Sergio Pérez causes storm of ecstasy in Guadalajara

Press release

Hinwil, 26^th February 2011 – Between 150,000 and 200,000 people lined the streets in the city centre of Sergio Pérez’ home town of Guadalajara and cheered the first Mexican Formula One driver in over 30 years. The 21-year old Sauber F1 Team driver went up and down the 1.5 kilometre long course on closed public roads a total of eight times in a C29, doing ‘donuts’ and getting the tyres to smoke.

“This was one of the best days of my life”, said Sergio Pérez, trying to put his emotions into words after giving dozens of interviews and signing countless autographs, “it was a great, great experience. I have never experienced something like this before with so many people cheering me. I’m proud to be Mexican, and I’m proud to receive all this support. It is a big boost for me ahead of the new season.”

”It was an enormous event with unbelievable enthusiasm“, confirmed Team Manager Beat Zehnder. He added: “What the state of Jalisco managed to put on within a very short space of time was one of the greatest F1 road shows I have ever looked after.”

In glorious sunshine with a pleasant 28 degrees the programme was rounded off by a NASCAR show, which also involved Sergio‘s brother Antonio Pérez, bike shows and parades involving the police and vintage cars.

Images of the preparations on the 25^th February, as well as the road show on the 26^th February are available for downloading at: media.sauberf1team.com

Guadalajara – Sergio Pérez 2709 x 1914 – 1.23 MB	Guadalajara – Sergio Pérez 2709 x 1914 – 1.07 MB	Guadalajara – Sergio Pérez 2508 x 1772 – 1.06 MB
Guadalajara – Sergio Pérez 2709 x 1914 – 1.07 MB	Guadalajara – Sergio Pérez 2709 x 1914 – 1.11 MB	Guadalajara – Sergio Pérez 1791 x 2893 – 1.28 MB
Guadalajara – Sergio Pérez 2751 x 1884 – 1.75 MB

 

 

credit : Sauber F1 team

Mercedes W02 – Updated front wing for Barcelona February testing

 

W02 since now struggles for speed especially when cornering revealing lack of grip . To ease the problem , in the wait of major updates for the 2011 season debut , Mercedes tested a revised front wing at last day in Barcelona February testing . The revised wing had a slotted main plane to prevent wing stalling keeping downforce production high enough . Wing stalling  can cause sudden oversteer resulting time loss or even excessive  tyre ware . Pirelli tyres are proved to be  more susceptible to graining  than Bridgestone and teams have to pay special attention on keeping them in good shape .

Lotus Renault R31 – rear floor details, cutting drag

 

R31 proved to be quite fast during winter testing , a fact not only credited to the front exhausts exit but also to the highly detailed design of the car .  In particular the crucial area  in front of the rear wheel  is very advanced featuring a triangular vertical fence (orange arrow) and a pointing outwards trapezoid channel  (orange line) to significantly cut drag . Williams FW33 has also an analogous trapezoid channel for the same reason .

 

 

From a side view the plank under the floor can be spotted (No 2) alongside with the diffuser side vertical fence (No 1)

 

Sergio Pérez to drive Formula One car in Guadalajara

Press release

Hinwil, 24 February 2011 – Before Sergio Pérez lines up for his first-ever Formula One race, he will be dropping in on his home city of Guadalajara along with his F1 race car. On 26^th February, the 21-year-old Mexican will put in some demonstration runs with the C29 in this city of 1.5-million inhabitants. The 1.5 kilometre-long street circuit is located in the historic city centre of Guadalajara, which is in the State of Jalisco in the northwest of this vast country. The action will take place next to the City Hall and the Cathedral. Pérez is looking forward to his whistle-stop visit: “Mexico is hugely excited about the coming season,” he says, “and it’s great we can offer the people an event like this in the run-up to it. It will bring the whole thing to life for them by letting them see, feel and hear what Formula One is all about. And for me it’s a small way to express my thanks to the people for their support.”

The event will take place on Saturday from 10.00 to 15.00 hrs (local time). Pérez will take to the streets twice in the Formula One car, while his brother Antonio Pérez, along with German Quiroga, will also be venturing out in their NASCAR racers. Also on the agenda are autograph sessions, the presentation of the mascot for the 2011 Pan American Games and a vintage car parade. For the rapid city tour in Guadalajara the car is displaying new logos: On the side pod the recognisable bull dog’s head of Apasco can be spotted. On the backward facing section of the rear wing Telmex is promoting the social projects ”Homeless World Cup Mexico 2012“ and ”Fundácion Telmex“. The name of ”infinitum“, an internet product of Telmex, is visible on the forward facing section of the rear wing. Most of these logos are on the car just for the road show in Pérez‘ home town and will not be on the C30 again after this. Images will be posted in the media section of the team website media.sauberf1team.com on Sunday. Rights-free video material will be made available for downloading in the week after the event.

 

credit : Sauber F1 team

Red Bull RB7 – Floor splitter (launch version)

The RB7 floor splitter is an evolution of the RB6 design and differs significantly from the 2011 trend  in two major key spots. First the side vertical fences and  vents  are much shorter in length  and secondly the leading edge is very thin . The thinning  of the leading edge became possible by placing the ballast backwards and a thin edge divides far better the  airflow under and over the floor .

It worth’s mentioning that the design lacks any support to the chassis above,  rising doubts if it fulfills  the required by the rules stiffness .

Red Bull RB7 – Front brakes ( Winter testing )

1.Winglet to improve airflow quality passing inside the tyres

2.Main duct to cool down Brembo carbon disc brakes  . The minor twin ducts inside the main help to cool down rest braking components

3.Lower smaller duct to cool the Brembo calipers  and pads

4.Carbon plate to seal the rim and cut turbulence

Force India VJM04 – attention on aero efficiency

 

Force India in Jerez joined the club of teams which tested the flow visualization paint. The rest  teams which tried that special paint were  Mc Laren ( white-blueish paint) , Lotus Renault (greenish paint) , Red Bull ( yellow-green paint) and Williams ( purple-white paint ) . Force India focused on studying the aero efficiency of the rear wing flaps and beam and to what extend the blade roll structure impacts  on rear wing downforce production .

 

 

( for details on flow visualization paint check  https://formula1techandart.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/red-bull-rb7-getting-green-at-jerez-february-test )

Team Lotus T128 – Wheels

 

Tyres : Pirelli

Wheel rims : BBS to Team Lotus Specification in yellow color

 

 

Lotus T128 – Nose vanes

 

Lotus T128 sports similar vanes hanging under the nose  to  Williams FW33 , Red Bull RB7 , Ferrari F150th and Marussia MRV02 (for details check  https://formula1techandart.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/williams-fw33-nose-vanes/ )

 

 

Toro Rosso STR6 – BARCELONA TEST – DAY 4

BARCELONA TEST – DAY 4    , 21 February 2011
Circuit: Circuit de Catalunya – 4,655 kms
Driver: Sebastien Buemi
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:23.550, 90 laps

The third pre-season test session finished today at the Catalunya circuit, with Sebastien Buemi bringing the fourth day to an end with ninety laps and the third fastest time to his name. His programme was similar to the one followed with Jaime Alguersuari, with a mix of short and long runs today, using all the types of Pirelli tyre with the exception of the Medium. In addition, the Swiss driver also worked on car set-up work and brakes.

Giorgio Ascanelli: “This has definitely been a productive four days for us with a good number of laps completed. We addressed all the technical issues that came to our attention at the previous test in Jerez, although as you move forward and make progress, you always discover new problems. But 90 trouble-free laps today means that this is a positive end to our time in Barcelona.”

Sebastien Buemi: “Today went well and I am happy with what we achieved. We gotthrough the entire programme we had planned and did enough laps to improve our understanding of the various types of Pirelli tyre. Along with the two other drivers, we gathered a lot of data over the past four days here in Barcelona and it will be important to analyse everything very carefully to find the right way to move forward in terms of reliability and performance, when we tackle the final pre-season test session. The team, at the track and back at the factory worked well to deliver a car reliable enough to do plenty of laps, which is always the most important thing at this point in the year.”

 

 

credit : Scuderia Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso STR6 – BARCELONA TEST – DAY 3

BARCELONA TEST – DAY 3 20 February 2011
Circuit: Circuit de Catalunya – 4.655 kms
Driver: Daniel Ricciardo
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:28.329, 42 laps (morning session)
Driver: Sebastien Buemi
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:26.155, 31 laps (afternoon session)

The third day of the third test session of the pre-season saw Scuderia Toro Rosso run two of its drivers: in the morning, it was Daniel Ricciardo who is our reserve driver, running during Free Practice 1 at the majority of Grands Prix this season and, after the lunch break, his place in the cockpit was taken by Sebastien Buemi. The Australian began the day on Extreme Pirelli rain tyres, switching first to intermediates and then to slicks when the track dried out from the rain that fell last night and briefly, this morning. This provided interesting data in terms of overlapping tyre performance as the track surface conditions changed. In the afternoon, Swiss Seb concentrated on set-up work running two sets of slicks. He continues driving for all of tomorrow, the final day of the Barcelona test.

Daniel Ricciardo: “It was an interesting morning in changing conditions, especially as I was one of the first to switch to slick tyres as the track dried this morning. I was pleased to be able to test a few different compounds so the day was more productive than we expected, especially in terms of learning more about the crossover point from wet to intermediate to dry tyres. Now, I am not due to drive at any further test sessions, so my next time in the car should be during Free Practice 1 at the first Grand Prix.”

Sebastien Buemi: “Even if I did not do so many laps this afternoon, I think the work we did was productive and it means we have plenty of sets to run with tomorrow, to increase our understanding of the different tyre types. We also evaluated some elements aimed at increasing downforce, which was interesting and now I just hope it is dry all day tomorrow, so we can get plenty of laps completed.”

 

 

credit : Scuderia Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso STR6 – BARCELONA TEST – DAY 2

BARCELONA TEST – DAY 2 ,  19 February 2011
Circuit: Circuit de Catalunya – 4.655 kms
Driver: Jaime Alguersuari
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:23.519, 97 laps

Jaime Alguersuari completed his second and final day of testing here at the Catalunya circuit near Barcelona, during which he did a respectable number of laps on a day that featured fewer red flags than yesterday. The Catalan driver had a busy programme, all of which was completed by the time the flag fell at 5 o’clock. It included a continuation of yesterday’s brake system evaluation and an assessment of different set-up configurations to suit various conditions and fuel loads. Jaime also tried three of the four Pirelli compounds – Hard, Soft and Supersoft – again working on car set-up to suit each one. Tomorrow morning, our reserve driver, Daniel Ricciardo will have his second outing in the STR6, following on from his half day in Jerez, before Sebastien Buemi takes over for the afternoon and Monday.

 

 

credit : Scuderia Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso STR6 – BARCELONA TEST – DAY 1

BARCELONA TEST – DAY 1 ,   18 February 2011
Circuit: Circuit de Catalunya – 4.655 kms
Driver: Jaime Alguersuari
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:25.638, 57 laps

The third of four pre-season test sessions got underway in the same conditions that brought the previous one to an end: last week, rain arrived for the final minutes at Jerez de la Frontera and a wet track from overnight rain, was the main feature up until around eleven this morning at the Catalunya circuit. The opportunity was not wasted and our local boy, Jaime Alguersuari, immediately put in a good 20 lap run on Pirelli’s intermediate tyre, gathering useful data for ourselves and the sport’s new tyre supplier. Once the track dried, the slicks came out and two runs were completed before the lunch-break which is compulsory at this track. The afternoon’s work included a brake system evaluation. The Catalan driver continues at the wheel for tomorrow’s test.

 

 

credit : Scuderia Toro Rosso

Lotus T128 – Barcelona test , day 4

TEAM LOTUS T03 BARCELONA DAY 4 REVIEW – 21 / 02 / 11

Driver: Jarno Trulli / Chassis: T128-01

Fastest lap: 1.29.992 (lap 4)

Runplan

0900 – 0901:    Run 1, Installation, 1 lap
0901 – 0931:    System checks / Changes: ride height / front wing / brake balance /
0931 – 0941:    Run 2, 6 laps
0941 – 0951:    Front wing flap adjustment
0951 – 1001:    Run 3, 6 laps
1001 – 1009:    Setup change
1009 – 1016:    Run 4, 4 laps
1016 – 1018:    Run 5, 1 lap / accident at T9 (Campsa)
1018                End of session due to accident

 

JARNO TRULLI: “It’s obviously disappointing to have the test cut short like this but these things happen in motor racing. We started the day well and until the accident happened I had picked up where I left off yesterday – the car has good balance, pace we can build on and has the potential to help us take the fight to the midfield, so I’m leaving here feeling confident about the season ahead and am looking forward to the next test, wherever that will be.”

MIKE GASCOYNE, CHIEF TECHNICAL OFFICER: “Unfortunately the day was cut short due to the accident Jarno suffered this morning at turn 9. It was not his fault – it was caused by a car failure and we were missing a part we needed to put the car back together which meant we had to cut day four short. Despite this I still think there are a great deal of positives to take from the test in terms of the pace of the car and the fact that we are on top of the reliability issues. With that in mind we leave here with work to do but still on target for where we want to be. We will wait to see where the next test will be held and with the time we now have back at the factory we will be working hard to make sure we run through our complete programme at that test.”

 

 

 

credit : TEAM LOTUS

Red Bull RB7 – Barcelona test , day 4

BARCELONA TEST – Day Four
Driver: Mark Webber
Car: RB7 – 01
Laps: 69
Best time: 1:23.442
Circuit length: 4.655km
Fastest lap: Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1:22.625

After spending yesterday on race simulation work, it was back to business as usual for Red Bull Racing today, with Mark Webber completing 69 laps as the team evaluated development components on the RB07. “Today we got through quite a lot of work in evaluating some development components on the suspension, brakes and aero package,” explained Head of Race Engineering Ian Morgan. “We got through the whole programme without any difficulties so, all in all, a useful day’s work.” Summing up the Barcelona test, he added: “We set out a pretty ambitious schedule for this test and I’m pleased to say that we managed to get through almost all of it. Obviously, the weather yesterday hampered us a little but even then we got some wet weather running in, which helps us understand the tyres a bit better. Overall, I think we are quite pleased with the progress we’ve made here.” Mark Webber said “Not too bad today. We had a few niggles here and there but we did well and that’s been the case over the whole weekend. We had a very productive test, no question about it. We have a whole raft of data to go through, so we’ll see where the next test is and get ready for that.” Learning of the news that the first race of the season in Bahrain will not take place, Webber commented: “I think the right decision was made, in light of what is going on, so we look forward to Melbourne instead. It would have been nice to go to Bahrain, but hopefully it can stage the race again. As for starting in Melbourne, it’s my home race and, as always, I’m looking forward to it. It is a sensational event, we’re in good shape as a team, so I hope to go there and get a very good result.”

 

 

 

 

 

credit : Red Bull Racing

Sauber F1 Team – Test in Barcelona , Day four

Press release

Test in Barcelona – Day four

Barcelona, 21^st February 2011 – On the final day of testing in Barcelona Sergio Pérez completed 74 laps at the wheel of the Sauber C30-Ferrari in dry conditions. His main focus was working on the set up of the car.

Circuit	Barcelona / 4.655 km
Driver	Sergio Pérez (MX)

Weather	Sunny and dry, air 6 -16°C, track 7 – 21°C
Chassis / engine	C30.02 / Ferrari 056
Mileage today	74 laps
Fastest lap	1:24.515 min (in the afternoon)
James Key (Technical Director)	“It was the final day of quite a long test in Barcelona. It’s always good to use this track as a reference. You get a far better idea about what your car is doing and where its strong and weak points are. Today we spent most of the time working on the set-up of the car, and we tried some new test items. We have to look at the data, but certainly we found some new directions. We also found some useful directions with the different compounds of tyres between the start in the morning, which was cold, and the afternoon when it was quite warm. The temperatures, the set up and the tyre compound are all very closely linked. There’s a lot of factors to consider, and we were able to learn more about all of them. Now we head off to the next test where we will introduce onto the car the first part of the update for the start of the season.”
Sergio Pérez:	“It was another positive day. I learnt a lot, in particular about the tyres. They kept changing, but now we have the final spec for the beginning of the season, so it was good I was able to run them today to learn how to maximise their potential. We did a lot of work over the two days, so I’m quite happy.”

Sergio – C30 – Barcelona 3543 x 2362 – 0.99 MB

Sergio – C30 – Barcelona 3543 x 2362 – 0.92 MB

 

credit : Sauber F1 team

Lotus Renault R31 – wheel force transducer

 

Pirelli and Bridgestone tyres have significant differences in skeleton structure, so Pirelli tyres suffers  different shape deformations especially when cornering and decelerating  than Bridgestone  . Deformations may increase or even decrease tyre contact patch and even cause excessive ware . To understand this phenomenon and how tyre shape changes depending on longitudinal and lateral forces applied on the wheel-tyre combo, Lotus Renault during Jerez test used a wheel force transducer on both the rear and front wheels . Apart from the tyre dynamic evaluation , the wheel force transducer  can also provide help on perfecting the suspension settings especially when kerb riding.

That type of device is fitted  on modified rims and  provide data about range of forces suffered by the wheel at different rotation speeds  (r.p.m. ) . It is consisted of a magnesium rim , a sensor body of Titanium alloy and sensors and it is not the first time Renault uses such a device .

Sauber F1 Team – Test in Barcelona , Day three

Press release

Test in Barcelona – Day three

Barcelona, 20^th February 2011 – On his first day of testing in Barcelona Sergio Pérez completed 115 laps at the wheel of the Sauber C30-Ferrari first in wet, then in dry conditions and did a race simulation in the afternoon.

Circuit	Barcelona / 4.655 km
Driver	Sergio Pérez ( MX)

Weather	overcast, wet in the morning, air 8 -15°C, track 8-18°C
Chassis / engine	C30.02 / Ferrari 056
Mileage today	115 laps
Fastest lap	1:25.557 min (in the afternoon)
James Key (Technical Director)	“It was good to have Sergio back in the car. It was a bit of a compromised day with the conditions this morning, which were both wet and cold, and it took quite some time to dry out. However, it allowed us to use both the wet and intermediate tyre again and to evaluate how the set-up needs to be changed from dry to wet with the Pirelli tyres. In the afternoon we ran a race simulation with three stints. Sergio put in some consistent lap times first on the hard, then the medium and finally the hard compound again. Unfortunately we had a problem with the rear wing so we had to bring him in. Apart from this, it was another trouble free day with many laps that allowed us to gather a lot of data. Tomorrow we will concentrate more on further set-up work and some test items we want to use on the final day.”
Sergio Pérez:	“Although the track conditions were not so good in the beginning, it was a positive day. We did some long runs, and we were able to collect a lot of information on the tyres. I learnt a lot, and I’m happy how things went today.”
What comes next	Sergio Pérez will continue driving on the final day of testing in Barcelona.

Sergio – C30 – Barcelona 5000 x 3333 – 1.27 MB

Sergio – C30 – Barcelona 5000 x 3333 – 1.91 MB

Sergio – C30 – Barcelona 5000 x 3333 – 1.62 MB

credit : Sauber F1 team

Red Bull RB7 – Barcelona test , day 3

BARCELONA TEST – Day Three ,  20 February 2011
Driver: Mark Webber
Car: RB7 – 01
Laps: 138
Best time: 1:24.995
Circuit length: 4.655km
Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg (1:23.168)

After Sebastian Vettel yesterday went through qualifying and race simulations, more of the same was planned for today, though this time it was to be Mark Webber’s turn to steer the RB7 through the sharp end of a race weekend – until the weather intervened. “We had a lot of rain overnight and it did upset our plans for Mark today,” explained Head of Race Engineering, Ian Morgan. “The conditions in the morning meant we couldn’t do a P3 or qualifying simulation, but it did allow Mark to get some running on the intermediate tyres, which was useful as he hasn’t had that opportunity before. “In the afternoon, with the track dry, we got down to the race simulation and I’m happy to say we got through that with absolutely no problems, which is always encouraging. It was a shame Mark didn’t get to do a qualifying simulation but it was a pretty productive day otherwise, with some time on inters and the full race in the afternoon, so we’re happy enough.”

Mark Webber concurred, saying: “Today went well, with nearly 140 laps completed, and you can’t complain about that. Obviously, we now have a lot of data to digest and we’re learning a huge amount about this car and how to get the best from it. It was damp all morning and that meant we had a pretty condensed programme this afternoon but we got through it well and, I have to say, the car ran really, really well. A good day and we’ll come back tomorrow to learn some more.”

 

 

credit : Red Bull Racing

HRT – Karthikeyan and Mondini drive on Barcelona Day 3

Press Release

Karthikeyan and Mondini drive on Day 3
BARCELONA TEST – D3 09.00-13.00 Morning Session Narain Karthikeyan  #22  14th  (32 laps, 148.8 km)  1:30.722 14.00-17.00 Evening Session Giorgio Mondini  #41  12th  (39 laps,181.35 km)  1:28.178 Montmeló, Barcelona, 20th February 2011 Narain Karthikeyan and Giorgio Mondini were both in action for Hispania Racing today. In the morning, Narain was back on track for the second time this weekend. Despite the track condition, damp from yesterday and today’s rain, and a few problems with the gearbox, the Indian driver was able to set a time of 1:30.722, leaving him in 7th place for the morning session and 14th overall. In the afternoon, it was Mondini’s turn. The Italian drove on a dry track with intermediate, soft and supersoft tyres and clocked a time of 1:28.178 in 39 laps. Colin Kolles, Team Principal: “Today was an interesting test day for us. The rain enabled us to test in very tricky conditions, therefore I am very happy with Narain’s performance in the morning. In the afternoon, I was very pleased to see Giorgio driving. His last time in an F1 car was in 2006 and it was nice to give him the opportunity to drive at this level again. I’m pleased to see he was setting a good pace”. Narain Karthikeyan, Hispania Racing driver: “The weather was unfortunate today, the track was pretty damp in the morning. We also had some trouble with our gearbox so we lost a bit of time before getting out. Towards the end of the morning, the track was pretty greasy so there wasn’t much grip. But the car has improved a lot, there is much more front grip. Tonio’s feedback has definitely helped the front end of the car and we were able to clock a pretty decent time in the end”. Giorgio Mondini: “I’m very happy to have driven today. It was a test to see if I was still able to drive at this level. It’s been two years since I raced competitively and physically I could really feel it. Now we must work on this”.
credit : Hispania Racing Team