Honda IndyCar 2011 Toronto Street Circuit Virtual Lap

 

 

Sit back, relax and watch as this virtual video of Honda IndycarToronto street circuit, including the importance of braking and details of turns! Speed, handling and driver ability to be successful throughout the race. takes you through every corner of the challenging 

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"Double- poles "for Red Bull in Valencia

 

 

Despite the theater at the throttle-blipping Prohibition, Red Bull Racing for the eighth season round of the Formula 1 - World Cup 2011, the pole position Secured.

 

Sebastian Vettel needed only one hot lap in the final qualifying to secure his seventh pole position of the season for Red Bull in Valencia. Just after Lewis Hamilton had lapped his McLaren in 1m 37.380s to set the Q3 pace after the first runs, Vettel replied with 1m 36.975s, and that was it. Job done.

When Hamilton failed to improve on his second try, he was pushed off the front row when Mark Webber got things together in his Red Bull, the Australian joining his team mate at the front with 1m 37.163s.

Fernando Alonso, like Hamilton, failed to improve on his first effort, so 1m 37.454s left him fourth as Ferrari team mate Felipe Massa jumped McLaren’s Jenson Button for fifth, improving to 1m 37.535s on his second run. The Englishman also improved, fractionally, to 1m 37.645s, but it was not enough to keep fifth.

Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher will start seventh and eighth with 1m 38.231s and 1m 38.240s respectively, while Renault’s Nick Heidfeld and Force India’s Adrian Sutil line up on the fifth row even though they did not record times in the final session.

Q2 was red flagged less than eight minutes in when Pastor Maldonado for some reason stopped his stricken Williams in the middle of the road in Turn 20, soon after setting what was at the time the 13th fastest time of 1m 39.645s. It resumed quickly once the broken FW33 was wheeled away.

Vettel had already set the pace with 1m 37.305s from Hamilton and Button on 1m 37.727s and 1m 37.749s apiece, but subsequently the dramas surrounded Sutil, whose late 1m 39.034s bumped Vitaly Petrov, who was left 11th on 1m 39.068s. Behind the Russian’s Renault, Paul di Resta was also set for a Q3 run until a slide under braking for Turn 13 on his last run stopped him from improving on the 1m 39.422s that left him a nonetheless strong 12th for Force India. Williams’ Rubens Barrichello was 13th in 1m 39.489s, from Kamui Koyabashi on 1m 39.525s for Sauber, Maldonado, Sergio Perez in the other C30 on 1m 39.657 and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi on 1m 39.711s.

Q1 was a very odd session, as those who had initially been fastest attempted to conserve rubber and thus some people you would not have expected to finish high up did just that. Massa set the pace with 1m 38.413s, which was no surprise, from Vettel, Schumacher Hamilton and Rosberg, but Sutil sixth ahead of Button? Perez eighth? Barrichello ninth and Buemi 10th? Even Kobayashi had two purple sector times against his name before easing off once 17th place was clearly secure.

Those left in the cold were Jaime Alguersuari on 1m 40.232s for Toro Rosso, then the Lotuses of Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli. The former was at one stage 14th on 1m 41.664s until others improved, which left him 19th, while Trulli spun at the end of a quick lap and had to rely on 1m 42.234s for 20th. Timo Glock kept Virgin comfortably ahead of HRT, with a lap of 1m 42.553s to Tonio Liuzzi’s best of 1m 43.584s, then came Virgin’s Jerome D’Ambrosio on 1m 43.735s and HRT’s Narain Karthikeyan on 1m 44.363s.

Qualifying (Final)

Ranks of one to ten: 

1st Sebastian Vettel GER Red Bull 1:36,975

2nd Mark Webber OFF Red Bull 1:37,163

3rd Lewis Hamilton GBR McLaren 1:37,380

 4th Fernando Alonso ESP Ferrari 1:37,454

 5th Felipe Massa BRA Ferrari 1:37,535

6th Jenson Button GBR McLaren 1:37,645

7th Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes 1:38,231

8th Michael Schumacher GER Mercedes 1:38,240

9th Nick Heidfeld GER Lotus Renault No Time

10th Adrian Sutil GER Force India No Time Ranks eleven to 17:

11th Vitaly Petrov RUS Lotus Renault 1:39,068

12th Paul di Resta GBR Force India 1:39,422

13th Rubens Barrichello BRA Williams 1:39,489

14th Kamui Kobayashi JPN Clean 1:39,525

15th Pastor Maldonado VEN Williams 1:39,645

16th Sergio Perez MEX Clean 1:39,663

17th Sebastien Buemi SUI Toro Rosso 1:39,711

Ranks 18-24:

18th Jaime Alguersuari ESP Toro Rosso 1:40,232

19th Heikki Kovalainen FIN Team Lotus 1:41,664

20th Jarno Trulli ITA Team Lotus 1:42,234

21st Timo Glock GER Virgin 1:42,553

22nd Vitantonio Liuzzi ITA Hispania 1:43,584

 23rd Jerome d'Ambrosio BEL Virgin 1:43,735

24th Narain Karthikeyan IND Hispania 1:44,363

 

 

 

 

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Europe preview - rule tweak & DRS to mix up Valencia field?

 

 McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes will all be hoping fervently that a change in the regulations governing engine mapping will clip Red Bull’s wings a little this weekend at the European round in Valencia and give them more of a chance of getting on even terms with the Milton Keynes team in qualifying.

 

 
The FIA have informed all of the teams that they may no longer use different settings for engine maps between qualifying and the race. Red Bull’s rivals believe that use of a very aggressive map is one of the reasons why the Renault-powered RB7s have enjoyed up to a half second advantage in qualifying this year and specifically why they seem able to pull something out of the bag in Q3. Such a set-up would create more exhaust gases, which can then be used to create greater downforce by being blown over the rear-end diffuser.

The change comes ahead of FIA plans to ban off-throttle exhaust blown diffusers from next month’s British Grand Prix onwards.

Ferrari believe that these changes could turn around the world championship fight, and team principal Stefano Domenicali said in Canada: “We need to see in Silverstone, what is the real effect of this change in the regulations with regard to the effect of the exhaust. Then, we will see really where is the second championship in terms of the level of performance above all in higher downforce tracks."

Fernando Alonso, however, believes that Ferrari can be very strong on his second visit of 2011 to his Spanish homeland, after the 150° Italia’s performances in Monaco and Canada, and that victory may even be possible.

"I know that our fans are eagerly awaiting our first win of the season and I can assure you that the same goes for us," he says. "At the last two races, we showed we were clearly capable of winning and, especially in Monaco, we came pretty close, although I believe that even in Canada I could have fought for it all the way to the end, given what we had seen in qualifying.

"Now we go to a track with reasonably similar characteristics to Montreal and there is no obvious reason why we should not be competitive here too."

Last year the Spaniard lost out big time when the safety car was deployed, much to his chagrin, and is determined to make amends this year.

"I always believe that luck and bad luck balance out by the end of the season and maybe this unwritten rule also applies to race tracks," he said. “If that's the case, I would be more than happy if last year's misfortune was paid back now!"

Red Bull, meanwhile, will be hoping to get back into Victory Lane after Sebastian Vettel’s momentary lapse halfway round the last lap in Canada, and most of all Mark Webber would like to put memories of his dramatic 2010 360 degree back flip behind him and open his winning account in 2011.

“Valencia is a street circuit, but the average speed (200 km/h) is extremely high, so it’s tricky,” world champion Vettel says. “In general you need a lot of wing for the corners and less for the relatively long straights, which means you have to find a compromise.

“There are no run-off zones, so you can’t make any mistakes - a small slide and you end up in the wall... Overtaking is difficult and the only real possibility is in Turn 12. We had a good race there last year and the car should be good. I’m looking forward to it.”

Webber says: “Valencia hasn’t been an incredible venue for me in the past but I’m looking to try and break the duck this year. I quite enjoy driving the last sector of the track, as it’s got a really good combination of corners which are challenging. There’s no reason why the car shouldn’t perform well there, but as we’ve seen in the past few races, we’ve certainly had our fair share of competition.”

At McLaren, Jenson Button is ready to carry on providing that as he did in Canada, while Lewis Hamilton is looking for consolidation after his disappointments there.

“It’s been a fantastic week in the aftermath of the Canadian Grand Prix,” Button says. “I had a few days’ break immediately after the race, which was perfectly timed as it gave me the opportunity to take in all the positive memories of a crazy weekend, and to reflect on an incredible race. I wouldn’t say that winning in Montreal has given me extra motivation, because I was already totally committed, but I think it will help to sharpen the focus and conviction of everyone in the team. We’ve proved we can challenge and beat Sebastian, and we know we can fight for this world championship.

“I’m looking forward to Valencia. I had a good race there last year and I think the track shares some of the characteristics of Montreal and Monaco, so I’m confident that we’ll be competitive again. The trick will be to find enough performance in the race to overcome any potential difficulties in qualifying. It’s a hard place to pass and I don’t think that DRS is going to make it much easier during the race.”

Hamilton says: “For me, Valencia will be a weekend of consolidation after two disappointing results in Monaco and Canada. Those two races were particularly frustrating for me because we showed we had the pace to win both of them, yet I only came away with eight points.

“I’ve always gone well at Valencia, finishing second there in every race, and I really enjoy attacking the track. It’s a difficult circuit with no let-up, but that won’t deter me as I’m really keen to get back on track and get back in the points. This race will be our third street circuit in a row, so hopefully it’ll give me the chance to reverse the bad luck I’ve encountered in the previous two!

“We’ve arguably had the fastest race car in the last three races, and that’s really encouraging because I know that, when it’s put to best use, I should be able to finish at the front. As always, that will be my goal next weekend.”

Pirelli will bring their new medium compound tire for the first time this weekend, after the successful trial on Friday in Canada. This will be the prime tyre, with the usual soft as the option. The PZero White medium tyre is not quite as durable as the hards, according to Pirelli, but is quicker while still representing a significant step over the option tyre.

"Tire wear on this circuit is likely to be quite high because of the track layout, the nature of the surface, and also the weather conditions, which should be very warm,” says Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery. "For all these reasons, we've selected the medium and soft tyres, which should provide the teams with a good level of resistance, plenty of different opportunities for strategy and about a second per lap difference between the compounds.”

Another important factor to note is that following the introduction of a second DRS zone in Canada earlier this month, the FIA have confirmed that this weekend’s race will also feature two DRS zones. The first will be between Turns 10 and 12 and the second between Turns 14 and 17. As in Montreal, there will be a single detection point in Valencia, just prior to Turn Eight

 

“We have two DRS zones here this year which, in combination with new tyre compounds from Pirelli, should almost certainly make things more interesting,” said race director Charlie Whiting.

“After a few years here it’s starting to look a little more lived-in now and more like a race track, which is good. And it’s unique, as the bridge across the harbor opens every night, so the circuit becomes incomplete until it’s closed again.”

It looks like being a warm weekend, albeit with the chance of thunderstorms in the region on Thursday and showers on Friday, but each of those days the ambient temperature will be a predicted 26 degrees Celsius, rising to 27 for Saturday and Sunday.

The race will run over 57 laps of the 5.419 kilometre (3.367 mile) circuit, or 308.883 kilometres (191.933 miles). It starts at 1400 hours local time, which is two hours ahead of GMT. There is only one minor circuit change since last year, with the tyre barriers at Turns 12 and 17 doubled in depth for increased safety.

 

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