Getting the setup right is a challenge teams are grappling with in 2012.

So far this season, four different cars have won the four grands prix, with Pirelli’s difficult tyres credited or blamed for the unbalance of power.

The key, according to Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn, is car setup.

“We can’t modify the setup between qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday,” he is quoted by Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper. “And they are very different challenges, especially with this year’s tyres.

“It’s one thing to get the car to be fast on one lap and quite another to make it fast and consistent over 70.

“Whoever can anticipate what will be required for the race and come to a compromise – maybe to the detriment of grid position – should have a decisive advantage in the race.

“But it’s not easy to anticipate what happens on Sunday,” insisted Brawn.

Charlie Whiting has vowed to do what he can to ensure next year’s cars are not as ‘ugly’ as the 2012 generation.
“It’s an ugly regulation,” said Red Bull’s Mark Webber, referring to the compromise reached between the FIA’s push for lower nose heights, and the teams wanting to keep the old monocoque dimensions.

It has meant every 2012 machine, with the notable exception of the McLaren, has a conspicuous ‘duck head’-style bump in the middle of the front of the car.

“We only got a sense of what was coming in December,” Whiting is quoted by Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo, “when it was too late.”

The Briton said the new rule for 2013 would have to be agreed by the end of June.

“I promise to do everything I can so that the representatives of the teams agree to a change,” said Whiting.

Jean Alesi has welcomed news his native France looks set to rejoin the formula one calendar.
It is expected that, three years after Magny Cours dropped off the schedule, France will return in 2013 with a single annual date to be alternated between Paul Ricard and Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps.

“The drivers love Spa and I think it is very important to always go there because of the spectacle, the history and everything else,” Frenchman Alesi, who contested more than 200 grands prix until 2011, said.

“But the problem is the money,” the 1995 Canadian grand prix winner and Group Lotus ambassador is quoted by France’s Auto Hebdo.

“Spa doesn’t have enough (money) to compete with places like Abu Dhabi. So it would be a shame to lose Spa but I say it’s better to go every other year than not at all.

“The compromise would be beneficial for everyone. As I am French, I would love to see the French grand prix coming back,” added Alesi, “and with the sharing (scheme), we can have both (France and Spa).”

Formula one engines will still sound good in the wake of the current V8 era, the governing FIA has insisted.
The unique noise produced by powerful high-revving engines has been an issue each time the regulations substantially changed, including when V8 engines became mandatory at the abolition of the V10 era for 2006.

But the proposed switch in 2013 from V8 to 1.6 litre four-cylinder turbo engines caused unprecedented angst, including from Bernie Ecclestone and the majority of his race circuit promoters, who threatened to boycott F1 if the cars sounded like “tin cans rattling”.

A compromise has been reached in the form of a 1.6 litre V6 turbo engine, producing 15,000rpm rather than the 12,000 proposed for the inline-four rules, to debut in 2014.

But in a media document on Thursday, the FIA denied the rev increase for V6s was in deference to the sound debate.

“This parameter has been updated from 12,000 to 15,000rpm to allow engineers more flexibility in power and energy management,” read the statement.

“However, as a consequence of the new architecture and the change in rev-limit, the engine will sound different, but will remain representative of formula one,” claims the FIA.

The governing body also insists that the V6 engines will not use more fuel than under the defunct four-cylinder plan.

“The fuel flow limit will stay the same,” read the document. “The challenge will be even bigger than originally planned and will therefore enhance the technological lead of formula one.”

F1 engine supplier Renault is happy with the new engine rules for 2014, despite recently threatening to quit if four-cylinder rules did not debut a year earlier than that.
With Bernie Ecclestone and all of F1′s other engine makers opposed to Jean Todt’s original plan, the F1 Commission this week agreed on a turbo V6 formula.

But even Renault is happy with the compromise, customer Lotus-Renault GP’s team boss Boullier is quoted by autohebdo.fr.

“Everybody is willing to have the V6 as the base for 2014, including Renault, who support the project,” said the Frenchman. “But there is still a lot to do to finalise the project.”

Boullier admits he likes the idea of a V6 much more than Todt’s now-scrapped inline four.

“V6 is more interesting than four cylinder from a technological point of view. Also for the image of formula one, which has to be a showcase of technology,” he added.

Meanwhile, it might be said that Mercedes-Benz is not keen on the idea of new engine rules, because its current V8 is regarded as the very best on the grid.

Mercedes GP’s Michael Schumacher insists: “I don’t think it makes a big difference whether it’s six, four, eight or ten cylinders. The rules are the same for everyone,” he told Auto Motor und Sport.

As for the possible erosion of Mercedes’ advantage, the German added: “Whoever builds the best engine now can build the best engine in the future.

“I can see Mercedes out the front again, and actually it could even mean a step forward,” said the seven time world champion.

A postponement of the proposed 2013 engine rules is “almost certain”, according to the authoritative Italian magazine Autosprint.
With engine makers including Ferrari, Mercedes and Cosworth no longer support the four-cylinder turbo regulations, FIA president Jean Todt has agreed to consider a delayed introduction date.

Following consultation with the suppliers, including Renault who have threatened to quit F1 if the 2013 rules do not debut as scheduled, Todt will make his decision at the end of this month.

“I personally feel we’ve got to seek a compromise,” McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh, also chairman of the teams association FOTA, is quoted by the magazine Motorsport.

“If it were my call I’d probably go for a turbocharged V6,” he revealed.

McLaren – like Mercedes GP and Force India – is powered by Mercedes-Benz, whose motor racing vice-president Norbert Haug said: “I think establishing rules and then have only two, three manufacturers who are committed is just a problematic situation that needs to be solved together.”

Meanwhile, Autosprint reported that the full blown diffuser ban for 2012 will be policed by mandating that the exhausts exit at the top of the rear of the engine cover.

“It seems to have been Ferrari, represented at the (technical working group) meeting for the first time by Pat Fry, who proposed this solution,” said the report.

Bridgestone ready for Interlagos – The short but fast circuit with the winding inside the tires poses a special challenge
Interlagos is the penultimate disconnect for Bridgestone. For the route, which runs counter-clockwise to bring the Japanese with the mean and the super soft compound. The weather could also play a role, but the intermediates and the rain tires have recently done in South Korea a good job.

“Brazil is a beautiful country and South America is an important growth market. So it is important for Bridgestone to show presence in the form of the race,” said motorsport director Hiroshi Yasukawa. “. We have manufacturing facilities in Brazil and appreciate the support from our staff, we have worked in the past with many Brazilian drivers and enjoyed their feedback we are looking forward to the enthusiastic fans at the track.”
Interlagos is a short distance with a narrow core, but fast sections. The asphalt is very bumpy, leading to a compromise on the voting. “It is a beautiful but challenging course,” said Hirohide Hamashima, which is responsible for tire development. “Although it is the second shortest track on the calendar, it has an impressive line and exciting corners.”

“There are mainly medium-fast and slow corners. This means that the mechanical grip and stability are important on the rear axle. The weather can be a deciding factor because it can be very hot or very wet. To maximize performance, needs is a good balance through the turns before it goes uphill towards the finish. There is something reminiscent of an oval. ”
“The first corner is a good overtaking Elle, but you can barter for quick there a brake disks. Caution is called for,” says Hamashima. “In the last two races, we should show a strong performance, but mainly it comes to safe tires. Our engineers work closely with the teams so they can get the best.”

Casey Stoner with a way for a World Champion as Jorge Lorenzo was impossible to try to beat him today in qualifying at Phillip Island official. In the race for the pole the Yamaha rider could only settle for second best time in Australia’s six tenths off pole, trying to get it right, finding a good compromise in the best way to continue an extraordinary season by winning in 6 days the world title.

“I am happy with my race pace and here is something new for me because I never went well here in MotoGP, “says Jorge Lorenzo. “I think we did a good job, especially taking into account climatic conditions.

Obviously I wanted the pole position, but the rain and Stoner not allowed me to reach this goal: Casey in particular, it is fast. However, we have the second half and this is not bad, I have a lot of confidence after last weekend when I won the championship.

Hopefully the weather is the same as today or maybe even better, there is just the rain with these conditions, however, is very risky to run, there is very cold and windy and sometimes it was hard to stay in the saddle. In any case, expect to see what happens tomorrow, I am ready and I just want to have fun. “

A tough day for Casey Stoner, with the team totally dedicated to arrange a Ducati Desmosedici not as competitive as two weeks ago to Motorland Aragon. Working with three different set-up was eventually found a good compromise that allowed the Australian to win the first row of the grid, but away from it can be completely satisfied and confident for the race …

“We started yesterday by a set-up similar to that of Aragon Motorland, but we had problems on and off the bike surge in output, “says Casey Stoner. “At this point we decided to change the weight distribution to find more stability, but at the same time there was no traction.

When the track conditions improved I was driving better, but unfortunately the time is not coming down. Together with the team we have returned to previous solutions by bringing more weight on the rear axle: the bike still lift when accelerating, but at least we have improved a bit.

The times were down and when we put the soft we hit the first row, then this must be met even if tomorrow we must try to change something on the bike, “said the 2007 World Champion.

Pirelli wants to contribute to the “show” as the new tyre supplier, but acknowledges that 2011 will be a learning year.

The quality of F1′s spectacle is often blamed on aerodynamics and braking distances, but on several occasions this year, it is the allocation and performance of Bridgestone’s tyre compounds that have spiced up the action.

Incoming sole supplier Pirelli has already vowed to attempt to contribute to the “show” in the design and supply of its products.

“We will seek to do this, alongside the needs of the teams,” the marque’s racing chief Paul Hembery said in an interview with O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper.

“To produce durable and high performance tyres is not a problem,” explained Hembery.

“The challenge is to find the right compromise between lifespan and durability, with regards to the show.”

Pirelli has already begun its on-track 2011 tyre development programme, with a schedule through to November including Mugello, Paul Ricard, Jerez, Monza and Abu Dhabi.

Said Hembery: “It could be that because we cannot test at all the (grand prix) circuits that we need to be more conservative at some places, so that the tyres can survive but the show doesn’t benefit as everyone would want.

“It must be understood that 2011 is our first year,” he added.

Ferrari will only get its real blown rear diffuser up and running at a forthcoming grand prix.

It was believed that the Italian team began running the Red Bull-style low exhaust layout at Valencia.

But Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reveals that, in fact, the European GP was only the first phase in a multiple-step development for the F10 car.

The first step was a new gearbox, debuted only by Felipe Massa because Fernando Alonso was in the middle of the four-race mandatory period for his existing transmission.

The Spaniard will get the new gearbox at Silverstone, as well as a new rear suspension layout.

The real benefit of the new gearbox/suspension layout, however, is yet to come.

It is reported that the new layout allows a steeper shape of the diffuser, but the downforce advantage will only come when the exhaust fumes are directed through the diffuser.

Currently, Ferrari is working on ensuring that the blown exhaust does not actually compromise grip due to a sporadic airflow.

It is only at a later date that the entire concept will be up and running.

At Silverstone, the F10 will feature the new gearbox and new housing for the suspension.  Ferrari is introducing the update in stages, so that when the final concept is ready, the team does not have to wait for Alonso and Massa to reach the end of their four-race gearbox phases to debut it.

“In Valencia, we introduced significant updates on the F10 and there will be more in Silverstone and the races after that,” Alonso confirmed.

McLaren has developed this season with the F-bay system with a simple but effective innovation that brings more top speed on the straights, without cost pressure in the turns. Almost all the teams now move to and also develop such systems, but from 2011 these will be banned.

Martin Whitmarsh could not prevent, because the veto has been abolished for individual teams to accelerate decision-making. “Would the F-shaft Vetocarte play one if I had one? Yes, I would. I’m disappointed that the situation is now so? Is yes, I am, I personally,” said the McLaren team boss. The right of veto was abolished, but in the interest of the sport makes sense, because then no one can block improvements from self-interest.
The F-bay system keeps Whitmarsh for “great. It cost no money, is a neat technology, it is clever. We have all the means to build shafts and carbon fiber wing, because it has no complex electronics, no fancy materials, no complicated systems. Anybody can build it – and will continue to do so, of course. And if we want to talk about ‘green’: The F-shaft reduces the air resistance, so is the positive. ”

“But there are inevitably people, particularly in the small teams that say, ‘We are focusing rather on the basics, want this additional challenge not. So must we accept that there is a compromise. That is the nature of the situation, that we have to find compromises that are in the best interest of the sport, “said the Briton. That was not before the veto was the case.

(TMS)

The competition between the development departments of the Grand Prix teams will be played with the same intensity as the position of duels on the track. Indeed, the pressure to succeed, under the working Formula 1 specialists in recent years grown more and more: Who wants to stay competitive and at the top, must evolve continuously. The cars are compared to the season opener in Bahrain has become consistently faster by about one second.

“The racing teams have realized that the incessant development is during the season just as important as the conceptual design of the next car,” said James Allison, Technical Director at Renault. “Today we hold for our R30 to each Grand Prix, a new package ready parts, whose size is roughly equivalent to those improvements we have introduced in the past, every third or fourth race.”
“We are there but no exception. Every team that wants to stay at the top, must rise to this challenge. This means for our colleagues in the workshops that they have to work so hard, and at such a high time pressure than ever before . The new front wing, which will celebrate its debut in Valencia, provides an ideal example of this: He is already the eighth variant, which comes this year for use – in the ninth race of the season! ”

But where does this escalation? A major factor provided by the new technical regulations, which came at the beginning of last year in force, so is still relatively young, always – and therefore much room for improvement, provides the enabling virtually every week important development steps. This applies in particular to the aerodynamics. Furthermore: Since modifications of the engine are not allowed to search for possibilities for improvement focused almost exclusively on the chassis of the cars.
“As further develop all vehicles on the grid with incredibly high speed, always, we need to bring any improvement found immediately able to use in order to remain competitive,” says Allison. “Previously, we have combined the optimization of a package, which is then flowed into a stage of evolution of the car. This we can not allow today. Each Grand Prix that you wait means lost performance.”

“The heavy workload meets each individual,” said Allison. “The workshop is constantly under the high pressure, constantly develop and produce new parts and need. We are therefore constantly faced with the difficult task of finding a healthy balance between major stages of development and reasonable workload.”

It seems almost an irony of fate that this once again increased rates of development associated with the prohibition of testing during the season goes. But while earlier, thousands of miles on the Grand Prix circuit in Barcelona have been scrubbed to run the team today in the central simulation computer at full speed to check for new parts and votes for their usefulness.
“Thanks to this advanced tools we can use the advantage that we bring some modifications on the track, set with an accuracy that is different from the real output by less than 0.5 percent,” said Allison. “For mechanical parts, we rely on computer simulations, whose results are then verified on test stands. With special durability testing arrangements, we can expose those individual components of loads and forces that occur in the context of a Grand Prix.”

Besides the incessant improvement of the current Grand Prix racer to run the latest from the beginning of summer and work on for next year seater. “We stand every time a difficult compromise on how much we already want to invest in the future without losing its competitiveness in the current season,” says Allison.

Jarno Trulli insists he remains committed to Lotus.

The Italian, who switched to the new Malaysian backed team after several years with the big-budget Toyota, admitted recently that 2010 had so far not met his expectations.

He told the Italian press in late April that he will judge Lotus’ debut season “at the end of the year”.

Some interpreted that comment to mean he would consider his options for 2011, but the 35-year-old revealed at the weekend that he is already signed up through 2012.

And before shaking down his new T127 chassis at a Lotus event at the Snetterton circuit, he told BBC Radio Norfolk: “We’re getting stronger and stronger.

“Once the results start coming, people will realise how important Lotus was and how serious Lotus Racing is now.”

Trulli has had a dire campaign so far in terms of reliability, but he insists the car’s designers “had to make some compromises” with the 2010 car because it was penned so quickly.

“I signed a three year deal because I strongly believed we were going to go through a hard season but it’s basically a preparation season.  From next year, we will start being more and more serious,” he said.

Trulli said he and his mechanics are “desperate” for better luck, but “I knew before the beginning of the season that this would be a hard season — this is only preparation for the future.”
(GMM)

Jun.14 (GMM)  Pirelli has edged yet closer to becoming F1′s new official tyre supplier. The Milan based company’s only competition for the deal, Michelin, is close to falling out of the running.

“The development time for 2011 seems very compromised now,” managing partner Didier Miraton said at Le Mans, according to L’Equipe.

Spotted in Montreal on Sunday was Paul Hembery, Pirelli’s competition director, for talks with the teams association FOTA.

It is believed that, some days ago, contracts were drawn up and signed with the representative of F1′s commercial rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone.

The final hurdle is the signing off by the FIA’s legal department.

Michelin’s Miraton indicated that the French company is essentially now out of the running.

“It is probably too late for the deadlines of next year,” he continued.  “We have intervened to help, modestly, but at the rate things are going, I’m pessimistic.”

Another stumbling block for Michelin has been the lack of widespread desire for a change of rules allowing more than one tyre supplier at a time.

“When there is only one manufacturer, there is no competition, no progress, no pleasure and the interest in the manufacturer is low,” said Miraton.