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Hear them ROAR

By on Wednesday, January 18, 2006

In a few more than fifty days, five red lights on Bahrain’s start gantry will officially mark the start of the 2006 season.

Mid-January is therefore a frantic time of year for F1 teams.

BMW Sauber’s first collaborative car will be launched and tested in Valencia (Spain) on Tuesday, while the next phase of F1 running at Jerez – also in Spain – is also set to reignite.

Ferrari rolled out its own new racer at Fiorano (Italy) on Monday, and is set to resume the programme with Michael Schumacher at its private test circuit on Friday. A few days later, the liveried car will then be launched at nearby Mugello.

McLaren and Toyota will definitely resume Jerez testing on Tuesday, with Williams and Honda to kick off a day later. At Silverstone, not 500 metres from the team’s factory gates, ‘MF1′ will resume testing.

Renault, as well as Red Bull’s two grand prix teams, are not planning to run again this week at Jerez de la Frontera, but intend to test further north – at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona – from the 25th.

Next Friday, Williams’ Cosworth-powered FW28 will be launched at Grove.
F1 Central

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Comments

  1. anonymous

    Hear them ROAR

    Are there any rule changes this year? I looked at the F1 site but didn’t see any listed.

  3. anonymous

    Hear them ROAR

    Mahmood,

    On a different related note, in North America we have millions and millions of used tires from automobiles that once they’ve worn out they become an environmental waste heap of rotting tires. The huge mountains of used tires pile up to the sky and every once and awhile catch fire and burn for months.

    Recycling tires is a new industry and we even have a tire tax when we buy new tires to spend on the recycling of the old ones.

    On of the things learned from F-1 racing is that in the slot on corners and points of heavy breaking the rubber from the tires gets stuck and binds into the race track.

    There are now companies that chew up the old tires and sell the compound to the road builders where it is incorporated into the asphalt of the new roads giving us a better more sticky surface to drive on. Cool.

  4. mahmood

    Re: Hear them ROAR

    There are a lot of changes from qualifying format to engine capacities and everything in between.

    A number of changes to both the Sporting and Technical Regulations have been made by the FIA for the 2006 Formula One season.

    Qualifying
    For 2006, the single-lap system used in recent years is replaced be a new three-part, knockout format, with multiple cars on track throughout the qualifying hour, which is split into two 15-minute sessions and a final 20-minute session, with five-minute breaks in between.

    Part one: All 20 cars may run laps at any time during the first 15 minutes of the hour. At the end of the first 15 minutes, the five slowest cars drop out and fill the final five grid places.

    Part two: After a five-minute break, the times will be reset and the 15 remaining cars then will then run in a second 15-minute session – again they may complete as many laps as they want at any time during that period. At the end of the 15 minutes, the five slowest cars drop out and fill places 11 to 15 on the grid.

    Part three: After another five-minute break, the times are reset and the final 20-minute session will feature a shootout between the remaining 10 cars to decide pole position and the starting order for the top 10 grid places. Again, these cars may run as many laps as they wish.

    In the first two 15-minute sessions, cars may run any fuel load and drivers knocked out after those sessions may refuel ahead of the race. However, the top-ten drivers must begin the final 20-minute session with the fuel load on which they plan to start the race. They will be weighed before they leave the pits, and whatever fuel they use in the 20 minutes may be replaced at the end of the session.

    If a driver is deemed to have stopped unnecessarily on the circuit or impeded another driver during the qualifying session, then his times will be cancelled.

    Engines
    For 2006, engines are reduced in size from the previous 3-litre V10s to 2.4-litre V8s. The aim is to reduce costs and improve safety. With similar engine speeds, the change is expected to cut peak power by around 200bhp, which in turn is likely to add around five seconds to lap times at most circuits. The FIA may allow some teams to use 2005-spec V10s if they do not have access to competitive V8. The FIA will enforce a rev limit on any V10s to ensure performance is comparable with that of a V8.

    Tyres
    After a season’s absence, tyre changes during races return to Formula One in 2006. The thinking behind this is that the reduced engine size will offset any performance gain. Drivers also have access to slightly more tyres than in 2005 – seven sets of dry-weather, four sets of wet-weather and three sets of extreme-weather. Drivers must make a final choice of dry-weather compound ahead of qualifying.

    Weekend schedule
    In a slight change to the Grand Prix weekend format, Saturday morning now features a single, one-hour practice session, as opposed to two, 45-minute sessions. It takes place between 1100 and 1200. Qualifying is an hour later than before, commencing at 1400.

    go here for more

  5. anonymous

    Hear them ROAR

    That background music made me turn on my mute button.

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