Monthly Archives: November 2014

November 6, 2014 · 2:11 am

Nasr lands second Sauber seat

Williams third driver Felipe Nasr has been confirmed as a Sauber race driver for 2015, alongside Marcus Ericsson.

Basically the Swiss team has taken the two drivers on the market with the biggest budgets. Adrian Sutil had a firm two-year deal and presumably will have to be paid off, while Giedo van de Garde had been confident that he had the seat.

Team boss Monisha Kaltenborn said: “We have been following Felipe’s career path for some time now, and he fully deserves his position in Formula One having had a very successful career in junior categories. We are happy that he will be driving for our team next year. This means that Brazil will have one more young and talented driver in the sport. Banco do Brasil has been an important partner for Felipe so far, and we are delighted that such a renowned company is continuing to support him during this important step. We look forward to this partnership.”

Felipe Nasr added: “It is a very important step in my career to sign with the Sauber F1 Team for the 2015 Formula One World Championship. This is an unforgettable moment that I owe to all of those who have supported me – my family, my friends, my sponsors, my teams and my country. Today the dream has come true. Sauber was responsible for the arrival in F1 of great names such as Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen, Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel. I am proud now to also be part of this racing family. I had a wonderful year at Williams Martini, where I learned a lot and prepared myself to be a race driver in Formula One.”

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November 4, 2014 · 7:18 pm

Caterham not connected to Forza Rossa project, says Kolles

Colin Kolles insists that the planned Romanian F1 team has nothing to do with Caterham, contrary to suggestions that one team might morph into another.

Kolles was advising the FRR/Forza Rossa project before he got involved in Caterham as advisor to buyers Engavest.

“The Caterham F1 issue has nothing to do with Forza Rossa or the FRR F1 team,” Kolles told this writer. “These are two different and separate matters. The problem is that some people think that this administration situation has something to do with Forza Rossa, and it does not have anything to do with it.

“CSL, with their know-how, could maybe have been utilised for a new F1 project because you cannot sell IP directly. It’s not even possible to have IP transfer from one competitor to the other, only to a limited extent.”

It’s understood that FRR has not submitted an entry for the 2015 World Championship, although there is provision in the rules for late entries.

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November 4, 2014 · 6:32 pm

Caterham withdrawal stopped surprise Barrichello comeback

Caterham’s failure to make it to Austin ended the possibility of a surprise comeback for Rubens Barrichello.

The 42-year-old has made no secret of the fact that he would like to race an F1 car again, and has always been frustrated that he did not have a proper farewell race at his home event. Since his last F1 race he has remained active in Brazilian stock cars and karting.

Encouraged by support from the Brazilian GP promoter Colin Kolles had been working for several months to put together a deal that would have seen Rubens replacing Kamui Kobayashi for the last three Grands Prix of the season.

“We would have run Barrichello in the last three races,” a team source told this writer. “We had sponsorship for this, and everything was going the right way. It would have been fantastic for F1.”

Speaking exclusively about the plan, Rubens told this writer: “It would have been great to race in front of my people once again and say goodbye properly.”

Mario Andretti suggested last weekend that guest appearances by drivers from other areas of the sport would be a great promotional tool for F1.

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November 4, 2014 · 3:55 pm

I’m not thinking about double points, says Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton says he is not thinking about the possibility of losing the World Championship to Nico Rosberg on double points – and says he’s just focussed in winning the next two races.

“You can’t be thinking about it,” he said after his US GP success. “It’s a fact that that is a possibility, but that’s not something that I’m willing to accept, so I’m going to be pushing as hard as I can. I want to win the next races, I want to get as many points as I can. It’s not something I can be thinking of, what happens if this happens in the future? If we lived our life with ‘what if’ maybe you won’t achieve what you set out to achieve.

Regarding his Austin win, he said: “I feel quite good all round. Practice was really good, qualifying was weak – there were two reasons, it wasn’t just the brakes, my driving lines weren’t actually the best. I studied hard last night and fixed that today, and it worked really well. On the race day since I was eight years old I’ve known how I can race, and that still was the same today. My dad always says drive like you stole it! That’s what I do.”

Hamilton says he is better able to deal with title showdowns than in the past.

“I think I’m definitely in a different place to back then. Part of that is just experience, and part of that is just getting older, and having those experiences of winning and losing. I kind of feel that I understand the approach that I need. There’s no real special recipe, or anything like that. Just going to work my arse off for the next two races and try to improve.

“There’s stuff that I can still take out of today. Today is not just a win, there’s a lot of things that I can take out of today in terms of how I drove, the things that I should have done perhaps for qualifying that I didn’t pick up on, which were visible from previous years, small things like that, I have to make sure I pick up on that. It’s just always trying to make sure that you leave no stone unturned, so that after the race you can say you did everything you could.”

Asked about Rosberg’s mental state he said: “I don’t know. It’s something I’m really concerned about. I don’t think about it, I’m just focussing on my job and not thinking about Nico’s.”

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November 3, 2014 · 9:47 pm

USA could support three F1 races, says Ferrari boss

Ferrari boss Marco Mattiacci is adamant that the best way forward for F1 is to create bigger revenues rather than change the way funds are distributed.

Mattiacci also put a big emphasis on the USA, and believes the country could support three races.

“Ferrari is very focussed on making the cake bigger, not to change a different way of how to slice the cake,” he said. “We don’t have to overreact. We need to look at first how to increase revenues, that’s priority number one.

“Second, to make sure that who comes in F1 is very well aware about the challenge of F1. This sport is innovation, innovation costs money, a lot of investment, long term investment. We keep investing in F1, we are here since decades, we will be for a long time, so that’s our focus.

“We are contributing a lot to the sport, supporting the teams that are working with us. We are ready to do our part, as we always said., I don’t think even if you redistributed revenues those teams would have survived or been competitive. There is money, managers, defining priorities of a project – some teams like Red Bull proved that, coming from very far, with a strong five years project, they came first to be competitive, and then be four-times World Champions. I don’t think that distribution is the solution.”

Mattiacci is adamant that teams have to have a solid business plan: “F1 needs competitive teams. There are many corporations around the world, many big brands, that should capitalise on a phenomenal motor sport platform like F1 is.

“We need competitive teams. I’m not here to say small, middle, we need competitive teams with a solid business background, a solid financial background. At the same time as a strong believer in F1 I think the focus is how to increase revenues, how to make the cake bigger. We are here I the United States where we see that F1 is getting traction. My focus as a company where 30% of the sales are United States I want to make sure we get more successful in the United States.

“I want an extra race in the United States. I want three races in the United States. That’s my proposal, because the American market is fundamental to generate revenues, to attract sponsors, so that’s my proposal.

“When you have more revenues definitely you can talk about having more teams on board. Again I don’t know what is the critical mass for those teams that are struggling, what is the amount of money they need in order to be successful or to be consistently in F1. Fifty million, one hundred million? I don’t know. Depends on the business model they want to establish.”

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November 3, 2014 · 5:26 pm

Rosberg admits to mistake while battling Hamilton

Nico Rosberg admits he made a mistake when trying to get a power boost while attempting to keep Lewis Hamilton behind him in Austin.

Rosberg wanted the boost at the end of the straight as Lewis was preparing to launch his passing move, but he inadvertently used a control that asked for boost at the next straight.

“I made a mistake because I used the wrong things to give me KERS,” he said. “I thought I was doing the right thing, but there’s a delay in that one, and if I do it with a button it’s immediate, and with a switch there’s a delay. So I never got the extra KERS, and that’s why in the last metres he got a good jump on me. That’s was a mistake that I didn’t know about.

“I went for extra boost, but the way I did it it only comes on the next straight, or it comes with a delay, so I didn’t get extra boost.”

Asked if his error had made a difference he said: “I don’t know, in that situation it would have helped of course. I think he was pretty committed anyway.

“I’m sure I could have done better. It’s a judgement thing, if I defend a lot, then he’s going to brake late on the outside, and try and get me on the next one. I thought to indicate that I’m closing the door would be enough t stop him from trying, but it wasn’t. I was part way over already, and I thought that was enough to make it clear for him that he shouldn’t try, but it wasn’t.”

Rosberg insisted that he’s not compromised by memories of Spa when in combat with Lewis: “No, definitely not.”

He said the positive outcome of the race was that he will take the title battle to the wire.

“Championship wise it’s becoming more difficult, but at the same time it’s is a definite that I have a chance in the last race to win, so with that in hand already, that’s worth a lot.”

As for winning via double points, he said: “It is what it is. I don’t care, As long as I have one more point at the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi. It’s the same for everybody.”

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November 3, 2014 · 4:35 pm

Double points could overshadow Rosberg title, Wolff admits

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits that the double points scenario in Abu Dhabi could cast a shadow on a championship victory for Nico Rosberg.

Even if Lewis Hamilton wins in Brazil with Rosberg failing to score, if the opposite then happens in Abu Dhabi, the German would win the title.

“It’s satisfying to know that only a Mercedes driver can win the championship from now on,” said Wolff. “Even though it was highly likely, with 92 points to Daniel from now it’s mathematically impossible that somebody else wins it. And that’s a good feeling.

“I think the last race with the double points has the potential to overshadow a season. We know why the double points came, and it made all the sense in the world to make it spectacular for the audience and for the fans and for the viewers, but now we are in a situation that it could change the outcome.”

Meanwhile Wolff is happy that Mercedes has equalled McLaren’s 1988 record of 10 one-two finishes in a season.

“There is one thing that makes me proud for the achievements of the team. As a kid I remember this dominance of McLaren, and I remember seeing those cars taking one-twos all the time, up to a point when it was almost boring. It was just dominance pure, and us equalling that record and even being able to do one or two more is proof that the team has done many things right, and the team has taken many good decisions. Normally I don’t care about statistics, but that one is something which reminds me of 20 years ago.”

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November 3, 2014 · 3:42 am

Ricciardo shines again with superb third place

Daniel Ricciardo was one of the stars of the US GP, the Aussie recovering from a bad start to take an eventual third place.

He passed Fernando Alonso at the safety car restart and then jumped Valtteri Bottas at the first pit stops, and Felipe Massa at the second. However he is also now out of mathematical contention for the championship.

“I don’t really want to talk about the start!,” he said. “I feel that it was my fault today. It just didn’t feel like I got the procedure right but I will have to look back and see the ins and outs. For getting off the line poorly, I think we had good damage limitation. Yes. Think I picked a better line in turn one and then, as I said, got Kevin [Magnussen] back in turn 12 so in the end we only lost one spot. I think it could have been a lot worse.

“I think we had good pace. Williams were strong. I think we used good strategy to get ahead of them basically, and that paid off. But yeah, the first few laps were fun. We dropped a few places on the start but then got Magnussen into 12 and then Alonso on the restart so, couldn’t really hang with the Williams at first but it seemed like the longer the stint went, the more pace we had. Really happy with third. As we know, Mercedes are a bit out of reach, so third I think was the best we could do today.

“Felipe was coming on strong at the end. I could see him. At the beginning of the stint I pulled but then he came back stronger than he expected. I don’t know if he had DRS or not but I was trying to do a little bit down the straights so he couldn’t get too much in my tow. But anyways, I think we held on pretty comfortably in the end but they had good pace and kept me honest until the last lap.”

Ricciardo was also asked about his choice of number three: “I was a big fan of Dale Earnhardt. I’m a fan of motorsports but I’ve followed NASCAR since I was very young. It was follow Dale and it was my first go-kart number as well.

“When Formula One said you can pick your numbers this year, it was a no-brainer for me to chose the three and then once they agreed I could run it, I thought what better way to have the style of Dale on my helmet. Yeah, it’s been pretty cool. Dale Junior has seen that we’ve spoken via social media a little bit and it’s really nice that he’s supportive of that. So really quite honoured, obviously, to represent that in Formula One.”

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November 3, 2014 · 1:25 am

Lewis Hamilton: “Nico wasn’t defending there really…”

Lewis Hamilton took a step closer to securing the 2014 World Championship with his fifth straight victory at Austin, giving himself a 24-point lead over team mate Nico Rosberg.

Thanks to double points the title battle will now go own to the wire in Abu Dhabi as even a victory in Brazil with Rosberg failing to score would leave him only 49 points ahead.

“It’s been an incredible run,” said Hamilton. “This whole season has been incredible really. Just an unbelievable job done by the team. Nico was very quick in qualifying yesterday. Obviously I said I had a couple of problems and I corrected them today and, never know how the race is going to go but I pushed as hard as I could, particularly in the first stint. And the second stint I seemed to be even quicker on that stint. Once I got past Nico it was really just about controlling it. Coming here today, just having that same determination and hunger to get that win. And, as I said, there’s not a better crowd really to do that in front of.”

Hamilton’s move on Rosberg was the key to his win: “It’s obviously a very good circuit to be able to follow but it’s not easy and it was very hard through the middle sector to try to stay as close to him as possible and get as close as I could to the DRS zone. And I was quite a bit back, I would say, but I felt very confident, there was a big headwind into 12, and I just felt like I was waiting for the moment really, to just be just close enough to throw it up the inside. And that’s what I did.

“You have to decide how much of a risk you’re willing to take. Nico wasn’t defending there really so I almost caught him unaware. And after that, really I was just trying to maintain it.”

Lewis said he really enjoyed his week in the USA: “I just went into the race with the belief that I could win it. Incredible support from my fans, even from when I was in New York this week. The support from my fans and the tons of flags out there and team tops and team caps, I really am so grateful for that support that I have here in the US. It’s amazing. I hope it continues to grow over the years. Great weather, the circuit’s just fantastic. I went into the race thinking I need another race just like 2012 and it was just like that.

“I was catching him through exactly the same points at which I was catching Sebastian. There wasn’t a moment in the race when I didn’t think that I would get him. Once I was past, as I said, I was able to relax for a second and really try to manage the tyres, because I knew that perhaps he would push at some other point. And so I was always having to respond. It’s such a great feeling when you have a race like that, it just feels great that you’ve really done it as best as you can.”

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November 3, 2014 · 12:32 am

Perez lands seven-place grid penalty for Brazil

Sergio Perez has landed a seven-place grid penalty for the Brazilian GP after his first lap collision with Kimi Raikkonen and Adrian Sutil in Austin.

The incident spelled the end of the race for both Sutil and Perez, who also gets two penalty points.

The stewards noted: “The driver of car 11 could not reasonably have expected to complete the manoeuvre. His collision with car 99 was reckless.”

Perez said: “What happened today is really unfortunate. I made a move on Adrian at turn 15 when he left the door open, so I went up the inside. Then Adrian started to close the door and I had to try and brake later than him.

“By doing so I was unable to avoid contact with Kimi, which caused me to make contact with Adrian also. I just didn’t expect Kimi to be in that position. It’s a big shame because I had a great chance to keep up my run of points finishes and I was determined to do well in such an important race.”

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