Jerez 2013 F1 Testing: Who drives when?

The first pre-season test begins at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Southern Spain on Tuesday morning as Formula 1 comes back to life after a relatively short winter break. Here is the full schedule for the first four days of testing. 

The test lasts for four days and features all eleven teams. Every team bar Williams will run their 2013 car, although they will unveil their 2013 livery.

Caterham and Marussia will also unveil their CT03 and MR-02 in the pit lane on Tuesday morning.

Mercedes & Toro Rosso launch new Formula 1 cars in Jerez

Nico Rosberg took the new W04 Mercedes for a spin during a filming day in Jerez, followed by the official car launch in the afternoon. Hamilton later completed a shakedown as well.

The car was first seen as Nico Rosberg was driving on the circuit with new team-mate Lewis Hamilton taking photographs trackside as Mercedes announced a new partnership with BlackBerry. Following the morning's filming the car was officially launched by both drivers on the start/finish straight.

The new car makes use of the vanity panel to cover the stepped nose, while the team has also reverted back to Coanda-effect exhausts having ditched the system at the end of the 2012 season.

Having watched Rosberg behind the wheel all morning, Hamilton said he was looking forward to his turn driving the car in the afternoon.

"I am [excited] I could barely sleep last night!" Hamilton said. "It's quite an exciting day for us - the launch of a new car - and to be team-mates with Nico; we were just saying how crazy it is because we used to be team-mates back in 2000 when we were go-karting so it's a dream for me to be back here as his team-mate.

"It looks beautiful. It's a lovely car, I'm just excited to get in it ... I'm just really excited to get in and see what it feels like."

Toro Rosso has revealed their challenger for the 2013 Formula One season. The STR8, the team’s eighth creation, will be driven by Daniel Ricciardo and Jean Eric Vergne. Toro Rosso slipped to ninth in the championship in 2012 and recruited technical director James Key.

Formula 1 pre-season testing begins in Jerez

It's been a long winter break for some, and a tight schedule for others. Nevertheless, it's go time. The new season gets underway as the busy bees arrive in Jerez for the first round of a series of pre-season testing. 

After a series of launches kicked off last week, it's time to relocate. Spain will host three rounds of testing: one in Jerez and the rest in Barcelona at the Circuit of Catalunya. Most of the teams have already arrived at the scene, and are making final preparations for Tuesday's green light. Mercedes, Toro Rosso, Caterham and Marussia will launch their cars in Jerez, while Williams  opted to skip the party and debut in Barcelona instead. 

Another big news that hit the media last week was that Fernando Alonso will be skipping the first round of testing. Newly recruited Pedro de la Rosa will take his place as the Spaniard decided to focus on physical preparation for the new season. Alonso will drive the new Ferrari for the first time in Barcelona. 

All eyes will surely be on Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez during these tests. The two drivers have swapped teams this season, with Hamilton moving to Mercedes and Checo to McLaren. Both drivers will surely need time to adjust to new conditions and the new cars. The world will also be watching the newcomers this season: Esteban Gutierrez for Sauber, Giedo van der Garde for Caterham and Max Chilton for Marussia. 

Force India and Marussia are yet to announce their second drivers. Announcements are imminent and we might find out who's driving where before the pits open on Tuesday. 


Pre-season testing

1st Test - Jerez, February 5-8
2nd Test - Barcelona, February 19-22
3rd Test - Barcelona, February 28-March 3

How energy drinks replaced tobacco advertising in Formula 1

One of the slightly bigger changes the sport has faced in the last few years was the ban of tobacco advertising on cars. Today we have energy drinks as title sponsors for almost every team. 

In the '80s, tobacco sponsorship was a common sight in Formula 1. Philip Morris, thanks to the Marlboro brand, was seen everywhere sponsoring teams and individual drivers, as well as Grand Prix events. Several other tobacco companies were also involved, such as Gitanes with the Ligier team, JPS with Lotus, Camel with Tyrrell, West with Zakspeed, Barclay with Arrows, Skoal Bandit with RAM, and Player's Ltd. as the title sponsor of the Canadian Grand Prix.


In early 2000, the non-tobacco laws forbade all types of advertising, and all but Philip Morris disappeared. Interestingly, Philip Morris is still a sponsor of Scuderia Ferrari, although the team has removed all forms of identification on its cars, including the controversial, infamous bar code.


The new sponsorship boom started in late 2004, when Jaguar Racing was put up for sale by Ford Motor Company after the firm decided that sponsorship in racing was no longer a profitable investment. Red Bull, a company that initially sponsored the Sauber F1 Team between 1999 and 2005, took the bite. The energy drinks company gave up on the Sauber deal and purchased Jaguar to become the first major energy drink sponsor to run its own team in Formula 1. Red Bull Racing continued their cooperation with Cosworth for engine supply and  initiated the sport's very first young drivers programme in order to promote new talent and fresh blood for the sport. The team came a long way from their initial struggles to rise as regular title contenders over the past 4 years. 

Red Bull was the first to trigger a series of major sponsorship deals as teams realized that this form of sponsorship was the way to go. This season, almost every team (with the exception of Williams and HRT) had energy drinks and alcoholic beverages advertising on their cars. The latest deal was announced by Lotus. The Enstone team established a partnership with Coca Cola and will introduce Burn Energy Drink advertising on their cars from 2013. Rumours are that Coca Cola is seeking to purchase Lotus and initiate its own team in order to compete with Red Bull at the highest level of motorsport. 'Monster' is pursuing the same with Marussia F1, as the team will most likely hit bankruptcy in the coming year and the beverage company would be willing to offer them a solution.

Teams associated with energy drinks and alcoholic beverages in 2012: 

Red Bull - Red Bull

Toro Rosso - Red Bull
McLaren - Lucozade
Ferrari - TNT 
Mercedes AMG - Monster
Sauber - Cuervo Tequila
Caterham - EQ8
Marussia - Monster
Sahara Force India - Vladivar Vodka, Whyte & Mackay, Kingfisher

Michael Schumacher and the bizzare number 7

The legendary seven-time world champion said his goodbyes on Sunday afternoon after finishing 7th in Sao Paolo. So what, you say? Let's take a deeper look at the connection between Schumi and the number 7.  

Schumacher's career has strangely revolved around a certain number. That number seems to be the same as the number of championships under his name. And also some other rather interesting figures:


This season:

- He finished 7th in Sao Paolo in car nr. 7
- He scored a total of 49 (7x7) points 
- With 49% (7x7) of these points scored from his four 7th places
- 7 of his point finishes were non-podiums finishes
- Schumacher got 7 DNFs this season

Overall:

- 77 fastest laps
- started from 7th place in his first race and 7th again in his comeback race (2010)
- had 7 different team mates
- most consecutive wins in a season: 7 (2004)
- most consecutive poles: 7 (2000-2001)
- he won his first two championships with Mild SEVEN Benetton and raced for 7-UP Jordan

Probably the most shocking of all: Exactly 7,777 days between his first ever race and his last race this weekend in Sao Paolo. 
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The Red Bull vs. Ferrari dominance eras

Red Bull is only the second outfit in F1 history, after Ferrari during the Michael Schumacher years, to have completed a hat-trick championship doubles with the same driver. 

This is how the dominant eras compare so far, with Red Bull closing on Ferrari's five-year pole stats just three years into its reign but looking unlikely to match the Scuderia's win tally even if its steamroller run continues.


Ferrari 2000-04

Races: 85
Drivers' titles: 5
Constructors' titles: 5
Wins: 57 (67%)
Poles: 51 (60%)
Fastest laps: 42
Podiums: 117

Red Bull 2010-12

Races: 58
Drivers' titles: 3
Constructors' titles: 3
Wins: 28 (48%)
Poles: 41 (71%)
Fastest laps: 23
Podiums: 61

2012 Season Review: Top 5 Drivers

1. Sebastian Vettel

Against all odds, Sebastian Vettel managed to dodge the traps of fate in Brazil. After crashing at the start and  suffering from a poor pitstop and a radio failure, the German fought back relentlessly and proved critics and fans alike that he can drive superbly under pressure. People may argue that most of his strong results this year were down to the car's dominant speed. In Brazil, Vettel has shown that the perfect car is nothing without the perfect driver. It was the car that was severely damaged and it was Vettel who got on top of that problem and stormed from the back of the pack to secure his third consecutive title. Which he damn well deserved. 

Best drive: Brazilian Grand Prix (suffering from an exhaust damage, a wrong pitstop call and a radio failure, and still managed to finish 6th to secure title) 
Best moment: securing third consecutive world title
Strong points: qualifying speed, racecraft, motivation
Weak points: sometimes incosistent and short tempered

2. Fernando Alonso

The F2012 was never a winning car. But Fernando Alonso's season is another fine example that the machine is nothing without the man. Consistent performance, regular points finishes, three superb victories, but somehow always slower and never that close to his main rival. Truth be told, if Ferrari had another driver in that seat, they probably wouldn't have race wins this year. Probably Alonso's strongest season to date. 

Best drive: European Grand Prix (qualified 11th, stormed to brilliant victory)
Best moment: emotional win in front of home crowd in Valencia
Strong points: racecraft, consistency, speed and determination
Weak points: short temper and lousy car

3. Lewis Hamilton

A mixture of bad luck and poor reliability overshadowed Lewis Hamilton's otherwise strongest season. Mature driving, raw qualifying speed and fantastic racecraft. Had McLaren sorted out the reliability problems from the start, Lewis would've made the top spot in the drivers' championship. A brilliant comeback from last year's issues as he shrugged off the rustiness and criticism. 

Best drive: United States Grand Prix (only man to challenge Vettel, hunted him down and snatched victory towards the end)
Best moment: overtaking Vettel to secure win in Texas
Strong points: raw speed and qualifying
Weak points: prown to make mistakes often

4. Kimi Raikkonen

Despite all the early criticism, Raikkonen's comeback was superb. One victory, six podiums, stellar driving, solid racecraft and consistent performance saw him initiate a sneaky approach towards snatching the championship. Rusty qualifying performance and Lotus' average development mid-season hindered the Finn from doing better. Ultimately secured 3rd spot in drivers' championship.

Best drive: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (dominated the race after Hamilton's retirement, and fended off Alonso to get comeback victory in the end)
Best moment: a brilliant wheel-to-wheel overtake on Schumacher in the final round in Brazil
Strong points: clean overtaking skills, racecraft, consistency
Weak points: qualifying speed and lack of aggressiveness

5. Sergio Perez

Sauber's Mexican driver has shown some flashes of brilliance this season with podium finishes in Malaysia, Canada and Italy. However, his inconsistent performance gave a hint that he's probably not ready for a top team just yet. Nevertheless, strongest season to date for Perez and best rookie driver.

Best drive: Malaysian Grand Prix (mastered tricky conditions to hunt down Alonso for win, but ultimately had to settle for 2nd)
Best moment: passing Alonso in Italy after failing to do so in Malaysia
Strong points: speed and adaptation to tricky conditions
Weak points: inconsistency