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2008 FIA Formula One World Championship
First blood to Ferrari in Jerez testing
Ferrari delivered a statement of intent on the first day of testing at Jerez, setting the pace convincingly with the new car it unveiled just over a week ago. Kimi Raikkonen led the way with a best time of 1m19.845s, a quarter of a second clear of team-mate Felipe Massa, as both drivers began development work on the F2008.
Rain reduced teams’ mileage in the morning and meant few meaningful times were set until after lunch, although some drivers used the opportunity to try running in the wet without traction control.
Pedro de la Rosa was third quickest McLaren’s new MP4-23, with Woking new boy Heikki Kovalainen fifth, after the team largely sat out the morning rain.
Toro Rosso enjoyed a positive day with its STR2s, Sebastian Vettel clocking the fourth best time and Sebastien Bourdais sixth fastest ahead of Nico Rosberg in the interim Williams FW29B.
Toyota had one TF108 chassis available for Jarno Trulli following the Japanese manufacturer’s launch last Thursday, while new recruit Timo Glock drove a modified version of last year’s TF107.
Trulli racked up an impressive 87 laps in the new car and was encouraged by both its reliability and pace.
“The car seems to be running well and there are no major problems,” said the Italian.
“I was happy to do so many laps with a new car today – it was a positive day.”
Glock blotted his copybook with a spin into the gravel soon after lunch, when he ran over the damp kerb at turn eight, but will get his first run in the TF108 tomorrow (Tuesday).
Nelson Piquet Jr was ninth quickest on his first appearance as a Renault race driver.
The Brazilian was at the wheel of last year’s R27 and focused on engine mapping work to give the team a better understanding of the new regulations on electronics.
“I would certainly have liked the chance to get more time in the car today, but the conditions in the morning were not ideal for either wet or dry tyres and so we had to wait for the weather to improve,” he said.
“I’m still happy to get back on track for the first time this year and get my preparations underway.”
Tomorrow, double world champion Fernando Alonso will have his first outing in ING Renault F1 colours since returning to the Anglo-French squad.
Tonio Liuzzi completed his first official day of duty for Force India, posting 47 laps despite losing time to hydraulic problems throughout the day.
Super Aguri also suffered technical problems, limiting James Rossiter to just 10 laps in the wet morning conditions.
Testing times from Jerez (January 14)
1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m19.845s
2. MASSA Ferrari 1m20.123s
3. DE LA ROSA McLaren 1m20.548s
4. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m20.732s
5. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m20.936s
6. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m20.997s
7. ROSBERG Williams 1m21.143s
8. TRULLI Toyota 1m21.344s
9. PIQUET Renault 1m21.595s
10. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m21.745s
11. LIUZZI Force India 1m23.035s
12. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m23.134s
13. GLOCK Toyota 1m24.351s
14. ROSSITER Super Aguri 1m34.862s
BMW duo unafraid of Renault revival
BMW drivers Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld have played down the possibility that BMW will be eclipsed by a resurgent Renault in 2008. The French manufacturer endured a below-par ‘07 campaign after winning both titles in the previous two years.
But having taken the opportunity to get a head-start on its ‘08 car, and with double world champion Fernando Alonso returning to the team, it is expected to be a force to be reckoned with again in the coming season.
Kubica, though, says BMW has nothing to fear from Renault and must focus on closing the gap to Ferrari and McLaren rather than worry about slipping back.
“First of all I am not afraid, I am looking forward to where we will be,” the Pole said at the launch of BMW‘s new car in Munich..
“In Formula 1 there are five or six teams who are working 100 per cent to catch the front-runners and every single season there is some surprise.
“I think no one was expecting BMW Sauber to be so strong in 2007 and we will have some surprises in 2008.
“Let’s hope we will be stronger – I’m sure we will be stronger – and we make a bigger step forward than our competitors.”
Team-mate Heidfeld is more wary of a Renault revival, but still believes BMW will prove the stronger of the two teams.
“Very difficult to judge,” he said.
“I expect Renault to make the jump forward; obviously I hope they will not overtake us and I doubt it.
“Then I expect it will be Ferrari and McLaren being the strongest teams.
“But it is still early days.
“From what you see and what you hear, McLaren were quite good at the roll-out in Jerez and already setting some impressive times.
“So I guess it is Ferrari and McLaren again and hopefully we can close the gap.”
Rampf: Driveability key priority on F1.08
BMW Sauber technical director Willy Rampf says driveability and forgiving handling were the key priorities in designing the team’s 2008 challenger. The new car was unveiled at a launch event in Munich on Monday, where Rampf expressed a quiet confidence about its potential.
“From what we see from our simulations and from the wind tunnel results we are quite confident that we will see positive results on the track with the F1.08,” he said.
“It all depends on our competition, and we will see what they have done in Melbourne.
“But at the moment we are confident.”
Rule changes over the winter - in particular the ban on ‘driver aids’ such as traction control and software-assisted braking - have changed the focus of designers’ efforts, putting a premium on stable and predictable handling characteristics to mitigate the increased chance of driver errors.
Rampf said the new regulations have had a big effect on the design team’s priorities.
“The biggest changes are on the electronic side: the ban on traction control and engine braking control,” he said.
“Overall we expect the cars to be more nervous and it to be easier for the drivers to make mistakes.
“One of the main targets was to make a car which is very stable, a bit forgiving, and which gives very good feedback to the driver.
“To achieve the target of having a more stable and more forgiving car, there are two sides.
“First, the target was to have very stable aerodynamics, losing only the minimum of downforce during cornering.
“On the mechanical side the target was to have good feedback and also to improve the mechanical grip of the car.”
The F1.08 - which driver Nick Heidfeld described as the most beautiful racing car he had ever seen - features aggressive aerodynamics including a large three-element front wing and lower, slimmer sidepods.
“The most obvious part which is different to the F1.07 is the front wing,” said Rampf.
“It’s quite a massive front wing. With this front wing the car is less sensitive to steering, cornering and side winds.
“Aerodynamic efficiency is always one of the main areas which has to be improved on the car to be quicker.
“The turning vane area has been optimised to create higher downforce levels for the same drag.
“The sidepod area and the engine cover is even lower than on last year’s car.
“We tried to reduce the volume of the engine cover to have a better airflow to the rear wing, which gives us more stability and also higher downforce levels.”
Other striking features of the F1.08 are the wheel fairings at the front and rear and revised suspension.
“On the mechanical side there is a new front axle and front axle kinematics, with the main target being to improve the feedback for the driver because the driver has to correct the car more often and more precisely because of the traction control ban,” said Rampf.
“Also the rear suspension is a completely new development.
“Here we tried to maximise the grip and take away the peakiness of the handling, so that if the car is a bit unstable the driver doesn’t lose the car, it’s easier to control it and bring it back.”
Team boss Mario Theissen said one of the biggest concerns this year will be reliability due to the new long-life gearbox rules.
He admitted that BMW had initially struggled to come to terms with this but feels the team now has a handle on the situation.
“The new gearbox has to last four race weekends; this is about six times the mileage that it did last year,” he said.
“So this is quite a challenge and we had to design and develop a whole new gearbox.
“This is the main task right now. It’s not just the gearbox; it is a very complex system of mechanical parts in the gearbox itself, hydraulic actuators and electronic control units which actuate the gearbox.
“We had several problems in the past, especially due to the new electronics which operate differently from what we’d had so far.
“So we had two gearbox crashes in the prototype phase, which is not only expensive but also costs you very precious time in the development phase.
“But now we are narrowing in and really nailing down all the individual technical details and I think it will work in March.”
Rampf added that while the F1.08 draws on the strengths of its effective predecessor, it is significantly different and not a single component has been carried over directly.
"The F1.07 was really a good baseline and we have tried to improve all areas of this year," he said.
"Basically we went through and set new targets for aerodynamic efficiency, stability, mechanical grip and overall we have a car which is a complete new design.
"There is not a single component taken over from last year’s car."
BMW targets breakthrough season!!!!!!
BMW Sauber has set its sights on a breakthrough season at the launch of its 2008 car on Monday. At the unveiling of the new F1.08 in the BMW Welt in Munich, BMW motorsport boss Mario Theissen expressed confidence that the team would build on the progress it made in the past two years and take the fight to perennial front-runners McLaren and Ferrari.
“I think it will be a big step forward again,” he said.
“We have come quite a long way in the two and a half years since the new team was created.
“We’ve had two strong seasons. We’ve put a lot of effort into the new car and the F1.08 includes everything we’ve learned in the first two years.
“Certainly we are very confident to turn the battle in front of us into a battle of more than two teams this year.”
Asked whether he thought the team could achieve its first race victory this year, Theissen said: “It will certainly be difficult, because the teams in front of us are the strongest and most experienced, so it means we have to improve more than they will.
“[But] since we’ve made good progress in the past two years I am really confident we can do it again and close the gap.”
BMW has invested heavily in new people and technology since its acquisition of the team formerly owned by Peter Sauber in mid-2005, and Theissen is confident that all the pieces are now in place for the team to challenge for victories.
“The two-year ramp-up phase was completed by the end of last year,” he said.
“In Hinwil we have 430 people now; we have gone up from 275 to 430 over the two-year period, as planned.
“In Munich we have about 300 people, so in total it’s 700, 730 - which in terms of size is a midfield team but in terms of ambitions we want to be a front-runner.
“All the people are on board, the new factory is up and running and all the machines are running.
“If you look back to what we achieved last year we can claim to have been the third strongest force on the grid while we were ramping up the team.
“So we are at full strength now and we are really looking forward to the new season.”
Theissen admitted, however, that it would be unrealistic to expect BMW to mount a season-long title challenge this season.
"I think that [talk] will be premature," he said.
"I hope our car will enable our drivers to do similar lap times and that means we are fighting for the top positions in the race.
"But I think as a team it will still take another year to really be settled and be mature enough to go through the entire season with such an ambition."
Pit BABES!!!!!! Formula One 2008
Kimi aims for strong start to title defence
Kimi Raikkonen is aiming to avoid a repeat of the inconsistent start he made to his Ferrari career last season when he begins his title defence in Melbourne in March. The world champion had to claw back an almighty points deficit to long-time championship leader Lewis Hamilton in 2007 to claim a maiden crown after a first half of the campaign blighted by several poor races and mechanical problems.
But he is confident that won’t be the case in 2008 with a year of experience at the Italian squad under his belt.
"Coming to this new season, it's hopefully going to be more easy-going, the first part of the season, than it was last year,” he told the press at Ferrari’s winter skiing event in Madonna di Campiglio.
“It's a new season but it's with the same team, so it's going to be much easier for me and much easier for the team.
“So I wish we can have a slightly stronger start to the year and then we will go from there."
Raikkonen drove Ferrari’s new F2008 car for the first time at Fiorano on Monday ahead of its full test debut at Jerez next week.
And after a successful opening shakedown, the Finn is looking forward to the more extensive run out in Spain.
"I think it's going to be a normal test for us,” he said.
“The car ran very well in Fiorano but of course the conditions were not ideal.
“It's hard to say exactly how you feel about the car, but for me the feeling was very good so that's the only way I can tell.
“I think we are going to see next week in Jerez when we take the car on a normal circuit and then we see.
“Hopefully the weather will be good.
“We will have two cars so we hope to have good running and a lot of laps so then we will see."
TC ban will help us, says Mallya
Vijay Mallya reckons the ban on traction control in 2008 will play into Force India’s hands as it will allow its two drivers to make more of a difference to its performance. The outlawing of the driver aid for this year has provoked much debate in the off-season, with drivers expecting a more challenging campaign on track.
Force India’s owner believes that both new signing Giancarlo Fisichella and team-mate Adrian Sutil have the ability to take advantage of the change.
“The removal of traction control is going too mean there’s a lot more in the hands of the driver, and that’s where I think we are going to perform well,” he said during the team’s press conference in India on Thursday.
“Driver talent will come to the fore; Giancarlo is extremely experienced and he knows what to do.
“What impressed me most about Adrian was when he scored his first point in the Japanese Grand Prix: when you’re quick in the wet it shows a lot.”
Fisichella and Sutil agreed that F1’s move away from traction control would create more enjoyment for the drivers.
“I think it’s good for us [Force India] especially, but also for the drivers’ side,” Fisichella said.
“I drove for two days in Jerez without all the electronic stuff and I enjoyed it - it was much more difficult but more human.
“It’s easy to make mistakes, difficult to save the tyres, and the stability under braking is much more difficult.”
His young German team-mate added that despite enjoying racing with traction control in his rookie year, the ban increased the challenge for drivers and excitement for fans.
“I am quite happy that we banned the TC,” he said.
“I drove one year with it, and I enjoyed it.
“But you can feel the race car much more now without the TC, and it’s much more fun to drive. Also on the braking it’s much more difficult to control the back end.
“Also the start will be more exciting - much more wheelspin and smoke - so it will be better for everyone.”
Vasselon: New Toyota a 'departure'
Toyota’s chassis chief Pascal Vasselon says the new TF108 is a departure from the team’s recent cars. After making an apparent breakthrough in 2005, the Japanese manufacturer slipped back into the midfield in ’06 and ’07, and team principal Tadashi Yamashina recently admitted he has two years to convince the Toyota board that its investment in F1 is worthwhile.
To this end, Vasselon says his design team adopted a completely new aerodynamic approach with the TF108.
“I think it’s quite obvious the aerodynamic concept has changed,” he said at the launch of the new car in Cologne on Thursday.
“The TF107 was an evolution of the TF106; this new car is a departure from recent Toyotas.”
The new car features a longer wheelbase and more sharply undercut sidepods than the TF107 (designed to accelerate the air faster along the lower bodywork to the rear wing and thereby increase downforce).
Overall, Vasselon says the aim of the aero changes has been to achieve a more consistent balance and a larger ‘sweet spot’ than on the TF107, which had a narrow set-up window and was extremely sensitive to pitch and ride height changes over a lap.
“The aerodynamic philosophy is geared towards minimising aero and balance variations over the lap, thereby producing a more driveable and stable car,” he said.
“A fundamental change is the wheelbase, which is now longer.
“The main reason for this is to achieve more stability, but secondly we also expect greater aerodynamic development potential, giving our aerodynamicists wider surfaces and more space to play with.”
There have been more minor changes on the mechanical side because the team was happier with existing performance in this respect, although the TF108 does feature an all-new seamless-shift gearbox.
“In chassis and suspension terms, we felt we had a decent base so we’ve focused on making just a few refinements,” Vasselon said.
“Structurally we’ve worked on achieving similar stiffness with less weight, which was especially needed in the context of regulations which have added a few kilos to the car.”
Vasselon said the signs from wind tunnel testing have been encouraging, but admitted the team has a lot of work ahead of it to optimise the performance of the TF108 before the season-opening race on March 16.
“At Toyota we believe in setting aggressive, challenging targets so we aim high,” he said.
“It was quite straightforward to see where we could make improvements and what targets we should be aiming for.
“But setting targets is the easy part; the real challenge is to deliver performance on the track.
“Everyone has worked very hard to get to this stage but really the work is far from being complete.
“Now we will focus first on understanding the characteristics of the car on the track in order to steer set-up and development directions.
“There is a lot of work to do to get the most out of the car before the season starts so there will be no let-up in our efforts.”
Jens: Honda has to Challenge for '09 title
Jenson Button has predicted Honda will make big progress over the next two seasons and is hopeful of being able to challenge for the world championship in 2009. After a wretched season last year in which the team scored just six points, the Brackley squad scored a huge coup over the winter in luring Ross Brawn to be its new principal to help transform its fortunes.
Button has made no secret of his delight in the team’s capture of the former Ferrari mastermind and speaking at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham on Saturday he revealed his confidence for the future.
"I'm so happy that we've got Ross," he said.
"On his own he's not going to turn the team around, but I think that everyone is positive and doing a great job.
“He's fitted in quicker than everyone imagined, and the way of working in the team has changed a lot already.
"I think we'll be a lot closer to the front in 2008, and in 2009, we have to be fighting for the world championship.”
And he has no doubts that should the team build a car good enough to challenge for the title then it has the expertise in place to capitalise on it.
“If we can get to that position with a good car, then this team will win the world championship,” he said.
“As a team, we are very, very strong."
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- 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship
- First blood to Ferrari in Jerez testing
- BMW duo unafraid of Renault revival
- Rampf: Driveability key priority on F1.08
- BMW targets breakthrough season!!!!!!
- Pit BABES!!!!!! Formula One 2008
- Kimi aims for strong start to title defence
- TC ban will help us, says Mallya
- Vasselon: New Toyota a 'departure'
- Jens: Honda has to Challenge for '09 title