Basics of a Sliding Mesh Gearbox

The sliding mesh gearbox was used in early road vehicles (pre 1930’s) but was problematic (gear clash issues due to the sliding engagement of spur gears rotating at different speeds)

Sliding Mesh Gearbox Diagrams:

Text soon to be updated...

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How to Change Your Shock Absorbers

Shock absorbers are there to ensure handling ride comfort in cars. They are effectively dampers which lessen the effect of the bounce experienced when a car hits a lump or object in the road, it is and important part of the automotive system; when they become worn the lack of damping can damage some of the components in the car. It can also lower the MPG rate and efficiency of your car, costing you a fair bit in petrol in the long run, not to mention the extra adverse effects to our enviroment. Luckily, the process for changing them is fairly simple for a relatively knowledgable person and is exactly the same for left and right shock absorbers, so here is a simple step by step guide:

1. Prepare the car:
Park your car on a level surface and jack up the car, make sure you place the jacks against the frame of the car and not the suspension system, prolonged periods of holding the cars weight can damage the system. Ensure you place wedges behind your rear wheels to prevent the car from moving, loosen you wheel nuts and remove the wheel.

2. Removing the old shock absorbers
locate the lower attachment bolts and or screws of the shock absorber (consult your car handbook if in doubt to which ones), Remove them whilst clamping the shock absorber piston rod in a vice grip. Using a wrench or other tool, remove the upper attachment bolts/screws, your shocks are now removed from the car, remove it carefully.

3. Replace worn parts (bushings and grommets)
The key things to replace is the grommets and rubber bushings. Get the first grommet and put it concave side down onto the shock absorber piston rod. Then, slide the rubber bushing onto the piston rod, moving it down so it is in contact with the convex side of the grommet. Put a second grommet onto the shock absorber piston rod, sliding it down (convex side down) so it sits snuggly to the bushing. If there is a plastic strip around the shock absorber, remove it.

4.Installing the new shock absorber
Place your new shock between the upper and lower suspension arms, pushing the shock absorber piston rod through the hole in the upper suspension arm, tighten the upper fixing nut. Compress the shock slowly, until it lines up with the lower mounting holes on the shock and the suspension arm. Insert the lower bolt through the bottom mounting holes and the bottom of the shock absorber and tighten.

That's it!
Now all you have to do is replace your wheel and lower the car from its jacks!

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Lotus Renault Vs Lotus Renault

There will be two teams bearing the Lotus name in Formula 1 next year.

One, following Wednesday's announcement of Lotus Cars' decision to sponsor and eventually buy into what was the Renault team, will be called Lotus Renault. That team will be part-owned by Lotus Cars but their F1 cars will be called Renaults and will use Renault engines.

The other will be called Team Lotus. This one has nothing to do with Lotus Cars (any more - but we'll come back to that in a moment) but their F1 car will be called a Lotus. They will also use, er, Renault engines.

Both teams, it transpires, plan to run their cars in variations of a black and gold livery. This is an attempt to hark back to the historic John Player Special livery made famous by the original Team Lotus in the 1970s and 1980s through great drivers such as Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Ronnie Peterson, Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna, and era-defining cars like the Lotus 72 and 79.

It's a commentator's - and journalist's - nightmare and one can only begin to imagine the confusion it will create for those watching.

So what on earth is going on?

The story starts in 2009, when Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes obtained a multi-year licence from Lotus Cars to use the Lotus name in F1, having persuaded the Malaysian-owned company that an involvement in grand prix racing would be a valuable promotional tool.

Lotus Racing were one of three new teams in F1 in 2010, the others being Virgin and Hispania. All three spent the year close to the back of the grid, but Lotus did establish themselves as convincingly the most competitive. 

In the course of the year, though, Group Lotus's approach to F1 changed, as part of a hugely ambitious refocusing of the company's future plans by chief executive officer Dany Bahar, who formerly worked in the commercial arms of Red Bull F1 and Ferrari.
Bahar, it transpires, was never keen on Lotus granting the licence to Fernandes, and it has become clear through 2010 why - he wanted to take the brand into F1 himself, but in a different way, through an involvement with an established team.
At the Paris Motor Show in October, Bahar announced plans for five new road-car models, expanding Lotus's range by nearly 200%, and has since said Lotus will enter IndyCar racing in the US and race at Le Mans. And now comes a major sponsorship deal with what used to be the Renault F1 team which will, at an undefined point in the future, morph into Lotus part-owning that team.
Fernandes, meanwhile, struck a deal in September to buy the rights to the Team Lotus name from David Hunt, brother of 1976 world champion James. Hunt had bought them when the original Team Lotus collapsed in 1994 after racing in F1 since 1958, during which time it had established itself as one of the sport's most iconic names.
Fernandes' success in buying the name - exclusively revealed by BBC Sport - marked the point at which what had until then been a private dispute between him and Lotus Cars - which is owned by the Malaysian company Proton - broke out into the open.
Following Fernandes's acquisition of the Team Lotus name, Group Lotus claimed that it owned all the rights to the Lotus name - a point of view robustly disputed by Hunt, who points out that Proton have several times tried to buy the Team Lotus name from him without ever being able to conclude a deal.
The dispute got so heated that former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir bin Mohamad stepped in to mediate, but he succeeded only in stopping the ping-pong of press releases. The dispute is now going to the High Court - and it is unlikely to be resolved until next year.

But the disagreement over the ownership of Team Lotus is only one of two ongoing legal cases between Lotus Cars and Fernandes. In the other, Fernandes is suing Lotus Cars for breach of contract over its withdrawal of the licence to use the Lotus name in F1.
That, too, is not expected to be resolved until some time next year.
Both sides, then, have got themselves into a bit of a pickle.
Lotus Cars has struck a deal to promote its brand in F1 through a team that is knocking on the door of breaking into the top three - and which, in Robert Kubica, has one of the finest drivers on the grid.
But it is doing so with a car that is called a Renault - and there is no way out of that one.
Lotus and the team's majority shareholder, the private investment group Genii Capital, cannot change the constructor name assigned to their team because if they do so without the permission of all the other teams they will lose the millions the team earns through Renault's historic achievements in F1, which date back to their entry in 1977.
And guess which team would not agree?
Fernandes, meanwhile, faces the prospect of his team giving free publicity to a company with which he is in two separate legal disputes. And even if he changed the name of the team to something else, his cars would still be called Lotuses.
It is an unsatisfactory situation for all involved - the efforts of both parties will be diluted by a dispute that, for those watching, will create only confusion.
Fernandes is understood to be increasingly confident that he will win the court case over the Team Lotus name. Lotus Cars, for its part, appears not to be overly concerned about the existence of a second team diluting its brand. Their view is that only one of the teams is affiliated with Lotus, and the other one is providing free advertising for it.
In the meantime, questions hang in the air.
Is the end game for Fernandes to sell the Team Lotus brand to Lotus Cars if he succeeds in establishing that he owns it? Can Lotus - and its parent company Proton - sustain such an ambitious programme? And so on.
In the murk, only one thing seems clear - this is only the latest stage in a story that will rumble on for some time to come.

This is an excerpt from Andrew Bensons blog on the BBC site, the full article can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/12/lotus_v_lotus.html 

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About Me, My Degree and Motorsport Zone

Name: Adam Feneley

Born: Leicester, England

Currently Residing: London, England

Job: Realization Engineer at BMW Plant Oxford (Now back at University)

Study: Brunel University, London, England

Degree: Masters of Engineering (MEng) Motorsport Engineering

Biography:

I was born in Leicester, England in October 1990 and have spent most of my life living in Nottinghamshire. I attended college in Bingham, Nottinghamshire and achieved A levels in Mathematics (A), Physics (A) and Economics (B). My interest in engineering stems from a rich family history in the area, both of my great grandfathers were great engineers of their day, my grandfather himself was a draughtsman and my father a designer.

My mother’s grandfather, Samuel Lee, was an engineer at the birth of the partnership of Rolls and Royce. In the early 1900's he was the chief engineer to Henry Royce before and after the merger with Charles Rolls.

Rolls was introduced to Henry Royce by a friend at the Automobile Club, Henry Edmunds, who was also a director of Royce Ltd. Edmunds showed him Royce's car and arranged the historic meeting between Rolls and Royce at the Midland Hotel, Manchester on 4 May 1904. In spite of his preference for three or four cylinder cars, Rolls was impressed with the two-cylinder Royce 10 and in a subsequent agreement of 23 December 1904 agreed to take all the cars Royce could make. These would be of two, three, four and six cylinders and would be badged as Rolls-Royces.

My Fathers grandfather was a senior engineer during the First World War. He was part of the team that designer the Mark I Tank, he was himself credited for solving the problematic design of the fuel delivery system on the first vehicle in the world to be called a tank. A golden tank trophy stands in Lincoln stone bow bearing his name, in memory of his efforts and achievements during the war. With this type of history in my family i found it very difficult in not pursuing further education and hopefully a future career in the industry.

I applied through UCAS for my course at Brunel University, my first and second choice were both at Brunel, as soon as i came on the open day i knew this was the place i wanted to sit my degree. Looking back my first year was relatively simple. Universities seem to use this as a way to benchmark students; assuring that everyone is capable, and on a level-playing field for when the real hard work begins in the second year. Despite this we took part in a great deal of worthwhile projects during year one; the highlight of which were the technical drawing and engines laboratories.

I was proud of my grades in the first year and have attained 4 A+'s, 1 A- and 1 B+ in my six modules. Going into my second year i had 5 modules to sit, currently halfway through the year here is a brief overview of each one and what is involved:

Principles of Vehicle Design:
One of my favourite modules so far this year, lectures focus on design considerations for different systems in a car. We have currently covered topics of powertrain and transmission and will be moving on to the lesser systems after the Christmas break. Within this module is a very exciting project in which we are taking part in feasibility study for a zero emission single seat racing car, for the Formula Zero Competition (an article on this can be found in the ‘formula zero’ category found on the right sidebar of this webpage). I have been studying various books on steering systems and contacting various hydrogen fuel cell companies, as the Hydrogen systems and the steering geometry are my areas to focus upon.
Along side this project another piece of coursework involves us organising a conference for Brunel Motorsport alumni, which appears to be a bit of a tall order been as the last one (which was organised by the university board – not students) attracted guest speakers in the likes of Ross Brawn and Frank Williams. I will be immensely impressed if our group manages to achieve anything close to this!

Professional Engineering Applications and Practice:In this module we have already taken part in a CAD tutorial using Siemens (more popularly known as Unigraphics) NX version 7.5. I completed a piece of coursework, which comprised of making a part from scratch providing machine drawings for its parts, exploded views, motion simulation and various competency exercise to prove our ability with the software. We also have various lectures in the module centring on business, engineering and professional practices.
The secondary major project for this module is to produce a presentation to be performed in front of members of industry on a chosen company. Our company is Jaguar Land Rover; we have yet to build our slide show for this yet so I will update this as the project comes along.

Solid Body Mechanics:Solid body mechanics is all about how solids react to forces and loads, whether solids are stationary (statics) or moving (dynamics). It has additional element to the ‘fundamentals of…’ course that I took last year in that we take part in statics and vibrational laboratories. We have so far done the statics lab in which we did three different experiments with pressure vessels, torsion, tension, shear and strain. I am currently in the process of writing up the lab report for these as they are due in January.

Thermofluids:This module is another continuation on the fundamentals of…’ course that I took in the first year, but the principles have become more complex and we are covering the second law of thermodynamics in far more detail. We also have labs in this topic, both fluids and thermo; the labs have included a study of refrigerant systems (vapour compression cycle), gas turbines (jet engines), compressible flow (including supersonic shockwaves exiting a nozzle) and high-speed air jets.

Analytical Methods, Control and Instrumentation:Analytical methods is a module which is basically a combination of computational mathematics and control engineering. So far we have only covered the control, which included a control lab in which we studied the systems governing a servo system with and without tacho feedback. But after Christmas we move on to a more in depth study of Matlab and have an assignment using it as we did in year one.

Aside from all of this work I have a years industrial placement to sort out by Christmas so It has been a busy old year! So far I have applied to Williams F1, Mercedes High Performance Engines, Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin and am currently in the process of filling in forms for Xtrac and Bentley. So wish me luck! Interviews will be after Christmas…

This completes my about me section for now! If you have any questions about projects or the site in general please contact me using the contact me link at the top of the site!

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F1 to go green from 2013

Formula 1 stakeholders have reached an agreement for grand prix cars to use a new type of 'green' engine from 2013.

The sport will switch from the current 2.4-litre V8s to 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo engines with energy recovery systems and fuel restrictions.

The move is an attempt to mirror the trend towards fuel-efficiency in road cars and to popularise it, increasing public demand for such engines.

The new rules could be confirmed by governing body the FIA on 10 December.

Mercedes and Ferrari had been reluctant to agree to the move as recently as a month ago, believing that it was an unnecessary expense at a time when F1 was trying to reduce costs.

But a spokesman for Ferrari told BBC Sport the rules had been agreed and he would be "surprised" if it was not announced by the world council.

He admitted Ferrari had concerns about the move on cost grounds but added: "An agreement is there, and when there is an agreement you work accordingly."

A high-level source involved in the talks said it was "most likely" that the FIA would announce the move on Friday.

Why should we change to something that is going to cost millions of pounds and that nobody wants and that could end up with one manufacturer getting a big advantage?

Bernie Ecclestone

The aim is for the new rules to improve the efficiency of F1 engines by as much as 50%.

Care has been taken to ensure the performance of cars will not be affected and total power outputs will remain at current levels - approximately 750bhp.

By adopting the regulations, F1 hopes to widen its appeal to sponsors - commercial insiders say some companies are reluctant to get involved in F1 because of its image of being wasteful with resources.

The agreement to change the regulations from the 2.4-litre normally aspirated V8s used in F1 since 2006 comes after months of protracted negotiations and it had looked as if the switch might have to be delayed until at least 2014, or perhaps until as long as 2017.

F1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone has been firmly opposed to the rule change.

He told BBC Sport: "We have a very good engine formula. Why should we change it to something that is going to cost millions of pounds and that nobody wants and that could end up with one manufacturer getting a big advantage?"

But the change has been agreed in a series of recent meetings between F1's current engine manufacturers - which also include Renault and private company Cosworth - and the final touches were put to the regulations by a steering group of F1 engineers on Thursday.

F1 ENGINE RULES FROM 2013
1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbos with energy recovery and fuel restrictions to replace current 2.4-litre normally aspirated V8s
Fuel efficiency to increase by a target of 50%
Overall power to remain same at approx 750bhp
Checks and balances to ensure costs are contained and performance across all engines remains comparable
Plan for advanced 'compound' turbos to be introduced in subsequent years
Power of Kers energy recovery systems to increase from 60kw in 2011 to 120kw in 2013

It is understood that a series of checks and balances have been written into the regulations to keep costs down and to ensure it should be impossible for one manufacturer to steal a march on the others in terms of performance.

This will primarily be done through resource restriction - such as limiting the amount of people or time that can be devoted to a project.

German car giant Volkswagen has also been heavily involved in the discussions and has privately indicated to F1 insiders that the only way it would consider entering F1 would be if the sport adopted these new rules.

However, sources say VW is giving conflicting messages about whether it will commit to an F1 engine project. If it did enter the sport, it is expected to use its Audi brand.

BBC Sport has been told the regulations will go before the F1 Commission - a group of stakeholders that agrees all rule changes - on Thursday 9 December before being rubber-stamped by the World Council the following day.

The move is a triumph for both F1 teams' organisation Fota and FIA president Jean Todt, both of whom have made increasing the future sustainability of F1 a key aim.

Leading figures in F1 hope that the adoption of the new rules will insulate the sport from charges of wastefulness at a time when supplies of fossil fuels are diminishing and there is pressure for the world to cut its production of greenhouse gases.
Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prx
The sun is setting on the era of big-capacity normally aspirated F1 engines

The aim is that by associating these energy-saving, fuel-efficient technologies with a glamorous and popular sport, they will become desirable in road cars, where their use is already increasing dramatically.

About 600bhp of the 750bhp produced by the engines will come from the four-cylinder single-turbo engine itself, with the rest being provided by energy storage and power-boost systems.

These systems - known as Kers - were first used in F1 in 2009 before being abandoned for 2010 and are being reintroduced next season.

For 2013, the power capacity of the Kers systems will be increased from 60kw to 120kw.

ANDREW BENSON'S BLOG
F1 is hoping it can insulate itself against accusations it is an irrelevant waste of resources and speed up the adoption of these technologies in road cars

Fuel consumption will be restricted both by limiting fuel flow and introducing a maximum capacity for races.

The new engines will not do more than 10,000 revs per minute - current F1 engines spin at 18,000rpm.

In subsequent years, complex new turbocharging technology called compounding will be introduced to further enhance efficiency.

The regulations have been framed to encourage the pursuit of efficiency in engine design, dramatically increasing the amount of power that can be produced per litre of fuel burnt.

Those lessons in efficiency can then be transferred to road cars so that considerably less fuel is used for a given amount of performance.

The FIA was unavailable for comment.

(Story from the BBC website, no copyright infringement intended.)

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LIVE F1 BRAZIL: + Five Way Title battle explained

FIVE-WAY TITLE BATTLE EXPLAINED
1 ALONSO 231pts
2 WEBBER 220pts
3 HAMILTON 210pts
4 VETTEL 206pts
5 BUTTON 189pts

If Alonso wins in Brazil, he will be champion unless Webber is higher than fourth

If Alonso is second, he will be champion unless Webber is higher than eighth, Hamilton higher than fourth or Vettel wins

If Alonso is third, he will be champion unless Webber finishes in the top 10, Hamilton in the top four and Vettel in the top three

If Alonso does not finish on the podium, it will go to Abu Dhabi

Button can only stay in contention if he finishes first or second but is out if Alonso finishes in the top six or if Webber is in the top two

Vettel must beat Alonso on track to stay in contention


WATCH F1 LIVE ONLINE FOR FREE RIGHT HERE >> Link

Qualifying:


Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg took pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix in a frantic last-lap scramble on dry-weather tyres on a damp track.

The German drove superbly to stun the title contenders and throw a wildcard into the championship battle.

Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso - the four main championship hopefuls - will line up right behind rookie Hulkenberg.

Jenson Button's hopes dimmed further after he qualified 11th.

Hulkenberg, 23, whose future at Williams is in doubt, stole a march by fitting dry-weather tyres before the drivers from the top three teams, just after team-mate Rubens Barrichello.

But Hulkenberg performed brilliantly to set two laps fast enough for pole, and the big names, out at the same time, failed to beat him. His best lap - one minute 14.470 seconds - was more than a second faster than Vettel's, a 1:15.519. Barrichello was sixth, 1.733secs slower than his team-mate.

Webber was just over 0.1secs behind his team-mate, with Hamilton, fourth in his McLaren, 0.228secs behind Vettel, and Alonso 0.242secs adrift of the Englishman.

Hulkenberg said: "My first pole position is an emotional and hopefully historic moment as I want to be in F1 for many, many years.

"I am still shaking from the thrill and I just want to enjoy it and get on with the job tomorrow.

"It was a pretty good lap with no mistakes. It was still tricky out there. There were wet parts, particularly the last corner. But that lap was spot on."

Vettel said: "First I thought I had missed pole by 0.1secs but then I saw there was another digit and that it was a four instead of a five."

Webber added: "He gave us all a driving lesson out there, and he found a different race track from the rest of us."

Asked about starting the race ahead of all the title contenders, Hulkenberg said: "The best thing would be to drive off into the distance, but obviously that is not going to happen."

His race engineer, Tom McCullough, denied that Hulkenberg had been a wet-weather set-up, which would have given him an advantage in qualifying, but a handicap in the forecasted dry race.

"This is our fully dry set-up," McCullough told BBC Sport. "If you look at the data, he's very committed, especially in the high-speed corners. He's very good in changeable conditions.

"Hopefully, with track position, we can fight with the Red Bulls, McLaren and Ferrari, but good points is what we are after. Anything else is a bonus."

It is the first pole position for Williams since the 2005 European Grand Prix, when Nick Heidfeld took the position, exactly 100 races ago.

Barrichello was ahead of Renault's Robert Kubica, Mercedes' Michael Schumacher - unusually ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg - Ferrari's Felipe Massa and the second Renault of Vitaly Petrov.

Alonso heads into the race as championship leader, 11 points ahead of Webber, with Hamilton a further 10 points adrift.

Vettel is 25 points - one win - behind Alonso with only 50 remaining in the final two races here and in Abu Dhabi next weekend. Button is fifth, 42 points behind.

Alonso was calm about being last out of the top four championship hopefuls.

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Alonso satisfied with qualifying performance

"In qualifying like this you can never make any predictions or expectations," the Spaniard said.

"We were struggling with intermediates and with dry tyres it was a difficult circuit to play.

"My last lap was a little bit quicker (initially), but I lost some 10ths at one of the corners. The dry line was not very wide, and if you go off it, you lose a lot of time.

"I guess maybe in those conditions only Nico did a perfect lap, all the others we lose a little bit here and a little bit there. It is the way it is.

"The championship is not really in my mind. You can get some strange results but we are concentrating on increasing the gap and if we give away points, making sure it is not too many."

Button came as close as he has yet to admitting that his hopes are over and that his role now is to support Hamilton.

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Button struggled to find balance

He said: "It has been pretty tough all weekend. The car was actually better in qualifying. But I have qualified further down here and finished all right. It is hard to play a supporting role from there."

Team-mate Hamilton was slightly more upbeat about his fourth place, saying: "It is better than nothing. I have often started fourth here, it is not my favourite, but I can't complain.

"In qualifying I just got held up on that last corner which is frustrating, but we are still in the fight. We have got good race pace and straight speed and I'm happy I can battle in there."

Heavy overnight rain had left the track wet in the morning, and it continued to rain intermittently until it abated shortly before the start of practice at 1100 local time (1300 GMT).

It was raining at the start of first qualifying but it soon abated, and the track dried through the session to the point that the drivers were able to put on slick tyres for the all-important last runs in the third session.

Alonso set the pace in the first, his lap of 1:18.987 just edging out Webber and Vettel, but the Red Bulls were at the front in the second session, Webber again ahead of Vettel.

Kubica was third in Q2, ahead of Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello and Alonso.

Hulkenberg's pole was the first for a Cosworth engine since Barrichello in a Stewart at the 1999 French Grand Prix. After qualifying, Rosberg complained to the stewards that he had been blocked by Sebastien Buemi, claiming this had prevented him from reaching Q3, but after scrutiny the complaint was dismissed.

Toro Rosso's Beumi qualified in 15th but is set to start from 20th because of a five-place grid penalty he incurred at the Korean Grand Prix.

Article from the BBC F1 Website, no copyright infringement intended

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Button escapes unhurt from Brazil gun gang attack

Formula 1 champion Jenson Button has praised the quick actions of his police driver after armed men threatened him in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Button called him a "legend" for fleeing through traffic after six men brandishing machine guns approached.

Button, his manager and trainer all escaped unharmed as they were driven to their hotel after practice for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

Brazil's major cities have a bad record for serious crimes of violence.

"Would-be assailants made an attempt to approach the car that was carrying Jenson Button" on Saturday, said the statement from McLaren.

Button, 33, was quickly driven away by an armed policeman in the reinforced armoured vehicle provided by McLaren.

Button's manager Richard Goddard and trainer Mike Collier were also in the vehicle.

Extra security

Mr Goddard said: "We were about three or four minutes away from the circuit when the incident took place.

"I would suggest there were more than four or five guys, something along those lines, who emerged from a block of flats.

"I initially saw one guy carrying this piece of wood, a baseball bat kind of thing, but I didn't spot the one who had a gun until someone pointed it out.

"It was pulled, and that was it really. You didn't really have time to think about what was happening.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

There are parts of Sao Paulo which are extremely violent, and [the city] has extremes of great wealth and extreme poverty”

End Quote Murray Walker Formula 1 commentator

"You hear about these kind of things in Sao Paulo, and because they don't come home to roost, you don't think about them. But when it almost happens to you then it's fairly worrying."

He said they were lucky to have a police driver on hand to force his way through the traffic and get them out of what could have been "quite a frightening situation".

A McLaren spokesperson said: "The police driver of Jenson's vehicle reacted swiftly and, using avoidance techniques, rapidly forced his way through the traffic, taking Jenson and the other occupants of the car immediately away from any danger and back to their hotel."

The spokesperson added the Sao Paulo authorities had also acted efficiently and would provide additional security for Button and other team members on Sunday.
Previous attacks

BBC Formula 1 commentator David Croft said Button reported seeing six men all brandishing machine guns approach his car.

The reigning world champion, who will start 11th on the grid on Sunday, described his driver as an "absolute legend".

Three years ago members of Toyota's F1 team escaped a similar situation when they were also approached by gunmen, Mr Croft said.

Formula 1 commentator Murray Walker told the BBC that gunmen previously had attempted to attack him in the same area.

He said: "There are parts of Sao Paulo which are extremely violent, and [the city] has extremes of great wealth and extreme poverty."

He said parts of the circuit were close to favelas, or shanty towns, where there was a lot of deprivation.

He said: "I suspect that's where it happened to Jenson, and naturally the people who are in the favelas see these obviously very wealthy people driving away from the circuit and they know they've got a lot of money, and they know they've got watches and things on them and that's what they're after presumably."

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Button and Hamilton Must beat Webber in Korea - McLaren

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button must beat Mark Webber in Korea on Sunday to have any chance of winning the title, says McLaren engineer Phil Prew.

Red Bull driver Webber has a 14-point lead over team-mate Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with only three races left.

Hamilton is 28 points adrift with Button 31 points behind Webber.

And Prew told BBC Sport: "We need to be in front of Webber. Both our drivers need to attack."

Every team is entering into the unknown to some extent this weekend in Yeongam on a brand new track being used for a grand prix race for the first time.

Speaking from Korea during a McLaren phone conference, principal race engineer Prew said there are parts of the track which should favour all the leading teams.

"I actually walked the circuit this morning with the other engineers and I was fairly impressed with what I saw," he added. "The track itself, the kerbs and the run-off all looked pretty good.

"To be honest, it's a very good combination of quite a few different sorts of circuit. It has some long straights with big stops, which is not dissimilar to Canada, which I think will favour our car.

"Sector two is a bit more like Turkey, where we performed quite well. And then the last sector, which would typically be a very high-downforce sector, a bit more like Hungary perhaps."

Button finished fourth at the last race in Suzuka, while Hamilton finished fifth, having failed to finish three of the previous four grands prix. Prew says everyone is keen to put the recent setbacks behind them.

"We've under-delivered points in the last couple of races, which is a frustration to the drivers and the team.

"But they know that the car has the pace and the potential to be competing, and finishing higher up that we've achieved recently.

"They both want to win races and they both want to win the championship and to do that they have to be winning."

Both McLaren cars will be running modified front and rear wings in Korea as well as other mechanical updates they hope will get them closer to the Red Bulls.

With the world championship winning drivers from the last two seasons in their cars [Button in 2009, Hamilton in 2008] Prew says the whole team can draw on their experience, as well as the failure to win the title in 2007.

"Personally I was in the position in 2007 when we gave away an awful lot of points in two races, effectively 42 points with Lewis to lose the championship in 2007 [equivalent to the 2010 points system].

"So defending a lead [as Red Bull have to this season] can give you added pressure, it possibly leads you to change your approach slightly.

"But for McLaren at the moment it's a very clear objective - we've got to be winning races, we've got to have strong performances from both drivers and then we'll see how it pans out over the next three races."

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Williams F1: Major Car Developments 2010

Above: Williams FW32 Birds eye view, Wireframe

Specifications

Chassis construction: Monocoque construction fabricated from carbon epoxy and honeycomb composite structure, surpassing FIA impact and strength requirements
Front suspension: Carbon fibre double wishbone arrangement, with composite toelink and pushrod activated springs and anti-roll bar
Rear suspension: Double wishbone and pushrod activated springs and anti-roll bar
Transmission: Williams F1 seven-speed seamless sequential semi-automatic shift plus reverse gear.
Gear selection: electro-hydraulically actuated
Clutch: Carbon multi-plate
Dampers: Williams F1
Wheels: RAYS forged magnesium
Tyres: Bridgestone Potenza, F 325mm wide, R 375mm wide
Brake system: 6 piston callipers all round, carbon discs and pads
Steering: Williams F1 power assisted rack and pinion
Fuel system: Kevlar-reinforced rubber bladder
Electronic systems: FIA standard electronic control unit
Cooling system: Aluminium oil, water, and gearbox radiators
Cockpit: Driver six-point safety harness with 75mm shoulder straps & HANS system,
removable anatomically formed carbon fibre seat covered in Alcantara
Dimensions & weight: Overall width: 1800mm
Engine

Designation: Cosworth 2.4L V8, 90° V angle engine
Valve train: pneumatic
Fuel management and ignition systems: Cosworth
Engine materials: include block and pistons in aluminium, crankshaft in steel billet, connecting rods in titanium




(13/06/2010)
Williams introduced two new front wings for Montreal. Both feature two vertical turning vanes and are designed to boost the airflow from underneath the raised front section of the chassis (labeled 1). Each front wing has a different forward upper wing (labeled 2). On one example there was a small splitter (labeled 3) on the outside of the endplate. The team has also brought two different rear wings.



(10/07/2010)
Previously only Nico Hulkenberg has used Williams' low-blowing exhaust (red arrow), but at Silverstone team mate Rubens Barrichello was also running the upgrade. It's quite similar to Ferrari's system, and is therefore less complicated than the ones used by Red Bull and McLaren. The FW32 also features new bodywork and engine cover for the British race.



The car already showed much improved pace in Spain, but at Silverstone both drivers could confirm their performances thanks to a new blown diffuser.

The change will obviously benefit the FW32 a lot as it previously featured high exhausts that appeared to disturb upper sidepod airflow quite a lot. The new sidepod slopes down much steeper, resembling much the design of the Red Bull. With this change, exhaust gases are now pushed onto the diffuser, allowing it to work more efficiently while drag will certainly have reduced above the sidepod.





(26/09/2010)
Williams arrived in Singapore with a completely new front-wing assembly, which is quite similar to Renault's solution. Compared to the older version (top drawing), the new front wing (bottom drawing) features several differences. There is a more pronounced upward sweep of the outer lower wing, just inboard of the endplate. While the former small vertical fence at the outer edge of the endplate has gone (1, upper), the upper flap section now features an extension with a small endplate outside the main endplate (1, lower). It is all designed to help the tyre act like a diffuser, sucking air from the front wing to improve its efficiency. There are also two new flaps in the central section (2) and the main plane twists upwards (3).





As a final update on their FW32 in Japan, Williams have introduced new brake ducts for both the front and rear brakes. The new ducts feature a shield to prevent airflow into the duct to be disturbed by the rotating front wheel. This design feature is far from new and teams like Renault or McLaren have been running it since the beginning of the season.

It is however likely that Williams have now changed the front brake ducts to better work with the new front wing they introduced in Singapore. While the endplate on that wing has become simpler, the stacked element hangs over the endplate for additional downforce. On the inside, an extra small stabiliser element was added as well, while the black flaps closest to the front wing supports are now similar to Renault's solution.


All images in this article are owned by Formula One Administration Ltd.
If i am in breach of any copyright please contact me and i shall remove the images immediately

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Automotive History: Louis Renault

Image: Louis Renault's first workshop


Louis Renault was a French Industrialist who was born in Paris on February 15th, 1877. Renault was foremost an engineer and mechanic and built his first car at the age of 21, and formed the company Renault Freres (Renault Brothers) in 1899 with his two elder brothers, Marcel and Fernand. We know the company today purely as Renault. They have a range of hugely successful cars, as well as a number of racing teams, including a Formula one team which currently showcases the talents of former world champion, Spaniard, Fernando Alonso.

Louis was interested in cars and engines from an early age, and was one of the first pioneers of the automotive industry. In 1898, after building his first vehicle, he staged a bet: to climb a tough slope with his invention. He succeeded and received 13 orders for his car; this ultimated lead to the company being formed one year later. Unfortunately, Louis' brother Marcel was killed in a race in 1903 and his brother was suffering health problems and passed away in 1909. Louis Renault was given control of the company in 1908, prior to the death of his second brother.

He was in control of the company until 1942 and was in charge when the company released many inventions which are common place today. These include: hydrolic shock absorbers, drum brakes, compressed gas ignition, the turbo-charger and the taximeter. The company underwent rapid expansion during this period and became famous nationally and internationally.

During World War One, Louis Renault received the legion of Honour for his successfull military designs, including the first ever tank with a fully rotating turret, the Renault FT-17. The layout with the engine at the back and the driver at the front and turret on top is one which is used pretty much universally with every tank designed since.

As World War Two beaconed, Renault was again an important supplier to the French army, and following the Nazi occupation, Renault refused to help out German forces by building them tanks. Instead, the Nazis put people from Daimler-Benz in charge of Renault ,but its contribution was very small, one third of what it produced when it was suppling the French.

In 1944, France was Liberated and Louis Renault was arrested under suspicion of collaborating with Nazi forces; he died one month later. Not a fitting end to a man who brought forth many changes in technology and engineering and pushed the Industry forward as he did.

A matter of months later Renault was nationalised and stabilised after a number of remarkable courtcases on very thin evidence. Nevertheless, Renault lives on to this day as the key car manufacturer within the French borders, taking 40 billion Euros in 2007 alone, and a large range of successful cars on the market including the popular Clio, Megane and Scenic Rangers.

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How to Repair a Cracked or Chipped Auto Windshield

The tiniest pebble or piece of grit flicked up off the Tyre of a car in front of you can fly at high speed into your windscreen and will most likely cause it to chip or, if you are really unlucky.... A crack!

In the winter this can spell big problems, even the tiniest chip, the car gets very cold at night, causing the glass to contract and when you start up the car and blast on the heaters it expands very quickly. This strangely is a technique used to strengthen glass but if an imperfection is present it causes it to get bigger, and very soon your chip can stretch out and become a crack and you will need a whole new windscreen.

If you have a fully comprehensive car insurance scheme then your solution for this is very simple. Autoglass offer a windscreen repair service, which is free under most fully comprehensive car insurance policies. But, you need to catch the chip before it develops into a crack. The machine used by Autoglass basically injects a clear resin into the crack and compresses it will air pressure, forming a very smooth and unnoticeable seal on your windscreen on many occasions you cant even tell that it has been done.

However, if you do not have insurance that covers this or they cannot repair it with the tool (which has a fixed nozzle and can only do certain sized holes) then you can try and repair it yourself, but it can be quite expensive, not as costly as buying a new windscreen though.

Doing a simple Internet search you can find lots of windshield repair kits and there are a vast amount on auction sites like eBay, which are often worth an in-depth look. The prices range from about 100 GBP to around 2000 GBP depending on the type and quality of glass you are dealing with and the size of the crack, another good idea would be to search how-to sites to find tips and guides on actually repairing your windscreen and if you have an unusual or especially old model its probably worth looking for a more detailed account.

A few good sites to consider are:

Rock Chip Kits: (USA)
http://www.rockchipkits.c om/.

eBay: (Worldwide)
http://www.ebay.com

Windshield Doctor (USA)
http://www.windshielddoct or.com/

Delta Kits (USA)
http://www.deltakits.com/

Screen Care (UK)
http://www.screencare.co.u k/

There is also quite a good tutorial video I found on metacafe.com which could come in handy:

http://www.metacafe.com/ watch/642354/windshield_replac ement_kits/

But I warn you know, do not try this is you have any doubts with what you are doing, not only is it a waste of money paying for the kit, but if you ruin the entire glass panel its going to be fairly costly to replace.

If you windshield has developed a decent sized crack then I would very strongly advise that you contact a specialist, cracks over 3 inches are difficult to repair even for the most experienced of windshield technicians and many will turn you away or offer you a new pane of glass.

For me and you, repairing a chip in our windscreen or a even a small crack should be fairly simple, but you will need a steady hand and a good understanding of the kit you are using to get a good clean and flat finish to ensure you do not compromise the glass, leaving patches and edges is not good, you are still leaving weaknesses in the glass.

But do not expect your windshield repair to be perfect, the chances are that you will see a slight difference in the glass but the key is to make it as un-noticeable as possible. If you can stop a crack from spreading across the windscreen and obscuring the view of the driver you have the job done.

Small marks left after the job are common, but should be about the size of a pin head if you have done a good job, the view through the glass which you have treated may have a slight distortion to it, again, this is not a problem as long as it does not hinder the vision of the driver. It's a very good idea to practice on a worthless car before hand if you can.

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Full race report: Monza Italian Grand Prix

Full Race Report:

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso leapt back into title contention after winning a thrilling battle with McLaren's Jenson Button in the Italian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard moves from fifth to third in the championship, 21 points behind Mark Webber of Red Bull, who is three ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton retired after a collision with Felipe Massa, who finished third.

Button stays fourth overall, ahead of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, with a win covering all five contenders.

Vettel finished fourth in a race that Red Bull had always viewed as damage limitation. Webber was sixth behind the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg.

The decisive moments of the race came around laps 36 and 37.

Button had led from the start after passing Alonso into the first chicane following a slow getaway from the Spaniard, who started from pole position.

Alonso tracked Button all through the first part of the race, with the Englishman's lead ebbing and flowing as the two traded fastest laps in a fascinating flat-out battle.

By lap 13, Button had eked out a lead of 1.6 seconds, but Alonso then came back at him and they were nose to tail by lap 20.

A series of fastest laps from Button stretched his lead to a second on lap 29, but again Alonso responded.

Button pitted first, on lap 36, with Alonso coming in next time around. A brilliant in-lap followed by a pit stop that was 0.8secs quicker than McLaren's meant Alonso exited the pits just ahead of Button.

He had to defend forcefully at the first chicane, but held Button off around that lap and then proceeded to pull away at a pace to which Button could not respond.

Instead, Button had to worry about Massa, who was slightly faster than him in the closing laps but was unable to get close enough to challenge.

Hamilton's hopes ended at the second chicane on the first lap as he was trying to take advantage of a battle between the two Ferrari drivers.

Alonso was delayed by his battle with Button at the first corner and Massa was able to get alongside him through the second, left-handed part of the chicane.

That gave Massa the inside line through the following Curva Grande, but Alonso was on the inside approaching the second chicane and held on to second position.

Hamilton, though, was right behind him, hoping to pass Massa on the inside, but as they turned into the corner he was not close enough.

Massa's rear wheel hit Hamilton's front and broke the suspension of the McLaren.

"I had a good start and gained a position," Hamilton said.

"In a realistic world I perhaps should've stayed there a while. I put my car up the inside and tried to get third - it was obviously a little bit too much. I'm very disappointed in myself and sorry for the team.

"I've got to try to collect my thoughts and move onto the next race. The championship is not over, but it's mistakes like I made today that lose world championships."

Vettel recovered from a brief engine glitch, which lost him a place to team-mate Webber, by making an ultra-late pit stop for a new set of tyres at the start of the last lap.

The extra time he spent out on the track leapfrogged him ahead of Webber, Williams's Nico Hulkenberg and Renault's Robert Kubica, all of whom he had been behind before they made their stops.

FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW VERY SOON!!!









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Monza Race Preview with Jarno Trulli:




Qualifying Report:

Fernando Alonso produced a stunning lap to grab Ferrari's first pole position of 2010 at the Italian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard was 0.122 seconds quicker than McLaren's Jenson Button at Monza to give himself a great chance of reviving his faltering title challenge.

Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa was third ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber, whose fourth was an excellent effort.

McLaren's championship leader Lewis Hamilton could manage only fifth place, with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel sixth.

Alonso's fastest time of one minute 21.962 seconds came on the first of two runs in the top-10 qualifying shoot-out, at which point he was nearly 0.3 secs quicker than Button and 0.6 faster than Massa.

Defending world champion Button closed the gap on his second run, as Alonso was unable to improve his time, but could not find enough to snatch pole.

Alonso said: "Pole position was a nice surprise. When I stopped in parc ferme, they radioed and told me I was keeping the first position. But there were still some cars completing their laps, Jenson had gone pink [fastest of all] in the first sector and I thought, as had happened before, someone would go faster.

"It is a nice surprise and a fantastic feeling to get this first pole position for Ferrari.

"The first run was just to put a normal lap on the table and then try to risk more in the second run. But, as sometimes as happens in Monza, when you do a normal lap it is better than when you try to push because it is easy to make a mistake."

It was Ferrari's first pole position since the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, and Alonso's first since Hungary last year, when he was driving for Renault.

The two McLaren drivers, meanwhile, adopted different strategies with Button choosing to set up his car to achieve more grip through the corners and less speed on the straight, while Hamilton chose not to use the F-duct in order to maximise his straight-line pace.

"We came here not quite sure which approach to take," said Button, "and I think our side [of the garage] made the right choice to run the high-downforce set-up with the F-duct.

"It's very tricky here, as Fernando said, and out of Ascari I got a bit of oversteer and ran wide off the circuit.

"But it's the first time I've been on the front row so I'm happy with second and the car's performance."

Massa, who controversially handed the lead to Alonso in the German Grand Prix in July, was more than 0.3 secs slower than his team-mate.

"When I put the soft tyres on in Q2, I could not do my best lap straight away - the best was my third lap. I said 'let's risk and try to do three laps', but in Q3 it didn't work as well as I expected.

"I was able to do one timed lap on my other set but it was not enough. We have a good car for the race - we've improved it massively," he explained.

Webber's performance was deeply impressive after the Australian suffered problems in practice.

He stopped out on the track twice, on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, and that meant he had not run on the softer of the two tyre choices - which the leading drivers used to set their grid positions - before qualifying.

To beat team-mate Vettel by more than 0.2secs in those circumstances made it one of the best laps of Webber's season.

"I would have taken that [at the start of qualifying]," said the Australian, who lies second in the drivers's standings, just three points behind Hamilton.

"We extended to a few laps on the option tyre in Q2 and we delivered, in a way, when it counted."

Renault driver Vitaly Petrov was given a five-place penalty after qualifying 15th for impeding Timo Glock's Virgin as he rejoined the circuit from the pit lane.

"I can only apologise to him if I held him up. I didn't see him coming up behind me and didn't see any blue flags as I came out of the pits," he explained.

However, Glock was given a similar penalty, relegating him to the back of the grid, after the team broke a seal on his gearbox to replace the differential, a breach of F1's technical rules.

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'Vettel makes too many mistakes' - Button

Video: Button crashes into Sebastian Vettel at the 2010 F1 Belgium GP

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel has made too many errors to be in contention for the world championship, according to his McLaren rival Jenson Button.
Vettel smashed into Button during Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, knocking the defending champion out of the race.
The German, 23, also collided with team-mate Mark Webber in Turkey in May.
"He's made too many mistakes this year to fight for the world championship but he is extremely quick, we can't take that away from him," Button said.
Vettel, nicknamed "Baby Schumi" when he arrived in the sport, has landed seven polls in 13 races this season but has only claimed two victories.
His 15th place in Spa left him 31 points adrift of championship leader Lewis Hamilton, but four ahead of Button.Vettel's manoeuvre on lap 16 - for which he earned a drive-through penalty - also drew criticism from McLaren chief Martin Whitmarsh, who described him as a "crash kid".
His collision with Webber in Turkey in May cost the team a one-two finish, while earlier this month in Hungary he slipped back too far behind the safety car, collecting a drive-through penalty and costing himself an easy win.
Red Bull's title hopes would now appear to lie with Mark Webber - who is just three points behind Hamilton - but Button does not expect the team to favour the Australian over Vettel.
"I don't think they will. I think they love Vettel," he said. "I don't think they will put all their eggs in one basket."
Crashing out at Spa has left Button with an uphill task in the title race but, having had time to reflect on his predicament, he retains hope for the rest of the season.
"When I got out of the car and walked into my drivers' room, I said that it massively hurt my championship and coming back from this is very difficult," he said.
"Looking at it now, it's 35 points which is still a lot but in old money (the 2009 scoring system) it's about 14 or 15 so it's definitely still possible."
And Button is optimistic about getting back to winning ways at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza on 12 September.
"I'm in a position now where I've just got to go there and hope for a race victory and work towards it," said the Briton.
"If I can come away with another race victory in Monza then it's a very different atmosphere and feeling for me. It's a circuit I love and where I will do very well this year. I'm confident in the car and I think I'll have a good weekend.
"I am positive, but I've taken a big knock."

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Full Race Weekend Report: F1 Belgian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton won the Belgian Grand Prix to take the lead in the drivers world championship, after an incident-packed race at Spa-Francorchamps.

The McLaren Mercedes driver retook the lead in the World Championship with an almost error-free drive, leading from the first corner to the finish.

Red Bull's Mark Webber was second, with Renault's Robert Kubica third, and Ferrari's Felipe Massa fourth.

Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso crashed out, and Sebastian Vettel failed to score a point.

Force India's Adrian Sutil was fifth, with Nico Rosberg sixth for Mercedes.

Rosberg's team-mate Michael Schumacher finished seventh after starting 21st, Kamui Kobayashi eighth for Sauber, Renault's Vitaly Petrov ninth and Force India's Tonio Liuzzi tenth after Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari, who crossed the line ahead of Liuzzi, was handed a post-race 20 second penalty.

"I'm ecstatic, it was a great weekend," said Hamilton, whose driving was praised by his team principal Martin Whitmarsh. "A race like that can be a lottery, so I'm so happy and grateful to come out on top."

With the drivers having been clearly warned they would be punished if they used the run-off at the opening corner, La Source, to gain any kind of advantage on the first lap, the likelihood of collisions appeared to be increased.

What was not predicted was that pole-sitter Webber would make an appalling start, to such an extent that he reached the corner in sixth.

As Hamilton pulled ahead, Kubica weaved around the Australian, and just managed to hold off the charging Button, but rain was already beginning to fall.

By the time the field got to the Bus Stop chicane, the track was damp enough for at least nine cars to have to use the run-off area. Rubens Barrichello, in his 300th Grand Prix, was the big loser, running hard into the back of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari, a collision which put him out of the race.

With the safety car out the choice was now whether to switch to intermediates or stay on slicks, and most, including the leaders chose to stay on their smooth rubber.

It proved to be the right choice as the the rain immediately eased off and as Hamilton stretched his lead after the safety car recalled after two laps, Button and Vettel passed Kubica, while Alonso began the long climb through the field after pitting for fresh slicks.

Button had picked up some minor front-wing damage as he fought with Kubica into the first corner and struggled with the balance of his car, but while he could not live with the speed of team-mate Hamilton, the world champion had enough in hand to keep Vettel at bay.

By lap 15, Hamilton had 11 seconds in hand but at the end of the next, the rain came again and indirectly caused disaster for Button as Vettel, with a run on the Briton, lost control under braking on the damp track and speared into the side of the McLaren.

Incredibly, Vettel was able to recover just in time to steer his Red Bull across the track and into the pit lane, from where he rejoined the race after a quick front wing change.

Click to play

Belgian Grand Prix - Top three drivers

Button, on the other hand, was unable to continue and having been in no way at fault, was entitled to be furious.

"All I felt was a really big bang in the sidepod and I lost drive immediately, I don't know what he was playing at really. From the point of view of the championship, it's a massive blow," he said.

The stewards immediately announced the incident would be investigated, and Vettel was handed a drive through penalty for causing an avoidable collision.

The incident left Hamilton clear of Kubica, Webber, Felipe Massa, Adrian Sutil, and remarkably, Schumacher, who had started 21st.

At the half-way point, Sutil was the first of the leading pack to change his slick tyres followed by Webber, who was trying to get the jump on Kubica. Vettel, meanwhile, was down in 14th after serving his penalty, but lapping more quickly than any other driver.

Hamilton stopped two laps later, and while the track stayed dry, it was looking good for the Briton. Behind him, poetic justice awaited Vettel while attempting to pass Tonio Liuzzi for 11th, as the German sliced open a tyre on the Italian's front wing. Once again, he was able to limp back to the pitlane, but he rejoined in 20th.

At the three-quarter point Hamilton was maintaining a comfortable 10-second gap to Kubica, but rain was clearly on its way. As it began falling, Hamilton and Webber stayed out - and Hamilton could not stay on the damp track at Rivage.

Somehow he kept his car out of the barriers, and was back on track before Webber could capitalise. Immediately Hamilton came in to switch to intermediates. Webber did likewise, as did Kubica - but the Pole overshot his pitlane box, a mistake that enabled Webber to come out in second.

There was more drama to come, however. On lap 39, Alonso spun out at the exit to Les Combes, leaving the Ferrari in the middle of the track, necessitating another safety car period.

Feeling the grip levels carefully, Hamilton nailed the restart to keep Webber at bay. The inevitable concertina effect behind him ensured plenty of incident in the closing laps, but Hamilton maintained his concentration in superb style to score a potentially crucial victory.

Watch the F1 Belgium Grand Prix 2010 live here on Motorsport Zone!

Its live, its F1 and its FREE (and no ads!)

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1	Australia	M Webber	Red Bull
2	Great Britain	L Hamilton	McLaren
3	Poland	R Kubica	Renault
4	Germany	S Vettel	Red Bull
5	Great Britain	J Button	McLaren
6	Brazil	F Massa	Ferrari
7	Brazil	R Barrichello	Williams
8	Germany	A Sutil	Force India
9	Germany	N Hulkenberg	Williams
10	Spain	F Alonso	Ferrari
11	Germany	M Schumacher	Mercedes
12	Germany	N Rosberg	Mercedes
13	Spain	J Alguersuari	Toro Rosso
14	Italy	V Liuzzi	Force India
15	Switzerland	S Buemi	Toro Rosso
16	Finland	H Kovalainen	Lotus
17	Germany	T Glock	Virgin
18	Italy	J Trulli	Lotus
19	Japan	K Kobayashi	BMW Sauber
20	Brazil	B Senna	Hispania
21	Japan	S Yamamoto	Hispania
22	Spain	P de la Rosa	BMW Sauber
23	Brazil	L di Grassi	Virgin
24	Russia	V Petrov	Renault

Second Qualifying Session:

OUT: Schumacher, Rosberg, Algersuari, Liuzzi, Buemi, Kovalienen, Glock

First Qualifying session:

OUT: Trulli, Kobayashi, Senna, Yamamoto, De La Rosa, Di Grassi, Petrov

Red flagged after rookie mistake from Vitaly Pertov sends his Renault spinning off the track, the stewards deemed the car in a dangerous position and the Renaults engine has cut out so the red flag was produced until the car can be removed

Third Practice:

Red Bull's Mark Webber set the fastest time in final practice for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The championship leader lapped in one minute, 46.106 seconds shortly before heavy rain forced the drivers to switch back to wet tyres.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was second fastest, with Webber's Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel third.

Vettel was followed by McLaren's Jenson Button, Renault's Robert Kubica and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Only half a second covered the first six drivers, with Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa in seventh and Force India's Adrian Sutil again showing encouraging form to be eighth fastest.

After the wet weather of Friday, the track had dried sufficiently to give all the teams valuable running time on slick tyres from the start. With rain forecast, all took advantage, with Hamilton setting a succession of fastest laps on his prime rubber.

It was again notable that the Red Bulls, though faster in the twistier middle sector of the track, had less of an advantage in the flowing first and third sectors.

With 20 minutes remaining most the drivers switched to their softer option slick tyres, but the rain that had been threatening began to fall.

As it did so, Vettel stopped in the pit-lane and had to be pushed back to the garage, but the airbox problem that was diagnosed was almost immediately fixed.

The German is the only one of the leading contenders to be using an old - previously used - engine at a track where power is vital.

On Friday, meanwhile, it was confirmed that Red Bull had passed new, tougher front wing flexibility tests introduced in an effort to allay concerns that their pace advantage may be at least partly down to illegally flexing bodywork, particularly the front wing and forward part of the under-floor.

Mark Webber's RB6, and Lewis Hamilton's McLaren MP4-25, were subject to the new tests during the standard inspection procedure that followed Friday's practice sessions.

FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer

Previously, the endplates on the front wing were allowed to flex by a maximum of 10mm when a load of 50 kilogrammes was placed upon them. The new test saw that weight doubled to 100 kgs, with deflection allowed of up to 20mm.

According to FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer, both cars - which were also subject to an additional front floor deflection test - were found to be in conformity with 2010 technical regulations.

Additional new floor tests and regulations will be introduced at the Italian GP in two weeks time.

Red Bull have always been adamant their cars comply with the regulations. Neither Ferrari was chosen for testing on Friday, but Scuderia technical director Aldo Costa said he hoped the FIA's stronger stance would end the controversy.

First Practice:

Fernando Alonso set the fastest time in a rain-affected first practice session for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.
The Ferrari man, fifth in the drivers' standings but only 20 points behind leader Mark Webber, posted a lap of two minutes 0.797 seconds in poor weather.
Lewis Hamilton was 0.770 seconds back in his McLaren and the Renault of Robert Kubica was third fastest.
Webber came through in seventh, almost half a second adrift of Red Bull team-mate Sebastien Vettel.
With teams not obliged to reveal the exact fuel loads the cars are carrying, it is difficult to read too much into the practice times - even when conditions are good.


This Article will be reguarlly updated with the latest news from this weekends Spa Belgium Grand Prix!

Please feel free to comment your views on how the teams are going below, it looks like Red bull may be struggling a bit here, so who will win this weekends race?

Claim Token (please ignore) V43UB7VM9EDD

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Huge Update to the Motorsport Zone Toolbar

I'm pleased to post that i have made a huge update to our community toolbar, Along with a direct link to this site, it has a google search box which has the option to search for images, web pages, maps and other search engines all with one click of your mouse.

Also There is a live feed section which will show you the latest news from the BBC News page, BBC Motorsport page and of course a feed of Motorsport Zone's latest articles! There is also a set of links to popular sites like youtube and google, A Facebook widget which allows you to monitor your Facebook from the toolbar while you browse other sites (Fantastic little feature!) as well a twitter section with tweets from all the best motoring tweeters.

Finally there is a email notifier app which is brilliant, it notifies you when you have an email, tells you how many unread messages you have in your inbox and you can access your account with one click!


I'm really happy with this new community toolbar and i hope to get a few more downloads soon! already have around ten users and counting!

why not try it out?

toolbar powered by Conduit

Thanks very much if you like this post why not share it using one of the buttons at the bottom of this page? post it on twitter or facebook!

Also if anyone downloads the toolbar after reading this article i would be delighted if you could give me some feedback by commenting on this article using the comments section below! Thanks in advance!



Also on a side note you may have noticed that the url of this site has changed:

old url: http://www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
new url: http://www.motorsportzone.blogspot.com

So if you have this page bookmarked please change this to avoid going to my old site!

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F1 Team Profile: Mclaren

There is a big question mark over McLaren, whose car came out of the box with some problems and was not on the pace. "I do not understand why they took the approach they did with designers - alternating between two guys year to year in terms of the lead on each car. No other competitive winning team does that.
"However closely they work, I don't see how you can maintain continuity with that approach. And it's interesting to see that McLaren have now changed their structure and will not do it from now on.
"For me, it's no surprise that it took a while to sort last year's car out, and it is no secret that the drivers are unhappy with this year's car.
"Coupled to that, McLaren - and Ferrari - historically have been the teams who spent more money and more time on testing and they made an average car great.
"The problem is, an average car now stays an average car. And I think McLaren need to up their game quickly.
"Tempers will flare this year if the car does not move on a bit."

MEET THE BOSS - MARTIN WHITMARSH

What is F1's biggest challenge?
The teams working together, surviving, growing the sport and presenting an interesting and exciting spectacle for the fans.
Does F1 need road-car manufacturers?

MCLAREN FACTS AND STATS Nationality: British Headquarters: Woking (UK) Debut season: 1966 Drivers: Lewis Hamilton Jenson Button Test/reserve driver: Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) and Gary Paffett (GB) Team principal: Martin Whitmarsh Technical director: Paddy Lowe Engine: Mercedes-Benz V8 2010 position: 2nd Constructors' titles: 8

It does not need road-car manufacturers. However, all the road-car manufacturers have made a significant contribution to the sport, and we should be absolutely grateful for that. What Formula 1 needs is an interesting sporting spectacle, to be financially viable and have some good professional teams that want to participate in it and want to create that show.
"It can do that with or without the manufacturers, but certainly we should thank the automotive manufacturers who made a contribution in the past, and we should welcome them in the future."
The best piece of advice I have ever given a driver is...
... come and drive for McLaren!
The best piece of advice I have ever received is...
... think a bit longer before making that decision.
What kind of team boss are you - hairdryer treatment or arm around the shoulder?
"Neither. I hope I'm a balanced individual who is part of the team, who wants to support drivers if they are trying hard. Mistakes will be made by drivers - that's part of motor racing. Mistakes will be made by the team. Provided everyone is working hard together as a team, we avoid the blame when things do not work out.
Are you a wheeler dealer or a techie?
Again, I hope that I'm neither. I hope that I am a balanced leader of this team but I guess by history I was more of a techie than a wheeler dealer.
What was your first paid job?
A paper round when I was 14.
What time do you set your alarm clock for?
Sadly, I don't. I wake up without one from any time around 6 o'clock. I don't need an alarm.
Can you explain your team's philosophy in three words?
McLaren exists to win: we win by being the most technologically advanced and by having the best team spirit within our organisation.
What is special about McLaren?
The people within the organisation are ultimately what makes it special.
The ethos of the company and its heritage are important, but it is the high-quality people working in a professional, dedicated way striving to meet the objectives of the organisation that makes it what it is.
Why should people support McLaren?
People should, we hope, take an interest in F1 and thereafter in determining the team they wish to support. They should look for one that they feel has the values and approach and excitement that they empathise with.
What is the most difficult thing about being a team boss?
The most difficult thing about being a team boss in F1 is the pressure and the desire to win. There are 10, we hope, teams at the first race which have good budgets, good organisations and which are extremely difficult to beat. So inevitably winning has never been more difficult than it is now in F1.
Are you worried about the future of F1?
F1 has evolved and changed many times over the years. It faces particular challenges, as does every other business or enterprise in the world at the moment.
But the underlying offering of the best drivers in the world, in the most advanced cars, racing each other is a solid proposition and, I'm sure, while it may change in form in response to outside pressures, it will be sustained as a sport.

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