Adam Cooper F1

Mark Blundell’s company MB Partners is to manage the commercial rights of Kimi Raikkonen, in effect helping the Finn to generate more cash from personal sponsors and so on.

MB Partners will be working in “collaboration with his management and advisors,” Blundell having been a long time friend and some time on-track competitor of Steve Robertson.

Blundell said: “I have known Kimi’s management and advisors for a very long time and as such, we are working closely together on behalf of Kimi. He is without a doubt one of the best F1 drivers on the grid and combined with Ferrari are a powerful commercial proposition.”

Red Bull endured another disastrous day in Jerez as Daniel Ricciardo ran only three laps, and he failed to record a time before the team confirmed that it would not run again today.

On his first outing this morning he stopped on track with smoke rising from the rear of the car. The team is continuing to work with Renault to address packaging issues.

Adrian Newey and Christian Horner were spotted leaving the track.

Race Engineering Co-ordinator Andy Damerum said: “We worked hard yesterday to make the changes it was felt were necessary to overcome the problems we identified and we were hopeful of a more successful day today. Unfortunately, the measures we took only partially solved the issue and, as with yesterday, it’s more sensible to stop and dig deeper into finding a solution.

“It’s obviously not where we want to be and naturally the whole team is frustrated by these issues. However, we’re pretty good at bouncing back from this type of thing. This is where the whole team pulls together and I’m sure we will get these problems fixed.”

Max Chilton heads out in the Marussia. Photo: AC

Max Chilton has given the Marussia MR03 its first lap of Jerez after the team was forced to miss the first two days of running.

Team boss John Booth said: “As we saw in the step from 2012 to 2013, we have young but experienced and extremely talented technical and engineering groups within the Marussia F1 Team, who have contributed enormously to our rate of progression over the past couple of years. To have designed a car that is true to the concept first conceived in early 2012, despite the integration of an entirely new powertrain and whilst pushing hard to attain our 2013 Constructors’ Championship objective, is a testament to the extent to which we have matured as a technical organisation.

“We have nothing but good things to say about our new relationship with Scuderia Ferrari. They are extremely professional and have been entirely supportive from the beginning. There is excellent co-operation between our two technical groups in all areas of the new relationship and this has made the considerable challenge of integrating a new powertrain a great deal easier.”

“Through the course of 2012, we analysed every single element of the car,” said chief designer John McQuilliam. “From the tip of the nose to the trailing edge of the rear wing – knowing just how radically different the MR03 would be under such sweeping Technical Regulations. We have benefitted enormously from the stability of our design teams, with the same personnel beginning – and now concluding – the process over a 24 month period. I think we can feel justifiably proud of the way we have responded to such a significant challenge and the quality of car we have arrived at with the MR03.

“The car has been manufactured and finished to a very high standard, whilst achieving our most significant weight-saving targets to date and, importantly, with a crucial eye towards maintaining our excellent record of reliability. Without doubt, the greatest design challenge has been in terms of cooling, yet this is one of a few areas where we are not only very pleased with the design response, but also the degree of innovation we have achieved with our solution.

“All-new front and rear suspension layouts are a product of the new aerodynamic regulations placing greater emphasis on mechanical performance, with the mechanical systems now having far greater real road relevance.”

Jenson Button was upbeat the form of the new McLaren MP4-29 in Jerez today as the silver car finally got out on track.

Button topped the times as the team embarked on a steep learning curve with its new machine, having lost the whole of Tuesday to system gremlins.

“There’s no horrible issues with the car itself, no big issues with the power unit in terms of how it delivers,” said Button. “So the basic car itself is where we want it to be. We always aim to have a good base. The way it’s going to improve throughout the year in how much we’re going to add to this car aerodynamically, and also in development in terms of the engine, is massive, So having a good base is important.

“We did lots of different runs today. We weren’t able to to any long runs just because we had a few little issues. The good thing is that we were able to solve them pretty quickly and get out and put some laps in. I enjoy driving this car.

Regarding the Mercedes V6, he said: “The power unit doesn’t sound as good – it’s a fact. It’s not as exciting to hear from the outside, but when you’re driving it, it sounds good, we’ve got the turbo noise, we’ve got the wastegate noise. It’s actually quite a nice change.

“And the power of the engine is also nice. It’s very torquey. It feels the most powerful engine I’ve driven. It obviously isn’t in terms of outright power, but as a racing driver you feel the torque, you feel the power at low speed. At high speed you don’t feel the difference. It’s coming out of the corners when you have so much torque that it’s exciting. There’s a lot to improve with the car in that area. We have some many tools at our disposal and I know exactly what they are and how we can improve the car. So I’m happy with our pretend day one, if you forget yesterday.”

Mercedes recovered from yesterday’s front wing failure to log the highest mileage of any of the teams in action at Jerez today.

Using a revised wing Nico Rosberg went out on track at 11.35am and he went on to record 97 laps by the end of the day, compared with the 53 of the next most travelled car.

“That was a great team effort today,” said Rosberg. “We had to fix a problem on our car overnight. The guys worked through the night back at the factories and flew in the parts just in time this morning, so we were able to do a lot of mileage today which is great for our learning process. It was a great feeling to put some good miles on the new Silver Arrow, and there’s a lot of new stuff to clear, because it’s very different to the old car.

“It’s heavier, you have less downforce and the steering wheel is completely different; it’s almost like a smartphone with all the information on it! Every lap is important to get used to the new systems and it helped a lot that I have worked on this already in the simulator. We don’t know yet where we are compared to the other teams, but we can be quite happy after the first two days of testing here in Spain.”

Technical boss Paddy Lowe explained: “The team worked very hard overnight, both at the circuit and in the UK, to recover from yesterday’s wing failure. We had a slow start to the day, waiting for components to arrive from base, but we are happy with the solution that we found. The car left the garage just before midday and after resolving some minor issues, we began our planned programme at 1pm.

“Our objective was to put mileage on the car and we achieved a total of 97 laps without any major issues, which is a great credit to the teams at both factories and those trackside here at Jerez. We have a lot of data to analyse overnight and look forward to continuing our learning tomorrow.”

McLaren has announced that Eric Boullier will take up the job of racing director on February 3.

The Frenchman will report to a new chief executive officer, who has yet to be appointed, and who will in turn report to Ron Dennis. In the interim Jonathan Neale will hold that position.

The big question now is who will take that CEO role. Although his name has fallen out of the equation of late it could yet turn out to be Ross Brawn.

“First of all, I regard this appointment as an honour, a privilege and a wonderful opportunity,” said Boullier. “The McLaren Racing workforce and the facilities at the McLaren Technology Centre are world-class, and I’m hugely excited about the prospect of joining such an outstanding team. I’m both eager and determined to play an active part, working alongside McLaren Racing’s other senior managers and directors, within a new operational structure, to bring about the changes that will deliver success. Last, I want to take this opportunity to assure the McLaren Racing workforce that I’m utterly determined to match their famous passion and commitment to win.”

Ron Dennis said: “Eric’s appointment is an integral part of a senior management restructure within McLaren Racing. I’ve already personally conveyed to the entire workforce of the McLaren Group, which includes McLaren Racing, the values, principles and mindset that I intend us all to adopt, going forward. My intention is that from now on everyone at McLaren Racing will understand their responsibilities and accountabilities, focusing on their specific areas of expertise, in keeping with those values, principles and mindset.

“In due course we’ll announce the identity of McLaren Racing’s new Chief Executive Officer, who’ll report to me, and to whom Eric will report.

“I’m firmly of the belief that, once McLaren Racing’s restructured senior management team has been assembled, together we’ll begin the march back to full competitiveness, quickly and professionally, harnessing the fantastic depth of talent that exists within our organisation.”