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F1: Grosjean Happy If Melbourne Rain Falls

​Grosjean happy if Melbourne rain falls

Renault already putting '70pc' into 2014 engine

Marussia must focus on basics before KERS – Glock

Grosjean happy if Melbourne rain falls

Romain Grosjean will be happy if this w


  • ”‹Grosjean happy if Melbourne rain falls
  • Renault already putting '70pc' into 2014 engine
  • Marussia must focus on basics before KERS - Glock

Grosjean happy if Melbourne rain falls

Romain Grosjean will be happy if this week's weather forecast for Melbourne proves right.

Although Wednesday will be warm and sunny in the Victorian capital, the clouds will begin to gather on Thursday, when the F1 circus congregates in the nearby Albert Park paddock for media and scrutineering activities.

Then, when practice signals the official start of the 2012 season on Friday afternoon, rain and isolated thunderstorms are predicted.

And isolated showers are forecast for the qualifying and race days.

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean has not tested his new E20 mount on a wet track, and the last time he saw rain from the cockpit of any F1 car was in Brazil 2009.

"It feels like a long time ago!" the Frenchman confirmed.

"I'm ready if the (Melbourne) track is more slippery, and I'll try to make the best of it.

"I like racing in the wet, so maybe it will be a bit of an advantage for me," added the reigning GP2 champion.

Sunday will be his eighth career Grand Prix, following 7 races with the Enstone based team - then known as Renault - in 2009.

(GMM)

Renault already putting '70pc' into 2014 engine

F1 engine supplier Renault is now devoting 70 percent of its efforts into the sport's new six-cylinder turbo formula for 2014.

This year's championship and the next are the last in which the cars will be powered by the current generation of normally-aspirated V8s.

"We are now working 70 percent on the new engine," Red Bull supplier Renault Sport F1's Jean-Francois Caubet told Germany's Auto Bild.

"Next year it will be 100 percent," he added.

Renault also supplies the Lotus, Williams and Caterham teams.

The report said Renault's estimated cost of development for the 1.6 litre V6 is EUR 50 million.

A significant part of that is KERS.

"That (KERS) is an integral part of the new engine," Caubet explained.  "In 2014 we will supply Red Bull not only with the engine, but the complete powertrain."

(GMM)

Marussia must focus on basics before KERS - Glock

Marussia needs to get the basics right before worrying about KERS, Timo Glock explained on the eve of the 2012 season.

The experienced German, and his rookie teammate Charles Pic, enter the new season with essentially no testing, after the former Virgin team struggled to push its new car - the MR01 - through the FIA's mandatory crash tests.

Last year, the Cosworth-powered team was soundly beaten by its closest rival Team Lotus, who as well as changing its name to Caterham for 2012 has also added a Red Bull KERS system to its Renault-powered package.

"On the subject of KERS, it is of course a disadvantage not to have it," Glock is quoted by the SID news agency.

"But we have said that our focus is right to first get rid of the four seconds of aerodynamic deficit, before we worry about the money and the manpower we need for five tenths with the KERS," added Glock.

"We have to get the foundation right first," said the almost 30-year-old.

(GMM)

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