Alvin's Formula One Blog

Even though we have yet to start the 2013 season, most teams are already looking forward and preparing for 2014 in earnest from now. They have been preparing since it was announced that in 2014 the engine formula will go through a drastic change - from a V8 to a V6 turbo. It is a huge change that will change the whole car, its behaviour and driving characteristics. Which in turn will change how drivers have to drive the car, how teams manage their strategies and ultimately how we enjoy our race as fans. Here is a Q&A with Rob White , Deputy Managing Director (Technical) at RenaultSport F1. He outlines the challenges they faced as engine suppliers and the end of an engine line that is the RS27 which has been in service for 8 years. With 2013 being the last year of the V8 engines, what remains to be optimised on the RS27? 2013 will be the last year of the V8 engines that, after eight years of service, will be retired at the end of the season to make way for the V6 in 2014. ...

The second winter testing at Barcelona has been done. The picture has gotten clearer although that would be an understatement. As with all F1 testing, different teams have different programs, run different fuel loads at different times with different tires, use different setups, etc. But does that put us F1 fans off trying to understand the order and trying to forecast who is strong and who has the fastest car? Of course not! It just makes us speculate more, forecast, argue and strengthen our opinions of our own favorite drivers and teams. I'm just like any other F1 fan out there, I'd like to know that my chosen driver and team has got it right. Has got the strongest package, are doing the right things, have the opportunity to test all their theories correctly on the track and dominate long and short runs, low and high fuel loads, hot or cold temperatures, maintain an even pace when the tires drop off. But, we have to be realistic. And base it on facts. And the...

Testing at Barcelona is done. Barcelona is important as it is a track that is used in the championship, teams will race here later although in warmer weather than it has been at this test. This test at Barcelona is also important as it usually shows up which team will be strong come Melbourne but as always it is very difficult to tell during testing as each team has a different program compared to the rest. Some may be sandbagging or hiding their potential. The next test in Barcelona as well should tell us more as teams have no choice but to show their hand as Melbourne is so close after that. For this test however, there have already been some good pointers to which team or driver stands a good chance open it's open season. We as fans do have to make our own analysis as best we can, so any and all information is always good. Below is re-produced an analysis done by Pirelli on their tire range performance so far. This is critical information for any serious F1 fan as we know...

Infographics. Don't you just love them? They tell a whole lot of story in a simple, clear and easy to understand format. Plus they look nice. We all like nice looking things, don't we? I would like to have more infographics here personally, will have to find the time to make them. Below I have a nice one for you, to start off this season. It was made by my friend Emma from TicketHangar . You can find the link to this infographic here . It is an interactive infographic so if you mouse over some of the elements, there will be extra information that pops out. If you scroll your mouse over the map, it will zoom in and out too. I hope you enjoy this infographic. Hopefully I will have some more soon. In the meantime, enjoy testing #2 at Barcelona!! 2013 Formula 1 Season | Created by TicketHangar If you enjoyed this posting, please do share it with your network so more people can enjoy it as well. Also, check out my t-shirt designs for Formula 1 fanatics, click on...

Pirelli has announced its compound choices for the first four races of the season, with a different selection scheduled for each race. At the first race in Australia supersoft and medium tyres will be used. A week later in Malaysia medium and hard will be made available. At the third round in China soft and medium tyres will be on offer and in Bahrain soft and hard tyres will be supplied. The compound choices are as follows: Melbourne: Supersoft and medium [2012 - Soft and Medium) Malaysia: Medium and Hard [2012 - Medium and Hard] China: Soft and Medium [2012 - Soft and Medium] Bahrain: Soft and Hard [2012 - Soft and Medium] Pirelli gave the following explanations for its choices: "In Australia, the P Zero White medium and P Zero Red supersoft tyres will be nominated: the first time that Pirelli has nominated the softest compound in the range for Melbourne. The full step in the compound choice should ensure a performance gap between the cars that allows strategy t...

P15 y'all. Better get used to it. P15??!! WTF?? Yeah, I know what you mean. For all those who are not aware yet, I am a Lewis Hamilton supporter. Not a die hard (maybe Bruce Willis) supporter as sometimes he does wrong (he's only human) and I give him his due shit. I met him in 2007 when he was in Sepang, Malaysia for his second race of his F1 career. I got to know his dad, Anthony well. We had "roti canai" on the streets of Malaysia and I drove them around, well mostly Anthony. So of course I had an interest in his career from the start. The fact that he is a damn fierce racer who throws the car around corners is also the reason why I'm a fan. So yes, I'm surprised as well to see him finish P15. Well, not really. It happens quite a few times with McLaren reliability lately. And with Mercedes, P15 could be his new jam studio. This is what we F1 fans would know and probably accept. Except some of those zombie die hard supporters out there. Yes you know ...

Watch me and weep Alonso! It's been a long winter. Almost 4 months of no F1 action is really tough on the faithful. But we survived the cold, boring winter. We made it to the car launches and finally to the first test of the season. The testing sessions, as short as they are, will tell us more of what we want to know. Who will be fast? Which car will be strong? Who will win this year's championship? So we all want to see all the answers that we possibly can from the first test. Anything that happens at the first test is taken either as a good or bad omen. Red Bull doing plenty of laps without any trouble means we'll have another year of the "finger". Mercedes toasting their car on the first day and shoving it in the barriers on the second is giving second thoughts to Lewis supporters. But what we've learnt over the years is that even though testing is fun, it rarely is the final word on form. The tests are there to well err...test. All the hard wor...

What a week this has been. 5 formula one teams launched their cars this week, you know what they say - When it rains, it pours. One day you're bubbling from the mouth on the floor with not much F1 news or stories to keep you barely alive, the next you're bleeding at the eyes trying to keep up with the flood. But as F1 fanatics, we love it and just can't have enough. It's like chocolate or cheese - you can never have enough. So, the teams that launched this week were McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, Sauber and Force India. Mercedes will launch on Monday at Jerez although their online PR stunt to create buzz for the W04 crashed their servers . Not a good omen, someone online posted that maybe their car should be called the "W404". Good one. Their online reveal can be found at www.mercedes-amg-f1.com . As we all know no F1 team will reveal the exact car that will be having the exact parts they will use in the test so these pictures here will be nice to look at and ...