Formula 1 2010 Driver Lineup (Updated)

March 8, 2010 · Posted in Formula 1 · 1 Comment 

I thought that I had waited long enough before posting the 2010 season driver lineup. One of the new teams, Hispania Racing, has “miracled” their way onto the grid. Also, Sauber’s team has been finalized. So, here is take two for the driver lineup:

Mclaren:
Jensen Button – #1
Lewis Hamilton – #2 		Mercedes GP:
Michael Schumacher – #3
Nico Rosberg – #4
Red Bull:
Sebastian Vettel – #5
Mark Webber – #6 		Ferrari:
Felipe Massa – #7
Fernando Alonso – #8
Williams:
Rubens Barrichello – #9
Nico Hulkenberg – #10 		Renault:
Robert Kubica – #11
Vitaly Petrov – #12
Force India:
Adrian Sutil – #13
Vitantonio Liuzzi – #14 		Toro Rosso:
Sebastien Buemi – #15
Jaime Alguersuari – #17
Lotus:
Heikki Kovalainen – #18
Jarno Trulli – #19 		Hispania Racing:
Karun Chandhok – #20
Bruno Senna – #21
BMW Sauber:
Pedro de la Rosa – #22
Kamui Kobayashi – #23 		Virgin:
Timo Glock – #24
Lucas di Grassi – #25

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Formula 1 2010 Driver Lineup

February 28, 2010 · Posted in Formula 1 · Comment 

Pre-season testing has officially come to a close as the clock continues to countdown the remaining days until the first Grand Prix in Bahrain, March 14th. Two of the new start up teams, having run into financial difficulties, are still scrambling to make their debut appearances. Although it appears that Campos Meta has been saved, US F1’s future still remains in serious doubt. Meanwhile, Stefan GP is still making waves and hoping to gain FIA acceptance and be on the grid in Bahrain.

Here is the driver lineup and car numbers for all of the confirmed teams:

Mclaren:
Jensen Button – #1
Lewis Hamilton – #2 		Mercedes GP:
Michael Schumacher – #3
Nico Rosberg – #4
Red Bull:
Sebastian Vettel – #5
Mark Webber – #6 		Ferrari:
Felipe Massa – #7
Fernando Alonso – #8
Williams:
Rubens Barrichello – #9
Nico Hulkenberg – #10 		Renault:
Robert Kubica – #11
Vitaly Petrov – #12
Force India:
Adrian Sutil – #13
Vitantonio Liuzzi – #14 		Toro Rosso:
Sebastien Buemi – #15
Jaime Alguersuari – #17
Lotus:
Heikki Kovalainen – #18
Jarno Trulli – #19 		Virgin:
Timo Glock – #24
Lucas di Grassi – #25

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Formula One Teams 2010 ~ Lotus

February 13, 2010 · Posted in Formula 1 · Comment 

Technically this is not a new Formula 1 team. Lotus was one of the top F1 teams during the 1950’s thru the 1970’s; winning 7 constructors championships and 6 drivers championships during that period. The company began to struggle in the 80’s after the death of Colin Chapman, Lotus Engineering’s founder, of a heart attack in 1982. Poor car designs followed by mounting debts eventually saw the end of the Lotus era. The team’s last race was in Australia in 1994. The Lotus name is back for 2010 under new management with the full support of Chapman’s family and sporting the ever familiar green and yellow.

Lotus Racing – Malaysia
Drivers:
Heikki Kovalainen – Finland
Jarno Trulli – Italy

Team Principal:
Tony Fernandes



    Technical Specifications:

  • Engine: Cosworth V8 CA2010
  • Chassis material: Carbon fibre
  • Dampers: Panske
  • Gearbox: X-Trac
  • Clutch: AP Carbon Multi Plate
  • Wheels: BBS to Lotus spec

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F1 & the 2010 Rear Diffusers

February 12, 2010 · Posted in Formula 1 · Comment 

Last year’s Formula 1 season began with a huge controversy over rear diffusers. Namely over three teams, Brawn, Williams and Toyota, who had interpreted the regulations in a manner differently from the rest of the grid. The advantages that the “Diffuser Gang” were getting from their set-ups was quite noticeable during the final days of testing. When I say noticeable I mean that the double-diffuser cars were posting half a second faster times. Formula 1 racing is measured in hundredths and thousandths of a second. Therefore, half a second is a massive advantage.

Without getting into too much tech-speak, the rear diffuser on an F1 car separates the air flowing under the car to reduce drag and increase downforce. Reduced drag and increased downforce equates a faster and more stable car on the track.

Naturally, the other teams cried foul and much of the beginning of the 2009 season was spent discussing rear diffusers and how exactly the FIA regulations were worded. At the end of all of the meetings it was decided that Brawn, Williams and Toyota were not in fault of the rules, causing the other teams to frantically re-modify their cars for the new diffusers. Not a simple or inexpensive feat to pull off.

Formula 1 is not without its politics and its controversies and it will be interesting to see what the start of this season will bring. So, for a bit of fun, I have attempted to collect photos of the current challengers’ rear diffusers for comparison:

Ferrari F10

McLaren MP4

Mercedes MGPW01

Red Bull RB6

Renault R30

BMW Sauber C29

Toro Rosso STR5

Virgin Racing VR01

Williams FW32

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Interview w/ Red Bull’s Christian Horner

February 11, 2010 · Posted in Formula 1 · Comment 

The drizzle in evidence for most of Wednesday at Jerez wasn’t the ideal weather in which to debut their new car, but Red Bull are feeling pretty pleased with their RB6. Team principal Christian Horner can certainly see a lot of potential in the Adrian Newey-penned challenger, especially as most of the field are running 2010 cars that have been heavily influenced by its predecessor, the RB5…

Q: Christian, people are expecting miracles from the RB6. How is it in reality?
Christian Horner: The RB6 is an evolution of the RB5, which I believe was the best chassis in Formula One last year. Adrian and his design team have done a fantastic job over the winter. They’ve made some good steps, but it is still too early to know what the other teams have done. We are focused on our own performance and we are very encouraged by the progress that we’ve made.

Q: You opted for more time in the wind tunnel rather than take the car to the first test. Was that a wise decision, considering the weather on Wednesday?
CH: Last year, taking more time in R&D served us very well, considering the reliability of the car. And when you take into account that we have stayed with basically the same people – engineers, drivers, engine partner – we are better taking more R&D time, because the steps the teams are making are quite large at the moment to start the season in the best possible shape. It was a tactic that worked very well for us in 2009 and we are very happy with our decision this year.

Q: What can you say about the car after one day of running?
CH: Well, the first two tests are basically to understand the tyres and to put reliability and mileage on the car. The most critical test will be the last test in Barcelona because that is where all the teams will use their race updates, so that’s where we are focusing on.

Q: Mark Webber and not Sebastian Vettel had the honour of taking the car out of the pits for the first time on Wednesday. Why?
CH: There is nothing specific behind that. Mark did the shakedown last year, when he struggled to get into the car, so we thought that it would be nice for him to do it this year so he’ll be able to get into the car without needing anybody to help him. Otherwise we’ve split the testing equally between the drivers.

Q: Webber had some issues with the car on Wednesday morning. Is it something serious?
CH: He had a small issue and turned the engine off as a precaution. He had a small oil leak, but the car completed more laps than anybody else during the morning running. We’re very encouraged with what we’ve seen so far.

Q: What about the engine? Are you happy with what you’ve got?
CH: We have a very good relationship with Renault. They support us very well, which was a key aspect of why we renewed the agreement for this year. The key issue with the engine is that we currently have an engine freeze. The advantage of that is the reduction in costs; the disadvantage is that if you have disparity between the engine performances then you freeze an advantage or a disadvantage. When the engine freeze was introduced it was on the understanding that the performance differential should be plus or minus one percent, so there wouldn’t be big differences and the engine would not be a key performance differentiator. Obviously each engine has its own characteristics, but it would not be a key performance differentiator. But what we now see is that there is a significant difference between one engine and the rest of them. As the chassis converge in performance, as the regulations stay stable, the engine will become a more predominant factor, and I don’t think it will be a healthy situation to have one dominate all the races.

Q: How closely did you watch your competitors at the first test in Valencia?
CH: We were obviously keeping an eye on what the others were doing, of course, but we have been pretty much focused on our own performance. Sure there’ve been some interesting bits and pieces – how teams have applied the new regulations. I must say the size of the diffuser seems to have grown significantly over the winter!

Q: Have you seen anybody who has pushed the rules too far? Any surprises?
CH: It was flattering to see that several cars have been influenced by last year’s RB5, but it is difficult to convert this into performance, due to the different fuel loads that others might be running on. You have a range of 10 to 170 kilos. Regarding any surprises I would say that there is nothing our engineers and designers haven’t already looked at. It was reassuring to see evolution rather than anything too radical.

Q: If you could have three wishes for 2010, what would they be?
CH: One would be to win the constructors’ championship, one would be to win the drivers’ championship and the third one would be… what would the third one be? Oh, to beat Bernie (Ecclestone) at backgammon!

Formula 1 – The Official F1 Website

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