Bare root fruit trees

It's the golden rule of endurance racing: spend as little time in the pits as possible. A driver can pound around chasing tenths of a second to set a perfect lap, but if they get it wrong and damage the car, sitting stationary in the garage undoes any potential gains. It seems odd, then, that within motorsport driver conditioning is arguably the most neglected area of research. Manufacturers painstakingly develop their cars, but that is to embark on a path of diminishing returns if the driver climbs aboard for their third stint and is too tired to perform at their best. The much less expensive route is to focus on the person behind the wheel and ensure they can operate at their peak for much longer - make them consistently faster and less error prone. It's a low-hanging fruit within racing that is yet to be picked. That's why the former senior performance coach at world-renowned Hintsa Performance, Dean Fouache, had his interests piqued by the temperature regulating … [Read more...] about Motorsport’s last low-hanging fruit

In the time it has taken you to read this sentence, teams will already be close to changing an entire set of tyres on an F1 car. Formula 1 pit stops truly are a sight to behold. Some of the world’s best mechanics complete a highly orchestrated choreography that somehow sees 42kg of rubber lifted off and replaced with a fresh set within seconds. Such is the highly competitive nature of pit stops, something like three seconds can be seen as a slow stop and anything nearing 10 seconds is an unmitigated disaster. While such a small amount of time may not seem like a lot in the outside world, it is crucial in the world of F1 where races or positions can be won or lost by a matter of seconds. Quick pit stops are also key in ensuring you come out ahead of your rival, especially if you are going for an overcut. Red Bull have become the undisputed kings of the pit stop, recording the fastest every year since 2018 and also the fastest in history at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix when Max … [Read more...] about Fastest F1 pit stops: Red Bull top of the tree in Singapore in the pit lane

Formula 1’s desire to reach new markets took the championship to Azerbaijan’s capital city, Baku, in 2016, with a six-kilometre circuit taking in the political centre and winding its way through its ancient cultural district. The sprawling two-kilometre full-throttle blast along Neftchilar Avenue contrasts with the 90-degree bends and the tight confines of the section of circuit that passes the old city walls, where the track is barely wider than a modern Formula 1 car. There is no other circuit like it in the world! Check out all ticket options here. Nico Rosberg triumphed in Baku’s maiden Grand Prix on route to his sole Formula 1 world title in 2016 and a year later the venue was the scene of an acrimonious collision between championship rivals Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, as Daniel Ricciardo surged from 10 th place to take an improbable victory. Last year Ricciardo wound up in a broken car in the run-off after a race-long scrap with Max Verstappen ended up … [Read more...] about Promoted: Don’t miss out on Baku thrills

There is so much to talk about from the Japanese Grand Prix it’s hard to know where to start. We had Lewis Hamilton losing his head when all that was required was some pragmatism, Felipe Massa showing his ruthless side, Fernando Alonso and Renault again excelling and then a highly contentious penalty for Sebastian Bourdais, which gifted Massa and Ferrari an extra point reducing Hamilton’s lead to five points. Let’s start with Hamilton. Starting from pole, he knew that Raikkonen was a threat off the start line, but he also knew that Raikkonen was no threat to his championship position. Second place here behind Kimi would have been fine, as long as Massa finished behind. Ron Dennis even made this point in his press gathering on Saturday evening. So Lewis was told by Ron, “If Raikkonen passes you at the start, let him go”. Lewis did the opposite. Once again, faced with a Ferrari in front of him he got a red mist on, just as he did when Kimi passed him in the pit lane in Canada. He … [Read more...] about Hamilton loses his head

Interview with BMW Sauber boss Dr Mario Theissen, The character of the Formula 1 boss is changing. The old guard were the products of the 1970s; grafters, boys-done-good, men who were passionate about racing, who pulled strokes and called in favours to keep their cars in the race. They pulled themselves up by their bootstraps from humble beginnings and then in the 1990s found themselves owning private jets once Bernie Ecclestone’s TV deals started to bring in serious money. This type of team owner, personified by McLaren’s Ron Dennis, the mechanic made good and Sir Frank Williams, the used car dealer has ruled the sport for decades. But now the model is changing. Dennis and Williams increasingly find themselves surrounded at team principals’ meetings by professional managers, corporate men who are in Formula 1 because the manufacturers they represent feel that they have the talents required to put together the winning formula on the race track. The embodiment of this … [Read more...] about Mario Theissen – One step from glory

Interesting response to the BBC package announced yesterday. Quite a few people think "The Chain" is a retrograde step. Andrew Baker in the Telegraph is positively evangelistic about it, reckons it's the greatest theme music ever in a proud BBC tradition of theme tunes. I quite liked the tune to Horse of the Year show, but that's by the by... Quite a few of you are wondering about the use of archive footage. The standard deal is that you can use anything up to 10 years previous as part of the package. Anything before that and you have to pay extra. BBC may well have negotiated a different deal from that, Bernie does all kinds of individual deals with different broadcasters, but as the Beeb haven't mentioned archive in any of their press materials, it doesn't seem that it was a big priority. I know that they were much more keen to get the interactive offering the best it could be. Anything pre 1981 is pre FOM anyway, so if you can source it, you can show it. There are some … [Read more...] about More insight on the BBC F1 plans

The MGB has been brought back to life courtesy of a pair of restomods from UK-based Frontline Cars catering to all crowds as one has a V8 while the other is purely electric. The conventionally powered model goes by the name of "LE60" to mark the original model's 60 th anniversary. Only 30 conversions are planned, all of which will get a widened track and body while weighing just 2,473 pounds (1,122 kilograms), or roughly as much as a Mazda MX-5 RF. At the heart of the Frontline LE60 is a new 4.8-liter Rover V8 engine making 375 horsepower or nearly triple the output offered by the original car. The engine is good for 297 pound-feet (403 Newton-meters) of torque routed to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual transmission developed by Tremec and a limited-slip differential. The hardware is good for a 0 to 60 mph run in around four seconds. Frontline Cars LE60 and BEE GT 80 Photos … [Read more...] about MGB Returns With V8 And Electric Restomods Featuring Manual Gearbox

Formula One finally had a different look last weekend when Red Bull was finally defeated and Carlos Sainz won for Ferrari in a nose-to-tail three-team finish – but does that mean the reigning champions’ dominance is over? Probably not. Verstappen is still far and away the favourite for victory in Japan – his odds of winning are 29/100, barely any different to what they were last weekend, and the Singapore defeat was likely more a blip than a cliff-edge drop in form. After that race, Verstappen revealed the car had been tough to set up on the simulator even before the team arrived at the track, and he also revealed that the same car, on a ‘virtual’ Suzuka, had “felt amazing.” The team’s struggles were caused by a new floor that did not work as well as expected and track resurfacing and circuit changes that did not suit the car. Suzuka could see a return to norm – but good odds can still be found. POLE PERFORMANCE Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19 Photo by: … [Read more...] about F1 Form Guide: Japanese Grand Prix

Before we got here this week Yas Marina Circuit was hit by a powerful sandstorm, which bent the trees backwards and dumped tonnes of sand on the track. This being Abu Dhabi they have a machine for sucking up the sand, so the racing will not be affected. I've been at plenty of championship showdowns over the years. There is nothing like being here to look the contenders in the eye and see how they are coping with the pressure. There have been some stormy ones, I recall Jerez 1997 for example and ten years later the acrimony at McLaren in the final race. But today we had a phoney war between the contenders in the press conference. Perhaps it is because this is not a duel for the title, but a battle between four contenders (albeit one with a slim chance) it seems to diffuse the tension. None of the drivers was giving anything away. Webber was subdued, not about to hand any more hand grenade quotes to journalists. Vettel was relaxed and bouncy, he has nothing to lose and he's … [Read more...] about Phoney war between drivers during calm before storm in Abu Dhabi