...the quickest cars appear to be those of McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes, with Lotus not far behind. And Red Bull - the world champions for the last three years - look relatively slow.
The doors of Sahara Force India Formula One team seem to be opening for Narain Karthikeyan. Ever since Vijay Mallya bought the F1 team in 2007, the businessman has been dismissive of Indian drivers even as he tested Narain and Karun Chandhok in a simulator a couple of years back.
But the 2013 season, scheduled to kick-start on March 15, could finally see an Indian behind the wheel of a tricolour-liveried machine.
The official pre-season test has already begun, but the Silverstone-based team are the only outfit who have not yet confirmed their second driver a teammate for Scot Paul di Resta.
Sources say that Narain, who has managed to get more financial backing than last year, has already been offered a reserve driver role at Force India, but the 36-year-old is keen on landing a proper race drive.
lol, no way...
Interesting how he gets there. I'm sure he's not absolutely right nor is he absolutely wrong. It's a fun article meant to stir up discussion but boy oh boy, it would be an interesting season if this early estimate of his is close to the money.
What the fuck. Him over Bianchi or Sutil? No way.
Reports in the Indian press suggest that a commercial deal between Force India and manufacturer Tata could see Karthikeyan get the nod.
"As soon as Tata increased the budget for 2013, talks with Force India began,"
"Unlike the past, the negotiation has been a lot more positive."
Someone is getting fired right now at Ferrari. Massive leak on Youtube yesterday of the new Ferrari car being built at the factory in Maranello.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_muCq4XC35w
(Awful dub-step music included)
What do you guys think of Gary Anderson's piece on trying to rank the teams performances based on these early times?
Interesting how he gets there. I'm sure he's not absolutely right nor is he absolutely wrong. It's a fun article meant to stir up discussion but boy oh boy, it would be an interesting season if this early estimate of his is close to the money.
Gary Anderson said:So, the next step is to look at how many laps the driver did on the run on which he set his fastest time. You know he must have at least that amount of fuel on board.
Taking Massa as an example, his fastest time was set on a six-lap run, so he must have had at least six laps' worth of fuel on board.
Each lap of fuel burnt is equivalent to a gain in performance of 0.086 seconds. Apply that calculation to Massa's time, and you get a potential lap time of 1:17.536.
Yeah, if he doesn't mean that then he's screwed up his figures.
Obviously if he set it on his last lap of six then he's already burned off the fuel.
Edit - Just tried to check it, but the site I was using for all the laptimes doesn't seem to have an archive of the first three days up yet.
.What the fuck. Him over Bianchi or Sutil? No way.
What do you guys think of Gary Anderson's piece on trying to rank the teams performances based on these early times?
Interesting how he gets there. I'm sure he's not absolutely right nor is he absolutely wrong. It's a fun article meant to stir up discussion but boy oh boy, it would be an interesting season if this early estimate of his is close to the money.
I assume it's gotten better since a decade or so ago, but winter testing is really hard to draw conclusions from. I still remember Honda being the winter testing champions every season, then being midpack fodder in races. PEACE.
If true, Marussia and Caterham now know they can beat one driver on the grid (besides each other).
a good tweet I saw related to RB being slow:
Were they slow at testing? I wasn't paying attention. But I thought Webber did alright on the first day?If true, Marussia and Caterham now know they can beat one driver on the grid (besides each other).
a good tweet I saw related to RB being slow:
Were they slow at testing? I wasn't paying attention. But I thought Webber did alright on the first day?
What is general admission anyways? Do you bring a lawn chair and they have an area you can watch from? General Admission for Sunday only in Montreal is $95. Grandstand for the entire weekend is around $260 the cheapest. I said last year that I'd go this year but money is tight.Woohoo....bought my tickets for Australian gp! First time I will be going in a long time, went a few years ago with a general admission ticket and it was a bit disappointing, couldn't really see much. Splurged for a grandstand this time, hope its worth it
What is general admission anyways? Do you bring a lawn chair and they have an area you can watch from? General Admission for Sunday only in Montreal is $95. Grandstand for the entire weekend is around $260 the cheapest. I said last year that I'd go this year but money is tight.
It must be a nightmare using those things. I get confused by the volume control on mine.
2 videos for a quiet day on Ford & Cosworth building their new 1.5 V6 Turbo from 1984-86. Really good stuff and it features a small part by Ross Brawn as lead aerodynamicist.
Part One:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbB1qwhKaaE
Part Two:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqfVAGOaGEc
Is there testing tomorrow at Barcelona? PEACE.
Horrible, horrible liveries in 07 and 08 - horrible, horrible pace.Loved their all black testing livery though.
Force India confirmed on Thursday that Adrian Sutil could take part in next week's Barcelona test.
Autosport reported that the 30-year-old, who raced for the Silverstone-based team between 2007 and 2011, had undergone a seat fitting ahead of next week's test at the Circuit de Catalunya.
However, it is not yet 100 per cent clear whether Sutil will drive.
A Force India spokesman confirmed: "Adrian has had a seat-fit with the team this week. At this stage the test driving schedule for the Barcelona test is not finalised, but there is a possibility Adrian could be involved.
"The driving schedule will be communicated on Monday next week."
Force India are the only team yet to confirm their full driver line-up. Paul di Resta debuted the VJM06 at Jerez last week, with reserve driver Jules Bianchi - seen, like Sutil, as a candidate for the second seat alongside di Resta - also getting a run alongside James Rossiter.
He may be a thug but he is a good driver, I'd have him over Cucumber any day.
Canal+ won the F1 rights in France
Welp, fuck it now F1 is on a pay channel here, I won't be able to watch it freely anymore :/
It's worth mentioning the bid is 29M /year, whereas TF1 was paying 31M last year.
Define "Good", he is mediocre at best.
A average 30 year driver who has been out of the sport since the end of 2011 & was found guilty of assault just over a year ago. Unless he brings in a ridiculous amount of money, I cant see why any team would bother with him.
But he's probably better than Narain and has more experience than Bianchi. Also, the dolphin told him to stab that guy in the neck, so it's not his fault.
Here in Poland I would gladly pay to have all these options, be it for a channel or to watch it via internet. Unfortunately Bernie and FOM are still stuck in stone age, so I have to watch it illegally through UK proxy :/
But he's probably better than Narain and has more experience than Bianchi. Also, the dolphin told him to stab that guy in the neck, so it's not his fault.
Fuck FI for not putting KK in. Cunts. So many deserving drivers not getting a drive this year because of young twats with too much financial backing
lol, no way...
https://twitter.com/andrewbensonf1/status/299934498487930880
Apparently in interview to the German Auto Motor und Sport Rory Byrne said that he is “working full steam” on Ferrari’s 2014 F1 car as well.