A DREAM START FOR LOTUS RACING IN BAHRAIN

Six months of very hard work finally came to as successful a conclusion as the team could have hoped for on Sunday afternoon in Bahrain, with both Lotus Racing cars finishing the race, Heikki in 15th and Jarno in 17th (provisional positions) in the opening round of the 2010 Formula One™ World Championship.

Jarno Trulli (Lotus Racing chassis T127/3) “I made a good start and avoided the accident at the second corner but found myself in the gravel so at this stage I was nearly last, but then I started picking up pace and catching the people in front. The car was understeering quite a lot and I couldn’t really predict the balance so at the pitstop the team, who did a really good job, changed the front wing setting and I started pushing again and putting in some good laps. At the end of the race I had a hydraulic problem so I just had to get it to the end of the race. I’m really happy and proud for the team because in six months every single target we have fixed we have met so it’s really good, and, as Tony said, one day Lotus will win and I hope to be here when we do.”

Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus Racing chassis T127/1) “It was a good race for our team - to get both cars to the finish is a great achievement. My car didn’t have a single problem, I know Jarno did and managed to nurse his car to the end, but the primary goal was to get both cars to the end and we achieved that. So far the team has reached every goal we set ourselves so that is fantastic. In terms of my race, I had a good start and was battling with a lot of guys we didn’t think we’d be fighting with. My tyres were fine, and the pitstop was good, but I lost a bit of time whilst letting cars past, and we’ll look at the strategy for Australia to work around that better. I really enjoyed driving the car, it felt really good and it was good to push. Everybody in the team should be really happy but now the honeymoon is over and we need to start working on better results.”

Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne said “I’m very very proud of the whole team. Everyone here, and back in Hingham. Firstly I have to say thank you to both drivers. They drove great races – Jarno struggling early on but when he changed to the soft tyre he was much more competitive. Apologies to Heikki because he may have suffered from the strategy, and apologies to Jarno because he had a hydraulics problem and he had to slow down to get the car to the finish, but overall a great result.”

Happiest man of all was Team Principal Tony Fernandes who said “I’m completely over the moon! I cannot describe the feeling. Six months of work and to have both cars finish is just unbelievable. We’re thrilled, we’re happy and the spirit in the team is fantastic. I’m really proud of Jarno and of Heikki and everyone here. It’s a great start and better than I could have dreamt of. We wanted to finish the race and to do so ahead of established teams is fantastic.

“From here we keep going. Before the race Clive Chapman gave me Colin Chapman’s old Lotus cap and said ‘when you win the first race you’ll be the man to throw this up in the air like my Dad used to.’ That meant a lot to me, it was a wonderful gesture and it’s like handing over the mantle of one of motor racing’s great dynasties”

Visitors to the Lotus Racing garage before the race included FIA President Jean Todt and Michelle Yeoh, but the day began with Tony Fernandes giving the team a stirring speech to thank everyone for the hard work so far, and lay out the challenge ahead, saying “The last six months have shown that if you dream you can achieve, but now it’s not about being the best of the new teams, it’s about making a serious challenge for the very top.” With a start like this, who could blame him for pushing for something truly amazing.

2010 F1 Season Starts

Hey everyone and welcome to my blog. Seeing as the F1 season got under way today with the first practice sessions in Bahrain, I thought I would give you all a brief run down on the season. Its all set to be a fantastic year for F1, with new teams, and lots of rule changes. so here is a brief run down on the 2010 F1 Season

Teams and drivers

McLaren

Jenson Button
Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

Michael Schumacher
Nico Rosberg

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel
Mark Webber

Ferrari

Felipe Massa
Fernando Alonso

Williams

Rubens Barrichello
Nico Hulkenberg

Renault

Robert Kubica
Vitaly Petrov

Force India

Adrian Sutil
Vitantonio Liuzzi

Toro Rosso

Sebastien Buemi
Jaime Alguersuari

Lotus F1

Jarno Trulli
Heikki Kovalainen

Hispania Racing Team

Karun Chandhok
Bruno Senna

BMW Sauber

Pedro de la Rosa
Kamui Kobayashi

Virgin Racing

Timo Glock
Lucas di Grassi


2010 F1 Rule changes

Refuelling
The biggest change for the 2010 season is the banning of refuelling during races for the first time since 1993. Pit stops will not become a thing of the past, however, as drivers still have to use both dry-weather tyre compounds during a Grand Prix. Of course, those stops will now be much quicker, quite possibly under four seconds.

The change requires cars to possess a much larger fuel tank - up from around 80 litres to something nearer 250 - and has a major effect on race strategy, with drivers having to pay more attention to tyre and brake conservation. To accommodate the bigger tank, the cars are likely to feature wider rear bodywork and a longer wheelbase. As a result, the weight distribution will be quite different to that of a 2009 car.

Points system
In place of the previous structure, which saw the top eight drivers scoring 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point respectively, from 2010 the top ten finishers in a Grand Prix score points. The change has been introduced as a result of the expanded grid of 13 teams. Under the new system, the race winner takes 25 points, with 18 and 15 being awarded for second and third places respectively. The next seven finishers will score 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point respectively.

Weight
The minimum weight of the car has been raised from 605kg to 620kg. The initial thinking behind this was to offset the disadvantage faced by taller, heavier drivers in KERS-equipped cars (the additional weight of the KERS system meant they were left with less flexibility in terms of weight distribution than their lighter rivals). By mutual agreement, however, teams are now not expected to run KERS in 2010.

Narrower front tyres
When slick tyres returned to Formula One racing in 2009, the tyre size remained unchanged. In terms of contact area, this meant that the fronts gained proportionally more grip than the rears. This has been addressed for 2010, with front tyre width reduced from 270mm to 245mm, thus helping to bring back a better grip balance. Also, the ban on refuelling means cars will be around 100kg heavier at the start of a race than in 2009, so Bridgestone will use slightly harder tyre compounds to compensate.

The number of dry tyres available to each driver has been decreased from 14 to 11 sets per weekend and any driver who participates in Q3 must start the race on the same tyres he used to set his grid time.

No wheel fairings
Teams are no longer allowed to use the wheel rim covers that became so commonplace in 2009. Their removal means one less thing to go wrong when pit crews are trying to change of set of tyres in less than four seconds, and could also aid overtaking by making the airflow immediately behind cars less turbulent.

More teams
Twelve teams - 24 cars - will feature on the grid in 2010. This means a slight alteration to the knockout qualifying session, which will now see seven drivers (as opposed to five) eliminated in Q1 and Q2, leaving ten to fight it out for pole in Q3. The ban on refuelling means that cars will qualify on low fuel in all three phases of the session.

Testing
If a team declares that one of their current race drivers is to be substituted by a driver who has not participated in an F1 race in the two previous calendar years, one day of track testing will now be permitted, on an approved circuit not being used for a Grand Prix in the current season. This is to avoid scenarios such as that seen in 2009 when Jaime Alguersuari made his Formula One debut with Toro Rosso having only previously driven an F1 car in straight-line testing.

In another minor change, teams will be allowed six rather than eight days of straight-line aero testing per season. They will also have the option of substituting any of these days for four hours of wind tunnel testing with a full-scale (rather than the normal 60 percent-scale) model.


Dates for your diary

Bahrain Grand Prix
Sakhir, 12-14 March, 2010
Friday 12 Mar: Practice 1 0700-0830; Practice 2 1100-1230
Sat 13 Mar: Practice 3 0800-0900; Qualifying 1100
Sun 14 Mar: Race 1200


Australian Grand Prix
Albert Park, Melbourne, 26-28 March 2010
Fri 26 Mar: Practice 1 0130-0300; Practice 2 0530-0700
Sat 27 Mar: Practice 3 0300-0400; Qualifying 0600
Sun 28 Mar: Race 0700



Malaysian Grand Prix
Sepang, 2-4 April 2010
Fri 2 Apr: Practice 1 0300-0430; Practice 2 0700-0830
Sat 3 Apr: Practice 3 0600-0700; Qualifying 0900
Sun 4 Apr: Race 0900


Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai, 16-18 April 2010
Fri 16 Apr: Practice 1 0300-0430; Practice 2 0700-0830
Sat 17 Apr: Practice 3 0400-0500; Qualifying 0700
Sun 18 Apr: Race 0800


Spanish Grand Prix
Circuit de Catalunya, 7-9 May 2010
Fri 7 May: Practice 1 0900-1030; Practice 2 1300-1430
Sat 8 May: Practice 3 1000-1100; Qualifying 1300
Sun 9 May: Race 1300


Monaco Grand Prix
Monte Carlo, 13-16 May 2010
Thu 13 May: Practice 1 0900-1030; Practice 2 1300-1430
Sat 15 May: Practice 3 1000-1100; Qualifying 1300
Sun 16 May: Race 1300




Turkish Grand Prix
Istanbul Park, 28-30 May 2010
Fri 28 May: Practice 1 0800-0930; Practice 2 1200-1330
Sat 29 May: Practice 3 0900-1000; Qualifying 1200
Sun 30 May: Race 1300


Canadian Grand Prix
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, 11-13 June 2010
Fri 11 Jun: Practice 1 1500-1630; Practice 2 1900-2030
Sat 12 Jun: Practice 3 1500-1600; Qualifying 1800
Sun 13 Jun: Race 1700


European Grand Prix
Valencia, 25-27 June, 2010
Fri 25 Jun: Practice 1 0900-1030; Practice 2 1300-1430
Sat 26 Jun: Practice 3 1000-1100; Qualifying 1300
Sun 27 Jun: Race 1300


British Grand Prix
Silverstone, 9-11 July, 2010
Fri 9 Jul: Practice 1 1000-1130; Practice 2 1400-1530
Sat 10 Jul: Practice 3 1000-1100; Qualifying 1300
Sun 11 Jul: Race 1300


German Grand Prix
Hockenheim, 23-25 July 2010
Fri 23 Jul: Practice 1 0900-1030; Practice 2 1300-1430
Sat 24 Jul: Practice 3 1000-1100; Qualifying 1300
Sun 25 Jul: Race 1300


Hungarian Grand Prix
Hungaroring, 30 July - 1 August 2010
Fri 30 Jul: Practice 1 0900-1030; Practice 2 1300-1430
Sat 31 Jul: Practice 3 1000-1100; Qualifying 1300
Sun 1 Aug: Race 1300




Belgian Grand Prix
Spa-Francorchamps, 27-29 August 2010
Fri 27 Aug: Practice 1 0900-1030; Practice 2 1300-1430
Sat 28 Aug: Practice 3 1000-1100; Qualifying 1300
Sun 29 Aug: Race 1300


Italian Grand Prix
Monza, 10-12 September 2010
Fri 10 Sep: Practice 1 0900-1030; Practice 2 1300-1430
Sat 11 Sep: Practice 3 1000-1100; Qualifying 1300
Sun 12 Sep: Race 1300


Singapore Grand Prix
Singapore, 24-26 September 2010
Fri 24 Sep: Practice 1 1100-1230; Practice 2 1430-1600
Sat 25 Sep: Practice 3 1200-1300; Qualifying 1500
Sun 26 Sep: Race 1300


Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka, 8-10 October 2010
Fri 8 Oct: Practice 1 0200-0330; Practice 2 0600-0730
Sat 9 Oct: Practice 3 0300-0400; Qualifying 0600
Sun 10 Oct: Race 0700


South Korean Grand Prix
Yeongam, 22-24 October 2010
Fri 22 Oct: Practice 1 0200-0330; Practice 2 0600-0730
Sat 23 Oct: Practice 3 0300-0400; Qualifying 0600
Sun 24 Oct: Race 0700


Brazilian Grand Prix
Interlagos, Sao Paulo, 5-7 November 2010
Fri 5 Nov: Practice 1 1200-1330; Practice 2 1600-1730
Sat 6 Nov: Practice 3 1300-1400; Qualifying 1600
Sun 7 Nov: Race 1600




Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Yas Marina, 12-14 November 2010
Fri 12 Nov: Practice 1 0900-1030; Practice 2 1300-1430
Sat 13 Nov: Practice 3 1000-1100; Qualifying 1300
Sun 14 Nov: Race 1300