Horner: Red Bull and Renault have regrouped ahead of Barcelona

Red Bull and their power unit suppliers Renault are ready to fight back in Spain next weekend after reorganising over the three-week gap, says team principal Christian Horner.

Though both parties have made an underwhelming start to the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship, Horner says the improvements seen at the last round Bahrain - and the gains made over the extended break between races - could pay dividends in Barcelona.

"It's been a really good opportunity to re-group after the early flyaway races, look at all the information and data gathered from them and of course get ready for the start of the European season next week," he told the team's website.

"[The first four races were] far from where we expected to be and ultimately disappointing, but what we can see is we're making progress - I think Bahrain was probably our most competitive race so far.

"We can see on the engine side that Renault are making some steps forward as well. I think in this two week period to re-group, and Renault to have done plenty of running on their dynos and iron out some of the issues they've had, has been very timely. Hopefully we can use that to great effect in Barcelona next week."

Horner also said Red Bull can draw inspiration from their remarkable turnaround in 2014, when they put a disastrous pre-season behind them to emerge as Mercedes' main threat over the opening half of the season.

"After a difficult start last year we bounced back from pre-season testing to the first race and we want to try and make a big step forward in the next few races to put Williams and maybe even Ferrari under a bit of pressure," he added.

"The team has been used to winning over the last few years and it's tough when you're not running at the front where that's where you're used to being. But the great thing here is that everyone is using it as a motivation to get back there.

"Everyone has got their head down, everybody's working incredibly hard and we can see progress in many areas."

While Red Bull are currently fourth in the constructors' championship, they have collected just 23 points - their lowest haul from the opening four races since 2008, when a different scoring system was in use.


(source: f1.com)

Legends of F1 - Ayrton Senna documentary

Ayrton Senna passed away 21 years ago and as a huge fan of him I thought I would like to post a video of some kind about Senna. I thought about this documentary but found it on YouTube in 3 parts. I hope it won't be a problem for you guys.

1976 Monaco Grand Prix - Full race

Reupload because the old video was deleted.

McLaren: New approach has transformed upgrade success

McLaren's new working philosophy has significantly improved the effectiveness of their upgrade and development work in 2015, according to racing director Eric Boullier.

While the team have not scored points in the opening four races of their renewed partnership with Honda, Boullier says changes away from the circuit are having a marked impact – particularly with regards to updates, which proved hit and miss in 2014.

"There's been a huge change in overall culture and philosophy. At every level of the company, there is clear leadership," Boullier explained.

"We agree the direction we want to pursue, and we bring people with us. The attitude has changed from 'telling' people, to 'asking' people; we've integrated people, and we share opinions and ideas.

"The main outcome of that new approach is that people now have a sense of ownership in the car. To give you an example, I guess about 50 per cent of the upgrades we brought to the track last year didn't completely work; this year, we've brought that down to about five or 10 per cent.

"There's tangible change at the factory, too: we've been able to increase our in-house manufacturing capability by around 30 per cent - which makes our development cycle lighter, faster and more flexible."

Chief engineer Peter Prodromou, who has steered McLaren's aerodynamic philosophy since being recruited from Red Bull, said that McLaren will continue to develop the MP4-30 until the final race of the year, in part to help them hit the ground running next season.

"Over the last couple of seasons, the team slightly lost its way aerodynamically," he said. "It became obvious that if we'd carried on with the previous concept, there'd only be so much we could achieve.

"So we've begun to establish a new aerodynamic concept, and a different way of working, too. That new concept has majorly shaped where the team's heading in the future.

"Next year's car will be an evolution of this year's, so we need to keep developing it right until the final race."

Speaking after this year's Grand Prix in Bahrain, Fernando Alonso predicted that McLaren will make a "huge step" forward at his home race in Barcelona.

(source: f1.com)

Lotus complete landmark Brands Hatch filming day

Former British Grand Prix venue Brands Hatch hosted contemporary Formula One machinery for the first time in seven years on Monday as Lotus completed a filming day at the famous circuit.

Romain Grosjean, Pastor Maldonado and reserve driver Jolyon Palmer were all in action as the team rolled out their 2015 challenger, the E23 Hybrid, and also the iconic Lotus 72E, which claimed eight Grand Prix victories between 1973 and 1974 in the hands of Emerson Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson.

Both cars ran together in the afternoon, after Lotus dedicated the majority of the morning to filming duties split between on-track runs, pit stops and practice starts. The team also opened up the pit lane to fans during their lunch break, and conducted a number of hot laps in road-going Lotuses.

The occasion marked the first time modern F1 machinery has run at Brands Hatch since Lewis Hamilton drove his title-winning 2008 McLaren MP4-23 in a demonstration run at that year's DTM event.

The last Grand Prix to be held at the track was in 1986, when Nigel Mansell thrilled the home crowd by leading Nelson Piquet home for a Williams one-two. In total, 14 world championship Formula One races were staged at the circuit, which had a regular biennial slot on the F1 calendar between 1964 and 1982.

(source: f1.com)

1975 Monaco Grand Prix (Full Race)

2015 Bahrain GP (Full Race)

The Bahrain GP race was deleted so here are a few more if you missed it the last time!