photo credit: Facebook (HRTF1Team)

Both teams that managed to fail crash tests have unveiled their cars now that testing is over. HRT were able to drive their 2012 car by having a filming day for it. This also functioned as a shakedown for the car.

Marussia also unveiled their car yesterday, but it only passed its final crash test today. Now everyone has a car, Oprah would be happy.

Jaime Alguersuari will also be busy this season despite being dropped. The former Toro Rosso driver will join BBC Radio 5 Live’s Formula 1 commentary team. Alguersuari will join James Allen, providing commentary for every race. This would allow him to continue to look for a reserve role in Formula 1.

Just a little over a week until the season begins!

photo credit: Flickr/Ian C

There’s nothing like coming across a headline in the midst of testing season involving Franz Tost still trash talking Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi.

Seriously, the Toro Rosso team boss didn’t think it was good enough to just toss the two out. He has them down and still insists on kicking them.

Tost claims, “thanks to Red Bull they have a very good basis to pursue their careers from” in an interview with Autosport. Really? You agree with the assertion that the two aren’t winners, let them go, and that should be that.

But no, they should be thankful for your apparent charity for letting them drive for you, while saying they were never going to be good enough.

Newsflash, Mr. Tost: you aren’t team principal for Ferrari, McLaren, or even Red Bull. Yes, Toro Rosso has acted as a jumping point for Red Bull, but you have ONE success story in Sebastian Vettel. EVERY other driver you have employed, where are they now? Not a single one is in Formula 1 anymore! Red Bull’s success is NOT Toro Rosso’s to share from midfield.

» Continue reading “Sky Is Blue, Water Is Wet, Franz Tost Is A Jerk”

Oh, Helmut Marko, it’s time to shut up now.

Even though it’s clearly over and done with, the Red Bull team advisor doesn’t seem to want to drop the talk about Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari, despite dropping the drivers. Toro Rosso need winners, says Marko.

Let’s take a look back at all the winners Toro Rosso has ever signed, beyond Sebastian Vettel, who remains the only driver to ever win a race for this team.

Sebastien Bourdais…nope. Continually places second in Le Mans races.

Scott Speed….hahahahahahahaha.

Vitantonio Liuzzi….drives at the back of the grid now.

A look at the Formula 1 results tables on the Toro Rosso Wikipedia page tells you that this is a total joke. Vettel has provided their two best results ever as a team: first and fourth.

Marko continues to insist that Toro Rosso is a team for young drivers. He also says that Alguersuari and Buemi never provided any exceptional results. That’s funny, because that previously mentioned table shows they provided the best results behind Vettel in the team’s history. Sucks to be delusional.

It’s time to just let it go, Marko. There’s a reason that when you type “Helmut Marko” on Google, “Helmut Marko idiot” is one of the top results.

Photo from Flickr user nasmac

Slow. Slow slow slow times. It’s getting desperate out there. I mean people are resorting to asking so much out of Fernando Alonso. See below:

- Some genius decided to ask Fernando Alonso how he feels about Alguersuari losing his seat. The two aren’t even friends. Protip: not everyone from Spain knows each other, isn’t that shocking?

- Alonso believes Ferrari will have a dominant car next season. I’ll believe it when I see it.

- He also welcomes the return of Kimi Raikkonen. See, you can get a decent answer out of him if it’s someone relevant to his interests like a fellow world champion coming back.

- In case you haven’t seen Senna, and you happen to be a Netflix instant subscriber, you can watch it on there right now. And you really should watch it right now. It’s also available on video on demand services, not sure on the cost. The DVD/Blu-Ray version is due out March 6, 2012.

- There is a massive effort underway on Facebook of Bruno Senna fans petitioning Williams to sign Bruno. When I say massive, I mean their Facebook page has more fans than Bruno Senna’s official page. Some Italian site claims Senna is going to look at his options in NASCAR if he doesn’t find a place in F1. I found said article and using my poor understanding of anything but present tense Italian verbs, I think it’s THEIR idea and his.

- Construction at Circuit of the Americas is full speed ahead. Still no info on tickets.

- The constructors of a track in Argentina hope it will attract Formula 1 interest. The track should be completed in 2014. Formula 1 last held a grand prix in Argentina in 1998.

- Allegedly (never gets old) Ferrari is showing some interest in Adrian Sutil. Right.

- Renault is nearly ready to test one of the 2014 spec V6 engines next year.

Photo from Flickr user formula1wolf.

Dear Franz Tost,

I started out a Toro Rosso fan, because Sebastian Vettel was driving for you when I started watching Formula 1. Obviously he didn’t stick around long because the circumstances were right for him to move up to Red Bull Racing.

You can’t keep the same lineup for THREE seasons and then claim your team is “for rookies.” Every driver involved in this lineup change is shocked.

If you say the team is for rookies, that would mean your drivers change every season or two.

So far this has pretty much happened in the short history of the team, but only due to guys getting dropped mid-season.

If it’s all about getting a “taste” of the sport, then fine. But you’re clearly not “for rookies” so far, and it’s kind of funny that suddenly that’s the story when you shock everyone, including your two former drivers with your news.

The problem with what you’re claiming that it’s two seasons and done is that Buemi drove for three seasons. Obviously Alguersuari is excellent enough to not warrant mid-season replacing like Bourdais. But if this “two seasons with Toro Rosso” thing wasn’t pulled out of thin air yesterday, then Buemi shouldn’t have been racing for you in 2011.

And come on, you know Sebastian Vettel well. Toro Rosso drivers can’t just freely move up to RBR every 2 years.

If you’re mad you lost in the constructor’s championship to Sauber, then just say that’s why you want a switch in the lineup.

It’s just disappointing to find out that Alguersuari and Buemi were blindsided by this. Alguersuari did an interview with Autosport and said he is very surprised by the decision. It also sounds like he isn’t even going to try to find a racing seat at the end and pursue that whole DJ thing some more.

The whole rookie thing would be okay if a) you didn’t suddenly decide that’s how it works and b) if a driver is good enough to make it 2+ seasons with you, help him find a new seat for crying out loud.

Sincerely,

Amanda

In keeping with their tradition of introducing a couple good drivers along with mediocre drivers, Toro Rosso has dropped Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari. Their 2012 lineup: Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.

While I like Vergne, I can’t understand dropping Alguersuari.

Toro Rosso is apparently all about introducing young talent into F1, but what is the point if Alguersuari never races in it again? He’s actually worthwhile unlike the other drivers who have come through in the past for the team *cough*Scott Speed*cough*.

So, hopefully that Alguersuari to HRT to make an all-Spanish team rumor is true. It’s a downgrade, but maybe it’s just temporary.

Of course, the duo had raced for the team since 2009.

Photo from Flickr user nic_r

One cannot get writing a season review right away when a team drops a driver in favor of another immediately after it ends!

Now to just get used to calling them Marussia instead of Virgin Racing.

Marussia signed Charles Pic to replace Jerome D’Ambrosio after one season and announced it shortly after the race yesterday. The 21 year old French driver did testing for the team at the young drivers test in Abu Dhabi.

Pic has raced in GP2 for the past two seasons. He finished 4th in the championship this year.

Team principal John Booth said in a statement, “I’m very pleased to welcome Charles to Marussia Virgin Racing as Timo’s team-mate for 2012. We naturally keep a close eye on the junior formulae and Charles is certainly someone we have been watching over the past few years. The real barometer however was our Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi last week, where we put him through a series of tough tests to thoroughly evaluate his potential.

“This was his first time in a Formula One car so it should have been quite daunting, however Charles was extremely focused on what needed to be done and absolutely rose to the challenge. He continued to improve in every area but his race simulation work particularly caught our eye.”

As for D’Ambrosio, Booth thanked him for his work and wished him the best of luck elsewhere.

Other teams and drivers are being linked together even a day after the end of the season.

Daniel Ricciardo is rumored to be replacing Jarno Trulli at Caterham (known as Team Lotus this past season). Trulli is under contract with the team, and Tony Fernandes, team principal of Caterham, has said he doesn’t see any reason why Trulli wouldn’t be racing for the team in 2012.

Rumor has it that Red Bull want to keep Ricciardo racing, but do not want to replace their current lineup, and the deal with HRT will not continue. Then Jaime Alguersuari will go to HRT to make it an all Spanish lineup for the Spanish team, with Jean-Eric Vergne joining Sebastien Buemi at Toro Rosso.

Personally, I think Red Bull needs to get Vergne somewhere on the grid next season. They just have way too many talented young drivers in their program, and it makes this extremely difficult. Time to buy a third team!

Photo from Flickr user sumisso.

Sebastian Vettel won his 11th race of the season, also attaining the fastest lap of the race to match his pole position and victory in the first great race in India. It was the first time Vettel has been able to score all three.

Despite all the dust and slow work that almost led to a cancellation, the event was a success, unless your name is Felipe Massa. Massa left Lewis Hamilton no room and the pair collided for the sixth time this season. Six. In seventeen races.

Massa was given a drive through penalty, and shortly afterwards hit a curb and broke his front suspension. No, that’s not a replay from qualifying, where it broke on the right…this time around he needs to break it on the left! And the first shot of Felipe after retiring? Him heading into the stewards’ office to complain about being penalized for closing the door on Hamilton.

Kamui Kobayashi was taken out by contact during the first lap, as was Jarno Trulli’s wing. He was able to continue on, 5 laps down from Vettel at the end, clearly making it worthwhile to have an experienced driver in over Karun Chandhok. Mark Webber again had a fine start, but he was no match for Jenson Button who quickly passed him before DRS was even enabled. Vettel was able to take off and easily cruise his way to a win, of course.

Though Massa-Hamilton was clearly the incident of the race, the fight for points between Toro Rosso and Sauber was a bit less explosive. Both teams are now tied in the constructor’s championship. Toro Rosso more than likely lost out on points when Sebastien Buemi’s engine blew. Jaime Alguersuari finished 8th, and Sergio Perez 10th.

Racing will be back in 2 weeks at Abu Dhabi, only two more races to go this season!

Results follow: » Continue reading “Indian GP Recap: Leave No Front Suspension Unbroken!”

Friday’s first practice session at the Marina Bay Street Circuit had a long delay, thanks to loose plastic curbing along the track. The session ended up being cut down to an hour, as crews worked to fix the loose curbs around a couple turns. Problems continued into the second practice session,

The race organizers will be working overnight to fix curbing overnight, and the plan is as follows:

Turns 3 and 7: Curbing removed, a white line will be painted instead. Drivers will be instructed not to cross it.

Turns 10 and 13: Curbing will be fixed and will hopefully provide no further issues.

Turn 14: Curbing removed entirely.

Onto the practice itself! Lewis Hamilton topped the time charts in the first session, 1:48.599. Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso, and Jenson Button were the next four quickest in the session. Beyond the issues with the curbs, Heikki Kovalainen’s car caught on fire. This time he did not put it out himself, sadly.

Mark Webber busted his front wing on Timo Glock’s car as he tried to pass the slower driver around the track.

Sebastian Vettel was the quickest driver in the second practice session, completing a lap around the track in 1:47.375, almost three-quarters of a second over teammate Mark Webber, who finished fifth. This time around, Vettel was the one who found Timo Glock to be in the way, but managed to not damage anything.

Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and Felipe Massa took spots 2, 3, and 4, respectively.

Vitantonio Liuzzi, who sat out the first session for Narain Karthikeyan, finished last, and still has to start 29th on Sunday.

Both Sebastien Buemi and Michael Schumacher got cozy with the walls around the track, although Schumacher escaped any damage. Buemi managed to destroy his suspension. His teammate, Jaime Alguersuari, had to sit out most of the session with a mechanical problem. Toro Rosso did not have a very good day, as they “broke curfew” when Franz Tost showed up too early in the afternoon. Seriously. Instead of the usual overnight hours, curfew is 9am-3pm in Singapore.

Kamui Kobayashi took his Sauber flying, to round out the eventful day for everyone.

In case you tried to ignore this like me, it seems our days are over.

Jaime Alguersuari really wants you to know his other side, Squire. Looks like the off season is for more than training for the next season! Kind of a cool use of time, though it looks like it’s overlapping. Here’s a video from the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he DJ’ed at a local club in Budapest.

Yesterday, he uploaded his first music video.

It’s definitely awesome that he’s pursuing another passion while he’s in Formula 1. It’s not my type of electronic music (and thankfully it’s not dubstep), but I really enjoy watching these videos of him at work as a DJ, as well as a driver.

Just don’t confuse him with a British DJ named DJ Squire. This guy is bald and clearly does not have a set of eyes as nice as Jaime.

Hopefully this never has to become your full time job, Jaime.

He’s also not the only driver with an interest in DJing. Virgin Racing test driver Sakon Yamamoto has also been spending his time as a DJ, also performing in Budapest this past summer:

Sakon also DJed at the F1 Rocks! afterparty this weekend in Monza. Price of a mere VIP ticket? Well over US$300.