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Posts Tagged FIA

Pirelli Quit WRC

Sep 2

Posted by Insider in Rally, Tire

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Having secured a spot as a tire supplier in Formula 1, tire manufacturer Pirelli announced today through unofficial channels it will retire from the World Rally Championship (WRC), leaving the series open to rival Michelin, which has already stated its interest.

The news, although not yet officially announced, has been confirmed by Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery in an interview with Autosport. According to the executive, the main reason behind the retirement is the fact that the tire maker wants to focus on its new engagement with Formula 1, but also as a result of the disagreements between the sanctioning body and the supplier.

“In December we tendered for another three-year deal to supply tires for WRC. Once again, our tender was set out to provide finance for continued investment in the FIA, in the sport’s promoter and, of course in the Pirelli Star Driver scheme which we financed from its inception in 2008,” Hembery was quoted as saying by Autosport.

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Michelin Coming Back for WRC?

Sep 2

Posted by Insider in Rally, Tire

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Michelin is determined to make its World Rally Championship comeback, with the move marking the tire maker’s first presence on the WRC stage, as Autosport reports.

Nick Shorrock, Michelin’s competitions manager offered the information to the aforementioned source, explaining that the company has approached the FIA in order to show its intentions of coming back to WRC.

Michelin pulled out from WRC after the 2005 season, still offering tires for the 2006 and 2007 championships under its BF Goodrich brand. Subsequently, Pirelli became the exclusive WRC tire supplier. However, Michelin didn’t completely part ways with rallying. The company remained involved in the sport, as its BF Goodrich brand was present in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) since 2007.

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Schumacher Apologizes to Barrichello

Aug 3

Posted by Insider in F1, Mercedes-Benz

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Michael Schumacher did the big gesture after his move on Rubens Barrichello in the Hungarian Grand Prix, apologizing to the Brazilian driver for not providing him with enough room to overtake on the start/finish line.

Shortly after the race, the FIA stewards handed Schumacher a 10-place grid penalty for the upcoming race at Spa-Francorchamps, as the German almost pushed Barrichello into the wall when the Williams driver tried to overtake him. If everybody, including Barrichello, criticized the move as being a dangerous one, Schumacher initially begged to differ.

When asked about the incident, he told the media that “we know certain drivers have certain views, and there’s Rubens. I was making it obvious to him to go on the other side. There was more room there, but he chose not to. It got a bit tight. We didn’t touch; I guess I left enough room.”

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Nico’s Tire Incident Explained

Aug 3

Posted by Insider in F1, Mercedes-Benz

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Mercedes GP walked away from the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend with no points in its pocket and, more importantly, $50,000 missing in their back account. And that’s because the International Automobile Federation (FIA) handed them that penalty for their pit lane incident involving Nico Rosberg.

Well, to be more accurate, the incident was centered on the rear right-hand wheel of Rosberg’s car, which took a journey of its own shortly after the German left his team’s pits and ended up into one of the mechanics belonging to Williams-Cosworth.

The Brackley based team’s boss Ross Brawn explained what happened during Rosberg’s pit stop, saying that it was all an unfortunate miscommunication between the mechanic that was supposed to fix the aforementioned wheel and the jack man. However, the Brit promissed that in the future he would make sure such incidents will not happen again.

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FOTA Will Destroy Itself

Jul 22

Posted by Insider in F1, News

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Some of you may have noticed that the 2010 Formula One season was not as full with politics as last year, when everybody was keeping an eye more on the FIA-FOTA battle than the racing itself. Peace, as we know it this season, has made Bernie Ecclestone feel a bit awkward so the F1 supremo decided to light a fire of his own just to spice things up in the series.

It all started during the British Grand Prix, when Ecclestone told the media that there is no room for the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) in the sport and started a sponsorship dispute with the teams’ alliance. To be more precise, the teams’ tractor units were ordered out of the Silverstone paddock and Ecclestone warned the 12 outfits not to put their sponsors’ names on their pit walls.

“The teams were putting sponsorship on property that belongs to us. I explained to them that’s fine and maybe we wouldn’t have a problem with that if we could put some things on their cars,” said Ecclestone in an interview with the Evening Standard, explaining the situation a few days after it happened.

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Indy Car For Lotus?

Jul 16

Posted by Insider in Lotus, Racing

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The officials of the Indy Racing League (IRL, also known as the IndyCar) have yesterday announced the plans for a Dallara-spec chassis from 2012 onwards. The new platform to be used by the Italian manufacturer will benefit from an enhanced driver safety cell and an anti-wheel lock design, among other innovative elements as compared to the current IndyCar machines.

The big news about this announcement is, however, the fact that any manufacturer will be able to produce aero kits for the chassis - from aero kits of front and rear wings to sidepods and engine covers. Apart from reducing the costs of developing a racing machine, this move is part of IndyCar’s strategy to attract multiple manufacturers to produce parts of the car.

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New F1 Safety Car Rules

Jul 9

Posted by Insider in Awareness, F1

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The safety car rules in Formula One have finally been changed, as a result of Ferrari’s outburst at the fiasco in Valencia. All the 12 F1 teams met with FIA’s race director Charlie Whiting on Thursday to discuss a tweak in regulations regarding drivers’ behavior under safety car and a quicker response from the FIA officials when penalties are applied.

Ferrari’s and Fernando Alonso’s complaints after the European Grand Prix were that the latter respected the safety car rules and did not overtake the Bernd Maylander-driven Mercedes gullwing, while Lewis Hamilton did the opposite and went on to finish 2nd. That was a consequence of the FIA stewards’ slow thinking after Mark Webber’s crash, as they handed Hamilton the penalty 20 minutes later. It eventually had no effect whatsoever on his overall position at the finish line.

From now on however, while the safety car rules remain effectively the same, it has been agreed that drivers who are not being slowed by the safety car will have to drive on track at the same speed as the Mercedes gullwing. What that means is that all the drivers on the track will be forced to drive with the same speed, no matter if behind or ahead of the SC.

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Hamilton Should Disqualified -Briatore

Jun 29

Posted by Insider in F1, News

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With every controversy that arouses in the world of Formula One, there is always reason for the figures that are no longer part of the Great Circus to take advantage of the situation and make themselves heard. When Fernando Alonso is in the mix, his former team manager and father-like figure Flavio Briatore cannot stay aside and watch his former protege take the heat from his championship rivals.

According to the former Renault manager, Lewis Hamilton should not have been handed a drive-through penalty in the European Grand Prix at Valencia, but a black flag. The Brit passed the safety car on the track and was penalized by the FIA stewards more than 20 minutes later, when the McLaren driver had already secured enough of a time gap ahead of 3rd placed Kamui Kobayashi to retain his position after his pit lane drive. Read the rest of this entry »

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107 Percent Qualify Rule

Jun 24

Posted by Insider in F1

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Formula One will return to the 107 percent rule in qualifying starting the 2011 championship, as confirmed by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) yesterday afternoon. Following a World Motor Sport Council meeting on Wednesday, it was decided that the drivers that fail to score a lap time within 107 percent of the fastest time in qualifying will not be able to start the race on Sunday.

“From 2011, any driver whose best qualifying lap exceeds 107 percent of the fastest Q1 qualifying time will not be allowed to take part in the race,” said the FIA in its latest statement yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »

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Pirelli As New F1 Tire Supplier

Jun 23

Posted by Insider in F1, Tire

Gp3 series Barcelona, Spain 7-9 May 2010

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) has today confirmed that Pirelli will become the next sole tire supplier of the Formula One championship. The Italian company will therefore take over from Japanese manufacturer Bridgestone and will remain committed to the series from 2011 until 2013 included (three years).

“Pirelli has been selected as the single tyre supplier for the FIA Formula One World Championship for a period of three years, commencing in 2011. The sole supplier will undertake to strictly respect the sporting and technical regulations implemented by the FIA,” red the FIA statement.

Also, in the wake of several ambiguities in the FIA rulebook regarding safety car, fuel draining and qualifying rules, the ruling body confirmed new regulations for the 2011 season of Formula one. Read the rest of this entry »

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