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.”

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 vague regulation was cleared up at Silverstone after Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber were summoned by the stewards.
The pair were seen using their ‘DRS’ adjustable rear wings during rainy Friday practice, even though the innovation cannot be used on a wet track.

But McLaren, testing a new rear wing configuration ahead of the British grand prix, exploited a loophole in the rules that makes no mention of DRS being banned when the car is fitted with slick tyres.

“The stewards just wanted to understand so that they could tighten the wording of the regulations for the next race,” Hamilton confirmed.

The stewards, including 1992 world champion Nigel Mansell, took no action against the 2008 world champion or Red Bull’s Webber.

At the Valencia test this week, F1′s governing body gave teams more details about the operation of the mandatory moveable rear wings in 2011.

Drivers have been experimenting with the overtaking aid this week, with observers able to visibly see the rear wing open up on the straight to stall the downforce before it is clicked back into place at the braking zone.

It has been feared that if chasing drivers are allowed to press the rear wing button too often, overtaking will become commonplace and uninteresting.

So the FIA has told teams that if the chasing car is within a certain time of his rival – say, one second – he will be allowed to activate the wing only within a 600-metre zone at the end of a straight.

These zones will reportedly be marked out with white lines, and Guardian correspondent Richard Williams reported that the one second gap will be calculated at the corner before the designated straight.

“Further information, going into detail and the various scenarios still has to be clarified,” said Ferrari’s technical director Aldo Costa, adding that the wings for now will not be operated in the wet.

“Then it will be a case of seeing how things go in the race to understand how to proceed,” he added, suggesting that the rules may be tweaked depending on the outcome of the initial races.

The early feedback from the drivers is that, combined with preparing and triggering KERS and watching for the rear wing green light, their cockpit workload is increasingly unreasonable.

“It’s just not enjoyable — pressing buttons, changing gear, pressing and holding,” said Rubens Barrichello.

Of the newer generation, however, Fernando Alonso said he was beginning to get his head around the new functions after a few days in the car.

The old guard is unconvinced.

“It’s not motor racing. It’s calculation,” slammed Swiss ex-driver and German-language commentator Marc Surer.

Team Lotus’ technical boss Mike Gascoyne thinks the FIA is right to flag possible changes to the rear wing rules this year.

“I don’t think we’re going to get it right straight away,” he predicted, admitting his own concerns about the loss of racing’s purity.

“Some of the greatest drives were by people like Gilles Villeneuve, holding off the rest of the field. Are you going to say ‘Well, that’s never going to happen any more’?”

Another fear is that chasing drivers will call off a genuine overtaking attempt on another part of the circuit in order to simply press the button in the designated 600-metre zone.

But F1′s most successful driver, Michael Schumacher, backs the concept.

“It’s a good innovation,” he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“We know that in F1 we have a problem with cars following other ones. If there is no dramatic change in the ratio between aerodynamic and mechanical grip, you need something else. This might help,” added the German.

And Schumacher said he doubts pressing the button will make overtaking easy.

“There is no button for just driving past someone. It could be that we just close the gap and get in the slipstream to start a fight. Or it could be that it’s not quite enough.”

Ferrari’s Costa agrees: “Our calculations say that it (600m) is on the edge.”

Pirelli will use a colourful method to visibly differentiate its tyre compounds at grands prix this year.
A few years ago, the FIA said sole supplier Bridgestone must differentiate the appearance of the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ options at races.

With the grooved tyres, the Japanese marque painted a line in a middle groove of the soft options, and when slicks returned in 2009 the soft Bridgestones featured a green circle on the sidewall.

According to Italian sources, F1′s new sole supplier Pirelli has come up with a different approach to conform with the same rule in 2011.

A report in the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat claims that each compound with have the words ‘Pirelli P Zero’ painted in different colours on the sidewall.

The super-soft wording will reportedly be in red, the soft will be in white, the medium in blue and the hard in yellow.

Meanwhile, the sidewall colourings of the full wet tyre will be yellow, and the intermediates red.

After four floodlit nights in Abu Dhabi that concluded this week, Pirelli said it is now ready for the forthcoming group tests and the season.

But the marque’s research and development boss Maurizio Boiocci admitted that one unknown factor is how the tyres will be affected by the additional speed delivered by KERS and adjustable rear wings.

“If the speed came on gradually, for sure there would be no problems,” he said. “But it remains to be seen what happens when all the power comes on suddenly.”

Pirelli test driver Pedro de la Rosa told Spain’s Marca newspaper that he thinks Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton will adapt best to the new tyres in 2011.

“Changes like this always benefit the best ones, and the best ones are Hamilton and Alonso,” he said.

“But I don’t think the changing of tyres brands will be a big problem for anyone.”

Meanwhile, it has emerged that – so that no drivers or teams are favoured – the FIA will distribute Pirelli’s tyres to the teams after randomly shuffling the code numbers at grands prix.

F1 cars will feature 1980-style ‘tea tray’ front wings in 2013, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

With KERS and adjustable rear wings to feature on the grid next season, and radical 4-cylinder turbo engines to debut in 2013, the report said the new front wings are the next significant change for formula one in two years.

To replace the big and wide front wings of today, the 2013 cars will reportedly generate the bulk of their downforce underneath the car, with the formula drawn up by veteran engineers Patrick Head and Rory Byrne.

The teams will receive the draft 2013 regulations – which will also see the cars wearing much smaller rear wings – this week before they are discussed in detail by the Technical Working Group in January.

“(In 2013) We are only going to have roughly 65 per cent of the amount of fuel and a (limited) fuel (flow) rate — that was a given,” Head, engineering boss and co-owner at Williams, confirmed.

“We were just told ‘That’s what it will be, you’ve got to come up with a car spec that is not going to be more than five seconds a lap slower than a current F1 car’.

“So some circuit simulation was done by Rory at Ferrari and when we’d come up with some numbers in terms of drag and downforce it was then to try to come up with a geometry of a car that could try to achieve that,” he added.

Fernando Alonso has tipped key technical rule changes for 2011 to contribute to more “spectacular” racing.

The Ferrari driver admitted that the return of energy-recovery KERS boost buttons next year, and the debut of moveable rear wings usable only by drivers who are closely chasing a rival, are “crucial” to the sport’s next season.

“Each year there are rule changes to encourage overtaking, but I think that the ones in 2011 are really significant,” he is quoted by the Spanish media at an event involving Santander boss Emilio Botin.

“I think that, finally, it will be much easier to overtake and hopefully the racing will be spectacular,” Spaniard Alonso added.

Asked what his personal goal for 2011 is, the 29-year-old admitted: “When you are at Ferrari, the world championship as a target is obligatory.

“We will have a better car than this year and the goal remains the same as always,” added Alonso.

“We know how difficult is our task because of the competitiveness of Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes, so we need to work hard to find something they do not have.”

Finally, Alonso was asked by a young questioner if he will be drinking Red Bull over the winter period to build his energy for 2011.

“No … no,” he smiled.

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

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)

And last year, succeeded the “red bull” on the course in Northamptonshire a double victory. The signs are so good, but is happy not only because of technical director Adrian Newey to forward to the next Grand Prix at Silverstone (July 9 to 11).

For the team headquarters of Red Bull Racing in Milton Keynes is 30 minutes away from Silverstone. “So many of our employees the chance to see the race immediately,” said Newey. Whether they will experience a strong performance of the team, the design guru but can not promise yet: “There are so many variables such as the track temperature, so many things that can affect the performance of the team.”
Unlike in Valencia Red Bull will be at Silverstone have no major upgrade here, but only minor modifications, mainly at the front and rear wings. “We were in Valencia with a new diffuser and another F-shaft a few innovations here, all of which have worked well,” says Newey.
“The team has worked incredibly hard and Sebastian drove a great race,” continues Newey. “He brought the car really well through the race, after he blocked during restart after Safetycarphase the brakes and made the left front tire was flat. And it was a great relief that Mark was after his big crash in order.”

Meanwhile it had become difficult to find under the new regulations still tricks that bring a big step forward with it, continues Newey, but he added with a grin: “It is interesting to see how popular our exhaust systems along the pit lane has become! ”

Newey is now but once the first rounds of the Red Bull looking forward to the new section of the Silverstone course. “Like all other teams, we got the floor plan map and simulated,” he says. “But we have to address details such as bumps and Gripwechsel, we know only when we are driven there. It looks good in any case and as I noted at the MotoGP race there, the drivers loved it.”

Drivers next year will be allowed to press a button on the steering wheel that spoils downforce in the rear wing and thus boosts the possibility for overtaking.

But driver veteran Jarno Trulli this weekend expressed fears that tinkering with the rear wings is a dangerous move.

Mercedes team boss Brawn, however, insists that the adjustable wing design includes a failsafe.

“The teams have worked on this a lot,” he said in Valencia.

“Should the system fail and is no longer adjustable, the wing will be in its normal position, so there will be no downforce lost,” added Brawn.

(GMM)

F1 drivers on Thursday sounded unconvinced about the debut next year of moveable ‘proximity’ rear wings.

The scheme, ratified by the FIA this week, will see chasing drivers able to press a button and boost straight-line speed if they are within a designated distance from the car in front, in a bid to improve the chances of overtaking.

But veteran Rubens Barrichello said in Valencia: “I don’t know if I like the idea that the one in front cannot use it and the one behind can.”

Robert Kubica had already voiced his opposition to the plan, and added on Thursday: “I don’t think there is a lot of entertainment in seeing cars overtake each other on a straight.

“To be honest, it’s a bit like a Playstation game when you have nitro or something.”

Mark Webber agreed: “It is good for the Playstation I think. Overtaking moves should be about pressurising, being skilful, and tactical.

“Yes we want to see more overtaking, but we also need to keep the element of skill involved in overtaking and not just hitting buttons, and not an IRL race where you pass each other four times per lap and everyone gets bored of that.”

And Force India’s Adrian Sutil added: “It’s very good for the show, it’s not so good from a driving point of view, because if you defend your position well it doesn’t really matter.”

Jun.16 (GMM)  Robert Kubica is the first formula one personality to oppose plans for ‘proximity wings’ in 2011.

After a meeting in Canada last weekend, teams agreed that drivers should next year be able to adjust their rear wings when they are following a car, in order to boost their chances of overtaking.

“I think that could be quite exciting,” said FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh, insisting that drivers will not be able to use the straightline speed-boosting system to defend position.

FOTA’s technical chairman Ross Brawn added: “It’s going to be an enhanced F-duct, where the car that is following will be allowed to reduce its drag to attack the car in front.

“I think that will give a lot more opportunity for overtaking.”

But Renault driver Kubica insists that grands prix have been exciting enough in 2010 without the radical innovation.

“And secondly,” he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, “why it is only now that people are noticing that overtaking is difficult?

“I watched my first formula one race in 1997, and there was not much overtaking then,” noted the Pole.

Jun.14 (GMM)
The confirmation was made after the F1 teams met in Canada to discuss technical matters relating to the 2011 season.

Adjustable rear wings are also set to debut in order to boost overtaking, and FOTA’s ban on using energy-recovering KERS systems is to lapse.

Some teams including Ferrari had pushed hard to make the KERS systems much more powerful in 2011, but agreement has instead been made to lift the minimum weight of the car-plus-driver.

As the weight handicap was considered among the problems of the KERS debut in 2009, the minimum limit will rise from 620 to 640kg next year.

“The teams have agreed on that,” Domenicali confirmed.

“We would have preferred to see a solution with much more energy being available (to KERS), but unfortunately an agreement could not be found.”

It is understood that the reason for staying with a lower power output is that some manufacturers would have had trouble adapting their existing technology.

However, while it has been suggested that another major problem for KERS in 2009 is that the systems were voluntary to run, it has emerged that the units will not be compulsory in 2011.

Mercedes, for instance, is considering whether to use KERS next year, even though a programme has already been initiated by the Brackley based squad with a view to a 2011 implementation.

“We will make a decision (about KERS for 2011) within four to six weeks,” said Ross Brawn.

Jun.11 (GMM)  F1 is considering a radical innovation for 2011 in order to make overtaking much easier.

Technical bosses of the twelve teams met at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Friday, where it was agreed that the adjustable front wings will be scrapped at the end of the season.

Instead, drivers will next year be able to adjust the angle – by a factor of 50mm – of the rear wings, meaning that straight-line speed can be dramatically increased when the cars are not negotiating corners.

The intriguing twist, designed exclusively to boost overtaking, is that only chasing drivers will be able to adjust their cars’ wings.

A green light will shine in the cockpit when a car is close enough to the rear of his rival, thereby allowing the driver to trigger the rear wing button.

The systems will not be available to drivers during the first three laps of a race, but the wings may be triggered after a safety car period.

“Why do we need KERS now?” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner joked to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.  “The overtaking wings will be enough!”