The opening sector of the Yeongam circuit in Korea looks set to be a headache for Red Bull this weekend.

Although grounded for most of the opening session on Friday with mechanics working at the rear of his car, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton still managed to top the timing sheet.

The fastest Red Bull was Sebastian Vettel’s, half a second behind and fourth, with the now extremely-efficient F-duct on Renault propelling Robert Kubica to the second best time.

The problem for Red Bull in the first sector is the ultra-long straight, with Ferrari also proving faster there.

“Sector one doesn’t look like our home ground,” agreed Vettel, “but I think sector two and sector three should give us a possibility to catch up.”

His teammate Mark Webber, recalling August’s Belgian grand prix where Hamilton won, added: “It was the same at Spa. We knew that we were going to be quite vulnerable up the hill there.”

Indeed, in Korea, the MP4-25 reached 316kph on the long straight, nearly 10kph faster than Red Bull’s RB6.

Williams could be looking to get involved with the premier German touring car championship DTM.
It is reported by Switzerland’s Motorsport Aktuell that German carmaker Opel is keen on a collaboration in the series with the famous British formula one team.

Williams chief executive Adam Parr is quoted as saying that a meeting with Opel took place “a few months ago”, but described reports of a likely collaboration as a rumour.

But he added: “Personally, I would love to do it. I would be very interested.”

Opel is thought to be on the verge of announcing a DTM programme, with spokesman Volker Brien confirming a decision is due “within the next two months”.

Reports say Opel would compete with its Insignia model, prepared by Williams.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen will be the former driver serving alongside three conventional FIA stewards at this weekend’s European grand prix.

The German won three grands prix during his 160-race career between 1994 and 2003.

Frentzen, now 43, drove for Sauber, Williams, Jordan, Prost and Arrows, and subsequently for Opel and Audi in the German touring car series DTM.

(GMM)

Shell and Ferrari are working hard these last weeks to solve the inflection point represented by the weight-fuel ratio:  “It’s true that this year fuel consumption is essential, not only with relation to the engine but to the race’s strategy.  We’re working very hard with Shell and are on the right track to solve it, but it will of course be another clear sport fighting area, “Domenicali said.
The thing is that it’s a terrible problem, because with this year’s new norm, less consumption gives you the option to design a gigantic tank this year but a bit smaller that the rivals’, and the design of the new tank is adapted to the single-seated chassis’ development.
There are less than 15 days for the presentation and for Massa to try the Ferrari out in Cheste.  There, the result will have to be seen.  In addition, it’s well known in the F1 that the Mercedes’ engine uses around 10 liters less than the rest.
In the past, consumption was not so relevant, but now that the cars cannot rest and you race out with all the fuel that’s possible, the less consumption engine will cover the same distance with less kilos of fuel, . Now, 10 kilos, either be it of tank size mass or of gas, usually mean three or four tenths of advantage in time per lap.
Under this premise, from the moment the race starts, lap to lap, the  single-seated with less consumption can have a very significant initial advantage.  This is the reason why Ferrari has devoted itself to solve this concern, substituting a Gilles Simon for Luca Marmorini, who returns to the team with the target of trying to reduce this extra weight in 10 or a 15%.
Once this problem has been overcome, there’s still the limitation of the frozen engines by regulation since the 2008 season.  Ferrari’s improvements are limited.  A difficulty is that the inlet manifolds can be touched, the exhausts a bit, liquids, electronics, but not the engine’s block.
“The first goal for the new car is to gain reliability.  With this purpose we have developed a simulation program and of engine power of which we expect great results to lessen the problems experimented the last two years,” Domenicali declared.
In the Schumacher era, Ferrari did not damage one single propellant for several years, and the only one it did in Japan in 2006, caused Schumacher to loose the title, precisely against Alonso.  The Renault R25 and R26 of the Spaniard turned the propellant’s reliability into one of the clues to win titles.  This will be the season’s technical clue, as Fernando Alonso himself confessed.

Formula One Racing is, quite simply, the paramount of karting. It is the professional form of the sport in its entirety. Formula One is an international phenomenon, a media conglomerate that rakes in millions and millions of dollars a year from advertising, sponsorship, and broadcast revenues. Professional drivers with millionaire bank accounts race these majestic kart marvels that are unprecedented, flush with technological luxuries – everything from hard to produce lightweight frames that glide the machine to tires with unsurpassed grooving style that exemplify powerful movement on the circuit.

There is no sport that bests epitomizes the term “global sport” like Formula One racing. Many countries serve as active participants in shaping the professional karting scene – for example, Malaysia is a hot spot for racing (Fernando Alonso, a Spanish-born driver under Team Renault recently won a race there) and Italy plays a vital role in designing and manufacturing first class, top-of-the-line karts. Drivers and racing personalities hail from all parts of the word – you have the charismatic and popular Italian Renault boss Flavio Briatore, the handsome young 23 year old racing prodigy in Fernando Alonso who stars in a Renault Megane commercial with his pet pig, and one of the highest earning sports figures in world history in Michael Schumacher. Rivalries are common in Formula One – adding the edge of excitement with every zip of the curve and nitrous boost of the machine.

In order to better become acquainted with Formula One racing, we must understand its organization. Karting goes way beyond pitting 3 2-cycle engine machines against each other on an oval circuit. Formula One is divided into drivers & their respective teams. Under such trademark car companies like Renault, Ferrari, and Toyota – each driver has an assembling cast of staffers consisting of mechanics, engineers, and designers all working towards one goal: to make that speedster faster using all the resources at their disposal. Headed by team bosses that are adept at creating sponsorship opportunities and assembling the best cast for each team, Formula One employs the finest specialists in the business with backgrounds in computer and automobile – even specialists with aerospace experience! High end, (rare technology reserved for space projects) in some instances, create the fastest and most efficient car possible. According to FI rules, racing teams must design, construct, and built their own karts from scratch. The staff is the pride of each individual team – capable and able to win every 57 lap enduro race from Malaysia to Great Britain.

Formula One cars can be summed up in two words: technological marvels. These sleek, low riding gems ripping through laps at speeds topping 200 mph. consist of more than just a chassis, an engine, and four wheels. For starters, the engine is located behind the cockpit as opposed to standard automobiles. They consist of 10 cylinder engines that produce heat which propel the kart forward. Team engineers are always looking into ways to make their engines more powerful. Currently, 1000 bhp (a scale for horsepower) has not been topped – it is up to the teams to produce an engine which would fare well supporting speed as well as support the chassis. And as we know, there is a snug open cockpit for Jarno Trulli to maneuver his machine in.

Construction of Formula One race cars is unprecedented. The first rule of thumb in designing a bonafide piece of framework is to make it weigh as least as possible. Less kart weight correlates to faster speeds. For this reason, team brains use lightweight material that is hard to construct. The minimum weight of a kart must be 600 kg including the driver. This ensures a level playing field, although teams are allowed to keep their money making construction methods a secret from other teams. Team staff is very highly regarded in the Formula One business. Their technological and dynamical know-how of the machines they build is a valuable asset to any team. And like free agents, they are lured and signed by the likes of companies creating a recruiting war for their services. Of course, there are restrictions for creating karts. You cannot add nitro boosts to your machine or use technology that resembles life in the year 3000. Teams are always looking to bend the rules slightly and coming up ways to beat the competition legally.

Professional kart tires have to have optimum characteristics to ensure smooth driving. For one, tires have to have grooving technology built into them. For the novices, grooves are indented lines in tires that allow for it to slow down considerably on turns and to adapt to the track surface. No matter what the technology, kart tires are simply not adept at withstanding the rigors of asphalt, concrete, and dirt. For this reason, Formula One racers are allotted two pit stops during the course of a 57 lap race to change tires. If you’ve ever watched a Formula One race, team staffers with lightning quick hands have an extremely limited time for which to remove and replace tires in the pit stop – often times not exceeding over 7 seconds! Regulations are placed on tire grooves (a minimum of four) to allow for an even playing field for all racers. Remember enthusiasts, grooves serve more to slow down the kart than to speed it up.

Chassis construction with its illustrious carbon fiber material, tires with indented grooves, team specialists with a knack for speed, and engines which burn heat like calories is the epitome of a Formula One race car. All of these attributes contribute to the performance of the vehicle in racing lap after lap. As a result of all this technology, Formula One cars leave people breathless reaching consistent speeds of 200 mph. on the race track. More impressive is the time needed to go from 0 mph to 100 mph – 5 seconds! Formula One is only moving forward with the advent of new features – like improved horsepower engines, more lightweight materials, new ballasts to add weight to the car, and more. Behind that stylish, mind blowing chassis that pique our interest is that top-class technology that makes Formula One racing so great.