Tag: F1

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Formula 1 McLaren

McLaren F1 launches new website

McLaren launches new website

McLaren have just launched their new website for the 2010 Formula One season. As you would expect there’s lots of bells and whistles, perfectly placed logos and a general order about the way things are done.

There’s some good info on the team’s 2010 challenger, the MP4-25, as well as the drivers, reigning World Champion Jenson Button and former champ Lewis Hamilton.

One item really worth checking out during the year is the McLaren Race 1.0b feature that will provide fans with live GPS-supported coverage of qualifying and races. Telemetry and commentary will also be available. Sounds very much worth a look when the F1 circus hits the track in Bahrain. Not long to go now!

[Source: mclaren.com]

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Formula 1 Renault

17 men, three and a half seconds

Renault F1 pit crew

According to the Renault F1 team 3.5 seconds is all it will take to service an F1 car in 2010. That is, with the newly introduced ban on refuelling, their target time for changing a full set of tyres is under four seconds.

Renault F1 Team Sporting Director Steve Nielsen explains, “Three and a half seconds will be a decent stop, which has halved the time available for the crew to service the car compared to last year.”

If those numbers don’t confuddle your mind enough, then consider this, the Renault F1 website states the team has endured five hours of tyre change practice and that they have already managed to complete a number of stops in under three seconds. One, two, three, done. Amazing!

[Source: Renault F1]

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Formula 1

1950: The Formula One World Championship begins

1950 Silverstone F1 GP

There’s now just a few sleeps until the first Grand Prix of the 2010 season starts in Bahrain. This year the sport celebrates the 60th anniversary of the World Championship era. An era that began at Silverstone back in 1950, Saturday 13 May to be precise.

The first race of the new world order was won by Italian Giuseppe Farina at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo 158. In fact, Alfa 158s filled the first ever World Championship podium. Points were awarded to the first five drivers, and a pair of French Talbot-Lagos claimed the remaining points positions.

As we look ahead to what should be a fascinating new season, why don’t you take some time to look back and enjoy some highlights of that first race. Take the jump and witness a much simpler, more carefree era of Formula One.

[via rf1paddockpass]

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Formula 1

Final 2010 Formula One entry list

Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing

The FIA have released the final entry list for the 2010 Formula One season. Most of the news we already know, but we can now confirm that US F1 will not partake in the upcoming season and nor will Stefan GP. The Serbian based used Toyota outfit had been hoping they could fill the breach left by US F1, but the FIA have said no deal.

There is also one seat still available, in the newly renamed Campos Meta team. Bruno Senna is still looking for a teammate in the team now known as HRT F1. No, it’s not a new direction for the Holden Racing Team.

After four weeks of pre-season testing we now only have 10 days to go until the first race starts in Bahrain. Fasten your seatbelts folks, this season will be one hell of a ride!

Full entry list available below, as well as a statement from the FIA on US F1’s withdrawal. Further detail on the US F1 story, including Ken Anderson’s thoughts, has been published over at Autopsort.com.

UPDATE 5 March: Indian driver Karun Chandhok has claimed the last seat for the 2010 F1 season, signing with HRT F1 (via Autosport.com).

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz

F1 Safety Car gives you wings

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, F1 Safety Car

Mercedes-Benz are pretty chuffed with their new F1 Safety Car. So much so they’ve written a long press release and released a bunch of new pics. The car, of course, is the SLS AMG ‘Gullwing’. And this is the fifteenth year that Mercedes has headed the field with Safety Car duties, the only company to hold that honour.

The Gullwing is a sleek looking machine with 420kW and 650Nm on offer. That means when Bernd Mäylander is wringing the neck off this thing he will still look like he is just plodding around on a Sunday afternoon drive when he has a tantrum of Formula One cars behind him. In reality he will be travelling every bit as fast as the car and chassis will allow. And with a claimed 0-100 time of 3.8 seconds it won’t exactly be hanging about.

The best news, though, in F1-trim, the Gullwing has two telly screens inside so you can watch the race while at work. How good is that!

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Formula 1

Mark Webber sets the pace at Barcelona

Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber quickly found his way to the top of the time sheets in his RB6 during pre-season testing at Barcelona overnight. Once Webber found his rhthym he was never headed and settled with a best time of 1:21.487, almost one full second ahead of his nearest rival, Nico Hulkenberg, Williams (1:22.407).

Webber’s Red Bull team were focusing on a race weekend simulation, including qualifying and full race-distance programs. Speaking on the RBR website Webber said, “We had a pretty good day of testing. We did some simulations and performance items in the morning and a race simulation in the afternoon. We had a precautionary stop in the middle of the race simulation because of a gearbox oil alarm, but the guys got the car turned around pretty quickly and we finished the session, so it wasn’t too bad.”

Reliability seems to be the only concern for Red Bull Racing as both drivers have been consistently on the pace in pre-season testing so far.

Sebastien Vettel steps into the RB6 for the next two days of testing, while Webber will return for the final day on Sunday. A schedule of drivers can be seen HERE. You can follow the action when it resumes later tonight on twitter and autosport.com.

[Pics: Getty Images]

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Formula 1

Webber leads the pack at Jerez – photo gallery

F1 pre-season testing, Jerez, February 2010

Formula One pre-season testing at Jerez finally saw some sunshine overnight and Australia’s Mark Webber made the most hay while it did. Webber piloted his Red Bull RB6 to the quickest time posted at Jerez so far in 2010 with a time of 1:19.299. Last week Lewis Hamilton topped the sheets with his lap of 1:19.583.

A full list of times from last night can be seen below, with the dry weather allowing all teams to record their best times for the week.

Mark Webber isn’t getting ahead of himself, though, and he knows pre-season form doesn’t count for much. Speaking to autsport.com he said, “I promise you that in Malaysia we won’t be talking about the second test in Jerez, things change fast in F1.”

Fernando Alonso was second fastest last night (1.20.115) and the word on the street is that the Ferrari F10 is shaping up as the car to beat in 2010.

After the jump you can see a gallery of pics featuring Ferrari, Lotus, Mercedes GP, Red Bull, Renault and Toro Rosso.

The final day of testing will start in a couple of hours and the only change to the original schedule will see Jenson Button behind the wheel of the McLaren instead of Hamilton. You can follow all the action by reading AUSmotive’s F1 list on twitter. Also keep an eye on the autosport.com website for their live updates as well.

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Formula 1

Red Bull Racing previews 2010 F1 car

Red Bull Racing RB6 - 2010 F1 car

UPDATE: High resolution images NOW AVAILABLE

Red Bull have published these preview images of their new RB6 2010 racecar ahead of today’s official launch. With only a couple of hours to go until the full reveal, expect to see some higher res pics online very soon.

More of this very nice looking Red Bull machine after the break. From what we can see so far, the RB6 will be one of the nicest looking cars on the grid. Not that there’s any Aussie Mark Webber bias here at all!

[Source: RedBull.com]

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Ferrari Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Renault

Formula One pre-season – Valencia photo gallery

F1 testing @ Valencia

There’s only a couple of days until Formula One pre-season testing resumes at Jerez (10-13 February). To help get you in the mood here is a 50-strong gallery of images featuring pics from Ferrari, MercedesGP, Renault and Williams. As usual you can click on your favourite images to load 2000px wallpaper-friendly sizing.

At the completion of the Valencia testing Ferrari was showing the rest of the field a clean pair of heels, with Fernando Alonso posting the quickest time (1:11.470), just three tenths ahead of teammate Felipe Massa (1:11.722).

Alonso, in front of over 35,000 parochial Spanish fans, was pleased with his time behind the wheel of the new F10, “The car went well and it was fast; it had a good set up, too, which is positive.”

He continued, “It’s absolutely impossible to say where we stand compared to the others. To be competitive you need a reliable car and we’re on the right track. The technicians have lots of data now to prepare us the best possible way for the next tests.”

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz

Michael Schumacher returns to F1 at Valencia

MercedesGP - Valencia day 1

Michael Schumacher is back! His eagerly anticipated return to Formula One with MercedesGP took its first step overnight with the season’s first test session, held at Valenicia.

Speaking at the end of the day Schumacher, who set the third fastest time, said “It was a perfect rollout for the new car today. I felt totally comfortable and really had a feeling that everything was very natural. It felt just like at the very beginning of my career in 1991 when on the first lap, I thought ‘wow that was really fast’ and then on the second lap, I was just extremely excited. I feel like a young boy again and really enjoyed myself out there.

“We did a good job today, just making a few control checks, and the most important thing was that the car ran reliably. With Nico and I covering 79 laps between us, it was a superb job by the team.”

A full list of times from day 1 can be seen here (there were only 8 runners). There are two more days remaining on the Valencia testing schedule. Nico Rosberg will be the only MercedesGP driver to take to the track tomorrow, while Schumacher will return on day 3.

After the jump you will find more pics of Schumacher on track and in pit lane, along with statements from teammate Nico Rosberg and Team Principal Ross Brawn.

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Formula 1 Renault

Renault unveils 2010 F1 car

Renault R30 - 2010 F1 car

The wraps came off Renault’s new R30 at Valenica overnight. It looks pretty much as expected, and this car marks the start of a new era for Renault. In 2010 the team starts under a radically revised ownership regime and with two new drivers the team can now go forward and forge a new identity far removed from the shadow of the 2008 ‘crashgate‘ scandal.

We already knew that Robert Kubica was on board with Renault for the 2010 season and now the strong rumours of being joined by the first Russian in Formula One have been confirmed with the announcement of 25-year-old Vitaly Petrov as Renault’s second driver.

Reminiscent of previous Jordan paint schemes, the new R30 looks great, although Renault will be hoping it can fill the sponsorship void sooner, rather than later. There’s plenty of images of the R30 available after the jump, although so far all manufacturers have remained coy about showing the rear of their cars. I guess we’ll get a look at the rear diffusers later today during testing.

In addition to the pics there’s press statements from the major players and a YouTube clip showing off the new R30. When you’re done looking at all this why not take a peak at the new Renault F1 website.

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Ferrari Formula 1

Ferrari unveils 2010 F1 car

Ferrari F10 - 2010 F1 car

Ferrari have just released these images of their 2010 Formula One car, codenamed F10. They are the first team to show their 2010 racecar to the public, with a raft of reveals to follow ahead of next week’s testing at Valencia.

There’s no surprise in the livery and prominence of Santander sponsorship, that was pretty much confirmed last week. Rumours of Ferrari taking design cues from the 2009 Red Bull RB5 have proved correct, too, with this new Ferrari. Especially on the nose cone. Generally speaking, the 2010 car is a lot more rounded than last year’s F60.

Team principal Stefano Domenicali spoke at the launch, and here’s a bit of what he had to say, “This championship will be very important for us. We have two new drivers; Fernando Alonso, is a twice world champion.

“Felipe, we are talking of a new version of Felipe, but after such a dramatic championship like last year with the accident in Hungary and such a fantastic season, Felipe has all the assets to prove that he is a very successful one, he can prove that he wants to restart his pathway that destiny interrupted it in Hungary. Good luck to both of them.”

Ferrari were planning for Felipe Massa to give the F10 a brief shakedown at the company’s Fiorano circuit today, but that has been called off due to poor weather.

UPDATE: Video from today’s launch is now available below (thanks to Axis of Oversteer).

UPDATE 29 January: New images added, along with statements from Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Luca di Montezemolo.

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