One thing that isn’t really captured well when we watch Formula One on television is the sheer volume of noise that a F1 car can put out. I’ve heard one F1 car up close, and the noise was earth-shattering. I can’t help but wonder what twenty-four of them together sound like.
However, this guy just traveled to Singapore to watch the F1 Grand Prix. Problem is…he might not get any sleep before the actual race starts. 
Racing sims and simulators have been a hot-topic of discussion around some of my friends recently. Many of my peers don’t have the full budget to run a race car on a track often enough to get proper seat time. However, with access to a good racing wheel and sim, we can get at least some seat time in order to practice for our next time at the track.
I’ve always thought that a good racing sim is helpful for developing good racing habits. Granted, it doesn’t give you the full one hundred percent experience of racing, but it does start to teach you more about how to better develop those skills.
In my opinion, it’s more about using a simulator to develop better mental programming for when you do have the opportunity to get back to a racetrack. Not just for when you’re driving, but how to develop your mindset around the paddock as well.
If you’re interested about how some of the professionals use simulators, check out this post we did about a year ago.
In recent days, it was discovered that the Ferrari F2012′s DRS wing was activated by the driver in a different way than a majority of the other cars in the current Formula 1 field.
Unlike most cars, whose wings are activated by a button on the steering wheel, the switch to activate the drag reduction system in the Ferrari is on the side of the drivers foot by the brake pedal.
After speaking to another friend who is a fan of F1 this morning, I wanted to share this video in case anyone else was curious to how the system worked for the Scuderia.
You all by now may have heard about the atrocious start to this past weekend’s F1 race held at Spa. Here is Fernando Alonso’s replay of the event, as his entire life flashes before his eyes.
Image credit: Hooniverse via Dan Sabol. Excellent work Dan!
Yeah. So the Formula 1 summer break is coming to an end tomorrow, and obviously I’m super excited. Hence the flood of F1 content on the blog from me over the last few days.
This year, Formula 1 is returning to America by hosting a race in Texas at the Circuit of the Americas. Next year, we’re getting another race which will be hosted on the streets of New Jersey.
Red Bull Racing flew DC and two RB7s out to New York to create a promotional video, and they didn’t disappoint.
Enjoy.
…and that’s ok. (smiles) Really it is!
As much as I want professional racing drivers to put their full attention on driving the wheels of a race car, it is important for them to let their hair down and have some fun. At least Sebastian chose to involve himself with a video with a bit more class than some of his recent exploits.
Also we don’t have to hear Sebastian sing…(unlike a certain seven-time world champion doing karaoke.)
A few days ago, I was speaking to a friend about a video when Jaime Alguersuari was caught ‘drifting’ an F1 car in 2010.
I figured that this video was awesome enough to share with everyone, because it’s not something that you see very often in Formula 1.
What were you doing when you were 18 years old? Well, Mark Webber was racing Formula Brabhams.(As if Mark Webber would be doing anything else other than racing…)
Check out this ‘classic’ video of the driver who is now working for Red Bull Racing in F1.
Love to see that Mark still had that Aussie Grit personality as a young man.
What happens when the Safety Car spins during a race? Do you…call another Safety Car?
Check out this video done by F1 driver turned broadcaster, Martin Brundle.
Have you ever wanted to know what a Formula 1 driver is doing on that opening lap before the start of a Grand Prix? It’s amazing how much activity is done on the single lap.
Here are some detail photographs of the "half-Sauber" (F108) we featured recently in video form on The Flying Lap:
It’s pretty good timing that Codemasters released this trailer for F1 2012, as I just finished winning the WDC in F1 2011.
On of the ‘highlights’ of the real F1 2012 season, has been that the field has six drivers who have won the drivers championship. Codemasters has taken advantage of this by creating a special game mode, where the player can take on each champion driver in ‘unique’ race scenarios.
To be honest, I’m not sure how it’s going to exactly play-out since you’re always racing these drivers during the regular season. Although, since the Codemasters series is one of my current favorites, I still wanted to highlight the video.
Chris Duplessis is the non-Ken Block American driver running Rally Finland. This video shows Chris driving a shakedown run of a stage with his co-driver Alex Kihurani reading pace notes. The Duplessis DirtFish Rally School team is the first all American team to run Rally Finland in nearly 40 years. They’ve funded this effort in an interesting way by having both a marquee sponsor – Dirtfish Rally School – and by crowd funding over $22,000 with an indiegogo campaign. Good luck Chris and Alex, we’re pulling for you. Also thanks for the awesome video, it’s great to hear clear pacenotes in English for a WRC event.
Via Chris Duplessis’ Facebook page
Ken Block is taking seriously his efforts to be competitive in the World Rally Championship. Here’s his video diary on getting ready for Rally Finland. The legendary Ari Vatanen makes an appearance.
Good luck Ken!
Pujo! is on his way down to Shelton for our race weekend. Stay tuned to StartingGrid for updates as the weekend progresses.
Here’s the schedule:
SCHEDULE
Friday, 20 July 2012
7am: Gates open
8:30am-5pm: Testing with a 1-hour break for lunch. Details above.
Noon-5pm: Mandatory Friday tech inspection. Every car and at least one driver per team must be present for Friday tech. No Saturday tech will be offered.
Saturday, 21 July 2012
7am: Gates open
9:30am: Mandatory drivers’ meeting
10:30am-8pm: Race session I
8:30pm-?: Optional LeMons Drag Racing (ie, blow up your diff on the 1/4-mile for the promise of one measly Get Out of The Penalty Box Card).
Sunday, 22 July 2012
9:15am: Mandatory drivers’ meeting
10am-3pm: Race session II
3pm: Checkered flag
3:30pm: Awards
6pm: Gates close
Feel free to come by and say Hi! I’ll be the guy in the gorilla suit.
Go here for more details.
I’m not sure whether this falls into the ‘brave’ or ‘stupid’ category, when Jeroen Slaghekke replaces his steering wheel during a Formula Renault race after noticing that he’s having electrical problems.
Better than losing a place in the race? I’ll let you guys be the judge of that…
As a motor-racing fan, it’s always good to know that our grand-prix racing role models are always providing examples of sportsmanship and class.
Oh wait… Well at least they show the top-flight driving standards of true pros, right?
Really?! Sigh…
We’ve been working late nights at Chase Race getting Pujo! ready to race. In order to comply with the strictly enforced budget cap in the LeMons series, we are often forced to find creative ways to do things. The latest Pujo! Penny Pinching Project® involves the relocation of our electrical kill switch and the installation of a push button starter.
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You can’t watch this video and not like it. It’s impossible. Can’t be done.
I’ve seen quite a few hillclimb videos, and this one definately ranks in my top five. Yves Faber taking on the European Hill Race Eschdorf.
Getting it done, sir. Getting it done.
I rarely post bike racing videos, but this is downright hilarious. Riccardo Russo THINKS that he’s on the last lap of the race, and he’s leading by a good margin. So when he crosses the line, it’s time for celebration!…or so he thinks. Turns out that he started celebrating one lap too early.
From what I’ve read, he lost the championship because of it too. That’s why you always keep pushing until those marshals spin all the flags…or someone yells at you. ;)
I’d watch the whole video. It turns out to be quite a battle.
I can dig it. Plus Mclaren has to be able to laugh at something, with the slipping form that the real F1 team has been having in recent races. I’m surprised this cartoon didn’t mention anything about pit-stops.
Note: I also know that the website is rendering incorrectly. I’m doing my best to figure out the error, and hopefully I’ll have everything back up to speed soon!
I’m serious. The way that Ricky Rudd is actually using his foot for heel-toe is backwards! It only happens one time at 0:50, but it happens! His footwork is pretty lightning in general though.
I guess, if it works for him, but you won’t see this guy trying it…
Evolution of the F1 Car from Ruf Blacklock on Vimeo.
Now I’m all for interesting infographics, but a video like this takes the cake. It’s interesting to see how highly dependent the sport has become on aerodynamic design over the last 30 years.
Another subtle point. Check out the steering wheel graphic in the upper right hand corner. It’s surprising how recent that the design of the wheel for Formula 1 cars has changed in only the last ten years.
Update: Speaking of a related infographic, if you’re looking for a wallpaper, click the link.
Dino Zamparelli racing in a wet F2 race at Spa finds himself almost running into a car, but instead overtakes four cars in the process. Pretty typical F2 stuff, really… (jk)
The first work party on Pujo! was a tremendous success. Being a team of drinking gourmands, Doug and I set the tone for the day by first procuring adequate beer to fuel the wrenching. The choice of the day was Churchkey, a northwest brewed pilsner perfect for hydration and idea inception when hammers and cursing fail to reveal a solution.
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In recent years in Formula 1, the tactics of the sport have transformed into a tire conservation formula.
With these temperature-sensitive Pirelli tires, teams now elect to sit out certain sessions of practice and/or qualifying in order to have the best potential chances to score points during the Grand Prix on Sunday.
Now that all makes perfect sense, but as a fan it can be unbelievably BORING if nothing is happening. It can be down-right distressing to discover that your favorite driver has decided to sit out the final qualifying shootout, ‘just’ in order to have a better tire selection… (Especially if you’re up at 1 in the morning to watch it on your local time zone.)
What I miss are qualifying sessions like these… It may be a pointless dog-fight, but it was at least exciting.
Maybe we need to return to having a ‘qualifying tire’?
The Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys are competing in the 24 Hours of LeMons race in Shelton in July. Since that’s just a little over a month away, we should probably put down the wine for a few minutes and pick up some wrenches.
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Andre Rapone learned this the hard way when his Mini Cooper hit the curb, before the chicane at the Montreal GP track during a CTCC race. I have never seen a car crash into a wall roof first, until right now.
Seeing that most of us who watch Formula 1 are armchair pundits, myself included, it makes it really easy to poke fun at a team like HRT. Even though they are one of the slowest teams in Formula 1, the team is working extremely hard to develop from such a limited budget.
It made me think about how much effort is going into developing this team. They may not have made a complete fan out of me, but I’ll think twice before I shoot another jaded remark toward them when I see them on the grid. You can see that they are working hard.
Will HRT remain in Formula 1 in five years time? We’ll see, but it will be interesting to see how this team develops.
Last night, Sebastian Vettel was on David Letterman, since Formula 1 was in the New Jersey area checking out the prospective 2013 road course track. Normally I’d be cool with an interview, but two things have been brought to my attention about David Letterman during this interview that got me really heated.
But really, I don’t care all that much about talk show hosts. I just want to hear about racing. ;)
In the last twelve months, I personally believe that Group Lotus/Lotus Cars has de-evolved into a mini-train wreck. It’s Indy Car program is slipping and it’s road-car program is spiraling. It’s generally a disappointment to the automotive world.
That all aside, there are some positives to the recent developments behind Group Lotus. One of them is the Lotus Type 125. In what was known as the Exos project, the T125 is basically a F1/GP2 car for private purchase.
Some stats:
Check out the Group Lotus website for more about the T125
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What happens when Jeremy Clarkson drives it?
What’s it like to drive a NASCAR Sprint Car around a road course?
Well thanks to Kevin Harvick, and Richard Childress Racing, we now know that it’s like this.
I personally would love to have an entire NASCAR series, dedicated to road course racing. It would the closest thing that Americans would get to V8 Supercar racing.
Dear Sky Sports,
If you’re going to talk about the FIA, please make sure that you spell the name correctly. *facepalm* (Check out from 0:18 – 0:42). I guess that’s what happens when you stream way too much F1 footage 24/7.
Later this year, Formula 1 will be coming to Austin, Texas to race on the newly constructed Circuit of the Americas. Now I’m super excited about this, but I haven’t seen many ‘track-level’ shots of what the circuit will look like.
Fortunately, Codemasters has come to the rescue, by previewing the track on the latest version of F1 2012. The first sector alone just looks mega!
I’m normally 50/50 on the NC Miata, but I’m really feeling Rob Bauer’s DP MX-5. Loving the livery, fenders and the rollbar. Perfect. You can tell this is a car that he build by himeslf, for himself.
I bet that this would be a blast to drive through the cones, or on the track. (Man, makes me want to get an NC… but only for this though.)
What happens when you slice a Formula 1 car up the middle?
You learn a hell of alot. Sauber F1 Team has taken the last two years to slice one of their older Formula 1 cars into a cutaway model, as an instructional tool to teach people more about how a Formula 1 car works.
Watch. Learn. Discuss.
I love this new Formula 1 helmet camera view, almost as much as I love the racing itself this year!
I won’t talk about whose won the Grand Prix, since I know that the Speed Channel re-airing hasn’t aired in the states yet. (Update: Go Web-ster!)
However, check out this camera view from Sebastian Vettel during practice, as he takes on the Monte-Carlo street circuit.
Awesome!
The SCCA National Autocross roadshow has stopped in Lincoln Nebraska for a great East versus West showdown. They’re at the huge and sticky Lincoln Airpark site a long weekend of Solo action. First up is the ProSolo (this is side by side heads up competition with a drag-style start) followed by the National Tour (traditional one at a time competition)
Follow the three camera action at the link below. The video stream has the announcer commentary, so you can follow the excitement as it unfolds. Ustream SCCA Solo channel
Live, unofficial, results for all classes can be found here: Live Results.
I’m really excited that Nissan and RML are putting a serious effort behind the Nissan Juke R project. The Juke-R has already featured as the pace car for the Dubai 24 hour, as well as other feature global events.
Earlier in the week, we posted a feature video on the Nissan Juke-R in Dubai, taking on some of the world’s greatest supercars. Right after, I got a mail from one of our readers which showed us GT Academy winner-turned racing driver, Lucas Ordonez taking the Juke-R for an outing on an ice track in Norway.
The more of these videos that I see, the more I think about the possibilities of the Juke-R in competitive motorsport. I wonder if the Juke-R would ever be developed into a rallycross or S2000 rally car…
Thanks to Jon Freeman for the feature!
Photo credit: Dodge
Hilarity ensues, of course.
Apologies in advance for the audio cutting out at 3:15, but it’s still worth a watch.
Of course you do!
This is a video from the Pirelli-Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car by Dörr Motorsport during 24h Nürburgring 2012. The team finished on 20th overall position. The driver onboard is Niclas Kentenich.
The real part of the battle to watch is vs Whincup and Davison, but it gets ‘better’.
Normally I would find a shorter video, but V8 Supercars are so epic that it’s always worth to watch as much of it as you can.
If you’ve ever wondered if Fernando Alonso karts better than you can, don’t worry. He can.
The 24 Hours of Nurburgring is happening now! If you want to watch on a live stream go here. The Video stream is in German, however you can mute the video and hit the Radio LeMans link on the upper right of the page and a popup will appear with English commentary to the video stream.
The photo above is of the P4/5 Competitzione of Scuderia Glickenhaus, a car worthy of its own post. It is competing today. As of this writing, they’re in 31st place. You can follow them at their Facebook page.
Today, the new short-film featuring Sebastian Vettel and Infiniti was just released. It was a martial arts film, called ‘Drive of the Dragon’ featuring Celina Jade.
Funny short, if nothing else. I swear that he’s just training to develop his ‘finger poke of death!’ move for during race weekends, and definitely more exciting than Mark’s Canberra Milk commercials…
Nico Rosberg infuriated Fernando Alonso during the Bahrain GP weekend by nearly squeezing him off the track, claiming it as a defensive move. Alonso spent the following week, making a comment to the press about how driver conduct in Formula 1 needs to improve. A fact that personally, I think holds water.
At least when concerning driver conduct, I generally agree with Alonso’s. (I’ve never thought that I would be one to agree with a comment that came from Alonso in the past!) Although my personal impression of Alonso has changed over the last few years, I knew eventually someone would make a jab- reference to one of Fernando’s ‘less than polite’ past actions. You don’t become a two-time world champion by just being nice all the time.
Who would have thought that the burn would have come from Sebastian Vettel! Check out this video during today’s FIA press conference, and Vettel’s wicked Alonso impression.
Check out the video before it gets tagged.
From what I understand from reading up on the Radical website, this video is of the Radical UK Cup, part of the Radical European Master series. Drivers compete on some of the world’s greatest circuits, such as Nurburgring, Silverstone and Spa in Radical SR4, SR3 RS or SR8
I’m doing some research now, but in the meantime, does anyone know more about this series?
Link to the Radical website
Piotr Buczkowski has created some drawings of Formula 1 World Champions that are absolutely stunning. Click on the link to his gallery to view more of his work.
Take a look at this trailer. Well, at least I know what Sebastian Vettel could do when he gets bored of winning Formula 1 World Championships.
Whatever happens, it’s better than what Schumacher decided to do in his off- time…
