James Calado put Force India at the top of the timesheets on the opening morning of the Young Driver Test at Silverstone.
His benchmark of 1.33.986 is just over half a second slower than the fastest lap of this year’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, set by Red Bull driver Mark Webber.
Here is the full time sheet following the first morning of testing at the Silverstone Young Driver Test.
Mark Webber will no longer take part in the F1 Young Driver Test at Silverstone after Red Bull announced a late change to their planned schedule.
Webber, who will be leaving Formula One to drive for Porsche at the end of the season, was due to test on Thursday afternoon.
Regular team race drivers have been allowed to join this year’s test in order to assist Pirelli with development of their new tyres but this is only on the condition that they run a strictly-defined Pirelli programme that covers two half-days of running. “The teams will have a very clear tyre test programme; they have to run what we tell them to run,” said Pirelli boss Paul Hembery.
Red Bull are keen to evaluate Daniel Ricciardo and with Sebastian Vettel due to test on Friday afternoon, they have decided to alter their testing plan. “Following a clarification of the permitted programmes from Pirelli and the FIA for this week’s Silverstone test, Infiniti Red Bull Racing has revised its driver line up,” the team announced in a press release issued just before the lunch break on Wednesday.
Antonio Felix da Costa, originally scheduled to hand over to Ricciardo for the afternoon, will now test all day today and again on Thursday morning, before Ricciardo takes over.
Carlos Sainz Jr will then test on Friday morning and Sebastian Vettel will take over from him in the afternoon.
Ricciardo will also be testing for Toro Rosso on Thursday morning, right before he switches to the RB9.
Codemaster’s has announced that F1 2013 will be released, worldwide, in the next few months.
The software company, who made their first F1 game in 2011, announced a new feature of the game that is sure to please the purists. A new gameplay mode, called F1 Classics, will be featured that allows fans a chance at taking on legendary drivers on some of the most iconic racing tracks throughout the world.
The F1 Classics gameplay mode will be introduced by legendary Murray Walker and will enable gamers to race the classic Williams, Lotus and Ferrari cars of the 80s.Gamers will be able to compete on famous circuits such as Brands Hatch and Jerez against greats of the sports like Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Emerson Fittipaldi and Gerhard Berger. Codemasters have suggested that more legends may be include in the F1 Classics mode but at still to confirm exactly which heroes from the past will make an appearance.
F1 2013 will be available on PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation3.
Codemasters have released these ‘work in progress’ screenshots to whet the appetite.
Formula 1’s annual Young Driver’s Test starts tomorrow on the Silverstone race track.
However, this year’s three day test session has a bit of a twist to it. As a result of the tyre troubles at Silverstone grand prix the test has been transformed into an emergency tyre test for the Italian manufacturer to regain its footing in the sport.
Teams won’t have free reign to do as the please throughout the three days though. Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA, has clearly stipulated what can and cannot be done.
Mercedes will sit out the three day test session as the Brackley based team serves a ban imposed on them for conducting a tyre test after the Spanish grand prix. Lewis Hamilton has voiced his concern on the dangers of Mercedes not being allowed to test the new tyres before their introduction at the Hungarian grand prix.
“I don’t know if people fully appreciate how big a negative it is for us not to do the test.We are going to go to Hungary when other people have gone and tested (the new tyres with) different ride-heights, different pressures, got their car ready for a long run so they arrive ready.We don’t have any of that information so when we get there we’re going to go into it blind.We shouldn’t be in this position in sport, but that’s the way it is,” said Hamilton.
But it seems the Brit’s fears will be assuaged as Pirelli motorsport director, Paul Hemberey, announced that Mercedes will recieve data on findings about the new tyres.
The Young Driver’s Test was institued with the aim of showcasing up-and-coming talents that could, potentially, be the future of Formula 1.Several current drivers will be present at the test but in amongst will be some eager drivers keen to make their mark.
|
Team |
Wednesday 17th |
Thursday 18th |
Friday 19th |
|
Red Bull |
Antonio Felix da Costa Daniel Ricciardo |
Antonio Felix da Costa Daniel Ricciardo |
Carlos Sainz Jnr Sebastian Vettel |
|
Ferrari |
Davide Rigon |
Davide Rigon |
Felipe Massa Davide Rigon |
|
McLaren |
Kevin Magnussen |
Oliver Turvey |
Gary Paffett |
|
Lotus |
Nicolas Prost |
Davide Valsecchi |
Nicolas Prost |
|
Mercedes |
Banned |
||
|
Sauber |
Robin Frijns |
Robin Frijns Nico Hulkenberg |
Kimiya Sato |
|
Force India |
James Calado |
Paul di Resta |
Adrian Sutil |
|
Williams |
Daniel Juncadella |
Pastor Maldonado |
Susie Wolff |
|
Toro Rosso |
Johnny Cecotto Jnr |
Carlos Sainz Jnr |
Jean-Eric Vergne Daniil Kvyat |
|
Caterham |
Alexander Rossi |
Will Stevens |
Charles Pic Giedo van der Garde |
|
Marussia |
Tio Ellinas Max Chilton |
Rodolfo Gonzalez |
Rodolfo Gonzalez Jules Bianchi |
McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Sergio Perez will not be taking part in the Young Driver Test at Silverstone this week despite the FIA now allowing regular race drivers to take part in order to help Pirelli test tyre development.
This leaves the running up to Kevin Magnussen, Oliver Turvey and Gary Paffett.
New Pirelli tyres which will be used at the Hungarian Grand Prix will be tested by Pirelli at Silverstone during the Young Driver Test but McLaren have opted not to run either Button or Perez.
Magnussen, Turvey and Paffett will each spend one day at the wheel of the McLaren, as they did last year’s three day Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi.
Since teams who make use of regular drivers will have to stick to a test plan decided by Pirelli, the move allows McLaren to dictate their own test plan each day instead.
“It’s a great chance for me and I hope I can help the team next week,” he said. “It’s an important test for any young driver as there aren’t many opportunities to drive a Formula one car. I had my first taste of Formula One as a prize for winning the 2012 Formula 3 Euro Series title, but it was a 2009 car so I therefore see this as being the real deal, having the chance to drive a current car in a full test. I’ve spent a couple of days at the factory getting to know the team and I felt at home. Looking at the history of the team is also amazing and so to get this chance with Williams, a team so many great drivers have raced for, makes it even more special.”
Now that current race drivers are also permitted to take part in the Young Driver Test, Pastor Maldonado will also get a day behind the wheel of the Williams taking part in tyre development tests for Pirelli.
Photo: Williams F1 Team
In a move that has sent the rumour mill into overdrive, Red Bull have announced that Daniel Ricciardo will be testing the RB9 in this week’s Young Driver Test at Silverstone.
This will certainly give the young Ricciardo’s hopes of replacing fellow Australian driver Mark Webber at Red Bull next year a boost.
According to Red Bull, Ricciardo – who is facing competition for the Red Bull seat from Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen and fellow Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne – will be in the seat of the Red Bull RB9 on Wednesday afternoon.
Mark Webber, who is leaving Formula One at the end of the season to race for Le Mans sports car racing with Porsche, will be testing the Pirelli tyres on Thursday afternoon and Sebastian Vettel will be in the car on Friday afternoon.
Portuguese driver Antonio Félix da Costa who is a member of the Red Bull young driver programme, and would be most likely to replace Daniel Ricciardo at Toro Rosso, will test for Red Bull on Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
Carlos Sainz Jr will take over for the final morning at Silverstone.
The Young Driver Test at Silverstone was originally intended to be for young drivers only but after a spate of blow outs during last month’s British Grand Prix, the FIA opened it up to regular race drivers to test for Pirelli.
The Marussia F1 team announced today, (16 July 2013) that their Technical Consultant Pat Symonds has been released off his responsibilities to the team with immediate effect.
At the same time Williams F1 announced that Mike Coughlan has stepped down from his role as Technical Director at the Grove based team and Pat Symonds will take up the role as Chief Technical Offier at Williams, effective from 19 August 2013.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Marussia F1 Team over the course of the past two and a half seasons. The Team has developed immeasurably during that time and it now has all the right people and resources in place to achieve great things in the future. I wish the Team the success it so richly deserves.” said Symonds.
“I’m delighted that Pat is joining the team. His technical capabilities and sporting successes speak for themselves and I’m sure that his knowledge and leadership will contribute considerably to the success that all of us at Williams are working hard to achieve.” said Williams founder, Sir Frank Williams about appointing Pat Symonds.
Symonds who brought success to the Benetton and Renault, and with his partnership with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso that produced 32 race wins, 4 Drivers’ World Championships and 3 Constructors’ World Championships, had this to say about Williams F1; “Williams is a team steeped in success and engineering excellence and I’m honoured to be asked to play a role in returning the team to its rightful place at the pinnacle of Formula One.
The Marussia F1 team announced their new engine partnership with Scuderia Ferrari on Tuesday.
The deal will see the Marussia team running the 1.6l turbo charged engines from Ferrari for the 2014 Formula 1 season. The deal also includes, together with the engine, the gearbox, the Energy Recovery System (ERS) and all other additional components.
The full statement from the CEO of the Marussia F1 team, Andy Webb, is included below:
“The Marussia F1 Team is delighted to be entering into a technical partnership with Scuderia Ferrari for the supply of a full powertrain from 2014. The importance of this development to our Team cannot be overstated. Not only will we benefit from a customer supply from the most successful engine manufacturer in Formula One’s history, but this also provides further confirmation, if it were needed, of our commitment to the sport and determination to maintain our progression towards our long-term ambitions. The new powertrain regulations being introduced next year represent the most substantial engine development within the sport since the introduction of the V8 formula and are all the more significant for the increased contribution of the Energy Recovery System. We look forward to working with Scuderia Ferrari during this exciting new era of Formula One competition. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Cosworth, with whom we have partnered since our debut season in 2010. We have shared an important part of our Team’s journey together and Cosworth have been an integral part of our clear progression. We will continue to work together during the latter half of the season to ensure we all achieve our combined objectives before Cosworth leave the sport.”
Reynard Gelderblom, Motorsport Editor of Streetmotion, sent us his perspective on the Red Bull young driver program.
We’d love to hear your thoughts too! Let us know what you think in the comments below, or let us know if you’d like us to publish your opinion too.
Here’s what Reynard had to say:
Do I see red for the young bulls?
Well there is certainly lots to talk about after the German Grand Prix, so let me start off by saying what I’m not going to talk about…
I’m not going to talk about tyres again. We’ll have to wait for what comes from the Silverstone test and after the Hungarian GP where Pirelli will introduce some more tyre upgrades. On that point, I’m also going to disappoint those who tweeted me to talk about Mercedes still being excluded from the young driver portion of the Silverstone tests since all the teams will now be doing tests with 2013 cars and drivers as well. It’s a penalty, or more of a slap on the wrist – live with it.
I’m also not going to talk about safety gear for media – that’s a point for the FIA to address. Then there are cars reversing over a straight, wheel guns and Sauber going to Mother Russia… all of those are tempting, but no.
Now we’ve filtered it down to Lewis Hamilton’s love life, but this is of course a column for two online motorsport publications. If an entertainment magazine would approach me I’d love to sit here and give my views of how Lewis is driving better when Sir Cliff’s “Bachelor Boy” is playing on his iPod, sadly none of them have contacted me yet.
That leaves me with something I’ve been looking at now for the last few weeks: The Red Bull young driver program. We all know what a success story this turned out to be. Sebastian Vettel is a three-time consecutive World champion and came through the ranks which included the Red Bull “B” team, Torro Rosso.
In fact, at Monza 2008, Vettel took what was essentially a rebadged Minardi to a maiden win for a Red Bull liveried car. At the end of June 2013, Mark Webber announced his retirement from Formula 1 which means there’ll be an opening in the Red Bull teams for 2014. With Torro Rosso retaining both Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne for 2013, this surely means that it will be up to one of them to progress. Wrong.
Here are the names that are being mentioned: Kimi Raikkonen, Adrian Sutil, Romain Grosjean… oh and Ricciardo. With Sauber’s salary checks being written by the same people designing the soft compound tyres you can probably expect the name Nico Hulkenberg to be added to that list shortly considering that he’s on every other team manager’s shortlist now. Vergne has been putting in some good performances, but those are really few and far between compared to Ricciardo. That means one name from the young driver program is realistically in the running, although I’m quite sure that Raikkonen must be the favourite.
Ricciardo and Vergne aren’t the only two names who may never make it higher in the organisation than the “B” team. This program started long before the popular energy drink manufacturer purchased their first team, Jaguar in 2004. Have a look at this list: Enrique Bernoldi provided some capital for Arrows, Christian Klein brought 10 Million Euros to Jaguar and no real results, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Robert Doornbos, Patrick Friesacher, Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chadhok filled gaps here and there.
In fact if there’s something which this program did well through the years, it was to supply drivers-on-demand for the HRT team. Scott Speed, Sebastian Bordais, Sebastian Buemi and Jamie Alguersuari all looked promising at the start of their Torro Rosso careers, but eventually they all slipped back as well. Neel Jani and Adrian Zaugg at least had a taste of success in the former A1GP series. At present there are six driver in the program with Antonio Felix da Costa, Carlos Sainz Jnr and Daniil Kvyat looking like the next to be in line for future vacancies.
Vettel made it through this system, but granted he is being compared by some to Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. A good driver will always find a way to the top… even in a mediocre car. Have Red Bull backed the wrong drivers through the years or is there maybe a bigger problem here – maybe a lack of actual driver development? Has the program become a victim of its own success? Has it really become too overpopulated? I don’t know but one F1 race winner in fourteen years hardly screams of success.
In my point of view, Ricciardo is the man who should be looking forward to partnering Vettel in 2014. If not, maybe it’s time to relook something which has been globally called a success story, because choosing Raikkonen or Sutil will prove the exact opposite.
Reynard Gelderblom is the motorsport editor for Street Motion.
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