Seriously!
Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 12:02PM
Are you kidding? Ford is suing Ferrari over the use of the F150 name. Is this a publicity stunt? I know protecting your logos and trade names are serious business but this is just making Ford look foolish. They would be better off making a commercial with an F1 Ferrari morphing into a fast red pick up.
The new Ferrari 458 made it's debut at the Sebring test yesterday prepared by the Risi team who arguably ran the best 430, at least of the ones allowed to race. Most of the big hitters are absent from the test, but there are still enough interesting cars out there with the Muscle Milk Aston quickest at the moment. Duncan Dayton seems likely to finalise the deal to run the HPD LMP1 both here at Sebring and at Le Mans and so give David Brabham a ride for this year. The 24 hour entry list was published yesterday and a great field it is too, quality all the way through.
There is actually a fair bit going on this weekend with Sebring, Jerez, and GP2 Asia kicking off in Abu Dhabi. Renault reserve driver Roman Grosjean is on pole for that event with another strong field of drivers. His compatriot at Renault, Fauzy, is not doing so well though down in 23rd. It is a very even grid though with the top 14 separated by less than a second, and the field by less than 1.7 seconds. Should make for good racing and a lot of action given the desperadoes in the field.
Meanwhile at the F1 test at Jerez it is still way too early to judge anything. Massa is fastest, with Perez in the Sauber next quickest. So it is not just the Mexican sponsorship, he can drive. Meanwhile Maldonado is way off the pace in the Williams, but he did have problems with the movable wing, and as I said it is early days. Hamilton has the new McLaren out and yes it has forward exiting exhausts. Lewis is presumably just doing shake down laps but is fifth so far behind Webber and young Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the Torro Rosso. If I were Buemi or Alguersuari I would be looking over my shoulder right now. How long since Australia had two drivers in F1, if ever? Schenken and Jones? No. I'm sure one of my readers knows the answer.
Petrov dumped the Renault in the gravel trap, not enhancing his claim to the number one seat, which seems to be headed Heidfeld's way. Despite saying they had plenty of time to fill the seat they have Heidfeld testing later this weekend. Nick has had a lot of experience and is a good driver, but is he really good enough? As someone pointed out the other day, when the two Williams drivers both retired in the early eighties a guy called Rosberg filled in after a less than stellar career, and we know how that worked out, so let's see if Nick can do the same.
It now seems that the money from the Williams float is not going to keep the team afloat but to the Patrick Head retirement fund, and presumably Sir Frank's. Not sure I would buy shares on that basis. Not saying they are not entitled to a return on all their years of hard work, but if I buy shares then I would want to know the business I have a piece of is going to survive. It also seems that the float was part of the agreement when the other partner, Toto Wolffe, bought his 10%, so is he looking to get out at some stage?
The new Ferrari 458 made it's debut at the Sebring test yesterday prepared by the Risi team who arguably ran the best 430, at least of the ones allowed to race. Most of the big hitters are absent from the test, but there are still enough interesting cars out there with the Muscle Milk Aston quickest at the moment. Duncan Dayton seems likely to finalise the deal to run the HPD LMP1 both here at Sebring and at Le Mans and so give David Brabham a ride for this year. The 24 hour entry list was published yesterday and a great field it is too, quality all the way through.
There is actually a fair bit going on this weekend with Sebring, Jerez, and GP2 Asia kicking off in Abu Dhabi. Renault reserve driver Roman Grosjean is on pole for that event with another strong field of drivers. His compatriot at Renault, Fauzy, is not doing so well though down in 23rd. It is a very even grid though with the top 14 separated by less than a second, and the field by less than 1.7 seconds. Should make for good racing and a lot of action given the desperadoes in the field.
Meanwhile at the F1 test at Jerez it is still way too early to judge anything. Massa is fastest, with Perez in the Sauber next quickest. So it is not just the Mexican sponsorship, he can drive. Meanwhile Maldonado is way off the pace in the Williams, but he did have problems with the movable wing, and as I said it is early days. Hamilton has the new McLaren out and yes it has forward exiting exhausts. Lewis is presumably just doing shake down laps but is fifth so far behind Webber and young Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the Torro Rosso. If I were Buemi or Alguersuari I would be looking over my shoulder right now. How long since Australia had two drivers in F1, if ever? Schenken and Jones? No. I'm sure one of my readers knows the answer.
Petrov dumped the Renault in the gravel trap, not enhancing his claim to the number one seat, which seems to be headed Heidfeld's way. Despite saying they had plenty of time to fill the seat they have Heidfeld testing later this weekend. Nick has had a lot of experience and is a good driver, but is he really good enough? As someone pointed out the other day, when the two Williams drivers both retired in the early eighties a guy called Rosberg filled in after a less than stellar career, and we know how that worked out, so let's see if Nick can do the same.
It now seems that the money from the Williams float is not going to keep the team afloat but to the Patrick Head retirement fund, and presumably Sir Frank's. Not sure I would buy shares on that basis. Not saying they are not entitled to a return on all their years of hard work, but if I buy shares then I would want to know the business I have a piece of is going to survive. It also seems that the float was part of the agreement when the other partner, Toto Wolffe, bought his 10%, so is he looking to get out at some stage?
Screwed
Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 10:23AM
Tony Fernandes says he built his Lotus Team from one screw. Well he should be happy, Dany Bahar just provided the second one. Nothing I have read makes me like Dany, so let's hope the judge sorts this out the right way.
The other Lotus say they have five weeks to sort out a replacement for Kubica. Well the Jerez test starts tomorrow with only one more opportunity for a new driver to get up to speed in the car at the Barcelona test one week later. Let me know how this works out for you. Some people are just working out what I said two days ago, Kimi is not contracted to anyone as he is running his own rally team, renting the car from Citroen.
Nice to see Nissan back in Le Mans as an engine supplier to the Signature LMP2 team. We are seeing some new manufacturers coming in which is good as long as they do not all bail out when they have had enough as past history has shown.
Aside from these tidbits there is little news, but let's look forward to Jerez and a lot of new cars.
The other Lotus say they have five weeks to sort out a replacement for Kubica. Well the Jerez test starts tomorrow with only one more opportunity for a new driver to get up to speed in the car at the Barcelona test one week later. Let me know how this works out for you. Some people are just working out what I said two days ago, Kimi is not contracted to anyone as he is running his own rally team, renting the car from Citroen.
Nice to see Nissan back in Le Mans as an engine supplier to the Signature LMP2 team. We are seeing some new manufacturers coming in which is good as long as they do not all bail out when they have had enough as past history has shown.
Aside from these tidbits there is little news, but let's look forward to Jerez and a lot of new cars.
Headlines
Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 10:53AM
I talked before about headline writers and today there is a classic. Not sure if it is meant to be funny but judge for yourself. "Mosley refuses to be beaten over quirk." What's funny about that you say? His "quirk" is he likes to be beaten! It reminds me of an old and bad joke. Masochist: "Beat me, beat me!" Sadist: "NO." The article is about Mosley's push to have private lives made sacred from media exposure following his little episode with a few young ladies in a cellar.
You can't keep Briatore down can you, now he is a medical expert. "Briatore visits Kubica, predicts recovery." Well I'm sure we all feel better for that Flavio. It is safer to ask who has not been mentioned as a replacement for Robert, I even saw a comment that Mark Webber could consider taking the seat. Now that is an idea even my fertile brain had not considered.
Of course the whole "he should not be doing this" saga rolls on. Kimi has wrecked his car in just about every rally since he left F1 and still gets away with it. Mark Webber goes mountain bike riding and breaks his leg etc, so leave it out.
The other big news is that HRT unveiled an graphic image of the new car. Not the new car you note, just the great new graphics by the Hollywood designer. And yes it looks nice, but does it exist and will it be any better? We have 32 days now to the first race and two test sessions left, one of which starts this week, and they still have only one driver. In a further statement HRT has decided to skip the Jerez test and "support Pirelli" at a filming session in Monza. With the new graphics? What are these people thinking?
In other news, the German weekly, Der Spiegel, has picked up where Stern left off with a story about how much CVC paid for the F1 rights and how much the bank received, which apparently were not the same. Guess where they say the rest went? I have to ask, is this uncovering of information the result of ongoing research, or do they know the whole story and they are teasing it out like a serial to get us to buy the paper?
You can't keep Briatore down can you, now he is a medical expert. "Briatore visits Kubica, predicts recovery." Well I'm sure we all feel better for that Flavio. It is safer to ask who has not been mentioned as a replacement for Robert, I even saw a comment that Mark Webber could consider taking the seat. Now that is an idea even my fertile brain had not considered.
Of course the whole "he should not be doing this" saga rolls on. Kimi has wrecked his car in just about every rally since he left F1 and still gets away with it. Mark Webber goes mountain bike riding and breaks his leg etc, so leave it out.
The other big news is that HRT unveiled an graphic image of the new car. Not the new car you note, just the great new graphics by the Hollywood designer. And yes it looks nice, but does it exist and will it be any better? We have 32 days now to the first race and two test sessions left, one of which starts this week, and they still have only one driver. In a further statement HRT has decided to skip the Jerez test and "support Pirelli" at a filming session in Monza. With the new graphics? What are these people thinking?
In other news, the German weekly, Der Spiegel, has picked up where Stern left off with a story about how much CVC paid for the F1 rights and how much the bank received, which apparently were not the same. Guess where they say the rest went? I have to ask, is this uncovering of information the result of ongoing research, or do they know the whole story and they are teasing it out like a serial to get us to buy the paper?
tagged Briatore, CVC, Der Spiegel, F1, F1 Rights, HRT, Kubica, Mark Webber, Mosley
Briatore, CVC, Der Spiegel, F1, F1 Rights, HRT, Kubica, Mark Webber, Mosley More Kubica
Monday, February 7, 2011 at 10:30AM
Reports of Robert Kubica's progress are encouraging, but the injuries sound pretty dreadful. Reminds me of Mick Doohan's problem with blood flow to his foot and Alex Zanardi's loss of blood following his accident in Germany. We all hope for a full recovery. He is too good a driver to lose from F1.
Boullier is saying it is too soon to talk of his replacement. Honorable sentiments, but sentiment does not play much part in F1, ask Liuzzi and Hulkenburg. Boullier needs to find a replacement and fast, Bahrain is just 33 days away.
Elsewhere MaRussia Virgin launched their 2011 car with Nick Worth saying it is better in every way. It had better be after finishing last in the constructor's championship in 2010. One can only hope it is better, it is hard to see it could be worse. The most obvious feature to an untrained eye is the profile of the nose which is quite different to any we've seen this year. Perhaps CFD "nose" something Adrian Newey does not? Sorry, could not avoid that.
Anyway, all quiet other than Ferrari defending their less than aggressive approach to this year's car. Let us hope for continuing good news from Kubica. And oh yes, I cannot believe that a "well known British photographer" called Kubica irresponsible. Have you seen where photographers will stand to get a shot? No offense to my many photographer friends, but that is a bit rich, and who asked his opinion anyway?
Boullier is saying it is too soon to talk of his replacement. Honorable sentiments, but sentiment does not play much part in F1, ask Liuzzi and Hulkenburg. Boullier needs to find a replacement and fast, Bahrain is just 33 days away.
Elsewhere MaRussia Virgin launched their 2011 car with Nick Worth saying it is better in every way. It had better be after finishing last in the constructor's championship in 2010. One can only hope it is better, it is hard to see it could be worse. The most obvious feature to an untrained eye is the profile of the nose which is quite different to any we've seen this year. Perhaps CFD "nose" something Adrian Newey does not? Sorry, could not avoid that.
Anyway, all quiet other than Ferrari defending their less than aggressive approach to this year's car. Let us hope for continuing good news from Kubica. And oh yes, I cannot believe that a "well known British photographer" called Kubica irresponsible. Have you seen where photographers will stand to get a shot? No offense to my many photographer friends, but that is a bit rich, and who asked his opinion anyway?
Kubica
Sunday, February 6, 2011 at 12:25PM
All the news today is about Kubica's accident in a rally in Italy. I'm sure there will be a lot of people saying he should not be doing it anyway, but he is a racer in the old mould and like Kimi wants to do what he enjoys. Let's all hope he makes a good and complete recovery, but the hand sounds bad and with the complexity of modern F1 steering wheels that could be a long term problem. This does not sound like a short recovery, so Renault have a problem. It seems they have a competitive car that can win races, but who do they have to drive it that can do that for them. They have a raft of "third drivers" including Bruno Senna and Grosjean, but neither of these would float my boat if I were Boullier. I would be round Kimi's place with a big fat contract right now. Kimi is racing his own team, so he can put someone else in the rally car and come back where he belongs. Maybe all the "will he, won't he" go to Renault late last year may have soured the relationship, but the chance to come back in a potentially winning car has to be tempting for someone as driven as Kimi.
Heidfeld and Hulkenburg are also mentioned, as is Luizzi, and they could do well. I would pick Hulkenburg out of those three, but VJ may not want to let him go with the form he has shown at the first test. Whatever the final decision is it makes for an interesting if unfortunate pre-season. Whoever ends up at Renault you can be sure there is a clause about other activities in it, but you can hurt yourself playing tennis, just ask Montoya.
In other news Tony Fernandes of the Team Lotus camp has been awarded a CBE by the Queen for services to industry. Will the judge in the name game case look upon Tony now more favourably he has the Queens' blessing?
Heidfeld and Hulkenburg are also mentioned, as is Luizzi, and they could do well. I would pick Hulkenburg out of those three, but VJ may not want to let him go with the form he has shown at the first test. Whatever the final decision is it makes for an interesting if unfortunate pre-season. Whoever ends up at Renault you can be sure there is a clause about other activities in it, but you can hurt yourself playing tennis, just ask Montoya.
In other news Tony Fernandes of the Team Lotus camp has been awarded a CBE by the Queen for services to industry. Will the judge in the name game case look upon Tony now more favourably he has the Queens' blessing?