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Force India to Skip Jerez Test

The Force India Formula 1 Team announced on Wednesday afternoon that they will not participate at the first test of the 2015 season in Jerez, Spain.

The team announced on Twitter that they will skip the test. “We have chosen not to run the old (2014) car in Jerez. The learning opportunities would have been limited so the focus is now on Barcelona,” read the tweet.

They intended to run their 2014 car at the first test, but with just 4 days before the test begins, they’ve decided not to participate. Their focus now turns to the second test in Barcelona where they plan to maximize their time there.

It’s not clear as to why the team has taken the decision to skip the test, apart from their 2015 car not being ready.

Photo credit: Sahara Force India Formula 1 Team

January 28, 2015
F1 2015: Car Launches, Testing Dates and Driver Line Ups

The 2015 Formula 1 Season is upon us and with all the teams releasing teaser pics and with the car launches and testing about to take place within the week we thought we’d give you a quick run down on the testing schedule and the driver line up for each team.

Testing Dates:

01 – 04 February – Jerez, Spain

19 – 22 February – Barcelona, Spain

26 February – 01 March – Barcelona, Span

Car Launches:

29 January – McLaren(Online)

30 January – Ferrari(Online)

30 January – Sauber(Online)

31 January – Toro Rosso

01 February – Mercedes

Driver Line up:

MERCEDES: Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

RED BULL: Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat

WILLIAMS: Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas

FERRARI: Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen

MCLAREN: Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button

FORCE INDIA: Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez

TORO ROSSO: Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr.

LOTUS: Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado

SAUBER: Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr

The entries for the Marussia and Caterham teams were on the provisional FIA list subject to confirmation before the season begins.

The complete 2015 Formula 1 World Championship Calendar can be found here

January 27, 2015
Lotus F1 team reveal pictures of the E23

The Lotus F1 team today unveiled its 2015 challenger, the Mercedes-powered E23 Hybrid.

The team finished only 8th in last year’s Constructors’ Championship and are hopeful that the E23 will aid in the recovery of the team.

“The E23 Hybrid represents a massive step forward for us,” said technical director Nick Chester.

“It’s no secret that we struggled with last year’s car so we’ve targeted every area that caused us an issue. We’ve made strong progress in the wind tunnel as well as in areas such as packaging and cooling.

“We expect the E23 to perform far, far better than its predecessor. In terms of what’s new, obviously a massive change for us is a new Power Unit supplier. We made this change as it looked and looks to be the one area of the car which could bring us the greatest performance gain. It’s not just performance, but reliability and driveability as well as packaging and cooling too.”

“The E22 did deliver good figures in the wind tunnel,” he continued, “even if it was difficult to unlock its potential, so we’ve paid more attention to making the characteristics of the car more adaptable. In terms of the suspension, we were delivered something of a blow last year when the front-rear interconnected suspension was outlawed mid-season. The E23’s suspension design is specific to the updated regulations so we’re not trying to update a system originally intended to work a different way. We learnt a lot in many areas of the car over the course of 2014 so there are many lessons which have been applied. We know we’ve made a big step. We won’t know how our car will fare in relative terms until we’re out in action at a Grand Prix, but we certainly expect to be much more competitive than last year.”

Matthew Carter, Lotus F1 Team CEO, is clearly excited about the E23 and its potential. “The E23 Hybrid represents a new era for Lotus F1 Team, not only in the change to a Mercedes Benz Power Unit, but also it is the fruition of a busy winter behind the scenes,” he said in a statement released by the team.

“Improvements within our Design, Aero and Simulation departments have all contributed to the development of a car which is a huge step forward. As a team we are confident that the new car coupled with additions to the Race team will enable a huge leap forward and we are full of optimism going into the new season. It is time to put the disappointment of last season behind us and benefit from 12 months of hard work; we are ready to return to our rightful place at the pinnacle of the sport.”

The E23 will be raced by Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado who both drove for the team during 2014.

These are the pictures of the E23 that the team released today:

January 26, 2015
Force India unveils VJM08 livery in Mexico

Force India unveiled its new 2015 livery and front nose design at launch event in Mexico.

Team drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez pulled the wraps off the new car livery in Mexico City, ahead of F1’s return to Mexico later this year.

The revised colour scheme was presented on Force India’s 2014 car following the team’s decision to delay the introduction of the new VJM08 until the second pre-season test of the year.The team confirmed on Tuesday that the VJM08 will not be present at next weekend’s Jerez test and will only make its debut in Barcelona in mid-February.

Although the VJM08 was not present at the livery launch, Force India say that it is an evolution of the VJM07 which will be used at the opening test of the year in Jerez and carried the team to sixth in the 2014 constructors’ standings.

“It’s another evolution of the contemporary look we introduced last year, which reflects the growth of the team and the global brands with which we are working,” said team principal Vijay Mallya.

“I love the addition of silver, which makes the car appear more sleek and aggressive and I’m sure it’s something that will appeal to the fans as well. Our traditional team colours remain integrated in the livery, but we’ve given it a very modern twist.”

“I’m very excited about 2015,” Sergio Perez added. “It’s my second season with this team so that always makes things easier. I feel very relaxed about the new season in a good way. The regulations are not changing and I believe that will benefit us as a team.

“It means the development from last year can continue and we don’t have to start everything from zero again. I like these regulations and the V6 engines helped produce close and competitive racing. At the end of 2014 I was feeling very confident in the car and I want to carry this momentum into the new season. I want more podiums in 2015.”

“I hope for spectacular things,” Nico Hulkenberg said discussing his 2015 aspirations. “That means scoring many points, great racing and lots of fun. I’m part of a team that is growing and hungry for more. 2014 was our best season yet so we need to aim to go a step further this year and give the teams ahead of us a harder time.”

Technical director Andrew Green said that changes will be most noticeable at the front end of the Mercedes-powered car, “The front of the car looks very different from what we had developed previously,” he said. “It is a redesign that involved a lot of work over the winter, as the new regulations caused a loss in terms of downforce and we’ve been working to claw back all that performance.”

Force India also said that the VJM08 will also feature other more subtle changes which include modified sculpting of the sidepods and new cooling intakes. There’ll also be a completely new rear suspension layout with a new hydro-mechanical system replacing the original torsion springs.

Here’s a gallery of the new Force India VJM08 livery.

January 22, 2015
Williams F1 Team launch first images of FW37

The Williams F1 Team has become the first team to reveal its 2015 Formula One title contender, with a computer rendered image of its FW37 appearing on the front cover of this month’s F1 Racing magazine.

Following that, the team followed up with images of the Fw37 on their website along with a statement from the team.

Ahead of the imminent launch of Force India’s new livery later today, the Williams team, who finished in third place in the 2014 Constructors’ Championship, showed off the FW37, which features a revised front nose in order to comply with the 2015 regulations and rule changes.

The FW37 will be piloted once again by Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, and the car will again be powered by Mercedes engines.

Minor changes to the Martini-based livery are seen including new the appearance of new sponsors Rexona, Avanade and Hackett.

“The notion for the FW37 was to look closely at the FW36 and its performances,” said Williams Martini Racing’s Chief Technical Officer Pat Symonds in a statement on the team website. “We then went about recognising what had worked well and identifying and resolving the areas that we felt needed to be improved. Although the aerodynamics of the car were impressive there is always room for improvement particularly as we handle the new 2015 nose regulations,” he continued.

According to the statement the design of the FW37 has stemmed from the performance of the FW36 but the conceptual ideas came long before the 2014 successes.

“The first conceptual stage of the FW37 came before the FW36 had turned a wheel,” Symonds continued. The main element to this is understanding the rule changes and how they will affect the design of the car, from here we can start see if our ideas will fit within the regulations”.

The Williams team managed to rack up nine podiums throughout the 2014 season and also enjoyed a front row lockout at the Austrian Grand Prix. They placed third in the Constructors’ championship and are looking to continue their climb up the ladder.

“The desire to beat Ferrari to third place in the Constructors’ in 2014 meant we pushed our development through to late autumn, but the size of the team is now at a point where it was able to sustain this development whilst still working on the FW37,” Symonds said.

The layout phase of the FW37 was completed by the summer break in August, according to the team. Work on the new front bulkhead was a main priority for the designers and aerodynamicists due to the changes to the regulations for 2015.

“The change in regulations offered us a slight headache,” Symonds explained. “The new front bulkhead and nose geometry had much more of an impact than we had initially anticipated and the effect on the aero was profound. The team have worked hard on pulling back the deficit these regulations have made for us”.

But, the team has its eyes on more podiums this year and Williams is hoping to catch Mercedes with their FW37 this season.

“The more rule stability there is, the closer the field gets. I hope as a team we are more capable of maintaining the forward momentum to catch Mercedes, than the teams behind us are of catching us. It’s not just about stable regulations but also about the team and every individual that works here moving forward and improving.”

Frank Williams, Team Principal concluded the team statement saying that, “The team had a fantastic season last year, we are aiming to replicate this development over the winter and to start the 2015 season in a strong position. We have an enormously talented group of people here at Williams who want nothing more than the team to do well. This passion produced a great turn around in fortunes for the team in 2014 and everybody has worked tirelessly to continue that climb up the grid.

“We have added a few more high profile names to accompany the incredibly supportive group of partners we have,” Frank Williams added. “After a very strong first year with Mercedes we are looking to further develop the relationship as we look for more podiums in 2015. I feel this year will be equally as exciting as the last and look forward to seeing the FW37 on the grid at the first race.”

January 21, 2015
F1 2015: New rules, new looks, new faces

In less than two months Melbourne will become the epicentre for start of the 2015 Formula 1 season. As with its predecessors there is much to be excited about for the new season.

If you found the 2014 aesthetics unpleasing and plain awkward you weren’t alone. Mercifully a tweak to the aero rules for the nose section means that the hideous duckbills and anteaters have been consigned to the scrap heap. Visually the majority of the field will have a relatively uniform look for the nose section of the car and it does constrict some of the eccentric individuality seen last year. Nevertheless, there is little doubt that most will be happy to have far better looking cars to ogle.

For the sites that Formula 1 will visit the FIA has announced a twenty race calendar with a highly anticipated visit to Mexico City in late October. As predicted the Korean grand prix loses its spot on the calendar while the German grand prix will again be hosted at the Hockenheimring for 2015. Even though the deal struck with Bernie Ecclestone back in 2006 specifies an annual rotation between Hockenheim and the Nurburgring the latter’s change of ownership has left it in financial difficulty and without a deal in place for the coming season.

While safety is paramount in F1 the Safety Car periods have, on occasion, been far too long. It has been mainly lapped cars which has been the culprit in these long-winded intermissions. The FIA has shown some common sense by announcing that the Safety Car will no longer wait for lapped cars to catch the rear of the field before resuming the race.

Along with a far more visually pleasing sport there will also be three rookies on the grid. Sauber has confirmed that Brazilian Felipe Nasr will be partnering with Marcus Ericsson for 2015. Nasr gained valuable seat time in F1 last year as the official test driver for the Williams team and he graduates to Formula 1 with a pretty solid CV. Nasr has won both the Formula BMW and British Formula Three championships before finishing third overall in last year’s GP2 campaign. It’s no secret that he comes with substantial financial backing from Banco do Brasil which is much needed by a struggling Sauber team. Neverthless, Nasr is a real talent and it’s more than worth it to keep an eye on his progress.

At one stage it appeared as if Carlos Sainz Jnr’s introduction to Formula 1 would have to wait a few more years. The son of former double rally world champion Carlos Sainz was on course to be fast-tracked to F1 but he lost out to Russian driver Daniil Kvyat. It proved to be a momentary delay as Sebastian Vettel’s departure to Ferrari meant a promotion to the Red Bull team for Kvyat. This in turn opens the door for Sainz Jnr to slot into the vacant Toro Rosso seat.

However, it will be his Toro Rosso teammate who will undoubtedly carry the biggest weight of expectation of all the rookies in the field. Max Verstappen is the son of the not-so-successful former F1 driver Jos Verstappen. But that isn’t what makes his debut so spectacular. Instead, it’s the fact that when Max Verstappen takes to the starting grid in Australia he will be seventeen years old. He will be the youngest driver ever to compete in the sport and probably the first, should he score a podium, who cannot legally have a sip of the celebratory champagne. Verstappen’s racing biography is rather limited given his age but he nevertheless boasts some impressive wins including third place in last year’s European Formula Three championship.

There are many who believe that if you’re fast enough you are old enough. To a degree this plays true but handling the pressure of Formula 1 is a big ask for someone so young. It is clear that Red Bull’s motorsport director Helmut Marko has no qualms about piling on the pressure and has already compared the youngster to the great Ayrton Senna. As grand and fiery as the Verstappen PR has been he is a bit of an anomaly. Either Max Verstappen is going to be the greatest thing since Lewis Hamilton, read sliced bread, or he’s going to be something else which time will inevitably tell.

January 19, 2015
FIA Turn Around on Honda Engine Development

The FIA have reversed their decision to allow in-season engine development for McLaren’s new engine partner, Honda.

The 2015 rules for engine homologation were left open after Ferrari’s James Allison pointed out that nowhere in the 2015 rules does it state that teams have to submit their homologated engines for the 2015 season. The deadline for the teams last year was 28 February 2014. The FIA conceded that the rules were open to interpretation and allowed engine manufacturers, namely Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari, to develop their engines up to 32 development tokens.

Honda were left out the equation as the FIA felt that since all teams had to homologate their engines last year, its only fair for Honda to do the same this year despite it not stating this anywhere in the rules.

As to be expected, Honda were not pleased with the decision and met with the FIA this past week. The result of the meeting was that Honda are now allowed to develop their engine during the season but with a few caveats.

Honda will be able to develop their engine calculated by the average number of unused tokens by the other manufacturers before the first race of the season on 16 March 2015.

It is unclear how many tokens Honda will have but it is believed that they will have a considerable amount to develop their engine throughout the season.

January 17, 2015
Hockenheim to Host 2015 German Grand Prix

Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone confirmed that the German Grand Prix will take place at Hockenheim and not the Nurburgring due to financial reasons.

Hockenheim alternates with the Nurburgring each year to host the German Grand Prix but due to financial reasons the Nurburgring is unable to host this years race.

The date for the German Grand Prix was confirmed on the FIA calendar but no venue was set. Speaking to Reuters, Ecclestone said that they need to change the dates on the contract for Hockenheim. “It’s going to be at Hockenheim,” he said. “We just have to amend the years of the contract. It was alternating with Nurburgring so we’ll just take that out.”

The Nurburgring, as a host venue was cast into doubt in 2012 when the venue experienced financial difficulties and almost filed for bankruptcy. It looks as though Ecclestone and the new owners of the Nurburgring could not come to an agreement to host this years German Grand Prix.

January 15, 2015
F1 2015: Engine Rule Game Changer?

It has always been recognised and celebrated that Formula 1 has some of the most complex and advanced engine technology in the world. It’s a sport of innovation after all and the introduction of hybrid engines for 2014 well and truly proved that. Last year, Formula 1 went racing on a third less fuel than in 2013 with a 1.6 litre turbo engine and still it produced quicker cars.

It didn’t quite go to plan as far as it being an all-out nail biter between the teams. Instead the rest of the field watched forlornly and from a considerable distance as Mercedes thrashed the lot of them and strolled to both championship titles. Mercedes’ enormous 2014 advantage emanated mostly from an exceedingly superior power unit which left rival manufacturers shamefaced.

Throughout the year Ferrari and Renault fought hard for permission to introduce upgrades during the 2015 season. As a change of rules can only be achieved through a unanimous decision by the teams Mercedes’ refusal to yield seemingly put an end to Ferrari and Renault’s hopes. Yet, for as much as F1 is known by its advanced technologies, the rules that ‘govern’ the sport seemingly has an infinite amount of grey area. You would think that for as long as these experts have been sitting around shiny boardroom tables they’d by now have an idea of how to create a rule that leaves no wiggle room for the infinitely brighter teams. Instead the engine homologation rule is saturated with enough grey area to make you cringe.

At a meeting with the FIA in Abu Dhabi Ferrari technical director James Allison pointed out that the lack of an exact date by which the final 2015 engine must be lodged. Subsequently, and to appear less dense, the FIA have told teams that the “most logical and robust” way to proceed would be to assume that there is no homologation date for the 2015.

Honda has been purposefully left out of the equation because according to the rule a new manufacturer must homologate its engine by 28 February 2015. The Japanese manufacturer in partnership with McLaren feels it is “unfair” to allow its opposition to make progress while its own power unit will remain unchanged throughout the season.

You would think that this means Renault and Ferrari powered cars will have a good and proper shot at the Mercedes. Few things have ever been that uncomplicated in Formula 1 and this is no exception. This is a win for Ferrari and Renault but it’s a relatively small one. Bear in mind how the development of the engine is divided and that in-season development and upgrades are not a free for all. On its introduction in 2014 only 92 % of the hybrid engine was open for development. From here, manufacturers selected 48% to develop. This 48 % is split into 32 tokens which are assigned to various parts of the engine. The various sections each carry a value of one to three tokens depending on its influence on performance.

Now there is the regulation surrounding the homologation which itself has led to several wordless moments of some pretty hefty squinting and head-tilting. Rule 28.5 states that “only power units which have been homologated by the FIA…may be used at an Event during the 2014-2020 Championship seasons.” This rule makes no explicit mention of how many engines can be homologated per year. It is clear however that for an engine to be used during a race weekend it must be homologated. Should this rule be applied as it’s read it would mean that teams have several opportunities throughout the year to bring upgrades to their engines, to homologate as they go. Keep in mind that each driver will only be allocated four engines for the entire season which brings into play the certainty of a grid penalty with each engine change after the allotment.

On the other hand, if the rule is to be interpreted differently it means that once an engine has been homologated for 2015 no changes can be made to it at any stage. By this understanding the advantage of the loophole is only a few extra weeks of development before the start of the season in Australia. Furthermore, up until an engine has been lodged with the FIA, for homologation, the 2014 engine will be the only option to run with. New rules are created to bring clarification, they said.

January 12, 2015
Virtual Safety Car Rules Finalized for 2015

The FIA have finalized the procedures for the new Virtual Safety Car (VSC) system that will be used to neutralize races in 2015.

The VSC was brought about after Jules Bianchi’s accident at the Japanese Grand Prix last year where he crashed out of the race with serious head injuries under yellow flag conditions.

The new VSC rules have been integrated into the 2015 sporting regulations and will be used to neutralize a race or “normally be used when double waved yellow flags are needed on any section of track and competitors or officials may be in danger, but the circumstances are not such as to warrant the use of the safety car itself”.

Under the VSC rules, drivers are not allowed to enter the pits except to change tyres, this means that stop-and-go penalties may not be served during the VSC period. Drivers will have to stick to a minimum delta time set by the FIA in each sector. To ensure drivers do not drive too slow, the rule makes provision for drivers that drive erratically and “unnecessarily slowly. If a driver is found to breach these rules, a penalty will be imposed. A penalty will also be imposed for drivers who do not stick to the delta time.

Once the race director is satisfied and it is safe to resume racing, teams and drivers will be notified via the official lighting system. Once the notification is given, a green flag signal will be given on the FIA light panels. Drivers can continue to race from that point on.

January 10, 2015