FORMULA 1 - 2014

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De Silvestro makes Formula 1 test debut for Sauber at Fiorano

Swiss racing driver Simona De Silvestro had her first Formula One test on Saturday in a two-year-old Sauber at Ferrari’s Fiorano circuit.

The 25-year-old, who has spent four years competing in the U.S. IndyCar series, is aiming for a race seat in Formula One next year.

The 2010 Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year, who became the first woman to finish on the podium at an IndyCar street race when she was second in Houston in 2013, joined Sauber in February as an affiliated driver.

“Simona did a very solid job today. It was immediately clear that she is an experienced driver,” said Sauber test engineer Paul Russell in a team statement.

“It was as good a start in a Formula One car as you could hope for, and you couldn’t really ask for more today.”

De Silvestro, who will test again on Sunday at the track outside Maranello, said that her first lap in a Formula One car had been a special experience.

“The G-forces are significantly higher compared to what I was used to in IndyCar. Overall, I’m happy with my first day,” she said.

“Physically I feel quite good, which is definitely a result of my preparation in recent months. I have been training really hard and this paid off.”

The last woman to try and race in Formula One was Italian Giovanna Amati, who failed to qualify with Brabham in 1992.

Britain’s Susie Wolff is due to take part in Free Practice at two races with Williams this season.

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Red Bull confirm new RB10 chassis will be ready for Vettel at Spanish GP

Quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel will definitely be at the wheel of a new ‘Suzie’ for the start of the European season.

Earlier this week, we reported that Red Bull was looking into whether an underlying fault with his 2014 car was contributing to the reigning world champion’s struggle to keep up with teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

So when a new version of the RB10 is built by the Milton-Keynes team, “Vettel will get it,” Red Bull’s Helmut Marko said.

Marko has now told Auto Bild that Vettel’s new 2014 chassis will be ready for the first European race, at Barcelona mid next month.

“It’s already been decided,” he said. “In Barcelona, Sebastian will have a new chassis, because sometimes even a small hairline crack can have large consequences.”

He said Vettel has run into this sort of trouble before, and overcome it.

“In 2012, Sebastian had problems compared with Mark Webber, but after a chassis change suddenly everything was much better and when he regained his confidence, he was almost unbeatable, and won the title,” added Marko.

Vettel always gives his Formula 1 cars a female name, and for the 2014 season, the Adrian Newey designed Renault V6-powered RB10 is called ‘Suzie’.

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Marko: Those in the team who were against Ricciardo being promoted are now silent

Daniel Ricciardo has proved his doubters wrong – even those who wear a Red Bull uniform, according to Helmut Marko, the force behind the energy drink company’s driver development programme that produced world champion Sebastian Vettel.

But the programme, described by some as brutal, has also discarded its fair share of talents, including Jaime Alguersuari who was dropped at the age of just 21.

The latest Formula 1 graduates, however, are faring well, so far in 2014, including the Russian teen Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso, and Vettel’s new teammate at the senior team, Australian Ricciardo.

“We were absolutely right to take [Ricciardo],” Austrian Marko told Auto Bild, responding to suggestions that the top team should have signed someone like Kimi Raikkonen.

“Those in the team who were against [Ricciardo joining] are now silent,” he added.

Indeed, at present, Ricciardo is even showing up the reigning quadruple title winner Vettel in the 2014-spec RB10.

Marko says that Ricciardo confirms the Red Bull philosophy, to give young drivers a chance to show their potential to win”.

“He has shown that he can keep up with Sebastian, even under extreme pressure and difficult conditions,” he said.

As well as more than ‘keep up’ with Vettel, Ricciardo has also improved the atmosphere inside the team, said Marko, whose relationship with Mark Webber was never good.

“The mood in the team is much better now,” he said. “There is cohesion between the drivers and no more two directions.”

Webber also seems to be enjoying his new life after his seven years with Red Bull, finishing on the podium at a wet Silverstone last weekend in his world endurance debut in the Porsche prototype.

“Always tastes good,” the 37-year-old tweeted a photo of himself in his new white overalls drinking from the champagne bottle.

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Domenicali linked with Italian basketball federation position

Axed Ferrari Team Principal Stefano Domenicali could rebuild his professional career in the world of Italian basketball.

Italian media reports claim the 48-year-old, who started work at Maranello in his twenties, has been contacted in recent days by Giovanni Petrucci, president of the Italian basketball federation, the Federazione Italiana Pallacanestro (FIP).

Petrucci became Italian basketball’s president last year.

In his seventh season as Ferrari team principal, Domenicali stepped down between the recent Bahrain and Chinese Grand Prix due to the fabled Italian team’s poor results. He was replaced by Marco Mattiacci.

Fernando Alonso scored Ferrari’s first podium of the new V6 era in China, and dedicated it to the departed chief.

“Probably all the parts from now until July or August are coming from the team working under Stefano, so hopefully we can give him some great Sundays at home in front of the TV,” he said.

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Lost in translation cause of China chequered flag debacle

A single word, which triggered a misunderstanding, is what caused the early waving of the chequered flag at the end of the Chinese Grand Prix.

Article 43.2 of the sporting rules dictates that if the chequered flag is waved early, even in error, the race is over.

That is precisely what happened towards the end of the Chinese Grand Prix, meaning that a last-lap pass by Kamui Kobayashi did not officially count.

Explaining the mishap, Auto Motor und Sport said that with a couple of laps left to run, the local race director Zhuang Tao asked Charlie Whiting if a white flag should be shown to mark the penultimate lap.

By radio, Zhuang relayed Whiting’s answer to the flag man with the words “No flag now”, but the Chinese official reportedly did not hear – or misunderstood – the “no”.

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Wolff and Lauda disagree over Mercedes team orders

A big debate is raging inside the Mercedes cap over team orders or lack thereof.

The dominant German team declared proudly after the Bahrain Grand Prix that letting Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg go wheel-to-wheel in a thrilling battle was the right decision for the sport.

But on Thursday, boss Toto Wolff has been quoted as saying team orders might soon have to come into play.

The Austrian told the BBC that Bahrain was “a very particular situation”, due to Mercedes’ dominance.

But “The narrower the margin gets, the more you have to look out,” said Wolff.

“Our rule is that the competition is enemy number one, not your teammate, so there might be situations in the race where you have to consider that, but we will see what happens,” he added.

Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda, however, told British television Sky in China last Sunday that he fundamentally disagrees with “Toto and Paddy”.

Paddy Lowe is another team boss at the Brackley based team.

Lauda said: “They (Hamilton and Rosberg) are racing drivers. Leave them alone, unless they hit. Which they won’t.”

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Brundle warns again 'Scalextric cars'

Martin Brundle has urged F1 to ditch a proposal to return to active suspension as he feels F1 will become "like Scalextric cars."

Formula One dropped the active suspension at the end of 1993 in a wide-sweeping ban on electronics that including doing away with traction control and ABS.

However, there is now a proposal on the table from F1's Strategy Group that includes the re-introduction of active suspension.

Brundle, however, has warned against it.

He told Autosport: "The concept of that and 18 inch wheel rims [also being considered for 2017] means you start again on your suspension as well as aero, because a lot of your suspension travel is in the sidewall of the tyre with a [current] 13 inch wheel rim.

"If you go to 18 inches you've got to put a huge amount more compliance in your suspension.

"It's a dream for the aerodynamicists. My concern would be that we'd go back to cars that look like Scalextric cars - glued to the track."

And although Mercedes' technical chief Paddy Lowe believes bringing back active suspension would not increase costs, Brundle believes otherwise.

"It's the best of everything - kerb control, ride control, bumps, aero - you just fly the car at the perfect angle," he said.

"How the hell it would save any money I don't know because you'd have to start over again.

"You'd have to completely redesign your car I would have thought, given that huge advantage.

"Paddy obviously knows a million times better than I do on that sort of thing, but I'd have thought it would just open up a whole new avenue of development and opportunity.

"The cars might follow each other better from getting more downforce from the underfloor than the upper surfaces.

"But I can't see it being anything other than hugely expensive."

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'Massa has more freedom at Williams'

Rob Smedley believes Formula 1 could see the best of Felipe Massa this season as he has been "given the freedom of head-space" at Williams.

After eight seasons with Ferrari, Massa parted ways with the Scuderia at the end of 2013.

That brought to an end a chapter in the Brazilian's career that included 11 race wins and a runner-up result in the 2008 World Championship.

2008, though, was also the last season Massa won a grand prix with his support at Ferrari deteriorating along with his results.

Moving to Williams for this season, Massa has already hailed the swap on several occasions, saying it has reinvigorated him.

And that is a sentiment echoed by Massa's former race engineer, Smedley, who followed him to Williams.

"I know Felipe Massa very well - I know him inside out," Smedley told Autosport.

"He's a very, very good driver and he's been given the freedom of head-space here to do what he's paid to do, and he's delivering.

"I see Felipe now very relaxed, incredibly experienced, there's a maturity about him and he carries that very well.

"He understands that the job he has to do here is not just about driving the car, it's about driving the people as well.

"He knows how to do that. He's had some very good teachers in that area - I would cite Michael Schumacher as one - and now his time has come.

"He's picked up the baton very well."

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Dennis remembers 'fun' with Senna

As the F1 fraternity prepares to mark 20 years since the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, Ron Dennis paid tribute to his former driver.

Next week marks the 20th anniversary of the deaths of Ratzenberger and Senna, who both lost their lives at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Ratzenberger died in an accident in qualifying while 24 hours later Senna was killed when he crashed while leading the Imola race.

Driving for Williams at the time of his death, Senna has previously raced for McLaren, winning three World titles in 1988, 1990 and 1991.

However, it wasn't all hard work.

Away from the track, the practical jokes played between Senna and team-mate Gerhard Berger are legendary and included a briefcase being dropped from a helicopter, frogs in a hotel room and smelly cheese in an air vent.

Speaking to Reuters about his former charge, McLaren CEO Dennis said: "Needless to say, when one of the group got back to his room later that night there was nothing in it. Nothing. No furniture. No clothes. Nothing.

"I remember the laughter and the fun.

"Normally there'd be things verging on the slapstick and not so funny, especially damaging property which frequently happened... it was childlike but at the same time a really good feeling inside the team."

The Brit revealed that Berger had been the perfect antidote after a tense time between Senna and his previous team-mate Alain Prost and the 1989 controversial Japanese GP.

"Gerhard gave me the perfect weapon to deal with Ayrton because he brought humour to the team. I would say the concept of telling a joke and Ayrton laughing at it was not even possible before Gerhard got in the team," Dennis said. "But then that just created a massive ice-breaker.

"It got to the extreme. Gerhard has no limits. I mean, no limits. He'll go to the point where it is positively dangerous. There was one moment where we were up in Hamilton Island and were diving. And we were at quite a good depth and Gerhard just came and turned my air off. He thought that was hilarious."

Senna's death will be marked by many around the world with Dennis acknowledging that the Brazilian will forever be remembered for his greatness.

"He was so good for all the period he was on the planet. I can see no positive-ness in the fact that he had an accident and lost his life. But you didn't see any decline.

"I think there's lots of drivers that stay in the sport too long. And they tarnish their greatness. He was just unbelievably competitive and then boom! Not there.

"So what do you remember? I never thought 'I wonder what Ayrton would look like if he were here today?'. Well, one thing he would look is a hell of a lot older. And he would have had other things in his life that would have detracted from that reputation. He might have had a failed marriage.

"He just came to an abrupt end so you remember that greatness. That's one thing. And secondly he was great. Because he had human values, he was very principled."

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Ferrari’s unusual approach to F1′s new nose rules

If nothing else, the 2014 F1 regulations have at least made it easier to distinguish one car from another.

This is chiefly thanks to the revised nose regulations, where designers have explored creative means of satisfying the FIA’s demand for lower and theoretically safer noses.

Good F1 car design starts with the front wing. This is because an F1 car works as an aerodynamic system – the rear of the car is designed with the front in mind.

The flicks, fins and vanes on the front wing manipulate the airflow in specific way to maximise air flow to the floor, around the sidepods and to the diffuser. Ferrari, who have tended to lag behind their rivals when it comes to aerodynamics, have some interesting approaches to this challenge.

What the rule book says

For 2014 the front wing width was reduced from 1,800mm to 1,650mm, chiefly to reduce the risk of carbon fibres slicing tyres open in the chase to the first corner.

Significant changes were also made to the nose, the tip of which must meet a minimum height. Further rules restrict what designers can do with the rest of this structure.

The area 50mm behind the tip must be centred at 185mm above the bottom of the stepped floor (which is known as the reference plane). This nose area must be contained between 135mm-300mm above the reference plane. In addition the cross-section must be exactly 9,000 square mm, but its shape is not restricted.

Furthermore, to prevent excessively arched noses, the FIA defined an exclusion zone which designers may not use. This zone is the area above the maximum nose tip height (300mm) and the front bulkhead height (650mm).

Finally, the length of the nose can not be shorter than front wing centre section and can extend forwards beyond the front wing.

Front wing workings

Ferrari and Mercedes have adopted distinctive and similar solutions to the challenges posed by these rules. The illustration above shows what the Italian team have done with their F14 T.

Besides meeting the technical regulations, designers aim for the following objectives when designing the front wing and nose: generating downforce, controlling the airflow to the rear of the car and balancing front and rear downforce.

In years past ensuring the rear of the car was properly fed with air was the main objective. As air works its way over the chassis to the diffuser the risk is that it stalls (similar to an aeroplane) because the air flow speed is too low. Raising the nose is one way to ensure that air ‘hits’ the car later and is easier to manipulate. This has been the dominant design trend in recent years.

One problem with high noses is that they don’t create downforce. But as long as the car isn’t saturated with rear downforce then it isn’t too much of a problem. Although exhaust blown diffusers previously resulted in a rapid increase in rear downforce, this was mostly in low speed corners where rear traction was limiting factor.

Ferrari’s letterbox

Many of the cars with ‘finger’ noses are trying to recreate the high nose philosophy. A look at the McLaren or Toro Rosso illustrates the concept nicely with the nose cone arched to maximise airflow underneath it.

Ferrari have gone in a different direction and have made the nose ‘downforce positive’. The nose and wing form a letter box shape (see (1) on the diagram), which expands behind the leading edge of the nose.

The nose tip is at minimum point (135mm) above the reference plane and its thickness conforms with FIA’s cross-section requirements. The area behind the nose acts as a venturi tunnel and it is this that creates downforce.

Air is forced through the letterbox nose at high speed and then expands in to the area behind it (2). It is similar to how a diffuser or ground-effect car works. Bodywork extends down from the nose section (below the Kaspersky Lab sponsorship) to enhance the diffuser effect and also to prevent air that is pushed over the top of the nose from spilling in to this area.

Given the mantra in recent years that higher noses are better, many ask what have Mercedes done to build a similar design but with a higher nose? The assumption is that Ferrari have messed up – but it isn’t necessarily the case.

Ferrari likely creates more downforce with its contraption than the W05. The W05 nose is slightly narrower and higher than Ferrari’s and is positioned at the FIA mandated 185mm above the reference plane. If you look closely you can see the shape of the front wing mounts change, which is to comply with the FIA’s cross-section requirements

Dealing with the wheels

The flaps and cascade obviously produce downforce. Depending on how you count, the Ferrari front wing has up to six flaps, but many of these are slots in a continuous structure. The slots allow air to bleed through to the underside of the wing which adds energy to this flow. This energises the air and prevents it from stalling, which harms downforce. The slots actually cut overall downforce but deliver more consistent performance, which is more important from a driver’s perspective.

A big factor in front wing design is managing the wheel-wing interaction. The tyre not only presents a large surface area, which increase drag, but also rotates ‘pushing’ air towards the front wing. Again careful design is needed to ensure the wake coming off the endplates and cascades interacts with the wheel in the right way to prevent this turbulent air hurting performance.

One technique is to shape the endplates and cascades to push the air outboard of the wheel. With the narrowing of the front wing for 2014 this has meant significant changes to shape of the cascade structure. The curled structure by the ‘V-Power’ insignia on the cascade (6) of the F14 T serves precisely this purpose. Before the season some thought it may make sense to direct airflow inside the tyres as was done before 2009 when the front wing was much narrower. However, none of the teams have gone this route.

The endplate itself contains some slots and a number of curved structures around the footplate. The slots (7) serve a similar purpose to those in the front wing and help air transition from outside the endplate to underneath the wing. This creates a vortex that helps pulls air around the outside of the tyre. The footplate curves (8), which are either side of the endplate, are also designed to create an capture vortices. If one were to look at the airflow CFD traces it would likely show that all these vortices roll up in to one larger, more powerful vortex.

The Y250 vortex

The outer part of the front wing is the most aerodynamically intricate part of a modern F1 car. The various cascades and flaps produce downforce but also set up the airflow regimen along the rest of the car. This is done by creating a series of vortices and ‘squirting’ them to areas of the car that are critical for performance.

A vortex is twisting mass of fluid – think a whirlpool – and is easily created by allowing high pressure air to ‘fall’ into a zone of lower pressure. This happens naturally at any flap. Typically air on the top side of the flap is at a higher pressure and when this spills over the flap it twists and creates a vortex.

It turns out that vortices are very robust fluid structures and once formed take a while to break down. Moreover smaller vortices and eddies in the air can be absorbed by a larger vortex cleaning up the airflow profile around the car. It is these features that make the vortex structure so useful.

The Y250 vortex is so-called because it is generated by the flap 250mm from the car centreline (4). All cars will create a Y250 vortex because the front wing regulations prevent bodywork from being any closer to the car centreline. Turning vanes (5) appended to the chassis will then steer this vortex to the bargeboards where it will funnel around the sidepods.

This will seal the side of the car and under nose area from any turbulent air. On a humid day it is sometimes possible to see the vortex and its progression along the length of the car.

Nose cameras

The FIA also mandates the requirement and positioning of the nose cameras (3). The trend this year is to have the camera pods to sprout from the bodywork and look like ears protruding from the chassis. They are a micro version of the ‘elephant ear’ devices that adorned the McLaren MP4-23.

Although the FIA has written the regulations to try to negate any aerodynamic benefit from camera placement, the position on the Ferrari will condition airflow over the top of the sidepods, to a small benefit.

Interesting, Red Bull has dispensed of the camera pods altogether and has cleverly integrated the camera in to the chassis bodywork (pictured).

This is an elegant solution that minimises drag. The picture quality from the camera, which points through a narrow aperture in the nose, isn’t great – but that’s not a concern for Red Bull.

Developments in 2014 and beyond

As changing a nose design has such a profound effect on airflow over the rest of the car, it would be a surprise to see a team make major changes in this area before the end of the season.

But we are in the first year of a new rules package so it can’t be ruled out completely. The next race in Spain is often where such aggressive changes appear, as it marks the beginning of the ‘European season’ where teams are racing closer to their factories and can bring new parts at short notice.

Mercedes introduced a revised nose in China which sits as far back from the front wing as possible to ensure clean air over the central section. However its broad concept is unchanged.

For 2015 the FIA plans to alter the regulations again in the hopes of doing away with the unattractive designs which were produced this year. The regulations are yet to be published so it is not clear what the FIA has in mind but expect a stricter definition on the dimensions and positioning of the front cross-section.

Until then we can enjoy the variety that the the current regulations have brought, if not the aesthetic qualities of the current generation of noses

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Challenges...

It is a bad state of affairs when all that one can read in the newspapers about Formula 1 is court reports from Munich and sad memories of events 20 years ago. I am tempted to say that a savvy communications operation would be busy pumping out any kind of stories in order to offset the damage and obscure some of the negative stuff with diversions and smokescreens. In the days of puff being more important than substance that would probably require Lewis Hamilton and Katy Perry admitting they are “just good friends’ on Twitter (not a bad idea given Ms Perry’s 52 million followers).

The usual programmable parrots seem to have gone the way of the Norwegian Blue, perhaps because they squawked so loudly about there being no chance that Bernie Ecclestone would ever stand trial that their credibility is shot now that he is up in front of Der Big Beak.

The Formula One group doesn’t do PR beyond feeding the parrots, and no-one wants to start until a new age has begun. The FIA still prefers to be the guardian of the sport by publishing dull newsletters with pictures of the President shaking hands with Mr Bobble Hat, a road safety bureaucrat in Ruritania.

This storm will blow over, one way or the other, but the “weather forecast” beyond that remains stormy. Several of the small teams are teetering on the brink of destruction and having argued for a time that the sport needs spending limits to be sustainable, they have now given up being subtle and are shouting it from the rooftops. As things get more desperate, the team bosses feel they have less to lose and are willing to speak out more. The anti-cost restrictions types need to remember that the worst enemy anyone can have is someone with nothing to lose. This was clear from a letter that was sent by the small teams to the FIA after Jean Todt’s interviews in Bahrain, in which he said that the FIA could not do anything about a cost cap.

Quite rightly, they asked: “Why? You’re the FIA. You can do what you like. You are the regulator.”

What was odd in Bahrain was that Todt said that “all the teams that are part of the strategy group are against the cost cap now. So clearly, if the commercial rights holder and if six teams…are against, I cannot impose. It’s mathematics. In this case, no more cost cap.”

He told another reporter “we do not have the mandate to do something against the will of the majority”.

The FIA is thus saying – on the record – that it does not have the power to impose a cost limitation. How does that work given the legal status of the federation?

Those with long memories – and Todt should be one of them – know that back in the 1990s the European Competition Commission launched an investigation into the way Formula 1 was being operated, following a complaint in 1997. The resulting investigation lasted until the middle of 1999 when the Commission opened formal proceedings against the FIA and the Formula One group. At the time the European Union was still formulating its relationship with sport in general, which led to the Nice Declaration in 2000 which recognised the independence of sports organisations and their right to organise themselves “on the basis of a democratic and transparent method of operation”.

A year later the Commission closed its anti-trust investigation into Formula 1 after the parties agreed to make changes which limited the FIA to “a regulatory role, so as to prevent any conflict of interests”. The Commission added that it would keep the sport under scrutiny to make sure that everything worked properly. Two years later the Commission announced that it was ending its monitoring of the sport, stating that was it satisfied that all was well.

At the time the investigation was troublesome because it meant that Bernie Ecclestone’s plans to float the Formula One group, in league with the investment bank Salomon Smith Barney had to be put on hold because the markets were wary about the effect that the dispute might have. After a second attempt at a flotation which would have been fronted by the FIA, Ecclestone decided to issue a bond secured on the future profits of the sport. The US investment bank Morgan Stanley Dean Witter agreed to underwrite that scheme. This was followed at the end of 1999 by the private sale of shares in the business to Morgan Grenfell Private Equity. The transactions set the Formula One company on its course towards various German owners and the eventual outcome was that it fell into the hands of bankers.

The key question today, that the small teams have touched upon, is whether or not the new agreements between the big teams, the FIA and the Formula One group, which cover the period 2013-2020, are acceptable to the European Commission or, indeed, whether the European Commission even knows about them. And if not, why not? Logically, the best course of action when one has such rules to follow is to run these things past the authorities before they come into operation, but last year everything was a little rushed.

The FIA was very keen, you may recall, to get a commercial deal sorted out before its elections at the end of the year.

Among the things that were agreed was that the FIA would have an option to buy a share in the Formula One group. This was attractive because it had a cheap price tag and promised to deliver a substantial pay-out when the share was sold. That may seem like a good idea, but was that acceptable under the EU’s ideas about conflicts of interest and the clear division between commercial and regulatory roles?

And were the agreements made between three groups fair and transparent? And, of course, there was also the question of the federation being allowed to regulate the sport as it sees fit. Something that Todt now says that it cannot do.

One presumes that the legal people at the FIA have been through all of this with a fine tooth comb and that all is well.

The current Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia from Spain will be in office only until the end of October after which a new commissioner will take over, but the secretariat will continue to keep an eye on all matters relating to competition within the EU. The last thing that the sport needs is another EU investigation lasting for four or five years. This would frustrate CVC’s desire to float its shareholding, something that has already been held up by Bernie Ecclestone’s legal troubles. The price of the company would go down and who knows what the city slickers would do to slip away with their pockets stuffed with fivers?

There are times when the sport seems like the character of Christian in A Pilgrim’s Progress. Must it wade through the Slough of Despond, battle through the Valley of Humiliation, avoid the temptations in the fair at Vanity and cross the Delectable Mountains to arrive in the Celestial City? Or is there a faster highway?

And until the sport emerges from its trials, one assumes that most of the potential sponsors that love F1′s spectacular numbers will sit back and twiddle their thumbs and wait until the coast is clear and the green flag is raised so that they can go surfing again, the water having been cleared of squaline predators.

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Force India set to unveil Smirnoff sponsor deal

Force India is due to announce a major new sponsor in the form of Smirnoff - the world's best selling vodka - on Wednesday.

The deal, whilst not title sponsorship of the team, will see significant branding on the VJM07, replacing some of the Sahara branding whilst company owner Subrata Roy Sahara is in prison.

Force India's sponsors are heavily alcohol-based due to team owner Vijay Mallya's interests in the United Breweries Group which sells various brands from Kingfisher beer to Royal Challenge and Whyte and Mackay whisky - all of which feature on the VJM07's livery. However in 2013, due to Mallya's ailing airline business and mounting debts, he sold a 25.02 per cent stake in United Spirits Limited to London-based Diageo which owns the Smirnoff brand amongst many more to make it the world's largest producer of spirits.

Diageo is no stranger to Formula 1 sponsorship and through its Johnnie Walker brand, has been a major sponsor of the McLaren team since 2005. Mallya's links to Diageo through United Spirits Limited is believed to have played a major part in securing the Smirnoff deal which is expected to be worth upwards of £9 million ($15m, €11m) per season.

The addition of Smirnoff to the grid comes as Martini returned with title sponsorship of Williams, making alcohol one of the largest sponsors in F1.

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Long Beach rules out F1 race until 2019

Formula 1 will not return to Long Beach in the short-term after the city council chose to extend IndyCar's exclusive deal for three years until 2018.

F1's Bernie Ecclestone had written to the council to show an interest in taking over the event from F1's American rival. The events founder, Chris Pook, was put in charge of evaluating the possibility of a return and estimated it would cost £6 million ($10m) to bring the street circuit up to modern F1 standards.

Whilst IndyCar will remain until at least 2018, the council voted to but the event out to bid once the extension had expired, which is potentially good news for F1.

"The fact that it is going to bid is the important thing, isn't it?" Pook said on Thursday.

"We would have liked to have seen the RFP (request for proposal) done in a shorter time, but we'll see what it is and move forward."

The decision means a proposal can be submitted within 18-20 months. It will then be evaluated and a final decision announced ahead of 2018 to ensure enough notice is given to upgrade the circuit should it be needed.

[Briand]

Will you be coming to F1 in Montreal

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JIM CLARK – THE QUIET CHAMPION

http://youtu.be/v62StJvxLu8

“Jim Clark – The Quiet Champion” is a BBC documentary about one of Formula 1′s truly great drivers. Born in Fife, Scotland the quite and unassuming Brit would go on to win 2 back to back Formula 1 World Championships before flying across pond and winning the Indianapolis 500 in 1965.

In 1968 he was killed in a Formula Two racing accident in Hockenheim, Germany – at the time of his death he had won more more Grand Prix races and attained more Grand Prix pole positions than any driver before him. As with many greats of the “pre-safety” era his career was cut short, never really showing the world his full potential.

This film is a fantastic look back at the life and times of Jim Clark and it’s well worth watching – or bookmarking and saving for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

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  On 4/28/2014 at 1:34 AM, Briand said:

Will you be coming to F1 in Montreal

Unfortunately not Brian - It's on my bucket list

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Hamilton: Sebastian needs to show his leadership inside the Red Bull team now

Lewis Hamilton has come out with some advice for Sebastian Vettel, urging the reigning Formula 1 world champion to show true leadership at Red Bull.

The Milton Keynes based team has been pushing to emerge from its pre-season crisis involving troubled engine supplier Renault.

But at the same time, German Vettel – the reigning quadruple-consecutive drivers’ world champion – has been struggling simply to keep up with his fresh-faced new teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, following the sport’s V6 rules switch.

Further up the grid, Hamilton and his Mercedes have been dominating, but in an interview with Bild am Sonntag newspaper, the 2008 world champion commented on Vettel and Red Bull’s plight.

“As a four time world champion, Sebastian needs to show his leadership inside the team now,” Hamilton is quoted as saying.

“When it comes to the crunch, you are able to show that leadership to your team,” he added.

Indeed, Hamilton expects Vettel and Red Bull – formerly a near-unbeatable combination in Formula 1 – to eventually get back to winning.

“Regardless of the power unit, it’s still a strong car,” said the Briton, referring to the Adrian Newey-penned RB10. “So I don’t believe that the current situation will stay the same.”

Hamilton also commented on his ever-intensifying rivalry with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, in the wake of their forceful wheel-to-wheel battle in Bahrain.

“We both know what we are doing,” he said, amid reports the Brackley based team is at odds over whether to rein in their battle with some form of ‘team orders’.

“Nico is fair and aggressive, but not wildly aggressive,” Hamilton said. “Just the right amount. The real problem is that he is faster than ever before.”

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Hamilton named Britain’s richest sports person worth over $100 million

Formula 1 pace setter Lewis Hamilton has been named Britain’s wealthiest sportsman with a fortune of $115 million.

The comprehensive survey of wealth in Britain and Ireland was conducted and is due to be published by The Sunday Times.

It reveals that Hamilton added a massive $13.5 million to his fortune in the past year alone. He was lured away from McLaren to join Mercedes for the start of the 2013 season.

Hamilton, the 2008 Formula 1 world champion, is slightly ahead of former McLaren teammate and fellow F1 world champion Jenson Button, who is said to be worth $105 million.

Wimbledon champion Andy Murray added $13.5 million to his fortune following his historic victory last year, bringing his worth up to $67 million.

Manchester United and England football star Wayne Rooney was named the richest footballer with a tidy sum of $100 million to his name.

The list was created by looking at identifiable wealth such as land, property, shares in publicly quoted companies and other assets such as art and racehorses. However it excludes bank accounts because the Sunday Times has no access to them, and they are not open to public scrutiny

The full list is set to be revealed next month.

Britain’s richest sportsmen top 10:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Motor racing): £68m
2. Jenson Button (Motor racing): £63m
3. Wayne Rooney (Football): £60m
4. Steve Nash (Basketball): £56m
5. Rio Ferdinand (Football): £44m
6. Andy Murray (Tennis): £40m
7. Steven Gerrard (Football): £37m
   Frank Lampard (Football): £37m
8. Luol Deng (Basketball): £36m
   Ryan Giggs (Football): £36m

(Source: The Sunday Times Rich List 2014)

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Montoya says DRS has killed the art of overtaking in F1

Seven times grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya says that DRS in Formula 1 has devalued the art of overtaking.

Introduced to Formula 1 in 2011 the Drag Reduction System (DRS) is now part and parcel of the sport and credited with livening up the spectacle. However Montoya believes the gizmo has a downside too.

He said on Peter Windsor hosted Racer’s Edge, “It is good for the [Formula 1] show, it makes a better show because people pass people, but I think overtaking is an art. And now it’s like giving Picasso Photoshop.”

The popular Colombian, who is still missed by many fans in Formula 1, departed the pinnacle of the sport in 2006 and has spent the past several years in NASCAR with moderate success.

This year Montoya makes a return to open wheel Indycar racing. He was the 1999 CART FedEx Series Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner in 2000.

His gave take on the challenge and art of overtaking is as it was in the past, “You had to think and you had to risk a lot. You don’t have to fight for the positions now.

“You come into the straight and if you are close enough you have DRS and you’ve cleared the guy by the next corner,” explained Montoya.

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Magnussen dip is part of rookie learning curve say Boullier

McLaren newbie Kevin Magnussen is going through the same sort of rookie processes endured in the past by the likes of Vitaly Petrov and Romain Grosjean.

That is the claim of Woking based team boss Eric Boullier, who at his former team Lotus helped to get the latter two drivers up to speed in Formula 1.

In Danish rookie Magnussen’s case, the 21-year-old got his Formula 1 career off to a stellar start in Melbourne with a debut podium, but his and McLaren’s form has since dipped.

Boullier said Magnussen’s progress “reminds” him of Russian Petrov and Frenchman Grosjean at Lotus.

“They went through the same processes and it’s part of the learning curve, unfortunately,” he said. “They need experience, they need to be able to understand the car.

“The Formula 1 car – setup wise – is much more complicated than the junior categories, so it’s just part of the learning progress. And he’s not helped by the fact that he has a car that is not so easy to drive today,” Boullier added.

Magnussen agreed that the four races so far in 2014, including the more difficult run since Melbourne, have been good for “learning”.

“At this point for me it’s all about learning,” he said. “I need good results but I need to learn along the way as well.”

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Wolff defends Merc's cost cap stance

Although Toto Wolff says he is "for" a cost cap, the Mercedes chief concedes that some big teams just "could not" adhere to it.

FIA President Jean Todt had planned to introduce a cost cap into Formula One, however, a few weeks ago announced it would not take place.

The Frenchman blamed F1's Strategy Group, which comprises six teams including Mercedes.

The six have come in for some criticism from F1's smaller teams, who fear for their future in the sport.

Wolff, though, has defended his team's stance.

"I was for a cost cap actually," Wolff told ESPN. "But we realised some of the other big teams could not follow that path.

"Ferrari are a good example as they have everything in one entity, the road car business and F1, and it's difficult for them to have everything screened.

"It doesn't make sense to go against two or three of the big teams just for the sake of the principal of the cost cap, so it's worth following it up where everybody can do"

The Austrian reckons the best way to curb rising costs without introducing a cap is through "sporting and technical regulations" which he says are the "right way" to F1 to go.

"We've seen in the past that it worked," he added. "The testing was massively reduced, for example. There are many things we can do so we are working at the moment to try and find the best tools when we next get together to try to implement that.

"We are for a cost cap, or a ceiling, so we are not running away in a spending war with the other teams, and for a glide path downwards so we can reduce the gap between the larger and smaller teams."

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Analysis – F1 2014 the story so far: McLaren

With the first four ‘flyaway’ grands prix out of the way, it’s a good time to assess the start each team has made to the season and look at how each team has fared with the new hybrid turbo technology so far.

Over the next week or so, we will look in detail and what’s gone well and what hasn’t, and assess the outlook for the season.

To start with, a team that began the season well but has been a bit of an enigma ever since.

McLaren

Best result: P2 Australia (Magnussen)

Best grid slot: 4th (Magnussen, Australia)

Average grid slot: 9th.

Retirements: 1

Constructors Championship: 5th

Drivers’ Championship: P8 Button, 23pts; P9 Magnussen 20pts

Fastest race lap, gap to pace setter

Australia: 0.439s

Malaysia: 2.307s

Bahrain: 2.545s

China: 2.229s

What’s gone right?

Strong start to the season in Australia with both cars on podium after Daniel Ricciardo’s disqualification from second place. However on returning to the factory in Woking the team was told by chairman Ron Dennis that if anyone in the team was happy with that result they should “leave McLaren straight away, as the team exists to win”.

Outstanding debut for Kevin Magnussen, who also qualified strongly in the wet conditions. The team scored 33 points at the first race, but only 10 points in the three races that have followed.

The car went well in Bahrain, with Button heading for fifth place before clutch problems intervened.

Eric Boullier has settled into his new role as Racing Director and looks an asset to the team, with a strong racers’s instinct and a good understanding of the F1 environment. He’s yet to really make his presence felt internally, however, as he has been learning the McLaren ropes first.

What’s gone wrong?

The 1/2 a second per lap from the upgrade in Malaysia, which Ron Dennis had targeted, did not materialise and the team was forced to open up bodywork to cope with cooling demands in the hot conditions and this hurt the aerodynamics.

Two double non-scores in Bahrain and China have poured cold water on the early season optimism. In Malaysia the car did not work well in high track temperatures, although Button did well to take sixth place and they also had some sensor problems which cost time. Clutch problems hit both cars in Bahrain and this was followed by a poor weekend in China, where the limitations of the front end of the car were clear. Button qualified 12th and Magnussen only 15th.

Although China was cold, which should have suited them, the McLarens didn’t have any pace and were the slowest of the Mercedes-engined cars.

After a stellar debut, Magnussen has been doing some hard yards since. He already has points on his licence after getting involved in a start line clash with Raikkonen in Malaysia, which also bagged him an in-race penalty and wrecked his race, dropping him to ninth at the end.

Strong points of the team and car

McLaren has benefited from having a Mercedes power unit in the early races, as rivals Renault and Ferrari started the season behind the German manufacturer on performance and fuel economy.

Weak points of the team and car

In China a lack of front tyre temperature and graining was the big issue for McLaren. The drivers very clearly spelled out that the car does not have enough overall downforce and is very front limited, which means that on front-limited tracks such as China and also Barcelona to some extent they will suffer unless they can address the problem quickly.

They pioneered a curious looking ‘bodied’ rear suspension design (above), but it’s not clear whether this has given them the rear end downforce that every team is looking for under the 2014 rules, now that smaller rear wings and the lack of blown diffusers have made the rear of the cars more unstable. The cost in terms of drag appears quite high.

Where do they go from here?

After the disaster of 2013 McLaren cannot afford another ‘lost year’. The faults with the car can be addressed and for the foreseeable future the Mercedes engine will give them a solid platform. But the others will catch up if they don’t push hard and develop the chassis.

Around June/July things will get complicated as the technical team has to continue to develop the 2014 car around the Mercedes at the same time as optimising the design for the new 2015 car around the Honda engine. This is a formidable undertaking and they cannot afford to mess up the 2015 car through lack of focus and effort, with such an important new partner coming on board.

To complicate the task, new FIA Sporting Regulations for 2014 say that the team can use no more than 30 hours of wind tunnel and CFD time combined. The risk of falling behind is obvious.

McLaren is a well-resourced team, despite not having a title sponsor at this point. Ron Dennis has been pushing very hard to conclude a deal with a large company, which could be Chinese giant Huawei, but has not got it across the line yet.

Team boss Eric Boullier said on Wednesday that the team is confident it will challenge for wins as the season goes on.

“We have to believe we will win a race,” he said. “What is going on here in Woking is very positive and I think we will be able to keep pushing and bring very aggressive and strong development for the course of the season.

“And I think we will put ourselves in a position, maybe not in the first part of the season but maybe later, to fight for a win. I hope so.”

Overall Marks out of 10

McLaren – 6/10

Jenson Button – 6/10

Kevin Magnussen – 5.5/10

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Analysis – F1 2014 the story so far: Ferrari

With the first four ‘flyaway’ grands prix out of the way, it’s a good time to assess the start each team has made to the season and look at how each team has fared so far with the new hybrid turbo technology.

And the subject of our second post-‘flyaway’ analysis pieces is a team many expected to profit from the changing regulations but which has found itself once again facing troubled times…

Ferrari

Best result: P3 (Alonso, China)

Best grid slot: 4th (Alonso, Malaysia)

Average grid slot: 7th.

Retirements: 0

Constructors Championship: 4th

Drivers’ Championship: P3 Alonso, 41pts; P12 Raikkonen 11pts

Fastest race lap, gap to pace setter

Australia: +0.138s

Malaysia: +1.099s

Bahrain: +2.418s

China: +1.679

What’s gone right?

A couple of weeks ago you’d have said “not much”. Pre-season season testing showed that the F14 T was encouragingly reliable but worryingly sluggish and the opening round of the championship only served to confirm that suspicion. In Malaysia, the first really representative circuit the F14T was seventh in terms of maximum race speed in every sector. Through the speed trap Alonso was ninth quickest at 307.4kph compared with Felipe Massa’s 324.56kph. Bahrain was the nadir, with Alonso and Raikkonen finishing ninth and tenth.

On the upside, Alonso has recovered from his dip in form in late 2013 and -whether inspired by the arrival of Raikkonen or just because he’s back to himself – is driving at an extremely high level, as like 2012. The improvements the team has brought since Bahrain have proved effective, especially in China where the most visible item were the larger brake ducts and blown wheel nuts first trialled in the Bahrain test. However, the revival of ideas already tried in the past by Williams and Red Bull, was probably not the signal upgrade run in China. Ferrari had clearly eked more power from the 059/3 engine. Rumours suggest that part of this improvement came from a new fuel from Shell and also via improvements on the software side.

Raikkonen was sixth-fastest through the speed trap, 4kph slower than fastest man Rosberg. Alonso, meanwhile, might only have logged the 16th-fastest speed but his pace was sufficient that Red Bull admitted to having doubts about whether Daniel Ricciardo would have been able to have a crack at the Spaniard due to the Ferrari’s better speed on the straights had he been free to fight with the Ferrari driver in the closing stages of the race.

Afterwards, Engineering Director Pat Fry admitted improvements had been made. “We made some progress and in general, the speed of the car has increased, both in the corners and on the straights,” he said.

Aerodynamically the car is solid, though clearly not in the same league as Red Bull’s RB10. While the team’s much-publicised wind tunnel issues were reported as solved in pre-season testing, with the team insisting the track data correlated with figures from the tunnel, former Team Principal Stefano Domenicali targeted poor aerodynamic performance as the team’s big weakness barely a week before stepping down.

With power unit issues being the most obvious handicap afflicting the F14 T, (not only in the unit’s output but also in power delivery that affects balance) the fact that the team is slowly getting on top of its problems is encouraging, especially in a championship in which the quest already seems to be to finish as ‘best of the rest’ to Mercedes.

What’s gone wrong?

Where to start. It has simply been a cataclysmic start for the season for Ferrari. Most of the teams issues have been put down to the power unit and the team’s inability to master it – specifically in terms of weight, power and driveability.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport has reported that the engine is 13kg overweight. The power delivery has also been called into question, with suggestions that the team hasn’t got on top of integration of ICE and ERS power and that this leads to rear end problems that make the car tough to drive and which harm the rear tyres.

Allied to that are the problems being faced by Kimi Raikkonen. Initially the team blamed a lack of comfort with the car’s brake-by-wire system only for the Finn to rubbish his own team’s excuse in public. The Finn admits, however, to struggling with the front end of the F14 T and so far those problems haven’t been cured. In China, too, Raikkonen confessed that his driving style was at odds with the circuit and the conditions. “I don’t think I work the tyres very hard. So obviously when it’s cool conditions and wet conditions it’s been many years that it’s been hard to get the tyres working,” he said. “Today it just feels that when you have a new tyre it works well until the grip from the new tyres goes away and obviously you have to go slower and then you start cooling down the tyres more. Everything goes round and round and you cannot fix that. I reckon it’s more to do with that.”

It isn’t just those issues that are hurting Ferrari, however, and again in the week before he parted company with the Scuderia, Domenicali’s assessment of where improvements need to be made was bleak: “Basically everywhere,” he said. “I don’t think by fixing one problem you fix the whole performance – so we need to work to have a more efficient car; we need to work to have a better engine; we need to work to exploit better the balance between electric power and traditional engine power. Everywhere!”

Add to all of those technical woes a political situation at the team that is characteristically Borgia-like. Domenicali’s abdication has resulted in the appointment of the previous little known company man Marco Mattiacci, a figure trusted by the parent FIAT/Chrysler board, who will be carefully steered, as he learns the ways of the F1′s ‘Piranha Club’ of team owner politics by Luca Di Montezemolo. Whether Montezemolo can turn around the apparent cultural malaise affecting his team remains to be seen, however. It also remains to be seen how the current hierarchy will be organised in the new Ferrari world order and how that will affect 2014. Former Mercedes technical director Bob Bell keeps being mentioned; he worked very well with James Allison in their Renault days and may find his way to Maranello by the end of the year.

Strong points of the team and car

Reliability has been excellent with a full complement of finishes so far. And despite the obvious issues the team is facing all buit two of those finished have been in the points, leaving Ferrari fourth in the Constructors’ Championship with 52 points, just five behind Red Bull. Alonso is third in the Drivers’ standings five points ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. If 2014 is a case of being ‘best of the rest’ Ferrari are well placed ahead of the European season.

Weak points of the team and the car

The climate at the team deosn’t seem to be conducive to a sudden revival and it remains to be seen what kind of positive strategic influence Mattiacci can ultimately have in the short term.

Raikkonen’s woes are hurting the team in its pursuit of it’s main rivals Red Bull Racing and (at the moment) Force India.

Power unit issues would seem to be the biggest barrier to progress.

Where do they go from here?

If you were in a confident frame of mind, you might suggest that Ferrari keeps plugging away as it did in China, where the power unit solutions they brought had a clear benefit. There’s been no major upgrade yet and it will be interesting to see what the team brings – particularly in terms of aero solutions – to Barcelona and the test that follows. Solving the issues affecting Raikkonen would seem to be an immediate racing goal. The Finn hasn’t lost any of the pace and skill that saw him take eight podium finishes from the 17 races he contested last year.

A more pessimistic outlook would be that there is no hope of making a dent in Mercedes dominance and that attention should switch to 2015 and plotting the right choice of power unit elements to focus on.

Overall Marks out of 10

Ferrari – 6/10


Fernando Alonso – 7/10


Kimi Raikkonen – 5/10

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ANALYSIS – F1 2014 THE STORY SO FAR: Williams

With the first four ‘flyaway’ grands prix out of the way, it’s a good time to assess the start each team has made to the season and look at how each team has fared so far with the new hybrid turbo technology.

And the subject of our third analysis piece is a team that set the pace in winter testing, but which hasn’t made the most of its pace and doesn’t have as many points on the board as most people expected at this stage…

Williams

Best result: P5 (Bottas, Australia)

Best grid slot: 3rd (Bottas, Bahrain)

Average grid slot: 9th.

Retirements: 1

Constructors Championship: 6th, 36 pts

Drivers’ Championship: Bottas 24 pts; Massa 12pts

Fastest race lap, gap to pace setter

Australia: +0.090s

Malaysia: +1.831s

Bahrain: +2.257s

China: +1.977

What’s gone right?

Bright new shiny paint scheme, reflecting new sponsorship from Martini, the iconic stripe running down the car makes it look fast! Other sponsors on the car hint at a team that is turning itself around. The winter testing showed that Williams has a good car, good reliability and a Mercedes power unit in the back, which is the benchmark unit at this point.

Williams were the second best team overall in pre-season testing (after Mercedes) so they will be very disappointed to be currently lying P6 in the constructors. But unforced mistakes have ultimately cost them precious points.

Bottas was exciting to watch in Australia and could have been on the podium had he not made a mistake, hitting the wall when climbing through the field. His qualifying performance in Bahrain was strong too, with third on the grid.

The car package looks good, although they were clearly initially lacking downforce relative to the leaders, which was highlighted in the wet conditions. With a number of updates in China they appear to have improved the balance of the car in the wet and they qualified both cars in the top four rows of the grid in both Bahrain and China, so it’s all there for the taking.

What’s gone wrong?

Getting the points the car’s potential deserves. A haul of 36 points from four races, equals an average result of 8th for each car, or 9 points per race for the team, which is poor in comparison with Force India which has 54 points, using the same Mercedes power unit.

So why hasn’t it happened? Largely a series of errors; driver errors, operational errors and mishaps.

One moment to forget was the “Valterri is faster than you” radio call to Massa, asking him to let his team mate through in Malaysia, which the Brazilian was unimpressed by. Bottas felt he had the speed and the fresher tyres to challenge Button’s McLaren for 6th place, but Massa had track position.

Was it worth the risk of damaging Massa psychologically and potentially undermining his trust in the team at this early stage for the sake of an extra two points?

The team clearly felt he would understand the strategic side of their intentions and they had a heart to heart afterwards to talk through how they will deal with this kind of thing in future.

Strong points of the team and car

They made a good choice moving to Mercedes engines this year from Renault and have done a good job on integrating the power unit with their chassis and appear to have an efficient cooling package. It’s a simple car, but no less effective for that. Given that their exhaust blowing was probably not as effective as others in 2013 the banning of this highly beneficial aerodynamic feature impacted Williams less than other teams.

The new technical signings, led by Pat Symonds and with experienced operational figures like Rob Smedley will help bolster the team, but they need to cut out the unforced errors.

Weak points of the team and the car

High tyre degradation is one thing. The car showed a tendency to overuse its tyres in Malaysia and Bahrain, which cost them dearly.

The team made a strange mistake in Bahrain by not doing much running in free practice as they had so much data from testing at the circuit. But the conditions were different and they didn’t have enough homework come race evening. Bottas went from 3rd on the grid to 8th at the finish as tyre degradation nailed them.

In China Massa was rather lively off the start line and tagged Alonso. A strange mix up with his tyres being on the wrong side lost him any chance of a good result.

In other words a series of largely own goals have left Williams feeling rueful about what might have been.

Where do they go from here?

No need to panic..yet; the car is fast, the power unit is strong and there are plenty of races to go. The others will develop, but lead times for major changes on the power units are very long.

Williams need to start capitalising on their performance in the next few races as one would expect Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren to start to pull ahead. However McLaren are definitely struggling (they also have to integrate a completely new Honda power unit for 2015 and will have less and less input from Mereces engines so have a massive task on their hands this season as they are effectively developing two completely different cars).

Depending on how all that goes and how well Williams convert pace into points, the fight for Williams this year may be for fifth in the Constructors’ Championship with Force India, assuming McLaren can raise its game.

So far Bottas has scored double the points of Massa, which is slightly surprising, but we can only judge properly after half a season.

One final footnote: Williams as a group has been quietly restructuring its operation to concentrate more on the F1 racing side and remove non-core and non-profitable activity from its business portfolio, meaning that there is less potential distraction (ie other non-F1 related projects) for the design staff.

Overall Marks out of 10

Williams – 5/10

Felipe Massa – 5/10

Valterri Bottas – 6/10

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ANALYSIS – F1 2014 THE STORY SO FAR: Force India

With the first four ‘flyaway’ Grands Prix out of the way, it’s a good time to assess the start each team has made to the season and look at how each team has fared so far with the new hybrid turbo technology.

Over the next week or so, we will look in detail and what’s gone well and what hasn’t and assess the outlook for the season.

And the subject of the fourth in our series of post ‘flyaway’ analysis pieces is a team that has enjoyed its best start to a season since the days, many moons ago, when it was called Jordan.

Force India

Best result: P3 (Perez, Bahrain)

Best grid slot: 4th (Perez, Bahrain)

Average grid slot: 10th.

Retirements: 0 
(1 DNS, Perez Malaysia)

Constructors Championship: 3rd

Drivers’ Championship: P10 Perez, 18pts; P4 Hulkenberg 36pts

Fastest race lap, gap to pace setter

Australia: +0.732s

Malaysia: +2.916s

Bahrain: +1.765s

China: +1.862

What’s gone right?

Judging by the lofty position the team currently occupies in the Constructors’ Championship – 3rd – clearly quite a lot. Back in February Deputy Team Principal Bob Fernley said “It will be engine-dominated this year and the biggest differential for teams would be who got the right engine and at the right time” and as the opening races of the season have unfolded it has become clear that Force India’s decision last year to switch its focus to 2014 early and work on maximizing the potential of the Mercedes power unit has paid off.

It wasn’t a totally smooth run, however, and even in testing the team struggled with integration of the new power unit, but as the mileage stacked up so did the team’s performance with Nico Hulkenberg topping the timesheets on day one of the first Bahrain test and Sergio Perez going quickest on the first two days of the final Bahrain test.

They have improved on their end-of-testing status as the second best Mercedes customer team (after Williams) across the first four grands prix. Hulkenberg grabbed a solid sixth in Melbourne and in Malaysia the team converted a two-stop strategy into fifth place for the German. On both occasions he was involved in a tough battles with Fernando Alonso and in tussling with the two-time champion once again showed that he is one of the grid’s unsung heroes – even though his failing tyres prevented him sustaining the battle against Alonso in Speang. Another very solid fifth followed in Bahrain. Eeven in China, where the team had itself predicted a lackluster weekend, Hulkenberg put in an excellent performance, qualifying eighth in the rain and

Perez’s opening races were troubled (a collision and puncture in Melbourne and a failure to start the race in Malaysia) but he delivered an excellent drive in Bahrain, with perfectly executed strategy creating the chance, to hold off Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo for just long enough to claim the team’s first podium finish since Belgium 2009.

What’s gone wrong?

Not a lot! The Chinese Grand Prix revealed the shortcomings of the VJM07 with the front-limited nature of the circuit affecting both drivers badly. It’s a problem Fernley expects to crop up again, too.

“[shanghai is] a very front-limited circuit and it just doesn’t quite fit in to the way we operate the car,” he said after the race in China. “This circuit is very specific in being a challenge to us, whereas Bahrain is exactly the opposite. So you’re talking two ends of the spectrum: one suits the car really well and other doesn’t fit for us. At our best circuits we are podium potential and at our worst circuits we’re looking at being top six, and that is the consistency we need to put on a strong challenge from a constructors’ point of view.”

That means that the team could also struggle at tracks such as the Circuit de Catalunya.

Strong points of the team and car

They have an excellent driver pairing in Hulkenberg and Perez. The Mexican’s reputation took a battering during his year at McLaren but he is highly motivated to prove doubters wrong and Fernley is convinced that the experience has made Perez a better racer. “I thought that the last six months that he was with McLaren he matured well. He still had that aggressive touch but it was contained. [in] the second six months he was very measured in the way he approached things and had great success in terms of what he was doing driving-wise. I believe that, again, we have benefited from the McLaren process.”

Hulkenberg’s tally for the season tells its own story – fourth in the Drivers’ Championship and with 36 points in the bag. The German’s quality and consistency is a major asset. (I hope he get's paid this season! )

Elsewhere, perhaps the major strength of Force India is its compactness. There are few distractions beyond making a good racing car, the personnel are experience enough to know how to get that done and as long as the resources are there to back them up they will get it done.

After ending its technical partnership with McLaren, the team also has a long-term agreement with Mercedes for power units, gearboxes and hydraulics that according to Toto Wolff would see Force India through the entire lifecycle of the V6.

Weak points of the team and the car

At the moment it looks like there are few genuine weak points. If anything the VJM07 began the season as a relatively conservative package but the team’s Technical Director Andy Green recently revealed that that situation won’t last with the China package of upgrades to be followed by more in Barcelona and more in Canada, where a new cooling layout is scheduled along with revised and tighter bodywork. In short, they’ve built a decent car and have plenty of scope to develop it.

Where do they go from here?

The team has brought a steady flow of upgrades so far, including the introduction of FRIC suspension, a revised rear diffuser, split bargeboards, modifications to the rear wing and new more tightly sculpted sidepods but it remains to be seen whether it can sustain development of the car across the whole season. They team says it can and if they can maintain the impetus then there is a good chance they will reach their stated goal of being best of the rest.

Certainly the sunny early season the team has been enjoying is the period in which to make hay. While the fortunes of their usual midfield rivals such as Sauber and Toro Rosso ebb and flow, and while generally better performing rivals flounder the Silverstone squad can prosper, shoring up enough points to see them through any lean patches that may develop as the season progresses.

There’s no reason for that to be the target though. The Mercedes power unit, the team’s assiduous preparations and the presence of one driver of undervalued skill and another with a huge point to prove means they have the ability to battle for at least fourth in the Constructors’ battle – as long as they have the wherewithal to do so. In recent seasons they have performed well in end of season races, showing that they can develop a car.

Overall Marks out of 10

Force India – 8/10

Nico Hulkenberg – 8/10

Sergio Perez – 7/10