09-Feb-10: Force India Launch the VJM03
February 9, 2010 by Christine
Filed under Daily F1 News
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Today is the 9th February 2010 and this is F1 Minute.
Force India launched their brand new car today, although it looks very much like the old one. The online launch featured photos of the new car, plus drivers Liuzzi, Sutil and di Resta. Although neither the car nor the livery have changed significantly, design director Mark Smith said: “There’s a little bit of variety out there but predominantly we are happy. You will always see something on each car that makes you think ‘that’s interesting’ but understanding how they work on your car is the key thing. We haven’t looked at photos and thought ‘we’ve missed something significant’ and we’re excited to get down to Jerez.”
Elsewhere, it’s been a while since we talked about something political, but Jean Todt has been talking about the state of things. Following the Renault scandal, he suggested that team bosses should also have licences, he’s sure that the teams will be ready to race despite cost cutting, he’s not impressed with the scrapping of KERS, and he reckons he’ll only stand for one term.
That’s all for now, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
Williams F1 establishes Technical Centre at Qatar’s QSTP Facility
October 28, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Press Releases
Doha, Wednesday October 28, 2009. Williams F1 and the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) formally signed an agreement today to inaugurate the Williams Technology Centre (WTC). QSTP is a world class incubator for the research, development and commercialisation of new technologies that has attracted significant R&D investment from companies such as Shell, Microsoft and GE. QSTP is part of the Qatar Foundation which also incorporates Education City, which hosts overseas campuses for six US universities including Carnegie Mellon and Texas A&M.
The Williams Technology Centre at QSTP will be the first Formula One-related Technical Centre outside the sport’s traditional heartland of Europe. The WTC will initially be tasked with the progression of two Formula One inspired R&D projects with clear commercial goals, namely the development of an industrial application large Magnetically Loaded Composite (MLC) flywheel and the advancement of Williams F1’s simulator know-how for competition and road car application.
The Williams Technology Centre will be housed in the 45,000m2 state-of-the-art QSTP complex that forms part of the Qatar Foundation’s strategic ambition to invest in, and propagate, a knowledge-based, post-carbon economy. QSTP and Williams F1 will fund the R&D programmes and, as partners, will both benefit from the commercialisation of the technologies that have their origins in Formula One.
The MLC flywheel project will address the potential of flywheels to store and release energy very quickly, which makes the technology suitable for a variety of applications. Initial target markets are mass transit systems (both for recycling the kinetic energy of trains and trams and to allow discontinuous electricification to reduce infrastructure costs) and electric power stabilisation for renewable energy applications.
Based on the extensive experience of proprietary driver-in-the-loop (DIL) simulator development for Formula One, the second aspect to the WTC programme will be the development of new driver simulation technology for road car training, safety and entertainment, as well as competition simulators for other motorsport series.
The Williams Technology Centre is anticipated to employ 20 staff with a double digit million dollar R&D budget and a carefully projected revenue stream that will reward both Williams F1 and QSTP for their investment and support future project ambitions.
Dr Tidu Maini, Executive Chairman of QSTP said of the collaboration, “QSTP has achieved much since 2007, whether judged by the success of its robotic surgery centre or by the quality of R&D investment from the international business community or the association with prestigious research universities. This latest collaboration with Williams F1 presents technically inspiring possibilities rooted in a solid commercial context. QSTP is focused on delivering the capacity building programmes, built for young Qataris and new Qatari owned companies founded on technology and the success of technologies such as the MLC flywheel is something we are very keen to support and promote at QSTP. We are delighted to be entering into this partnership.”
In response, Frank Williams of Williams F1 said, “It is perhaps outside of conventional practice for a Formula One team to move such activities out of Europe, but we have been very impressed with the fertile environment QSTP presents for research and development and the vision Her Highness Sheikha Mozah has for Qatar leading in the development of beneficial technologies. After detailed consideration, we have decided that this is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss, and we look forward to supporting the future of Williams F1 in part from the development and application of Formula One-inspired technologies to the wider world.”
To celebrate today’s announcement, the Qatar Science & Technology Park identity will form a prominent element of the team’s on-car race livery for this weekend’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
22-Sep-09: Teams Prepare for Singapore GP
September 22, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Daily F1 News
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Welcome to F1 Minute for the 22nd September 2009.
Singapore organisers have been fixing up some of the track to make it perfect for the weekend. Changes include resurfacing the pit lane, kerbs being raised, and a couple of modifications to corner apexes, to make things a little bit trickier.
Meanwhile, to move on from their hearing this week, Renault are concentrating on the upcoming race, and Alonso says he’s hoping to get a podium, despite the fact development has switched to 2010. Technical director Bob Bell said: “There’s nothing major but they are sensible upgrades that are already in the production process. Our main development focus is now completely on the R30 and getting ready for 2010.”
Another team looking forward to next year is Williams, with Sam Michael saying they may actually get round to running KERS. They’ve been developing the only flywheel based system this year, but haven’t yet run it, but Michael says they will continue working on it for next season.
That’s all for now, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
26-Aug-09: Renault Considering Bringing KERS Back
August 26, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Daily F1 News
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Today is the 26th August and this is F1 Minute.
Following hints by Red Bull that they would be introducing KERS at some point over the next few races, their supplier Renault have suggested they might do the same thing. Technical Director Bob Bell said: “We don’t plan to use it in Spa, but we’re considering it for Monza as we believe it will provide a real advantage there.” He also added that continuing to develop the R29 whilst working on the R30 is pushing the team’s resources to the limit, but thankfully next year’s regulations aren’t radically different from this year.
Meanwhile, another team considered to be struggling is Toyota, who openly admit that their manufacturer parent company haven’t yet signed off the budget for next year. Timo Glock has said he is a bit nervous about it: “For me, it is not an easy situation. You have to look at what options you could have if it goes wrong. But hopefully, everything goes as we planned it and I can stay at Toyota.”
That’s it for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
24-Aug-09: Ferrari to Keep Badoer for Spa
August 24, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Daily F1 News
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This is F1 Minute for the 24th August 2009.
The news that everyone is talking about is Badoer’s performance in the European Grand Prix yesterday. He was rather slow, spent most of his time at the back of the field, almost tangled with Grosjean in the pits and received a drive through penalty for crossing the white line at the pit exit. Ferrari have supported him, though, sort of.
Stefano Domenicali said: “Ferrari cannot be satisfied with a car in last position. That is pretty clear, but we need to consider all the circumstances and everything that happened.” It looks likely they will keep him in the car for Spa this weekend, but he may be replaced for Italy.
Meanwhile, Red Bull are thinking about introducing KERS into their car before the seaosn is out. It was suggested strongly that they might implement a device in time for Spa, however Christian Horner said: “We will make a decision for Monza after Spa. It would be the Renault/Red Bull KERS one that was developed at the beginning of the season.”
That’s all for now, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
28-Jul-09: Haug Believes KERS Could Get a Reprieve
July 28, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Daily F1 News
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Welcome to F1 Minute for the 28th July 2009.
Norbert Haug of Mercedes believes that teams could start to rethink their negative opinion on KERS now that Hamilton scored the first victory for a car with the device in. He said now that the system has helped a car to win, it will be mentioned more, and FOTA might take notice. The teams have already agreed not to run it from next year as part of the cost-cutting measures, but Haug says a standard device could help that problem.
Meanwhile, doctors treating Massa have said that his recovery is going very well, and if he continues at this pace, then he may be able to leave hospital within the next 10 days. However, he is quick to point out that it is still very serious, but “the danger is decreasing by the day.”
It seems very likely Ferrari will have a spare seat at Valencia and there is wild speculation that Michael Schumacher could fill it. Within an hour, two stories emerged with his spokesperson saying he’d consider it, and his manager saying he was 200% sure it wouldn’t happen.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
17-Jul-09: Renault Confirm Piquet for Hungary
July 17, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Daily F1 News
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This is F1 Minute for the 17th July 2009.
Renault have confirmed that they will be keeping Piquet in the car for Hungary, with the rumours seemingly coming from the fact there’s a performance clause in the Brazilian’s contract that could have seen him out after Germany. However, he will be there, and he’s looking to improve his performance, saying: “I should have the same upgrades as Fernando in Hungary and I think I can be more competitive. As always I will be aiming to qualify in the top ten and hopefully score some points in the race.”
Meanwhile, following Martin Whitmarsh’s optimism yesterday that McLaren could go for the win at the next race, he has also confirmed that the team will be running KERS for the rest of the season. He said: “The alternative strategy is to redesign the whole car without KERS and that takes a lot of resource and detracts from next year’s programme so we have a KERS package that works.” He adds that the team, and particularly Mercedes, do think KERS is a worthwhile investment, but are happy to drop it next year along with the other teams.
That’s it for now, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
27-Jun-09: Ferrari Suggest Attention Will Turn to 2010
June 27, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Daily F1 News
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This is F1 Minute for the 27th June 2009.
I’m sure this is not in direct response to Rosberg’s warning yesterday that Williams are catching Ferrari up, but the defending constructor’s champions have hinted that they could be switching their attention to the 2010 season.
Naturally, it all depends on what happens with the FIA and that nonsense is still ongoing, but Luca di Montezemolo has said: “I am very confident we can improve our performances in the next race, and then we will be fully concentrated on next year’s car, without KERS, with clear rules…” He seems to blame the grey areas in this year’s regulations, ie. the double diffuser, plus the lack of in-season testing, for the teams inability to drastically improve.
On the subject of KERS, Martin Whitmarsh said this week it is circumstance that has seen the system fail in Formula 1, rather than anything wrong with the devices themselves. He says that the concept was good but to introduce a new technology costs an awful lot, and that is not where F1 is heading at the moment.
That’s all for now, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
22-Jun-09: Ferrari and Red Bull Realistic on Performance
June 22, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Daily F1 News
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It’s the 22nd June 2009 and this is F1 Minute.
Two teams who did well at yesterdays race are still keeping cautious on their form, as Felipe Massa isn’t entirely sure where Ferrari stand at the moment. He says: “For me, you have now Red Bull, you have Brawn, and then you have two or three teams who are in a similar position, and for the moment we are inside these teams.” Massa thinks KERS is a real benefit for them, but their improvement could just have been because of track temperatures on Sunday compared to qualifying on the Saturday.
Adrian Newey celebrated the Red Bull 1-2 on the podium, picking up the constructor’s trophy, but now the champagne has settled he says it’s too early to think they can catch Brawn in the title battle. He says: “I think this circuit has suited us very well, and equally it hasn’t suited the Brawn. So it hasn’t been a normal weekend – we shall see. I will continue to take each weekend as it comes, and do the best we can in those weekends.”
That’s all for now, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
10-Jun-09: Toro Rosso Last to Introduce Double Diffuser
June 10, 2009 by Christine
Filed under Daily F1 News
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Today is the 10th June 2009 and this is F1 Minute.
No politics today, I promise. Toro Rosso have been suffering at the back of the grid for the past few races but might see a brighter future, as they’re hoping to bring a double diffuser for the Grand Prix in Hungary. Team principal Franz Tost said: “We are the only team currently not running a double diffuser yet, and Giorgio has missed the last two races working hard to prepare the car for a double diffuser. It’s not just a simple bolt on.” He’s referring to Giorgio Ascanelli, technical director for the team. Hungary is still two races away though, so there may be no improvement for the two Sebs just yet.
Elsewhere, BMW favoured aerodynamics over their beloved KERS for the last couple of races, and still aren’t sure when it will make it’s return. First it was due in Turkey, but they postponed that, and now are not yet decided if it will make Silverstone.
That’s all for now, I will be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
