SAUBER FERRARI
--- TEAM INFO ---
TEAM OWNER - Peter Sauber
BASE - Hinwil, Switzerland
TEAM COLOURS - White
CAR - Sauber C29
TECHINCAL DIRECTOR - Willy Rampf
MAJOR SPONSORS - TBA
--- DRIVERS ---
26 - Pedro de la Rosa (Spain)
27 - Kamui Kobayashi (Japan)
TEST DRIVER - TBA
--- TEAM INFO ---
TEAM OWNER - Peter Sauber
BASE - Hinwil, Switzerland
TEAM COLOURS - White
CAR - Sauber C29
TECHINCAL DIRECTOR - Willy Rampf
MAJOR SPONSORS - TBA
--- DRIVERS ---
26 - Pedro de la Rosa (Spain)
27 - Kamui Kobayashi (Japan)
TEST DRIVER - TBA
After the shock announcement last summer of BMW Sauber's imminent withdrawal from the sport and the saga when the team were sold to the mysterious Qadbak group, in the end, Qadbak were thrown out presumably for failing to guarantee the safety of the team, in the end BMW sold it back to the likeable swiss Peter Sauber who proceded to continue where BMW left off in terms of their 2010 design.
After 2009's total failure by BMW's high standards where they could only manage 6th spot in the constructors championship, a similar result for Suber would surely represent total success especially now considering a change of engine to the Ferrari, a vastly reduced budget and workforce and an unpredictable but promising driver lineup. The first being 38 year old Pedro de la Rosa, returning from a 5 year stint as McLaren's test driver, he should bring invaluable experience to the team and also is regarded as one of the best development drivers in the business. He will be partnered by the young Japanese star kamui Kobayashi who showed last year in a 2 race stint with Toyota that he was feisty and talented, this showed in Brazil with his vigorous defensive driving against Jenson Button and also the 3 points he scored in Abu Dhabi. Overall its an excellent mix of youth and experience
DAZZLA'S VERDICT - 7th - A strong car in winter testing should hold them well and could be an outside bet for a podium finish sometime this season.
After 2009's total failure by BMW's high standards where they could only manage 6th spot in the constructors championship, a similar result for Suber would surely represent total success especially now considering a change of engine to the Ferrari, a vastly reduced budget and workforce and an unpredictable but promising driver lineup. The first being 38 year old Pedro de la Rosa, returning from a 5 year stint as McLaren's test driver, he should bring invaluable experience to the team and also is regarded as one of the best development drivers in the business. He will be partnered by the young Japanese star kamui Kobayashi who showed last year in a 2 race stint with Toyota that he was feisty and talented, this showed in Brazil with his vigorous defensive driving against Jenson Button and also the 3 points he scored in Abu Dhabi. Overall its an excellent mix of youth and experience
DAZZLA'S VERDICT - 7th - A strong car in winter testing should hold them well and could be an outside bet for a podium finish sometime this season.
LOTUS COSWORTH
--- TEAM INFO ---
TEAM OWNER - Tony Fernandes
BASE -Norfolk, Great Britain
TEAM COLOURS - Green & Yellow
CAR - Lotus T127
TECHINCAL DIRECTOR - Mike Gascoyne
MAJOR SPONSORS - Proton, Tune, Naza Group, Hackett London, Malaysian Tourism Board
--- DRIVERS ---
18 - Jarno Trulli (Italy)
19 - Heikki Kovalainen (Finland)
TEST DRIVER - Fairuz Fauzy (Malaysia)
Lotus are one of the most successful teams in Grand prix racing with 6 drivers championships and 7 constructors championships to their name scoring 79 wins and over 1'400 points in a glittering 36 year stint in the sport. Their list of past drivers does scream of some of the greats of the sport including the likes of Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Ronnie Peterson, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna to name but a few, they also gave big breaks to future Grand Prix winners and world champions, in particular Mika Hakkinen and future British hero Nigel Mansell, the latter credited as legendary team owner and car designer Colin Chapman's last drvier signing before his death in 1982.
All this though was brought to an abrupt end in 1994 when money troubles began to hit home. But throughout its history and subsequent exile from the sport, Lotus F1 still retains a loyal fanbase amongst British motorsport enthusiasts. But now thanks to Malaysian cash and the vision of airline tycoon Tony Fernandes, Lotus are back in Formula 1.
The car itself is a continuation of the traditional Lotus type numbering and pays homage to Chapman's legacy by incorporating his famous racing colours from the 1960s, the design however is relatively simple which was to be expected as they are a new team starting out and a future move to a state of the art facility at the Sepang Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the pipeline too.
So as you'd expect, the team have set their sights at relatively modest levels with points finishes being considered as successes. They are set up with future building in mind and have made a positive move on that front by signing up 2 experienced grand prix winning drivers, Heikki Kovalainen, fresh out of the McLaren melting pot and Jarno Trulli, a 13 season veteran with a Monaco Grand Prix win on his CV.
DAZZLA'S VERDICT - 9th - Well set up and a professional attitude coupled with a strong driver lineup should propel them to the title of the best rookie team, only just though ahead of Virgin, they should pick up also later in the season and possibly overtake Toro Rosso.
--- TEAM INFO ---
TEAM OWNER - Tony Fernandes
BASE -Norfolk, Great Britain
TEAM COLOURS - Green & Yellow
CAR - Lotus T127
TECHINCAL DIRECTOR - Mike Gascoyne
MAJOR SPONSORS - Proton, Tune, Naza Group, Hackett London, Malaysian Tourism Board
--- DRIVERS ---
18 - Jarno Trulli (Italy)
19 - Heikki Kovalainen (Finland)
TEST DRIVER - Fairuz Fauzy (Malaysia)
Lotus are one of the most successful teams in Grand prix racing with 6 drivers championships and 7 constructors championships to their name scoring 79 wins and over 1'400 points in a glittering 36 year stint in the sport. Their list of past drivers does scream of some of the greats of the sport including the likes of Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Ronnie Peterson, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna to name but a few, they also gave big breaks to future Grand Prix winners and world champions, in particular Mika Hakkinen and future British hero Nigel Mansell, the latter credited as legendary team owner and car designer Colin Chapman's last drvier signing before his death in 1982.
All this though was brought to an abrupt end in 1994 when money troubles began to hit home. But throughout its history and subsequent exile from the sport, Lotus F1 still retains a loyal fanbase amongst British motorsport enthusiasts. But now thanks to Malaysian cash and the vision of airline tycoon Tony Fernandes, Lotus are back in Formula 1.
The car itself is a continuation of the traditional Lotus type numbering and pays homage to Chapman's legacy by incorporating his famous racing colours from the 1960s, the design however is relatively simple which was to be expected as they are a new team starting out and a future move to a state of the art facility at the Sepang Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the pipeline too.
So as you'd expect, the team have set their sights at relatively modest levels with points finishes being considered as successes. They are set up with future building in mind and have made a positive move on that front by signing up 2 experienced grand prix winning drivers, Heikki Kovalainen, fresh out of the McLaren melting pot and Jarno Trulli, a 13 season veteran with a Monaco Grand Prix win on his CV.
DAZZLA'S VERDICT - 9th - Well set up and a professional attitude coupled with a strong driver lineup should propel them to the title of the best rookie team, only just though ahead of Virgin, they should pick up also later in the season and possibly overtake Toro Rosso.
VIRGIN COSWORTH--- TEAM INFO ---
TEAM OWNERS - John Booth, Sir Richard Branson
BASE -Sheffield, Great Britain
TEAM COLOURS - Red & Black
CAR - Virgin VR-01
TECHINCAL DIRECTOR - Nick Wirth
MAJOR SPONSORS - Virgin Group, MaRussia, FxPro, oxigen
--- DRIVERS ---
24 - Timo Glock (Germany)
25 - Lucas di Grassi (Brazil)
TEST DRIVER - Luiz Razia (Brazil)
A chain of music stores, an airline, financial services, even providing cable TV to British homes, all these are linked to the Virgin group led as ever by the extrovert entreprenur Sir Richard Branson, whose personal fortune amasses into the billions and he has a reputation where everything he touches literally turns to gold. So this bodes very well for his newest venture, launching his own Formula 1 team.
Working in partnership with Manor Motorsport (a race team with over 20 years experience in the junior formulae) and Nick Wirth's automotive design company, Virgin Racing have come to be and with it they are bringing all new innovations to the sport, soem of which have ruffles a few feathers with the current teams.
Firstly, they have vowed to keep themselves within the £40million budget proposed by Max Mosley (the then FIA President) back last year to prove that an F1 team can be run successfully on a shoestring but most interesting of all, their first car, the VR-01 has been completely designed without the use of a windtunnel which has been regarded as the norm in F1 for the last 2 decades. Instead the cars have been completely designed using a method known as CFD (Compuer Fluid Dynamics) a method which its pioneer Nick Wirth has used to huge success in the American Le Mans Series and hopes to transfer this success to Formula 1. It will take time though to make it work properly and already some designers including Red Bull's Adrian Newey have dismissed the idea completely. It will take some time for these people to be won over.
On the driving front, Virgin have gone for the classic mix of Youth and experience, Germany's Timo Glock brings the latter after 2 years at Toyota and the youth side is provided by the GP2 frontrunner Lucas di Grassi which should bear fruit as the season goes on and the car's improvements are added.
DAZZLA'S VERDICT - 11th - The driving talent on their books aided by car improvments promised by Nick Wirth should help them score points near the end of the season although I feel that Toro Rosso will just pip them to a top 10 slot in the constructors
Working in partnership with Manor Motorsport (a race team with over 20 years experience in the junior formulae) and Nick Wirth's automotive design company, Virgin Racing have come to be and with it they are bringing all new innovations to the sport, soem of which have ruffles a few feathers with the current teams.
Firstly, they have vowed to keep themselves within the £40million budget proposed by Max Mosley (the then FIA President) back last year to prove that an F1 team can be run successfully on a shoestring but most interesting of all, their first car, the VR-01 has been completely designed without the use of a windtunnel which has been regarded as the norm in F1 for the last 2 decades. Instead the cars have been completely designed using a method known as CFD (Compuer Fluid Dynamics) a method which its pioneer Nick Wirth has used to huge success in the American Le Mans Series and hopes to transfer this success to Formula 1. It will take time though to make it work properly and already some designers including Red Bull's Adrian Newey have dismissed the idea completely. It will take some time for these people to be won over.
On the driving front, Virgin have gone for the classic mix of Youth and experience, Germany's Timo Glock brings the latter after 2 years at Toyota and the youth side is provided by the GP2 frontrunner Lucas di Grassi which should bear fruit as the season goes on and the car's improvements are added.
DAZZLA'S VERDICT - 11th - The driving talent on their books aided by car improvments promised by Nick Wirth should help them score points near the end of the season although I feel that Toro Rosso will just pip them to a top 10 slot in the constructors
No comments:
Post a Comment