Today I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been appointed as the Director of future Director appointments at AMG Mercedes F1 Team. This follows weeks of intense negotiations between myself and the teams Director of human resources before I signed this morning with Non Executive Director of AMG Mercedes F1 Team Niki Lauda.

I’m sure you are all wondering where my role fits into the management structure here at Brackley. It’s very simple, let me explain.

As Director of future Director appointments, I’m directly answerable to the Director of human resources… unless I’m directed to search for a Director of higher ranking than him. In that case I report straight to the team principle, Ross Brawn. That was until this afternoon When I received an email from the new Director of new Directors who informed me of the arrival of Toto Wolff from Williams who directed the Director of new directors to direct me to report to him on any matters higher than the Director of human resources.

My first direct assignment from Executive Director, Toto Wolff is to try to lure McLarens Technical Director, Paddy Lowe to Brackley. Since we already have several differing Technical Director employed at AMG Mercedes, we want to make him Executive Technical Director of Technical Directors.

Technically, we can’t employ a direct approach in trying to lure Technical Director, Lowe to Brackley as he is under contract. However, we have to be direct in our restructuring of the team and stopping at nothing to get the right Directors, directing the staff in the right direction.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I first posted my plans for #mgpdonny 2012 and the uptake so far has been amazing! As way of an early Christmas treat, it’s time to fill you in with some of the finer details about the day.

Pit Lane Garages - It’s time to start to tell you about some of the exciting things ne have happening in the pit lane that is new for #mgpdonny 2013. Firstly, I pleased and proud to announce that Mission Motorsport will be displaying some of their machineary for your to get up close with. Mission Motorsport  is the forces motorsports charity with the aim to aid in the recovery and rehabilitation of those affected by military operations by providing opportunities through Motorsport. Not only will MM be bringing some cars, members of the team will be coming along to talk about what the charity has done for them.

Mission Motorsports will have charity buckets around the pits plus a selection of items for you to purchase to help the charity.

Joining MM, is Enigma Motorsport. Enigma currently compete in Formula Ford and F3 Cup championships in the UK. Team bosses, Linton Stutley and Tom Farquhar will be on hand to answer any questions my well-informed readership have to offer. Enigma Motorsport enjoyed their best season to date in 2012 with the team posting the impressive record of having at least one driver on the podium at every race meeting!

Don’t forget that Enigma’s Formula Ford driver, George Blundell along with Dan Parker will be guiding us all around the track walk at the end of the day!

In my original post, I said that the very talented artist, Ian Cook (@PopBangColour) was going to be displaying some of his art work in the garages. Well…. that’s not exactly true! Yes Pop Bang Colour is going to be there and yes, he will have some of his prints for you to look at (and buy). In addition to that, Ian will be running a Pop Bang Colour workshop in his temporary studio in the pits where you can (for a small fee) learn to paint with remote control cars PBC style!

Pretty good eh? Well it gets better, you get all this and admission to the Grand Prix collection (with souvenir programme) for just £8

Click here to register now

It’s that time of year again! The F1 season is over, and what a season it was, arguably the best of all time.

With winter testing still seeming a million miles away, #mgpdonny is back to give all you motorsports fans a chance to meet and enjoy an action packed motorsports themed day.

Click here to book

Last year, I basically threw open an invitation to join me at Donington and see some great cars. The day soon snowballed into quite an event with quizzes, competitions and the opportunity to walk the famous old track! 40 hardened fellow petrol heads joined me for what was a great day out.

Spurred on by this, I’m happy to announce details of my 2013 even to be held on Sunday January 27^th.

The Collection

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The day will once again start with the Grand Prix collection. The Donington Grand Prix Collection is, quite simply, the largest showcase of Grand Prix racing cars in the world.

Four halls, with over 130 exhibits, illustrate the history of motorsport from the turn of the 20th Century, where visitors can get close to the cars driven by such famous names as Nuvolari, Mansell, Prost, Moss, Fangio and Stewart.

The Donington Grand Prix Collection houses the largest collection of McLaren and Williams racing cars in the world (outside of their respective factories), and the only complete collection of Vanwalls.

There will be a quiz on the collection to test the old grey matter while you take in the collection.

Click here to book

Lunch

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Exactly as it says on the tin with the addition of prize giving for the quiz and caption competitions

Pits and Track

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In an exciting addition to last year, 2013 will see several teams displaying their current array of race cars in their natural environment. Team members will be on hand to answer any question you have and let you get up close and personal with their cars.

A full list of teams will be posted closer to the event.

Click here to book

Also in the garages will be the ultra talented Ian Cook aka PopBangColour. Ian will be displaying some of his works of art that he produces using only radio control cars and tyres.

Also during the afternoon we will once again be taking to the track (on foot). Joining us on our flying lap of the famous old circuit will be drivers George Blundell and Dan Parker. George (Formula Ford) and Dan (Pickup trucks) will be on hand to give their expert knowledge on braking points, apex’s and putting it all together for that fast lap to give you a great insight to the Donington Grand Prix circuit.

Saturday Social

Sat 26^th from 8pm

For those who want to make it more of a weekend affair. I, along with a few others will be stopping in Castle Donington the night before to meet up and enjoy a beer or three to talk about all things motorsport. Below is a selection of B&Bs in Castle Donington.

Morten Guest House Church View Hotel Donington Cottage

This all sounds great right? What’s this all going to cost I hear you shout. Donington have once again given me discount for the day Their normal price is now £10 but they will do it for us on the day for £8 each *Includes a free souvenir guide.

To book your place, all you need to do is register for your pass by following this link: http://mgpdonny.eventbrite.co.uk  and print off you #mgpdonny pass which you’ll hand in on the day to receive your discount.

Thank you to Sam Jessup for designing to the logo for this years event. Sam has also put the design on to a t-shirt. If you like the design and would like to purchase one, please comment in the box below. If enought people show an interest, we will get some made.

For the past few weeks, I have been doing some research on used cars as I’m looking to change in the new year. Tonight, I found a 1.6 Mini Cooper d at the amazing price of £2,750. This was from a ‘trade seller’ on Autotrader.

I sent an email to the provided address that read:

Hi,   I saw your add for the Mini on Autotrader, the price says £2,750. I see all your cars are around the same, very cheap price. Can you confirm that this is the price and could you also give me more info on the condition of the car.   Regards

I speculated on twitter about this ad and several others that I saw from the same garage, as every ad had a different email address.

This is the reply that has just come through:

Mark

In the words of Kimi and Seb (and a little extra fro myself) fucking bullshit!

All year, the BBC F1 website has been counting down the greatest drivers our sport has ever seen.

Today, they revealed the identity of who they think is the fourth greatest driver, Michael Schumacher. This has sparked quite a debate on twitter on how the most successful ever in F1 can only be ranked as the fourth greatest driver of all time.

Throughout the debate, one thing that everybody did agree on, and that who should be in the top five, even though everyone is at loggerheads on which order they should be placed.

I thought, I’d run a quick poll to see who you think is the greatest driver of all time

During this season, I’ve been lucky enough to run a vast majority of circuits in the UK during my work in the paddocks. Next year, I’m stepping up my running by taking on the Silverstone half marathon on March 3rd.

I’m doing this to raise much-needed funds for the wonderful people at Mission Motorsport. Mission motorsport aim to aid in the recovery and rehabilitation of those affected by military operations by providing opportunities through Motorsport. I got to see the team in action, first hand during the Britcar 24hrs this year whilst working in the paddock

I’m looking for people to join me in running around the home of British motorsport to raise money to keep this fantastic charity doing its valuable work.

If you are interested, please leave a comment below with your contact details or contact me via twitter @MarshallGP

No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you, this is a new post on Marshall GP. apologies for the lack of content recently, life has been very busy, juggling two jobs with studying has left very little time for much else.

Swings and roundabouts has become my phrase of choice when describing about the 2012 F1 season. Everytime either McLaren or Red Bull seem to be in the ascendency, they almost inexplicably loose performance in relation to the other.

After the Italian Grand Prix, I was taking part in the GP Focus podcast where I predicted that Lewis Hamilton was in the box seat to take the fight to Fernando Alonso. Three races later, that prediction couldn’t be further from the truth.

It is the raging, Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel that has picked up the baton and is, at present, sprinting headlong down the home straight. Now, I’m not going to say that Vettel is going to win the championship, I’ve learnt my lesson there. What I will say is that Red Bull need to continue with this level of consistency if they are going to give him a shot at the title.

While everyone else has ebbed and flowed on the grid, Ferrari have been something of a yardstick. They have never had the fastest car at any time this year, but in the hands of Alonso, we have seen the most consistent string of podiums out of anyone in the running for the title.

With four races left, the title is destined to go to either Alonso or Vettel. Whoever it goes to, they will become the first driver to become a triple world champion since Michael Schumacher in 2000. While Alonso was wrapping up his second title in successive years in 2006, a nineteen year old Vettel had only made his debut for BMW Sauber a handful of races before at Indianapolis.

Now twenty-five, Sebastian Vettel is on the brink of achieving what only the great Fangio and Schumacher have done before him in winning three successive titles.

They say three is the magic number, who will celebrating a triple success at the end of the season? Gentleman, it’s over to you.