Lotus

F1 Melbourne 2013 Review: FP1 and FP2 most reminiscent of Mr. Noah

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Top times of the day Pos   Driver Team Tine Diff   Laps 1 Vettel Red Bull 1’25.908 33 2 Webber Red Bull 1’26.172 0.264 31 3 Rosberg Mercedes 1’26.322 0.414 26 4 Raikkonen Lotus 1’26.361 0.453 38 5 Grosjean Lotus 1’26.680 0.772 32 6 Alonso Ferrari 1’26.748 0.840 35 7 Hamilton Mercedes 1’26.772 0.864 … Read more

On this day in F1 – 15th March

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On this day in F1 – 15 March, is brought to you by TheJudge13 chronicler: Bart De Pauw – 1981: Alan Jones wins US Grand Prix (West) to make it three in a row – 2001: Jacques Villleneuve blames Ralf Schumacher for marshal’s death 1981: F1 winters can be crazy at times. And so was … Read more

F1 Forensics: Rake

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F1 Forensics is brought to thejudge13 readers in partnership with SomersF1, Like most of us, Matthew Somerfield has a day job and his is being the manager of a car & van rental company in the Isle of Wight.

His passion is to try and bring us non-techies closer to F1 by bridging the gap between the full blown engineering publications and the simplicity of much that is provided by TV.

I posted this gallery last week and asked TJ13 readers what they could see. Of course the rake of the RB9 was evident. Having hunted about for some explanation on ‘rake’ I couldn’t find much of value, so I suggested to Somers he fill this gap in our knowledge.

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Breaking News: Thursday 7th March 2013

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This page will be updated throughout the day as news is released. Click on the tab above for the latest updated version. If you follow @thejudge13 on twitter you will see when I tweet a new headline and know the post has been updated.

Quick Question: Did anyone notice the make of Lewis Hamilton’s motor home in the paddock in Barcelona?

Renault lobbying FIA

In my article “Evidence mounts that the Renault engine mapping fiasco is hurting Red Bull and Lotus” James Alison attempts to persuade us that the engine mapping set back suffered by Renault is of no importance to them. “We were experimenting in testing, on the last day of the last test [Barca 1], with an engine map and we explained to the FIA what we were doing. But having run it on the track we found it did not work very well anyway. We learned from the FIA that they were not so happy with what we proposed, so we are not doing it.”

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Pre Season Testing – What Have We Learnt?

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Barcelona was the last time Formula 1 cars are driven in anger until Albert Park in around 10 days time, and whilst the past week or so was a case of smoke and mirrors (to be expected) there was quite a lot to be learnt once you dug up under the surface. Some teams struggled, whilst others prospered, and it creates a very interesting picture ahead of the first race of the season. So without further ado, let’s grab a spade and see what we can uncover.

Mercedes W04

The stand out performers from the second test had to be Mercedes. Yes I will be the first to admit, I was one of the big detractors over the winter period, criticising their management structure and how they were so drastically reorganising the team so close to the start of the season. But if the past few weeks are to go by, the W04 does seem to be a very competent car indeed. Whether showing front running pace for the majority of testing has shown the team’s hand far too soon is another matter, but when Rosberg went 1.6 seconds faster than his Qualifying time last year in Barcelona, it shows progress has been very good over the winter at Brackley.

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Evidence mounts that the Renault engine mapping fiasco is hurting Red Bull and Lotus

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A Quick look at how much each team managed to extract from 2013 pre-season testing

Team Total Testing Laps

1. Sauber 1161 laps
2. Mercedes 1095 laps
3. Ferrari 1068 laps
4. Red Bull Racing 1008 laps
5. McLaren 1008 laps
6. Caterham 985 laps
7. Sahara Force India 980 laps
8. Toro Rosso 960 laps
9. Marussia 798 laps
10. Lotus 770 laps
11. Williams – FW35 666 laps
12. Williams – FW34 305 laps

Driver Total Testing Laps

1. Esteban Gutierrez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari 607 laps
2. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 572 laps
3. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Sauber-Ferrari 554 laps
4. Paul di Resta Britain Force India-Mercedes 553 laps
5. Sergio Perez Mexico McLaren-Mercedes 553 laps 
6. Max Chilton Britain Marussia-Cosworth 550 laps
7. Jean-Eric Vergne France Toro Rosso-Ferrari 536 laps
8. Lewis Hamilton Britain Mercedes-Mercedes 523 laps
9. Charles Pic France Caterham-Renault 516 laps
10. Valtteri Bottas Finland Williams-Renault 513 laps
11. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 513 laps
12. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 513 laps
13. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 505 laps
14. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 495 laps
15. Romain Grosjean France Lotus-Renault 495 laps
16. Giedo van der Garde Holland Caterham-Renault 469 laps
17. Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Williams-Renault 458 laps
18. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 455 laps
19. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 424 laps
20. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Lotus-Renault 259 laps
21. Jules Bianchi France Marussia-Cosworth 253 laps *
22. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 249 laps
23. Luiz Razia Brazil Marussia-Cosworth 112 laps
24. James Rossiter Britain Force India-Mercedes 61 laps
25. Pedro de la Rosa Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 50 laps
26. Davide Valsecchi Italy Lotus-Renault 16 laps

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Good honest deceit. What happened to Honeywell?

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Follow thejudge13: Why not follow thejudge13 by email. Click on the button at the top right of the page to receive an email when (and only when) a new article hits the interweb.

I have now put 2 RSS feeds at the bottom of the right hand bar for those of you who know how to use them for updates.

TJ13 is now also on Facebook. Like us in the toolbar on the right if you’re a FB’er.

Well we truly are living in historic times. 600 years or so since the resignation of the last Holy Father and it may be 600 more before Bernie decides to relinquish his throne too. I was amused by the fact that His Holiness chose to announce his resignation in Latin and there was only 1 reporter there who knew what he was saying and had the hugest exclusive scoop. So kids – lessons learned. Get your head down with Latin homework.

I have noticed further similarities between the Pope and his F1 peer – Mr. E; maybe the reason we seem to hear gobbledygook when our F1’s supremo makes his pronouncements is because he too is speaking in a nigh on extinct ancient language.

Pressing on to more important matters. First up, a big thanks to those of you recently contributing to thejudge13. Take a couple of minutes to read ‘the project’ page, I’ve updated it today.

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Barcelona shafts Valencia, Ecclestone Ferrari vengeance, Bahrain loses GP2 race, Glock Safe? Alesi retires or dies, Rosberg and the ‘bulls’, Webber saves Vettel, Total Petroleum calm down, Why FIA changed 2014 rules, Pirelli aim to shake it up again, Haug gives reasons

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Follow thejudge13: Why not follow thejudge13 by email. Click on the button at the top right of the page to receive an email when (and only when) a new article hits the interweb. WE REACHED 500 email followers yesterday only in thejudge13’s 14th week and just under 400 by twitter.

thejudge13 archive: There have been a number of questions about Nikki Lauda, his time at Jaguar, why Mercedes recruited him…I did a couple of articles around the time of the announcement so if you’ve joined the site since then, here they are. “Lauda: Ross Brawn’s new boss” I wrote this about 2am on October 2nd after reading an online article on a German newspaper site – that was going out the following day. The story hadn’t been picked up even on titter to my recollection.

This was a part 2 follow up – written when I was more alert (the next day) and had time to reflect on the  implications. “How Lauda got the top job in Mercedes F1” – my conclusions are now quite interesting post Haug’s departure.

Barcelona shafts Valencia: The circuit de Catalunya has over the past 2 years been making consistent noises about how much money it is losing which resulted in an initial agreement with Valencia, also under big financial pressure, to alternate the Spanish GP between them – al la Hockenheim and Nurburgring.

This deal has been agreed with Ecclestone clearly as Valencia’s extended contract signed in 2009 meant they would remain on the calendar until 2014. So either they are paying out $30m a year in hosting fee’s and not having a race – or the Spanish GP sharing with Barcelona has been agreed with FOM.

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Jordan criticises Lauda, Vettel art sells for 16,000, Some Schumacher memories, Lauda checking staff holidays, FI launch 2013 on 1st Feb, FIA nervous over Bahrain, Berger to replace Haug? Indecisive Caterham

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Follow thejudge13: Why not follow thejudge13 by email. Click on the button at the top right of the page to receive an email when (and only when) a new article hits the interweb. WE REACHED 500 email followers yesterday only in thejudge13’s 14th week and just under 400 by twitter.

thejudge13 archive: I started a consultation document to agree the parameters of what we should use as our interpretive grid to establish, “Greatest F1 Drivers”. We’ve had many new readers since then so, here it is again and next week I’ll publish part 2 (LINK). Read my starter for 10 and then the comments already made and add your ideas, this article will be co-written by thejudge13 readers. A collaborative work that carries therefore great breadth of source and as such has more persuasive force. You’ve heard how the camel came into being? A committee attempting to design a horse. So I will have final editorial privileges 🙂

Jordan says Lauda can’t have it both ways: Since 1996, Nikki Lauda has been an F1 pundit for German speaking TV station RTL. Jordan questions how he can operate objectively as a journalist whilst working as chairman of Mercedes AMG F1.

Lauda claims he is a ‘grown man’ and knows how to discharge his responsibilities for both employers. He claims that he received praise for a schizophrenic performance he gave in Brazil, where as RTL journalist he allegedly interviewed himself simultaneously as Chairmen of Mercedes F1.

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Marussia – miss media opportunity, Grosjean wins ROC and a seat at Lotus, Mercedes knives appear, Sutil legal matters? Horner would’ve dirched Massa, Lewis been to Mercedes, Ex-F1 doctor rants on twitter, Williams and Gillan seperate

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Follow thejudge13: Why not follow thejudge13 by email. Click on the button at the top right of the page to receive an email when (and only when) a new article hits the interweb.

thejudge13 archive: Here’s an article I wrote after trawling the southern US media prior to the inaugural Austin GP. To this date, I have not heard this reported anywhere else, yet you would think the sale of nearly 10% of F1 for $900m to the pensioners of North America might be of Interest to someone (LINK).

Marrusia – missed media opportunity: If you look on Marussiaf1team.com today, you’ll see a Christmas wish from Timo and John says, “”We are very proud of what we achieved in 2012 and we take away so many highlights, all of which point towards a development path we can have great confidence in. Thank you for sharing some fantastic experiences with us. Wishing you the very best of Christmases.”

No announcement of Timo’s partner for 2013, yet over the weekend, there have been some rumours emanating from Russian reporters. Joe Saward has some interesting insights on the Marussia car company today, “Marussia is a funny company. It took over a controlling interest in the Virgin F1 team around a year ago, but since then there has been virtually no word about the progress of the Marussia road cars”.

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