Adam Cooper F1

Paul Pietsch – the last surviving driver of the pre-war Silver Arrows era – has died just a few weeks short of his 101st birthday.

He was a unique living link to the days of Tazio Nuvolari and Bernd Rosemeyer.

Born in 1911, the German spent his early career as a privateer. He started with a Bugatti in 1932, before getting his hands on an Alfa. However he showed enough promise to interest both Mercedes and Auto Union, signing for the latter after a test at the end of 1934.

As team mate to Rosemeyer, Hans Stuck Sr and Achille Varzi, Pietsch drove for Auto Union in six races in 1935. His best result was third in the Italian GP, where he shared his car with Rosemeyer. He left the team after his wife famously had an affair with Varzi, and following a divorce Pietsch sat out the 1936 season.

He returned in 1937, mainly driving private Maseratis. In perhaps his most famous race he drove for the works Maserati team in the 1939 German GP, briefly leading ahead of the fancied Silver Arrows. He eventually finished third after mechanical problems delayed him.

After WW2 he resumed his career, making three World Championship starts between 1950 and 1952. He drove a works Alfa Romeo in his home race in 1951, but his day ended in an accident.

Pietsch was equally well known off track for founding a famous motoring publishing company.

Tamas Frank, the promoter and main driving force behind the Hungarian GP, has passed away at the age of 65.

Frank was reportedly found dead at his apartment in Budapest this morning.

A close associate of Bernie Ecclestone, Frank was a familiar face in paddocks around the world. He was Vice President of the Hungaroring and of the MNASZ, the country’s motor sporting authority.

He also pushed the career of Hungarian F1 driver Zsolt Baumgartner.

His role in keeping the Hungarian GP going over the years via his personal connections with Ecclestone cannot be underestimated, and his death is thus a big loss for the country’s motor sport community.

Former Grand Prix driver Roy Salvadori has passed away at the age of 90.

His death comes just a few weeks after that of Carroll Shelby, with whom he shared the winning Aston Martin DBR1 at Le Mans in 1959.

A long time friend of Bernie Ecclestone, Salvadori started 47 World Championship races in a career that spanned from 1952 to 1962, with a best finish of second in the 1958 German GP.

Although inevitably overshadowed at F1 level by the likes of Stirling Moss, Tony Brooks, Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorn, he was considered one of the best British all-round drivers of the era.

Born to Italian parents in 1922, Salvadori started racing immediately after WW2. He made his World Championship debut at Silverstone in 1952 in a private Ferrari, in which he finished eighth.

He drove in five Grands Prix for the works Connaught team the following year, but failed to finish a race. Between 1954 and ‘56 he had occasional World Championship outings in Sid Greene’s Gilby Engineering Maserati 250F, but fared rather better on home soil, winning several non-championship F1 races against strong opposition.

His form did not go unnoticed, and in 1957 he had chances with three British works teams. He failed to qualify with BRM in Monaco, and then had a one-off outing for Vanwall in France. Joining Cooper he scored his first points with fifth in the British GP at Aintree.

In 1958 he was a Cooper regular, alongside Jack Brabham, as the rear-engined cars began to make their mark. He was fourth at Zandvoort, third at Silverstone, second at the Nurburgring, and fifth at Monza – accumulating enough points to finish fourth in the World Championship.

In 1959 he drove mainly for Aston Martin, taking a pair of sixth places in the uncompetitive and outdated rear-engined car. Meanwhile his Le Mans win with Shelby was proof that he was one of the best sportscar racers of his day. He mixed the Aston programme with other F1 outings in a private Cooper, a schedule that continued into 1960. That year he was also third at Le Mans for Aston, sharing with Jim Clark.

In 1961 he drove a Cooper for Reg Parnell’s Yeoman Credit team, alongside John Surtees, and earned a couple of sixth places. He very nearly won the US GP before his engine failed while he was catching leader Innes Ireland.

In 1962 he drove a Lola for the renamed Bowmaker team, again as team mate to Surtees, and suffered badly with unreliability. At the age of 40 he retired from F1 at the end of that season. He continued in sports and touring cars, and was closely involved in the birth of the Ford GT40 programme. He retired from racing in 1965, running his final race in a GT40 at Goodwood.

For a couple of years he shared his experience as team manager and test driver for the Cooper F1 team, where he worked with the likes of Bruce McLaren, Jochen Rindt and Pedro Rodriguez, not to mention a mechanic called Ron Dennis. After a disagreement he left the team before the start of the 1968 season.

For a while he ran a garage business before spending some four decades in retirement, living for many years in an apartment above the start/finish straight in Monaco with his wife Sue.

This document will be the source of much frustration at RBR

As expected the FIA has clamped down on the controversial Red Bull floor by clarifying its position and stating that the holes in front of the RB8’s rear wheels are not permitted.

The ruling, given via the traditional route of a Technical Directive sent to all the teams, applies from Canada onwards. It does not affect past results, which is normal when such clarifications occur.

Other teams had expressed their opposition to RBR’s interpretation of the rules applying to ‘surfaces lying on the step plane’, and the FIA came to its conclusion after reviewing that input – along with Red Bull’s opinion.

Ferrari and McLaren had considered a protest in Monaco but chose not to make one after the race, on the basis that they assumed that the FIA would come to such a conclusion.

Red Bull’s view was that in effect there was a grey area in the rules which did not specify that holes were banned in that particular place. However, the FIA now says “we disagree with this view and consider it implicit that fully enclosed holes may not be located there.”

Although the consensus was that the RBR holes did not necessarily provide a significant performance advantage the concern was that it could have led to developments that had a greater impact.

This writer has seen a copy of TD/013-12, the text of which reads as follows: “Following on from a number of discussions in Monaco, during which it became clear that certain misunderstandings existed, we feel it would be helpful to make our position clear with respect to the presence of a fully enclosed hole in any surface lying on the step plane.

“It has been argued that, as it is not explicitly stated that fully enclosed holes cannot be located in a surface lying on the step plane rearward of a line 450mm forward of the rear face of the cockpit template, then they may be located in such areas. We disagree with this view and consider it implicit that fully enclosed holes may not be located there.

“If they were permitted the opening part of the second paragraph of Article 3.12.5 (which was added to the regulations at the same time as Articles 3.12.9 and 3.12.10 for 2011) would be superfluous.

“Furthermore, locating a fully enclosed hole partly or wholly within the 50mm band which is exempt from the requirements of Article 3.12.10 along the outer edges of the surfaces lying on the step plane does not exempt it from the requirements of Article 3.12.5, those parts lying outboard of Y650 are still parts of the surfaces lying on the step plane.”

Ferrari is to run on online auction in aid of the victims of the Italian earthquake disaster, which has affected the region around the Maranello factory.

Among the star lots in the auction, to be hosted in a special section to be added to http://www.ferraristore.com, will be a 599XX Evo, valued at 1.3m euros. Ferrari says the car features “a package of performance-enhancing technical features for the exclusive, dedicated track-based research and development programme for the 2012-2013 seasons.”

From the F1 side will come a V8 F1 engine, and other car parts, plus suits and helmets. There will also be more mainstream items such as watches.

Ferrari says: “As soon as news about the earthquakes came out, Ferrari clients and collectors from around the world spontaneously contacted the Maranello headquarters to offer their contribution. Once again the generosity of Ferrari’s enthusiasts will enable the company to provide support to those most hit by the tragedy.

“A demonstration of solidarity that, in recent years, has contributed to the reconstruction in Abruzzo after the earthquake, as well as the building of two after-school facilities in Ishinomaki in Japan after last year’s disaster for which Ferrari contributed over 80 million Japanese yen.”

The Sauber team has produced an illuminating video showing a recent F1 car neatly sliced down the middle – a job that took the mechanics two years to complete.

It provides a unique insight into what really goes on beneath the skin of the car – in this case a 2008 model – with chief designer Matt Morris as your guide. What a great idea…

Former Oasis man Noel Gallagher has been added to the list of performers at the Singapore GP.

Gallagher reached number one in the UK with his High Flying Birds album last year, and will play songs from that as well as his former group.

He will actually appear twice over the course of the weekend, at the Pedang stage on Saturday, and the Village stage on race day.

Also playing  in Singapore are Jay Chou, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Bananarama, The Pretenders and The Proclaimers.

BTW, the news was supposed to be embargoed until midnight but since other sites have ignored that and ran it on the net the organisers have told me that it’s OK to print it now!

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali has praised Felipe Massa for his solid performance in Monaco on the back of a disastrous start to the season.

While his team mate Fernando Alonso has been fighting for the lead of championship prior to last weekend Massa had scored only two points in five starts, and had failed to reach Q3.

In Monaco he qualified seventh and eventually finished sixth, right on the tail of the leading group.

“I think that he did a great weekend,” said Domenicali. “It was the weekend that he deserved after a lot of weeks of big pressure, and I think that he did a great qualifying. You can always say that he could have been a bit better in Q3, but you have to look from another angle.

“He did a great race today, he was a little bit unlucky because he could have been out in front of Lewis for a fraction, but he was there in the first six cars that were very close, so that’s for me the best thing. I’m sure that this will be a turning of his season, because he needs that. It was a great boost for him. It’s something that we need for the constructors’ championship and for the team. So I’m expecting a good Felipe up to the end.”

Alonso meanwhile regained the championship lead after taking third place. Domenicali says that the team is working hard to improve the qualifying pace of the F2012, to give the Spaniard a better chance of fighting for wins.

“It’s a fact that this championship is really difficult to understand in terms of the complexity of what is the situation. For sure in terms of the pure performance of the car we had a very difficult start. But on the other hand we had a situation where we are not happy because we want to improve the car, because we have seen other cars at the moment have done pole position – we have not, so that has to be a target for the team. Because if you are fighting for pole position or you’re already on pole position then the race is totally different.

“This is something that we need to keep focussed on our side to make sure that things are working in that direction. And in that respect I feel that at home everyone is working to make sure that every race we keep on putting performance on the car, but that’s the only thing we have to do.

“On the other side I’m happy that we’re leading, with such a championship we need to make sure that we don’t lose points, because if you lose points, they are very heavy. There are so many drivers and competitors that are fighting for the win you have to be always there, and then the counts will be done at the end.”

Christian Horner has indicated that Mark Webber’s expected departure from Red Bull Racing at the end of 2012 is not a foregone conclusion.

The consensus in the paddock has long been that Webber will either retire at the end of this year or take Felipe Massa’s place at Ferrari – and will be replaced by either Daniel Ricciardo or Jean-Eric Vergne.

However Horner insists that there are good reasons for Mark to stay.

“Mark’s had a great day today, he’d driving very well, he’s in great shape,” said Horner after the Monaco win. “And you can see on a day like today that he’s absolutely on the top of his game. We have a very open and straightforward relationship with Mark, and today certainly doesn’t change that, it’s been the same situation for the last couple of years.

“Why would he want to leave? He’s comfortable in the team. The team know Mark very well, Mark knows the team very well. We’re only at race six, obviously a lot depends on his desire and motivation going forward which at the moment looks very clear. He’s doing a great job, we’re really happy with him. He’s really deserved today’s result.

“Mark’s doing a good job. Let’s focus on today, and the future will take care of itself.”

Asked to compare the team’s three Monaco wins, Horner said: “I think they all are sweet. The third one was pretty special, the second one was special as well, and this one feels just as good to become triple winners in Monte Carlo.

“I don’t think you do that by luck, and Mark’s become a double winner. He joins an elite group of double winners or multiple winners in Monaco. He really deserved it today.”

Hamilton joins Vettel in parc ferme at the end of a long afternoon

Lewis Hamilton struggled to conceal his frustration after finishing only fifth in Monaco, thus losing ground to his main title rivals.

Hamilton lost places to Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel in the pit stop sequence as McLaren’s strategy failed to pay off.

“It wasn’t the best result, but this is motor racing,” said Hamilton. “I really dislike going backwards, but nonetheless we still came away with some points, and there’s many, many more races ahead of us. We just have to keep our heads up and keep pushing.”

Hamilton’s day was spoiled by a bad start, but he still managed to hang onto his third place initially – although he had obviously hoped to get up to second.

“My start was one of the worst starts I had in a long time. I just don’t understand why it happened when the two guys next to me and the guys behind me got perfect starts. I was very, very fortunate not to get caught up in a crash. It’s quite an easy thing we do thousands and thousands of starts throughout the year, so it should not be a problem.

“Then after that, I don’t know how long my pit stop was, but I lost a lot of time. I wasn’t able to keep up with Alonso and then Sebastian got me in his pit stop. And then it’s impossible to overtake.”

Not for the first time this year, Hamilton couldn’t get the best out of the tyres.

“We were struggling a lot today, particularly in the low-speed corners, looking after the rear tyres there was so tough, and to make them last as long as we did, whilst trying to keep the pace of the guys in front, was one of the trickiest races I’ve had. And at this place just staying focussed is always a great challenge.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, because we are falling behind, race by race we are getting further and further behind the others, who are picking up serious pace. If we’re not lucky it will fall away from us too quick.”