McLaren pledges support to Sauber

RichardsF1    Formula 1     BMW Sauber, Mario Thiessen, Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren

While there seems to be a general consensus that 14 teams in Formula One is too many for the championship, McLaren Mercedes is keen to see the outgoing BMW Sauber team continue in the sport next season under its new owners.

BMW announced its exit from Formula One in the summer, but critically did not sign the Concorde Agreement before the new deal with Qadbak Investments was put into place. With just 13 teams permitted under the current rules, the shady new owners are now relying on the existing teams to agree before they can be allowed to compete.

“We have a lot of sympathy,” explained McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh. “The people who work at Hinwil – the Sauber facility in Switzerland – are a good group and have worked hard over the years and certainly McLaren would not want to do anything that would potentially jeopardise their ability to continue in the sport. One, because the people there deserve the opportunity to race and, two, it would be damaging to the sport – to lose a well [established] team such as them."

While Mario Theissen – the BMW motorsport director – has the support of McLaren, Williams has made clear that is against the addition of a 14th team. The FIA has said that they will “be consulting urgently” with the existing outfits to allow BMW Sauber to compete.

Here’s hoping common sense prevails!

Glock to miss Abu Dhabi GP

RichardsF1    Formula 1     Kamui Kobayashi, Timo Glock, Toyota

Toyota has confirmed that Timo Glock will miss his third consecutive race in Abu Dhabi as the German continues to recover from his Japanese qualifying accident. The team’s test driver, Kamui Kobayashi, will again deputise for the German, having made his Formula One debut in Brazil last time out.

With Glock crashing at Suzuka’s final corner less than a week after finishing second in Singapore, Toyota was forced to run with the sole car of Jarno Trulli in Japan before Kobayashi stepped in and narrowly missed out on World Championship points on his first F1 outing in São Paulo.

Kobayashi had an event-filled race weekend, and was criticised by several drivers for his driving during the race. Jenson Button claimed he weaved in the braking zones, and Kobayashi also blocked Kazuki Nakajima when he exited the pits, forcing the Williams driver into the gravel a high speed.

With Glock – who is suffering from a cracked vertebra – unable to drive again and no contract yet signed for 2010, the German may have already driven his last race for Toyota.

"We feel genuinely sorry for Timo that his season, which has included two impressive podium finishes, is ending in this way," commented Toyota team President John Howett, "but we have been given differing medical advice on the status of his back problem and we are not willing to run the risk of a further accident inflicting more serious injuries.

"Kamui performed well in difficult circumstances in Brazil so we are happy to ask him to deputise once again."

USF1 denies Cosworth contract speculation

RichardsF1    Formula 1     Cosworth, Peter Windsor, USF1

USF1 co-founder Peter Windsor has rubbished suggestions that his team is trying to terminate its contract with engine supplier Cosworth.

Reports in the German press mentioned the rumour last week, amid speculation the new American team’s sporting director believes switching to Toyota power would be a better option.

However, it has also been suggested that USF1 is trying to cancel contracts in anticipation of failing to make it to the 2010 grid. Is this the more likely scenario?

"The rumours are not true, I’m afraid," Windsor told the GPWeek magazine. "We are fully committed to Cosworth – which is why we are delighted to have Bernard Ferguson [Cosworth's former director of motorsport] working for us."

Weber: Barrichello and Hulkenberg will race for Williams

RichardsF1    Driver Market, Formula 1     Brawn GP, Nico Rosberg, Rubens Barrichello, Williams

The news remains unofficial as yet, but a well-connected figure has all but confirmed the driver line-up of Williams’ for next year.

The British team heads into this weekend’s Abu Dhabi season finale with Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima at the wheel of their FW31s, but the team looks set for a wholesale driver change ahead of its 2010 championship campaign.

Rosberg is likely to head to Brawn, while Kazuki Nakajima is sure to find himself on the unemployment list after a horror season and the forthcoming parting of ways with the Japanese driver’s backer, engine supplier Toyota.

Over the last few weeks, speculation has been sending Barrichello to Williams in 2010. To Brazil’s SporTV recently, he remained evasive on the question: "I have the possibility of being with Brawn and also with others," he said.

However Willi Weber, former manager to Michael Schumacher and now manager to GP2 champion Nico Hulkenberg, let the cat out of the bag when speaking to Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper about his new charge, who is also the current Williams test driver.

"I think he will be a match for his new teammate Barrichello," Weber said.

Thoughts???

Hamilton: McLaren must pick a team player

RichardsF1    Driver Market, Formula 1     Lewis Hamilton, McLaren

Lewis Hamilton says whoever drives the second McLaren in 2010, must be a subservient number two push the team forwards and not be a disruptive influence.

Several drivers, including Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Rosberg, and even the newly-crowned world champion Jenson Button have linked to the team, and are expected to replace Heikki Kovalainen prior to next season.

"I don’t mind who comes to the team as long as they are slower than me come in peace and bring peace and want to be productive and move the team forward," Hamilton told the Daily Mail.

Hamilton added that he had been satisfied with his and McLaren’s recovery through the 2009 season after an uncompetitive and controversial start to the season.

"The season has just got better and better for us as a team," he said. "Last weekend’s third place finish in Brazil, from 17th on the grid, felt as satisfying as a win.

"Everything happened so quickly, but it eventually has to catch up with you – and this year it all caught up with me. I know I didn’t always make the right decisions, but I still performed in the way I would’ve hoped.”

Piquet demands Renault apology

RichardsF1    Catfights, Formula 1     Crashgate, Nelson Piquet, Nelson Piquet Jr, Renault

Nelson Piquet Snr has threatened legal action against Renault if the French carmaker does not apologise.

Earlier this year, the former triple World Champion’s son was fired by Flavio Briatore, before the team’s boss, Flavio Briatore, was ousted amid the Crash-gate scandal and banned for life from involvement in motor racing.

Until the flamboyant Italian’s star began to fade, Renault had towed the corporate line and even backed Briatore’s threats to pursue legal action against the Piquet family.

According to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, Piquet Snr now wants a public apology from Renault.

"Renault has two weeks," said the Brazilian. "If I hear nothing, there will be a complaint."

Piquet admits his son, who was not formally penalised amid the scandal due to an FIA immunity deal, acted wrongly in deliberately crashing during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

But he said he does not understand the hysteria about 23-year-old Piquet Jr’s actions.

"Ayrton Senna won two championships like that," said Piquet Snr. "In 1983 the F3 championship against Martin Brundle, and in 1990 he was World Champion after pushing Alain Prost off the circuit completely deliberately." Yeah right, Nelson…

So you want Renault to apologise because your son has not talent and can’t act like an adult when presented with an option to cheat?

If you like, Nelson, I’ll offer an apology: I’m sorry your son is a complete nob and you are utterly unable to recover his trashed reputation because he can’t act like an adult.

Heidfeld linked with McLaren and Renault

RichardsF1    Driver Market, Formula 1     McLaren, Nick Heidfeld, Renault

Nick Heidfeld is seemingly the perpetual forgotten man of the 2010 silly-season, but he could be in the running for a coveted seat at McLaren or Renault.

The Abendzeitung newspaper reports that, with Lewis Hamilton not wanting to be shown up by a quick team mate (Nico Rosberg and Kimi Raikkonen have been rumoured to join the team) next year, Heidfeld has emerged as a candidate.

"He is the most under rated driver in Formula One," McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh is quoted as saying. Mercedes’ Norbert Haug adds: "He brings over ten years of consistently strong performances."

Bild newspaper claims Heidfeld, who debuted for Prost in 2000 and has also driven for Sauber, Jordan, Williams and BMW without ever winning a race, is also in the running for the Renault seat currently occupied by the slow Romain Grosjean.

Brawn-Virgin announcement to occur at season’s end

RichardsF1    Formula 1     Brawn GP, Richard Branson, Virgin

Virgin boss Richard Branson has said that a decision will be anounced regarding his company’s sponsorship of the Brawn team once the season is over. Branson began his partnership with the championship-winning squad for the Australian Grand Prix although Brawn’s success and increasing worth clearly means that any extension of the deal would now be significantly more expensive.

With Virgin having stepped in at the last minute to sponsor Brawn – which required extra funds immediately before the opening race in Melbourne – the worldwide brand has now been linked with the Manor team for 2010, although Branson insists that any decision on Brawn will be placed on hold until the end of the season, with celebrations still continuing.

"It was the perfect relationship," Branson told BBC Radio 5 Live. "Virgin loves to support an underdog but they are now one of the most expensive teams out there…certainly not underdogs anymore!

"We will make an announcement in the next month but at the moment we just want to celebrate a magnificent season with the Brawn team, Jenson [Button] and Rubens [Barrichello], who also did magnificently.

"I don’t think, in our wildest dreams, we thought this would happen!" he laughed. "I knew they had a good car, as I happened to know one of the test drivers, but when I got on a plane to Melbourne with some Virgin stickers in my bag, having just shaken hands and given them some money, the last thing I expected was a first and second in the championship race!"

Raikkonen’s salary demands too high for Toyota

RichardsF1    Driver Market, Formula 1     Kimi Raikkonen, Toyota

Toyota will not reach a deal with Kimi Raikkonen for next season unless he drops his pay demands, team president John Howett has revealed.

The Cologne-based team has made Raikkonen an offer, Howett revealed last weekend in Brazil.

"He gave us back a figure that is much too high," he is quoted as saying by the Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell. "He says he has two options, so we are going to wait and call his bluff."

It is believed that Raikkonen will receive about 25 million Euros from Ferrari for the early termination of his contract, while his management is asking about the same amount from both McLaren and Toyota!

Kimi, there is a difference between VALUE and WORTH – perhaps you need to get your dictionary out and refresh your understanding of these concepts.

Trulli won’t let Sutil incident lie

RichardsF1    Catfights, Formula 1     Adrian Sutil, Fernando Alonso, Force India, Jarno Trulli, Renault, Toyota

The dust is still yet to settle after the race-ending incident of Jarno Trulli, Adrian Sutil and Fernando Alonso in Brazil at the weekend. All three cars were out of action on the first lap at Interlagos, something which the Italian is particularly angry about.

Having started third and fourth on the grid, Trulli’s Toyota attacked the Force India of Sutil on the outside heading out of Turn 5, the Subida do Lago, before seemingly placing his right-rear wheel onto the grass and spinning into Sutil; with the Toyota heading off into the outside wall at the sixth corner, Ferradura, the German’s car would only come to rest after ploughing across the infield and taking out the Renault of innocent Alonso.

"I’m not angry because of the result but I’m angry because of the manoeuvre which was extremely, extremely dangerous," commented Trulli, who was later fined $10,000 by the FIA for his trackside actions. "We know it’s an easy flat-out corner and he [Sutil] should have given me enough space not to go on the kerbs; we were in sixth gear and were lucky that no-one was injured – it was something really bad.

"I spoke with Fernando straight after crash as he saw the accident from behind," Jarno went on. "He said that Sutil is totally crazy and that what he did was totally crazy because we were probably at 155 to 160 miles an hour, flat-out in sixth gear; it’s a straight, even though it’s a bend, because it’s flat in wet and dry conditions and you can’t just push someone like that – if there was a wall there, I would have hit it straight-on because he sent me over the kerbs."

Although Sutil apologised for any difference Trulli holds, the latter does not feel a confession can be accepted. "Well, I think he really thought I was stupid," Jarno continued, "but the problem is that he pulled onto the inside to protect himself because he knew the speed difference as he had a problem with the car in front; when that happens, the first thing you do is look in the mirror and protect yourself, as you know that someone is going to come."

With Trulli stressing that the incident was ‘unacceptable’ and that a possible podium finish was lost for Toyota, he concluded by mentioning that such moments are now likely to be a topic of discussion in the meetings of the Grands Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), of which Alonso is a Director.

It’s not the only time that Sutil and Trulli have collided this season; Sutil was taken out by a wayward Trulli on the opening lap of the Spanish GP (below) – ironically, Sutil had cut Turns 1 and 2 to avoid any accident and promptly got involved in one anyway!

Brawn’s brand exposure worth US$255M!

RichardsF1    Formula 1     Brawn GP, Ross Brawn, Virgin

No wonder Virgin baulked at sponsoring Brawn next year! They’d be paying a fortune!

The total brand exposure enjoyed by Brawn GP in 2009 was worth at least $255 million, according to the media analysis company Margaux Matrix.

Unlike the bulk of the competitors, fielded by carmakers and commercial enterprises like the Red Bull drinks company, the exposure is of limited value to new champions Brawn, whose core business is grand prix racing.

But the commercial success of the achievement must be giving pause to the Japanese car manufacturer Honda, who sold the outfit to team managers headed by Ross Brawn amid the brunt of the slump in new car sales late last year due to the economic crisis.

Margaux Matrix came up with the $255m figure by analysing the race broadcasts of the initial 15 grand prix this season against advertising rates in 18 countries.

The Brawn cars were featured in nearly nine hours of international coverage in those races, which was more than the famous Ferrari team and three times greater than Honda’s exposure of 2008.

Here’s hoping this exposure gets some new sponsors flocking at Brawn’s door and into F1 long-term!

Toyota confirms Raikkonen and Trulli negotiations

RichardsF1    Driver Market, Formula 1     Jarno Trulli, Kimi Raikkonen, Toyota

Toyota is currently negotiating with Kimi Raikkonen to sign up the Finn as the team’s driver for the upcoming Formula 1 season.

Toyota has made an offer to Raikkonen but Raikkonen’s manager has already informed the team the Finn wants a better payment. This is a little odd given that Raikkonen has been handsomely paid out by Ferrari for being released a year early on his contract.

Speaking about the current negotiations Toyota Motorsport president John Howett told Reuters: "We don’t play too many games. We put on the table what we can afford and what we think is a serious offer in the current market. I think genuinely we could work well with him, give him a car that’s quick.

While Toyota has allowed an option on Timo Glock to lapse, Jarno Trulli has been offered an extension to his contract.

"We have put an offer on the table with Jarno, I think that he himself is not nearly as greedy as Kimi’s manager dissatisfied with the financial offer, the bottom line to some extent is certain issues on the contract, and I don’t think they are negotiable from our side," said Howett.

Sounds like a few performance clauses for Jarno!

McLaren fined for Kovalainen pitlane fire

RichardsF1    Formula 1     FIA, Heikki Kovalainen, Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, Rules

The McLaren team has received a fine of US$50,000 for releasing Heikki Kovalainen into the path of Kimi Räikkönen during first-lap pit-stops in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Not only did the former drag his fuel hose down the pit lane but the subsequent spilt fuel caused a large fireball for the Ferrari of his compatriot.

With Kovalainen having been spilling fuel along the pit lane, exhaust gases from the Ferrari immediately ignited the petrol as the unfortunate Räikkönen – with fuel in his eyes – considered retiring on the spot.

As well as the fine for the team, Kovalainen was handed a drive-through penalty, which converts to 25 seconds as the race is already over; the Finn is therefore classified 12th as opposed to his finishing position of 9th.

Frankly this is an academic penalty for Heikki; I’d hope McLaren deducts the fine from his salary if it was found he caused the incident.

Thank goodness we’ll avoid these types of incidents being repeated with the refuelling ban to kick in next year.

[Original image via ITV-F1]

Hulkenberg set to join Williams in 2010

RichardsF1    Driver Market, Formula 1     Nico Hulkenberg, Williams

Williams co-owner Patrick Head has hinted strongly that Nico Hulkenberg, the new GP2 champion and the team’s reserve driver, is set to make his F1 debut with the team in 2010.

The team’s engineering chief and co-owner was careful not to confirm that the 22-year-old German is assured a place for next season, but indicated that the team is convinced Hulkenberg is ready to step up.

"The drivers who have won GP2 in their first year – Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton – are all pretty outstanding, and I think Nico will be outstanding as well," said Head.
The team is expected to lose Rosberg to Brawn and sign Rubens Barrichello for 2010, and Head admitted that Williams can no longer afford to appoint F1′s best established drivers with Ferrari-style retainers.

He therefore dropped a strong hint that Williams intends to cement its ties with Hulkenberg, also a recent champion of the F3 Euroseries and A1GP, while he is an aspiring star. "If Nico proves in the future that he is at that [top] level, I hope by that time we’re able to still be running him because our finances are strong," said Head.

Here’s hoping, Patrick!

Campos and Piquet in talks?

RichardsF1    Driver Market, Formula 1     Bruno Senna, Campos, Nelson Piquet Jr, Pedro de la Rosa

The Spanish media is reporting that Nelson Piquet Jr. may be in the running for a seat at Campos in 2010. The Brazilian, ousted by the Renault team after the Hungarian Grand Prix and once of the principal villains in the Crashgate scandal, is believed to be on the shortlist which also includes Bruno Senna and Pedro de la Rosa.

With the not particularly quick immensely experienced de la Rosa favourite for the first seat at the Spanish team, Senna and now Piquet have been linked with the outfit, which makes the climb up the ladder from GP2 ahead of next season.

Team owner Adrián Campos, who drove 16 Formula One Grands Prix himself between 1987 and 1988 for Minardi, confirmed his talks with the drivers. "I spoke with Nelsinho Piquet in Nice three weeks ago and his dad offered an enormous amount of cash for me to take on his useless son, it’s a possibility," he explained to Spanish news agency EFE.

"Pedro could come but we need to reach an agreement and the issue is dragging on a lot, but hopefully he will be one of our drivers; he would still want to stay as a McLaren test driver but we’re not closing the door."

Adrián, please don’t take Nelsinho, regardless of how much his Dad is bribing you to do so!