Wolf may or may not return

After almost 4 years the wolf is tired and needs a break. The motivation is no longer there. With that also is gone the willingness to voluntarily sacrifice all the time needed to keep the site going. Even that bare minimum of time the wolf devoted to the site in 2010 …

So, after a year of contemplating whether to continue or to stop working on this site the wolf has decided to take an indefinite break from F1Wolf. The wolf may or may not return from the break. I wish the last proper post was something other than the news about Lotusized Renault though …

Thank you all for coming and may be see you again one day !

Wolf is taking a break

Lotus Renault GP 2011 Livery

So, Group Lotus became the equity partner in Renault F1 team after Renault sold its remaining shares to Genii Capital. Renault becomes the engine supplier and technological partner. For obvious historical and financial reasons Renault remains the name of the chassis. The official name of the team however changes to Lotus Renault GP.

Lotus Renault GP already released the artist impression of their 2011 livery – the black on gold one reminiscent of the Team Lotus in JPS era.

Lotus Renault GP logo

All fine and well except there will be another Lotus team, the Team Lotus (known as Lotus Racing in 2010) on the grid next year. Team Lotus will be powered by Renault engines and is listed on the 2011 FIA entry list as Lotus-Renault. Team Lotus (powered by Renault) also plans to run next year in black and gold livery (selected from designs submitted by fans).

So, after having no Lotus cars on grid for 15 years, it does seem there will be four of them in 2011 …

Renault in the meantime announced the creation of Renault Sport F1, the sporting division that will be responsible for Renault’s involvement in Formula 1™ racing as a supplier of engines and technology for the 2011 season and beyond. Renault Sport F1 will supply three teams in 2011, which equates to 25% of the grid.

Renault will be supplying engines to three of the teams on the grid in 2011:

- Lotus Renault GP: Renault will be supplying engines and technological support to Lotus Renault GP, the team that previously competed under the name of Renault F1 Team and with which it won two
world championships in 2005 and 2006.

- Red Bull Racing Renault: the 2010 world champion has been using Renault engines for four
seasons. Demonstrating its confidence in Renault, it has extended the partnership for a further two
years.

- 1 Malaysia Racing Team (UK) Ltd (aka Team Lotus): a new customer for Renault in 2011. This team made its F1 debut in 2010. It has a sound technological base with the Renault engine and Red Bull Technology transmission

With this decision to supply engines to three teams next season, Renault is returning to its core expertise in engine manufacturing and getting ready to meet the challenges of the future, particularly the new engine regulations to be introduced over the next few years.

Here is the full Renault F1 press release:

Genii Capital and Group Lotus plc today announced the creation of Lotus Renault GP, the successor to the Renault F1 Team that will contest the 2011 FIA Formula One™ World Championship. This exciting announcement is made in the context of a strategic alliance between the two companies that will provide Group Lotus with significant technological and commercial opportunities for its range of road cars.

Following the return of the Lotus name to Formula 1™ in 2010, under licence from Group Lotus, this historic announcement marks the complete return of the Lotus manufacturer to the sport, with the full backing of its parent company Proton. Group Lotus plc will become a major equity partner of Genii Capital in Lotus Renault GP, and the two parties have concluded a title sponsorship agreement that will run until the end of the 2017 season. With the continued support of Renault as a supplier of engines and technological and engineering expertise, Lotus Renault GP enjoys a strong, stable platform for future success.

Gerard Lopez, Chairman of Renault F1 Team, commented: “We are delighted that we can now go public with the news that we will be racing as Lotus Renault GP in 2011. It is extremely exciting to begin a new era for the team in partnership with Group Lotus, and we will continue to enjoy a strong relationship with Renault over the coming seasons. It is a tribute to the excellent work this year by the team in Enstone that we have been able to attract both major sponsorship and new investment for a very bright future.”

Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar said: “I can think of no better platform for automotive brand communications than motorsport and F1 is the very pinnacle of open-wheel racing. We’re well aware that there has been a lot of controversy around the usage of our brand in F1 and I’m delighted to be able to formally clarify our position once and for all: we are Lotus and we are back.”

The new partnership has been enabled by Renault selling its remaining shares in the team to Genii Capital. Group Lotus plc will subsequently become a major equity partner in Lotus Renault GP, which it will co-own with Genii Capital.
Renault will continue its strong support of the team with which it won the 2005 and 2006 world championships, as a supplier of engines and technological and engineering expertise. Reflecting this technological support, Lotus Renault GP will continue to compete with the Renault chassis name and Renault will enjoy pre-eminent brand exposure on the livery.

For 2011, the Lotus Renault GP cars will race in a new interpretation of the iconic black and gold colours that were last used when Lotus and Renault joined forces in the 1980s. This livery, which has been on the drawing board for over two months in order to reinterpret its iconic graphic signature to suit modern media requirements, is sure to strike a powerful chord with the sport’s enthusiasts around the world.

The team scored a strong fifth-place finish in the 2010 constructors’ championship, which included three podium finishes for Robert Kubica. Next season, Lotus Renault GP is aiming to take another step forward which will see it competing regularly with the most prestigious names in Formula 1™.

Renault F1 Team becomes Lotus Renault GP, Renault creates Renault Sport F1

Branson, Fernandes and the flight attendant uniform

If I am to participate in the Thursday Thoughts adventure it seems the only way is to convert it to Friday ones. Blame the time difference.

Anyway, here is the topic for this week, Thursday of Friday:

The three new teams made quite an impression on F1 this year. What do you think they brought to the sport? How would the year have been without them? Better or worse?

Maybe the question should be rephrased – Are the new teams welcome and is it OK to have on the grid teams several seconds off the pace ?

And few more questions to follow up – Was F1 better with Toyota after the car maker joined the sport in 2002 ? Were we better off with Minardi and Jordan on the grid (not Eddie himself but the team) or without them after the former was turned into Toro Rosso by Red Bull and the latter metamorphosed to Midland, Spyker and finally Force India ? Was F1 better with or without Super Aguri ?

One thing we should recall is that F1 grid was relatively stable and occupied by established and one can say competitive teams since 1997. Footworks, Fortis, Simteks, Larousses etc all disappeared, Lola’s attempt failed. When you look at the 1997 grid you can see there almost all the teams that raced in F1 at the end of 2009. Yes Benetton turned into Renault, Jordan is now Force India, Stewart is Red Bull, Tyrell is Mercedes, Minardi is Toro Rosso but they are still all there. The only teams genuinely lost between 1997 and 2002 were Prost and Arrows in 2002 although Arrows briefly resurfaced in the form of Super Aguri few years later. The only real addition to the grid in those years was Toyota. But what looked like stability was in fact manufacturers dominated series with budgets spiraling out of control and we know how that house of cards quickly collapsed once the car sales plummeted…

The years of relative stability (economics, technical regulations) brought us to the situation where all the cars were separated by less than two seconds. Just look at the final qualifying session before the major rule changes – the 2008 Brazilian GP – Q1 fastest time by Massa – 1:11.830, slowest by Sutil – 1:13.508. Things got a bit shaken up in 2009 but by the end of the season the gaps between teams were back to the 2008 level, although different teams were on different levels.

When we look back to Toyota’s debut in 2002, the first relevant qualifying session was Malaysia (as Australia was wet). The best Toyota driven by Salo qualified 10th, 2.428s behind pole setting Schumacher’s Ferrari. This was approximately 3 years since one of the largest and richest car manufacturers in the world decided to go into F1, 2 years after they were granted entry and a year later than their original plan. At the same qualifying Heidfeld in 7th place was 1.933s off the pole, both Jaguars were over 3 seconds off the pace, Mark Webber in Minardi 4.188s back just ahead of his hopeless team mate Yoong (+4.892).

Gaps like these were rather normal in F1 less than 10 years ago and these were gaps between cars run (with the exception of Toyota that time) by established teams.

The next new team to appear was Super Aguri in 2006. It does not really make much sense comparing them to current new teams as Super Aguri never really designed and built their own car. They used the 4-years old Arrows chassis before switching to a year old Honda machinery.

Then came the economic downturn, Honda exit, the drive to reduce the cost, the politics, the exits of BMW and Toyota, the budget cap, new entries and all the mess that threatened the existence of F1. Somehow the sense has prevailed. Two out three teams that were to enter F1 under the budget cap regulations made it to the grid even after the budget cap was flushed down the toilet. Another operation managed to build the team and a car from scratch within 9 months.

The result ?

Yes, the new teams were hopelessly off the pace and with no realistic chance to score points or make it to Q3, or even Q2 without others messing up. But they were all well within the standards of F1 in the early years of the millenium, before the car manufacturers turned the F1 economics on its head. Their relative performance was better than that of many of the teams that came and went before 1997. They kept the gap to the top teams rather steady during the season which is amazing achievement given the pace and cost of development at the top of the grid.

They also provided space on the grid for six drivers (or more if we count the merry go round in HRT).

Yes, that was space way back on the grid, but how did Alonso and Webber, the 2010 title contenders, enter F1 ?

Photo: Lotus Racing

Friday Thoughts – Are the New Teams Welcome?

Antonio Pizzonia and Juan Pablo Montoya

Yesterday Williams announced signing of Pastor Maldonado, a Venezuelan driver, to partner Rubens Barrichello, the Brazilian. As a result, Williams will contest the 2011 F1 season with two Latin American drivers. There have been many drivers from Latin America in F1 and Argentina and Brazil also gave the world some World Champions. But having both drivers from that part of the world hasn’t been that common. Here is brief look back to the recent F1 history.

The last time a team had two drivers from Americas was in 2005 when Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) and Felipe Massa (Brazil) raced for Sauber.

The last time a team had both drivers from Latin America was a year earlier, in 2004, when Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) moved up to Williams race seat for final 4 races alongside Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia).

Also in 2004 Brazilians Ricardo Zonta and Cristiano da Matta raced for Toyota. Zonta however entered the picture only after da Matta left, so although they were on the same team they never raced together as team mates. Similar scenario occurred in 2001 at Prost with Gaston Mazzacane (Argentina) and Luciano Burti (Brazil), they never raced together as it was Burti who replaced Mazzacane.

Year 2000 was another year with two drivers from Americas racing for the same team (Villeneuve and Zonta) but one of them was Canadian.

Forti Ford

To find two Latin American drivers racing alongside each other in one for the entire F1 season we need to go back to 1995. A new team entered the F1 circus – Parmalat Forti Ford – with two Brazilians on board – Pedro Diniz and Roberto Moreno.

Roberto Moreno also raced as a team mate of Nelson Piquet for Benetton at the end of 1990 season and in 1991 before replaced by Michael Schumacher in the second half of the season.

In 1984 a Venezuelan driver had a Brazilian team mate, Johnny Cecotto raced alongside Ayrton Senna in Toleman (10 races). That same Cecotto had a Colombian team mate Roberto Guerrero in Theodore racing a year earlier.

Since the late 1979 season Brabham raced with Argentine Ricardo Zunino and Brazilian Nelson Piquet. Zunino was replaced during 1980 season by Mexican Hector Rebaque. The team continued with the same drivers also in 1981.

And that is as far as this post goes in the history .

Last time an F1 team raced with two Latin American drivers…

Pastor Maldonado - 2011 Williams F1 Driver

Williams F1 today confirmed that 2010 GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado will race for the AT&T Williams team in 2011 season. The appointment finalises the team’s line up for next year following confirmation of Rubens Barrichello last month.

“Pastor first caught my eye in 2007 when he drove a masterful race at Monaco. Since then, he has regularly reminded us of his unquestionable talent with some skilful wins, particularly during this year’s GP2 championship, taking an unsurpassed record of six successive victories. Of course, we already know Pastor from the time he spent with the team at the Abu Dhabi test, but we are very much looking forward to developing his talent over the winter and a fruitful season with him next year.” – AT&T Williams Team Principal, Frank Williams

“I feel very privileged that Williams has selected me as one of their race drivers. It is a great way to end what has already been an amazing year for me. I tested with the team in Abu Dhabi, but can’t wait to start working with everyone properly to be in the best possible shape going into next year. I will be doing my best over the winter to prepare myself, and I know the team will be working hard to ensure a successful season. 2011 will be the first time in nearly thirty years that a Venezuelan has driven a Formula One car so I will be looking to get some good results in return for the support my country has given me to help get me to this position today.” – Pastor Maldonado

2011 Formula 1 Drivers – Williams – Maldonado joins Barrichello

FIA logo

FIA issued 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship entry list. Six teams have both drivers listed including Lotus (staying with Trulli and Kovalainen). Renault and Williams still haven’t confirmed team mates for Kubica and Barrichello, while no drivers have been officially confirmed by Force India, Virgin, HRT and surprisingly also Toro Rosso.

Team formerly known as Lotus Racing is listed as Team Lotus with Renault engines, BMW is no longer part of the name of the Sauber team. Here is the November 2010 version of 2011 F1 entry list:

RED BULL RACING (Red Bull Racing Renault)
1. Sebastian VETTEL (DEU)
2 Mark WEBBER (AUS)

VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES (McLaren Mercedes)
3. Jenson BUTTON (GBR)
4. Lewis HAMILTON (GBR)

SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO (Ferrari)
5. Fernando ALONSO (ESP)
6. Felipe MASSA (BRA)

MERCEDES GP PETRONAS F1 TEAM (Mercedes)
7. Michael SCHUMACHER (DEU)
8. Nico ROSBERG (DEU)

RENAULT F1 TEAM (Renault)
9. Robert KUBICA (POL)
10. TBA

AT&T WILLIAMS (Williams Cosworth)
11. Rubens BARRICHELLO (BRA)
12. TBA

FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM (Force India Mercedes)
14. TBA
15. TBA

SAUBER F1 TEAM (Sauber Ferrari)
16. Kamui KOBAYASHI (JPN)
17. Sergio PEREZ MENDOZA (MEX)

SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO (STR Ferrari)
18. TBA
19. TBA

TEAM LOTUS (Lotus Renault)
20. Jarno TRULLI (ITA)
21. Heikki KOVALAINEN (FIN)

HRT F1 TEAM (HRT Cosworth)
22. TBA
23. TBA

MARUSSIA VIRGIN RACING (Virgin Cosworth)
24. TBA
25. TBA

2011 Formula One Entry List (30/11/10 Version)

(click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images)

2010 Macau GP – Photos from Lisboa Corner

Edoardo Mortara celebrating his second Macau GP win in a row

Edoardo Mortara won the 2010 Macau GP Formula 3 race and made history by becoming the first driver to win this race twice. The 23-year-old Italian driver made a strong start from pole position. However, a start line crash resulted in two laps of the safety car and at the restart both Daniel Abt and Laurens Vanthoor slipstreamed Mortara on the long straight. They passed their team-mate before Lisboa corner. Abt however haven’t spent much time inthe lead. He crashed only seconds later and safety car was out for the second time. When it came in, it was Mortara who took advantage and slipstreamed Vanthoor to re-gain the lead. He pulled away and never looked back. Valtteri Bottas closed on Vanthoor but the order at the top hasn’t changed.

Edoardo Mortara - 2010 Macau GP winner

“It feels superb to win again and it’s a great honour for me to be a small part of motorsport history. Every year the competition at this race is really tough. Today was a big challenge. Laurens [Vanthoor] and Valtteri [Bottas] were pushing me really hard. I’ve got quite a lot of experience here and know that if you haven’t got a big gap to the car behind as you exit the last corner, they will overtake you. I thought I had enough when the first safety car came in, but unfortunately that was not the case and they Laurens and Daniel [Abt] passed me right at the end of the straight. Daniel then crashed and he wasn’t moving as we came past the wreck behind the safety car, so I really hope
he’s okay.

At the second restart I got close enough to Laurens on the straight to pass him, and from there I pushed like hell. More than in qualifying. I gave it everything – every corner I was close to touching the wall. I risked it all to create a gap. The best part was seeing my guys cheering from the pitwall as I took the chequered flag. I love my Signature boys. Huge thanks to them and to Volkswagen for giving me a fantastic car and fantastic support. This is a sensational end to the perfect year for us.” – Edoardo Mortara

2010 Macau GP – Formula 3 Race Result:

1. Edoardo MORTARA – Signature – 39:30.753
2. Laurens VANTHOOR – Signature +2.120
3. Valtteri BOTTAS – Prema Powerteam +3.156
4. Marco WITTMANN – Signature +6.230
5. Renger VAN DER ZANDE – Motopark Academy +10.631
6. Antonio DA COSTA – Carlin +13.173
7. Jean-Eric VERGNE – Carlin +16.508
8. Roberto MERHI – Prema Powerteam +19.313
9. Felix ROSENQVIST – Performance Racing +20.343
10. Carlos HUERTAS – Hitech Racing +21.362
11. Felipe NASR – Raikkonen Robertson Racing +22.994
12. Alexandre IMPERATORI – Toda Racing with KCMG +23.926
13. Hideki YAMAUCHI – Hanashima Racing +25.486
14. Jazeman JAAFAR – Carlin +25.989
15. Will BULLER – Fortec Motorsport +31.563
16. Yuji KUNIMOTO – Tom’s +36.143
17. Rafael SUZUKI – Tom’s +36.621
18. Oliver WEBB – Fortec Motorsport +41.413
19. James CALADO – Carlin +41.753
20. Yuhi SEKIGUCHI – Three Bond Racing +46.198
21. Adderly FONG – Sino Vision Racing +46.336
22. Lucas FORESTI – Fortec Motorsport +46.731
23. Hywel LLOYD – CF Racing with Manor Motorsport +49.720
24. Kimiya SATO – Motopark Academy +52.555

Not Classified

4. Daniel ABT – Signature – lap 2
15. Daniel JUNCADELLA – lap 1
14. Rio HARYANTO – Raikkonen Robertson Racing – lap 1
24. Carlos MUNOZ – Hitech Racing – lap 1
13. Michael HO – Raikkonen Robertson Racing – lap 1
11. Alexander SIMS – Raikkonen Robertson Racing – lap 1

Mortara becomes the first driver to win the Macau GP F3 race twice

2010 Macau GP – Friday morning times:

1. Valtteri BOTTAS – Prema Powerteam – 2:11.080
2. Edoardo MORTARA – Signature +0.614
3. Marco WITTMANN – Signature +1.431
4. Carlos HUERTAS – Hitech Racing +1.864
5. Roberto MERHI – Prema Powerteam +1.984
6. Jean-Eric VERGNE – Carlin +2.134
7. Renger VAN DER ZANDE – Motopark Academy +2.201
8. Laurens VANTHOOR – Signature +2.237
9. Alexander SIMS – Raikkonen Robertson Racing +2.473
10. Antonio DA COSTA – Carlin +2.563

11. Felix ROSENQVIST – Performance Racing +2.600
12. Daniel ABT – Signature +2.673
13. Alexandre IMPERATORI – Toda Racing with KCMG +2.782
14. Daniel JUNCADELLA – Prema Powerteam +2.897
15. Yuji KUNIMOTO – Tom’s +2.990
16. Felipe NASR – Raikkonen Robertson Racing +3.031
17. Jazeman JAAFAR – Carlin +3.243
18. Will BULLER – Fortec Motorsport +3.398
19. Yuhi SEKIGUCHI – Three Bond Racing +3.635
20. James CALADO – Carlin +3.670
21. Kimiya SATO – Motopark Academy +3.783
22. Rio HARYANTO – Raikkonen Robertson Racing +4.033
23. Hideki YAMAUCHI – Hanashima Racing +4.039
24. Carlos MUNOZ – Hitech Racing +4.094
25. Oliver WEBB – Fortec Motorsport +4.123
26. Hywel LLOYD – CF Racing with Manor Motorsport +4.530
27. Lucas FORESTI – Fortec Motorsport +4.800
28. Rafael SUZUKI – Tom’s +5.139
29. Adderly FONG – Sino Vision Racing +5.765
30. Michael HO – Raikkonen Robertson Racing +5.876

Valtteri Bottas left it until his final lap to set the quickest time. Bottas and Mortara have topped the timesheets in every session held so far this weekend.

The start of practice had had to be delayed while repairs were made to the track following a crash in an early qualifying session, and F3 team agreed to shorten the originally scheduled 45-minute session down to 30-minutes.

At the midway point of the session, Mortara delivered his best effort to top the timesheets shortly before Rio Haryanto brought out a red flag when he crashed into the barriers on the exit of the final turn.

At the restart, Bottas and Mortara both pushed hard to improve on their times –but it was Bottas who did the best job as he set his best lap on the final lap of the session to end it six-tenths quicker than his closest rival.

Mortara’s Signature team-mate Marco Wittmann was third fastest, ahead of Carlos Huertas – who found out this morning that he has been handed a five-place grid penalty for infringing the yellow flag regulations during Thursday’s first qualifying session.

There were a number of incidents throughout the session, with Carlin’s James Calado crashing at Fishermen’s Bend and Will Buller also brushing the barriers at the same corner. And, as well as Haryanto’s incident, Carlos Munoz went straight on into the barriers at Police.

2010 Macau GP – Formula 3 – Friday free practice

And the winner (looser?) is ...

Nice topic thrown into the air by the nice Sidepodcast people for the first off-season Thursday – Which are your worst three circuits, and what would you do to fix them?

It is not easy to pick only three worst circuits as there are quite a few not so good ones that come to mind – Bahrain, Shanghai, Barcelona, Valencia, Monaco, Hungary, Singapore, Abu Dhabi. Plus add Turkey that has a good track but no one in Turkey cares …

Anyway, here are my top three worst tracks:

1) Shanghai

I would simply get rid of this race. The organizers haven’t managed to attract any decent audience in 7 years of racing, the city is a mess, the organizers too, just drop it. The track itself is not the worst on the calendar but the event itself probably is. I tried hard trying to like it, I went there 4 times… Did not work …

2) Abu Dhabi

What a ridiculous addition to the calendar. Yes, the journalists are singing odes on free internet but all we fans get is a brand new super expensive facility that is perhaps the worst Tilkedrome of them all. Must have been seriously difficult to spend all that money and built so boring track. Dig it up (or at least parts of it) and try again, if possible before the F1 returns next year …

3) Not easy to choose the third one. I decided to use elimination method by finding some positives on the other tracks I listed above. Monaco usually offers boring races but well, it is Monaco. Singapore GP may not be the most exciting race on calendar but it is a great event for fans although you probably have to be there to appreciate. Valencia has a beach 5 minutes walk from the grandstands. Turkey may have no people watching but the track is OK. Bahrain was horrible this year but hopefully things will get better once we are back to the shorter version of the track.

That leaves Barcelona and Hungaroring. I simply can’t come up with any excuse for these two tracks… I declare a tie for 3rd and 4th here. I would either drop them both or require the organizers to build a sprinkler system that will be on during every session …

Thursday Thoughts – Three worst F1 circuits