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Formula 1 Porsche Red Bull Racing WEC

Mark Webber: LMP1 v F1

2014 6 Hours of COTA

As the only man to compete on the Circuit of Americas in both the World Endurance Championship and Formula 1 Mark Webber took some time out on the weekend to share his thoughts on the two categories.

Downforce

LMP1’s just a bit heavier … I need to be a little bit more patient with the car, [the] F1 car’s obviously a very light and nimble [car], downforce is the biggest difference.

More downforce on the F1 car, obviously that makes it probably more precise, a lot more load on the driver, but yeah, it’s just that downforce is a big factor on a track like this but then also power wise, we have probably more power with the Porsche.

Tyres

There’s no contest there, Michelin is a real racing tyre, Pirelli was for show business in Formula 1. These are real racing tyres so it’s a tyre which all the drivers can enjoy, which was backed up when Andre Lotterer raced [for Caterham] in Spa and he was very surprised at how the grip level was very very low on Pirelli and the Michelin tyre gives a lot of grip for a long time.

Which is best, LMP1 or F1?

They’re just different categories, I think the F1 car as a driver you want to go quick as possible, so that was the ultimate machine. I never got to drive an F1 car here when F1 was at its peak, obviously it dropped off in the last few years in terms of pace because of the regulation but when it was at it’s peak in the mid 2000s it would be a really good track.

[Source: motorsport.com]

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing Renault

VIDEO: Revving the tits off a Red Bull

Renault Sport F1 RS27 V8 engine

As you know last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix was the last Formula 1 race for Mark Webber. But it was also the last grand prix for the 2.4 litre naturally aspirated V8 engines we’ve become used to in recent years.

In the Red Bull garage the team decided to send off their Renault RS27 engines with a bang. With its limiter removed the team tried their very best to blow the engine in Mark’s car to pieces. Even at 22,000rpm the engine wouldn’t give up.

It was a spectacularly ear splitting performance from the V8 and the glowing exhausts were equally as impressive. It goes to show how reliable Formula 1 has become as well. Something we’re not so sure we’ll see in Melbourne when the grid first lines up with 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 “power units”.

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Darren Heath sticks up for Red Bull

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

After the Singapore Grand Prix a rumour, or story of sorts, emerged about Red Bull using a traction control system. The story came from the observations of former F1 team owner Giancarlo Minardi.

Adding intensity to the speculation was Minardi’s observation that Sebastian Vettel’s car sounded different to all other cars in the field, including Mark Webber’s. Perfect fuel for conspiracy theorists. Several outlets picked up on the story and good summary was published by Jalopnik.

Darren Heath, though, is having none of this conspiracy and savaged much of the coverage the story received, while taking aim at sites like AUSmotive along the way:

Tapping voraciously into their well-worn computers, F1 reporters – who really should know better – rapidly informed the world of the Italian’s ridiculous accusations, their words immediately jumped upon by that wonderful cabal of ill-informed fools so prevalent in society these days – the amateur hacks.

Give a man a keyboard and access to the internet and a whole world of pain is coming your way.

F1_know_it_all.com, grand-prix-expert.net, formula_insider.co.uk et al (names changed to protect the guilty) feed like a pack of ravenous dogs on this rubbish, telling their literally hundreds of readers how it was, how it is and how it shall be.

Sitting in their armchairs thousands of miles from the race track in question, and never having set foot in an F1 paddock, just doesn’t appear to matter to these goons. They’re going to tell you, me and the world what’s going on.

Ouch! That little rant aside, Heath returns to the subject at hand saying Red Bull is winning because they work harder than any other team and that young Vettel is actually a damn good driver. Moreover, the engine sounds which Minardi referred to have been audible all year and there’s nothing to see here, as Fernando Alonso pointed out.

Follow the source link below for the full article, it’s well worth reading.

[Source: Darren Heath | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

How to make an F1 car: part 4

How to make an F1 car, part 4

Here’s the final episode in Red Bull Racing’s four-part look at how they made their soon to be championship winning RB9.

It’s all about assembly this week and while there’s not a lot of nuts and bolts shown we do get an insight into the massive behind the scenes operation a leading Formula 1 team is these days. It’s quite staggering to see the lengths teams go to to ensure each component is ready for assembly and competition.

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

How to make an F1 car: part 3

Red Bull Racing RB9

Red Bull Racing brings us the third part in the puzzle of making the RB9 Formula 1 car. This episode is all about machining. And painting! Performance painting at that. Next week’s video on assembly we expect to be very cool.

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

How to make an F1 car: part 2

Red Bull Racing's carbon fibre cooker

It’s week two of Red Bull’s four part lesson in how to make a Formula 1 car and this week they’re teaching us all about composite materials. In this case, of course, the composite in question is carbon fibre. The material has revolutionised the sport in the 30 odd years since it was first introduced, so take the jump and learn all about it.

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

How to make an F1 car: part 1

Red Bull Racing: How to make an F1 car

Ferrari, Lotus, McLaren and Mercedes, you’re all getting your arses served to you on a platter by Adrian Newey and his Red Bull Racing mates. So they’re here to do their bit to equalise the Formula 1 grid by showing you how to make an F1 car. In this case we’re looking at 2013 championship winning RB9 (see what we did there).

They’ll be doing so in a series of four videos, so best you all sit down, pay attention and take some bloody notes!