Force India at Jerez

The Force India Formula One Team resumed its VJM03 testing programme at the Circuito de Jerez today as the first of a four day programme got underway. New test and reserve driver Paul di Resta got his first taste of the 2010 challenger in the morning before Adrian Sutil took over for the afternoon's running.
As was the case for last week's test, running was punctuated by heavy rain storms and cloudy skies with high winds also a disrupting factor. However in a productive day working through set-up and control systems checks, Paul completed over 300km while Adrian covered 120km, bringing the day's mileage to more than 450km.
Paul di Resta
Today was my first run in the new car and it felt pretty good. The objective was to get as much running as possible and we managed over 300km, which was a great effort, particularly given the bad weather conditions we had over the morning. It seemed to be drying out and then the rain would return again so you were in a sort of no man's land with the tyres. Even with this type of weather though I could get an impression of the car. It seems stable and good all round, a genuine improvement on the car I drove last year. I'll be back in the car in Barcelona and am looking forward to it already.
Adrian Sutil
It was a short session for me today. I only started my first run just before 4pm when the track was drying in places but there were still a few damp patches on the racing line. We did two long runs on the slick tyres but in the mixed conditions it was hard to get a view on the car. But at this stage all running is good and we're ready to go out again tomorrow to get some more mileage and data on the car.
Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer
Paul completed 76 laps today in unsettled conditions to get his first experience of the VJM03. He also carried out some control systems tests and ran wet, intermediate and dry tyres. During a very windy afternoon Adrian took over the car for a short programme in predominantly dry conditions continuing set-up development from last week's test. The VJM03 ran reliably all day, which gives a good basis for the remaining three days.

Force India announces technical department restructure

The Force India Formula One Team today announced a restructure to its technical department ahead of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship season, due to James Key, technical director, leaving the team to pursue new opportunities. Mark Smith, formerly design director, will now become technical director and will assume responsibility for the entire mechanical and aerodynamic design of the team's challengers.

James has been a long-standing member of the team, first joining Jordan Grand Prix in 1998 as a data engineer before progressing to test engineer and later senior race engineer for Takuma Sato. In 2003, James joined the aerodynamic group and was then promoted to head of vehicle science towards the end of that year before becoming technical director in 2005.

Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal, said,

'We would like to thank James for his commitment and drive over his 12 years with the team. Over this period he has seen four changes of owners, but his consistency and drive have enabled the team to field cars that have often belied our small size. We wish him every success in his future endeavours. For Force India, we will now undergo a slight restructure where Mark will take responsibility for the whole design process and various departments within the drawing office and we are confident we will have both the resources and the personnel to continue our strong progress shown at the end of 2009.'

James Key commented,

'I have spent the majority of my motor racing career within the team and although a difficult decision I felt the time was right for me to move on to new opportunities. After four owners and various changes and challenges, to field a car that got a pole position and a podium seemed like a culmination of all the efforts. While I'm sad to leave a team I know so well, one which has allowed me to realise many ambitions within F1, I'm looking forward to a new start. The VJM03 is now up and running and early indications are good, I wish Force India all the very best for the next and coming seasons.'

Mark Smith will now assume the role of technical director with responsibility for all of the technical departments. Mark was one of the first Jordan employees and progressed through the team's ranks to become joint chief designer. After 11 years with Jordan, Mark joined Renault Formula 1 as chief designer before joining Red Bull Racing in 2005, initially as deputy technical director and then technical director. Mark re-joined Force India in November 2007.

Liuzzi starts final Force1 India test in Barcelona

Barcelona test report - day one of four
25 February 2010 - Tonio Liuzzi was on driving duty for Force India on the opening day of the four day test at the Circuit de Catalunya, the final test ahead of the start of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Weather conditions were significantly better than the previous two weeks' tests in Jerez and Tonio was able to complete 65 laps without major issue. Several red flag periods interrupted some of the team's planned running, however his best lap of 1:24.064 was still the sixth quickest of the day. With track conditions relatively 'green' Tonio's programme principally concentrated on pit stop practice and drills and general set-up work.
Tonio will remain in the car for a second day tomorrow before Adrian Sutil takes over on Saturday.
Tonio Liuzzi
Once we realised the track was really green and not good enough to conduct some useful testing, we concentrated on set-up and pit stop practice to get back into the rhythm of a race weekend. Overall it was quite OK but we concentrated a lot on the pit stop practice to get the guys back up to speed. Tomorrow will be where we move to look at performance and long runs so it should be a more representative day regarding the pace of the new car.
Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer
The first day of our final pre-season test was concentrated on race team pitstop practice, with simulations of live race stops and various different race scenarios conducted through the day. The circuit conditions weren't particularly good today, and tomorrow will be used to continue our set-up and development programme.

Fernando Alonso bio

Born Fernando Alonso (his full name includes his mother's maiden name according to Spanish custom) on July 29, 1981. His mother worked in a department store and his father was employed as an explosives expert in the mining industry. The Alonsos and their two children, older sister Lorena and Fernando lived comfortably but were by no means a wealthy family. Fernando’s father Luis, an amateur kart racer, wished to pass on his passion to his children. He built a pedal kart mimicking an F1 car. Originally the kart was meant for eight-year-old Lorena but she showed no interest in the sport. But her tiny three-year-old brother was eager to have a go. From the moment Fernando climbed into the tiny cockpit he immediately felt at home. And his determined and competitive spirit was already apparent at that young age.

From then on the young prodigy and his devoted father who also doubled as his mechanic, competed in karting competitions around Spain. While his entire family fully supported Fernando’s increasingly successful hobby, his progress would require more funding than his family’s limited resources could provide. It was difficult to acquire sponsorships and Fernando knew the only way to get the financial backings was to win races. Alonso won in almost every race he entered and was invariably the youngest. Age was never a hindrance as he easily won three Spanish Karting Titles (1994, 1996 and 1997); he raced in europ Kart championship, placing second and by his mid teens he was the World Junior Karting champion in

In 1999, Alonso made the jump to open-wheel cars, racing the Spanish Euro Open MoviStar by Nissan (his first and last season in the series) with the help of former Minardi F1 driver Campus Then only 18 years old, he became the series champion, immediately earning him a ticket to Formula 3000 in 2000. A win at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps highlighted a very solid fourth place in the drivers championship, and Alonso was off for Formula One in 2001.

Fernando Alonso has often been tipped as Michael Schumacher's natural successor. The personable young Spaniard does share some of Schumacher's most impressive attributes. Alonso is one of the few drivers capable of being on the pace every lap of every race and having a rare gift for driving around major problems while losing minimal lap time.

Nicknamed 'Magic Alonso', Fernando has a good sense of humor and is known as one of the paddock’s he tried out his card and magic tricks on Lord March at the 2005 Goodwood Festival, the inhabitants of the paddock delighted to see a driver that actually smiles for a change, someone who actually remembers that it's still a sport.

Alonso was the third-youngest driver in F1 history to start a race when he made his debut with Minardi at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix. While the car was not highly competitive, Alonso did a sturdy job, occasionally out-qualifying better-equipped opponents, yet failed to score a point in his rookie season.

His driving talents earned him a spot with the newly-founded Renault team in 2002 as a test driver (run by his manager, Flavio Briatore); the team groomed him to be a regular driver in 2003. With a much better car than in his first F1 stint and in only his second race for Renault, Alonso became the youngest driver ever to win a Formula One pole position at the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix; he also became the youngest driver ever to win a Formula One race at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix. At season's end, he was a solid sixth in the championship, with 55 points and four podiums.

Alonso remained with Renault for the 2004 season but the difficult-to-drive R24 kept him out of the winner's circle. In the early part of 2004, though, questions were asked of Alonso when he was comprehensively out-qualified and out-raced by teammate Jarno Trulli. The situation would change towards the end of the year when Trulli suffered a mysterious lack of form after dropping Renault boss Flavio Briatore as his manager. Trulli's relationship with the team deteriorated to the extent that he signed for Toyota from 2005 onwards, and even left for his new team for the final 3 races of 2004. Though he had no wins, Alonso ended the year a career-best fourth in the championship standings, scoring 59 points and four podiums. He comprehensively outpaced his new teammate (1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, who replaced Jarno Trulli for the final three races of the season.)

For the 2005 championship season, he was joined by Italian Giancarlo Fisichella. He finished third in the first race in Australia. In the second race of the season in Malaysia he got pole position and easily won the race. Alonso repeated this form in the season's third race, winning the Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position, and continued his good form with a close win over Michael Schumacher in the San Marino Grand Prix after an epic battle with the 7-time World Champion lasting about 13 laps. While he did not win his home grand prix he set the mark for the rest of the season, driving consistently to finish second after

McLaren's improving form saw win again at Monaco while Alonso suffered from high tyre wear, though finishing fourth. One of the most memorable moments of the 2005 season was his spectacular exit from the European Grand Prix at the nurburing granting the win to Alonso.

Alonso's run of good results came to an end at the Canadian Prix, when he made a mistake and crashed into the wall at the Villeneuve corner, damaging his suspension, after coming under pressure from the McLarens of Juan Pablo Montoya and It was his first retirement of the year.

At the U.S Prix, due to safety concerns over the Michelin tyres, Alonso, along with all the other drivers, did not start.

Alonso took his third pole position of the season at the French Prix, and led the race from start to finish, winning his fifth race of the season. He followed this with pole position a week later at the British Grand Prix, where he finished a conservative second behind a Merchedes, as Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya took his first victory of 2005.

McLaren's poor reliability granted another win to Alonso at the German Prix when Kimi car suffered a hydraulic failure. Alonso then celebrated his 24th birthday two days before the Hungarian Prix but qualified only 6th and finished 11th and out of the points after a collision with the Toyota of Shumarkar.

At the Turkish Prix Alonso took 2nd place from Juan Pablo Montoya after the Colombian collided with Tiago Monteiro in the closing stages of the race. At Monza, Alonso qualified third and drove consistently to finish 2nd behind Montoya.

At the Balgian Prix Alonso finished second, despite struggling with a car which was extremely difficult to driver due to a less than ideal set-up for the track conditions. He again made up a place in the closing stages.

The 24-year-old Spaniard qualified on pole, but finished 3rd in the Brazil Prix to clinch the Driver's Championship title at the age of 24 years and 59 days old, thus brearing old record of being the youngest F1 champion in history by about 18 months, and ending the 5-year dominance of Michael Schumacher. He had led the championship from the second race of the season.

Commenting on his victory he said:

"I just want to dedicate this championship to my family, and all my close friends who have supported me through my career. Spain is not a country with an F1 culture, and we had to fight alone, every step of the way, to make this happen. A huge thank-you should also go to the team as well - they are the best in Formula One, and we have done this together. It will say that I am world champion, but we are all champions - and they deserve this."

The Japanese and Chinese Grands Prix saw Alonso abandon the conservative style evident in Brazil when he was still chasing the championship title and Renault closed the performance gap considerably. Jordan's commercial director Ian Phillips described Alonso's overtaking manoeuvre around Schumacher at Suzuka as “one of the best of all time at this grandiose circuit”. Starting from 16th on the grid, he eventually finished third behind race-winner (who started from 17th on the grid, and clinched victory with a last-lap pass on Fisichella) and Renault team-mate Fisichella.

the chinees prix saw Renault and Alonso win to claim the 1st Constructor’s Championship for the Renault F1 team.

in2005 mac

announced that Alonso would be driving for the team in the 2007 season.

Fernando's success has spawned alonesomaina in Spain, as he has become the country's first Formula One World Champion. He is now as famous as real madrid Galactico players.

Proponents of Kimi argue that he has been the best driver of the 2005 season despite having the same number of victories (7) as the Spaniard. Without the reliability issues might have won the Drivers' Championship. However most commentators agree that Alonso fully deserves the title, dominating the early part of the season while McLaren struggled and driving consistently since then to capitalise on problems.

Alonso started the season with a close win over Michael Schumacher at Brahmin prix. He had qualified fourth but was able to win after overtaking Massa and edging Schumacher out after his last pit stop.

He qualified a disappointing 7th at the Malasian grand prix due to a fueling error but was able to ultimately finish 2nd to team mate Giancarlo Fisichella after an excellent start, overtaking four cars, and with a better race pace than Jenson Button.

Fernando just beat Kimi Raikkonen to victory in australia after a Midland car slowed Raikkonen down a massive amount at race restarts, making him fall instantly behind.

After a poor qualifying (by their past standards) for both Renaults at sant marine, Fernando Alonso was unable to pass Michael Schumacher for the majority of the race due to the tracks lack of overtaking opportunities (despite having a better performing car due to a tire problem on the Germans Ferrari, causing a lack of grip and speed). Renault attempted to sieze the lead with a tactical pitstop in order to pre-empt Ferrari but a clear in-lap for Michael, coupled with traffic for Alonso's out-lap, meant that the seven-times world champion was able to leave the pit lane seconds before Alonso could pass him. Faltering performance on Alonso car (attributed to the fact that it had already competed in the Australian GP) and the tightness of the San Marino circuit allowed Schumacher to win the race in a dramatic reversal of the 2005 grand prix one year previous.

Narain Karthikeyan Biography :

Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan (born January 14, 1977, Chennai, India) is a Formula One driver. He made his debut in 2005 with the Jordan team. He is currently a Williams F1 test driver. He is often given the title of "The Fastest Indian in the World".

Much is made of the fact that Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan is the Indian subcontinent’s very first envoy in Formula One, but if his provenance is studied, it is perhaps surprising India has not yielded a racing star before now.

Born in the Southern Indian city of Chennai, the young Karthikeyan had a home-made role model in the guise of his father, GR Karthikeyan, who had competed in arduous marathon rally events in the 1970’s in the heyday of adventure marathon rallying. His natural talent and success earned ‘GR’ a number of national titles and naturally enough, the most dedicated support and admiration of his young son.

But perhaps close proximity to the demands and dangers of rallying encouraged GR to try to deflect his son’s natural inclination to follow his father’s footsteps. The first diversion GR attempted was the rifle club, and it is notable that Narain still lists trap and skeet shooting as a personal interest, but clearly not one with an attraction as pervasive or as strong as motor racing. The affection for motor racing endured even when his father suggested the idea of his son trying his hand at the local flying club.

A motorbike, shortly followed by a kart, built by his father, was a concession to Narain’s persistent interest and before long, his father had conceded defeat and helped the young 16 year old enrol at the Winfield Ecole Pilotage at Magny-Cours in 1992, the school that set Alain Prost and Damon Hill, both WilliamsF1 World Champions, on their path to Formula One success.

The school both validated and precipitated his precocious talent and the young Narain made it to the semi-finals in the Pilote Elf competition. The following year, he started racing at home in Formula Maruti, before the necessary move for an aspiring career racer, to Europe to contest the Formula Vauxhall Juniors.

By 1996, Narain was Formula Asia Champion and before the decade was out, he had progressed into senior single seater racing in Formula 3, moving beyond the confines of the UK to gain important international experience at blue riband events such as the Macao Grand Prix.

Narain Karthikeyan
F1 Record
Nationality	India
Car #	19
Current team	Williams F1 Team
Grands Prix	16
World Championships	0
Wins	0
Podium finishes	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First Grand Prix	2005 Australian Grand Prix
First win	-
2005 Championship position	18th (5 pts)

The millennium was something of a turning point, with Narain extending his experience in Formula 3 before following the career path of the likes of Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill into Formula Nippon in Japan. 2001 also delivered the first Formula One tests with Jaguar and Jordan and moved the Indian’s name onto the radars of Formula One talent scouts.

Since 2002, it has really only been a matter of time until Narain arrived in the Formula One paddock as he contested the highly-competitive World Series for three seasons, notching podiums and wins along the way. Jordan Grand Prix made it to the cut first, retaining Narain for his debut Formula One season in 2005.

In his first Formula One season, Narain demonstrated clear speed, constrained only by his modest equipment and managed to produce a strong finishing record, frequently achieving finishes just on the fringes of the top ten.

Although without a race seat in 2006, Narain is playing a critical role in the fortunes of a senior team, another step on the way from his first petrol-driven experience behind the wheel of a Hindustan Ambassador in his home town of Coimbatore. A long way perhaps, but eminently predictable because, as his father GR reflected when Narain was just a lad, “He’s stubborn,” and there seemed no way in hindsight that India’s first racing star was ever likely to let his fascination drop by the wayside.

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