A warm and sunny day has greeted the formula one world ahead of the 2010 Monaco grand prix.

There is just a smattering of white cloud in the sky, and still the odd local forecast predicting a slight possibility of afternoon rain.

Causing more nervousness than the Monte Carlo forecasts, however, are reports that say the Icelandic volcano ash cloud is “rapidly encroaching” British airspace.

Airports in Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man have already closed, and officials are warning that flights into England and other parts of Europe are also set to be disrupted in the coming days.
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With the unpronounceable Icelandic volcano still spewing ash into European flight paths, the smart move after the Spanish grand prix is a road trip.

But some members of the F1 world are determined to find a flight — particularly engineers who want to return to base before re-congregating in Monaco for this weekend’s event.

But on Monday morning, news of more cancelled flights from Spanish airports resurfaced, so Force India sent the bulk of its race team to Nice via train.

HRT’s Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok were scheduled to fly to the Mediterranean city, but instead hired an unglamorous Renault road car for the 650km journey.

In the small hours of Monday morning, they arrived at Senna’s Monaco apartment.

Heikki Kovalainen also drove to Monaco with his girlfriend.
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May 6 (GMM)  The famous and unpronounceable Icelandic volcano could be set to once again disturb the travel plans of the formula one world.

European airports ground to a halt due to the dangerous ash cloud nearly three weeks ago, stranding the sport’s travelling circus in China.

On Wednesday and early on Thursday, it emerged that the ash is threatening to once again drift over the north of Europe, and multiple British airports have already had flights cancelled.

When contacted, the European air traffic agency Eurocontrol admitted that hundreds of other flights across Europe could also be affected.

The Civil Aviation Authority said main airports serving London have not yet been disrupted, but the Icelandic Met Office warns that the volcanic eruptions “will continue at full force in the next days”.

However, the situation is now far less severe for F1, in the wake of the initial ‘flyaway’ segment of the 2010 calendar.

The bulk of the equipment is transported by the teams to European venues by road, even if many of the personnel travel by plane for convenience.

May 3 (GMM)  Virgin on Monday confirmed reports that the Icelandic volcano spoiled the new team’s preparations for the Spanish grand prix.

We reported two weeks ago that because team personnel were stranded in Shanghai, the teams plans to debut two heavily modified cars in Barcelona this weekend might be affected.

With FIA clearance, Virgin has been busily designing a new chassis to accommodate a fuel tank big enough to take its cars to the end of races.

Because the sport’s freight was held up for several days in China, the new British team only had a single VR-01 monocoque to work on at its UK factory.

In a statement on Monday, Virgin said it would have needed the “three full weeks of manufacture, homologation and race preparation” to get two modified cars up and running for both Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi in Spain.

“As a consequence, Virgin Racing will debut only one revised chassis in the Spanish grand prix this weekend, which Timo Glock will put through its paces,” read the statement.

Glock commented: “I have done some work in the simulator in preparation for this race and we have a good idea of what to expect from the modified chassis, so I’m looking forward to seeing how we shape up when we hit the track in Barcelona this week.”

Technical director Nick Wirth admitted that running the two fundamentally different specifications of cars in Spain “will certainly challenge the team”.

Apr.22 (GMM)  Christian Horner on Thursday said delays caused by the Icelandic volcano will not disturb preparations for next month’s Spanish grand prix.

With the sport’s freight – and all the cars – stranded in China while FOM’s 747s were grounded in Europe, it was feared that teams’ car developments would not be ready for the next race in Barcelona.

Red Bull boss Horner said before departing Shanghai with his travelling companion Mark Webber that an F-duct should be on the RB6 in Spain “providing we make it back to Europe” soon.

McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh was also worried about the delay, explaining that if it (the delay) is a week or so … it will become an issue”.

We reported earlier on Thursday that the FOM freight has landed in Bilbao, and Horner confirmed that the team’s trucks are due to arrive in Milton-Keynes “today”.

“Thankfully, the way the calendar is with the extra week between the Chinese and Spanish grands prix, it (the delay) has a very limited impact,” said the Briton.

Horner also said the bulk of the race team is also due back in the UK on Thursday afternoon.