Torro Rosso and Red Bull have both announced that their car launch will be held on track. STR will start testing on February 1st in Valencia at the Ricardo Tomo Circuit with the majority of the other teams. Big brother Red Bull however will launch at the following test at Jerez on February 10th. We already knew that both cars would have their first test on these dates, but until now the team had not revealed if they were going to have a formal car launch, or just pull the…
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F1 – 2010 Driver Lineup – Lopez Confirmed as non-US USF1 Driver
We are just a few steps away from having a complete driver grid for 2010. Jose Maria Lopez was confirmed yesterday as a driver for USF1. But while most driver announcements are fairly low key affairs, that is not the case with Lopez. He was announced last night in Argentina with the country’s president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in attendance. This was at the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires. As can be seen by the state involvement in the announcement, there is major Argentinian money behind his placement at USF1,…
Read MoreF1 – Mercedes Launch Special
F1 – Mercedes GP Reveals Their 2010 Racer
This morning, Mercedes GP revealed their 2010 race car, the MPG-W01, and its gorgeous! Today was just a stage show, but we’ll get to see the MPG-W01 on track on Feb. 1st when the team arrives in Valencia for the first of several pre-season testing sessions. The Valencia test will also be the first time we see Michael Schumacher at speed in a current F1 car since Ferrari forced his all-too-early retirement. Here are Ross Brawns comments on the release, I think for me it is several things, one is…
Read MoreF1 – 2010 Driver Lineup – Alguersuari Confirmed at Torro Rosso
Torro Rosso announced today that Jaime Alguersuari will return to the team for the 2010 season as Sebastian Buemi’s teammate. No big shock in this one, since Red Bull’s motor racing consultant Helmut Marko said earlier this week, “It will be Alguersuari. It’s just some contractual details that have to be solved, but generally it’s Alguersuari” Marko was at the time shooting down rumors that Nick Heidfeld or Bruno Senna were lined up for the seat. “In our considerations, Nick Heidfeld plays no role. That has nothing to do with…
Read MoreF1 – Rossi Happy With Ferrari Test
Valentino Rossi, undisputed G.O.A.T. of motorcycle road racing, completed yet another test with Ferrari wtih flying colors. This time, he was in the F2008 shoed with GP2-spec slicks and set a blistering time for someone who has had only a couple of sessions in a Formula 1 car. His quick time around the Barcelona circuit was 1:21.900. To put this into perspective, Autosport.com pulled out the pole time for this year, and for 2008. Jenson Button won pole last year with a 1:20.527, and Kimi’s 2008 pole was secured with…
Read MoreF1 – 2010 Driver Lineup – Sauber Signs Pedro de la Rosa
The Sauber team has signed 38 year old Pedro de la Rosa to partner with Kamui Kobayashi for their 2010 season. Pedro dropped off the face of the F1 map some 7 years ago when he signed up as McLaren’s test/reserve driver. During that time he competed in 9 races for the silver arrows. Famously, 8 of those 9 races were in the 2006 season after the USGP where Juan Pablo Montoya ran over teammate Kimi Raikonnen and then retreated to NASCAR. Before signing with McLaren in 2003, Pedro had…
Read MoreF1 – Car Launch Dates – Force India Update – 1/15/09
Force India has announced that they will have their 2010 car, the VJM3, ready for on track testing at Jerez on February 10th. The team decided to focus on further development of the car, instead of pushing onto the track February 1st with the vast majority of the field. They will be joining Red Bull and Virgin who will also be seeing the track for the first time at Jerez. Also, Mercedes GP confirmed that they will be launching their car in Stuttgart at the Mercedes Museum on January 25th.…
Read MoreF1 – Car Launch Dates – Lotus & Torro Rosso Updates – 1/15/2010
We have updated Lotus launch details and news that Torro Rosso is going to make it on track before big brother RBR. Lotus has updated their launch date from February 5th to February 12th. February 5th is the date that they plan to fire up the mighty Cosworth power plant for testing in house. Also, Torro Rosso has surprised everybody by announcing that they will be on track February 1st for the test at Valencia. They have not announced an official launch date for the car yet, but they may…
Read MoreEpisode 22 – Open Paddock Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike, Doug, and myself this week as we get into IndyCar winter meetings, VW snubbing IndyCar and every other form of racing, Dakar, WRC/IRC and the sorry but always entertaining world of Formula 1. See if Doug and Mike like their Jersey Shore nicknames…
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