Tongues were wagging in the Barcelona paddock on Thursday when some drivers hit the Spanish circuit wearing odd-looking Pirelli tyres.
Some of the tyres, whose compounds are normally visibly differentiated with coloured branding, featured significantly different markings.

The big rumour was that, now just two weeks before the start of the season in Australia, teams had requested the blank tyres in order to hide their test programmes from their rivals.

According to France’s Auto Plus, motor sport director Paul Hembery cleared up the matter by explaining that the blank tyres were in fact “prototypes”.

They had been manufactured not at Pirelli’s usual F1 factory in Turkey, but elsewhere, in the event that a natural disaster forced the tyre supplier to change its plans at the last minute.

Hembery also answered the criticism that, after Pirelli’s initial 2011 tyres spiced up the racing early last year, the new generation might not be aggressive enough.

“We need data from the races to judge that,” he insisted. “It’s far too early.”

He also confirmed that Pirelli is close to announcing the identity of its 2010-specification test car, and a new test driver.

It is believed former Force India driver Adrian Sutil is a candidate.

 Alongside step noses, clever exhausts and Lotus’ surprise pace, another point of interest in the Jerez paddock this week is Mercedes’ radical front wing.
Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said the German team, albeit still running its 2011 car, tested a new front wing featuring a passive F-duct style system.

In Nico Rosberg’s hands, the W02 was quickest of all on Thursday, just as it had been when Michael Schumacher was driving earlier.

The German report said air enters Mercedes’ revolutionary nose at the tip, where it is rechanneled onto the front wing.

Auto Motor und Sport said McLaren Whitmarsh estimates the top speed benefit of the system, which first appeared on the Mercedes in prototype form late last season, to be around 5 and 8kph.

“For the front wing, there are no (F-duct) rules,” said the Auto Motor und Sport report. “It is legal.”

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz was in the Jerez paddock on Thursday, checking out his team’s progress and also the new cars fielded by rivals Ferrari and McLaren.

“Now we are all waiting for Mercedes,” he said.

Mercedes has closed ranks following reports it is set to debut an F-duct style front wing innovation in 2012.
The team reportedly tested a prototype in a grand prix practice session this month, with Bild newspaper claiming it adds 8kph to the car’s top speed.

“I don’t want to comment on every idea,” said team boss Ross Brawn. “But we do need to take risks with the new car in order to move forwards.”

Michael Schumacher, meanwhile, denied the existence of a new wing.

Asked how the new component felt during recent testing, the German brusquely answered on Thursday: “Perfect.”

But he later added: “We didn’t use a different front wing, quite honestly. It was as good as before.”

McLaren technical boss Paddy Lowe, however, admitted this week that he has heard about Mercedes’ idea.

“There’s been quite a lot of coverage but we’re not feeling desperately excited. We’re not singling it out against many other things we’re constantly reviewing,” he said.

Jaime Alguersuari has backed his Toro Rosso teammate but acknowledged that Sebastien Buemi’s race seat might be in doubt for the 2011 season.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo is Red Bull’s leading junior driver, and he impressed the F1 world with his pace in the title-winning RB6 during the recent Abu Dhabi test.

At the same time, Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost – whilst praising young Spaniard Alguersuari – admitted that Swiss racer Buemi “struggled” at times this year.

Alguersuari, 20, was asked if he thinks Ricciardo might replace Buemi as his teammate in 2011 at Toro Rosso, Red Bull’s junior team.

“I don’t know what will happen,” he is quoted by Diario AS newspaper at an event to unveil the Red Bull prototype car for the Gran Turismo 5 video game.

Alguersuari added: “What I can say is that if my teammate (Buemi) had driven a Red Bull, he would do better than Ricciardo. Without a doubt.”

Meanwhile, Tost has issued fulsome praise for Alguersuari’s progress this year, indicating that his place for 2011 is secure.

“Jaime has this year learned to set up and develop and drive the car. Now I’m looking forward to next season, when we will have a much more mature driver who is constantly improving,” the Austrian is quoted by El Mundo Deportivo.

Alguersuari replied: “I’m very proud of what he said because I think I have improved this year and I intend to keep going that way.”

Polyphony Digtial has today fully revealed the “X1 Prototype”, a project in conjunction with Red Bull Racing.

All races that exist in today’s world are restricted by regulations. However the X1 is a machine born from a fantastic “what if” dream of Polyphony; “What would the fastest racing car on Earth, free of any and all regulations look like?”

Initially the X1 prototype was a single seater, canopied prototype wing car with covered front wheels. The performance brought about by the 1500ps direct injection V6 Twin Turbo would have been spectacular as is, with a top speed of 400km/h and a maximum lateral acceleration of 6G. But this concept showed an even greater advancement through the help of Red Bull Racing, who became a partner in this project.

Red Bull Racing’s chief technical officer, the genius aerodynamicist Adrian Newey proposed that “Fan Car” technology, a dream that he had held to himself over the years be added to the X1 Prototype.

A “fan car” is a vehicle having a fan mechanism which forces the air out from underneath the car, to reduce air pressure under the car’s floor. The resulting suction draws the car to the ground surface and creates a massive amount of downforce. And because it can create downforce regardless of the vehicle’s current speed, it dramatically raises it’s cornering speed even in low speed corners.

The incredible ability of fan cars has already been proven in history. The Chaparral 2J fan car entered in the 1970 Can-Nam series was so fast that it was banned after just 1 season. Even in the F1, the BT46B fan car entered in 1978 by Brabham dominated the opening round of the series with extreme speed, and was banned just after that single race.

With this proposal from Mr. Newey, the machine was transformed with a large fan added to the rear end of the body. With additional advice regarding the shapes of the front and rear wings and rear diffuser, its aerodynamics became even further refined. As a result, the X1 prototype attained an astonishing level of performance, reaching a top speed of over 450km/h, with a maximum lateral acceleration reaching up to 8.75G. This is a performance level that is at the very limits of what a normal human body can withstand.

The driver who performed the shakedown test of the machine in Gran Turismo 5, was the world famous Sebastian Vettel. In his very first run on the Suzuka Circuit, he shortened the record time of the course by over 20 seconds. And in the test drive on the Nurburgring GP Course, he marked a record time of 1 minute 4 seconds, drawing out the incredible potential of the X1 Prototype.

This is the dream of the fastest racing car on land, brought to life through the collaboration between Polyphony and Red Bull. Witness for yourself the power of the X1 through the in-game “X1 Challenge”, the first driving lesson ever in Gran Turismo to be performed by a top professional driver.

Adrian Newey, Chief Technical Officer at Red Bull Racing

The results were thrilling. X1 is about evolution. Delivering the optimum combination of tested technologies in a single integrated design. This would be the future of racing were we not bound by regulations, but one that is achievable today. And as Sebastian has shown, it is about devastating speed coupled with real handling control. Today thanks to PlayStation®3 and Gran Turismo we can test drive the future.

Kazunori Yamauchi, President, Polyphony Digital Inc and creator of the Gran Turismo series

X1 sees the marriage of virtual and real worlds as we explore the boundaries of our technology and aesthetic senses. The X1 Prototype Project has been motivated by curiosity and passion, powerful forces that brought together the best the world has to offer in design, physics simulation, racing car product technology and driving.

X1 Downforce Specifications

Lets try calculating the cornering G’s of the X1 at 300km/h from the total tire load and coefficient of friction for the tires.

The total load on the X1′s tires at 300km/h is 1142.7kgf at the front tires, and 1432kgf at the rear tires. The coefficient of friction for the tires isμ=1.97. From these conditions, the maximum cornering force that the tires can exhibit can be determined to be 5073kgf. Dividing this by the wet weight of the X1 of 615kg comes to be 8.25, which is the maximum cornering G of the X1.

8.25G greatly exceeds the G’s felt during the launch of the Space Shuttle, and is roughly the same as that of a jet fighter plane at full afterburner. It is a figure at the very limits of what a human body can withstand.

Test Calculation: Cornering G at 300km/h
Total Tire Load: 2575.6kgf (Front Wheel 1142.7kgf+Rear Wheel 1432.9kgf)
Coefficient of Friction of Tires: μ=1.97 (baseμ=2.16, model calculates an efficiency reduction to 91.5% under high load)
Cornering force that can be exhibited by tires: 5073.9kgf
Cornering G: 8.25G (= 5073.9kgf / 615kg)

Read more: http://www.worldcarfans.com/110102929262/red-bull-x1-prototype-revealed-for-gran-turismo-5-video#ixzz13tUTExBi

The design of Mercedes’ 2011 car is already in the wind tunnel and “more innovative” that its disappointing predecessor.

That is the claim of the German marque’s Norbert Haug, one day after team boss Ross Brawn admitted the W01 was designed too conservatively amid Brawn GP’s 2009 title challenge.

“The prototype of the new car is in the wind tunnel,” Haug told Bild am Sonntag newspaper. “It will be more innovative, the result of taking more risks.

“The development of the current car is finished, so our engineers have more time to perhaps pursue some ideas that initially might seen outlandish.

“At the same time, our competitors are designing their new cars for 2011 whilst still fighting hard for this world championship,” added Haug.

In the same interview, the German also scotched reports he is at loggerheads with Brawn.

Working in the same office as his British colleague in the team’s offices at Yeongam, Haug insisted: “Does it look as though we cannot work with one another?”

However, much more pressing is the speculation that – at the end of another disappointing season next year – the team’s parent Daimler might pull the plug.

“Absolutely not,” Haug insists. “We certainly do not intend to be in the midfield, but no one at Mercedes is talking about quitting.”

Adrian Newey’s latest creation is capable of beating the formula one lap record at Suzuka by a staggering margin of 20 seconds.

Red Bull Technology’s top-secret X1 Prototype, tested around the Japanese circuit in virtual reality by Sebastian Vettel, was created for the new PlayStation game Gran Turismo 5.

Newey’s challenge was to create a virtual car for the game’s November release not bound by any set of regulations.

“We all have a dream about pushing the boundaries, where the performance of the car and the experience of the driver take precedence over the rules,” said Newey.

The Briton’s next creation will be the RB7, the successor of this year’s impressive 2010 F1 challenger.

“We have a few improvements in the pipeline (for the RB6) but I am personally focused about 70 per cent on the new car for 2011,” he is quoted by Auto Bild.

“There are some very innovative ideas,” announced Newey.

With the exception of his PlayStation creation, he insists his ideas are rule-confirmative, but some of his F1 rivals will suggest he flies too close into the grey areas.

“It’s part of the game,” said Newey, “and it’s been like that for the whole of my career.

“I see it as a compliment, because it is the best proof that my car is fast.”

According to reports in Spain, there might be merger talks afoot between the struggling HRT team, and hopeful 2011 entrant Epsilon Euskadi.

The news agency EFE said the latter’s chief Joan Villadelprat is weighing up two options: the first being acceptance by the FIA to be the 13th team entry in its own right next year.

The second option is reportedly a merger with Hispania, F1′s existing Spanish entrant that is lagging at the rear of the grid and yet to pen a concrete deal for the construction of its next car.

F1 veteran Villadelprat has reportedly already been in contact, some days ago, with Jose Ramon Carabante, the owner of Murcia-based HRT.

Spaniard Villadelprat reportedly asked Carabante “what Hispania needs, what Epsilon can offer and if there is the possibility of collaboration”.

He apparently acknowledged that Le Mans prototype constructor Epsilon Euskadi’s infrastructure rates among “the top five” of the existing F1 teams, but lacks 17 million euros in investment.

The news follows HRT’s split with its 2010 car partner Dallara, and the news that advanced talks were taking place between the team and departed Toyota’s F1 arm Toyota Motorsport.

Joan Villadelprat is eager for the FIA to make its decision about the identity of F1′s thirteenth team for 2011.

The formula one veteran, who has worked at Tyrrell, McLaren, Ferrari, Benetton and Prost, is now pushing to bring his own Le Mans prototype and junior single seaters team Epsilon Euskadi onto the grid.

It is believed the Azkoitia-based outfit is in competition with Villeneuve/Durango and Stefan GP, but it is also possible that the governing body will deem none of the applicants worthy of the 13th place.

It is also rumoured that many more than the three aforementioned projects are still officially in the running for the entry.

“We are already working with our wind tunnel model,” Villadelprat is quoted by the Italian language Al Volante.

“From the economic point of view we have an interesting budget but not yet what I would want to have for the formula one programme.

“Before investing a lot of money, our possible partners want to be sure that we have been chosen (by the FIA), but this (situation) will end in August,” he added.

Indeed, the FIA’s decision about the 13th team entry is due late this month.

Pirelli racing boss Paul Hembery has played down suggestions the tyre marque has a bad reputation when it comes to formula one.

Even though a Pirelli-shod car won a grand prix during the company’s last F1 foray in 1991, some figures have suggested that the tyres supplied during that period were inconsistent.

“Some people like to live in the past,” Hembery is quoted by Germany’s Auto Bild.

“Of course we had this problem, but what we had developed was a very aggressive qualifying tyre.  In the last 20 years, the rules and technologies have changed significantly,” he added.

Another suggestion is that F1′s selection of Pirelli as Bridgestone’s official supplier successor is a risk.

Instead, the sport could have opted for Michelin, who were last in F1 less than four years ago.

Hembery said: “We know the characteristics of many of the European tracks from GP3.  The overseas tracks are largely unknown to us.

“We will therefore take an accordingly conservative approach to the selection of rubber compounds,” he revealed.

And he denied that the selection of Pirelli gives Ferrari an advantage.

“The only advantage for Ferrari is that we both speak Italian and like pasta,” Hembery joked.

He said every team, to each pay Pirelli between EUR 1 and 1.5 million next year, will receive ten sets of prototype tyres to test after November’s season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Jun.10 (GMM)  Several more races could pass before Red Bull is ready to race a McLaren-style F-duct system.

The Austrian team tested an early prototype of the downforce-stalling concept during the practice sessions in Turkey, but it is believed the F-duct will not re-appear at all this weekend in Montreal.

According to Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, the subsequent Valencia and Silverstone rounds might also pass without a race-able version of the F-duct fitted to Mark Webber or Sebastian Vettel’s RB6 cars.

The report said the German round at Hockenheim could be the earliest possible qualifying and race debut for the Red Bull F-duct.

Before then, new iterations of the Turkey-specification F-duct could be tested in practice as soon as the forthcoming European grand prix at Valencia late this month.

Red Bull’s new F-duct system in Turkey did not function “100 per cent” on its Friday practice debut.

Sebastian Vettel’s RB6 was fitted with the McLaren-style innovation for the 180 minutes of practice, while teammate Mark Webber’s was not.

Vettel was the quicker of the pair in the morning, but even with his engine failure in the afternoon, Webber had sped up to be two tenths quicker by the end of Friday’s running.

When asked about the F-duct debut, 22-year-old Vettel said: “It did not work 100 per cent and still needs some fine-tuning.

“We will look at it again, but it looks promising,” he is quoted by Germany’s Motorsport-Magazin.com.

Vettel said he believes McLaren, fastest in both sessions, is taking a significant advantage from its F-duct on the Istanbul layout.

He therefore refused to confirm that Red Bull will not keep its initial prototype on the RB6 for qualifying and the race.

Vettel was also happy with his new chassis, after damage was found to its predecessor in the wake of the Spain/Monaco double-header, won by his teammate Webber.

“It feels more natural and it was a good step to make the change,” he said.

(GMM)

May 4 (GMM)  Epsilon Euskadi could be set to take another step towards becoming F1′s thirteenth and final team for the 2011 season.

We reported in March that the Spanish outfit would apply for the berth following the FIA’s invitation for expressions of interest.

The initial process ended on 15 April, with interested teams to lodge full applications by the end of June followed by “due diligence leading to a decision in July”.

It emerged on Monday that FIA president Jean Todt was set to travel to Spain on Tuesday for a meeting with the Spanish sports minister Jaime Lissavetsky and the head of Spain’s motor racing federation Carlos Gracia.

A press conference is then scheduled for the afternoon.

Spain’s El Pais newspaper reports that Todt will visit Epsilon Euskadi’s Azkoitia headquarters in view of the team making its formula one debut in 2011.

Epsilon Euskadi, involved in junior single seater categories as well as Le Mans with a prototype car, applied to make its F1 debut this year but was beaten to the places by USF1, HRT, Lotus, Virgin and Sauber.

Its boss is Joan Villadelprat, who for decades worked in F1 with McLaren, Ferrari, Benetton, Tyrrell and Prost.

Like Sauber, it is believed Force India is also close to finishing an ‘f-duct’ air inlet system similar to the controversial one cleared to race this year on McLaren’s 2010 car.

“I hope that they don’t see quite as much laptime performance as we believe we get from it,” said McLaren’s chief engineer Phil Prew, ahead of Friday practice in Melbourne, during which Sauber is expected to test its prototype system.

“It was inevitable,” he added when asked about the copies. “Hopefully we will be able to continue developing it and further exploit it one step ahead of the rest.

GMM