Pirelli: Additional tuning still needed
Pirelli reckon that with just a bit of "additional tuning" their tyres will be ready for their return to Formula One next season.
Following several tests using a 2009 Toyota chassis, Pirelli handed the teams their first taste of the 2011 tyres in Abu Dhabi last week in a two-day test.
According to Pirelli's tyre research and development director Maurizio Boiocchi, the teams and drivers were impressed with the tyres, although he admitted there is still come fine-tuning to be done.
"All the teams gave common feedback that we will follow over the next week to improve and optimise the tyre which is, in my mind, already more than good," he told Autosport.
"We are very happy about the performance, especially taking into account that on August 19 we turned a wheel for the first time at Mugello and three months later we ran with 12 teams.
"Everything that we did with the simulations and computer models was really helpful and based on that, and the work with the Toyota, we developed the solutions that we used during the test.
"We have some additional tuning to do on the compounds and rebalance the stiffness of the tyre front and rear to improve the characteristics even more, but these were two fantastic days. We would have signed for this when we first started this adventure!"
Boiocchi also put paid to concerns about how the Pirellis would react with next year's cars given the new 2011 regulations.
"We are designing the tyres for the 2011 cars, for which the rules will be changed and there will be different downforce characteristics with the single diffuser at the back of the car," he said.
"There are a lot of differences and we are developing the tyres according to the future needs.
"The test was about checking what we have. The test was about checking the tyres with performances levels that are very different compared to the 2009 Toyota.
"The downforce, aerodynamics and lap times are totally different. We achieved a very tight correlation between the two things and what we now need to do is very clear from the two-day test."
2010 365 Media Group Ltd All Rights Reserved
Schumi hoping for 'no warnings'
Michael Schumacher believes the first test in Mercedes' 2011 challenger will give him a clear indication of how competitive the team will be next year.
The seven-time World Champion was expected to challenge for the title in his comeback season, but the MGP W01 wasn't up to scratch and he finished a disappointing ninth.
Schumacher hopes for a better 2011, but says they'll only find out how good the car is once the first test is underway.
"What we want to see is we have a feeling with the car, especially with what I know from now," he is quoted on Autosport.
"I could jump into the car and get a reasonable feeling, although the rules will change and not be 100 per cent precise, but you do get an input.
"At the [first] test this year, even though I had not driven for three years, I got a warning that was later confirmed.
"I hope we have no warnings, that we have a competitive car, one we can develop, and very importantly it will be what you see towards the end of the tests to the first race [that counts].
"That's my main focus, so when I drive it I hope I get a good read of it."
2010 365 Media Group Ltd All Rights Reserved
Heidfeld chasing a 2011 Renault drive
Nick Heidfeld is in talks with Renault regarding a 2011 race-seat, a move that would once again see him partner Robert Kubica.
With Kubica confirmed for next year's Championship, Renault are currently debating whether or not to keep rookie driver Vitaly Petrov, who has scored just 19 points to his team-mate's 126.
One driver believed to be in the running is Heidfeld as the German, who started this season as Mercedes GP's test driver before switching to Pirelli and then to a Sauber race-seat, looks for a full-time drive for 2011.
However, the 33-year-old admits Renault may be looking for more than just talent.
"At the moment it's my last race for Sauber but I've thought that a couple of times before!" he told ITV when asked about 2011. "So you never know what's going to happen...
"For next year obviously there are many seats already gone. I'm still in talks with various teams - also with Renault, as (team boss Eric) Boullier confirmed.
"That would be the best opportunity but it's far to say that it's obvious that it's not the only thing (that) they are looking for is talent, what you can give on the circuit.
"They have Vitaly in the car, who has strong arguments but looking at his performance on track this year we know what those arguments are."
When questioned about how his rates his chances of racing for Renault, he said: "I know for myself, but I won't give away all the insight I have there."
2010 365 Media Group Ltd All Rights Reserved
Kolles says HRT set to reveal new backer
Hispania Racing boss Colin Kolles says the team is set to announce a financial backer that should ensure the future of the Spanish squad.
Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone suggested earlier today that the struggling team had found a backer to inject much-needed cash.
"I believe HRT, the people from Spain, have now got a guy that I know, a financial backer. If they have it, super. We need the teams if they are financially sound," Ecclestone told Reuters.
Kolles said an announcement is expected "very soon".
"There should be some release very soon. I think Mr Ecclestone knows what he is saying," Kolles told the news agency.
"I think that people will realise what is the potential of this partnership. I think in the next couple of days there will be a few big announcements."
The team, making its Formula 1 debut this season, announced earlier this week a deal to use gearboxes from Williams in 2011.
2010 AUTOSPORT.COM
Bernie: We want to keep Spa
Bernie Ecclestone insists the Formula One Management company wants to keep Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps circuit on the calendar.
Doubts remain over the future of the Belgian Grand Prix due to financial problems and Ecclestone added fuel to the flames during a recent interview with The Guardian.
"If it wasn't supported by the government over there it probably would go because they wouldn't be able to afford it," he told the British paper. "It's the same with the British Grand Prix.
He added that "it's only good for the people who race" as it's a classic circuit.
"That circuit sorts out the men from the boys and if I was driving again I'd feel very happy I'd won in Spa. It's one of those classic courses. We've kept it. But we used to have 16 races. There's 19 this year and next year, with India, it will be 20. There's no magic number - it's what is commercially viable."
However, Ecclestone has dismissed suggestions that Spa could be the first to make way for one of the new venues, saying he was misquoted.
"The Guardian twisted my words," Ecclestone told Belgium's RTBF. "I am sure that in the years to come, we will lose a few races in Europe, it is almost certain. Which ones, I have no idea. But, from our side, we want to keep Spa. There are long discussions about the grand prix there but, if it does go, it will be because of the government, not me."
2010 365 Media Group Ltd All Rights Reserved
Hispania fined for tyre warmer error
Hispania Racing have been fined $5,000 after Sakon Yamamoto was released from his garage with a tyre warmer still attached.
The incident, which occurred during Friday's practice session, required one of the Hispania mechanics to retrieve the offending article from the pit exit.
The team's actions breached articles 23.1(j), 30.7 and 30.9 of the sports regulations. Article 23.1 states that: "It is the responsibility of the competitor to release his car after a pitstop only when it is safe to do so."
2010 365 Media Group Ltd All Rights Reserved
Vettel fastest in opening Japan practice
Red Bull lived up to its status as pre-race favourite in opening practice at a dry and sunny Suzuka, with last year's Japanese Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel leading team-mate Mark Webber in a comfortable one-two.
But while two of the title contenders sat atop the times, another has already hit trouble, with Lewis Hamilton crashing heavily at Degner halfway through the session, costing the McLaren driver 45 minutes of track time on a day when the team has substantial upgrades to evaluate.
Hamilton's crash was a typical Degner incident, as he ran slightly wide at the first part of the fast, downhill double right-hander, then ploughed through the gravel at the second element and mangled the car's left front against the barriers.
The Briton had been quickest for a short time prior to the crash, but moments before he hit the wall, he was deposed by Vettel's 1m33.157s, half a second quicker than Hamilton's time - although the latter had set a new sector one benchmark on the lap that ended in the Degner wall.
Vettel would remain on top for the rest of the morning, raising his pace a few times to eventually reach a best of 1m32.585s. He maintained a half-second cushion over the field for a long while, before Webber closed to within 0.048 seconds.
Hamilton's time kept him in fifth place, behind impressive performances from Renault's Robert Kubica and Force India's Adrian Sutil, but Jenson Button was only 12th in the second McLaren - and came very close to replicating his team-mate's accident with two minutes to go. Button had a wild ride over the kerb between the Degners then slid sideways into the gravel, but caught the car before reaching the wall.
The other title contender Fernando Alonso had a low-key session, the Ferrari driver only 13th, two places behind his team-mate Felipe Massa.
Williams made a strong start to the weekend with sixth and seventh places for Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg, while Michael Schumacher was an encouraging eighth in the Mercedes. His team-mate Nico Rosberg was 10th despite only completing nine laps and spending the second half of the session in the garage with his car receiving attention.
The two Mercedes were split by Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, with his team-mate and home hero Kamui Kobayashi typically spectacular but only 14th.
Aside from the McLarens incidents, the only other notable excursion was a quick off at the hairpin by Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari.
Heikki Kovalainen was quickest among the new teams in his Lotus, 0.3s ahead of Virgin's Timo Glock, who was stuck in the garage for the first hour but was quick when his car was ready to take to the track. The team again ran Jerome d'Ambrosio in Lucas di Grassi's car, with the Belgian 0.4s behind Glock in 22nd.
2010 AUTOSPORT.COM
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