2011 Formula One World Championship


The 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 65th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. The original calendar for the 2011 Formula One World Championship consisted of twenty rounds, including the inaugural running of the Indian Grand Prix before the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Pirelli returned to the sport as tyre supplier for all teams, taking over from Bridgestone, marking their return to Formula One for the first time since the 1991 season.
Red Bull Racing and their driver Sebastian Vettel were the defending Constructors' and Drivers' Champions respectively, Vettel being one of five World Champions appearing on the grid. Vettel defended his World Championship at the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix, becoming the youngest driver, at 24 years and 98 days, to do so while helping Red Bull Racing defend their Constructors' Championship. It would also be the last season for veteran race winner Rubens Barrichello and the first season in which the Drag Reduction System overtaking aid was used.

Teams and drivers

After a dispute between the Formula One Teams Association and the FIA in the first half of, a new Concorde Agreement was signed on 1 August 2009 by the then FIA president Max Mosley and all of the existing teams at the time. The new agreement provided for a continuation of the terms of the 1998 agreement, and was to run until 31 December 2012. The FIA published a provisional entry list on 30 November 2010, which was revised on 2 December 2010. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli.
EntrantConstructorChassisEngineRace DriversRounds

Free practice drivers

Six constructors entered free practice only drivers over the course of the season.

New entries process

Following USF1's inability to make the grid in, the FIA opened a new selection process to find an additional team to occupy the empty slot, as well as possible reserve entrants for the event of other withdrawals. Fifteen entry bids were reported to have been received, including ART Grand Prix, winners of several championships in feeder series; previous 2010 applicants Stefan Grand Prix and World Series by Renault team Epsilon Euskadi; and a joint effort by World Champion Jacques Villeneuve with Durango, the former Italian GP2 team that had encountered financial difficulties. However, the number of applicants declined, as ART Grand Prix and Cypher, the renamed USF1 operation, withdrew their entries, and the FIA decided ahead of the 2010 Italian Grand Prix that none of the prospective entrants met the minimum funding or engineering requirements, leaving the grid slot vacant.
Following the confirmation that there would be no new additions to the grid for 2011, Joan Villadelprat of Epsilon Euskadi and Jacques Villeneuve of the combined Villeneuve-Durango teams both announced that they would still attempt to join the grid for 2011, exploring the possibilities of taking over an existing team. Villeneuve later admitted to considering possibilities outside of Formula One, including extending his NASCAR Nationwide Series campaign, or moving to Australia to pursue opportunities in the V8 Supercars.

Team changes

  • At the British Grand Prix, Scuderia Ferrari announced they would remove Marlboro from their official team name in response to what they described as "recent concerns" regarding their association with the tobacco brand.
  • In the week before the Korean Grand Prix, Force India announced that the Lucknow-based Sahara India Pariwar conglomerate had purchased a 42.5% stake in the team, giving them co-ownership with team principal Vijay Mallya. The team was subsequently renamed Sahara Force India
  • Hispania announced several major partnerships in November 2010. Chief among these was an arrangement that saw Williams supply the Murcia-based team with transmission systems for the 2011 season, whilst forming a partnership with Spanish businessman Juan Villalonga, who was previously affiliated with Minardi as CEO of Telefónica. In July 2011, Thesan Capital, a Madrid-based investment company purchased a controlling stake in the team from owner José Ramón Carabante. Thesan Capital announced the team's operations would continue as they had before the purchase, and that they had no plans to change the team name or alter its operational structure. In a statement released to the media, Thesan Capital described their intentions as making the team "more Spanish" and settling the team within Spain; the team had previously been supported by a complex ownership arrangement that saw team principal Colin Kolles control the physical team, with Carabante owning the rights to the team's entry.
  • Lotus Racing team principal Tony Fernandes purchased the rights to the Team Lotus name from David Hunt, with the intention of renaming the team to reflect its historical counterpart for the 2011 season. The use of the Team Lotus name led to a naming dispute with Lotus Cars. The team announced that they had terminated their three-year contract with engine supplier Cosworth; and used Renault engines from 2011.
  • On 8 December 2010, Lotus Cars announced a partnership with Renault F1 that saw the British sports car manufacturer become title sponsor of the team, with a view to taking full control over the next few years. Confusion over the exact status over ownership of the team led team principal Éric Boullier to clarify that Genii Capital has full ownership of the team, with former owners Renault retreating to a position as engine supplier. The team was then known as Lotus Renault GP, and the chassis and constructor still known as Renault for reasons related to the Concorde Agreement, similar to Sauber retaining the "BMW Sauber" name in despite the departure of BMW at the end of. Following team's ownership change, the team also switched their French licence to a British one.
  • In March 2011, it was announced that Infiniti, the luxury brand of Japanese car manufacturer Nissan of whom Renault own a 44% stake, would become a major sponsor of Red Bull Racing and thus Red Bull Racing became Renault's official main works partner team and effectively received free engines as well as full-factory support from Renault. However, contradictory to early reports, the arrangement with Infiniti had not extended to an engine re-branding.
  • BMW Sauber announced in July 2010 that it will revert to the name Sauber in 2011. The team was forced to retain the BMW naming for 2010 due to issues involving television rights money that would not have been paid had the team changed their name.
  • After a Williams demonstration run in Caracas, it was confirmed that Venezuelan state-controlled oil company PDVSA would enter into a long-term sponsorship deal with the team, replacing outgoing sponsors RBS, Philips and AirAsia. AirAsia officially left Williams F1 to concentrate on Team Lotus.
  • After sponsoring the team for the season, Russian sports car manufacturer Marussia acquired what they termed a "significant stake" of Virgin Racing, with the team changing its name to Marussia Virgin Racing. Further reports confirmed that Marussia had purchased a controlling stake in the team, securing their future until 2014. The team split with Wirth Research mid-season after a technical review by former Renault F1 Team engineering director Pat Symonds found that Virgin's CFD-only approach had failed. In the week before the, Virgin announced a technical partnership with McLaren that granted them access to McLaren's testing facilities as well as the purchase of Wirth Research facilities.

    Driver changes

  • DAMS GP2 driver Jérôme d'Ambrosio replaced Lucas di Grassi at Virgin Racing, having previously driven for the team during Friday practice sessions at selected events in. Di Grassi did not have his contract with Virgin Racing renewed. With only a handful of vacant racing seats available ahead of the winter testing period, he announced that would concentrate on a return to the sport in rather than attempt to secure a seat in 2011.
  • DTM champion Paul di Resta replaced Vitantonio Liuzzi at Force India, having previously driven for the team during Friday practice sessions at selected events in.
  • Nico Hülkenberg was dropped by Williams on the eve of the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. After turning down offers from several teams, including HRT and Virgin, Hülkenberg joined Force India as test and reserve driver. As a part of his arrangement with the team, Hülkenberg drove a VJM04 in the Friday morning free practice session of each Grand Prix.
  • Narain Karthikeyan returned to Formula One with Hispania after last racing with Jordan Grand Prix in, which was run at the time by Hispania team principal Colin Kolles. Karthikeyan also collaborated with Kolles on an unsuccessful attempt at the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans, and he competed in the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in a limited campaign. He also competed in an A1GP season for India.
  • Robert Kubica was injured while competing in the Ronde di Andora rally during the winter off-season, leaving him with multiple fractures to his arm, hand and leg. The nature of his injuries were serious enough to prevent him from starting the season, while the surgeon who operated on Kubica has said that his recovery could take up to an entire year. His former BMW Sauber teammate Nick Heidfeld was later confirmed as his replacement at Lotus Renault GP.
  • After being released from his contract with Force India one year in advance of its expiration, Vitantonio Liuzzi officially joined Hispania Racing as their second driver at the final test of the season, filling the last vacant racing seat on the grid. As a result of this, Hispania's part-time racing drivers Karun Chandhok, Christian Klien and Sakon Yamamoto were all unable to secure contracts to race.
  • 2010 GP2 Series champion Pastor Maldonado was signed by Williams after testing for the team in the young driver tests in Abu Dhabi.
  • Sergio Pérez, runner-up in the GP2 Series for Barwa Addax, was signed by Sauber to partner Kamui Kobayashi. His signing coincided with the announcement of a partnership between Carlos Slim's telecommunications group Telmex and the Sauber team. Pérez would become the first Mexican driver to race in Formula One since Héctor Rebaque last raced for Brabham at the 1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix.
  • Bruno Senna left Hispania Racing after a single season. Comments made by team principal Colin Kolles suggested that the nephew of three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna had a strained relationship with the team. Senna was later confirmed to have joined Lotus Renault GP as a part of their test and reserve team, and is the first in line to take over driving duties should either of the team's established drivers be unable to race.
  • Sakon Yamamoto moved from Hispania Racing as a full-time driver to become a test driver for Virgin Racing for the first three races after he was unable to secure a contract to continue racing with Hispania.
;Mid-season changes
  • Pedro de la Rosa replaced Sergio Pérez at the due to Pérez feeling unwell after the first practice session, following a heavy crash at the previous round in Monaco.
  • On 30 June, Hispania Racing announced that Australian Daniel Ricciardo – at the time testing and reserve driver for Scuderia Toro Rosso and racing for ISR in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series – would be replacing Narain Karthikeyan for the remainder of the 2011 season in what was described as an audition for a future race seat with Scuderia Toro Rosso.
  • Karun Chandhok returned to Formula One, replacing Jarno Trulli at Team Lotus for the, having previously fulfilled a Friday testing role in Melbourne, Istanbul, Valencia and Silverstone. Chandhok's last race meeting had been the 2010 British Grand Prix when he raced for Hispania. Trulli returned to the car for the.
  • On 24 August, it was announced that Bruno Senna would replace Nick Heidfeld at Renault for the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix, leading to uncertainty over the status of the seat from the onwards. The team cited Heidfeld's failure to deliver speed to take on the role of a strong leader as the reason for his dismissal, rather than financial reasons. Renault indicated that they wished for Senna to race for the rest of the season, but "legal issues" threatened Senna's contract with the team. On 2 September, Renault confirmed that Heidfeld's contract had been legally terminated and Senna would drive alongside Vitaly Petrov for the remainder of the season.
  • Narain Karthikeyan returned to Hispania for the, replacing Daniel Ricciardo in the 22 car which meant Ricciardo replaced Liuzzi in the 23 car. Liuzzi returned to the team for the.