Adam Cooper F1

McLaren Racing, the company name behind the F1 team, declared a profit of £50.1m in 2009, up from just £5.9m in 2008.

In addition to the leap in profits, turnover – which includes sponsorship and ‘Bernie money’ related to the Concorde Agreement – rose from £139m to £175m.

The team also paid a dividend of £15m to its parent company, the McLaren Group.

The numbers emerged last week when the team’s accounts finally reached the public domain, several weeks later than scheduled.

As is often the case with F1 team accounts all is not what it seems, and the profit figure was impacted by some changes within the McLaren Group, mainly relating to the Automotive division being moved out.

“Firstly it was not a bad year,” team principal Martin Whitmarsh told this writer in Brazil. “But the fact is it was enhanced by an artificial situation, which was the transfer or sale of Automotive by Group. So Group had an income from the sale of Automotive. It was more of an accounting issue. Overall it was a good and profitable year, but enhanced by some artificial organisational changes within the Group.

“It’s an unusual year because of what’s been going on. Racing has been the cash cow in our portfolio, Group has been loaning money to Automotive, we separated Automotive out, and Automotive had to pay money back into the group to balance that, so it was an accounting process. The fact is on our racing operation we are profitable, and all the other companies in the group have been making a profit.

“Inevitably any income helps – looking back at the last 20 years, if you look at it from an F1 perspective, we’ve generally had an operating profit. As a group we have been investing in diversifying, and that has influenced the shape of the accounts.”

One intriguing aspect is the payment from Mercedes. That fell from £44.2m in 2008 to £34.8m last year, presumably reflecting the fact that from the autumn onwards the manufacturer was in the process of backing out of the team to do its own thing.

That figure does not represent pure cash flow, but also takes into account the supply of ‘free’ engines. However Whitmarsh did not elaborate on the fall in 2009.

“I can’t comment on it because we have a confidential contract with Mercedes. We have an obligation within our accounts to disclose certain information, but our contract with Mercedes requires both them and us to treat it as confidential. So I can’t add to anything that it says in the accounts.”

The number of employees rose from 611 to 643, although the wage bill went down, presumably reflecting success bonuses paid out in the light of Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 title win.

The accounts also confirm that as of January 1 this year the shareholding in McLaren Racing was split between Bahrain’s Mumtalakat group (42%), Ron Dennis (21%), TAG Holdings (21%) and Daimler (16%).

Those figures have not changed since, but will do for next year, when the first three are expected to take control of Daimler’s stake.

“At the moment it is the Group that is buying back the equity from Daimler,” Whitmarsh confirmed, “unless there’s another interested investor.”

One intriguing number is the value of £5.4m accounting number placed on McLaren’s large collection of historic cars, including many driven by the likes of Senna and Prost. One assumes that their insurance and sale value is rather more than that…

Hamilton says he faces no pressure going to Abu Dhabi

Lewis Hamilton says this year’s title showdown feels different from his previous experiences in 2007 and 2008 because he is such an outsider, needing to win with Alonso not scoring and Vettel and Webber well down the order.

Given the situation he says he doesn’t face any pressure.

“I’ve been in the hunt for the world championship at the final race of the season on two previous occasions, so I know all about the pressure you feel when the title is almost within touching distance,” he said in a team preview.

“This year, it feels a little different – although I’m still mathematically in with a shout, I’m fully aware that, being 24 points behind, I’ll not only need to win the race on Sunday but see the championship leader finish outside the points. And, even then, that might not be enough. So I’m not feeling the pressure in quite the same way as I did in 2007 or 2008.

“That’s not to say I’m going into the race weekend feeling any less determined or motivated: we’ve seen before that this championship can be unpredictable and volatile – and I think this last race of the year could be even more unpredictable than normal.

“I know from personal experience that the championship isn’t over until you cross the line on the final lap – so I’ll not only make sure I’m up there at the end, but pushing hard until the very end. It’s going to be a brilliant spectacle, and a great event for Formula 1 fans around the world – I absolutely can’t wait.”

Meanwhile team principal Martin Whitmarsh says the team will be going all out this weekend.

“While it was deeply frustrating for every single one of us to finally be ruled out of the hunt for the constructors’ championship in Brazil last weekend, we’re all absolutely determined to hold on to second position, and to extend the gap over third-placed Ferrari,” he said.

 “Both Jenson and Lewis drove absolutely superb races at Interlagos, and the reality is that another double points-finish would likely push us beyond the reach of our closest rivals.

“Even more importantly, we are still in the hunt for the drivers’ championship with Lewis, albeit by the very narrow margin of a single point. Nonetheless, we all know that Lewis is a fearsome competitor and is absolutely fired-up to secure a second world title.

 “Indeed, let’s not forget that Lewis has gone into the final round of the season in the hunt for the title in three of his four Formula 1 seasons – a quite incredible record. And, knowing Lewis as I do, he will be absolutely determined to drive a relentless race in order to pressure his rivals as much as possible in order to maximise his position.

 “For this final race, the team’s role is simple. We must provide Lewis with the support he needs to sustain his title challenge – that will call for faultless reliability, a slick and decisive strategic plan and perfectly executed pitstops from his pit crew. It may sound like a long-shot, but I’m absolutely convinced that Lewis, Jenson, and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, will all be players in what promises to be an absolutely enthralling world championship showdown.”

Felipe Massa’s frustrating 2010 season took another turn for the worse in Brazil when he had a problem with the right front wheel at his pit stop.

The wheelnut was cross-threaded, and he had to tour round to the pits and make a second stop. It was perhaps Ferrari’s good fortune that the problem happened to Felipe, and not on Alonso’s car…

Later while trying to recover he had a tangle with Sebastien Buemi before eventually finishing 15^th. His luck has been so bad that it was the fifth time that he failed to score points in 2010, and only one of those was an actual retirement – his first lap crash in Japan.

“Everything happened in the race,” said Massa. “It started in the first pit stop. I changed tyres and the front right was not tight on the car, so I couldn’t turn the car to the left, so I had to come in again. My race was completely destroyed, because stopping twice in a row was a disaster for this track.

“And then after the safety car I had another possibility, but when I was passing already in front of Buemi he touched my wheel, and then he pushed me out of the track. That was really a shame. But anyway, in the race everything happened. The worst thing was the pit stop.”

“It was unfortunate because the strategy he chose was correct,” said Stefano Domenicali. “In fact without the problem he was in front of Jenson at the exit of the pitlane, and the race would have been totally different. He would have been fifth.

“Unfortunately there was a problem on the side, with the wheelnut cross-threaded. He was very lucky not to lose the tyre, so it was fortunate that he came back. After that the race was spoiled for him. For sure the season was not easy, but we can totally count on him for the next one.”

Meanwhile Massa says he’s ready to support Alonso in Abu Dhabi: “The championship is still very much alive. For sure we need to concentrate on the next race. It’s a track I don’t know, it’s the first time I’m going to race there. But anyway I’m just going to try to do my best.”

Nico Hulkenberg says he has no idea what the future holds for him at Williams after his impressive qualifying performance in Brazil.

Pastor Maldonado is waiting in the wings, although it remains to be seen whether the Venezuelan jumps straight into a Williams race seat or is loaned out to Hispania as part of the gearbox deal. Maldonado is due to test for the Spanish-owned team in Abu Dhabi.

“I don’t know yet,” said Hulkenberg when asked about his 2011 plans. “Ask Patrick or Frank. I can’t tell you what they think right now. I think I’ve done everything right this weekend, made the most out of my chances.

“Talent should come first [rather] than money in F1. But obviously with the economy having some trouble, it’s become a valid point. It may change things that I still hope that things go the way, how they should go. Rubens and I are the perfect driver combination, and I really hope we can drive together again.”

Hulkenberg said he was happy with his weekend, even if pole only resulted in eighth place.

“A positive weekend. Obviously yesterday was a big highlight for us and myself. We made the most of our opportunities. The race pace looked very poor, especially in the first stint we were struggling a lot on the option tyre. So we made the most of it. I’ll take the eighth, four points, which puts us one point ahead of the Force India guys. So that’s the positive news.

“Obviously I was a bit more nervous than usually, but if you’re nervous it’s also good, it keeps you awake and sharp. I’m used to starting from the front in GP2 and F3, but obviously this one was a bit special and different. My start was OK. I lost one position to Sebastian, who had a very good start. And then you know trying to keep in front of the big guns, the big boys, as much as I could. I defended hard but fair. I drove the race without a mistake, kept Kubica behind me all the time.

“It was very difficult. I knew where to brake and what to do, but my car was sliding a bit more than theirs, so I was sort of an easy target for Mark. Alonso was also quite quick to pass. But then Lewis struggled a bit more. In fact he didn’t even get past, just because I pitted.

“If we had a better car pace we could easily have finished fifth or sixth, we got only overtaken at the pit stops. Both Mercedes, Jenson, people who came from P14 are now well ahead of us, which is quite unfortunate. With half a second better pace per lap, we can achieve a lot more.”

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali was pretty relaxed about the outcome of the Brazilian GP on Sunday afternoon, even though Fernando Alonso missed the chance to put the World Championship beyond doubt.

Nevertheless he still has a useful lead, one that means finishing first or second means it doesn’t matter what anyone else does.

“I have to be very honest with you, I was totally focussed on the fact that the championship would have been finished in Abu Dhabi, speaking for the drivers’ [version] of course,” said Domenicali.

“I was not convinced that the championship would be finished here, unless there was a problem of reliability. But we know Red Bull is very, very strong, and I take the opportunity to congratulate them, because they deserved this title on the constructors’. They did the best job of everyone, and they deserved this title.

“On the other hand it’s great that we are going to Abu Dhabi to fight with them for the other title. This is for me great news for the team. It’s very important.

“We don’t have to make a very difficult calculation. We know that if we are in the middle of the two Red Bulls, it’s fine. But apart from that we need to make sure that we are fast. We need to do a perfect qualifying, as you know that it’s very important, fundamental. And we need to do the best that we can.

“We need to wait up to the last metre, because reliability is a big point. Everyone will be worried about not only engines, but everything. So that will be a very long race in Abu Dhabi.”

He admitted that the situation was complicated by having two main rivals, in that if one Red Bull retires, the other could still be there.

“It’s a problem, because there are two instead of one. For sure they’re in a better position, but we know that we need to look inside, we don’t need to look at what the others will do. We need to do the best race, the fastest race, the fastest qualifying. Who will win will deserve the title, for sure.”

Domenicali says that the easiest thing is just to win the final race: “We’ll try. It’s something that we need to do, because if you win it’s easy. No calculation! But we know the Red Bull is very strong, it was strong last year. But last year on our side we were in a very different scenario, we stopped development. I think it will be a very challenging race.”

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner says that the team will not impose any orders in Abu Dhabi next week.

In essence that means that it’s up to Sebastian Vettel to decide whether he will move over and help Mark Webber’s championship challenge, should his own chances be finished.

“It’s not down to us to put team orders,” said Horner. “The drivers know that they need each other. It would have been wrong for us this weekend to remove one of the drivers from the World Championship effectively. If they’re in that situation I’ve every confidence that they will do the best thing for the company, which is to ensure that we achieve the best result. Still a few racing laps before we get there.

“Both drivers can win this World Championship. We’ve backed them all year, and we’ll do it again next weekend. They’ve both got a chance. Some of it will depend on what Fernando does, but we’re going there with an objective to try and win the championship, and I’m sure that they’ll do the best they can to ensure that we lift the trophy.”

Meanwhile Horner paid tribute to his RBR crew for winning the constructors’ title. “Red Bull Racing as constructors’ champions is an unbelievable feeling, and it’s testimony to the team, the effort, the commitment that’s gone in. It’s just mind boggling. Together with all the backing we’ve had from Red Bull, particularly Mr Mateschitz, who had the vision, had the dream, and gave us the opportunity to fulfil it.

“It’s about what you do on the track, not what you do in the pit lane. We’ve done a great job this year. We’ve won eight Grands Prix, this was our fourth one-two finish. “This season we’ve won Monaco, we’ve won Silverstone, we’ve won Brazil. We should have won more, but we’ve still won more than anybody else, so an unbelievable year. And still both drivers are very much in contention for the drivers’ World Championship.”

Jenson Button has just recounted the story of his unfortunate encounter with armed robbers in Sao Paulo last night.

Button and his entourage had a lucky escape, because a group of Sauber engineers were later attacked, losing their rucksacks, among other items. Their attackers comprised a group of five men, one of whom had a machine gun, which matches the description of the Button attackers.

Button explained the events as follows: “I was with our driver, we were driving in a B-Class Merc, heading down just outside the circuit, about a kilometre away, if that. We pulled up at some traffic lights about three rows back. It’s a three lane road, about six or seven cars in front of us.

“Our driver as always stops early, doesn’t pull up right behind the car in front. and we looked to the right and then we saw a few guys gathering just at the side of the road, just at the entrance to a building. They were just stood there, they looked a bit suspect, but we didn’t think anything of it. Then Richard saw that one had a baton hanging down from his arm. One guy was playing around with something in his trousers, and it was a gun.

“As soon as I said that the driver looked across, and they saw him look and started running towards the car. So we angled the car and floored it – it didn’t look like there was a big enough space there, and we got between six cars, just rammed every single car to get past, got through in the end and got away. Looking behind there were two guys with hand guns, quite simple looking hand guns, and one guy with what looked like a machine gun.

“We were in a B-Class Merc, which is not the biggest of cars, but it was bulletproof, so it’s pretty heavy, and it’s good at going through traffic like that. It stood up, which is good.

“It was blacked out, so you can’t see anything. We stopped right outside the entrance, so I think we were probably unlucky more than anything else. A B-Class Merc is a smaller car, one of the cheapest cars they have, so it’s not a big flash car. You see a lot more flashy cars on the road that drive around this streets.

“It’s a horrible thing to happen. I feel fine now. There’s obviously a lot of attention because it’s the first time it’s been a driver that’s been held up, but hopefully it will show the dangers down there and we’ll take more care. I think from what I hear most of the drivers have got police escorts into the circuit as well as a bulletproof car and as well as a policeman as a driver. It’s not a comfortable feeling, but we’re here now and we’re here to have a good race. That’s the most important thing.”

McLaren has revealed that Jenson Button has escaped unscathed from an apparent armed robbery or car jacking attempt in Sao Paulo this evening.

Apparently six men with machine guns were involved in the attack which happened as Jenson was being driven to his hotel. Jenson and his entourage emerged unscathed, because their police driver was able to get away by bouncing off other cars.

The Daily Mail tonight reports Jenson as saying: “We were going back from the track and were outside a shanty town and moving slowly on a busy road. I saw a dog come out. It was very cute. The next thing I saw was a man with a gun. Our guy angled the car and floored it.

‘That’s when we saw six men, all of them brandishing machine-guns. My driver was a legend. It was very scary. I don’t know whether they knew who it was they were ambushing. I said, “Isn’t that a gun?” and as soon as I said that, the driver angled the car. I am glad I didn’t have my girlfriend Jessica with me – she would have been terrified.’

The incident is extremely worrying for all F1 personnel.

A McLaren statement said: “On Saturday evening (November 6) on the way back from the Interlagos circuit to Morumbi (Sao Paulo), armed would-be assailants made an attempt to approach the car that was carrying Jenson Button.

“Neither Jenson nor the other occupants of the car were hurt. (The other occupants were John Button [Jenson’s father], Mike Collier [Jenson’s physio] and Richard Goddard [Jenson’s manager].)

“Vodafone McLaren Mercedes had provided both Jenson and team-mate Lewis Hamilton with reinforced armoured vehicles driven by police drivers, who had been trained in avoidance techniques and were armed.

“The police driver of Jenson’s vehicle reacted swiftly and, using avoidance techniques, rapidly forced his way through the traffic, taking Jenson and the other occupants of the car immediately away from any danger and back to their hotel.

“The Sao Paulo authorities have also acted efficiently and will be providing additional security to transfer Jenson and other senior Vodafone McLaren Mercedes personnel to the Interlagos circuit for Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.”

Patrick Head says he’s delighted with Nico Hulkenberg’s pole in Brazil, and believes that the German can have a strong race, despite having the ‘big guns’ ranged up behind him.

Hulkenberg was backed up today by Rubens Barrichello, who took sixth place in the other car.

“I think we were reasonably confident about getting two in the top 10 if it was going to be wet,” Head told this blog. “But it was a very special run from Nico. He did three timed laps on the dries, and my impression was that every sector was a ‘purple.’ I think there were nine purples. So, very impressive. The boy’s obviously got a future! He’s very good in tricky conditions.

“I think he can get away well. I don’t think we’re kidding ourselves that we’re fully competitive in the dry with Red Bulls or Ferraris. Inevitably it will be difficult for him. But then nobody’s going to complain about starting on pole. It’s a question of trying to run a sensible race without being improperly defensive, which I don’t think he will be.”

Frank Williams is not in Brazil, but he has spoken to Patrick by phone: “He said ‘not bad chap, we’ll see how you get on tomorrow!’”

The big question now is what happens next year, with the team seemingly facing an awkward ‘three-into-two’ scenario when Pastor Maldonado comes on the scene, and neither Hulkenberg nor Rubens seemingly guaranteed a seat.

“At the moment we’re just totally focussed on trying to get a good result here, so we’re not thinking about that…”

Fernando Alonso insists that he’s not disappointed to be only fifth on the grid in Brazil, and says that other than the intervention of Nico Hulkenberg, it’s pretty much business as usual at the front.

And while downplaying his title aspirations he admits that he will be careful on the first lap, given that there could be some action in front of him.

“In a qualifying like this with wet/dry etc you don’t make any expectations or any predictions,” said the Spaniard. “I think you do your best. Obviously it was a difficult time for us in Q2. I think I was eighth, Felipe was 10^th, so we were struggling a bit with the intermediate tyres. Then with the dry tyres obviously it was a tricky circuit to play. At the end fifth obviously is not pole position, but we saved one tricky qualifying.

“Obviously if you take Williams out of the picture, the result is the normal qualifying position in a way. The two Red Bulls, Hamilton, and me. It was like this 50% of the year. Fifth sounds strange because there is Hulkenberg in front of everybody, but in a way, it’s more or less as expected.

“Obviously it will be an interesting start. There are two Red Bulls, Hamilton, and me in the four positions. All of us have to finish in front of the other three guys, so it will be interesting to see how they are fighting. I will probably take it a little bit easy. Then the race is long.”

Despite his caution Alonso says he’s not thinking about the World Championship at this stage: “Not much, I think. I know that there are some strange results that can give you the championship, but for us the main priority is to increase the gap with the second guy. Now it’s 11 points to Mark. If we can finish tomorrow afternoon with more than those 11 points, it will be great. If we have to give some points, hopefully not too many.”