Formula 1 is getting more attention now than ever before, especially here in Malaysia. This movement towards the acceptance of the world’s most expensive sport is thanks to Petronas’ multi million dollar sponsorship of Mercedes GP and of course the ‘two’ Lotus-branded Formula 1 teams. The first to bring the Lotus brand back into Formula 1 was a squad led by Tony Fernandes, known as Lotus Racing last season and Team Lotus this season, for now that is until a British High Court says otherwise.
Then it was Group Lotus, which is of course owned by our national car maker Proton which has severed ties with Fernandes’ team late last year. Group Lotus then partnered with Genii Capital which ran the Renault Formula 1 team. This new partnership has given birth to the name Lotus Renault GP. Before we move on into the 2011 season, lets have a quick recap on the 2010 season.
It started off with the rather controversial refueling ban and many thought the races would turn out to be boring. It was anything but. It was also the season when three new teams joined the circus and they were all powered by Cosworth powerplants. These included Virgin and HRT, apart from Lotus Racing which emerged on top of the new comers.
It looked as though Ferrari dominated at first, and before we knew it McLaren and Red Bull joined the fun and these three teams traded spaces. It was definitely an interesting year. 7-times World Champion Michael Schumacher also made a highly talked about come back, bringing total competing World Champions in 2010 to four (Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton). When Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso failed to clinch the championship at the season finale, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel came into the limelight and has brought up the total competing World Champions to five for this season.
Following Ferrari’s defeat and Red Bull’s very respectable victory, the Formula 1 fraternity focused on building their 2011 machines and at this point of time, these machines are being tested in Valencia, Spain, before moving to Jerez, Barcelona and finally Bahrain. After which, they will come back to Bahrain for the season opening race on 13th March.
There are several changes in terms of rules for the cars this year. Some of them will run with manually-operated moveable rear wings, something many drivers don’t really fancy. They find it hard to work on many things while driving. There is also a change in the rubber department as Pirelli takes over from Bridgestone.
However the tires from the new supplier seem to be degrading quicker that the Bridgestones and this may cause more pit stops to take place. KERS is also making a come back this year. Teams that have opted for the energy regeneration system include Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Williams as well as Sauber.
In terms of engines, all teams are using the same suppliers as they did last year, except for Team Lotus which dropped Cosworth for Renault. Most of the teams, except for a few have unveiled their 2011 contenders. Many have returned this year with bigger goals. Mercedes and Lotus Renault aim to return to the front end of the grid, while Team Lotus plans to score points and become a mid fielder.
Drivers wise, top teams have maintained their driver line-up while there are some new faces further down the field. Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado (25) took over duties from Nico Hulkenberg in Williams. He was crowned as GP2 Series Champion in 2010 and at the same time he also performed tests for HRT and Williams.
Next up is Paul di Resta (24) who won the DTM title with Mercedes last year. The Brit will race for Force India after replacing Vitantonio Liuzzi. 2010 GP2 runner-up Sergio Perez (21) will race alongside Kamui Kobayashi in Sauber. The Mexican took over from Nick Heidfeld who filled in for Pedro de la Rosa. There is also Narain Karthikeyan (34) who now drives for HRT. The Indian driver isn’t new to Formula 1 as he competed before with Jordan in 2005.
This was then followed by a test driver role in Williams and a race driver role in A1GP in both 2007 and 2008. He then raced in the Le Mans Series in 2009 before taking part in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Superleague the following year.
He took over driving duties from fellow Indian driver Karun Chandhok, Bruno Senna and Sakon Yamamoto, who acted as a filler driver. Belgian Jerome d’Ambrosio (25) fills up the final rookie spot with Virgin, replacing Lucas di Grassi. He finished twelfth overall in GP2 last season. He did carry out testing for both Renault and Virgin.
Overall, you can expect the top teams including Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren to battle out each other once again but don’t rule out Mercedes and Lotus Renault, with the former’s lead driver having a lot to prove. It would also be interesting to see Team Lotus’ position on the grid as it will compete with a car that was designed better and is now powered by Renault. You may also want to look out the British High Court’s decision on the Lotus fiasco. Trial begins on 21st March.
Continue reading to check out the 2011 team and driver line-up list followed by the full championship calendar.
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2011 Teams and Drivers
- Red Bull – Sebastian Vettel | Mark Webber
- McLaren – Lewis Hamilton | Jenson Button
- Ferrari – Fernando Alonso | Felipe Massa
- Mercedes – Michael Schumacher | Nico Rosberg
- Lotus Renault – Robert Kubica | Vitaly Petrov
- Williams – Rubens Barrichello | Pastor Maldonado
- Force India – Adrian Sutil | Paul di Resta
- Sauber – Kamui Kobayashi | Sergio Perez
- Toro Rosso – Sebastien Buemi | Jaime Alguersuari
- Team Lotus – Jarno Trulli | Heikki Kovalainen
- HRT – Narain Karthikeyan | unknown
- Virgin – Timo Glock | Jerome d’Ambrosio
2011 Race Schedule
- 13 March – Bahrain Grand Prix
- 27 March – Australian Grand Prix
- 10 April – Malaysian Grand Prix
- 17 April – Chinese Grand Prix
- 8 May – Turkish Grand Prix
- 22 May – Spanish Grand Prix
- 29 May – Monaco Grand Prix
- 12 June – Canadian Grand Prix
- 26 June – European Grand Prix (Valencia Street Circuit)
- 10 July – British Grand Prix
- 24 July – German Grand Prix
- 31 July – Hungarian Grand Prix
- 28 August – Belgian Grand Prix
- 11 September – Italian Grand Prix
- 25 September – Singapore Grand Prix
- 9 October – Japanese Grand Prix
- 16 October – Korean Grand Pix
- 30 October – Indian Grand Prix
- 13 November – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
- 27 November – Brazilian Grand Prix
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ah paul.. no need wait mclaren get their new car 1st ar?
How will Paultan.org officially refer to the two Lotus teams? Have a look at Autosports classification of yesterdays test. LRGP is called RENAULT and Team Lotus is called LOTUS RENAULT, which is inline with FIA’s official classifications. Getting a bit confusing..
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Robert Kubica Renault 1m13.144s 95
2. Adrian Sutil Force India Mercedes* 1m13.201s +0.057 117
3. Jenson Button McLaren Mercedes* 1m13.553s +0.409 105
4. Mark Webber Red Bull Renault 1m13.936s +0.792 105
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m14.017s +0.873 80
6. Timo Glock Virgin Cosworth* 1m14.207s +1.063 114
7. Pastor Maldonado Williams Cosworth 1m14.299s +1.155 101
8. Sergio Perez Sauber Ferrari 1m14.469s +1.325 104
9. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m14.537s +1.393 110
10. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso Ferrari 1m14.801s +1.657 73
11. Narain Karthikeyan HRT Cosworth* 1m16.535s +3.391 63
12. Jarno Trulli Lotus Renault no time 38
As you can read from the text, we are calling them Lotus Renault and Team Lotus respectively which is what the teams refer to themselves as in their press material.
I personally feel there is only confusion for those who conveniently wish to portray that there is confusion and it’s a very big issue blah blah blah. The car colors are very different, driver names are very different, the two teams are of different origins.
Why on earth would we use any other name other than Lotus Renault and Team Lotus? To deliberately create confusion amongst our readers? We are not going to follow in footsteps of F1 “journalists” who nitpick and spin to their own fancies or should I say their own paymasters fancies. It makes me sick in my stomach reading that crap!
yeap… there’s no confusion really.
Just refer the name to the team name that they are using and submitted to the FIA
Lotus Renault GP and Team Lotus… ditto.
and for the live commentator on TV and F1 journalists, all these while they just refer the team by the team name not the chassis name and suddenly when there’s 2 lotus team on the grid for 2011; they start whining and bragging about confusion…
Even Bahar, lopez, tony and riad play and feed this stupid confusion crap to the public.
checkout this : http://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/ltd/lotus-renault-gp
Dany Bahar (LOTUS GROUP CEO) is now the director of LOTUS RENAULT GP F1 director, while Eric Boullier (current LOTUS RENAULT GP F1) contract as director was TERMINATED!
so PROTON already take-over the shares of LOTUS RENAULT GP??
…
anyway, crazy invention by McLaren, the L-shape sidepod for McLaren 2011 F1 car is so big, they are playing with the air-intake like F-Duct system again.
Paul, are there 2 Spanish Grand Prix??? Why Euro Grand Prix not change to 2nd Spanish Grand Prix if even using Valencia Street Circuit???
Same reason why there were two venues in Germany at one time. Nurburgring was called the European GP and Hockenheim the German GP. Can’t have both representing the same country venue. It will undermine each other and dilute the commercial value.
I’ve seen ‘Lotus Renault’ being used to refer to Lotus Renault GP and sometimes to Team Lotus depending where it is reported . I guess it’s up to the convention a particular publication wishes to stick to. Autosport seems to refer to whatever the official FIA constructor classification is which seems to be the norm all this while in F1, on TV etc. FIA refers to ‘constructor name’ rather than ‘team name’ for its sporting regulation purposes including on TV timing references.
In a nutshell teams use their team names for commercial identification (PR etc) ie. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.. but within the paddock they are always referred to by their official constructor names.. McLaren Mercedes. Thus within the paddock LRGP are referred to as Renault while Team Lotus are called Lotus Renault. This is what they use for purposes of sporting regs and administration. And this is what will appear on TV. FIA classification here: http://tinyurl.com/37oe3dj
I prefer to think of one as ‘Lotus Renault GP’ while the other is ‘Team Lotus’. Simply ‘Lotus Renault’ can refer to either, depending on the context the reference is being made. I predict that on TV we will see the text ‘Lotus Renault’ displayed in reference to Team Lotus but the commentators will ignore it and simply call them Team Lotus.. its easier. Not sure about LRGP as I think some commentators will be biased and will stubbornly refuse to call them anything other than Renault. The timing text will display them as Renault.
Just my speculiar speculation
Yeah yeah. Whatever it is, we will be using the most sensible and unconfusing way to report/identify the happenings of the two different LRGP and TL teams.
I’m proud to be Malaysian coz Petronas has sponsored much money on this sport.
I hope one day we will get the true driver from Malaysian for F1…
err…no news about motogp pre-season test at Sepang, Paul?
3 TEAM CONTRIBUTED BY bOLEHLAND… i WONDER IF THIS IS CONSIDER AS BOLEH OR BOLEH BANKRUPT.
Why is it for some people, they dont want to use “Malaysia”, and using “Bolehland” instead??
Why are they using insulting term for THEIR OWN country???
Are they really Malaysian???
Why are you so surprised? This have been going on for a while!
Probably in their mind, Malaysia & Bolehland are two different countries.
not insulting, just that the money spend is not worth spending. It is better if the money is spend investing in universities, schools, and etc.
The question is, what do we gain from this F1 sponsorship? Time will tell, maybe with these exposure, Lotus will be able to sell more cars since they have 5 new models. Maybe petronas can set up more petrol stations around the world.
time will tell.
If you think BOLEH is a negative term, I think you are not Malaysian…You don’t know what is Malaysia Boleh….
If giving facts is consider negative to a country, than those positive people might have bring the country to hell…
Allow me to assure you that these 3 teams will not bankrupt our nation. It is not possible unless you truly believe that we are that poor of a nation.
None of those teams are using your tax paying money to fund their enterprises. Each of the companies are profiting and are using their profits to fund these expenditures, In the long run, the international exposure will benefit them along with the transfer of technology. You could argue that since they are all GLC’s they are ultimately using your tax money…but really, in the grand scheme of things and once we account for expenditures and all that, they’re not.
Despite the fact they are GLC’s, they do have a sense of autonomy and are not being pushed by the government to fund these F1 things. I do admit that these are expensive endeavors but I also believe that it will benefit us all in the long term and put our name out there in the world of Motorsports.
Two of the teams are backed by Malaysian GLCs. I think in the case of Petronas, I think the public understands their rationale for spending. I think they’re off the hook. It’s Proton that is now in the spotlight. For Team Lotus, they’re not supported by GLC.
Team Lotus is supported by AP King…
What is the logic of going into F1 when the whole world is already pull out their leg? Look at The top 5 car manufacturing, who elase is staying there?
The facts is, people are moving toward practical, energy and fuel saving car, powerful car is only for those niche market…
The facts is, after 25 years of self branding national car, P1 realised that rebadge wil bring more money then self develop a model…..Cause we do not have the volume… What technology has Malaysian automotive industries created? after 25 years if self branding.?
The facts is, we are just the automotive technology user, we do not have the volume, and the know how!
After 10 years having the lotus… how much profit it has bring to Petronas? Or how much we have spend?
Some people just do not accept the fats that those company behind the game is high GLC….It means, spending Rakyat money…
Let me remind you all one statement make by the G, continue subsidy the petrol will make our country Bankrupt..
What about continue “investing” billion on something we do not see return in atleast next 10 years? Would the return justify the risk that we are taking?
My comment is all from business senses point of view!!!
whaddahell is that long black high thing on that ferrari?
boomerang?
True, hate these people claiming they are malaysian but ignore the name. Similarly to those who like to spell “protong” that is meant for Proton.
2011 should be an exciting season especially for fans of Malaysian sponsored teams. So far the most exciting new racing car is the Lotus Renault car which has the forward exhaust system. Already it has shown a lot of promise during the test and if the system turns out to be reliable and wins races for Lotus Renault, the other teams will copy the innovation.
Another thing to look out for is Schumi attempting to win his 8th championship in 2011. And of course we have the courtroom drama too!
Cannot wait for the races to begin in March :)
Several teams have already evaluated that exhaust concept but none of them feel its crucial enough to introduce just yet. It’s got its own set of problems. Only LRGP is pushing their out right now
all i want is more overtakiing , more challenges…and none of those looooong boring races where those who are on the podium in qualifying will end up on the podium at the end of the race without anybody challenge them….
Hi Paul…i really can’t wait and curious where are our Malaysian racer in F!…what the improvement and progress the our KBS took?
Well at least i glad the dreaded F duct was banned which means the engine hood that connects to the wing is gone. Most F1 cars are back to normal design just as 2009. 2010 remains one of the best seasons of F1 in recent history but for me the dreaded F duct designs which is hideous really killed off my mood.
Bring on F1 2011 season!
Schumacher will fight back :).
Sad to hear that Robert Kubica is badly injured in a rally accident in Italy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9388940.stm
May not recover in time for the first few races.