F1 2011!

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Anakha56
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F1 2011!

Post by Anakha56 »

/This thread should have been created a couple of weeks back already...

Right so the season is building up to be a cracker however we already have the first piece of tradgic news in the form of Robert Kubica is set to miss the entire season and quite possibly no longer in F1.
http://www.planetf1.com/news/3213/67343 ... ut-serious

Renault: Kubica stable but serious

Robert Kubica spent last night in an induced coma and is facing a year out of the sport after suffering horrific injuries in a high-speed rallying accident in Italy on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Pole suffered serious injuries to his right hand, arm and leg in a accident on the Ronde di Andora Rally.

Kubica, who drives for the Lotus Renault F1 team, was airlifted to Santa Corona Hospital in Pietra Ligure after colliding with a wall at high speed while competing in a Super 2000 Skoda Fabia.

Initial reports suggested Kubica was in danger of losing his hand, which was partially severed in the accident, although those fears were later played down.

However, Professor Mario Igor Rossello, a specialist surgeon involved in the seven-and-a-half-hour operation to reconstruct Kubica's hand, warned last night that it was too early to accurately assess the long-term implications of his injuries.

"It has been a very important and difficult operation," Rossello said.

"Robert's right forearm was cut in two places, with significant lesions to the bones and the tendons. We did our best to rebuild the functions of the forearm, [but] it took seven doctors, split into two teams, and a total of seven hours to complete the operation.

"One team was the emergency task force from the hospital of San Paolo (Savona) that is normally appointed to treat this sort of injury, while the other team came from the orthopaedic department of the Santa Corona Hospital (Pietra Ligure). At the end of the operation, Robert's hand was well vascularised and warm, which is encouraging.

"Following the surgery, Robert will remain under permanent monitoring overnight because his condition remains serious."

He told reporters he was "moderately satisfied" with the operation to rebuild the hand, but said that it would be several days before doctors could determine whether the hand would be "able to return to full function".

He added: "The danger is, in five-seven days you can have vascular problems, and we could do surgery again to solve these problems."

When asked what the best prognosis for recovery would be, Rossello replied: "One year. One year is the best provision."

A statement from Lotus Renault F1 last night confirmed he had suffered "multiple fractures to his right arm and leg", adding: "He also suffered severe cuts to his forearm, which could have an impact on his right hand mobility.

"Doctors are reasonably satisfied with the way the operation went. Tonight, Robert's condition remains stable but serious. He has been placed into an induced coma and could be woken up in the morning."

The team's principal and managing director, Eric Boullier, said: "The news of Robert's accident came as a real shock to the whole team. All of us, at Lotus Renault GP, wish him a quick recovery.

"We have been really impressed with the way the doctors looked after him today and we would like to thank the whole team of the Santa Corona Hospital for their professional approach and dedication.

"I will be travelling to Italy tomorrow, along with Vitaly Petrov, in order to see Robert and tell him that we are impatiently waiting for his return."

The team revealed another update will be made this morning at 9.30am local time at the hospital, by Rossello and Kubica's manager Daniel Morelli.
Not very good news for a team like Renault who would have relied heavily on him to carry on with the cars development...

/end very sad news...

Onto the teams/cars:

Renault have one of the biggest changes of the cars a front blow exhaust system more here:
http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2011/02/0 ... explained/
Renault R31 Front Exit Exhausts (FEE) – Explained

Renault have found a new solution to the blown diffuser concept. In fact they’ve turned it on its head. With an exhaust that exits at the front of the sidepods.

Last years teams reintroduced the blown diffuser concept, either by blowing exhaust gasses over the top of the diffuser, or by creating an opening into the diffuser to blow inside the diffuser. Both solutions created more downforce. With the latter solution now banned, it seemed the less effective over-blown solutions are all that’s left to race. However LRGP have found another way, blowing the front edge of the floor.
Mclaren with their "L" shaped side pods:
http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2011/02/0 ... -sidepods/
With a lot of expectation around McLarens new car, the newly unveiled MP4-26 did indeed surprise with its sidepods. Termed “U” shaped by Technical Director Paddy Lowe, as the two “L” shaped individual inlets together form a “U”. As with other design elements on the McLaren these are almost directly opposite to what the rest of the grid is doing.
Also in testing Massa set his Ferrari alight not with fast speeds/times but with actual flames. And keeping with Ferrari they have also made some changes to the car however the full extent is not really shown since at launch they still had last years front nose on.

So who are you voting for to win this one? Red Bull are again looking strong and I cant seem to find a definitive answer as to what their changes are but I am sure they will crop up soon. And your thoughts on the rule changes? Rear movable wings, your thoughts on them improving overtaking? Add KERS into the mix and what do you think we will see? More accidents like Webber had with Kovi?

I cant wait for this season to start!!! :D
/And I get to watch it in HD! :D :D :D
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by Ron2K »

The news about Robert Kubica seriously sucks - that guy had a lot of potential that may not be realised now. :(
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by Anakha56 »

I know. However I have hope that Webber will try to get Kubica to try some alternate healing methods like he did when he had his accident. I really hope he can recover and come back.
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by KatrynKat »

motor racing is a dangerous sport.... and should not be taken likely....

just a question... did the race carry on after the accident?
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Re: F1 2011!

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No idea, did not watch it. I was monitoring the numerous F1 twitter feeds when the news broke...
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by Anakha56 »

KK when I get home I will post the link to a video that shows the same stretch of road where Kubica had his crash and the guys in the rally car behind stopping and assisting with rescue.

Update:

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/ ... 11719.html
Kubica conscious, moving fingers
07 Feb 2011


Renault’s Robert Kubica was able to talk to relatives and move the fingers in his injured right hand on Monday morning, after being briefly awoken by doctors at Italy’s Santa Corona Hospital (Pietra Ligure).

Kubica was placed into an artificially-induced coma on Sunday after undergoing seven hours of surgery to reconstruct his right forearm, following a high-speed crash whilst competing in the Ronde di Andora Rally.

The Polish driver spent the night under constant observation and on Monday Professor Mario Igor Rossello, Director for the Regional Centre of Hand Surgery at San Paolo Hospital in Savona, encouragingly reported that there is no swelling or infection on the right forearm, though it will be several days before it is known if the operation has been 100 percent successful.

In order to avoid further physical stress, Kubica will be put under gentle medication in order to sleep for the next 24 hours at least. In the meantime doctors will decide how to treat his elbow and shoulder fractures. Kubica may have to undergo surgery once again for this, but not for a few days.
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by Anakha56 »



The car after Kubica's...
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Re: F1 2011!

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Nice to see the F1 community coming together like this...
In a show of solidarity, all the teams carried the message "Szybkiego powrotu do zdrowia Robert" on their cars at Jerez on Thursday.

Kubica, who could be out of action for the entire after suffering severe injuries in a rally crash last Sunday, was on mind of many in the paddock at the second pre-season test kicked off in Jerez.

One by one as the teams' new challengers hit the track, messages of support for Kubica were displayed on the cars, either on the front wings or the engine covers.

"Szybkiego powrotu do zdrowia Robert," the stickers read in Polish.

Translated it means: "Get better soon Robert!"
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Re: F1 2011!

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cool...

/they all know that it can happen to anyone of them....
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by Anakha56 »

:lol: Ferrari is/was getting sued by Ford for the name of their latest challenger. :lol:

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3213/674 ... -F150-name
Ford suing Ferrari over F150 name
Thursday 10th February 2011

American car manufacturer Ford are reportedly suing Ferrari for trademark infringement over the F150 name.

Ferrari opted to name this season's Formula One challenger the F150 in honour of 150 years of Italian unification.

However, the name is already used by Ford with their F-150 a top-selling pick-up truck in the United States.

"Ferrari has misappropriated the F-150 trademark in naming its new racing vehicle the 'F150' in order to capitalise on and profit from the substantial goodwill that Ford has developed in the F-150 trademark," Reuters quoted Ford as having stated in their complaint filed in a Detroit court.

Ford are seeking unspecified damages and want Ferrari to be barred from using the F150 name.
And the name change:

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3213/674 ... to-lawsuit
Ferrari react quickly to lawsuit
Thursday 10th February 2011

Ferrari have reacted to Ford's lawsuit by renaming their 2011 F1 car, the 'F150th Italia'.

The Scuderia had named their new challenger the F150, which they will be hoping can guide Fernando Alonso or Felipe Massa to World Campionship glory in 2011, as a means of marking the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy.

Ford claimed that this represented a trademark infringement as their F-150 truck is one of their best-selling models in the United States, with the American manufacturer reportedly filing court papers asking for Ferrari to be barred from using the name and seeking unspecified damages.

Ferrari have attempted to avoid a dispute by renaming their F1 car the F150th Italia, although the Italian marque insist they do not believe there was any confusion.

A Ferrari statement read: "On the subject of the name of the new Ferrari Formula One car, the Maranello company wishes to point out that it has sent a letter of reply to Ford, underlining the fact that the F150 designation (used as the abbreviated version of the complete name, which is Ferrari F150th Italia) never has, nor ever will be used as the name of a commercially available product - indeed there will definitely not be a production run of single-seaters.

"In fact, it has always been the case in the history of Scuderia names, that they represent the nomenclature of a racing car project and are linked to a chronological order with a technical basis, or in exceptional cases, to special occasions.

"This year, the decision was taken to dedicate the car name to a particularly significant event, the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy, an event of such great importance that the Italian government has declared, for this year only, a national holiday.

"For these reasons, Ferrari believes that its own contender in the forthcoming F1 Championship cannot be confused with other types of commercially available vehicle of any sort whatsoever, nor can it give the impression that there is a link to another brand of road-going vehicle. Therefore it is very difficult to understand Ford's viewpoint on the matter.

"To further prove it is acting in good faith and that it operates in a completely correct manner, Ferrari has decided to ensure that in all areas of operation, the abbreviated version will be replaced at all times with the full version, Ferrari F150th Italia."
:lol:

@ Ron thanks for the link. Glad to hear the other drivers getting behind Kubica.

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3213/674 ... nsive-care
Kubica leaves intensive care
Thursday 10th February 2011

Robert Kubica has been moved from intensive care to a trauma ward as he continues his recovery from a crash on the Ronde di Andora rally.

The Pole is responding well to treatment in a hospital in Italy after suffering multiple fractures in Sunday's crash.

The 26-year-old is scheduled to undergo surgery to his foot and humerus tomorrow morning, before an operation on his elbow on Monday.

The operations are expected to last around four hours each.

Doctor Giorgio Barabino, head of the intensive care unit at Savona's Santa Corona di Pietra Ligure hospital said today: "Tomorrow he will undergo a double surgery in his foot and shoulder.

"Then next week we expect to perform the last operation on the patient.

"His general condition is good, so much so that we can programme two operations tomorrow."
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Re: F1 2011!

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Borerain Bahrain Grand Prix is called off due to the recent unrest there. Not surprised; for me, this was the only sensible decision.
Formula One will not be heading to Bahrain for the season-opening race, which will be rescheduled in light of political unrest.

The F1 teams were expected to race at the Sakhir circuit on March 13th as the season got underway at the island kingdom.

However, recent political unrest, which has resulted in the deaths of protesters and hundreds more being injured, has forced the powers-that-be to concede there are more pressing matters than hosting a F1 race.

"At the present time the country's entire attention is focused on building a new national dialogue for Bahrain," Bahrain's Crown Prince - HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa

"Although Bernie Ecclestone had graciously made clear that a decision on the race was entirely Bahrain's to make and was not yet required, we felt it was important for the country to focus on immediate issues of national interest and leave the hosting of Bahrain's Formula 1 race to a later date.

"I would like to extend my personal gratitude to Bernie Ecclestone for his support and understanding.

"After the events of the past week, our nation's priority is on overcoming tragedy, healing divisions and rediscovering the fabric that draws this country together; reminding the world of the very best that Bahrain is capable of as a nation once again united."

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who stated earlier in the week that he would leave it to the crown prince to decide whether or not it was safe for the teams to venture to Bahrain, made it clear that the race had not been cancelled, just postponed.

"It is sad that Bahrain has had to withdraw from the race, we wish the whole nation well as they begin to heal their country.

"The hospitality and warmth of the people of Bahrain is a hallmark of the race there, as anyone who has been at a Bahrain Grand Prix will testify. We look forward to being back in Bahrain soon."

No decision has been made on a new date for the rescheduling of the race, although the Gulf News is reporting that November 6th is being touted as possible date.
Source
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by Anakha56 »

Saw that yesterday evening.

TBH I am not surprised more disappointed than anything else because now its a further 2 weeks I have to wait to see these new cars compete. :(

/yes I am selfish. :P

It really is the best decision dont need a petrol martyr to make a scene...
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Re: F1 2011!

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PF1's review of the pre-season testing (source):

Red Bull
Still the team to beat despite completing their entire winter test session - described by team boss Christian Horner as Red Bull's "best pre-season to date" - without once running in qualification spec. It's a policy - or, depending on your point of view, a trick - that the team used to devastating effect 12 months ago when they blitzed the opposition in the season-opening qualifying session at Bahrain. It was only afterwards, with the paddock reeling from Ferrari's unexpected defeat, that the team revealed that until Qualy One they hadn't run their new car on a low fuel level at any stage over the winter months.

Wise to the wisdom and success of last year's strategy, Red Bull have followed an identical approach this winter with the team understood to have set all their timesheet-topping times on medium or even high-fuel loads. According to some gossipers, their petrol tank may not have once had less than eight times the amount of fuel that will be required for qualifying in Melbourne. Ominously, the RB7 has nevertheless appeared formidably fast on long runs and its relatively small drop-off in lap times suggests that Adrian Newey's latest work of wonder is kind on its tyres - a particularly critical attribute this season with the Pirelli tyres proving less robust than their Bridgestone predecessors. It would, in summary, be a major shock if the Bulls do not begin 2011 as the clear frontrunners.

Ferrari
The best of the rest, though the fear is that they will be a distant second to Red Bull once tyre degradation becomes a race-tilting factor, especially when the F1 calendar turns up the heat in Malaysia and beyond. Then again, for every analyst warning that the Ferrari is harder on the Pirellis than the Red Bull, there's at least one contrary voice claiming that they have matched the World Champions in race trim during winter testing. The team itself sounds bullish, with Fernando Alonso observing that "we're the team that's driven the most and that has had the fewest problems in terms of reliability". Good points. Ferrari will thus travel to Melbourne in healthy shape and with valid reasons for optimism. A podium finish is their minimum expectation.

Mercedes
The late movers. Until the penultimate day of testing, Mercedes' winter had festered with discontent and slow times. However, with some long-anticipated new parts - including an updated front wing and diffuser - bolted on to the W02 on Friday, Michael Schumacher was able to set the fastest time of the entire Barcelona test. His 1:21.268 lap might have been produced on a qualifying set-up, but its six-tenths-of-a-second trouncing of Red Bull's best time caused everyone to sit up and take note. Say it quietly, but either Schumacher or Nico Rosberg may be value as an outside bet for victory in Australia.

McLaren
Have McLaren created a dud for the second time in three years? Though the aesthetically-pleasing MP4-26 looks the part, in testing it has appeared both slow and unreliable. Quite the ugly combo.

Incredibly, McLaren completed the lowest mileage of any team except for the non-running HRT over the winter in their new car, and though that figure is exaggerated by their decision to use their 2010 charger in Valencia in order to evaluate the Pirelli tyres from a familiar base, the scale of their disadvantage is mammoth. Whereas Red Bull and Ferrari each completed over 6000kms in their new charger, the MP4-26 managed a meagre 3,300. They are under-prepared, under-cooked and under-paced. The best that can be hoped is that the MP4-26's potential and speed has been disguised by its woeful reliability, but even the most optimistic prediction for Melbourne puts them fourth in the pecking order.

Williams
A potential dark horse. Though it hasn't produced any headline-grabbing times, the FW33 has been particularly strong as a long-distance runner in recent weeks. Is their change of approach to allow greater development input from Rubens Barrichello paying dividends? Of concern, however, is their ongoing problem with the KERS system - removed for the final three days of testing - and a lack of running for Pastor Maldonado in the winter-closing Barcelona test. The rookie will do well to finish qualifying within half a second of his veteran team-mate.

Renault
Oh, what might have been. Understandably lost in the concern that Robert Kubica may never return to the sport is the poignant fact that, just two days before his career-threatening rallying accident, the hugely-gifted Pole set the fastest time of February's Valencia test.

In losing Kubica for the season, Renault have lost their number-one asset and justifiable reason to suppose they could recapture some of their past glories. Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov are both better than competent on their day, but neither possess the star quality that saw Kubica seemingly rip up the pecking order on February 3. Without him, Renault's innovative and hugely promising R31 is likely to be restricted to the status of top-end middle runner.

Sauber
Sauber caused quite a stir last Wednesday when Sergio Perez topped the timesheets ahead of Red Bull and Ferrari but nobody other than the naïve would have been fooled into thinking that the team have leapt into the company of the elite. Sauber have a long-established and deserved reputation for setting 'glory times' and their position of fifth - which amounts to tenth once each team has two drivers running - in Friday's close-of-play standings is surely more indicative of their true position.

Force India
In the middle of the midfield. Expect a repeat of 2010 with a scattering of top-ten breakthroughs and a fierce contest in their own private battle against Toro Rosso, Sauber and perhaps Williams and/or Renault.

Toro Rosso
Toro Rosso's target in 2011 must be to consolidate their position in the midfield and put daylight between themselves and the also-rans. Their performance at Barcelona suggest they are on course to do just that, with both Sebastien Buemi and the talented Jaime Alguersuari delivering respectable times over long distances. A team on the up - and one to keep an eye on.

Lotus
Jarno Trulli might reckon that the new Lotus amounts to a vast improvement - containing, in the words of the Italian "one of the best rear ends you can have in the paddock", and yes, he was still referring to a motor vehicle - but their actual results in testing throughout the winter were generally underwhelming. Beset by unreliability, there was little apparent justification for Trulli's upbeat prognosis. Lotus should still be the best of the newbies, but is such a modest achievement sufficient for satisfaction?

Virgin Racing
Will the team achieve their target of claiming their first F1 point in 2011? Well, the good news is that they have at least remembered to incorporate a fuel tank capable of carrying enough petrol to last an entire race into the design of the MVR-02. So that's a start. Otherwise, they are likely to be limited to a two-team fight with...

Hispania Racing
Hispania are almost literally driving into the unknown in Australia because Friday's practice will witness the first track experience for their F111. Having only unveiled their new car less than a week ago - which also happened to be the weekend scheduled to host the season's curtain-raising GP - the team were then precluded from running on the final two days of testing at Barcelona after failing to gain clearance from Spanish customs. Quite the indignity. Let's just hope for their sake, and that of the rags and riches sport, that Australian officials are more sympathetic to their pauper plight.
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Re: F1 2011!

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Aussie GP preview (source)

-------

There is no more interesting grand prix than the first grand prix of the season. It's the first time in the year the teams square up on similar fuel loads and those nice FIA men are standing by to weigh the cars just in case the teams forget to put all the bits on they should. The scamps.

For circuits like Sakhir in Bahrain, for an opening race the most interesting days are often Friday and Saturday, when the merits and demerits of the new cars come sharply into focus. After that the race is often a sand-blown let-down (though you have to figure that sand plus fast-degrading Pirelli tyres might be an interesting combination).

It's not the same in Australia. In Melbourne all three days are interesting and the race is often an epic. While some of the cars have been running without problems on the purpose-built Circuit de Catalunya, the tight street nature of the Albert park track isn't nearly as forgiving. And it certainly isn't as smooth as Barcelona or Valencia. Pipes and seals that got along quite nicely on the smoother surface of the Spanish tracks could get shaken loose.

What's more, the rookies don't get a debut race where they can acclimatise to the hurly burly of an F1 opening lap with nice wide run-offs, the barriers are a whole lot closer in Melbourne.

With the fast-degrading tyres giving us two or three stops per car (if it stays dry and it's been damp in the past) then the mechanics are going to starting earning their wages this year. Pedro de la Rosa, one of Pirelli's test drivers and now McLaren reserve driver, has said that almost all of the tyre stops will be driver calls and they can't predict narrow windows for tyre degradation. Under the Bridgestone regime teams could schedule a move from soft to hard tyres and then sit back for the rest of the race. Not any more. The teams are going to be on edge for the duration of the event, because a tyre can suddenly give up five seconds when it loses traction and if somebody leaves it too late to make the call that's a lot of time to lose - especially on long laps like in Spa or Singapore.

The most obvious favourite for the race will be Sebastian Vettel brim full of confidence after a World Championship win and some fast times in testing. 2010's No.1 driver will be the target for everyone. There has been speculation over the winter months about Mark Webber's status in the team, well he is officially the No.2 driver whether he likes it or not.

He's had mixed results at his hometown race and last year was an absolute nightmare with some really poor driving. If the local constabulary thought that Lewis Hamilton's car control was bad enough for a court summons, Mark should have been looking at a custodial sentence for his performance last year. This year can only be better.

Ferrari ended the testing season as the other team apart from Red Bull most likely to pull off a win at the opening grand prix. Their reliability has been astonishing over the winter months, the kind of performance you get when the car's a season old not before the season starts. Fernando Alonso has shaken off the disappointment of the prince who failed to get crowned on his coronation day and will want to establish an advantage over Felipe Massa straight away. Last year Felipe was returning to the grid from his Hungarian GP bang on the head. This year the way he performs against Alonso could shape the rest of his F1 career. It's hard to imagine him being quite so accepting of Alonso barging in front of him in the Chinese pitlane.

Next up is the battling Mercedes duo of Rosberg vs Schumacher. Everyone was surprised at how easily Rosberg saw off any challenge from the seven-times World Champion in 2010. The excuse that the Bridgestone front tyres didn't suit his driving style can't be used by Michael this year, so expect it to be a much more even contest. A tad feisty, too.

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have had one of the worst pre-season testing campaigns and the Mclaren team have now ditched their troublesome exhaust system for a new one. Don't be surprised if their new one isn't a bit like somebody else's. Soon their new front wing will start to flex under load like the Red Bull's and in Australia they might be a lot closer to the front than expected.

The duel between Button and Hamilton will be interesting in a year when tyre sensitivity is key, and Button is better both at preserving his tyres and judging when to change. He's also better at moaning about a lack of downforce while Lewis just gets on with things.

Renault with their radical exhaust layout have found a whole lot of speed in their new black-and-gold Lotus-sponsored car. They have also found a worthy successor to Robert Kubica in Nick Heidfeld. Expect Nick to work a lot more closely with team-mate Vitaly Petrov this year and though he's unlikely to demonstrate the dominance that Kubica enjoyed, the team will gain.

The battle in the midfield will be intense with Sauber and Williams challenging Renault, maybe even Toro Ross joining in, too. Force India have had a poor winter and may be one of the scalps that Tony Fernandes' Team Lotus are aiming for. Lotus and Virgin won't be nearly so far back this season and so the re-introduced 107% rule - of all cars having to qualify a lap in 107% of the polesitter's time - is unlikely tocatch them out.

Hispania may not be quite so ready. They arrive in Melbourne without putting any kind of mileage on their 2011 car. But that's not so different to the way Paul Stoddart used to run things at Minardi. Stoddie is back at Melbourne for one of the most anticipated opening races for many years.

Last year we had a fascinating Championship, made up from some good and some pretty boring races. This year the Championship is unlikely to be as interesting, but the racing could be a whole lot better.
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by Sojourn »

Go Maclaren !
I hope that new car works out.
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by Anakha56 »

Mclaren might be in trouble with their new car FYI ;). Word on the grid is that the new system with their exhausts is using materials not approved by the FIA and the FIA is now investigating. Mclarens reasoning to get around that is that its part of the bodywork. Something to keep a eye on :).
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by Sojourn »

dammit
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by Anakha56 »

Practice 1 was awesome to watch :D. Lots of interesting analysis happening eg: Mercedes having a shorter DRS wire system than Mclaren meaning they can activate it faster and get more top end (they are (currently) the fastest on the track) whereas Mclaren have a longer DRS wire yet in total times they were beating Mercedes. And in usual fashion Red Bull were not the fastest in top end but in overall times Webber and Vettel were the top of the logs.
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by THE_STIG »

Anakha56 wrote:Mclaren might be in trouble with their new car FYI ;). Word on the grid is that the new system with their exhausts is using materials not approved by the FIA and the FIA is now investigating. Mclarens reasoning to get around that is that its part of the bodywork. Something to keep a eye on :).
How typical, the fing FIA always do there best to try and find something wrong with McLaren but Ferrari on the other hand never seem to get into trouble :?
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by THE_STIG »

Anakha56 wrote:Practice 1 was awesome to watch :D. Lots of interesting analysis happening eg: Mercedes having a shorter DRS wire system than Mclaren meaning they can activate it faster and get more top end (they are (currently) the fastest on the track) whereas Mclaren have a longer DRS wire yet in total times they were beating Mercedes. And in usual fashion Red Bull were not the fastest in top end but in overall times Webber and Vettel were the top of the logs.
Yea, and in FP 2 McLaren were fastest :D . It is really going to be interesting during qualifying tomorrow because we have 4 teams which could be on row 1 and 2.
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by Anakha56 »

THE_STIG wrote:
Anakha56 wrote:Mclaren might be in trouble with their new car FYI ;). Word on the grid is that the new system with their exhausts is using materials not approved by the FIA and the FIA is now investigating. Mclarens reasoning to get around that is that its part of the bodywork. Something to keep a eye on :).
How typical, the fing FIA always do there best to try and find something wrong with McLaren but Ferrari on the other hand never seem to get into trouble :?
To the best of my knowledge Ferrari have not had any questionable items on their cars for this season and the last. Red Bull and Mclaren however last year had a lot of questionable items.

Anyway tomorrow is quali and I cant wait to watch it, even if it is standard definition... :)
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by THE_STIG »

Yea but still the FIA for as long as I can remember have always slightly favoured Ferrari and disliked anyone who could challenge them. +1 on the quali, that is going to be very interesting.
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by Siemens »

I'm still supporting Button all the way.
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by THE_STIG »

Siemens wrote:I'm still supporting Button all the way.
+1, as he and Hamilton drive for the only team I have ever supported, McLaren :D .
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Re: F1 2011!

Post by Siemens »

THE_STIG wrote:
Siemens wrote:I'm still supporting Button all the way.
+1, as he and Hamilton drive for the only team I have ever supported, McLaren :D .
Lol I supported him since his BAR Honda days.

Qualifying was quite interesting. It seems like a lot of the drivers are struggling with the new tires. Button is at least in the second row at 4th.

And who is this Vettel guy? I haven't followed F1 for a few years but damn this guy is good. Also WTF happened to RedBull? They used to suck. Now they are monsters.
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