Alvin's Formula One Blog

This is a follow up on the article I wrote yesterday called " Whos's Gonna Win It - Part 2 ". As we all know Red Bully is "Bullying" everybody now for the past 3-4 races and are destined to take both world championships..again. How did they do it? How did they become so dominant starting from Japan when at the start of this year 7 different drivers won at 7 different races? Gary Anderson, BBC F1's technical analyst, the former technical director of the Jordan, Stewart and Jaguar teams explains it from his point of view and perhaps from the information he has managed to glean from inside the paddock and the pits. "There, chief technical officer Adrian Newey has found a way to recover more of the rear downforce that was lost through the banning of exhaust-blown diffusers at the end of last season than anyone else." Read about what Gary knows here .

This article was written by Pete Gill and published on PlanetF1.com. The original article can be found here . The fear six months ago that F1 was in danger of becoming too unpredictable seems an awfully long time ago... Alonso's problem is his brilliance - and the challenge of trying to beat F1's systematic winner. Fernando Alonso won't require a second career when his extremely lucrative time as an F1 driver reaches its retirement age. But, if he did, then a long and inspirational sideline in motivational speaking would surely await. As a team leader, his status in the sport is unsurpassed and although his maths didn't add up on Sunday night when he argued that, despite falling further behind in the World Championship, his hopes of beating Sebastian Vettel to a third title had actually improved in defeat, it was impossible not to admire his defiance or appreciate his bloody-mindedness. He is a phenomenon. The thought flickers, though, that perhaps Alonso is ...

The season is now fast approaching its conclusion with the Abu Dhabi race this weekend. This will be a back-to-back race weekends, from India to Abu Dhabi in the space of a week. The rush could be seen on TV last weekend as soon as the celebrations were over on the podium, the packers moved in to immediately pack everything to be shipped out. Martin Brundle and crew were almost run down by the packers. We now have 3 races to go - Abu Dhabi, Austin and Interlagos . This has been a good season, quite fast I must say. Although it looked to be a long one when we first started early this year, it now seems too fast. I'm dreading the end really, the winter seems too long until March again next year. So, how has the season been then? And most importantly, who is going to win the drivers championship? It was quite open from the start of the year with different drivers winning races and the competition was spread out. Then in the middle of the year, Alonso pulled out ...

The Indian Grand Prix is on this weekend at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida near New Delhi, India. As with all grand prix races, the right preparation can decide where you end up on Sunday evening. Even with all the practice and testing and forecasting on Friday and even qualifying on Saturday, the strategy plays an important part in any race. The Buddh International Circuit proved popular with drivers last season on its inaugural event. It is the second fastest race track on the calendar after Monza, with an average lap speed of 145mph. But it’s a tricky one on strategy. Last year the harder tyre was too slow relative to the softer one so the strategies were quite skewed. This year the teams will hope to play it like they did in Japan, favouring two stints on the hard tyre, but there is a possibility that one stop might turn out to be the way to go. As the teams have so little data to work with from last year and with different tyres this year, the free practice s...

According to Jaime Algersuari the Indian GP is special because the layout of the  Buddh International Circuit is one of the best in the championship. It is very high speed, with fast chicanes, and there are good places to overtake. One corner stands out in particular. It's listed on the circuit map as Turns 10 and 11, but actually it is one long right-hander that seems to go on forever. It's just fantastic to go through there and feel like the corner is never ending. It's high speed, in fifth gear, and it's never easy for the outside front tyre. Jaime Alguersuari is the youngest-ever driver to make a Formula One race appearance and the first Spanish teenager to follow in the footsteps of a certain Mr Fernando Alonso and join the F1 ranks. He is a former F1 driver and BBC Radio 5 live analyst who raced for Toro Rosso (2009-2011). To read more of what he thinks of the Indian GP, proceed here .

The Indian GP has 2 DRS zones this year just like last year but the second DRS zones has been extended by 80 meters. This should make it easier to get alongside another car and try to outbrake into the corner. Although to be honest, sometimes DRS does make races especially overtaking too easy. The DRS zone on the start/finish straight will remain unchanged, as will the two detection points at the exit of the penultimate corner and on the approach to turn three.

We all know how difficult Kimi can become sometimes with the media and sponsors as he is the type of guy that does not really give a shit. Really, he says that a lot. His straight faced response to whatever happens on and off the track makes him one of the most popular F1 drivers on the grid. Funny how the more he doesn't want to get in the limelight, the more he does. So it was a bit of a surprise to hear that he had signed up to promote a clothing brand from his home country and became their brand ambassador. He even agreed to do a video to spoof how he signed up with them. Only Kimi can look real on film like he does with no emotion. The contract in question was his deal to be the face of Makia’s new racing range, but rather than announce the signing via a dry press release, the company got Raikkonen to do some more acting in a spoof kidnap plot in which he is taken by some heavies, wearing black hood and all, to a remote caravan where he is blackmailed to sign up for Makia be...

We've all wondered once in a while how does an F1 driver train to be so fit that they can drive an F1 car to its limits and still be refreshed to do a victory jump on the podium after finishing a gruelling 1 and a half hour race. How do they do it? What do they go through? How do you know you even qualify to be able to get into a fitness condition to become an F1 driver? Well, here is an interesting article written by someone who actually went through a physical examination to see whether he has the capacity to even get near an F1 car. The type of training that it encompasses is routinely done by Lewis Hamilton or Jenson Button to stay in shape. Read on using the link and find out if we are more attuned to expertly debate and argue about F1 races from our armchair. Proceed here .

It seems that everybody wants to get on the F1 race bandwagon and now Thailand has announced that they want it too. But the announcement came abruptly I must say without any warning as usually there would be talks or some sort of activity that would be going on for some time before an announcement of this sort is made. I say "of this sort" because this announcement sounded very confident. It's as if it has already been confirmed behind closed doors. According to Kanokphand Chulakasem, Ratchadamnoen Avenue in Bangkok, which was first mooted as an ideal location for motor racing by Prince Bira (Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh), back in 1939, and Muang Thong Thani, home to Impact , a complex frequently used as the venue for exhibitions and entertainment events, are both under consideration. Prince Bira was the only Thai racecar driver to race in Formula One. He raced for the Maserati, Gordini, and Connaught teams, among others. "A contract is likely to ...

The silly season has come and gone but the silliness does not stop. And the speculation continues, the wishing goes on but below we can see an update so far of who goes where in 2013. Some are confirmed, some are not. Today, Charles Pic has been confirmed to move from Marussia to Caterham, not sure replacing Kovalainen or Petrov. Below list has been updated as of today (Bold = Officially confirmed) Driver Entrant Constructor Vettel Red Bull Racing RBR-Renault Webber Red Bull Racing RBR-Renault Button Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren Mercedes Perez Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren Mercedes Alonso Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Massa Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Hamilton Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes Rosberg Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes Raikkonen Lotus F1 Team Lotus-Renault Grosjean...

The Indian Grand Prix (sometimes referred to as the Grand Prix of India) is a motor race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship held at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. The first event took place on 30 October 2011 as the 17th race of the 2011 Formula One season. The new race track was officially homologated on 1 September 2011 by Charlie Whiting, and the inaugural race was won by Sebastian Vettel. The Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida is 24 km from Delhi and the circuit, designed by circuit architect Hermann Tilke, is 5.141 kilometres in length. The track is spread across an area of 875 acres and is a part of Jaypee Green Sports city. The 10-year contract for the race has been given to the Indian construction company Jaiprakash Associates. The track in all has 16 largely medium speed corners where Formula One cars lap at an average speed of approximately 210 km/h. The back straight lets cars reach a top ...

This is a very good technical article written by Scarbs about the Red Bull DDRS system. I have posted about this before but it was just a non-technical guess that the system is responsible for their uptick in form since Singapore and really took off from Suzuka. Scarbs really delves into it and he as always, presents it in a very interesting technical way. Hope you guys enjoy it. Read about it here .

So Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia wants to reduce its yearly hosting fees? Asking Bernie to take less? Good luck! It's not impossible though as Singapore has done it. But seriously Malaysia has only until 2015, after that we don't know if we will have the race or not. Here is an article about this issue, reproduced from The Malaysian Reserve. Sepang International Circuit Sdn Bhd (SIC) will seek for a reduction in the payment to host the Formula One (F1) race which first came to Malaysia in 1999, following a similar successful move by its Singapore counterpart. SIC, a Malaysian motorsport race track organisation, will commence the discussion with F1 exclusive rights holder Formula One Management Ltd (FOM) “at an appropriate time’’ before the current contract expires in 2015, an SIC official told The Malaysian Reserve. The race track company plans to negotiate for a “similar or a better deal’’ than Singapore which is expecting its F1 event to cost less to host in t...

I just wanted to comment on how F1 fans respond to their drivers results before, during and after an F1 race. We all have our own favourite driver or team. And we are quite committed fans in F1. We are really strong supporters, good or bad and are really passionate about our sport. But it has been some time that I've noticed some of these fans are becoming fanatical. Being fanatical is ok, so am I about my driver/team. But when it takes over logic, it gets frightening. A sample: It's such a shame! I can't believe why the car is/was so bad after the first stopp! Lewis has done all he can, but the car was simply too slow..Is that sabotage from McLaren against Lew? Why would a team sabotage one driver to support another when they're in the same team? Does it make sense to have an internal rivalry like that and not care that your team loses to other teams? It sounds like the team exists to make sure one driver loses to the other. I think if we all sit down and slow down,...

It would seem that the Red Bulls have found new energy lately since Suzuka to lock out the front row of the last 2 races. Have they got wings or do they have the energy drink mixed in with their fuel? A lot of rumours is going round that they have mastered the rear wing DRS or DDRS (Double DRS). This coincided with their new wing they introduced in Singapore . Although the new wing was introduced in Singapore, it did not immediately become clear how the performance was going to affect the car. Vettel qualified P3 (6/10ths behind pole sitter Hamilton) and Webber P7 (1.1s behind). Those were huge numbers and I had thought at the time that finally the Bulls were losing some steam and we should still have an interesting end to the season. Then we came to Suzuka. In Suzuka suddenly the Bulls locked out the front row by half a second. Vettel then proceeded to win the race from lights to flag without breaking a sweat and leaving second placed Massa 20 seconds in his wake. It was a do...

This article is written by Maurice Hamilton and published on ESPNF1.com The Korean Grand Prix is a strange one. It got off to an unusual start when I spent my first night in an Irish bar having Guinness and a hamburger while playing darts with David Croft (then of BBC Radio 5 Live but later having to abandon his West Ham shirt and dress properly following a switch to television and more first-rate commentary with SkySportsF1). This was in Seoul, a buzzy city that reminded us of Tokyo, but with about a million less people on the sidewalks. We should have enjoyed the evening more because it was to seem like our last link with a perfectly civilised country before heading into the back of beyond. Not that you would know it during a three-hour train ride that was not only comfortable and reasonably priced but also had the benefit of Wi-Fi throughout the journey - well, most of it, the tunnels in the vicinity of Seoul causing a few disconnects mid-Tweet. The truth of this journey be...

Yeah me too! Of course any right minded F1 fan would want an F1 car. We could take it to the track on weekends, do all the prep with our team and tear up the track for 2 hours. That is F1 fan nirvana. But the reality is the closest most of us get to F1 is on the tube on Sundays and maybe at race weekends when we can afford it. But that doesn't mean we stop at the tube. We still will immediately turn and walk towards the slightest sound of an F1 car that we hear at a show or shopping mall or wherever we may be. So below I have reproduced an article written by Tom Castellani on F1Technical.net.  The article is a bit old and some of the links are dead, so I have had to make modifications to it. Hopefully everybody who reads this will benefit in one way or another. Enjoy! Formula One soaks up millions each year, with some of the most technically advanced racing cars on the planet many fans can only dream of ever driving or even owning an F1 car. Much of the money...

This article is reproduced from an article written by Mike Lawrence (mike.lawrence@pitpass.com) at www.pitpass.com There has been all kinds of speculation about Lewis Hamilton's decision to sign for Mercedes. Is it not possible that, underneath it all, he just wanted a change after so long in one relationship? He came into F1 with a competitive car and has ever since been part of a well-oiled machine. It is part of human nature to see the grass greener on the other side of the fence. Hand on heart, few of us have not experienced that, even if we have done no more about it than to wonder. The pretty wife, the talented kids, the nice home, a delicious meal on the table when we come home, but yet... By all accounts, the basic salary was not the issue. Both sides were offering a lottery win every month for three years. There do appear to be side-issues, however. One reason for McLaren's success has been Ron Dennis's attention to detail, but this can also be tiresome...

Well it seems that the inevitable has come to pass. It has been going on for some time, ever since rumours of Lewis Hamilton switching from McLaren started to fill the airwaves. When it was announced that Hamilton would move to Mercedes and take over Schumacher's seat, it was certain that Schumacher would have to either get another drive somewhere else (Sauber was mentioned as Perez vacated his seat) or simply retire. Today he has confirmed it. After 3 years in his second career, Michael Schumacher has officially retired ......again. It was an uninspiring attempt to bring back the glory days I must say. Of course the car didn't help much by being slow, unreliable and difficult to understand the balance. Schumacher could have done better if the car was better, we all know that. But his team mate showed that the car is either not that bad or he can drive around the problems (and Schumi can't). Either way, it was a fun ride Mike and we wish you the best. Where will he go...

Spa and Monza may have a greater percentage of the lap spent at full throttle, but the combination of corners, the relentless flow through the high speed sections and radial turns, esses and hairpins makes Suzuka one of the toughest challenges of the year for F1 engines. Suzuka is above average in terms of power sensitivity, not quite in the top five but not far off. There are long portions of the track where the throttle will be fully open with the engine running at close to maximum revs, for example the 130R corner, a curved straight 1,250m in length that stretches from the exit of turn 14 to the chicane leading onto the pit straight. Drivers will reach nearly 200 mph during this section. The high speed Esses are similar in profile to the Maggotts and Becketts complex at Silverstone ; a flowing sequence of interlinking turns that sees the car change direction rapidly at very high speed. This section is also combined with appreciable changes in pitch. The driver will ent...

Since Suzuka is fast approaching, I thought it'd be a good idea to post some information about the track for our general knowledge and a bit of fun. The following graphic is produced by the people behind the Red Bull Racing Spy App, which contains loads of information about the Red Bull Racing drivers and the Suzuka race course. For more great infographics, to follow the performance of both Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber for the rest of the Championship and to keep up to date with all the gossip from inside the paddock, download the FREE app here or search for the Red Bull Racing Spy in the app store. This is of course for all you iPhone owners out there.