Archive for February, 2010
Webber shows they have the pace in 2010.
Feb 26th
As stated in an the earlier ‘live’ post I wrote on the morning’s proceedings at Circuit de Catalunya, the dryer weather in Barcelona was a welcome change to the conditions experienced in the Jerez tests and it was a good chance for teams to do some serious dry weather runs.
The day belonged to Mark Webber who set the fastest time of the day with a 1:21.487. He set this pace during the morning sessions and it was a clear warning to competitors the once again the Red Bull team meant business this season.
Webber’s closest competitor was Nico Roseberg in the MercedesGP, who were formally BrawnGP, Red Bulls main rivals in 2009. Rosberg showed fantastic pace in the Merc’, but was still around 1 second slower then Webber’s best time with a 1:22.407.
By Red Bull’s own admition, the RB6 was a bit light on fuel today, but none the less their genuine pace is un-deniable.
The main area of concern for the team however still seems to be the reliability of the Renault engine and the gearbox gremlins. The Renault engine is not as reliable as the power plants by Mercedes and Ferrari. They were plauged with engine trouble last season and already this year during their first test runs at Jerez the car suffered engine trouble and they lost a day of testing.
Webber’s car stopped out on track during the morning runs due to an issue with the Gearbox. When asked about the reliability of certain components in the car during his run at Barcelona, Mark said “to learn about the car sometimes you run parts close to the limit on mileage, which wouldn’t be the case on race weekends.”
He does make a valid point. The team brought new parts and ran them on the car for the first time in Barcelona. Adjustable front wing flaps this year are of many changes to the car that will take a lot of fine tuning and testing to get right.
The dry conditions also gave teams a good chance to look at tyre degradation of the soft and super soft compounds. Webber recorded his fastest lap on the super softs, but fuel loads also played their part and the super softs were not noticeably quicker then the softs.
Mark said that whilst 2009 was a good year for the team in regards to numerous podiums and wins, they plan on 2010 being even better and clearly want to win the next world championship.
He also did not want to get carried away with the teams pace today and made it clear that they still had a lot of work to do and plan on improving parts of the car prior to Bahrain.
“We still have problems, so we are not going on holiday tonight. We have more work to do, and we’re still improving this car.” said Webber.
The tests over the next few days will be the final opportunity for teams to refine their cars prior to the official start of the season in Bahrain.
The next few days should give us a much clearer indication of early season form. The conditions will be much warmer in Bahrain, Australia then Malaysia which are hosting the first 3 rounds, but with most teams now concentrating on practising pit stops, qualifying strategies and the likes, we shouldn’t see any new dramatic bits on the cars now and the times we will see in Barcelona this week should be much more indicative of the times we will see in the first official practice and qualifying of the season in Bahrain.
So early form now seems indicate that 2010 may start in a similar fashion to the way the 2009 season ending with MercGP (Formerly BrawnGP) and Red Bull being the two main front runners. However Ferrari have been very conservative so far in testing and it appears they have a lot more pace then has been reflected in the time sheets.
We very well may see over the weekend, Fernando Alonso impress his home crowd and up-stage Red Bull in the F10. The punters are tipping Alonso to win the Championship this year, whilst Bernie believes that it will be a Red Bull, either way we are now at the pointy end of the testing season and the teams form should now be indicating their race pace for the start of the season.
Below are the times from Day1 at Barcelona:
1. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:21.487 109
2. Nico Hulkenberg Williams 1:22.407 82
3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:22.514 107
4. Pedro De La Rosa BMW Sauber 1:23.144 73
5. Jenson Button Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1:23.452 101
6. Tonio Liuzzi Force India 1:24.064 65
7. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:24.170 74
8. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:24.173 74
9. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:24.869 111
10. Lucas Di Grassi Virgin Racing 1:27.057 31
11. Fairuz Fauzy Lotus 1:28.002 76
True pace of the RB6 starting to show
Feb 26th
Warmer and dryer weather in Barcelona for the first time this testing season was a welcome change for most formula1 teams.
Day 1 of test in Barcelona got underway today and Mark Webber today in showed blistering pace in the RedBull RB6, setting the fastest time of the morning with a 1:21.487. Mark was running quali’ simulations all morning and was over 1 second quicker then the next quickest driver, Nico Rosberg in the MercedesGP.
Ferrari brought some new gear to this tests with a special setup on their wheels with two inner discs designed to aid air-flow. With wheel covers or ‘spinners’ banned this year, this is the frist we have seen a team use something different as an alternative. Fernando Alonso was out on track infront of his home crowd today, but during the morning sessions he could only manage a best time of 1:24.580, nmore then 3 seconds off Webbers pace.
With RedBulls next rival (mercedesGP) being more then a second behind, this was the first firm warning we have seen from RedBull so far this testing season that it will again be a force to be reconned with in the 2010 championship.
The afternoon sessions will be kicking off shortly, however if the track conditions deteriorate, we may not see much of a change in the timesheets from the morning runs.
We will have a more concise wrap-up of the days testing later tonight.
Lotus T127 officially breaks cover
Feb 13th
The dark green and yellow T127 which was revealed in London on Friday night made Lotus’s return to Formula1 official.
The team is being very realistic about their goals this year and they concentrated more on the importance of a long-term return to the sport and the herritage of Lotus and the passion that the brand evokes.
They made special mention to the Chapman family who founded lotus. Hazel Chapmam, the wife of Lotus founder Colin Chapman was present at the launch, as well as their son Clive. It was mentioned that the team had their blessing and that the family fully supported the team and the move back into F1.
Mike Gascoyne has a good, strong technical team behind him, many of them are from the ex Toyota F1 team and some from the Renault team. He said that the car had a very good base to build on for the future. Hinting that they are concentrating on just finishing races and reliability this year and maybe go for some points.
“The launch of the car is a very proud moment for the design team and the whole team,” said Gascoyne. “This one is very special for me personally for two reasons. Firstly the Lotus name coming back into F1 is something very special. I grew up in Norfolk, went to school five miles down the road from the original factory. I grew up in an era when Lotus was winning races and championships, so the opportunity to work with this team is very special. But also it is the challenge of bringing a new team and a new car into F1 in such a short space of time. We have a fantastic driver line-up who have put their faith in the whole design team.”
When asked about the car and it’s prospects in 2010, he said: “I think we’ve designed a very contemporary 2010-spec car. It’s not out of date, it’s very well designed, so I’m not worried – I think we’ve got a very solid base to build on”.
“We will be a very solid professional team. We’ll score some points and we’ll spring some surprises towards the end of the year.”
Lotus also have a good driver pairing this year. They have signed Ex-Toyota driver Jarno Trulli and ex-McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen. Lotus are the only of the ‘new’ teams to have signed such experienced high-profile drivers, no doubt with the expertise of Gascoyne, this team will surely be the most successful ‘newcomer’.
The lotus name will be allowed to carry on in F1 as a historic name, which, according to Mike Gascoyne, means that a win would be counted as Lotus’s 80th in F1, not the new team’s first. This obviously is not their goal, nor their focus for 2010, but it does appear if the team can build on such a strong foundation, then an 80th win for Lotus would be sometime in the not too distant future.
A Cleary extactic Tony Fernandes summed up his feelings by simply saying “Words can’t express how I feel today.”
The team on Thursday took the car out for a very brief straight-line test. Apparently the car performed well and they gathered valuable aero data from the short run.
Tony Fernandes has a bet running with Richard Branson, if Lotus finish ahead of Virgin in the points in 2010, Branson most don’t a pair of stockings and be a stewardess for a flight on one of Tony’s airline, AirAsia. If you ask my opinion, Richard should be worried, so far it seems like a safe bet by Tony based on Virgins performance so far in pre-season testing. I guess the proof will be in the pudding, but things don’t look too bad for Lotus.
The Lotus-Cosworth will be present at next weeks tests in Jerez, with both drivers swapping driving duties over the course of the week. There might be a lot of nostalgic Formula1 fans come out of the woodwork to see the Lotus return to the track again.
It’s another good news story for Formula1 this season. It’s going to be a cracker of a season!
Kobayashi sets pace as Virgin falls apart in Jerez
Feb 12th
Kamui Kobayashi rushed out on low fuel at the end of the day in Jerez on Thursday and set the days fastest time of 1:19.950. Now whilst I have been rattling on about times won’t mean much this week with most teams doing long stints, shakedowns and by their own admission not concentrating on ‘times’, the fact still remains that the Sauber has shown some very serious pace this year. It was a similar story in the first round of tests at Valencia. I don’t think the competition should be alarmed however. Kobayashi set his time at the end of the day on very low fuel, it will most likely help the team to generate potential sponsorship interest, but the real pace of this car really won’t be known until the first race in Bahrain.
The sun was out for most of the day in Jerez and gave the ten teams present a good opportunity to put a large number of dry laps under their belts. After yesterdays wet weather and the predicted rain for the rest of the week, today was possibly the only dry day of running in Jerez. Sebastien Buemi showed consistent pace through-out the day in the Toro Rosso. He set the second fastest time of the day with a 1:20.026. Sebastian held the top spot on the times for most of the day until Sauber sent out Kamui on low fuel for one last dash at the end of the day.
The biggest dram of the day was late in the morning when the session was red-flagged due to the nose cone of the Virgin car being driven by Timo Glock fell off and spread debris all over the track. Teh team released a statement saying they would not continue that day and instead had to wait for parts to arrive from the factory in Oxfordshire.
Nick Wirth, the Virgin teams technical director said, “This morning we experienced a front wing mounting problem which caused the wing to come off the car at the beginning of a run. The cause has already been identified. Unfortunately, we’re missing one or two spare parts which will hopefully arrive this evening, so we won’t be able to run for the rest of the day. In the short amount of running that we’ve achieved so far, we are very encouraged by what we’ve seen and we have gathered some vital aero data which is very much in the range of what we were predicting. We look forward to resuming the programme tomorrow morning.”
Virgin now have lost what could prove to be a vital day of dry weather running, they should be out on track again on Friday provided they can fit the parts in time, however with rain predicted, it could be a bit of a blow to the teams test schedule.
Nico Hulkenberg in the Williams did a good job to record 67 laps considering the technical woes his team experienced during the day. The team had a hydraulic problem and also an issue with their driveshaft which kept the car in the garage for much of the day, none the less, their times were respectable and the teams confidence is high.
Mercedes, Ferrari and Redbull were all doing long stints in their cars and as a result were further down the times, however the Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari was the car to watch with a very long stint. Alonso didn’t pit for 48 laps and showed very decent pace in F10.
Alonso seems very comfortable in the car and the Ferrari team appear to be the most confident in their car out of any other runners. He said the he feels very good about the car and the it is easy to drive. “We’ve driven many kilometres without any reliability problems, which is something that makes me really happy.”. he said ” We put many components under pressure over these five days and we didn’t have any problems at all.”
Alonso recorded a time of 1:21.424, which is a respectable heavy fuel load time.
Tomorrow many of the teams will swap their drivers, with Vettel taking over from Webber in the RedBull, Nico in the Merc’, Mass will replace Alonso in the F10 and Hamilton will drive the McLaren.
The times from today are below, we may not see Kamui’s time broken over the next two days either if the weather plays it’s part.
1. Kamui Kobayashi, BMW Sauber, 1:19.950, 103 Laps
2. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 1:20.026, 121 Laps
3. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:20.618, 83 Laps
4. Nico Hulkenberg, Williams, 1:20.629, 67 Laps
5. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 1:20.754, 80 Laps
6. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:21.083, 124 Laps
7. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:21.424, 129 Laps
8. Robert Kubica, Renault, 1:22.003, 103 Laps
9. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:22.043, 99 Laps
10. Timo Glock, Virgin, 1:29.964, 11 Laps
A wet day of tests in Jerez
Feb 11th
Rain affected the day of testing at Jerez on Wednesday. The fastest times of the day were set very early in the morning before the first drops fell and fromt hat point on the times were never going to be beaten with all teams on inters and full wets for the rest of the day.
It was the first chance the world had to se RedBull’s RB6 in action, however it was a disapointing day RedBull. The RB6 stopped out on the track and brought out the red flag due to an oil leak. The team tok that car back to the garage but then spent a large amount of time working on he car, even removing it’s floorpan. Webber didn’t return to the track until 45 mins prior to the end of the day.
Despite this setback Webber did manage to put 50 laps in, all be it in mostly wet conditions. Mark remained upbeat however.
“It was a pretty positive feeling actually,” said Webber “It wasn’t exactly a clean day of testing with the changeable conditions but that is the same with everyone.
Webber admitted that the team was going to be doing a shakedown of their car over the next few days, and do not intend to even ‘look’ at lap times until later in the month. He said that the car felt as it should on a wet day in Jerez, but did hope for dry weather tomorrow so that they could continue their shakedown.
Engine reliability has been the only variable that could be the downfall of the RedBull team. The Renault engine was no-where near as good as other engines on the grid in 2009 and it could be the soar point of the team again in 2010. Regardless of the team and drivers remaining upbeat about todays test, the fact that and oil leak let them down was not a good first outing.
The day in contrast was far better for the MercedesGP team who were finally able to knck Ferrari off their perch and claim the fastest time of the day. Nico Rosberg put some strong laps in early in they day before the rain set in and his time was obviously not beaten. The times however may not mean much with most teams evidently concentrating more on shakedown and development rather then trying to prove pace.
McLaren tried to water down the concern onlookers had to the large metal rig stuck to the side of the car, used for measuring windflow and aerodynamics and comparing it to CFD and wind tunnel data.
Virgin Racing were also present for the first time, however they spent most of the day waiting for the fitment of new parts to the car and in the end.
Timo Glock only managed to venture out for 5 laps before the end of the day, not surprisingly coming bottom of the times on a day where thankfully the timesheet really didn’t mean much anyway.
Most teams are hoping for fine weather tomorrow as they continue their shakedowns.
For those interested, the times from today are below:
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP, 1:20.927, 57 Laps
2. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 1:21.031, 84 Laps
3. Nico Hulkenberg, Williams, 1:22.243, 118 Laps
4. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:22.895, 88 Laps
5. Kamui Kobayashi, BMW Sauber, 1:23.287, 55 Laps
6. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:24.947, 68 Laps
7. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 1:24.968, 71 Laps
8. Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 1:25.440, 27 Laps
9. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:26.502, 50 Laps
10. Timo Glock, Virgin, 1:38.734, 5 Laps
Webber and Vettel unveil the RB6
Feb 10th
RedBull released images of it’s new car on Wednesday morning via it’s website, about an hour ahead of the official launch at Jerez where drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel were on hand to pull back the covers on what they hope will be a championship winning car in 2010.
Adrian Newey has said the RB6 is a progression of last years car, however it has been designed from the outset with a double diffuser in mind and RedBull believe they will be successful this year with their new interpritation of the rear diffuser.
The RB6 has a scooped-out nose or chasis top, similar to last years car, however it is even more pronounced and dramatic on the RB6.
Last years car made use of the double diffuser part way through the season once they were deamed legal by the FIA, however RedBull were never able to full capitalise on the potential of the diffuser on the RB5 due to other mechanical parts of the car such as it’s rear suspension. Whilst the RB5 was successful and was able to put a huge dent into the lead the Brawns had made early on in the season, the team knows if the car was designed from the outset with a double diffuser in mind, they would have experience their success from the start of the season and could have won the 2009 championship as a result.
The RB6 is out on track today at the hands of Mark Webber. Many teams are treating today as a as a shakedown. RedBull should be out to prove their car is fast however after missing the first round of official tests due to spending some more time developing the car at their factory.
Below is a shot of Webber out on track this morning on his installation laps, this is the first glimpse the world has been able to get of the new dramatic double deck diffuser which was covered up and concealed from the press when the covers were pulled off the car:
Webber in the RB6 showing off the diffuser at Jerez
Webber will also test the car on Thursday before handing it over to 2009 runner-up Sebastian Vettel who will take over for Friday and Saturday.
There will be a lot of interest to see how the 2009 runner’s up compare to the current front runners in testing, the Ferrari F10.
Force India launches VJM03
Feb 9th
Force India on Tuesday revealed the 2010 VJM03 to the world via their website and social media streams.
Team Boss Vijay Mallya is clearly excited after a very successful 2009 season for the team and expects 2010 to be more of the same. Mallya says his team is aiming to score “more points and more podiums” in the 2010
“Our goal is to continue on the same path of performance improvement that we had at the end of 2009,” said Mallya.
“I don’t think I am being over-proud when I say 2009 was an exceptional year for us. The bare statistics say it all: one podium, one pole position, one fastest lap, a further five top 10 starts and 13 points.”
Mark Smith, the designer of the VJM03 also expects that Force India this year will be a solid points competitor.
“From the very beginning we designed the VJM03 in full knowledge of the engine and gearbox that we would be using for 2010, which gave us a significant advantage by comparison with respect to the same point in design time for VJM02″ he said.
Smith also claimed that Force India has not seen anything in rival cars to make the team worried. He admitted that they have concentrated on refining elements of the 2009 car that made it successful and more work has been done on the rear end of the car such as the double diffuser.
Force India will run the VJM03 for the first time on Wednesday at Jerez. They opted to miss the tests last week at Valencia to concentrate on more development time with the car. We will get to see the car in “the flesh” on Wednesday moring rather then via the teams website. RedBull will also be launching their much anticipated 2010 challenger on the same day.
A video stream of the VJM03 launch from Force India website is below:
Heidfeld gets his Mercedes seat
Feb 4th
It may not be the seat Nick Heidfeld was hoping for, but he is now a member of the MercedesGP team as their reserve driver.
Nick has long been linked to the team as a possible driver not long after it was announced that Mercedes bought out Brawn, however it was Michael who managed to snatch that dream away from Heidfeld, or atleast for this season he has.
Nick will complete an all German driver lineup for the Silver Arrows. He has a lot of experience as a reserve driver too. He was a test driver for McLaren and was overlooked numerous times as a season driver until he finally signed with BMW-Sauber.
There is a possibility that Nick could have got a seat as an active driver at one of the more struggling teams on the grid, however he chose to stick with a strong team, no doubt hoping that the time will come at some stage for either Michael or Nico to leave the team and Nick can then step into their seat. This may not be the right move for Nick however, because there is another young German who I think will soon be knocking on MercedesGP’s door (not saying any names of course…Sebastian…).
Nick is clearly happy to be part of the Silver Arrows. “I am very pleased to be joining Mercedes GP,” he said. “It’s the team which has attracted the most interest in the close season, not only because of the comeback of Michael Schumacher but also because this season sees the return of the silver arrows cars as a Mercedes-Benz works team for the first time in over fifty years.”.
It may be an interesting season for Nick, there is still a bit of a grey cloud over Schumacher in regards to his neck injury. There is every chance the 3rd driver may be required this season for Mercedes if Schumacher’s neck injury plays up and prevents him from participating in some of the races.
Nick has a lot of experience in Formula1 and I don’t think it will be long before he is driving again in a Formula1 race.
It’s a logical move for Mercedes to have another young experienced German in their driver lineup.
Valencia: Day3 Testing Wrap-up
Feb 4th
Ferrari have dominated the last 3 days of testing in Valencia, with Fernando Alonso taking over Massa on the final day. A huge crowd of almost 40,00 people turned out to see the former world champion drive the Ferrari for the first time. He didn’t disapoint either, once gain putting Ferrari at the top of the time sheets with a 1:11.470 and putting in a very healthy 127 laps at the wheel of the F10.
Alonso was one of 3 world champions all out on track during the day with Michael in the Mercedes and Jensen also out again in the McLaren. It was a historic day for Ferrari who seem already to be one of the favourites now for the 2010 title, returning to the success they have ben so used to. Alonso was clearly extatic after his stint in the F10 and said: ”It was an important day for me, being in a Ferrari for the first time. He went on to say: “I think I maximised the use of the day, in terms of laps and time on the track, and I feel good. In the car I have many things to adjust to – the seat, the pedals, the steering wheel and even the helmet, which is a new brand for me. I’ve also never run with Brembo brakes, so that was a first for me as well.”
Alonso admitted that the Ferrari was quick, but still didn’t really know how quick it is relative to fuel loads when compared to the pace of other teams.
The surprise of the week of course has been the consistent pace of the Saubers who are also running a Ferrari engine. Even though the Sauber has been doing short runs on low fuel, it is still a similar length stint to the competition. It is almost echoes the Brawns surprise pace in testing just prior to the start of the 2009 season. Kobayashi and De la Rosa have both set times in the low 1m12′s with Pedro De la Rosa today being the second quickest man with a 1:12.094
Schumacher did 82 laps in the Mercedes and quickly shook off rumours of his old neck injury playing up again. He spent some good time behind the wheel with Mercedes focusing on medium to long runs and Schumacher emerged from the car in very good physical shape.
Jensen Button was clearly trying to get used to the McLaren and wasn’t raving about the car. McLaren have admitted that they are using these tests as a bit of a technical shakedown for their car, however it is a far cry from they testing pace Jensen had last year in the Brawn when he knew he had a potential championship winning car. Jensen was far less enthusiastic and a bit more resevred with his comments: “That was a long day! We finished working at about 1am this morning, trying to get the seat right in the car! You obviously have it made in the mock-up but it’s always different when you get in the car and out on the circuit it’s always a bit different to what you expected; so we’ve been doing a lot of work to make me comfortable in the car because, initially, it wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be, I was sitting quite high up.”
McLaren have not been pushing the cars much yet and have also been doing far longer runs then Sauber, Mercedes and Ferrari. There may be some pace there, but we just haven’t seen it yet.
The times from Day3 are as follows:
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:11.470 127 Laps
2. Pedro De La Rosa BMW Sauber 1:12.094 80
3. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:12.438 82
4. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:12.576 97
5. Jenson Button Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1:12.951 82
6. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:13.097 75
7. Nico Hulkenberg Williams 1:13.669 126
Since the tests have now finished at Valencia, the combined times over the 3 days cleary show the Ferrari both holing out 1st and 2nd placings:
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1min 11.470secs
2. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1min 11.722secs
3. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1min 12.056secs
4. Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1min 12.094secs
5. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1min 12.256secs
6. Robert Kubica Renault 1min 12.426secs
7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 1min 12.438secs
8. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 12.576secs
9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 1min 12.899secs
10. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1min 12.951secs
11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1min 13.097secs
12. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1min 13.377secs
13. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1min 13.669secs
14. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 13.823secs
15. Gary Paffett McLaren-Mercedes 1min 13.846sec
Fernando Alonso behind the wheel of the Ferrari F10 for time
Virgin Racing reveal the VR-01
Feb 3rd
Virgin racing today revealed it’s first ever Formula one car, the VR-01. We finally have a car on the grid in 2010 that hasn’t decided to copy the nose of the 2009 RedBull. Whether or not this is a good thing for the team is yet to be seen, however it might have something to do with the decission that the car was to be built soley using CFD or Computational Fluid Dynamics. Nick Wirth, the designer of the VR-01 believes that CFD is the future of formula1 and as a result the VR-01 has never seen a wind tunnel in it’s design process.
Nick Wirth might be on to something too, as we speak Day3 tests are taking place with the absence of last years runners up, RedBull Racing. Instead Adrian Newey has opted to do further development on the car using CFD, surely he’s knows what he’s talking about, he is widely regarded as the best aerodynamicist in the business.
Nick Wirth returns to formula1 from his days as Aerodynamicist and Chief Designer at Benetton during the glory days of Michael Schumacher winning the championship for the team just prior to switching to Ferrari.
The team might be new, but it has some good experience with Nick Wirth at the helm as Technical Director. “Today is a very proud day for everyone involved with Virgin Racing,…However on this occasion, where the car is the star, I want to pay tribute to all the amazing people at Wirth Research who deserve so much of the credit for the VR-01.” he stated.
In regards to the use of CFD, he commented: “I have absolute belief in the digital design process and the opportunity to put the all-CFD approach to the test at the highest level – to demonstrate that this could be the way for the future of F1 – is very, very exciting”
The team principal, John Booth went on to state: “Not only do we have a great bunch of people at Virgin Racing, we also have a great-looking car. We are delighted with our fantastic new livery which provides a fitting integration of our racing brand with our important commercial partnerships. All in all, we have a lot to look forward to as we progress towards our racing debut in Bahrain next month.”
Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi will be steering the VR-01 this season. Timo secured his drive after being left high and dry when Toyota pulled out of Formula1 at the end of last season and Lucas Di Grassi is one of a handful of drivers making their F1 debut this season.
It will be very intersting to see how the VR-01 compares to the other teams in testing. With virgin being the first of the “new teams” to launch their car, there will be much interest in their testing pace and it will certainly start debate on the importance of CFD vs. conventional wind tunnels.
