Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

There are now two Lotus F1 teams, as there are two Lotus groups. Team Lotus, the one from last year, were allowed by the Chapman family to use the name. However, Proton, who owns the Lotus that actually makes the Lotus cars, have now bought a stake (or become a huge sponsor of) the Renault F1 team.

Hence we have the schemozzle that is two teams with effectively the same name on the grid. Add to this the fact that if Petrov retains his seat next year, the Renault F1 team will be sponsored by Renault, Lada, Lotus and Proton. What a farce.

And to add my two cents, adjustable rear wings are gayer than Christmas. I love F1, but the rule makers really haven't got a clue.

Hopefully Kubica shows some great pace again this year... he is the only driver who can really mix it with the top 3 teams.

Hopefully he scores a decent team in the near future and IMO could really be a title treat in 2 -3 years

Jonathan Legard's tenure as the BBC's F1 commentator is all but over and the latest report claims David Coulthard will take over his seat next year.

Legard replaced James Allen as Martin Brundle's co-commentator when F1 coverage moved from ITV to the public broadcaster in 2009.

Although he had his critics in the opening season, the BBC decided to stick with him but news that he lost the support of Brundle during 2010 was the death knell.

The public broadcaster has so far stayed tight-lipped about their F1 team for 2011, but it has emerged that former F1 driver Coulthard will take over from Legard.

come on 2011!!

Vitaly Petrov will stay on at Renault in a new two-year deal, the team has confirmed.

Although the squad had called for more commitment and consistency from the Russian rookie during the year, in recent months it had become clear that a contract extension for Petrov was the most likely option. Renault had already re-signed Robert Kubica for next season.

Team boss Eric Boullier said Petrov would now have the chance to develop the promise he had showed during 2011.

"We are very pleased to confirm that Vitaly will be staying with us for 2011 and 2012, in order that both he and the team can build on a promising 2010 campaign," Boullier said.

"The entire team has been working flat-out over the past months to improve our competitiveness, and a stable driver line-up is essential to achieving our targets.

"Robert Kubica provides a remarkable benchmark for both speed and consistency, and we are certain that Vitaly will move closer to this level of performance next year."

Team chairman Gerard Lopez agreed that there had been no doubts over Petrov's ability, and that the Russian should able to turn that potential into better results with more experience behind him.

"Last season, he showed on several occasions that he clearly has the potential to deliver," Lopez said. "It was just a matter of putting everything together during the same weekend, race after race, and this will be his target for 2011."

Petrov said he was delighted to have been kept on, and acknowledged that the pressure was on to improve next year.

"I am very happy to continue with the team and proud to be representing Lotus Renault GP for the 2011 and 2012 seasons," he said.

"I learned a lot about the sport, the circuits and the car this year. That will help me improve even more in the future. I am very excited about working with this great team once more, and I'm confident that I will deliver.

"In many ways, 2010 was about learning. 2011 will be about performing. Today, I feel I am ready to rise to this challenge."

Lopez added that Renault was keen to capitalise on Russian interest in F1 generated by both Petrov's presence in the field and the deal for Russia to host a grand prix from 2014.

"Also, thanks to Vitaly and the team, Russia is opening up to Formula 1," said Lopez. "Over the past few months, we've established close links with this country and with some of its strongest companies.

"We're looking forward to building on this special relationship and turning it into a very successful adventure over the next two seasons."

Although Petrov had a mixed rookie season, including several costly crashes, he also impressed with drives such as his strong run to fifth in Hungary, and his defence against Fernando Alonso in Abu Dhabi. He finished 13th in this year's championship

didnt expect that

dont think he'll make the two years though

I think the engine thing is stupid. They wanted to cut costs so they told everyone to build V8's then put a freeze on development. Now they want to change them again

Seriously.... it must cost several times as much to design basically a whole new engine then to just refine what you already have.

And is a turbo 4 really going to be much more economical then a V8 in terms of race engines?

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Nice, thanks for sharing your progress....that's a pretty long list you are putting into it!
    • Decided to upgrade my pressurised plastic coolant expansion tank for a fancy pants alloy version The OEM versions can get brittle, even the new plastic one I got when I first got the car is a starting to show signs of "stress" I wasn't cheap, but it is basically unbreakable
    • Morning all, I have an RB25DET Neo that's in need of a rebuild. Will need new pistons etc due to detonation damage. Would anyone be able to recommend a shop in Southeast Queensland who I could bring my long motor to for a rebuild? Just want someone who knows RBs and whos built a bunch of them before. TLDR - recommended engine shops for RB rebuild.
    • Gday Thought it was about time I started a build thread! As expected this project has snowballed into a huge financial liability, but unless you’re strong willed and responsible, it’s not a surprise. Background -  My first turbo car was an R32 GTS-4, got my full license and then totalled my Au Falcon a week later, so while trying to sell my RMZ450 dirtbike to buy another car a bloke offered to swap the R32 which at the time I felt like I was ripped off but looking back and seeing prices of those now ($40kish) it was a good deal, I didn’t know enough about these cars to appreciate what I had so sold it before the RB20 blew up. Between here and there, out of 12 cars I’ve owned the note worthy ones are a V8 Lexus SC400 (soarer), a couple of XR6 Turbos and my beloved S15 which I had for about 3 years, picked it up for $12500, repairable write off but she was fine, gun metal grey/pewter and bone stock/unmolested until I got my hands on it. Ended up spending about the value of the car and 280kw, 2 demerit points by the time I got defected and sold it for $14500 (also $40kish in today’s market, rip) Fast forward to the present day, I’m in a much better position financially and daily an MQ Triton (great cars, pipe down Ranger Bois), I cruised marketplace and car sales for a few months looking for another R32, the best deal I could find was an absolute rust bucket half finished project for $12000, until this R33 popped up in Port Macquarie for $18k - unregistered and barely running but decent shape, kept an eye on it for a few weeks and the price steadily dropped, $16k then $15k then $14k, that was the point where I was like shit someone’s gonna snatch this up! It was owned by a young bloke who had big plans but him and his missus just had a baby so smartest move financially for them but big gain for me. So 2 days later I’m towing a car trailer to pick this thing up. Roughly 2 weeks and $3500 later I’m cruising around Newcastle in my beat up R33 all smiles and dose noises! It only needed some basic shit to get it going, coil packs and air flow meter, electrical stuff and all fluids changed, 158k kms and running pretty good, nice smooth engine after oil and coolant flush - when I say coolant I mean it had been filled up with tap water, every gallery and heater element was filled with rust, 8-9 flushes later and still had brown liquid coming out but she’ll be right. The car was painted R34 Bayside Blue at some point but whether it was a cheap job or just not looked after is anyone’s guess, clear coat flaking like sausage roll.  Was rethinking my choices and contemplating life, had it up for sale for $22k - still cheaper than any registered R33 but got little interest, next minute I had an opportunity at work - 6 months overseas for good money, so that was a no brainer, fast forward again and here we are with a 50% finished project. Current Mods - 200ish KW according to butt dyno Was tuned with Apexi PowerFC EBC (old school Greddy Profec)  Stock turbo (more shaft play than a Tinder date gone right) 3inch turbo back Varex muffler  Aftermarket injectors of mystery size, Power FC showed 36% duty cycle at full boost so not behd good size Someone had good intentions but stuck with the stock R33 MAF so we had misfires at 6000rpm due to the MAF hitting 5.2V So far I’ve redone the entire interior with carpet form Car Mats Direct, new Seats and steering wheel from Autotechnica, also sound system by Autobarn (mainly Kicker) Also MCA pro comfort coil overs - Hands down best purchase yet, worlds of improvement over the tired 30yrold shocks Goals - 450kw/600hp on flex tune New paint job - Midnight Purple 2 Engine is at the shop getting rebuilt with forged rods a pistons, new valves and springs, ATI Harmonic balancer, Aeroflow 7.5L sump, rear head drain and oil restrictors as per oil control thread* and cam covers modded for larger breathers, other stuff I can’t recall of the top of my head Parts purchased and to be installed once the engine is done -  Engine loom from Wiring Specialties including these options: Haltech Nexus S3 R35 Coil pack conversion  PRP Dual Trigger kit Fan controller  Other Parts -  262 Kelford Cams Turbo - Hypergear ATR43SS3-ProS with T51R mod (whistly boi) 6 boost manifold (high mount) 50mm Turbosmart Pro gate (plumbed back for legal reasons) HKS Super Turbo Exhaust with High Flow Cat Custom 3.5inch dump and front pipe 1500cc Bosch injectors  Fuel Pump walbro 525 Haltech MAP and IAT sensors Haltech Flex Sensor Fenix Radiator with dual thermo fans LS1 Alternator Kit Oil Filter Relocation from EFI solutions and Cooling pro oil cooler Many other things sitting in my garage waiting for that engine to come back. Progress pics to follow -  
    • Losses have to be less with DC coupling. Provided the battery inverter has decent MPP tracking ability - which really shouldn't be a problem. It's not 2005 any more.
×
×
  • Create New...