Heidfeld released to take on Tyre testing role

Mercedes have released reserve driver Nick Heidfeld from his contract to become Pirelli's tyre test driver.

The 32-year-old stepped down from regular racing at the start of the season after 10 years in Formula One.

"We are confident Nick's knowledge and feedback will prove extremely useful to Pirelli and benefit the sport as a whole," said Mercedes boss Ross Brawn.

Pirelli will replace Bridgestone as the sole tyre supplier in 2011, returning to F1 for the first time in 20 years.

Brawn added: "Nick has been a real asset since joining our team and we are pleased to see his career progressing."Heidfeld will use last year's Toyota's F1 car, the TF109, to test the tyres all the teams will use.

The TF109 has been chosen as it has contemporary technology and performance with which to give the tyres the best possible test but it will not give an advantage to any current team as Toyota are no longer in the sport.

Following Heidfeld's on-track development work, all the current F1 teams will have the chance to work with the new tyres after the 2010 finale at Abu Dhabi in November.

Heidfeld's consistent performances in his racing days are one of the reasons Pirelli moved to sign him - he holds the record for the highest number of consecutive race classifications, 41.

"We're delighted to welcome Nick into the Pirelli family and we're confident that he'll do a great job for us," said Pirelli Motorsport director Paul Hembery.

"The role of test driver is crucial so we were looking for a driver who had plenty of recent F1 experience, the speed to push our new tyres as hard as possible and the consistency to provide reliable simulations as well as the analytical skills to relay information accurately to our engineers.

"Nick fits the bill in every respect."

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Button aims to improve qualifying

Jenson Button says he must improve in qualifying to boost his chances of retaining his world title - starting at this weekend's German Grand Prix.
The Englishman has not qualified in the top three for any races this year and has been out-qualified by McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the last six.
"My aim must be to make life easier for myself on Saturday afternoon," he said.
"If I do that I can maximise my Sunday performance without needing to play catch-up during the race."
Despite his poor qualifying record this season, Button has managed to rise to second in the championship standings, 12 points behind Hamilton.
This weekend's venue, Hockenheim, was the venue for one of his most memorable drives in 2004 when he qualified in 14th place for BAR but managed to finish second.
And he hopes he can power his way through the field in Germany again this weekend, possibly with the help of an exhaust blown diffuser - which increases downforce and therefore cornering speed.
McLaren's mechanics have been working on it since trying it out in practice at the British Grand Prix, and will once again use it in practice this weekend to assess progress before making a decision on whether or not to use it in the race.
"Hopefully we'll have a positive test and we will be able to see the benefits of the upgrades in the race for the first time. I'm looking forward to it," said Button.
But McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh was more guarded in his opinions.
"You can't be entirely confident you've solved the issues, but I think we go into Hockenheim with more information," he said.
"We've made some modifications in light of the data and we will be running the blown diffuser on Friday.
"I suspect we'll have it on for the weekend, but we'll make the call in the light of the data on Friday evening."


By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
-- Post From My iPod Touch

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Villeneuve has distanced himself from Gaddafi

Jacques Villeneuve has distanced himself from reports that the son of controversial Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is an investor in his new team.
The former world champion released a statement on his website confirming a link-up with Italy-based Durango.
"There are a number of rumours circulating at the moment and I wanted to clarify a few things before this gets out of hand," said Villeneuve.
Villeneuve Racing will attempt to join the F1 starting grid in 2011.
Canadian Villeneuve, 39, added: "The team will be a joint venture with Durango, and based out of Italy. To be clear, right now all the money comes from corporate sponsorship and not from personal investors."
Durango owner Ivone Pinton said last week that he had joined forces with Villeneuve, who is expected to drive for the planned team initially before exploring a different role.
Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion with Williams as well as a winner of the Indy 500 and CART series, last competed in Formula One in 2006.
The governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) has invited applications to make up a 13th team in F1.
It is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether any have what it takes to participate at a time when some teams are struggling to raise sponsorship.
Durango ran a car for Villeneuve in the Dubai-based Speedcar series until that folded last year - and then dropped out of the GP2 support series in 2009 due to financial problems.

By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
-- Post From My iPod Touch

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Ferrari are still in the chase: Alonso

Fernando Alonso has warned rivals not to write off Ferrari ahead of the second half of the Formula 1 season.
The two-time world champion says that Ferrari's updates for next week's European Grand Prix in Valencia are only the start of a concerted push.
"We will have further developments for England and Germany," said Alonso. "Valencia is not a last-ditch effort."
The Spaniard lies just 15 points - the same as a third-place finish - behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
But Ferrari's pace has been disappointing this season since Alonso won the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on his debut for the team.
Last weekend, however, the Montreal circuit used for the Canadian GP, suited the Ferrari F10 far better, allowing Alonso to fight for the lead and eventually finish third.
The Valencia city circuit has some similarities to Montreal; it has long straights and relatively slow corners, playing to the Ferrari's existing strengths of mechanical grip.
But a major breakthrough on aerodynamics has excited the team, and is due to feature on the F10 for the first time in Valencia.
The new development uses exhaust gases to move the airflow around the diffuser and rear beam wing more effectively. The concept is believed to be the key to the Red Bull RB6's stunning pace in fast corners this season.
In his blog on Ferrari's website, Alonso said: "We will have major updates on the F10 which I hope will allow us to up our performance level.
"Following on from that, we have further developments in the pipeline which should arrive for England and Germany, which is to say that the European GP is simply the ninth round of the championship, not a last-ditch effort for Ferrari, which I heard some people saying.
"I don't see how they can say that given that we have not even reached the halfway point of the [19-race] season, and that after Valencia there will still be 10 Grands Prix to go.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again now: this is a stage event, and the final one of those stages will not come until November in Abu Dhabi. Things can change very quickly."
Alonso said the team's mood had changed since the disappointment of being beaten by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button in Canada.
"The sense of disappointment that we missed out on a win has been replaced with the awareness that we did actually get a great result," he said.
"We have to look at it as a glass half-full because on the Thursday we would have been satisfied with the thought of a podium finish.
"We were competitive throughout the whole weekend, both in qualifying and the race, which is very positive.
"In the first eight races of the season all sorts of things happened - mistakes, reliability problems, bad luck - but we are still in the thick of the fight for both championships [drivers' and constructors']. The same can be said of McLaren and Red Bull, who have also missed out on points along the way."

BBC Article
By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
-- Post From My iPod Touch

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