The Fruit of Knowledge
Posts tagged formula 1 racing
Report: Hamilton, Vettel forced to modify their helmets for the USGP
Nov 18th
Filed under: Motorsports, Racing
After years of waiting, Formula 1 racing is finally back in the United States, and while most drivers were focused on getting ready for the all-new Circuit of the Americas track, two of the sport’s most popular drivers were involved in off-track distractions due to their helmet designs. For different reasons, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel were both forced to make changes to their helmets before qualifying for the US Grand Prix according to Total F1.
USGP polesitter and season points leader Vettel’s helmet had the words “gives you wings” written on the top of his helmet, which, as the motto for his Red Bull sponsor, goes against a Bernie Ecclestone rule that forbids advertising on top of racers’ helmets. Total F1 says that this rule was made so as not to ruin the on-board camera view from above the driver.
Hamilton, on the other hand, was forced to alter his helmet due to the letters “H.A.M.” painted on the back. While a casual observer might think this has something to do with his last name, these letters are actually an acronym for “hard as a mother******” which goes against the FIA’s no-swearing policy. Both helmets were easily fixed with a little cover-up tape.
Be sure to also check out our Day 1 recap of the USGP race weekend.
Hamilton, Vettel forced to modify their helmets for the USGP originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 18 Nov 2012 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Motorsports: Red Bull infographic compares and contrasts NASCAR and F1
Nov 16th
Filed under: Motorsports, Marketing/Advertising, Humor, Racing
In the US, Formula 1 racing lost the popularity contest to NASCAR a long time ago. But after five years, F1 returns to the States with this weekend’s race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Red Bull, sponsor of F1 driver Sebastian Vettel, has put together an interesting set of numbers illustrating the differences between the two racing series.
To start with, Formula 1 has just 24 drivers, while NASCAR fields 50 entrants. Stock cars can reach speeds of about 200 miles per hour, just a bit slower than F1′s 205. But NASCAR drivers experience only about 2Gs of lateral force during, at most courses, only four left-hand turns. F1 drivers endure 5Gs in multiple left-and right-hand turns.
The Daytona 500, NASCAR’s best-attended venue, counted 182,000 fans this year. Formula 1′s biggest attendance is at the Australian Grand Prix where 298,000 fans came out to watch. Those fans helped finance F1′s best-paid driver, Fernando Alonso. He makes $37 million a year. NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. pulls in $28 million. That’s an average of $1.85 million per race for Alonso, who only competes in 20 events. Earnhardt Jr., however, has 36 races to drive in and averages about $778,000 a race.
The infographic is fun, if a bit skewed against NASCAR, especially when considering Red Bull was a NASCAR driver sponsor until the end of the 2011 season. Sour grapes perhaps?
Check out the full graphic below.
Continue reading Red Bull infographic compares and contrasts NASCAR and F1
Red Bull infographic compares and contrasts NASCAR and F1 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Motorsports: 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix rains supreme [spoilers]
Mar 25th
Filed under: Motorsports
Formula 1 racing tends to work in cycles. One team is at the top for a year or two, then another emerges to dominate the next few. It’s a trend that has seen the likes of Ferrari, McLaren, Renault (now known as Lotus) and even Brawn (today’s Mercedes) win world championships, with Red Bull as the the most recent force to be reckoned with.
Red Bull, clearly the team to beat going into 2012, took the driver’s and constructor’s titles the last two years. The question is, could it defend them for the hat trick this season, or would a new frontrunner step up? The circus rolled in to Sepang, Malaysia this weekend for the second round of the 2012 Formula One World Championship. And it was a thriller. Follow the jump to read how it unfolded.
Continue reading 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix rains supreme [spoilers]
2012 Malaysian Grand Prix rains supreme [spoilers] originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 25 Mar 2012 12:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Motorsports: Infographic breaks down the intricacies of Formula 1 in 2012
Mar 24th
Filed under: Motorsports
There’s an awful lot of information to consuder when it comes to Formula 1 racing. It’s arguably the most complicated and technologically advanced sport in the world, with an ever-changing rule book, aerospace-level engineering, and the most elite driver talent. It’s enough to make any fan’s head spin. Fortunately we’ve got a tidy infographic that lays it all out for you.
Submitted (interestingly enough) by online bingo site Ladbrokes.com, this infographic breaks down everything, including the newest features on the 2012 cars, each team and the equipment they use, the full race calendar, the lap times from the pre-season test sessions, and a smattering of other interesting information. Check it out after the jump.
Continue reading Infographic breaks down the intricacies of Formula 1 in 2012
Infographic breaks down the intricacies of Formula 1 in 2012 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 24 Mar 2012 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Sky Sports dedicated F1 HD channel coming next season
Nov 28th
The 2011 Formula 1 racing season just wrapped up in Brazil, but Sky is already breaking down what it will bring to the series as it takes over UK coverage next year. Launching in March, Sky Sports F1 HD will be a channel dedicated to round the clock coverage of the world’s most technologically advanced racing series including every race, practice, and qualifying session. Sky customers with the Sports and HD packages will see the HD channel appear at number 408 on the dial, although there’s no word yet whether or not it will be available on BT Vision or Virgin Media. Other tidbits include a promise of Sky Go access, and that despite the broadcaster’s big 3D push, there’s no such coverage planned for 2012. Seeing how long it took for true HD broadcasts from F1 we’re thinking that could take a while, but here in the US we’d simply settle for a promise of no more tape delayed broadcasts on Fox (and some competent challengers for the Red Bull team while we’re asking) for next season. Until then, check out this brief video trailer, plus a press release with all the details after the break.
Continue reading Sky Sports dedicated F1 HD channel coming next season
Sky Sports dedicated F1 HD channel coming next season originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 10:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | 
F1.Sky.com | Email this | Comments
Codemasters announces F1 Online: The Game
Aug 14th
As if fantasy football wasn’t enough of a workplace distraction, Codemasters has recently announced F1 Online: The Game, which is, as you may have guessed, a free-to-play, browser-based Formula 1 racing game/management simulator.
Set to launch sometime in Q1 2012, F1 Online allows players to race as their favorite real-world teams, or as a fictional team of their own creation. Full-scale World Championships and Grand Prix events will be available, qualifying runs and all, and social networking integration means you’ll be able to immediately notify your friends upon beating Cyber-Alonso’s lap record by 0.000001 of a second.
For the more managerially-minded among us, team-management functionality will let the player “manage the commercial, research, production and race crew functions required for success on track,” meaning that those reports you needed to finish totally won’t get finished. McLaren-Mercedes, Williams, Lotus-Renault, and Force India are all present and accounted for, and with the inclusion of world-famous circuits like Monaco and Silverstone, F1 Online: The Game looks to be the racing enthusiast’s ideal time-waster.
Codemasters announces F1 Online: The Game originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 14 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Report: Mexico in contention to host a Formula 1 grand prix?
Aug 12th
Filed under: Motorsports, South America
Formula 1 racing is coming back to North America, and coming back in a big way. Whereas a few years ago there was no grand prix on this continent at all, now the Canadian Grand Prix is back in Montreal, a new track is being constructed to host the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, and negotiations are back under way to hold a race in New Jersey. But if that’s not enough, now Mexico is throwing its sombrero in the ring.
The country south of our border held a total of fifteen world championship grands prix in the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, but after ’92 it fell by the wayside. But now F1 racing is enjoying a resurgence in popularity in Mexico, mostly revolving around the Sauber team. Sergio Perez is driving for the team, Esteban Gutierrez is their test driver, and Telmex is one of their principal sponsors.
On the back of that popularity, talk is in progress to bring F1 racing back to Mexico. The project reportedly involves entertainment company CIE and billionaire businessman Carlos Slim’s son Carlos Slim Domit. CIE owns the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico City (named after the brothers who were arguably the most prominent F1 drivers in Mexican history), which could potentially be rejuvenated and brought back up to modern F1 standards, or alternatively a new street circuit is being mooted for Guadalajara.
Either prospect would be several years away, but FIA president Jean Todt is quoted as supporting the venture, which would also join the Brazilian Grand Prix that is currently the only F1 race in Latin America since the demise of the Argentine Grand Prix in 1998.
Mexico in contention to host a Formula 1 grand prix? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Report: Toyota shooting for electric vehicle ‘Ring record on August 29
Aug 8th
Filed under: Motorsports, Toyota, Peugeot, Electric
Toyota Motorsport GmbH has announced its intention to smash the existing electric vehicle lap record at the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife on August 29.
Some speculate the on-track demonstration by Toyota Motorsport GmbH is a prelude to Toyota’s racing division inking a powertrain deal for an electrified Formula 1 racing series. Whether or not that’s true remains unknown, but Toyota says its lapping of the Nürburgring will prove that “green thinking motorsport” generates emotion, just as fossil fuel racing has done for more than a century.
The current electric vehicle lap record at the ‘Ring stands at 9:01.338, a time that Toyota says it has already beaten during informal testing. On August 29, it will hit the track with a battery-powered two-seater that can reach a claimed top speed of 162 miles per hour, rip from 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds and is loosely based on the radical Alpha-1 SRF, a vehicle developed by Toyota Motorsport GmbH for the German firm e-Wolf.
Rob Leupen, Toyota Motorsport’s director of business operations, told the Charging Point, “We are extremely confident we can break the record by some distance, which is an indication of how electric vehicle performance is continuously improving.” We’ll let you know if Toyota’s attempt to tame the ‘Ring blows a hole through the existing record, which is held by the spectalur Peugeot EX1.
Continue reading Toyota shooting for electric vehicle ‘Ring record on August 29
Toyota shooting for electric vehicle ‘Ring record on August 29 originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Infographic crunches the staggering numbers of Formula 1 racing
Jul 4th
Filed under: Motorsports
F1 infographic – Click above for high-res image
Did you know that just the steering wheel in a modern F1 racer costs about as much as your car? That a driver will lose about four and a half pounds over the course of a grand prix? Or that an F1 car gets about 3.1 miles to the gallon?
The numbers in Formula 1 racing are absolutely staggering, but fortunately, our friends over at Netcars have mapped it all out in the most user-friendly way possible: that’s right, an infographic.
Some other tidbits of information: an F1 car takes just 1.7 seconds to hit 62 miles per hour from a standstill, and can top out around 257 mph. And to slow the car from 200 mph coming down a straightaway to 115 for a sweeping corner, it takes about as much force as it would to make an elephant jump 33 feet in the air. Seriously. But we don’t want to give it all away – click on the above image to view the infographic in full detail.
Infographic crunches the staggering numbers of Formula 1 racing originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Official: Lotus vs Lotus legal battle ends in a draw
Jun 1st
Filed under: Motorsports, Government/Legal, Lotus
Say what you will about the state of Formula 1 racing today, but at least when the day is done, there’s a winner and there are losers. The drawn-out legal battle between Group Lotus and Team Lotus, however, has come to a rather anticlimactic resolution.
As you may recall, Group Lotus (that is, the car manufacturer and engineering consultancy) licensed its name to a Malaysian racing team a couple of years ago. That team then turned around and independently acquired the name Team Lotus from a third party. Group Lotus cried bloody murder and terminated its agreement with the team, who in turn did not relent. Then Group Lotus entered into a partnership with the Renault team (which also powers the Team Lotus cars), resulting in two teams carrying the name Lotus-Renault and a whole lot of confusion.
Unable to resolve the issue, the two outfits went to court, and having heard both sides, the judge has rendered his verdict. Of sorts. Justice Peter Smith found both parties in the right, and declared, essentially, that while the name Lotus belongs rightfully to the automaker, the name Team Lotus – deemed to have been separately cultivated, and neglected for years by the automaker – rightfully belongs to the Malaysian racing team, which acquired the name. The judge also ruled that Team Lotus had breached certain terms of its contract with Group Lotus, and awarded the latter damages to be paid by the former.
At the end of the day, Team Lotus has the legal right to continue using its name, while Group Lotus has the right – both within F1 and without – to the name Lotus by itself. Which hardly makes the matter any more clear, though the automaker is expected to appeal the decision. Follow the jump for statements from both parties.
Continue reading Lotus vs Lotus legal battle ends in a draw
Lotus vs Lotus legal battle ends in a draw originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 08:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
