Red Bull insist F-duct will not be a ‘distraction’; Schumacher: Ferrari will also be a part of me; Senna happy with HRT/Dallara split; Ecclestone states that tyre deal is getting closer; Austin track organisers hire Tilke
Christian Horner believes that work on Red Bull’s new F-duct system will not be a distraction and that the Milton Keynes-based outfit will be able to maintain their dominant advantage over the rest of the field.
Red Bull debuted its updated RB6 during first practice for the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix, complete with its own interpretation of the device first introduced in Australia by McLaren. However, Horner is adamant that the team will be able to maintain its focus for the weekend ahead
When asked in an interview with Autosport.com the team principal said, “Not really. That is why we have taken our time to introduce it.
“You can always rush components through, but if they don’t do what they are supposed to, then it backfires. We have done a lot of R&D into it, and we feel we have a good lab and test environment understanding. Now, it is a matter of what it does on the track needing to correlate with the analysis that we have done.
“It was far from easy to bring the F-duct on to the car, especially with the homologated chassis. The McLaren system was clearly designed into its chassis, as I think the Sauber system was.
“So it has been a bigger challenge to integrate it, but the guys have done a brilliant job, and it is a work of art when you see all the components together. It is a complicated piece of equipment basically, and very clever, but questionable about the benefits.”
Meanwhile this weekend will see Ferrari celebrate its 800th Grand Prix and the Scuderia has planned to mark the occasion by placing special logos on the engine covers of the F10. As a result, the team’s most successful driver, Michael Schumacher, has expressed his continued emotional ties to Maranello.
“When you are part of a community for fourteen years it inevitably has an effect on you,” Schumacher said.
“I will always have a part of Ferrari inside me; a part of my heart will always be red. The Scuderia has a really special way of going about its business and it is quite right to speak of itself as a family – a family that I have long felt part of.
“The time I spent with Ferrari was wonderful, I made friends and had experiences that I would not want to be without.” said the German who left his role as an advisor at Ferrari to return to Formula One with Mercedes GP.
“Concepts that I had never contemplated before my time at Ferrari came to life for me there: legend, culture and history. All of that meant nothing to me before I joined the team; I had never concerned myself with it or even known about it.
“Once I experienced at first hand the significance that Ferrari has for Italy and the tifosi, only then did I grasp that these concepts were well justified. That they originate in a passion for engines and cars, both among those who build them, as well as among those who admire them.
“I am certainly not a man prone to lyrical expressions, but I now fully understand this passion – my greatest passion is racing, and in that we, myself and Ferrari, are very much the same.”
Bruno Senna believes that HRT’s decision to part with chassis manufacturer Dallara will be of great benefit to the team’s future.
The Spanish outfit has languished at the tail of the field for the majority of the season, leading to tensions between the two parties. However, following the announcement on Wednesday both sides had agreed to split, Hispania now finds its technical staff in charge of trying to make improvements to its 2010 challenger.
Despite this, Senna is hopeful that the move will actually be of benefit to the team.
“The development side of the project is now in our hands,” said the Brazilian in Turkey. “Of course it could have been earlier if everything could have been solved then, and it would have been a great benefit for us in terms of performance.
“But now at least we have the tools to start working on the car and hopefully get some performance updates.”
F1-Supremo Bernie Ecclestone has is hopeful that a deal can be finalised this weekend to secure a tyre supplier for the sport from 2011 onwards.
“I think we are getting there. We are getting organised now.” Ecclestone is reported as saying by Autosport, “It could be Michelin, or Pirelli, or Avons there are a lot of people out there,”
“I hope we will have something a bit firmer by the time we leave here.
“We have 13 teams, we have the FIA, us, and three tyre companies. That is enough!”
This follows yesterday’s news that Italian manufacturer Pirelli is close to securing the contract to supply the teams.
Finally, plans for Formula One to return to the United States have been stepped up, with confirmation that F1-Grand designer Herman Tilke has been hired to help construct the planned purpose built facility in Austin, on a 500 acres site lying along the Texas 130 corridor.
However Ari Straus, president of the posh Monticello Motor Club in New York which was also in talks with Ecclestone about hosting a race, has already cast doubt on the project and believes that it will not be ready for 2012.
“Somebody starting from scratch would not be able to do it until 2013,” he told The Statesman, while stating that Monticello would still be open to discussions with Ecclestone.
Despite this the same article states that organisers and the Government of Texas are confident of completing the work on time and making the event a success.
