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

12-1

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

Pits and Track

1-4

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.

In recent races, we have seen penalties handed out to drivers for incidents that involved ‘exceed the track limits’. The drivers in question are Pastor Maldonado (Valencia) and Sebastian Vettel (Hockenhiem). Such penalties have become more commonplace in recent years as the traditional gravel traps have made way for ‘sponsor friendly’ tarmac run-off areas.

One notable incident took place at Spa in 2008 when Lewis Hamilton was forced off the track on the inside of the last chicane by Kimi Raikkonen. Lewis managed to get ahead of the Fin whilst off the track and immediately gave the position back, only to re-overtake in to La Sauce hairpin.

After the race, the stewards adjudged that Lewis has gained an advantage, even though he had given the place back and was stripped of the race victory after being handed a time penalty.

When I first started watching Formula one, if you made a mistake, there was a very good chance that it would be the end of your race. Fearsome gravel traps lay in wait for any driver that pushed the limit that little too far. The result of heading into the gravel was more that often a beached car going nowhere.

Today, this extension of tarmac is exploited by most during a race. The driver who seems to use it to his advantage the most is seven time world champion, Michael Schumacher. The 2010 Korean Grand Prix sticks in my mind most for this. It very wet at the start of the race and it was started under safety car conditions.

In the following 17 laps, Schumacher was seen going off the circuit as he explored the grip levels in the wet, slippery conditions. The German had started the race in 9^th position but after the safety car went in, he quickly started to move through the top 10, finishing a credible 4^th.

Should Schumacher have been allowed to leave the circuit in this manner, especially under safety car conditions? It is fair to say that if he was at Monza or Suzuka and he’d tried the same trick, his race would have been over before it had begun.

I would like to see the re-introduction of gravel traps, not because I want to seethe drivers stuck in them and out of the race. I want to see them back because these are the best drivers in the world and they can drive a F1 car through the streets of Monaco. At Monaco, if you exceed the track limits, you’ll break your suspension at the very least.

In today’s world, Formula one boss, Bernie Ecclestone, has the pick of some of the most exciting venues in the world to stage a grand prix. In recent years, we have seen races held in Singapore, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. For every new venue that makes it on to the calendar, there are several more waiting in the wings, ready to take their chance on the world stage.

With multi million pounds, government backed schemes getting the go-ahead from Russia to Argentina and everywhere in-between, the historic European heartland of F1 is increasingly under threat. 1950 saw the inaugural F1 world championship. It was contested over seven races held at Silverstone, Monaco, Indianapolis (USA), Bremgarten (Switzerland), Reims-Gueux (France), and Spa (Belgium) and Monza (Italy).

Out of the seven original circuits, only four remain on the calendar for the 2012 world championship, Monaco, Monza, Spa and Silverstone.

Silverstone, as many of the UK’s circuits, began life as WW2 airfields that were abandoned after the end of hostilities in 1945. The first race was held at Silverstone in 1947 and was dubbed the Mutton Grand Prix after the race organiser, Maurice Geoghegan, hit a sheep resulting in a written off car. This first layout made use of the two runways on the site with the course marked out with straw bales.

Silverstone was given the honor of being the first race of the inaugural championship in 1950. Even though little had been done to the site, the track had moved to the perimeter road, giving the Northamptonshire circuit its fast, flowing layout that would remain right up to 1990. Although the British Grand Prix and Silverstone remain on the calendar, its journey has been one filled with more drama than your average soap opera.

Long before Silverstone became under threat from overseas, other British circuits were vying to host the Grand Prix. In 1955, Aintree became co-host of the Grand Prix, alternating with Silverstone. Built in 1954, the circuit ran inside of the perimeter of the world famous Grand National horse racing course. This partnership ran until 1962 when competitive racing all but stopped at Aintree.

During this time, very little had happened to Silverstone, the pit lane had been moved from Farm to the short straight between Woodcote and Copse corners but essentially that was all. Aintree was superseded by Brands Hatch as the new co-hosts of the race. The Kent circuit has undergone a substantial redevelopment in the late fifties and held its first non-championship F1 race in 1960. Silverstone became the ‘home of the British Grand Prix’ in 1987 when it became the sole host of the race.

The British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) had purchased the lease of the circuit from the RAC in 1952. The club comprised of British drivers who had been judged to to have been successful at an international level for a number of seasons. The BRDC formed a subsidiary, company Silverstone Circuits Limited, responsible for the development of the British Grand Prix. The BRDC bought the circuit and ground outright in 1971.

The BRDC have long been at loggerheads with Formula 1s commercial rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone. Ecclestone, 81, the ex team owner of the Brabham F1 team later became chief executive of the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA). In 1978 he negotiated a series of legal issues with the FIA and Jean-Marie Balestre, culminating in Ecclestone’s famous coup, in which saw him secure the right for FOCA to negotiate television contracts for the Grands Prix.

Ecclestone has always been outspoken in his criticism of Silverstone and the way it is run by the BRDC. On several occasions he has tried to take the race elsewhere. In 1999, Ecclestone struck a deal with Nicola Foulston, the then owner of Brands Hatch to see the race return to Kent from 2002. The subsequent sale of Brands Hatch coupled with the failure to gain the necessary planning permission by Octagon, the new owners, saw the race continue at Silverstone.

On 4 July 2008 (qualifying day at Silverstone for the Grand Prix), Ecclestone announced that Donington Park had been awarded the contract to host the British Grand Prix for 10 years from 2010. However, Donington failed to secure the necessary funding to host the race, and its contract was terminated in November 2009. On 7 December 2009, Silverstone signed a 17 year contract to host the British Grand Prix from 2010 onwards. The 2010 race saw a new circuit configuration being used, using the brand new “Arena” layout.

Today, Silverstone is barely recognisable from the barren ex airstrip that host the first ever F1 championship race in 1950. As part of the current seventeen year deal, Silverstone has undergone another major facelift. The pit and paddock complex have relocated to very near their original place after Stowe corner.

Further redevelopments are planned which include a theme park, hotel and leisure facilities. All are subject to further investment. The president of the BRDC, Derek Warwick, talked in detail about the future of the circuit at the recent fans’ forum on June 3^rd held at the Williams Grand Prix conference centre, Grove, Oxfordshire. “Talks are still ongoing, we entered into an exclusive dialog with one party, the exclusivity of these talks has now ended. We are now talking to three interested parties who we hope we can go forward with and achieve the long term future for Silverstone as the home of the British Grand Prix.”

Last weekend saw the second UK round of the FIA F2 championship at Brands Hatch, Kent. I was a little apprehensive in the run up to this event because this was the first time that I was left in control with my boss heading up another event at Snetterton.

I arrived at a rain soddened Brands late on Tuesday evening. The F2 trucks had already arrived in the outer paddock and had already started to build their units. After a rain interrupted nights sleep, I was thankful to see bright blue skies in the morning, my delight however, was short-lived.

Although the F2 units were being built-in a nice straight line, they were being built to no lines that we use in the paddock. For the larger events we do, we have specific markers we use. This meant I was in for a very busy morning.

To put you in the picture a little more in this process, there are some key numbers you have to work to when designing a paddock. Firstly, the maximum length of an articulated lorry, including the cab is seventeen and a half metres. The second is 8 metres which is the width of the roads around the paddock.

Since the F2 trucks were already there, I started to mark out the middle of the paddock where the truck sit ‘nose to nose’. For the trucks to have enough room and to leave a small gap to walk between them, the middle block has to be 36 metres wide. Once this is in place, you can mark put the roads, which also denotes the area around the edge of the paddock. This whole process took around 4 hours, luckily for me, the only people to turn up in that time was the Dunlop tyre trucks.

Even though the positioning of the F1 trucks put a good couple of hours on to my day, their presence in the paddock did have its upsides. During the week, all circuits run general test days in which you can get a whole host of machinery turn up. The majority of the teams book a pit garage for the day, others prefer to set up in the paddock.

This in itself is fine, they’ve paid to be there and have every right use the facilities as they see fit. The issues arise when teams turn up for a test day, that are also competing that weekend and need to park in the correct place on the test day. Normally we have to ask they guys who are just there for the test to set up right down the far end of the paddock.

When these testers turn up and see the very impressive F2 hospitality  unit being built, 99% of them don’t even bother to used the paddock at all, opting instead to use the sloping car park for the day.

Friday was my last night for this meet and it was finished off with an evening with some great friends on the circuit camp site to see in Paul Havell’s birthday, happy birthday mate