Adam Cooper F1

Lotus will source its gearbox and hydraulics system from Red Bull Technology in 2011, rather than Renault as had been widely assumed.

In fact Renault was never in a position to supply a transmission to go with its engine, and at one stage Lotus was looking at a deal with McLaren – although when I suggested as much on Twitter a few weeks ago I got a few sceptical replies! However the RBT arrangement is clearly preferable as both teams will use the same engine and Lotus will in effect share the whole rear end of Adrian Newey’s RB7.

The news also emphasises that RBT wants to create as much extra income as possible, rather than rely on a massive subsidy from Austria as mentioned in my story yesterday.

Like the other new teams Lotus has suffered badly with its bought-in hydraulics system this year, and did not want a repeat next season.

In a team statement Mike Gascoyne said:“The announcement that we have reached a multi-year agreement with Red Bull Technology for the supply of our gearboxes and hydraulics from 2011 is obviously a massive step forward for us, both in engineering terms, and as an expression of our ambitions for next year and for future Championships. The gearbox/hydraulics package obviously plays a critical role in the performance of the car, not just on track but in design and packaging terms, and this deal gives our design and aero teams a very exciting platform to work with.

“The removal of the double diffusers in 2011 will allow the whole grid to tighten up the rear bodywork and mechanical structures around the gearbox, and this supply deal will allow us to capitalise on that with our 2011 car. Exciting times lie ahead!”

Christian Horner added: “We are very pleased about Lotus Racing’s decision to use Red Bull Technology gearboxes and hydraulic systems from 2011. The fact that Red Bull Technology has been chosen to be a supplier to another team despite its short history demonstrates how much we have achieved since our first season. We very much look forward to working with Lotus Racing from 2011 onwards.”

To no one’s great surprise Sauber has announced that Sergio Perez will partner Kamui Kobayashi next year, signalling the start of what it calls a ‘partnership’ with Mexican telecommunications giant Telmex.

Perez, who was beaten to the GP2 title by Pastor Maldonado, becomes the first Mexican in F1 since Hector Rebaque’s stint with the Brabham team in the early eighties.

It’s not clear yet whether that relationship will develop into a shareholding or ownership, but clearly getting the backing of the world’s richest man – Carlos Slim – is something of a coup for Peter Sauber. Having said that the company has been very careful with its expenditure on Perez and Esteban Gutierrez as they have worked their way through the ranks, and both youngsters have had to get the job done to retain their support.

In a team statement Perez said: “Formula One is the dream of every young racing driver. And now this dream is about to come true for me. Although I’m very much aware that this is also a big challenge and responsibility, I’m happy to accept that and am proud to be representing my country in the highest category of motor racing. I would like to thank Peter Sauber for the faith he’s shown in me and I’ll do everything I can to make the most of this wonderful opportunity.”

Peter Sauber added: “Sergio has been on a continuous upward curve over the past few years. He demonstrated his fighting spirit in races over the course of last season and proved that he’s ready to take the step up into Formula One. I look forward to working with him and am in no doubt that, in Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi, we will have a strong driver pairing.

“Telmex has been involved in motor sport for a number of years already and supports drivers in various race series. Now they are making the key step up into the top category of motor racing, and we are happy and proud that they are taking this step with us. Telmex is an outstanding company and represents a strong partner for our team. We are looking forward to a fruitful partnership.”

Regarding the new relationship, Carlos Slim Domit said: “Sauber has been not only a very successful racing team but also a strong talent developer of some of the most recognized names in racing since their early stages as well as one of the most respected people in the sport. Their decision of having Sergio with them is very significant on his career to become a top driver representing Mexico. For Telmex and our racing project Escuderia Telmex it’s a great step forward, and we feel very proud to be able to consolidate these years of work for having a Mexican driver in F1 with Sauber Motorsport.”

Pedro de la Rosa will start his Pirelli test programme at Valencia tomorrow, having taken over the job from Nick Heidfeld, the man who replaced him at Sauber.

Romain Grosjean filled in at the most recent test at Monza, and remains involved with Pirelli on GP2 development. De la Rosa will run for two days in Spain, focussing on compounds, after earlier tests revolved around constructions.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Pedro told this blog. “I’m happy to learn with them and improve the tyres. I can give them my experience, and that’s what they needed. I’m really, really happy that this deal came through. I will learn a lot and think I will also give quite a lot.”

For much more from Pedro check www.autosport.com later today.

Red Bull’s F1 accounts for 2009 reveal just how much was spent chasing the World Championship last season, with the Austrian drinks company pumping over £100m into the operation.

The title campaign, and specifically the requirement to build a double diffuser after the start of the season, contributed to the fact that the team spent more than in 2008. However a leading team source insists that the bulk of any increase reflects not so much the cost of competing, but the cost of success, and actual operating costs were less. 

Drivers and team members earned bonuses that reflected the rise from being a seventh placed team with just 29 points in 2008 to one that won six Grands Prix and challenged for the title.

Interpreting the numbers is not easy because the operation is split into two companies, Red Bull Technology, and its subsidiary, Red Bull Racing, an arrangement that was concluded to allow RBT to also supply Scuderia Toro Roso.

RBT designs and builds the cars, while RBR is the actual racing team. Under UK company law, Red Bull does not have to disclose details of payments between the two.

In essence parent company Red Bull GmbH pays the team whatever it needs, and thus income automatically rises to cope with extra expenditure. RBT’s turnover was up 11% from £144.8m to £160.8m, with Red Bull GmbH’s contribution rising from £82.4m to £106.8m. The declared profit was £3.8m, up from £960K.

Included within the above numbers, RBR’s turnover rose from £123.5m to £132.7m. Red Bull GmbH’s payment (again a share of the above) was up from £78.9m to £96.9m. Profit was £704K, up from £470K.  RBR’s turnover would also have included income outside sponsorship and ‘Bernie money’ related to the Concorde Agreement.

RBT’s expenditure on R&D rose from £48.1m to £57.2m. There was also extra capital expenditure, on factory equipment and so on, of £4.9m.

Wages and salaries at RBT were up from £33.7m to £40.9m. Since there was no major change in staff actual numbers year on year, that reflects success bonuses. RBT employed total of 592 people in 2009 (although there are additional contractors who don’t figure in that number), of whom 61 officially worked for RBR.

 RBT’s accounts also reveal that Scuderia Toro Rosso paid it £10.4m in 2009 – which a dramatic fall from the £14.2m of the previous year, when Vettel was still on board and the team had a car that could win races. However that reflects the fact for 2010 Toro Rosso had to build its own car and thus at some point in 2009 in effect stopped dealing with RBT.

Lotus Racing is in the news again today after the team finalised its termination arrangements with Cosworth.

It was announced just after the Italian GP that the two parties were splitting at the end of the first season of what should have been a three-year deal, and it has taken until now to formalise the paperwork.

The agreement should also allow Tony Fernandes to announce his future Renault deal sooner rather than later. Cosworth has made it clear that Lotus is leaving for pastures new for reasons related to the reliability of the transmission, and the team obviously expects the fully integrated Renault package to be an improvement.

A statement from Cosworth said: “Cosworth and Lotus have today signed the termination of Lotus Racing’s engine supply agreement following completion of the deal which was established in principle and announced after the Italian Grand Prix on 12th September 2010. Cosworth’s support for Lotus Racing will cease at midnight on 30th November 2010.

“Lotus Racing has enjoyed a successful season with Cosworth and has enjoyed excellent performance, reliability and support from their engine supply. The decision to bring the partnership to an early termination has been driven by the team’s desire to solve reliability and performance issues unrelated to the Cosworth engine. Lotus Racing and Cosworth have agreed settlement terms satisfactory to both parties to secure an early termination of the agreement.

“Cosworth wishes Lotus Racing success in the future, and will continue to supply engines to AT&T Williams, Virgin Racing and HRT in 2011, thereby supporting 25% of the teams in Formula One.”

Clearly at one stage Cosworth expected to have Lotus and a 13th team in 2011, so it remains to be seen how that change affects the company’s business model.

The fight over the use of the Lotus name in F1 stepped up a gear when Lotus Racing brought former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir into the dispute.

Mahathir ran the country from 1981-2003 and was very much behind the birth of the Malaysian GP. He’s also been a keen supporter of Lotus Racing. Still a big player in the country, he is now closely associated with Proton.

A statement from the team today said: “In a bid to alleviate the public confusion surrounding the ongoing matter between Lotus Racing and Proton/Group Lotus, Lotus Racing shareholder and Deputy Team Principal Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun recently had the opportunity to meet Proton Adviser Tun Dr Mahathir. The meeting was to discuss the matter in person and agree a future course of action for Lotus Racing.

“Lotus Racing believes it is acting within its own rights, and as a result of this meeting, the team will now refrain from making any further comments on the matter. This action is upon advice from Tun Dr Mahathir, and it is out of our respect for him that we will act upon his wishes as he has supported us since our inception, and his backing has been invaluable in our growth.

“We are very grateful for having had the opportunity to put forth our case and have complete trust that a fair review will be made, and a decision on the matter will be announced in due course.”

Reading between the lines it sounds like Mathathir is siding with the team rather than Dany Bahar and co…

The Spygate case reared its ugly head again today when Nigel Stepney’s legal case came to a conclusion in Sassuolo, some three years after the controversial events of 2007.

According to the local paper, the Gazzetta di Modena, Stepney received a 20-month sentence and €600 fine after being found guilty of “sabotage, espionage, sporting fraud and attempted serious injury.” The latter related to the matter of the infamous white powder which in theory – had it caused Kimi Raikkonen’s engine to seize – could have caused an accident…

The sentence was reduced by a plea bargain with prosecutor Giuseppe Tibis. However it seems that the way Italian law works, Stepney won’t actually serve any jail time.

Lawyers from both Stepney and Ferrari expressed satisfaction with the verdict.

Mike Gascoyne has agreed to stay with Lotus Racing/Team Lotus until at least the end of 2015.

The news does not come as a huge surprise, but clearly signals that he is happy with current arrangements. Gascoyne also says that it will be the last team he works for.

“Having started the team from scratch with Tony it was always my intention to finish my career here, so it’s great to have formally agreed a five year deal,” he said in a team statement. “I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to Tony, Din, Nasa, Riad and the whole team, and I’m extremely grateful to everyone involved in Lotus Racing for having the confidence to take this into a long-term contract. We’ve had a great start to our partnership together, and I’m looking forward to continuing that for the next five years, and even beyond that.”

Team Principal Tony Fernandes added: “Mike’s five year deal is a major announcement for the whole Lotus Racing team. It shows just how serious we are, not only about how far ahead we are setting our aspirations, but also as a reward to Mike for the incredibly hard work he and the team have already put in to get us from literally four people back in September ’09 to our current position as a serious F1 player with a very bright future ahead of us. On a personal level, I’ve really enjoyed the last year that we’ve been working together, and I’m very excited about working with Mike for many years to come.”

Group Lotus sent out another message today, but while it was clearly aimed at reinforcing the car company’s claim to the motor sport heritage of the Lotus name, the timing was as much do with the Paris Motor Show as the escalating fight with Tony Fernandes and Lotus Racing.

Among the highlights of its 2011 plans Lotus has confirmed that it will expand to a two-car effort in the IRL next year, and will be moving into LMP2. It has given some intriguing details on the upgrading work at the Hethel test track, which it says will be FIA standard and good enough for “GT racing and F1 testing.” Although historically F1 cars have run at Hethel it never had proper safety facilities and was only really useful for shakedowns.

And in addition to the plans outlined today, we are told “there is lots more to come.”

I wouldn’t normally reproduce in full a press release about GTs and driving academies and the like, but given the current dispute, this one is worth a look. There seems to be a lot going on between the lines…

This is what the company has to say: Clark, Senna, Andretti, Moss, Mansell, Hill, Fittipaldi, F1, IndyCar, Le Mans. Lotus and motorsport go together like fish and chips and jelly and ice-cream.

With a pedigree like ours it should come as no surprise that we announce a new 360° race program, a statement of intent including: multiple race series, grassroots driver development and Exos – the ultimate in exclusive driving experiences.

Lotus Director of Motorsport Claudio Berro summed it up perfectly when he said: “Lotus is motorsport and racing is in our DNA. We have a special place in motorsport history and now as we unveil the beginning of our future plans it’s important for people to realise just how committed we are to doing our heritage justice. There is no better platform to demonstrate the transfer of technology from track to road car than a full range of pure motorsport activity, we have to tick all the boxes.”

“As with our new product line up set to be unveiled in just a few days time at the Paris Motor Show we are entering a new era for Lotus Motorsport – there’s lots more to come and trust me, there will be something to please every motorsport enthusiast, from the committed fan to the Senna of the future.”

So what exactly are we talking about? There’s a lot to take in and we’ve got the Paris Motor Show around the corner so let’s keep it top line:

IndyCar: The 2011 IndyCar season will see Lotus continue to work with KV Racing Technology providing further technical and engineering support, fielding a minimum of two cars on the grid. We’ll also commence development on new body work and chassis – in line with the new regulation scheduled for implementation in 2012.

GP2 and GP3: In collaboration with seasoned championship winners ART Grand Prix, we have now confirmed our participation in the 2011 GP2 (Europe and Asia series) and GP3 series. The contract with ART Grand Prix sees us commit to providing technical and engineering support for the GP2 and GP3 race series for a minimum of three years.

Evora GT4: So an update on our Evora GT4 development. We’ve made the decision to develop the car to be eligible in GT2 and GT3 categories. And on top of this news, a total of 20 orders have been received for the GT4 since it’s launch in Pebble Beach, the first lucky customer should be receiving his car at the end of October.

GT2: More exciting news – we are currently developing a new GT2 car based on one of our eagerly anticipated future road cars, set to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show. The new GT2 car will be in line with the new regulations.

LMP2: This very special project is under the expert direction of technical genius Paolo Catone. The car is being developed to meet new ACO rules, it will have a closed cockpit and is due to be on-track late 2011, with an assault on the 24 Hr Le Mans planned for 2012.

Lotus Driving Academy (LDA): Reconfirming our dedication to grassroots motorsport activity there is a planned global roll out of the popular LDA. Set to start early in 2011, the roll out will begin with the redevelopment of the existing concept and facilities in Hethel followed by plans for two new locations to come on line, one in the UAE and one in Eastern Europe. We’ll follow this with the addition of two more sites, one in the mid USA and one in Japan in 2012. Further expansion in 2013 will see sites in Moscow, Malaysia and a second Academy in the US operational. In addition to developing grassroots talent the LDA provides the perfect facilities for individual driving courses and for Lotus customers to test drive product.

Lotus Cup: We are pleased to confirm plans to expand and reorganise our factory owned championship programme in key territories including Europe, Japan, USA and the UAE including a re-branding exercise to harmonise corporate identity across the globe. All series will continue to enjoy support from Lotus Motorsport, based at the Company’s HQ in Hethel. The Lotus Cup series allows Lotus drivers around the world the opportunity to put their production type cars to the test in a competitive race environment.

Type 125 and the Exos Experience: Phenomenal interest followed the official unveiling last month at Pebble Beach. The first 10 cars have now been provisionally allocated to buyers. Testing is due to start before Christmas, with further extensive hot weather testing in early 2011. The first cars are scheduled to be delivered in April with the first Exos club event earmarked for May 2011.

Not too sure what Exos and the 125 is? Read on…..Exos is a club in which a limited number of owner drivers can refine their driving skills and challenge themselves in Formula 1™ inspired technology combined with expert one-to-one advice from former Grand Prix drivers and trainers. The Lotus 125 is an F1™ inspired race-car complete with Cosworth V8 engine, is an innovative program to energize the Lotus spirit, to challenge convention and allow the customer experience something unique and inspirational.

The New Lotus Test Track: Great progress is currently being made on our new FIA regulation test track. Located next to the Lotus factory in Hethel, Norfolk, the new track boasts 12 pitlane garages capable of hosting 24 cars and will comply with all current FIA safety regulations. With a length of 3.6 kilometres and width of 12 metres the track will be ideal for customer experiences, GT racing and F1 testing.

So, you must be wondering, why pick now to increase our interest in motorsport? Really the question shouldn’t be why we have now upped our motorsport participation, for a brand with such a unique and extensive racing history, the question should really be: why not?

Branson expects extra outside sponsorship next year

Richard Branson appeared in Singapore and insisted that he’s still fully behind the F1 team that bears the Virgin name, despite its difficult baptism this year.

Asked by this blog how hard it had been to go from regularly celebrating wins under the podium with Brawn to being at the back of the field, he denied that it had been a challenge for him.

“It actually hasn’t been hard at all,” he said. “It’s great fun. As I said at the beginning of the season we knew we were going to be the underdogs, we went into it with our eyes open. And it’s fun building a new team from scratch. There are quite a lot of other people who’d love to be able to get new teams in who have been turned down. The team are delivering what they promised on reliability and so on. The amount of money that this team is spending is £15m less than Lotus – maybe £20m less – so to be almost matching them car for car is great. And the reliability has been better.

“I would have had to have been a little bit foolish to assume that we were going to have a new team and we were going to start winning in F1. It takes a number of years to build a new team from scratch. It’s been fun. I’ve actually had just as much fun watching if we could beat Lotus – I think it’s just about as much fun!”

Branson insisted that his company was getting a good return on its investment in terms of exposure.

“We didn’t spend much money last year, and we haven’t spent a lot of money last year. The Virgin brand is strong, and it attracts other sponsors and people want to be involved with the Virgin cars, so it’s worked well for us both years. Obviously the coverage was more when you’re winning, but we were just ridiculously lucky last year. You don’t get many of those in a life time.

“The gap is closing. We’re not far behind the two old teams that are just above us now in speed. So we’re certainly getting closer. We’ll see what happens next year.”

Branson said that his own branding might be less overt next season, but only if the space is required by other sponsors.

“These guys seem to be doing quite well on the sponsorship for next year, and if they do that then more space will be taken up by outside sponsors, but that’s a positive thing. We obviously hope to keep Virgin on the back of the car. But ultimately it’s up to these guys, how many sponsors they get. I would very much hope it continues to be known as the Virgin Racing team.”

He also played down the importance of 10^th place in the World Championship, and the extra funding associated with it.

“Nobody’s expecting it or budgeting for it, and even if you got the 10^th place you wouldn’t get the money for another couple of years. You’ve got to have 10^th place over two seasons in order to get that money. We’d certainly like a lot of rain [in the coming races] because it gives us a lot better chance of getting it!”