Ferrari’s heavily upgraded F2012 has caught the eye of reigning world champion and last-start winner Sebastian Vettel.

The famous Italian team and its lead driver Fernando Alonso have tried to play down the improvements made to the recently struggling red car.

“It was good acting,” said Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo’s correspondent Livio Oricchio on Friday.

“The truth is that Ferrari have debuted a new car. Almost everything is different.”

Red Bull’s Vettel has spotted the same thing.

“If you ask me, Ferrari are dangerous,” Bild newspaper quotes the German as saying on Friday.

The ‘B’ Ferrari features new front and rear wings, floor, sidepods, engine cover, exhaust and brake ducts.

“A total reconstruction for a million euros,” said the newspaper.

Alonso was quickest on Friday morning in Barcelona but then a long way down the order in P2. He played down his victory chances.

But Vettel’s boss Dr Helmut Marko insists: “They (Ferrari) have become really fast.”

Ferrari might be gearing up to incorporate a ‘double-DRS’ setup aboard its improving F2012 car.

If true, the famous Italian team would be the first team to successfully emulate the controversial Mercedes system, which has been declared fully legal by the governing FIA.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said a new rear wing was among the very last upgrades to be trialled by Fernando Alonso as the Mugello test concluded late on Thursday.

“The wing has only minor changes. You have to look closely,” read the report.

The magazine reported rumours that the wing might eventually accommodate the so-called ‘double-DRS’ or 2012-style F-duct, which would work in conjunction with a new and so far unseen front wing.

“That (wing) will debut along with a new diffuser and nose in Barcelona,” added Auto Motor und Sport.

There were happy faces in the Ferrari garage on Thursday, as – despite a minor off by Alonso – the upgrades appeared to work well.

“Barcelona will be a key moment in the season, but not a decisive one,” the Spanish driver insisted.

“It’s not a case that we will suddenly find ourselves back on pole position, because there is no magic button.”

Echoing the earlier words of Mark Webber, Alonso said the “fastest car” at Mugello this week was the Lotus.

Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko agrees: “It looks like Lotus are the quickest.”

Veteran Swiss correspondent Roger Benoit wrote in Blick newspaper: “Lotus, with Kimi Raikkonen in super shape, is the championship dark horse.”

Norbert Haug has the ‘F-duct’ debate around by admitting he questions the exhaust solution featured on this year’s McLaren car.

Some teams – notably Red Bull, Lotus and Ferrari – have complained loudly about the W03′s aerodynamic configuration, arguing the F-duct ban completely ruled out similar systems that are triggered by a driver’s movement.

Mercedes argues that its new F-duct is entirely passive and is triggered not by the driver but by the activation of the ‘DRS’ rear wing system.

So far, the FIA agrees, but it has led to suggestions Mercedes is only performing in qualifying because of its questionable F-duct, before struggling in the race when DRS use is much more limited.

“We have to live with that,” Mercedes’ motor racing chief Haug is quoted by Sport Bild, “until we are faster in the race, but it’s not true that we do not have a good car.

“We are a serious team that has to pretend nothing; we have prepared well in winter testing.”

Team boss Ross Brawn said recently he suspects all the fuss about Mercedes’ F-duct is a diversion when it comes to the exhaust solutions taken by some of his rivals in the wake of the blown diffuser clampdown.

Haug agrees that championship leader McLaren’s solution, for example, is “probably not what they (the FIA) had in mind when the blown diffuser was banned”.

But he also said Mercedes is not threatening to protest the “clever” British team.

“It is quite legitimate that we ask the FIA for a clarification, otherwise we could be missing a trick.

“It’s part of the game,” he explains.

Years after F1′s ‘spygate’ sagas, the issue could be set to return to the very top of the governing body’s agenda.

Force India claims Caterham and their common former wind tunnel partner Aerolab were this week “found liable” by a British court of using Force India data for the Team Lotus car of early 2010.

Vijay Mallya’s Silverstone based team said the ruling has been “referred for the consideration” of the FIA.

But Aerolab has hit back, insisting the judge “entirely rejected” Force India’s charge of “systematic copying”.

“On the contrary, such misuse as I have found to have occurred mainly consisted of opportunistic copying of CAD files by CAD designers in order to take a short cut,” the wind tunnel company quoted judge Justice Arnold as saying.

Nonetheless, Caterham was ordered to pay EUR 25,000 to Force India, but not the 18 million requested by the team.

“We were deeply disappointed with the damages award,” Force India deputy team principal Robert Fernley told the Guardian.

He said Caterham/Aerolab did not make a simple “short cut” in copying the CAD files, but copied “front and rear break duct systems, the front wing, the rear wing, the barge boards, the vortex generators and the diffuser”.

“The judge might say it’s not systematic but in my view it’s pretty extensive,” added Fernley.

Force India is expected to appeal.

And if the FIA intervenes and charges Caterham with theft, “it would cost Caterham tens of millions for the money they received for finishing tenth in the world championship for the past two years”, wrote Guardian correspondent Paul Weaver.

“And that is before any fine.”

HRT was not ready to race last weekend in Australia, Pedro de la Rosa has admitted.
Ultimately, the Spaniard and his teammate Narain Karthikeyan failed to satisfy the sport’s 107 per cent qualifying rule, and therefore sat out the 2012 opener.

The hurriedly-compiled F112 car did not feature a functioning ‘DRS’ rear wing system, and de la Rosa has also revealed that it didn’t have power steering.

“It’s essential to fix that,” he is quoted by Marca newspaper, “as it can be very dangerous to try to make corrections without the (steering) assistance.”

Team boss Luis Perez Sala admitted that fixing power steering at a circuit is not ideal.

“Really it should be at the factory in almost laboratory conditions,” he said, “but we have no choice.”

As for whether he will qualify this time in Malaysia, de la Rosa is not sure: “I think so, I hope so,” he said.

At least for now, the overtaking innovation ‘DRS’ is here to stay.
“It will stay as long as it’s in the regulations,” smiled the FIA’s Charlie Whiting in Melbourne, indicating it is a certainty for 2013 and 2014.

The concept debuted last year, replacing the driver-operated F-ducts with a standard rear wing flap that can be adjusted by chasing drivers in the midst of battle during grands prix.

Whiting said there are changes for 2012, to better balance the ease or difficulty of passing based on the experience of last year.

“For example, here (in Australia) there is a second zone, and in China and Belgium the zones will be shortened.

“Barcelona is lengthened by 50 metres and Canada there will be no second zone, same with Valencia,” he is quoted by Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo.

“In Monza the zones will be longer, while for most of the other circuits we are satisfied.”

McLaren and Mercedes look to be leading the way with the latest technical ingenuity in formula one.
Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that the two teams are set to combine the button-activated DRS system with a sort of additional F-duct at the rear of their 2012 cars.

It was believed F-ducts were no longer legal, but new passive systems have emerged on the front wings of some 2012 cars, pioneered by Mercedes.

As for the rear wings, those F-ducts are also still legal “under certain circumstances”, the German magazine claims.

Combining a legal rear F-duct with DRS could result in a “huge top-speed gain”, writer Michael Schmidt claims, with the Mercedes W03 reportedly racing ahead by a whopping 18kph at the recent Barcelona test.

 A new case of F-duct fever appears to have broken out in formula one.
The issue seemed dead at the end of 2010: the FIA banned the driver-activated systems that stalled the rear wing to boost top speed, replacing it with ‘DRS’.

But towards the end of last year, Mercedes began testing an F-duct style innovation in the front-wing, which because it is entirely passive is legal.

The system is on the W03 car, and Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that McLaren’s final Barcelona test specification of its 2012 car, the MP4-27, featured a similar system.

Now, there are rumours Mercedes, McLaren as well as Red Bull and Lotus have designed new F-duct style systems — also for the rear wing.

Asked if this would explain Red Bull’s mysterious letterbox-style slit on the stepped front nose, designer Adrian Newey answered: “I can’t say anything.”

“Some teams have some doubts about the legality of the supposed systems,” journalist Michael Schmidt said. “We have heard that one has made an official request to the FIA about what is and is not allowed in this area.”

 The recently revealed ‘W-duct’ aside, another technical secret has been discovered aboard Mercedes’ newly launched W03.
Rumours insist the German squad was the last to reveal and test its 2012 car because it boasts a few highly innovative ideas that could drive Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg to the middle of the podium.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that mechanics working for the Brackley based team are making more efforts than usual to hide the front and rear of the car, and erecting huge screens in front of the pits between test runs in Barcelona.

But a big secret is now out of the bag, and it’s located beneath the rear rain light and being described by insiders as “like a double diffuser”.

Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport said the feature is believed to produce an effect similar to the one pioneered by Mercedes’ predecessor Brawn GP in 2009, which resulted in the championship for Jenson Button.

And according to Auto Motor und Sport, the concept differs to the banned double diffuser because the air is channelled through holes at the rear of the engine cover.

The concept, despite complying with the FIA’s blown diffuser clampdown, also reportedly involves the clever redirection of exhaust gases.

And yet another innovation on the Mercedes could be a passive ‘F-duct’-style addition to the car’s new rear wing, working alongside the ‘DRS’ system.

When asked about the ‘ducts’, Rosberg and Schumacher played it coy: “What’s that?” Rosberg answered, while Schumacher joked that it sounds like something that should go “quack!”

“They are a good team,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told Sky when asked about Mercedes.

“They have some good people so it would be foolish to underestimate them.”

Meanwhile, TZ newspaper in Germany reports that the FIA could be set to clamp down even harder in the area of exhaust blowing.

There are rumours Renault and Mercedes-powered teams are still using clever engine mapping techniques for aerodynamic effect.

 Paddock insiders already have a name for Mercedes’ new front wing innovation — ‘W-duct’.
We have reported that the German marque has already tested the F-duct style concept at the front of its newly-launched W03 car.

The Finnish broadcaster MTV3, describing the system as ‘W-duct’, has provided some detail as to how it works.

When the car is being driven in a straight line, air flows into the tip of the silver car’s nose and is dispersed in a W-like pattern across the length of the front wing.

But when the car is cornering, the air flows more predominantly to one side or the other, improving the balance and handling.

Unlike the driver-operated rear wing F-duct, which was banned for 2011, Mercedes’ system is entirely passive and requires no moving parts, and is therefore legal.

Meanwhile, team boss Ross Brawn on Tuesday defended Mercedes’ strategy of employing numerous technical bosses, including Aldo Costa, Bob Bell and Geoff Willis.

“How it works is a mystery to me,” Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko told Die Welt newspaper, “but Mercedes must know what they’re doing.”

F1′s field of 2012 reminds one expert pundit of a supermodel without her best assets.
Former driver Hans-Joachim Stuck wrote in his German column for Eurosport that he dislikes the look of this year’s formula one cars.

“The tyres are too narrow, the rear wing too small and the front wing too big, and the nose is a complete failure,” he said.

“It’s like imagining Heidi Klum without her nice behind and bosom, and that’s unfortunately what they’ve done with the new cars.

“Let’s hope that they’re fast, at least.”

Tyre supplier Pirelli’s motor sport director Paul Hembery recently slammed the new cars for being “pig ugly”.

He told The Sun it could be a turn-off for potential new fans and sponsors.

“It is what a lot of people will say who are maybe not as intimately involved as we are,” said Hembery.

 Kimi Raikkonen has revealed he is no fan of F1′s ‘DRS’ concept.
The former world champion was busy in the world rally series last year when formula one introduced the moveable rear wing system, designed to boost overtaking.

Having skipped the 2010 season entirely on television, Raikkonen began to watch some grands prix last year when his thirst for circuit racing returned.

“The way the DRS wings work is for me a little ridiculous,” he admitted to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport. “Overtaking is not really a great art anymore.

“You just put the wing down and go past easily,” said the 32-year-old. “The guy in front can’t really do anything.

“But I agree that at least it makes the show better,” added Raikkonen.

He admitted that his brief stint in American Nascar racing last year rekindled his love for wheel-to-wheel.

“I realised how much I was missing it,” said the former McLaren and Ferrari driver. “That doesn’t mean I am sick of rallying; actually I’d like to do both but that’s not possible.

“But if you want to race and you have the choice, first you look at formula one,” he added.

Raikkonen was the fastest of all when 2012 testing kicked off at Jerez on Tuesday, insisting he is not fazed at the prospect of returning after two years away.

“For me it’s easier to get used to the (Pirelli) tyres than it was for the others a year ago. For me it’s more like a new beginning.”

As for the refuelling ban, which came in last year, Raikkonen insists: “That’s no big deal — the pitstop is just a little shorter.

“Driving with the heavier car is not like day and night; it’s still the same sport. There’s just a few more buttons to push on the steering wheel.”

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

Timo Glock has joined a group of F1 drivers who think the ‘proximity’ wing idea is a bad one.

FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh has admitted that the proposal, with chasing drivers able to press a button and boost straightline speed next season, might not see the light of day.

“I think it’s highly dangerous,” Glock is quoted as saying by the website of the Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell.

“From the viewpoint of safety, I think it’s a wrong decision.”

The speed difference between the Lotus and Red Bull cars was arguably the cause of last Sunday’s huge crash at Valencia involving Mark Webber.

“We’ve seen what can happen if the guy behind has significantly more speed,” Virgin driver Glock said.

“Mark was just lucky that there was enough run-off and he could just run into the tyre barrier,” added the German, suggesting that the return of KERS in 2011 could boost the speed differences even more.

“The drivers all have the same opinion; it is clearly too dangerous,” said Glock of the adjustable rear wing idea.

“Perhaps the (GPDA) drivers’ union can do something.  It should definitely be talked about.”

Plans for adjustable ‘proximity’ rear wings next year are not set in stone, according to FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh.

The idea, giving chasing drivers the ability to reduce drag and therefore better mount overtaking moves, was championed by the teams association and recently rubber-stamped by the FIA.

But there has been some opposition since the announcement; primarily by those who think it is an unnecessary and artificial ploy, and also those who are concerned about safety.

“We will see whether people are convinced by it or not,” said Whitmarsh, also the McLaren team boss.

The Briton admitted the proximity wing was developed due to “fan-based pressure” to improve the spectacle of overtaking, but said it is not certain the innovation will actually debut.

“I think we have got to do a little bit more work on deployment and the sporting regulations that accompany it, and if we get that right we’ll give it a go,” said Whitmarsh.

He confirmed that if “it detracts, isn’t right, it’s easy to take it off”.

“But let’s have a look at it; it’s a bit of an experiment.”

Former grand prix driver Anthony Davidson is not confident the wings will ever be seen in action.

“I think teams just like to see what people like us think about it before it actually gets put forward,” said the BBC radio commentator.

(GMM)