Monthly Archives: September 2011

Directors New Directions

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Williams and Renault aside, the driver market is really quite static. As I outlined in my first ever blog, high ranking technical personnel including Sam Michael and Aldo Costa, paid the price for poor early season pace with their jobs at their respected teams. Since then, we have seen several announcement’s as up and down the pit lane, teams look to bolster their technical nous.

Williams have endured their worst season ever in F1. In an attempt to regain lost ground, they have enlisted the help of Mike Coughlan – Chief Engineer, Jason Somerville – Head of Aerodynamics and Mark Gillan as Chief Operations Engineer. All have already joined their new employer with Gillan being the last with the Singapore race being his first race for the Grove based squad.

Outgoing technical director at Williams, Sam Michal, will begin his new role as McLaren’s sporting director in the new year. In this role, Michael will relinquish all the technical responsibility that had at Williams, instead focusing on the race weekend operations for his new employers.

Today (Friday) has seen two very significant captures for Mercedes GP, the team already boast Ross Brawn as team principle and Nick Fry as CEO. Together, they instigated the management buyout of the Honda team and went on to win both championships in 2009 in Brawn’s on season in F1. Italian, Costa, left Ferrari in May after paying the price for the teams poor start to the season again will join forces with Ross Brawn as the teams engineering director. The two worked during Ferrari’s successful period that saw Michael Schumacher claim five straight titles. Geoff Willis rejoins the team he worked for in their BAR/Honda days, taking up the role of technology director after severing ties with the HRT team, who he was working for on a consultancy basis. The new recruits will work closely with technical director, Bob Bell, himself a high profile capture from Renault last year.

The Curious Rise Of Jenson Button

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Going into the winter of 2008, the contrast of emotions felt by Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were poles apart. Hamilton was on a high after securing his first world title in dramatic fashion on the final corner of the final race in Brazil. Button on the other hand had endured his toughest season to date, worse was to follow as his Honda team had decided to pull the plug on their F1 programme in the face of the impending world financial crisis.

After his world drivers title in 2009 with the Brawn team, many expected the unlikely dream team to continue under the Mercedes banner. Instead, Jenson surprised many by joining Hamilton in ‘his team’, McLaren. Although the media hailed this as the British dream team, many couldn’t see Button living with the raw pace of Hamilton. Button was keen to test himself against the best and for that you had to give him credit and he got off to a flying start in 2010, picking up two wins in the first three races. Come the end of the year, it was Hamilton who was leading the McLaren charge for the title. This seemed to cement the views that Button had made the wrong move joining McLaren and that in dry conditions, he couldn’t keep pace with his team mate.

So what has been the change this year? Is it because it’s his second season with the team or perhaps his driving style suits the Pirelli rubber better? For me, there has been a significant moment for Jenson this year, that moment came at Canada where he scored an improbable win, charging through from last to overtake Vettel on the last lap. Since then, we have seen a different Jenson Button, his confidence has gone through the roof. Not only has he provided the most spectacular entertainment with his overtaking prowess, he is also silencing the critics who say he needs changeable conditions to beat Hamilton. The facts speak for themselves, since Hamilton’s last win at the Nurburgring, Jenson has been on the podium every race, whereas Hamilton hasn’t made it once.

If you could buy shares in racing drivers right now, Buttons stock right now would fetch a premium price. Something that is reflected in the admiration he is getting from other team bosses. Red Bull principle, Christian Horner told the BBC that Button and Vettel were in a class of their own in Singapore and there are strong rumours linking the Frome Flyer with a move to arch rivals, Ferrari.

 

 

Kimi Räikkönen to Williams?

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Rumours persist over the 2012 driving line up at Williams. The loss of high profile sponsors such as RBS, Phillips and Air Asia have been well documented and have seen the team opting to hire Venezuelan, Pastor Maldonado, who has come with significant backing from the state owned oil company, PDVSA. The ongoing financial difficulties experienced by the team have fuelled rumours in the paddock that veteran, Ruben Barrichello, will be replaced by another driver ‘with a budget’.

Some of the name that have been mentioned include: Bruno Senna, Gio Van Der Garde and Adrian Sutil. German Sutil has recently been spotted at the teams factory in Grove, Oxfordshire but insists his first choice is to stay with Force India.

Although Räikkönen doesn’t come with a budget, having an ex world champion as a driving for you will considerably increase their attractiveness to potential sponsors.

With precocious few drives available for next year and the fact that the Iceman has been away from F1 for two years should put Sir Frank in quite a strong negotiating position when it comes to his wages. If the deal fell through, Williams could choose from half a dozen other drivers (including Rubens).

Since Kimi won the drivers title in 2007, his critics have questioned his motivation and leadership qualities at Ferrari. In 2008, he finished third, behind Hamilton and Massa taking two wins and in the largely uncompetitive, F60 in 2009, he finished sixth behind the Brawn’s, Red Bull’s and Hamilton’s McLaren.

After two years competing in the World Rally Championship, Räikkönen, appears to have found his desire to compete in the sports highest echelon once again and if Williams were to secure his services, that would be a big coupe for them. With a fresh design team working on the FW34 lead by Mike Coughlan, Williams rekindling their legendary partnership with Renault. Could Kimi be the missing link in the ‘new’ Williams team?

Singapore Grand Prix Preview

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Below is my race preview I wrote for Final Sector’s Singapore Grand Prix preview ezine. Click the image to see the full content.

Round 14 of the FIA Formula 1 world championship in Singapore sees the paddock go all nocturnal for the race weekend as 1,500 halogen lights illuminate the street circuit as F1 gears up for its first and only night race. The Marina Bay street circuit has seen more than its fair share of controversy since its inclusion to the calendar in 2008, but this year it could see the re-crowning of Sebastian Vettel as World champion. With Red Bulls’ chief rivals, McLaren and Ferrari, all but admitting defeat and turning their focus towards their 2012 cars, only Vettel’s team-mate, Mark Webber, can realistically prolong his wait for the title. Aussie Webber, however, is involved in a four way fight for second, “I enjoy driving there, so I hope to nail it this year in much the same way that I nailed Valencia earlier this season. In the championship, four of us – me, Fernando, Jenson and Lewis – are separated by just 14 points and none of us is going to give an inch.”

At McLaren, both Hamilton and Button are both looking to add to their tally of two race wins apiece as they look to spit the Red Bull’s in the driver’s championship and to cement the teams second place in the constructors championship. Button is the in-form man at McLaren, with a string of strong performances in recent races. The Frome Flyer has proven time and time again that when it comes to overtaking, he is the ‘pass master’. He admitted after the Italian Grand Prix that he closed his eyes when passing Alonso around the outside into the Ascari chicane and that he’ll do that more often! Team principle, Martin Whitmarsh is looking forward to the unique challenge of the Marina Bay circuit and the chances for his two charges to bag a win, “At Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, the reality is that we’re fortunate enough to have two drivers who are never satisfied to merely sit behind another car; but the addition of DRS means that we should expect some truly electrifying racing this weekend. The track is wide enough to support close and exciting wheel-to-wheel racing and I sincerely hope that’s what we see this weekend.” He added, “In just a few years, the Singapore Grand Prix has become a classic Formula 1 event – the circuit and facilities are truly world-class and the setting and atmosphere of the race make it one of the jewels of the calendar.”

Further down the pit lane, there will be a close eye kept on the Williams hospitality suites after revelations that Adrian Sutil and 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen were spotted at the teams factory in Grove recently, growing speculation that veteran Rubens Barrichello will have to look elsewhere to compete in his 20th season in Formula 1. As Williams on track woes continue, outgoing Technical Director, Sam Michael, is hoping that another batch of upgrades will enable him to leave the team with a strong points finish in Singapore. Michael, who leaves the team after this weekend’s race said, “Singapore has all the challenges, for both the drivers and engineers, of a classic street race, but with the addition of it also being held at night.  There is a large improvement in track grip as the race weekend progresses. There are also more bumps and kerbs to deal with compared to normal and downforce is set to a maximum. Good traction with minimal understeer are always the focus of the car set-up here. We have an upgraded diffuser and a new front wing assembly for the first of the flyaways. We’ll test both of them on Friday.”

The inaugural Singapore Grand Prix will forever be remembered for the crashgate scandal, the ramifications of which still haunt the Renault team. Loss of sponsors, Renault selling the team and the current owners (Genii Capital) struggling to find a competitive budget for next year aren’t helped by the fact that the R31 has struggled on the slower, twisty circuits, characteristics’ shared by the Marina Bay circuit. “Monaco and Hungary were not good races for us and Singapore shares some characteristics of these two circuits,” he said. “We feel we have improved things since then and we have a bit more to deliver for Singapore itself, but it is fair to say that I am apprehensive.” Said Technical Director, James Allison, “However, if we do have a good race then we will be set for good performances in the five races that follow, as we will then have shown improved performance on three very different tracks.”

Pirelli will provide the teams with its soft (yellow) and super soft (red) tyres for the weekend, this combination of tyre choice saw a huge variety in pit stop strategies in Monaco and the rain affected race in Canada. Pirelli Motorsports boss, Paul Hembery said, “As we’ve seen in the past, particularly in Canada, the combination of soft and supersoft tyres provides plenty of opportunities for the teams to put in place some interesting strategies, with the supersoft in particular expected to provide an appreciable performance advantage. The free practice sessions in Singapore will be crucial, as the teams assess the effect of each of our tyres on their set-ups and overall speed.”

Formula 1 in 2020

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The year is 2020 and F1 has undergone its first major rule change since the inclusion of the 1.6 turbo engines back in 2014. Thanks to a groundbreaking agreement between the G8 leaders (now re-named Q8 due to a sponsorship deal with the Middle Eastern oil giant) Presidents Andretti, Prost and Inoue from The USA, France and Japan respectively signed the deal with Prime Minister Murray Walker to ensure enough petrol reserves would be put aside to ensure that F1 can once again run 3.5 V10 engine’s for the next 50 years.

Before the season started, HRT caused a stir in the pit lane as for the first time, they had a new car ready for the start of pre-season testing. Team Boss Colin Kolles described this as “biggest miracle the team has produced in the first 10 years of racing.” He added, “This year, we are confident we can catch the Marussia Virgins ahead of us.”

Another battle took place over the winter after FIA president, Jean Todt was forced to give up his role after failing to make up his mind in time to run for another term and missing the deadline to register as a candidate. This left former Ferrari team-mates, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello in the running for the top job, ex President, Max Mosley had also signalled his intent to run but was advised against it after his comment, “I want to whip the FIA back into shape” was taken the wrong way by some of the members. Schumacher and Barrichello were neck and neck in the voting, with Barrichello just edging it and was looking good for victory when, at the last minute, he stepped aside, leaving the way clear for his German rival to claim Victory.

In addition to the new engine regulations, F1 had introduced tighter aero limitations, effectively forcing the teams to run with 75% less downforce over the front and rear wings. This change wasn’t welcomed by the McLaren team. Team principle, Martin Whitmarsh said, “We have spent the last 8 year trying to either get the Red Bull’s front wings banned or to figure out how it works, last November we unlocked the key to making our wing ‘flex’ and now its banned! Get that f****ng camera out of my face!”

90 year old, Bernie Ecclestone was in no mood to talk about giving up control of Formula 1 despite growing calls for him to resign as the 2020 season was the first in history not to have a European race on the calendar. “The good people of Turkmenistan have long held the dream of hosting a Grand Prix and following the excellent work done by the circuits in Iran and Kazakhstan, I decided that there was no longer room for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.” Aging dwarf, Ecclestone batted away questions of low attendances at the new venues, instead choosing to tell the worlds press about the record viewing figures released by BSkyB. “You just have to look at the figures to see that F1 is still popular in the UK, in fact the 2020 season has seen the highest viewing figures since they took over from the BBC.” He added, “ 600,000 people tuned in for the British Grand Prix, that’s more than the number of people who went!”

Title winning team boss Christian Horner had the team’s celebrations cut short as he was once again asked about Vettel’s ability to overtake, “look! He started every race on pole, he led every lap of every race and you ask me if I’m worried about that fact he hasn’t overtaken anybody all year?”

Other news at Red Bull at the season finale was that Mark Webber had signed another one year extension with the team for another last push for the title. The news must have come as a shock to the Torro Rosso pair of Jamie Alguersuari and Sebastian Buemi, who look like having to wait longer than Prince Charles has had to wait to become King, than they have waiting to drive for Red Bull.

Webber – 2012 Starts Here

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We have grown accustomed to the driver’s title going down to the wire, the highlight of which was the titanic battle at Interlagos between Hamilton and Massa in 2008 where Hamilton clinched the title on the last corner of the last lap. Interestingly in the past 25 years, only on three occasions has the battle gone to the final race of the year with both drivers from the same team battling it out. 1986 saw Mansell and Rosberg in the hunt for the title for Williams, both lost out to Prost after Mansell’s spectacular retirement due to a puncture. We would have to wait until 2007 to see two team mates in the battle to the wire for the championship. The McLaren duo of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were fighting with Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen for top honours, with Räikkönen beating the McLaren pair by a single point. 2010 again saw three drivers in with a shout at the final race in Abu Dhabi, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and the eventual winner, Sebastian Vettel.

Given the dominance of the Red Bull in the latter stages of last year and the pace of the RB7 this year, you would have been forgiven for thinking that we would be in for another season long battle. Here we are, with six races still to go and it’s possible for his team mate to wrap up his second title in Singapore. It’s staggering to think that Webber, who took the battle to Vettel and Alonso with such force last year has failed to put up any sort of a fight this year. Whether this is down to the way he’s harder on the new Pirelli tyres or that he’s submitted to being a number two driver (I believe neither), the fact is that he hasn’t won a race for over a year, in Hungary.

With Webber signing an extension with the Red Bull team for 2012, many see this as one last push for the title for the likeable Aussie. The fact of the matter is, if he wants to have a fighting chance of the championship next year, he has to start getting back on terms with Vettel and back to winning Grand Prix races. Since Webber’s last win, Vettel has racked up eleven and has only managed to finish ahead of him once, at the German Grand Prix.  The psychological advantage this hands to Vettel is huge, one that can’t be overturned overnight. If Webber fails to win one of the six remaining races this year and push Vettel in the rest, I can’t see how he can go into 2012 with any serious chance of finally capturing the drivers title.

Team Lotus vs Group Lotus – Happy Ever After?

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It’s not that long ago that the thought of the team principles of Ferrari and McLaren standing side by side, sharing a microphone, live on TV would never have happened. Only three years ago, the two were involved in one of the most damaging scandals to hit the sport in recent years, the spygate saga.  Now all is happy between the two teams, we regularly see Stefano Domenicali and Martin Whitmarsh talking to the UK TV audience, sharing a joke and getting along.

Now with all the talk coming out of the Monza paddock, we could be seeing the two warring factions over the Team Lotus name sitting around a table, instead of battling it out in court. Long term adversaries Tony Fernandez (Team Lotus) and Danny Bahar (Group Lotus) were spotted having a conversation over the Italian GP weekend, Renault team boss, Eric Boullier,  said: “I just saw in the paddock that Dany Bahar was talking nicely with Tony Fernandes, so I guess there is a settlement that has been done.” He added, “We will see. Changing the name of the team/chassis can have some complications with sponsorship and obviously with TV money, so it is a matter we have to raise when we have all the elements in our hands.”

With Tony Fernandez owning his own car company now, the logical move for him is to name his team after Caterham Team Air Asia, same as his GP2 team. Fernandes said: “I always had a problem with ‘am I really Team Lotus?’ I always said that era was theirs, we were just bringing it back under new ownership. It was up to the fans whether they liked us or not.” He added, “I’ve always said that protecting the brand is paramount and it’s not me that started all this. I didn’t have a claim, they (Group Lotus) had a claim. And they lost that case. But I’ve always had the door open and it may be a win-win for everybody and we walk away. I also always said we wanted to be in the car business and I never hid that fact. And now we have Caterham.”

Although the two parties are now talking, I don’t expect any announcement over the deal until after the end of the season. The financial detail of the deal will be very complex. In relinquishing the Team Lotus name, Fernandez’s squad will lose vital revenue in prize money by effectively registering a new team. Could this lead to Fernandez/Bahar double act on the TV? It’s too early to tell, but it does look like we’ll all be spared another ugly exchange in the courts.

 

 

The Tifosi and Italian Drivers

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As a regular at Sliverstone since the early nineties, I’ve seen the colours worn by the home fans change over the years. During the nineties, Williams apparel dominated the grandstands as the home fans showed their support for Mansell, Hill and Coulthard. This made way to the grey/black McLaren team wear as Coulthard moved teams before Buttons good form for BAR Honda saw white shirts dominate around the home of British Motorsport. For the past couple of years, ‘Team GB’ of Button and Hamilton at McLaren has seen a sea of silver and blood red take over.

You can see the same pattern in any country with a driver to support, until you get to Italy. Every year, in early September, the Tifosi adorn their scarlet hats and shirts to show their allegiance to the most successful team in the history of Formula 1, Ferrari.

From the championships inception in 1950, it was Italian machinery that dominated the podiums and Italian drivers, with Giuseppe Farina and Alberto Ascari winning three out of the first four drivers championships. It is difficult to comprehend that a country with as much motorsport heritage, that an Italian driver hasn’t won the drivers title since Ascari in 1953. On the eve of the Italian Grand Prix, only two Italians line up on the grid, Jarnu Trulli and Tonio Liuzzi. Trulli was asked whether he was looking forward to his home race, he replied “it’s just another race”, Just another race that hasn’t been won by an Italian since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966.

There seems to be a nationwide apathy towards their drivers, Whoever drives for Ferrari gets idolised by the Tifosi. Alonso, Schumacher and Mansell have all been taken to the hearts of the fans. Even Ferarri themselves don’t seem to be under any pressure to put an Italian in the car, Ivan Capelli was the last Italian to be contracted for them for an entire season back in 1992. The last Italian to win for the Prancing Horse was Michele Alboreto, 26 years ago.

It’s evident that any home grown driver won’t have the attention of the tifosi unless they are driving a scarlet Ferrari and it would seem that as long as the team are winning, they don’t mind who’s behind the wheel.

The BBC/Sky Deal – The Truth is Out There

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It’s been around two months since UK Formula 1 fans learnt that only half of races from next year will be shown live on free to air TV, in that time more questions than answers have come to the surface. The truth is out there, but I think it will take more than Liberal Democrat MP, Don Foster, let alone X Files duo Mulder and Scully!

Foster is reacting to fans concerns following nearly 25,000 signatures on an online petition. With the BBC and FOM both claiming that the other pushed through the deal with Sky, Foster has written to both parties to seek clarification on the matter. In a letter the Bernie Ecclestone, Foster states that the new deal isn’t in ‘the best interest of the licence payers and F1 fans’ and goes on to say, ‘In particular I am concerned about the apparently divergent views of FOM and the BBC about the sequence of events. You have said that keeping F1 on free to air was a major priority.’

In an equally strong worded letter to BBC Director General, Mark Thomson, Foster remarks, ‘The BBC may broadcast half the races, but this means nothing to fans who want to watch the whole season live. They cannot buy half a Sky package. For them, all of the rights may as well have gone to BSkyB, as it will cost them exactly the same. But this would have violated the Concorde Agreement and the many public statements that FOM have made about the importance of free to air, meaning that the BBC have legitimised the otherwise indefensible situation of fans being denied access to F1.’

Although the outcome of these questions won’t make any difference to the deal, questions over what exactly the BBC will be showing must be able to be answered? Well no is the answer! You would expect, as do I, that the BBC would have come straight out of the blocks to say yes, we will show every race in full and yes, full re runs will be available on the red button. Instead, two month later the ‘powers that be’ are still evaluating their coverage for next year and won’t comment until the final decision has been made. Bernie Ecclestone has been quoted in the Independent that the BBC would only be allowed to screen “75 minutes of every race”. With everything said from the two parties being in conflict with the other, I think we can expect a drawn out saga of claim and counterclaim from both sides with the only loser being the fans (as ever).

Williams, Renault and Senna, Unfinished Business?

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Formula one’s elder statesman, Rubens Barrichello is seeking a new contract with Williams beyond the end of 2011. The evergreen 39 year old tweeted recently “If Williams were to give me a two year contract I would sign it today”.

The team’s reluctance to offer Barrichello a new deal could be down their current economic position, which could see them seek out another driver who comes with corporate backing. Speculation is mounting on who could join Pastor Maldonado next year with GP2 star Giedo van der Garde, Adrian Sutil and Bruno Senna are all believed to be in contention.

After Williams announced they were rekindling their partnership with engine supplier, Renault, the most successful period in the team’s history, The prospect of the Senna name being reunited with the team would be an exciting proposition. It was Sir Franks team that gave his late uncle, Ayrton Senna, his first taste of F1 machinery in 1983. 11 years later, Senna finally signed for the Grove based squad but the partnership the world was waiting for was cut tragically short when Senna lost his life at the San Marino Grand Prix.

Seeing Bruno’s name associated with Williams, I can’t help but feel there’s an air of inevitability of two of the most decorated names in Formula 1 once again joining forces. When Damon Hill won the British Grand Prix in 1994, he won the one race that had eluded his father, Graham throughout his 18 year F1 career. The same feeling of unfinished business surrounds Williams and Senna, I for one would love to see the two brought together, although not under the teams current plight. 2012 is the start of the fight back for Williams, a fight that could define the future of the team. I’m sure Senna would be an attractive prospect for the team with or without the Millions he brings with him, but if they do need to hire another ‘pay driver’, I hope Senna gets the nod.