Thursday, 9 February 2012
Pirelli intend to spice up Formula 1 in 2012
Pirelli motorsport chief Paul Hembery spoke to the BBC about the changes the company has made to the F1 tyres this year. He said: 'At the end of last year, if anything, we were being slightly criticised for being a bit conservative, which was strange after the start we had. So we had to make some changes to the slick tyre in particular. We've got three new compounds, new hard, medium and soft tyres, much more aggressive, softer in the direction of performance, a new profile, which gives a larger footprint. That means putting a lot more rubber on the track and allows us to use those softer compounds and hopefully (re)create some of that excitement from earlier in the season.' Hembery said the idea was to spice up the racing even more than in 2011. 'I think we'd all like to see closer racing at the front. The midfield battle was fascinating. If that could transform itself to the front, we're in for an exciting season because then the differences in tyres can come through in a much more determining fashion. They've got to work with the strategies, the drivers can have a big impact on the performance of the tyres, the degradation and the wear life.'"
Range Extended Electric vehicle becomes first to Finish Gruelling Dakar Rally
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Force India VJM05 Launched - Caution may make you wince
Paul Di Resta Force India VJM05 - Silverstone |
The VJM05 (designated after Force India owner ViJay Mallya) is the latest car launched to follow the 'Platypus' nose trend, but this one looks quite cute fetching a rolled up carbon fibre newspaper in it's mouth - awww sweet. The sidepods look to have a more tightly curved lower edge and seem to be slightly shorter too, other than that the car is visually similar to last years VJM04.
Once again the Sahara Force India cars will be powered by the Mercedes 2.4 litre V8 engines with gearbox supplied by McLaren Applied Technologies. This will be the second season with the Mercedes KERS. Here's what the key team members had to say at the launch.
Paul Di Resta
“Seeing the new car built and complete for the first time is always an exciting moment. It’s when you realise that all the waiting is finally over and the season is beginning for real. I’ve had a good winter and I’ve recharged my batteries, but now I’m fully focussed on 2012 and looking forward to the start of testing. There’s a really positive feeling in the team, good stability and hopefully we can pick up where we left off at the end of last year.”
Nico Hulkenberg
“I saw the new car in the wind tunnel a few times and followed its progress during the winter. It looks aggressive and fast, but we won’t know where we stand until we get out there and compete against the others. Preparations for the new season have been full-on with simulator sessions and lots of fitness training. I feel ready to get back to racing and I’m excited to find out what the new car feels like next week.”
Otmar Szafnauer - Chief Operating Officer
“The new car has come together nicely over the winter. We don’t know what our competitors have done, but we’ve made some gains over the winter and believe we’re in reasonable shape. It’s going to be difficult in the midfield, but our focus is on starting strongly and improving our position from last season.”
Dr. Vijay Mallya - Team Principal and Managing Director
“We have set our sights on challenging for fifth place. To do so we will need to begin the new campaign by delivering the kind of form we showed in the second half of 2011. I believe this is a realistic goal and that we have the talent and determination to realise these ambitions.”
A Duck-billed platypus delivering it's carbon newspaper |
Friday, 3 February 2012
Ferrari F2012 launched - Another hideous nose job!
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Mclaren unveil 2012 Formula 1 car - It's still red & silver!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)