2013 F1 Grand Prix Season

[TBWG]

 

Well folks despite hardly anybody else posting in the 2012 season thread it managed to clock up over 11,000 views so someone must appreciate my plagiarism of other peoples work!

So I have decided to continue my selfless task and plug on giving you the benefit of my limited, biased knowledge. Secure in the knowledge that all I have to is mention US gun ownership to either get people off my back or increase the views by several hundred thousand.

Well lets get going and hope for a 2013 season as exciting as 2012!


TBWG

[TBWG]

The 2013 grid according to TBWG




Red Bull         Sebastian Vettel        Mark Webber

McLaren        Jenson Button             Sergio Perez

Ferrari              Fernando Alonso        Phillipe Massa

Mercedes         Nico Rosberg             Lewis Hamilton

Lotus Renault       Kimi Raikkonen        Romain Grosjean            

Force India          Paul DiResta             ?

Sauber               Nico Hulkenberg        Esteban Gutierrez

Scuderia Lollo Rosso Daniel Ricciardo    Jean-Eric Vergne                       

Williams             Pastor Maldonado      Valtteri Bottas

Caterham F1        Heikki Kovalainen?    Charles Pic

Maurussia          Timo Glock               Max Chilton


Well with Force India still phaffing about over the second driver and Caterham still not confirming Heikki it remains to be seen who is in the cockpit at Melbourne? However Slasher Sutil’s  name keeps popping up for the Indian team, time will tell.

In the meantime HRT slip into the history books.
 


TBWG

[TBWG]

 

FIA announces 2013 calendar

Following a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) in Istanbul, Turkey , Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, has revealed revisions to the 2013 calendar.

The German round has been moved forward a week to July 7, and an additional date of July 21 has been reserved for another F1 European event, subject to the approval of the relevant national sporting authorities (ASNs).

The 2013 calendar in full:
17/03 Australia
24/03 Malaysia
14/04 China
21/04 Bahrain
12/05 Spain
26/05 Monaco
09/06 Canada
30/06 Great Britain
07/07 Germany
21/07 Reserved for another European event*
28/07 Hungary
25/08 Belgium
08/09 Italy
22/09 Singapore
06/10 Korea
13/10 Japan
27/10 India
03/11 Abu Dhabi
17/11 USA
24/11 Brazil
*subject to the approval of the relevant ASNs

TBWG

[F1ART]

Your tireless work is always appreciated 

[TBWG]

Sekret Tageblog: Schumi's 2013 Plans
Monday 7th January 2013


Hello my tifosis and tifosich, welcome to the new 2013. It was suggested that it would be good to send out a letter telling people my plans for the year around about the time of the Autosport International Show in Nec, which is near Birmingham.

What does the year hold in store for The Schum you may be questioning, now that I have parked my helmet for the final time.

For a start I am packing away all the nice retirement presents given to me at the end of the season. Kamui Kobayashi gave me a signed front wing, which was a nice touch. Possibly the nicest touch I have had from him. Nico Rosberg bought me a zimmer frame and some false teeth and Ross Brawn bought me an 8' x 6' apex shed and a subscription to Practical Woodworking magazine.

It was an interesting three years I am having on my return to F1. It was a great change for me to be the underdog in many races. You see for most of my time at Ferrari I was the overdog and expected to win. But even though I did not win for Mercedes, I enjoyed my final season; making a pole in Monaco and reaching a podium in Valencia. Also I have been able to race on many new tracks such as Texas, India, Korea, Singapore, Abu Dhabi and 9.87% of Silverstone.

Since I stopped racing I have had many suggestions to new careers. Somebody said I could put on my Deutches Vermogensberatung cap and wander round the F1 paddock looking vaguely lost - the job Nikki Lauda does for German television. I have had many more suggestions also.

Bernie told me that I would be perfect for an ambassadorial role. He said to me that because I liked going to the USA so many times, I could help promote the race across America as well as the new Austin circuit. He said I would be the Austin Ambassador. After saying this he laughed very heartily so I am suspecting there is a joke in there somewhere.

I have many marketing enterprises poked in my direction. I sit in a lot of meetings with "creatives" - these are mostly men with broken shavers who dress like tramps, but smell like Christina Aguilera - and listen to their clean slate/blue sky thinking. During my time in F1 I was becoming well known for travelling everywhere around the paddock by scooter. A new company wants to make a compact electric scooter and call it the Zoomy Schumi. We shall see.

Perhaps I can feature it in my new television programme. You are probably seeing in England a programme called the Top Gear (in fact I was revealed as The Stig one time). I have an idea that I should host the German Top Gear. In the format Norbert Haug could play the James May character, the fat know-it-all who loves talking endlessly about technical matters but doesn't drive very fast - we will call him Herr Doktor Slow.

We can make many humorous jokes about Norbert being too fat to fit in the cars, or his weight slowing them down. This will be good.

For the Richard Hammond character I think we could use Nick Heidfeld. He is also very small (but quite honestly and obviously not as vain) and we can be making many jokes about his size, such as putting a booster seat in his car and him not being able to see over the steering wheel. I would play the Jeremy Clarkson part. I don't think I will be able to be as funny or as argumentative, but at least I wouldn't let a woman beat me round the old Nurburgring.

Yes, so many suggestions. Be the Pirelli tester Michael, advertise this new product Michael, develop a new range of smart-but-casual leisurewear Michael - but the thing that appeals most is an idea to work on a new supercar from Mercedes. That would certainly be a lot of nice fun. And do you know what I am thinking, we can possibly surpass our achievements with the Fiat Stilo Schumacher - that was a car that made everyone look like Herr Doktor Slow.

Many thanks for all your messages of support and we will speak soon.

The Schum 

[TBWG]

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[TBWG]

Glock out at Marussia – confirmed

January 21, 2013 by Joe Saward

The Marussia F1 Team and its race driver Timo Glock have agreed to part company with immediate effect, by mutual consent. The 30 year old German has been with the team since the start in 2009 and has played an important role in the development of the team.

“Our Team was founded on the principle of benefiting from proven experience whilst also providing opportunities for young emerging talent to progress to the pinnacle of motorsport,” said John Booth. “Thus far, this philosophy has also been reflected in our commercial model. The ongoing challenges facing the industry mean that we have had to take steps to secure our long-term future. Tough economic conditions prevail and the commercial landscape is difficult for everyone, Formula 1 teams included.”

In other words, Glock – a paid driver – has been asked to stand down to make way for a pay-driver.

“I would like to wish the team good luck in navigating this next period and thank everyone for the great times we shared and the support I have received,” said Timo. “Although it is not the path I expected to be taking, I am in fact very excited about what the future holds in terms of my own career and I hope to comment on that very soon.”

Glock will test a Mercedes DTM car later this week in Spain.

TBWG

[TBWG]

Luiz Razia to get Marussia drive?

by Joe Saward

The word on the street in Brazil is that Luiz Razia will be racing the second Marussia this season, alongside Max Chilton. The news is yet to be confirmed but Razia is known to have been one of the drivers negotiating with the team and with Caterham in recent weeks. The suggestion we are hearing is that Caterham will end up employing Dutchman Giedo Van der Garde. Both drivers come with sizeable sponsorship packages. If these two deals are confirmed it will mean that only seat is left in f1 for this year: the second Force India, which is now expected to go to France's Jules Bianchi.

If this happens it will mean that Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov will both be out of F1. The arrival of Razia strengthens Brazilian interest in the sport, which now largely relies on Felipe Massa, but we hear that Rubens Barrichello could be making a comeback in 2013 in F1 as a commentator for Brazilian TV. The longtime F1 star raced IndyCars last year but is now doing only the Brazilian stock car series, but he will be able to do a number of races, presumably working alongside the longtime commentator Luciano Burti, another ex-F1 driver

TBWG

[TBWG]

   
The F1 jigsaw puzzle falling into place

by Joe Saward

With Luiz Razia now confirming that he has a deal to race for Marussia F1 in 2013, and an announcement expected this afternoon, and a Giedo Van der Garde press conference in Amsterdam within the next hour, it is safe to say that the Dutchman has a deal with Caterham F1. This means that the only gap in the F1 driver line-up is the second Force India and the only logical explanation for this is that the team is waiting to find out what is on offer from the Ferrari to get them to agree to put test driver Jules Bianchi in the second Force India. Bianchi is a Ferrari development driver and the Italian team wants him to be trained up by another team and if a deal can be struck with Force India over engines for 2014 (for example), the drive should land in Bianchi's lap.


TBWG

[TBWG]

Comparing the new F1 cars

February 1, 2013 by Joe Saward

Thanks to the miracles of modern technology it is possible to get a fairly decent comparison of the first of the new generation of F1 cars – even for someone with limited computer skills. A bit of resizing and a mirror image of the new Ferrari allows us the opportunity to compare the work of the different technical teams at Lotus, McLaren and Ferrari and their different interpretations of the rules.

The angles are not perfect, but it interesting nonetheless…

[TBWG]

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[TBWG]

Romain Grosjean sets early pace in Jerez F1 test
By Sam Tremayne   Tuesday, February 5th 2013,

Romain Grosjean put Lotus at the top of the timesheets on the opening morning of Formula 1's first pre-season test of 2013 at Jerez.

The Frenchman jumped to the top in the final minutes when he became the first driver to dip below the 1m20s barrier.

His fastest time, a 1m19.796s, put him comfortably clear of Force India's Paul di Resta and Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo.

Di Resta, Force India's only confirmed driver so far for the forthcoming campaign, had himself jumped to the top of the timesheets moments before Grosjean's charge.

Ricciardo as a result found himself shunted from first to third in a matter of minutes. The Australian had set the pace for much of the morning running on Pirelli's new hard compound.

Half a second down the road was Mercedes's Nico Rosberg, whose morning was cut short by an electrical issue which forced him to stop at Turn 11, his car briefly smoking at the rear.

Rosberg had been the pacesetter until that point but was unable to return, ending the morning with just 11 laps under his belt.

That was still more than McLaren's Jenson Button, who suffered his own early maladies.

The Briton stopped out on track just three laps into his programme, bringing out the first red flag. A fuel pump-related issue then kept him sidelined for the rest of the morning.

There were no such complaints for Pastor Maldonado in the 2012-spec Williams FW34, as the Venezuelan completed 52 laps - the most of any driver - and ended the morning in fifth.

On his first day of testing as a Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh fastest, behind Ferrari's Felipe Massa, sixth in the F138.

Mark Webber got Red Bull's third consecutive title defence off to a low-key start as he came home eighth, more than three seconds slower than Grosjean's benchmark.

2013 F1 rookies Giedo van der Garde (Caterham) and Max Chilton (Marussia) rounded out the day's runners, just ahead of Button.

The pair were separated by just 0.182s, although both trailed the pace-setting E21 by more than five seconds.

Morning times

Pos  Driver                Team          Time               Laps
 1.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus         1m19.796s           24
 2.  Paul di Resta         Force India   1m20.343s  +0.547   40
 3.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso    1m20.401s  +0.605   37
 4.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes      1m20.846s  +1.050   11
 5.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams      1m20.864s  +1.068   52
 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari       1m21.024s  +1.228   47
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber        1m21.553s  +1.757   32
 8.  Mark Webber           Red Bull      1m22.959s  +3.163   42
 9.  Giedo van der Garde   Caterham      1m24.994s  +5.198   21
10.  Max Chilton           Marussia      1m25.176s  +5.380   21


TBWG

[TBWG]

 Jerez F1 testing: McLaren's Jenson Button quickest on day one
By Sam Tremayne   

Jenson Button shrugged off early reliability woes to set the pace on the opening day of Formula 1's first pre-season test of 2013 at Jerez.

The Briton's morning ground to a halt after just three exploratory laps due to a fuel-pump failure on his McLaren, and he remained sidelined until the midway point.

A similar problem led to Lewis Hamilton's retirement from the lead of last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Button was eventually able to resume and in the final minutes of the session clocked a 1m18.861s on Pirelli's new hard compound tyres, putting him more than eight tenths clear of the field.

Second was claimed by Mark Webber, after the Australian staged his own late rally following a modest morning in the title-defending Red Bull RB9.

Webber jumped ahead of Romain Grosjean's Lotus with a 1m19.709s, only for Button to trump that almost immediately.

That left morning pacesetter Grosjean in third, Force India's Paul di Resta fourth and Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo fifth, the trio all having set their fastest times in the morning.

Di Resta clocked up more laps than any other driver, his final tally standing at 89.

Felipe Massa managed to improve in the Ferrari F138 and ended the day sixth fastest, albeit 1.6s down on Button.

On his first day testing for Sauber, Nico Hulkenberg was seventh fastest, just ahead of Nico Rosberg and the stricken Mercedes camp.

Rosberg had been setting the pace in the morning but his run - and his day - came to a premature end due to an electrical fault.

Mercedes eventually had to abandon the rest of the day as it waits for new parts. Hamilton is set to test for the first time tomorrow.

Pastor Maldonado, driving the old-spec FW34 Williams, finished just ahead of F1 rookies Giedo van der Garde and Max Chilton.

Chilton went off at Dry Sack shortly after setting his fastest time in the afternoon, with Marussia later identifying a fault with the rear suspension.

TODAY'S TIMES:

Pos  Driver               Team         Time                 Laps
 1.  Jenson Button        McLaren      1m18.861s            37
 2.  Mark Webber          Red Bull     1m19.709s  + 0.848s  73
 3.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus        1m19.796s  + 0.935s  54
 4.  Paul di Resta        Force India  1m20.343s  + 1.482s  89
 5.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso   1m20.401s  + 1.540s  70
 6.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari      1m20.536s  + 1.675s  64
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber       1m20.699s  + 1.838s  79
 8.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes     1m20.846s  + 1.985s  14
 9.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams     1m20.864s  + 2.003s  84
10.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham     1m21.915s  + 3.054s  64
11.  Max Chilton          Marussia     1m24.176s  + 5.315s  29

TBWG

[TBWG]

Jerez F1 testing: Romain Grosjean leads second morning for Lotus

By Sam Tremayne   Wednesday, February 6th 2013,


Romain Grosjean topped the timesheets while Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes Formula 1 test debut ended in the barriers on the second morning at Jerez.

The Briton had just set his fastest time in the W04, a 1m19.519s, when he slid across the gravel and nosed into the tyres at Dry Sack!?

He was unhurt in the crash, which Mercedes later diagnosed as caused by a rear brake problem.

Hamilton had completed 15 laps at the time - just four more than Nico Rosberg managed for the squad before he was forced to abandon his opening day programme due to an electrical issue.

Hamilton's crash caused one of three red flags, with Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso stopping early on and Luiz Razia - confirmed as Marussia's second driver for 2013 - slowing to a halt on the main straight in the final minutes.

As he did so Grosjean, who was already fastest, set a new overall best at Jerez in the Lotus E21.

The Frenchman clocked a 1m18.828s, some three hundredths of a second faster than Jenson Button's day one benchmark in the McLaren.

Force India's Paul di Resta also found late gains, moving up into second position in the final minutes of the morning.

The Briton will hand control of the VJM06 to the team's simulator driver James Rossiter this afternoon.

Toro Rosso's Ricciardo beat compatriot Mark Webber's Red Bull to third, the pair separated by less than a quarter of a second.

On his second day for Sauber Nico Hulkenberg finished fifth fastest, fractions ahead of Hamilton in the stricken W04.

Sergio Perez was less than six hundredths of a second down the road from Hamilton – the man he replaced at McLaren – on what was his first day of testing the MP4-28.

Ferrari spent much of its morning on evaluative runs, with Felipe Massa eventually ending the second morning in eighth position, just over one second off Grosjean.

On his second day for Caterham, Giedo van der Garde fell one thousandth short of matching his best time Tuesday, but still did enough to edge out Marussia debutant Razia and Pastor Maldonado in the 2012-spec Williams FW34.



TODAY'S TIMES SO FAR

Pos  Driver               Team        Time                 Laps
 1.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus       1m18.828s            45
 2.  Paul di Resta        Force India 1m19.003s  + 0.175s  59
 3.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso  1m19.134s  + 0.306s  41
 4.  Mark Webber          Red Bull    1m19.338s  + 0.510s  46
 5.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber      1m19.502s  + 0.674s  40
 6.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes    1m19.519s  + 0.691s  15
 7.  Sergio Perez         McLaren     1m19.572s  + 0.744s  38
 8.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari     1m19.914s  + 1.086s  33
 9.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham    1m21.916s  + 3.088s  33
10.  Luiz Razia           Marussia    1m23.537s  + 4.709s  31
11.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams    1m27.124s  + 8.296s  7

TBWG

[TBWG]

Romain Grosjean set the pace on Day Two at Jerez, however, it was the plight of Mercedes that made headlines.

Having amassed just 11 laps on Tuesday before an electrical problem and the subsequent fire brought an end to Nico Rosberg's day, Lewis Hamilton had hoped for better in his first official day of testing. It was not to be.

After just 15 laps the Mercedes driver suffered a rear brake pressure problem that sent him sliding into the barriers at the Dry Sack hairpin.

The accident damaged the front of Hamilton's W04 and brought his day's running to an end as Mercedes needed time to fix the initial brake issue.

The Brit finished the day down in sixth place on the timesheets, 1.3s behind pace-setter Grosjean.

The Lotus driver, spending his second day behind the wheel of the new E21, clocked a 1:18.218. However, on his last of the day - his 95th - the Frenchman came to a halt betweens Turn 3 and 4 bringing out the red flag.

Paul di Resta was second quickest for Force India, 0.795s off the pace while Daniel Ricciardo was third. The Toro Rosso was also the last to get within a second of Grosjean's P1 time.

"A few more laps today and a bit of a clearer picture of what the STR8 is like," said Ricciardo.

"We completed our programme, with short runs in the morning and longer ones in the afternoon. We also tried the Medium Pirelli, having only used the Hard yesterday, so at least for this circuit, we have established a good compare of the two compounds.

"We ran through several other test items and I think we can be satisfied with the day's work that has produced some useful information."

Mark Webber had a problem-free day in his RB9, finishing fourth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, who was another driver that brought out the red flags. The German stopped his Sauber between Turns 8 and 9 after reportedly running out of fuel.

Hamilton was sixth ahead of his McLaren replacement Sergio Perez, who was in the new MP4-28 for the first tie. The Mexican driver was 1.354s of the pace but three-tenths ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

Times
01. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1m18.218 95 laps
02. Paul di Resta Force India 1m19.003 + 0.785 95 laps
03. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m19.134 + 0.916 83 laps
04. Mark Webber Red Bull 1m19.338 + 1.120 101 laps
05. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1m19.502 + 1.284 99 laps
06. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m19.519 + 1.301 15 laps
07. Sergio Perez McLaren 1m19.572 + 1.354 81 laps
08. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m19.914 + 1.696 78 laps
09. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1m20.693 + 2.475 71 laps
10. James Rossiter Force India 1m21.273 + 3.055 19 laps
11. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1m21.311 + 3.093 88 laps
12. Luiz Razia Marussia 1m23.537 + 5.319 31 laps

                            ===============================================================================
   
Jerez F1 testing: Felipe Massa fastest on third morning
By Glenn Freeman   Thursday, February 7th 2013,

Felipe Massa topped the times on the third morning of Formula 1 testing at Jerez, as he set the fastest time of the week so far.

The Ferrari driver, who will hand over to Pedro de la Rosa for the final day of running, became the first driver to lap under 1m18s this week.

Massa posted a 1m17.879s during a short run on the soft tyre, and then went only marginally slower on a similar run shortly after.

That left the Brazilian more than one second clear of Nico Rosberg, who had a busy morning as Mercedes made up for the time it lost on Monday and Tuesday.

Late improvements from Force India simulator driver James Rossiter and Jenson Button moved them up to third and fourth just before the halfway mark of the day, while world champion Sebastian Vettel was fifth after his first morning in the Red Bull RB9.

Jean-Eric Vergne, Esteban Gutierrez and Valtteri Bottas all got their first track action of 2013, as did 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

The Finn, who moved up to fourth fastest just before 1pm local time, had a quiet morning as the team focused on getting him comfortable in the car.

Charles Pic also spent the first part of his day getting settled in with Caterham, and the Frenchman caused the only red flag of the morning when his car came to a stop shortly after leaving the pits.

Morning times:

Pos  Driver              Team            Time               Laps
 1.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari         1m17.879s           49
 2.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes        1m19.004s  +1.125   69
 3.  James Rossiter      Force India     1m19.303s  +1.424   32
 4.  Kimi Raikkonen      Lotus           1m19.539s  +1.660   23
 5.  Jenson Button       McLaren         1m19.603s  +1.724   28
 6.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull        1m19.676s  +1.797   46
 7.  Jean-Eric Vergne    Toro Rosso      1m19.707s  +1.828   46
 8.  Esteban Gutierrez   Sauber          1m19.995s  +2.116   61
 9.  Valtteri  Bottas    Williams        1m21.578s  +3.699   58
10.  Max Chilton         Marussia        1m23.938s  +6.059   27
11.  Charles Pic         Caterham        1m25.365s  +7.486   28


TBWG