F1

With the northern Italian town of Maranello draped in snow, Ferrari Scuderia's launch of its 2012 F1 contender - the F2012 - had to rely on the internet. It may not have had the same pizzazz, but the show did go on. Along with repositioned radiators, the most obvious change is to the rear, where exhaust flows, both engine, radiator as well as aerodynamic air flows have been impacted by the new regulations that stipulate the exhausts must now exit within a very tight space at the rear of the car in order to minimize their aerodynamic influence. Read More

The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 team combines the strong driver pairing of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton for the third year running in 2012, along with a substantially revised car to meet the FIA's rule changes. The most noticeable change between last year and the new MP4-27 is at the rear, where tighter rear carbon-fiber composite body shaping has been designed to meet the new-for-2012 exhaust rules, whilst smoothing airflow to and from the coolant and oil radiators. Read More

As the luxury brand of the most aggressive electric major automotive producer (Nissan-Renault), Infiniti has been hinting for some time that it would go beyond its hybrid offerings and develop an all-electric sedan and more specifically, an all-electric sports car. With its successful ties with Formula One Champions Red Bull Racing, and F1 Drivers Champion Sebastian Vettel as its Global Brand Ambassador, it was really only a matter of time. Today, we had the first glimpse of the new sports EV. Read More

Sebastian Vettel won his second World F1 drivers championship today, and although only taking third place in the Japanese Grand Prix, he is still on track for the most dominant season in F1 history. His third place at Suzuka gave him 324 of the 375 points on offer – a stunning 86.4% of available points and still ahead of Michael Schumacher's best during his reign with Ferrari. Like most other records in F1, Vettel is once again the youngest to achieve the feat. For Red Bull Racing, it's the team's second drivers title and it is closing in on the constructors title with a lead of 130 points and just four races to go. Perhaps more ominously, the team it has assembled, and the relationship with both Infiniti and engine-suppliers Renault looks more than capable of sustaining the success. Read More

Automotive manufacturers often use the media glare surrounding events like the International Motor Show in Frankfurt to showcase concept vehicles never intended for production. Such models are created to highlight cutting edge design or brand new technology. This year Ford unveiled an urban mobility concept that uniquely marries Formula One sensing technology with a two-wheeled pedelec bike. The E-Bike design also sees the electric assist motor positioned at the front and cabling hidden within the graceful lines of the lightweight trapezoidal frame. Read More

The FIA (Fédération International de l'Automobile) published its revised technical regulations for 2014 Formula One season last week. Having caused uproar amongst the engine manufacturers and F1 fans with a proposal for replacing the naturally aspirated V8s of today with turbo-charged 4-cylinder engines, an agreement was finally reached amongst the various interested parties to introduce turbo-charged V6s of 1.6 liter displacement. The continuing effort by the the FIA to "green" the sport and push development still provided a number of surprises in the published regulations, however. Read More

One of the most remarkable things we’ve seen in a long time is this deconstructed 2010 F1 car on display at Mercedes-Benz World in Surrey, UK. The Mercedes GP Petronas F1 comprises 3200 components and every one of them is hung in the display. The display itself was arranged by Dutch artist Paul Veroude and definitely fits into the “how can you do that?” category. Its subject is equally as fascinating, accounting for 90,000 man hours of design time, 200,000 man hours of manufacturing manifested as 600 kg finished form manufactured to the most exacting tolerances of the world’s most exotic substances - carbon fiber, titanium, aluminum and magnesium. To look at, the car is predominantly carbon fiber (85% by volume) but it’s so light that it accounts for only 30% of the mass. Read More

F1 kicked back into life earlier this week with the first official test of the season and the unveiling of most of the 2011 cars, the most significant of which was the Red Bull RB07 – the car that will defend both Sebastian Vettel's drivers title and the energy drink’s very own constructors championship. As is generally the case, Red Bull's public relations output topped the field, and many of the highly informative illustrations in the image gallery come directly from the Red Bull press materials - images explaining the new RB7 changes, the pit crew roles and responsibilities, the 2011 steering wheel, driving position ad infinitum. Read More

More than two million people witnessed the live presentation of the Ferrari F150 2011 F1 car on friday when the first F1 contender of 2011 was presented live on the internet. The most innovative aspects of the new car have been largely dictated by changes to the regulations. The double diffuser and the blown rear wing are banned, as is the use of apertures in the front part of the floor, while the use of an hydraulically adjustable rear wing has been introduced and KERS is back. Though engine performance has been regulated to be the same as 2010, the wing and KERS are effectively two new power sources with approximately an extra 82 BHP from the KERS and 60 BHP from the rear wing. Controlling the use of these additional technological parameters will tax the concentration of drivers but it is hoped that overtaking might happen occasionally during 2011 as a result. Read More