Alonso puts Ferrari on top in Monaco

Formula One celebrated its 60th birthday on Thursday with Fernando Alonso’s red Ferrari fittingly fastest in practice for the showcase Monaco Grand Prix.

Ferrari fills podium in uneventful Grand Prix

Michael Schumacher returned to Formula One on Sunday after
three years in retirement and found it was just how he remembered
it.

Alonso saddles up the stallion

Fernando Alonso rolled back the years for Ferrari on Sunday,
dedicating his F1 Bahrain Grand Prix victory to the Italian giants’
staff and fans who endured a miserable 2009 season.

F1 2010 Preview: Ferrari and Red Bull

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
Chassis: Ferrari F10
Engine: Ferrari Type 056
Drivers: Felipe Massa (7), Fernando Alonso (8)

The first of the top 4 teams, Ferrari continues to run impressive pace during all 4 weeks of testing. Felipe Massa has shown that he’s lost none of his speed after his terrifying near death accident at Hungary last year. Alonso, joining the Scuderia after swearing years ago that he would never drive for the red team, ran several impressive long run stints, which was only bettered by the final race simulation by Lewis Hamilton on the last day of week 4 testing. There are signs that the Ferrari are the best at managing their tires, enough so that they may be running 1 stop strategies quite often. With gentle tire use comes temperature warmup problems over a single qualifying lap, which was quite evident in testing as they were slightly slower than Red Bull and McLaren in a single lap. An interesting technical change are the Ferrari wheels, which feature fins lined up in a concentric ring, which are used to recover some of the brake cooling loss and aerodynamic wake from the banning of wheel covers.

Red Bull Racing
Chassis: Red Bull RB6
Engine: Renault RS27
Drivers: Sebastian Vettel (5), Mark Webber (6)

Expected by the paddock to be one of the top 2 teams this year, Adrian Newey’s RB6 was impressive throughout testing, especially week 4. Continuing from their successful 2009 campaign, Vettel and Webber set blistering single lap as well long run laptimes. Week 4 introduced their ultra-low exhaust outlets, where the flow will help drive flow from the floor to the diffuser exit. This may affect downforce sensitivity when backing off the throttle, so it’ll be intersting to see how well this concept works. Expectations are high for this team, and we will most likely see them on the top step of the podium more than once this year.

McLaren launches MP4-25, Ferrari complains about diffusers, Again.

McLaren unveiled their 2010 Formula 1 contender this morning at Vodafone UK’s headquarters and heads are starting to turn. The MP4-25, which will be piloted by Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button in the 2010 championship features a very aggressive rear diffuser, shark fin engine covers, side exhausts, and a much longer wheelbase and sleeker shape than the outgoing MP4-24 which struggled against the competition in 2009.

McLaren’s engineering director Paddy Lowe has stated during the launch that the team went with a very aggressive diffuser approach that pushes the limits of the FIA’s interpretation of diffuser legality. “You will see we have produced a fairly extreme incarnation of that but we won’t be alone in that. We believe you will see some pretty extreme solutions on our competitors’ cars as well.”, said Lowe. “This is the first car in which we have had a clean sheet of paper to really exploit the interpretation that was developed last year for a design of floors.”

Recall that last year, the double diffuser concept pioneered by Brawn, Williams and Toyota were under heavy scrutiny during the first few races of 2009, where many teams complained and the FIA had to officially rule their legal status. The extreme diffusers was what led Brawn GP to dominate early season and run away with both drivers and constructors championships.

Ferrari has already voiced their displeasure at the competition’s new diffusers. “We were and still are convinced that the double diffuser concept was illegal. We feel there may still be interpretation over this, as the rules leave the door open to many possibilities. It’s up to the FIA to supervise, but we are rather worried.”, said Ferrari technical director Aldo Costa.

How will the new McLaren stack up against the competition? The team is confident with their radical design, but the same thing could be said last year during launch day, where the team found themselves 2.5s a lap slower than the top cars at the first race. Find out next week when winter testing officially kicks off!

source: Jamesallenonf1 on twitpic

source: Jamesallenonf1 on twitpic

Formula 1 Will Not Have Their Tom Watson

Last month we watched in awe, hope and romance as golf veteran Tom Watson came within inches of wining the British Open, only to be denied and lose heavily in the play-off. The heart said Watson, the head backed Cink. In sport we all love a fairytale story; the minnows triumphing or the glorious return of a legend. Formula 1 thought that it was going to have its own Tom Watson moment, unfortunately for them, that reality is now a distant dream.

When Michael Schumacher retired in 2006 motor racing lost a true legend. Seven times Formula One champion and frequent podium finisher, Schumacher cemented himself in the F1 history books. However just recently many thought he was about to return and re-conquer the sport he so dearly loves. He was planned to come out of retirement to replace the injured Felipe Massa this weekend in a move that was highly anticipated throughout, not just motor racing, but the whole of the sporting world. For everyone who despaired at Tom Watch last month they now had a chance to rejoice for Schumacher. Unfortunately Schumacher will not be returning to Formula 1 it just wasn’t to be and he will instead be replaced by Luca Badoer.

In February of this year, Schumacher was testing a motorbike at the Cartagena circuit in Spain when he sustained an injury to his neck. Despite the injury, Schumacher was reportedly doing extremely well while testing on the 2007 car at Mugello. Out of concern for his health the decision had to be made to cancel his return to Formula 1 but for the racing legend, it was probably not the way he would want to bow out for good.

However, perhaps there is a silver lining in the clouds. Many sports stars some out of retirement and, more often than not, it ends in disappointment and regret. While Watson did not come out of retirement, the story of the old veteran returning to glory days gone by has a certain romance and enthrall to it. Maybe it is best that Michael Schumacher’s return to Formula 1 did not proceed; thankfully we remember him for what he was, an outstanding driver, not someone who didn’t know when to quit.

Formula 1 News Round-Up

Piquet confirms Renault departure

The war of words between Nelson Piquet and Renault team boss Flavio Briatore has reached an unsurprising conclusion as Piquet confirms he has been given the boot by his team. “I have received notice from the Renault F1 team of its intention to stop me from driving for them in the current F1 season,” said Piquet on Monday. Going out with a bang, Piquet claims that he was mistreated since he arrived at Renault and that his teammate Fernando Alonso is given special treatment giving him an unfair advantage.

Massa is at home in Brazil and resting

The racing world breathed a sigh of relief as word got out that Massa was recovering well from the injuries he suffered during the qualifying of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Less than 10 days since he fractured his skull in the freak accident, Massa is resting and recovering at his home in Brazil. Ferrari has not set a date for his return to competition.

Michael Schumacher returns to Formula 1

The seven time world champion who retired from Formula 1 in 2006 will return to race with Ferrari in place of injured team member Felipe Massa. Schumacher has already begun training and testing (although not with the current car, the F60). His first race will be in 16 days at Valencia. It is still unclear how long Massa will be out for, or if he will even return this year. Can Schumi climb the leaderboard and claim an 8th championship?

Trooper Interupts Exotic Sports Car Cruise

One of these things just doesn't belong

Reports of a large group of sports cars passing in no-passing zones were coming from drivers along Highway 18 near Grand Ronde, Oregon. Senior Trooper David Petersen parked his cruiser and waited for the group to arrive. I’m guessing Petersen did not have to wait too long based on the speeds the drivers were going. Four exotics passed him before he had a chance to pull onto the highway in pursuit, and a fifth passed him after he began his pursuit. I know the news reports say five exotics passed him, but as you can see in the photo one of the vehicles was an Acura NSX–hardly an exotic ;)

“They said they had been down in California and they were on their homeward part of the trip,” Hessel said. “They knew they were pushing the envelope. I guess they’re pretty high-paid fellas. They just accepted their citations and went on about their trip.”

The drivers were all cited for speed racing and were let go. Unfortunately, the Orange Lamborghini Gallardo “BADBUL” was pulled over again by Oregon State Troopers a couple hours later for going 90mph in a 65mph zone. If the cars look familiar, its because many of them are from Calgary and were coming back from an annual cruise organized by a local used car dealership.

“These were all $100,000-or-more cars,” said State Police Sgt. Brad Hessel. “One guy told us his Ferrari cost more than $400,000. It was pretty much a street-legal racing car.”

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who the quoted Ferrari driver was :) If you can’t figure it out, find out by visiting the original forum discussion.

Pictures courtesy Oregon State Police
News Release

Ferrari FXX Doing Donuts

Ferrari, Maserati: On Endangered Species List

If environmentalists have their way, several endangered and exotic species may become extinct. Ferrari, Maserati and other European sports car manufacturers will be the real losers if a European commission moves forward with their “green plan”.

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