Bridgestone plans narrower and lower profile of front tyre

Bridgestone is planning to introduce a narrower and lower profile front tyre next season to better suit the handling characteristics of the current generation of Formula 1 cars.

Although F1's control tyre supplier switched from grooved to slick rubber this year, the dimensions of both the fronts and the rears remained unchanged. The removal of the grooves, which were the same size at the front and rear, has given the front tyres proportionally more grip than the back this year, creating more oversteer.

This requires teams to push the weight distribution of their cars even further forward than in 2008, something which exacerbates the difficulties of the heavier drivers, such as Robert Kubica, in running KERS.

Bridgestone is developing this spec of tyres in parallel with a change in the compounds, which is necessary because of the banning of refuelling next year.

"We are now discussing it with the FIA," said Bridgestone head of motorsport tyre development Hirohide Hamashima. "We haven't decided at the moment, but the trend is for a narrower front.

"The teams require Bridgestone to make the car balanced. In 2008, we proposed a smaller front tyre for 2009 but everybody refused it because they had already designed their cars, even though we commented on the oversteer tendency.

"In the winter, we tested a 2010 prototype tyre, a bit narrower, which made the car balance better than the current tyres. But it was not narrow enough for 2010 because they have to use KERS, so they asked us to think about that.

"At the moment, we have proposed an even narrower front tyre."

Hamashima ruled out the possibility of keeping the front tyres the same and widening the rears on cost grounds.

"A wider rear tyre is much more expensive because we have to revise the machinery and other things. We had narrower fronts in 1997, so we have the machines already."

GPDA to consult Motogp riders about night race

Grand Prix Drivers' Association director Mark Webber plans to consult MotoGP riders about the difficulty of racing under lights in the rain, ahead of this year's Singapore Grand Prix.

The floodlit MotoGP race in Qatar earlier this month was postponed until the Monday because of rain, and Webber believes the riders involved could offer some insight into the potential dangers should rain hit September's Singapore night race.

"I haven't spoken to any of the riders, but probably before Singapore I will," said Webber. "It looks like those guys could not run at all.

"I was surprised, but they are like us. They will race if they can, and if they can't they won't.

"The glare must have been very difficult and they are in a situation where they could go a day later, which was a nice luxury to have. I'm not sure we could do that in Singapore."

Although drivers had few complaints about visibility in last year's inaugural Singapore Grand Prix, there are still question marks over what would happen if it rains, as all the running in 2008 was in the dry.

Webber said that the GPDA is in regular contact with the FIA regarding the issue of visibility in night and twilight races.

"There are not many to come in the rest of the year," said the Australian. "Melbourne was more of a concern than Malaysia for us. It was a problem because of the rain and we are in constant contact with the FIA. I'm sure we will work out what to do."

Liuzzi ready return to F1 in 2010

Vitantonio Liuzzi is eyeing a race drive with Force India next season as both Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil's contracts expire at the end of 2009.

The Italian is Force India's test and reserve driver, but is hoping to earn a race seat next year for the first time since 2007.

"I'm very confident about it, there are good chances for me to get back to racing in F1 with Force India," Liuzzi said. "I have a contract until 2011, while Fisichella and Sutil's contracts expire at the end of the year."

With testing mileage reduced this season, the team approved Liuzzi's deal with A1GP Team Italy to keep him sharp. He believes his outings in A1GP will help his preparations if a seat becomes available.

"The A1GP programme comes from a decision taken together with Force India, in order to keep me trained since in F1 a third driver doesn't have the chance to test anymore. We had also considered GP2, but it wasn't possible.

"A1GP is fine for my aims because it's very competitive, it requires good physical preparation and it also includes pit stops. These are all valid elements to keep me ready for a return to F1 in 2010."

Tost suprised by Buemi early season form

Scuderia Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost has admitted that he is surprised by rookie Sebastien Buemi's early-season form, despite his belief that the rookie would emerge as a regular points scorer later in the year.

Buemi scored points in both the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix, and despite driving into the back of Red Bull stablemate Sebastian Vettel last Sunday, Tost has been impressed by his lack of rookie errors.

"We did not expect him to score points during the first three races," Tost said. "We expected him to increase his performance from race to race and then he can score in the second half of the season.

"But we are not dissatisfied if it's in the first half of the season as long as the amount of points is doubled or tripled in the second half.

"In China he did a good job. In really difficult circumstances, he didn't make a major mistake. Once he did touch Sebastian Vettel, but touching a Red Bull car is all part of the education process with Toro Rosso! If he goes on to win a race after doing this then it's fine."

Tost put Buemi's strong start down to the preparation offered both by Toro Rosso and the Red Bull driver development programme. The Swiss driver has been on Red Bull's books since 2005 and completed almost 7500km of winter testing for STR and Red Bull Racing over the winter.

"You can't come into F1 without doing a lot of testing mileage, and we can't do any tests during the season any more," said Tost. "We pushed very hard to get him out, even if it was with the old car just to get used to the slick tyres and learn about the techniques of how an F1 car works and how the engineers work.

"It's important to learn how the engineers are thinking and for them to understand how the driver is thinking so that the team comes together. That is an important process and one that some underestimate.

"But the winter testing was only part of the programme. There was also the [Red Bull Technologies] simulator and the physical training. Everything which is important to prepare a young driver for F1."

Tost added that although the team did take a risk by employing an F1 rookie to replace Sebastian Vettel, the 20-year-old's performances throughout his time as a Red Bull driver proved he was worth the gamble.

"He had some very good races in GP2 and he did win races," Tost said. "It was a combination of his good GP2 results, his performances during the tests and that he is a Red Bull driver.

"All of these factors together took us to the decision that we should take a risk on him."

Theissen - New order good for Formula One

BMW-Sauber boss Mario Theissen believes that the mixing up of the competitive order this season is good for Formula 1, even though his team was off the pace in the Chinese Grand Prix.

Responding to comments from Flavio Briatore suggesting that the sport's credibility is being damaged by independent teams beating manufacturers, Theissen said that he disagreed, but that he shared the Renault boss's frustration at the confusion over the diffuser regulations.

"It's refreshing to have a new order on the grid, even if it is not us who has benefitted," said Theissen. "But he [Briatore] is right in saying that a lot of time and money is wasted until all the teams are playing on the same playground again.

"That is something that is not good for the sport. Sport is only interesting and exciting if all the players play by the same rules. We have to get back to this as soon as possible."

Theissen added that despite his team's disastrous showing in China - Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica finished outside the points after qualifying in the bottom half of the grid - the closeness of the field exaggerated their disadvantage.

"There are several effects that haven't been there in previous seasons," said Theissen. "If you look at the field, it's 1.5 seconds from first to last. Years ago, it has been five or even seven, so the slightest mistake in set-up or by a driver puts you low down the grid.

"That's what happened to us in China and it has happened to others before. For the fans, it's generally good, as long as it's not up to us to go down."

Theissen also refused to lay the blame for his team's lack of pace purely on not running with the controversial double decker diffuser. BMW-Sauber is working on its version of the design after it was ruled legal by the FIA Court of Appeal last week, but must also improve other areas of the car.

"I wouldn't say it's purely the diffuser," said Theissen. "We see a big up and down with the other teams, which is quite natural with a new set of regulations. Everyone brings improvements on a race to race basis. There is no clear picture.

"We have a package underway for Barcelona. There's not much for Bahrain, but for Barcelona we will have an upgrade.

"We are still developing the package. It will affect the aerodynamics, but I'm not sure how far we can go with the diffuser and what would be included.

"It will definitely not be the full potential. What we see now is that diffuser development has just started. There is more to come."

Sutil boosted by his performance at Chinese Grand Prix

Adrian Sutil says his performance at the Chinese Grand Prix was a boost for the Force India team, despite not scoring points in Shanghai.

The German took advantage of his wet weather skills to make his way from the back of the field and run in seventh position near the end of the race.

However, with just five laps to go, Sutil lost control of his car and crashed heavily into the barriers.

Despite his failure to score, Sutil reckons the performance helped lift the team's spirits.

"It's always good to have a strong race like this," Sutil said. "We nearly made it to the end. It's important that the Force India car is somewhere near the front. It's good for us, good for the team and it lift our spirits to go on."

He added: "It was very disappointing, but you have to get over it. There's always a next race, that's the good thing. But it's hard. We deserved it so bad and it was so close to happen, but it didn't. But we don't give up. We will try our best next time, there will be another chance and we will take it."

Sutil's exit was similar to that at the Monaco Grand Prix last year when, after a sensational race, he was forced to retire from fourth place when Kimi Raikkonen crashed into him.

The Force India driver admitted the Monaco crash hurt more.

"I think Monaco was even worse because I didn't do anything wrong and somebody hit me," he said. "Here it was a risk and we thought it was going to be tight in the end with the tyres and everything.

"If the rain would have stopped we would have been alright, but it started to rain a bit more in the last 20 minutes and then it was very tricky to drive and that actually destroyed our result in the end."

Sutil is hopeful the team will be able to take a stop forward in Bahrain this weekend thanks to the introduction of new components.

"It should help, definitely," he said. "Let's see if we can catch up. The other teams have put a downforce step on the car as well, but hopefully it is enough to close the gap a bit. But we still need to hope for these conditions to really make it into the points "

Renault R29 development showing very good progress

With the aid of a light fuel load and the latest developments from Renault's Enstone base, Fernando Alonso vaulted from the lower mid-field to qualify second for last Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix. Part of the package was the new rear diffuser fitted to the R29 challenger.

"We were very pleased with the basic performance of the car as we took a good step forward with the new diffuser that we fitted to Fernando’s car," Renault Technical Director Bob Bell explained. "We’re all very happy about that and the effort that went into producing it. Sadly we didn’t bring home the result that we hoped for, but that is more to do with the strategic approach we had to adopt and how the race unfolded."

"There is more to come as the diffuser is a very new area of development and there will be a big push to continue its development over the next few months. We’re also working on various upgrades to other parts of the car that we would normally work on at this time of year."

While Alonso raced solo with the diffuser in Shanghai, this weekend in Bahrain team-mate Nelson Piquet will have the same equipment.

Meanwhile, the team has yet to announce if it will continue to run without KERS, as was the case in China, or re-fit the technology in Bahrain. "As we’ve already said, we will consider the merits of KERS on a race by race because it’s not a system that is categorically quicker at every track," Bell said.

"I think we can be quite confident that we can repeat the sort of performance we showed in China during qualifying as we now have the basic pace in the car. And if we have a dry race, I’m confident that we can bring home the points from the race to match our qualifying performance."

Mercedes and McLaren engagement under review

The future of Mercedes' Formula One engagement is constantly under review, Norbert Haug has admitted.

"At least once a year the F1 project is presented to the executive committee and decided for the future," the Stuttgart marque's racing boss said in interview with the SID news agency.

The report said one possibility for Mercedes, this year powering six of the 20 cars on the grid, would be to focus on being a mere engine supplier.

Honda pulled out of the sport at the end of last year, and observers wonder if the economic recession and slump in new car sales will convince another carmaker to follow suit.

"There is no special situation for Formula One, nobody can predict in this crisis what the future brings," Haug admitted.

Haug admits the 'lie-gate' affair, to be probed by the World Motor Sport Council next week, is not good for Mercedes' image. It is clear the marque is therefore not entirely happy about the current shape of the McLaren collaboration.

"We stand with our partner (McLaren) and the current view is that in 2010 we will still be together. But the crucial functions of the team are not engaged by Mercedes," he added.

Formula One return for Lola

British racing car company Lola has announced it is contemplating a Formula One foray for 2010.

Spurred by the FIA's plans for budget caps, the Huntingdon-based marque said it has commenced a 'full technical, operational and financial evaluation' in view of developing a F1 car.

"Lola has appointed key new staff to the project and allocated some of its top engineers to this stage of the evaluation," read a statement issued by Lola, which last attempted a F1 team in 1997.
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That project was abandoned after one race, but Lola's history of involvement with the sport dates back to the early 1960s. Currently, it produces prototype Le Mans sports cars.

"The current necessity for Formula One to adopt a responsible approach in times of economic uncertainty has created the ideal conditions for us to consider developing a car for the world championship," said Executive Chairman Martin Birrane.

Force India Mercedes - Bahrain GP Preview - Significant aerodinamic update for VJM02

Just one week after the dramatic Chinese Grand Prix, in which Adrian Sutil so nearly scored Force India's first points, the team will be back in action for the fourth event of the season, the Bahrain Grand Prix.

"I think the team’s performance in China was very encouraging," said Team Principal Vijay Mallya. "We functioned well as a unit, made the correct calls from the pit wall and showed again that when the conditions allow we can be competitive. Both Adrian and Giancarlo drove phenomenal races and really did the team proud. We know we still have work to do and putting in these performances in every race is still a distant goal, but I feel confident there are good foundations now. It’s a boost for everyone not to lose hope as we can still surprise."

Since Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the 'diffuser three' the teams are all now in something of a development race. Force India Mercedes is no exception.

"We are planning to introduce a significant aerodynamic upgrade for the Bahrain Grand Prix, including a new floor and an interim diffuser," Mallya continued. "Amongst other items, we also plan to use new auxiliary wings on the front wing and re-profiled sidepods to incorporate the amended rear end. We have been planning this upgrade since the debut of the VJM02 as part of our scheduled aerodynamic cycle and it will represent a good step forward for the team. Although we nevertheless expect other teams to have moved forward as well, we hope this will keep us racing with the rest of the field."

"As usual, we know points are going to be very difficult to achieve and we should not set this as a goal for Bahrain," the Indian billionaire continued. "Yes, Adrian had a very strong race in China and very nearly achieved our ultimate goal far earlier than anyone could have expected, but we should not look on the Chinese Grand Prix as indicative of our general form. Instead, we need to focus once more on reliability and consistency and look to be there if circumstances allow."

Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella Q&A

Adrian, You had a fantastic race out in China. What are your thoughts on the race now, three days on?

AS: "The team should be proud of the race we had and the performance we showed in China.
Of course I am disappointed we didn’t get the ultimate result, but you have to get over it as there is always the next race. For sure we deserved the points, but we’re not giving up as there are always other chances. We’ve re-focussed and are now looking forward to Bahrain, which is a race I enjoy ¡V there’s something very different about racing in the desert."

And what are your goals for the next round of the championship in Bahrain?

AS: "The goals for Bahrain are really going to be the same as for China. For sure I want to finish the job, but I think getting points here will be very difficult. I want to keep the reliability record we have shown so far this year ¡V it’s my best start to a season since I came into F1 in 2007 and I want to maintain this finish rate."

What are your thoughts on the developments coming through for this race?

AS: "The new parts we have coming through for this race should keep us close to the others and I hope we will be able to have a good, competitive race, but we need to focus on our own performance and try to improve as much as possible so when we get to Europe we can really be fighting."

Giancarlo, how would you review the first three races?

GF: "Mechanically the VJM02 is good. It feels quite balanced and consistent and is a big improvement from last year. We’re working well with the new team partners, McLaren and Mercedes, and I think we have a lot we can be positive about. We know where we need to improve: we are missing a lot of downforce and it shows, but now we have started to introduce new upgrades I am hopeful we can start to fix this problem."

What are your aims for Bahrain?

GF: "I feel quite positive about Bahrain. We have some new parts coming through from the factory and I hope they will be an improvement in overall pace. We’ve still got some way to go to be able to race for points, but at least this will keep us competitive. As with China, we’ve got to focus on getting to the end and seeing where we are."