Adam Cooper F1

Lewis Hamilton was left with no qualifying time in Hungary after a fuel leak caused a major fire early in Q1.

Although he officially qualified 21st Hamilton will probably start from the pitlane in a new car built up around the spare chassis.

“I baled out of that timed lap that I was doing,” said Hamilton. “And I was like I’ll try and do the second lap, and then something happened to the brakes, something on the brake system failed, so I had to engage some settings to try and correct it, and then the engine just died.

“I thought I’m right next to the pit entry, so I’ll roll back and at least get them to fix it. And then I looked in my mirrors and it was on fire. I was hoping to get it in neutral so I could push it back or something, and no luck. It was on fire, but I was still trying to get it to the garage, I was like hopefully I can roll to the garage, maybe they can do something, and then they said stop, stop, stop. I tried to stop and the brakes aren’t working, the cars kind of rolling forward, the engine’s kind of sometimes working or not working, so it’s all pretty bad…”

Regarding his prospects for Sunday, he said: “This is a track that you can’t really overtake on, I think I’ll struggle to get into the top 10 tomorrow, or at least the top five. I’ll probably leave here more than 20 points behind Nico, but there are still races to go.”

Flavio Briatore will apparently be invited by Bernie Ecclestone to be part of a group looking at ways of improving the F1 show.

Ecclestone invited team bosses to a meeting in Hungary today where the sport’s future – put into focus by the small crowd at Hockenheim – was the main subject on the agenda.

One of the team representatives present mentioned Briatore as man who knows about such things, and Ecclestone was keen on the idea, much to the surprise of some of the other team bosses.

Ecclestone is understood to have suggested forming a ‘working group’ which will consist of several teams, believed to include Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari and Force India, plus himself and Briatore. It remains to be seen how this new body fits in with the existing Strategy Group.

Speaking to Sky F1 after the meeting Christian Horner said: “The teams get together and they talk about things. The drivers have got to be the heroes. Thereafter the cars should be secondary to that, whether its chassis or engine. As a package the cars should be secondary to the drivers.

“The drivers, we need to give more access to, and the fans have got to be able to engage with their heroes. When I was growing up, Nigel Mansell was my hero. I think it’s important in today’s world that there’s more and better access to the drivers, and a bit more behind the scenes.”

The FIA’s regular Friday team personnel press conference was enlivened when a clearly angry Christian Horner told the assembled media that questions about the rights and wrongs of F1 going to Russia and Azerbaijan should be directed to Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone.

Only Claire Williams, Monisha Kaltenborn and Vijya Mallya were prepared to comment about a question on Russia – all saying in essence that it was was up to the FIA – while Horner, Marco Mattiacci and Eric Boullier all preferred not to comment.

When a further question was asked about Azerbaijan, with a punchline of whether they would follow Bernie Ecclestone to North Korea, only Mallya was willing to reply.

“I think we’re racing people, more popularly known as petrolheads,” he said. “We come here to race and to win and to enjoy it. The governance is an international organisation called the FIA. It is up to the FIA to decide where the sport is conducted. I don’t think that the teams, individual participants in the sport, should be holding their individual positions to determine social political issues that you have raised. The FIA is perfectly competent to determine where Formula One should be staged and not be staged.

“You know, it’s a not question of following Bernie. I think the question has been wrongly framed. It’s the commercial rights holder, it’s the FIA. We race where they stage the events. It’s as simple as that.”
When the follow-up question cited issues in Azerbaijan, Horner snapped.

“This is becoming a very depressing press conference as we’re only focusing on the negativities. Look, there’s a calendar that comes out in October or November. We all have a choice whether we enter the World Championship or not. All the people sitting here are racers and they’re here because they’re passionate about the sport and they want to compete. When we sign up for that championship, we put our faith and trust in the promoter and the FIA and we will attend those races unless they deem it unnecessary for us to be there.

“All of you will be at those races, or the vast majority of you will be at those races and why, because you’re either passionate about the sport or because you earn a living out of covering the sport and I think it’s wrong to make Formula One a political statement or subject when we are a sport. We should be talking about the drivers in these conferences, we should be talking about the spectacular racing that happened between our drivers and his [Mattiacci’s] driver at the last Grand Prix.

“We should be talking about what a great race it was for Lewis Hamilton to come through the grid, yet all we do is focus on the negatives and it has to be said, it gets pretty boring for us to sit up here and field these questions. So how about asking some questions about what’s going to happen in the race on Sunday, what’s going to happen in qualifying tomorrow, because if you’ve got these questions, please point them at Mr Todt or Mr Ecclestone rather than the teams.”

While Horner does have a point clearly the Russian issue in particular will not go away, and it could become a matter for the teams and their sponsors as the October date draws closer.

This writer did indeed ask Bernie about Russia last week, and his views are here: https://adamcooperf1.com/2014/07/21/bernie-ecclestone-no-doubts-over-russian-gp/

Not surprisingly Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez are both excited about the prospects for a Mexican GP in 2015 after plans were formally confirmed yesterday.

The news is an obvious boost for their current sponsors, and in turn gives them a better chance of securing funding in the future.

“It’s great, I’m so happy,” said Perez today. “Since I left my home at 13, 14 years, I never raced in Mexico. I never raced in my home country. Now to go back after so many years and race actually in Formula One is great. They’ve been really pushing for so many years, since I came to Formula One four years ago. The spirit of the fans is massive back home. It’s great for my country, for all the fans back home and I’m sure you all will be surprised at how good the event will be. I’m just very proud and excited. It’s great that we can confirm that we will have a Mexican GP next year.

Perez said he had no doubt about the race happening: “Hundred percent sure that we will go to Mexico next year, no doubt about it. Everything s confirmed. Last year was a difficult situation due to the time that we had to build the circuit, but now there is no doubt and I think we can all think that we’re going there. Already they’re building the circuit, they’ve already started on the circuit, so yes, we’re definitely going there.

“There are a lot of things to be changed. The circuit is quite old. I mean, the last time you raced there was 22 years ago. They already started to build a new circuit. It will be fantastic once again; you are all going to be surprised. I’m sure it will become a very popular Grand Prix very soon.

“We don’t have a date confirmed yet. I think once the calendar is released, I suspect that it might be towards the end of the year because that’s when we go back to America, and also it gives more time to the circuit to rebuild, to make all the changes necessary for Formula One to host a Grand Prix. It will be totally different. I was so unlucky not to be in a Formula One race back in Mexico but I think it will be quite different, and as I said before, I’m really enthusiastic and I’m sure you’re all going to be surprised as to how well we can do this kind of event.”

Gutierrez backed up his compatriot: “I have good feelings about it, because all these years that Mexico has been involved in Formula One with obviously first Checo getting to Formula One and now myself, we are two in Formula One, and I think this is a great step to have a Grand Prix. It’s really a dream come true for many of us.

“I had the chance to race once in Mexico City, back in 2008, when we did the world finals of Formula BMW. It was a great experience. I think it was an introduction to what it can be, obviously very, very small by comparison but now we will be able to going into the biggest thing in Mexico and to really share with our fans, with our supporters, to share with them physically the sport.”

Alexander Rossi has been named reserve driver of Marussia having left arch rivals Caterham just before the recent German GP.

The team says that Rossi will step in if one of the other drivers has a problem, and he will also do some FP1 sessions – which means that he will probably be seen in action in Austin.

“He is a proven talent whom we have observed in GP2,” said team boss John Booth. “And we have also been impressed by his performances during Friday morning free practice sessions over the past two seasons. The US is an exciting market for the sport and Alexander has a great deal of support there, so it is nice to develop new links to that audience. Alexander will be an integral part of the team, immersing himself in our engineering activity so that he is fully prepared should he ever be required to deputise for one of the race drivers.”

“Today is a good day and next step in my Formula 1 career,” said Rossi. “Since my initial discussions with the Marussia F1 team management, I’ve felt right at home. I’m looking forward to working with the team in Hungary and building for the rest of the season. The timing of my affiliation with the team is perfect, especially beginning in Hungary before the summer break.

“My goal is Formula 1, and I’m delighted to be immersed into the team as Official Reserve Driver, where I have the opportunity to prepare for this next step, with plans to drive in Free Practice 1 this season.

“Marussia is in an exciting place right now and the progress at the team is clear for all to see. I’m thrilled that now I have the chance to be part of that journey, to progress and play a useful role in the development of the team.”

Bernie Ecclestone has signed what is believed to be a five-year deal to host a GP at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit starting from next season, with an option for five further years.

Ecclestone today confirmed to Forbes magazine that “we have got Mexico past the post.” The deal been agreed with promoter CIE, with the support of the federal and Mexico City governments, according to local publication Cancha.

As reported here at the time Charlie Whiting visited the track last September, accompanied by Austin F1 founder Tavo Hellmund, who switched his focus to Mexico after being ousted from the Texas project. His late father Gustavo was a race promoter at the venue.

They were joined on that occasion by FIA Vice President and regular F1 race steward Jose Abed, who was also head of the Mexican GP organising committee in past years, and by a representative of circuit designers Tilke.

The track will need a lot of work before it is ready to host an F1 race, including a new pit and paddock complex, while several corners have to be realigned.

A Mexican GP appeared on a provisional version of the 2014 calendar, with a November 9 date. It’s reported that an end of year date is again likely, effectively twinning the race with Austin. There has been talk of the race running in June, alongside Canada, although it would be impossible for the work to be completed by then.

Mexico hosted a round of the World Championship in 1963-70, and again from 1986-92.