2011 Formula One World Championship

[JAS]

News you might want to keep an eye on...Robert Kubica injured in rally crash...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 388940.stm

Formula 1 star Robert Kubica has suffered "serious injuries" while taking part in a rally in Italy, an official news agency has reported.

According to reports, the 26-year-old Pole crashed into a wall and was air-lifted to a nearby hospital.

A spokeswoman for his British-based Renault team told Reuters the driver was conscious and a statement would be issued shortly.

He has been preparing for a new Formula 1 season which starts on 13 March.

The extent of Kubica's injuries are still to be confirmed but it is believed his co-driver Jakub Gerber was unhurt in the crash.

Kubica regularly competes in rallies and was driving on Sunday a week after testing the new Lotus-backed Renault in Valencia ahead of the opening Formula 1 race in Bahrain.

He was an impressive performer last season to finish in eighth position in the drivers' table, securing second at Melbourne and a third in Monaco and Belgium.

More to follow.

Regards
JAS

[heater31]

Anyone remember is massive stack in Canada a few years ago? Fairly certain he wanted to front for the next round a couple of weeks later can't recall if he did or not.


Provided its nothing too serious he should be back in no time at all.

[JAS]

The link has just been updated...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 388940.stm

Formula 1 star Robert Kubica has suffered fractures to his left arm and left leg after a high-speed rally crash in Italy, BBC Sport understands.

The 26-year-old Pole crashed into a church wall and was air-lifted to a hospital near Genoa.

A spokeswoman for his British-based Renault team told Reuters the driver was conscious and a statement would be issued shortly.

It looks unlikely he will be ready for the new season, starting on 13 March.

More to follow.

Regards
JAS

[RustyCage]

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=42906

Not looking too good for him. He hit the end of a guard rail which penetrated the inside of the car.

[purch]

Don't think he'll be racing any time in the near future..diagnosed with multiple fractures to his right arm, leg and hand...and currently being operated on. Hope he gets better soon

Read more:
http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/Formula+star+Kubica+surgery+after+horror+crash/4232952/story.html

[RustyCage]

Looks like being sidelined for the majority, if not all of 2011. No guarantee he will get back in the car, will depend on how much mobility he gets back in his right hand.

[purch]

The new Force India VJM04:




Virgin MVR-02:




HRT F111:

[RustyCage]

The new HRT looks a lot like the old BAR and Honda cars

[purch]

The injures Robert Kubica is to be replaced by Nick Heidfeld at Lotus Renault, following the Jerez test.

Best times from Renault drivers @ Jerez as follows:

Heidfeld - 1:20.361 (Day 3) ...third quickest time of the test
Senna - 1:21.400 (Day 4)
Petrov - 1:22.493 (Day 2)

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3213/6756381/Official-Quick-Nick-In-For-Injured-Kubica

[Crack]

Looks like being sidelined for the majority, if not all of 2011. No guarantee he will get back in the car, will depend on how much mobility he gets back in his right hand.

Does anyone remember Alesandro Nanni? He was driving for Benetton in 1990 when he had a helicopter crash just after the Spanish Grand Prix. His right arm was severed,but they managed to sew it on again, BUT he never got the strength back to compete at F1 level.. I know Kubica's hand wasn't quite that bad, but not too far from it.. So he may struggle to get back to what he needs to compete at in F1?? But hope he does, He showed a bit of pace last season and looks to be one to watch..

[JAS]

Just been on the news...Bahrain is off so you lot will be hosting the opener in Melbourne...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 402871.stm
(link to much, much longer article)

The Bahrain Grand Prix has been called off because of anti-government protests in the Gulf kingdom.

The race, due to be staged on 13 March, would have opened the new season but had been in doubt for more than a week because of the civil unrest.

Instead, the 2011 campaign will begin in Australia on 27 March.

Regards
JAS

[RustyCage]

Heading over for my first race since 19995, cant wait!

[Q.]

Heading over for my first race since 19995, cant wait!

Have you been sent back through time?

[purch]

Just been on the news...Bahrain is off so you lot will be hosting the opener in Melbourne...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 402871.stm
(link to much, much longer article)

The Bahrain Grand Prix has been called off because of anti-government protests in the Gulf kingdom.

The race, due to be staged on 13 March, would have opened the new season but had been in doubt for more than a week because of the civil unrest.

Instead, the 2011 campaign will begin in Australia on 27 March.

Regards
JAS

The extra preparation time before Round 1 could be a blessing for some, in particular Mercedes...given Brawn's comments about a cooling issue during recent testing:

http://www.planetf1.com/news/3213/6780368/Brawn-Reveals-Merc-W02-Is-Running-Hot

[purch]

From http://www.planetf1.com/editorial/6813295/PF1-s-Team-By-Team-Winter-Review

With the winter championship closing for testing business at the weekend, here's PF1's team-by-team guesstimated guide to F1's pecking order ahead of the first race of 2011...

Red Bull
Still the team to beat despite completing their entire winter test session - described by team boss Christian Horner as Red Bull's "best pre-season to date" - without once running in qualification spec. It's a policy - or, depending on your point of view, a trick - that the team used to devastating effect 12 months ago when they blitzed the opposition in the season-opening qualifying session at Bahrain. It was only afterwards, with the paddock reeling from Ferrari's unexpected defeat, that the team revealed that until Qualy One they hadn't run their new car on a low fuel level at any stage over the winter months.

Wise to the wisdom and success of last year's strategy, Red Bull have followed an identical approach this winter with the team understood to have set all their timesheet-topping times on medium or even high-fuel loads. According to some gossipers, their petrol tank may not have once had less than eight times the amount of fuel that will be required for qualifying in Melbourne. Ominously, the RB7 has nevertheless appeared formidably fast on long runs and its relatively small drop-off in lap times suggests that Adrian Newey's latest work of wonder is kind on its tyres - a particularly critical attribute this season with the Pirelli tyres proving less robust than their Bridgestone predecessors. It would, in summary, be a major shock if the Bulls do not begin 2011 as the clear frontrunners.

Ferrari
The best of the rest, though the fear is that they will be a distant second to Red Bull once tyre degradation becomes a race-tilting factor, especially when the F1 calendar turns up the heat in Malaysia and beyond. Then again, for every analyst warning that the Ferrari is harder on the Pirellis than the Red Bull, there's at least one contrary voice claiming that they have matched the World Champions in race trim during winter testing. The team itself sounds bullish, with Fernando Alonso observing that "we're the team that's driven the most and that has had the fewest problems in terms of reliability". Good points. Ferrari will thus travel to Melbourne in healthy shape and with valid reasons for optimism. A podium finish is their minimum expectation.

Mercedes
The late movers. Until the penultimate day of testing, Mercedes' winter had festered with discontent and slow times. However, with some long-anticipated new parts - including an updated front wing and diffuser - bolted on to the W02 on Friday, Michael Schumacher was able to set the fastest time of the entire Barcelona test. His 1:21.268 lap might have been produced on a qualifying set-up, but its six-tenths-of-a-second trouncing of Red Bull's best time caused everyone to sit up and take note. Say it quietly, but either Schumacher or Nico Rosberg may be value as an outside bet for victory in Australia.

McLaren
Have McLaren created a dud for the second time in three years? Though the aesthetically-pleasing MP4-26 looks the part, in testing it has appeared both slow and unreliable. Quite the ugly combo.

Incredibly, McLaren completed the lowest mileage of any team except for the non-running HRT over the winter in their new car, and though that figure is exaggerated by their decision to use their 2010 charger in Valencia in order to evaluate the Pirelli tyres from a familiar base, the scale of their disadvantage is mammoth. Whereas Red Bull and Ferrari each completed over 6000kms in their new charger, the MP4-26 managed a meagre 3,300. They are under-prepared, under-cooked and under-paced. The best that can be hoped is that the MP4-26's potential and speed has been disguised by its woeful reliability, but even the most optimistic prediction for Melbourne puts them fourth in the pecking order.

Williams
A potential dark horse. Though it hasn't produced any headline-grabbing times, the FW33 has been particularly strong as a long-distance runner in recent weeks. Is their change of approach to allow greater development input from Rubens Barrichello paying dividends? Of concern, however, is their ongoing problem with the KERS system - removed for the final three days of testing - and a lack of running for Pastor Maldonado in the winter-closing Barcelona test. The rookie will do well to finish qualifying within half a second of his veteran team-mate.

Renault
Oh, what might have been. Understandably lost in the concern that Robert Kubica may never return to the sport is the poignant fact that, just two days before his career-threatening rallying accident, the hugely-gifted Pole set the fastest time of February's Valencia test.

In losing Kubica for the season, Renault have lost their number-one asset and justifiable reason to suppose they could recapture some of their past glories. Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov are both better than competent on their day, but neither possess the star quality that saw Kubica seemingly rip up the pecking order on February 3. Without him, Renault's innovative and hugely promising R31 is likely to be restricted to the status of top-end middle runner.

Sauber
Sauber caused quite a stir last Wednesday when Sergio Perez topped the timesheets ahead of Red Bull and Ferrari but nobody other than the naïve would have been fooled into thinking that the team have leapt into the company of the elite. Sauber have a long-established and deserved reputation for setting 'glory times' and their position of fifth - which amounts to tenth once each team has two drivers running - in Friday's close-of-play standings is surely more indicative of their true position.

Force India
In the middle of the midfield. Expect a repeat of 2010 with a scattering of top-ten breakthroughs and a fierce contest in their own private battle against Toro Rosso, Sauber and perhaps Williams and/or Renault.

Toro Rosso
Toro Rosso's target in 2011 must be to consolidate their position in the midfield and put daylight between themselves and the also-rans. Their performance at Barcelona suggest they are on course to do just that, with both Sebastien Buemi and the talented Jaime Alguersuari delivering respectable times over long distances. A team on the up - and one to keep an eye on.

Lotus
Jarno Trulli might reckon that the new Lotus amounts to a vast improvement - containing, in the words of the Italian "one of the best rear ends you can have in the paddock", and yes, he was still referring to a motor vehicle - but their actual results in testing throughout the winter were generally underwhelming. Beset by unreliability, there was little apparent justification for Trulli's upbeat prognosis. Lotus should still be the best of the newbies, but is such a modest achievement sufficient for satisfaction?

Virgin Racing
Will the team achieve their target of claiming their first F1 point in 2011? Well, the good news is that they have at least remembered to incorporate a fuel tank capable of carrying enough petrol to last an entire race into the design of the MVR-02. So that's a start. Otherwise, they are likely to be limited to a two-team fight with...

Hispania Racing
Hispania are almost literally driving into the unknown in Australia because Friday's practice will witness the first track experience for their F111. Having only unveiled their new car less than a week ago - which also happened to be the weekend scheduled to host the season's curtain-raising GP - the team were then precluded from running on the final two days of testing at Barcelona after failing to gain clearance from Spanish customs. Quite the indignity. Let's just hope for their sake, and that of the rags and riches sport, that Australian officials are more sympathetic to their pauper plight.

Pete Gill

[RustyCage]

After a snoozefest at the Australian GP, the circus moves to Sepang.

Webber quickest in FP1, and tops FP2 with 15 minutes left

[The Sleeping Giant]

How was Petrov getting airborne.

[Q.]

Well, well, F1 racing back to it's exciting best

[The Sleeping Giant]

Here is Petrov's accident.

[Q.]

Got nothing on Webber's flip last year!