Icons: Sir Frank Williams

Frank Williams (left); Williams FW10 (center); Patrick Head (right)

Shaping up to be one of the strangest seasons in modern Formula 1, every race in the 2012 season so far has handed a victory to a different driver and a different team. In fact, the inconsistent performance and results from one venue to the next have been so mind boggling, interviews with even the most experienced of drivers and engineers from top tier teams could only provide us with a tepid, "I don't know," "we will see," "It's difficult to say," or "Hopefully we can gain performance from our upcoming upgrades."

Given the nature of the season so far, I prophesied that a victory for Williams wouldn't be out of the question. All it takes is a little havoc -- a wet race, a safety car, anything unforeseen. But when young Pastor Maldonado finally provided Williams its first Grand Prix victory since Brazil in 2004, what was most surprising of all was to see the team bring it all together so soon and with such authority -- leading from pole. Adding some romance to Williams' achievement, the victory was also regarded as a belated birthday present for Sir Frank Williams as he celebrated his 70th birthday not too long ago. Sadly, a bizarre garage fire would disrupt WilliamsF1's moment of glory only 90 minutes after Maldonado clinched the race win.

Pastor Maldonado earns first WilliamsF1 victory since 2004

In total, Williams F1 competed in a total of 577 Grands Prix, taken 7 Driver's Championships, 9 Constructor's, 114 race wins, and started the race from pole 127 times. Not bad, considering Eddie Jordan called Williams a minnow team.

While Eddie Jordan's remark might seem like a dig at Williams, it isn't completely untrue. In fact, Williams' reputation as an underdog is one of the traits that made the team so appealing.

The Real Lotus Story

The recent Lotus soap opera has been pretty incredible. In a matter of less than half a year, parent company Proton sold its majority stake to DRB-Hicom, endangering the commitments and resources once promised to back Group Lotus' five-year plan to produce the five cars it unveiled at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, including the revival of the legendary Esprit.

Then, Group Lotus announced the termination of its title sponsorship of the Lotus-Renault F1 team, causing some serious rumors to surface. The word around the office is that Lotus will be going into administration, and Lotus CEO Dany Bahar is being placed on leave.

Yet despite the end of title sponsorship and mounting financial issues within the brand itself, more news revealed that Proton still holds a call option to purchase 10 percent of the Lotus F1 team from current team owner, Genii Capital.

In short, all the madness we're seeing unfold is starting to look like the tragic downfall of not just a storied British sports car marque, but threatens the equilibrium of the F1 race team as well. A failed attempt from Lotus to down play the media frenzy has only left car buffs and racing enthusiasts even more hopelessly confused.

However, there is still one great thing that I can take out of all this - it has caused myself to think about Colin Chapman and Lotus' past glory more than ever before. I've been searching on youtube for something that I could really sink my teeth into and this is far more than I ever expected I would find. It's a bit long, but if you have the time, why not?

 

In The Red

Take a good, long look at the picture above.  It's an advertisement from the current issue of Road & Track.  Notice anything automotive related?  Hit the jump to read my conspiracy theories.

Spoiler Alert: The New F1 Nose

Last week Jerez played host to the first test of the 2012 F1 season.  Without delving into the details, the normal order of things hasn't been shaken up too much with the exception of Lotus-Renault showing some pace.  You can see the combined times here. Oh yeah, don't pay much attention to Mercedes' time.  It was done while testing their 2011 car.  While there isn't a huge surprise in the times, the front end of the cars look quite different from last year.

2011

2012

Flow Ridaz

For those that don't follow F1, the teams are slowly revealing their 2012 entries and as is the case with any new season, there's a huge emphasis on finding an aerodynamic edge.  Additionally, this year the exhaust-blown diffuser, which produced huge amounts of grip for repeat champion Red Bull, is banned.  While there are no videos of the current F1 cars in the wind tunnel, here's a video from sometime between 2005 and 2008 explaining some of the basics of managing the air around an F1 car.



Compare the complex flow of that to how the air stays connected to a street car with a lot of R&D put into its development.

2011-2012 Silly Season Remix

Race season kicks off in just over a week with the Rolex Series 24 Hours at Daytona!!! Ya, we're revved up (every pun intended!)!  Okay okay, so we're not the biggest fans of the Rolex Series or Nascar, which both start the earliest of any series.  Who cares?!?!  Racing's back!  Here's a quick, semi-entertaining yet highly informative rundown of what happened in the off season with the series we do follow:

The Archives

"Good things come in small packages"

 Standing at a less than menacing five feet, seven inches in height has resulted in listening to the aforementioned phrase on numerous occasions.  It was a pretty annoying thing to hear as a high school kid who wanted to play football instead of the trumpet.  However as time progressed and adulthood set in, there was a realization that being well below six feet tall has advantages like fitting comfortably into low roofed sports cars as well as better power to weight ratios on motorcycles.

With an ability uncommon for their small stature, there are some in the automotive world that embrace this kind of mighty midget sentiment.  Those that quickly spring to mind are the original Mini Cooper, racer Perry McCarthy, and the Brawn GP team of 2009.  FPH's roadtrip through central New York discovered another one of these anomalies that is more breathtaking than its diminutive size would lead you to believe.  This amazing place is the International Motor Racing Research Center located in Watkins Glen.

The Art Of The Perfect Pit Stop

The Team Red Bull's performance this season has been nothing short of dominant. Adrian Newey's design gave the RB7 performance where it mattered and right out the gate, it has been lightyears ahead of any of the competing Formula 1 cars. What's more, Sebastian Vettel's talent behind the wheel earned him a total of 15 pole positions, one more than the previously held record by Nigel Mansell in 1992. Simply, not once did Red Bull Racing ever lose a grand prix to another opponent due to a lack of outright pace.

But Red Bull isn't invincible and a race can be won or lost by tire choices and pit stop strategies. A well oiled pit crew can save a team's race and a bad wheel gun could tear their race apart. If a Red Bull gets caught behind a McLaren and has trouble completing a pass even though its capable of turning a faster lap, the team might rethink their strategy and dive into the pits a lap early to rejoin with fresh tires and clear air. At the same time, if the McLaren does get passed and has trouble taking back the position from the Red Bull or trouble maintaining the gap, he may follow the Red Bull into the pits and hope that new tires or a quicker pit stop can send him ahead again.

Here are a selection of pit stops, some perfect and others disastrous, that display the importance and dynamism of what an array of mechanics must do within 4 short seconds.


The first video examines Force India's pit crew and the roles of each mechanic. Note that the 2009 season was the last season that permitted refueling during a pitstop.

Do I Feel a Draft?

Any fan of racing knows what drafting is.  This most basic of techniques is used in everything from carts to Formula 1 to gain a speed advantage over the leading vehicle.  For the uninitiated or the less scientifically inclined, here's a quick explanation courtesy of Tom Cruise as Cole Trickle.  Even if you already know what drafting is, a 23 year old Nicole Kidman is always fun to watch.  Skip to 1:20 for the technical analysis of drafting. (Warning: NSFW)

"I was born to race and win." -- Lewis Hamilton

After the last grand prix at Abu Dhabi, there's no question our Lewis is back. Don't mess!
 
Credit to YouTube channel, 2011lewishamilton!

Just Add Water!

Racing is demanding. Racing in the rain is doubly so!

Beast Mode Vettel OVER 9000!!

At Singapore, Vettel said he did little more than perform a flawless "Sunday evening drive" to earn his 9th win this season.

For the next couple of races, Vettel only needs to score a single point in order to be crowned consecutive double world champion, a feat only a handful of drivers in Formula One's celebrated sixty year history. Not to mention, he'll be the youngest ever to achieve it.

Now, speculators even suggest that Vettel's efforts could beat Mansell's record of 14 qualified pole positions in a season. As of Singapore, Vettel has already earned 11 pole positions with another five races left for the rest of the season. If Sebbie wins all the remaining races, he will topple Michael Schumacher's record of 13 grand prix wins in a season as well.

Forget about the good old days. History is being made and the time is now! There's one thing that's missing, of course. Sebastian Vettel needs an arch-nemesis on the track.

McLaren and Ferrari better deliver soon, and Lotus Renault better sort out their car when Kubica returns!

Le Mans

This upcoming weekend will be chock full of racing.  MotoGP visits the renovated Silverstone circuit.  Formula 1 is in Canada.  There's probably a NASCAR race somewhere.  But to top all of those is the endurance race by which all endurance races are measured against, Le 24 Heure Du Mans or the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

To get everyone up to pace, here's a very concise yet still entertaining documentary.  Enjoy!

A legendary circuit driven by legendary drivers

In anticipation of the coming Monaco GP, let's revisit the glory and glamour of the historic French Riviera. Notice the changes of the city and circuit, as well as the changes of the drivers, teams, and mechanics through the decades.









Happy Friday!!

Full of Hot Air

In a totally and completely unexpected turn of events, the F1 has decided that it will soon ban the most innovative break through in F1 technology.  Wait a second.  This isn't unexpected at all!  This is the status quo considering the "double diffuser" and "F-duct" were banned after only a single season of use.  Keep reading to see what I'm on about.

Marlboro Sponsorship

If you watched any of the top tier motorsports since the 1970s, chances are pretty good that you've seen a Marlboro sponsored vehicle.  Their mainstay has been F1 but have also dabbled in WRC, MotoGP, and Le Mans.  Their sponsorship have appeared on the vehicles of champions like Wayne Rainey, Michael Schumacher, Tommi Makinen, Ayrton Senna, and Casey Stoner, just to name a few.  Whether displaying the Marlboro name or a simple bar code, you can count of Marlboro to be at the track for many years to come.

Red Bull: Gives You Wings

Sponsorship plays a key role in modern motorsport.  It takes millions of dollars just to put a vehicle on the grid.  Nevermind the extra development costs throughout the season to stay competitive.  Without sponsorship dollars, racing would be a whole lot different and our Sundays would probably be a bit more mundane (or productive).  So we'd like to acknowledge some of the big name sponsors that have given our favorite sport a shot in the arm.

seriouswheels.com

No Replacement for Displacement... Except Turbos

For many, the chance to see an insane, high-revving, Formula 1 car is coming to an end.  The current 18,000 rpm 2.4 liter V8s will show their full fury for the 2011 and 2012 seasons then go the way of the Mastodon and Saber-toothed tiger.  With the FIA's focus on greener technologies in racing, smaller displacement engines have constantly supplanted the previous generation.  The 3.0 liter V10s gave way to the current 2.4 liter V8s and they will, in turn, fade away in favor of 1.6 liter four cylinders.  However, for the first time in the modern era of F1, the consumer can truly boast about having F1 technology in their daily driver.

RB7 at adamcooperf1.com

Accord-ing to Me

At the end of the 2008 season, Honda turned its back on the sport of Formula 1.  The collapse of the world economy and, to a lesser degree, a lack of Japanese drivers proved to be too much for the company to bear.  However, Honda wants the American consumer to think that they turned these lemons into lemonade in the form of the Accord coupe.

Beauty in Racing

When looking at an open-wheel race car as a piece of art, there are many differing opinions on its physical beauty.  To most people, modern cars possess little to no inspiration in their design.  They are just an amalgamation of airfoils, winglets, and scoops.  To others, that is the beauty of the design, the process by which all those little pieces unify to create a blisteringly fast car that seems to cheat fluid dynamics and defy the laws of physics.

grandprix.com

Still, nothing can ever compare to the classics...