Better racing - but is it fake?

In Monaco before Christmas, Formula 1's governing body held a meeting to discuss one of the key and most controversial aspects of 2011 - the Drag Reduction System or DRS.

Introduced amid much controversy and no small amount of trepidation in some quarters, questions about the validity of the overtaking aid, not to mention the wisdom of employing it, decreased during the season. So much so that, at the Monaco meeting, it was decided that only small refinements needed to be made to its use for the 2012 campaign.

But while the FIA and the teams all agree that DRS has played a valuable role in improving F1 as a spectacle, they are determined to ensure it performs in the way intended. In particular, no-one wants to cheapen one of the central aspects of a driver's skill by making overtaking too easy.

vetteldrs595.jpg

Sebastian Vettel enters the DRS zone at the Spanish Grand Prix. Photo: Getty

To recap briefly, DRS was introduced in an attempt to solve the perennial problem of there being too little overtaking. After years - decades even - of discussions, F1's technical brains hit on what they thought could be a solution: DRS.

DRS does what it says on the tin. When deployed, the top part of the rear wing moves upwards, reducing drag and giving a boost in straight-line speed. In races, drivers could use it only if they were within a second of the car in front at a "detection point" shortly before the "DRS zone". The DRS zone was where DRS could be deployed, which was usually the track's longest straight.

The idea was to make overtaking possible but not too easy.

There is no doubt that racing improved immeasurably as a spectacle in 2011 compared with previous seasons. But how big a role did DRS play? And did overtaking become too easy at some tracks and remain too hard at others?

It is a more complex issue than it at first appears because it is not always easy to tell from the outside whether an overtaking move was a result of DRS or not.

In Turkey and Belgium, for example, several drivers sailed past rivals in the DRS zone long before the end of it, leading many to think the device had made overtaking too easy.

But, armed with statistics, FIA race director Charlie Whiting says appearances were deceptive. What was making overtaking easy at those two races, he said, was the speed advantage of the car behind as the two cars battling for position came off the corner before the DRS zone.

Whiting showed me a spreadsheet detailing the speeds of the respective cars in all the overtaking manoeuvres that happened in the Belgian GP.

"This shows very clearly that when the speed delta [difference] between the two cars at the beginning of the zone is low, then overtaking is not easy," he said. "But if one car goes through Eau Rouge that bit quicker, sometimes you had a speed delta of 18km/h (11mph). Well, that's going to be an overtake whether you've got DRS or not."

According to Whiting, the statistics show that if the two cars come off the corner into the DRS zone at similar speeds, then the driver behind needs to be far closer than the one-second margin that activates the DRS if he is to overtake.

"One second is the activation but that won't do it for you," Whiting said. "You've got to be 0.4secs behind to get alongside into the braking zone."

Confusing the picture in 2011 - particularly early in the season - was the fast-wearing nature of the new Pirelli tyres, which led to huge grip differences between cars at various points of the races. A driver on fresher tyres would come off a corner much faster and brake that much later for the next one. That would have a far greater impact on the ease of an overtaking move than DRS ever would.

Critics of DRS might argue that while it may be useful at tracks where overtaking has traditionally been difficult, like Melbourne, Valencia and Barcelona, for example, it is debatable whether there is a need for it at circuits where historically there has been good racing, like Turkey, Belgium and Brazil.

According to Whiting, DRS does not diminish the value of an overtaking move at tracks where it is usually easy to pass. It just means that DRS opens up the possibility for more. In other words, it works just as it does at any other track.

McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe is an influential member of the Technical Working Group of leading engineers which came up with DRS. He said people had been arguing for years that engineers should alter the fundamental design of cars to facilitate overtaking.

However, tinkering with aerodynamic design was never going to be a solution, according to Lowe, because F1 cars will always need downforce to produce such high performance, and that means overtaking will always, by the cars' nature, be difficult.

"What's great [about DRS is] at least we can move on from this debate of trying to change the aerodynamic characteristics of cars to try to improve overtaking," added Lowe.

"We've found something much more authoritative, much cheaper, easier and more effective, and adjustable from race to race."

Whiting thinks DRS worked as expected everywhere except Melbourne and Valencia.

valencia595p.jpg

Valencia's DRS zone could be extended for 2012. Photo: Getty 

So for next season's opening race in Australia, he is considering adding a second DRS zone after the first chicane, so drivers who have used DRS to draw close to rivals along the pit straight can have another crack at overtaking straight afterwards. As for Valencia, traditionally the least entertaining race of the year, the FIA will simply make the zone, which is located on the run to Turn 12, longer.

There is potentially one big negative about DRS, though.

There is a risk that its introduction could mean the end of races in which a driver uses his skills to hold off a rival in a faster car. Some of the greatest defensive victories of the modern age have been achieved in this way. One thinks of Gilles Villeneuve holding off a train of four cars in his powerful but poor-handling Ferrari to win in Jarama in 1981, or Fernando Alonso fending off Michael Schumacher's faster Ferrari at Imola in 2005.

The idea behind the introduction of DRS was for a much faster car to be able to overtake relatively easily but for passing still to be difficult between two cars of comparative performance. In theory, if that philosophy is adhered to rigidly, the sorts of races mentioned above will still be possible.

However, once an aid has been introduced that gives the driver behind a straight-line speed advantage that is an incredibly difficult line to walk, as Whiting himself admits. "You've got to take the rough with the smooth to a certain extent," he said.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/12/drs.html

Fred Gamble Howden Ganley Frank Gardner Billy Garrett Jo Gartner

Aston Martin V12 Zagato


A few months ago, Aston Martin introduced the V12 Zagato Concept to the world, a supercar that was born from the creative minds of Aston Martin and Italian coachbuilder, Zagato. The overwhelming popularity of the concept prompted the folks over at Aston to expedite the release of the production car and lo and behold, the production car was supposed to make an appearance at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

But what we saw at Frankfurt appeared to be the same one we saw at Pebble Beach and Villa d’Este, albeit with a new trunk lid as opposed to the huge spoiler we saw before.

Official details behind the production version have yet to be released, but we don’t expect it to be any different from the concept, including the 6.0-liter V12 engine mated to a six-speed automated manual transmission and the output of 510 horsepower and 420 lb/ft of torque.

What we do know is that Aston Martin has revealed the price for the limited-run supercar and it’s going to take you back £330,000, which is about $538,300 based on current exchange rates. Only 150 models will be built so if you’re in the market for one, better start saving up and preparing for a speedy reservation.

The ’production version’ of the V12 Zagato was one of the highlights of Aston Martin’s booth at Frankfurt, where it was joined by the pair of V12 Zagato race car variants that participated at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring - ’Zig’ and ’Zag’ - as well as the One-77 supercar and the newly released Virage and Vantage S.

UPDATE 02/09/12: Aston Martin has released new official images of the production version V12 Zagato supercar. Enjoy!

Aston Martin V12 Zagato originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 9 February 2012 14:00 EST.

read more




Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/aston-martin/2012-aston-martin-v12-zagato-ar115161.html

Danny Sullivan Marc Surer John Surtees Andy Sutcliffe Adrian Sutil

Is Raikkonen worth the risk?

Kimi Raikkonen's return to Formula 1 next season creates a field with as much depth of talent as any in the history of the sport.

Six world champions will be on the grid at the start of 2012, with a total of 14 titles between them.

There are also multiple race-winners in Mark Webber and Felipe Massa, plus what I believe are certain future winners in Paul di Resta and Nico Rosberg.

But while Raikkonen's return will add another fascinating thread to an already rich tapestry, will Lotus get the driver they think they are getting?

KImi

Kimi Raikkonen left Ferarri and Formula One in 2009 to pursue a career in the World Rally Championship. PHOTO: Getty

There is no doubt that Raikkonen at his best would be a powerful addition to almost any F1 team, but can the 32-year-old reach again the sort of heights that led to victories such as that at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2005, when the Finn claimed victory for McLaren in arguably the greatest race in Formula 1 history?

Having battled up through the field from 17th on the grid, Raikkonen won with a stunningly audacious move at the start of the final lap, overtaking Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella around the outside at 160mph going into the first corner.

Although Raikkonen would go on to win the world title in 2007, the race in Japan was in many ways the pinnacle of his career. He was certainly never as consistently great again as he had been in 2005.

By the end of the 2005 season, it was widely known Raikkonen had signed a contract to move to Ferrari in 2007 as a replacement for Michael Schumacher.

Raikkonen was expected to take over the role of team leader, with Felipe Massa a dutiful number two, but the Finn's performance fell short of what was expected.

His low-key personality was always going to make it difficult to dominate a team in the way Schumacher did - or Fernando Alonso has done at Ferrari in the last two years - but more of a surprise was Massa's ability to match him on the track.

Raikkonen did take the title in his first year at Ferrari - but it was a somewhat fluky win.

Firstly, title rivals McLaren went into meltdown after the partnership between Alonso and rising star Lewis Hamilton soured.

Secondly, Ferrari engineered the victory Raikkonen needed in the decisive final race in Brazil by swapping positions on the track with Massa, who was dominating.

Having won the title, many thought Raikkonen might step up a level in 2008, but Massa became the de facto team leader. This was not what Ferrari expected of Raikkonen, whom they paid a reputed $50m a year, the highest salary in the history of F1.

Midway through 2009, they'd had enough and decided to terminate his contract a year before it ran out. After paying Raikkonen at least a full year's retainer not to drive for them in 2010, Ferrari took on Alonso in his place, despite not knowing whether Massa would make a full recovery from an accident in Hungary that left him with a fractured skull and forced him to miss the rest of the season.

The difference between the relative performances of Alonso and Raikkonen at Ferrari could barely be more stark. Whereas Raikkonen had been evenly matched with Massa, Alonso has destroyed the Brazilian in the last two seasons.

So many questions arise from this comparison.

Was Raikkonen never as good as some thought he was and Alonso simply in a different league? Has Massa been affected by his accident in 2009 in a way neither he nor Ferrari are either aware of or will admit?

Was Raikkonen increasingly demotivated at Ferrari and therefore performing under-par? Was his legendary 'partying' affecting his driving? (There is a famous YouTube film of him falling off the roof of a boat with a drink in his hand and landing on the deck on his head)

Has Massa been unable to cope alongside the dominant personality of Alonso, but was able to give his best alongside Raikkonen, a man who paid no attention to 'working the team' and simply believed his job was to get in the car and drive?

So damaged had Raikkonen's reputation been by events at Ferrari in the last five years that any return to F1, after a humbling couple of years in world rallying, was never going to be with a top team.

There are too many other good drivers out there, without Raikkonen's baggage, for that to happen. So Raikkonen finds himself in a midfield team struggling to rebuild itself and a long way from finding the form that took Alonso to his two titles in 2005-6.

In theory, Raikkonen could be just what Lotus need. If he returns fully committed, as he says he will, with a raised tolerance of all the things he grew to detest about F1 - the media and PR work - he could be a valuable addition.

But will that motivation remain once the reality of midfield life hits him, when he realises just how much of a struggle he is in for, how far away he is from the top teams where he used to reside?

And will he really help the team progress? On that subject, there's a joke doing the rounds. It's set in the Lotus engineering office at a race some time in 2012. It goes like this: "How was the car, Kimi?" "Good." "How was the car, Vitaly [Petrov]?" "Good." "OK. Debrief over."

On the other hand, put yourself in the shoes of Lotus team owner Gerard Lopez and team boss Eric Boullier. Robert Kubica, who any team would want if he was fit, is still months away from being able to drive an F1 car again - and may never be able to do so.

Having ruled out Rubens Barrichello because there are too many questions about his age - he is now 39 - and motivation, your driver choices are Petrov, Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean. Good, solid drivers all - and Senna, particularly, has shown these last few races that he has potential.

But then you remember Suzuka 2005 and other great drives. You remember Raikkonen's championship challenges in 2003 and 2005; his clinical, error-free consistency; how he was always at his best on the great 'drivers' circuits'; the way he grabbed victory by the throat in Belgium in 2009, the only race that year where Ferrari had any chance of a win.

You remember that great drivers just make things happen and you think what Raikkonen could do in your car, how much of a difference he could make.

Then it becomes easier to see why you might take the risk.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/11/is_raikkonen_worth_the_risk.html

Erwin Bauer Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol Don Beauman Karl Gunther Bechem

Sebastian Vettel Q&A: ?We?ll see how we get on with the new car??

We haven’t heard much from double World Champion Sebastian Vettel lately, but not surprisngly he’s pumped up about the RB8 and the 2012 season. Here’s what he had to say in a Q&A provided by the team. Back-to-back titles, the … Continue reading

Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/02/06/sebastian-vettel-qa-well-see-how-we-get-on-with-the-new-car/

Olivier Beretta Allen Berg Georges Berger Gerhard Berger Eric Bernard