2011 Formula One World Championship

[purch]

Time to fire up those engines again folks. Testing has commenced in Valencia, with new cars from Team Lotus, Ferrari, (Lotus) Renault, Sauber, Red Bull, Torro Rosso, Mercedes and Williams already launched. The new McLaren MP4/26 is due to be launched tomorrow, so their first test is with a modified 2010 car.

Here is the latest driver line up for 2011:


Red Bull Racing-Renault

Race Drivers
1. Sebastian Vettel (has 2011 contract)
2. Mark Webber (has 2011 contract)

Test drivers
Brendon Hartley (2010 driver)
Daniel Ricciardo (2010 driver)

McLaren-Mercedes

Race drivers
3. Lewis Hamilton (has 2011 contract)
4. Jenson Button (has 2011 contract)

Test drivers
Gary Paffett (2010 driver)

Scuderia Ferrari

Race drivers
5. Fernando Alonso (has 2011 contract)
6. Felipe Massa (has 2011 contract)

Test drivers
Jules Bianchi (has 2011 contract)
Giancarlo Fisichella (2010 driver)
Marc Gené (2010 driver)

Mercedes Grand Prix

Race drivers
7. Michael Schumacher (has 2011 contract)
8. Nico Rosberg (has 2011 contract)

Test driver
Nick Heidfeld (2010 driver)

Renault F1 Team

Race drivers
9. Robert Kubica (has 2011 contract)
10. Vitaly Petrov (has 2011 contract)

Test drivers
Jan Charouz (2010 driver)
Ho-Pin Tung (2010 driver)
Jerome D’Ambrosio (2010 driver)

Williams-Cosworth

Race drivers
11. Rubens Barrichello (has 2011 contract)
12. Pastor Maldonado (has 2011 contract)

Test driver
Valltteri Bottas (has 2011 contract)

Force India F1 Team-Mercedes

Race drivers
14. Adrian Sutil (has 2011 contract)
15. Paul di Resta (has 2011 contract)

Test driver
Nico Hülkenberg (has 2011 contract)

BMW Sauber-Ferrari

Race drivers
16. Kamui Kobayashi (has 2011 contract)
17. Sergio Perez (has 2011 contract)

Test driver
Esteban Gutierrez (has 2011 contract)

Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari

Race drivers
18. Sebastien Buemi (has 2011 contract)
19. Jaime Alguersuari (has 2011 contract)

Test driver
Daniel Ricciardo (has 2011 contract)

Lotus-Renault

Race drivers
20. Jarno Trulli (has 2011 contract)
21. Heikki Kovalainen (has 2011 contract)

Test driver
Fairuz Fauzy (2010 driver)

HRT-Cosworth

Race drivers
22. Narain Karthikeyan (has 2011 contract)
23. TBC

Test driver
TBC

Virgin Racing-Cosworth

Race drivers
24. Timo Glock (has 2011 contract)
25. Jerome d’Ambrosio (has 2011 contract)

Test driver
Luiz Razia (has 2011 contract)


That leaves the following drivers without seats for the 2011 season, although there is a race seat at HRT yet to be confirmed:

Vitantonio Liuzzi (ex-Force India), Lucas di Grassi (ex-Virgin), Nick Heidfeld (ex-Sauber), Pedro de la Rosa (ex-Sauber), Sakon Yamamoto (ex-HRT), Karun Chandhok (ex-HRT), Christian Klien (ex-HRT), Bruno Senna ex-HRT)

And here are a few shots of the 2011 cars launched to date:

Ferrari F150





Lotus T128



Renault R31



Sauber C30



Mercdes MGP W02



Red Bull RB7



Torro Rosso STR6


Williams FW33

[Q.]

Excellent work Purch. Can't wait for racing to begin!

[RustyCage]

Lotus Renault GP

Race drivers
9. Robert Kubica (has 2011 contract)
10. Vitaly Petrov (has 2011 contract)

Test drivers
Bruno Senna
Romain Grosjean

Renault don't own any of the team any more, its owned mainly by Genii Capital who bought most the team early last year, and Group Lotus, who are the road car side of Lotus. Lotus are just naming rights sponsors this year, but this will increase more next year.

Lotus-Renault on the list above is Team Lotus. There is a court case in March over the name of the teams. Both have claim to the name, but it appears that Team Lotus (which actually are the old Lotus F1 team, of sorts) may not have the claims of ownership of the old Team Lotus that they think. Either way soon enough one of the teams will have to change.

The Williams shown above is the interim testing livery, they will be having another lauch closer to the season for their main livery.

[mickey]

Formula 1 Drivers Championship 2011 - Each Way Top 3 - 1/5 Odds
Time Left: 622 Hr 20 Min
1-3-2011 23:00AEDST
WINNER
Sebastian Vettel 3.50
L Hamilton 3.75
Fernando Alonso 3.75
Mark Webber 11.00
J Button 11.00
M Schumacher 13.00
N Rosberg 13.00
Felipe Massa 17.00
R Kubica 21.00
Adrian Sutil 51.00
Rubens Barrichello 51.00
Vitaly Petrov 101.00
Kamui Kobayashi 101.00
Paul Di Resta 101.00
Pastor Maldonado 126.00
Sergio Perez 201.00
Heikki Kovalainen 301.00
Jarno Trulli 301.00
Timo Glock 301.00
Narain Karthikeyan 301.00
Jerome D'Ambrosio 301.00
Pay on official Result. All in betting. Quote Others


Formula 1 Constructors Championship 2011
Formula One - Constructors Championship 2011
Time Left: 622 Hr 19 Min
1-3-2011 23:00AEDST
WINNER
Red Bull 2.88
Mclaren 3.25
Ferrari 3.50
Mercedes 6.50
Lotus Renault 17.00
Force India 41.00
Sauber 41.00
Williams 51.00
Team Lotus 101.00
Toro Rosso 101.00
Hispania Racing 501.00
Virgin Racing 501.00
Payout on the winning team at the completion of the 2011 season.

[purch]

Lotus Renault GP

Race drivers
9. Robert Kubica (has 2011 contract)
10. Vitaly Petrov (has 2011 contract)

Test drivers
Bruno Senna
Romain Grosjean

Renault don't own any of the team any more, its owned mainly by Genii Capital who bought most the team early last year, and Group Lotus, who are the road car side of Lotus. Lotus are just naming rights sponsors this year, but this will increase more next year.

Lotus-Renault on the list above is Team Lotus. There is a court case in March over the name of the teams. Both have claim to the name, but it appears that Team Lotus (which actually are the old Lotus F1 team, of sorts) may not have the claims of ownership of the old Team Lotus that they think. Either way soon enough one of the teams will have to change.

The Williams shown above is the interim testing livery, they will be having another lauch closer to the season for their main livery.

True, but I think it is the FW33 chassis going around in Valencia this week.

My understanding is that "Lotus Renault" has Group Lotus backing...they want back into F1, and that the Team Lotus name was sold to the Malaysian outfit. Regardless, it's in the hands of the courts now...

[RustyCage]

Lotus Renault GP

Race drivers
9. Robert Kubica (has 2011 contract)
10. Vitaly Petrov (has 2011 contract)

Test drivers
Bruno Senna
Romain Grosjean

Renault don't own any of the team any more, its owned mainly by Genii Capital who bought most the team early last year, and Group Lotus, who are the road car side of Lotus. Lotus are just naming rights sponsors this year, but this will increase more next year.

Lotus-Renault on the list above is Team Lotus. There is a court case in March over the name of the teams. Both have claim to the name, but it appears that Team Lotus (which actually are the old Lotus F1 team, of sorts) may not have the claims of ownership of the old Team Lotus that they think. Either way soon enough one of the teams will have to change.

The Williams shown above is the interim testing livery, they will be having another lauch closer to the season for their main livery.

True, but I think it is the FW33 chassis going around in Valencia this week.

My understanding is that "Lotus Renault" has Group Lotus backing...they want back into F1, and that the Team Lotus name was sold to the Malaysian outfit. Regardless, it's in the hands of the courts now...

Yeah Group Lotus bought Renault's remaining shares in the team at the end of last year, and are just acting as major sponsors this year, having no effective imput into the team and how it is run, effectively a silent partner. Will have more decision making power next year.

The whole Team Lotus fiasco (Tony Fernandez's Airasia Racing or whatever they were called for about 3 weeks before changing to Team Lotus) dates back to the 90s. When Team Lotus pulled out, James Hunt's brother David acquired the rights to the Team Lotus name, or so he says, Group Lotus dispute this. When Tony Fernandez team got the nod to enter F1 last year, Tony licensed the Lotus name from Group Lotus, but when they found out how he wanted to use the name, they withdrew that license. Tony then purchased the rights to the Team Lotus name from David Hunt, and renamed what was last year called Lotus Racing "Team Lotus". Group Lotus say the name wasnt David Hunts to sell, so Proton, who own Group Lotus has initiated the court proceedings.

[Darth Vader]

Yeah I agree - good work you fellas. Nice pix too. As a petrol head I'm on board the F1 train and can't wait.

[MightyEagles]

I don't know if anyone else has noticed it but where is driver no.13 or don't they give out that number.

[purch]

I don't know if anyone else has noticed it but where is driver no.13 or don't they give out that number.

No, due to superstition more than anything else:

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/01/09/your-questions-f1-and-the-number-13/

[Choccies]

Solid start to the thread boys... well done !!
Looking forward to the start of the motorsport season !!

[purch]

AND we have more than just the racing to look forward to this year:

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/the-fien-print/posts/sundance-review-senna

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-sundance-audience-prize-for-senna-movie/

For those of us that can remember that far back, bring the tissues...

Can hardly wait!

[purch]

McLaren MP4-26 - launched today

[RustyCage]

Think McLaren have had the best shaped cars the last few years. Never been a fan of that livery though.

[RustyCage]

Ok, having seen the car from the front, I take back what I said about its shape!

[purch]

Ok, having seen the car from the front, I take back what I said about its shape!

I actually like it....it's the most unique shape to an F1 car in years with those L-shaped side pods...most other teams' cars still look pretty similar to what they did in 2008.

I agree about the McLaren livery though. Never been a fan...Best livery so far would be the (lotus) Renault if they got rid of the RED Total sponsorship...then it would be just black and gold my friends

[RustyCage]

What team does everyone follow?

Lotus-Renault for me

[mickey]

Ferrari for me

[Jim05]

Was always a McLaren fan as Alain Prost was my favourite driver as a kid. Not so much of a fan these days due to not liking the two current pommy prat drivers.
Have jumped on the Red Bull team with two aussies in the mix.
Have just slapped $500 on Webber for title, i think he will do it this season

[Bully]

Agreed. Memories of the red and white mclarens dominating was when i use to watch it. When honda pulled out of formula one and mclaren fell away i stopped watching it.

Most memoriable moment was at japan in mid 90s i think it would have been with Allan prost and Aryton senna crashing and taking each other out on the last corner.

[RustyCage]

Agreed. Memories of the red and white mclarens dominating was when i use to watch it. When honda pulled out of formula one and mclaren fell away i stopped watching it.

Most memoriable moment was at japan in mid 90s i think it would have been with Allan prost and Aryton senna crashing and taking each other out on the last corner.

Japan 1989.


Senna also took Prost out at the first corner the following year to take the title.