F1′s new face of 2012 is polarising the sport.

It seems teams, drivers and spectators alike either love or hate the new great influence brought largely by Pirelli’s new generation of tyres.

An admitted critic is Michael Schumacher.

“It’s a 1000 piece puzzle that you need to put together at each race,” said the seven time world champion, according to Auto Motor und Sport.

Not for three decades have four different drivers driving for four different teams won the opening four grands prix of a season.

“From the standpoint of competition,” wrote Livio Oricchio in O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, “there is no doubt that the Pirelli 2012 generation meets fully the objective of promoting the show.

“But if you think purely about the engineering challenge that is formula one, and the genius of the people and the immense financial and technical resources needed for success, the tyres have now taken on such an importance that the results don’t seem compatible.

“Myself, and many in formula one, hope the new versions of tyres that Pirelli is developing returns a little more predictability in terms of how they behave, without affecting the show too much.”

For now, however, the teams need to put their puzzles together, and that will undoubtedly be the focus of this week’s three-day in-season test at Mugello.

“He who understands the tyres first,” McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh astutely noted, “will have a huge advantage in the world championship.”

A broad understanding is already developing, including why 2012 winners Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel won from the very front of the field.

“When you’re in a battle, you can’t take the lines that are best for the tyres,” said Mercedes’ Ross Brawn.

All eyes are now turning to Mugello, where the understanding will continue.

“These test days could change the balance of power in formula one,” Norbert Haug predicted dramatically in Bild newspaper.

Not everyone is enthusiastic, however, including McLaren who oppose the Mugello test on cost grounds.

Williams’ chief engineer Mark Gillan agrees: “The days of test teams are gone, so this is not logistically easy,” he is quoted by Germany’s Sport1.

Bruno Senna added: “Mugello is not an ideal test track, as it’s very different to most of the tracks that are on the calendar.”

All this year’s title contenders know after four ‘flyaway’ races in 2012 is that they do not know what will happen in Spain next month.

“The only certainty is uncertainty,” read the German headline at Netzeitung.

With F1 generally regarded in the wider world as a sport with predictable results, this is an entirely new situation.

“The statistics show that it’s been nine years since there have been four different winners in the first four races,” said Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.

Indeed, the famous Italian team as well as McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull have won the opening races of 2012, and also with potentially winning pace have been Lotus and Sauber.

“More than that,” continued Domenicali, “you have to go back 29 years to find the last time four different cars won.”

One explanation is that F1 has never been more competitive, with plenty of well-oiled teams and no fewer than six world champion drivers on the grid.

But Domenicali thinks Pirelli is the dominant factor.

And not everybody is happy about that. Michael Schumacher told Bild newspaper that this year’s tyres degrade so fast that rubber “flies from the rim” if he pushes too hard in a corner.

“We drive around like the safety car. It is not a satisfying situation,” the seven time world champion said.

Pirelli’s motor sport director Paul Hembery is unimpressed with the rebuke, insisting that the Italian marque is only trying to “make tyres that make the races exciting”.

“We cannot take individual drivers into consideration,” the Briton insisted.

“It would be dead easy for us to make tyres that don’t break down. Then the top ten would also be the top ten in the race.

“But no one wants to see boring processions,” Hembery claimed.

Agreed the Swiss headline at Blick: “Pirelli is sweeping away the boredom”.

Indeed, not even the other Mercedes driver, Shanghai winner Nico Rosberg, agrees with Schumacher.

“It’s total chaos. You don’t know who is going to be fast at the next track,” he is quoted by DPA agency. “Formula one has become almost unlike any other sport.

“Yes, you cannot drive any laps any more at full throttle. Often, it’s like driving on ice. But that’s a big and an interesting challenge,” said the German.

Undoubtedly exciting for the fans, but the teams are having to adapt quickly. Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport said on Sunday that Vettel’s victory could mean Red Bull resumes its dominant grip on F1.

Dr Helmut Marko doesn’t think so. “We don’t even know who our opponents are!” he exclaimed.

 The assembled world of F1 was surprised on Wednesday when Jenson Button declared the 2012 McLaren “beautiful”.
With the new Caterham featuring a radically-stepped front nose, and Ferrari also preparing to unveil a less-than-attractive single seater, most insiders expected the entire field of 2012 to be ‘ugly’.

“This is a beautiful car,” said 2009 world champion Button when the MP4-27 was unveiled to the media at Woking.

“Many of the others you will see won’t be,” smiled the Briton.

He is referring to the fact that, while the new regulations require a lower extremity of the nose section, the aerodynamic shape at the front of the McLaren remains smooth.

The MP4-27 will be debuted in team youngster Oliver Turvey’s hands at an aerodynamic test this weekend, before Button drives it at the opening of the Jerez test.

“It may look like a direct evolution of last year’s car, but we’ve analysed every area of performance over the winter and the whole car has benefited from lots of fresh thinking and new ideas in every area,” said Button.

 The scene could be set for the most competitive season in F1 history, according to Pirelli’s Paul Hembery.
He is referring to the fact that six world champions – Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher – will be on the Melbourne grid in March.

That is a quarter of the entire 24-car field.

“That is probably the highest level (of quality in F1) ever,” Hembery is quoted as saying by Finland’s Turun Sanomat, “particularly when you take into account that there are a lot of other very talented drivers who haven’t won a title.

“If the level of the cars and the performance levels (of the drivers) are just as high, there will be some astonishingly good races,” added the F1 tyre supplier’s motor sport director.

Hembery was coy, however, when asked specifically about Raikkonen, the returning 2007 champion.

“I have met him twice,” he said. “He is a quiet guy and, anyway, we strive to keep our distance. The drivers turn to us when they need something.”

He did not give anything away about Raikkonen’s first taste of life on Pirelli rubber, after the Finn’s Valencia test this week on demonstration tyres.

“We didn’t monitor it at all, it was Lotus’ thing alone,” he insisted.

“Of course I saw his comments and it will be a big difference for him now compared to what he has known before.

“But Kimi is one of the most extraordinary drivers the sport has seen so I think he will learn quickly.”

The electric bicycle brand Yamimoto and HRT Formula 1 Team have signed a collaboration deal by which Yamimoto will become the team’s Official Supplier of sustainable mobility for 2012.

HRT will become, through this deal, a pioneer in the world of Formula 1 by integrating an alternative energy to petrol in its mobility plan and will use Yamimoto’s electric bicycles to move around at Grands Prix and away from them.

Alternative energies are assuming more and more importance every day in modern societies so, without a doubt, incorporating them to such an innovative and technologic environment as is Formula 1 would give the young Spanish team an added value.

Collaborating with national brands and companies is one of HRT’s basic lines of action and one that fits perfectly with the team’s philosophy when looking for synergies and the strengthening of Spanish brands in the world.

Manuel Muñiz, CEO and Partner, Bector Bikes: “Yamimoto is born from a commitment with the environment and the conviction of being able to unite this with a benefit in the quality of movement and cost for our clients. Yamimoto improves the day-to-day lives of its clients and the cities in which they live, as reflected on our tagline “Move Smart”. The agreement with HRT is a platform for Yamimoto from which to move on to new development and growth opportunities, but it also means a lot more will be asked of us and there will be more expectations with regards to our products from a technological and design point of view. The exclusive bicycle that we are designing for HRT will be the first step in this new stage of alliance between Yamimoto and HRT”.

Óscar Leyva, Business Development Director, HRT F1 Team: “The complexity of moving a Formula 1 team around the world doesn’t limit itself to the major distances covered by traditional modes of transport. There are also a large amount of short and medium distance journeys, in testing and Grands Prix but also in between races. The alternative that Yamimoto offers us doesn’t only contribute comfort and practicality but it is also an innovative company that adjusts to our philosophy of searching for synergies with Spanish companies to strengthen our brands in the world and the concept of Spain being a country that backs R&D&i”.

- Ends -

ABOUT YAMIMOTO

Yamimoto is the brand used by Bector Bikes to commercialize electric bicycles since 2007. It is a 100% Spanish company that pioneers in backing sustainable mobility in Spain, offering its clients a solution for intelligent and elegant movement. It is a company in constant evolution that strongly backs R &D, and a manufacturer of low-consumption, environmentally friendly and foldable vehicles.

The company’s philosophy contemplates the will to contribute a sustainable solution to the complex problem of transport, soothing the problems with traffic in major cities and respecting the environment whilst enabling a healthy lifestyle. The important savings that occur as a result of moving around on electric bicycles, with Yamimoto offering some very competitive prices, is also a significant aspect. Another notable feature is the commitment to the client given the quantity, quality and professionalism of its customer care and after-sales services.

Yamimoto uses innovative production processes, hybridization of materials and components, implementation of new technologies in the world of bicycle safety, bicycle control systems stemming from smartphones, use of lithium batteries employed in high-end electric sports vehicles or the design of frames that enable the integration of batteries in its interior. All these factors form a part of Yamimoto’s DNA, a company that continues to evolve and work for a future that will take a leap in quality thanks to the engineering of KeelWit Technology, a company that specializes in the development of advanced technologies in the field of sustainable mobility, and also in storage and energetic efficiency.

Contact Yamimoto:
Felipe Capdepón. Communications Director
felipe@yamimoto.com
Fernando Martí. Commercial Director
fernando@yamimoto.com
T. +34 91 524 12 87
www.yamimoto.com

 There was much excitement in the F1 world on Monday when Kimi Raikkonen returned to a circuit at the wheel of a grand prix car.
813 days after he stepped out of his 2009 Ferrari for the last time, the former world champion began a two-day re-acclimatisation test at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit.

Returning to the sport with Lotus in 2012, the 32-year-old Finn on Monday did about 300 kilometres at the wheel of the team’s 2010 Renault car equipped with demonstration Pirelli tyres, enjoying a loophole in F1′s now tightly-limited test regulations.

“There is a lot to get used to,” a media statement quoted him as saying. “I’m happy because I was pretty quick to get back in the groove.”

And Raikkonen is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport: “Of course it will take a little while (longer).”

Added Lotus’ trackside operations engineer Alan Permane: “Kimi was on the pace we expected straight away.”

18-time race winner Raikkonen, the 2007 title winner and twice the championship runner-up (2003 and 2005), spent the last two years in the world rally series after Ferrari replaced him with Fernando Alonso.

“We had several options for this year,” the Finn revealed.

“I did a bit of Nascar in the past year and since I had a lot of fun racing other people again I decided to go back.

“And if you want to go racing then formula one is the highest level and so that’s where I wanted to go the most,” added Raikkonen.

He said he is not worried about coming back to motor sport’s premier category after two whole seasons away.

“If you compare 2009 with the coming season, probably the biggest difference will be the tyres,” said the Finn, whose last experience in F1 was on Bridgestone’s control tyre.

“I don’t think there is a big difference with the cars.”

When asked how he has changed himself since 2009, he replied typically: “I don’t know — I was two years away.”

Mercedes is the next team working on a copy of Lotus’ innovative ‘braking ride-height correction’ system ahead of the 2012 system.
Shortly after news broke that the former Renault team had devised a passive and therefore legal system to stabilise a car’s ride height under braking, reports emerged that Ferrari is “working on a similar system”.

The BBC said last week that it believed the Italian giant was “the only other team to have contacted the FIA” about the concept.

But Italian reports, including on the Italiaracing website and the daily La Gazzetta dello Sport, claim Mercedes GP is also working to “quickly copy” the Lotus idea.

Mercedes does not intend to take its new car, the W03, to the first official test at Jerez early next month, instead opting for additional factory time ahead of the second session at Barcelona.

It is also rumoured that Red Bull experimented with a Lotus-style braking system back in 2010 but abandoned it.

F1′s class of 2012 will take some more shape at the F1 Commission meeting this week in Geneva.
It was already known that Team Lotus, set to be Caterham next season, and Enstone based Renault – to be renamed Lotus – will likely have their applications rubber-stamped on Thursday.

The Sunday Times also reports that Virgin could be set for an official name change.

The team is currently known as Marussia Virgin Racing, in deference to its Russian supercar partner, but the chassis continues to be called simply ‘Virgin’.

“The team are to ask the F1 Commission for permission to erase the Virgin title and replace it with Marussia”, said the British report.

Another touted change was the rebranding of Red Bull’s Renault engine deal to reflect its partnership with the luxury Nissan marque Infiniti.

Renault president Carlos Ghosn ruled that out.

“I don’t think you can have a name artificially,” he is quoted by the SID news agency. “If Renault supplies the technology you can’t say that for marketing reasons we call it Infiniti.”

He also ruled out the possibility Renault will return to the grid as a works chassis manufacturer any time soon.

“We adapt according to the circumstances but we will not change our programme in the next three to five years,” Ghosn is quoted by France’s autohebdo.fr.

“I am more comfortable with our current strategy, where next year we are the partner of four teams,” he added.