Spare Parts (F1 odds and ends)

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This could be great news for British F1 fans who can't afford to go to the race. I used to regularly attend Silverstone's test sessions, allowing you to get up close to the cars without paying extortionate prices.
 
Interesting interview with Brundle:
So Martin – for you, what’s been the biggest surprise of the F1 season so far?

MB: Red Bull’s performance – or lack of – compared to the past two years. But when you look at how the regulations have changed, it’s almost like they were designed to slow the Red Bulls down. Doubling the torsional stiffness of the front wings – the way Red Bull were ‘flying’ their car down the track with lots of rake, nose close to the ground, exhausts helping to sort the high rear ride height out, it’s all been taken away from them.

The rest of it is pretty much as it was shaping up in pre-season testing. It’s very close at the front, and the midfield’s strong enough to steal some great results, just as we saw with Perez in Kuala Lumpur. The negative surprise is that the Ferrari’s a bit… grim. That, and the pace of the Mercedes in the race. The positive surprise is the midfield – the Sauber, Toro Rosso, Force India, Williams…

How long before we see Perez in a Ferrari?

I think we have to assume that Massa won’t be there [at Ferrari] in 2013. Perez has got a great chance – there are a lot of good kids out there though. There’s a bit of a changing of the guard. We’ve lost Rubens, I don’t know where Michael Schumacher is at, but there’s a hundred kids totally prepared – mentally, physically, nutritionally, technically – to step into an F1 car. Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo and Romain Grosjean, those guys can step straight up to the plate.

Who’s going to do well at the Chinese Grand Prix?

Well, you’ve got that big back straight, which should suit the Mercedes very well. There’s often changeable weather conditions, so I think it’s entirely unpredictable again. But the team that looks like it’s got the best package, weekend by weekend, is McLaren. They look like they’re best sorted.

You can’t underestimate that Lotus. Raikkonen could, and should, have been on pole in Sepang, and talking to the Lotus boys, they say they just put it on the track and make very few changes. It’s one of those cars that’s clearly quite benign aerodynamically and well-balanced. That means it’s going to work well in all conditions and on all the tracks.

Which race are you most looking forward to this year?

I love Monaco as a race to commentate on. And the British Grand Prix. I’ve been to more than half the Grand Prix races in history, I was working out the other day. I enjoy them all, but particularly Monaco, Silverstone and Spa. I could leave Korea, I could leave China…

Of the current F1 grid, who would be your perfect two-driver team?

I would have Vettel and Alonso. Or Vettel and Hamilton. We’ve tried Hamilton and Alonso [at McLaren in 2007], it doesn’t work.

Did you think Vettel was right to criticise back markers after Sepang?

No, that’s just an angry man who hasn’t got a front-running car at the moment. I thought it looked a bit clumsy. Vettel didn’t leave enough room. We saw it in the Indian Grand Prix last year as well, when Karthikeyan half-heartedly yields – you’ve either got to stay on the racing line and go for it, then let them [the faster cars] through on the way out, or you yield completely. Karthikeyan kind of gets out the way, and that’s why they keep running into him. He’s got to be more decisive in what he does. I can see why they’re frustrated with him. But Vettel was a bit clumsy.

Is the problem that the teams at the back are too slow?

They always have been. Somebody’s got to be at the front, somebody’s got to be at the back. The HRT is particularly poor at the moment, and it confuses me why in year three it’s worse than it was in year one. The rest of them are OK, and they’ve got pro drivers in them. It’s six of one and half a dozen of the other, but I thought it was a bit rich of Vettel to call him [Karthikeyan] an idiot. He’s just frustrated.

So – 22 years after winning the Le Mans 24 Hours, you’re heading back this year in a Nissan LMP2 car with your son Alex racing alongside you. What sort of result are you hoping for?

It’s an unexpected privilege and pleasure for me to be going back to Le Mans. You’ve got to take Le Mans very seriously because it’s super-fast and it’s hard racing. The cars are very fast. We’re in the second category but these LMP2 cars are quicker than a lot of the Le Mans cars I drove. You’ve got Minassian, Sarrazin, Buemi, a lot of good kids in that category. If we could get on the podium or win the LMP2 class, I’d be ecstatic.

How are you getting fit?

I’ve lost three kilos, I’m in good nick. I was fast in the test. I’m jumping in a Radical when I can. I’m in the gym at Grands Prix with Coulthard every morning I get the chance.

How are you getting ready for the 3am stint?

I’ll just put the kids in the car. If it’s dark or wet, I’m not driving it. But really, it’s not a problem. You go faster at night at Le Mans than in the day. My eyesight’s good, but I think it’s the one area my age will show – you can’t laser that back in. But Le Mans has a very short night – just four, four and a half hours of darkness.

Who’s going to be quicker – you or Alex?

Alex is going to be quicker, thank goodness. If he wasn’t, he’d be getting fired. He’s 30 years younger than me, he’s fitter and brighter. But I’m quick enough that he has to keep checking my times.

You’ll be on track at Le Mans with the Nissan DeltaWing car. What do you make of it?

My concern is that it’ll be too fast. It’s got low drag, I think it’ll be a real nuisance for us, because it’ll be faster in different places. The people who put that together are smart people – I heard it’s pulling over three lateral g already. It’s not allowed to win anything [the DeltaWing is racing in its own category] but I bet you it’ll be surprisingly quick. It’s going to be a bloody nuisance. It’ll be the same speed as us but in different places.

I think it’s a very bold adventure, and I’m looking forward to seeing it out on track. It’s fascinating. It gets attention and media outside of petrolheads, and that’s good for motorsports. Tell me that every single fan that’s at Le Mans this year won’t be watching its progress very closely, because it’s so unusual. People need to break out of their mental moulds and understand that things move on.

Finally, who’s your money on for the F1 drivers’ title this year?

I could see Hamilton winning the title this year. But I’m not a betting man. I’ve been around this business too long to waste good money betting on racing drivers. That’s a wild guess, it could be anyone. Who would have thought Fernando Alonso would be leading the championship after two races? We thought they were going to get thrashed by the midfield… which, to an extent, if it wasn’t for Alonso, they would be. I sense McLaren have got a really good package, and Lewis is hungry to get back on the championship trail.
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Sutil has dropped his appeal against his assult of Lux.

Sutil said:
"I am very happy that I have been able to express myself to Eric Lux and don't have to go to court again. I don't want to have to go through another year like the one past. The topic is finished and I want to resume doing what I do best as quickly as possible, racing in formula one,"
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This comes after Lux accepted Adrians apology over the matter during a nightclub 'brawl'

Sutil said:
"Basically I only had a problem with one person, which was Mr Lux. He has offered me his hand and said it is now over, the issue is finished.”
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He also sent a parting shot to Lewis Hamilton

Sutil said:
“What Lewis Hamilton does is not decisive for my ambitions to get back to formula one. Just as with defeats, you have to deal with disappointments, it's as simple as that. I think no one should expect to find any friends in the paddock, and I don't look for them there either. I have enough friends outside of F1,"
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Nothing to do with F1 but Autosport writers are revelling in a delightful WRC quote from Ford tech chief Christian Loriaux after his cars crashed out. Equally applicable to any number of F1 scenarios, such as Turkey 2010:

Pablo Elizalde &#8207 said:
Angry Ford WRC tech chief: "We had it on a silver tray and we have put the tray in the bin and then buried the bin."
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A great interview with Hembery.

The top bit says:

"Alonso is a magician with the tyres"
Hembery "Hamilton has changed his style for the Pirelli
Massa? Who does not win looks for the excuse of the tyres"

The third column says:

Not agree with the fact that Mercedes has particular problems of degradation in the race: "In Malaysia I would bet on the podium of Schumacher. From our data it was feasible, because in the trial had on race set-ups." On the crisis of Massa also attributed to the tires, cryptic reply: "At all levels of racing who does not win looks for the excuse of the tires." But which drivers have adapted better to the new tires? "Button handles them very well in Melbourne, but had some difficulty in Sepang. But in Malaysia there were very strange track conditions, perhaps due to the fact that we had turned the MotoGP, Perez spent can to make a pit stop less than others. Hamilton has improved this year, changing the way of driving. Webber has taken a step forward in qualifying." And Alonso? And special also with the tyres? "Yes - confirms Hembery -. If you notice it by studying its data. In the race, but especially during practice, when we have the tools to collect thousands of parameters on the behavior of the tires. Alonso is exceptional. In fact, just look what he did in Malaysia ... "
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I haven't bothered translating the rest of the article because it would take too long and the rest has no mention of Massa, Hamilton or Alonso (the interesting stuff).
 
His opinion on Mercedes is interesting. Doubtless we and the media are keen to see things as more polarised than they actually are and therefore exaggerate specific attributes for the sake of argument but the team has also said it is struggling with tyre degradation relative to its competitors (i.e. their car design rather than just saying "the tyres are crap" or that it's Rosberg's problem).
 
Without having read Forza's link - but taking what he and Genji have quoted him as having said - I agree with Hembery's assessment; and in particular, the view that Mercedes do not have disproportionate difficulties with the tyres. My belief is that, unlike Hamilton and Webber, the Mercedes drivers (particularly Schumacher) have so far been unable to adapt their driving style sufficiently.

This is something where Alonso and Button really set the bench-mark.

P.S. Perez would appear to have the right idea too, although my view is that he is actually overdoing it!
 
In addition to Marrusia's support for his suggestion of a budget cap, Ecclestone can now count on non-FOTA member Sauber's, who want it in place from 2013 onwards.

UPDATE: JAonF1 believes a budget cap is unacceptable to the bigger teams but that they would support "putting the RRA into a new structure whereby it is managed by a third party and subject to arbitration in the event of dispute." Christian Horner has said Red Bull are firmly against allowing the FIA to enforce the RRA, so who would be the third party that is "agreeable to the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull"?
 
BrightLampShade said:
Charlie Whiting Q&A
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Extracts from his Thursday press conference in Melbourne have apparently been released today (or at least people like Scarbs are discussing it as if it's been released today).

Charlie W. said:
We have no idea how much aerodynamic influence each individual [exhaust] system has, nor, really, at this point, is it anything that interests us. As long as they comply with the rules, we are happy. And as far as we’ve seen so far, they all do comply with the rules... Any re‐ingestion into bodywork would not be allowed. If you’re talking about interaction of exhaust gasses [sic] with brake ducts, or what can be loosely described as brake ducts, that isn’t bodywork, it’s classified as suspension. Everything we’ve seen so far we’ve been happy with...

Opinion on DRS‐activated F‐Duct systems: We think they’re going to be legal from what we’ve seen so far.

Pressing the DRS button and the issue of 'driver movement': This is specifically allowed.
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