BlogF1

Rain washed out the final day of testing at Circuit de Catalunya today, with only eight drivers setting laps and Force India deciding to head home early and save their mileage. Mark Webber ventured out on track early in between showers and was able to set a time that would stand for the rest of the day. Heikki Kovalainen was sent out in the McLaren MP4-23 and was the fastest of the drivers setting laps on the totally soaked tarmac, running 1.5s down on Webber and less than 0.1s up on Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari. The gap to fourth placed driver Robert Kubica was 1.1s, the remaining positions taken up by Jenson Button, Kazuki Nakajima, Nelson Piquet Jr and Jarno Trulli in eighth. Continue Reading

Three races into the season and Scuderia Toro Rosso have finally received their new machine, the STR3. Designed by parent team Red Bull Racing and bearing a strong resemblance to the RB4 currently driven by Mark Webber and David Coulthard, it is hoped the new motor will help the team in getting further into the midfield. Sebastien Bourdais was the second driver to run it around a circuit, turning up this morning at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya to take part in the test session with other teams. The car has already been shaken down by New Zealand’s Brendon Hartley at Vairano a couple of weeks ago. Continue Reading

Red Bull Racing have been given the green light to continue participating in this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix. The news follows a strange incident involving David Coulthard’s car which caused the stewards concern. During the first Free Practice session the Scot ran wide and slid over a kerb. As Coulthard controlled the car and brought it back onto the circuit it appears as though he suffers a catastrophic suspension failure. This follows the damage he sustained after being knocked at the back of the car by Felipe Massa at Albert Park last weekend. Continue Reading

Following David Coulthard’s incident in Free Practice One earlier today, the Malaysian Grand Prix stewards have demanded a technical report from Red Bull Racing to be submitted to the FIA. The incident Coulthard suffered should have been relatively minor, but damage caused to the track rod by the Scot running over the kerbs appears to be more substantial than normal. Combined with the damaged caused to the front of David’s car at the Australian Grand Prix, the stewards are concerned there maybe something not quite right on the Red Bull. Continue Reading

If ever one team looked as they were carefully orchestrating the puzzle pieces into place with high-precision, then Red Bull Racing would surely match the bill. From the team’s first season in 2005 onwards Red Bull have steadily improved, enjoying a few flash-in-the-pan results and gaining some key staff while a masterplan is followed. In 2006 Adrian Newey arrived from McLaren and a deal was struck to run Ferrari engines. In 2007 the team ran Renault engine units and apparently courted Fernando Alonso when he became available. But despite all this, last year was perhaps a year of treading water for the squad as reliability troubles hit the team and stopped them in their tracks. Continue Reading

Having been away from BlogF1 for the last week there is lots of news to catch up on. In particular, Force India launched their 2008 car, the VJM01, night races have become once again a big talking point and Portugal wants a race again, having not been seen on the calendar since 1996 at Estoril. I’ll talk about Force India separately in a later post, but first I need to wade through all the hype that is currently doing the rounds as the teams prepare their new cars for the season start in Australia next month. Here’s what some people are saying about their chances in 2008. Continue Reading

On the final day of this weekend test at the Catalan circuit, Mark Webber managed to beat the opposition and put his Red Bull Racing in the top spot. Beating the McLarens, Webber went less than 0.05s faster than Heikki Kovalainen, but it was enough to claim the fastest lap of the day and adds to Scuderia Toro Rosso’s success yesterday. Lewis Hamilton finished the day in third with Robert Kubica for BMW in fourth and Fernando Alonso in fifth in the new Renault R28. Continue Reading

You may have thought that now most of the new cars have been launched, few changes would be made prior to the first race in Australia next month. Well, you’d be wrong if you thought that as the teams are busy trying out new parts all the time, none more so than Red Bull. The squad, under the watchful eye of Adrian Newey, turned up at Barcelona this morning with a very interesting addition to the engine cover on their RBR4. Continue Reading

Following the launch of Red Bull’s fourth car to compete in Formula One, the second under the direction of technical director Adrian Newey, Red Bull have also confirmed Sebastien Buemi to the official test and reserve driver role. Buemi, who replaced Michael Ammermuller last year at some sessions will combine his duties with Red Bull with a drive in the GP2 series. The team also spoke to the media about their new car and the future prospects for the team. Continue Reading

Red Bull Racing this morning launched their 2008 challenger, the RBR4. In now typical Red Bull fashion, the low-key unveiling took place at Jerez ahead of the final two days of testing, with a simple ceremony in the pitlane. The RBR4 is the second to come from the drawing board of Adrian Newey, an aerodynamicist who rose to fame with his championship winning Williams and McLarens. In 2007, the team experienced terrible reliability with the RBR3, mostly centred around the gear box and causing both drivers numerous retirements. However, 2008 sees good continuity within the team, retaining both drivers, the Renault engine and key engineering and development staff. Continue Reading