Formula One 2016

[LUKIE]

I believe after the photo was taken the dog on the right of him beat him in a race and he had a huge sad over it.

[Lineker]

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Toro Rosso has unveiled its livery for the 2016 Formula 1 season ahead of the start of the second pre-season test at Barcelona.

Due to time constraints and focusing on the integration of the Ferrari power unit for this year, after switching from Renault, Toro Rosso opted to delay work on its colour scheme.

It resulted in the STR11 running in a plain blue livery for the opening pre-season tests last week.

Ahead of the second and final test at the same venue, Toro Rosso drivers Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen rolled a cover off the car in the pitlane.

The colour scheme was again predominantly dark blue, with an artistic red bull on the engine cover.

On the rear wing, to replace former partner in oil company CEPSA, is Red Bull's cola, 'Simply Cola', along with a variety of other Red Bull-based companies.

Toro Rosso completed a solid first week of running, with Verstappen and Sainz clocking up 231 and 216 laps respectively.

The combined total of 447 was second only to Mercedes whose drivers in Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg racked up a mammoth 675 laps between them.

Toro Rosso said it had to use guesswork in accommodating the Ferrari engine at such a late stage, and it will - like the rest of the field - run new parts this week.

Verstappen will drive the STR11 on Tuesday, alternating with Sainz over the four days.

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Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost believes a podium finish is possible this season after unveiling its newly-liveried car for the 2016 Formula 1 season.

In 10 previous seasons in F1, Toro Rosso has only scored one top-three result, Sebastian Vettel's shock victory in the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen twice came close to a podium result last season, finishing fourth in Hungary and the United States, and Tost is expecting to go one better this year with the Ferrari-powered STR11.

"I expect we can achieve a podium this year after getting so close to it last year," said Tost when asked about a realistic target this season.

"I hope the new car works well and is reliable and the team and drivers do a good job. Therefore a podium position should be possible.

"Overall, I expect a successful season because we are much better prepared in
many different ways than the years before.

"I'm convinced the new car, which has quite a successful predecessor, will be another big step forward. I'm really optimistic about the season ahead."

Tost recognises his team is slightly compromised by the late decision last year to switch from a Renault power unit to a 2015-spec Ferrari system.

"The decision will inevitably have a small effect on car performance because if you have more time for the design stage then you can possibly come up with better solutions," added Tost.

"I see the STR11 as another step forward. The STR10 was quite a competitive car last year, and I think we can continue improving.

"The downside for the Faenza-based squad is that while other squads will receive updated power units during the season, there will be no development on the engine Ferrari finished 2015 with.

It means for Toro Rosso to remain competitive, and to achieve Tost's aims, any improvements will have to come via aerodynamics.

"Clearly, it will be very important to work on chassis development in the strongest way possible," said technical director James Key.

"We will be the only team with a year-old spec power unit and it will not be further developed from what we have now.

"All other teams will have PU development so we will need to compensate as best as possible with chassis development."

Key at least feels he and his team have improved on one area of weakness from last year.

"When it comes to this year's chassis, we wanted to concentrate on improving the low-speed cornering capability of the car," added Key.

"Last year's car was a big step forward and particularly good in medium and high-speed corners.

"But we have felt our lower-speed performance was not as competitive as we would like.

"That has been one area that has led to a change in approach for our 2016 car."

GP2 racer Jordan King has been retained by Manor as a development driver for the 2016 Formula 1 season. The 22-year-old will dovetail his duties with another season in GP2 with Racing Engineering, having finished 12th in his debut year.

[Lineker]

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Formula 1's proposed halo driver head protection system has appeared on a car for the first time, Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari during pre-season testing.

Having developed the system in conjunction with Mercedes, the FIA confirmed last week it is working to "make this a reality" for the 2017 season.

Further testing has been undertaken on an airfield in the south of England, firing projectiles at the framework at high speed.

"We have tried to accelerate this project in the last 12 months with an aim to have something that we can practically apply on F1 cars for 2017," FIA safety director Laurent Mekies said in the governing body's official Auto publication.

"This latest test was set up with that in mind - trying to come out from there with something that we could actually say, 'that's going to be a significant step forward'."

Following that work, Raikkonen turned his installation lap of Circuit de Catalunya on Thursday morning with the device fitted to his Ferrari SF16-H.

Ferrari told Autosport that the device will not be used again today.

The halo trialled was a temporary fix, rather than having a hinge that would allow for easier extraction, complicating how Raikkonen climbed aboard the car when it was attached.

 

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Kimi Raikkonen says the visibility of Formula 1's proposed halo head protection system "was OK" according to Ferrari, after becoming the first driver to try it during pre-season testing.

Raikkonen turned his installation lap on Thursday morning with the device fitted to his Ferrari SF16-H.

The team was keen to get a driver's opinion on how the device impacts on their vision.

"[The] first impression on the visibility test is positive," Raikkonen said, through the FIA.

"The structure does not hamper [visibility]."

Ferrari says the design is an early prototype that it produced itself, based on its own interpretation and is "pretty close" to what it expects the final shape to be.

As it was only a temporary fix, designed and produced mainly to gauge a driver's opinion regarding visibility, it did not have a hinge that would allow for easier extraction.

As a result, it complicated how Raikkonen climbed inside the cockpit when it was attached.

The Scuderia has yet to decide whether Sebastian Vettel will run it on the car when the German completes the final day of testing for the team on Friday.

Over a period of time the FIA has conducted considerable research and tests into the product, with the halo emerging as the best of three reviewed designs.

The primary test focused on a wheel being projected at the halo device with significant force.

Assessing the results, Andy Mellor, the FIA's lead researcher for the Global Institute for Road Safety on this project, said: "It's very impressive that although the structure is positioned close to the driver's helmet to provide protection from all angles, it is still able to prevent the wheel from contacting the helmet.

"In the very short distance available a huge amount of energy is absorbed and the wheel is successfully redirected."

The FIA prototype was made out of steel, while Ferrari's is made of carbon fibre.

The FIA anticipates if the halo is accepted and adopted from 2017 it will be made of a lightweight material that will add around five kilograms to the weight of the car.

The key concern, however, is - and remains - visibility.

Speaking in the FIA's monthly magazine Auto, Mellor added: "We need to avoid creating any blindspots as that would introduce an unacceptable additional risk during racing.

"We are looking to achieve a structure that provides a full panorama of forward and sideways binocular vision, allowing only very small areas of monocular vision restricted by the structure."

Elsewhere, Renault has found more than half a second of performance from its Formula 1 power unit over the winter, according to engine chief Remi Taffin. Taffin has set a target of halving the gap to Mercedes this year, and revealed the revamped power unit, which is now at the specification Renault will use for 2016's first race in Melbourne, has delivered a decent chunk of laptime.

[Chris2K]

The new qualifying format is approved for Australia so it will be elimination style for the whole season.

Spoiler

Yay!

 

[Lineker]

@Meacon

[Lineker]

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Kimi Raikkonen spearheaded a Ferrari one-two at the end of 2016 pre-season Formula 1 testing, but it was Mercedes that emerged literally miles ahead of its rivals on lap count.

After Vettel led the way at the end of the first test, Raikkonen responded to top the overall timesheet come the conclusion to the second at Barcelona's Catalunya track.

Like Vettel in test one, Raikkonen's leading time this week was set on the new-for-2016 ultra-soft compound, which he used to lap in 1m22.765s on day three.

More eye-catching, however, was Vettel using super-softs for his best lap on the final day. The four-time champion finished just 0.087 seconds behind Raikkonen in the week's overall times, and was comfortably faster than anyone else had been on that compound.

Pirelli estimates there is a 0.5s-0.6s performance gap between the types of rubber, highlighting the impressive nature of Vettel's run.

But Ferrari will no doubt be anxiously curious as to the true pace of its main rival Mercedes, which at barely any stage showed its hand - barring a blast on a set of soft tyres from Nico Rosberg on day one.

Rosberg's lap of 1m23.022s was ultimately just 0.257s adrift of Raikkonen, and 0.170s behind Vettel, with Pirelli suggesting a time difference of 0.5s between the super-soft and soft tyres.

But when it comes to reliability, Mercedes was head and shoulders clear of not only Ferrari, but every other team.

To add to the 675 laps from test one, Mercedes amassed a further 619 in test two, amounting to 1790 miles this week, and 3742 over the eight days - the equivalent of 19.6 Spanish Grands Prix.

Toro Rosso was Mercedes' closest rival on that front, clocking up 602 laps, for 3034 miles over the eight days, while Ferrari's grand total proved to be 2470 miles, a considerable 1302 miles less than Mercedes.

Rosberg emerged as the lap leader from the second test with 324, and overall with 656, pipping Hamilton by just 18.

Toro Rosso, running with a 2015 Ferrari power unit this season, has every reason to be proud of its performance the past four days as Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr completed 303 and 299 laps respectively.

At the other end of the scale, Esteban Gutierrez managed just 49 as Haas endured a torrid week due to reliability issues, in stark contrast to its solid running in the first test.

McLaren and power unit supplier Honda showed they have moved on from last year's disastrous test sessions that were the forerunner to one of the worst seasons in the Woking team's history.

Over eight days at Barcelona in 2015, McLaren managed a paltry 301 laps, but fast forward 12 months and the Anglo-Japanese alliance achieved 710, with 453 in test two alone.

In terms of driver contrasts, there were none greater than at Renault as Kevin Magnussen enjoyed a trouble-free four days to accumulate 509 laps, whereas Jolyon Palmer was plagued by gremlins and totalled only 267.

COMBINED TEST TWO STATS:

Combined best times of week two:

Pos  Driver             Car                   Time       Gap      Tyres
 1.  Kimi Raikkonen     Ferrari               1m22.765s           US
 2.  Sebastian Vettel   Ferrari               1m22.852s  +0.087s  SS
 3.  Nico Rosberg       Mercedes              1m23.022s  +0.257s  S
 4.  Carlos Sainz Jr    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m23.134s  +0.369s  US
 5.  Felipe Massa       Williams-Mercedes     1m23.193s  +0.428s  S
 6.  Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes     1m23.229s  +0.464s  US
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes  1m23.251s  +0.486s  US
 8.  Max Verstappen     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m23.382s  +0.617s  US
 9.  Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes              1m23.622s  +0.857s  S
10.  Sergio Perez       Force India-Mercedes  1m23.721s  +0.956s  SS
11.  Kevin Magnussen    Renault               1m23.933s  +1.168s  SS
12.  Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull-TAG          1m24.427s  +1.662s  S
13.  Jenson Button      McLaren-Honda         1m24.714s  +1.949s  US
14.  Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda         1m24.735s  +1.970s  S
15.  Felipe Nasr        Sauber-Ferrari        1m24.760s  +1.995s  S
16.  Jolyon Palmer      Renault               1m24.859s  +2.094s  SS
17.  Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes        1m24.913s  +2.148s  US
18.  Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari        1m25.031s  +2.266s  S
19.  Daniil Kvyat       Red Bull-TAG          1m25.049s  +2.284s  S
20.  Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari          1m25.255s  +2.490s  S
21.  Esteban Gutierrez  Haas-Ferrari          1m25.422s  +2.657s  SS
22.  Rio Haryanto       Manor-Mercedes        1m25.899s  +3.134s  US

Total week two mileage per driver:

 1.  Nico Rosberg      937
 2.  Max Verstappen    876
 3.  Carlos Sainz Jr   865
 4.  Lewis Hamilton    853
 5.  Sebastian Vettel  847
 6.  Daniel Ricciardo  746
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg   746
 8.  Felipe Massa      717
 9.  Kevin Magnussen   709
10.  Jenson Button     700
11.  Valtteri Bottas   668
12.  Felipe Nasr       633
13.  Fernando Alonso   610
14.  Kimi Raikkonen    602
15.  Daniil Kvyat      550
16.  Sergio Perez      544
17.  Jolyon Palmer     544
18.  Marcus Ericsson   541
19.  Romain Grosjean   417
20.  Pascal Wehrlein   367
21.  Rio Haryanto      298
22.  Esteban Gutierrez 142

Total week two mileage by team:

 1.  Mercedes     1790
 2.  Toro Rosso   1741
 3.  Ferrari      1449
 4.  Williams     1385
 5.  McLaren      1310
 6.  Red Bull     1296
 7.  Force India  1290
 8.  Renault      1252
 9.  Sauber       1174
10.  Manor        665
11.  Haas         558

Total week two mileage by engine:

 1.  Mercedes      5131
 2.  Ferrari 2016  3182
 3.  Renault/TAG   2548
 4.  Ferrari 2015  1741
 5.  Honda         1310

COMBINED OVERALL WINTER TESTING STATS

Combined fastest times of winter testing:

Pos  Driver             Car                   Time       Gap      Tyres
 1.  Kimi Raikkonen     Ferrari               1m22.765s           US
 2.  Sebastian Vettel   Ferrari               1m22.810s  +0.045s  US
 3.  Nico Rosberg       Mercedes              1m23.022s  +0.257s  S
 4.  Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes  1m23.110s  +0.345s  SS
 5.  Carlos Sainz Jr    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m23.134s  +0.369s  US
 6.  Felipe Massa       Williams-Mercedes     1m23.193s  +0.428s  S
 7.  Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes     1m23.229s  +0.464s  SS
 8.  Max Verstappen     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m23.382s  +0.617s  US
 9.  Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull-TAG          1m23.525s  +0.760s  US
10.  Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes              1m23.622s  +0.857s  S
11.  Sergio Perez       Force India-Mercedes  1m23.650s  +0.885s  SS
12.  Kevin Magnussen    Renault               1m23.933s  +1.168s  SS
13.  Daniil Kvyat       Red Bull-TAG          1m24.293s  +1.528s  US
14.  Jenson Button      McLaren-Honda         1m24.714s  +1.949s  US
15.  Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda         1m24.735s  +1.970s  S
16.  Felipe Nasr        Sauber-Ferrari        1m24.760s  +1.995s  S
17.  Alfonso Celis Jr   Force India-Mercedes  1m24.840s  +2.075s  SS
18.  Jolyon Palmer      Renault               1m24.859s  +2.094s  SS
19.  Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes        1m24.913s  +2.148s  US
20.  Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari        1m25.031s  +2.266s  S
21.  Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari          1m25.255s  +2.490s  S
22.  Esteban Gutierrez  Haas-Ferrari          1m25.422s  +2.657s  SS
23.  Rio Haryanto       Manor-Mercedes        1m25.899s  +3.134s  US

Total winter testing mileage by driver:

 1.  Nico Rosberg       1897
 2.  Lewis Hamilton     1845
 3.  Max Verstappen     1545
 4.  Carlos Sainz Jr    1490
 5.  Kevin Magnussen    1472
 6.  Sebastian Vettel   1412
 7.  Daniel Ricciardo   1322
 8.  Felipe Nasr        1316
 9.  Valtteri Bottas    1287
10.  Felipe Massa       1189
11.  Marcus Ericsson    1108
12.  Jenson Button      1090
13.  Kimi Raikkonen     1059
14.  Daniil Kvyat       1041
15.  Nico Hulkenberg    1033
16.  Fernando Alonso    963
17.  Sergio Perez       836
18.  Jolyon Palmer      772
19.  Romain Grosjean    743
20.  Pascal Wehrlein    729
21.  Rio Haryanto       671
22.  Esteban Gutierrez  628
23.  Alfonso Celis Jr   385

Total winter testing mileage by team:

 1.  Mercedes      3743
 2.  Toro Rosso    3034
 3.  Williams      2476
 4.  Ferrari       2470
 5.  Sauber total  2424*
 6.  Red Bull      2363
 7.  Force India   2253
 8.  Renault       2245
 9.  McLaren       2054
10.  Manor         1400
11.  Haas          1371
12.  Sauber 2016   1174*

* Sauber only ran its 2016 car in week two

Total winter testing mileage by engine:

 1.  Mercedes      9872
 2.  Ferrari 2016  5016
 3.  Renault/TAG   4608
 4.  Ferrari 2015  4284
 5.  Honda         2054

Also, a half-hour test special - Ted Kravitz joined by F1 racing Magazine Editor Anthony Rowlinson, and NBC’s F1 Reporter Will Buxton to dissect the two tests in Barcelona. @Meacon

[Lineker]

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Renault is to launch its definitive livery ahead of the new Formula 1 season in Melbourne on March 16.

The French manufacturer unveiled what managing director Cyril Abiteboul described as "a show car" on its official return to F1 on February 3 in Paris.

The RS16 was predominantly black with flashes of yellow, and with sponsors' logos in white lettering, and was the livery on display at the two recent pre-season tests at Barcelona's Catalunya circuit.

Autosport understands the design to be revealed next Wednesday will feature a matt gold/yellow for the main body of the car, with the front and rear wings in matt black.

The colour is similar to that used on the Renault RS01 sportscar for its launch (pictured below).

It is believed the matt finish across the entire car means a weight-saving of almost half a kilogram compared to the use of gloss.

 

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Sauber has not paid the February salaries of its Formula 1 staff in full because of cashflow problems.

The Swiss team is said to be in the advanced stages of securing a title sponsor, but an agreement has yet to be signed.

Autosport understands its current portfolio of sponsors are up to date with their payments to the team.

It comes after Sauber, along with Force India and Manor, asked Bernie Ecclestone in November for an advance on their championship payments.

With intense work on production to get the cars ready in time for Melbourne, this time of year is particularly financially challenging for teams.

Despite the situation, it is believed Sauber is on schedule to compete in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix later this month.

[JasonM]

Sauber, the TNA of F1

[Lineker]

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Ex-Formula 1 driver Mark Webber, four-time world champion Alain Prost and Murray Walker have joined a 12-strong on-screen Channel 4 presenting team for the upcoming season.

The channel is taking over UK F1 terrestrial television rights in a three-year deal from 2016 after the BBC ended its agreement early.

C4's first recruit, David Coulthard will be joined in the commentary box by Ben Edwards, continuing their partnership following a four-year stint at the BBC.

Webber and former Williams development driver Susie Wolff will be analysts alongside Coulthard, with ex-BBC commentator Walker and Lewis Hamilton's brother Nic also part of the line-up.

Wolff said: "I'm very proud to be part of the Channel 4 team this season.

"The start of the Formula 1 season is not far away and we're all raring to go."

Prost will be part of the team at selected races, as will ex-BBC analyst Eddie Jordan, who will combine the role with his Top Gear duties.

Ex-HRT driver Karun Chandhok and Lee McKenzie will be the pitlane reporters while ex-Williams driver Bruno Senna will attend selected races as a guest pundit.

Former T4 and X Factor USA host Steve Jones will anchor the coverage, with Coulthard the chief analyst alongside his commentary duties.

"I'm beyond excited to be part of Channel 4's coverage," said Jones. "I'm honoured to be working with such a line-up of names."

It is thought Channel 4 will tweak the typical presentation model by rotating its talent team across the season.

Channel 4 will screen 10 grands prix live and without advertising breaks per season, with the remainder to be shown as highlights.

That's a stupidly good team. Murray Walker!!

[Lineker]

[EddieG]

That is a massively strong team, can't wait, just glad to see DC and EJ sticking around.

[Meacon Keaton]

I hate that I'm going to have to DVR the Australian Grand Prix. I have a tryout on the 20th at 8 in the morning, so there's no way I can responsibly stay up to watch and then be worth a shit on the field. Watching races on delay is always lame. :/

[Lineker]

11 minutes ago, Meacon said:

I hate that I'm going to have to DVR the Australian Grand Prix. I have a tryout on the 20th at 8 in the morning, so there's no way I can responsibly stay up to watch and then be worth a shit on the field. Watching races on delay is always lame. :/

Record it @Meacon and stay spoiler free. Watch it as-live and any questions during, you can just PM to one of us.

Good read from Lawrence Barretto on C4's coverage, spoiler-tagged for length: 

When Channel 4 swooped in and took over the remaining part of the BBC's Formula 1 contract, the broadcaster knew it had a big challenge on its hands.

In the BBC, it has a tough act to follow following six years of stellar coverage that went down well with fans. In Sky, it has a rival with the budget and innovation to bring F1 to life for those who are able to afford a subscription to its coverage.

Time was also against Channel 4. While the BBC had 10 months in which to prepare, it had just over three. That put pressure on it to recruit the right people, both in front of and behind the camera, and generate ideas for content that would set it apart.

The easy path would have been to take the BBC's model and apply it to this season before really putting its own stamp on the coverage next year. But it hasn't. It will keep the bits that worked on the BBC but with a Channel 4 touch. And it's going to take risks.

The feeling that emerged during a pre-season launch at its London HQ on Tuesday, is that it wants to freshen up the coverage and make it appeal to the channel's younger audience, without alienating the sport's core audience. There was a real buzz about the place.

They want to accentuate the personalities, including those behind the scenes, and really play on the human element. One high-level source told Autosport that C4 wants to "mix it up" and really focus on making each grand prix weekend its own "bespoke event".

To do that, they've gone on a huge recruitment drive, keeping experienced members of the BBC team and adding talent that have good relationships inside the paddock and recent experience of competing in F1.

It has ditched the tired 'presenter plus two analysts' model and gone for a rotation system. That not only helps create a wide spectrum of expertise and opinions, but also allowed it to sign the likes of Mark Webber, who did not want to commit to a full season.

To ensure a strand of continuity, anchor Steve Jones, David Coulthard and Ben Edwards will attend every race, with the rest of the team being plugged in across the year. It is believed their individual levels of commitment are still to be decided.

It is a gamble to put Jones in the hot seat. He boasts the live TV credentials, having hosted the channel's breakfast show T4 and more recently X Factor USA, but he lacks F1 experience. He himself admits to having only "dipped in and out" of the sport. But Jake Humphrey proved the right work ethic and enthusiasm can overcome that.

Where Jones lacks knowledge, he makes up for in enthusiasm. And having spent some time with him in Barcelona - he made the trip over to pre-season testing to begin networking and see the cars trackside - it's clear he has the passion and desire to make this work.

Jones spent six weeks watching every single qualifying session and race from last season. He even watched some twice. "I wanted to get myself to a point where I feel confident talking about the sport," he said. "There is talk about the sport being broke but I thought every race last season was fascinating."

That last quote is telling. Jones enters the sport with a fresh perspective. It would be a stretch to say that last season was one that will go down in history, but if Jones was genuinely excited by watching those races and he can get that across on the output this year, C4 has a very strong chance of engaging a younger audience, something F1 is struggling to do.

He does not have a fear of asking the big questions or pushing the envelope. For example, he says his mission is to make Kimi Raikkonen smile. While that may prove his toughest challenge all year, bringing someone in from outside the F1 bubble could see him connect with drivers and team personnel in a way that those before him haven't been able to do.

As you'd expect, the racing will remain at the core of the programme but Channel 4 is working hard to make sure the packaging is strong. "We need the racing to be good, but beyond that, there will be enough features and content which will broaden the appeal," says Coulthard.

The in-depth and reactive interviews will remain. The channel pulled off a shrewd move by signing Murray Walker to do a series of bespoke chats with key personalities across the season.

But there will be twists. Celebrities will feature heavily across the output. In one feature, Susie Wolff takes comedian Johnny Vegas and British boxer David Haye for passenger rides. There will also be a special programme featuring motorbike rider Guy Martin going head-to-head with David Coulthard in a Red Bull.

"The purist may say that when you pit a bike against car, there are some obvious limitations for bike," says Coulthard. "But it doesn't take away from the fact we had a really fun time discovering that and crucially, it's entertaining. Sharing a passion of motorsport is entertaining."

In the pursuit of a mainstream audience, C4 opens itself up to criticism from the purist that it plans to dumb down coverage. But it counters that well by operating a more flexible presenting model that allows it to bring in well-respected names such as Alain Prost.

It's quite a coup to get the four-time champion involved. So, too, having access to the eloquent Bruno Senna, Lewis Hamilton's brother Nic and Wolff, former Williams development driver and wife of Mercedes team boss Toto, will provide a unique insight from within the paddock.

Amid the risk-taking, a core of safe-hands remains. The production team, with editor Mark Wilkin at the helm, is largely unchanged. That ensures efficiency of the broadcast.

Whisper Films is the production company and has a motorsport flavour as it is co-owned by Coulthard, Humphrey and Sunil Patel, a former BBC Sport producer. It has produced video content for several teams in recent years so already has a good understanding of what can be done within the constraints of F1.

In terms of talent, Lee McKenzie has a good rapport with drivers and excels in the pitlane reporter role. She will dovetail well with the incoming Chandhok, whose racing experience will offer a different line of questioning.

The Edwards-Coulthard partnership in the commentary box was one the BBC's real strengths so it was smart to keep that unchanged. However, there are plans to bring additional voices into the commentary box during the season to add another dimension.

The plan to drip-feed Eddie Jordan, who will also feature on Top Gear, across the season is a good way of keeping onboard an erratic character who provides entertainment and is capable of getting some big stories but very much divides opinion.

Channel 4 hasn't gone rogue, though. It has also listened to the fans. Fleetwood Mac's The Chain remains while adverts will not be run during the race. Its deal with travel search engine Kayak, which is sponsoring the coverage, will go some way to ensuring it can afford to do that.

When the channel is live - it has 10 live races and 11 as highlights this season - the race will be shown from lights to flag. As was the case with the BBC deal for the live races, it will show all practice sessions and qualifying live.

There will be a dedicated build-up package, which will include its big features, ahead of qualifying and the race on a live weekend but it is not certain what the plan will be ahead of practice.

The big innovative features it is planning will run largely on weekends when the channel has live coverage and usually ahead of qualifying and the race. For the highlights, which will be qualifying and the race on non-live weekends, the focus will remain on the track action.

It will devote significant airtime at the end of live broadcasts to allow the team to speak to the key protagonists and properly analyse the races. It will look to avoid cutting away quickly after the race to relent to something considered more important on the schedule. The fact one day of Royal Ascot gives way to ensure the grand prix coverage can stay on the main channel shows its dedication to the sport.

The purists may not be happy, but then they have Sky's impressive coverage in which to get their fix. Channel 4 is doing things differently. If its attempt to put a celebrity and lifestyle-led slant on the coverage is done well, it has a good chance to appeal to the mainstream audience and boost viewing figures.

If that means more people get to experience and enjoy Formula 1, at a time when there is a lot of negativity surrounding what the product is or should be, it can only be a good thing in my book.

[Chris2K]

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anchor Steve Jones, 

Guess I'm not watching a second of C4's coverage then. There's very few people I dislike more than that knob.

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Alexander Rossi has been named as Manor's reserve driver for the 2016 Formula 1 season. The American missed out on a race seat with the outfit to Rio Haryanto and subsequently signed a IndyCar deal with Andretti Autosport. On Wednesday, Manor announced that Rossi would dovetail his IndyCar duties with the F1 reserve role that will see him attend 11 grands prix.

Formula 1's United States Grand Prix at Austin will go ahead this season, Circuit of the Americas chairman Bobby Epstein has confirmed.

Epstein remarked towards the end of last season the future of the race was "not looking good" after the Texas state government announced a significant cut in its contribution towards COTA's hosting fee.

The state originally promised $25million per annum of funding over the 10 years of the contract with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone prior to the debut of the race in 2012.

That then dropped to around $19.5million after a different formula was applied to calculate the GP's economic impact on the area.

Last year's race was also hit by a decline in ticket sales, while severe storms had a major impact on the event over the course of the three days, prompting fears it would fall off this year's calendar.

Up until recently the October 21-23 grand prix was listed as provisional, but Epstein has now announced the race is on, and with a special programme of events to commemorate its fifth anniversary.

"We are so happy to confirm F1's return to COTA," said Epstein.

"Since we first hosted this event in 2012, we have gained a lot of knowledge and insight that has allowed us to make significant annual improvements to the event that we are confident will continue to establish the United States Grand Prix as the standout race weekend on F1's calendar.

"We're looking forward to welcoming visitors to Texas and the Circuit of The Americas, for what promises to be an amazing weekend."

Sauber has now paid the remainder of the February salaries of its Formula 1 staff and is in no doubt it will compete in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

[JasonM]

COTA has announced that Taylor Swift will be having her only concert in 2016 on the Saturday before the Grand Prix, anyone with Saturday (or weekend) tickets will automatically be able to attend said Taylor Swift concert.

Swift isn't exactly in the same demographic as petrolheads, but the odds are she'll be in the demo for their wives/daughters(/sons?) and other people that you might attend a F1 race with. Smart doing by COTA to attach arguably the biggest act in music to the event, and seeing it is her only concert this year it'll get plenty of buyers even from people that don't want to watch racing.

With F1 plodding along in terms of US popularity, this would be the best way for the USGP to be organized, by having a major act on the saturday to help boost exposure and ticket sales. With just the announcement they've managed to get into many forms of media they ordinarily wouldn't have even been granted a passing mention.

And if it rains again this year, Taylor can help them to... shake it off... ^{I'll just leave now}

 

 

Edited March 10, 2016 by Jasonmufc

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Tay-Tay   

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Pirelli's hard compound tyre will make its first appearance in the 2016 Formula 1 season at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Italian tyre manufacturer has announced its three choices of compound available for the race at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya from May 13-15.

After selecting super-soft, soft and medium for the opening four races of the year in Australia, Bahrain, China and Russia, Pirelli has opted for soft, medium and hard for Spain.

It is the first time since 2012 Pirelli has made the soft tyre available for Spain, with one set of that rubber to be set aside for the final period of qualifying.

Pirelli has confirmed a set of hard tyres, along with a set of mediums, must be made available for each driver for the race, with one of those needing to be used during the grand prix.

The 11 F1 teams have just conducted two four-day pre-season tests at the venue, clocking up thousands of miles, with the main compound used being medium.

Haas has signed the first American driver to its books in Santino Ferrucci. The 17-year-old will serve as the team's development driver, combining the role with a full campaign in GP3 with DAMS. Ferrucci will attend grand prix and tests throughout the year, while also participating in the team's simulator programme.

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The FIA has revised Formula 1's sporting rules to reflect controversial changes to the qualifying format.

The new knockout system will now be enforced from the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, despite suggestions from F1 commercial chief Bernie Ecclestone that its introduction would be delayed because of logistical problems.

 How F1 created its qualifying shambles

The governing body approved a revised knockout format for the 2016 F1 season at a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council on March 4.

The format retains three separate qualifying periods running over the course of an hour, but mandates that the slowest cars should now be eliminated at 90-second intervals during the second half of each segment.

Following revisions to Article 33 of F1's sporting regulations, this is how the new procedure will work:

• Q1 will run for 16 minutes. All cars permitted on track. The slowest driver will be eliminated after 7 minutes and must return to the pitlane.
• The same procedure applies at 8m30s, 10m0s, 11m30s, 13m0s and 14m30s until 16 cars remain.
• At the end of Q1 all remaining drivers may complete a flying lap if they have crossed the line in time.
• Once those laps are completed and the classification established, the slowest driver will be eliminated, leaving 15 to contest the next stage.

• Q2 will run for 15 minutes. All remaining cars permitted on track. The slowest driver will be eliminated after 6 minutes and must return to the pitlane.
• The same procedure applies at 7m30s, 9m0s, 10m30s, 12m0s and 13m30s until 9 cars remain.
• At the end of Q2 all remaining drivers may complete a flying lap if they have crossed the line in time.
• Once those laps are completed and the classification established, the slowest driver will be eliminated, leaving 8 to contest the final stage.

• Q3 will run for 14 minutes. All eight remaining cars permitted on track. The slowest driver will be eliminated after 5 minutes and must return to the pitlane.
• The same procedure applies at 6m30s, 8m0s, 9m30s, 11m0s and 12m30s until 2 cars remain.
• At the end of Q3 both remaining drivers may complete a flying lap if they have crossed the line in time.
• Once those laps are completed the final classification will be established.

The rules also state: "The procedure is based upon 22 cars being officially eligible to take part in the event.

"If 24 cars are eligible, eight will be excluded after Q1 and Q2.

"If 26 cars are eligible nine cars will be excluded after Q1 and Q2.

"If necessary, the intervals between the sessions and eliminations will be adjusted to ensure Q3 remains unchanged."

Mercedes has eased its team orders restrictions for the 2016 Formula 1 season because Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are now more comfortable together, according to Toto Wolff.

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Woops. Probably shouldn't have announced him as confirmed then!

Williams has appointed Paul di Resta as its reserve driver for the 2016 Formula 1 season. Di Resta, who drove for Force India between 2011 and '13, will dovetail his F1 duties with a campaign for Mercedes in DTM.