New VW Phaeton Build - Dresden Germany

As some of you will know I have ordered a new Volkswagen Phaeton LWB, 3.0 Litre Tdi. On November 23 I had the privilege of going to the Transparent factory, Die Glaserne Manufaktur in Dresden to watch it being built and what an experience.

Accompanied by my friend and colleague Ian Hayward we flew directly from Heathrow on Tuesday 22^nd and were met by limousine at the airport and whisked off to the Hilton in Dresden. We then had the evening in Dresden and a meal at the Pulverturm Restaurant booked by Volkswagen. 
 

Collected by limousine on the Wednesday morning Ian and I were ready for the day. We were treated like royalty on arrival and introduced to Manuela Hölsten who was to be our guide around Die Glaserne Manufaktur.

Donning White coats we went down to the production line where my new Phaeton was in its second phase of manufacture. After being shown the entire production system on various cars we arrived at a station where my cars body was suspended and being moved around so the underneath parts could be fitted.

It should be made clear that whilst we are in a robotic age the Phaeton is built by hand and the only thing robotic about it are the methods of moving everything around.

I was asked would I like to fit some parts myself and being given White gloves I was shown what to do and off I went. I then signed various parts and as we were accompanied by the official Volkswagen Phaeton photographer all these exciting issues were photographed for posterity and then presented to me during the day, both on disc and selected ones as printed copies.

The final part of the viewing of the car is what they call the marriage. This is where the body and chassis complete with all working parts come together which is incredible to see. It is too complicated to try and explain all the events so I have put the photographs onto my Flickr page for all to see. 

The factory is quite something with parquet floors, moving conveyors containing 60,000 magnets on which the robots move, no air tools as everything is electric so the factory is very quiet and clean which is a pleasure to see. All the technicians wear White coats and the whole ambience is of quietness and attention to detail.

Once the 2.5 hour tour was completed we were then invited to have lunch in the Lesage, the 5* restaurant in the facility. After a quite wonderful lunch we then progressed to the Phaeton shop and I was in my element with all these specialised Phaeton items.

I was then prized out of there and off we went in their fully loaded LWB Phaeton for a trip down the Autobahn. The photo on the website shows us at 200km’s even though the car had its winter tyres on. After this we were dropped back at the hotel for leisure time again in Dresden for the evening.

Whilst the factory was built specifically for Phaeton production only it initially built the Bentley Continental but as the popularity of the Phaeton grew Bentley production ceased. Phaeton production now complete 58 hand built cars a day and as the mark grew in stature China became the main focus for the Phaeton and in fact 64% of them go there.

Volkswagen decided they wanted to build a luxury car some 17 years ago and I think the wording “Inspired by Perfection” sums it up. The factory took 5 years to plan and a further 2 to build and they are obviously very proud of what they have achieved in it since 2001.

“Die Glaserne Manufacktur” officially opened 10 December 2001 and Eunice and I have been invited to attend the 10th anniversary celebrations the following weekend and feel very honoured to be asked. It is obvious from being there all the personnel love what they do, attention to detail is for all to see as they realised they were entering a market where quality had to be a priority.

The factory is a huge landmark in Dresden and quite unique as passers by can simply walk in and look at certain areas but obviously not onto the production line. They also have parties booked on factory tours but again they are not allowed into the actual production facility.

The factory is all glass and the photos on my website show that off better than I can try and explain but it has become a manufacturing model, visited by other manufacturers to see how it is done.

A unique experience and well worth the effort for all new Phaeton customers.

F1 Malaysia - The Race

Welcome back to Sepang for the Malaysian GP. There is plenty of talk about rain during the race and that will make interesting as usual.

A great and tense quali yesterday put Sebastian back on pole after Lewis had done all the running and only one tenth separated them at the finish of the session. It does appear Mclaren have now found the pace and are in position to compete with both Red Bull's.

Nice to see Bernie back with us during Martin's grid walk and as usual he had the usual entourage around him including the Malaysian Prime Minister. It was also great to see Lewis's Dad back in the paddock with Lewis and he was able to congratulate his other son after his first race in saloon cars and he did a good job. He is also managing Paul di Resta.

So we have 56 laps with a track temperature of 31 degrees and humidity at a staggering 83% and the drivers are going to have their work cut out over the race distance. All the teams were doing everything to keep cars and drivers as cool as possible on the grid.

Sepang is a very wide circuit and we will have plenty of opportunities to see overtaking using DRS particularly down the long start/finish straight. On the warm up lap Mark was on the radio noting a problem with his car and was advised by the pit they could see it but can't do anything about it, oh dear.

A great start and some brilliant driving to avoid bumping and boring which was great. Some great action and the winners without a doubt were Renault as Nick Heidfeld shot into P2 in front of Lewis with a great drive around the outside of P1. It is obvious Mark has no KERS and that confirms the problem he has and dropped him down to ninth.

Rubens had to pit as he lost his left rear tyre and had to do a complete lap on the degrading tyre. Mark is much quicker as he fights with Kamui but not at the end of the straight as Kamui goes straight back past and Mark is now down in tenth.

Nick is keeping Lewis in check in his Renault and this is allowing Sebastian to move ahead at the front. Jenson appears to be dropping back from Lewis and they are now talking about rain so the teams want to avoid stopping for tyres but need to avoid having to pit again when, and if the rain comes.

Mark was the first to stop on lap eleven and the KERS problem has basically destroyed his race. The tyres are starting to go off by lap twelve but the ever present rain is causing the teams to wait for tyres. Nick dropped off the pace and as Lewis was locked in behind Nick he then pitted in an attempt to get back into clear air. In the meanwhile Jenson, Felipe and Fernando were beginning to close in on Lewis.

On lap fifteen a little rain started to drop and that caused a flurry of pit stops but only back onto
soft tyres as the amount rain wouldn't affect the race pace. Nick seems to have had a problem and dropped back behind Fernando so Lewis comes into P2 and now must go into attack to catch Sebastian but some six seconds behind.

The rain was only a short light shower and by lap twenty Lewis was closing slightly on Sebastian with Fernando also closing on Lewis. Felipe then closed in on Mark and passed him quite easily as he used his KERS accepting Mark hasn't got his.

The front of the race started close down as Sebastian pitted and came out behind Felipe and the gap came down to just over three seconds. Jenson also closed in followed by Fernando and Mark driving brilliantly up to fifth.

It appears Sebastian doesn't have KERS either and he has Lewis hovering followed very closely by Jenson. Without doubt KERS and DRS are greatly assisting with overtaking and we have seen a lot of it today down the start/finish straight. However, Sebastian suddenly dropped in the fastest lap albeit he is carrying a weight penalty with the KERS system.

Lewis had Jenson closing in on him and Sebastian was just leaping ahead in front and had extended his gap to over ten seconds. Lewis had a slow stop as he had a problem with the front left and that allowed Jenson to jump up into P2 as he had a better stop. Lewis doesn't seem happy on lap forty and he has Mark all over his rear spoiler.

It's all happening now at the front as Jenson started closing in on Fernando and Sebastian on his fresh rubber and driving brilliantly. Fernando then pitted and came out behind Mark so that will be interesting. With most teams doing three pit stops it will be interesting to see whether Mark has to do a fourth stop as he pitted first and early during the race.

Mark has to stop for the fourth time on lap forty four as Jenson moved up to second and both Renault's were fighting with Felipe. All of a sudden Fernando came steaming up to the back of Lewis and battle royal commenced for third. The team then announced Fernando's DRS wasn't working as he came together with Lewis and broke his front spoiler.

We can only hope Lewis doesn't get a puncture as Fernando comes into the pits for a new front nose and rejoins behind Mark. At least Fernando's incident has taken the pressure off Lewis as he continues to struggle. Jenson was within eight seconds of Sebastian but he seems to have it covered up front.

Now we have a gaggle of cars fighting for third as Lewis struggles with this set of tyres and he has Nick, Vitaly and Mark driving brilliantly all looming in on the back of the Mclaren. Nick then passed Lewis into turn one and Mark having passed Vitaly then looms in one Lewis.

Lewis then went off the track between turns six and seven putting him back behind Vitaly in eighth as we only have three to go. Mark then started to home in on Nick's rear spoiler on the run to the flag.

Vitaly will be called the flying Russian after going off the track and flying back across the circuit and as he landed the steering column became detached albeit still connected to the steering.

Sebastian, Jenson, Nick, Mark, Felipe, Fernando, Lewis, Kamui, Michael and finally the top points scorer in tenth came Paul di Resta driving again brilliantly. Some great drives throughout the field from Jenson, Nick standing in for the injured Robert Kubica and Paul in only his second grand prix.

Fernando stopped on the in lap and it will be interesting to whether the stewards do anything as the cars should be driven back to parc fermez. The tyres did as forecast and caused many pit stops which makes it very interesting. Tyre wear is critical and achieving the optimum from the tyres is key.

So a very interesting race and apart from another Sebastian run away at the front there was at least plenty of action behind him. Who is going to take this fight to the Red Bull's as Mclaren, Ferrari and Renault appear to be on the pace but race pace seems to fall away.

A point of interest is the change in the result in Australia as both Sauber's were disqualified from the race so please keep in touch with my web site to see the actual result after the stewards changed the positions.

F1 Quali Malysia

Good morning everybody and welcome to the heat and humidity (69%) in Malaysia and as always the threat of rain being anticipated at the end of the session. HRT are under pressure to perform and as we know in Australia they didn't beat the 107% rule and hence didn't get into the race.

Renault have struggled this weekend and a suspension failure hindered their weekend running. Ferrari are also struggling as they simply can't find the set up. For whatever reason they say they have lost pace since winter testing and don't know where the problem is so they are in damage limitation in the early part of the season.

Sauber had an unfortunate end to the race in Melbourne as it was deemed their rear spoiler top section was outside the parameters. This means both cars were disqualified which was a great shame particularly for new boy Perez who drove a brilliant race without a tyre stop.

It is going to be interesting to see whether Red Bull deploy KERS and Christian Horner confirmed they are running the system on the car this weekend. As if they aren't fast enough they now have a further 10 to 15 bhp and that will be significant. Ferrari were also off the pace in Friday running and couldn't get the car hooked up and ran in the low end of the top ten.

The first stoppage in quali one came as Sebastian Buemi lost the side pod on his Torro Rosso and the session was Red flagged whilst the offending piece of bodywork was collected. Teams are now under pressure to qualify after the interuption and many will have lost a set of tyres.

In the early running Lewis headed the times but that isn't really significant as all they are doing at this stage is moving through the three sessions whilst targetting pole. Red Bull didn't pull out any stops in Q1 finishing tenth (SB) and fifteenth (MW) as Felipe headed the times but not really significant at this early stage.

All teams ran under the 107% rule so at least we have a twenty four car grid for the race on Sunday. Red Bull didn't report any problems for Mark, they simply couldn't get the car set up on the different tyre / fuel combination albeit a full second behind Sebastian.

As there is a full second difference between the hard and soft tyres and all of a sudden Sebastian shot into the 1.35's but then Jenson shot it up to the front with a mid 1.35 and some half a second quicker than the Red Bull's.

After initial running it is the top 3 teams occupying the first six places and that is one has to say quite normal. All of a sudden both Renault's shot up into the top six and this looks very interesting for tomorrow's race. With only seconds left both Mclaren's led the field with Jenson in front of Lewis for a change.

We lost Michael and Rubens going into Q3 so Nico led his more illustrious team mate once again. So the fight for pole looks very interesting with the Mclaren's, Ferrari's, Red Bull's and Renault's fighting for P1. So we all ask when are Red Bull going to launch to the front.

So ten minutes to find the pole sitter and Lewis was the first out on soft tyres followed by Jenson. Lewis launches himself into his first lap with DRS and KERS in full chat and puts in a staggering 1.35.000 flat, incredible. He was followed by Sebastian, Mark & Jenson after the initial running with only three tenths covering them.

It appears only two of the teams are running twice with the rest only having one run. What a finish to the session but Sebastian pipped Lewis by such a small margin as it was measured in thousands of a second. So we had Sebastian in pole by a tenth followed by Lewis, Mark, Jenson, Fernando, Nick, Felipe, Vitaly, Nico and Kamui coming in tenth.

We have a real prospect for tomorrow as the difference in times really mean little over a race distance. What is interesting is both red Bull's were running KERS and our concerns about them running away at the front isn't materialising.

We all look forward to the race tomorrow.

F1 Australia - The Race

It's good to be back in Melbourne and the stage for the first F1 race of the 2010 season. This season we have five world champions on the grid, Sebastian, Jenson, Lewis, Michael & Fernando and they are the cream of the crop. We all hope Mark can have an impact this season after being so close in 2010.

There remains one unanswered question, who is going to fight at the front with Red Bull as we certainly don't want a procession as we have had in the past. Hopefully the new form at Mclaren will keep both drivers up there, surely Ferrari are going to fight at the front, Mercedes are showing signs of being competitive and Renault also seem to have a good car from the start.

The new DRS (Drag Reduction System) will make a huge difference on the straights and at tracks like Monza, Silverstone and Spa it will be interesting to see the speeds they can achieve. The problem for the drivers is they have to be careful when they open up the rear spoiler as it obviously affect balance as we saw in quali yesterday as Adrian Sutil came onto the start/finish straight.

KERS is also back and the teams all seem to have problems one way or another and even Mclaren who seemed to perfect it had issues in Q3 yesterday and when it doesn't work it affects brake balance too. Red Bull didn't use it yesterday and amazing that they can throw away eighty horse power and still put in the stunning laps they do.

So new technology, new tyres, five world champions, four new drivers and it is all in place for the 2011 season but Sebastian's mighty lap yesterday doesn't bode well for the others. However, race pace is always different to qualifying pace, or let us all hope that is the case.

Prior to the start all the drivers and teams came to the front of the grid for a special one minute silence for the poor people in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami and others around the world less fortunate.

We all welcome David Coulthard to the commentary team along with Martin Brundle but we must all have noticed Bernie is missing, which is most unusual as he is in America discussing a new street race so we all wish him well with that.

As I mentioned yesterday during qualifying the track doesn't appear to rubber in like most circuits but it is a temporary circuit and normal roads when the Grand Prix has finished. There are also some support races here from Thursday onwards which is also unusual.

Most cars start the race on the soft tyres and of course on full tanks. So 17000 horsepower launches off the grid and Lewis didn't get a good start but he did retain his second place in front of Mark but Jenson lost two places, Michael lost a tyre completely after a puncture, Felipe shot up into fourth but Sebastian opened two seconds plus at the front which is bad news.

Up at the front Sebastian was still out front but Lewis is homing in followed by Mark, Vitaly and Felipe in a tremendous scrap with Jenson and Fernando is about to join then on lap eleven. The tyres are already going off and then all of a sudden Jenson shot past Felipe but not on the circuit and then when Fernando went past Felipe the question is whether Jenson had to let them go past.

To then add further confusion Ferrari pitted and it was then down to the stewards to decide what the position is. In the meanwhile cars were in for the first tyre change of the 2011 season and the leader stopped on lap fifteen. However, Lewis didn't and if he can do a fast lap he could pip Sebastian after his tyre stop.

After the pit stops it hadn't worked and Sebastian extended his lead out to six plus seconds and appears to be moving away. Mercedes are not doing well on lap twenty one with Nico down in eighth and Michael way down in twentieth.

Michael then retired with a technical failure, Rubens is now making headway up in ninth and closing in on Nico but he attacked and spun around and dropped back down to fifteenth. Nico then had smoke pouring from his Mercedes and it looks like both Merc's are out. That bodes well for Jenson as it moves into the points in eighth.

Mark doesn't seem to have the pace and comes in for his second tyre stop at the end of lap twenty six setting the mould for a three stop strategy. The new boy Paul Di Resta is doing a good job in his first race in eleventh and maybe he can get a point and Vitaly is still driving well still in third.

It will be fascinating to see how the tyre stops play out over the last few laps as there is so much difference between new and used tyres. Lewis then went off as his front under tray broke and we will await how it affects the car but still running in P2. The under tray is catching onto the floor and that will slow him down.

Sebastian came in on lap thirty seven followed by Lewis who doesn't seem to be affected by his floor problem. Sebastian in the meanwhile was still holding his lead to Lewis at now around twelve seconds and looks supreme out in front. Jenson then changed tyres on lap thirty eight in a meteoric stop in only 3.8 seconds.

A good scrap developed between Mark and Fernando and even with DRS Fernando struggled to get close enough to go by. Then Mark pitted on lap forty two and Fernando must have sighed as he now had a clear track. Fernando then pitted and his extra lap put him out in front of Mark whilst rookie Sergio Perez in his Sauber was driving brilliantly and starting to attack Jenson.

As we enter the last ten laps it will be interesting to see how the tyre strategies play out with some on hard and others on soft compounds. Jenson moved past Felipe into sixth although he went in for his last tyre stop. Meanwhile Perez in his Sauber was driving brilliantly and now in seventh but with only one pit stop.

At the flag the top ten were: Sebastian, Lewis, Vitaly, Fernando, Mark, Jenson, Sergio, Kamui, Felipe and Sebastien (B). So eventually nobody could match Sebastian in his Red Bull albeit Lewis did have a damaged car running to the end.

Pirelli appear to have done a good job and the last ten lap tyre issues didn't develop. Some great drives through the field including Sergio Perez, Paul Di Resta and Vitaly finishing third for his first podium.

Not a great race but a good start to the 2011 season and we await higher levels of competitive racing during the season. There is some debate as to whether Lewis's car will pass scrutineering which would be a shame.

So we start off as we finished last season with Red Bull. with at least one car way ahead and let us all hope Lewis and his Mclaren particularly are able start to fight harder up at the front. The new Renault also seems to be competitive after a great drive by Vitaly and one has to ask what would have happened if the injured Robert Kubica.

Lewis and Jenson must be satisfied with their performance after the initial running in pre-season testing.

We look forward to the next race in two weeks in Malaysia.

F1 Australia Qualy

Welcome everybody to the 2011 season and let us all hope we have a season as exciting as 2010. The anticipated start in Bahrain was cancelled due to the problems in the country and all we can hope the unrest settles down and the GP can be rescheduled later in the season. A final decision will be made in May.

So it was off to Australia for the first race with a lot of changes to the cars. New tyres make their debut as Pirelli take over from Bridgestone. The interest is around durability as two to three tyre changes are planned which makes a huge difference to strategy for all the teams.

The new adjustable rear spoiler will also be a huge benefit on the straights where it can only be used. This will reduce down force and hence assist in overtaking. KERS is also back and we all know the challenges that system brings.

The drivers are now complaining about the amount of buttons they to activate in the steering wheel and one-handed driving can be dangerous when they are on the limit. There are also many changes behind the scenes, too many to discuss here.

The driver line up remains basically as 2010 but the notable addition is that of Paul Di Resta taking over the seat in Force India. Renault have been forced into a driver change after the unfortunate accident to Robert Kubica and the experienced Nick Heidfeld. One has to question the extra activities drivers undertake during the off-season.

Back to the cars and Red Bull seem still to be ahead but Mclaren and Ferrari are not far away. We all hope Mercedes are at the sharp end which will make the season much more interesting. Michael said he was fighting for a podium which is encouraging.

So after all the talk, the pre-season testing and comments from all the teams it is down to who can perform on the day. We also have a change in the commentary box as David Coulthard joins Martin Brundle, so we have two experienced drivers talking us through the races and they really make a huge difference to our TV experience.

Off we go for the first twenty minute qualifying session in 2011 and please note the 107% rule comes back so drivers not qualifying within 107% of the pole lap then they won't race. The first out was a Lotus with the others leaving it for what seemed a long time. Vitaly was the first to set a televised time in his Renault with a time of 1.29.4 which is fairly steady.

Out come the big guns as Sebastian goes fastest followed by Mark, Jenson and Lewis in the mid 1.26's. The times are obviously tumbling and Mark was the first into the 1.25's. Lewis then put in a typical Lewis meteoric lap into the low 1.25's confirming Mclaren could mix it with the Red Bull's. Strangely enough at this early stage both Ferrari's are sixth and seventh but then Michael puts his Mercedes up into fifth.

It is interesting watching the adjustable rear spoiler working as the drivers open it on the straights and it goes back once the driver hits the brake. The TV graphics are also very interesting showing all the new technology.

Ferrari appear to be panicking a little as both their cars went out on a new set of soft tyres. Vitaly was driving like a man possessed as he slotted his Renault up into a fantastic third but yet Nick Heidfeld didn't make it into Q2. At the end of Q1 we have two cars out due to the 107% and it will be in the hands of the stewards and teams to decide whether they race.

There was last minute panic for Felipe as he only got into Q2 at the very last minute. We lost the usual seven protagonists as we headed for Q2. Pasto Maldonaodo drove well to put his Williams through to Q2 in his first outing for the team.

Unfortunately Rubens got it all wrong on his out lap and dumped it into the gravel on turn three and went out to start the GP in seventeenth. Both Red Bull's went out new sets of soft tyres and then came back in without setting a lap time.

The first runs for Pirelli seem to be holding out well but the race tomorrow will show the durability albeit the track doesn't seem to be rubbering in as in previous seasons. Sebastian then through in a mighty lap on a 1.24090 which is a lightening lap and sets the bench mark in his first run on the soft tyres.

It is very interesting looking at the front of the pack as both Red Bull's, Mclaren's, Ferrari's and Mercedes with a lone Renault all in the mix with only 1.8 seconds covering the top ten.

Into Q3 we have Sebastian, Lewis, Mark, Jenson, Fernando, Kamui, Vitaly, Felipe, Nico and Jamei (deposing Michael who finished eleventh), so all the big guns are there.

Who can depose Sebastian will be interesting as we head into Q3 and the fight for pole position. They will all run as little fuel as they can and of course they have to start the race on the tyres they finish Q3 on. Lewis is the first out on the soft tyres into what will be a very interesting first qualifying of the 2011 season.

Sebastian sets an unbelievable 1.23.529 and who on earth can match that apart from maybe Mark, Lewis and Jenson but that lap is mighty. With only 3.25 seconds to go neither Ferrari's have even set a lap albeit they are on circuit.

So after Sebastian's mighty lap he remained on pole but Lewis slotted onto P2 followed by Mark, Jenson, Fernando, Vitaly (fantastic drive), Nico, Felipe, Kamui and in tenth, Sebastian Buemi. Great qualifying session and we all look forward to a very interesting race tomorrow.