FORMULA 1 - 2016

[MIKA27]

Grosjean 'pleased' following first Haas simulator run

Romain Grosjean got his first chance to drive Haas' new Formula 1 car for the first time this week, albeit in Ferrari's simulator, and reported a positive first impression.

Haas has full use of Ferrari's simulator as part of a technical partnership between the two teams which also includes engine, transmission and suspension supply amongst other things.

Although Grosjean won't get to drive the actual car until the first pre-season test later this month, he was pleased with the progress he made in the simulator which included ironing out some early bugs before concentrating on basic set-up.

"The first impression was rather good," the Frenchman told L'Equipe. "As with any new car there were some teething technical problems to resolve, like the turbo lag, the energy recovered under braking, etc..

"The morning was spent on this, but once everything was settled we had the opportunity to run extensively in the afternoon.

"We worked on the basic set-up which included braking and throttle response, differential settings, and various ride heights in relation to their aerodynamic impact compared to wind tunnel data."

Grosjean was however cautious not to get carried away with the simulator results, with on-track feedback the only true indicator of performance: "A simulator is always just a guide, but I think the car's baseline appears to be good."

[MIKA27]

Sorenson: Jorda doesn’t deserve success

Danish driver Marco Sørensen has slammed Renault's development driver Carmen Jorda for getting 'all the rewards' despite being slower than him.

Sorenson, who has since left Renault, revealed that Jorda somehow managed to cement her place in the Renault team for the 2016 season without doing much to earn it as he was clearly the better driver before Lotus switched back to their Renault engine.

"She was 12 seconds slower than me in the simulator," he told Ekstra Bladet. "Still, she ran away with all the rewards."

"For the past two years I have spent at least 60 days in the simulator, which is about the same as Kevin (Magnussen) at McLaren. So I felt violated to the point that it finally became too much and I had to stop."

Taking up a new role at Aston Martin in the World Endurance Championship, the 25-year-old said that all though his dream is still to race in F1 he will have to put it on hold as he could not afford to book a seat in a Formula One car.

"I could not come up with 50 million kroner, which I've heard is the starting amount if you want to buy a Formula One seat," he said.

With the exciting duo of Magnussen and Joylon Palmer leading Sorenson's old team, the Dane backed his countryman to be the top driver at Renault: "It will be close, but I think Kevin has more talent than Palmer."

MIKA: We all know why she's in F1 as a development driver

[MIKA27]

Why Mercedes doesn't believe in Honda's size zero concept

Formula 1's engine manufacturers have opted for significantly different design concepts for their 2016 power units. But which approach will pay off?

The importance of engine performance in Formula 1 has been clear even since the new turbo regulations came into force.

So it is little wonder that, ahead of the third year of the hybrid rules, the battleground between the manufacturers is as intense as it has ever been.

What is perhaps more surprising, though, is that there remain some fundamental concept design differences between how Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda have approached maximising the power available from 100kg of fuel at a maximum flow rate of 100kg per hour.

Architectural differences

At one end of the spectrum is Mercedes, which has famously split its turbo so the compressor is at one end of the engine and the turbine at the other.

Then there is the Honda approach, with the Japanese manufacturer having also split it turbo but having decided to position both parts within the V-bank for space reasons.

In the middle ground so far have sat Ferrari and Renault, neither of whom have elected to go down either extreme solution just yet.

However, there are suggestions that Ferrari is set to introduce a double intercooler system this year – one in the chassis (like Mercedes) and the second at the left side of the engine behind the radiators.

Mercedes design success

Judging by performance, it is clear that advantages of the Mercedes concept are worth pursuing, while Honda paid the price last year for its compressor being too small.

But, with Honda adamant that a larger turbine and compressor – still within the V-bank to achieve 'size zero' – can be turned in to a Mercedes-beater, there are some fascinating times ahead.

But is Honda right, or is Mercedes correct that its own philosophy – which it thinks will require ever bigger turbines in the future to maximise power output – the best way to keep winning in F1?

Chasing gains

Last week, Mercedes invited a select group of media to a briefing from its engine chief Andy Cowell, where he opened up about some of the design innovations of its power unit.

And although the split turbo and compressor was not the only reason Mercedes has been successful, Cowell acknowledged that the design had played an important part in its delivering the benchmark power unit.

"I don't think it was over-played," he said. "Is it the silver bullet? I think it is something where there are lots of positive contributors that go into it to make that comment.

"It is not done for one reason. There were many reasons that go together; to make it something that we think is still attractive.

"I think the thing that goes against it, is it is bloody hard! In the whole debate, there wasn't one big reason why we should do it, but there were lots of medium sized reasons why we should do it: on the contra side of the table – it was, 'bloody hell how are we going to do this?' Which is the 1000 pound gorilla in the room.

"There was nothing that said it couldn't be done, it just hadn't been done. But it makes it quite fun doesn't it?"

Not copied

It did not take long for Mercedes' secret to get out of the bag in 2014, which prompted many to think that rivals would quickly copy the idea.

That it did not happen is no major surprise to Cowell though, who thinks that there are a multitude of factors that contribute to why each manufacturer has gone down different routes.

"We are all in the same race but everybody has got slightly different efficiencies, slightly different views, slightly different supply levels of vertical integration, or different suppliers," he said.

And perhaps, most crucially, the sizing of various components can be dictated by just how successful each manufacturer is at extracting energy out of its system.

Speaking about the sizing of the turbo, Cowell said: "You need to think about championship points.

"And how you get championship points is on a Sunday afternoon and not in qualifying. So you need to do analysis – what is the ratio of importance between those things?

"Is it about being on the front of the grid but then struggling for energy on lap two, or is it about making sure that you can run a real solid race? That is something that all manufacturers need to balance out. That can skew the way you size the turbo.

"And then it is down to the level of efficiency you are going to achieve from all the bits in that loop. If you think that the electric machine cannot be that efficient then there is no point having a big turbine that is just going to put the energy in to that machine.

"If you think that the two lots of power electronics are not going to that efficient, or the MGU-K is not going to be that efficient, then you don't bother there.

"The lap simulation is based on what is the power than the K adds to the crank. So if you think you have get 100KW from the turbine in to the MGU-H, but you are only going to have 50 by the time you get there, and you look at the weight of all the cooling systems to deal with that wasted 50, then that is going to start impacting your design."

Gains to come

Perhaps most intriguingly is that while some had hoped Mercedes would be hitting a performance ceiling with its engine, it has instead spoken about decent gains still being found.

And, with thermal efficiency currently around 45 percent, it believes there is plenty of scope left for big improvement in getting more out of the 1240 KW of energy that is theoretically available for a full tank of fuel.

To give an indication of how much technology has moved on, when KERS was first tested in 2007, it weighted 107kg and had an efficiency of 39 percent.

During the first tests for the new-for-2014 ERS, the systems weighed 24kg and were 80 percent efficient.

Now, they are bang on 20kg and 95 percent efficient.

Such strides mean that there is more and more energy up for grabs: which means that the turbines and compressors may need to be made bigger to cope with the extra power available.

When asked if it was logical that as efficiency improved, the turbine got bigger, Cowell said: "Yeah. Two areas are going to improve, the efficiency of the ICE is going to go up and up and up every year, and the efficiency of that turbo is going to go up.

"That means the turbine sizing number is going to go up as long as it is not stealing from the engine."

In Mercedes' case, Cowell confirmed that its turbine had got bigger year on year – helping deliver more power.

Had that compressor and turbine size been restricted to the inside of the engine, like the Honda is, then the scope for making it larger is not there – as it will no longer deliver the advantages that size zero supposedly brings along.

It is clear that Mercedes' vision of what's needed in F1 and what Honda believes is right are very different.

But the answer to who is right will have to wait until the cars hit the track.

[MIKA27]

F1 will pay a big price for token gesture

Ever since Formula 1 introduced its new power units at the start of 2014, the dos and don'ts of permitted development have generate debate and contention.

First, some background. From the outset, the idea was that the power unit specification would be frozen in specification for its existence, as was the case with the V8's - unlike the V8's, however, the power units could be upgraded and re-homologated annually. The scope of those updates was limited by a system of tokens, the whole power unit was broken down into sub system and each subsystem was given a value in tokens (a bit like some kind of F1 computer game).

The whole power unit was worth 66 tokens, but in the first year manufacturers were only allowed to spend 32 tokens and this number would decrease each year until the whole power unit was a frozen specification (in about 2019 or 2020). Additionally each year some parts of the power unit would be fixed restricting the scope of what could be updated. In 2016, for example, manufacturers could not change the design of the crankcase, valve drive, cam covers, crankshaft, air valve system, and ancillaries drive. Beyond that, the only thing that could be changed in theory were for reasons of cost reliability or safety.

Primarily, this was intended to prevent the costs from escalating and Formula 1 becoming a manufacturer spending war, but the system fell apart from the moment it was first implemented. The crucial deadline for re-homologation for the 2015 season had been left out of the technical regulations, and, for want a better phrase, a 'balls up' by FIA appeared responsible

That said, I have also heard a conspiracy that the deadline was left out give a helping hand to Ferrari which itself had made a 'balls up' by not ordering a crucial turbocharger component in time.

Either way, this resulted in token spend being allowed through the year, something which was never intended and forced Mercedes to accelerate the development of some 2016 components to be ready in 2015. It was a messy situation but in reality it had little impact on the racing action on track nor did it have much impact on power unit development year on year.

“The tokens did not matter, we had a completely new power unit in 2015” Andy Cowell of Mercedes admitted at the launch of the W06. “We could change everything we wanted to for reasons of reliability as the power unit had to last longer than it did in 2014, but we did not use all the tokens even then we did not leave anything on the table in terms of performance.”

Renault power unit boss Rob White has espoused a similar line in the past, saying “the allowed token spend is very generous, there is nothing we want to do which is limited by the token spend at all” he told the press in mid-2015. Indeed through the 2015 season only one manufacturer, Honda, used all of the tokens available to it.

Now, ahead of the 2016 season, it has been announced that the restrictions on what areas of the power unit would be lifted and for the 2017 season the token structure would be abandoned altogether. A bid to even up the field in terms of power unit performance has been given as the reason.

"One of the reasons we have all agreed to do this is that we all need the performance of the engine to converge・ Cyril Abiteboul revealed to the press at the launch of the 2016 Renault team in Paris. "An F1 that is dictated by the performance of the engine is not good for anyone. We have decided, also for the public, to stop the public being confused between the penalty system, the token system we have decided to simply remove the token system for 2017."

In essence this is a method of allowing Renault and Honda to catch up to Ferrari and Mercedes, however it is entirely reliant on the law of diminishing returns.

I don't think the development curve on the current power units have yet met the point where that law applies. Losing the token system now means that a manufacturer could conceivably run four entirely different power-units during the season without any penalty (the limit on number of power units per driver sensibly remains). It is now entirely possible to build a short lived power unit optimised for a single race, perhaps Monza for Ferrari or Suzuka for Honda, or a single type of race (perhaps one for Monaco, Hungaroring, Singapore and Baku?).

As Red Bull's Adrian Newey pointed out in the last few days, Formula 1 has opened itself to the one thing it wanted to avoid - an out and out spending war between the manufacturers. Engineers in the sport have the job of pushing every regulation to the maximum and already they will be looking at the wide range of options available.

This will all cost money, and that could deter new manufacturers from joining the sport – off the top of my head, Toyota, Peugeot, Audi and Ford are unlikely to be attracted by a series with escalating costs and complexity.

But with none of them seriously looking at F1 until at least 2020 when new rules will be introduced, perhaps that does not matter. However, will this dropping of tokens achieve the objective of levelling the playing field a little bit? I think the answer is yes and no.

More than likely, it will come down to how much a manufacturer is willing to spend, and the two who are willing to spend the most are Honda and Mercedes. The Japanese brand is willing to do anything to win in Formula 1, and it will spend its way to doing that, while Mercedes seems to have vast resource behind its F1 project and I hear it may actually make a small profit from F1 (you should ignore the badly researched stories about losses in 2014).

So those two manufacturers can develop hard – which is possibly why he has been warning teams not to write them off.

“The rate of development of the Honda in 2015 was really, really good. While it may not have seemed that way from outside our data showed the improvements clearly. Give them time and they will be really good. Because of that we are making sure we are not over confident in 2016, we definitely don't expect to have the big advantage we had in '14 and 15. Both Renault and Ferrari are catching us up but Honda is the one that worries us.”

But what about Renault and Ferrari? Each is restricted on spending by their shareholders to an extent. A substantial stake in Renault is owned by the French state so it simply cannot throw endless cash after a racing programme which not all approve of, though Bob Bell did suggest it has a chequebook to rival that of Mercedes' if necessary.

Ferrari too is floated on the stock market so it cannot just spend as it wants, though as it currently makes a profit from F1 there are fairly deep pockets there for now.

So while Renault may view the loosening of the engine regulations as a primary opportunity to close the gap, has it compromised its long-term plan for a short-term goal? Time will tell, but either way, F1 is threatening to take itself down a path of, what one Englishman called it, 'chequebook racing' – and for me that is not what Formula 1 should be.

[MIKA27]

Red Bull priming itself for Toro Rosso challenge

Adrian Newey says Red Bull Racing could find itself under threat from sister team Toro Rosso and McLaren in 2016 as it primes itself for a potentially difficult season.

The four-time title winning team endured its first F1 season without a win since 2008 last year in a campaign overshadowed by a public fall-out with engine suppliers Renault, which Red Bull blamed for the disappointing results.

Though it actively sought a new engine partner, Red Bull eventually agreed to honour its contract with the French firm for 2016, though it will do so under the TAG Heuer brand nameplate. In the meantime, Renault completed its purchase of the Lotus F1 team and will return to F1 as a constructor in 2016, raising concerns within the Red Bull fold that it won't get the attention necessary to return to winning ways.

Indeed, Newey suggests Red Bull will be defending from behind rather than striving forward in 2016, tipping Toro Rosso – even with a year-old Ferrari engine – and McLaren-Honda to challenge.

"I wouldn't like to make predictions," Newey told Sky Sports F1. “Honda I'm sure will be making a good step forwards for McLaren. Even Toro Rosso having a one-year out-of-date Ferrari engine will have a good step on their performance. So it's very difficult for us to forecast exactly where we're going to be."

A staunch critic of the current engine regulations, chief designer Newey says Red Bull has been working hard to compensate with the RB12's chassis, but says there is only so much the team can do in an era where he feels performance is overwhelmingly dictated by the power unit.

“It's very clear at the moment that whilst both chassis and power unit are important, there is a greater potential for differentiation in the power unit than a fairly restrictive set of chassis regulations.

"It's going to be difficult but there are still opportunities to make a difference with the chassis and we'll be working hard."

[MIKA27]

Williams F1 team prioritising car over superstar driver signing

Williams will continue to prioritise spending on development of its Formula 1 car over trying to secure a superstar driver, according to technical director Pat Symonds.

The Grove-based team, which is understood to have only the fifth-biggest budget in F1, finished third in the constructors' championship for the second successive year last term.

Symonds rates Alonso as "the best driver in the sport" following their title success together at Renault in 2005/06, but has previously suggested the Spaniard would not be the right signing for Williams in its present situation.

Despite Williams having cemented its position back among F1's frontrunners, Symonds maintains its budget can be spent in more relevant ways than on a champion driver's wage bill.

"When I've said it in the past, I didn't meant we couldn't exploit what superstar drivers have got, but they cost money," he told Autosport.

"But at the moment, we are deficient in areas which I would prioritise over a superstar driver.

"So if Alonso came to drive for us, we would make full use of him and we'd work well with him.

"We'd give him what we needed, there's no doubt about it, but if we had to pay his salary, we may not eat for a year."

Williams agreed deals with Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa last year to keep the pair as team-mates for the third successive season.

The duo impressed Symonds to the extent that with a free choice, he would still choose both Massa and Bottas to line up for the team this season.

"I think they are perfect for our team, they work so well together," he said.

"They are such team players and they push each other really hard because they are actually very similar in performance.

"They push each other in a pleasant way and it helps to get the whole team working nicely.

"Honestly, if I had a totally free hand, I'd keep exactly what we have got and it's not often I would say that."

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Analysis: Why Ferrari starts 2016 Formula 1 season 'afraid'

Ferrari exceeded even its own expectations in the 2015 Formula 1 season, winning three grands prix after setting itself the target of two.

On that basis, Ferrari should improve this season and give Mercedes a closer run for its money, right? There are many who will be hoping that is the case.

But unlike the prelude to last season, to date there have been no statements of intent from Ferrari. President Sergio Marchionne and team principal Maurizio Arrivabene are playing their cards very closely to their chests.

You sense Ferrari knows that after being on the receiving end of overwhelming Mercedes dominance the past two years it is within touching distance of making a grab for the German manufacturer's coat-tails and hauling it in.

You only have to listen to the remarks of Marchionne and Arrivabene to realise there is perhaps a sense of anxiety within Maranello.

With a concerted effort it can push Mercedes to the wire this year. As encouraging as last year was, resting on laurels now would squander those gains.

"If I was to give a tip to myself and the team colleagues, it is to be extremely afraid of their rivals," said Marchionne at Christmas.

"Let's try from now until March to suffer and work very hard because until we will see Mercedes during the test phase in February and then later on, we cannot be calm.

"We have to make the most of this time and the last thing we can do is relax, in spite of the wins and in spite of the podiums."

For Arrivabene that anxiety would appear to be even more acute, and with good reason as it is eight years now since Ferrari last won a constructors' championship, and nine since one of its men last claimed the drivers' crown.

Could 2016 again be Ferrari's year?

"We're working very hard, we're very tense, we're terrified because we're afraid of the future, so we're not relaxed," said Arrivabene.

"We were second [in 2015], but we have to ask ourselves what those in first are going to do, especially considering they dominated last season.

"This positive fear is good because it stems from the willingness and excitement of doing new things.

"In terms of our rivals, Red Bull, Williams, no one can be underestimated and certainly they could be dangerous. McLaren may be a competitor as well."

All eyes will, of course, again be on Sebastian Vettel as it was the four-time champion who led Ferrari out of the mire of its winless 2014 campaign - the team's first season without a victory since 1993.

Marchionne has made clear he is expecting Kimi Raikkonen to have a "phenomenal" year this season after witnessing a different driver over the second half of last season. Now there's pressure for you.

Certainly if Raikkonen can at least haul himself closer to Vettel on a Saturday afternoon, as qualifying continues to be his Achilles heel, then the duo can apply their own pressure on Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Going into this season Vettel knows Mercedes will continue to be the team to beat, but there is confidence he can make further inroads into their dominance.

"The reason Mercedes did so well is not only due to the power unit, but a combination of things," said Vettel.

"It was a great car and they were able to improve it significantly from before.

"I don't think it is worth talking about the engine because we know it is strong and we expect them to keep going.

"Anyone who wants to challenge them needs to make bigger steps, and again that's our target.

"There are lots of things we are looking into to try and come out with a stronger car.

"Obviously, I don't know what is happening behind other doors, but I know what is happening at Maranello, and it looks very promising."

Inside Mercedes the team has its own concerns about Ferrari, highlighted only recently by Andy Cowell, managing director of the team's AMG High Performance Powertrains department.

And if the words of Williams technical director Pat Symonds are anything to go by with regard to the power unit, Cowell has every reason to be worried.

"I honestly don't believe there's any difference between the Ferrari engine and the customer Mercedes engine, I really don't," said Symonds, whose team is powered by Mercedes.

"I'm not sure about heat dissipation and things like that, we don't analyse it on that level, but every calculation we do shows them to be on a par, in terms of power."

If true, and Ferrari again makes the gains with the PU that it did in the build up to last season, internal anxiety may yet lead to long-overdue glory.

[MIKA27]

MANOR: PASCAL IS A SHARP DRIVER WITH A VERY PROMISING FUTURE

Manor Racing is to give rising star Pascal Wehrlein his Formula 1 racing debut.

The 21 year old reigning DTM Champion and Mercedes-Benz Junior driver, from Sigmaringen in Germany, will pilot the all-new Mercedes powered Manor Racing MRT05 race car when it hits the track for testing in Barcelona on 22 February.

Wehrlein will take part in both pre-season tests ahead of his first Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Manor Racing’s owner: “Pascal is a sharp driver with a very promising future; Manor Racing is excited to have him aboard. We’re a small team up for a big challenge this season, so we’ve chosen a driver with the talent and hunger to match our own on-track ambitions.”

“Pascal has impressed in testing for Mercedes and Force India, together with commanding performances in DTM, culminating in the championship win last year. Manor Racing is perfectly placed to help Pascal make a big impact in his first season. We’re looking forward to it!”

Wehrlein: “Manor Racing is a great place for me to start my Formula One racing career – I’m very pleased to be here. It’s a small and totally focused team and I soon hope to know everyone. Though it’s my first F1 season my aim is to help Stephen and the guys achieve their goals.”

“It will be a tough challenge but I think we should be able to challenge for points along the way. It’s going to be good fun. A word for my racing family at Mercedes-Benz, and particularly for Toto, who have guided my career this far and made this opportunity possible.”

“Thanks for the incredible support to help me achieve my dream; now it’s down to me to grab the moment and perform on track,” concluded Wehrlein.

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MALDONADO: IT WAS A BOLT FROM THE BLUE

Pastor Maldonado has for the first time revealed how his eleventh-hour ousting from Renault hit him like “a bolt from the blue”.

The Venezuelan, replaced for 2016 by former McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen, confirmed that his F1 adventure came to an end due to problems with his PDVSA sponsorship.

“The situation changed dramatically within a few hours and I found myself without a sponsor, and everything else came from that,” Maldonado told Autosprint. “I don’t feel anger but I feel anything but happy. It was a bolt from the blue.”

Maldonado’s annual backing by PDVSA, the crisis-struck Venezuelan state-owned oil company, was estimated at about $50 million a year.

As to what went wrong, the 30-year-old answered: “No comment. These are sensitive areas that I am yet to clarify. I’m thinking only of an alternative so that I can keep racing.

“PDVSA has always done a great job and also supported other drivers and other sports, and I am sure that the support for other sports will continue.”

Maldonado contested almost 100 grands prix for Williams and Lotus, even winning the 2012 Spanish grand prix, but he said: “I raced in the worst moments of their (the teams’) history.”

As for his Barcelona win, Maldonado insisted: “It was one of the biggest surprises in the history of F1, but not to me, because I deserved that joy.”

“The party in the Williams factory was warm and unforgettable — anybody who thinks it is a cold team is wrong,” he said.

And Maldonado’s final season was in 2015, during which Lotus almost collapsed, “It’s a shame because the car was good, but the financial problems meant we couldn’t develop.”

“Then the reliability problems came from old pieces that broke which were not replaced to save money,” he added.

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VILLENEUVE: MY MISTAKE TO TURN DOWN MCLAREN AND RENAULT FOR BAR

1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has admitted to making a couple of mistakes during his Formula 1 career, but in retrospect regrets none of them.

“I don’t regret anything,” he told the French magazine Auto Hebdo, “My only mistake was to renew the contract with BAR (in 2002) when I had an offer from Renault.”

Had he switched to Renault, Villeneuve would presumably have been Fernando Alonso’s teammate, who went on to win his two world championships in 2005 and 2006.

Villeneuve, 44, also admitted his career could have taken a different turn shortly after wrapping up his first and only title with Williams in 1997.

“I actually received an offer from McLaren. Adrian Newey had called me to ask me not to sign with BAR and to join him instead,” said Villeneuve.

“He liked me because he had seen what I could do with his cars at Williams and there was enormous respect between us,” recalled the French-Canadian.

At McLaren, Mika Hakkinen won back-to-back world championships in 1998 and 1999.

“It’s easy to say today that it would have been great at McLaren, but how can you miss having your own team?” added Villeneuve, who co-founded and funded BAR with his manager Craig Pollock in 1999.

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PETROV TEAMS UP WITH SMP RACING WITH F1 IN THEIR SIGHTS

Formula 1 could have a Russian team in the not-too-distant future according to Vitaly Petrov, former Renault and Caterham driver.

Petrov who was the first Russian to race in Formula 1, will this year return to action in Le Mans’ LMP2 prototype class, driving for SMP Racing.

SMP is a Russian bank, and Petrov said of the racing programme: “Although nothing is defined yet, we will perhaps one day be in Formula 1.

“LMP1 is also under consideration,” he is quoted as saying in Paris by Canal Plus broadcaster. “SMP Racing has the means to become one of the best teams in the world.”

SMP Bank is owned by Boris Rotenberg, who reportedly has close ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

[MIKA27]

Something's got to change - but let it be the aero as well as the tyres

“Unless you have a big advantage to the guy in front, you get within a second and you just lose downforce and there’s no way of getting any closer.”

So said Lewis Hamilton after the Brazilian race late last season. He knew – indeed had predicted the day before should that scenario come to pass – that once he was beaten for the lead off the line by his team-mate Nico Rosberg his day was going to be a long one. Sure enough 91 minutes later he still was circulating a respectful distance behind in second. This too at Interlagos long viewed as one of the tracks most presentable for overtaking. And with Lewis long viewed as about the sport’s most willing racer.

Nico sitting next to him may have afforded himself an inward wry smile, given when he’d raised the same point essentially in China earlier in the year, there was rather a round of mirth in response. But by now nearing the end of a season of mostly processional fare the general problem was glaring. And the drivers made no effort to sugar the pill we all had to swallow.

“Something's got to change y’know?” Hamilton went on. “I guess for fans it’s probably not too exciting to watch. Of course, it’s always nice when you’re at the front, as we have been for some time now – but still... That’s probably a change that would be looked positively on.”

Sebastian Vettel next to him thought he knew how to bring about that change too: “I think in general what we need to follow another car closer in medium speed, high speed, slow speed corners is more mechanical grip” he said. “So shift the percentage between aero – towards more mechanical. How to do that? I think we need better tyres that allow us to go quicker. Drivers want to be quicker. So, I think the solution is very simple.”

The modern F1 tyres as provided by Pirelli indeed are a common issue. They are seen to militate against racing as Seb explained by limiting the mechanical grip. But additionally in that most common of modern F1 complaints they are viewed also to require driving within the limits in races, rather striking against most senses of what racing should be.

Fernando Alonso indeed last year likened the challenge of F1 driving in 2015 to that of an airline pilot. “You have to control everything in the best way possible or most efficient way, that’s your challenge. Like aeroplane pilots, probably, they just have to control that everything is working fine”, said the Spaniard in Montreal, his frustrations plain. “If you lose half a second for five laps because you are not pushing, maybe it is not even a bad idea because your tyres will be in perfect condition for the next coming laps and you will gain one second a lap. This kind of driving is a little bit strange.”

It’s a matter of heat degradation rather than usual wear, part of what Pirelli’s Paul Hembery called “an inherent part of the tyre [that] was designed to fulfil the original brief we were given by the promoter…to create unpredictable races”. As the ever-authoritative Mark Hughes explained for Motorsport magazine recently:

“It’s necessary to properly understand the distinction between deliberately engineered heat-degrading tyres and a normal racing tyre. Including heat-degrading composites (essentially plastics) into the compound means that, at most tracks, driving flat out for three or four laps would destroy the tyre even while it still retains plenty of tread. The ‘plastics’ permanently change their chemical structure once beyond a certain temperature threshold – and will not return to their original form. The ‘fried’ plastics lose the tyre much of its elasticity, making it dramatically slower and no matter how gently it’s treated subsequently it will not recover. Driving it one or two seconds off the pace (depending upon track layout, compound softness, track temperature etc) keeps it below that temperature threshold and allows reasonable stint lengths. Thus at most tracks the drivers are well below their own limits and those of the car for big stretches of the race, typically only letting rip just before the pit stops.

“A conventional racing tyre with none of these heat-degrading materials inside still loses performance as it becomes more worn but can be driven flat out for the duration of its tread life. As the tread becomes thinner it loses some of its elasticity (albeit nowhere near as dramatically as a ‘fried’ Pirelli) and therefore performance, but the performance loss is nowhere near as dramatic or sudden.”

And fans and drivers alike have noticed. The two problems – tyres not allowing a driver to push nor to follow another car closely – you’d have thought are related too; presumably increased sliding in another’s turbulence contributes to heat degradation. A thin tread tyre is to be used in 2016 that’s intended to degrade through tread wear rather than heat degradation (still with a ‘cliff’ but aiming for there to be less need to nurse them), but it remains to be seen the extent that it’s a solution.

Grand Prix Drivers’ Association chairman Alex Wurz told the BBC recently: “If we get sticky tyres, we will have happy drivers, and happy drivers means authentic and honest performance, pure message for the product and driving the cars to the maximum.

That's what we want and, according to the fan survey we did last year, what all the fans expect.”

And there appears to be movement, with a delegation of seven drivers meeting Pirelli in the last couple of weeks to ask for the sort of tyres Wurz described, and the BBC reports too that insiders say Pirelli is happy to comply from 2017 onwards. It’s a reminder that whatever else you think of Pirelli the company has been rather unideological in all of this, willing so far as we can tell to do what it’s told by the sport.

Hughes for one was happy, as he tweeted in response: “With proper ‘flat-out’ tyres agreed in principle for 2017, a cost cap on engines and ditching tokens, F1 finally [is] moving in [the] right direction.”

The problem of an F1 car not being able to follow in another’s wake wasn’t new of course. It was one wrestled with for upwards of a decade and a half, to the point that in 2011 we got a desperate-times-call-for-desperate-measures response of the notorious DRS as well as the about as notorious deliberately-designed-to-degrade Pirellis.

In apparent vindication of the latter move we did get madcap races and (sometimes) results initially, but as is usually F1’s way the variation disappeared in time as all worked out the same least worst solution. The sticking plasters did what all sticking plasters do and only served to hide the wound rather than heal it. As well as eventually lost their stick.

The topline finding of the GPDA survey last year was that fans had rather had their fill of such gimmickry. The growing popularity of WEC suggests this too.

So, good news that F1 is looking again? Yes, though with a condition. Some of you may have noticed a small flaw in the plan, that with this change in isolation at least we will in effect go full circle, back to where roughly the sport was in 2010 – when all were in a state of despair about the chronic lack of overtaking which is why we got those now derided drastic measures in the first place.

Lewis’s words at the outset could have been transported directly from then indeed, or from any point between then and the mid-1990s. Neatly too, according to the Clip the Apex annual overtaking stats, at the current rate of year-on-year decline since 2011 the average number of overtakes will this season hit the 2010 average of around 20 per dry Grand Prix.

It has never been easy to unpick the stand-alone effect of the degrading Pirelli tyres on the racing given as mentioned they were introduced at the same time as the other drastic measure of DRS. Even, say, overtakes outside of DRS zones may have been aided by the pursuer getting closer in a previous DRS zone. But we can at least construct a theoretical case.

One can hardly deny that refuelling was associated with less on-track passing. That again according to Clip the Apex the average number of passes per race doubled between 2009 and 2010 – when refuelling was banned but not a great deal else changed – indicates as much. This was for a few reasons but significant among them was that refuelling almost entirely eliminated variation of pace within a race by turning them into a series of flat-out sprints. And even when refuelling was banned unlike before that tyres now could easily last a distance – as could engines, gearboxes etc etc – meant that in 2010 strategy variation was very rare and the sprints in large part continued. One line of defence that can be made of the gumball Pirellis is that they came from a conscious effort to alleviate that. So with this, that Pirelli essentially is doing what it’s told, plus the auxiliary problems of the sport struggling to agree on tyre testing or to unite on what it wants from the tyres, we can again have some sympathy for the Italian supplier.

And the typically-acerbic Hembery hasn’t been shy to remind us of this. “If the drivers want to push on, we can do that” he said.

“Then the next interview we do will be: ‘Oh, it’s really good this processional racing’… We can take the tyre equation out, no problem, but you will go back to the years when I think Barcelona had three or four years of about five overtaking manoeuvres. You get to a situation where you are driving on rails. Which from one point of view would be very nice, but unfortunately you’re driving flat-out and so is the guy in front of you and you are taking out a variable”.

He has a point. But there’s a solution too. And this time it’s not a fresh application of another sticking plaster. It’s surgery on the root cause.

Starting again with something not unlike 2010 spec is fine so long as we also at the same time tackle the modern preponderance of aerodynamics. The same preponderance and its effect on cars pursuing another that was a lot of the reason we needed the ‘variable’, or sticking plasters, in the first place. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure.

In the Russian race last season when Valtteri Bottas’s pit stop featured a team member cleaning the Williams’ rear wing slot gaps of pieces of rubber, Martin Brundle in his TV commentary explained that “any pieces of rubber really dramatically affects the aerodynamic performance, so surprise surprise, they can’t follow each other!”

“I wonder what we could do about that” he added with layers of irony.

“Look at the front wing on that” Brundle said of Hamilton’s W06 on screen, “it looks beautiful but it also looks like a Christmas tree. It’s bound to be affected by turbulent air.”

You might be thinking though at this point that solving F1’s aero problem is a little like what once was solving the longitude problem. Many efforts have been made over the last two decades near enough at removing the many manifestations of ‘dirty air’ and all have flopped. Indeed I recall the first F1 think tank being set up to solve the problem as long ago as 1996.

Williams FW07 which used ground-effect in 1979

But is it not so much that there isn’t a solution, rather that the sport is for whatever reason ignoring the solution? Brundle thinks so.

“The obvious answer is to unload the upper surfaces, the front and rear wings” he went on in Sochi. “Give them some front wing endfences for starters so we can keep the front wing working all through the range of behind another car, and put some downforce underneath the car and make the downforce relative to the road…Let’s load the underneath of the car and make the downforce more consistent. Look at a World Series car or a GP2 car, it’s [the answer is] staring us right in the face, but I can’t get anyone to agree with me on that.”

Ground effect is often cited as the way out, and while there is some division of opinion (Pat Symonds for one says the evidence is that it wouldn’t help) plenty – especially among those with experience of driving the things in anger it seems – back the idea. Bruno Senna explained that in a skirted/ground effect Formula Renault 3.5 car “you could sit right on the gearbox of the car ahead even through the fast corners; it was brilliant. As soon as they took the skirts off that disappeared”.

Yet Brundle’s final point of his diatribe pin-points the main cause to worry. The sport’s legendary dysfunctionality wherein the teams’ vested interests get in the way of sensible changes. Quintessentially indeed the latest Strategy Group attempts to frame chassis changes for 2017 have descended into a farcical epic. Furthermore what work they had done was in fact for more downforce to be dumped on 2017 cars.

Symonds pointed out what really should have been obvious: “My belief is that the more downforce you have on a car, the harder it is to follow. And this [2017] car has more downforce”. Hamilton concurred: “For me it’s the worst idea; it just shows for me that they don’t really know what they’re trying to solve. From the drivers’ point of view we want more grip from our tyres, we want less wake coming from the car in front so therefore we can get closer...we need more mechanical grip”.

But the drivers are about the only significant group not getting an input into this. I mean, they’re only sat behind the wheel with the best sense of all of what lets them follow closely and what doesn’t…

“At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what we [as drivers] say because it can’t happen” said Lewis indeed in that Interlagos press conference. “The big bosses make the decisions and whether or not they make the right ones for many years, who knows.”

Seb agreed: “Unfortunately the sport is very political with different interests from different people. But since the responsible people, the teams, whoever, can’t agree on something, it will be difficult to make progress. Unfortunately the people who literally are paying for that are sitting on the grandstands.”

Quite. Some cynics note that F1 teams have massive investments in aero departments, which may be influencing their thinking. Once again the conflicts of interest of letting the competitors influence the formula. There also was a fixation with reducing the cars’ lap times when it should have been a secondary consideration after the quality of the racing.

But one point that may give room for optimism is that as Hembery noted also the tyre spec cannot be finalised until the chassis is, given the influence the latter has on the former. So these concepts either live or die together and this hopefully concentrates minds.

Hembery has warned though that “we need it very soon because we would have to have these tyres out testing by November of this year. Time’s running out.”

Yet right now in F1, even F1, there is a healthy sense that things cannot carry on as they are that should be exploited before it inevitably dissolves. We’re seeing changes elsewhere as noted. And even the longitude problem was solved eventually.

[MIKA27]

Prost on Renault’s nine-year plan

As the 2016 Formula One season approaches, four-time World Champion Alain Prost has revealed that Renault have a nine-year plan to achieve before they are at their best.

Prost mentioned that the departures of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado have given the team an opportunity to rebuild with their two promising new drivers Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer.

"We have a nine-year plan. Everyone at Renault knows that. It is impossible that we ride this year forward," the Frenchman told Auto Motor und Sport.

"Everyone knows the story of the team last year. We must put a lot of work to bring it back on its feet.

"We do not want to lie to the people. In particular, the beginning of the season will be tough. We're facing a development process that will take two or three years.

"We have to be patient. And we will do it. The question is whether the media and the public will have so much patience with us. Therefore, especially at the beginning, the right communication is extremely important."

Unlike Mercedes or Audi, Prost added that it is not their immediate goal to win the World Championship but did state at some point in the future they hope to at least be in the same conversation as the top teams.

"To be World Champion for Renault not mandatory," he explained.

"For Mercedes or Audi, it is much more important to win. You only have one claim. For us the World title is an addition.

"But we must at some point be able to ride at the head of the World Championships. So that people around the world feel Renault is a top team."

[MIKA27]

Palmer: Rookies are ready to step up

Renault’s new driver Jolyon Palmer has issued a warning to the experienced drivers, saying that rookies such as himself, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr are ready to begin the new era.

According to Palmer, Toro Rosso's Verstappen silenced his critics by scoring an impressive 49 points in the 2015 season, making him the youngest driver to ever score World Championship points.

"They [older drivers] have pretty much been shut up because Verstappen did such a good job," the Brit told City A.M.

“I mean he made some mistakes which maybe the older guys wouldn't have made but the raw pace was definitely there.

"To go straight into a top team and fight for the drivers' title might be slightly different, although Lewis Hamilton showed in 2007 that you can do it.

"It just shows what rookies can do. Verstappen did surprisingly well really because he was so young and inexperienced and Sainz did well. Felipe Nasr had a good season too and it shows that rookies are ready to step up. Hopefully I can continue that."

Following the departure of Pastor Maldanado from Renault, Palmer admitted there was a lot of uncertainty in the latter part of last season but that he is still grateful that he gets to make his Formula One debut with a competitive car.

"It was a bit messy at the end with Lotus last year but I can only say good things about the Renault change: they have got big ambition, they have got commitment and motivation to win the Championship again," the 25-year-old said.

"That is so exciting for me and it's just an exciting time. First year, expectations are pretty low because of the late change and the whole takeover happened very late but it is all part of a long-term plan.

"It's frustrating because you want to be racing. I won GP2 so I've proven everything that I could in the lower series and I was ready to move up.

"I'm in Formula One and I'm just looking forward to driving my car as fast as I can and to see where I come."

[MIKA27]

Analysis: Ferrari poised for radical engine overhaul

Ferrari's new Formula 1 car was fired up for the first time on Tuesday, with the team well aware that the success of its revamped power unit may well define its championship ambitions.

For however much Maranello's 2016 machine makes gains on the aerodynamics front, the modern turbo V6 era has shown that without a good engine there is little hope of taking the challenge to the dominant Mercedes team.

The whispers coming out of Ferrari are that the team has not held back in pushing the boundaries with its engine development over the winter – and could be set to unleash a radical change of its power unit in a bid to jump past the 900bhp performance that Mercedes has.

Packaging rethink

Earlier this week, Ferrari's former sporting director Massimo Rivola told an audience at the ACI CSAI in Taormina that there was some confidence about what had been done on the engine front.

"The plans for the new season have been born in a healthy way, and everyone expects a great championship for Ferrari," he said.

"On the power unit front, I think the technicians have done an excellent job to chase Mercedes, while on the chassis front I hope we have overcome the lack of competitiveness in the past."

On the chassis front, Ferrari's new car (codenamed the 667) is expected to feature a short nose - somewhere between what Mercedes and Toro Rosso did in 2015 - with a push-rod front suspension, lower sidepods and narrower coke-bottle shaping and gearbox.

Changes to the combustion characteristics of the engine have already been reported – but it has now emerged that Ferrari is set for a major repackaging of components to boost both power unit performance and help aerodynamic efficiency.

The changes

As Giorgio Piola's exclusive illustration of what Ferrari may have changed shows, Ferrari could be set for a pretty big revolution in terms of what it will be bringing to the track in 2016, even if it will try to keep what it has actually done top secret.

1. The large intercooler that was on the SF15-T was placed inside the cylinder bank of the V6 turbo. For 2016, this has been enlarged for performance reasons – because Ferrari needs more fresh air feeding the engine to maximise its extra power.

To ensure no compromise, the intercooler has been split in to two parts. The larger part will be placed inside the chassis on top of the fuel tank, while the second one will be placed in the left sidepod.

2. The MGU-H is the only component that is likely to remain in the same position in this year's car as it was in the 2015 challenger.

3. The MGU-K, which was effectively used as a spacer for the gearbox in 2015, will be moved to the left bank of the V6 – in a position that other manufacturers have also used previously.

4. The oil bank reservoir has also been re-designed. For the 667, it will be lower and slightly wider: which will help with the car's centre of gravity.

5. The 2016 Ferrari engine will feature variable inlet trumpets, which Ferrari could not use last year as the presence of the intercooler inside the V-bank prevented it.

The addition of the trumpets (which Mercedes used in 2015) will be a boost in allowing the better quality of combustion through better tuning of the air/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber.

6. The clutch that was in the 059/4 engine has been shifted to inside the gearbox housing – with a coupling shaft connected to the crankshaft.

[MIKA27]

Join The Pact with Fernando Alonso | 360° Video

F1 star Fernando Alonso gets behind the wheel to drive home the Johnnie Walker responsible drinking message with Join The Pact.

Fernando Alonso joined Jenson Button and Mika Häkkinen, global responsible drinking ambassador for Johnnie Walker, in making the incredible 360 degree videos filmed at a recent ‘Driving Spectacular’ at London’s Wembley Park to encourage people to make sure they get home safely.

He said: “I strongly urge everyone to Join The Pact never to drink and drive. As racing drivers we understand the importance of staying in control and never ever getting behind the wheel after consuming any alcohol.”

To get the best experience you should watch them via the YouTube App on your iPhone, iPad or Android mobile device.

[MIKA27]

The Pact with Jenson Button | 360° Video

F1 star Jenson Button gets behind the wheel to drive home the Johnnie Walker responsible drinking message with Join The Pact.

Jenson Button joined Fernando Alonso and Mika Häkkinen, global responsible drinking ambassador for Johnnie Walker, in making the incredible 360 degree videos filmed at a recent ‘Driving Spectacular’ at London’s Wembley Park to encourage people to make sure they get home safely.

He said: “I strongly urge everyone to Join The Pact never to drink and drive. As racing drivers we understand the importance of staying in control and never ever getting behind the wheel after consuming any alcohol.”

To get the best experience you should watch them via the YouTube App on your iPhone, iPad or Android mobile device.

[MIKA27]

DESKTOP WALLPAPER: GRAHAM HILL FLYING THE LOTUS 49

Graham Hill is unquestionably one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time, but he’s possibly more famous for being the embodiment of the British gentleman racer. Although he looked like a member of the House of Lords, Hill was a two-time Formula 1 World Champion, and he’s the only driver in history to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport – the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix.

The image above shows Hill launching his Lotus 49 at the Nurburgring in 1969, at the infamous Flugplatz corner – the name means “flying place” in German, but the name is a coincidence. It was named after the old airfield located adjacent to the corner.

If you’d like to download the desktop wallpaper you can click here.

[rckymtn22]

Awesome picture! My new background

[capitalpg]

That picture is GREAT! Thanks for posting!

[MIKA27]

MARKO: DRIVERS OF TODAY ARE DEFINITELY OVERPAID

Two prominent Formula 1 chiefs disagree over the issue of whether modern era grand prix drivers are grossly overpaid.

It is believed top stars like Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel earn tens of millions of dollars per season, which according to Red Bull official Helmut Marko is excessive.

“Basically, the drivers of today are definitely overpaid,” he told Sport Bild.

“Two reasons: First, there is only now a small risk of a serious accident or fatality. And second, young top talents like Verstappen or Wehrlein can easily take these current cars around tracks for 100 laps without effort.

“Previously, even a Vettel had to take breaks because he was not used to the high forces. This means that the cars are easier to drive and the drivers are doing less,” Marko added.

However F1 legend, triple world champion and Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda does not agree with his Austrian countryman.

“The drivers do not earn too much,” he said. “We mustn’t forget what Formula 1 generates every year, and how much the drivers contribute to that.”

[MIKA27]

Video: Ferrari's 2016 engine fired up for the first time

Ferrari fired up its brand new 2016 power unit for the first time on Tuesday and have released a short clip for those at home to enjoy. Though be warned, there's very little to see!

The Italian outfit's hopes for the 2016 championsip rest on this engine beating Mercedes' effort.

MIKA: They could have given it a Rev or two

[MIKA27]

Vasseur has faith in inexperienced Magnussen/Palmer line-up

Renault's return to manufacturer status this year will be lead by former McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen and rookie Jolyon Palmer, but despite their inexperience, team boss Frederic Vasseur has faith in both their abilities.

With a combined age of just 48, the pairing is the third youngest on the grid. Meanwhile the line-up is by far the least experienced, with Magnussen having competed in a single season before taking a year out as McLaren's third driver, whilst Palmer will make his debut this year.

That doesn't worry Vasseur, who believes both drivers have unique abilities which will benefit Renault on its return.

"Kevin has a good mix of experience and youth," said the Frenchman. "He had a strong race season at McLaren two years ago and showed his ability in the junior categories such as Formula Renault 3.5. He can target winning races and championships as he has the talent.

"The fact he had a lack of mileage last year will motivate him and he’ll be chomping at the bit to get back into it all.

"It’s important for us because we all know 2016 won’t be an easy season. We know where we are starting from and we need motivated characters like Kevin to keep pushing hard."

Although Palmer doesn't have race experience under his belt, unlike Magnussen, he does have team familiarity on his side, having been Lotus' reserve driver before the team was bought by Renault.

"Jolyon goes from being the third driver for a private team to becoming the race driver for a manufacturer team and the driver with the most experience with the [Enstone] team.

"He has a very mature head on his shoulders and we know from his 2014 GP2 Series title that he can deliver against the very best on track. It’s a rookie year for Jolyon, but we’ve seen that rookies can deliver so we are happy with the line-up we have behind the wheel."

[MIKA27]

Eddie Jordan announced as latest Top Gear presenter

Former Formula 1 team owner turned BBC F1 pundit, Eddie Jordan, won't be heading to Channel 4's coverage of the sport, but will instead join Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc as a presenter of the new-look Top Gear.

The BBC chose to axe its Formula 1 coverage this year as part of an effort to save costs. Instead, UK free-to-air broadcaster Channel 4 has taken up the remainder of the BBC's contract.

Channel 4 has yet to announce its full presenting team, only confirming that David Coulthard will move across, with further announcements expected in March ahead of the beginning of the season.

Jordan and Suzi Perry will not be joining Coulthard. The latter tweeted that she won't be involved in C4's coverage and nor will she be involved in Top Gear. Jordan however has been confirmed as one-of-seven hosts of the new Top Gear following Jeremy Clarkson's 'fracas' which saw him and co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May leave.

"I’m giddy with excitement to be joining Chris and the team," said Jordan. "I have such enormous respect for all my fellow presenters and I politely ask that they go easy on these old bones.

"Cars are in my DNA and although I’ve been fortunate enough to accomplish most things I ever aspired to in motorsport, presenting Top Gear is quite simply the icing on the cake."

Joining Jordan, Evans and LeBlanc will be German racing driver Sabine Schmitz, renowned motoring journalist and YouTube petrolhead Chris Harris, and car reviewer and TV presenter Rory Reid.

[MIKA27]

Australian GP to exercise fiscal prudence

Organisers of the Australian Grand Prix hope to limit the budget of the event to $60 million this year.

One of the areas which will likely receive the most attention in this cost saving exercise is construction expenditure. In addition a concerted effort will be made to attract big spending corporate clients, by making the event more comfortable for them, with the view to increasing revenue while cutting expenses. Organisers also hope to attract bigger crowds in general this year.

Speaking to Australian journalists this week, Australian Grand Prix Corporation chief executive Andrew Westacott said: "What we're doing to make sure that we hold it at similar levels – in fact, we want to decrease the investment, which has only happened once previously [2013] – on two fronts."

"One, growing interest and growing revenues, that's why corporate hospitality is so important, and secondly, controlling our costs," added Westacott.

"We're on track to having a similar or maybe slightly lower event cost this year," added the administrator.

The Australian Grand Prix is partly funded by government, which is why an attempt is being made to exercise a bit more fiscal prudence, especially in the setting up of infrastructure.

"We've tendered so many more and we've looked at different procurement strategies," said Westacott.

"We've split up particular packages of work; we've gone out to different new suppliers; we've looked at new technologies, and … we've achieved some very, very strong procurement savings.

"As a result of that, we have new suppliers coming in, different suppliers, but at the same time, what we're also doing is we're investing in some of those areas that we know are going to grow revenue."