The "Le Mans" Grand Touring Endurance car ("LM" GTE) is a car having an aptitude for sport with 2 doors, 2 or 2+2 seats, opened or closed, which can be used perfectly legally on the open road and available for sale thanks to the dealer network of a manufacturer recognised by the Endurance Committee.

To be equipped with an engine used in a production car and made in a quantity of at least 300 units.

Test in Fiorano – Simona De Silvestro debuts in a Sauber F1 car

26.04.2014 - Fiorano. Today, Simona De Silvestro completed her first day of testing in a Sauber Formula One car on the Ferrari test track in Fiorano. She completed a total of 112 laps in a two year old Sauber C31 (without KERS and with special tyres from Pirelli). Simona used the opportunity to become familiar with the specifics of a Formula One car and was able to improve constantly during the day.

Circuit: Fiorano Circuit / 2.997 km
Driver: Simona De Silvestro
Weather: Overcast, sunny, air 16-21 °C, track 19-30 °C
Chassis / engine: C31 / Ferrari
Laps today: 112 laps, 336 km

Paul Russell, Test Engineer:
"In the morning, Simona went out for baseline runs. She drove at a reasonable pace, getting the tyres and the brakes to work and taking it easy finding the limits. Simona then drove short runs. Before the lunch break she did a run on new tyres which was at a good performance level. In the morning we achieved even more than we had planned. For Simona it was really about learning and building the pace. In the afternoon she continued doing shorter runs, which gave us time to look into the data and discuss things in order for her to get a better understanding of the car. We also did some set-up changes. At the end of the day we used a couple of new sets of tyres, which is always interesting for new drivers in order to experience how far they can push. Simona did a very solid job today. It was immediately clear that she is an experienced driver. It was as good a start in a Formula One car as you could hope for, and you couldn't really ask for more today."

Simona De Silvestro:
"Although it's something very special to drive a Formula One car, I was not too nervous in the morning. I was more focused on what my job would be. But, after completing the installation lap, I realised that this was my first lap in a Formula One car, and that this was something really special. What impressed me most was the downforce of the car and the braking. When I did my first lap the brakes were cold, but even then the decelaration was beyond what I had experienced before. The g-forces are significantly higher compared to what I was used to in IndyCar. Overall, I'm happy with my first day in a Formula One car. I concentrated mainly on understanding the tyres and finding out how to get the best out of them. And with every outing I learned more about the behaviour of the car. I can feel now where there is more potential and how I can use it. Physically I feel quite good, which is definitely a result of my preparation in recent months. I have been training really hard and this paid off. I can't wait to get into the car again tomorrow. The feeling you get driving a Formula One car is just awesome!"

What comes next
Tomorrow Affiliated driver Simona De Silvestro will again be behind the wheel of the Sauber C31-Ferrari in Fiorano.

The Formula One calendar each year is populated by some grands prix (like Monaco, Melbourne and Montreal) that are essential to the sport and others (like Bahrain, Russia or Korea) that expand its reach to new locations. But even in the latter category, the last place we'd expect to see on the list is Azerbaijan. Yet that, according to reports, is exactly where F1 is headed next.

According to reports circulating the interwebs, local organizers and Bernie Ecclestone – the embattled and controversial F1 supremo currently fighting corruption and bribery charges in court – have already signed and will soon announce a deal to bring the top racing series to the streets of Baku, Azerbaijan's capital city, starting in 2016. The reports further state that the race will be dubbed the Grand Prix of Europe or the European Grand Prix, a title last used for a race in Valencia held from 2008 through 2012 (alongside the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona) and before that at the Nürburgring (alongside the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim) from 1999 through 2006.

The idea may not be quite as far-fetched as it may seem at first. Baku is set to host the inaugural European Games next year, has already hosted the popular Eurovision song contest and has hosted a GT3 race on a specially designed street circuit. The grand prix would likely use a similar setup.

Though Azerbaijan, the largest country in the Caucasus region nestled in between Eastern Europe and Western Asia, is not a member of the European Union, it is part of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). It shares borders with Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Iran.

It appears that the rumored shuffle in the Formula One calendar next season may actually happen. F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone says that there will be no Korean Grand Prix again next year, but it will be replaced by a race in Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani race was previously rumored in Baku, the country's capital, and Ecclestone confirmed it to Britain's The Independent: "Baku has been signed. It will start in 2015 and will replace Korea," he said. Previous reports indicated that the F1 boss and local officials had already signed the necessary paperwork to make the event happen.

Baku does have a recent racing pedigree. The city hosted a round of the FIA GT Series in 2013 around its streets. The F1 grand prix would likely use a similar layout and would be called the Grand Prix of Europe or the European Grand Prix. According to The Independent, former Renault F1 team boss Flavio Briatore brokered the deal between Azerbaijan and Ecclestone.

However, you might not want to make travel plans for Baku in 2015, yet. Ecclestone faces a trial for alleged bribery in Germany. Also, the grand prix in New Jersey once seemed like a certainty, but neither it nor the F1 race in Mexico ever made it to the 2014 calendar. It might be best to wait until next season's calendar is final.

The Spanish Grand Prix's 2.892-mile Circuit de Catalunya is considered a preview for the rest of the season, since it's a combination of long front straight and twisting middle sectors mimic sections from every other Formula One track to follow. After the long break following the flyaway races to open the season, teams and fans have also been looking forward to this race to see if anyone had a realistic hope of catching Mercedes AMG Petronas; Infiniti Red Bull Racing honcho Christian Horner boiled his team's outlook for the season down to the line, "We've got to [beat them in Spain] if we're going to make a championship of it."

If we take that as our starting point then the weekend began as a bust. Lewis Hamilton only just beat Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg for pole, the Brit's final effort getting him 0.178 seconds clear of the German. Daniel Ricciardo, proving Red Bull is at least the best of the rest, took third but did so more than a second behind Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas of Williams lined up fourth, almost 1.5 second behind and Romain Grosjean delivered overdue good news for Lotus by taking fifth on the grid, more than 1.7 seconds behind pole. Kimi Räikkönen in sixth outqualified his Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso in seventh, but he couldn't be happy about it because the Ferraris were nearly two seconds behind, and Jenson Button in eighth in the McLaren was more than two second behind. Felipe Massa put the second Williams in ninth, and Sebastian Vettel overcame a terrible start to the weekend to make it into Q3, then didn't set a time when his gearbox failed, then got dropped five places to 15th on the grid when the gearbox had to be changed.

When the lights went out, then came the boom...

As in the one Mercedes lowered on the rest of the field. Hamilton got away clean again, keeping first position into Turn 1 and laying time into the field. His teammate stayed within a few seconds but couldn't pass, then went to the Bahrain playbook and tried a different tire strategy. After playing follow-the-leader until their final pit stops, Rosberg took on medium tires while Hamilton was on hards, and closed the gap right up. Sticking to the Bahrain book, though, even with closing the gap to less than a second and getting to use DRS Rosberg couldn't get past and – yet again – had to settle for second.

Ricciardo secured third place 49 seconds behind the leading duo, and it looks like this time he'll get to keep his trophy. The young Aussie got passed by Bottas off the line, and after making a couple of unsuccessful, long-shot attempts to pass the Finn he settled in to wait for the first round of pit stops to work their passing magic. He duly came out ahead of the Williams and said himself that it was a pretty boring race after that as no one was able to challenge him for the position. Vettel followed him in fourth, the German coursing through the field throughout the race and pulling off quite a few impressive passes on track like those on Räikkönen and Bottas in the final stint. The next race in Monaco probably won't be representative, but we'll find out after that in Canada if Vettel has finally come to grips with the RB10, after a trouble-plagued opening to the season that has had people wondering if he was given Mark Webber's car, or at least Mark Webber's luck.

Bottas brought his Williams home in fifth, the team's massive upgrade package paying off and showing that Williams' form isn't a fluke.

Alonso's was the first Ferrari to cross the line, ahead of the lapped Räikkönen. A new plotline opened up at the Scuderia when Räikkönen, who stopped twice and led the three-stopping Alonso nearly the entire race, got passed by his teammate on fresher tires three laps from the end. Räikkönen didn't like the pit strategy and asked his team on the radio, "Who made these calls?", then said after the race that he would "want to clear up a few things and that's all." It could be something but hopefully it's nothing, because the last thing Ferrari needs is more distractions – last year's Spanish Grand Prix was the last time the scarlet team won a race.

Grosjean, hampered by a calibration issue on his Renault power unit, brought his Lotus home in eighth. It's less than he would have wanted having started in fifth, but since those are the first points the team has scored all season everyone will be relieved to finally break the seal. His teammate Pastor Maldonado, on the other hand, brought his money to Lotus and his black cloud; the Venezuelan suffered crashed out of qualifying in a mystifying incident he said wasn't his fault, then in the race clobbered the Caterham of Marcus Ericsson on the first lap and, for that, earned a five-second stop-go penalty and another penalty point on his license, taking him to four. Lotus is another team that would like to avoid more drama, the black-and-gold crew subtly called out by Renault for not having paid its engine bills.

Force India claimed the final two top ten position, Sergio Perez finishing ahead of Nico Hülkenberg for ninth and tenth. The Mexican moved up three places from his starting position, the German started and ended in the same place after being promoted to tenth on the grid following Vettel's demotion. It meant another three points for Force India, but that relatively meager haul means they drop behind Ferrari to fourth in the Constructor's Championship.

Lewis Hamilton, however, climbs to first in the Driver's Championship with his win. His fourth win in five races and his first at Catalunya puts him on 100 points, just a tiny step ahead of Rosberg on 97 points. From there it's a long drop down to Alonso with 49 points, Vettel with 45 and Ricciardo with 39. Over on the Constructor's side, the fourth consecutive one-two for The Silver Arrows gives them 197 points compared to Red Bull's 84 and Ferrari's 66. If Catalunya really is a test for the rest of the season, then Mercedes has ruined the curve for everyone and the other teams might want to switch their grading options to Pass/Fail.

But that would be silly. The totally uncharacteristic Monaco is next – a race Rosberg won last year and beat Hamilton at the year before – and while 49 seconds is an insane amount of time to overcome, we've seen how far Red Bull has come and we're only a quarter of the way through the season. The odds don't look good, we'll admit, but to paraphrase Lloyd Christmas, 'we're sayin' there's a chance.'

GP2 field faster than F1 backmarkers in Spain
Stephane Richelmi, GP2 driver, 'outqualified' F1 stars Max Chilton, Jules Bianchi, Marcus Ericsson and Kamui Kobayashi.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/gp...kers-in-spain/



May 11 (GMM) Formula one is not the loudest spectacle in Spain this weekend.

The feeder series GP2, still powered by naturally-aspirated V8 engines, is making more noise in Barcelona than the newly-quiet 'hybrid' Grand Prix machines.

Not only that, there are GP2 cars that are actually faster than their F1 counterparts this weekend.
Stephane Richelmi's name may be almost unknown beyond the GP2 paddock, but this weekend at the Circuit de Catalunya, the Monagasque's Mecachrome-powered DAMS 'outqualified' F1 stars Max Chilton, Jules Bianchi, Marcus Ericsson and Kamui Kobayashi.
Not only that, every car inside the top 13 in GP2 qualifying was faster than the Caterhams in Spain.

Force India's Sergio Perez said earlier that the louder, faster GP2 - with budgets eight times smaller than F1 teams - is "embarrassing".

"It's down to the regulations and there's nothing we can do," said Marussia's Graeme Lowdon.

"You couldn't criticise fans for asking that sort of question, and it's important people listen to it," he is quoted by Sporting Life.