2011 Formula One Calendar

2011 FIA Formula 1 World Championship Race Calendar (Provisional)

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
*	Bahrain	BIC	March 11-13
1	Australian	Albert Park	March 25-27
2	Malaysian	Sepang	April 8-10
3	Chinese	Shanghai	April 15-17
4	Turkish	Istanbul	May 6-8
5	Spanish	Catalunya	May 20-22
6	Monaco	Monaco	May 26-29
7	Canadian	Gilles Villeneuve	June 10-12
8	European	Spain	June 24-26
19	British	Silverstone	July 8-10
10	German	N�rburgring	July 22-24
11	Hungarian	Hungaroring	July 29-31
12	Belgian	Spa	August 26-28
13	Italian	Monza	September 9-11
14	Singapore	Singapore	September 23-25
15	Japanese	Suzuka	October 7-9
16	Korean	KIC	October 14-16
17	Indian	Noida	October 28-30
18	Abu Dhabi	Yas Marina	November 11-13
19	Brazilian	Interlagos	November 25-27

* Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix postponed ? future date to be confirmed

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/F1InsightAFormula1Blog/~3/y2nC_JY9eoY/2011-formula-one-calendar.html

Kyle Busch Denny Hamlin David Carl Allison Gregory Jack Biffle

Renault R31 launch pictures (31st of January)

Lotus Renault GP unveiled their much-discussed 2011 challenger, the R31, in the pit lane of Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit on 31st Jan'11.

Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov revealed the R31, with reserves Romain Grosjean, Bruno Senna, Jan Charouz and Fairuz Fauzy.

Technical specifications

Chassis	Moulded carbon fibre and aluminium honeycomb composite monocoque, with engine incorporated as a fully-stressed member
Suspension (front)	Carbon fibre double wishbone, operating inboard torsion bar and damper units via a pushrod system
Suspension (rear)	As front except via a pullrod system
Engine	Renault RS27-2011 2,400 cc (146.5 cu in) 90� V8, limited to 18,000 RPM with KERS naturally aspirated mid-mounted
Transmission	Seven-speed semi-automatic titanium gearbox with reverse gear "Quickshift" system
Weight	640 kg (1,411 lb) (including driver)
Fuel	Total
Tyres	Pirelli P Zero
	OZ Wheels (front and rear): 13"

Links

Renault R31 ? Launch Details and Analysis (Scarbsf1's Blog)
"What was formerly the Renault F1 Team and now Lotus Renault GP (I?ll use the term LRGP for this article) have unveiled their new car the R31. It seems some critical details are not fitted to the car for its unveiling, indeed the car was shown only briefly to the press before it was covered back up and returned to the garage. Despite the mystery surrounding the cars exhaust exit location, its clear this is a very new design for the team. In creating this the team were given a mandate to take risks, which probably explains the very different front and rear end treatments."

Renault R31 Front Exit Exhausts (FEE) ? Explained (Scarbsf1's Blog)
"Renault have found a new solution to the blown diffuser concept. In fact they?ve turned it on its head. With an exhaust that exits at the front of the sidepods.

Last years teams reintroduced the blown diffuser concept, either by blowing exhaust gasses over the top of the diffuser, or by creating an opening into the diffuser to blow inside the diffuser. Both solutions created more downforce. With the latter solution now banned, it seemed the less effective over-blown solutions are all that?s left to race."

Renault R31 launch pictures

Photos � Renault/LAT

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/F1InsightAFormula1Blog/~3/7EFQv-5Iy78/renault-r31-launch-pictures-31st-of.html

Jason Keller T Coleman Pressley Mike Wallace Hermie Sadler III

Mercedes MGP W02 Launch pictures ( 1st of February)

Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg revealed their 2011 challenger, the Mercedes MGP W02 on Tuesday 1st February 2011, shortly before the first test session of the year began in Valencia.

The car?s livery is an evolution from its predecessor with a striking high-gloss airbrush effect highlighting the shape of the car. The interaction between the Silver Arrows heritage and the green shading representing the team?s title partner PETRONAS evokes memories of the first Silver Arrow car of 1934 with a modern touch added by 3D partner logos.

The car hasn?t only had an attractive re-spray, it is more of a revolutionary car which has little in common with its predecessor, the Mercedes W01.

Mercedes GP had switched focus on the development of their new car ever since midway last season, when team boss Ross Brawn realized the W01 challenger was not going to make any championship statements in 2010.

?The new Silver Arrow for the 2011 season has little in common with its immediate predecessor. Our chassis engineers have taken a fairly ruthless approach and were determined to shave off every superfluous gram and millimetre. What emerged from this process is a compact and exquisitely shaped vehicle that introduces a host of sophisticated solutions and truly reflects the enormous dedication of its constructors.?

- Norbert Haug

Link
Confident Mercedes set ambitious targets for MGP W02 ( The Official F1)
"A confident-looking Mercedes GP launched their 2011 car in the Valencia pit lane on Tuesday. After their championship-winning success as Brawn in 2009, the team endured a hit and miss 2010 season and are now targeting a return to their winning ways with the new MGP W02, which will once again be driven by Nico Rosberg and seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher."


Mercedes MGP W02 Launch pictures

Photos � Mercedes GP/LAT

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/F1InsightAFormula1Blog/~3/IhmQi_dp4Cg/mercedes-mgp-w02-launch-pictures-1st-of.html

Piercarlo Ghinzani Bruno Giacomelli Dick Gibson Gimax

Pirelli to change colours to differentiate tyres in 2011

Pirelli will not only bring more aggressive tyres into Formula One this year, but also ensure a more colorful method to differentiate the multitude of compounds for the 2011 season. According to Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, backed by several other Italian media, Pirelli has come up with a different color scheme for their F1 tyres.

Back when the International Automobile Federation (FIA) asked former F1 sole supplier Bridgestone to differentiate the appearance of the soft and hard compounds, the Japanese company chose to paint a line in a middle groove of the soft options. The next season, when slicks came into play once again, Bridgestone marked the soft compound with a green circle on the sidewall.

For 2011, all F1 tyres will have the words ?Pirelli P Zero? written on the sidewall, but the color of the writing will change based on the compound, as follows:

• The super-soft wording will reportedly be in red
• The soft will be in white
• The medium in blue
• The hard in yellow

In addition to that, the full wet and intermediate tyres will also feature different colors, with the former having the ?Pirelli P Zero? mark painted in yellow and the latter in red.

According to a report from the GMM news agency, the FIA will distribute Pirelli's tyres to the teams after randomly shuffling the code numbers at grands prix, just so that favoritism claims will not be issued.

Pirelli has recently ended its last testing session prior to the first official group test of the winter in Valencia, as Pedro de la Rosa drove the TF109 test car in Abu Dhabi in wet conditions, at night. After evaluating the behavior of Pirelli's wet and intermediate compounds, the marque's research and development boss Maurizio Boiocci admitted he is yet to find out how the additional speed ensured by the introduction of KERS and adjustable rear wings will affect the tyres.

?If the speed came on gradually, for sure there would be no problems. But it remains to be seen what happens when all the power comes on suddenly,? said Boiocci.


Article (C) Ovidiu Panzariu, Image(C) Pirelli

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/F1InsightAFormula1Blog/~3/iW2fhYHXXjo/pirelli-to-change-colours-to.html

Geki Olivier Gendebien Marc Gené Elmer George

NASCAR Tickets - Danica Patrick Jumping Ships to NASCAR?

A year ago, Danica Patrick was in Japan, recording the first victory by a woman in an Indy Racing League event. This weekend, she will be outside of Los Angeles, driving in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Her contract with Andretti Green is about to expire and many American's are often scratching their heads, wondering where the beautiful woman will be in a year from now? Many will recall Patrick turned the esteemed Indianapolis 500 upside down in 2005, by leading the race for 19 laps and finishing in fourth place. It was the first time a woman had accomplished such a feat and to do so at the age of 23 was remarkable. Get NASCAR tickets and see Patrick burning rubber on the tracks.

Since then, she has been one of the most recognizable faces for the I.R.L. But many are wondering if she will remain in the open-wheel world of I.R.L. or will the young lady change her scenery and move on to NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series? Moving to NASCAR certainly sounds interesting, especially since a woman has never won a cup race. No woman has ever completed a full season. Humpy Wheeler, the chairman of the Wheeler Company consulting firm and former president of Lowe's Motor Speedway in North Carolina believes Patrick would have a huge impact on the sport. The Chairman added that since sixty percent of the NASCAR crowd is male and once they find out a pretty woman owns the track, she will be a ticket-selling machine.

Can you picture Patrick zooming alongside NASCAR superstars Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.? That alone would increase the sport's popularity by a wide margin. That combined with the fact that she is well known and well liked would certainly provide the sport with a deep level of marketing impact. If Danica decides to pursues NASCAR there is no question that it will be one of the biggest stories of the year, producing a ton of media coverage, which will generate consumer and fan engagement as well as corporate attention. However, appeal does not guarantee success. Juan Pablo, Sam Hornish, and Dario Franchitti were top drivers in the I.R.L. who struggled once they made the move to NASCAR.

There are plenty of fans who believe Danica would be best served taking the best I.R.L. deal. Eddie Gossage, the president of Texas Motor Speedway, which hosts NASCAR and I.R.L. events expressed concern over Patrick moving to NASCAR. He added that he would love to hand her the winner's trophy at an I.R.L. race. Gossage believes she is arguably one of the two or three best-known female athletes in the world. So what does Danica want? She has reported to the media that business considerations would play a part in where she drives in 2010. The driver also ruled out Formula One as an unlikely option for her since she doesn't want to travel the world. The one main concern about going to NASCAR that worries her is that the Sprint Cup schedule is a grueling 36 races while the I.R.L.'s is only 18.

This article was sponsored by StubHub. StubHub sells NASCAR tickets, as well as many other kinds of sports tickets, concert tickets, special events tickets and theater tickets.

Article Source: NASCAR Tickets - Danica Patrick Jumping Ships to NASCAR?

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/263154/nascar-tickets-danica-patrick-jumping-ships-to-nascar

Theo Helfrich Mack Hellings Brian Henton Johnny Herbert