Category Archives: F1

January 18, 2016 · 11:15 am

Felipe Massa: “It’s impossible to be so happy when you finish third”

Felipe Massa admits that Williams still has to make a big leap if the Grove team is to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari in 2016.

The team finished third in the constructors’ championship in 2014 and again last year, but Massa acknowledges that the next step is even harder, and that downforce is the key.

“Both seasons were really, really good, but we want more,” Massa said at the Autosport International show. “We know that to fight with these teams in front, Mercedes and Ferrari, you need to do amazing improvements from one year to the other. That’s the way it is. Especially when you look at those teams, they have a lot more opportunities, a lot more money, a lot more budget to put in the car, which we know makes an effect at the end.”

Massa is proud of the progress that the team had made since he joined in 2014.

“I could feel that I was important as well for this improvement, the job we all made together. The work that everybody put together I feel really that I was inside this improvement, and I feel really proud.

“Actually, we want more. It’s impossible to be so happy when you finish third in the championship. We’re fighting teams that are much bigger than us, and we know it’s not easy to be in front of them. We were in front of many big teams, and that’s great, but we want more.

“McLaren, they had a really big problem [last] year, they were struggling a lot. But I think Red Bull showed that we really beat a team that’s much bigger, a team that won many championships in the very near past. We were not far away compared to Ferrari as well, but they were better. But we’re pushing hard for 2016. I hope we can do better than what we did until now.”

Massa made it clear where the biggest gains could be found: “The most important think we need to improve is the aerodynamics of the car. We need to give the car more downforce, so we need to improve this area compared with the teams we are fighting with.

“I would say the engine we are using is a similar engine to [the works] Mercedes, which is the best engine in F1, but Ferrari caught up really a lot. I don’t know how much better is the Mercedes compared to Ferrari, but Ferrari is very, very close, that’s why they improved massively as well.

“But I would say maybe where we need to improve more is on the aerodynamics, which is what we’re working on, maybe already from the middle of last year until now. I hope we can see some improvements in this area.”

Felipe praised team mate Valtteri Bottas, stressing that the fact that they like the same things from a car is a big plus.

“We respect each other in a good way. I think we work together with the team in a proper way, which definitely helps for the position at the end. It’s also thanks to the work that both of us are doing for the team, going to the factory, the simulator, but also pushing the team for not so different ideas.

“I think we feel more or less similar things on the car. I think Valtteri is getting more experience since we started until now, so he grows a lot in terms of experience, which is great. I’m really happy to work with him.”

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January 16, 2016 · 12:01 pm

“Pressured” Symonds wants to postpone F1 rule changes to 2018

Pat Symonds has suggested that the technical rule changes currently intended for 2017 should be postponed for a year – a reflection of the fact that there is still an ongoing debate about exactly what direction the sport should take, and that time is running out.

The significance is that the Williams chief technical officer is one of the main architects of the new package, and as such has been at the heart of the discussions since the F1 Strategy Group asked for faster and more spectacular cars.

The 2017 rules are supposed to be fully defined by March 1st, but there remains a chance that next week’s F1 Strategy Group and Commission meetings could agree that more time is needed, if others share the views of Symonds.

“There are two technical regulation meetings yet to take place,” Symonds said at the Autosport show today. “One at the end of this month, one in February, before the 2017 rules are established by the beginning of March. So yes, we are getting into some of the details rather than the fundamentals.

“Are they right, are they wrong? I think that’s not what the Strategy Group are talking about right now. The Strategy Group gave a mandate as to what the cars should be like for 2017, and we’ve been working on it. I think now the Strategy Group are moving on, and they are looking at the sporting aspects rather than the technical aspects.

“Will we produce a good car? I don’t know. I think we’ve still got work to do on it. I do feel a little bit rushed, a little bit pressured. I think that personally we’re trying to move a little bit too quickly without establishing the basic principles to work from. I’d be much happier if things moved on to 2018 rather than ’17 for new rules, and we spent a year really researching what’s needed. But that’s probably a cry in the wilderness.”

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January 15, 2016 · 5:12 pm

Aston Martin: We’ll stay in touch with Force India

Aston Martin hasn’t ruled out a future involvement with Force India, despite no deal being concluded for 2016.

The Silverstone team had been hoping to carry Aston’s branding this season.

“We’ve kept the communications open with Force India with no commitments on either side,” the car maker’s head of global marketing and communications Simon Sproule told this writer. “We liked the team at Force India and found much in common in the way we think about engineering and racing.”

Yesterday Force India’s COO Otmar Szafnauer made it clear that there would be no deal this year: “It’s a big step, and it’s flattering that Aston Martin have been talking to us. We’re still discussing. In the short term, meaning 2016, I don’t see that type of re-branding happening. But you never know what the future holds thereafter.”

Aston’s interest in an F1 sponsorship deal became public knowledge in July, and after initial talks with Red Bull fizzled out the company talked to other teams, with Force India emerging as the most logical candidate.

Aston always insisted that any decision on a future motor sport strategy had to incorporate its sportscar racing plans. The biggest issue has always been that the company does not have the budget with which to make an impact in F1, despite the obvious appeal for both sides.

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January 14, 2016 · 1:15 pm

Capito to leave VW to head McLaren F1 team

VW Motorsport boss Jost Capito is to take up a new role as the chief executive officer of McLaren Racing.

Meanwhile as part of a wider shake-up Jonathan Neale, the acting CEO of McLaren Racing, has been appointed the chief operating officer of McLaren Technology Group.

Eric Boullier continues as racing director of McLaren Racing, while Ron Dennis’s role as executive chairman and CEO of McLaren Technology Group remains unchanged. Both Capito and Neale will report to him.

McLaren says that “the timing of these moves will be actioned in 2016 in agreement with Jost’s current employer, and a further announcement will follow in due course.”

“Consistent with McLaren Technology Group’s strategy of driving continuous growth, Jonathan has been promoted to the position of COO,” said Dennis. “He has done an excellent job as acting CEO of McLaren Racing – and that experience, together with the expertise he has attained in non-motorsport industry positions previously, makes him ideally suited to such an important new role at McLaren Technology Group.

“I first approached Jost last summer. He is an extremely impressive, competitive and ambitious individual, who comes to us with a very wide range of automotive and motorsport experience, encompassing senior positions at BMW, Porsche, Ford, Sauber and, since 2012, Volkswagen, leading the latter company’s World Rally Championship team to consecutive world titles in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

“From a motorsport perspective he has experience in not only the World Rally Championship but also Sports Cars, Touring Cars, Motorcycle Racing and Formula 1, about which he is hugely knowledgeable and infectiously passionate.”

Neale said: “After 15 years in senior roles within McLaren Racing, most recently as COO and acting CEO, I am excited to be moving up to take on a wider remit, working directly with Ron to assist his leadership of McLaren Technology Group.

“I have enjoyed my time at McLaren Racing, and will of course remain closely involved in supporting Jost’s and Eric’s efforts to optimise the future success of the McLaren-Honda programme.

“But I am equally conscious of my new areas of responsibility and influence within McLaren Technology Group, and  I am particularly keen to bring to bear my wider industry expertise and experience to drive forward our strategy to grow each of our Group businesses.”

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January 11, 2016 · 11:53 am

Coulthard confirmed for Channel 4 F1 role

David Coulthard will be part of Channel 4’s F1 commentary team in 2016, the broadcaster has confirmed.

C4’s coverage will be produced by Whisper Films, a company co-owned by Coulthard and former BBC F1 anchorman Jake Humphrey, opening up the obvious possibility of the latter becoming part of the new team. It’s understood that his contract to present football for BT Sport would allow him to double up.

Whisper won the deal after C4 conducted a tender process. The broadcaster also has a minority stake in Whisper, which it acquired last year.

A C4 statement noted: “As well as demonstrating significant innovation and creativity in their approach to producing Formula 1 coverage, included within Whisper Film’s winning pitch was the signing of a number of key production personnel and presenters with extensive experience in the sport. These include Mark Wilkin, the editor of the BBC’s award-winning F1 coverage, as programme editor.”

Coulthard said: “This is an exciting time for the sport and an exciting time for Whisper Films. The F1 World has been incredibly impressed with what Whisper has delivered over the last five years and Channel 4’s decision is testament to that. I’m looking forward to being part of an exciting new era for Formula One, with Whisper Films and our proven level of creativity and innovation very much at the heart of that.”

 

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January 10, 2016 · 9:01 am

Maria-Teresa de Filippis 1926-2016

Maria-Teresa de Filippis, the first of only two women to start an F1 World Championship race, has died at the age of 89.

Born in 1926, de Filippis gained experience in domestic sportscar racing in Italy with OSCA and Maserati machinery before an F1 opportunity opened up in 1958, helped by the encouragement of mentor and Ferrari star Luigi Musso.

She drove a Maserati 250F in the non-championship Syracuse GP in April, and was classified fifth of the six finishers, albeit four laps down on winner Musso. She then made her first attempt to qualify for a World Championship race in Monaco, but was 22nd fastest at time when only 16 cars were allowed start.

However she did make the field at Spa, creating history by taking the start from 19th on the grid and finishing in 10th place. She also qualified at Oporto in Portugal, where she took over a Scuderia Centro-Sud 250F after crashing her own car in practice, only to suffer an early retirement. She made her third GP start in her home event in Italy, where she ran as high as fifth in a race of high attrition before suffering a late engine failure.

De Filippis suffered a major blow when Musso was killed at that year’s French GP. However heading into 1959 she found a new mentor in Jean Behra, then a works Ferrari driver.

She drove a 250F in the International Trophy at Silverstone in May, in what proved to be her final F1 start. She failed to qualify at Monaco in Behra’s Porsche, and after the French star was killed at AVUS in August she announced her retirement from the sport at the age of just 33. Later she served as Honorary President of the Grand Prix Drivers Club.

The organisation’s current president Howden Ganley said: “Motor racing has lost a very lovely lady. She was an icon, the first lady to race in Formula One, and of course we younger ones certainly admired that, as did her contemporaries. Maria Teresa, with her boundless enthusiasm, was a mainstay in our Club for so many years. She will be irreplaceable.”

Although she started only three Grands Prix it’s a measure of her achievement that the only woman to successfully follow in her footsteps was fellow Italian Lella Lombardi, who took part in 12 races in 1975-’76.

De Filippis is survived by her husband Theo K. Huschek and daughter Carola. Her funeral will take place on Monday in Scanzorosciate, the town where she lived.

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December 28, 2015 · 10:08 am

How Genii sold Lotus to Renault for £1

Renault paid just £1 to take over Lotus F1 when the deal was finalised just before Christmas, an indication of just how keen the previous owners were to find new funding and an investor who could pay off past debts.

Company accounts also confirm that Genii Capital and its affiliate Gravity Motorsports have retained 10% ownership of the restructured organisation, and waived £98.2m of shareholder loans to the team.

The purchase was a complicated arrangement that involved Genii first purchasing 6,744,444 shares from Whiterock Alliance Ltd, to add to the 60,700,000 it already had. Having established full ownership of the share capital it then sold 90% to Grigny (UK) Ltd – the company that previously ran the F1 team in its Benetton and Renault days – while retaining the remaining 10%.

Grigny is a subsidiary of Renault, and in fact its immediate owner is Renault Developpement Industriel et Commercial, or RDIC. Grigny has been in existence since 1977, and between December 1979 and March 2000 it was known as Benetton (UK) Ltd, the start even pre-dating the fashion company’s involvement in F1. When Renault acquired the Benetton F1 team the French manufacturer continued to own it under the Grigny name until it was passed on to Genii.

In the V8 era Renault used Grigny for leasing KERS systems to its customer teams, generating some £7m in 2013. That changed in 2014 when energy recovery became an integral part of the power unit, and Grigny earned just £432,000 from “supplying engineering and technical services to Renault Sport F1,” according to its most recent accounts.

Having almost been dormant over the past year Grigny is now once again in frontline use by Renault as the immediate owner of the F1 team.

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December 17, 2015 · 10:11 am

Sainz expects rivals to progress in 2016

Carlos Sainz Jr says he was relieved that Scuderia Toro Rosso was finally able to confirm its Ferrari deal – but the Spaniard is concerned that the team could be left behind as others develop their newer engines over the course of the season.

Sainz says that at one stage he was worried about the team’s future after doubts were expressed about Red Bull’s commitment to F1.

“They were very small thoughts,” he told this writer. “Honestly I always had a lot of trust, a lot of belief, that the thing was going to be solved really soon – even though it wasn’t very soon, but soon enough!

“I am relieved that now we have a solid platform to work on next year. I think it will be a step forward. Having a full Italian team will also help, I think there will be good relationships – from what I know they really enjoyed the time when Ferrari was there. I think everything is very positive for next year.”

The downside is that STR’s 2015-spec engines are likely to be unchanged over the course of the season, while all the other manufacturers will be making steps as they use their tokens. Sainz says that the team knows it has to make the most of the early races.

“This is the main thing, that probably the first half of the season will be the most important for us, when we need to maximise what we have. The second half will be a bit more difficult, obviously. Especially after looking at this year, there was a lot of in-season development.

“Also we noticed with Renault that we had the same power for the full season. Toro Rosso at the beginning of the season was up there, and then little by little we went backwards. So it will be all about maximising the first half, I think.”

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December 16, 2015 · 2:51 pm

Christian Horner: “It is never good to conduct your business in public…”

Red Bull boss Christian Horner says he has no regrets about criticising Renault this season – and admits that in part he was trying to send a message to the French company’s board and its CEO Carlos Ghosn.

In effect Horner, who has harboured doubts about Renault’s commitment, wanted to give the management a wake-up call.

“The Renault board are quite distant from what is going on,” said Horner when asked by this writer. “It is not like Dieter Zetsche, who attends quite a few races, or Sergio Marchionne, and so I guess part of being vocal was also to get those messages back to the Renault board, that there are some issues here, and they need to be resolved.

“I think that things were said ultimately on both sides – of course it is never good to conduct your business in public, but it was really born out of frustration more than anything else.”

However Horner insisted that he had no regrets about going public, and says it didn’t have a negative impact: “It is very easy for others to pick up and use whatever excuse is convenient. What you have to remember is, this is a competitive business. As far as I am concerned, I have only ever told you the truth.

“When I have been asked a question, I have given you an answer, and if you look at actually what I have said, I don’t think there is anything particularly unfair in the comments that have been made. I think inevitably it’s been born out of frustration, comments that either Dietrich, or Adrian, or Helmut have made.”

Horner admits to being frustrated when Renault opted not to accept technical input from Ilmor’s Mario Illien that had been arranged by Red Bull, a decision that has now been reversed for 2016.

“Renault went through some management changes towards the end of last year, and there was an awful lot of talk going on. We introduced Mario Illien to them, there was resistance to use Mario initially, we created an engine group to support, there was not the smoothest of relationships between Milton Keynes and Viry, and out of that, obviously grew frustration.

“I think there was always a reluctance to fully embrace Red Bull as a technical partner, and there was a difference of opinion technically on where the weaknesses of the engine were. We couldn’t influence the technical direction of the development. 

“Mario developed a concept for Renault, and Renault in parallel ran their own project, and the outcome of which was the D-spec. And I never felt that Renault fully embraced the technical capability and simulation capability that we tried to offer. It was very clear early on that Renault weren’t happy being just a supplier. From the back end of last year they have been looking at becoming an entrant again.”

Horner denies that Red Bull pushed Renault too hard: “I don’t think so. I think that they are quite an established and conservative organisation, and of course our DNA is that we want to push, we want to get on, we want to make progress.

“And obviously a lot of promises were made over the last quarter of the year, and the closed season of 2014 into 2015, so inevitably expectation rose. And it was frustrating to see us further away, and in fact behind where we finished the season in 2014, going into the beginning of 2015.”

He admits that Renault’s inherently conservative approach has held the company back.

“I think in some respects, it possibly has. It is good to hear that they are looking at a bit of a restructure.”

Meanwhile he says that another side effect of Renault’s winter problems was that issues with the chassis were not immediately apparent, although later the team was able to get on top of them.

“I think with regard to the engine, we were running old specification engines through the winter, and we had quite a lot of issues, reliability and so on, and particularly driveability, that was masking quite a lot of the chassis issues.

“The front wing changes and nose changes over the winter actually seemed to affect us more than others, but they were a little bit masked early on by the major issues that we were having with the driveability. It was only once that started to improve that we could see – hang on, we’ve got some things that need tidying up, which the team quickly got on top of.”

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December 16, 2015 · 9:05 am

No decision from Aston Martin on F1 plans

Aston Martin has postponed a final decision about a future involvement in Formula 1 until at least January, following months of discussions with interested teams.

After a false start with Red Bull and further discussions with Williams, Force India had emerged as the most likely partner. The latter’s boss Vijay Mallya has made it clear that a deal with a premium brand like Aston Martin would be a huge boost to the team.

There have been suggestions that the board has already decided against an F1 involvement. However, Aston‘s director of marketing and communications Simon Sproule says that the matter is still under discussion.

“We have not made any decision,” Sproule told this writer. “And we are not likely to make any final decision about either F1 or the broader motor sport strategy until the New Year.

“We also have to figure out what our path forward in sportscar racing is, and where we go with that. We are not looking at F1 in isolation.”

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