Kimi Räikkönen Leaves Formula One

Kimi July 25, 2009

After failing to find a car for 2010, Ferrari’s world champion has announced that he is to leave F1 for rallying.

The laconic Finn’s premature exit was the talk of the sport for most of the year, especially after Ferrari’s 2009 car turned out to be quite a dud. Nowhere was Räikkönen’s indifference more stark than at the Malaysian Grand Prix, where during a break forced by torrential rain, he wandered about the pits with a bar of ice cream instead of remaining by his racing car.

Räikkönen was forced to leave Ferrari at the end of the season to make way for Fernando Alonso. There were talks with Toyota, hampered by Räikkönen’s high price and ultimately by Toyota’s exit from Formula One, then there were talks with his former team McLaren, which fell through. One has to wonder whether Räikkönen’s exorbitant salary demands—rumored to be close to $50 million, very much not in synch with his performance over the last two seasons—were a deliberate move on his part to ease his exit from the sport.

Kimi July 31, 2009

Going where many Finn have gone before, Räikkönen is set to continue his career in rallying. He has, in fact, already debuted in the World Rally Championship: Räikkönen drove a Super 2000 class Fiat Grande Punto Abarth for Tommi Mäkinen Racing at this year’s Rally Finland in August.

He leaves the sport after nine seasons, with occasional displays of devastating speed and a lucky world championship in 2007, when he exploited the rivalry between McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton and the hubris of the latter to beat both at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix, claiming the title which had eluded him at McLaren.

Author: Peter Orosz

Source: www.jalopnik.com

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images, Massimo Bettiol/Getty Images

World Champ Button Says Thanks to Brackley Staff

Jenson Button

Newly crowned Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button made a trip to Brawn GP’s factory in Brackley to say thank you.

“I’m really here today to say a massive well done and thank you to everyone at the team,” Button said. “We’ve worked so hard for these achievements for so many years.

“Some of us were here from the beginning back in 1998 and I arrived halfway through our journey in 2003 but everyone has put so much work in. I know that there have been a lot of very difficult times and over the winter there were times when we didn’t think that we would be here at all.

“It’s very sad that not everyone can be here who worked on this fantastic car. But the team had to become smaller to continue and together we produced a car that has been exceptional this season.”

Button spoke of the emotional extremes he has experienced over the past months.

“To be able to achieve the Constructors’ and the Drivers’ Championships in our first year, especially after such a difficult winter, is an amazing achievement,” he added. “It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions.

“The first few races were magnificent. It looked like it was a walk in the park but it really wasn’t. Then we had some difficult races, especially myself but also as a team where we struggled. But we fought back hard and when we needed to improve the car, you guys did it.

“Rubens [Barrichello] gave us two more wins in Valencia and Monza at an important time to boost our morale and prove just how quick the car was. We have a great leader, a fantastic leader, in Ross. The Big Bear can’t be here today but I know that when he gets back, he’ll be celebrating with you.”

Button secured the World Championship last Sunday at the Brazilian Grand Prix with 5th place finish. The Formula 1 season concludes on November 1st with the Grand Prix of United Arab Emirates.

Source: PlanetF1.com

Alonso Signs 5 Year Deal with Ferrari

Fernando Alonso

Two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso has signed a 5 year deal with Ferrari believed to worth 25 million Euros per year.

The news comes as a shock to no one as rumors of Alonso making the move to Ferrari have been around for years and have become even more prevalent lately.

The deal is most likely going to displace Kimi Raikkonen from the Italian team while Robert Kubica will be filling the void left by Alonso at Renault.

Source: PlanetF1.com

BMW Sauber Announces They Will Quit Formula 1

BMW Sauber

BMW has announced that they will not continue to race in Formula 1 after the 2009 season. The freed up resources will be dedicated to developing new drive technology and projects related to sustainability. BMW will remain active in other less expensive motor sports series such as touring car series and the young driver promotion program in Formula BMW.

BMW did achieve success in Formula 1 over the years. They had eight Formula 1 victories between 1982 and 1985 while with Brabham. BMW won the drivers’ championship in 1983 with Nelson Piquet (Brabham BMW).  BMW Williams racked up 10 victories between 2000-2005 with Williams.

Source: PlanetF1

Clutch Test – Formula 1 Auto Parts

This test shows the extremes that clutch on a Formula 1 racer can endure. This clutch can handle temperatures up to 1400C and beyond. Your everyday car clutch would not be be able to take this type abuse, unless of course you splurge and go for the Carbon-Carbon upgrade.

todpoli” (Youtube alias) explains:

“The idea in this testing is to determine if the Carbon-Carbon friction coefficient remains stable during this simulated slipping. The problem most F-1 cars have is the initial take-off from the start line. Because of the high RPM and total energy input, many materials cannot withstand the 1400 C temperatures without fading or losing friction completely. For this reason we test new materials to make sure the friction coefficient is stable through all conditions including initial humidity effects on C-C composites. Since C-C absorbs moisture when not used at high enough temps, the initial engagement may have a low friction coefficient at the beginning of the torque curve which is extremely important at the start of the race. C-C can be heat treated and doped with other materials to enhance the properties to ensure stable friction throughout the acceleration.”

FOTA Walks Out on FIA Meeting

FOTA (Formula One Teams Association) reportedly walked out of a FIA technical meeting in Germany. The FIA was holding a routine Technical Working Group meeting at the Nurburgring in order to finalize Formula 1 rules for the 2010 season. This is the latest incident to raise new doubts about the recent agreement between FOTA and the FIA to hold a unified championship for the 2010 season. FOTA has even announced that they are still keeping the option open for a breakaway race series.

Source: Autosport.com

FOTA and FIA Resolve Dispute, Mosley Out as FIA President

A deal has finally been reached between the FIA and FOTA (Formula One Teams Association), which will ensure there will be one unified Formula 1 Championship in 2010. FOTA, comprised of eight Formula 1 teams, banded together in response to the FIA’s proposal to place a budget cap of $65 million per team. After much bitter debate, FOTA announced that they would break free of Formula 1 and the FIA to form their own racing championship. After being served this ultimatum, Formula 1 Supreme Leader Bernie Ecclestone was forced to negotiate in order to save his empire.

On Wednesday it was announced that current FIA President Max Mosley has agreed not to run for re-election. This may have been mandated by either Ecclestone or FOTA as the tone of recent statements from Mosley suggested negotiation was not an option.

Source: Jalopnik

Formula 1 Steering Wheel Picture and Guide

This Formula 1 steering wheel from BMW shows how much input a Formula 1 driver deals with on race day.  The steering wheels have an amazing amount of functionality, from setting the differential, to having a drink to even confirming the tire choice at the upcoming pit stop.

Formula 1 steering wheels are hand made and cost around $30,000 each. They weigh less than three pounds and are made from carbon fiber and electrical components. Although it would be a great addition to any motorsport-loving guy or gal’s vehicle, good luck trying to find a steering wheel cover that fits it.

Source: auto123.com

‘KERS Not Relevant to Road Cars According to Mercedes Engineer

KERS - Kinetic Energy Recovery System

McLaren-Mercedes is the only Formula 1 team that has run KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) on both of its cars in every race this season. McLaren has developed two different KERS. One system is electric and uses batteries to store power, while the other is mechanical and uses a flywheel to store power.

A source inside the engineering department has stated that neither KERS system currently has an application for road vehicles at this time. McLaren managing director Anthony Sheriff recently said, “What’s important is that it’s pushing the envelope of battery technology to its limits and that has got to be good news.”

Source: Autoblog

Formula 1 to Make Return to North America?

The only Formula 1 Grand Prix in North America last year was the Canadian Grand Prix, and in case you haven’t checked this year’s schedule yet, North America has been excluded completely.

Canadian officials have confirmed that they have been talking to Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone to bring Formula 1 back to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. The Canadians are hoping to come to a more reasonable agreement with Bernie in order to secure another Formula 1 stint in Canada. While bringing back the Canadian Grand Prix would be the easiest solution for North America, other projects are in the works.

A track near Niagara Falls, Ontario is rumored to be built which would include a 1 mile oval track for NASCAR (yawn) and a 2.5 miles road track. Seating for the venue to reported to be at 100,000. Other projects which are supposedly in the works include a track in upstate New York and near Detriot.

Source: Autoblog.com