The Formula 1 Blog

  Giedo van der Garde will be the 3rd pilot of the Caterham F1 Team, the rumor was a few weeks before that he might get the last HRT F1 seat, but it seems that he waited a little longer and now he has bean confirmed as the Caterham 3rd driver. Caterham will allow Giedo to run in the tests at the Jerez and on the other preseason test season as well as in the Friday practices during the upcoming Formula1 season.

The 26th year old Dutch man has already a strong career involving the single seaters, in 2012 he finished 5th in the GP2 Championship and back in ‘08 he won Formula1 Renault 3.5. He also made several tests in the past with teams like Force India, Super Aguri and Renault.

  Giedo van der Garde said that he’s very happy to a part of the Caterham F1 Team and he also feels very proud of the new step he’s taken in the development of he’s carrier. Giedo added: “The team is very new and there are many fantastic people here”, the Dutch driver has also only good words about he’s new boss Tony Fernandes: “He’s a very ambitious guy and he brought a lot of good people to help the team and to assure it’s future” Giedo seems to be extremely happy for the moment and he’s also eager to continue he’s development with the car and the new team in the future.

  There is a very positive atmosphere in the Caterham F1 Team and everyone there is assuring us that this year the team will fight for points in every single race if that is going to happened remains to be seen but Giedo seems to think that he’s ready for the big circus and he also has what it takes to be a full time pilot for the team in the future: “”I fell very strong now, I’m in a very good shape physically and mentally” of course what is also contributing to Giedo good vibes about Formula1 is the fact that he already knows many of the drivers that are currently competing in the championship and he kinda feels at “home” here.

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  The first official preseason testing for Formula1 2012 Championship is about to get started at Jerez with 11 teams present and Marussia being the bad student.

  The Spanish circuit officials have issues the running order for the event and only nine cars will be allowed to run for the first time, among the runners Mercedes GP will bring to the test the last year car and their main goal is to test the new Pirelli tyres.

  HRT F1 Team will also be present with the F111 and they want to give Pedro de la Rosa as much running time as possible in order get him fit by the time the season will start.

Official running order is as follows:

  James Key was Sauber’s technical director but he decided to leave the team in order to take “a new role back in the UK”, what that role wound be it was not specified.

   Key has not work long for Sauber (just under two years) and he get there after leaving Force India where he worked since 1998 by the time when the team was still called Jordan. One can say that Key came to Sauber in a bad moment because he arrived when BMW has decided to withdraw from Formula1 and Sauber were downsizing, yet he remain and after almost two year of working in Switzerland James Key confirmed that he will return to UK.

  "I’ve enjoyed the past two years working at the Sauber F1 Team," Key said. "It has been a very intense and interesting time, in which we had to manage the transition from a much larger team to a smaller one, and everybody handled that very well. I think the team is now well set for the future and I wish it the very best. I have been offered a new role back in the UK, which I decided to accept."

  Peter Sauber, the principal thanked Key for he’s contribution to the team and to the new C31 car design, he also added that Key’s responsibilities will be overseen by the heads of the aerodynamics, design, performance and operations departments.

  "A qualified team shares the overall technical responsibility," Sauber said. "This structure has proved to work well at other racing outfits. Over a period of almost two years, James has accomplished a lot for our team. Especially in the difficult transition period from a manufacturer team into a private enterprise, he contributed significantly to ensure the team regained stability. We would like to thank him for his efforts and wish him all the best for his future."

  Soon after we published the first images of the new Ferrari F2012 we made a promise to update that with more informations about the car and also to present to you more picture as they become available. Well this is us keeping that promise.

  The F2012 is the 58th car built by the Scuderia Ferrari to take part in the Formula1 Championship and it’s name is just following the tradition that Ferrari has in order to name the cars after the year of fabrication.

Many of you may have already heard that the name of this year project was also Project 663 or just 663 in short, the code came from Ferrari’s interpretation of the rules that will apply for this year regulations. According to Ferrari this year’s car is a totally new design, and everything has been rethink in order to comply with the new regulations and to improve the aerodynamics. Further more suspension has been completely redesigned to allow a lower gravity center, while the front wing is a evolution of the one that we saw last year in action in the last races.

  Like Caterham CT01 and Force India VJM05 Ferrari’s 2012 challenger also has a step in the nose of the car in order to comply with the new regulations which required a lower nose, but they also did it to be able to lift the backend of the car as much as possible for aerodynamic reasons. F2012 also features repositioned radiators, redesigned gearbox and many other features that set it apart from F150. All those internal modifications led to a much narrower and tapered. The exhaust system was also designed to help the car aerodynamically while the rear wing is very similar with the one used last year. Brakes were redesigned as well in collaboration with Brembo and some optimizations were made.

  The engine was also redesigned, but is an evolution of the engine used last year so no big change was made in powerplant was made, the engine electronics controls have also been remade.  KERS and the rest of the cars electronic systems were upgraded and the main goal was to make all smaller and lot less heavy.

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  This morning was a busy one for the Formula1 fans around the world, as they could watch online the Ferrari’s launch, and the most fortunate ones could go and see the brand new VJM05 being presented by Paul di Resta, Nico Hulkenberg and Jules Bianchi at Silverstone track.

Interviewed by The Sky Sports Paul said: “The momentum we had at the end of last year, hopefully we’ve managed to carry that over but I must say it is a fine piece of art. Hopefully when it gets to track it’ll be able to show what it’s capable of.”

Also about the car Gary Anderson the Autosport technical correspondent said the following: “I’m impressed and, including what I’ve seen of the Ferrari, this looks like the best overall package yet. The car looks very good in all areas. The exhausts are a bit non-commital, but that can change easily.”

Sahara Force India F1 Team has not released much info about the car but we will present to you any updates we might learn as quickly as they will become available but instead Force India was very kind with the pictures of the new car and here are some of the best shots on the new VJM05 challenger and the guys that will drive the new beast:

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  What was just a rumor in the past days has become reality, HRT F1 Team has revealed today that they have signed a contract with Narain Karthikeyan so he will get to drive for the team in 2012 as well.

  The Chennai born pilot will have he’s second year with the team and will start the season alongside Pedro de la Rosa in Melbourne Australia.

  The word is that he team will return to action next week in the first official pre-season test in Jerez, with Pedro de la Rosa as a single pilot. In this way the Spanish team will use the old F111 hopping that new technical team could learn and will be able to understand better the new HRT F112 being constructed. Narain Karthikeyan will be incorporated into the second practice to be held from 21 to 24 February at the Circuit de Catalunya.
  Narain Karthikeyan: "We had to work hard to get this but I am very happy to be part of the grid in 2012 with HRT F1 Team. I was satisfied of our good performance in the Indian GP in front of my home crowd, and, from this result, I hope to move forward in 2012. I’ve been training hard since then to be prepared to face the demands of F1 if the opportunity arose. I am delighted to have signed with HRT F1 Team. With the new direction, Peter and the team, there is potential for progress. We have to understand that F1 is new in India, host our first race last year and was a resounding success. To keep growing, the presence of an Indian pilot will keep interest along the season. I am proud to have the opportunity to forge a stronger connection between the F1 In day and once again "

This morning Ferrari presented it’s new F2012, here a sneak-pic at what the new car looks:

more information and pictures will be presented as they become available.

Images: © Ferrari

  Scuderia Ferrari is on for a “bad” start it seems, after failing to pass FIA’s crash test on it’s 1st attempt the Maranello team was forced to try a second time but this time with success only to see a streak of more “bad luck” continuing to harm the red team in it’s endeavors as the snow decided to interfere with the new F2012 car launch.

  Is not the first time and will not be the last when the weather will interfere with Ferrari’s plans but is certainly a disappointment not to see the official presentation of the car as it should be or the Passion Day event taking place. Ferrari has promised that the F2012 will be presented tomorrow but without the ceremony and the pictures and the interviews will be available to everyone interested thru Ferrari Official Website.

  The situation on site seems to be more than simple since the Italian authorities in the area have deiced to close all the schools (on all levels) until at least 4th of February and the Fiorano track is building up a nice blanket of snow.

  All in all the decision to cancel the presentation seems to be right one since the access of more than 300 people to the Maranello facilities would not have been easy considering the snow and the fact that it continues to fall over the region.

Info & Images: © Ferrari

  The new FW34 from Williams F1 Team will make it’s debut ahead of the official announcement, and will be on the Idiada Circuit situated in Taragona province this Thursday.

  William’s  FW34 will make it’s fist laps on Idiada testing circuit before will be officially presented to the public next Tuesday in Jerez, the word is that the security measures will be tighten in order to prevent any leakage of photo or video materials in the press or on the internet but we remain confident that some spy-pics will emerge, in the same way that autosport.com was able to get a glimpse on Kimi’s first new laps in Formula1.

  Anyway we must take under consideration the meteorological conditions from the circuit and the snow that fell there in the past few days, and even if for now is not much if the weather remains unchanged this session can be postponed or even canceled.

  But we have to remain optimistic and according to the same Spanish websites McLaren can also be present at the same circuit and Oliver Turvey will be the man in charge to take on the circuit the newly presented MP4-27 for the first time and this is not unthinkable because the last year the MP4-26 touched the concrete on the same track before it’s official debut for the 1st Formula1 Championship training so a repetition of the events is highly possible.

Without question Red Bull is the team to beat in 2012. In 2011 Red Bull reigned supreme from the race in Australia and has never let the guard down always maintaining a strong advance to the rest of the competition, which cannot really be called that if we think that Ferrari was only able to win once at Silverstone while McLaren shared the 1st place with Red Bull for another 6 times.

In the closing days of the championship at Ferrari a rumor emerged saying that Ferrari will prepare for 2012 an unbeatable structure and also admitted that will risk a lot more in designing the new car.

  According to Flavio Briatore, Ferrari will start again this year with 2-3 tenths behind Red Bull but if this difference won’t be bigger than that, then Alonso will no doubt be World Champion for the 3rd time in 2012: "Red Bull has a great advantage, and have been working very quietly during these two months. I see Ferrari between 2 and 3 tenths behind the pace of Red Bull. If this is so in the first race, Alonso could win the championship".

  Alonso’s old boss also insisted on the fact that Ferrari needs to give Alonso an competitive car and also stated that is more than obvious that the team must concentrate it’s efforts in the first pilot, “The last championship was disappointing but Felipe Massa is recovering from he’s terrible accident and he always was a fast pilot. Is also important that the second pilot must be in complete harmony with the No. 1 and has to bring he’s contribution to the team. I would not waste much time in thinking who’s the 2nd pilot but I would invest far more in building a competitive car for Alonso because the World Title is won by one pilot alone and this is why I would focus my attention in that pilot”.

  In other words Flavio would risk everything on the Spaniard and considering that he and Alonso shared some glory a few years back he might be onto something, but time will tell and on the positive side there is only a little over one and a half months until the championship will start.