Category Archives: F1

March 20, 2016 · 12:48 am

FIA calls meeting to debate qualifying changes

The fate of the controversial elimination qualifying system is set to be decided by an FIA meeting that started in Melbourne’s race control building at 12pm today, and it could lead to a change as early as the next race in Bahrain.

The FIA has invited the 11 team managers to attend. They have been told to represent the views of their teams rather than personal views, and that they can bring their team principals along as well if they so wish. Bernie Ecclestone is not represented in the meeting, although he has made his views clear to team bosses by phone.

The two most likely scenarios for Bahrain are scrapping the whole system, or the more likely option of a ‘hybrid’ of the old and new systems.

Several weeks ago the same group of team managers agreed a revision to the elimination system that involved Q3 running to a traditional format, with no eliminations and all the drivers able to run at the end, as in the past.

All parties agreed that it was a sensible solution, but FIA President Jean Todt was reluctant to change direction and not allow the full elimination procedure to go through, so it never went back to the F1 Commission in that format. This was despite the rules not having been officially written at that stage, which would have allowed some room for change before they became official.

Any decision taken today has to be agreed by all the teams. It will then go to a vote of the Strategy Group – the six top teams, Ecclestone and Todt – and then onto the F1 Commission and World Motor Sport Council, for formal ratification.

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March 19, 2016 · 10:27 am

F1 team bosses to meet on Sunday to discuss qualifying crisis

F1 team principals are set to meet in the Melbourne paddock on Sunday to discuss how to address the issue of qualifying after the new system made a disastrous debut.

Although he is back in Europe Bernie Ecclestone has organised the meeting, having called the bosses in the last few hours to canvas their opinions.

The intention is to come to a unanimous agreement and present a letter to the FIA outlining their views on what can be changed in time for the Bahrain GP. The rules can be changed quickly if all parties agree, although the process will clearly have to be fast tracked through.

The two possible scenarios are either a return to the previous qualifying system or a package of revisions to the elimination system which will most likely involve Q3 running to the old rules, which will ensure that cars are running at the end of the session.

“I think firstly we should apologise to the fans and the viewers because that’s not what qualifying should be,” said Christian Horner. “It should crescendo into something. The intentions were well meaning but we have to accept that it hasn’t worked, we got it wrong, and we should address it very quickly. My personal view is that we should go back to what we had in time for the next race, because what we saw today is not good for F1.

“I didn’t like the fact that the fast cars didn’t have a right to reply. You’ve got Ferraris sitting in the garage because there’s no point in them running again. Qualifying should build up to a crescendo, and everybody bolts their last set of tyres in the last couple of minutes, and you see what you’ve got.”

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March 18, 2016 · 9:33 pm

Haas can’t afford to take risks, says Steiner

Mixed weather conditions made life difficult on Haas F1’s first official day of action in Melbourne, but there were no major dramas for the new team.

The two drivers completed 34 laps, and Esteban Gutierrez finished as high as 11th in FP2, although many other drivers didn’t set flying lap times. Haas boss Guenther Steiner admitted that the team can’t afford to risk a damaged car due to a lack of spare parts.

“The thing we don’t want to take is risk,” said Steiner. “What you can learn, the possibilities to learn are very small so there is no point taking risks. The opportunity is not big enough to take risks.
We will just try to make sure the car is ready for qualifying, and be done with it.

“Because if we damage a car, or do something stupid, we can not go out immediately in Q1. You are done. There is no point taking risks; I think we’ll take less risks tomorrow than we took today – if the weather conditions are similar.”

Steiner said the team has enough parts could get through the weekend if are were no major problems.

“We have got everything before the race. When I say everything, I mean 90 per cent. We cannot have two crashes with the same car, you know. We have at least one of each part, most of them two, so for each car one set, but we cannot take big risks. If we had damage today or tomorrow… The last thing we want is to miss the race. That would be silly to come here in these conditions and take risks. That was the biggest thing today; do not take any risks.”

Steiner said that while it had been a good first day, the lack of running caused by the weather had made life difficult.

“It feels pretty good, but today was one of those days when you are happy to see two cars going out, and you know you have done what you were working a long time on, but then with these weather conditions you get to the evening and you are not happy, because you haven’t done enough. We didn’t get enough data, we didn’t test enough; I still think we are not as well prepared as we could be.

“And I’m not just blaming the weather, you have to blame yourself. There is always something. But then again we have to be honest with ourself – it’s a new team, it’s a new season. Then again, we need to aim high to end up somewhere. If you don’t aim high, you don’t want to be last.
Today the weather was not helping. I don’t want to use it as an excuse, because it sounds like an excuse. But it was not helping.

“If you’re trying to understand the car, and every time you go out there the conditions change, it’s like whatever you learn, is it real? Do I believe it, or not? Because every time the drivers say something different. Is it the car, or is it the weather? It is really inconsistent. Between wind and rain, you cannot have it worse. I hope tomorrow is better. We will try again tomorrow.”

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March 18, 2016 · 1:16 pm

Halo still on course for 2017 says FIA’s Whiting

FIA race director Charlie Whiting has confirmed that F1’s Halo cockpit protection is still on course for its planned 2017 introduction, while acknowledging that other concepts could eventually replace it.

However he stressed that the newer Red Bull idea – which involves two bars and a “windscreen” element – has yet to be properly tested.

“I think it’s going pretty well,” said Whiting of the Halo. “It’s been tested quite extensively now, and I think it will offer very good protection for a flying wheel for example, that’s the main way it’s been tested so far.

“We need to do a thorough risk assessment on it, we need to look at a number of other related things like extrication. We’ve got to talk to the medical crews about it. But I think it’s going quite well. We’ve got a little separate working group just to deal with that, it’s headed up by Mercedes and Ferrari, they’re doing I would say a really good job on that.

“The Red Bull [idea] is an alternative to that. It’s considerably further behind in development, it’s never been tested, but it could offer additional protection. But I’ve got my doubts that it could actually be implemented for 2017, whereas I think the Halo could.”

Whiting said that even if the Red Bull concept proved interesting for the longer term the Halo would still be introduced next year.

“I don’t think we would delay if another one was emerging. I think we are on a course for the Halo, because that has been tested thoroughly, and we feel it offers the best all-round protection. We do have as I said earlier a thorough risk assessment to do on a number of different accident scenarios, we obviously want to make sure that we don’t make things worse in certain circumstances, so that has to be done. But I don’t think we would delay it because we felt there was another one coming.”

Whiting acknowledged that teams need to know what the standard spec of the Halo will be as they are starting design work on their 2017 cars.

“That’s what this little working group is for, in order to finalising mounting positions for it, and the strength of those mounting positions, which is just as important of course. I think the end of May is the target.”

He also pointed out that when Ferrari tried to prototype in Barcelona it actually proved easier for the driver to get out: “One team did put a Halo on their car, and did get the driver to see how quickly they could get out, and it looked perfectly simple, and arguably easier, because the driver can get hold of this thing and lift himself out much easier. It looked very simple, I must say.”

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March 17, 2016 · 9:49 pm

Nico Rosberg: “We’re not muppets any more…”

Nico Rosberg says he welcomes the raft of rule changes despite the fact that they could trip up Mercedes at some point this season.

The new tyre regulations, elimination qualifying and a clampdown on radio chat have all been designed to add a little uncertainty to the mix.

“I think it’s great that F1 is reinventing itself, and the target been to create more surprise events and surprise results,” said Rosberg. “And with all three of these regulation changes, that’s been targeted. And that has been achieved. There will be more surprises; in qualifying there will be more people getting caught out, so the fastest guy will not always be on pole.

“Also with the tyres, the fastest guy won’t always win the race. It will sometimes be the guy who had made the right tyre choice, because you cannot predict often before the race what’s going to be the bets tyre. So all of these things are good.

Regarding the radio ban he said: “It has a big influence. It’s great, because we’re not Muppets any more. It’s down to us to get the job done on our own. It’s very good. It’s gone to the extent of not even being able to tell us that strategies have changed, so if I change from a three stop to a two-stop, I’m driving flat-out thinking I’m stopping in two laps time, and then they’re just not going to pull me into the box. And then my tyres are done.

“So for sure, there’s going to be some more fault. What is it going to do? It’s going to make it more challenging at times. Last year was already two-thirds of the way, there was not much going on any more last year. Now it’s more the procedural stuff that is left, which they’ve totally removed now as well.

“That’s just a matter of preparation. From that point of view, I’m comfortable. Us drivers, all of us benefited from strategy. And we’re going to lose race performance as a result, because we can never drive according to our strategies. We can just drive according to what was planned before the race.”

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March 11, 2016 · 10:12 am

New F1 qualifying system now part of official regulations

The FIA has now added the procedure for the elimination qualifying system into the latest version of the 2016 Sporting Regulations.

After the basics had been agreed on by the F1 Commission and World Motor Sport Council the detailed rules were drawn up by Charlie Whiting. It means that there must now be no doubts within the FIA about FOM’s ability to have its timing software ready for Australia – although presumably in an emergency the stewards could be asked to approve the old system.

Article 33 confirm that the eliminated car will no longer be timed.

a) From 14.00 to 14.16 (Q1) all cars will be permitted on the track. Seven minutes after the start of the session the driver last in the classification will be eliminated and will no longer be timed, he must then return to the pit lane and may take no further part in the qualifying practice session. The same procedure will then apply after 8m30s, 10m0s,11m30s, 13m0s and 14m30s leaving sixteen cars eligible to continue. At the end of the session all drivers on the track may complete the lap they are on and, once these final laps have been completed, the driver last in the classification may take no further part in the qualifying practice session.

Lap times achieved by the fifteen remaining cars will then be deleted.

b) From 14.24 to 14.39 (Q2) the fifteen remaining cars will be permitted on the track. Six minutes after the start of the session the driver last in the classification will be eliminated and will no longer be timed, he must then return to the pit lane and may take no further part in the qualifying practice session. The same procedure will then apply after 7m30s, 9m0s, 10m30s, 12m0s and 13m30s leaving nine cars eligible to continue. At the end of the session all drivers on the track may complete the lap they are on and, once these final laps have been completed, the driver last in the classification may take no further part in the qualifying practice session.

Lap times achieved by the eight remaining cars will then be deleted.

c) From 14.46 to 15.00 (Q3) the eight remaining cars will be permitted on the track. Five minutes after the start of the session the driver last in the classification will be eliminated and will no longer be timed, he must then return to the pit lane and may take no further part in the qualifying practice session. The same procedure will then apply after 6m30s, 8m0s, 9m30s, 11m0s and 12m30s leaving two cars eligible to continue. At the end of the session any driver on the track may complete the lap he is on and, once any final lap has been completed, the overall classification will be established.

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March 10, 2016 · 5:56 pm

Renault was “a bit blind,” admits Abiteboul

Renault Sport F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul says that the company has “seen the light” and now understands what it has to do in order to catch rivals Mercedes and Ferrari.

Abiteboul says that the works team is already in better shape than he anticipated at the end of last season, when the deal to take over Lotus was being finalised.

“Frankly if you had told me in Abu Dhabi at the end of November that we would be in this shape today I would definitely have signed for it,” he told this writer. “It’s a lot down to execution now. We know what we have to do, and we have to do it properly and carefully and in order.

“There is substantial work going on in every department back in France and also in Enstone. I think we know what we have to do. That is the big difference with before, I think before we were a bit blind, and now we’ve seen the light.”

Abiteboul says that the company staff are more motivated than when Renault was supplying customers, citing as an example how quickly new parts were sent from France to Barcelona after problems early in testing.

“We were capable of having a fantastic logistic chain and I would like to thank all those in Viry-Chatillon, because we managed to get parts from our dyno to the engine overnight.

“Even though we do all we can in order to honour our contracts, when you work for your factory team or you work for your customer, it’s different. In my opinion there’s this sort of extra bit that you can extract from your employees. This sort of extra effort that F1 commands, particularly with the current regulations.

“As a small example, on February 4th we had our drivers in the factory in Viry-Chatillon. It was the first time in a while that we had Renault drivers there. They are good blokes, Kevin and Jolyon, but at that stage they had done nothing. And I can tell you the buzz they created in the factory was amazing.

“Nothing against Sebastian Vettel for instance, we love Sebastian and all the things that we have done together. But a Renault driver is different, a Renault team is different, a Renault car is different. So in my opinion it’s going to give an extra boost of energy to everyone, so that we can do the job the way we should have done it.”

Abiteboul says that consultant Mario Ilien is having an impact: “He’s constantly in the loop, but not just Mario, Ilmor is giving us the ability to test even more solutions than we would without them.”

Despite the focus on the works team Abiteboul says it’s important to have Red Bull Racing also putting miles on the same power unit.

“Frankly it was not an obvious thing to do, after all the things we went through in the last two years, to continue the relationship with them. But I continue to believe it was the right thing to do for us strategically. Now we will have to see if it makes sense to continue that in the next few years. But as we have a big job to catch up right now, it makes complete sense, so I’m very happy with the continuity of that relationship.”

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March 4, 2016 · 6:13 pm

FIA says new qualifying system “should” be used in Australian GP

The FIA World Motor Sport Council has formally approved F1’s new elimination qualifying system, and thus it is now expected to be used from the start of the season after all.

The FIA announced tonight that “The World Motor Sport Council approved the new qualification format, the principles of which were unanimously accepted by the F1 Commission. The new system should be introduced for the first round of the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship.”

The intriguing use of the word “should” suggests that there could still be some doubts.

Bernie Ecclestone had suggested recently that the change could not happen straight away because his FOM organisation could not ready the software for the timing system and associated TV graphics. However, that issue appears to have been addressed.

The system was initially agreed after meetings of the F1 Strategy Group and F1 Commission in Geneva on February 23rd. However in the days since the original announcement there had been considerable confusion.

Many drivers and team members expressed doubts about the change, and it did not prove popular with many fans, who viewed qualifying as an aspect of F1 that did not need adjustment.

Ecclestone, who also made it clear that it was not his idea and that he preferred some form of handicap to shake up grids, said that the new system would have to wait until the start of the European season in May.

This claim came as a surprise to the FIA and race director Charlie Whiting, who is ultimately responsible for implementing rule changes, and who was adamant that the change could not come in the middle of the season. Discussions continued this week with teams, and Whiting also met the drivers to address doubts about new the system.

As previously reported the system is based on the three sessions that we previously had, but in each of them the slowest cars will gradually be flagged off at 90 second intervals in the last part of each session. Seven of the 22 drivers are eliminated in Q1, seven in Q2, and only eight progress to Q3. By the end of Q3 two cars will be left fighting for pole in the closing minutes.

This week there was a suggestion that the third period of qualifying could remain as normal with all cars on track at once, but it was too late for the idea to be processed by the WMSC today. Instead the format was agreed as originally announced.

Ecclestone told Forbes after today’s meeting: “It is going to be is exactly what we voted for the other day and we agreed. We thought we wouldn’t be able to write the software in time but I think we are going to be able to do that so we are OK. We have been cracking away so it is from Australia for sure. We are going to get the software done in time.

“I don’t like it but it’s good that we are going to do something even if we don’t like it. It might work if we knock out a few people. Having two cars at the end might work.”

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March 4, 2016 · 4:07 pm

Fernando Alonso: “I am sad for the sport…”

Fernando Alonso pulled no punches yesterday when expressing a jaundiced view of the current state of F1 and the way regulations are made without input from the drivers.

The Spaniard has been left confused by the changes to the qualifying format, and the general direction the sport appears to be taking.

Drivers have no formal role to play in shaping future rules, although on Wednesday a group of them met the FIA’s Charlie Whiting in what was a highly unusual meeting to discuss qualifying, among other subjects.

“I am sad for the sport because it doesn’t look right, from the outside,” Alonso said in Barcelona. “When in one week, we change the qualifying format three times… If I was a sportsman from another sport, I would look at F1 a bit surprised about that. I don’t think it’s right. And the changes, too many changes. The complexity of the rules, also for the spectators, is quite high.

“All my friends here in Spain, they want to switch on television, watch battles, big cars, big tyres, big noise and enjoy the race, like they do with other sports. But for us they only know MGU-H, MGU-K, state of charge, supersoft, use mandatory mediums. Things like that. It’s no wonder they switch off the television.”

Alonso didn’t attend Wednesday’s meeting, but said he trusted his colleagues to put their views across.

“I was not in the meeting, but any of the things that my mates will say, I will agree completely, because I think it’s a unanimous thing. We want simplicity in the rules – and even the one-lap format, the super pole [one lap format] that we did in 2005, I think, 2006, was spectacular.

“Everyone has one lap of television coverage, it’s simple: one lap, you brake late, maybe you start 15th. There is some adrenaline on that lap as well. But I don’t know. Whatever they decide, we will go for it as we did for the last 16 years.”

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February 27, 2016 · 9:01 am

Ecclestone says new qualifying system delayed

Bernie Ecclestone has said that the revised qualifying system will not be introduced until Spain because of issues with readying the new timing software, which has to deal with the complex elimination process.

The timing system is the responsibility of FOM and not the FIA. The new system had been discussed behind closed doors for some months, so the delay reflects a lack of joined-up thinking at the top of the sport. The FIA is also likely to be frustrated by the situation given that the change has already been announced, albeit with the proviso that it will “potentially” be introduced for 2016.

As reported last week that there were already concerns in the paddock about the software being readied in time.

“There’s a lot of work to do in the next few weeks,” said Pat Symonds of Williams. “Not just for us but for FOM to redo the software that handles the timing systems and things like that. It’s quite a tough call.”

Ecclestone has now confirmed that the work cannot be completed by the start of the season.

“The new qualifying won’t happen because we can’t get everything together in time,” he told The Independent. “It was going to come in at the start of this year but we are not going to be able to get all the software done in time. So the qualifying changes will probably be in Spain. In Australia it will be the old qualifying. All of the software has to be written so it’s not easy.

He added: “It’s not what I wanted in the end. All I’m trying to do is muddle up the grid so that the guy that is quickest in qualifying doesn’t sit on pole and disappear because why should he be slow in the race if he is quick in qualifying?”

Ecclestone also confirmed that he wanted time penalties added in order to mix up the grid.

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