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China\’s Ho-Pin Tung steps up with Renault

Ho-Pin Tung broke new ground with Renault on Sunday when be became the first Chinese driver to be named in a Formula One team line-up.

Formula One drivers Vitaly Petrov of Russia (front) and Ho-Pin Tung of China pose for the media during the Renault F1 Team\’s presentation at the Cheste racetrack in Valencia January 31, 2010.[Agencies]
The Dutch-born 27-year-old, already the first Chinese national to drive a grand prix car, will be Renault\’s official third (reserve) driver this season.
Tung will also be racing in the GP2 support series with the DAMS team in Renault colours.
\”This step will be the breakthrough I think in terms of media attention, of interest,\” he told Reuters at the launch of the new Renault F1 car.
\”I will be the first Chinese guy ever who is officially part of a Formula One team and that\’s going to be a big thing, I think.
\”It\’s a very nice thing. China has had a race since 2004 but never had a Chinese involvement within a team. Now they have, and I\’m really looking forward to it.\”
Tung first tested with Williams in December 2003 after winning that year\’s Asian Formula BMW series, and again with Renault late last year.
He is managed by Gravity Sport Management, owned by Genii capital who recently bought a large stake in the Renault team, and had been linked to a possible race drive.
\”As a driver you always want to race but in the end this is a fantastic opportunity,\” he said. \”To be officially third driver is already a big thing. I am showing the world I am on the threshold of Formula One.
\”I hope to gain as much experience as I can and gain a race drive in the near future.\”
Asked whether he might get a chance to drive in Friday practice in this year\’s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, Tung said he would certainly be there.
\”Never say no but for the moment that\’s not the case,\” he said of the possibility of a home track appearance.
Team principal Eric Boullier said it was unlikely to happen, given limited testing opportunities, but it depended on how the team performed.
\”Depending on where we are standing on the grid, we can allow then a little bit more flexibility with our third drivers,\” he said.

Ralf Schumacher set for F1 return

Following Michael Schumacher footstep, little brother Ralf could be set to return to Grand Prix racing, Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone is reported having said on Wednesday.
Ralf, 34, retired from Formula One in 2007 after 10 years on the circuit to race in Germany\’s DTM touring car competition, but Ecclestone says he has recommended the younger Schumacher brother to the new Stefan GP team who have taken over from Toyota.
Serbian businessman Zoran Stefanovic has taken over the team\’s finances and Ralf, winner of six Grand Prix\’ from 180 starts and whose best finish in the overall standings was fourth twice, has been recommended to drive for the new outfit with elder brother Michael set to drive for Mercedes this season.
Ecclestone says he does not expect Formula One teams USF1 and Campos to race this season and says Schumacher should race for Stefan having driven for them under the Toyota banner in 2007.
\”Ralf Schumacher would be the perfect driver for them, he knows the team and he has experience,\” Ecclestone told German magazine Sport Bild.
Schumacher has no DTM contract for 2010 and there have been reports here he is eager to get a Formula One berth for the new season which starts on March 14 in Bahrain.

Alonso makes a quick start with Ferrari

Fernando Alonso delighted his legions of Spanish Formula One fans on Wednesday with the quickest time in testing on an emotional debut for Ferrari.

Ferrari Formula One driver Fernando Alonso of Spain is seen in his team box during a testing session at the Ricardo Tormo race track in Cheste, just outside Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]
The double world champion, who was cheered on by an astonishing 36,000-strong weekday crowd at Valencia\’s Ricardo Tormo circuit, played down suggestions of being the early favourite in the title race, however.
\”No, I don\’t think so. It\’s just the first day,\” the former Renault driver said.
Traffic jams clogged the access roads in the morning as fans flocked to see their hero\’s first drive in the F10.
Alonso, who has replaced Finland\’s Kimi Raikkonen as Brazilian Felipe Massa\’s team mate at the Italian team, was immediately on the pace and stayed on top of the timesheets for the rest of the day.
The times were inconclusive, however, with fuel tanks doubled in size due to the ban on refuelling during races this season and some cars undoubtedly running lighter than others.
As a result, Alonso warned against expecting too much from Ferrari when the championship starts in Bahrain on March 14.
\”I think maybe as we topped the times all three days it is related to fuel load or maybe because it\’s true we are competitive,\” he said.
\”But before being competitive we need to make sure we do a lot of laps and that the car is strong and can finish all the grands prix.
\”For me the priority was getting completely comfortable,\” he added. \”There are many things to discover for me, many things to learn. We need to make the car very strong and, until Barcelona (the first race of the European season in May), I don\’t think we will look at the performance.\”
Alonso, who said his first day in a Ferrari had been a \”very emotional one\”, completed 127 laps — more than anyone else on Wednesday.
\”I had a good base in the car thanks to Felipe\’s job during the first two days,\” said the 2005 and 2006 champion. \”I think it was a really, really big help for me because I didn\’t lose time with the set-up of the car.
\”I just concentrated on my comfort in the car because Felipe\’s set-up was good enough to keep running in the morning. I\’ve been taking information from him which was a help.\”

India\’s Chandhok secures F1 drive

India\’s Karun Chandhok will make his Formula One race debut with HRT this season, the new Spanish-based team said in a statement yesterday.
The 26-year-old Chennai-born driver will partner Brazilian rookie Bruno Senna at the cash-strapped team, which has changed its name from Campos Meta, when the season starts in Bahrain next week.
\”We have been very impressed with Karun\’s performance in GP2,\” said team principal Colin Kolles. \”It will be great for the sport to have an Indian driver on the grid for the first Indian Grand Prix.\”
India, with a circuit under construction near New Delhi, is due to make its debut on the race calendar next year.
The only other Indian driver to have raced in Formula One was Narain Karthikeyan for the Jordan team, at the time also run by Kolles, in 2005.
Chandhok also partnered Senna, nephew of the late triple world champion Ayrton, in the GP2 support series.
HRT, also known as Hispania Racing F1 Team, changed its name this month after Campos was bought by Spanish businessman Jose Ramon Carabante.
The Cosworth-powered car, which has not been tested ahead of the March 14 season-opener, was unveiled yesterday in the southeastern city of Murcia where the first Spanish F1 team will be based.
Meanwhile, Russian carmaker Lada\’s branding will appear on Renault F1 cars this season under an agreement announced yesterday.
The team, which has Russia\’s first F1 driver Vitaly Petrov making his debut in Bahrain, said in a statement that the deal also covered overalls and team uniform.
French carmaker Renault has a 25 percent stake in loss-making Lada maker AvtoVAZ, Russia\’s biggest auto manufacturer, and sees Russia as a priority market.
\”We are proud to announce this new agreement, which marks another important step for the Renault F1 Team and Formula One in Russia,\” said team chairman Gerard Lopez, adding said the agreement was signed in Moscow on Monday.

Malaysia F1 to draw big crowd

Malaysian Grand Prix organizers hope to attract more than 100,000 spectators to next month\’s Formula One race with renewed interest following the return of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.
Ticket sales dropped sharply last year amid the global economic crisis, attracting only 80,000 spectators compared to about 120,000 in 2008.
But the local economy is rebounding and Schumacher\’s return after three years of retirement has set the stage for one of the most anticipated title duels in Formula One, Mokhzani Mahathir, chairman of organizer Sepang International Circuit said yesterday.
The return of the Lotus brand after 16 years, backed by the Malaysian government and businessmen, adds to the excitement of the new season, Mokhzani said. In addition, national oil company Petronas has also become the title sponsor of Schumacher\’s Mercedes GP team.
\”We hope to achieve more than 100,000 (spectators) this year. With Lotus, Mercedes and the return of Schumacher, we are seeing renewed interest in F1,\” Mokhzani said.
Lotus won 79 F1 races and seven constructors\’ titles between 1958 and 1994 before the team collapsed due to money problems. Mercedes-Benz has returned to F1 racing under its own name for the first time in 55 years by buying Brawn GP, which won the drivers\’ and constructors\’ championship last season.
This year\’s Malaysian GP on April 4, the third leg of the F1 circuit after Bahrain and Australia, will start an hour earlier at 4pm local time, officials said.
The 2009 race – which started at 5pm to better suit European fans – was suspended after 33 laps as a tropical storm lashed the Sepang International Circuit, making conditions impossible for drivers. It was ultimately brought to an early end just before 7pm, making it the shortest Formula One race in 18 years.

Massa arrives in Doha for Bahrain Grand Prix

Ferrari\’s Brazilian Felipe Massa(L) gestures during a press conference in Doha, capital of Qatar, March 10, 2010. Massa arrives to prepare for Sunday\’s Bahrain Grand Prix. (Xinhua/Chen Shaojin)

Alonso marks Ferrari debut with F1 Bahrain victory


Ferrari\’s Spanish driver Fernando Alonso holds the trophy after winning the Bahrain F1 Grand Prix at Sakhir circuit in Manama March 14, 2010. Alonso won his Ferrari debut with 1h 39m 20.396s. (Xinhua/Zhang Ning)

Renault accuses McLaren of starting rear wing arms race

Renault has accused rivals McLaren of opening up a Formula One arms race with its controversial rear wing even though it has been ruled legal by the sport\’s governing body.
\”It is fundamentally clear that the McLaren wing design is totally illegal,\” Renault managing director Bob Bell said after the first practice session of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix yesterday in Sakhir, Bahrain.
\”They have opened up another arms race, it\’s going to cost everybody a lot of money. The governing bodies need to be a lot stronger with these things.\”
The McLaren car passed inspections on Thursday at the Sakhir circuit and the team said they consulted the governing International Automobile Federation throughout the design process.
Williams co-owner and engineering director Patrick Head said that the rear wing had a slot that appeared to be fed by a duct that McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton could block at will by body movement.
\”I understand that (race director) Charlie (Whiting) is saying that article three of the regulations that would limit something like that don\’t apply to the driver, only to the car.\”
Head said Williams might take another look at the McLaren system.
\”It is a bit of a problem because if one car is suddenly able to gain five or six km an hour on the straight then we\’ve all got to do it,\” he added.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, who first aired concerns about the McLaren device, said the wing had been declared legal so rival teams would have to come up with their own solutions. \”We questioned it some time ago,\” he said. \”As the FIA have looked at it and deemed it to be okay, it\’s therefore a clever design as opposed to illegal design.\”
On the track, Germany\’s Nico Rosberg stayed ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher to put Mercedes on top of the timesheets in practice for the season-opener in Bahrain yesterday.
After compatriot Adrian Sutil had stolen some of the returning seven-time champion\’s limelight in the first session with the quickest time for Force India, Rosberg went faster in the afternoon.
The son of former champion Keke lapped the newly extended Sakhir circuit in one minute, 55.409 seconds, nearly half a second quicker than his 41-year-old teammate in third place. McLaren\’s Lewis Hamilton was second, running faster than teammate and reigning champion Jenson Button who had been ahead in the morning.
Mercedes-engined cars filled the top four slots.
Spain\’s double world champion Fernando Alonso limbered up for his Ferrari race debut with the second best time in the first session and then ninth after lunch.

Schumacher ready to flex Brawn at Mercedes

German drivers Nico Rosberg (L) and seven time World Champion Michael Schumacher (R) pose next to a Mercedes GP Formula One race car during the team presentation at the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart, January 25, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]
Mercedes GP launched their new Silver Arrow car on Monday but the real fire power in the German team’s camp is set to be the renewed partnership between Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn.
Brawn was in Schumacher’s pits for all seven of his world title wins – two at Benetton and five at Ferrari – and Brawn’s involvement at Mercedes was a significant factor in enticing Schumacher back to Formula One.
Having retired in 2006, the 41-year-old Schumacher has broken his three-year hiatus to sign a three-year contract to race for Mercedes which will reunite him with Brawn ahead of the new season which starts in Bahrain on March 14.
Schumacher has made no secret of his desire to win an eighth world drivers’ championship title with Brawn as team principal at Mercedes and Nico Rosberg as his teammate.
“We have everything it takes to succeed but it is one thing to have the correct ingredients and another to manage them,” he said.
“With the experience of Ross and with all the know-how of Mercedes: I am sorry, but there can only be one target for us to achieve.”
Even though Schumacher retired after the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2006, he stayed in touch with Brawn and the chance to work together again proved too strong.
“We have been in contact almost every year, when Ross went to Honda (in 2007 as team principal), he sort of suggested there was an option but I wasn’t ready for it,” said Schumacher. “We always kept in contact: sometimes he asked serious questions (about working together), sometimes it was a joke.
“When he called me at the end of last year, I knew why.”
Brawn will be responsible for making sure the Silver Arrow car is in perfect condition when the season starts and the 55-year-old Briton said he is excited about the chance to work with Schumacher again.
“Working with Michael again is a treat, it is something I didn’t think would happen again and it is something I am excited about,” said Brawn.
“Nico is an exciting prospect and I think he will be good for Michael – it will also help him to see how a world champion operates.”
Mercedes face stiff opposition in their assault on the world drivers’ championship from McClaren’s Lewis Hamilton and current champion Jenson Button, as well as Red Bull pair Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.
“We are looking forward to closing the gap behind the other teams and we hope to have success in our cars, that is the aim,” said Schumacher.
“It is rare to have two or three teams in close competition like last year but this year might also be an exception again.
“It doesn’t really matter honestly: we are there to win whoever we are up against.”
And in terms of his advancing years, Schumacher says he has nothing to prove.
“I just want to prove to myself that I am still able to do it,” said the German. “The main reason I am doing it is because of the thrill.
“I feel a huge sense of excitement just to drive and compete at the highest level.”

First Russian racer to embark on F1 circuit

 Russian auto racing driver Vitaly Petrov is set to become Russia’s first Formula One driver starting from next season, local media reported on Thursday.
The 25-year-old Petrov, runner-up of the 2009 GP2 series, will partner with Polish Robert Kubica to compete for French F1 team Renault.
Born on Sept. 8, 1984 in Vyborg of the Leningrad region, Petrov is known as “Vyborg Rocket” in Russia.
According to local media, Petrov would possibly bring a sponsorship of 15 million euros to Renault, as he was backed by state-owned Russian saving bank Sberbank and gas monopoly Gazprom.