Adam Cooper F1

Lotus Renault GP chairman and Genii boss Gerard Lopez has expressed his frustration about the fight over the Lotus name – and he says Team Lotus is holding out because a change of constructor name could cost it millions in payments from the Formula One organisation.

“I think it’s a shame, and it’s a shame for the brand also,” said Lopez in Valencia. “I’m actually a big fan of the brand. What I don’t like and I dealt with the press for many years, not only in F1 but also in business, you’ve got to call a spade a spade. I can tell when somebody is trying to twist things.

“It’s a shame because we’ve never twisted things in any form or fashion, we’ve just said that we have a partnership, Lotus is a straight car company. They want to promote their brand, and honestly there’s only one Lotus car company. Anything else is a bunch of BS.

“I am aware of the negotiations that took place, and I know that money is essentially the centre piece of this. It’s not passion, it’s not taking over Colin Chapman’s legacy or whatever. It’s a fact that if 1Malaysia Racing changes their name, they lose their FOM money. And yeah, it’s an issue for them, and it’s probably one I wouldn’t take too kindly too if I was in their shoes. Obviously I would be fighting. But just admit to the reality, it’s nothing else.”

He also cited the example of the announcement of a black and gold colourscheme by Team Lotus, which came after Lotus and Renault had begun pursuing the same idea.

“Playing things like who came up with the black and gold – and at the end of the day we don’t do the same games. If I had a Twitter account I could have emailed everybody and said here’s proof that we communicated with a bunch of agencies in black and gold in August, before anybody said anything. We just don’t want to enter that kind of stuff. The Chapman family kinda likes what we’re doing, not for better or worse or whatever, because at the end of the day we’re not trying to be any sort of legacy or link to Mr Chapman. This a completely different team.”

Bruno Senna was announced today as the latest recruit to a growing group of reserve and test drivers at Lotus Renault GP, with Romain Grosjean and Fairuz Fauzy also on the list and Jan Charouz and Ho-Pin Tung part of the extended family.

However when asked by this blog team principal Eric Bouillier confirmed that in an emergency Senna would have priority as he is the ‘most ready’, having raced in F1 last year.

“I will give it to the one who is ready,” he said. “Obviously Bruno is the most ready driver. Romain is here as well, and there’s a morale strategy to put back a French driver, which is another subject, but in France there is a concern now no French GP and no more whatever. We have we think a valuable driver, and we would like to put him back in F1, but he has to commit to some stuff beforehand, and GP2 is one of those things.”

He also said it was unlikely that any of the testers would run on Fridays: “If it’s possible it’s only because the engineers on the race team are convinced we can run one Friday morning without affecting the race programme.”

Senna meanwhile will also be a test and development driver for Group Lotus, thus replicating the role his uncle had with Honda.

“It’s a really exciting opportunity from both Group Lotus and Lotus Renault GP,” said Senna. ” To be able to develop my Formula One career within a World Championship winning organisation and to do so in conjunction with some hugely interesting work for such an iconic sports car company as Lotus is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

“Lotus has placed a great deal of faith in me and I am looking forward to beginning work on the technical side of our relationship. Giving feedback into the development of the Lotus road and race programs will be a fun but challenging way to spend time between my Formula One commitments as a reserve driver for Lotus Renault GP.

“My relationship with Lotus is just at the beginning, for me the aim is to continue to make progress in my Formula One career whilst at the same time contributing to the success of the various Lotus projects I will be involved with. There are some fun times ahead!”

“We’re delighted to have Bruno on board,” said Lotus Director of Motorsport Claudio Berro. “In his young motorsport career he’s built up a great armoury of skills and experience. He’s a fast learner and this talent combined with his ability to shift between different types of race car will make him a great asset to Lotus. Normally people like to talk about the ‘technology transfer’ between F1 and road cars but in Bruno’s case we’re opening this up to an intellectual transfer – we’re certainly going to keep him busy!”

It remains to seen how much mileage any of the young guys get in the R31…

The Renault R31 is unveiled to the world in Valencia

The Renault R31 was unveiled in Valencia this morning, a  little over six hours after Team Lotus showed its car on the web.

Joining Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov for the presentation were test drivers Romain Grosjean and Bruno Senna and Gravity proteges Jan Charouz and Ho-Pin Tung.

“For Genii Capital and Lotus Renault GP, the 2011 season will be the one in which we achieve our aims,” said team chairman and Genii boss Gerard Lopez. “We now have 100% ownership of the team, and we’re tackling the coming championship with the intention of continuing to do things our way – but always with humility. I would like to welcome Lotus Cars, a new ambitious title sponsor with us for the long term. Renault and Total have also chosen to accompany us again in this adventure and we thank them for their valuable contribution.

“Our aim for 2011 is to continue our march towards the front of the grid, seize the slightest opportunity and do better than last season in both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. We feel we are well prepared for the challenge ahead.”

Team principal Eric Boullier said: “All the hard work over the winter has been focused on delivering a big improvement for 2011. The result is a car with more than 92% new parts compared to the R30. But technical innovation isn’t the only key to performance. Since last year, we have reviewed all our internal processes and our overall efficiency has now improved by 15%. That means we should be more competitive than last year, on the track and at the factory.”

Technical director James Allison hopes that the team has made a big step.

“Words like ‘aggressive’ and ‘innovative’ are very much in vogue in Formula 1 at the moment, but where the R31 is concerned we feel those adjectives are appropriate. It’s true to say that the car has been designed in an ambitious manner and a quick glance at the layout will confirm that its entire concept differs considerably, not just from last year’s car, but from any car this team has ever produced.”

Kubica and Petrov pose with their new toy

Sergio Perez poses with the new car this morning

The Sauber C30 was unveiled in Valencia this morning at the start of what promises to be a busy couple of days. The car retains its white and graphite livery, but on contrast to this time last year features a lot of sponsorship – with Telmex and other Mexican names figuring prominently.

The car, which has a higher nose than its predecessor has a Ferrari engine, gearbox and KERS package. It’s the first product of the team’s relationship with technical director James Key, who joined last April.

“We want to finish in the points regularly and clearly improve our position in the FIA Formula One Constructors’ World Championship,” said Peter Sauber, “2010 marked the 41^st year of our company history and one of the most difficult. But we managed to overcome these difficulties in the second half of the season. We implemented some well-considered structural changes. The appointment of James Key as Technical Director already bore fruit last season, and he is now in charge of development of the Sauber C30-Ferrari. At the same time, we have managed to secure our business foundation for the 2011 season. In these economically straitened times that is something we can be proud of too.

Key said: “In order to take a step forward in 2011, we were already systematically tackling the C29’s weaknesses over the last season – and we’ve made progress. The insights we gleaned were taken into account when the concept for the new C30 was being drawn up. Since some of the changes decreed by the regulations – particularly regarding the tyres – can only be analysed out on track, it was important for us to build, firstly, a fundamentally predictable car and, secondly, one that would provide sufficient flexibility to respond to ongoing findings at the track and during further development stages.”

New boy Perez said: ““I’m aware how challenging Formula One is from both a driver’s point of view and technically. I’ve got a lot to learn, and in Kamui I have an excellent yardstick. My personal goal is to make steady progress. The support I’m getting back in my home country is huge, and I don’t want to disappoint anyone over there either.”

The Lotus T128 appeared online in the early hours of the morning

The new Lotus T128 was revealed on the internet early this morning as the team found a way to upstage the launch of the Lotus Renault GP contender later today.

The most intriguing thing about the car is that having announced that it would be called the TL11 – thus seeming to avoid any aggro over using an ‘official’ Lotus type number – the team had gone ahead and called it the T128.

This year’s car should be a huge step relative to its predecessor. The team has switched from Cosworth to Renault power but more importantly has an ‘off the shelf’ Red Bull gearbox and hydraulic system, which will massively improve performance and reliability.

However the main advantage comes from the fact that the design and engineering team has had a proper shot at creating a car, whereas the T127 was done in a massive rush by a group of ex-Toyota designers working in an office in Cologne. This year they have had the time to do the job they wanted.

One thing the pictures do reveal is that the car has a similar ‘spike’ rollhoop arrangement to last year’s Mercedes, something that was believed to have been addressed by rule changes for this year.

The team is much stronger than at this time last year

Merc released the pic this PM after giving Bild a morning scoop...

The Mercedes MGP W02 has emerged in Bild Am Sonntag, in what the paper claims as a World exclusive, prior to its official launch on Tuesday.

The head-on picture doesn’t give too much away, other than showing that the car has a very different airbox/rollhoop arrangement and possibly a higher nose. The front wing appears to be from last year.

It also confirms that the car has a new silver livery with less of a matt finish, while the Petronas signage is now white on turquoise. And it has Pirelli stickers!

Bild Am Sonntag has revealed the new Mercedes

The Senna documentary has won the World Cinema Audience Award in the World Documentary category at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

Senna was one of 12 films from an entry of 796 to make the final cut at Sundance, and it has received rave reviews all week. The Audience Award, picked up by director Asif Kapadia, will be a vital boost in enabling the film to get a wider distribution in the USA.

“This is fantastic,” said Kapadia, who was so surprised he apologised for being underdressed for the occasion. “First time properly in Sundance, first documentary. It’s been an amazing experience. This festival has kind of restored my faith in festivals almost. It’s about the films, it’s about the filmmakers, it’s about the audience. Every seat is full and it’s just been amazing. This kind of tops it off.”

The film did not win the main World Documentary prize, as voted for by the jury, which went to Hell and Back Again.

In fact Senna was unlucky to come up against a film with a very topical and very American theme, and which was bound to be well received in Utah – it even has music from Willie Nelson!

In the official Sundance guide the Hell and Back Again story is described thus: “Told through the eyes of one Marine from the start of his 2009 Afghanistan tour to his distressing return and rehabilitation in the US, we witness what modern ‘unconventional’ warfare really means to the men who are fighting it.”

As a USA/UK co-production it was eligible for the World Documentary section.

Senna also won an award in Italy on Saturday.

Davide Valsecchi and Luiz Razia look set to be announced as test drivers for Team Lotus, with both men expected to have a chance to drive on some Friday mornings – as Fairuz Fauzy did last year.

Razia was on a one-year deal with Virgin Racing as a test driver last year. He didn’t get much running, although he did take part in the Young Driver test in Abu Dhabi. It’s believed that his sponsors preferred that he follow the Lotus route, and that the split with Virgin is an amicable one.

Valsecchi has been in GP2 for three years, winning the Asian title in 2009. The 24-year-old Italian impressed when he had a go in the HRT at the Young Driver test.

Both men are also expected to drive for the sister Air Asia GP2 team, which means any Fridays they do will be outside Europe, when they have no GP2 commitments.

Here is the wing in 'normal' position...

...and here it is apparently in 'deployed' mode

The official pictures of Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari F150 shakedown at Fiorano yesterday gave us a chance to see the movable rear wing flap in action.

The wing is clearly going to be a major feature of upcoming testing for all the teams as teams test reliability and the drivers experiment with how to use it in practice and qualifying trim – where they are free to deploy whenever they want – and in race trim, when they can use it while running behind another car, but only when the FIA permits.

Teams still have a lot to learn about the wings. One technical director told me this week that while the wing ‘springs back’ into place automatically when a driver brakes at the end of the straight – with his car at least – that process might not happen fast enough to get the downforce back in time to get round the corner safely (we’re talking about just a tenth here). Thus the driver may have to press the button himself just before he brakes. Another thing to remember!

At some stage in testing drivers will probably want to find themselves in a traffic situation so that they can try it out. Indeed ‘friendly’ teams such as Red Bull and STR or McLaren and Force India could actually co-ordinate such a test. Not so sure that the two Lotus teams will co-operate though…