A.Wayne

Last week Jerez

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG_eRATrLg8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-c6Uu-xBzA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5dzgUYTnPQ

This week Valencia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6Xm-8BmY4k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVgs5uFC4iw

A.Wayne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaPRIjT8bOg valencia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPjdAH45WP0 Valencia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6Xm-8BmY4k&NR=1

A.Wayne

1-24-08

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Bs3cCj4opo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vd8ui37qjU




By Jonathan Noble Thursday, January 24th 2008, 16:35 GMT

Kimi Raikkonen at ValenciaKimi Raikkonen rounded off Formula One testing at Valencia in Spain with the quickest time on Thursday, just edging out McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.

Raikkonen completed 88 laps over the course of the day to end it just less than two hundredths of a second up on Kovalainen, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa setting the third best time.

Kazuki Nakajima continued to show strong form in the new Williams FW30 as he set the fourth quickest time in his first run in it - just ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren.

Robert Kubica showed that BMW Sauber appeared to be making progress with their F1.08 to set the sixth best time, ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso and Nick Heidfeld in last year's BMW F1.07.

Timo Glock was ninth quickest in the Toyota TF108, while Giancarlo Fisichella was an encouraging 10th fastest in the Force India.

Mark Webber continued to put mileage on the new Red Bull Racing RB4 to set the 13th best time, but the team had to end their running early after they found the chassis had a crack in it, which was beyond repair.

That came after Webber said the car's handling felt much improved after they fitted a new cockpit shroud.

Jenson Button put 76 laps on the new Honda Racing RA108, as the Japanese manufacturer ended the day at the bottom of the timesheets.

There were a total of five red flags during the day, caused by Sebastien Bourdais and Nelsinho Piquet spinning off, and Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fisichella stopping on track.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1.11.189 88 *
2. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1.11.206 89 *
3. Massa Ferrari (B) 1.11.831 96 *
4. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1.11.971 116 *
5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1.11.994 84 *
6. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1.12.095 86 *
7. Trulli Toyota (B) 1.12.109 96 *
8. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1.12.526 113
9. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1.12.600 39
10. Glock Toyota (B) 1.12.705 68 *
11. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1.12.949 93
12. Piquet Renault (B) 1.12.973 89 *
13. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1.13.060 95
14. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1.13.133 15 *
15. Hulkenberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1.13.306 74
16. Button Honda (B) 1.13.689 80 *
17. Kogure Honda (B) 1.15.703 25

A.Wayne

F1technical .net

The 2008 Formula 1 season will herald the start of a revolution. Research and development funds will be spent not on the duplication of common components and infrastructure, but channelled towards pure performance and road-relevant innovation. Every team on the grid will use a standardised Electronic Control Unit (ECU), and a technical partnership between McLaren Electronic Systems (MES) and Microsoft has been awarded the supply contract by the FIA. Although the unit is referred to as a ‘standard’ ECU, it’s actually a very sophisticated device, and will play a vital role in helping shape the cars of the future – on the road and track. “It’s not about dumbing down to one level, it’s about elevating everyone up,” says Peter van Manen, managing director of MES. “A common electronics platform developed from a best-of-breed system has the potential to make a big difference for the whole grid.” The ECU is the nerve centre of a Formula 1 car, controlling the power train and delivering data by dealing with more than 6000 different parameters. Reliability is a priority. The physical boxes are therefore only slightly modified versions of the units that have been supplied to other teams for a couple of years. Vital issues in any new design, such as cooling the processors, had already been addressed.

Proven hardware

“We know we’ve got something that works on a racing car,” says Jonathan Hand, technical director of MES. “We didn’t want to risk supplying a possible 12 teams with a brand new piece of electronics that had never been used on a racetrack.” Although the hardware was already proven, writing the software was a huge technical challenge. It demanded the evolution of a common code that would satisfy the needs of the teams, running a variety of different engines and gearboxes. In order not to be pulled in different directions, the team went back to basics. For example, what happens during a gearshift: “We broke down how you manage the engine behaviour during the shift, and looked at the point at which you ask the gearbox to disengage one gear and re-engage the next,” says Hand. “If you consider those steps in sequence, what you want to do with one gearbox is pretty much what you want to do with any other.”
Highly configurable

It may be a generic solution, but the ECU has detailed architecture. It’ll give teams flexibility in how they set up their software, which options they choose to enable, and how they fine-tune parameters. “The system is designed to be highly configurable, and the team that learns how to configure it best will do better,” says van Manen. Inevitably, many of the headlines revolve not around the functions the ECU offers, but one that it doesn’t: traction control. This feature, like launch control, will not be available in 2008.

The contract is testimony not only to MES’ technical prowess, but also to the level of confidentiality for which it is renowned. Some observers raised their eyebrows at the award of the ECU deal to a company that shares its name with one of the competitors. It should have come as no surprise to the teams, as they already use MES components, including the high-intensity rain lights. Formula 1’s reaction time is the envy of other industries. The rapid response is shown by the speed with which the ECU project progressed. The contract was awarded on July 5, 2006. Work began next morning. Teams were supplied with the system specification in September 2006. Production started in November and the first items were delivered on March 9, 2007. All competitors ran the unit on the racetrack in Barcelona on November 13-15. The unit’s debut at this, the first winter test, was a success: it completed 16,000km – equivalent to 50 race distances – without any real problems. “The debut performance, running during three days with no failures, was a milestone that we were all quietly very pleased about,” says van Manen. “The target was always to have something running and stable before teams started testing their new cars in 2008.” The finished version highlights the colossal leaps forward made between the initial ‘STAR system’ – which raced in 2000 – and the STAR 2 system that evolved into the 2008 ECU.
Winning combination

Its predecessor had a memory of 256 megabytes and a maximum of 192 logging channels, yet STAR 2 has a memory of up to one gigabyte and 512 logging channels. There has been a staggering progress in ECU processing power in recent years, up from about 200 million instructions per second (MIPS) to almost 2000 MIPS. The ECU on a modern high-performance sports car, such as the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, uses less than 50 MIPS to run the engine and conduct all of the onboard diagnostics. The new ECU’s initial incarnation did not fully reveal the hand of the engineers behind it.

“We didn’t want to be changing everything on day one,” says van Manen. “It needs to do a job, needs to supply high-fidelity data to the teams, but also acts as a road map for what will be available as it develops.” McLaren migrated from its own internal systems to a Microsoft Windows platform in 1999 and immediately reaped benefits. “Much of Microsoft’s core technology is already widely employed in teams’ factories and pit-lane garages,” says van Manen. “The next step in the process is to add the management of data from other sources as well as the racetrack, such as engine dynamometers and wind tunnels. For that we will need to use the latest Microsoft SQL and business-intelligence software to manage these extra data sources. This is a great opportunity to take some of the residual clunkiness out of those interfaces. A more efficient infrastructure also has potential cost savings. It allows the teams to exploit relatively inexpensive and powerful PCs and widely available software tools.” Twenty megabytes of raw data are received from a Formula 1 car in real time every lap. More efficient management of this data could involve huge benefits, for race teams, the automotive sector, and for the aerospace, finance or pharmaceutical industries. “We are pushing boundaries with this project,” says van Manen. “Everything we’ve seen since being awarded the contract suggests the tie-up between MES and Microsoft will be a winning combination.”

A.Wayne

According to grandprix.com, it has been confirmed that the qualifying format will be changed in 2008 in order to get rid of the 'fuel burning' laps. Q3, which lasted 20 minutes in 2007, will be reduced to 10 minutes.

There would also be talks about the possibility to publish the weight of the cars after the qualifying session. This would mean that the media doesn't have to guess strategies.

stuttgart46

That's good news about the new qualifying. It was pretty ridiculous watching them cruise around for 15 minutes. Don't get me wrong, their crusing speed is probably a heck of lot faster than me, but it was boring none the less.

multi21

I don't like it. Keep some suspense in it until the 1st stops.

A.Wayne

I would like to know the fuel loads , we can tell who is really faster or who went for a race setup ....

OT , I do like the new williams

f1-live.com

Nico Rosberg is delighted with the early progress of Williams' new car for 2008, the FW30.

The Toyota-powered car made its track debut this week over four days at Valencia, and Rosberg and team-mate Kazuki Nakajima spent the balance of the test not far from the leading pace.

"My feeling from the very beginning was good, and that is always a good sign," said 22-year-old Rosberg, who on Tuesday was outpaced only by Ferrari's impressive F2008.

The German, who scored 20 of the Oxfordshire based team's 33 points in 2007, told the website of the broadcaster RTL: "(The car) is certainly a step forward."

"I wouldn't say, 'wow, this is amazing' - that would be excessive," Rosberg remarked.

"And it is still early.

But for the season it is a good and promising start," he added, insisting that Williams should be targeting Renault and BMW for 2008.

Williams technical director Sam Michael was also pleased with the FW30's opening test, saying Valencia had been a "good beginning from a reliability and performance point of view."

Flying Finn

New quali is better but I wish they'd just run as quali set-up and were then allowed to change to the race set-up. It could be so that they need to gove their fuel load to FIA before quali and then run it like that for the race but run the damn quali as a quali, as littlle fuel as possible and car as low as possibe etc.

A.Wayne

actually the current format is pretty good, now give all the drivers the same fuel weight and less see who is the fastest , takes the guess work out of who is the best qualy guy ....

A.Wayne

A bit late but for those who did not see the BMW launch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF3wtGXocMw

A.Wayne

formula1.com

The Rolling Stones famously sung ‘yesterday don’t matter if it’s gone’ in their record Ruby Tuesday - a line that McLaren might do well to adopt as their 2008 motto following the events of last season. And looking at how their drivers and the new MP4-23 have been performing in recent tests, it looks as if it might be coming true.

With the strain of last year firmly behind him, star driver Lewis Hamilton signed up until 2012, and new arrival Heikki Kovalainen safely ensconced at Woking, team principal Ron Dennis is looking pretty relaxed as he eyes greater success in ‘08…

Q: There were obviously a few problems with team dynamics last year. Have you taken any active measures to avoid a recurrence in 2008, or do you not anticipate it being a concern?
Ron Dennis: When, in the future, motorsport historians come to look back on 2007, and when they begin to look beyond all the controversies that dominated the headlines at the time, they'll see that, although neither Lewis nor Fernando (Alonso) won the world drivers’ championship, they both won a lot of races and scored a lot of points. In other words, on track, 2007 was a relatively successful year for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. However, it goes without saying that we hope 2008 will be better still. We've always treated our drivers equally, and we intend to continue to do so. This year, both Lewis and Heikki are entirely happy with that policy, and I anticipate no problems from either of them in that regard. I expect them to be competitive and collaborative in equal measure.

Q: Lewis went through bitter disappointment at the end of last season. Some would say that inexperience cost him the title. How do you think the ‘2008 Lewis’ will differ from the ‘2007 Lewis’?
RD: Like all able and ambitious racing drivers, Lewis wants to win. So, yes, he was understandably disappointed to have been beaten to the world drivers’ championship at the final hurdle last year. Having said that, I think your phrase ‘bitter disappointment’ needs to be put into context. Lewis won four Grands Prix and missed the world drivers' championship by a single point - a record-breaking feat for a rookie. As such, he had a marvellous first season in Formula One. He's still only 23, he's still learning, and he's still improving.

Q: A five-year driver contract is rather unusual in Formula One racing - even considering the fact that Lewis has been an ‘in-house development’. Does this contract contain a pull-out clause, for both sides?
RD: I'm sorry, but you know I'm not going to answer that one. As with almost all F1 teams, it isn't Vodafone McLaren Mercedes’ policy to go into great detail when discussing our drivers' contracts. Suffice to say that, as Lewis himself has said, he's delighted to have signed such a long contract with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and could easily envisage spending his entire Formula One career with us.

Q: Heikki climbed a very steep learning curve last year, culminating in a superb podium in Japan. Do you think he has what it takes to genuinely push Lewis, or will Lewis’s experience with the team give him the edge in ’08?
RD: Watching him from the sidelines, and then studying our findings, we at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes thought Heikki looked impressive in 2007 - and he's impressing us already in 2008. Having said that, though, I want to add that he's a delightful individual: easy-going yet hard-working. Talented, of course, too. So we're delighted to have been able to bring him into the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 'family'. As regards pushing Lewis, that isn't the way we look at it. No, Heikki is already integrating himself into our team and our company, and we fully expect him to perform well for us this season.

Q: The whole Ferrari spy scandal affair is behind you. However, you did have to agree to halt development on certain systems on the new car. How will this handicap you in 2008?
RD: Not at all.

Q: The 2007 season was effectively a two-horse race between McLaren and
Ferrari. Do you see any other genuine threats for 2008?
RD: We at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes never under-estimate our opposition, and we won't do so this year. However, our race, if you like, is with ourselves: our team of engineers, at both McLaren and at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, is constantly striving to develop our car, and our hope and belief is that we'll do it better and more rapidly than our competitors will.

Q: Fernando claimed last year that he was responsible for improving your car’s pace. Do you think his influence will be enough to make Renault podium contenders again in 2008?
RD: As I say, our race is with ourselves. We respect all our competitors, but we don't spend a lot of time worrying about them.

Q: The FIA are looking to cap development budgets from next season. Is this practical? What do you see as the best way forward for controlling costs in Formula One?
RD: These matters are best decided behind closed doors. It wouldn't be either helpful or constructive if I were to discuss such issues openly on a website.

Q: You and Max Mosley have never had the easiest of relationships. You no doubt appreciate his job is a difficult one, but how would you do things differently if you were FIA President? Are there other directions in which you’d like to take the sport?
RD: As Max has frequently said in the past, commentators tend to exaggerate the level of personal discord that exists between him and me. As regards the FIA Presidency, I've never aspired to it in the past and I don't aspire to it now. It's the running of a company that motivates me, not the governance of a sport.

A.Wayne

Michael Schumacher was a high profile spectator as the Dubai Autodrome hosted the opening of the GP2 Asia and Speedcar series at the weekend. The former champion was photographed with his wife Corinna and manager Willi Weber, as he attended the event reportedly to support his long time friend Jean Alesi's debut in the Speedcar series.

Schumacher was also in town for the launch of the Michael Schumacher Business Avenue, a 29 storey commercial and residential building.

Juan Pablo Montoya on Sunday secured his second consecutive Daytona 24 hour race victory. Alongside team-mates Dario Franchitti, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, the former Williams and McLaren racer is one of only three drivers ever to win major events in sports cars, American open wheelers, F1 and NASCAR.

But he declined to analyse which of his achievements he rates highest. "Maybe one day when I'm retired and I look back at all of my accomplishments and these records, I will think they are something special," said the Colombian.
Cliquez ici...


The Mediterranean island of Menorca was back in formula one action at the weekend, as McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen drove the MP4-23 up and down the long runway of the Real Aeroclub de Mahon. The Spanish press speculates that the Finn's team-mate Lewis Hamilton could appear in the 2008-specification car as the aerodynamic test continues on Monday.

Ralf Schumacher is on the verge of buying a 22-metre luxury yacht for 4.2 million euros, according to the German newspaper Bild-Zeitung. The winner of six Grand Prix, who is likely to race in the DTM series with Mercedes-Benz this year, reportedly toured for several hours the 'Bandido 75' at the 'boot Dusseldorf' water show.

A.Wayne

Remember we had discussed this and it was obvious there where teams playing around with launch control at the first series of testing...AW.

By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde Monday, January 28th 2008, 17:31 GMT

Formula One teams are unlikely to find a way to get around the electronic limitations imposed this season, according to FIA president Max Mosley.

Toyota driver Jarno Trulli last week expressed his belief that some teams had found a way to simulate launch control, banned from this year along with other electronic aids.

The rules state: "No car may be equipped with a system or device which is capable of preventing the driven wheels from spinning under power or of compensating for excessive throttle demand by the driver.

"Any device or system which notifies the driver of the onset of wheel spin is not permitted."

Trulli believes some teams may have found a way to simulate the banned systems.

"I'm not going to name any names, but I think that some teams have already found a way to automate the starting procedure and reduce to the minimum the chance of spinning the wheels under acceleration," Trulli was quoted as saying Autosprint.

"I'm not saying someone's cheating, even though we've received some conflicting information at Toyota."

Mosley, however, was confident teams would be unable to break the rules, and he admitted he found comments like Trulli's annoying.

"They are going to find that very difficult," Mosley told reporters in London on Monday. "First of all you have got to circumvent the ECU and secondly you have got to somehow disable our spy in the cab that will tell us that is going on.

"One has to remember that what people run in private test sessions is entirely up to them and I think it is going to be extremely difficult to do it at a race.

"It is quite annoying that people say this (sort of thing). When we originally stopped launch control and traction control and everyone was running around the paddock saying that the other teams had it. Then finally we gave in and said: since it was so now believed that everyone is cheating, we will free it up.

"And what happened? They all stalled, none of the launch control systems worked and we had to have a special practice at Monaco in case they all ran into each other on the grid. It showed they weren't cheating, but the perception was that they were."

A.Wayne

RA108 technical specifications

The official presentation of the Honda Racing F1 Team’s 2008 challenger took place today at the team’s operational headquarters in Brackley, UK. The launch followed an initial shakedown period with the all-new RA108 in Valencia last week, in which the team’s race drivers put evaluation mileage on the car.

RA108 Technical specifications:

Chassis
Construction: Moulded carbon fibre and honeycomb composite structure
Suspension: Wishbone & pushrod-activated torsion springs & rockers
Dampers: Showa
Wheels: BBS forged magnesium
Tyres: Bridgestone Potenza
Brakes: Alcon calipers
Brake: discs/pads Carbon/Carbon
Steering: Honda power assisted Rack & Pinion
Steering wheel: Honda carbon fibre construction
Electronics: FIA standard ECU & FIA homologated electronic & electrical system

Transmission
Gearbox: Carbon composite maincase: 7-speed unit, Honda internals
Gear: selection Sequential, semi-automatic, hydraulic activation
Clutch: Carbon plate

Dimensions
Overall length: 4700mm
Overall height: 950mm
Overall width: 1800mm

Gallery (more...)
nosecone
ra108
ra108_frontview

Engine
Name: Honda RA808E
Displacement: 2.4 litres
Configuration: V8 - naturally aspirated
Vee angle: 90 degrees
Maximum power: More than 700 ps
Maximum revs: 19000 rpm
Valve train: 4 valves per cylinder - pneumatic valve system
Throttle system: Electronic hydraulically-operated system
Spark Plugs: NGK
Oil: ENEOS