Formula1

Second and final day of testing in Bahrain is over.

Unofficial Wednesday times from Bahrain:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m 34.136s, 120 laps
2. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1m 35.557s, 64 laps
3. Kevin Magnussen, McLaren, 1m 36.203s, 26 laps
4. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1m 36.586s, 63 laps
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1m 37.310s, 67 laps
6. Jules Bianchi, Marussia, 1m 37.316s, 93 laps
7. Giedo van der Garde, Sauber, 1m 37.623s, 77 laps
8. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1m 37.912s, 12 laps
9. Marcus Ericsson, Caterham, 1m 39.263s, 66 laps
10. Felipe Nasr, Williams, 1m 39.879s, 64 laps
11. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1m 43.732s, 16 laps


Ferrari did only 12 laps because they decided to use Raikkonen's car which was damaged on Friday and repaired for the weekend. Damage showed up again and they didn't want to risk any accidents.
 
Think, some teams tested quite unnormal setups there, can't figure out in other ways, why Williams would be so much slower than the rest.
 
well, they are testing things they have in mind and usually don't care about lap times because it is all about gathering data, trying out new pieces etc.

But...because of all that Mercedes-Pirelli secret testing last year this year it is mandated for teams to put themselves at Pirelli's disposal for tire testing. On Tuesday it was Caterham, today Mercedes and Williams were at Pirelli's disposal.

In Barcelona on May 13th Pirelli testing will be done by Sauber & Toro Rosso and on May 14th by McLaren & Force India.

In Silverstone on July 8th Pirelli testing will be done by Ferrari & Lotus and on July 9th that duty will be carried by Red Bull & Marussia.


At last test session in this season, in Abu Dhabi, no team will be required to do Pirelli testing, but all will have prototype of 2015 tires for testing
 
There are rumors that Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has lost his patience with current Scuderia team principal Stefano Domenicalli and that he's been given until Spanish GP to sort team up and show some progress. Also there is a lot of talking that next Scuderia team principal will be either Ross Brawn or Flavio Briatore


EDIT: And yet another rumor: BMW is looking into the possibility to come back to F1 in 2015. as another engine supplier. That will be than 5th engine supplier together with Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Honda. It has been suggested that BMW's board will decide on that this May
 
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And all that because of change in engine rules. Renault confirmed that they would withdraw after 2013 if they stayed with V8s, statement from Mercedes is that if rules haven't changed they would stay in as long as they would have been wining and Honda didn't even consider coming back until current rules were confirmed. BMW would be happier if rules were as they were firstly suggested (inline 4-cylinder engines) as they had great results with that configuration in 80s
 
And we could have new team in F1 soon

FIA grants Gene Haas Formula 1 entry

The FIA has granted Gene Haas’ proposed Formula 1 team an entry into the sport for 2015.

Following the governing body’s decision to open up a tender for a 12th team to join the grid, Haas made his intentions clear to try and enter an American team for 2015.

After meeting with the FIA earlier this year and going through a careful selection process, the co-owner of the Stewart-Haas NASCAR team has received the green light for his project to go ahead.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone had said that he expected Haas’ project to be approved, fighting off competition from rival proposals from Colin Kolles and Zoran Stefanovic. However, it was not until today that formal confirmation has been given by the FIA.

“We’re extremely pleased to have been granted a Formula 1 licence by the FIA,” Haas said in a statement.

“It’s an exciting time for me, Haas Automation and anyone who wanted to see an American team return to Formula 1.

“Now, the really hard work begins. It’s a challenge we embrace as we work to put cars on the grid. I want to thank the FIA for this opportunity and the diligence everyone put forth to see our licence application come to fruition.”

Ecclestone did suggest earlier this week that there could be a 13th team on the grid, suggesting that Colin Kolles Romanian-backed project could still go ahead relying everything is in place.

The last time an American Formula 1 team was proposed saw US F1 fail to make the grid despite a great deal of fanfare and planning. However, the difference this time around is that Haas has a successful racing team and automation business in place already.

Haas is thought to be looking to use a Dallara built chassis and Ferrari engines, with a European base being located in Italy not too far from the prancing horse’s home in Maranello to work in tandem with operations in the United States.

From what he has said though, it is clear that Haas is aware of the steep challenge that awaits him and his team. Many Formula 1 teams have secured a place on the grid only to never actually make it work, but often they have been privateer projects without enough backing or a racing team in place.

It is likely that there will also be a push for an American driver to become involved in the team. Caterham reserve Alexander Rossi is currently the only US driver to hold an FIA superlicense to race in Formula, but fellow GP2 racer Conor Daly is also a bright prospect that could be an option for the team. Should either driver line up on the grid, they would become the first American to race in Formula 1 since Scott Speed in 2007.

Should the team fail to get ready in time to make the grid in 2015, it is likely that the FIA would be willing to hold the spot until 2016 to give Haas and co. more of a chance to prepare.

The arrival of Haas’ team may not bump the number of teams up to 12 should an existing team leave the sport. Caterham owner Tony Fernandes has suggested that without an upturn in fortunes for his team, he would consider walking away from the sport, whilst Marussia has recently changed hands following the collapse of the motor company.

There is also still a push for a second race in the United States to complement the grand prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The proposed “Grand Prix of America” in New Jersey has been postponed twice, but still has a place on the calendar for 2015. Ecclestone is also keen on taking Formula 1 back to Long Beach after 30 years away.

With the possibility of there being two races, an American team and an American driver, the future is very bright for Formula 1 in the United States.
 
I thought that it was already confirmed that the Haas crew would start in F1 next season? Latest news I heard was them being certainly there next year and a second, yet unknown team, to be there with a high possibility as they already got their license, too, but hadn't secured all remaining technical deals.
 
Good news. The more teams the better. A 26 car grid would be more interesting.

Anyone else get nostalgic for some of the 90's teams? Ligier, Minardi, Jordan, Arrows?
 
@S-NipE

It was nothing official until yesterday. Haas has been given the spot for next season, but FIA is willing to keep his place should he need to postpone entering F1 for a year. 11 months is really just enough time to produce any car, let alone a competitive one.

Other 2 candidates were ex. HRT team principal Colin Kolles with financial backing from Romania and Stefanović from Serbia. It is being reported that Kolles will get the place should FIA decide to expand the grid to 13 teams
 
Good news. The more teams the better. A 26 car grid would be more interesting.

Anyone else get nostalgic for some of the 90's teams? Ligier, Minardi, Jordan, Arrows?

Only Minardi as they had the charme of the small team with nearly no money and still managed to be there every year. Will always remember Webber's finish in Australia in 2002. The rest wasn't remarkable for me, especially Jordan as I always felt antipathy for Eddie Jordan, even during the time when Frentzen and Ralf were semi-successful with the team.
 
I always liked Jordan team because they were somewhat relaxed about everything, even when they were championship contenders in late 90s. Minardi was a fantastic team, 20 years with bad results yet they never backed up, they always tried and celebrated a point like they won the championship. They were here just for racing and even if results never actually came they were in it with passion.

Oh and Super Aguri...such a shame that their sponsors never actually paid for their spot on the car. IMHO they were in some races better than works Honda, with car that Honda gave them and was bad a year before. Some good talented guys were in that team. Some of them even worked on Honda's car which became Brawn BGP01
 
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new rumors about engine suppliers:
It seems that Ford is interested in renewing their collaboration with Cosworth (like in 60s for example). Cosworth has, reportedly, designed a whole Power Unit for 2014 regulations but don't have funds to develop it further and offer to teams. Ford is, if rumors are true, interested in funding that project and entering sport as engine supplier under the name Ford-Cosworth.
 
Makes sense for both parties. Cosworth has done the groundwork, Ford can part fund the project and get their name back in F1. The collaboration has succeeded in the past.
 
Only Minardi as they had the charme of the small team with nearly no money and still managed to be there every year. Will always remember Webber's finish in Australia in 2002. The rest wasn't remarkable for me, especially Jordan as I always felt antipathy for Eddie Jordan, even during the time when Frentzen and Ralf were semi-successful with the team.

I always liked Jordan team because they were somewhat relaxed about everything, even when they were championship contenders in late 90s. Minardi was a fantastic team, 20 years with bad results yet they never backed up, they always tried and celebrated a point like they won the championship. They were here just for racing and even if results never actually came they were in it with passion.

Oh and Super Aguri...such a shame that their sponsors never actually paid for their spot on the car. IMHO they were in some races better than works Honda, with car that Honda gave them and was bad a year before. Some good talented guys were in that team. Some of them even worked on Honda's car which became Brawn BGP01

I miss Jordan because, to me, they added a little spark and colour to the pit lane. Eddie Jordan was/is a bit of a twat but his team enjoyed a fair amount of success with their relatively small resources. They had some great drivers pass through that team and also provided some iconic looking cars (imo) such as the early blue/green '7up' cars and the later yellow/black Benson and Hedges models.

I also miss Ligier. The team was overtly French and proud, from the blue cars to the Gitanes and Elf sponsorship to the conveyor belt of French talent that they liked to bring through the team. A big loss to the grid if you ask me.

Minardi were the plucky underdogs that were in F1 purely out of passion. Sorely missed.
 
No sadly, new team principal will be Marco Mattiacci

This is summary about him someone gathered on one f1 forum from LinkedIN
Marco Mattiacci

President & CEO at Ferrari North America
Education: Columbia Business School
Specialties:Strong passion and understanding of Marketing dynamics but with great focus on ROI and all the aspect of Finance. Execution, Execution, Execution! Take out 120% from each member of the team
 
Mercedes has some brilliant guys in their engineering department. They managed to rise their nose quite a bit without adding that extension at the front. They are using the same loophole Lotus used with their "double nose", but instead they are using front wing support pylons as nose tip

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China, FP1
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China, FP2
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Ferraro looked great today, but Ferrari always looks great on Friday. Than comes Saturday and they are happy if they manage to be in top10 in qualifying
 
Mercedes has some brilliant guys in their engineering department. They managed to rise their nose quite a bit without adding that extension at the front. They are using the same loophole Lotus used with their "double nose", but instead they are using front wing support pylons as nose tip

BlaBvijCMAEPAje.jpg:large
Sorry to say, but if you can trick the rules to easily, it's ridiculous to even have them.
 
Well, F1 was always about trying to trick the rules where they are not defined so good. Same thing was with exhausts few years ago, double deck diffusers in 2009 and 2010, all those aero things on cars in 2000-2008 era etc.
 
I never look forward to F1 visiting China. A grim, soulless dump of a circuit in a country where nobody really cares about motorsport.
Couldn't agree more. Similar situation to the now defunct Korean Grand Prix. Probably the two worst circuits Tilke made.

@Cuky: Well, you're right, but right now the teams are adding things here or cutting things there to circumvent the rules in an amount that I can't remember to have ever seen in motorsport before.

By the way, a completely off-topic question @Jamezinho as a native speaker of English: My thesaurus always underlines it, when I write "motorsport" and also the normal German-English dictionary I used seems to have no knowledge about such a word. Is it really only correct when written "motor sport" in English (in contrast to f.e. the German word "Motorsport", which surprisingly means exactly the same)? Seems as odd as the "stadiums vs stadia"-plural-question-case to me. Thought I might know a bit of English after using it for many years now, but I'm feeling a bit stupid at the moment. :LOL:
 
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Do you know, I'm not sure so don't feel stupid! "Motorsport" is more commonly used rather than "motor sport", although the latter seems technically correct according to spell check.
 
@Jamezinho
Real shame is that this track actually is quite good, just the place where it is makes it look dull.


As for "motorsport" or "motor sport"...here in Croatia we have done it quite simple: we just removed "r" and now we have "motosport" with no confusion if it is one or two words :D


And Maldonado had a bit of nightmare in FP1 too. He didn't crash, but he did this:
YouTube - F1 2014 China Maldonado


Please note that this replay is not slowed down, that was the speed he was going through that part of the track (his first lap out of pits)
 
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