November 2008.
Singapore has picked up an award for it’s spectacular hosting of the first ever F1 night race. The Professional Motorsport World awards were held in Cologne on Tuesday, and Singapore was given the title: Motorsport Facility of the Year for the circuit around Marina Bay. They beat the new Valencia street circuit as well, plus two non-F1 calendar tracks. Franz Tost won the award for Team Principal of the year, whilst Adrian Newey for Red Bull was nominated for the Design Engineer of the Year. I found it interesting that the R28 was nominated for the Vehicle Development award, although they didn’t win.
Talking of Renault, they’ve confirmed that Giedo van der Garde will be testing with them in Barcelona next week, as a prize for winning the World Series by Renault. Van der Garde says he is extremely excited about the chance to get back into an F1 car, as he was previously a test driver for Spyker in 2007.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
12-Jun-08: Ferrari Head Up First Test Day in Spain
You’re listening to F1 Minute for the 12th June 2008.
Testing in Barcelona kicked off today with Luca Badoer topping the timesheets for Ferrari. Robert Kubica was second in his BMW, and David Coulthard third with Red Bull.
The day was relatively uneventful, with some rain towards the end limiting the running. Anthony Davidson returned to Formula 1 action, for the first time since the demise of Super Aguri. He was testing for Honda and finished 6th out of 9 drivers. Only eight of the teams were represented with Force India and Toro Rosso not on track.
Elsewhere today, Giedo van der Garde has launched claims against Force India, saying that when they were Spyker, they did not allow him the testing mileage they had promised. He is demanding the sponsor money returned to him as his contract was breached, he wants 1.3 million Euros, and the case will be heard on the 20th June.
Finally, today, the boss of the Montreal circuit has said that they will definitely be looking into the problems that were experienced with the track during the last race, he admits it’s unacceptable.
That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
28-Nov-07: The Incredibly Popular Force India
This is F1 Minute for the 28th November 2007.
Given all the McLaren headlines of late, you would think they are the team everyone wants to join. But it looks like Force India are giving them a run for their money, with no less than seven drivers hoping for a race drive.
Among the many are Ralf Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella, Christian Klien, Tonio Liuzzi and Franck Montagny. Force India have confirmed that Schumacher and Fisichella will each get a full day of testing in Jerez next week, to assess potential for the spare seat alongside Adrian Sutil. Liuzzi and Klien are both testing for the second time for the team, having been called back from Barcelona.
Current test drivers Roldan Rodriguez and Giedo van der Garde make up the seven interested parties, although neither of them have any race experience within Formula 1. With such big names fighting for a place in a small team, an interesting post over on the International Herald Tribune blog points out that many drivers race for the love of it, rather than simply to win. And apparently, they also get their travel and food expenses for the test paid for them.
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
13-Nov-07: Schumacher Fastest on Day One at Barcelona
I’m Christine from Sidepodcast and this is F1 Minute for the 13th November.
The first day of testing in Barcelona took place today, and Michael Schumacher marked his return to the Ferrari team in style. Topping the timesheets over fellow Ferrari driver Luca Badoer and de la Rosa in the McLaren, Schumacher proved he’s still got what it takes despite not having driven for a year.
Most drivers were concentrating on 2008 rules and regulations, such as taking the traction control off, and some had better days than others. Jarno Trulli was not well, suffering from a fever, and his misery continued with an engine problem towards the end of the session.
The Force India team hit the track for the first time with their new name, but test drivers Giedo van der Garde and Roldan Rodriguez finished bottom of the timesheets. Indian driver Karun Chandok debuted in the Red Bull but only finished slightly above the Team India boys after completing 39 laps.
Both BMW drivers were practicing without traction control and Kubica thoroughly beat Heidfeld in 4th position to his team mates 10th.
That’s all for today but I’ll have more news from testing on tomorrow’s F1 Minute.