Still buzzing after the excitement of the Chinese Grand Prix? We reckon Lewis Hamilton probably is after he managed break the grip Sebastian Vettel was starting to force on the 2011 Formula One season.
Here’s 90 pics to help you relive all the action.
Already the 2011 Formula One season is looking like it could be a Sebastian Vettel procession. Thankfully, there’s still another 17 races to go; with any luck someone else will get a look in very soon. This weekend in China, perhaps?
Until then, here’s 78 images from the Malaysian Grand Prix to keep you busy.
Another commanding display when it mattered most has seen Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) claim his second Grand Prix victory of the year in Malaysia today. Most pundits wouldn’t have been surprised by first place, but seeing Jenson Button (McLaren) and Nick Heidfeld (Renault) take the minor placing probably raised a few eyebrows.
The Red Bull cars were again affected by their troublesome KERS. For Mark Webber, the frustration emerged immediately when his KERS failed on his way to the grid. Subsequently he made a poor start and was mid-pack after the first few corners. That he managed to climb his way back to fourth place should be commended.
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) have been slugged with a 20 second penalty after the race by stewards as a result of an incident between the pair early in the race. Alonso was lucky enough that the penalty did not affect his sixth placing. However, Hamilton has moved from seventh back to eighth, promoting Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber).
The full transcript from the post-race press conference featuring the first three drivers across the line can be read after the break.
[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
Last week Mark Webber took time out of his busy schedule to launch the Renault Clio RS 200 Australian Grand Prix Limited Edition. Bit of a mouthful, hey!
There’ll be just 30 of these little pocket rockets sold, all in the Liquid Yellow paint shown here. At $39,990 the Limited Edition model carryies a $1000 premium over the regular Trophée version.
For the asking price you get a black painted roof and spoiler, Renault Sport Recaro front seats, Renault Sport monitor (for the first time on Clio), black Speedline Cup wheels, and shiny black exterior details. Interior trim is “Carbone” spec, as found on the Trophée.
Engine spec from the peaky naturally aspirated 2.0 litre remains 147kW/215Nm. Enough to get you to the ton in 6.9 seconds.
Making a return to AUSmotive in 2011 is our Grand Prix in pictures series. To kick it off here’s 93 images from the Australian Grand Prix to get you back in the mood for what will be a long and, no doubt, intriguing Formula One season.
Sebastian Vettel capped off a dominant qualifying display with a matching performance in the main race today. Put simply, the Red Bull driver was unstoppable.
Perhaps the most telling demonstration of this lies in the tale of the pit stops, where Vettel required just two stops compared to his teammate, Mark Webber, who munched his way through four sets of the new Pirelli rubber. Off the pace and one extra stop left the hometown hero falling well short of expectations back in fifth place.
Lewis Hamilton finished where he started, which is to say he put in a strong performance and brought his McLaren home in a comfortable second place. This despite a broken undertray which must have caused instability through corners.
Coming home in third was a super impressive Vitaly Petrov in the Lotus Renault GP machine. In many ways the Russian had the quietest race of all, nestled in between his more fancied rivals. It was a great effort and it’s also the first time we’ve seen a Russian on the podium in Formula One.
In breaking news the strong debut performance from Mexico’s Sergio Perez has been thrown into chaos following a decision to disqualify both Sauber C30s for a technical infringement concerning their rear wings. Perez and teammate Kamui Kobayashi finished the race in seventh and eighth places respectively. Perez needing just one tyre stop.
The full transcript from the post-race press conference featuring the first three men can be read after the break.
[Pic: Red Bull Racing/Getty Images]
Ross Brawn, Mercedes GP boss and one of the men behind the revolutionary blown double diffusers, says the forward exit exhaust found on the Lotus Renault GP R31 is a “clever idea”. Blown Double diffusers have now been banned, but their concept was relatively simple; direct the flow of the exhaust gasses inside the rear diffuser and, hey presto—bags of extra downforce! More downforce means more grip and that means higher corner speeds and, ultimately, a faster car.
So, with that aerodynamic aid now gone teams have been forced to come up with new ideas. In the end it turned out only Renault came up with a new, forward thinking, idea. Forward being the operative word, of course, whereby they have radically altered their exhaust design by bringing it forward of the engine to exit just ahead of the sidepods (highlighted area above). This means the gasses can then be directed to the car’s undertray forcing more air ahead of the rear diffuser.
Speaking to Autosport, Brawn claimed, “It is a significant area and maybe more significant than the double diffuser in terms of performance and of course the teams are all working with their engine partners to work out how to get the most out of the exhaust energy so that is the new interesting area of development.”
Follow the link below for more detail. Better still, check out this analysis on the ScarbsF1 website.
[Source: Autosport | Pic: Renault/LAT]
Group Lotus recently released this video, which can only be taken as the next move in the Lotus v Lotus debacle. From afar, it would seem the potential moral victors, the Tony Fernandes led Team Lotus, will be affected by this promo. The appearance and ongoing support of Clive Chapman, Colin’s son, right at the end will land a heavy blow.
That aside, it’s still an absurd position to see current day F1 drivers who have only ever driven a “Lotus” built by the remnants of a world champion constructor in Renault F1 and powered by Renault engines claiming they are Lotus.
Red Bull Racing has today confirmed a two-year sponsorship deal with Infiniti. However, it won’t quite be implemented as first reported yesterday. That is, it is a pure sponsorship and technical agreement deal only, the RB7 will still use Renault branded engines and feature Renault branding on the car as well.
So, as well as a Lotus Renault on the F1 grid in 2011 we now have an Infiniti Renault, of sorts. Confusing, hey.
A statement on the Red Bull Racing website reads, in part, “As part of the agreement, Infiniti will have high-profile branding on the car, drivers’ clothing and team kit and equipment. Infiniti will also work with Renault to forge future technical collaboration with us. The team will continue to use Renault F1 engines in 2011 and 2012.”
While Andy Palmer, senior-vice president at Infiniti, explains the worldwide reach of F1 was key to this deal, “Over the mid-term, Infiniti will be simultaneously expanding its global presence and broadening its product range. Given these twin ambitions, it is clear Formula One offers us an unrivalled global communications platform, complementing Infiniti’s ethos of Inspired Performance. We are excited to have the opportunity to enter Formula One together with a world-class team like Red Bull Racing Renault.â€
[Source: Red Bull Racing]
News is breaking that Red Bull Racing has just signed off on a sponsorship deal with Infiniti that will effectively give the team free engines. Aside from a few stickers on the car, and a £7 million cheque (the same as the annual budget cap for engines), everything else will stay the same. That is, the engines in the new RB7 will still be made by Renault, it’s only the badging that will change.
Infiniti is the premium brand of Nissan, part-owned by Renault, and this deal follows moves to further promote the brand in European markets. It’s understood the deal will be announced at the Geneva Motor Show, possibly as soon as tomorrow.
[Source: F1 Fanatic & BBC]
The adjustable rear wing is one of the hot topics for the 2011 Formula One season. We’ve seen a couple of videos of the wing in action, thanks to Sauber and Red Bull Racing. Now, Lotus Renault GP talk us through some of the finer points.
James Allison, LRGP Technical Director, explains the theory behind the movable rear wings, “If you allow the rear wing to reduce its angle, you lose drag, rather like an f-duct system last year. So if two cars are racing each other, the car that has adjusted its rear wing angle will be able to go faster down a straight than the car that hasn’t.”
Allison adds, “All the drivers will be free to reduce their rear wing angle during free practice and qualifying as often as they like, but in a race there will be restrictions on its use.
“The regulations will only allow it to be used when a chasing car is within one second of the car ahead. So if a driver can get within this threshold time, his car will be granted permission to use the moveable wing on one designated straight during the lap. Furthermore, the teams and the FIA have tried to design a system that only gives just enough assistance to a trailing car to make an overtaking manÅ“uvre just possible. Nobody wants to have a system that makes overtaking a formality.”
It will be really interesting to see how this new aspect of F1 works this year. Follow the source link below for more detail.
[Source: Lotus Renault GP | Pic: LRGP/LAT]
Over at the official Lotus Renault GP website they’ve given a brief rundown on how the Kinetic Energy Recovery System, otherwise known as KERS, will be applied to their R31 racecar.
First introduced in the 2009 season, where only a handful of teams ran the system, KERS makes a comeback in 2011 and while still not compulsory for all teams to use, a change in regulations should make it more attractive for teams to adopt. As LRGP explains, “The minimum weight of the cars has been increased from 620kg to 640kg – a move that should encourage most teams to run with KERS since the trade-off between extra weight and extra horsepower has been significantly reduced.”
Essentially the setup allows for an extra boost of up to 60kW for around 7 seconds per lap. Interestingly, LRGP say using KERS during qualifying should provide the biggest advantage because the refuelling ban during races has made it harder to use pit strategy to improve track position. That is, the higher up the grid you can start, the better you’re likely to finish. Which is kind of obvious, but we also get their point. However, we can only assume they’ve been missing the feedback on the rapid degradation of the new Pirelli tyres (more on that later).
Overall, the article is good intro to KERS if you missed it the first time around in 2009.
[Source: Lotus Renault GP | Pic: LRGP/LAT]