Understanding Formula One: Brakes

By Michael Griffin

Welcome one and all to the second edition of “Understanding Formula One,” where I am looking to teach you in the fundamental rules and technologies that make up modern Formula One.

Here in this edition, I will look at brakes, which was also heavily discussed in the comments section of the Aerodynamics edition of this series.

A Formula One car is actually closely related to its road-going counterpart when it comes to the art of braking.

Now that ABS anti-skid systems have been banned from Formula One, most modern road cars can lay claim to having considerably cleverer retardation. That sounds slightly embarrassing really, but less aids means better racing…doesn’t it?

The principle of braking is simple, slowing the object by removing kinetic energy from it. Formula One cars have disc brakes, like the vast majority of road cars, with rotating discs, attached to the wheels, being squeezed between two brake pads by the action of a hydraulic calliper.

This turns a car’s momentum into large amounts of heat and light, eagle eyed fans will have noticed the way Formula One brake discs glow yellow hot. Looks cool, doesn’t it?

Lewis Hamilton. 2008 Formula One World Champion. Game Over.

It is now mathematically impossible for Lewis Hamilton to retain the World Drivers Title. It is September of the following year. This is normal in Formula One with a relinquishment rarely happening without only a few races to spare, if any at all!

How many of you thought, however, that it would take this long, 13 races in total, for him to lose his crown following the start of the season that he endured?

A disqualification, the possibility of being thrown out of the Championship after just one round, and a lot of mediocre results had the World Champion genuinely struggling to love the sport he has strived to compete at the top of since he was a very young boy. He was struggling, and due to the current international media machine, it showed, and was visible to the world.

Yet the McLaren Motor Racing Machine based in Woking pulled together, and somehow Lewis slowly mounted a charge, just a case of too little too late really. By the time he got properly up and running, Jenson Button had already won six Grands Prix, and was well on his way to a possible world title.

So we reach the end of the “European Season” and with it, what honestly seems like the strangest of crashes from one of the current driving masters. Nobody will know what Lewis was up to at the first Lesmos corner on the last lap, other than he was pushing too hard. Nobody will be harder on him for that error than himself. Especially considering that it certainly wasn’t a last dash attempt to keep his vague championship hopes alive, as he required Button to finish fifth or lower, and not score any more points all season, as well as for Lewis himself to win every remaining race to be able to retain his crown.

So if this wasn’t the incentive then what was? A fastest lap at the end of a race means nothing, especially since there are no points awarded anymore for the man lapping the quickest in race trim.
In the current generation of computer games left, right and centre, it seems like Hamilton was just going through the motions in “Arcade Mode”, having a bit of fun and almost hoping he’d breeze up to the back of Button and pass with ease.

He ended up with pieces of car all over the road with no way of pushing a “Restart” button.
Championship over Lewis…

GAME OVER

source: bleacher report

Client of the Month – Sharbel Dias

Sharbel Dias is a 22 year old driver aspiring to make it into Formula 1 racing one day. He has no formula racing experience before in the past so he approached Global Racing Schools for help on how to develop himself as a driver so that he can turn professional one day. He wanted to be able to learn how to drive a formula car in the shortest amount of time with a limited budget.

So shortly after working with Sharbel, we developed a training program to suit his needs in order to start his racing career as well as to take part in a crash course to develop his skills further. After much discussions, we developed a 5 day Formula Racing Program for him in New Jersey, USA.

Day 1

The day began with a classroom session on the circuit and also the F2000 Cars. There were about 15 other drivers in the classroom with him as our instructors went through the basics of cornering, circuit diagrams and also the formula car’s characteristics. After a short briefing, the official training start. It started off with a Track drive in a  Chevrolet Malibu to get the students to know specific parts of the track and after that they will put into special side cars. After that, it was back to more classroom learning and a review of the track and cars.

Day 2

After a short continuation of the program in the Side cars, it was time to be fitted into the F2000 Race cars for a test to see the racing lines of the students. Sharbel had to produce laps and racing lines to be recorded by the instructor so that the briefing will be more precisely geared towards learning on the mistakes. In order to further the driving development, the drivers were paired up with a partner with equal driving skills so that they will be able to work as a team to improve and push each other.
Day 3

The day directly into the race cars again. This time Sharbel was allowed to pass on only the stretch and on certain corners. This is to teach the students specific cornering and passing techniques in a controlled environment of racing. However as a beginner, Sharbel did spin out of the track a number of times as he misjudged the corners and entered it at too high a speed. But he managed to catch up and ended up as the lead car before the day’s session was over. By this time, the results on the timing sheets has dropped dramatically and the training was started to push more intensively and aggressively towards a more race competition focused point of coaching.

Day 4

The remaining 2 days of the program included the expertise of a professional driver and he was specially assigned to be paired up with Sharbel in order to advance his learning and driving skills. He was tagged with the driver to watch his racing lines and braking lines which added to more analysis for Sharbel to learn and by the end of the session, Sharbel cut more time from his laps and was almost beating his professional driver team mate in some of the corners. There was intensive analysis done on each lap and the timing based on every corner. After the  day’s session, the students were prepared for an official race situation that was going to take place the following day. This was something Sharbel was thrilled to take part in.

Day 5

The day consisted of 2 qualifying rounds and 2 races to achieve the best overall result. So the night before, Sharbel had been given materials to look through and also to study the strategy for this day.  The day started with 10 minutes of practice session where all the students were pushing the limits of their cars to get the best time. On the practice session, Sharbel was able to catch up to the tail of a more experienced mexican driver and he was getting blocked on every corner of the race. But finally an opportunity came and on turn 9 of the circuit, where sharbel had mastered the cornering technique and line, he passed the driver which added much boost to his confidence for the qualifying session that was to come.

Qualifying came and Sharbel knew he had to stay on the tail of the professional driver as he was the best among the pack. Squeezing out every piece of the track to run on and braking as late as possible, Sharbel managed to qualify in a decent position for the 2 races.

The first Race began and Sharbel managed to be on the lead all the way even beating out the professional driver in the opening laps of the race.  The pro driver was trying to pass him at every corner and pushing his limit at the corners. But the frustration was too much for the professional driver to take and Sharbel managed to keep him at bay for most of time.  Finally at lap 5, he was pushed out of track by an inexperienced driver that was a back marker that wasn’t looking at her mirrors. So in order to avoid a collision, he swirled off track and losing the lead in the process. That was too late for a come back and Sharbel managed a respectable 5th place for the 2nd race.
As the second race began, Sharbel noticed the mexican kid sticking onto the tail of his car right when they started and when the Mexican driver was too close, the driver loss control of his car. After which, Sharbel passed another 4 other drivers to get up to 2nd spot. Looking forward at number 1 spot, he pushed the limits all the way and on the final lap, the gap was not close enough to take over.

As they got into the Pit lanes the pro driver came up and congratulated Sharbel saying he didn’t know he could do what he did. That concluded the 5 day training and he learned so many fundamental techniques such as  learning how to think, how to pass safely and quickly, how to perfect corners, how to learn tracks by oneself and so much more. Many of the instructors were very surprised at the speed and maturity of driving that Sharbel displayed in his maiden race and training session.

Currently Sharbel is getting ready for his 2010 race season with the guidance of Global Racing Schools and we all know this is a young driver to watch for the future and we are giving him our 100% support for it.

KERS to Be Used in Formula One in 2010?

Cutting costs has been one of the biggest topics in F1 recently and it has lead to radical changes in the regulations of both the 2009 and 2010 seasons. One of the biggest contradictions to the overall theme of cost cutting has been the implementation of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System.

Teams have spent large sums attempting to fine tune the new technology which harnesses the normally wasted kinetic energy during braking and converts it into an 80 horsepower boost at the push of a button on the driver’s steering wheel.

For 2009 this feature is optional, but claims that it would become mandatory for the 2010 season were at large earlier this year.

After a series of reliability and safety issues emerged this season due to the devices, Ferrari and McLaren became the only two teams still left with the desire and budget to run it.

It had been suggested that KERS would be abandoned at the end of the season but an article on the official F1 website outlining the new qualifying session layout suggests the contrary. At the end of the article the newly raised minimum weight rule is mentioned.

“Minimum car weight has been raised by 15kg to 620kg, to give teams running KERS more flexibility in terms of weight distribution and set-up, and tyre warmers will still be legal, despite previous talk of the heated blankets being banned.”

The text seems to suggest that KERS will again be an optional feature for the teams. The implementation of an optional KERS system not only goes against the spirit of cutting costs but it also makes for an unbalanced grid with some cars being able to leap to the front at the start of races like Ferrari and McLaren have displayed numerous times this season.

This will also decrease the overtaking opportunities by the cars not running the system as KERS has been used effectively as a defensive tool this season as well.

Why not eliminate KERS and with some of the money saved, allow a little more in season testing? Why not level the grid so that all cars have equal opportunities during the starts and during the races?

source:bleacher report

Luca Badoer Gets His Chance After Michael Schumacher Cancels Comeback

Just as quickly as Michael Schumacher took Felipe Massa’s ride as his replacement, he gave it back. An injured neck, sustained in a motorcycle crash back in February, will keep the German away from the track in Valencia.

While the shock of Schumacher’s non-return is making headlines, what isn’t is the driver who will step in and fill the void while Massa recovers: Look no further than tester Luca Badoer, a driver with the dubious distinction of having driven the most races without scoring a single point.

I’ll go out on a limb and say he’ll end that streak in Valencia. This year’s Ferrari may not be a race winner, but it’ll definitely get into the points, or even on the podium.

So, just how will Luca Badoer do in his role as driver? Of course, this will not be his first go around as an F1 race driver; he raced for Scuderia Italia, Minardi (twice), and Footwork, before taking the role as tester for the most famous of F1 teams.

A simple look at F1 Rejects will tell you the stories of those teams, so it comes as no surprise that Badoer couldn’t score points with any of them.

Plus, luck hasn’t exactly been on his side either. Case and point: Look back to 1999. Schumacher broke his leg at Silverstone and would miss a nice chunk of the season. Badoer, who had just signed as their tester, looked to be set for a drive in (arguably) that season’s best car.

But, as you well know, Mika Salo was given the ride, and Badoer had to keep his role as test driver. And people say Johnny Herbert had the worst luck of an F1 pilot.

It seems only fitting that the Italian (a nice bonus for Ferrari I’m sure) will finally get his chance. Even Luca di Montezemolo admitted the loyalties of the veteran tester, and that he deserved a chance to race.

“We have decided to give Luca Badoer the chance to race for the Scuderia after he has put in so many years of hard work as a test driver,” said the Ferrari president.

So, what could be a realistic result for Badoer on his return to a race seat? Given that the car is not for it, and that we’re unsure of his own capabilities as a racer, a win is a little too much to expect of him, especially on his first outing.

However, as I said earlier, points should definitely be in the cards. The Ferrari F60 has improved greatly through the year, and has turned into a solid points scorer, if not a podium contender. A finish up in the top eight would do very well.

source: bleacher report

F1 Unable To Get Rid of Michael Schumacher despite Best Efforts

Michael Schumacher will make a shocking return to Formula One this month despite his advancing years and lack of experience in the new Formula One cars.

His return is not a surprise to many who are involved with the sport, as the German even admits, he’s just been waiting for someone to ask him to drive.

“I’ve been hanging around dropping hints to all the bosses, but no one would get it,” exclaimed the 40-year-old German. “I’ve been bored out of my mind. I tried to convince people I was the Stig, and then they saw I couldn’t drive a normal car. I even tried motorcycles, but I kept falling off”.

Despite his desperation to get back into a Formula One car, others were not so keen to see him around.

FOTA seemed certain they would never have him race again. After crisis meetings earlier this season, all the teams agreed to ignore Schumacher in the paddock, hoping he would just go away.

“We all liked his brother, but Michael just won’t let it go,” explained an unnamed team owner. “He’s like that kid who’s too big to join in but still tries; none of us have spoken to him in two months, but still he’s here”.

The crisis talks were well-documented in the press, but FOTA and the FIA managed to keep the topic secret by making phoney press statements about less important issues.

Unfortunately, Felipe Massa’s accident could not have come at a worse time for those involved in Formula One.

Formula One tried promoting the test drivers and teenagers in its circuit, but in a disastrous turn of events, it appears many of those drivers have yet to pass a basic road safety test and are unable to drive.

This oversight has left Ferrari with little choice but to return the calls of the former world champion and allow him to drive.  But even now, Williams, Red Bull, and Toro Rosso are openly plotting against the man who made the sport so boring by winning everything.  And it’s not just them.

It has been overheard at several dinner tables that the Drivers’ Association are teaming up with FOTA and the FIA to make things as difficult as possible for Schumacher in the hope his failure will discourage him from being around.

Sebastian Vettel was overheard this week claiming, “We’re all going to block his moves and make sure he finishes in the bottom four or five; that will teach him”.

This coming from a young German who no doubt saw the man as an idol a few short years ago.

Apparently, the self-proclaimed “King of Racing” has outstayed his welcome in the paddock, and everyone involved in the sport will be doing all they can to stop him in Valencia, hoping the humiliation will force him away for good.

The question is: Can they stop this once-great racing driver?

Source: bleacher report

Pic: Getty Image

Michael Schumacher Is Coming Back To Formula One

Driver In Focus: Mark Webber

Mark Webber was born on the 27^thof August 1976 in Queanbeyan , Australia.

He started his relationship with sport at a young age, working as a ball boy for premiership winning rugby league team, the Canberra Raiders, during the late 1980s. However, motorsport was where his interest lay, later listing Formula One World Champion Alain Prost and Grand Prix motorcycle racer Kevin Schwantz as his childhood heroes.

Starting out racing motorcycles, Webber moved to four wheels in 1991, taking up karting at the age of 14. He won the New South Wales state championship in 1993, and moved straight into the Australian Formula Ford Championship after his father bought him an ex-Craig Lowndes Van Diemen FF1600.

Global Racing Schools Latest Promotions

Panoramic view of Barcelona

Price: Euro 1655 ( 2 Person with VAT Included)

If you are looking for a Unique Valentine’s Day Gift that is likely to be the highlight of your loved one’s year, be sure to read on. Finding a Valentine’s Day Gift for a loved one can be daunting, with so many options, contemplating what they would like or dislike. Take a departure from the norm of buying a physical gift and instead, buy them an experience that will be firmly embedded in their minds for years to come.

Global Racing Schools is introducing a special racing program package, which caters for couples just for Valentine’s Day. If you wish to pamper or wow a loved one with a unique gift experience, this is what you would want to consider. It is not biased to either gender, with activities for both to enjoy. Whether it’s a relaxing steam bath, or a heart pumping drive in a Sports Car, we cater to enjoyment for both parties.
This package will be set in the beautiful city of Barcelona in Spain.  This package will start off with a pick up from the airport to your Hotel. You’ll be staying at a 5 Star Hotel.

You can experience a sense of place unlike any in Spain. As an artfully restored hilltop palace overlooking the world-famous Las Ramblas neighbourhood, this stylish Barcelona luxury hotel blends 1920s grandeur with cool, contemporary design.

Savour the casual intimacy and personal service afforded by our 75 rooms, or indulge in gourmet Mediterranean and Spanish cuisine at the elegant Forestier Restaurant. Sip morning coffee on your private balcony, overlooking stunning views of downtown Barcelona and the Mediterranean beyond. Find tranquil repose by the edge of our mesmerising outdoor pool, or take an evening stroll through the Montjuïc i Llobera Botanical Gardens.

W have arranged a range of activities that is bound to tickle your senses.

Day 1: Ladies Day
•    Welcome drink upon arrival
•    Bottle of Cava and strawberries with chocolate in the room upon arrival
•    Buffet Breakfast served in the Forestier Restaurant
•    Romantic Candle lit dinner for two in the Forestier Restaurant
•    Romantic Bubble Bath with aromatic candles, rose petals and bath salts
•    Complimentary access to the Spa

Day 2: Gentlemen’s Day
-    We will pick you up at your hotel and bring you to the race track
-    You will get to drive a Lamborghini Gallardo with our instructor
-    Learn about driving techniques and ways to control such a powerful machine
-    Drive a H2 Hummer around the track with instructions
-    Finally Race around the track in a track prepared Mitsubishi Evo
-    Snacks and Refreshments will be provided

That will conclude your 2 day Valentine’s day Getaway. We will take you back to the airport for your flight home.

Contact us now for your bookings. Email: info@globalracingschools.com

Client of the Month – Marcus Xing

Marcus Xing is a 23 year old young man that is interested in racing. He has no experience and has never been involved with the sport before. However given his age and considerable lack of experience, he is still interested to become a professional racer which would eventually lead him to race in Europe.
So he approached Global Racing Schools for help on advice on how to proceed with his racing career aspirations as he has just completed a disastrous formula training program from a popular school in Thailand. So Global Racing Schools set him up on a Program in Philippines to conduct his racing initiation program for 5 days based on a customized program cater to his learning curve.

Day 1 – Day 3 ( 1 on 1 kart training)
His first challenge was to learn all the fundamental racing techniques of racing and to do so he used the most fundamental and basic form of racing; Go Kart( Tony kart with 125cc Rotax Engine). He was set up for a 3 day 1 on 1 karting training program followed by a 2 day Touring car Package. The karting program’s focus was to instill the basic sense of racing lines, braking lines, entry and exit strategies to achieve a perfect lap.

Under the guidance of 2 kart engineers and 2 race instructors, his intense program included over 200 laps of karting that included:

• Entry/ Strategies
• Pace Kart overtaking maneuvers
• Racing Lines
• Braking Lines and many more

With a zestful spirit to learn and a determination to get the most out of the program, Marcus started out with a bang to finish the 3 day karting program 7 seconds faster than his initial time on the 1st day. On top of that dipping below the track average timing which is considerable amazing considering his lack of experience in karting and racing. On the completion of Day 3, Marcus had a good knowledge of Racing fundamentals on track and was ready to take on Touring car racing.

Day 4 – 5 ( 1 on 1 Touring Car Training)

The final 2 days of the program was to have private training on a Race Prepped Touring car. After the rough and tumble of a go kart, sitting in a touring car had an immense difference on the driver’s physical body so he was able to make even better use of it.

The 2 days of training was focused on techniques such as:

• Heel/ Toe Techniques for downshifting properly
• Positioning of the car on track
• Oversteer and understeer, what they are and how to correct or solve them
• When to apply the power and how this affects the overall corner speed and balance of the
• When and how hard to brake
• Vision and how important it is to be looking through the corner and many more.

By the end of the Touring Car Program, Marcus managed to beat the timings of more experienced drivers due to his intensive training and accelerated learning curve. Fully satisfied with the program, Global Racing Schools is currently arranging a long term goal for him to get his advanced FIA License so as to race in the British Touring Car Championship within 3 years.

Global Racing Schools can do the same for you. With a network of schools, race teams on almost any circuit in the world, we specialize in any form of racing consultation in regards to competition and training in all categories ( Rallying, Karting, Touring car etc).

So contact us today for your customized program that will save you the trouble of  “Trail and error” learning that only leads to a waste of your financial resources and time. It is about time you left your racing career to real professionals that have the experience and contacts to get you to where you want to be.

Thank you for your choosing Global Racing Schools for your racing requirements

Contact us now for all your race training and driving experiences needs!

Fuji pulls plug on Japanese GP

Fuji International Speedway has pulled the plug on hosting the Japanese Grand Prix in the future, track officials confirmed on Tuesday.

The circuit had been planning to share the event with Suzuka, having held the last two Japanese GPs, but the global economic downturn that has affected track owners Toyota has forced a rethink.

A statement on the circuit’s website said that although planning had already been underway for the 2010 event, the track had no option but to abandon its plans.

“In view of the sharply deteriorating business conditions and few signs of a rapid economic recovery, we decided it would be extremely difficult to continue holding the F1 Japanese Grand Prix,” said the statement.

Fuji returned to the F1 calendar in 2007, following huge efforts by Toyota to revamp the circuit.

Lewis Hamilton won that first event amid torrential conditions, while Fernando Alonso took a surprise win for Renault in last year’s event following a chaotic first corner.

Fuji said its focus now would be on holding Formula Nippon and Super GT events.

Hiroaki Kato, president of the Fuji track, could not hide his disappointment at the decision that brings an early end to the track’s return to the F1 schedule.

“After only having announced barely three years ago, in March 2006, that Fuji Speedway would hold the F1 Japanese Grand Prix, it is heart-wrenching that we were not able to avoid the decision to abandon our plans to hold the race from 2010,” he said.

“To the people who attended the event at Fuji Speedway last year and the year before, to those who were looking forward to the event there in the future, and to all those locally and elsewhere who granted us their immense understanding and encouragement, I deeply apologize for a result not commensurate with your expectations.

“At the same time, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation for your kind support.

“Fuji Speedway intends to devote itself with even greater intensity to promote motor sports. For this, we humbly seek your continued understanding.”

Suzuka is due to hold this year’s Japanese GP, and the future of the country’s race will now depend on whether the track’s owners Honda wish to bankroll the event in the future – having already pulled out of F1.

Toyota’s decision to stop the bankrolling of the Fuji event, which Reuters has suggested was costing it around £12-£18 million GBP, come against the backdrop of the company expecting overall losses of £5.5 billion GBP in the business year to March 2010.

Source:autosport.com

What Is F1 for a Common Man?

Let us come to a question, which has been forgotten by FIA, FOTA, FOM and all others who claim that that they are the saviors of Formula One. It is the question of what F1 means for a common man.

F1 is a medium, a source, an option, which helps them to get relieved from their daily routine of life.

It is something different for people who are employed either with the federations or those with the participants/who make a living out of them, who are a very small percentage, maximum one or two percent of the whole base and for their benefit the industry is run currently.

Who has built F1: Is it the common people like us who have fancied the super fast cars, the teams, the tracks, the glamour,and the great racing drivers?

Have we championed and stood behind the great names of Lotus, Brabham, Ferrari etc. and turned them into their present iconic status? It is one very high end show business and we hold the keys for their fortunes.

The various groups who claim that they are acting in the goodwill of saving F1 should understand the sacrifices that we make to watch when it on (either on the track or on television).

We make sacrifices to see the sport. How many of us would have lied to their girlfriends for watching F1, how many would have fought with their wives, parents, siblings, saved money religiously to watch the sport in person or on television?

We need to have participants from the fans, who need to be present across these federations to make the sport livelier and make it worth for the money that we pay.

We people, the common people across the globe, have helped built the massive empires of Bernie, Dietrich Mateschitz, Flavio Briatore, CVC, Michael Schumacher, the legacy of teams etc.

We are the ones who buy their sports cars, road cars, buy products of their sponsors, pay the ticket fee, the fee on television and probably all tangible and intangible monetary components associated with the F1 showbiz.

Does it really matter to us in our day to day life whether a V12, V10, or V8 runs in the car, the tires are grooved or have slicks, whether any particular personality sits on the pit wall or not?

All we need is the spectacle, a worthy spectacle, which is worthy for the hard-earned money that we pay for this wonderful F1 circus.

But the sport has been very successful over the last few years in providing a wonderful off-track action, which even any scriptwriter/soap opera could not beat. Championships being argued in the court, teams having to spend a massive budget for lawyers and off-track events, millions of dollars thrown in flop technologies like KERS etc, the list goes endless without creating anything to improve the spectacle.

Even the new rules of the 2009 and the countless man hours of OWG haven’t provided us any improvement in the spectacle, all we have is a former Scuderia man running a Ferrari kind of show albeit a white car and a British driver with one similarity, poor o Rubens in he usual No. 2 spot.

In this kind of tough global economic scenario, it is said that “Cash is King”. We still pay the same money for the F1 circus and our returns in the form of the spectacle haven’t increased.

Although we find Ferrari championing the FOTA alliance this year, let us not forget that how an alliance called GPMA (Grand Prix Manufacturers Association) was crucified by the Italian Marquee in 2005. I am not trying to blame Ferrari, but pointing the fact that they are partly responsible for the recent and huge blow up among FIA, FOTA and FOM.

Had Ferrari not altered their status quo with Bernie and Max in 2005, we would not have seen such a large blow up of events like the mad and autocratic rules of Max and the loss of iconic tracks from the calendar, which have currently put the sport in this kind of a scenario.

I am not advocating that GPMA should have started their independent series, but should have done what FOTA is currently doing. They should have stayed in F1, but similar to what was achieved recently a better bargaining power for the teams in the whole stake.

It would have definitely taken the sport to a much better shape than what it is currently today.

GPMA could have still been a powerful alliance, which could have obtained a better bargain for the sport (I mean prevailing of common sense by protecting the race promoters from such an exorbitant fee, spiraling ticket prices, better presence in Americas, empty tracks like Turkey, China and proposed new venues, which have no relevance to motorsports).

Although F1 stands as the second most viewed sporting event after football, it is ranked way below in the recent list of top 200 sporting properties across the world.

It is the shame for the sport that Ferrari is values higher as a global sporting property than F1 and F1 stands way down in valuations with NASCAR albeit having such a large fan base globally.

The benefits, which could have been claimed if GPMA had stood together, are as follows.

1. FIA would have remained as a pure facilitator and not a enforcer of technological and commercial regulations, probably Mad Max wouldn’t be president now at all.
2. Bernie’s greed of overcharging for all versions of cash inflows would have seen a little sanity.
3. We would not be facing such a scenario at all today.
4. Probably the value returns for the common man would have increased.
5. Ticket prices would not have skyrocketed.
6. Race promoters would have been shielded from the ever increasing hosting fees, with a justifiable percentage.
7. We wouldn’t have seen this much mad rule changes in the last three years.
8. Apart from this, the crown jewel of FIA, i.e. F1 need not have undergone such a complex rule change every year for qualifying, yielding little or no improvement in spectacle.
9. We would not have lost Michelin, the scrap between Michael and Fernando during 2006 was further spiced up by the Bridgestone vs. Michelin battle. Now post the exit of Michelin, even Bridgestone would accept the lack of competition and a driving force for their staff. Of course, we would have missed viewing the green painted earth conserving tires of Bridgestone last year, which was such a big joke.

The list goes endless, but I’ve just highlighted based on my understanding of the sport over the last decade.

F1 as a sport and its various stakeholders have built their own individual multi-billion empire by depriving the man in the pub by refusing him to provide the due spectacle for which he had paid. We are not concerned about with whom Max settles in Chelsea or whether Luca runs for Italian Presidency or even Bernie gets divorced.

We need simple things like a better show at an affordable price across all commercial mediums, more overtaking, better battles on track, new talent, new innovations, which keeps on helping teams to find tenths of seconds here and there producing a better show.

These are aspects, which will take the sport in the path of growth and in the absence of these events, the sport will die slowly.

It is time for the various factions, who claim as demigods to protect F1 to consider fan representatives for the welfare and betterment of the sport.

Unless and until this happens, the  entry of large and new sponsors, enhancement of valuation of F1 as a brand and potential growth to the next levels will be withheld and the man in the pub will get cheated once again, which is not a very good scenario.

Source: bleacherreport

FOTA Breaks Away, Yet FIA May Be Key in the “F1 Cold War”

FOTA has the teams, FIA could have the races (if they threaten punishment of any circuit that hosts a FOTA race), and the rest of us may be left with grand prix racing as a shell of it former self.

An innumerable amount of questions remain unanswered in the wake of FOTA’s announcement to break away from the current Formula 1 series, so long as Bernie and Max don’t give in to their demands.

Some answers may lie in the near future. The FOTA teams will be meeting later this week to discuss the first steps of launching a new series, and potentially requested Mosely step down or have his power reduced. But, how long this split could last remains very dodgy.

After some initial mudslinging, Max Mosely said this past weekend that a deal was close that would keep the two sides together in one racing series. However, that sentiment was halted by Flavio Briatore, who told Autosport that the deadline for such a deal has long since passed;  he also took advantage and made a few insults of his own toward Mosely.

Is F1 headed toward a CART/IRL like “cold war” destined to kill Grand Prix Racing as we know it? While FOTA can’t want that, the fact that they are breaking ranks shows just how dire their situation is, and it’s up the FIA to fix the problems.

Everyone (FOTA, journalists, fans, etc.) has criticized Mosely and Ecclestone for the manner in which they’ve run the series, and the decisions they’ve made (or tried to make) to “better” the sport. FOTA can’t be blamed for wanting to stop them in their tracks, and can’t be blamed for breaking away; it seems they’ve been forced to do so.

How this “war” between the two sides goes will be down to what Bernie and Max do in response. Do they play nice? Will they realize that FOTA actually has BIG advantage over them, at least with teams and drivers ? It’ll be hard to legitimize a “top” series that has a grid full of unknowns who were called up to run in the ninth hour.

Bernie Ecclestone dropped hints that he might be willing to renegotiate with FOTA and give in to their demands, saying that he feels sympathy for their situation, and that he wants F1 to thrive, not die.

“My marriage broke up because of Formula 1, so I am sure as hell not going to let things disintegrate over what is, in the end, basically nothing,” he told Autosport. It would appear that he wants things to work out; why he wants them to is a different story, but he might understand that a championship without FOTA is an inferior one.

But, what if they don’t place nicely, and continue a war of words and insults with FOTA, and potentially banish drivers and teams from FIA events? What if they bar FOTA circuits from ever hosting another FIA sanctioned race?

As inept as the FIA has been at times, they sanction numerous racing series throughout the world, and preventing a track from hosting their other events (i.e. A1GP, Touring cars, etc.) could severely hurt a circuit’s revenue and popularity, especially if it can only get FOTA to run there.

If such an occurrence unfolds and the FIA does deliver all those punishments, what circuits would be willing to host FOTA races, and what would their drivers and teams do outside of their races.

Remember, such teams as Ferrari have other teams in other series; would they be barred from FIA events, simply because they’d be attached (even in name only) to an F1 outfit?

What about drivers running touring cars after their F1 careers are finished? Would be barred from doing because they drove for FOTA teams?

All of these questions, and an immeasurable number of additional ones, are surrounding the FIA/FOTA war. Unfortunately, the answers to those questions may not come for a while, so we may be left in a haze for several weeks, or even months.

What is clear, however, is that Bernie, Max, and the FIA hold the keys to whatever outcome occurs. Will they choose one that will see the sport come back together and thrive, or will pick one that could potentially kill Formula 1?

Source: F1bleacherreport

Picture source: Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images

Back to the Future: Why F1 Will Survive a FOTA Exodus

Driver In Focus: Rubens Barrichello

The Development Years

Rubens Gonçalves “Rubinho” Barrichello (born May 23, 1972 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver.

Both his father and paternal grandfather are also named Rubens, and Barrichello shares his father’s birthday: May 23. Therefore, Rubens Barrichello was known as Rubinho (Portuguese for “little Rubens”), which has become his nickname.

Barrichello won five karting titles in Brazil before going to Europe to race in the Formula Vauxhall Lotus series in 1990. In his first year, he won the championship, a feat he replicated the following year in the British Formula 3 Championship, beating David Coulthard. He very nearly joined Formula One, the highest category of single seater racing, at just 19 years of age. Instead he competed in Formula 3000 in 1992. He finished third in the championship, and joined the Jordan Formula One team for the 1993 Formula One season. During this time, and also early in his Formula One career, Barrichello lived in Banbury & Cumnor, Oxfordshire, UK.

Jenson Button Cruises to Sixth Victory in Seven Races

Jenson Button continued his astounding run of form in the Turkish Grand Prix – taking his sixth win from seven races in 2009 and extending his championship advantage to a mammoth 26 points.

Pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel lost the lead to Button on the opening lap after an error at turn ten and could only finish third behind his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber, while Button’s Brawn team-mate – and closest title rival – Rubens Barrichello had a disastrous afternoon and eventually retired.

The race fell into Button’s hands on the opening lap. While Vettel stayed in front into the first corner, Barrichello stuttered off the line and tumbled back to 13th place. The anti-stall system cut in too early and over-torqued the gearbox, subsequently losing seventh gear.

That removed one of Button’s main rivals from contention immediately, and then Vettel ran wide in the Turn 9/10 chicane, allowing Button to take the lead and start charging away with relative ease.

The Briton soon had a four-second lead, which he maintained through the first pitstops, but Vettel then came back at him, moving to a three-stop strategy and benefiting from his much lighter fuel lead to charge back up behind the Brawn.

There was no way past, though, and after 13 fruitless laps in Button’s wake, Vettel had to make his second stop, dropping him to third behind Webber and ought of contention. The inability to pass Button was down to two things. The first is Brawn were too quick with race fuel, and the second is that the 2009 regulation are still not effective enough to encourage overtaking.

Button duly cruised away to seal yet another win, while Vettel closed up on Webber in the final laps before the team sent a radio message to inform him that Webber had pace in hand and he should back off and conserve his car. Vettel’s speed barely decreased, but he finished behind Webber.

Jarno Trulli took fourth for Toyota, losing the place to Williams’s Nico Rosberg at the first stops but reclaiming it at the second pit sequence, however fifth was still a good result for Rosberg given his frustrations at earlier races.

Ferrari was never in the hunt, and Felipe Massa had to settle for a distant sixth rather than a fourth consecutive Istanbul win. The Brazilian wanted to emulate the likes of Senna, Schuamcher and Clark by taking his fourth consecutive pole and win at a track, but he was never in contention for either.

Kimi Raikkonen lost ground on lap one, damaged his front wing slightly running into Fernando Alonso, and ended up ninth. The Finn was never anywhere near the pace of his team-mate, and another poor result will heap more pressure on him.

BMW’s Robert Kubica finally opened his 2009 points account by beating Timo Glock to seventh, as the German came through the field using a very long first stint.

Kazuki Nakajima did likewise for Williams, but fell back to finish 12th thanks to a slow second pit-stop. The young Japanese driver looked set for a healthy amount of points early on.

Short early stints dropped Alonso’s Renault into traffic and left him 10th, while back in the midfield McLaren split its strategies but could not get the one-stopping Lewis Hamilton higher than 13th or two-stopper Heikki Kovalainen above 14th. The McLaren’s were shocking all weekend, at one point 25 km/h slower per lap than the Brawn’s through tun eight.

Most of the entertainment in a boring race came from Barrichello’s spirited early attempts to make up the ground lost at the start.

Wheel to wheel action with Kovalainen’s KERS-shod McLaren eventually ended in contact at Turn 9 and a quick spin for the Brawn, which then broke its front wing clashing with Adrian Sutil’s Force India.

The consequent very early stop put paid to Barrichello’s recovery charge, and he was firmly in the midfield when he eventually pulled out with a gearbox problem 11 laps from home. Barrichello appeared very frustrated that while he suffers with problems after problem, Button takes win after win.

Driver of the Day

Jenson Button was simply astounding today and yes, he did get lucky with Vettel making a mistake to allow him through, but he was simply too fast through-out the race. Only one mistake, running wide at the last corner on lap 21, but the drive of a champion for sure.

Source: f1times

Pictures Courtesy of: Brawn GP, Formula 1 News

Driver In Focus: Fernando Alonso

The Development Years

Fernando Alonso was born on the 29^th of July 1981 in Oviedo, Spain. When he was young, Alonso often participated in karting competitions around Spain, supported by his father, who also doubled as his mechanic. His family lacked the financial resources needed to develop a career in motorsport, but his victories attracted sponsorship and the required funds to advance his career. Alonso won four Spanish championships back-to-back in the junior category, between 1993 and 1996 and the Junior World Cup in 1996. He won the Spanish and Italian Inter-A titles in 1997 and in 1998 won the Spanish Inter-A title again as well as finishing second in the European Championship.

In view of his success and performance, former Minardi F1 driver Adrián Campos gave Alonso his first test in a race car in October 1998. Just after three days of testing at the Albacete circuit, Alonso had managed tmatched the lap times of Campos’ previous driver Marc Gené. Campos signed Alonso to race for him in the 1999 Spanish Euro Open MoviStar by Nissan series. In his second race, again at Albacete, Alonso won for the first time. He took the championship by one point from championship rival Manuel Giao by winning and setting fastest lap at the last race of the season.

Looking Ahead: Thoughts on the Future of Formula One

F1 2009: The Story So Far

By: Adam Elliott

The 2009 Formula 1 season began just two weeks after the end of the 2008 season with the first test session of the year.

However, it wasn’t until December 2008 that the season became interesting with the shock announcement that Honda was due to leave Formula 1 because of the worldwide recession taking its toll on the business.

Following several discussions in January, the final lineup for 2009 was confirmed as:

Driver in Focus: Kimi Räikkönen

The Development Years

Kimi Raikkonen was born on the 17th of October 1979 in Espoo, Finland..

The 30 year old Kimi Raikkonen started out racing like every other F1 driver, which was karting. He began training at the age of 10. In the kart that he raced, it was obvious that he was a very talented driver. He continued karting and competing and found several successes in the Finnish Series.

Success Beckons

In 2000, Peter Sauber extended the olive branch and gave him a test with the Sauber Formula One team in September at the Mugello Circuit. He did so well that it lead to a contract for 2001. Sauber said: “I knew Kimi was fast from his first test at Mugello and after three races I knew he was very ralented, extremely focused and also egotistical. He thinks he is quicker than anybody. All these things add up to him being a good racing driver, although not necessarily a nice one. He was concentrated only on his own success.”