Winter Updates 5

Greetings Internet,

Well here I am again, typing away in the darkened corner of blog HQ with an empty mug where tea should be, but such things are bereft from this part of the universe. But here in the little microcosm things have been a little busy hence why these posts have been delayed, a small matter of additional rehearsals has taken over a lot of the time. As I have managed to gain entry into a production featured in DDF 2012, it may only be a few lines with a vastly superior cast but still lines are always a good thing - and a new stage and audience is an exciting concept, even with my cynical disposition.

 However all is not lost I bring more updates from that expensive world of motor-racing, there may be no news on who will be dealt the final seat on the grid in the HRT but progress has been made. Upon the last update, I revealed that the 2012 Caterham car had been completed and presented, and it had sprouted a forehead for some reason. Well now many of the teams have officially released their competitors for the upcoming season and there is only one way of summing up the general synopsis of what has been developed and that is... oh dear oh dear.

The grid so far pt 1

Caterham CT01

The first of the cars we saw was this rather odd machine, the addition of a forehead on the top of the nose came as somewhat of a surprise. A stark contrast to the conventional designs we've seen with the current set of aerodynamic regulations. The rest of it however looks more reasonable, with the thinner tapering sidepods than the 2011 Lotus configuration




Then there was more, after the initial release of the CT01 the world was bombarded with new releases as most of the grid's entries poured out from the dark secretive testing and design facilities after being locked away over the winter. Next up the McLaren, after the shock of the Caterham approach a fine dose of normality was what the world needed

Gone is the crazed forehead pinned onto the nose cone, exhibiting a traditional smooth sloping version instead. McLaren have also added some additional normality to the grid, moving away from the rather unusual sidepods. This time going for something which almost looks sensible, something that looks roughly like what you expect a current generation racing car to look like.


So at this point things were looking fairly decent, the eccentric design the the team formerly known as lotus seemed like an unusual effort to claim back some position on the grid. With the dose of sanity from a division one team, some hope was restored. Hope that was soon rolled up and launched out the nearest window. Presenting the Force India 2012 contender...

It seems like sanity has gone off into the distance once more, and here is another car with this odd forehead feature sprouting above the front suspension. The problem seems to be accentuated here on the Force India by the flatness of the nose-cone, looking a little like a platypus At least Caterham will no longer feel lonely being the only car with this tumorous growth. The side of the Force India is longer then the McLaren but on a par with the Caterham.


Now one starts to wonder a little, McLaren being the odd one out so far, normality it seems turns not to be the ideal design, does this mean that the team that took the bonus points title with Jenson have done something rather wrong. But the next release would be from another of the division one teams, where we would seen if at the front of the grid sanity would prevail... As is turns out, apparently not. Introducing Ferrari.

The Jeremy Clarkson generic comment of 'oh my god' would fit rather nicely here. At least these other 'lumps' that have been infecting the grid have tried to be aerodynamically designed. Ferrari have just stapled a ramp onto the nose and then headed off to the pub. However the curvature of the sidepods and exhaust outlets are interesting and a distinct feature that looks quite good.

So the decision back in Brackley is starting to seem strangely against the convention of the field, who'd have thought making a normal, sensible racing entry would be the odd one out, even among the top runners. But with the Adrian Newey designed contender from Red Bull unreleased at this point, the world was waiting to see what the 2011 champions would produce. But in the mean-time the team formerly known as Renault-Squadron now running as Lotus presented their car.

And the nose lump is back, yet another car with what can only be described as the beak and forehead combination. However on the Lotus it doesn't seem too bad, almost acceptable. The curvature of the slope seems much smoother than the others, especially the ramp of the Ferrari. But a long way from the smooth slope of the McLaren. The results from the opening test seem to show the Lotus solution to be working with Kimi Raikkonen fastest. Not that too much relevance can be placed on those times at the moment, Sauber were looking this quick last year and look how that played out.

There are four more cars that have been unveiled but this has gone on for quite a while now, and think it is time for a break. The second half of the presentations will be conducted on another day. When I have gaps in between rehearsals and other complex things that happen in and around blog HQ. So until then farewell for now

Winter Updates 4

Greetings Internet,

Here I am once more with another batch of details from that little corner of the universe where people drive around really quickly in expensive machines - none of that sort of thing happens here in blog HQ, life is at a much slower pace here. This edition comes a week after the team of theatrical folk who somehow manage to put up with me release that should thoroughly crush anything that the rivals can up with. If the bonus points tally was still in operation when that show aired then Jenson Button would have been usurped from the title because they did a bloody good job and it was an honour to share the stage with them all. Made even more impressive by the how the rehearsals were going on before hand - so from me here at blog HQ major congratulations are in order and immense praise for a job well done.

Now that's taken care of back to the more relevant business of what this part of the internet is actually aimed at, and since the last time out there have been some changes in the driver line ups for the approaching season leaving only one remaining seat yet to be claimed at the very back of the grid. This week also saw the release of the first new car of the season and while progress is being made, elsewhere misfortune is never too far away and made a little comeback this month (I know updates have been a little sparse but the show was the main priority - have to make sure the other teams in the area know who is best, nothing wrong with a little bit of megalomania competition).

F1 Total SP3 at Monza in rFactor.

One spot remaining 


Today I shall start proceedings looking at the fluctuation in the driver market - as another seat was claimed, when two spaces rapidly dissolved into one. The penultimate drive to be confirmed was the second seat at Williams, the one formerly occupied by Rubens Barrichello a veteran of 19 seasons will now be filled by a second Brazilian. This time in the form of escapee from the team formerly known as Renault Squadron Bruno Senna, a throwback almost to the early nineties when anther man by the name of Senna - lets hope this time things work out a lot better.

So there is only one space left now in the back row HRT machine to partner another of the field's older participants Pedro De La Rosa. The previous holder of the seat Vitantonio Liuzzi has stated there is a chance the place he used to call home may be taken by a pay driver - someone brought in because of the sponsorship money they bring to the team rather than any ability. That's how the world of formula one still has Maldonado when Buemi, Alquersuari, Sutil and Petrov have no race seat for the season. At a team like HRT sponsorship money is very well needed to cover the funding deficit a smaller team has.

In other driver signing news Ferrari's development driver Jules Bianchi has been given a reserve driver role within the Force India team which does possible start the ball rolling for another major team line-up decision at the end of the season where three strong drivers won't fit into two race positions. The same situation which saw Adrian Sutil left without a racing seat so far.

Dun Da Dada Da - (well writing a drumroll doesn't work)


The first of the 2012 contenders has been unveiled as the picture of what we expect to see on the starting line in Melbourne - for those who have Sky anyway but I'll not go down that route for fear of unleashing profanities. The opening challenger to be revealed is the team formerly known as Lotus but now known as Caterham Racing and their new machine - having already seem this image I can officially warn you before focussing on the green machine pictured below.

From F1 racing magazine

Here you can see the problem the nose of the car has gained a forehead... not entirely sure if that's a good look for a racing car to be honest. I know when we first saw the odd angled sidepods of the McLaren last year they took some getting used to but this just looks wrong. Of course this is just one image, the others that the team released on the internet are more dignified, looking from the side of the car. Those shots do make it look more of what we expect from an F1 entry in under the current technical regulations, with the tapering sidepods and the wide flat front wing. 

Only time will tell if the other teams will be as eccentric as this with their concepts, and features like the wings and the engine cover are subject to development during the season, even development before the season in terms of the official test days. But despite all those component changes I still think the Team Caterham forehead will be with us until Brazil in November. 

Broken laws and bones

Away from the development race rushing to get the new cars up and running, and away from the constant scramble to fill that final HRT position, life has become a lot slower for our absent driver Robert Kubica. The Pole, famous for being really quick in uncompetitive cars and for managing to rapidly convert a BMW Sauber into a million shards of shattered carbon fibre in Canada, has has a little setback. While being in recovery for another major accident in a rally in the pre-season, Robert has fallen over. One of the fastest drivers in the world felled by a patch of ice, probably the same one that wiped me out last Friday, when I only lost some skin one one hand, (which was then further damaged by an incident with a giant yellow duck named Quackers) Kubica on the other hand suffered a suspected fractured tibia in his right leg. This pushes his recover process further away now - and with both seats in Renault (now Lotus) filled there is nowhere for him to return to. Even though there are still rumours of him ending up in a Ferrari at the expense of Felipe Massa at some point.

A long time ago, back around the time of the Chinese GP, Adrian Sutil was involved in some form of violence in a nightclub - the specific details remain a mystery. Perhaps if I did some googling more answers may pop up but there is a chocolate cake staring at me right now and I'm hungry. But the case and it's enigmatic specifics is scheduled to go on trial at the beginning of next week, on the 30th and 31st of January. However this is when things get a little more complex, because Lewis Hamilton has been called as witness, either on account of being there at the time or as a character witness as Sutil's friend, and Hamilton is contracted to work with McLaren on those trial dates prior to their car release. So of course the trial will either continue, without Lewis as a witness or be postponed until all parties are available, where the prosecution is hoping for a year suspended sentence. How it will actually play out is anyone's guess, and how many of those details will end up in the public eye would be more difficult to predict.

From broken laws and broken rules we head on now to broken schedules, once more taking place down in the off pace world of HRT. A scenario we saw unfold in the last season where the car was only released and performed it's first laps in the practice sessions for the first race of the season, cursed with a lack of speed comparable to continental drift. This time around the team say they have encountered a critical delay in their preparations, to the point where the team will be taking part in the opening test sessions with the 2011 car rather than the new version. Despite the shadows of the last season sliding back into focus - HRT claim that a 2012 car will be completed in time to run the second test in early March. How those ideas actually turn out will only be revealed in due course. 

With a fortnight rife with new car releases from Mclaren, Ferrari, Force India, Lotus-Renault, Mercedes and Red Bull from the 1st to the 6th of February, there is plenty more of updates on the horizon before the flag drops in Australia. So until the next time, this is farewell for now. 

Winter Updates 3

Greetings Internet,

Here I am once more, after what has been a challenging week and before what promises to be an even more difficult one ahead, so it's a good time to release another update before the madness of the coming seven days turns me insane. At this rate the preseason posts will be provided from a padded cell in a lunatic facility, and typing in a straight jacket would be a major challenge, but persevere I shall. Which brings me nicely on to my purpose here typing out more things onto the internet, and clogging up cyberspace with my ramblings, and this time it is to bring you the third of the winter update packages from the empty void that is the off-season.

Last time out the blog was taking on the internet rather unsuccessfully in an online racing competition - for which the highlights video has amassed a grand total of one view on my youtube channel, which is a positive sign of how this little corner of the internet it progressing. Then again the youtube side of things along with the twitter expansion haven't exactly taken off quite yet, and I'm not entirely sure if embedded views count on the actual channel page so perhaps I'm being unduly sceptical. But once more I digress, as the blog (now back in blog HQ after the Christmas tree was moved back into storage) is taking on the internet, in a rather different perspective. This time in the social media shorty awards - on account of the twitter extension of the blog anyway, so far I have one vote (wooo) but for some reason not showing up in the listings for the category. Not that it really matters I guess, winning would be a little out of reach somehow, considering the leaders have more votes than this little corner has had audience members... over the course of it's entire existance but never mind.

F1 Total SP3 at Rockingham in rFactor

Now back to the real world, beyond the developments here at blog HQ, of lack of developments - more online races were planned but other circumstances have arisen - apparently I am required artistically, if they saw my actual school work then the promotion would seem even more laughable. But that does kind of some things up really, anyway since not too much has happened over the winter these updates have been a little few and far between, combined with the other developments.

Driver updates

Well despite two seats reamining on the grid, and a flotilla of drivers currently without a race seat heading into the new season there has been no further announcements on who is going to end up in the final places at HRT and Williams. However we can check a couple of names off the list in the recent weeks who we now know will not be in the cars when they line up in Albert Park in March,

Firstly Sebastien Buemi has maintained his allegience with the Red Bull brand despite being booted out of the Torro Rosso line up in favour of Daniel Ricciardo. Buemi will spend 2012 in a reserve driver role for the main Red Bull team, perhaps in some devious effort to replace Vettel and take over the world, well perhaps not - after all he is Swiss and those guys are kind of neutral when it comes to world domination. Then the plot thickened somewhat when the team that gave him the sack at the end of 2011,  announced he would also be their reserve driver too - so effectively Buemi is now the back up driver for all four of the Red Bull backed cars on the grid. So if either Jean Eric-Vergne or Ricciardo fail to deliver for Torro Rosso then Buemi is in the prime position to get back on the grid, and STR are not to bothered about dumping drivers after they got rid of Sebastien Bourdais. Agreed the frenchman did whine on a lot, and still does back in America - but there wasn't really any grounds for the dissmissal, neither was former Squadron Leader Heidfeld's ejection from Renault but F1 moves in mysterious way sometimes.

The second driver to knock of the checklist is also a refugee from the Torro Rosso reshuffling, Jaime El-Incognito - a strong contender in the second half of the 2011 bonus points championship. He has announced that he will not be driving for HRT in the coming season, claiming that it would be a step backwards in his career. Being a spanish driver the suddenly disowned from the Red Bull family, an automatic connection was inevitably made between him and the spanish team to parner Pedro De La Rosa. However Jaime has indicated he is hoping for an oppoirtunity with a bigger team a little further up the grid, although almost anything is further up the grid then the HRT cars. The problem then lies in where that spot might be, only Williams have an open race seat further forward, and with Red Bull selecting Buemi as their overall reserve driver the opportunies are limited for Alquersuari. It's all well and good having ambitions of roles within the division one teams but, as with life here in blog HQ you rarely get what you want and have to settle for less than preferable scenarios or end up with nothing we shall see how this develops.

Calendar Issues

While the 2012 calendar has been announced for some time now (there was going to be a post about it but once more other things occurred, mainly laziness followed by gaming) but now things are a looking a little less certain then they were when the details were released. Throughout the back end of the 2011 season there were many concerns regarding the progression of the newest addition to the season - the U.S.A. GP to be hosted in a new facility in Texas. With construction pace seeming a little slow for Bernies liking, the position on the calendar was under threat, a problem which was then exacerbated by a second racing event to be added on US soil. The Grand Prix of the Americas to be set in New Jersey overlooking New York was rumoured to detract funding and attention from the race in Texas and therefore compromise the rate of progress.

Now, I like the idea of a race in the US - there are plenty of good racing circuits already in place, Laguna Seca, Road Atlanta and Sears Point being some examples and the Texan track is quite good (even though it isn't built yet a simulation version exists) but there is something somewhat gimicky surrounding the New Jersey event. I think there should be a race in the States but two, possibly not, pulling that many Americans away from NASCAR might be hard.

Then there is the issue of Bahrain, dropped from the calendar last year due to the unrest and violence in the country, it's position this year also seems to be under threat once more as stability in the gulf state is far from ideal. Personally I find the Sakhir track rather boring, and the 2010 layout was a crime against motor-racing, but it was the first middle-eastern venue to host an F1 GP and does possess some redeeming features, as a sporting event however it won't be missed if cancelled once more. In the event of Bahrain being unable to host the race this season rumour has it that the place will be filled with the Turkish GP which is waiting in the wings for it's cue to go on. If it was a contest the Instanbul circuit wins hands down as the race I'd rather see on the calendar.

All of that might sound fairly unstable and uncertain - primarily because it is - but it isn't the worst of it... the french are coming back. Claiming they will be back on the calendar in 2013. This may not sound like a bad thing, especially considering the venue won't be Magny-cours, as the thought of fighting an understeering blogmobile through the infuriating Estoril corner is enough to give you nightmares. The selected venue is the Paul-Ricard circuit which is a labryinth of different layouts for different formula so which route the GP will use is unknown, it has featured as the home of the French GP before doesn't have an 'Estoril corner'. Of course I can sit here and paint a nice pretty picture of the track and the south of France, making it all seem fine, but there is a problem, a rather big one, a problem so big it makes the current economic apocalupse seem like a minor niggle. The French, in order to gain a spot on a very compact schedule, want to run alternate seasons oposite the Belgian GP....

Yes, all those horrified gasps were justified, this means there will be seasons without a visit to the iconic Spa-francorchamps track. No wonder the French get a bad reputation, effectively neutering the season with their race, I'm not going to dismiss the French GP as a poor event - if it wasn't for one corner I'd like Magny-Cours but it is no competition for the Beligan GP, why can't it alternate with something else, like the Spanish or Hungarian GPs as long as we get to get the epic that is spa on the calendar. The last time it went missing from the season I was so mad, I dedicated one of my homework excercises in english to ranting at the FIA for dropping the race.

On a lighter note, trouble is also afoot for the Korean and Valencia races, both venues have requested a lower race hosting fee from Bernie as it costs a too much to host the events. I noted this in this bottom section of lighter notes because Valencia is a rather poor circuit, even more boring than Bahrain in terms of layout - yes there is a nice final sector  but the rest of it is dire - a bunch of lifeless straights and dull concrete barriers. The place has all the interest of Stanley front street, and is about as popular so it wouldn't be too much of a loss to the calendar. As for Korea - the track there isn't too bad but it is a far cry from the vast picturesque resort complex the designs have illustrated, and the turn 4-6 section is enough to condemn the track to the darkest bowels of hell for being as almost as evil as the estoril corner at magny-cours. But Bernie is likely not to reduce their fees because with the season already at max capacity already and Russia, New Jersey and now France wanting to get in on the act the weakest races will be weeded.

And so concludes this update of all the going on beyond my little corner of the internet as the season slows creeps forwards a little too slowly for my liking - but there are other more pressing matters are at hand at the moment and have been stealing the energy these things require. Future posts should be a little more energetic but these things happen, so until next time farewell for now.

When the blog fought the internet

Greetings Internet,

Now this post was supposed to be completed and released on new years day, following the actual event but then I had an idea, and idea that has been more of a pain than it's worth. I thought rather then spend the next few hundred words or so documenting what took place in the void of the internet, it might be more effective to throw together a highlights video of the race. Well as nice an idea as that sounds and as relatively simple as that was to put together it turns out that windows movie maker really struggles patching together 12GB of source video files and for some reason arbitrarily replaces scenes with a black screen... However persevere I did and a film was created all nine minutes of it (it was 30s longer but I've no idea where those seconds went).

The blog was scheduled to take on the might of the internet before Christmas in a Megane Cup race but that didn't work out as my game stopped connecting to the internet, and having conducted some sort of investigation. Well alright I stumbled on the answer accidentally, but that is how the greatest inventions have come into being. It turns out when I took out my addon on-screen graphics I use for blog laps, the map and the TV style speedometer it seems I also took out the connectivity plugin as well, because the screen graphics take time to load and that doesn't help in an online environment. With that resolved the blog was ready this time to make it's first appearance on the internet racing scene, although it was my 104th overall race it was the first in the blogmobile.

The Scene

The blogmobile for the event, racing one of the opponents 

During the gap between Christmas and New Year several events were posted on the internet and the blog decided to enter an event in which it's pilot had used the selected car before, and that was scheduled on a day when no other plans were in place. From those criteria the best option was the Honda Civic cup race at the Knutstorp ring in Sweden, which was scheduled to go green at 17:30 on New Years Eve. Normally this is a time when people of the real world engage in parties an the like, so an earlier start time was beneficial, but not in the end needed. Since the pizza shop wasn't too busy and I could retrieve the order for blog HQ after the race.

Anyway, as this was a new car to the blog fleet it needed the default treatment in the form of a new livery and as a pre-emptive effort one was painted up on the eve of the race. Admittedly the bonnet and roof sections are a little bland but maybe one day if I develop a logo for the blog if it ever advances then there is a space waiting on the car. With the Civic blogmobile all painted up and some testing done on the track which was a new one to me, I entered on the official signup sheet and prepared for the race. As the hour drew nearer it promised to be a rather entertaining event as 21 drivers had signed up and on a short lap things were going to get a little crowded and entertaining, rather fortunate that the car could survive a far bit of damage and still run.

Then the time finally rolled round pizza's all selected for the night ahead, priorities I know - but as a fat guy I get hungry, all was set in place. Logged into the race server, now that I could compared with the pre-Christmas error, and it turned out things were not to be as crowded as I first thought as only seven of the twenty one entries actually turned up for the race, sadly most of those who did arrive were the faster entries. But the blog had one goal in place, a determination not to be last, avoidance of the bottom spot was the primary objective. Times in free practice showed that barring any technical issues I would be safe from that problem as there were two cars (I know, only two) that I could out-pace and hopefully beat come the race. 

Qualifying went the same way, no where near the cars ahead but clear of those behind, in a sort of timing no mans land all on my own, pretty much the reflection of blog HQ and a night ahead of rapidly cooling pizza and disappointing DVDs. But despite the negatives it boded well for the race, it would be safe, and theoretically contact free in clean air between the two divisions. So with 5th place seemingly the default position for the entire event stability seemed assured, however single make touring car races never normally run to plan, throw in some feline interruptions life gets a little more interesting as the highlights video will explain. 

Now before I post the video a couple of things to explain first, because the editor hated making the video it is of a lower quality, to keep the size down. and also there may be typos as this file was the only one I could get the software to produce intact. So after that disclaimer here is what happened when this little blog took on the might of some members of the internet.

 So as you can see it was a lot more eventful then I envisaged, with multiple encounters with a grey civic, yes the one in the picture at the beginning of this post. Where if the cat hadn't have made visits to the keyboard I might have stayed on the lead lap, avoided all the contact and finished on the podium. Which would have rounded off the event rather nicely, but as with motor racing out there in the expensive real world unpredictability is the the only thing you can predict to occur - although there may not be cats causing drivers to crash while they remove the ball of fur from the dashboard. All the same not everything can be accounted for, and maybe in the future the blogmobile will once more take on the internet with hopefully better results in a more complete field.

Until the next time this is farewell from the blog.

Christmas Greetings from the Blog

Greetings Internet,

I has been almost a year since this corner of the internet was brought into being - a couple of weeks before the season kicked off back in March and now as the year draws to a close I can say that it has been a fairly successful opening year. The blog has received viewers from all across the world with readers in the U.S. across Europe and with a nicely surprising following in Singapore.I has been an honour to have all of you here on this journey throughout the season across the 19 races covered in 2011 and looking forward to the same again in 2012 and hopefully the audience will grow even more over the coming year.

Ideally I would liked to sent off the pre-Christmas season with a final competitive trip out in an alternative blogmobile - something specially painted up for the event. The plan was to run in the final round of the online Megane Eurocup season in this new special blogmobile to finish off the year. Alas this was not to be - technical difficulties prevented the simulator from contacting the server and thus kept the blogmobile off the grid. But looking at the timesheets for the race I would have finished 7th barring contact and ending up in the barrier - which considering the track ( a mountainous street track in Argentina used for the FIA GT1 series) was a distinct possibility.

The proposed Megane Blogmobile

Consequently this post is going to be a little truncated as the online competition element of the blog has been put on hold for now until the simulator can pick up the server list, and the grid that did make the event only half of the entry list were online, so perhaps it was a more generic problem. 

But now there is no race report or highlights video - although those were just ideas at the time - so all that's left to is to extend plentiful Christmas wishes from me here - a little south of the normal Blog HQ not that it's any warmer. There is of course the matter of this being an internationally viewed series of contributions to the world so I do hope you enjoy the winter season and whatever holiday you subscribe to. This isn't the end of the blog for the year oh no - I shall be here with this computer hoping to get some online competition sorted in the meantime. So until then farewell for now and a Merry Christmas to you all.

Winter Updates 2

Greetings Internet,

Well here I am again for another update from the blog HQ - although it should be pointed out that the actual HQ has been displaced, cast aside from its original place. It seems that some strange roughly conical artificial plant has sprouted where blog HQ used to be positioned - so in essence I have been replaced by a Christmas tree. So now from a metre or so further south - even further away from that rather fat bloke who is supposed to be the provider of objects in mythical boxes coated in an impenetrable force field, bound with enough sellotape to take down a cruise ship. Not that the blog will really be doing Christmas there really isn't the budget to do so really, I may manage a mince pie but that might be pushing it.

But that isn't the reason why I sit here in the darkness - blog budget doesn't really stretch to lighting either, nor heating but I have enough fat to negate that problem - I am here to present the second in the series of off-season updates. While the rest of the country goes out partying (the blog doesn't really have too many friends either, but there are many reasons for that) I shall remain on vigilant duty here with this computer and press buttons in my world of solitary confinement. Isn't this end of the year supposed to be all joyous and all, well that is all rather a myth and all but on with the show.

Bad News First

Jason Richards (FVR2010) at Sandown in rFactor

It has been a year for dark events in the world of motor racing in the second half of the season, with the loss of Moto GP rider Marco Simoncelli and Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon in accidents within a week of each other. That list was sadly added to today when it was confirmed that Jason Richards - a predominant name within the Australian V8 Supercar series which was featured in a post leading up to the Bathurst 1000. Jason had to pull out of the end of the 2010 season when diagnosed with cancer of the adrenal gland - during his battle with the illness still continued testing for the Brad Jones Racing team pictured above. Just over one year on from the initial hospitalisation last year Richards passed away on the 15th of December 2011.

Also the report looking into the accident at the Las Vegas motor speedway has been completed - I don't have the report but the findings have been released and are displayed on the BBC F1 site. The invesitigation has ruled that the incident was a combination of events that formed the 'perfect storm' at the finale of the Indycar series. The development of the accident occurred as the cars were bunched close early in the race, and contact between two cars ahead initiated a chain reaction - Wheldon had no space to avoid the crash as the event had the encompassed more cars. The nature of open wheel racing and the design of the cars meant that subsequent cars were  thrown into the air, in total four cars got airborne in the accident and three of them rolled over. The report showed that Dan managed to shave 60mph off the car speed before impacting the cars in front and gaining lift. The inquest also determined that it was one of the fence poles that support the catch fencing that was ultimately responsible, a freak accident event akin to an access hatch in Melbourne that allowed a wheel from Villeneuve's crash to strike a marshal. It is from these reports that we can understand how these events occur and what can be done to prevent them in the future.

Only two seats remain

The drivers market looking into the 2012 season is rapidly running out of space as two more teams have confirmed their line-ups for the incoming season on the other side of this christmas event thing leaving only two more open now. A situation made all the worse by an increased amount of refugees, drivers finding that their contracts are no longer going to be carried forward now looking for somewhere to do some racing in the coming year. One of these remaining places lies at HRT, in the machine alongside the returning Pedro De La Rosa who probably can't be entitled One Stop-Perez 2.0 this year as both of them will be on the grid at the same time. The second seat remains under dispute at Williams as no-one has been announced to partner Maldonado in 2012, this is the highest profile opening on the grid and it will likely be attracting a large amount of attention. Also there are a fair amount of drivers out of a drive at the moment including both the competitors from the team formerly known as Renault Squadron who were booted out in the last update.

Following recent announcements the list of drivers on the waiting list gained three new additions as both Force India and Torro Rosso confirm who will be sitting in their cars next year, which will see some new names to compete for bonus points. First up Torro Rosso as their drivers were announced first earlier on in the week and it turns out the team have gone for a complete re-shuffle getting rid of the current drivers and then bringing in some fresh faces. It seems like an interesting decision considering how well the drivers were performing towards the end of the season when the developments actually took effect on the team's performance. There could be a case for Sebastien Buemi who has been a little mediocre over his three years with the team, but Alguersuari had some very strong performances this year taking bonus points wins after scoring points from a Q1 relegation start. So who have been in to replace the outgoing squad - well Torro Rosso have plucked them out from the top of the development program, harvesting both Jean Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo. Daniel was put on placement at HRT for some of 2011 and STR have decided to take him back this year hence the opening at the Spanish outfit. Vernge on the other hand has been taken straight from World Series By Renault skipping the stage of GP2 after doing a couple of practice sessions with the team and the young driver session in Abu Dhabi.

Then there was the decision the world has been waiting for - or at least this small corner of the world anyway and that was the one surrounding the driver situation at Force India which has now been cleared up. Three drivers were playing for the two seats which were held by Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil in the season past - both of which did a strong job racking up the bonus points. The situation was made more complex by the presence of the strong reserve driver Nico Hulkenburg who was sent packing from Williams after scoring pole in Brazil for the team. So in the latest team to confirm who is going to end up out on the waiting list alongside both Renault and Torro Rosso employees from 2011, and the loser turned out to be Adrian Sutil. Meaning that Hulkenburg and Di Resta will be piloting the presumably green and orange machines in 2012, and Sutil will be ending in the queue for that spot at Williams.

So with regards to the last two places who is likely to gain the remaining places, well the space at Williams will be the most contested place on the grid, a seat which Rubens Barrichello will be clinging on to for all he is worth in an effort to start his 20th season. But with the likes of Bruno Senna, Adrian Sutil and Alguersuari and many others looking to get a drive, considering their original seats seem to have been all taken up. Then back in HRT there lies effectively the bogey seat of 2012, at the bottom of the grid but racing at the back is better then not racing at all. Given that it is a Spanish team there may be a chance for Jaime to secure a position alongside fellow countryman De La Rosa. But that's just from the list of drivers who have recently been deposed not taking into account any drivers that may be upgraded from GP2. So who truly knows who will end up in those two remaining seats considering there are so many available pilots - but when more information does surface the blog shall return to present it you all. Until then this is farewell for now.

Winter Updates 1

Greetings Internet,

Well the season has been wrapped up for a considerable amount of time - and now that I've seen the final two races from Australia's V8 Supercar series I am now officially out of motor-racing which is rather sad, but for the first time I am running three simultaneous sets of rehearsals which is a nice distraction. A little note on the V8 Supercars finale - that is how you bring a season to a conclusion a million miles more entertaining then that race we had in Brazil. It was two hours of brilliance - thoroughly looking forward to their new season as well as the obvious wait for F1 to set up once more in Australia (supported by the V8s which is a fantastic combination). But you may be asking, why am I here, after all the cars are all tucked away in their top secret research labs, unfortunately none of them will be controlled by Aperture Science - but that would make the sport very different indeed. The FIA might have something against cars controlled by a malevolent AI program obsessed with deadly neurotoxins and falsified promises about cake.

Well I digress a little, but the purpose of this post is to pretty much sum up of the updates and developments that have fallen into place since that black and white chequered flag fell all those weeks ago now - I say realising that it is now December. As the blog HQ doesn't contain a chocolate advent calender all the days tend to blend into each other with the lack of sugar and all, however there is a picture of the internet friendly lolcats informing me of the month. Ah sidetracked once again but here is the round up of the developments starting with the driver line up down and the team formerly known as Renault Squadron

F1 Total 2011, in rFactor at Homebush the V8 supercar finale circuit

Three into two won't go

Renault Squadron were in the difficult position of having Petrov, Senna and Grosjean in contention for the two seats available at the team - theories of how this would play out were bandied across the internet weighing up the merits of each. Petrov with his proven experience with the team and the car, Senna with his impressive stand-in job after the Squadron disposed of their Squadron Leader mid season. Then there is Grosjean looking for a second go in the car after his 2009 debut replacing sacked Piquet Jr. moved back into the picture with a strong championship win in the GP2 series. Initially there was a fourth element in the form of Robert Kubica who would have been an obvious selection given his speed and skill, but alas he hasn't healed from the injuries sustained in a rally crash pre-season

Well the decision became very complex as one of the available seats filled up, and who have Renault Squadron pulled from the ether, a reserved seat for Kubica perhaps with a planned late comeback in mind. That theory was then disbanded when Robert was dropped from Renault Squadron's services, opening the door for a mystery guest. It turned out that the mystery guest was former finish F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen - which is a spectacular announcement. Bringing the monosyllabic racer back is brilliant, just so he can spend rain delays eating ice cream and preferring toilet breaks over Schumacher's first retirement ceremony.

So one seat to go in the Renault Squadron, and the original three drivers were now only in contention for a single racing position. A couple of weeks after the Raikkonen decision the final seat has now been assigned so did they go with the experience of Wing-commander Petrov or the turn of speed offered in the prospect of Bruno Senna. As it turns out the answer is none of these options and it fell to the final option in the original line-up, matching Raikkonen with Frenchman Romain Grosjean. There is a possibility that financial incentives were involved with the French company Total. Where does this leave Petrov and Senna, well out of a job really but time will tell if they end up someplace else.

Still undecided

There are still some places on the grid next year that have yet to be decided, Force India for example are in a very similar problem with their driver line-up. With three drivers of fairly equal talent in contention for the two spaces, at least in this case there is - at the moment - no sense of an outside guest star swooping in to claim one of the spaces. Unless someone would like to give Montoya a call, that would make things very interesting indeed. Alas it does look like to be left to three current drivers on staff to decide who gets the race seats. Hulkenberg, Sutil and Di Resta all have very valid claims on a drive next year, each with proven ability and skill - Nico even managed to claim pole for Williams in Brazil 2010 before being dumped on a financial basis for Pastor Maldonado.

So where else are there openings on the grid - well one place is left open at Williams alongside Maldonado who is booked for another year of erratic performances, it's amazing what government backed funding can do for you. Rubens would like to retain his place in the team ready for a 20th season, but no contract has been signed, now with more unsigned drivers from the exodus from Renault Squadron now.

One of the bigger problems lie with the seats at Torro Rosso, where the entire output from the Red Bull driver development program are going to want to end up currently adding Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne to the list. Add that to Buemi and Alguersuari who drove the car in the past season, and the decision on who makes the final cut becomes very difficult. Weighing up the idea of throwing in some people into the cars against keeping the experience of the current drivers who have been performing well in the second half of the season.

Elsewhere there is a final space at HRT to run alongside One-Stop Perez 2.0 also known as Pedro De La Rosa possibly the team were looking for someone to help develop their car off the final row of the grid. Apart from this final spot everything else seems locked out, with the division one teams holding station, despite rumours that Massa's position could be under threat if Kubica becomes fit later on in the year. Further back Sauber and the team formerly known as Lotus will be retaining their line-ups for another season which is probably a good move for both of them. A little further back the team formerly known as Virgin have continued their pattern of giving Timo Glock a new friend at the start of each year and this time the German is to be partnered with Charles Pic, a Frenchman and graduate of the World Series By Renault.

Change Afoot


In addition to the reshuffling of drivers and FOTA slowly becoming a ghost town there have been some alterations to the regulations for the 2012 season, many things have been updated such as testing allocations and the way in which tyres are to be used across the weekend but here are few key developments.

• Maximum 4hr cap on races: The likes of this seasons Canadian GP are now to be regulated to a maximum of 4 hrs, the amount of racing is already capped at two hours which we always come very close to in Singapore. Now the introduction of red flag stoppages for mayhem or water whichever happens first. 
• Stricter controls in overtaking: So what does this mean then, well previously drivers were allowed to make one move to defend their position, restricted to avoid cars being thrown into the air and having massive accidents. Which is always a problem when open wheeled cars are involved. Drivers were then allowed to retake the racing line on the entrance to a corner, well this element has now been removed. Making passing even more of a form of over-choreographed dance then actual racing,  effectively neutering the racing even more. Taking away the element of innovation and inventiveness if drivers are being forced to drive in certain specific ways with each other. Health and safety is probably involved in this process and a major thumbs down on this count.
• Moving Lapped cars under the safety car: It is about time this regulation was brought in, all too often restarts have been compromised by having slower cars stuck in amongst the leading cars as the SLS pulls into the lane. It breaks up any interesting battles and can compromise the outcome of a race. Well finally this will actually be sorted out, any cars trapped off the lead lap in the middle of the pack will be allowed to unlap themselves and join the back of the queue. Yes this will make the safety car periods longer to sort the order out but the benefits should win through

So there you have it a partial round up of how things are progressing as we descend further into the winter with. Should more things develop in the mad world of F1 motor-racing there will be further updates, until then farewell for now.