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.

  Tony Fernandes also sees him as a future full time pilot for the Caterham F1 Team, because as he said he was watching Van der Garde career very closely for some time now: "He is a very exciting prospect that we have been monitoring since the early days of our team, and we are all looking forward to seeing how he can help us develop throughout the season as we take our next steps towards the established midfield teams ahead," Tony also added: "His performances in GP2, particularly in 2011, mark Giedo out as one of motorsport’s brightest prospects, and securing him as reserve driver is a real coup for our team."

  Keeping this declarations in mind it seems that Vitaly Petrov is left to linger and search for some other team to offer he’s services as a 3rd pilot. With less than 4 days before the official tests begin many teams have not presented a 3rd pilot and given the circumstances a third role is better than nothing.

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.

  The two teams that will suffer the longest delay are HRT F1 Team (no surprise here) and Marussia Racing, and it seems that both teams are struggling to put together the 2012 car, and while Marussia has a solid working base HRT is keep relocating itself, first from Germany to Valencia and then in the middle of the process a decision was made to move to Madrid complicating further the construction of the car.

  Another interesting thing is the Mercedes engine that will be supplied this year, with McLaren and Mercedes AMG Petronas sharing same engine Mercedes FO108Y while Sahara Force India will receive a slightly different one Mercedes FO108.

 Here is the full schedule for all cars launches that will compete in 2012 Formula1 Championship:

The Lotus driver said after the two training days: “It went well today and overall the two days have been helped me a lot. Even though I was using a two year-old car and the Pirelli demonstration tires, I learnt about working with the team and the engineers which means I can focus on the new car once we get to Jerez for the first official test. It was great to be driving an F1 car again and from that respect I feel very positive.”

Also Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Engineer of Lotus added: “We enjoyed another good day with Kimi in Valencia. The morning was spent doing setup work in particular with front and rear cambers. In the afternoon we ran very low fuel qualifying simulations with two new sets of tires followed by a 27 lap run starting with a full tank of fuel. Kimi’s pace improved from yesterday as we would expect and we completed several start, pitstop and clutch simulations. We were even able to finish early as we completed our programme ahead of time. Overall it has been a productive and valuable two days.”

Here are some high-def pictures from the testing days, all images (C) Lotus F1:

Kubica, who is 27 years old now, was taken to hospital and the X-rays scans revealed  that he’d re-opened the fracture in his right tibia that he sustained in his rally crash 11 months ago. Meanwhile he was transferred to the same hospital where he did all the operations and the treatment after he’s horrific rally crash.

Kubica was understood to be facing several months of recuperation after undergoing operations to repair the damage to his partially severed right forearm and numerous fractures to his right elbow, shoulder and leg, this new fracture is believed to set back he’s recuperation schedule with at least 3 weeks.

The accident will no doubt came as a huge blow to Kubica who has already been replaced by Kimi Raikkonen at Lotus Renault this season, despite effectively being dropped by Lotus, Kubica hadn’t given up hope of returning to the grid in 2012 with reports suggesting he could replace Felipe Massa if the Brazilian fails to find his form this term, but Stefano Domenicali has play down those rumors, in addition, Red Bull have also been linked with a move for Kubica for 2013 should they decide to part company with veteran Mark Webber when the Australian’s contract expires at the end of next season.

Info: Dailymail.co.uk

Here is the game trailer:

Get registered and Have Fun !!!

Let’s face it, the financial rewards alone of making a breakthrough into arguably the most lucrative sport of all is reason enough to want to get behind the wheel of super car. You can’t imagine the likes of Mark Webber desperately counting down the days to pay day at the end of the month, raiding the bargain bin down at his local supermarket or going through the annual rigmarole of trying to find cheap car insurance like the rest of us.

Most wannabe F1 drivers start out on the karting scene. Lewis Hamilton, for example, took up the sport at the age of just eight and went on to be crowned F1 champion just over a decade later.

There are plenty of karting tracks around if you have a child who is interested in making a name for themselves on four wheels or if you think you have what it takes to make it in probably the most demanding sport around. Join a karting team and compete in competitions on local and national level.

Luck also a huge part to play in someone fulfilling their lifelong dream of becoming an F1 star, as former world champion Nigel Mansell has pointed out.

“Motorsport is a roulette wheel,” said Mansell in an interview with the BBC.

“It’s very tough, and sometimes even the most talented individuals will not be able to keep going in the sport.”

And even if you’re fortunate enough to get snapped up by an F1 team, staying in the sport is also immensely difficult, according to Mansell.

He added: “I was one of the lucky ones. But opportunities can be limited.

“You could get an amount of money together, race for one or two seasons in motorsport, but if you haven’t made a position or a name for yourself then you can fade away.”

While there’s plenty of money to be made in F1, getting into the sport can also cost a pretty penny. In fact, it’ll cost you somewhere in the region of £400,000 to get a ride in British F3 for a season. The likes of Ayrton Senna and Jackie Stewart both made a name for themselves in F3 before progressing through the ranks to reach the pinnacle of F1.

Consistency is the key no matter what level you race at. Do the basics well and show your composure under pressure and hopefully the lucky breaks will come your way. Find out about the different schemes that the various F1 teams operate aimed at nurturing the best young talent and learn about what the application process involves.

Perhaps enlist the help of an agent who may have a few useful contacts in the motorsport industry to help you on your way and also think carefully about raising the cash needed to start a motorsport career. If things go well and you start to make a bit of money then you’ll probably end up buying a decent road car as well so remember to get performance car insurance to protect your investment.

There are many hurdles to overcome in order to become an F1 driver, but find the right combination between luck, determination and talent and the dream could become a reality.

MSM

Japanese GP Race results:

Image (C) Formula1.com