Monthly Archives: March 2010

Mike Gascoyne and Lotus owner Tony Fernandes have embraced Twitter

The Bahrain GP was arguably the first race of the Twitter era, for while the service was on the fringes of F1 last year, it really came of age during the February testing sessions.

I was at the first day of the Valencia test when the world of F1 reporting was turned on its head by the huge level of interest on Tweets from journalists and team members at the track.

Even my snap at the top of this page – showing Michael Schumacher leaving the garage for the first time – got over 5000 views.

Most team PR departments have now embraced Twitter, but no one has done it with more enthusiasm than Lotus. Tony Fernandes has kept us entertained with his random thoughts and news scoops, while Heikki Kovalainen has provided insights after stepping straight from the cockpit.

Twitter rookie Mike Gascoyne got into it at the very first Lotus test day, telling us what was going on in the garage. Indeed at first I thought it was a wind-up or fake, and it was only after checking his early followers – who included a junior Gascoyne who was Tweeting in colourful language about her homework – that I was sure that this was the real Mike G.

Astonishingly, Mike continued to communicate from the pit wall during the Bahrain GP. I was busy watching the TV and timing screens in the Sakhir media centre, while listening to the BBC Five Live commentary. Thus I have to admit I only became aware of Gascoyne’s special service when the Beeb’s David Croft passed on an extraordinary message to the effect that Jarno Trulli would be pitting on the next lap.

Think about that for a minute. OK, Jarno wasn’t exactly battling for a podium, but here’s a team technical director imparting his driver’s strategy direct from the pit wall to the world. Before it happens…

FYI, here’s a record of Mike’s Tweets on Sunday:

2.04pm: “Strategy and Driver briefings over, getting ready to send the cars to the grid”

2.22pm: “On the pit wall, 10 mins to cars leaving the pit lane”

2.24pm: “Just finished fueling [sic] the cars and drivers about to get in”

3:06pm “We’re off, Lotus back in GP racing, great start from Heikki”

3.17pm: “No problems with either car but Jarno has lots of understeer”

3: 19pm: “Jarno thinks he may have damaged the front wing on first lap”

3: 39pm: “Heikki fighting hard, great job”

3.44pm: “Only new team still running. Lost telemetry but no problems on the car”

3:49pm: “Looking to stop Jarno a bit earlier and switch to options”

3.53pm: “Calling Jarno in next lap”

3.55pm: “Jarno in”

4.11pm: “Jarno quick on options and leapfrogged Heikki”

4.27pm: “Hydraulic problem for Jarno, trying to get to flag”

4:31pm: “Jarno doing a great job to get to the flag”

5.23pm: “Great result for the whole team. Fantastic job by both drivers”

Pretty amazing stuff! While some team PR folk also relayed useful info, this was coming from the very heart of the team.

“Tony said he wanted to be a little bit different, and we thought that was something we could do,” Mike told me after the race. “I mean, I have a chief engineer, and we’ve got Dieter [Gass] as a sort of sporting director. I’ve got two very experienced guys on the job. We hope that the public can get into it, and it’s would be nice to think that people are watching the race with live timing on f1.com, and then we’re telling them what’s going on.”

Will anyone closer to the sharp end have the courage to follow suit? I wouldn’t hold your breath, even though most top teams have senior folk whose only role during a race appears to be to watch TV. Meanwhile Lotus can continue to earn some extra respect from fans…

PS: If you haven’t found him yet, he’s @MikeGascoyne

Tonight sees the debut of a new F1 parc ferme system implemented by the FIA, one which sees the governing body ‘spying’ on any illicit activity in each of the team garages with a network of 24 cameras.

In past years on Saturday evening all the cars were kept together in a single FIA garage. However with 26 cars originally expected for this year – and up to three new teams requiring garages of their own – the FIA decided to look for a new system to make better use of the space.

The car are now kept under parc ferme conditions in the garages of the individual teams, and to ensure that there is no tampering they are zipped up in a car cover – a bit like a giant sleeping bag – which is then sealed by the FIA when parc ferme begins at 6.30pm on Saturday night.

In the past the teams would collect the cars at 8.30am (or 9.30am with Bahrain’s late race start) from the parc ferme garage, but now they can just unzip the covers. 

The FIA has also mounted a camera on the pit gantry above every car to monitor any movement around the cars overnight. A Bahrain track official has the exciting job of watching an FIA laptop with 24 camera views on it. 

Fortunately if he falls asleep anything untoward will still be recorded…

Michael Schumacher is not noted for his interest in statistics or history, but he was the first to point out that in qualifying seventh for his comeback race, he repeated his feat of his debut at Spa with Jordan in 1991.

He had a very short Sunday, coasting to a halt after exiting the first corner, but the qualifying performance was enough to propel him into Benetton – and subsequent superstardom.

“It’s actually a funny situation,” he mused after qualifying. I mentioned at my first test I kind of feel as I’ve just started F1. In Valencia doing the first lap [see above picture!] I was a bit shocked, and doing the next laps I was straight back into it, and felt very comfortable. And it was exactly like it was in ’91, in a way. As well in ’91 in my first qualifying I finished seventh, so here we are!”

Asked if he felt any emotions on the eve of his comeback race, he wasn’t giving anything away: “I’m still sort of my frame of mind, and that’s very focussed, without having much of emotion. Just paying attention to details. It might be different in the night, when I’m sleeping. We’ll find out!”

Michael has appeared visibly frustrated at times this weekend, and certainly his car looked a little uncomfortably on the track. He’s been outpaced throughout by Nico Rosberg, and it’s clear that he’s still getting up to speed.

“Today [there were] several reasons for it, but one is pretty certainly just myself, I just have to get into it. I mean, we have had winter testing, first time here being in the heat, certain things do behave slightly different. I just need to get into the rhythm. Obviously slowly and progressively it has improved – but it’s challenging, and that’s a good thing.”

Asked whether that was a psychological thing – getting into the zone – Michael said: “It’s just having the rhythm, and having this fine tuning, and getting the car to you, and just making perfect use of what you have available.”

Intriguingly Michael suggested that the team has to adapt the car to his style. In the past he gave the world the impression that he could drive anything, although inevitably of course he led Ferrari’s development in a direction that suited him. The big question is how long it will take.

“That depends on how quickly they can change the car. Quite honesty there are certain principles that we are working on that we have understood, but obviously there is certain development, to create [parts] and build them there is a lead time. We have to find out.

“There’s a lots of potential to improve the car, and that’s what the main focus is at the moment, to just steadily get up there. It’s going to take a couple of races before we sort out all our issues that we are facing, and maximise the potential.”

So what of tomorrow? Like everyone else, Michael is intrigued to see how strategy will play out, but he doesn’t expect to see too much overtaking.

“I think it’s very difficult. There are two cars sticking out, two McLarens, they are very strong on straightline speed. Probably they have the best chance to overtake, if at all. For the rest, you lose too much at the last corner that you would not be able to recover down the straight, so you have to do it through the strategy, and at the start. That’s the two biggest options to move up.”

One element of the race he particularly singled out: “I think it’s going to be an interesting first corner, because with these heavy cars, and not much experience, and a new kind of routine, it’s going to be interesting. I look forward to that.”

After he’d talked to the media I went to say hello, and said that I hoped he didn’t have a race like he had in 1991. He just smiled…

Jean Todt says that he has not been able to find an F1 Commissioner because the FIA cannot  afford to attract the best candidates.

Todt promised in his manifesto to hire Commissioners for all the FIA World Championships. The governing body has been looking at candidates one source described as ‘blue chip CEOs’ for the prestigious new F1 role, but Todt admits that it’s been hard to find the right man for the job.

Just being at F1 race weekends in 2010 requires around 80 days, not counting travel either side, so it’s a difficult call for anyone with other commitments.

“He will be a link between the FIA President and the World Council, and the championship,” said Todt. “I must say I’m always very ambitious about the profile of the people who have been with me, and it’s not very easy to find the right profile considering that the FIA has limited facilities, limited budgets, to find somebody who is willing to give his time, of his capacity, almost free of charge.

“It’s something which really makes the choice more difficult. For me I’d prefer to wait a few months and have the profile I want to find rather than to rush and fill the position. And at the moment it gives us a bit more to do, but we still managed to do what we feel has to be done at the present time. The idea is absolutely not forgotten, it’s just a question of time.”

Meanwhile Alain Prost will be the first driver to serve as the fourth FIA Steward this weekend. Other drivers have also been approached, and Damon Hill will be called into service in Monaco.

FIA President Jean Todt has confirmed that he will investigate US F1’s failure to appear at the start of the World Championship.

The process could lead to disciplinary action taken against the team, although it’s unclear what form that could take, as clearly there would be little point in imposing a fine.  The case could be the first in which the roles of prosecution and judgement are separate by the FIA.

Todt had an inside line to what was going on in Charlotte because Nick Craw of ACCUS – a close associate and President of the FIA Senate – was a big supporter of the team.

“The non-appearance of US F1 is definitely a disappointment,” said Todt. “And my colleague Nick Craw will not contradict me because he has been very close to this team. We were hoping that an American based team would be at the start. It wasn’t possible. Yesterday the World Council I asked to review the situation, and that’s part of the introduction of the new disciplinary panel, which was yesterday voted at the World Council.

“So I will report to the World Council and Graham Stoker as the President of Sport will pass the report to the competent people, and we will see what happens. When I say that it’s very disappointing I know that they have tried hard, made a lot of effort. As you all know Charlie Whiting went there and saw some facilities, and saw some cars under construction. Unfortunately it was not enough to have two cars at the start of the first Grand Prix.”

The FIA has moved to separate to the prosecution and judgement functions in disciplinary matters – and US F1 could be the first competitor to be face action under the new system.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council announced the measure after it met in Bahrain on Thursday on the eve of the first race of the season.

Recent judgements by the WMSC have caused some controversy because former FIA President Max Mosley was widely regarded as having had too much power when he in effect fulfilled the roles of ‘judge, jury and executioner.’ His successor Jean Todt had pledged to make things more transparent.

A statement said: “The FIA President exercises the function of prosecution. He conducts the inquiries and decides to bring a matter before the judging body of the WMSC when he considers that there is reason to do so.

“The judging body of the WMSC is made up of all the Council members with the exception of any member who has taken part in the inquiry or investigation. It is chaired by the FIA Deputy President for Sport.

“Any decision of the judging body is taken in the absence of the FIA President, the reporter, and any person who has taken part in any way whatsoever in the inquiry or investigation.

“Any disciplinary decision of the World Council is subject to appeal before the FIA International Court of Appeal.”

The WMSC also looked at the failure of USF1 to show up this season, and the body has “mandated the World Council mandated the FIA President, in full compliance with the new code of practice for disciplinary matters, to take forward the most appropriate action.”

That doesn’t sound too promising for Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor, and clearly doesn’t bode well for their chances of being granted an entry for 2011.

The WMSC also confirmed that a process choosing that entry will soon be opened. It also said that a reserve would be chosen, which is a new step.

The WMSC also said that “subject to final approval of the calendar by the World Council, Mr Bernie Ecclestone, President of FOM, has informed the FIA that India will host a Formula One event in 2011.”

Meanwhile Michael Schumacher has been appointed as Drivers’ Representative for the Circuits Commission, and Karun Chandhok has – on the eve of his debut – been granted a Superlicence.

The FIA has also decided to rotate its December meetings and prizegiving ceremony. This year’s will still be held in Monaco but Dr Vijay Mallya has volunteered India as a possible host for 2011, although no decision has been taken.

The HRT team reached a milestone late on Wednesday afternoon in Bahrain when Bruno Senna’s car was fired up for the first time.

Karun Chandhok’s machine is still being completed today. One of the final pieces in the puzzle was the wiring loom which arrived at the airport on Thursday morning and was soon being fitted to the car. The fact that the team is here and should be in a position to send both cars out on Friday morning is nothing short of a miracle.

“At the end of the day we’re here and it’s a great achievement to be here already,” Bruno Senna told this blog on Thursday. “What these guys are doing now is what should have been done in the workshop months ago, and everything should be much more ready. But that’s the conditions we have to play with, and I hope we don’t have so many problems that we hinder our weekend in a way that we cannot do enough miles to learn. But I guess I have to wait until tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday to see that.”

From having virtual nothing a few weeks ago the team is now packed with experienced people, at least on the engineering side, with consultant Geoff Willis and technical boss Jacky Eeckelart joined by race engineers from Sauber, Williams and Renault.

“That’s how it goes, it changes so quickly. And as you said, there are plenty of experienced F1 people, everybody’s so motivated, everybody’s doing their best, so I’m feeling confident that given the right time, we should be able to start competing properly.”

Senna acknowledges that Friday is just going to be about running installation laps: “We need to be careful, try to do as much as we can without causing unnecessary damage. We have to take this weekend as a testing session, because we didn’t have the testing that everybody else had. So we’re going to really take it easy, and then if everything goes to plan on Saturday we start playing with set-up.”

He does agree that it would be fun if HRT could get a car out of the pit lane first, “just to wind everybody up!”

As for Sunday, there can only be one target. “That would be a great achievement, finishing a race. So I hope we get it.”

This time last year we were heading to the first race in Australia with the knowledge that the revamped Brawn team had been quick in testing. However, there was still some doubt over the double diffuser, so we weren’t quite sure where things stood.

Even allowing for that controversial performance boost it seemed hard to believe that a team that had struggled so much in 2008 could emerge from a turbulent winter with a new engine partner and still be a clear pacesetter.

Twelve months on, much has changed. Jenson Button is at McLaren, and Brawn GP has become Mercedes GP. And despite adding works backing and the talents of Michael Schumacher, life is going to be a lot harder. Ross Brawn expects to see no surprises this year, with McLaren, Ferrari and RBR at the sharp end of the grid.

“Last year McLaren and Ferrari did a pretty average job at the beginning of the year, and that created an unusual situation,” Ross told this blog. “They recognised particularly Ferrari, that they were off the pace, and in the end sacrificed the year to get back into shape for this year, which was probably the right decision. So it was an unusual year in that respect, so I don’t think we’re going to see that this year.

“I think in 2010 you’ll have the usual candidates at the front, and Renault and Williams and one or two others will be right there. I think Williams with the Cosworth engine will be very interesting. Renault has undergone a fairly major restructuring, and we’ll see what affect that has. The Sauber looks like quite a good car. I think they did the same as Ferrari, I think they recognised their failing, and knuckled down and devoted all their efforts to the new car.”

Ross is of course the king of strategy, even if these days he keeps more of an overview. Ross is adamant that this year strategy is all about being ‘reactive,’ in that you’ll always be responding to what others are doing.

“In previous years you had X amount of fuel in the car, and you wanted to run to that point and pit, and that determined your first pit stop. The reactivity of your decision making was how long to the second pit stop, where were you going to judge that gap.

“Now it’s completely open when you make your stop, be it one or two, and how soon you make it. If you make it early you can gain an advantage because you’re back out on new tyres, but if those new tyres are shot by the end of the race, you can become exposed. It’s going to be very interesting, but it’s going to be a much more reactive process on the pit wall than past years.

“I think there will be a lot of one-stop races this year, particularly if you’re starting on the soft tyre. If the hard tyre is durable then all the race will really take place in the first 10-15 laps, then right at the end if people run into problems with fuel consumption or tyre wear or brake wear.

“So I think there will be two windows of racing, in the early part when everyone is jockeying for position, and the end of the race where someone might start to struggle with their tyres or their car.”

Messrs Schumacher and Rosberg can’t ask for a better guy on the pit wall. Will Ross’s presence really make a difference?

Skilled PR operators know how to bury bad news, and you would have thought McLaren had something to hide when they snuck out a press release at 11.22pm UK time on Saturday night…

In fact the document was not some terrible confession of wrongdoing, but a routine race preview, and worth a look as it contained the thoughts of the two drivers as they head to their first race as team mates.

The world has already decided that Jenson Button is going to have a hard time this year, but that’s created an environment in which he’s the underdog, and that’s a situation he no doubt enjoys.

“I’m really looking forward to getting into my car on Friday morning in Bahrain and knowing that I’m the world champion,” he said. “It’s a responsibility and an honour – but it’s something I’m going to enjoy for as long as I can. I don’t want to lose that number from my car!

“My winter has been an incredible learning experience – joining Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has provided me with exactly the sort of challenge I needed. I have put every effort into working with the team, my engineers and learning about my car to ensure that we start the season in Bahrain in the best possible shape.

“Even after four weeks of testing, it’s incredibly difficult to predict the order ahead of the new season. There are a number of teams and drivers who appear to be in the hunt, and, as with the start of every new season, it will be fascinating to see who emerges as the team to beat. I’ve never known a team work as hard as we have done over the winter – I’ve spent more time with my engineers this winter than I have before any other season, and I feel very comfortable about my preparations.”

For Lewis Hamilton meanwhile this is a year where he hopes to build on everything he learned during the struggles of 2009. He said at the end of last season that he’s a better driver than ever, and now he has the chance to prove it.

“I can’t believe the winter’s over already,” said Lewis. “It seems like only yesterday when I was racing in Abu Dhabi. It’s been a winter of two halves for me: before Christmas, I really focused on my fitness and training, working away to be as ready as possible for the new season. Since January, I’ve been fully focused on working with the team, testing the car and improving our package ahead of the opening race of the year.

“There’s been a huge workload, but it’s been fantastic to work with Jenson and the engineers to improve MP4-25, and we’re all extremely pleased with the progress we’ve made and the direction we’ve taken. I think we have a very promising car beneath us: it’s a real change of direction for us, and I think the possibilities with this car are very exciting. Now, though, it’s all about the racing – once I put my crash helmet on and pull the visor down, I know more than anything that I’m ready to go racing.”

Meanwhile team boss Martin Whitmarsh is optimistic: “From our side, we’ve been engaged in one of the most painstakingly diligent pre-season programmes that we’ve ever undertaken. We’ve amassed an enormous amount of data and we’ve learnt a considerable amount about MP4-25 in just four brief tests. We’ve been encouraged by our progress, we’ve been delighted with the input of both Jenson and Lewis and, finally, we feel ready.”

The McLaren was fastest overall at the last two tests. Will it be the car to beat next weekend?

Schumacher can't wait to get going in Bahrain

As the countdown continues to Michael Schumacher’s comeback in Bahrain, the former World Champion says he’s like a ‘child looking forward to Christmas,’ and that his ‘batteries are recharged.’

In a Mercedes statement he reiterated the fact that updates due on the silver car for Bahrain could tip the balance in the team’s favour.

“Finally the season will start!,” he said. “I feel like a child looking forward to Christmas. The decision to make my comeback feels like a long time ago now and I can hardly wait for the season to get underway in Bahrain. It’s funny to think that I will be competing in Formula One again when just a few months ago, I would have declined the opportunity categorically.

“But sometimes things change and the right circumstances come together. I feel fresher than I have for many years. I am perfectly prepared physically and most importantly, my energy is back completely. When I retired from racing in 2006, my batteries were simply empty. Now they are totally recharged and I am ready for the challenge. It is the competition at the highest level that only Formula One offers which has provided the temptation for me.

“It is always difficult to predict the form in pre-season testing, this year more than ever, but the final test in Barcelona proved to us that we should be competitive. We know that we will have more new parts in Bahrain which should bring extra performance to the car. It’s important to be in the leading group from the start of the season and I am confident that we will be there.”

Meanwhile Ross Brawn admits that there’s still some work to do:  “We had a strong pre-season testing programme with the MGP W01 but we are not quite reached the level of preparation that we would have liked prior to Bahrain. The car shows promise and we have a strong development programme planned for the season but there is a lot of hard work ahead to ensure that we will be in the fight for the title.

“I am very pleased with how our new drivers Michael and Nico have settled into the team and developed a close working relationship. They have really pushed the development of the car throughout testing and they will push each other to achieve better results on the race track.

“This season should be a fantastic one for the fans with so many talented drivers competing and what is likely to be a very close fight for the title between the top teams and that can only be good for our sport.”

That’s certainly what everyone is hoping. A week from today we’ll find out a little more…