March 28th, 2011

Kers Well That Ends Well: Victorious Red Bull Doesn't Even Bother With Kers At Australian Grand Prix

So much for all of that fancy talk about the return of Kers. The system, which is about as close as you can get to using a mushroom in Mario Kart in real life, lets Formula One drivers temporarily get an additional 80 horsepower out of their engine, made its return to Formula One this season. There was plenty of talk along the lines of, “This is great! It will help with overtaking and make for… → Read More

March 15th, 2011

Playseat's F1 Red Bull Racing Simulator Lets You Pretend You're Sebastian Vettel

Is Red Bull once again the team to beat in Formula One this year? It certainly looks that way, if the past few weeks of testing in Barcelona are anything to go by (and they are). We now segue into Playseat’s Red Bull-branded racing simulator. It’s quite… substantial. → Read More

March 1st, 2011

Formula One's Newest Innovation (Maybe): Artificial Rain

The recently delayed Formula One season now begins at the end of the month, but the sport’s big boss-man, Bernie Ecclestone, the subject of a controversial new biography, has just the idea to take everything to the next level: artificial rain. Bernie Ecclestone: now officially a comic book super-villain. Good for him. → Read More

February 3rd, 2011

Formula One Pilots Decry Technology Creep: 'It's Just Not Enjoyable'

Red Bull Racing’s “number two driver,” Mark Webber, seen here with a cat, has just about had enough of technology ruining all the fun of Formula One racing. Several new systems have been put in place in many of the cars this year, but the systems go overboard with the technology, apparently. Not only that, but the reliance on all this technology may be distracting, as Webber says drivers… → Read More

January 28th, 2011

Ferrari F150: The First Formula One Car Of The Season Inches Toward Green

The new Formula One season begins in March, andFerrari is the first team to show its hand. Its new car, the F150 (so named to commemorate 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy), was launched just a few hours ago at its headquarters in Maranello—Italy, of course. Given that Formula One is poised to introduce a new series of regulations in the coming years, partly to make the sport… → Read More

January 13th, 2011

Formula One Will Be Available In HD This Year (Finally!)

Good news: Formula One will be in HD this year. You’d have thought that such a fancy racing circuit would be broadcast in HD already—how many years has Nascar been in HD?—but no; we’ve had to wait. Long overdue, yes. → Read More

December 10th, 2010

Formula One Adds ‘Green’ Engines From 2013 Season

Formula One’s governing body, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), has committed the sport to “improving sustainability.” As such, starting with the 2013 season all F1 cars’ engines will have to meet new, dare I say greener criteria. Namely, engines will shrink in size from 2.4 liters to 1.6 liters and will go down from 18,000 rpm to 12,000 rpm. All this works out to a 35… → Read More

June 30th, 2010

Formula One to cut emissions by 15 percent within 3 years, becomes first green-ish sports organization

Some auto racing news for your Wednesday morning. Formula One, the fancy circuit that, like soccer, is popular everywhere but the U.S., plans to cut emissions by some 15 percent within three years. That’s a remarkable goal seeing as though Formula One cars (and all supercars, for that matter) are about as green as a smokestack from 1900. → Read More

June 22nd, 2009

What has more buttons: an F1 steering wheel or your BlackBerry?

As Matt will tell you, I know absolutely nothing about cars. Four wheels, a steering wheel, a couple of pedals—that’s the extent of my knowledge. That said, for whatever reason, I find myself getting into Formula One; it’s just fun! So, with that in mind, watch as I watch Force India’s team manager explain all the high-tech wonderment of a Formula 1 steering wheel. → Read More

October 18th, 2007

To promote PGR, Microsoft backs Formula One's Lewis Hamilton

Microsoft is endorsing British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton to win this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix and, hence, the F1 championship this weekend. It’s one of those times where the last race of the season will actually determine who wins the title. (The contenders are Hamilton, Spain Fernando Alonso and Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen.) And why is this being posted here? → Read More