Adam Cooper F1

As suggested here yesterday Timo Glock has moved swiftly to renew his relationship with BMW by testing at Valencia this week.

The company says only that it is an opportunity for the German to familiarise himself with the DTM car.

“We are pleased to be able to offer Timo Glock the opportunity to get to know our BMW M3 DTM in Valencia,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt, who worked with him at Toyota.

“Timo has demonstrated his driving ability over many years, particularly in Formula One. It is made all the nicer by the fact that he is, to a certain degree, returning to his roots in testing for BMW Motorsport.”

“I have fond memories of my time with BMW Motorsport and am very excited about testing the BMW M3 DTM,” said Glock. “Furthermore, I am bound to see a few familiar faces in Valencia from my previous time with BMW. I am really looking forward to it.”

Mercedes has confirmed that Toto Wolff will become executive director of its F1 team – and that both he and Niki Lauda will also become shareholders in the team.

Wolff will take up the Norbert Haug role and also oversee DTM and F3 activities on behalf of the company.

A statement said: “Daimler AG plans to reorganize its Formula 1 activities. In this context, Daimler has signed a letter of intent with Austrian investor and motorsport manager Toto Wolff, according to which Wolff will acquire a significant minority interest in the Daimler subsidiary Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. (MGP) and will also head that company as its executive director. Furthermore, Niki Lauda, currently non-executive chairman of MGP, will also acquire a stake in the company. Together with Ross Brawn, Lauda and Wolff will complete the management of the Mercedes-Benz Formula 1 racing team.”

Dr Dieter Zetsche, Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars and Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, explained: “As an entrepreneur, investor and motorsport manager, Toto Wolff has proven that this sport runs in his blood; at the same time, he is also well aware of the economic necessities of the business.

“With Toto Wolff, we have gained for our Formula 1 team not only an experienced motorsport specialist, but also a longstanding enthusiast of the Mercedes-Benz brand. Together with him and Niki Lauda, we will further develop our motorsport activities and guide our Silver Arrows into the next era.”

Wolff said: “Mercedes is one of the most important participants in motorsport worldwide. I am not only a big fan, but also a longstanding friend and enthusiast of the brand. I am looking forward to the challenge and, along with preparing for a successful racing season, also want to focus on the targeted promotion of new talent.

“I am leaving Williams on good terms and I will miss the team and friends I have made there. I’d also like to wish Frank and the whole of Williams the best of luck for the future.”

Williams has confirmed that Toto Wolff is giving up his seat on the board to take up his new job at Mercedes – although the Austrian will keep his shareholding.

The team said: “Toto will be relinquishing his seat on the Company’s Board of Directors but will retain his shareholding. Team Principal and majority shareholder Sir Frank Williams will continue to oversee the running of the Company with Toto’s responsibilities being shared between members of the Board’s Executive Committee.”

Sir Frank Williams commented; ‘’I would like to thank Toto for his hard work, dedication and commitment to the team during his time as a Director of the Company. He was a key support to me as Executive Director last season, deputising at a number of races when I was unable to attend.

“However, positions such as the one offered to him by Mercedes do not come around often. Toto has a long history with them and I certainly was not going to stand in the way of him accepting this once in a lifetime opportunity. Toto will retain his shareholding in Williams and will always have a place at Grove but make no mistake; we will fight him hard on the racetrack!

“I am sure he will be a strong asset for Mercedes and on behalf of the whole team I would like to wish him the best of luck in his new role. I’m lucky to have a very professional group of people around me and the Company’s Executive Committee will continue the work they have been doing to ensure a successful future for the business.”

Marussia has now formally confirmed that Timo Glock has left the team by “mutual consent.”

In what was called a joint statement from driver and team, John Booth said: “Timo has made a very significant contribution to our Team over the past three seasons, helping us to develop our package to the point where, for a large proportion of the 2012 season, we were holding 10th place in the Constructors’ Championship. Timo is a fantastic driver and he has been a very popular member of the Team.

“Our Team was founded on the principle of benefiting from proven experience whilst also providing opportunities for young emerging talent to progress to the pinnacle of motorsport. Thus far, this philosophy has also been reflected in our commercial model.

“The ongoing challenges facing the industry mean that we have had to take steps to secure our long-term future. Tough economic conditions prevail and the commercial landscape is difficult for everyone, Formula 1 teams included.

“We would like to thank Timo for working with us to reach this decision, especially as he had a valid contract, and also for the contribution he has made to our Team. We wish him all the best for his future and I would like to congratulate the next team acquiring the services of such a competitive, professional and experienced racer.

“We will provide an update regarding the completion of our driver line-up in due course.”

Glock said: “I have had three excellent years with the Marussia F1 Team, during which I had the chance to actively participate in building and developing the Team in its endeavours to succeed within the Formula 1 World Championship. I would like to wish the Team good luck in navigating this next period and thank everyone for the great times we shared and the support I have received. Although it is not the path I expected to be taking, I am in fact very excited about what the future holds in terms of my own career and I hope to comment on that very soon.”

After the story broke last night the future of Timo Glock will become clearer when Marussia formally confirms later this morning that the German driver has parted company with the team.

As suggested here yesterday economic realities mean that the team has to take a driver with funding rather than continue paying Glock’s salary for a fourth season. Glock is pursuing a future in the DTM and will presumably get a chance to test at Valencia this week.

The name of his replacement at Marussia will not be announced today as negotiations are still ongoing. Obvious names in the frame include the likes of Bruno Senna and Luis Razia.

A split between Marussia and Timo Glock will be announced as early as Monday, according to Germany’s Bild newspaper.

Although there has been no official word from either party the paper quotes Glock as saying “I have had a great experience with Marussia F1 for three years, and we part in friendship,” adding that he will look for “new challenges.”

Glock was due to be heading into the fourth year of his relationship with the team and the only conclusion can be that it has had to take a driver with sponsorship rather than continue to pay Glock’s salary – a scenario similar to that playing out with Caterham and Heikki Kovalainen.

It remains to be seen which drivers are on the short list to join Max Chilton. Glock meanwhile has a relationship with BMW going back to his time as an F1 test driver, and could yet find a berth in the DTM.

Toto Wolff could be taking over Norbert Haug’s role as motor sport director of Mercedes, according to Germany’s Bild newspaper.

Haug’s job encompasses the DTM and F3 as well as F1 and thus it makes some sense given that Wolff has long had a stake in HWA, the company that runs both programmes on behalf of Mercedes.

However as a co-owner of HWA he clearly would not be a direct replacement for Haug, given that the latter was a Mercedes employee.

It remains to be seen where such a role – if it does indeed include the Mercedes F1 programme – would leave Wolff’s involvement with Williams. The 41-year-Austrian acquired a stake in the team in November 2009 and was named executive director last year, having increased his day-to-day involvement with the team after the departure of Adam Parr.

“This is the moment where I was kind of pushed into a more active role,” he told this writer. “I stepped into some things Adam did, and this was basically helping Frank in sporting decisions, having a close relationship to the FIA and the commercial rights holder, supporting Claire [Williams]  with our key sponsors, key partners.”

Until now he’s maintained his parallel shareholdings in HWA and Williams without problem, but logic suggests that a Mercedes job encompassing F1 would make a hands-on role with the Grove team untenable.

Williams is the first team to confirm that it has opted for a late launch of its 2013 contender, preferring to unveil the new FW35 at the start of the Barcelona test on February 19.

In effect the team has given itself at least two more weeks of R&D compared with rivals who are making their official debut at Jerez on February 5, and in most cases will actually shake down their new cars earlier than that.

Williams will be at Jerez with last year’s car running in the new 2013 livery, and says it will “take the opportunity to test a number of key development parts in preparation for the launch of the FW35.”

Silverstone chief medical officer Dr Ian Roberts has been named as the new FIA Formula One Medical Rescue Coordinator.

He replaces American Gary Hartstein, whose contract was not renewed by the FIA at the end of last season.

Roberts reports to Professor Jean-Charles Piette, the FIA’s permanent Medical Delegate to F1.

The FIA says that Dr Roberts “is a consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care and a veteran HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) practitioner. He is vastly experienced in trackside emergency response and is best known within the motorsports community as the chief medical officer of the Silverstone Circuit.”

Responding to the news of his successor Hartstein said “Congrats to Ian. Would certainly have been on my short list. Really good doc, skilled leader, great guy.”

Fernando Alonso has responded to criticism from Red Bull boss Helmut Marko, who recently suggested that the Spaniard lost last year’s title because he was “too busy with politics.”

Alonso doesn’t have much time for that theory.

“I don’t think I am good at politics, I just drive the car,” he said in Italy today. “Some recent remarks have surprised me, but I can’t see the sense in them. Some say they don’t read them, don’t hear them and don’t see them, before adding that they are not influenced by them. So clearly they do read them, maybe at night…”

Alonso has consistently said that Lewis Hamilton, rather than triple champion Sebastian Vettel, is the driver he fears most.

“Why do I say Hamilton is the strongest? Because it’s what I think, it’s my personal opinion and there is nothing political in that. Lewis has always won races ever since he has been in Formula 1, even in years like 2009, when he had started the season with a car that was two seconds off the quickest. When you look at what happens on track, you are well aware of what he is doing, that’s a fact. Last year, Rosberg won in China, therefore I expect that this year, Lewis in a Mercedes can win more than one race.

“I did not say that Vettel was not the strongest or that he did not deserve his three titles. There have been periods, like in 2011, when his performance level was fantastic and he was definitely the best. As of today, it’s impossible to say who will be our strongest rivals in 2013.

“Who will have the best car, who will have done the best job of preparation and had the best development, who will be the luckiest – there are so many factors which go to make the strongest combination of driver and team.”