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F1 2011
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 Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana 2011
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Round 5 , 22 May, 2011. CIRCUIT DE CATALUNYA, Barcelona, Spain.
Lap : 4.655km/2.892 miles | Offset : 0.126km | Race : 66 Laps - 307.104km/190.825 miles
Official Website
Pitlane speed limits:
60km/h during practice;
100km/h during qualifying and race
Changes to the Circuit since 2010
* All gravel checked to ensure no stones greater than 15mm in diameter. Great deal of new ? Extra tyre row and conveyor belt installed in front of existing tyre barrier on the right after turn 9. Barrier extended.
* New higher kerb at exit of turn 7, apex turn 8 (present for pre-season tests).
* Bumps installed behind turn 15 apex kerb, similar to those behind turn 2 apex kerb.
* Worn artificial grass replaced immediately before Grand Prix.
Lap record: 1:21.670 (Kimi R?ikk?nen, Ferrari, 2008)
[860] 21 May 2011 - Ferrari 150° Italia - banned rear wing
 
Ferrari ran this rear wing in Friday's practice sessions in Spain, but had to revert back to their Turkey-spec design from Saturday onwards after the FIA deemed it illegal. The area of controversy was the additional Gurney flaps on the top (in yellow), which took the wing 30mm over the normal maximum height limit. That limit is 950mm above the reference plane (the lowest part of the car, excepting the plank), the same as for the engine cover and roll-over structure. Ferrari claimed the flaps were not actually not part of the wing, but were actually part of the slot-gap separator, or rear wing supports, which are exempt from the height requirement. The FIA disagreed and decided that the configuration breached article 3.10.3 of the technical regulations. Charlie Whiting conceded that it was a clever interpretation, but felt it was not within the spirit of the rules.
FIA Technical Regulations, Article 3.10.3:
In order to ensure that the individual profiles and the relationship between these two sections can only change whilst the car is in motion in accordance with Article 3.18, they must be bridged by means of pairs of rigid impervious supports arranged such that no part of the trailing edge of the forward section may be more than 200mm laterally from a pair of supports. These pairs of supports must :
- be located no more than 355mm from the car centre line ;
- fully enclose each complete sections such that their inner profiles match that of each section. With the exception of minimal local changes where the two sections are adjacent to each other, their outer profiles must be offset from the inner profiles by between 8mm and 30mm and may not incorporate any radius smaller than 10mm ('gurney' type trim tabs may however be fitted between the supports) ;
- be aligned as a pair so as to provide a bearing across their full thickness and along a profile length of at least 10mm when the distance between the two sections is at its closest position ;
- not be recessed into the wing profiles (where a recess is defined as a reduction in section at a rate greater than 45° with respect to a lateral axis) ;
- be arranged so that any curvature occurs only in a horizontal plane ;- be between 2mm and 5mm thick ;
- be rigidly fixed to their respective sections ;
- be constructed from a material with modulus greater than 50GPa.
These supports will be ignored when assessing whether the car is in compliance with Articles 3.6, 3.9.2, 3.10.1, 3.10.2, 3.10.4 and 3.10.6.
[861] 21 May 2011 - Force India VJM04 - revised nose and front wing
 
Force India have brought to Spain the new nose and front wing they introduced at the last round in Istanbul (main picture). Very different to the bulkier one used previously (right-hand inset), the new solution has a Red Bull-inspired nose section and features aero devices on its underside similar to those introduced by Williams two years ago and used by McLaren in 2010 and this year (left-hand inset). Other new components to look out for are the revised endplates and the three wing elements. In the end, however, the team opted to use the previous standard wing configuration for qualifying and the race. They also tested Red Bull-style exhausts on Friday, but again decided not to run the solution on Saturday and Sunday.
[862] 21 May 2011 - Mercedes MGP W02 - modified bodywork
 
Mercedes have brought new bodywork to Spain, including slightly different deformable side structures (red arrow), necessitating a further FIA side crash test. There is also a revised radiator installation (black arrows), although the double floor layout (currently unique in Formula One), has been retained. The team have also modified the car's rear suspension geometry.
[863] 21 May 2011 - McLaren MP4-26 - revised sidepods
 
McLaren have brought a massive upgrade to Spain. There's a new gearbox and rear suspension, a new front wing design, plus new sidepods and a modified exhaust/diffuser layout. Here is seen the longer version of the sidepods, which the team tested on Friday. They opted to remove the final section of the sidepods for qualifying and the race.
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