In the round-up: Chris Dyer, who lost his race engineer role at Ferrari after Abu Dhabi, has left the team.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
“Chris Dyer has left Ferrari but isn’t legally free to work in F1 until mid-2012.”
Via the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app
Costa set for return with Mercedes (Autosport)
“Aldo Costa looks set to make a return to Formula 1 with Mercedes GP, having left Ferrari earlier this year as part of a staffing reshuffle.”
Gallagher leaves Cosworth (Grand Prix)
“It has been a great privilege to run Cosworth’s F1 business for over two years and work with such talented people. Next year will be my 30th in professional motorsport and I have a number of ambitions for the future, hence my decision to move on.”
Italian GP – Conference 1 (FIA)
Mark Webber on DRS: “As with most times this year we only learn after Sunday night if the DRS was set to conservative, like in Barcelona, or too aggressive, like in maybe Turkey and Spa and places like that.”
“T11 (Parabolica), new tarmac. Long high speed corner. Hard on the left hand tyres for wear and right hand for potential blistering.”
Via the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app
Di Resta’s future up in the air as Force India contract negotiations drag on (Daily Mail)
“There are obviously talks, which will be ongoing, but nothing has been generated, no decision has been made. It will be later in the year.”
Aerodynamics: Shaping Up For Monza (Red Bull)
“Looking forward to this weekend. We have several updates after a successful straight-line test last week.”
Via the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app
F1 2011 – Developer Diary Video No.3 (Co-Op Championship) (YouTube)
“F1Fen: ‘How much camber did you recommend for Monza? We read stories about 3.75, 3.5, 3.25?’ Front end of straight 3.25.”
Via the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app
Gas Turbine’s Farewell (Viva F1)
“The 1971 Italian Grand Prix is best known for it’s closely-fought finish between five cars. However, under the guise of ‘World Wide Racing’, Team Lotus also bid farewell to its grand experiment in innovative racing car propulsion – the gas turbine engine.”
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Comment of the day
Will two DRS zones be better than one? Sw6569 thinks so:
The point with two activation zones though is that it should mean that if you are helpless to defend your position, you at least have the chance to gain it back on that same lap.
The one activation zone meant that a driver would get past and be off (usually because their car was fundamentally faster to have got past the other car anyway). There was no opportunity to re-pass and little opportunity to defend the position.
Two zones should remedy some of the issues created by one zone I feel.
Sw6569
From the forum
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On this day in F1
What could be better for a Ferrari driver than to clinch the championship at Monza?
Jody Scheckter became one of few drivers in F1 history to do that. He claimed the title on this day in 1979.
Team mate Gilles Villeneuve, under orders not to pass Scheckter, finished second, with Clay Regazzoni’s Williams in third.
Here’s some wonderfully atmospheric, commentary-free video from the race:
Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo
Cacarella (@cacarella)
9th September 2011, 0:10
Great video of the 1979 Italian GP.
By the way, I saw the Senna film last night in Toronto. It’s currently playing at the Varsity and the Colosuss in Vaughan for any Torontonians wanting to go.
Tom L.
9th September 2011, 16:46
Is it just me or does Gilles Villeneuve look really like Jarno Trulli in that shot at the beginning?
Q85
9th September 2011, 0:11
shame about dyer leaving ferrari, always thought he was a top bloke
snowman
9th September 2011, 0:13
You would reckon he will end up reunited with Schumacher at Mercedes
ed24f1 (@ed24f1)
9th September 2011, 0:23
Yeah, and if Schumacher can get Costa and Dyer, who knows, he may even stay beyond 2012…
snowman
9th September 2011, 0:40
Right now he isn’t talking like a person that wants to retire in a years time so would say there’s a good chance there will be an extension.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
9th September 2011, 4:50
Chris was Schumi’s race engineer & with Aldo Costa Brawn is in a journey to make a winning team again with Schumi.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th September 2011, 7:28
Don’t know about him staying on, but I think it might become a winning team after all in a couple of years!
NFS
9th September 2011, 8:32
And it could be Dream Team II in the making.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
9th September 2011, 6:56
Downward spiral since Abu Dhabi for Chris Sure unfortunately.
Sush Meerkat
9th September 2011, 12:19
you lot are forgetting about Rory Byrne, its not Aldo Costa that designed Schumi’s dominate cars, its Rory Byrne.
He also designed the Cosworth powered Benetton Schumi won two championships, yes thats right, Cosworth, not Renault.
Aldo Costa is good, but he’s no Rory Byrne, I’m pretty sure Costa was the designer at Minardi during early 2000’s.
NFS
9th September 2011, 13:18
I think most of us here knows that but it wasn’t just down to Rory himself it’s team effort. Schumacher with Brawn, Dyer, Costa were part of the 00s success so if both of them join Merc it could lead to another strong combination(sure i think it’s better if Byrne is around but i don’t see he will comeback to F1). Didn’t Costa leave Minardi in mid 90s and part of Ferrari in 00s?
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
9th September 2011, 6:53
Totally agree with the COTD. Really looking forward to it. If the FIA get it right, people may look at it more favourably. Sunday will hold many answers for the future of DRS, assuming two independent zones is the limit.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th September 2011, 7:27
Same here. Enjoy it totally Andrew and greet the others!
Fixy (@)
9th September 2011, 10:31
Few comments in this round-up!
I think it’s a shame Dyer has left Ferrari only because of the mistakes at Abu Dhabi 2010. If he was incompetent, okay, but having changed role and now lost his job seems too much.
Costa should remain in F1, after all Ferrari’s cars haven’t been midfielders, but always in the top of the group.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th September 2011, 12:48
So with Costa probably going to join Mercedes in the future it might be a good step to get that team racked up for the future.
I also think Dyer was dropped by Ferrari unfairly as a scapegoat, although the change might have been coming anyway with the team reshuffle they were planning on doing.