Adam Cooper F1

The mayor of Sochi has cited a November date for the first Russian GP in 2014, some nine months after the Winter Olympics at the same site.

The choice is unusual since the month is already packed with races, and not surprisingly the weather won’t be very hospitable. Wikipedia notes a mean of 10.9 C for the month, and a record low of minus 5.4 C!

Often compared with Nice, Sochi is noted for its palm tree climate in the summer, and going there in the winter would seem to be a strange decision.

“It will be held in November, after the Olympics,” Reuters reports Anatoly Pakhomov as telling reports in Moscow.

“The circuit’s construction is being closely monitored by the regional government. Everything is going according to plan. If we had any problems we would have asked for help from other regions.”

Timo Glock is a happy man after securing a BMW drive

Following this week’s DTM testing in Valencia BMW has now formally confirmed that Timo Glock will have a race seat with the marque in 2013.

Former BMW F1 tester Glock pursued the DTM route as it became clear that Marussia was unable to retain him for this season, and the test was a formality.

“It is very exciting for me to drive for BMW again after all these years – and in such a top-class racing series as the DTM,” said Glock. “I had a fantastic time in Formula One, but am now looking forward to battling for victories again with my old friends at BMW Motorsport. That is the approach I shall be taking to the challenge of the DTM.

“I am obviously aware I will have to adapt to a few areas. Not all former Formula One drivers have found their feet immediately in the DTM. But I am using precisely that as my motivation. After winning the title in such impressive fashion last year, there can be absolutely no question that the BMW M3 DTM has everything it needs to allow us to compete at the front of the field again in 2013.”

“We are delighted to have Timo Glock back at BMW Motorsport,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt. “Over the course of his career, Timo has proven on more than one occasion how valuable he is to any team, thanks to his driving ability and open manner.

“The fact that he is now returning to the BMW family six years after leaving his role as test driver for the BMW Sauber F1 Team makes this appointment all the more pleasing. I am confident Timo will take no time at all to find his feet in the DTM and will give the fans a lot of pleasure.”

After his first DTM test yesterday Robert Kubica had some interesting things to say about his recovery and his hopes for the future – including a possible return to F1…

Ross Brawn and Lewis Hamilton in Brackley on Thursday

Ross Brawn made it clear today that he intends to stay on at Mercedes GP for the time being, and confirmed that he is firmly in charge – but at the same time admitted that he has yet to make a long term commitment to the company.

Brawn also in effect acknowledged that Paddy Lowe is seen by Mercedes as a potential successor, although he avoided going into too many specifics.

“I know the situation completely,” he said in a meeting with the British media. “Mercedes want a long term commitment. Obviously with a lot of additions [to the management] I want to see how things go before I make a final long term commitment.

“We have to have things in place… It’s rather like my succession plan at Ferrari. When I decided I was going to stop at Ferrari we’d built a succession plan, and I’ve been part of that. I’ve talked to Paddy, we know the situation… I’m planning on being here a very long time.”

Although he didn’t mention Niki Lauda – who has been wielding considerable influence since he came on board in October – Brawn was keen to point out that the buck stops with him. He also noted that Toto Wolff’s appointment will be a benefit.

“I am the team principal, I am in charge of sporting and technical and racing matters. Of course Toto’s coming in and there’s another side of the business that quite frankly I don’t want to get involved in.

“I don’t want to get involved in commercial activities on a day-to-day basis, I don’t want to get involved with the support we need to give Daimler on a day-to-day basis. There’s a lot of things which Toto will be doing which are complimentary to what I’m doing in terms of running the team.

“But you have to have one reference. Everybody knows that the only way a racing team will work is to have one reference. And I’m that reference.”

Robert Kubica enjoyed his first test in the Mercedes DTM car at Valencia today, running a handy 114 laps on a day affected by rain.

His last appearance in an F1 car to date came at the same track with Lotus Renault GP on February 3 2011.

“My first day of testing in a DTM car was great fun and I learned a lot about the series and the DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé,” said the Pole. “The first installation lap was in the dry, then a few heavy showers of rain came down and we had to wait for the track to dry out. All in all, it was a good experience, getting to know the car in different weather conditions.

“I was able to get to grips with the DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé and felt very comfortable in the car, even though after my long break it meant adjusting to the high downforce that a state-of-the art DTM race car produces. I’m very pleased with my performance on this first day of DTM testing and had no problems whatsoever in the car.”

Fernando Alonso will miss the first test of 2013 in Jerez, leaving the new Ferrari to Felipe Massa and Pedro de la Rosa.

Ferrari has opted for continuity – and the chance to give Massa some useful early mileage – by giving him the first three days of the Jerez test. De la Rosa will do the last, primarily to give him experience of the real car before he focuses on the developing the simulator programme.

Alonso will get his chance at the second test in Barcelona, where he will drive for three days before handing over to Massa.

At the second Barcelona test the two drivers will alternate, running two days apiece.

Ferrari also confirmed that the new car’s engine was fired up for the first time yesterday.

On the eve of his Mercedes DTM test Robert Kubica says it’s too early to make any comments about his future in the sport.

The Pole will try the car in Valencia on Thursday as he continues to investigate the possibility of a racing return.

“I’m really pleased that Mercedes-Benz is giving me the opportunity to test their DTM car and I’m looking forward to getting acclimatised to a race car again,” he said in a Mercedes statement.

“It will be in proper testing conditions, on a permanent circuit, and it’s important because the DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé has good levels of downforce. It’s still too early to make any statements about my future because of this one test. I’m just looking forward to tomorrow and we’ll see what happens after that.”

New Mercedes motor sport boss Toto Wolff has denied speculation that Paddy Lowe might be joining the company’s F1 team.

In a teleconference with British journalists he said: “I think Paddy’s a recognised person in the paddock, he has been with McLaren for 15 or 20 years, and I’ve read it in the paper, that’s all I can tell you. Obviously in F1 there’s always a lot of speculation about personnel or people joining or not joining. There’s nothing I can tell you at that stage. I’ve read it like you have read it.”

Asked if there was any truth in suggestions that he had tried to get Lowe to Williams before the Mercedes opportunity arose, he said: “It’s borderline to argue like this – there is no truth in it.”

He also denied suggestions from Eddie Jordan on the BBC website that Ross Brawn could be eased out of the team.

“This is speculation that is coming up in some of the media. I think I would be aware about that – it’s all speculation. Ross is there, he’s part of the leading team, and I hope Ross is going to stay as long as possible. So this is the current situation.”

He also pointed out that he had not yet been to Brackley and still had a lot to take on board.

“I need to sit down and understand the structure. It would be foolish to come in and speak about replacing anybody.”

Regarding how his new Mercedes role came about, Wolff confirmed that things have moved fast – and that the approach did not come from Niki Lauda.

“It has happened pretty quickly, actually. I have been involved with Mercedes since many years in DTM, so I have known people and all the company for quite some time. But actually things turned out to progress pretty quickly – so a couple of weeks at the maximum.

“It started because we are joined DTM with a conversation about the situation of Mercedes in F1. It wasn’t Niki.”

Sebastien Buemi will stay on as Red Bull Racing’s test and reserve driver, the team confirmed today.

The Swiss driver is thus seemingly out of contention for the remaining 2013 race seats, although as recent events have shown, anything is still possible.

“I know everyone at Red Bull Racing well and it’s good to remain with the team for another year,” said Buemi. “Of course my aim is to be driving at the races again, but I am still learning all the time from my work with the team. I help with the development of the car and provide feedback throughout the season, both at the factory and at races.”

Christian Horner added: “We’re pleased that Sébastien has continued as test and reserve driver for the coming season. He joined the Red Bull Junior Team in 2004, has worked with Red Bull Racing in 2008 and 2012 and has significant race experience. He is an integral member of the team and will complete important simulation work for us throughout the year.”

After the Timo Glock and Toto Wolff stories that broke in Germany on Sunday turned out to be true another surprise emerged last night when Sport Bild suggested that McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe is on his way to Mercedes.

The suggestion was that Lowe had originally been courted by Wolff for Williams, something that made some sense given that a) Mark Gillan’s departure has left a hole and b) Lowe worked for the team for six years before he joined McLaren in 1993, and a return might appeal to him.

The story claims that with Wolff now prioritising Mercedes he wants Lowe to go there instead.

Inevitably the questions to be asked are not only does Mercedes need another technical director in what is already a top heavy squad, but also who is doing the hiring at Brackley – Wolff, Ross Brawn or Niki Lauda? Intriguingly there have been rumours that the last named has been pursuing new recruits without Brawn’s knowledge…

The other curious element to the story is of course that if Lowe had made any form of commitment to Williams and had now been persuaded to move with Wolff, there would be repercussions. It doesn’t add up.

I’m willing to be proved wrong, but my own take on it is that understandably Paddy might be considering that, after 20 years at McLaren, the time is right for a new challenge. He may well have talked to Wolff or indeed others and got a feel for his market value, but has not yet made a commitment to go anywhere.

The fact that those discussions are now in the public domain and his current employer has been alerted to them might have come at an inconvenient time. Martin Whitmarsh and/or Ron Dennis have probably spent this morning either persuading him to stay or reminding him that he is not in a position to take a job elsewhere any time soon…