And now Mr.Totd announced that he will run for FIA presidency and also showed support for Mosley who backed him earlier! Todt said that he will continue and expand the outstanding work of President Mosley.

Jean Todt is a well-known and respected man in the world of Motor racing. He’s been the boss of Ferrari Formula1 team and Peugeot Sport. Although he is much more popular than the outgoing Mosely, he is not considered as the best option for the job, because his previous links with different teams. That’s why most of the current teams would prefer what they call an independent candidate!

The other candidate who has put his name down already is Former world rally champion Ari Vatanen who has worked under Todt’s order twenty years ago in Paris-Dakar rally.

Following a four hour meeting last night, The Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA) announced that they are really fed up with the way Max Mosley (pictured above – FIA president) and Bernie Ecclestone (Formula1 boss) are running the business, and they want to organize their own series in 2010. Rebellious teams include Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Brawn, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso. Full Story after the jump…

Source: AutoSport

The Formula One Teams’ Association announced on Thursday night that it is setting up a breakaway championship.Following a four-hour meeting at Renault’s Enstone factory, the eight members of FOTA – Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Brawn, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso – said they had grown frustrated with the FIA’s stance against the organisation, and had no option but to create a series of their own.

“The teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 World Championship,” said a statement issued by FOTA after the meeting.

“These teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners. This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders.

“The major drivers, stars, brands, sponsors, promoters and companies historically associated with the highest level of motorsport will all feature in this new series.”

F1 teams were given until Friday evening to remove the conditions attached to the provisional entries they posted earlier this month, or risk being left off the grid in 2010.

FIA president Max Mosley wrote to the teams yesterday offering them some of the concessions that they wanted to see regarding governance of the sport, but made it clear that he was sticking to plans for the introduction of a budget cap.

In his letter, Mosley also urged the teams to sign up to the championship before sorting out the final version of the regulations and a redrafted Concorde Agreement.

In response to that letter, the teams met at Renault’s Enstone headquarters on Thursday evening for lengthy talks, where they finally decided that there was no way a compromise deal could be reached with the FIA.

The teams expressed frustration that their efforts to try and improve F1 had been rebuffed by the governing body and the sport’s commercial rights holder.

“Since the formation of FOTA last September the teams have worked together and sought to engage the FIA and commercial rights holder, to develop and improve the sport,” said the statement.

“Unprecedented worldwide financial turmoil has inevitably placed great challenges before the F1 community. FOTA is proud that it has achieved the most substantial measures to reduce costs in the history of our sport.

“In particular the manufacturer teams have provided assistance to the independent teams, a number of which would probably not be in the sport today without the FOTA initiatives. The FOTA teams have further agreed upon a substantial voluntary cost reduction that provides a sustainable model for the future.

“Following these efforts all the teams have confirmed to the FIA and the commercial rights holder that they are willing to commit until the end of 2012.

“The FIA and the commercial rights holder have campaigned to divide FOTA.

“The wishes of the majority of the teams are ignored. Furthermore, tens of millions of dollars have been withheld from many teams by the commercial rights holder, going back as far as 2006. Despite this and the uncompromising environment, FOTA has genuinely sought compromise.”

The announcement by FOTA looks certain to overshadow the British Grand Prix, which takes place at Silverstone for the final time this weekend and which Mosley is expected to attend tomorrow.

With FOTA’s stance now seemingly leaving no room for a deal possible, it’s likely that more new teams will be added to the FIA’s 2010 Formula 1 entry list.

The inclusion of Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso on that roster remains open to debate, however, with the FIA claiming that the teams committed themselves to F1 in a deal agreed several years ago.

picture: Guardian

FIA announced Formula1 2010 season entry list as the feud goes on between them and teams about the stupid rules! There are three new teams: Campos Grand Prix, Team US F1 and Manor Grand Prix, while BMW, Mercedes, Renault, Toyota and Brawn GP are asking FIA to accept their conditions or they won’t race. Worse than that, Ferrari and RedBull clearly announced that they won’t take part under current circumstances. And… We missed the old F1! Hit the jump to see the full list >

TEAM / CONSTRUCTOR
SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO / FERRARI
SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO / STR TBA
RED BULL RACING / RBR RENAULT
AT&T WILLIAMS / WILLIAMS TOYOTA
FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM / FORCE INDIA MERCEDES
CAMPOS GRAND PRIX / CAMPOS COSWORTH
MANOR GRAND PRIX / MANOR COSWORTH
TEAM US F1 / TEAM US F1 COSWORTH
VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES* / McLAREN MERCEDES
BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM* / BMW SAUBER
RENAULT F1 TEAM* / RENAULT
PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING* / TOYOTA
BRAWN GP FORMULA ONE TEAM* / BRAWN TBA

Mohammed Bin Sulayem’s relationships with the FIA has entered a new era as he is chosen as one of the three new Formula1 race stewards. The United Arab Emirates’ automobile club President and FIA vice President was on duty in Turkey last Sunday and will be present at HungaroRing next month as well.

You might remember it, Bin Sulayem’s last encounter with F1 was not very pleasant! During Renault Roadshow in Dubai, he crashed the R26 Formula1 car while racing a Ford GT in drag at Dubai Autodrome.  Of course this has nothing to so with his new role, he might be a bit old to handle race cars, but as a manager he is capable of running Formula1 on his own! The man has been involved with motorsport all his life and comes from a family of politicians. He very well can be the next FIA president!

via: autoblog

pictures via Flickr

There are vast areas of skilled expertise and semi-skilled workers that we can tap into and energy is not an issue because commodities like petrol are so cheap.I have every reason to feel that our operation here could be very beneficial to the region.

Richards is expecting as many as five other applications to come in during the month from aspiring Formula One competitors.

“The FIA would make a judgement on the most appropriate entries to accept,” he said.

“I hope that our credentials stand us in good stead. We have been there before and done it before in most forms of motorsport.”

Richards, 56, who is intending to take a low profile role in the new set-up and appoint a younger person as team principal, indicated he is going to capitalise on the return of the legendary Cosworth engine to Formula One.

“There are several established engines now that we could use but but Cosworth are about to come back,” he said.

“Anybody will remember the famous V8 engine that dominated for decades. They were the bedrock of F1. They have introduced an engine for next year and that might be a viable alternative to going with one of the established engines out there today.”

As for drivers of the new cars, Richards was guarded about making any unsettling comments.

“That has to be the final piece of the jigsaw.It all goes in tandem. We have to make sure that we have the establishment in place first,” he said.

“Then we put the finance and the personnel of the team in place and then we work on getting the drivers.”

The driver he knows best from his previous dalliances with Formula One is leading the world championship.

Richards was in charge of the BAR team in 2004 when Jenson Button finished third to Michael Schmacher in the drivers’ championship.

“I have known Jenson since his karting days.” he said.

“I knew he had the attributes then to become world champion and, fingers crossed, that might come to him this year.

“I was so pleased to see him win three times this season. He is an underestimated talent and always has been in my view.

“When Renault cast him to one side, I picked him up and put him in our team at BAR. Put him in the right car as we have seen this year and he’s away. He is one of the smoothest drivers on the track.”

source: National newspaper

This happens when you lie to stewards! McLaren has been given a suspended 3 race ban by Formula1 authorities after being convicted of misleading stewards at the Australian Grand Prix. A lot of people still remember Mclaren’s spying scandal and now this! Not much of dignity left for them! but honestly, if they are out and given the performance of Ferrari, Formula1 won’t be worth watching anymore! I mean I’m already bored with Button’s winnings!

In a verdict that’s likely to be seen as a light punishment by the F1 community, the suspended ban follows an FIA hearing in Paris this morning in which team director Martin Whitmarsh apologised for his team’s conduct.

The controversy concerned an incident that took place in the Australian race. After the race McLaren accused Toyota’s Jarno Trulli of overtaking while under yellow flag conditions.

At the steward’s enquiry McLaren’s sporting director Dave Ryan stated that Hamilton had not deliberately let Truilli through and had not been asked by the team to do so. Trulli was duly handed a 25 second penalty, which meant Hamilton was promoted from fourth to third.

This statement was later contradicted by radio transmissions to and from the car.

The FIA reserve the right to enforce the penalty if further facts emerge or if there is a further breach of the rules.

source: Channel4

image: metro.co.uk

In another soaking wet Grand Prix of 2009 season where the Red Bull team enjoyed a one-two win, Sebastian Vettel made history and became the youngest GP winner of all times. His victory and pole position aside, his flawless driving and his precision, promise a new Michael Schumacher!

Honestly, the track was a mess, there was no visibility at all and safety car had to be deployed many times because of numerous crashes. But the kid was so good and so confident he even overtook the championship leader Jensen Button, after he took the lead when Vettel was in pit, in a very dangerous corner and did it perfectly. In 60 percent of the race he had such a comfortable lead, but he didn’t back off, and kept working hard. He might not be as daring as Lewis Hamilton but his German precision gave him the edge and bought him the title while Hamilton was all over place! Despite being a kid, Vettel acts like a full blooded professional.

After Vettel and Webber with their Red Bulls, came Button and Barichello of the Brawn GP. Still nobody knows how in the world Ross Brawn could make such a winning combination out of a bankrupted team and two losers called Jensen and Rubens! Whatever it is, they are scoring points rapidly and nobody can stop them!

Unfortunately,  the biggest name in the business, Ferrari still has huge troubles with their car. Massa had to retire when his F60 stopped working under safety car again, and Kimi Raikkonen after being humulated by Hamilton three times, finished in 12th position!

We hope the Italian horse get a full recovery for next race in Bahrain, and hopefully there will be no bloody rain this time!

Here’s the race result for 2009 Formula1 Grand Prix of China:

1 Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 1h57:43.485

2 Webber (Red Bull-Renault) +10.970

3 Button (Brawn GP-Mercedes) +44.975

4 Barrichello (Brawn GP-Mercedes) +1:03.704

5 Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes) +1:05.102

6 Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) +1:11.866

7 Glock (Toyota) +1:14.476

8 Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +1:16.439

9 Alonso (Renault) +1:24.309

10 Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) +1:31.750

11 Bourdais (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +1:34.156

12 Raikkonen (Ferrari) +1:35.834

13 Kubica (BMW Sauber) +1:46.853

14 Fisichella (Force India-Mercedes) +1 lap

15 Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) +1 lap

16 Piquet (Renault) +2 laps

DNF:

Sutil (Force India-Mercedes)

Nakajima (Williams-Toyota)

Massa (Ferrari)

Trulli (Toyota)

You remember we had the report on the Renault Roadshow this weekend in Dubai? Well, It was held but it hasn’t gone as planned! Muhammad Bin Sulayem, the rally legend and the very well known man in the world of motorsport, who was the star of the show driving the R28 Formula1 car, crashes it in the second run!

As you see in this video, he is racing a Ford GT in a drag race as he loses control spins and hit the wall. The Ford which apparently was driven by Romain Grosjean, manages to evade the accident but Bin Sulayem gets clipped out pretty bad. There is not much news out, but the word is that he’s safe, fortunately the impact was not that severe.

Bin Sulayem is a brilliant driver, no doubt about that. Even though he is old now, but he has been driving racing cars all his life and even his daily drivers are all supercars. So if you wanna blame something for the collision, put it on Dubai weather! which at this time of year specially, has quit a lot of sand storms. Dubai Autodrome’s track is well known for the lack of grip, caused by the sand all over the track. You can notice in the film the car cannot accelerate well cause there’s no grip.

(Note: The man commenting on the video uses some bad words, We are sorry for that, not our fault!)

Looks like God likes Ross Brawn very much! From acquiring a bankrupted team to finding a good sponsor, starting the season from the first line of grid and finishing the race with a one-two victory. He is living a dream, literally!

And the British Jensen Button, who was a complete failure in recent seasons, suddenly has become a great performer! Oh and the other Virgin’s driver, Rubens Barrichello, who was about to finish in fourth place, received a gift from God in form of a clash between Kubica and Vettel who were running ahead of him! With these two outta race, he easily secured second position. Life couldn’t get any better!

The Aussie season opener GP has been surprising all in all, apart from Brawn victory and Vettel/Kubica crash, other funny thing was the Jarno Trulli’s disqualification! At first the officials made both Toyotas to start from pit because of an illegal modification in wings (it was cheating really!) but the Italian driver worked hard and finished third on podium. But guess what! yes he was disqualified again! this time duo to overtaking under safety car!

But the most shocking part of them all, was Ferrari performance. After a mediocre qualifying, they’ve been even worse in the race! Massa had to retire because the new F60 stopped working and Kimi Raikkonen, as usual pushed a bit hard and crashed into the wall! So the prancing horse kicked off the season with zero points.

Race Classification

1	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	1:34:15.784
2	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes	+0.8 secs
3	Jarno Trulli*	Toyota	+1.6 secs
4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	+2.9 secs
5	Timo Glock	Toyota	+4.4 secs
6	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+4.8 secs
7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	+5.7 secs
8	Sebastien Buemi	STR-Ferrari	+6.0 secs
9	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	+6.2 secs
10	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	+6.3 secs
11	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+7.0 secs
12	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Mercedes	+7.3 secs
13	Mark Webber	RBR-Renault	+1 Lap
14	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault	+2 Laps
15	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+3 Laps
16	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+3 Laps
Ret	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+13 Laps
Ret	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	Spin
Ret	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	Accident
Ret	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	Accident damage

* Trulli given 25 Second Penalty for overtaking under safety car

The technical side of Formula1 is really boring, and when it comes to the regulations it gets complicating too! So unless you are a German you wouldn’t want to know about it! However, here’s a very nice video animation thing that explains new rules for the new season and also have some interviews.  watch this instead of reading pages of official FIA nonsense and you get the whole picture.

So cheers to whoever made it!

via: Worldcarfans

These days Ferrari is quit busy. Some of them are counting their 2008 revenue of €339 million while others are working on this car you see above. You might say this is a Scuderia but no! This is only a test mule for F430 replacement codenamed F142. So underneath there is a different story going on. Reportedly Ferrari is obsessed with weight saving for this new model so it’ll be a bit shorter than the current 430 and the engine, will still be a V8 in the middle but might has smaller capacity. Fuel saving and emission consideration will make Ferrari to use smaller engines but as mentioned earlier they are trying to keep the weight low so the performance wouldn’t be compromised.  To do so some new Formula1 derived techs might appear in the new car.

Since the American Grand Prix has been excluded from the 2009 calendar they were busy thinking about how to get themselves involved again and finally decided to put a team together and come racing! Rumor has it that the team, called USF1, will be lead by Ken Anderson who has had a time in formula1 but his best works are in the Indy and Nascar, and former Williams team manager Peter Windsor.

Anderson was technical director of Ligier in 1988 and also worked for the Onyx F1 team before moving back to America. He was technical director of both Chip Ganassi Racing and AJ Foyt Racing before designing the G-Force IRL car in 1996 – which went on to win the 1997 Indy 500 with Arie Luyendyk – and the next generation chassis in 2000. Anderson then became technical director of NASCAR team Haas CNC Racing in 2003.

He is also the part owner of the Wind Shear Inc. full scale, 180mph rolling road wind tunnel in North Carolina which has been used by F1 and NASCAR teams.

Sources indicate that USF1 plan to construct their own chassis at their North Carolina base, with the ban on in-season testing making it more feasible for an F1 team to be based outside of Europe for all but the stretch of European races between May and September.

The Formula One Teams’ Association’s (FOTA) recent confirmation that each manufacturer is willing to supply customer engines for 5 million Euros per season and gearboxes for 1.5 million Euros now make it more feasible than it has been for years for an independent team to enter F1 in 2010.

via : autosport

McLaren Mercedes team principal Ron Dennis is to step down as boss of the F1 team to concentrate on McLaren’s other interests – including McLaren Automotive, which is planning a range of new top-end sports cars. Chief operating office Martin Whitmarsh will take over the helm of the grand prix outfit from Dennis on 1 March 2009. Dennis said: ‘Let me make one thing clear: this is very definitely not retirement. In fact, I intend to work even harder from now on… I intend to work even harder on growing the McLaren Group, which encompasses McLaren Automotive.’ He will, however, continue to follow the progress of F1 champ Lewis Hamilton, whom he introduced to the world of global motorsport at a young age. ‘I still intend to go to some, but not all, grands prix because I remain a diehard enthusiast. Motor racing is in my blood – and nothing will dilute my passion for either the sport or the success of this company.’

From : CARmagazine UK

After Ferrari and Toyota, McLaren Mercedes is the third team to reveal their 2009 Formula1 contender , the MP4-24.  With an unprecedented series of rule changes introduced ahead of the 2009 season, the new Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 represents a significant departure from its world championship-winning predecessor.Incorporating new bodywork regulations and the much-heralded return of slick tyres, the team’s new challenger not only looks radical but also incorporates a host of new innovative features under the skin, such as a sophisticated kinetic energy recovery system (KERS). While still retaining the distinctive family look established with both the MP4-22 and MP4-23, this year’s car is visually very different from its predecessors as a result of two main factors:

Aerodynamics

This year’s aerodynamic regulations were framed by the FIA and the Overtaking Working Group (helmed by Vodafone McLaren Mercedes engineering director Paddy Lowe, Ferrari’s Rory Byrne and Renault’s Pat Symonds) which met throughout 2007 in order to address the issues affecting passing in Formula 1.

The OWG’s influence can be most clearly seen around the front wing, which has been widened to increase front-end load when following another car, and the rear wing – which is now more compact to offer less interference to chasing vehicles. Other factors affecting aerodynamics include the banning of ancillary appendages, the addition of driver-adjustable front-wing flaps and a heavily revised diffuser.

KERS

The MP4-24’s KERS device has been developed in collaboration with McLaren and Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines, which has been developing and refining the system for almost two years. With a fully optimised KERS device’s output capped at 60kW/400kJ (discharging an additional 80bhp for 6.66s per lap), the development team’s primary focus has already shifted to further improving the unit’s integration within the chassis in order to minimise performance loss elsewhere within the package.

An optimised KERS package can be expected to deliver a 0.4-0.6s gain per lap.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis said the new regulations have forced the team to work evern harder to get the car ready.

“Of course it is the same for every team so we can’t say the challenges are any less demanding for the competitors,” said Dennis. “Extensive rule changes require extensive amount of work – these are the biggest rules changes we have seen in 15 years.

“That requires the technologists in our organisation, they are not just engineers but scientist with high qualifications, to go back to a plain piece of paper and conceptualising what the fundamental requirement are for the regulations.

“It is there you can get it wrong because if you get it wrong no amount of development can sort it out. What you see in the MP4-24 is a car correctly conceptualised.

“At the same time you are trying to make a good looking car, that is a value we put high, if it looks good it goes good, so what you see is a tremendous outcome from a lot of people, it is a credit from not just the technologists but the other people, this is a fully running car that can run on a circuit tomorrow.

“But this is a second car, the first is already at Portugal, so we feel we are in a good position to attack the time up to the first grand prix. It will be a critical time because it will set the baseline for the rest of the season.”

Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug said the company had never had to work so hard.

“I think it was one of the most challenging winters,” said Haug. “We have a frozen engine but the rpm changed to 18,000 and KERS is brand new. This is a lot of work that was put in the right direction.

“The guys were working very, very hard, flat out, and the amount of work in Brixworth and Stuttgart we have never had before, and the same at Woking – it is a dramatic rule change and a complete new set of rules and I think these guys created a fantastic car. Hopefully we will see the first good results tomorrow.”

The car sports the number one following Lewis Hamilton’s championship-winning campaign last year.

“This is the first time I’ve seen it fully put together and it looks beautiful,” said Hamilton. “The team manages to always put together a stunning car and it’s great to see the final outcome of the work that has gone on.”

Teammate Heikki Kovalainen added: “I echo Lewis’ thought. It looks great. Whatever the regulation changes are the team have managed to make a beautiful car.”

The new car will be shaken down by test driver Pedro de la Rosa tomorrow.

“The first day of a brand new car is a very interesting day for all of us and an exciting day,” said the Spaniard. “As a I said at last year’s launch I am honoured the team gave me the chance and responsibility considering the amount of work.

“We have to do the first laps and start working from there. It is the usual work of the shakedown day – it is going to be a very hectic test schedule before Melbourne and I hope with my experience I can help the team.

“It is the ninth package I can drive so I can say I am experienced. Hopefully this experience is worth it.”

Download full press kit

Today Toyota revealed their new Formula1 car for 2009 season. Codenamed TF109, the car is by a 2.4 liter V8 with 740hp which by new FIA rules is limited to 18,000 rpm. The monocoque body and extensive use of carbon fiber in every imaginable part keeps the weight as low as 60g kg. Toyota hopes that TF109 gives the company their first Grand Prix win. “The goal for me is clear, we want to win our first race.” said team boss John Howett.  Italian Jarno Trulli and German Timo Glock are 2009 drivers with Japanese GP2 driver Kamui Kobayashias test driver. After the jump you’ll find official videos and a detailed technical analysis for Toyota’s 2009 Formula1 car.

Toyota TF109 Technical Analysis:

Toyota adopted a modern and unique method to launch their new car today: the Internet-only unveiling allowed the whole world to see the car at the same time, but as yet no one has seen it for real or up close.

As we have only seen the team’s images of the TF109, we have also only seen it from the angles they want us to see. From the limited view of the TF109 we can already draw some comments on the details.

Toyota have taken a shapely approach to their new car: although clearly in its first iteration of bodywork to meet the new rules, the car sports some interesting touches to maximise downforce and reduce drag. The car’s chassis design was headed again by Pascal Vasselon, while this is the end of the first full new machine for head of aerodynamics Mark Gillan.

Both engineers have aimed for stability as the key characteristic of the TF109, both mechanically and aerodynamically.

Unlike the interim cars tested before Christmas, Toyota have gone for a slim nose but, unlike Ferrari, they have kept the nose shorter and raised the tip up as far as possible. This shape does provide more space under the nose cone for turning vanes, which is an area outside of the exclusion zones for bodywork. Thus Toyota have fitted a pair of vanes to the rear of the nose cone that lead back under the chassis.

The front wing is split abruptly between the FIA-mandated middle section and the downforce-producing outer spans, which feature single element moving flaps.

Most noticeable are the shapely endplates without curved leading edges to tease airflow around the front wheels; these are most noticeable when viewed from above.

Curiously, the front wheel fairings have their openings pointing forwards rather than backwards as with their 2008 car, while the rear wheels are fitted with Toyota’s novel vaned fairings.

Leading back. the team have fitted another pair of small bargeboards in front of the sidepod and a simple tall pod wing to its shoulder.

As one of the last teams to adopt undercut sidepods, the new sidepod fronts are exceptionally undercut. They then sweep into a tight coke bottle shape before exiting in a bulbous shape over the gearbox. The only cooling outlets allowed in the engine cover also need to route the exhaust pipes; Toyota have chosen to sink the pipes beneath the engine cover rather than expose them as per the Ferrari.

Also on the engine cover is a small tail spine that smoothes the flow to the new, narrower, rear wing to make more use of the lower beam wing. Toyota have lowered the rear crash structure to reach underneath it, leaving the full span of the beam wing exposed to the airflow.

Although the team have yet to release pictures of the rear of the car, it appears they have made some use of the allowable space behind the main diffuser to create a narrow extension to the middle of the diffuser.

No mechanical details of the car have been released, although it was announced the car is having a battery storage KERS system developed for it, although this will not be ready for the season’s start.

One significant development has been the departure of Luca Marmorini, the technical director for engine development. Marmorini has been with the team since their F1 Debut and has been responsible for the team having some of the best and most reliable engines on the grid.

But Marmorini has also been vocal about the lack of engine development opportunities, as the formula heads into its third year with a development freeze. No reason for his departure has been given.

This year the engines are reduced in revs (18,000rpm from 19,000) and each driver will need to use no more than eight engines throughout the season.

The TF109 will take to the track publicly for the first time next week at the Portimao test.

Technical Analysis from : Autosport

]]> http://www.motorward.com/2009/01/toyota-tf109-formula1-videos-technical/feed/ 2 http://www.motorward.com/2009/01/video-ferrari-f60-formula1-car-track/ http://www.motorward.com/2009/01/video-ferrari-f60-formula1-car-track/#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:27:09 +0000 Arman Barari http://www.motorward.com/?p=2099

Scuderia Ferrari was the first team to launch their Formula1 car for 2009 season. Named F60, the car is now in hands of drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Fillipe Massa at Mugello circuit for final tests and adaptations. More details about the Ferrari F60 HERE. Meanwhile take a look at this video, in which Massa takes the ride for a spin around Mugello. Some say the car has some issues with downforce and engineers are currently working to address it! Hope they fix it in time for opening Grand Prix in Melbourne.

]]> http://www.motorward.com/2009/01/video-ferrari-f60-formula1-car-track/feed/ 0 http://www.motorward.com/2009/01/formula1-2009-teams-drivers-official-list/ http://www.motorward.com/2009/01/formula1-2009-teams-drivers-official-list/#comments Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:53:08 +0000 Arman Barari http://www.motorward.com/?p=2037

Formula One’s ruling body, the FIA, has made public the official entry list for the 2009 World Championship.The list shows no surprises, with Lewis Hamilton confirmed as using the number one on his McLaren next season.The entry list also includes the Honda Racing team, who are still looking for a buyer in order to be on the grid when the season starts in Melbourne.

2009 entry list

1 Lewis HAMILTON (GB)       VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES McLAREN MERCEDES
2 Heikki KOVALAINEN (FIN)   VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES McLAREN MERCEDES

3 Kimi RAIKKONEN (FIN)      SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO FERRARI
4 Felipe MASSA (BR)         SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO FERRARI

5 Robert KUBICA (PL)        BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM BMW SAUBER
6 Nick HEIDFELD (D)         BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM BMW SAUBER

7 Fernando ALONSO (E)       ING RENAULT F1 TEAM RENAULT
8 Nelson PIQUET (BR)        ING RENAULT F1 TEAM RENAULT

9 Jarno TRULLI (I)          PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING TOYOTA
10 Timo GLOCK (D)           PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING TOYOTA

11 Sebastien BUEMI (CH)     SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO STR FERRARI
12 TBA                      SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO STR FERRARI

14 Mark WEBBER (AUS)        RED BULL RACING RBR RENAULT
15 Sebastian VETTEL (D)     RED BULL RACING RBR RENAULT

16 Nico ROSBERG (D)         AT&T WILLIAMS WILLIAMS TOYOTA
17 Kazuki NAKAJIMA (J)      AT&T WILLIAMS WILLIAMS TOYOTA

18 TBA TBA                  HONDA RACING F1 TEAM HONDA *
19 TBA TBA                  HONDA RACING F1 TEAM HONDA *

20 Adrian SUTIL (D)         FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM FORCE INDIA MERCEDES

From : Autosport
21 Giancarlo FISICHELLA (I) FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM FORCE INDIA MERCEDES

]]> http://www.motorward.com/2009/01/formula1-2009-teams-drivers-official-list/feed/ 1 http://www.motorward.com/2009/01/ferrari-unveiled-2009-formula1-race-car/ http://www.motorward.com/2009/01/ferrari-unveiled-2009-formula1-race-car/#comments Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:17:57 +0000 Arman Barari http://www.motorward.com/?p=2012

Ferrari is the first team to launch their car for 2009 Formula1 season. Called F60, with 60 to highlight the fact that Ferrari has been in all of sixty races in F1 history, the car launched at a ‘low-key’ event in Mugello circuit. The defending champion will come with the same lineup as previous season and both drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Filipe Massa are fully prepared for new year, regardless of dramatically different 2009 rules.

Technical Details

Now equipped with a KERS system, slicks and bodywork to meet the new rules, the car is the first chance we have seen to see a definitive 2009 car. Slightly shorter than the F2008, the F60 cleverly exploits every blind spot in the bodywork rules to recoup the 50% loss in downforce from its smaller wings and diffuser.

Looking at the front wing, the outer spans are the important bits as the middle section is made to the FIA template. Ferrari have a simple initial wing design, supplemented by small cascade wings elements fitted to the end plate (the new rules do not allow bridge wings). The endplates themselves now aim to sweep around the outside of the front tyre: to aid this a small fence has been added to the footplate.

Inside the end plate is the mechanism that will allow the front wing flap to adjust up and down once per lap under the drivers control. There will be no ‘nose hole’ this year as the new rules preclude it.

Despite the aim of the Overtaking Working Group’s derived rules to ban bargeboards, there are a three spots where Ferrari have found space. Two small vanes have been added below the chassis near the lower front wishbone mounts. These are followed by a larger vane low down just ahead of the sidepod.

The sidepod fronts are the main area of aerodynamic freedom, as they are described in the rules as the area for side impact protection and thus excluded from the limitations placed on the three volumes making up the rearward part of the sidepod. To exploit this, Ferrari have shortened the sidepod front as much as possible to allow more vanes to be added.

As this area still needs to contain the side impact protection, a curious extension to the upper front of the sidepod has been added. Nick Tombaziz said this was for aerodynamic reasons rather than for a side impact structure.

The rearward bargeboard encroaches into this area and a pod wing rises up from the floor to also form the rear view mirror housing. Further back along the sidepod, the F60 makes the most of the openings allowed under the rules for cooling. Both the exhaust outlet area is maximised as well as the opening, supposedly for suspension to pass through.

Despite these openings and the 18,000rpm limit, the sidepods still need more cooling outlets and the coke bottle shape extends to the rear axle line in order to create the main exit, which is almost oval in shape.

The diffuser and rear wing appear to be simple initial interpretations of the new rules: these along with the front wing and sidepod front will no doubt evolve as testing continues.

Mechanically the car sports a new Brembo braking system and new geometry for the front suspension to maximise use of the slick tyres. The engine, coded as the 056, has been re-tuned to 18,000rpm limit and to last three race weekends as per the new rules.

The engine has been submitted to the FIA for homologation and the changes largely have involved inlet and exhaust tuning, as well as oil and fuel development. Still allied to a carbon titanium gearbox, the power train now includes the KERS system, which appears to drive its motor\generator off the front of the engine.

Additional cooling inlets have appeared in the front of the sidepods to cool the additional control units for the electrics. The system had yet to run on track before the launch, but Gilles Simon confirms it is in use on the launch car. To allow the driver to use the KERS boost a conspicuous “K” button has been added to the revised steering wheel.

The car made its first laps this morning and running will continue this afternoon.

From : Autosport

Youngest Formula1 world champion is about to join the history as London’s Madame Tussauds museum announced that they are making  wax figure of him which will join the line-up of sporting greats at Sports Zone. Hamilton’s replica will be wearing the Mclaren Vodafone racing suite and is well detailed. For instance the color of his eyes will be simulated using artificial eyeballs! The figure will take about six month to finish and will cost around £150,000.

It was quit a thrill when Honda announced that the new generation of NSX supercar is almost done and will be coming soon. Everyone was eagerly waiting for more news about this car to come out and now it just did! Honda canned the project !

Like everything else that goes wrong these days, economy downturn is the one to blame. But this one actually hurts alot, more than Honda’s leaving Formula1 news. Because honestly they suck in F1 but NSX was a brilliant car and its replacement was supposed to be even better as a V10 560bhp engine had been planned for it. Of course Honda says that the project will be resumed as soon as company’s financial health got bettered, but under current circumstances, it’ll be no time soon.