Mclaren formula e battery

Fernando Alonso may not consider himself “political” , but that doesn’t stop him from toeing the Ferrari party line . At the team’s annual pre-season media event he duly restated their well-worn complaints about the reductions in testing in recent seasons: “Maybe it would be better to have one or two fewer races and a few more test sessions.” Restrictions on testing were introduced to spare teams the enormous costs they were inflicting on themselves for little benefit. And they worked: The amount of testing done by F1 teams last year was less than 30% of what it was ten years ago . As recent developments have shown, effective cost-cutting measures such as these are essential. Particularly as efforts to save money in other areas, such as designing and building the cars, is fraught with disagreement over whether to do so through budget caps, customer cars or tight restrictions on development. While efforts to bring down the sky-high cost of competing in F1 stall, the grid … [Read more...] about Fewer races and more testing? No thanks, Alonso · RaceFans

Every year the mantra of Melbourne is that the first race of the year tends not to give an accurate impression of the season to come. Last year Adrian Sutil led a chunk of the race and Kimi Raikkonen won it – two things which never happened again. Albert Park is something of an outlier as F1 circuits go. It’s a temporary facility which isn’t shaped in the derivative mould of more recent additions to the calendar. It tends to produce unusual results. That counts double when qualifying is disrupted by rain, as happened on Saturday. And again when many teams arrive at the first race of the year with so much potential still untapped in their new designs. But the emphatic, assured manner of Nico Rosberg’s cruise to success affirmed every suspicion around Mercedes pre-season test form. They are in very strong shape indeed, and in the opening phase of the season the contest for victory is likely to be exclusively between their two drivers. Engine failures sideline champions … [Read more...] about Australian GP: Rosberg beats home hero Ricciardo – F1 Fanatic

Listen to this article The group, which is believed to include McLaren and Ferrari, has proposed that they should be allowed to develop a car for the new category out of a road-going hypercar rather than building a bespoke racing prototype that would incorporate only styling cues from street machinery. The manufacturers are believed to be arguing for the changes to the rules published in draft form in December on financial and marketing grounds. It is understood that they contend that the €20 million-a-season budget projected by the rule makers , the FIA and WEC promoter the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, remains too high despite aggressive cost-cutting measures, and that it’s also a conservative estimate. They also appear to feel that a WEC contender based on a true road car would make the category more commercially attractive to manufacturers. Aston Martin could base a car for the new top class of the WEC and the Le Mans 24 Hours on its forthcoming Valkyrie, … [Read more...] about Manufacturers push for changes to WEC hypercar concept