The first set of back-to-back races this season offered one of the toughest challenges of the year for the engine in Malaysia, followed by one of the most straight-forward in China.
Impressive reliability for the Chinese Grand Prix registered the highest number of finishers ever to complete a Formula One race – 23 finishers – with all six Cosworth-powered cars making the checkered flag.
Race Weekend Engineering Notes
Hispania Racing has made significant progress since the opening race weekend of the season. Malaysia proved that the HRT-Cosworth F111 could comfortably qualify within the 107% rule in spite of a lack of testing, while China showed the car’s potential to compete effectively with promising race pace.
AT&T Williams showed solid reliability in China with both FW33s completing the race, albeit outside of the points. Cosworth is working closely with the team to make sure the CA2011k delivers to its full potential in close rapport with ongoing chassis developments as the team seeks a return to consistent points-scoring performances.
Marussia Virgin Racing has registered five race finishes with its drivers in the opening three races of the season. Free practice in China was the only notable issue from an engine point of view when Cosworth was forced to withdraw the engine in Timo Glock’s car, Cosworth CA312, from service after the unit suffered a broken valve. The damage came as a result of an earlier issue in Australia, which has since been rectified across all Cosworth units.
Mark Gallagher – General Manager F1 Business Unit
“As we have seen in these early races, the form book changes from race to race so each team and supplier, including Cosworth, has work to do and improvements to make. The big strides made by Hispania Racing since Australia are a good example of this; their two-car finish in China was a notable achievement and should be commended. Marussia Virgin Racing has also enjoyed strong reliability and is pushing hard to develop its MVR-02 further. We are working hard with the engineers at AT&T Williams to help the team achieve its targets with the overall FW33 package. The performance of the car has not met the team’s expectations but at Cosworth we are committed to working with them in every way possible to return them to points-scoring finishes."
From the Cockpit
Hispania Racing driver Vitantonio Liuzzi only had his first taste of the Cosworth CA2011 towards the end of FP2 in Melbourne, although he is no stranger to Cosworth power having driven Red Bull Racing’s Cosworth-powered RB1 on his F1 debut in the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix. He also used the V10 Cosworth TJ unit while driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2006 before the team switched to Ferrari engines. His most recent experience of the Mercedes-Benz powered Force India means he has gained an insight into three different manufacturers units.
Vitantonio Liuzzi – Hispania Racing Driver
“I have to thank Cosworth for their great help towards our team during such an important beginning of the season. The power and drivability of the engine in any range of revs means it is a really competitive engine in all conditions and any kind of circuit, which allows us to concentrate mainly on developing the car. The overall power is really competitive with regards to other engines I've had an experience with so I hope they'll keep pushing with us."