2011 Predictions - Round 17, India

We hope to have our ongoing system issues resolved prior to the next Grand Prix!

In the meantime, please see below our predictions for the first ever Indian Grand Prix, which will see HRT's Narain Karthikeyan regain his first team drive.

Team Lotus' Indian driver Karun Chandhok, however, will only participate in Friday Practice.

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India Predictions

1. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
2. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren
3. Felipe Massa - Ferrari
4. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing
5. Mark Webber - Red Bull Racing
6. Michael Schumacher - Mercedes
7. Jenson Button - McLaren
8. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber
9. Vitaly Petrov - Renault
10. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
11. Rubens Barrichello - Williams
12. Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso
13. Sergio Perez - Sauber
14. Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso
15. Paul di Resta - Force India
16. Adrian Sutil - Force India
17. Bruno Senna - Renault
18. Pastor Maldonado - Williams
19. Jarno Trulli - Team Lotus
20. Heikki Kovalainen - Team Lotus
21. Timo Glock - Virgin
22. Jerome D'Ambrosio - Virgin
23. Daniel Ricciardo - Hispania
24. Narain Karthikeyan - Hispania

The F1RP is still expecting Red Bull to face tough competition in the remaining races. Also, Force India may not be too impressed with these predictions!

Make your own predictions for the race by commenting below.

Tony Fernandes Linked To Premier League

According to the Financial Times Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes is set to purchase the majority of Bernie Ecclestone's shares in Queens Park Rangers football club.

Ecclestone bought his shares in 2007 along with (at the time) Renault boss, Flavio Briatore, who has since surrendered most of his stake in the team to Ecclestone.

Fernandes is expected to purchase 51% of the team, with a further 11% being sold to Steel billionaire Lakshmi Vittal, who already owns 33%.

QPR were promoted to the Premier League for the 2011-2012 campaign, after winning the Championship the previous season. However, their first match saw them lose 0-4 at home to Bolton Wanderers.

For more on this story, visit www.en.espnf1.com


So, should Tony Fernandes purchase a stake in Queens Park Rangers?

Pros:
> Fernandes is a big fan of football, and follows the Premier League closely.
> Purchasing shares from Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone (who apparently is keen to sell his stake in the club quickly) would be a good way to get in the F1 supremo's good books.

Cons:
> Fernandes is a West Ham United fan, and is not shy to admit it. Although not being direct rivals (it's not like he's looking to purchase Millwall), they are still both London clubs.
> A cynical observer might suggest that if there was much more money to be obtained from the club, Ecclestone would probably stay involved.
> After a poor start to the season (albeit only after one game) QPR sit joint bottom. If they can't find their feet in the league quickly, they may find themselves heading back to the Championship - a league notoriously difficult to get out of!

Alternatives 1
> Tony Fernandes could look to invest in his favourite club, West Ham. Admittedly the Hammers already have a pair of millionaire owners, but after getting relegated to the Championship last season, they may be looking for an easy way out.

Alternative 2
> Fernandes runs the green and yellow Team Lotus Formula 1 team from their base on the outskirts of Norwich, Norfolk, UK. If only there was a green and yellow football team in the region, he could keep all of his sporting enterprises in one location.
Oh well, never mind eh?

Trulli Dropped For Germany

Team Lotus have confirmed that reserve driver Karun Chandhok will take Jarno Trulli's place for the German Grand Prix this weekend.

The switch is only expected to be for the German Grand Prix, yet it would not be surprising if it was to happen again at the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, which Chandhok and his family have been  heavily involved with.

It is not clear whether this is simply a contract 'bonus' for Chandhok, who is believed to bring a small sponsorship deal to the team.

Either way, it is clear that Trulli hasn't been having the best time recently, struggling with power-steering issues, and being openly critical of his season so far. He was quoted as saying that he would rather leave the sport than continue as he currently is.

Trulli fans needn't fear too much though, as team boss Tony Fernandes has confirmed that they are currently in negotiations with the veteran Italian over a possible contract extension. Whether this new contract will see Trulli continue as a driver, or perhaps switch to an advisory role remains to be seen.
Indian Chandhok is a popular character in the F1 paddock and occasional BBC 5Live commentator. He drove for the Hispania team for much of last season.
Chandhok would be a logical replacement for Trulli in the team, which is keen on promoting Formula 1 in Asia.

F1 journalist and "The Flying Lap" presenter Peter Windsor is not surprised by this switch, explaining that "it is a waste of Jarno's talent to have him in the car at present", as it does not suit his driving style.

Annoyingly for both the Formula 1 Results Predictor, and our Guest Predictor, Matt from FinalSector - this 11th hour announcement came after our predictions were published!

For more on this story, visit www.autosport.com
Or follow Peter on Twitter, @peterdwindsor

Lotus vs Lotus - Conclusion

To recap. Group Lotus (the car company, who sponsor the Renault F1 team) took Team Lotus (the 1Malaysia racing team, who run the Green and Yellow F1 cars) over the use of the "Team Lotus" name, which they claim the 1Malaysia team do not have the right to use.

In turn, Team Lotus took Group Lotus to court, as they prematurely cancelled an agreement with Team Lotus on the grounds of trademark infringement.

The judges decision - that 1Malaysia do have the right to continue operating under the Team Lotus name, and that Group Lotus were within their right to cancel their agreement for the reasons they did.

So to summarise, it appears to be a stalemate. Months of arguments, bitterness and disagreements, and nothing has really changed. It is understood however, that Group Lotus are contesting the decision.
To make things a bit easier, we will now be referring to the black and gold cars as Renault's, and the green and yellow cars as Team Lotus.

For more information on this story, visit www.autoblog.com

Group Lotus have now announced that they may have to make as many as 99 redundancies from their British base in Hethel, Norfolk. However, this is likely to have more affect on the road car operations.

For more on this story, visit www.eveningnews24.co.uk

Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes, however, has announced that he is in early stage talks over a possible purchase of his favourite football team, West Ham United.

For more updates from Mr Fernandes, follow @tonyfernandes on Twitter.

The End Of Qualifying?

Jarno Trulli, one of the most experienced drivers in Formula One, has claimed that this season may see the end of qualifying as we currently know it.

The veteran Italian driver, now in his second season with the emerging Team Lotus, has experienced many changes to his sport in his career, which spans three decades.

Trulli's argument is that drivers are now choosing to conserve tyres, rather than trying to set the fastest lap.
The idea started when Mark Webber sensationally failed to reach Q2, due to choosing not to use soft tyres. However, he was able to progress from 18th to 3rd on race day, as he still had all his faster soft tyres available.
Therefore, in the most recent race in Turkey, drivers were making just one run in Q3, even if their time wasn't particularly competitive. Felipe Massa, for example, failed to set a time on his first attempt in Q3, yet still chose not to go out again on another set of tyres, and instead accepted 10th on the grid.

Trulli admits that the races are now more exciting due to the new Pirelli tyres, but he believes qualifying will become more tactical, and less of a spectacle.

For more, see www.autosport.com

New Team Lotus Purchase - Update

Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes has confirmed that he has no immediate plans to rename the Formula One team, following their acquisition of Caterham Cars.

However, Team Lotus' GP2 outfit - currently team AirAsia - is expected to be renamed Caterham, with AirAsia the title sponsor.

The deal does, however, provide Fernandes and co with a suitable option, should they lose the current court case they are embroiled in (against Group Lotus)  and are forced to rename the team.
Fernandes has denied the Caterham deal was made because he "expected" to lose the case.

For more on this story, visit www.autosport.com

New Team Lotus Purchase - Confirmed

As expected, Team Lotus confirmed today that they have indeed purchased Caterham Cars.

Caterham, who produce the 'Seven' track / road car as designed by Lotus, recently announced a new model was to be released - the SP/300.R, but the company have found it difficult to market their vehicles to the global market with limited funds.

This deal will presumably see the Caterham logo given a prominent position on the Team Lotus F1 car, as currently the most prominent logo is that of EQ8, an energy drink company also owned by the Team Lotus group.

For more on this story, visit www.teamlotus.co.uk
Or to learn more about Caterham Cars, visit www.caterham.co.uk

Could Team Lotus Be Rebranded?

Team Lotus have recently released details of an "incredibly exciting announcement" which will be revealed to the World during a straight-line aero test day in Duxford next week.

Rumours have started to spread that this announcement relates to the team buying the sports car maufacturer Caterham.

Caterham have strong links to the Lotus brand, originally distributing the cars, and later becoming the sole producer of the famous Seven road / track car.

Formula One journalist Joe Saward confirms in his blog that he has checked Companies House, and sure enough "Kamarudin Meranun and Anthony Francis Fernandes were appointed directors of Caterham Cars Group Ltd and Caterham Cars Ltd a little more than a week ago". (Visit http://joesaward.wordpress.com for full story).

This purchase could well be an opportunity for Team Lotus to 'get one over' on Group Lotus, by buying a company with close ties to Lotus Cars.

Alternatively, with a high profile legal battle currently taking place in the British courts regarding the naming rights of Team Lotus (separate story, click here), could this possibly be a potential new name for the team, now entering their second season in the sport?

When the announcement has been made by the team, you can be sure that we will let you know the outcome!

With thanks to toomuchracing.com for alerting us to this story.

107% Qualifying Rule

The reintroduction of the 107 per cent qualifying rule created it's first victims in the first race of the 2011 season.

Neither Hispania managed to reach the required time in the first session of qualifying, and were therefore not eligible to take part in the race on Sunday.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in Q1 of 1:25.296, the Hispania cars therefore needed a lap time below 1:31.267 in order to qualify. This was always going to be a big ask for a team who had not tested their car at all pre-season - the first time the cars were driven was during the practice sessions for the first Grand Prix.

Vitantonio Liuzzi's best time was just over a second outside of this margin, with Narain Karthikeyan finishing approximately 1.3 seconds further back.

The question is, how often will the cars manage to qualify, especially without being able to use the race days as valuable testing mileage?
Also, although the other 'new' teams (Team Lotus and Marussia Virgin) were able to qualify on this occassion, how confident should they be of repeating this achievement in future races?

We have therefore compiled a list of how the three new teams would have fared if the 107% rule would have applied in 2010, based on 2010 qualifying times. (Driver '1' being the highest qualifier in each race):

The good news for Team Lotus is that both of their cars qualified within 107% of the fastest time at every race last year.

There are exceptions to the rule, for example during changeable weather conditions, or if a driver has proven previously that they are quick enough (for example in Free Practice), the FIA may allow them to participate in the race.

For more information on this rule, visit www.formula1.com

Chandhok Confirmed For Team Lotus

Former Hispania driver Karun Chandhok has been confirmed as Team Lotus test driver for 2011.

This move has been on the cards for some time now, but has finally been confirmed, with team boss Tony Fernandes claiming the move is "another great day for Team Lotus".

Chandhok will be lining up alongside three other test/reserve drivers, although he is expected to drive the car on Friday during the Australian Grand Prix practice sessions.

For more on this story, visit www.autosport.com

New Twist In The Lotus v Lotus Saga

On the day that the (Team) Lotus v (Group) Lotus courtcase was due to begin, a new disagreement has broken out between Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes, and the man who at one stage appeared to be their trump card in the whole disagreement, David Hunt.

Hunt, the brother of former Formula One star James, bought the rights to the Team Lotus name when the team folded in the mid 90's, and vowed to one day return to the team to a "worthy custodian" who could help return the marque to the front of the grid.

However, Hunt has now claimed that Fernandes has tried to renegotiate on an agreement which they made following the completion of the 2010 season.

"He (Fernandes) apparently 'changed his mind' at the 11th hour, by his own admission, now that I've done so much work on his company's behalf, and he's trying to renegotiate by offering new terms which are, frankly, ludicrous,".

Team Lotus have strongly denied these claims.

"Team Lotus has an agreement with David Hunt which was signed by both parties,"

"David Hunt has tried to renegotiate that agreement, which Team Lotus is not prepared to do."

These unfortunate events may result in a further court case for Team Lotus, who will start their second season in Australia this weekend. Whatever the final decision of the court may be, we can only hope that it will not affect the team's on-track performances.

For more on this story, visit www.telegraph.co.uk

2011 Preview: The 'New' Teams

Part one of our 2011 preview focuses on the three teams which were new to the grid in 2010.

These three teams were also the only three on the grid unable to score a single World Championship point, and their positions were decided based on their highest results. This did not come as a surprise to many, however, as their inclusion in the Championship was only confirmed shortly before testing began, giving the teams minimal time to design and build their cars.

These teams will be looking to improve in 2011, and will be aiming to score at least a point, particularly with Bernie Ecclestone repeatedly claiming that the Championship only requires ten teams.

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Starting with Marussia Virgin Racing. Classified 12th last season, the Cosworth-powered team founded by entrepreneur Richard Branson will be looking for an improved run of results this year.

The experienced Timo Glock will once again be the team's number one driver, despite technically finishing lower down the order last season than rookie Lucas di Grassi. Glock will certainly feel he has a point to prove now, even though he has admitted that the new car is probably still not quick enough to challenge the midfield runners.
Glock does not appear to be someone who is happy just making up the numbers at the back of the field. He will be encouraging his team and engineers to provide him with a good car, with which he can compete with the established teams.

The second driver for this season is Jerome D'Ambrosio, who is believed to have brought additional sponsorship to the team which aided his ascension to a first team drive. The young Belgian will want to show that he is worthy of competing at the pinacle of motorsport and will certainly keep Glock on his toes.

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The next team to look at is Colin Kolles' HRT F1 Team (Hispania). This Cosworth-Powered team are certainly not the richest team in the sport, with many suggesting they would not last an entire season. However, last it they did, and they're back again in 2011. They even managed to finish in the rankings above Virgin last year, despite using four different drivers over the course of the season, and missing pre-season testing in it's entirety.
The 2011 car is probably not too dissimilar to it's predecessor, and will have been based around the 2010 model with a few modifications. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond the team's control, they missed all of the 2011 pre-season tests again.

Vitantonio Liuzzi was the final driver announcement for the year, having been relieved of his position as Force India driver at the end of last year. The often outspoken Italian is fighting to keep his Formula One career alive. It will be interesting to see how he copes with life at the back of the grid, and how he copes if he is expected to lead the team.

Liuzzi's team mate is Indian Narain Karthikeyan, who formerly competed in Formula One for Jordan, among others, but spent last season competing in the NASCAR Trucks series. He is a hard working and committed driver, who recently admitted that he spent all of his savings that he earned in the States on securing this drive.

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Finally, we have Team Lotus. Definitely the most competitive of the new teams, and the team that came closest to the ellusive World Championship point. This will certainly be an interesting season for the team, both on the track and off, as they have got at least two court dates booked due to ongoing disputes regarding the use of the Lotus name. On track, however, they will certainly be looking to catch the midfield runners, as they have signed a deal with Red Bull Technology for their transmission package and will use Renault engines in an effort to acheive their goals.

Driver one for the team is Jarno Trulli. Trulli is one of the most experienced drivers in the field, having first competed in Formula One back in 1997. The Italian was outperformed by team mate Heikki Kovalainen for much of last season and will want to correct that this year.
He knows, however, that he is in the Autumn of his Formula One career, and will need a stong season to ensure he is offered a drive in 2012.

Heikki Kovalainen once again partners Trulli. The Finn had a strong season last year, and was only a few positions from scoring points on a number of occassions. However, Kovalainen's season will perhaps be best remembered for his fireman antics in the Singapore Grand Prix, singlehandedly extinguishing the flames from his burning car.
Kovalained will want to return to the front of the field, where he was when competing in the number 2 McLaren in 2009.

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It will be interesting to see whether any of these teams can score points in 2011, or whether their lack of budget, KERS and DRS (adjustable rear wing) will mean they will have to be content just racing each other.

Has Formula One Become Too Complicated?

Formula One drivers no longer have to simply drive their car. There is so much else they have to do at the same time.

For example, it is not considered unreasonable to expect a driver to use the KERS 'boost' button, the adjustable rear wing and to make other adjustments to the car on the same straight.

On occasions last season, Fernando Alonso was seen to operate his 'F-Duct' with his left hand and adjust some settings on his steering wheel with his right hand, effectively travelling at up to 200mph with no hands on the wheel!

Although F-Ducts are banned for 2011, the additional performance enhancers do raise a question of safety, as drivers should be fully focussed on the track ahead and the other drivers they share the track with. This has led some drivers to question the necessity of all the different driver assists.
After his first test session in the 2011 spec Williams, Rubens Barrichello commented:
"The only drawback from the day is that the number of buttons on the steering wheel can distract you from the driving"
"I don't think it's a danger, but I think it's a concern. In terms of execution, the additional controls are obviously necessary, but people have different steering wheels, so drivers may therefore be able to reach some buttons easier than others."
"The problem is you are taking your eye off the road. There is not a single straight where I don't press a button and change gear. In my role in the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) we will keep talking about this, but I think the FIA will let us practice a little more. I think the strong comments will come now but will lessen as people get used to things."
(For this story in full visit ESPN.com)

Any drivers who struggle to utilise all the new tools at their disposal may find they miss out on valuable time, as Nico Rosberg explained:
"Sometimes its very complicated out there because my mind is concentrating on testing something, at the same time, I have someone shouting in my ear You forgot KERS, you forgot KERS!"
"Once you forget it, youre in a mess. Its quite confusing sometimes."
(For this story in full visit F1live.net)

To give you an idea of how much more technical the sport has become in recent years, here is a YouTube video - onboard with Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill in 1994.



For comparison, here is a 2011 Team Lotus steering wheel, which was loaned to BBC F1 presenter Jake Humphrey for a charity event (@jakehumphreyf1 on Twitter.com) and this is from a team who don't have KERS!

Hopefully, with one more test still to go before the new season, the drivers will have enough time to become fully familiar with their cars.

Alternatively, F1 journalist James Allen has suggested that now is the time to really encourage teams to employ female drivers, due to their superior multi-tasking abilities! (To read his full article, visit www.jamesallenonf1.com)

The Pros and Cons of KERS

The 2011 Formula One season sees the re-introduction of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System), which stores energy used by the car (for example, under braking) and stores the energy to be used as a performance boost, activated using a 'Push To Pass' button on the steering wheel.

KERS can only be operated by the driver, and is limited to a fixed amount of boost (equivalent to just a few seconds) per lap.

As the system effectively recycles energy, usually by recharging a battery stored in the car, it is seen as a 'green' performance enhancer and is therefore used in an effort to increase the sport's environmental image.

Use of the system is encouraged, but not compulsory. It is thought, however, that teams using KERS will see a significant performance increase over their rivals. The nine established teams are expected to begin the season with a KERS system in place, but apparently Marussia Virgin and HRT will not use the system in 2011. Team Lotus may introduce KERS to their cars later in the season.

The main disadvantage of KERS is the significant weight of the battery which can hamper performance, as explained on the Formula1.com website:
"A typical KERS system weighs around 35 kilograms. Formula One cars must weigh at least 620kg (including the driver), but traditionally teams build the car to be considerably lighter and then use up 70kg of ballast to bring it up to weight. This means that teams with KERS have less ballast to move around the car and hence have less freedom to vary their car’s weight distribution. Heavier drivers are at a particular disadvantage, an issue addressed by the raising of the minimum car weight for the 2011 season."

With this in mind, we have produced a table showing the height and weight of each of the drivers involved in the 2011 season, below:

*These teams are not expected to run KERS during 2011

This data suggests that Force India may be the most affected by running KERS, as they have the largest drivers, and perhaps Sauber may benefit the most, as their drivers are the smallest. However, each team runs a different KERS design, with different levels of success and reliability. Williams have even discussed the possibility of using a flywheel based KERS system in place of a battery later in the season.

How big a part will KERS play in 2011? Only time will tell.

The Effect Of Tyre Wear

Several drivers and teams have expressed concerns with the effects of the wear-rate of the new Pirelli tyres, with Team Lotus driver Jarno Trulli stating "I think something is still missing in the development, because the tyres aren't balanced yet". (For this story in full, see www.autosport.com)

It is claimed that the tyres degrade much quicker than last year's Bridgestone tyres - and F1 correspondent James Allen can prove this! His website now shows graphs showing lap times from 2010 tests, and compares the times to the 2011 tests.
To view the graphs and read the full story, see www.jamesallenonf1.com

However, increased tyre wear may not be entirely negative, from a viewer's point of view at least, as BBC F1 commentator Martin Brundle - @MBrundleF1 - explained on his Twitter page:

"Drivers will bitch like crazy bt I'm really liking what I'm seeing out on track. They are really having to drive the cars, loads of mistakes"

"Mercedes has poor traction, McLaren looks shocking as if on cold tyres, Red Bull+Ferrari+Renault Lotus Lada+Williams all pounding round"

"Torro Rosso looks solid, Buemi is chasing the throttle as hard as anybody. Watching cars it's definitely going to be a wild+variable season"

Let us know what you think by commenting below!

Heidfeld Stakes Claim To Lotus-Renault Seat

If Nick Heidfeld needed to proove he had the ability to replace the injured Robert Kubica for Lotus-Renault, then his performance today will certainly go someway towards that.

Heidfeld set the fastest lap in the third test at Jerez today, heading Fernando Alonso by just over a tenth of a second.

Unofficial timing puts Schumacher in third, Hamilton fourth, Kobayashi fifth and Vettel sixth, but Schumacher is already looking towards future updates to improve the Mercedes' pace and has expressed concerns that the team still need to get more testing laps under their belt.

Promisingly for Team Lotus, Heikki Kovalainen's best lap was only 0.7 seconds off Schumacher's pace, which suggests some major steps forward have been acheived by the team.

For more, see www.bbc.co.uk/sport

Chandhok To Drive New Lotus

Karun Chandhok's chance of becoming Team Lotus test driver became a bit more likely today, as it was confirmed that the Indian driver will drive their new car in the next official test session in Jerez.

It is believed that this will lead to him signing as the team's test driver for the 2011 season.

Honour For Fernandes

Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes has been awarded a CBE for 'services to promote commercial and educational links' between the UK and Malaysia.

As well as running Team Lotus, Fernandes is also responsible for the airline AirAsia, and Tune Group.

See www.autosport.com

Chandhok To Sign For Team Lotus?

Karun Chandhok, the former Hispania driver, is likely to sign for Team Lotus in the near future.

Team Lotus are currently without a test driver after parting ways with Fairuz Fauzy, and Chandhok, who spent time during testing at Valencia chatting to Team Lotus owner Tony Fernandes and chief mechanic Mike Gascoigne, is favourite to fill the role.

Interestingly, Chandhok's good friend and former Hispania teammate Bruno Senna has this week been confirmed as test driver for Lotus-Renault GP.

Keep checking www.f1predict.blogspot.com for more F1 news!

More New Cars Unveiled

Renault, Lotus and Sauber have all launched their 2011 machines today.

The black and gold renault is very striking, but looks sufficiently different from the JPS cars of past, so as to avoid any potential law suits.

The new Lotus car features the same colour scheme as last year, but the shape of the car is much more fluid in comparison to the slightly square previous incarnation.

The Sauber C30 doesn't look too dissimilar to the 2010 model, but is perhaps slightly bulkier and more aggressive looking.

For stories and pictures, see www.bbc.co.uk/sport or for Lotus pictures, see www.flickr.com/myteamlotus