Ford - They have an official website for their racing activities
Ford Racing - Ford Racing Performance Parts - Ford Performance Group
Suzuki: Official motorsports website
Motorsport | Global Suzuki
Honda: Official motorsports website
Honda Performance Development - Performance Engine Design for Honda Racing
Toyota: Official motorsports website
Toyota Motorsports
Volkswagen: Volkswagen Racing UK official site.
Volkswagen Motorsport
They are into racing big time
Renault: Official motorsports website
http://www.renault-sport.com/en/
Toyota Motorsport GmbH
Toyota Motorsport GmbH - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
These guys were doing great in WRC until 1999, and then no results for the next two years. This was to allow for their switch into F1. F1 as we all know, Toyota never went anywhere. With all the money they had, they could not get any results and they quit F1 in 2009. Now, Toyota is making money lending its Wind tunnel facilities, and their cars for tyre testing. No racing for the last few years.
Honda-
Honda was the powerhouse in F1 in the 60s, 1964-68, and were engine suppliers from 1983. Their next stint was BAR-HONDA which again went nowhere. I remember BAR-HONDA was singly responsible for the downfall of the 1997 world champion Vilenueve. Honda too quit F1 in 2009. They made a small stint into WRC in 2006 but that did not last long either. Honda now, with its financial position is not involved in any big sport. They are losing ground and fast. Other car companies are matching them on the engine aspect as well. [Honda was head and shoulders above the rest in the past in the engine department]
Hyundai-
Google says:
No search results found for 'Hyundai' + 'racing'
No obvious motorsorts involvement (they had tried their hand at WRC a decabe back with the accent I guess)
VW-
VW dominated the Paris-Dakar rally in 2010. The Tuareg finished 1-2-3. They organize the VW cup in the UK. The same was held in India as well which was called the Polo cup. (Racing against their own cars? Eeeeeks). They are into Formula 3.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Mercedes gets heavy weights Geoff Willis and Aldo Costa
There used to be a time when Groff Willis was in the news every other day (like Andrian Newey is now a days), though I must admit not for good reasons. He has some really decent credentials which unfortunately are belittled due to his lackluster tenure at Honda. Willis and Newey worked together at Williams for many years, the former recruiting Willis to Williams when he joined the team, so its a surprise that it didn't work well for him when he joined RedBull racing as a Technical Director, reporting to Newey.
Aldo Costa had a better time at F1 compared to Willis. Although he started with Minardi, he moved up to the role of technical director at Ferrari, but later relinquished it in May 2011, a hint at him joining Mercedes perhaps.
Only time will tell how good these recruits are for Mercedes, for sure Michael and Brawn have experience working with Costa but Willis career has gone from a high to a low and there have been times when he was accused of things which people don't take lightly in F1. Though in all fairness, Hondas best years were when Willis was working with them.
Mercedes are clearly showing their intention to get the right people at the right places, I just hope they don't go the BAR/Honda way.
Aldo Costa had a better time at F1 compared to Willis. Although he started with Minardi, he moved up to the role of technical director at Ferrari, but later relinquished it in May 2011, a hint at him joining Mercedes perhaps.
Only time will tell how good these recruits are for Mercedes, for sure Michael and Brawn have experience working with Costa but Willis career has gone from a high to a low and there have been times when he was accused of things which people don't take lightly in F1. Though in all fairness, Hondas best years were when Willis was working with them.
Mercedes are clearly showing their intention to get the right people at the right places, I just hope they don't go the BAR/Honda way.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Indian GP Expectations
I hope they get the track ready in time. Looks like a decent track, and what will all the elevation changes and all should make for an interesting race circuit. I am all for circuits which promote overtaking but not artificial overtaking like what we witnessed at Turkey. Singapore was a good example of how the DRS zone should be .
Redbull would do well as expected, and unless the other teams find some dramatic form, I think it could well be a RedBull 1-2.
Fans in India are a lot more knowledgeable about cars, not race cars in particular, but they are passionate about cars which they own and i think it would bode well for the future. Having a circuit in a country where the fans love racing is far better than having a circuit in a country where the track is an exercise which the government has indulged in. The good thing about Indian track is that its built by a private company which sees the potential in building a race track and thats a very encouraging sign.
I hope to be there for the first ever F1 race in India, will update the blog with my first F1 experience, in the flesh.
Redbull would do well as expected, and unless the other teams find some dramatic form, I think it could well be a RedBull 1-2.
Fans in India are a lot more knowledgeable about cars, not race cars in particular, but they are passionate about cars which they own and i think it would bode well for the future. Having a circuit in a country where the fans love racing is far better than having a circuit in a country where the track is an exercise which the government has indulged in. The good thing about Indian track is that its built by a private company which sees the potential in building a race track and thats a very encouraging sign.
I hope to be there for the first ever F1 race in India, will update the blog with my first F1 experience, in the flesh.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tiny Analysis of the Australian GP
A great race, Button drove well and made good choices, with some good fortune thrown in, Hamiltons second stop was a team call covering off the options that Webber and Rosberg may be a big threat, a smart move by the team, to maximise their chance of winning they had the leading one stop car and the leading two stop car. If Hamilton felt so strongly he shold have argued to stay out, it's easy to moan after the event. Red Bull fast but fragile, Vettel I would say is hard on the car as well so will always be prone to breaking it more than others, it's all part of the game, roll on next week. Is Vettel the new Kimi?
Thursday, February 18, 2010
USF1 to quit F1
The USF1 team is reportedly on the verge of quitting Formula One - and before they had even started.
After reading Windsor's nauseating articles in F1 Racing, in which he seems to believe he can do everyone's job far better than they can, part of me is taking great delight in seeing what a total mess he's making of running an F1 team. A question to those who know about NASCAR (I know nothing). Do the NASCAR teams spend more or less than the F1 teams to go racing?
I really cant get my head around the FIA's decision on the new teams. Prodrive/Aston Martin were a proven team with finance and infrastructure already in place. What were the FIA thinking when they selected the new entries? I hope that Prodrive get a place next year and make a good job of rubbing it in the FIA's face.
Everyone outside of the FIA thought that Prodrive/Aston Martin would be the first new team to be accepted to race in F1, however Bernie and the FIA chose Miky Mouse outfits that would have difficulty in getting a car to the grid let alone be competetive. I don't think they like Dave Richards very much. They've made a rod for their own backs now and there is no way out. How can it be that these teams are being allowed to race creating a dangerous situation by being 5 to 10 seconds a lap slower than all the other teams? Perhaps the FIA want to have several moving chicains on the track to try and improve the lack of overtaking? I also hope that Stephan GP are not allowed to compete with last years Toyota, that would be a real joke!
Perhaps next year we can get back to normality and get Prodrive accepted onto the grid. With MAX now out of the picture, Richards stands a better chance of entering a team.
After reading Windsor's nauseating articles in F1 Racing, in which he seems to believe he can do everyone's job far better than they can, part of me is taking great delight in seeing what a total mess he's making of running an F1 team. A question to those who know about NASCAR (I know nothing). Do the NASCAR teams spend more or less than the F1 teams to go racing?
I really cant get my head around the FIA's decision on the new teams. Prodrive/Aston Martin were a proven team with finance and infrastructure already in place. What were the FIA thinking when they selected the new entries? I hope that Prodrive get a place next year and make a good job of rubbing it in the FIA's face.
Everyone outside of the FIA thought that Prodrive/Aston Martin would be the first new team to be accepted to race in F1, however Bernie and the FIA chose Miky Mouse outfits that would have difficulty in getting a car to the grid let alone be competetive. I don't think they like Dave Richards very much. They've made a rod for their own backs now and there is no way out. How can it be that these teams are being allowed to race creating a dangerous situation by being 5 to 10 seconds a lap slower than all the other teams? Perhaps the FIA want to have several moving chicains on the track to try and improve the lack of overtaking? I also hope that Stephan GP are not allowed to compete with last years Toyota, that would be a real joke!
Perhaps next year we can get back to normality and get Prodrive accepted onto the grid. With MAX now out of the picture, Richards stands a better chance of entering a team.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
McLarens strange aero device
Image courtesy f1fanatic.co.uk
At this stage of testing, if anyone can definitively say that McLaren is working on a major problem, they are better at reading tea leaves than me. This is an interesting device which obviously takes some effort to provide for use on the car out on a track. Since they have deeper pockets than most, I would not disbelieve their explanation in trying to provide some real-world data to compare with wind tunnel and virtual test data for use later in the season. Time will tell if they really have an issue or not... my guess is that they don't, as their Valencia tests were probably done with more fuel than the others and they may have been easing into the cars' performance since the design is different than last seasons'. Fast will only be an issue once every top team is running the same configuration or it is announced by a team that they are running with a full tank or less. The fuel issue is the gorilla in the room at this stage... every team has to account for it and then also allowances for lower weights (aerodynamics, ride height, wheel loading, acceleration and braking differences, etc)
I suppose that it's just "part of the deal" that none of us comletely believe any statement made by any of the teams in F1. They certainly have earned our distrust!!! With all of the lying and politics that reign supreme in our sport, it's amazing that any cars actually manage to get to the grid for any given race...But, there may be some truth to what McLaren released to the press. The aero testing on track is similar BUT NOT the same as in the wind tunnel or on a computer generated wind flow chart. So, if their car was a dog early last year, they may very well be making sure that this year's car hits the first track in top form. If Hamilton had had a good car for the first few races of 2009 he may very well have been champion instead of Jenson.
With an unreasonable limit to testing teams have got to maximise the information they get. It makes life harder for the drivers as they become test drivers instead of getting used to rhe car. This is all right for experienced drivers, but other for new teams with rookie drivers it is a disadvantage. Limited full course testing should be allowed during the season. It would negate the advantage the teasm with a better car from the start of the season have and improve the competition as the season progresses.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Day 3 - Test Assessment
Times
1 Alonso Ferrari 1:11.470 127 laps
2 de la Rosa Sauber 1:12.094 80 laps
3 Schumacher Mercedes 1:12.438 82 laps
4 Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:12.576 97 laps
5 Button McLaren 1:12.951 82 laps
6 Petrov Renault 1:13.097 75 laps
7 Hulkenberg Williams 1:13.669 126 laps
Highlights of the day was Alonso beating Massas time, and Button finishing the day 5th fastest. But on the 2nd Feb 2010 the track temperature barely made it above freezing whereas on the 3rd Feb it was around the 18 degree mark, makes a big difference and therefore Alonso bettering Massa's time relatively quickly is irrelevant given the conditions were much better. Even on the same day, unless 2 drivers set their best lap time at similar times of day (which is often not the case) and using similar amounts of fuel (which we won't know) its impossible to judge accurately. If Ferrari are consistently at the front though it would be most likely that they are the true pace-setters.
Generally speaking drivers' comments are as good an indicator as any at this stage. Remember last year? Everyone was adamant Brawn were running light at Barcelona yet you only had to see Jenson's smile and listen to Rubens giddy like a kid at Christmas to realise the car must be good. Therefore Felipe, Alonso and Lewis all saying good stuff about their cars is telling. Lewis is usually in Mclaren PR mode so to use phrases like 'night and day' is particularly telling for me. Still, no-one really knows anything for sure yet. The Fezza does seem quick though.
Qualifying 1, Sat 13th March at Bahrain. That is when we will find out for real how the teams compare when they ALL have the same fuel on board and are driving purely to go as fast as they can. Until then the testing times are interesting to try and interpret and read about in the F1 gossip columns, but that's all.
1 Alonso Ferrari 1:11.470 127 laps
2 de la Rosa Sauber 1:12.094 80 laps
3 Schumacher Mercedes 1:12.438 82 laps
4 Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:12.576 97 laps
5 Button McLaren 1:12.951 82 laps
6 Petrov Renault 1:13.097 75 laps
7 Hulkenberg Williams 1:13.669 126 laps
Highlights of the day was Alonso beating Massas time, and Button finishing the day 5th fastest. But on the 2nd Feb 2010 the track temperature barely made it above freezing whereas on the 3rd Feb it was around the 18 degree mark, makes a big difference and therefore Alonso bettering Massa's time relatively quickly is irrelevant given the conditions were much better. Even on the same day, unless 2 drivers set their best lap time at similar times of day (which is often not the case) and using similar amounts of fuel (which we won't know) its impossible to judge accurately. If Ferrari are consistently at the front though it would be most likely that they are the true pace-setters.
Generally speaking drivers' comments are as good an indicator as any at this stage. Remember last year? Everyone was adamant Brawn were running light at Barcelona yet you only had to see Jenson's smile and listen to Rubens giddy like a kid at Christmas to realise the car must be good. Therefore Felipe, Alonso and Lewis all saying good stuff about their cars is telling. Lewis is usually in Mclaren PR mode so to use phrases like 'night and day' is particularly telling for me. Still, no-one really knows anything for sure yet. The Fezza does seem quick though.
Qualifying 1, Sat 13th March at Bahrain. That is when we will find out for real how the teams compare when they ALL have the same fuel on board and are driving purely to go as fast as they can. Until then the testing times are interesting to try and interpret and read about in the F1 gossip columns, but that's all.
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