2011 Season

Driver changes

Robert Kubica suffered multiple fractures to his arm, hand and leg in the Ronde di Andora rally during the winter off-season. The injuries are serious enough to rule him out of the entire season, with his surgeon warning that recovery could take up to a year. His former BMW Sauber teammate Nick Heidfeld was confirmed as his replacement at Lotus Renault GP. Bruno Senna joined the same team as test and reserve driver — first in line to take over if either race driver is unable to compete.

Jérôme d’Ambrosio replaced Lucas di Grassi at Virgin Racing, having driven Friday practice sessions for the team during 2010. Paul di Resta replaced Vitantonio Liuzzi at Force India after a similar apprenticeship. Nico Hülkenberg, dropped by Williams on the eve of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, joined Force India as test and reserve driver, with a seat-time arrangement guaranteeing him the FP1 slot at every round.

Pastor Maldonado, 2010 GP2 champion, was signed by Williams. Sergio Pérez, 2010 GP2 runner-up for Barwa Addax, joins Sauber to partner Kamui Kobayashi. His signing was announced alongside a partnership between Carlos Slim’s Telmex and the Sauber team; Pérez becomes the first Mexican driver in Formula One since Héctor Rebaque’s final start for Brabham at the 1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix.

Narain Karthikeyan returns to Formula One at Hispania after last racing with Jordan Grand Prix in 2005, when the team was also run by Hispania principal Colin Kolles. Vitantonio Liuzzi officially joined Hispania as their second driver after being released from Force India one year early, filling the final vacant seat on the grid. Bruno Senna left Hispania after a single season.

Team changes

Lotus Racing team principal Tony Fernandes purchased the rights to the Team Lotus name from David Hunt, renaming the team ahead of the season and switching from Cosworth to Renault engines. The move triggered a naming dispute with Lotus Cars.

On 8 December 2010, Lotus Cars announced a title sponsorship partnership with Renault F1, renaming that team Lotus Renault GP. Genii Capital retains full ownership of the team; Renault retreats to a role as engine supplier. The chassis and constructor are still entered as Renault under the Concorde Agreement, the same arrangement under which Sauber retained the “BMW Sauber” name in 2010 after BMW’s departure. The team also switched from a French to a British licence.

BMW Sauber officially reverts to the Sauber name, having been required to retain the BMW branding through 2010 due to television rights obligations.

Marussia, the Russian sports car manufacturer, acquired a controlling stake in Virgin Racing, renaming the team Marussia Virgin Racing and securing its future to 2014. The team split with technical partner Wirth Research mid-season after a review by former Renault engineering director Pat Symonds found that the CFD-only design approach had failed. A technical partnership with McLaren was announced in the week before the British Grand Prix, granting access to McLaren’s test facilities.

Hispania secured a new partnership with Williams to supply transmission systems for 2011 and added Spanish businessman Juan Villalonga — formerly affiliated with Minardi as CEO of Telefónica — as a commercial partner.

Williams replaced outgoing sponsors RBS, Philips and AirAsia with Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA after a Williams demonstration run in Caracas.

In March 2011, Infiniti — the luxury brand of Nissan, in which Renault holds a 44% stake — was announced as a major sponsor of Red Bull Racing, making Red Bull Renault’s official main works partner.

Calendar

The season was originally planned for twenty rounds, with the inaugural Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida as a new addition. The Bahrain Grand Prix had been scheduled as the season opener on 13 March, but was cancelled by the organisers in light of anti-government protests. The 2011 season runs to nineteen races, with Australia promoted to the opening round.

The German Grand Prix moves from the Hockenheimring to the Nürburgring, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits. The Malaysian Grand Prix is renamed the Malaysia Grand Prix as part of a national promotion effort.

Regulation changes

Tyres: Pirelli returns as the sport’s sole tyre supplier, replacing Bridgestone after their withdrawal at the end of 2010 — Pirelli’s first Formula One season since 1991. Pirelli tyre compounds carry colour-coded sidewall markings to identify which compound is fitted. The tyres are deliberately designed for high wear, with the expectation of three pit stops at most races. Teams are also required to use a mandatory weight distribution specified by Pirelli.

Drag Reduction System (DRS): A moveable rear wing device is introduced to aid overtaking. In a race, DRS is available only to a driver within one second of the car ahead at a designated detection point, in clearly marked activation zones, after the first two laps. Use is unlimited in practice and qualifying. DRS is prohibited in wet conditions. The FIA estimates the system will offer approximately 15 km/h of additional straight-line speed.

Diffusers: The maximum diffuser height is reduced from 175 mm to 125 mm and double diffuser designs are banned, cutting rear downforce. Double exhaust-blown diffusers are also banned; single blown diffusers remain legal.

F-duct: McLaren’s F-duct system, which required drivers to block a cockpit aperture with their body, is banned on safety grounds.

KERS: Kinetic energy recovery systems are optional this year, having been absent in 2010 following a voluntary team agreement. The minimum car weight increases from 620 kg to 640 kg to account for the additional KERS mass.

107% rule: The 107% qualifying rule is reinstated: any driver who fails to set a lap within 107% of the fastest Q1 time may be excluded from the race, at the stewards’ discretion.

Gearboxes: Gearboxes must now last five consecutive events rather than four. One additional gearbox is permitted per season to complete an event without penalty.

Team orders: The explicit ban on team orders, in place since the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix and violated at the 2010 German Grand Prix, is lifted. Coded instructions designed to disguise team orders remain banned.

Wheel tethers: The number of wheel tethers — load-bearing cables connecting wheel hubs to the bodywork — is doubled in response to accidents in which wheels were torn free, including the death of Henry Surtees in a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch in 2009.

Pre-season testing

The pre-season programme opened immediately after the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a Young Driver Test at Yas Marina. Formula Renault 3.5 runner-up Daniel Ricciardo was fastest across all three days for Red Bull Racing. A separate tyre test for Pirelli followed at the same venue; Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was fastest, and drivers were broadly positive about the new rubber, given Pirelli’s short development window. Vettel suffered an explosive puncture on the final day; a Pirelli investigation attributed it to circuit debris rather than a tyre failure. The final pre-season test, originally scheduled for Bahrain, was relocated to the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona (8–12 March) after the Bahraini Crown Prince cancelled the event in the wake of the country’s political uprising.