Monthly Archives: January 2012

Can A Driver Recover from Being Dominated By A Team Mate?

In 1991, Williams drivers, Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese were quite evenly matched. Both suffered reliability problems due to the FW14s semi automatic gearbox in the early rounds resulting in a string of DNFs. These early setbacks for the Williams pair saw Ayrton Senna take the title at a canter. Never-the-less, Mansell and Patrerse managed to clock up 7 wins between them, finishing second and third respectively in the title race.

Going into 1992, Williams, with their long held rule of letting their drivers race must have been expecting another close battle. As we all know, the reality of what happened is completely different. Mansell ran away into an unassailable lead, winning the first five round of the season. ‘Our Nige’ went on to a record breaking 9 victory’s in 16 races, tieing up the title as early as  the eleventh round in Hungary. The combination of Mansell and the active ride, FW14b were quite simply unbeatable!

In comparison, Patrese’s season isn’t one for the history books, the veteran Italian even struggled to score half the points of his team mate and had Schumacher and Senna breathing down his neck for second in the championship in far inferior machinery.

In 1993, it was all change at Williams, with Mansell jetting off state-side to try his hand at Indycar, Patrese headed off to Benneton, partnering the extremely impressive, Michael Schumacher. As in ’92 Patrese failed to keep pace with his team mate and retired at the seasons end. Would his swan song season have been so disappointing if he was able to take the fight to Mansell the season before? How damaging was/is that to a driver?

Well we may get to find the answers to those questions in this coming season. Both Mark Webber and Felipe Massa were on the wrong end of right old spanking from their team mates in 2011 and both have the opportunity to take the fight back to them in equal (ish for Massa) again this term.

Webber’s performance in particular will interest me this year. Like Patrese before him, Webber proved to be a match for Vettel for parts of 2010 and like Patrese, he only managed to take one win late in the year while his team mate broke practically every record in the book.

I doubt that either Massa or Webber will be able to put up much of a fight against their dominating team mates, sitting in the garage across from them, knowing they are getting up to a second more out of the same machinery on a single lap must be nigh on impossible to get out of your head.

Can F1 Win Ugly?

Over the years, F1 has been afflicted by some ugly looking F1 cars. The March 711,  Ligier JS5 and Mansell’s McLaren MP4-10 to name a few.

During this time, we have seen many ‘fads’, the must have look. From the ridiculously high winged cars of the  60s and the oversized airbox/engine covers in the 70s. More recently, and worse for me was the winglet/chimney/flute cars of the mid 00s. The clean lines that I grew up with disappeared to be replaced by what I can only describe as a tin that has been attacked by a can opener.

With the 2009 regulations outlawing such aerodynamic devices, I was once again looking forward to seeing good looking F1 cars gracing the world’s finest tracks (and Valencia). How wrong I was, the ’09 cars, despite benefitting from clean lines, looked somewhat unbalanced with their wide, bulky front wing and tall skinny rear wings. Making the whole grid, once again looking like it had been hit by the ugly stick! I was happy         to see over the last two years that the unbalanced issue became less of a… well issue.

With restrictions on the design of today’s cars so strict, only the regulations themselves can dictate how aesthetically pleasing they are. The FIA had been looking into the safety of the drivers in a T-bone collision in the wake of Mark Webber’s aerobatics at the European GP in 2010. Last year, the FIA announced that in an attempt to stop cars taking off in such a manner, the maximum height of the rear wing would be limited to 55cm, a good 10cm les than the 2011 regulations. However, instead of seeing a return to the sloping noses of 2009, we seem to be getting ready to embrace the ‘step’ or ‘platypus’ nose in 2012. Caterham, being the first to unveil their 2012 challenger have borne the brunt of the fans displeasure to this latest nose job faux par.

In the quest for every last tenth of performance from the car, the teams can’t give too much thought to how it will look. I can only hope that the FIA ban high noses altogether when the turbo era returns in 2014 to give the cars a real 80s retro feel.

Final Sector – F1 Fans Forum

Final Sector/Marshall GP are pleased to announce that our first F1 fans forum will take place in London on 4th March. Hot on the heels of the end of pre-season testing on the same day, we will be giving you the chance to put your questions to our expert panel on a variety of subjects throughout the evening.

Your host for the evening will be Final Sector’s very own, Gary Marshall, who will be putting your questions forward to our special guests. Answering all your #F1 related questions will be Peter Windsor, Craig Scarborough and Dan Wells .

Peter has work within F1 since the early seventies, reaching the position of team manager for Williams during their glory days of the 1990s. Peter now works as a journalist and hosts the internet TV phenomenon, The Flying Lap, every Wednesday at 7pm GMT.

Craig has become quite a phenomenon on twitter, his blog, scarbsf1.com, was voted the best F1 site in a poll last year. Craig’s expertise lay in the technical and design side of the sport and is a regular guest on The Flying Lap.

Dan has taken the UK motor sport scene by storm, having only starting racing 2 short years ago, the 20 year old has already finished as Formula Renault series final Vice Champion. He is about to launch his campaign to take the FRUK 2012 title and has his sights firmly on a place on the FR1 grid in the future.

The venue for our fans forum is The Good Ship, Kilburn High Road London, NW6 7JR. Final Sector has hired the Good Ship for the evening and can accommodate 150 guests.

 

Q&A WITH BRUNO SENNA

Q&A WITH BRUNO SENNA
conducted and released by the Williams F1 press office

Q: Now you’ve been confirmed as a Williams driver, what are your thoughts heading into 2012?
BS: I’m really happy to be a part of a team with such a fantastic heritage. I am very proud that Williams has chosen me to race in what will be an important year for them. Everyone is extremely motivated for 2012 and it is great to be part of that motivation. It is true that they didn’t have the best season last year, but it is clear that the team is on a new path and everyone is pulling together to ensure that this year is a better one. I really hope that I can demonstrate what I can do, not only for the team, but for myself. It’s going to be interesting to see what we can achieve together.

Q: What are your objectives for the 2012 season?
BS: It’s difficult to set objectives before the season starts, but I intend to push the car 100% to the limit to get the maximum performance we can from it.

Q: What are your thoughts on the Renault engine having raced with it last season and what do you think Renault can bring to Williams in 2012?
BS: After a few races with the Renault engine in 2011, I’ve learnt a great deal about it. It is a very good unit with good drivability, which is another positive step forward for the team. As a driver, you need to have every weapon available to you operating at its optimum in order to put in competitive times throughout the race.  I’m sure we can develop the car even further with the Renault engine and it will be interesting for me to be able to give the team feedback applying my previous experiences.

Q: What do you make of your new team mate, Pastor Maldonado?
BS: Pastor is a great driver. I’ve raced against him in GP2 and we always get along well. He’s been a very tough opponent in the past and he is going to be even tougher now we are both in the same car. We’ll certainly be trying to beat each other, but as teammates we’re going to work together to move the team forward.

Q: Can you talk us through what you have been working on at the factory so far?
BS: I’ve been at the Williams factory in Grove both before and after Christmas being really put through my paces in the simulator, on the track and in the gym. We’ve also done some evaluation work on the track (but not in an F1 car). The main purpose was for the team to evaluate me and to understand how to get the best out of me as a driver. But it’s also been really useful for me as it familiarises me with all the procedural things, such as learning the layout of the steering wheel before I get into the real car. When we start testing I won’t need to think about that so I’ll just be able to get on and drive the FW34.

Q: So you have had an opportunity to work with your new engineers?
BS: I think we’ve started off really well and now I’m looking forward to working with them more over the season. The relationship between a driver and engineer is something that few people can understand. You need mutual respect, to understand each other well and know how to work together in order to really gel from the start. That relationship and continuity can make such a difference to your overall performance.

Q: What started your career in motorsport?
BS: I was a motorsport fan from a young age and of course there has been a great influence from my uncle, but ever since I first put my feet into a go-kart I never wanted to do anything else. I’m very privileged to be able to do what I love, as to race in Formula One has always been my dream.

Q: You were once quoted as saying that, given the chance to drive any legendary Formula One car from the past, you would choose the 1993 active-suspension Williams. How important is it to you to now be a part of a team with such a motorsport heritage?
BS: The team has an amazing history and walking around the museum just makes me drool! I’ve seen many of these cars on track and always wondered how it would feel to actually race them. I’ve never been in one, so I think it would be good to get a run in the active ride car at Goodwood, just to get a feel!

Q: You have considerable support from Brazil, can you tell us about that?
BS: I feel very proud to be Brazilian right now. Knowing I have such great support behind me, people who have been there since the start, gives me such a great feeling. Knowing people have chosen me to bear their name gives me even more motivation to create good memories for them.

Q: Your uncle, Ayrton, raced for Williams. How significant is it for you to be joining the team?
BS: It will be very interesting to drive for a team that my uncle drove for. Quite a few of the people still here actually worked with Ayrton and I’m happy that they are now giving me the chance to prove myself here. Hopefully we can bring back some good memories and create some great new ones too.

Q: Fast forward to this time next year, what achievements would you be happy with?
BS: I hope that by the end of 2012 we can say we extracted 100% of the performance from the Williams-Renault FW34, whatever that may be. That is the most important thing. I just want to get the maximum possible out of the car and make the most of this opportunity. It is such an important year for both the team and myself as it will help shape my future. I hope that future will be long and successful, and it all starts here.

Senna Joins Williams

The much protracted move of Bruno Senna to Williams has finally been confirmed by the team today. Bruno will partner Pastor Maldonado, who was retained by the team after an up and down debut season with the team in 2011.

As I wrote back in October, there seems to be an air of inevitability over Williams once again partnering up the Senna name, especially following their switch to Renault power, as his uncle used during his all too short spell with the team.

It is also ironic that as Bruno lands this drive, it would seem that he is brining an end to his compatriot and his uncles close friend, Rubens Barrichello illustrious F1 career.

Frank Williams, Team Principal, said, “Bruno only started racing when he was 20 years old but quickly proved his talent in F3 and GP2. In a tightly fought 2008 GP2 season, Bruno finished second in the Championship with notable victories in Monaco and Silverstone, the latter in the wet. The circumstances of Bruno’s two seasons in Formula One have not given him an ideal opportunity to deliver consistently so it was essential that we spent as much time with him as possible to understand and evaluate him as a driver. We have done this both on track and in our simulator and he has proven quick, technically insightful and above all capable of learning and applying his learning quickly and consistently. Now we are looking forward to seeing that talent in our race car.”

Bruno commented, “I feel very privileged that Williams has selected me as one of their race drivers. The team has a great heritage and I hope I can help write a good chapter in their history. The evaluation process has been intense and methodical but the time I have spent in the factory has demonstrated that the team has great people and all the resources needed to achieve better things this season.

“It will be very interesting to drive for a team that my uncle has driven for, particularly as quite a few of the people here actually worked with Ayrton. Hopefully we can bring back some memories and create some great new ones too. I also want to get some good results in return for the support my country has given me to help get me to this position today. I am very proud to be Brazilian and more motivated than ever to demonstrate what I can do. Ever since I first sat in a go-kart I never wanted to do anything else.”

‘Senna’ – A Review in Tweets

On Sunday 8th January, people around the world were brought together to watch the multi award winning documentary, Senna. The idea was simple, for everyone to start watching the film at 8pm GMT and to tweet their thoughts and feelings throughout the film. Many people use twitter to give commentary for sporting events but never for a mass simultaneous DVD event like this.

The ‘Senna Watch’ event was a huge success, with over 800 tweets being posted throughout screening, including input from the films writer, Manish Pandey, which gave a fascinating insight into the film.

Interestingly, and the reason for this quite different kind of review, is that people were joining in even though they wasn’t watching the film. Such is the emotion that this film stirs up from within, it is possible to watch in your head through the thoughts and feelings of others that are watching it.

What follows is the Senna documentary, not reviewed in retrospect as normal, but in real time, using peoples kneejerk reactions to describe what they are watching…..

@SENNAWatch – START NOW!!!! 

@MarshallGP – #sennawatch is go go go.

@NikkiG_C – He looks like such a wee bairn in the kart racing at the beginning! A wee slip of a thing!

@F1Cartoonz – Ayrton’s parents were obviously fully involved in his career.

@mpandey69 – Haven’t seen the film in a few weeks – very moving, seeing that otherworldly look, in those otherworldly eyes.

@MissKaty_F1 – Monaco 1984!

@JamesDonald91 – Watch out for Senna clouting the kerb in Monaco 84 bit. Damaged his car. If race had not been red flagged he may have retired.

@squiffany – Senna in the rain is always beautiful to watch.

@stupot94 – That Lauda overtake is fantastic.

@EyeofAlexg1977 – Good to hear Murray Walker commentating again. a great man on his own right!

@JamesDonald91 – ‘Devours Niki Lauda’ Love that commentary line!

@mpandey69 – We always used to howl with laughter in the editing room when we heard ‘He comes and devours Niki Lauda!!!!’

@WayMicway54 – The size of the rear wings in Monaco..Turbo Era 1200 Horsepower!

@neil_povey – Hearing James Hunt makes me feel like an 8 year old boy.

@SharpCoupe – 1985 Lotus :)

@StigsfatCousinx – Black and gold lotus legendary.

@WayMicway54 – Dancing a Dance with his Lotus.

@MissKaty_F1 – It’s so clear to see how involved his parents were in his career, it’s amazing :’)’

@mpandey69 – Look at his eyes when he says ‘It is something so strong, so intense…’ after that first win.

@neil_povey – Love listening to the Globo commentary – can’t speak Portuguese but understand every emotion!

@squiffany – I love how flirty Ayrton is here. Japanese TV.

@NikkiG_C – Bless the Japanese Reporter! She was near passing out! Love his flirtyness!!

@squiffany – Now we see Alain’s flirty powers.

@moss022 – Haha that interview makes me laugh.

@stupot94 – Best F1 onboard ever? Fantastic Monaco film.

@StigsfatCousinx – Senna was other-worldly at Monaco.

@squiffany – The slo mo film from aftermath of 88 Monaco. One piece of beautiful footage.

@JohnnyBlythe – Monaco on-board, brilliant!

@mpandey69 – If you’ve been to Monaco and seen how insane it is, you’ll see why Senna was undoubtably the best ever. Fast but not reckless!

@WayMicway54 – #SENNAWatch Japanese GP stalls, drops to 14th..makes up 10 places in one lap, Genius!

@mpandey69 – If you’ve been to Monaco and seen how insane it is, you’ll see why Senna was undoubtably the best ever. Fast but not reckless!

@JackLeslieF1 – “Then his favourite thing happened, it began to rain”

@MissKaty_F1 – Japan 88′ just proves he was a fighter and never gave up, one of the many reasons to why he inspires me!

@squiffany – The soundtrack to Senna still takes my breath away. EVERYTIME!

@NikkiG_C – Oooo its New Year Kissy Time! ha ha ha!!!

@squiffany – Still find it hard to watch when she only kisses him up to 1993.

@mpandey69 – That freeze frame of Senna staring at Prost in the motorhome, furious, is fantastic!

@F1Cartoonz – The sinister figure of Ballestre appears!

@MarshallGP – My blood boils every time I see Prost hit Senna at the chicane in ’89!

@Capri28s – Prost deffo turns in early.

@squiffany – Seeing how long the pitstop actually took. Feels like a lifetime.

@HollyCraig_F1 – A look of torture and turmoil in those brilliant eyes.

@mpandey69 – Watch the heli shot of Prost ‘closing the door’ on Senna. More like dropping the guillotine!

@MissKaty_F1 – Prost looking smug!

@JamesDonald91 – Not often you see a team boss disputing a result in which one of his drivers was crowned champion!

@HollyCraig_F1 – Genuine passion and empathy from Ron Dennis.

@JamesDonald91 – A miracle Martin Donnelly survived that. Amazes me every time I see it.

@squiffany – Thank god for Sid Watkins.

@stupot94 – How scary Ayrton’s words are when talking about Donnelly.

@EyeofAlexg1977 – This briefing is even better than Big Brother how Senna just walks out after Piquet says about the “fuck up last year” is brill.

@mpandey69 – Stewards agreed to change side for pole, Senna set pole, then they changed it back – wonder why…?

@stupot94 – Now best interview ever with Jackie Stewart.

@squiffany – “If you no longer going for a gap, your no longer a racing driver” Best line

@LindaSpencer – This is my favourite bit of the film. Winning in Brazil.

@SharpCoupe – Those last laps at São Paulo stuck in 6th gear, EPIC!

@robbeddington – Brazil 1991 – just incredible, especially the scene with his father, and the pain Ayrton suffered when lifting the trophy.

@mpandey69 – Brasil 91 is when Ayrton gives everything and still finds more – then says it wasn’t him, it was God’s will. Modest not arrogant.

@MarshallGP – Love Senna making Balestre look stupid in the drivers meeting!

@neil_povey – “The best decision is MY decision”

@F1Cartoonz – 3hrs later Prost hits the cone! :)

@MissKaty_F1 – Triple World Champion!

@stupot94 – Berger and Senna. The perfect team :)

@F1Cartoonz – Love Ron Dennis practical joking on the podium. Would never happen in modern f1.

@amit_mandalia – Even though I’ve had to turn off Senna, Just by some of the tweets I’m seeing on #Sennawatch I know exactly what is going on

@mpandey69 – In the script, I wrote ‘The 1992 Williams looks like the Terminator doing press-ups!’

@F1Cartoonz – Senna looks so dispirited talking about active suspension. He must’ve hated it.

@neil_povey – How did Donny ’93 end up on the cutting room floor? Another astonishing drive in the wet.

@NikkiG_C – ‘It’s never too late to change your mind’ Oh how I wish he had!

@moss022 – uh oh I’m going to be turning into an emotional wreck sometime in the next 15 mins :’(

@MissKaty_F1 – Oh not Imola :’(

@NikkiG_C – Oh my….the tears are starting already!!!

@LindaSpencer1 – Sorry folks, this is where I leave you and #SennaWatch. I can’t watch what happened to Roland and Ayrton again for a while. X

@JamesDonald91 – The most poignant bit of the film for me is Ratzenburger talking about the bad handling of his car and how hard he is pushing.

@HollyCraig_F1 – Lets all remember Ratzenberger, so much talent lost that weekend.

@TraceyPound – I now get nervous as soon as I see him in those blue Williams overalls.

@StigsfatCousinx – I remember this whole weekend so vividly.

@stupot94 – Starting to feel cold. The moment is coming up.

@stupot94 – Senna is seriously contemplating life pre-race. So tough to watch.

@EyeofAlexg1977 – This is just reminding me of how much I affected me, as I cried my eyes out seeing the events unfold. Still does today.

@lacanta – I remember watching Imola 1994 and not understanding much at the time. The movie helped a lot with making sense of it.

@mpandey69 – There was a huge thunderstorm after Imola. People said it was like God going mad with rage at F1.

@NikkiG_C – RIP Ayrton. You were the best ever in my opinion.

@EyeofAlexg1977 – Another fantastic ambassador for the sport, and fought every step of the watch. Abrigado Ayrton! RIP.

@F1Cartoonz – The tweets dry up as we all contemplate the tragedy of it.

@iWallbreaker – Nothing can separate me from the love of god.

Many thanks to Emma for organising such a wonderful event.

Donington Collection 7th January Review

Saturday (7th) saw my long awaited trip to Donington arrive. People arrived from far and wide to be there for the day, from as far north as Bolton and from as far south as Kent!

My car, comprising of myself, my dad and uncle made good time down the M1 from Sheffield and was happy to see a few familiar face waiting to greet me upon arrival at the Collection. Fellow Williams fans Andres and Paul were among the first to arrive as we waited in the cold for the cafe to open at half nine. By the time the cafe opened, there was already a good crowd of F1 fans amassed outside and when the Collection opened at 10am we were 35/40 strong.

After paying our very reasonably priced £6 to enter, my assembled band of F1 fanatics streamed through to take in the largest collection of F1 machinery anywhere in the world. The first room came as a little bit of a surprise to some, as we were greeted by the sight of The Wheatcroft Collection. This was the late, Tom Wheatcroft’s personal collection of WW2 vehicles, including a very big and impressive half track troop carrier.

Jackie Stewarts Tyrrell Ford

F1 heaven was only a few feet away as the first sight in the following room was a display of Mantras and Tyrrells driven by Jackie Stewart. As you turn to face the rest of the room, you are immediately hit by a pair of Wolfs in the centre of the room from the mid seventies, complete with some of the widest rear tyres ever fitted to a F1 car. Other highlight’s of this area was the Gold Leaf liveried, Jim Clark Lotus and a March that was run by Williams in 1977.

Talking of Williams, the next room held the most interest for me as half of it was taken up with cars from Sir Frank’s team. All the way down the left hand side of the room were some of the most successful cars from the teams glory years including the FW07, Mansell’s FW14B that took him to the title and the following year’s FW15. For most however, the star of this area was the stunning Jordan 191. The inconic first car produced by Eddie Jordan’s fledgling team.

If you thought that I, and Donington have forgot about the McLaren fans, don’t worry as the next room was dedicated to the MP4 generation. Some of the highlights in this area include a very rare orange test liveried Mika Hakkinen MP4-26 and an even rarer, Nigel Mansell 1995 MP4-10 that he  raced for only two races that year.

There was some notable omissions for the McLaren room, due to us arriving the week before the Autosport show. This included senna’s MP4-4 and MP4-8 that had beed recalled to McLaren HQ to be prepared for the show.

Finishing off the collection was a sea of British Racing Green in the shape of Vanwalls. For me seeing these pioneering cars of the early days of the world championship really brings home how far the cars, sport and technology has come.

Jordan 191

With the first part of the day over it was time for a quick pitstop, refuel and to challenge the old grey matter with a quiz and caption competition. At the end of the lunch break, Quiz master, Paul Havell put the contestants out of their misery with the all important answers. After all the scores were in, Dan Gough was crowned quiz champion, winning a fantastic prize from Retro F1. While the quiz answers were being read out, Craig and Leanne from Octane Photograpic (our photographers for the day and who kindly donate the prize) were trawling through the caption competition entries. After much deliberation, Nigel, Keren and Rachael were awarded the A3 print of Sebastian Vettel for first prize. (See the end of this post for the quiz questions and caption competition).

Pit Wall

It was a short hop in the cars round to the pits where we re-assembled to begin the track walk. Accompanied by circuit administrator, Jennifer Darby, we set off down the pit lane, making sure we didn’t pick up any penalties for speeding! For the more adventurous members of the group, the start/finish line, lights gantry attracted them like  flies to light in the night, giving them a great view down to Redgate. After negotiating Redgate and standing at Hollywood looking down through the Craner Curves towards the old hair pin, I decided to walk the outside line taken by Senna on his epic first lap there during the 1993 European GP. That is one of the most special laps in F1 history, made even better given the on-track vantage point we had. Looking down the hill, you get a real sense of how much the track tightens into the old hairpin and how easy it is to go flying across the in-field  through Craner.

Lookind down from Hollywood, down through the Craner Curves and the Old Hairpin

After exiting the Old Haipin, the next point of interest wasn’t on the track itself, but an old bridge pillar made famous by Nigel Mansell in 1993 after knocking himself out after going off in a 1993 touring car race. As we started to climb again, we get to the back of the circuit and after a couple of right handers we were on the Dunlop Bridgeless back straight where we were met by a very strong head wind!

Melbourne Hair pin

Undeterred, we battled our way down the back straight, through the Chicane to make our way down to the Melbourne Hairpin. This was another special part of the track for me as it was the point where Senna took the lead from Prost, fighting back from 6th off the line to lead at the end of the first lap. All that was left was to negotiate Goddards and our ‘flying lap’ of Donington was done in the very pedestrian time of around 50 minutes.

The group gathered around DCs Red Bull

That brought an end to the day’s proceedings, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who attended, I was blown away by the great response I had. Looking back at the day, I realise that I spent that much time talking about F1 that I didn’t really spend that much time looking at the cars! Special thank yous must go to Craig and Leanne from Octane Photographic and Retro F1 for supplying the prizes for the day and to Paul Havell for being the quiz master.

Spurred on by the success of this first trip, I’ll be looking into further excursions in the further so keep an eye on here and on twitter for details of my next outing.

The Quiz

1-       Kimi Raikkonen, Robert Kubica and Michael Schumacher were all the same age when they won their first GP, How old were they?

2-       In what position did Jenson Button qualify in his 1st race in 2000?

3-       What was Fernando Alonso’s best result for Minardi?

4-       How many times did Graham Hill win Monaco?

5-       Who won the inaugural Bahrain GP in 2004?

6-       Rubens Barricello made his F1 debut in which race?

7-       Which F1 driver holds the record for the biggest gap between 1st win and 2nd win, 5years 7 months and 18 days?

8-       Who won the last GP on the Nordscheilfe circuit

9-       Who was the last driver to race a V12 engined car in a GP?

10-   Prior to Nico Hulkenberg’s 2010 pole in Brazil who took the last Williams-Cosworth pole position?

11-   Who was the last driver to win a race on Goodyear tyres?

12-   How many wins did Michael Schumacher score in his 1st season with Ferrari?

13-   Who won the last U.S. GP?

14-   On which circuit would you find the “Degnar curve”?

15-   Which team failed to qualify either of their cars for the 1983 Monaco GP?

The Caption Competition

The winning Cation was "Can the driver of the Infinity please come to the carpark and turn off the alarm"

Donington Collection Visit -This Saturday!

It seems like I’ve been planning this trip for a very long time but it is now only a few days away!

I thought I’d just be in contact with you all as my last email on the subject was some time ago and to tell you everything the has been finalised for our day.

To start, can I ask you to arrive between 9.30 and 9.45 so we are all ready to go when the collection opens at 10am. We will have up to two hours to look over the largest collection of Grand Prix machinery anywhere in the world before breaking for lunch.

The collection has a cafe there, or if you prefer, you can bring your own food along. During the lunch break there will also be two competitions to keep the old grey matter busy. Firstly there is a 15 question quiz and a caption competition, the winners of both will win a great prize. Entry to each competition will be £1 with the winners being announced before heading out to walk the famous old track.

The track walk will start around 12.45/1pm and should take around 45 minutes. The good news is that it looks like it’s going to be dry and sunny, the bad news is that it will be 6 degrees so make sure you have some warm clothing.

I’m looking forward to meeting everyone on Saturday and spending the day talking nothing but F1!

If you haven’t yet signed up for this F1 filled day, there is still time to come along. Simply leave a comment below saying you wish to attend, making sure you post your email address and I ‘ll make sure you don’t miss out.

Williams – Far More Questions Than Answers

Happy new year! It’s time to join the gym, stop smoking and detox your body….well think about it at least, what we all want now the festivities are over is for some F1 news!

Until the car launches at the beginning of February, Williams are the team creating any sort of headlines at the moment ahead of finalising their plans for 2012. On New year’s eve, the team released a statement announcing that teams co-founder and Director of Engineering, Patrick Head, was stepping down from the board of directors with immediate effect to concentrate on the team’s subsidiary company, Williams Hybrid Power. Sir Frank Williams said on Head’s departure, “Patrick and I have been in partnership for 34 years. During that time, he has been the leader of the technical team that has won the majority of our race wins and championships. This is a remarkable legacy and one which will be treasured and definitely not forgotten.” He added, “I will miss him very much, as I am sure his colleagues will, and he will always be welcome at Grove. Indeed, Patrick will still be seen around the factory as he continues to be involved in the development of our hybrid power activities.”

Head’s decision to walk away from F1 may open the door for another stalwart of the sport to carry on for a 20th year. Brazilian, Rubens Barrichello could well be back in the driving seat to retain his drive with the team. Throughout the 2011 campaign, veteran, Barrichello had been outspoken on the team’s ongoing difficulties, something that Head found increasingly difficult to listen to. The Brazilian has an ally in the form of Chairman, Adam Parr, who too had a strained relationship with straight talking Head.

Rubens’ argument to keep his drive is based on sound thinking. With the team going through a massive upheaval after making wholesale changes of their technical staff and working with a new engine supplier, Renault, keeping the driver line up as a ‘known quantity’ could pay dividends. After the final race of the year in Brazil Barrichello told the press, “it would be clever from the team to keep the drivers and keep on going. I’m not pushing them, I’m just trying to show them that is the way to do it.”

One quiet change going into 2012 was the branding on the teams website. Although there has been no official word from either party, it seems that title sponsor, AT&T have ended their support for the team. The sites URL has now become williamsf1, while the logo on the home page is also AT&T free, something that has been mirrored on their facebook page.

Does this mean the protracted deal with QNB, the Qatari national bank is soon to be announced? Like I said, more questions than answers.