This year’s Lotus car will be called the E20.
Last year’s Enstone-produced single seater was the R31, in accordance with the Renault numbering tradition.

But with the name-change to Lotus for 2012, the team has decided to honour the factory staff by naming the new car E20 — ‘E’ for Enstone.

The ’20′ is a reference to the fact the new single seater is the twentieth made at Enstone since the then Benetton team relocated in 1992.

The E20 will be revealed on February 5, the day before Kimi Raikkonen debuts it at Jerez on the eve of the opening 2012 group test.

 HRT is in talks with the city of Madrid to relocate its headquarters to Caja Magica.
Otherwise known as the Magic Box, the facility houses the Madrid Open tennis tournament, the Spanish Olympic Committee and – until last year – the Real Madrid basketball team.

After its first two seasons under the German-based Colin Kolles’ management, the former Hispania team has now entered a new phase with an increased Spanish identity.

Madrid regional officials told the Europa Press news agency that negotiations with HRT are underway.

The team “has approached the city with regards to relocating its headquarters to one of the spaces at the Caja Magica”, an official confirmed.

“At the moment there is nothing fixed, nor any pre-agreements signed,” the spokesman added.

HRT would not comment on media speculation.

 Caterham enters the 2012 season with a simple goal — a point.
In its first two seasons, then known as Lotus, the Tony Fernandes-led squad proved the best of the other new-in-2010 startups including Virgin (now Marussia) and HRT.

But a green-coloured car is still yet to score a point.

“That must be the goal (for 2012), but we are also realistic,” Malaysian Fernandes told Brazil’s Corride de Formula 1.

“We want to take steps forward in the right direction towards building long-term success. But the fact is that the only way to do that is to beat the teams that are ahead of us.

“All of them scored points in 2011,” he said, chiefly referring to Williams.

“So to beat them, we will at least have to score a point. That has to be the goal,” added Fernandes.

Marussia will sit out the forthcoming first test of the 2012 pre-season.
And it has also emerged that the former Virgin team’s new single seater will not make an appearance until the third and final test of the winter in Barcelona.

Kevin Eason, the London newspaper The Times’ veteran F1 correspondent, said the news is “worrying”.

After finishing its first two seasons dead last, however, the team has gone back to the drawing board with what boss John Booth describes as an “almost entirely new (car), with very little carry over”.

“Unfortunately our programme has slipped and there seems little point in fielding the new car before we can optimise the run plan for it.

“So the plan is to run the 2011 (car) in Barcelona from 21 February and the new (2012 car) MR01 from 1 March at the second Barcelona test,” the team explained on Twitter.

“We will hopefully gain more constructive track time than we might otherwise have achieved had we rushed the new car out for the second test,” added Booth.

Previously, Marussia planned to be at the forthcoming Jerez test with the 2011 car to give rookie Charles Pic some mileage.

The electric bicycle brand Yamimoto and HRT Formula 1 Team have signed a collaboration deal by which Yamimoto will become the team’s Official Supplier of sustainable mobility for 2012.

HRT will become, through this deal, a pioneer in the world of Formula 1 by integrating an alternative energy to petrol in its mobility plan and will use Yamimoto’s electric bicycles to move around at Grands Prix and away from them.

Alternative energies are assuming more and more importance every day in modern societies so, without a doubt, incorporating them to such an innovative and technologic environment as is Formula 1 would give the young Spanish team an added value.

Collaborating with national brands and companies is one of HRT’s basic lines of action and one that fits perfectly with the team’s philosophy when looking for synergies and the strengthening of Spanish brands in the world.

Manuel Muñiz, CEO and Partner, Bector Bikes: “Yamimoto is born from a commitment with the environment and the conviction of being able to unite this with a benefit in the quality of movement and cost for our clients. Yamimoto improves the day-to-day lives of its clients and the cities in which they live, as reflected on our tagline “Move Smart”. The agreement with HRT is a platform for Yamimoto from which to move on to new development and growth opportunities, but it also means a lot more will be asked of us and there will be more expectations with regards to our products from a technological and design point of view. The exclusive bicycle that we are designing for HRT will be the first step in this new stage of alliance between Yamimoto and HRT”.

Óscar Leyva, Business Development Director, HRT F1 Team: “The complexity of moving a Formula 1 team around the world doesn’t limit itself to the major distances covered by traditional modes of transport. There are also a large amount of short and medium distance journeys, in testing and Grands Prix but also in between races. The alternative that Yamimoto offers us doesn’t only contribute comfort and practicality but it is also an innovative company that adjusts to our philosophy of searching for synergies with Spanish companies to strengthen our brands in the world and the concept of Spain being a country that backs R&D&i”.

- Ends -

ABOUT YAMIMOTO

Yamimoto is the brand used by Bector Bikes to commercialize electric bicycles since 2007. It is a 100% Spanish company that pioneers in backing sustainable mobility in Spain, offering its clients a solution for intelligent and elegant movement. It is a company in constant evolution that strongly backs R &D, and a manufacturer of low-consumption, environmentally friendly and foldable vehicles.

The company’s philosophy contemplates the will to contribute a sustainable solution to the complex problem of transport, soothing the problems with traffic in major cities and respecting the environment whilst enabling a healthy lifestyle. The important savings that occur as a result of moving around on electric bicycles, with Yamimoto offering some very competitive prices, is also a significant aspect. Another notable feature is the commitment to the client given the quantity, quality and professionalism of its customer care and after-sales services.

Yamimoto uses innovative production processes, hybridization of materials and components, implementation of new technologies in the world of bicycle safety, bicycle control systems stemming from smartphones, use of lithium batteries employed in high-end electric sports vehicles or the design of frames that enable the integration of batteries in its interior. All these factors form a part of Yamimoto’s DNA, a company that continues to evolve and work for a future that will take a leap in quality thanks to the engineering of KeelWit Technology, a company that specializes in the development of advanced technologies in the field of sustainable mobility, and also in storage and energetic efficiency.

Contact Yamimoto:
Felipe Capdepón. Communications Director
felipe@yamimoto.com
Fernando Martí. Commercial Director
fernando@yamimoto.com
T. +34 91 524 12 87
www.yamimoto.com

 Toro Rosso’s new drivers have admitted a seat at senior team Red Bull Racing is an obvious target for the future.
Mark Webber’s contract expires at the end of this season.

For 2012, Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne have replaced Red Bull rookie team Toro Rosso’s former lineup of Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari.

“Of course I’d be happy to drive for Red Bull — that’s the big goal of all the Red Bull juniors.

“If we do everything right and we get the right results, then perhaps we will succeed in a year or two or three,” Australian Ricciardo told Austrian Servus TV.

He admitted his half-season with HRT is an advantage over Frenchman Vergne, whose first grand prix will be the Melbourne season opener in March.

“I think it will be perhaps a little easier for me to get into the season, but the advantage will not last long.

“I’m sure it will help me but there is a lot of testing before Melbourne and we’ll both be prepared,” said Ricciardo.

On the plus side for Vergne, he is known for having an extremely feisty racing style and is highly rated by Red Bull’s influential Dr Helmut Marko.

Known in the paddock as ‘Jev’, Vergne said he will not lose focus by eyeing Webber’s seat prematurely.

“Since my karting days I’ve always had the philosophy to think only of the present. For example, I’ve never thought about formula one, but only the season I was in.

“In 2012 I drove for Toro Rosso; 2013 does not interest me now. I will give my best and then we’ll see what comes up.”

 Marussia’s 2012 car is “not revolutionary”, according to a German-language report.
The former Virgin team will not give its new single seater its official track debut until Barcelona — the second winter test of the forthcoming 2012 pre-season.

That news raised expectations that the car, headed technically by the highly rated former Renault man Pat Symonds, could be a radical departure from the cars that finished the 2010 and 2011 seasons dead last.

Writing in the German-language Speed Week, Peter Hesseler cited Symonds in saying that the 2012 Marussia “will have little in common” with its Virgin predecessor.

But Symonds reportedly thinks the team’s spot at the very bottom of the constructors’ standings means the priority is a new car with “high quality” rather than innovation.

The goal for 2012, therefore, is to move into the midfield.

International media reports, meanwhile, say the former Renault team – now Lotus – has got its 2012 single seater through the FIA’s mandatory crash tests.

The news means the car is now ready to make its official track debut in Kimi Raikkonen’s hands at Jerez early next month.

 Details of Ferrari’s unlaunched 2012 car have emerged in the pages of Italian specialist publications.
On Tuesday, Autosprint publishes drawings by technical illustrator Giorgio Piola of Maranello’s latest creation, with some parts – including the sidepods – reportedly “inspired by (the) McLaren” of last year.

The weekly said the car, to likely be named F12 or F2012, also has “many other features that should make it really extreme”, as ordered by Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali last year.

“Some people called it (the car) bad after seeing the shapes, probably because of the hump on the nose,” read a report at Autosprint’s auto.it website.

“But the final version should be smooth.”

The magazine also says Ferrari has innovated to exploit the safety regulations for crash structures, producing a wing-like aerodynamic effect with the sidepods.

Another all-new feature for Ferrari – breaking a philosophy of more than a decade – is the Red Bull-style pull-rod suspension, and an engine cover rear ‘hole’ also similar to Adrian Newey’s title-winning 2011 design.

The car’s exhausts reportedly exit even higher than the new regulations dictate, possibly so the gases flow onto the main element of the rear wing.

This feature may not be seen – possibly for reasons of secrecy – on the initial launch version displayed by Ferrari on 3 February.

La Gazzetta dello Sport, meanwhile, said the 2012 Ferrari has “long, low and narrow” radiators and sidepods, with a lower seating position for the drivers.

HRT has insisted that its new car will be in action before the opening round of the new F1 season despite running into delays with its plans for 2012.

The team has undergone extensive restructuring in recent months after a change of ownership during the 2011 campaign, which has led to suggestion that – for a third straight year – the team was in a race against time to carry out any pre-season testing.

While team principal Luis Perez-Sala wasn’t available for interview, a spokeswoman for the Spanish team told the BBC that the team was working towards running the new car for the first time in the second test of the year, which will take place in Barcelona.

The new car is reported to have started its FIA crash tests, which it is required to pass before it will allowed to take part in any on-track action.

“Luis Perez-Sala is fully focused at the moment on the car and the new structure, and he prefers not to give any statements or interviews to the press for now until everything is in place,” the spokeswoman said.

“Rumours that we will take part in the initial grands prix with the 2011 car are not true. The target is to be at the second [pre-season] test with the new car.

“There’s been, and still is, a lot to work on but, even if we may struggle in the beginning, the structure that is being built now is a lot more solid, reliable and committed. Hopefully, we’ll be able to prove all that soon and change the team’s perception, which is no longer real. It won’t be a bed of roses but we’ll manage to do it.”

 Caterham could beat the entire F1 field to the starting line ahead of the 2012 season.
Italy’s Autosprint said it believes the former Lotus team’s new single seater – to be called the CT01 and believed to have passed the FIA’s crash tests – could be unveiled “at the end of January”.

That would be even earlier than some other teams intend to launch their cars, ahead of the start of the official test season at Jerez on 7 February.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, meanwhile, said that while the former Renault team Lotus F1 has not yet revealed a launch date, the 2012 car is “very likely” to get its track debut at Jerez.

The magazine said the car, to accommodate Kimi Raikkonen’s return this year, passed the FIA’s mandatory crash tests earlier in January.

Auto Motor und Sport also reports that following the departures of bosses Colin Kolles and Geoff Willis, “delays” at HRT could force the struggling Spanish team to once again start a new season with its old car.

 Red Bull will reveal its 2012 car during an internet presentation on the day before the RB8 is given its official track debut.
The reigning champions said in a media statement that the Adrian Newey-inked car will be seen for the first time on the team’s website on 6 February, the day before the opening four-day test at Jerez kicks off.

Red Bull said the car will be seen “in a different light” at 1pm.

Meanwhile, F1′s sixth-ranked team in 2011, Force India, will reveal its new car on February 3 at 9am at the Silverstone track, located across the road from its Northamptonshire headquarters.

Technical director Andrew Green said the VJM05, whose monocoque has already passed the FIA’s mandatory crash tests, will be built and fired up next week.

“There’s always a buzz around when it’s happening,” he said.

(reuters) Malaysian owned Caterham F1 plan to move across England in August to take over the old Arrows and Super Aguri factory near Oxford, the Formula One team said on Wednesday.

The team had sought the move to Leafield to be closer to others in central England’s ‘Motorsport Valley’, making it easier to recruit and retain staff as well as being within easy reach of Silverstone.

“We propose moving the F1 and GP2 teams to the new site in or around August 2012, giving us ample time to build up the infrastructure required to house all the critic

Ermestel, a Spanish company specialized in datacenter infrastructure transformation based on technologies such as Virtualization and Cloud Computing, has reached an agreement with HRT Formula 1 Team by which it will become an IT Official Supplier to the team for the next three years. The team has decided to trust in the sound experience and guarantee of the integrator’s IT projects to face the new racing season.

For the 2012 season, together with Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa, HRT is working towards being as competitive as possible in such a demanding world as is the pinnacle of motorsport and, along with national companies such as Ermestel, continuing to grow the “Spain” brand and helping to increase its international recognition.

Ermestel, through this agreement, will manage the entire IT infrastructure of the Spanish team whilst also supplying the team with a disaster recovery system.

Pedro Tortosa, Ermestel CEO: “Formula 1 represents excellence in technological innovation and style and I believe that those are values that perfectly suit Ermestel. HRT Formula 1 Team transmitted to us the importance of counting with a great technological partner, since without this base, the most visible aspects such as the car and the driver wouldn’t function properly. We are delighted that they have decided to trust in us for the management of the IT platform, which in such an innovative and standout world as is Formula 1, represents a great responsibility and a thrilling challenge that gives us the opportunity to prove our national leadership in innovative technologies”.

Luis Pérez-Sala, HRT F1 Team Team Principal: “In a sport that is extremely competitive and demanding as is Formula 1, everything has to work quickly and to perfection. Ermestel’s contribution will be fundamental for our systems to operate with the required performance and reliability. HRT is a young team with a long road yet ahead, but thanks to this alliance with another innovative Spanish company we will continue to grow as a team”.

- Ends -

ABOUT ERMESTEL

ErmesTel is a Madrid-based systems integrator specialized in datacenter infrastructure transformation. Since more than ten years ago they design and deploy innovative IT solutions based on Virtualization and Cloud Computing technologies and products that allow their customers to consolidate, optimize, manage and support virtual datacenter infrastructures, both in-house and external.
In the field of virtualization, ErmesTel has been present in the main projects in Spain since 2002, becoming the national reference delivered over 450 projects in the major sectors (Banking, Public Sector, Insurance, Industry).

Areas of expertise:

-    IT Infrastructure: Virtualization, Storage Solutions, Network (SAN, LAN), Backup, Disaster Recovery.
-    Infrastructure Services: Analysis and Consulting, Design of Projects, Supply Hardware and Software, Deployment and Configuration, Training, Support Service.
-    Managed Services: MS of Virtual Infrastructure, MS of Mail (Exchange or Zimbra), MS of Updating.
-    Cloud Computing: DRaaS (Disaster Recovery in Cloud) y DaaS (Desktop in Cloud)

Contact ErmesTel: Cristina García, Head of Marketing and Communication
c.garcia@ermestel.com
+34 91 744 05 77
www.ermestel.com

 The eventual occupant of the second race seat at HRT – the final place on the 2012 grid – will bring “no less” than EUR 6 million to the table.
That is the claim of the Spanish sports daily Marca, reporting that Dutchman Giedo van der Garde is apparently on pole position to be Pedro de la Rosa’s teammate at the struggling Spanish team.

The newspaper said Dutch GP2 driver van der Garde seems to have at least the requisite 6 million in sponsorship but acknowledged that “the list of candidates is long”.

“I am still waiting for good news,” 26-year-old van der Garde is quoted by De Telegraaf newspaper, “and I’m positive.

“I’m training hard to prepare myself as best as possible,” he added on Tuesday.

Some regard the growing influence of ‘pay-drivers’ as bad news for a premier sport such as formula one.

“Whatever happens,” said Felipe Massa last week amid rumours he could lose his Ferrari seat, “at least I know I’ve never had to pay to drive.”

Williams’ 2012 car is on schedule for an early February debut.
That is the claim of the famous team’s chief operations engineer Mark Gillan, who said the actual track debut of the newly Renault-powered FW34 will take place during an aerodynamic test before the opening test at Jerez.

“We passed the crash tests before Christmas,” he is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“The debut is planned for the first week of testing at Jerez in early February. So far, the data looks right — we have been able to achieve all the targets we set.”

Gillan said the next goal for Williams, having restructured the team during the course of its dire 2011 season, is for the FW34 to be a regular top-ten finisher.

“I know that making a great leap forward is not easy,” he said. “But from what we know about the car so far, there is reason to be fairly confident that we can be back in Q3 regularly and score points from there.”

Gillan welcomed the FIA’s banning of exhaust blowing; a principle pioneered by Red Bull and also perfected by championship runner-up McLaren last year.

“It (the ban) neutralises the lead that some teams had achieved in this area,” he said.

“So the field should move closer together now, at least at the beginning of the season. After that it’s a matter of time before someone comes up with the next F-duct or double diffuser.”