Technical Analysis India

2012 has well and truly started for Mercedes after the team briefly tested this innovative solution at Suzuka, prompting much discussion over its possible merits in India. Inspired by F-ducts, which were used extensively last season but were outlawed this year, Mercedes have switched the theory from the rear to the front of the car. The little oval hole, which is common in all the nose cones, features a splitter in the middle, thought to direct the airflow through the side pillars of the wing (blue arrows). Mercedes used a similar layout last year with its F-duct, which had little pipes going through the diffuser and the wing endplates. No opening was visible on the flaps, like in the rear wing last year, so the only possible opening was in underside of the main plane section (red arrows). In order for this system to be legal, unlike last year's F-ducts the driver must have no direct control over it, so it must instead be regulated by an amplifier inside the nose cone, coming into effect and stalling the wing to cut drag only under certain airflow conditions. Speculation continues over the exact workings of this Mercedes solution, but the important thing is that it again highlights the ability of F1 engineers to find loopholes in the rules and to produce innovative solutions.

In India both Ferrari drivers have been using the team's new, Red Bull-influenced front wing (upper drawing), which Fernando Alonso first sampled in Korea. Compared to the previous version (lower drawing), all components are different. There is now a single endplate, a slotted main plane with a different profile near the endplates, just one large flap and also different upper flaps. Ferrari brought three of the new front wings to New Delhi, so after Felipe Massa's qualifying accident the team have two left.

McLaren have brought a new front wing to India. Drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton completed back-to-back comparisons on Friday and Hamilton eventually used the new version (see lower drawing) during qualifying and the race. Button, meanwhile, used the old version (see upper drawing). The new front wing has a straight main profile (2) and no longer features the indentation which divided the airflow under the car (1). There are also different upper flap mountings, although both solutions are reminiscent of ones used in 2010 before the team introduced the stepped main profile.

Renault have returned to their standard rear bodywork (inset) for the Indian race. Compared to the narrower configuration, which features a more pronounced 'cola bottle' shape (see how the yellow highlighted area shows the wider area of floor it exposes), the cooling benefits of this wider bodywork outweigh the loss of aerodynamic performance it brings.

"He let no room" Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton felt Felipe Massa left him no space in their collision in the Indian Grand Prix, and admitted that the Brazilian was not currently speaking to him.

Massa was given a drive-through penalty for their clash, which occurred as Hamilton tried to overtake the Ferrari for fifth place at Turn 5. While Hamilton recovered to seventh after getting a new front wing, Massa retired after breaking his suspension on a kerb.

"There's not really much to say," said Hamilton. "It's a disappointing day. My team worked hard all weekend as they always do. I don't really know what else to say.

"We had the one minute silence before the start of the race and me and Felipe were standing next to each other. He hasn't spoken to me in a long, long time so I put my arm around him and just said 'good luck for the race'.

"But in the race I tried to overtake and I tried to come out of it because it didn't look like he was going to give me any space, and we collided. I'm really, really sorry for my team."

Vettel Storms to Indian GP win

Sebastian Vettel strolled to his 11th victory of the season at the Buddh International Circuit to become the winner of Formula 1's first ever Indian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver's latest triumph was one of his most straightforward of his ultra-successful year. As his front row partner and team-mate Mark Webber was attacked by Jenson Button's McLaren and Fernando Alonso's Ferrari at the start, Vettel was free to pull clear.

He sat on a four to five second lead for most of the distance, as he led every lap and completed a perfect performance with the fastest lap of the race as well.

Button got through to second on the first lap, as Alonso twitched under braking and ran wide, letting Webber keep third. The Australian mounted some vigorous attacks on Button over the opening laps, before the McLaren managed to escape and head off for an ultimately uncontested second.

Webber then lost third to Alonso at the final stops, when being the first of the frontrunners to change to the hard Pirellis cost him.

Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa's turbulent season continued with yet another collision between them. The Ferrari had got ahead of the McLaren on the first lap and was a safe distance ahead until an error just before half-distance left Massa vulnerable to attacks from Hamilton.

They eventually collided as Hamilton went down the inside at Turn 5 - with the stewards deciding Massa was at fault for leaving insufficient room and giving the Brazilian a drive-through penalty. Massa later retired when he smashed his suspension on a kerb, just as he had in qualifying, while Hamilton recovered from ninth to seventh after pitting for a new front wing.

He finished behind the two Mercedes, which were led by Michael Schumacher, who had moved onto Nico Rosberg's tail with a fast start then jumped him for fifth with a late final pitstop.

Toro Rosso looked set to get both cars in the points until Sebastien Buemi stopped with smoke pouring from his machine. Jaime Alguersuari went on to take eighth, ahead of Adrian Sutil in the leading Force India, and Sergio Perez, as the Sauber man proved the most successful of those who ran ultra-short opening stints on hard tyres then switched to softs for the duration.

Perez narrowly beat Renault's Vitaly Petrov, who followed the same strategy. Bruno Senna challenged for points in the second Renault but was hampered by KERS issues and finished 12th, followed by Paul di Resta (Force India) and Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus - which showed strong race pace to run as high as 10th.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h30:35.002
 2.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     8.433
 3.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    24.301
 4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    25.529
 5.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +  1:05.421
 6.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +  1:06.851
 7.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +  1:24.183
 8.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
 9.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
10.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
11.  Petrov        Renault                    +     1 lap
12.  Senna         Renault                    +     1 lap
13.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
14.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
15.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +    2 laps
16.  D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps
17.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps
18.  Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps
19.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +    4 laps

Massa calls for changes to circuit kerbs

Felipe Massa believes the design of the kerbs at the Buddh circuit's Turn 9 should be altered for future years after his crash in qualifying.

The Brazilian smashed his Ferrari's right front suspension when he went over the low main kerb and hit the raised kerb beyond it on the inside of the turn. He then slid into the barriers at the next corner.

"It's a high-speed corner where you have very low kerbs, and then you have this high sausage kerb," said Massa.

"I think when you have high speed like that, the car has a lot of downforce, a lot of power to the ground, and when you hit something concrete like that, you can have a failure in the suspension and that's what happened to me."

He warned that there could be repeats of his incident in tomorrow's race, as he does not think his error was a large one.

"I didn't take the kerb too strongly, I took a little bit of kerb and then my suspension didn't survive," said Massa. "So it can be a problem for the race."

The Ferrari driver advocates a larger single kerb rather than the current two-tier design.

"I think in a high speed corner like that it's better to do real kerbs, a bit higher," Massa said. "That's the only thing I think should be changed for the future.

"I think it's important to discuss it. We cannot change anything for tomorrow, but I think for next year they can do a better job for those kind of kerbs."

Massa ended up sixth on the grid after the crash, and is sure it cost him a better starting position.

"I am disappointed because I think we had a big chance to start with both cars in the top four," he said. "It was not possible because of this crash.

"I'm sure I would have improved on this lap and the position was supposed to be much better than what it is now, and I lost one set of soft tyres as well when I crashed."

Vettel, Pole Position again!

Red Bull's double world champion Sebastian Vettel claimed pole position for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix.

Vettel beat Lewis Hamilton's McLaren to pole by 0.296 seconds but Hamilton will line up fifth after a penalty in Friday practice.

Mark Webber was third for Red Bull at the new circuit near Delhi ahead of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari.

Jenson Button will line up fourth, but faces an anxious time while he waits to discover if he receives a penalty.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa crashed immediately in front of Button and it remains to be seen whether the stewards will punish him for not slowing down past the scene of an accident or be lenient because he had almost no time to react.

"I saw the tyre marks and the smoke but I was already in the yellow flag zone," he said. "I backed off [afterwards]. We'll see what happens."

Hamilton's hopes of starting on pole for the second race in a row ended on Friday when he was handed a three-place grid penalty for a separate incident involving flags.

McLaren's 2008 champion had set his fastest lap when yellow flags were out to warn the drivers that marshals were on track at the last corner to retrieve Pastor Maldonado's stranded Williams.

Despite his penalty, Hamilton was pleased with his performance: "It's been a good day for me. I'm surprised we could split the Red Bulls.

"The penalty was a silly mistake for myself but overtaking should be easier and I'm still optimistic regardless of where I start."

Massa tops 2nd practice Indian GP

Felipe Massa put Ferrari on top as the Formula 1 teams continued to get to grips with India's Buddh International circuit in the second free practice session ahead of this weekend's inaugural grand prix in the nation.

While the Ferrari's new front wing continued to prompt distinctive showers of sparks as it vibrated again the track surface, the revised car showed promising pace, with Massa lapping the dusty track in 1m25.706s 18 minutes before the end of the session to claim the top spot.

His team-mate Fernando Alonso also showed well in third, 0.224 seconds off Massa's pace.

They were split by champion Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull had been quickest for the majority of the afternoon, until Massa's fast time saw the German pipped by 0.088s.

Morning pacesetter Lewis Hamilton, who will go into qualifying for a three-place grid penalty for disregarding yellow flags earlier today, was fourth quickest in the best of the McLarens, with his team-mate Jenson Button sixth behind Mark Webber's Red Bull.

Force India took 'best of the rest' honours in front of its effective home crowd thanks to Adrian Sutil's seventh place, two positions ahead of team-mate Paul di Resta, as they sandwiched Bruno Senna's Renault. Sebastien Buemi completed the top 10 for Toro Rosso.

The Mercedes were further back than usual in 19th (Nico Rosberg) and 21st (Michael Schumacher) - the seven-time champion having missed some of the session while an issue was resolved on his car.

There were plenty of small incidents as the drivers explored the track's limits, particularly at Turn 6, and one red flag after Jerome D'Ambrosio went off at Turn 11 and ended up backed his Virgin into the barriers, causing significant damage. He was unhurt and the session quickly resumed.

Petrov also had a spin in his Renault, while Pastor Maldonado dumped his Williams in the Turn 9 gravel early on but was retrieved in time to rejoin the session and complete 24 laps.

Pos  Driver                Team                   Time              Laps
 1.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m25.706s          33
 2.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m25.794s  + 0.088  34
 3.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1m25.930s  + 0.224  34
 4.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes       1m26.454s  + 0.748  26
 5.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m26.500s  + 0.794  30
 6.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m26.714s  + 1.008  28
 7.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1m27.316s  + 1.610  34
 8.  Bruno Senna           Renault                1m27.498s  + 1.792  36
 9.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1m27.853s  + 2.147  35
10.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m27.868s  + 2.162  35
11.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault                1m27.890s  + 2.184  37
12.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari         1m28.050s  + 2.344  34
13.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari         1m28.289s  + 2.583  36
14.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m28.552s  + 2.846  31
15.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth      1m28.691s  + 2.985  29
16.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth      1m28.708s  + 3.002  24
17.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault          1m29.332s  + 3.626  39
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault          1m30.241s  + 4.535  41
19.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m31.098s  + 5.392  38
20.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth        1m31.469s  + 5.763  32
21.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes               1m31.804s  + 6.098  28
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth        1m32.593s  + 6.887  12
23.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth           1m32.768s  + 7.062  33
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth           1m32.824s  + 7.118  33

Hamilton Leads in India FP1

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton edged out Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel to go fastest as India made its Formula 1 debut.

Hamilton went half a second faster on his last lap at the Buddh International Circuit outside the capital, Delhi.

McLaren's Jenson Button lost time on his final run behind HRT's Indian racer Narain Karthikeyan and was fourth behind Mark Webber's Red Bull.

The dusty track lacked grip but Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari was the only driver to crash out.

Hamilton set his leading time of one minute 26.836 seconds when double yellow flags, used to slow the drivers down, were being waved at the end of the session.

But BBC 5 live analyst Anthony Davidson said afterwards that he felt Hamilton had not done anything wrong and should not face further action from the stewards.

The undulating, high-speed circuit, designed by F1's favoured architect Hermann Tilke, sits in the midst of farmland and the drivers battled with dust and lack of grip on the 'green' track.F1 entered the unknown as the sport made its debut in India at the Buddh International Circuit built 25 miles outside the capital city of Delhi.

Vettel had a rough ride across the grass - some of which BBC 5 live David Croft commentator said was in fact earth that had been sprayed with green paint - as he tested the limits of his Red Bull.

Felipe Massa's Ferrari and Sauber's Sergio Perez also sent plumes of dust billowing into the air when they both cut the corner at the same spot as Vettel.

But only Jaime Alguersuari crashed out when he slid his Toro Rosso into the barriers late on.

"He lost it at the exit of Turn Nine," explained BBC 5 live analyst Anthony Davidson. "He caught the slide and then it flicked back on him the other way.

"You feel gutted when you have an accident like that as it's such a silly error."

The Spaniard, who completed only four laps, glumly watched replays of his retirement from the session as he sat underneath a giant video screen waiting to be collected.There was also bad luck for Fernando Alonso, who was told to stop his Ferrari after telling his team it had lost power.

The engine on Pastor Maldonado's Williams also gave up in the closing stages of the session.

McLaren spent the first half an hour of practice analysing the front wing that had hampered Hamilton as he battled to second place last time out in Korea.

Small pieces of rubber 'marbles' had slotted into the wing during the race, hindering both his pursuit of Vettel's Red Bull and his defence from Webber behind him.

Button also said he had a big stone embedded in his front wing, which cost him downforce as he chased down Webber's Red Bull.

But the McLarens had a straightforward first run around the Buddh circuit, with Hamilton setting the pace although Button complained on the pit-to-car radio that his final run had been hindered by Kathikeyan, saying: "The HRT almost stopped in the yellow flag zone."

It was a positive start for Force India at the race they regard as their spiritual home grand prix with Adrian Sutil eighth and Paul di Resta 11th.Michael Schumacher is the most famous F1 driver in India and the seven-time world champion pleased the scattered crowd by setting the fifth fastest time for Mercedes ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg.

2 DRS areas for Indian GP

Drivers will get two chances per lap to use DRS in this Sunday’s 2011 Formula 1 Airtel Grand Prix of India, the FIA has confirmed. It follows the use of two zones in the Canadian, European and Italian races earlier in the year.

Like Monza, the all-new Buddh International Circuit will have independent detection points for each of its two zones - unlike Montreal and Valencia where both zones shared one detection point.

The first zone’s detection point is 10 metres after the penultimate Turn 15, with its activation point just 36 metres into the start-finish straight, which should ensure plenty of passing into the third-gear right hander that is Turn One.

After flowing through the gentle, left-hand curve known as Turn Two, the second zone’s detection point comes 16 metres before the Turn Three hairpin. Drivers can then activate DRS 510 metres into the New Delhi circuit’s back straight, which is one of the longest on the calendar.

That heads into a low-speed, second-gear right hander (Turn Four), which again should present a good overtaking opportunity.

Chandhok to miss Home GP

India will have just one home-grown driver in its first ever grand prix on Sunday after Team Lotus opted against drafting in reserve driver Karun Chandhok in place of one of their regular race drivers.

Chandhok had been hoping to be on the grid for the eagerly-anticipated event at the brand new Buddh International Circuit with a repeat of the arrangement that saw Jarno Trulli sit out the German Grand Prix in July so he could make his race debut for the team.

However, Team Lotus chief Tony Fernandes says that although a difficult decision, with the squad desperate to ensure they hang onto the lucrative 10th spot in the constructors’ championship ahead of rivals HRT and Virgin over the final three races of the season they didn’t want to disrupt their current momentum – particularly given Chandhok’s relative lack of dry running in his hitherto Friday practice appearances this year.

“From the team perspective the key goal for us this weekend is to maintain the performance levels we saw in the last two races and while I am sure there will be fans in India who want to see Karun race for us on Sunday we had to make the best decision for the future of the team,” Fernandes said.

“While all the emotional reasons for him driving were right we were conscious that the limited running he has had in the car this season, largely due to the weather conditions that have hit most of his FP1 sessions, has not given him the best preparation for this race, so we have taken the very difficult decision not to run him in the race this weekend.

“It is absolutely vital that we secure tenth place in 2011 to give us the platform to keep growing and despite the fact that Karun’s performance levels have continued to improve every time he has driven for us in 2011, it was considered too much pressure to put on Karun to drive in his first home race, deal with all the attention he would have had and be able to perform at the same level as either of our regular race drivers over the whole weekend.

“For that reason we had to take the pragmatic decision to put our faith in the experience and pace we have in Jarno and Heikki, and are confident they will continue to perform at the level they have over the last two years with us."

Sutil wants answers to 2012 seat

Adrian Sutil says he wants a quick answer from Force India about his future, amid speculation that the team will replace him with Nico Hulkenberg.

While Sutil's team-mate Paul di Resta is considered secure in his seat for 2012, there have been rumours that the team will take up its option to put current third driver Hulkenberg in a race seat at Sutil's expense.

Team boss Vijay Mallya had previously indicated that it would not be taking any driver decisions until after the 2011 season was finished, but Sutil told reporters at media events ahead of the Indian Grand Prix that he wanted talks with Mallya before then.

"I can't wait till December," Sutil was quoted as saying by Reuters.

"I will speak to him very soon and see what his ideas are. I don't need to wait so long for a seat. I think I know what I can do, so I don't feel insecure."

Something I really didn't want to hear

Martin Brundle will reportedly sign on the dotted line on Monday as he gears up for a move from the BBC to Sky for next year's F1 season.

When it was announced that Sky TV had secured the rights to show all F1 grands prix live as of next season, rumours regarding Brundle's future immediately arose.

And, after months of speculation about whether he'll stay or go, it now appears the 52-year-old is on the verge of agreeing a move.

According to The Telegraph, Brundle "is believed to have been persuaded not only by the double-your-money offer from Sky but by the promise that he will be the star of its F1 coverage, heavily involved with much of the extra programming it is planning in an effort to convince fans to sign up to its subscription service."

The newspaper added that he is "expected to sign" on Monday and "will be paired with David Croft in the Sky commentary booth" for next year's F1 Championship.

As of next season, Sky Sports will show all grands prix and related live while the BBC will only be broadcasting 10 races live while showing extended highlights of the other 10 hours in a delayed format.

Zander opts against return to F1

Experienced designer Jorg Zander has decided against a return to Formula 1 for now, despite being close to a deal to join HRT.

As part of a technical reshuffle at HRT following the arrival of new owner Thesan Capital, Zander was in discussions to head up the design of the team's 2012 car - with the plan for him to work closely with chief aerodynamicist Stephane Schosse out of a new technical base in Munich.

However, having evaluated what was on offer, Zander has elected to stay focused on his successful JZ Engineering GmbH company, which does work for the automotive industry, for now.

"I am very happy with what I am currently doing," said Zander. "I have developed very good relationships with the car manufacturers in Germany, working on very interesting and challenging research and development projects."

Zander has a depth of experience in F1, having worked at Toyota, BAR, Williams, BMW Sauber, and then Honda/Brawn GP - leaving in the middle of the team's title-winning 2009 campaign.

2nd US GP on the cards?

Formula 1 looks set to get a second American date from 2013 amid reports that a spectacular street event in New Jersey will be launched next week.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a press conference will take place at Port Imperial on Tuesday to confirm plans for the race.

F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone has long hinted that he wanted to see the world championship racing on the streets of New York - and that while F1's return to the United States had been secured with the deal to race in Austin, Texas, next year, he was open to a second American date at the right venue.

It had previously been reported that the mayors of West New York and Weehawken were collaborating with Leo Hindery Jr, former CEO of the YES TV network, on the New Jersey F1 race project.

F1 has not raced in America since Indianapolis held its final grand prix in 2007.

The Indy 500 venue had hosted F1 from 2000 - ending an absence of nearly a decade following the failure of the Phoenix street race.

Teams and their sponsor finders have long been edgy about the lack of a US date on the calendar, seeing it as a key market despite the American public having yet to take to grand prix racing with the same enthusiasm that they show for leading domestic motorsport series NASCAR.

F1 will make its return to the US on 16-18 November next year, when the purpose-built new circuit in Austin hosts the penultimate round of the 2012 championship.

Engine Mapping Clampdown in 2012

Formula 1 teams have been told that there will be stricter limitations on engine mapping next year, as part of a clampdown by the FIA to prevent teams exploiting exhausts gases.

Although moves to outlaw blown diffusers have already resulted in teams being forced to run with periscope exhausts in 2012, there have been mounting concerns that some outfits are still trying to exploit loopholes in this area of the regulations.

Earlier this week, Mercedes GP team principal Ross Brawn voiced his fears on the matter - especially because it had become clear to everyone this year just what benefit can be had from using exhaust gases for improved aerodynamic performance.

"In our case it [the exhaust design] is still relatively conventional, but whether someone else will come up with something dramatic I would have to wait and see," he said. "I would not say I am confident that there will not be an innovative exhaust scheme because once we have learned something you cannot unlearn it.

"The strength and performance that comes from the exhaust, using exhaust energy, is substantial, and people now have a better understanding of what they can do with exhausts/engine mapping to extenuate the effect."

With the FIA keen to ensure that off-throttle blowing of exhausts does not continue, sources have revealed that the governing body has this week issued a Technical Directive to teams informing them that there will now be severe limitations on what is allowed next year.

To prevent teams using off-throttle blowing through extreme engine maps, the FIA has made it clear that the 2012 version of the software used by F1's standard ECU will now put certain limitations on engine mapping.

F1 Gossip Column

Robert Kubica is still "a few more months" away from being able to return to Formula 1, according to his doctor.
Full story: ESPN

Lewis Hamilton says he expects "the people of India are going to take Formula 1 to their hearts" as a result of next weekend's inaugural Indian Grand Prix. "I've been a few times before - we've done a few promotional days there," the McLaren driver said. "The last time was just crazy - just after Singapore, we did a demo run in Bangalore and were expecting 5,000 people to turn up. On the day, there were around 40,000 fans - it was just incredible. You can't believe how many people are aware of F1 and how many are looking forward to the race next week. There's already a great deal of knowledge about the sport - I think it's going to be a big deal." (McLaren)

Swiss Neel Jani has described India's new Buddh International track as "extremely exciting and fast" after becoming the first man to drive a Formula 1 car around it in a Red Bull demonstration.
Full story: Formula1.com

Michael Schumacher says he is sure Formula 1 "will be impressed" with the facilities at the inaugural Indian Grand Prix next weekend.
Full story: Mercedes

Sauber believes that its struggles in the Korean Grand Prix were down to set-up issues that hurt its front tyres.
Full story: Autosport

Formula 1 entrants Group Lotus and Team Lotus have come to an arrangement that appears to suit both sides. Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes has indicated that he is willing to give up the name and has applied to the FIA to change his team's name to Caterham, while Group Lotus-sponsored Renault wants to use only the Lotus name beginning in 2012. The changes have to be approved formally, something that will be addressed on 3 November at a meeting of the Formula 1 Commission -a grouping of teams and other interested parties - in Geneva.
Full story: Autoweek

A clarification has gone out from the FIA's Charlie Whiting to all teams regarding exotic engine maps, to the effect that they aren't allowed after the end of this 2011 season. Many engineers are rejoicing, because they feel that at last there is clarity on exhausts having an aerodynamic effect by continuing to blow over aerodynamic surfaces while the car is in corners. 
Full story: James Allen on F1

Domenicali: Fota needs to agree new way forward

The Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA) faces a defining meeting at next month’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to establish a way forward for the umbrella organisation that doesn’t lead to “suspicions and polemics” between the squads in future.

That is the view of Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali in the wake of continued speculation that the Resource Restriction Agreement – agreed between the teams in mid 2009 to bring all teams’ spending down in the wake of the worldwide financial crisis - could be on the verge of collapse amid suggestions that some teams are flouting the spirit of the document.

FOTA met for a meeting last Sunday in Ferrari’s paddock hospitality unit in Korea to discuss their concerns and are now due to reconvene talks at the season’s penultimate round in Abu Dhabi.

Quoted in an article on Ferrari’s official website entitled 'An important week for FOTA', Domenicali, a former vice chairman of the organisation, said that while the body had achieved notable success up until now, a new understanding for the future was required.

“FOTA has played an incredible role in recent years,” Domenicali said.

“Its achievements meant that this sport was able to tackle the global crisis in an efficient manner. The impetus that came under [Ferrari president Luca] Montezemolo’s presidency has been carried forward with diligence and dedication by Martin Whitmarsh, who is doing a great job.

“Clearly, at this stage however, we need to understand how to move forward without leading to suspicions and polemics, elements that are always present in such a competitive environment as Formula 1.”

FOTA was formed in July 2008 in order to give the teams a united mouthpiece from which to conduct negotiations over the future of the sport with the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone.

The body currently represents all teams except HRT.

F-Duct to be reincarnated?

Mercedes GP are determined to be one step ahead of their rivals for the 2012 season in terms of innovation and have reportedly reinvented the F-duct, legally of course.

The original F-duct, which allowed drivers to alter the airflow over the rear wing thus increasing top end speeds, was pioneered by McLaren in 2010, but teams agreed to scrap the technology for the following season as some felt it contravened the rule that bans movable aerodynamic devices.

Mercedes though have reincarnated the device - which is on the tip of the front wing - and tested it at the Japanese Grand Prix a few weeks ago.

According to Auto Motor und Sport the system is not manually triggered by the driver and the airflow that comes from the tip of the nose will be redirected down the inside of the front wing supports before exiting at the rear of the wing.

The Brackley-based squad of course is no slouch when it comes to innovation as they were part of the so-called "diffuser three" which got a head start in 2009. The technology played a major role in helping the team, which were operating under the Brawn GP guise back then, to win the double that season.

Technical Analysis Korea

On Friday in Korea Toro Rosso again tried new Red Bull-style exhausts, with a straight exit to the side channel of the diffuser. However, the team ultimately decided to run the standard, side-blowing solution (inset) for qualifying and the race. The Faenza team also retained the new front wing they introduced at Suzuka.

In Korea, Sauber are using the new front wing they introduced in Japan last weekend (see bottom drawing). It features a new endplate (1) which is similar in style to Williams' solution. The attachment between the main profile and the end plate is also different with a curved section (2) whilst the profile and flap are much straighter (4) in style. The upper deck flaps (3) are completely different with a wider and more curved design, whilst the small outside fin found on the previous wing (see top drawing - 5) has been removed.

Ferrari have brought a completely new front wing to Korea. It's understood it was initially being evaluated with 2012 in mind, but the team decided to run it on Fernando Alonso's car during qualifying and the race. There are many changes over the older version with most components (nosecone and wing pillars aside) radically different. The endplates (1) are very similar in style to the ones Red Bull introduced at Suzuka and no longer feature a secondary outside vertical fin. The main plane (2) is also reminiscent of the Red Bull with its middle slot (3), as is the large flap (4). The upper-deck flap (5), meanwhile, bears a similarity to the one found on the previous wing, introduced in Budapest back in July.

Strategy Report Korea

The Korean Grand Prix was a fascinating race from a strategy point of view, with many talking points and there have been lots of questions from fans about whether Mark Webber could have won the race if he hadn’t pitted at the same time as Lewis Hamilton or whether Fernando Alonso could have got on the podium if he’d been released from behind Felipe Massa, as he was in Suzuka. Hopefully the answers are all here.

This was one of those races where strategy was always going to be decisive, but where it was vital to be flexible and adaptable.

As soon as Pirelli announced its very aggressive tyre choice for the weekend, bringing the two softest compounds to a track with quite a few high energy corners, all the strategy engineers realised that they were up against it. Throw in rain all day Friday meaning that there was almost no data on tyre wear on long runs and it really was a voyage into the unknown.

Pirelli brought the soft / super-soft compound pairing (usually used on slow street circuits) because they were worried about the graining evident on the Bridgestones last year. The soft tyre this weekend was between 0.8s and 1s per lap slower than the super-soft.

There were several tactics at play in qualifying with Red Bull saving sets of soft tyres for the race, while Ferrari and McLaren prioritised saving supersofts.

In the end the supersoft turned out to be a far more durable race tyre than expected and pre race predictions of three or four stops were revised as the race went on and strategists and drivers were thinking on their feet. A Safety Car one third of the way through the race – one of several this year happening at this critical juncture of the race after the first pit stops – again changed the game for several drivers. The four-lap Safety Car period (laps 16 – 20) helped to conserve tyres and 18 of the 21 finishers ended up doing two stops.

Vettel changes plans and still wins the race

After losing out to Lewis Hamilton in qualifying, Vettel knew he needed to pass the McLaren early in the first stint. He muscled his way past on the opening lap and was never really tested after that in the race. He was able to use his car pace advantage to open a 1 second gap over Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap and that gap was out to 4.7s by the time Hamilton pitted on lap 15.

Vettel had saved sets of soft tyres, thinking they would be the tyre of choice for the race. But having managed 16 laps on the used supersofts, the team switched plans and put him on the same tyre again for the second stint, this time lasting 18 laps. This took him to the window for putting on a set of softs and going to the finish on a two stop plan, one less than pre-race predictions.

After the Safety Car appeared on lap 16, giving Vettel a ‘free’ pitstop and fresher tyres, Hamilton had to turn his attention to Mark Webber behind, who was particularly quick on the prime tyre. Vettel cruised to victory, the winning margin over Hamilton 12s.

Could Mark Webber have won the race if Red Bull hadn’t pitted him with Hamilton?

One of the real talking points of this race was the decision by Red Bull to pit third place Mark Webber on the same lap as Lewis Hamilton (lap 33) when Webber, running on soft tyres, was faster than the Englishman on supersofts.

Why did Webber make his final pitstop on the same lap as Hamilton, when he’d radioed the team to say his primes were holding out okay? He was very frustrated after the race,

“I think at the second stop we did the worst thing,” he said. “We didn’t stop before or stop after [Hamilton], we stopped on the same lap. That was disappointing as clearly we had some good pace to pull away from Lewis.”

Webber had caught Hamilton who was due a stop. By lap 32 Hamilton’s lap times had dropped off by a second a lap. Webber had been sitting behind him since lap 27 and as the car behind had the tactical advantage of being able to stop first without Hamilton being able to react and cover him. With Red Bull having the fastest pit work, it is likely that had Webber dived into the pits on lap 32 he would have undercut Hamilton as he had a car pace advantage of 0.5 secs over the McLaren plus the out lap on new soft tyres was substantially faster than Hamilton managed on lap 33 on used supersofts (his in-lap).

However staying out a lap longer would not have done the job, as even with a car pace advantage believed to be 0.5s/lap over the McLaren, Hamilton’s new tyres would more than offset that advantage.

As for passing Vettel in the undercut, Webber was quick to point out after the race that Vettel’s lap times (lap 31: 1:42.433s; lap 32: 1:42.281s; lap 33: 1:42.044s) were still getting quicker at this stage of the race, so he would not have jumped his team mate. Red Bull cannot therefore be accused of trying to stop him from winning. However they probably did lose him a second place by not stopping him before Hamilton.

Red Bull were cagey after the race (and keener to talk about the big picture of their constructors’ championship success) but it’s likely that the team thought that Webber had taken more out his tyres than Seb, due to his scrapping with Lewis. So they didn’t think he’d lap significantly faster in clear air.

It is also possible that Red Bull fancied their chances of winning a “pitstop race” with McLaren under pressure, given their track record this season (as highlighted in my pre-race UBS Strategy Briefing). Sadly for them that’s one race they lost this time.

Either way, it failed and Webber ended up staying behind Hamilton.

Could Alonso have finished second?
The Ferrari with its experimental front wing, was slow in qualifying, but Fernando Alonso was very fast on the soft tyre in the race. He spent the opening 34 laps stuck behind his team-mate Felipe Massa, costing him about 0.5s per lap if you compare their lap times when Fernando was in clear air, having jumped Massa in the pit stops, from lap 38 onwards.

After making his second stop on lap 37, Alonso was seven seconds behind Button, yet that gap was down to one second within 10 laps. All of the leading cars ran the same new soft tyres in the final stint and they set similar lap times, but Alonso had exceptional pace on the tyre.

Although he said after the race that he did not lose time behind Massa, it is very clear therefore that had Alonso been closer to Button at the second pitstops, he could have got the undercut and challenged Webber and Hamilton. His radio message, “I give up” at the end of the race, was a clear message to Ferrari’s management, which he rowed back from in the past race interviews.

Rosberg’s heroic efforts to stave off Alguersuari
Nico Rosberg did a phenomenal job to do 28 laps – four laps longer than anyone else – on the soft tyres for his final stint. It was a surprise to see any car – and particularly a Mercedes – last that long.

His opening stint was 13 laps on used supersofts. What wrecked his race was that he only did 14 laps – four of which were behind the Safety Car – on a new set of soft tyres for his second stint because he was forced to pit early after flat-spotting this new set while scrapping with Massa.

Although he kept soldiering on near the end, the tyres were finished and he was passed on the final lap by Jaime Alguersuari for seventh place.

One third distance safety cars becoming a trend

This year we have seen quite a few Safety Cars deployed at one-third race distance. These favour the drivers running the longer opening stints. The ones that started on the soft tyres and ‘going long’ were Adrian Sutil, Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez, and they all benefited from the Safety Car. Jaime Alguersuari was running the supersoft tyre but hadn’t stopped either so his tyre performance and pace was very impressive and he benefitted from the Safety Car.

Toro Rosso’s low tyre wear and very high straight-line speeds were the two biggest factors behind Alguersuari and Buemi finishing in the points. They were first and second fastest through the speed trap in the race (Buemi 320.6kph, Alg 320.5kph), whereas Vettel was just 14th fastest (312.9kph). They were also first and second fastest in sector 1 (Alg 35.0s, Bue 35.1s, Vet 35.6s).

Buemi did the longest stint of anyone on the option tyre in the final stint. He pitted for options on lap 36 and his final lap of the race was 1.5s slower than team-mate Alguersuari on the primes.

Why did some drivers run out of fuel?
Rosberg and Alonso ran out of fuel on the slow-down lap in Korea, and Button had a similar problem at Suzuka. It begs the question, why? Four laps behind the Safety Car at Yeongam should have given the teams ample opportunity to save fuel.

It appears it’s down to the teams being a lot more aggressive with their fuel tank sizes this year and the need to use aggressive engine modes at the start and re-starts.

Barrichello says understanding 2011 car issues is vital for next season

Rubens Barrichello thinks it is vital that Williams gets an understanding of why this year's car did not perform if it is to ensure that its 2012 challenger is a big step forward.

With Williams enduring its worst ever season in F1, Barrichello thinks the target for the remainder of the campaign is not in improving the current car but in getting to grips on what went wrong last winter.

"The car was born bad and there is no way of turning that back," said Barrichello.

"There are ways of massaging and improving it - but the most important thing is not to improve this car, it is to understand what went wrong and to make the next one better. Otherwise, the next one will be born the same way. It needs addressing.

"There are two or three causes of the problem, and that is what makes it an unknown situation. With a different engine and a different guy building it, the car will have a different characteristic anyway. But if they solve the problems of this year in full, the chances of building a much better car next year are greater."

When asked if one of the biggest problems this year has been the inconsistency of the downforce, Barrichello said: "It is more than that. We have been having problems with the quality of parts, because one day the car could be okay, and the other car with the same wing will not perform in the same way. So we need to address that as well."

Korea Seeks to renegotiate Grand Prix Contract

Korean Grand Prix organisers are seeking the help of Bernie Ecclestone to allow them to renegotiate their race contract terms in a bid to keep the event on the calendar.

Amid question marks about the future of the Yeongam GP, race promoter Won-Hwa Park has admitted that the event faces financial difficulties because of the huge hosting fee that had been agreed before he arrived in his current role.

With a fresh mandate from the South Jeolla provincial government to try and reduce costs, Mr. Park has said that the key factor going forwards is in trying to bring down the outgoings - which includes the race hosting fee.

According to local media, the cost for the race this year stands at £52 million - which includes a £35 million fee for hosting and television rights. The current deal with Formula One Management, which runs until 2016, includes a 10 per cent escalator for hosting rights over its duration.

With income from tickets estimated to be around £16 million, the venue is currently loss making unless financial support can be got from the national government.

Despite widespread speculation last weekend that the financial situation could mean Korea elects to drop its event off the calendar as early as next year, Park is determined to do what he can to keep the race going.

Cockpit Canopies under Disscussion

The accident which killed British racing driver Dan Whedon yesterday in an Indycar race at Las Vegas has raised a number of safety questions, including the wisdom of running 34 open wheel cars on a tight 1.5 mile oval track such as Las Vegas with an average speed of 220mph.

But it has also revived discussion about the possible use of canopies to make the drivers safer in the cockpit from flying wheels or debris, as happened with Felipe Massa and Henry Surtees.

The FIA Institute has done some work in this area and produced some interesting content in the current edition of its quarterly magazine, IQ. A video of their recent canopy test is posted below. There is no suggestion at this stage that a canopy might have saved him, but it’s the right moment for the sport to reflect on safety issues and consider the work that’s already being done.

The work has been carried out by FIA Institute Technical Advisor, Andy Mellor, along with Institute Research Consultants Peter Wright and Hubert Gramlin. Prompted by the F1 Technical Working Group, which comprises senior engineers from F1 teams as well as FIA technical people, they’ve been looking into the possible benefits – and drawbacks – of adding some form of additional protection to the open-cockpit area of F1 cars.

According to IQ, “The aim was simple: to fire a Formula One wheel and tyre, together weighing 20kg, at 225km/h into, first, a polycarbonate windshield and, second, a jet fighter canopy made from aerospace-spec polycarbonate, and measure what happens (all close-up observations being recorded by strategically positioned high-speed film cameras).”

The canopy was the same as used on an F-16 fighter jet. The FIA Institute team wanted to see how it would cope with an F1 wheel and tyre.

The answer was that whereas the windshield shattered, the F-16 canopy deflected the object away from the cockpit where the driver would be seated, says Mellor, “It was possible to see that the windshield did manage to deflect the wheel over the space that would be occupied by the driver’s helmet, but in so doing it sustained significant damage.

“The canopy, however, deflected the wheel assembly suffering no permanent deformation. And viewing the canopy impact in slow motion shows it flexing to absorb impact energy, before ‘launching’ the wheel and tyre away. ”

The results are currently with the F1 Technical Working Group. It is is the first stage of the process. According to IQ, any debate on implementation would have to take account of a number of known drawbacks, such as: Visibility, Optical quality, Ventilation, Cleaning, Access and Emergency exit of the driver.

Wheldon’s accident is being investigated now. On board cameras show his car being launched over the back of another, rotating to the side and then going into the wall and fencing.

FIA Institute Jet Canopy Test from FIA Institute on Vimeo.