It is a well-known fact that Nick Heidfeld will now be deputising for the injured Robert Kubica in the Renault for the foreseeable future. Having impressed the Renault hierarchy it seemed like a natural choice, and once again it gives Heidfeld a chance to show what he can do in an F1 car. But it isn’t the first time that ‘Quick Nick’ has found himself securing a drive while being a free agent. Here I look at the other times when Nick has came out of the dark and back into the F1 spotlight.
As ever in Formula 1, a new season means new rules, regulations, and changes all round. We had the OZ opener in Melbourne, but it is not clear what affect the changes had. Australia's Albert Park Circuit is not a standard circuit and that makes it difficult to judge the effects of technical changes. But Malaysia's Sepang Circuit will be a much more representative test of the new rules. Gone are Bridgestone, F-Ducts and shark fins. And in are Pirelli tyres, KERS, and moveable rear wings. Here we take a quick look at the changes in Formula 1 this year.
Pirelli Tyres
Perhaps the biggest change that will affect the racing is the change from Bridgestone to Pirelli tyres. The Italian firm has made it’s rubber softer than last season’s tyres, meaning that tyre degradation will be higher and more pit stops will be required. We've seen in testing that lap times increased by around 3secs on a long stint on the tyres, so if the same occurs in races this season expect some different strategies than usual. This was not evident in Melbourne, but Malaysia's Sepang circuit is much different and far more demanding.
Circuit Name: Albert Park Circuit
Laps: 58
Lap Record: Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari – 1min 24.125 (2004)
Where is the circuit?
The Albert Park circuit is situated, funnily enough, in Albert Park in the heart of Melbourne. It is officially known as the Melbourne Grand Prix circuit, but is more commonly known after the park it is situated in. The park is situated just a few miles outside downtown Melbourne, making getting to the race easy for everyone, with cars, buses and even trams being used as transport for the race.
What about the track stats?
The circuit length is 3.3 miles (5.303km), and runs in a clockwise direction. It is 16 turns in total, with 10 right handers and 6 left hand corners, and a top speed going into Turn 1 of around 185mph. Lap times last year were around the 1min 27secs mark, but with higher tyre degradation and the moveable rear wing this year expect them to fluctuate throughout the race.
What type of circuit is it?
Although it appears to be permanent, Albert Park is in fact a street circuit, with the tarmac serving as public roads for the other 51 weeks of the year. It is a medium-speed circuit, and has a mixture of low, medium and high speed corners. It tends to be a circuit that all the drivers enjoy driving.
Continue reading "Australia Track Guide - By Paul_Murtagh" »
Circuit Name: Yas Marina Circuit
Laps: 55
Lap Record: Sebastien Vettel (Red Bull) 1min 40.279secs - 2009
Where is the circuit?
The Yas Marina circuit is based on Yas Island, a man-made island near the capital of the UAE, Abu Dhabi. It is part of a large business park that includes the Yas Island hotel, which spans over the circuit, and Ferrari World theme park.
What about the track stats?
The circuit is 3.45 miles (5.554km) long, and like the previous circuit at Interlagos is run in an anti-clockwise direction. Like other recent Tilke circuits, it has a high number of corners – 21 in total – with 12 left hand turns and 9 right hand turns. It also has a unique pit lane exit, which runs underneath Turn 1 and rejoins the track at Turn 3
Continue reading "Abu Dhabi Track Guide - By Paul_Murtagh" »
Sunday November 2nd 2008. Not exactly a date that sticks out in your memory is it? But for everyone who witnessed it, the events of that day will stick in the memory for years to come.
The event I am referring to is the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, the 18th and final round of that year’s world championship. For the third season in a row, the championship had come down to a final race decider, and for the fourth season running it would be decided at the Autodromo Carlos Pace circuit (better known as Interlagos) in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Fighting for the title was Brazilian Felipe Massa, who was bidding to become the first driver to win the title at his home race since Giuseppe Farina in 1950, and Lewis Hamilton, who was aiming to become Formula 1’s youngest-ever world champion. No matter what history would be created, and this race was to go down as one of the most exciting ever.
Continue reading "The Greatest of All-Time? - By Paul_Murtagh" »
Circuit Name: Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace
Laps: 71
Lap Record: Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams) 1min 11.473secs - 2004
Where is the circuit?
The Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace circuit is based in the Interlagos region of Sao Paulo, and is often named after the neighbourhodd that it is situated in. The name ‘Interlagos’ means ‘Between the Lakes’ in Portugese
What about the track stats?
The circuit is 2.676 miles (4.309km) long and is run in an anti-clockwise direction, putting tremendous strain on the driver’s necks. It has an official total of 15 corners overall, with 9 left hand turns and 6 right hand turns. It also has the longest pit lane currently in F1.
Continue reading "Interlagos Track Guide - By Paul_Murtagh" »
Circuit Name: Korean International Circuit
Laps: 55
Lap Record: N/A
Where is the circuit?
The brand new Korean International Circuit is based in the South Jeolla region of Korea, 400 kilometers south of the capital city Seoul.
What about the track stats?
The circuit will be 3.492 miles (5.621km) long and will become the fifth circuit on the Formula 1 calendar to run anti-clockwise – the other 4 being Istanbul, Singapore, Interlagos and Abu Dhabi.
What type of circuit is it?
The circuit will be a part-permanent, part-temporary circuit, but unusually for this type of circuit the temporary section will be based around the pit and paddock complex around the harbour.
What about its history?
Korea has no previous Formula 1 history, therefore this will be the first F1 race to be held in the country. The country has, however, hosted an international F3 race between 1999 and 2003 on a temporary street circuit in Changwon.
Which corners will challenge the drivers?
As we have no data at all from which to look at, we can only guess which corners will be challenging. From looking at the circuit map, it looks like the section betweens Turns 6 to 10 may be fast and give the drivers a challenge, but until the drivers drive the track we do not know.
What are the chances of a first corner incident?
From the circuit map it does look tight, but not too tight so there may not be a high chance of a first corner incident. And if it follows the example of recent new circuits and has tarmac run-off areas, then the drivers have an escape route should they get into any trouble.
And safety cars?
Once again we do not know what chances there is of a safety car until the drivers begin to drive the circuit. What may cause safety car periods is the driver’s unfamiliarity with the circuit, although by the race on Sunday I believe the drivers will have overcome this.
Where are the overtaking spots?
From looking at the circuit map, there appears to be two overtaking spots on the circuit. The first is down into Turn 1, as the drivers should carry good speed through the final few turns. The second appears to be at the end of the long back straight into Turn 3 as the drivers should be hitting their top speed just before this corner. However, we will wait and see if this is the case.
What about tyre wear and brake wear?
Again this is unknown. There may be some tyre wear on Friday as the drivers ‘clean’ the circuit and put rubber down on the track, but we do not know how they perform during the race.
And pit stops?
Again unknown as we do not know how the tyres will stand up. Should the tyres not give too much trouble during practice, then the teams will probably go with the norm and only stop the once.
A lap of the new circuit onboard with Karun Chandhok in the Red Bull
This weekend sees the debut of yet another country on the Formula 1 calendar, as Korea host it’s first-ever F1 grand prix. It is the latest in a long line of new circuits and countries to join Formula 1, and there has been a mixed reponse over the years.
There have been in total 10 brand new circuits introduced to the Formula 1 calendar since 1997, discounting the circuit changes at the likes of Silverstone, Monza, Hockenheim, Nurburgring and the Hungaroring. The majority of these new circuits have been solely the project of renowned F1 architect Herman Tilke, and all appear to have followed the same pattern of state of the art facilities, wide circuits and an overtaking spot. But while many people believe that the first Tilke circuit appeared in F1 in 1999, it in fact first appeared in 1997, when F1 returned to Austria for the first time in 10 years. The Osterreichring, once regarded as the greatest circuit in F1, had been reprofiled and reshaped, and the new circuit had been renamed the A1 Ring. While it bore a resemblance to the previous circuit, it was never really popular with the F1 fraternity and only lasted until 2003, when it held its last grand prix.
Continue reading "Yet Another New Circuit - By Paul_Murtagh" »
Circuit Name: Suzuka Circuit
Laps: 53
Lap Record: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) 1min 31.540secs - 2005
Where is the circuit?
The Suzuka circuit is based in the Mie area, which is based in the southern part of Central Japan on the country’s main island.
What about the track stats?
The circuit’s length is 3.609 miles (5.807km) long, and is Formula 1’s only figure of 8 circuit, meaning the circuit runs both clockwise and anti-clockwise. There is a total of 18 corners, with an equal number of right and left hand corners.
Circuit Name: Marina Bay Street Circuit
Laps: 61
Lap Record: Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1min 45.599secs - 2008
Where is the circuit?
The Singapore Grand Prix is held on a temporary circuit around the Marina Bay section of Singapore, in the southern part of Singapore.
Continue reading "Singapore Track Guide - By Paul_Murtagh" »
Circuit Name: Autodromo Nationale Monza
Laps: 53
Lap Record: Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) 1min 21.046secs - 2004
Where is the circuit?
The legendary Autodromo Nationale Monza is based in a large parkland just outside the town of Monza, to the north of Milan in Northern Italy.
What about the track stats?
The current grand prix circuit’s length sits at 3.6 miles (5.793 km), and is run in a clockwise direction. It officially has 11 corners, but with many of these being run through a chicane, many of the teams and drivers often believe that the circuit only has 4 corners and 3 chicanes (look at circuit diagram above to understand why).
Circuit Name: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Laps: 44
Lap Record: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) 1min 45.108secs – 2004
Where is the circuit?
The legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit is located between the villages of Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot, in the south-east region of Belgium.
What about the track stats?
The circuit is currently the longest circuit on the Formula 1 calendar. It is currently 4.352 miles (7km) long and runs in a clockwise direction. It officially has a total of 19 corners, with 9 right handers and 10 left handers – unusual for a clockwise circuit as they usually have more right hand turns.
Last week we had the long-awaited press conference concerning the scheduled USGP to be held in Austin, Texas from 2012 onwards. It will be F1’s third attempt at trying to succeed in the USA, and so far it has been a story of success and failure.
America first appeared on the Formula 1 calendar back during the inaugural championship in 1950, but this wasn’t the first world championship grand prix in the country. The race that appeared was the world-famous Indianapolis 500, and as this was a race in it’s own right it did not receive the title of ‘Grand Prix’. But it did count towards the final points total in the championship until 1960, and several American drivers became part of a handful of drivers to win a Formula 1 race but not a ‘Grand Prix'. Occasionally some full-time Formula 1 drivers would take part, including double world champion Alberto Ascari, but the race was mainly participated in by the American racers.
The first official United States Grand Prix took place in 1959 at the Sebring circuit in Florida, which is now best-known for the 12 Hours of Sebring sportscar race. It is often remembered for two reasons. Firstly, Bruce McLaren became, at that time, the youngest winner of a Formula 1 Grand Prix at the age of 22 years 80 days (his record would not be broken until Fernando Alonso won the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2003). The second memorable incident was championship leader Jack Brabham braking down on the final lap, and as a result he had to push his car over the line to finish. In doing so, he finished 4th and took the points needed for his first world title.
However, the promoters of the race just about broke even with the costs of the event, and decided not to continue with the event.
Continue reading "The USGP – A Chequered Past – By Paul_Murtagh" »
Where is the circuit?
The Hungaroring circuit is in the Mogyorad area, around 18km to the north of Budapest. It has built into a shallow valley, giving great spectating areas.
What about the track stats?
The circuit length is 2.722 miles (4.381km), and runs in a clockwise direction. It is 14 turns in total, with 8 right handers and 6 left hand corners, and a top speed going into Turn 1 of around 185mph. Lap times last year were around the 1min 22secs mark last season, so expect them to be hitting this pace towards the end of the race.
What type of circuit is it?
Like the majority of the circuits in F1, it is a permanent racing circuit. But unlike the other circuits it is a low speed circuit which requires high downforce. As it is rarely used during the year, it is also a very dusty circuit which gets faster over the weekend than nearly every other permanent circuit on the calendar.
Where is the circuit?
The Hockenheimring circuit, to give it’s official title, is based in the Baden-Wurttemberg region of northwest Germany. The circuit itself is actually based just to the East of the town of Hockenheim, on the other side of the E50 Autobahn.
What about the track stats?
The current form of the circuit is the third to exist. The previous two were known as fast circuits with high speeds, but the current version is slower. It is 2.842 miles (4.574km) long, and like many other circuits runs clockwise. The circuit has 13 turns in total, with 9 right hand corners and 4 left handers.
Continue reading "Hockenheim Track Guide - By Paul_Murtagh" »
Best Start of the year:
I have decided to go with Sebastien Vettel at Monaco, although there was other contenders. With his team-mate on pole and Kubica alongside, Vettel had to get past the Renault into the first corner if he was to have any chance of challenging his team-mate during the race. He did so, and although he wasn’t able to challenge Webber during the race, his start meant that Red Bull took a one-two at the most prestigious race of the season
Qualifier of the year:
Once again I have gone with Vettel. Despite his team-mate scoring three poles in a row between Spain and Turkey, Vettel has been the better qualifier. Four pole positions and two more front row starts mean he has an average qualifying position of 2nd place over the course of the season. A special mention also goes to Kamui Kobayashi who has managed to drag his Sauber into the top 10 of qualifying three times this season.
Qualifying Lap of the year:
My pick is Hamilton’s pole lap in Montreal. Up until that point, Red Bull had been unbeatable in qualifying and had took pole at every race, and with seconds to go it was Mark Webber on pole. But Hamilton pulled out a great lap to claim his first pole of the season, which set him up nicely for a win. A mention as well to Heikki Kovalainen, who so nearly beat the Saubers in qualifying for the same race, showing just how far Lotus have come this season.
Continue reading "Mid-Season Winners and Losers - By Paul_Murtagh" »
Where is the circuit?
The Silverstone circuit is named after the village that it is based in, in rural Northamptonshire near Milton Keynes.
What about the track stats?
The newly-revamped Silverstone has been made longer, with the track length extending by nearly half a mile to 3.667 miles (5.901km). Like many other circuits, it is a clockwise circuit with a total of 18 turns, with 10 right-hand corners and 8 left handers.
Continue reading "Silverstone Track Guide - By Paul_Murtagh" »
Recent Comments