More news on Sauber’s disqualification

RichardsF1    F1 2011, Formula 1     FIA, Kamui Kobayashi, Peter Sauber, Rules, Sergio Perez

Sauber has decided to withdraw its appeal against its disqualification from last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.

Race stewards, under advice from FIA scrutineers excluded Sergio Pérez and Kamui Kobayashi’s Ferrari-powered C30 cars from their respective sixth and seventh- placed finishes when it was found that their upper rear wing element did not confirm to the regulations.

The cars recorded the top speeds at the Albert Park speed trap, although the team denied there had been any performance gain, with the curvature of the upper rear wing element found to be out by just three millimetres!

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Meanwhile in Spain…

RichardsF1    F1 2011, Formula 1     Christian Danner, Colin Kolles, Hispania Racing, Media

The head of Spain’s motor racing federation has lambasted Hispania Racing after it became the first team to record a double-DNQ since Arrows at the 2002 French Grand Prix.

The team’s untested F111 cars weren’t built until later into the Grand Prix weekend, leaving drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Narain Karthikeyan the opportunity to complete a handful of practice laps before Saturday’s qualifying session. Not surprisingly, both failed to register a lap time within 107% of Sebastian Vettel’s quickest lap in Q1.

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And watching the race in bed…

RichardsF1    F1 2011, Formula 1     Eric Boullier, Nick Heidfeld, Renault, Robert Kubica, Vitaly Petrov

After Vitaly Petrov took his maiden Formula 1 podium finish at the Australian Grand Prix, one of the first people to offer his congratulations was the Russian’s original team-mate Robert Kubica, confined to his Italian hospital bed after his shocking rally accident in February.

Watching the race at the Pole’s bedside was his girlfriend Edyta, and his faithful manager, Daniele Morelli, who told La Stampa: “Robert followed the race like a child follows his favourite Disney cartoon.

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Missed it by that much…

RichardsF1    F1 2011, Formula 1     FIA, Peter Sauber, Rules, Sauber

The rear wings that resulted in the disqualification of both Saubers from the points at the Australian Grand Prix failed the technical regulations by just 3 millimetres!

That is the claim of team boss Peter Sauber, whose new C30 challengers were stripped of the points earned by a double-top-ten finish for Sergio Pérez (7th) and Kamui Kobayashi (8th) when their rear wings were found not to confirm to the technical regulations.

The rules governing the dimensions of the movable upper element on the rear wing state that its concave radius must be 100mm or greater.

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Red Bull to investigate Webber struggles

RichardsF1    F1 2011, Formula 1     Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing

Having initially suspected Mark Webber’s struggles at his home race might be due to a chassis problem, Red Bull Racing has vowed to conduct a proper investigation into the Australian’s dramatic drop-off in pace over the Grand Prix weekend.

While the sister RB7 of Sebastian Vettel blitzed the rest of the field with pole and a win by 22 seconds, Webber floundered in his #2 car, finishing a distant fifth after qualifying third on the Saturday.

The disparity prompted former Ferrari test driver Marc Gené to write that the two “were in different worlds” in his regular column for Spain’s El Mundo newspaper.

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IndyCars: Drivers call for rethink on restart rules

RichardsF1    IndyCar, News     Rules

Highlights from the Grand Prix of St Petersburg

Several IndyCar drivers have called for the series’ officials to reconsider the new-for-2011 rule to use double-file race restarts after the season-opening Grand Prix of St Petersburg was hit by a series of early crashes.

The start of the race saw a five-car pile-up at the first corner, triggered by Marco Andretti, and the opening 15 laps of the 100-lap race were punctuated by a further three safety car interruptions, with most triggered by another restart incident.

The series rules dictate that all events will feature two-by-two restarts – with the race leader picking which side of the grid they want to line up on – with competitors passing through their grid markings at 75mph until the green flag to race is waved.

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And here’s the trailer for Cars 2!

RichardsF1    Cars 2, Formula 1     David Hobbs, Lewis Hamilton

Check our the trailer for Cars 2!

Birthdays for Gary Brabham and Marc Gené!

RichardsF1    Birthdays, Former F1 Figures, Formula 1     Marc Gene

Former Grand Prix drivers Gary Brabham and Marc Gené are celebrating their birthdays today!

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Another F1 driver in ‘Cars 2’!

RichardsF1    Cars 2, Former F1 Figures, Formula 1     David Hobbs

We’ve also heard that a friend of Richard’s F1 – former Grand Prix and Le Mans driver David Hobbs – will be joining Lewis Hamilton as one of the many voices on Disney Pixar’s animated feature, Cars 2.

Hobbs raced in F1 in the 1960s, but was much better known for his sports car racing and work as a commentator in the United States, where he now lives.

Hobbs will voice the character ‘David Hobbscap’, a 1963 Coombs Lightweight E-Type Jaguar. Mirroring Hobb’s actual résumé, Hobbscap has completed in twenty 24 Hours of Le Mans races and has retired from motorsport to become a broadcaster.

Want to see what his character looks like? Read on…

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Where’s the bling earring?

RichardsF1    Formula 1     Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has just announced he has been given a guest role on Disney Pixar’s sequel Cars 2.

The move – brokered by new manager Simon Fuller? – follows in the footsteps of Michael Schumacher, who was given a guest role in the original Cars film, which follows the adventures of a wannabe NASCAR vehicle, voiced by Owen Wilson.

Lewis has also posted the mock-up of the animated car he’ll be voicing (pictured).

One question: where’s the bling earring?

[Original image via Lewis Hamilton]

Australian Grand Prix Vodcast

RichardsF1    F1 2011, Features, Formula 1, Vodcasts     Ferrari, Jenson Button, KERS, Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Nick Heidfeld, Rubens Barrichello, Sebastian Vettel, Technical, Vitaly Petrov

The RichardsF1.com team – joined for the first time by our technical features writer Joseph Sheu – have compiled a quick vodcast featuring a post-race analysis of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Key talking points include Sebastian Vettel’s win, the return of KERS, the success (or otherwise of DRS), and race’s major highlights and disappointments. For the full written review of the race, click here.

Joseph and I had great fun putting this together and if you like this, then we’ll do a few more throughout the season, so please post your feedback below!

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Whitmarsh cries foul over Button penalty

RichardsF1    F1 2011, Formula 1     Felipe Massa, FIA, Jenson Button, Martin Whitmarsh, Rules

Martin Whitmarsh has fired a broadside in the direction of FIA race control after Jenson Button was slapped with a drive-through penalty at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Briton was hit with a slow tour down the pit lane after he took a shortcut at the Turn 11-12 complex when he overtook Felipe Massa. The team apparently issued a request to race control as to whether it should instruct Button to relinquish his position he had gained.

But almost immediately, as we noted in our race review article, the Ferraris swapped places – as a result, it would have forced Button to cede both places – and while McLaren dithered over taking the initiative of instructing Button to drop back, the Ferraris pitted and forced the penalty on the McLaren driver.

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KERS to run on Red Bull at Malaysian GP

RichardsF1    F1 2011, Formula 1     Christian Horner, KERS, Red Bull Racing

All indicators are suggesting that Red Bull Racing will run its KERS unit at the next Grand Prix at Malaysia.

The reigning champions elected to remove the power-boosting device from both Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel’s new RB7 challengers, and yet Vettel was still able to take pole by over eight-tenths of a second without the device.

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It’s Hubert Hahne’s birthday today!

RichardsF1    Birthdays, Former F1 Figures, Formula 1    

Former Grand Prix driver Hubert Hahne is celebrating his 76th birthday today!

A drivers whose career was almost exclusively spent driving sports cars made or powered by BMW, Hahne’s reputation was forged racing the works BMW 1800Ti touring car in the 1964-6 European championship seasons.

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2011 IndyCar Championship Standings

RichardsF1    Championship Standings, IndyCar    

Current championship standings of the IZOD IndyCar Series Championship season after the completion of the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg (Round 1).

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