Monthly Archives: April 2011

The Bahraini government has played its latest card in its attempt to host a GP in 2011 by releasing a statement a day before the May 1 deadline set by the FIA.

Clearly produced with the full support of Bernie Ecclestone, the statement – “regarding the rescheduling of the 2011 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix” – says nothing concrete but clearly suggests that the Bahrainis still have hopes of hosting a race this year, despite a widespread belief in F1 circles that it shouldn’t happen in 2011.

It’s not clear what the FIA’s position is on ignoring the May 1 deadline it set, although Jean Todt is very close to the authorities in the country and is clearly in the loop.

In the statement Bahrain International Circuit Chairman Zayed Rashid Alzayani said: “We gratefully acknowledge the understanding of Formula One Management and the FIA in what have been difficult times. We also thank the continued support of the international motorsport community and Formula one fans around the world.

“Clearly our national priority is to find a resolution to the difficulties that the kingdom of Bahrain has experienced. The national situation has moved on in a positive manner, the situation is evolving all the time; our day-to-day life is gradually improving under the current State of National Safety.

“Bahrain’s Grand Prix is a time of celebration and hosting the race is a source of great pride for Bahrain and Bahrainis.  It is a showcase to the world and we look forward to welcoming the teams and drivers and everyone involved in Formula One back to Bahrain in the very near future.”

Meanwhile Ecclestone added: “Bahrain’s commitment to Formula one has been clear from the very outset. While obviously the kingdom has had to put its national affairs first I have never been in any doubts that restoring the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix has been of paramount importance. In eight years with my relationship with Bahrain I have always been confident that they will produce something special.”

Bernie Ecclestone has suggested that Bahrain could be given more time to regain its place on the 2011 calendar.

That in turn means that we could still have to wait to see if any other races have to be moved to fit it in.

The FIA had given what appeared to be a firm a deadline of May 1 for the Bahraini government to be able to guarantee that the race could go ahead safely.

“We need to wait a little bit to see exactly how progress is made,” Ecclestone told Reuters today. “I suppose we’d be safe by early June or something like that. Things can change in a couple of weeks…so you don’t know. All of a sudden everything might be peaceful in a month’s time and they are happy to run the event and so we are happy to be there.”

Meanwhile Ecclestone was vague about the chances of Turkey remaining on the 2012 calendar after doubts about its financial viability: “I think Turkey is a bloody good circuit. All the facilities there are good, everything is good except we don’t have a big crowd. I would be disappointed if we lose it but we can’t keep subsidising it.

“When our first agreement was made, they subsidised ticket revenue so everyone was expecting a whole bunch of people to be there and if there wasn’t, the government was going to make up for the missing tickets.

“It looks very much like the crowd is going to be much bigger this year, so it means the government’s involvement will be considerably less.”

An F1-liveried Caterham poses with its new big brothers

Tony Fernandes has officially confirmed that Team Lotus Enterprises has taken over Caterham Cars.

The company – whose cars are based on the Lotus Seven with which Colin Chapman first made his name – has obvious appeal for Fernandes, who sees a link with road cars as a commercial opportunity.

Fernandes and partner Kamarudin bin Meranun were named as directors of Caterham Cars two weeks ago in official paperwork, having bought it from previous owners Corven.

Fernandes said: “Caterham has a unique place at the heart of the motoring world. As well as being proudly and staunchly British, it has an enviable and uniquely unblemished reputation within the industry for performance, handling and engineering excellence.

“Caterham Cars has remained wholly faithful to Colin Chapman’s philosophy of ‘less is more’, and the DNA of the original Seven can still be traced to the newest additions to Caterham’s product offering.

“It is already a successful business with sales across Europe, Japan, Australia and the Middle East, and under the guidance of the existing management team,we now have all the ingredients and the launch pad to further evolve that spirit and take Caterham to new exciting horizons with innovative products and greater global brand exposure.”

Caterham CEO Ansar Ali, who retains his role, said: “This is yet another exciting chapter in the Caterham story. Until now, the resources Caterham has had at its disposal have, naturally, limited the exposure of the Caterham experience and the legendary Seven has had to rely almost entirely on its remarkable reputation and legacy.

“We will remain entirely true to the philosophy that we, as custodians of one man’s motoring concept, have protected for nearly 40 years. However, the acquisition of the company by Team Lotus Enterprise will allow our existing management team to take Caterham’s core spirit of pure driving enjoyment to a hitherto un-served audience.”

It remains to seen whether Caterham also proved to be a fall back position should Team Lotus lose its legal fight to hang on to the name.

Fernando Alonso says that there’s a long way to go in the 2011 season, and insists that things can change quickly.

He cites the example of last year, when Ferrari’s campaign gained momentum during the year.

He concedes too that the team will have to get every element right in order to take on RBR and McLaren.

“It was definitely not the start of the season we were hoping for, for us and all our fans,” said Alonso on the Ferrari website. “Fifty points between the two of us is not much and we know our performance is not good enough at the moment, but we are aware that this can change very quickly.

“Formula 1 has always been like this. In one race you struggle to get into the top five and in the next, you’re fighting for the win. This year has been no exception to that rule. After the final test in Barcelona, everyone reckoned the McLarens were nowhere, and then they always got on the podium, ending up with a win in China.

“At the same time, others were saying Vettel was unbeatable and then in Shanghai, we all saw how things turned out in the end. Three races are not yet enough to give a definitive judgement.

“But this does not mean to say I am underestimating the seriousness of our situation, far from it. We have to work very hard to improve on every front. Success only comes when every element is operating at its best – the car, strategy, pit stops, drivers and everyone else included.”

Alonso says he has faith in the Ferrari team’s ability to turn things around.

“I’ve stayed in touch with the engineers these past few days and I know there is no let up in the development of the car at Maranello. We have to catch up, and we cannot allow ourselves to lose too much time, especially as the others won’t be twiddling their thumbs over the coming weeks. I trust in the team. I know what it’s made of, and I can feel the will to fight back from everyone at Maranello.

“In the past I have experienced, first as an opponent and then as an insider how capable the Scuderia is of staging a comeback. I well remember when I was at Renault in 2006, that in the first part of the season I had built up a big lead but then Ferrari made such a good job of developing its cars that Schumacher staged a great fight back, overtaking me with two races remaining.

“Then you only have to look at last year. First in Turkey and then in England, it was suggested we should already be looking to the following year, but we did not give up and we managed to be in the fight for the title right up to the final race. It sounds like a slogan, but it’s the absolute truth: never give up in Formula 1!”

Robert Kubica sounds positive and optimistic in a Q&A released on the Lotus Renault website today.

Kubica says he will leave hospital in 10 days, then continue rehabilitation under Riccardo Ceccarelli, the team doctor.

The Pole began with a message to fans before answering questions:

“Hello everybody, here I am. Sorry for the delay in contacting you but I preferred to wait until the moment I could finally share some positive news with you. First of all I would like to pay a huge amount of thanks to my fans whose support has been simply incredible since my accident in Italy back in February.

“I have been literally submerged by letters and various gifts and objects and it seems the flow is not slowing down. I also want to thank all the people in the world of F1 who showed in various manners their concern for the difficult situation I’m in.”

Robert, just over 10 weeks on from your accident – how are you feeling?

“I am starting to feel a lot better now. My recovery is moving in the right direction: my strength and weight are increasing day on day and as a result I will leave the Santa Corona hospital very soon.”

When exactly will you leave the hospital?

“I don’t have a precise date as yet but I hope to be able to leave within the next 10 days.”

Concerning the injury to your hand, how is the mobility now?

“The mobility of my hand is limited but this is pretty normal in this kind of situation, because the connected arm muscles are still very weak due to the long period of immobility. Things are definitely improving day by day.”

Can you tell us a little bit about your rehabilitation programme?

“As soon as I leave hospital, I’ll head to my home in Monaco for a short period of rest. Then I’ll move to Dr Ceccarelli’s facilities in Italy where I will start a deep rehabilitation program and a preliminary soft training programme. The two programmes will gradually cross over based on the speed of my recovery.”

There’s been an amazing reaction from the fans – how has the response helped your recovery?

“I must admit that it’s been overwhelming and, yes, it’s helped me a lot. I really didn’t realise that quite this many fans were supporting me. I’m very flattered and I promise them that, when I’m back, I’ll give them my absolute best.”

Have you been staying in regular touch with the team since you’ve been away?

“Yes, of course. Especially since the season started, I’ve been liaising with my engineers on what’s been going on over race weekends. They are sending me the race reports so I can remain up to date and fully informed, as if I were there at the tracks. Eric Boullier is also in constant contact, keeping up to date with my general condition.”

Q: Have you watched all the races so far this year, and what are you making of the new season and LRGP’s performances so far?

“Yes I’ve watched them, and there is no doubt that it’s been a strong start to the season. The potential of the car, which I already noticed in the February Valencia test, seems to be confirmed. As usual, it’s now important that the development done in Enstone continues to produce consistent updates for maintaining this level of performance. The guys did a great job with this car and I’m sure they’ll continue to improve.”

Finally, what messages would you like to pass on to your supporters in the Formula 1 world?

“Well, just continue to enjoy the F1 show even though I’m not there at the moment. From my side, I’ll try to use my difficult experience to come back as strong as I possibly can.”

Former Champcar medical chief and famed trauma expert Dr Stephen Olvey has been appointed as director of medical services for the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

Olvey is best known as the medical chief of CART from 1978 to 2003, and is a consultant to the Indy 500. He is also a Founding Fellow of the FIA Institute for Motor Sports Safety.

COTA says that Olvey’s responsibilities “include securing medical equipment, personnel and resources for facility and event operations as well as building relationships with local hospitals, medical facilities and public safety officials. He will oversee a professional team of doctors, nurses, paramedics, technicians and volunteers. Dr Olvey plans to be present at major races and events, commuting often to Austin prior to the first race to oversee the development of the medical operations.”

“I jumped at the chance to be in on the ground floor of developing what promises to be one of the most advanced rapid response trauma care systems in the world of sports,” said Olvey in a COTA statement.

“I believe Circuit of the Americas will become not only a centre where sports injuries will be effectively treated, but also a centre for research into the issues that can affect all athletes such as concussion, spinal cord injury, and severe traumatic brain injury.”

Race chairman Tavo Hellmund said: “Stephen Olvey is without question, one of the foremost experts in this arena. The rapid response system he designed with Dr Terry Trammel saved Alex Zanard’s life at Lausitzring in 2001 after a devastating crash amputated his legs. Every driver and team wants Dr Olvey at their race.”

Button led the opening stint in China after a great start

Jenson Button says he’s delighted with the way the season has started, given the problems that McLaren faced in testing.

However the 2009 champ was frustrated to drop to fourth having led the opening stint in China, and admits that he hasn’t fulfilled the car’s potential thus far this year.

“It’s been an incredible journey,” said Button on his website today. “Really, we didn’t have a great winter testing. It wasn’t that the car wasn’t quick, it was more that we couldn’t make it reliable enough to develop it properly.

“It was a brave decision to drop a lot of the new components so close to the start of the season. And it massively delivered for us. As soon as we got to Australia, we knew we had a quick car, and we just started to push hard from there.

“I think we got some good results in Australia. We were even stronger in Malaysia, and we were finally able to put it together in China this weekend. Sure, it’s a little disappointing to have a quick car and to lose out on a few opportunities. I took it on the chin in Melbourne, but it was disappointing that I just couldn’t get the pace out of the car in China. That’s something we’ll be looking at next week.

“But, for us, we should be really pleased with the turnaround. We’ve completed six race distances, which is incredible. Don’t forget, we’re still learning about this car, and some of the lessons we’ve learned on the road will be put to better use once we get back into Europe.

“On a personal level, I’ve also been really pleased with my qualifying pace. Before the season, I said it was one of my aims to improve that, and I’ve been pretty satisfied with how things have worked out over the first three races. Apart from Mark [Webber]’s race in China, I think we’ve seen that it’s difficult to make up ground if you’re not right at the front because you’re really at the mercy of a lot of other cars and their strategies. So getting quali right is crucial, and we seem to be heading in the right direction.”

Button says that the team has learned a lot about how to deal with the tyres.

“I think all the teams are learning about this new style of racing in 2011. I think it’ll get more straightforward as we start to see more of a convergence of strategies and ideas over the next couple of races.

“Obviously, it’s the tyres that everyone needs to get a better handle on. I think all the teams will be looking closely at the most successful strategies and also at what didn’t particularly work. I had a really strong final stint on the Primes in Malaysia, but in China I just couldn’t get the rear end to work. I’m sure we can start to understand why and that’s definitely something we’ll be looking into at next week’s technical review. Hopefully, we can head into Turkey with an even stronger package and with some of our weak spots improved and our strengths increased.”

Meanwhile Button is still busy despite the break before Turkey: “Yeah, we’re back at the MTC next Tuesday morning for one of our regular technical reviews. They happen every couple of months and they give everyone in the team a chance to really look closely at the development path we’re taking, what works and what doesn’t, and what we need to do to improve for the future.

“They’re important meetings, and it’s hopefully going to be a positive day because we go into it knowing we have a car that’s capable of winning races. That’s going to be a massive motivator for everyone back at the factory. Then I’m in the simulator on Tuesday afternoon and most of Wednesday to get us ready for Turkey.”

McLaren revealed a few secrets when Hamilton drove to the grid

Lewis Hamilton says that McLaren can’t sit back, despite its winning performance in China last weekend.

Hamilton admitted that the team needed the boost of a victory but added that it was just the start of the battle for the 2011 title.

“Yeah, we needed this win,” said Hamilton on his website today. “Looking back at the last few weeks, we have done something incredible at this team. To have turned the car around and made it a winner – we’ve never done something that big in such a short space of time. I take my hat off to everybody back at the MTC. Once again, they’ve performed miracles. But we can’t sit still.

“We’ve still got more work to do to be able to match Red Bull. Don’t get me wrong, what we’ve done has been incredible, but we need to go into the Turkish Grand Prix with more upgrades and improvements if we’re to continue fighting at the front. And we know that other teams won’t be standing still either. So although this win is the perfect way to head back to Europe and prepare for Istanbul, this is just the start of the fight.”

Hamilton said the win ranked with Monaco and Silverstone in 2008, his two favourite wins.

“For me, it wasn’t just an attacking race, although there was a big element of pure racing, which I love. Those two wins weren’t just about aggression either – I won those races through pure speed but also with intelligence, and with support from everyone in the pitlane. They were really complete race wins – and they’re the most satisfying.

“So, on the one hand, China was great because we made it work out on the track – it’s always sweeter to win a race when you’ve overtaken the cars ahead. And in my final stint I got past Nico, Felipe and Sebastian for the win, which hopefully was great for all the fans watching.

“But it was also really satisfying because we worked to make the race strategy work from the moment we arrived at the track on Thursday. After Malaysia, I really wanted to make sure we’d have enough tyres for the race, so I went into our first engineering meeting of the weekend with my mind made up that I wanted to hold onto my tyres and keep as many sets as fresh for the race.

“The best thing about Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is the way we work as a team. Our teamwork is incredible. And it would have been easy for the engineers to have just looked at me and said, ‘No’, but they always listen and they always find a way of making it work. We really collaborated to make everything work, even on Friday night, when we pulled the car to bits to improve the car – we always keep pushing.

“So not only did we have a good car and a good strategy going into the race, but we were aggressive and we kept pushing throughout the race. You know, the mechanics and the pit crew worked perfectly and my engineers were brilliant.”

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp is bidding to take a stake in F1, according to the company’s UK TV subsidiary, Sky News.

The broadcaster’s city editor Mark Kleinman gave some details of the bid this evening, saying that the company wanted to form a consortium, and that Carlos Slim of Telmex has been approached about joining, along with “people connected to at least one of F1’s big car manufacturers.”

Kleinman said that it may decide not to attempt to acquire a direct stake in F1’s owner but instead bid for the broadcast rights and that in any case discussions were at an early stage.

Speed (USA) and Fox Sports (Latin America) already have F1 deals.

Kleinman also said: “CVC has said repeatedly it has no firm plans to sell F1, but of course private equity firms always sell on their investments at some point, “ adding that “News Corp’s exploration of ways in which it could be a part-owner of F1 while exploiting its worldwide appeal reflects the company’s interest in accessing the one global sports franchise that has so far eluded it.”

In the last few minutes Bernie Ecclestone has denied the story, telling the Daiy Telegraph: “It’s rubbish. The sport is not for sale.”

Crucially, Jean Todt recently made it clear that the FIA will have a right of veto on any sale.

The story clearly has some substance, given its source, but it would seem to be very early days. And Ecclestone won’t take kindly to the premature leak, unless it actually suits him to have talk about a sale out in the open.

The identity of the “manufacturer” is intriguing, and it’s worth noting that Carlos Slim protege Sergio Perez is a Ferrari young driver – and that Todt now has a lukewarm relationship with Maranello, to say the least.

Martin Whitmarsh believes that McLaren can continue to make progress in its pursuit of Red Bull, but he doesn’t underestimate the task at hand.

McLaren has made a huge leap since winter testing, but Whitmarsh knows it won’t be easy to maintain the development momentum.

“I hope and believe we can keep it up!” said Whitmarsh in China. “We’ve just got to keep progressing. It’s always the way, Red Bull won’t stand still, we’ve got to improve at a faster rate than them. From very, very difficult circumstances a few weeks before the start of the season, we made some decisions which were quite bold to completely change our car.

“We shouldn’t underestimate Ferrari and Mercedes, I think they’re capable of responding. It’s early days yet, in truth today was such that you had to get the strategy right, otherwise you didn’t get the results. Today Mercedes were capable of winning, and so were Ferrari.”

Generously Whitmarsh said that he was happy to see RBR rival Mark Webber have a good race: “I’m really pleased for Mark, because let’s face it he’s had a pretty torrid weekend, and a difficult start to the year. That’s a solid result. I didn’t like the fact that he went past Jenson at the end, but he was on fresher rubber, and Jenson did an intelligent job.”