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Post by afx on Feb 4, 2016 4:58:55 GMT -8
Renault has launched its new Formula One team at its headquarters outside Paris, returning to the sport as a full constructor.
The French car manufacturer bought the struggling Lotus outfit at the end of last year -- the same team it sold in 2010 -- and is now set to return to F1 with a newly restructured team. Former McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen has finally been confirmed alongside British rookie Jolyon Palmer after Pastor Maldonado was dropped in the last week amid late sponsorship payments. GP3 champion Esteban Ocon was confirmed as reserve driver.
The team confirmed a new car will be ready for the first day of testing, known as the RS16, and will run in the black and yellow livery displayed at the event, which is likely to change again ahead of the first race. The Renault F1 team will be led by Renault Sport F1 CEO Cyril Abiteboul, team manager Frederic Vasseur, the former team principal of the championship-winning GP2 team, with ex-Mercedes engineer Bob Bell as chief technical officer.
Renault's motivation for returning as a full constructor is to receive more exposure for its expenditure in Formula One after five years as an engine supplier. Although Renault won four championships with Red Bull during that period, the relationship with the drinks manufacturer became increasingly poisonous in recent years as the French manufacturer struggled to match class-leaders Mercedes under the current V6 turbo engine regulations.
As a full-fledged constructor team, Renault will take full control of its Formula One operation, but has admitted it may take three years to return to the front. A works Renault last tasted title success in Formula One in 2005 and 2006 with Fernando Alonso at the wheel.
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Post by afx on Feb 4, 2016 17:56:33 GMT -8
Health of Michael Schumacher "is not good" says Luca di Montezemolo
Thursday, February 4th 2016, 18:22 GMT
Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo says the latest news about the health of seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher "is not good".
It is more than two years since Schumacher sustained severe brain injuries following a skiing accident in the French Alps.
"I have news and unfortunately it is not good," Montezemolo told reporters but did not elaborate.
"Life is strange. He was a fantastic driver and only had one accident with Ferrari in 1999."
Last October, FIA president and close family friend Jean Todt said Schumacher "is still fighting".
The German spent a number of months in intensive care in Grenoble hospital before regaining consciousness.
He was then moved to a hospital closer to home in Lausanne before returning home in early September 2014.
Since then, there has been little information revealed about the 46-year-old and his recovery.
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Post by afx on Feb 12, 2016 5:53:51 GMT -8
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Post by afx on Feb 15, 2016 12:47:04 GMT -8
Ferrari to launch 2016 car on Friday
Ferrari will launch its 2016 challenger on Friday afternoon.
Ferrari enters the new campaign hoping to mount a legitimate title challenge after claiming three victories in 2015. Expectations for the upcoming season are high, with President Sergio Marchionne declaring his belief Ferrari can be the "team to beat" at the Australian Grand Prix.
The team has opted for an online launch on Friday afternoon at 1400 CET (1300 GMT). It will come three days before the first winter test of the year begins on February 22 at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.
Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen have both been retained for another season.
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Post by afx on Feb 19, 2016 10:13:05 GMT -8
Ferrari's 2016 machine.
formula1.ferrari.com/en/
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Post by Chris K. Hale on Feb 19, 2016 13:39:02 GMT -8
  and the 2016 Wiliams FW-38... Chris |
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Post by afx on Feb 22, 2016 5:28:55 GMT -8
Monday morning's unofficial testing times from Barcelona
POS Driver Team/Car Best lap Gap Laps
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari SF16-H 1:24.939 36
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid 1:25.409 0.470 66
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes FW38 1:26.091 1.152 43
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12 1:26.704 1.765 20
5 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11 1:27.180 2.241 35
6 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda MP4-31 1:27.691 2.752 35
7 Marcus Ericcson Sauber-Ferrari C34 1:28.165 3.226 36
8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari VF-16 1:28.399 3.460 13
9 Alfonso Celis Force India-Mercedes VJM09 1:29.406 4.467 21
10 Jolyon Palmer Renault R.S.16 1:31.351 6.412 15
11 Pascal Wehrlein Manor Racing-Ferrari MRT05 1:33.455 8.516 8
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Post by Chris K. Hale on Feb 22, 2016 6:52:18 GMT -8
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Post by afx on Feb 22, 2016 11:22:01 GMT -8
Mercedes logged some very impressive mileage especially for day 1!
Day one final times
1. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1:24.939 - 69 laps
2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - 1:25.409 - 156 laps
3. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull - 1:26.044 - 87 laps
4. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:26.091 - 80 laps
5. Alfonso Celis - Force India - 1:26.298 - 58 laps
6. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:26.735 - 84 laps
7. Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso 1.27.180 - 55 laps
8. Marcs Ericsson - Sauber - 1:27.555 - 88 laps
9. Pascal Wehrlein - Manor - 1:28.292 - 54 laps
10. Romain Grosjean - Haas - 1:28.399 - 31 laps
11. Jolyon Palmer - Renault - 1:29.356 - 37 laps |
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Post by afx on Feb 23, 2016 16:18:08 GMT -8
F1 agrees to shake up qualifying format
Formula One is set for a revised qualifying format this year with live elimination during the session to spice up the show.
The new format was agreed at a meeting in Geneva of the F1 Strategy Group and F1 Commission to discuss ways to make the sport more exciting. The agreement to change the format is targeted at mixing up grids without using artificial measures such as reversing the order.
The new rules will still see qualifying divided into three segments, with drivers expected to be on track throughout and eliminated during each session. The first session will last 16 minutes and after the first seven minutes a driver will be knocked out every 90 seconds until 15 are left. The same will apply in Q2 with further seven set to be knocked out by the same method until eight remain.
The final eight will then shoot it out with the eliminations starting again after the first five minutes until two cars are left on track battling for pole.
The new rules are likely to cause a few upsets at certain races and will offer action throughout the sessions.
Further details of the decisions made by the Strategy Group and F1 Commission, including areo regulations for 2017, power unit supply and cockpit proctection, are expected to be communicated on Wednesday
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Post by afx on Feb 26, 2016 3:17:41 GMT -8
Sebastian Vettel turned to Pirelli's new ultra-soft tyre to set the quickest time in the first pre-season Formula 1 test of 2016 at Barcelona.
Only Ferrari and Red Bull ran the rule over the rubber Pirelli feels is 0.5-0.8 seconds per lap faster than the next softest tyre in its range, the super-soft.
LAWRENCE BARRETTO: How good was Ferrari's start?
The ultra-soft runners occupied four of the top-six places in the combined times for the week, with Ferrari duo Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen top and third respectively, split by Force India's Nico Hulkenberg.
On the super-soft tyre, Hulkenberg finished just 0.3s adrift of Vettel, and a third of a second up on Raikkonen.
From fourth to sixth it was a similar story as for the top three, with super-soft runner Sergio Perez in his Force India fifth quickest, sandwiched by Red Bull duo Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat's ultra-soft times.
Pirelli surprised by early ultra-soft use
Overall, Ferrari led the way on three of the four days, with Hulkenberg denying the Scuderia a clean sweep on Wednesday.
Raikkonen was forced to settle for third on that occasion as newcomer Haas and Romain Grosjean sprang a surprise by nudging into second, although do not read too much into that.
As for Mercedes, it opted not to set any kind of eye-catching time. Instead Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg ground out the laps (675) and miles (1952) in search of reliability.
No other driver or team came close, with Renault's debutant Kevin Magnussen next up behind the Mercedes pair with 264 laps.
IAN PARKES: Why Mercedes' rivals should be afraid
On the constructors' front, Toro Rosso - with a 2015 Ferrari power unit in the STR11 - fared well as it managed 447 laps, but still 227 shy of the German manufacturer.
Ferrari managed just half the distance of Mercedes - 1952 miles compared to 1020 - and barely conducted any set-up work, according to Raikkonen.
McLaren, following its woes last season, started off on a firm footing, until a hydraulics leak in the MP4-31 for Jenson Button on Wednesday, and coolant leak for Fernando Alonso on Thursday, severely curtailed the car's running.
Newcomer Haas will be pleased with the amount of mileage it covered, amounting to just over 800 in total, finishing ahead of McLaren and Manor.
DIETER RENCKEN: Haas's journey from idea to F1 reality
With rookie pairing Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto on board, Manor managed 254 laps, which could have been more but for spins for Haryanto on each of his two days, costing him and the team valuable track time.
Bringing up the rear was Jolyon Palmer in the Renault, his week in stark contrast to team-mate Magnussen as a software issue on his first outing on Monday and turbo problem on Tuesday restricted him to just 79 laps in total.
COMBINED TEST STATS:
Combined best laptimes of the week:
Pos Driver Car Time Gap Tyre
1. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m22.810s US
2. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1m23.110s +0.300s SS
3. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m23.477s +0.667s US
4. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1m23.525s +0.715s US
5. Sergio Perez Force India 1m23.650s +0.840s SS
6. Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1m24.293s +1.483s US
7. Alfonso Celis Jr Force India 1m24.840s +2.030s SS
8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m24.867s +2.057s M
9. Marcus Ericsson Sauber (2015) 1m25.237s +2.427s S
10. Kevin Magnussen Renault 1m25.263s +2.453s S
11. Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1m25.393s +2.583s M
12. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m25.409s +2.599s M
13. Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1m25.524s +2.714s S
14. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m25.648s +2.838s S
15. Romain Grosjean Haas 1m25.874s +3.064s S
16. Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1m25.925s +3.115s S
17. Felipe Nasr Sauber (2015) 1m26.053s +3.243s S
18. Fernando Alonso McLaren 1m26.082s +3.272s S
19. Jolyon Palmer Renault 1m26.189s +3.379s S
20. Carlos Sainz Jr Toro Rosso 1m26.239s +3.429s M
21. Felipe Massa Williams 1m26.483s +3.673s S
22. Jenson Button McLaren 1m26.735s +3.925s S
23. Rio Haryanto Manor 1m28.249s +5.439s M
Total mileage per driver:
Pos Driver Miles
1. Lewis Hamilton 992
2. Nico Rosberg 960
3. Kevin Magnussen 764
4. Felipe Nasr 683
5. Max Verstappen 668
6. Carlos Sainz Jr 624
7. Valtteri Bottas 619
8. Daniel Ricciardo 575
9. Marcus Ericsson 567
10. Sebastian Vettel 564
11. Daniil Kvyat 492
12. Esteban Gutierrez 486
13. Felipe Massa 472
14. Kimi Raikkonen 457
15. Jenson Button 390
16. Alfonso Celis Jr 385
17. Rio Haryanto 373
18. Pascal Wehrlein 362
19. Fernando Alonso 353
20. Romain Grosjean 327
21. Sergio Perez 292
22. Nico Hulkenberg 286
23. Jolyon Palmer 229
Total mileage per team:
Pos Team Miles
1. Mercedes 1952
2. Toro Rosso 1293
3. Sauber (2015 car) 1250
4. Williams 1091
5. Red Bull 1068
6. Ferrari 1021
7. Renault 992
8. Force India 963
9. Haas 813
10. McLaren 743
11. Manor 734
Total mileage per engine:
Pos Engine Miles
1. Mercedes 4741
2. Ferrari 2015 3245
3. Renault/TAG 2111
4. Ferrari 2016 1021
5. Honda 743
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Post by afx on Mar 3, 2016 3:07:02 GMT -8
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