Adam Cooper F1

Mark Webber is delighted that Red Bull Racing had silenced the sceptics who thought that the RB6 would be handicapped by the stricter ‘flexible wing’ tests introduced by the FIA.

Singapore is the first race where teams are running high downforce levels with the new rules in place. Rivals had suggested the loss of form in Spa and Monza suggested that the new tests had had an impact.

“We’re struggling with the new rules!,” he joked. “We knew nothing would change in that sense. We weren’t coming here expecting to be slower than we were in Budapest. Obviously other people have their own ideas how they’ve go to improve their car, and we keep trying to improve our car.

“McLaren could be on pole tomorrow, so let’s see how it goes. We know where we are, we know where we’re going, we know we have clever guys doing the right thing at the right time. Our car’s never failed a test ever this year. The tests keep changing, and anyway we keep doing our best.”

Webber said he still has more to come.

“We’ve got a lot of information to go through tonight,” said the Aussie. “Obviously the cars are very different compared to when we were here last year, so it’s not too bad.

“I wasn’t mega happy with my short run performance. I wasn’t cruising, but Friday there are no points, as we know, so build up for tomorrow.”

Like other drivers, Webber is not a big fan of the revised chicane: “We knew it was going to be worse than last time, because the kerbs are bigger. They don’t want us to play with them, but sometimes when you hit them you need a Toyota Hilux to get through there…”

Christian Klien will make his F1 race comeback this weekend as he stands in for Sakon Yamamoto at HRT.

The team reported this afternoon that the Japanese driver has food poisoning, although given the chopping and changing at the team this year there is inevitably speculation that there could be some commercial reasons behind the change.

Colin Kolles said: “It looks as if Sakon Yamamoto has a food poisoning, and he doesn’t feel well. Because of this, Christian Klien will be driving the car this Friday and the rest of the Singapore Grand Prix. I hope Sakon gets well soon and is able to drive at his home Grand Prix in Japan.”

Evidently Dr Kolles has already determined that Sakon won’t be well enough to take over driving chores on Saturday.

Klien drove on Friday morning in both Barcelona and Valencia. so he does at least know the car. Since his last race with Red Bull in 2006 he has had spells as test driver with both Honda and BMW Sauber.

The man in the yellow hat! David Hunt and the Team Lotus gang

Tony Fernandes confirmed today that his team will be running as Team Lotus in 2011, as exclusively predicted here back on July 12.

He has concluded a deal to buy the name from David Hunt, who has owned it since the end of 1994, when he bought what was left of the original F1 team at the end of what turned out to be its final season. Hunt, who joined Fernandes for the announcement, will remain involved in the team, mainly in a sponsor hunting role.

“Nothing else changes,” said Fernandes. “We’ll still be based in Hingham, we’ll still have Mike Gascoyne, and we’ll still be green and yellow. We’re just changing the name and bringing back all the history.”

The Lotus F1 team will no longer have any connection with Group Lotus, having had a licence to use the name this season. That deal has now ended. Meanwhile as reported previously Group Lotus going racing in GP2 and GP3 next season in conjunction with the ART team. However, Fernandes denies that the apparent clash will cause problems.

“There’s no confusion. If Group Lotus decided to sponsor the ART racing team, that’s fine, and that carries on. We don’t actually understand the logic behind that, but that is their call.”

Fernandes doesn’t expect an ART/Lotus F1 effort: “I think it would be a very odd situation and will destroy a lot of goodwill. It was always very clear, Group Lotus is a car company, and Team Lotus has always been a racing team, racing in Indy and many other series, including Le Mans. I wouldn’t think that would happen.

“English law is very clear. Trade mark is an extra source of protection, but good will and passing off is very clear in English law. If someone tried to pass off [as Team Lotus] as a Formula One racing team or even in GP2 or Indy, we will obviously challenge that.”

Fernandes didn’t want to be drawn on the Renault deal.

“We obviously have something, but today we want to focus on the name. There are lots of things we want to tell you guys, but we want to do it step by step. There are still four races. We obviously have a deal on the table for an engine, and once the time is ready to announce it, we’ll announce it. We’ve obviously made an announcement that we’ll cease our arrangement with Cosworth.”

My original story is here: https://adamcooperf1.com/2010/07/12/fernandes-acquires-team-lotus-name/

A battle for the rights to use the name Lotus in various forms of motor sport appears to be kicking off. 

On the one side there is Group Lotus, helmed by former Red Bull and Ferrari marketing man Dany Bahar, and on the other there is Tony Fernandes, who acquired the rights to use the Lotus Racing name in F1 and has been negotiating for some months to get the Team Lotus identity from David Hunt, who has owned it with two investors since the end of 1994.

It’s been clear for some time that there have been tensions between Group Lotus and Lotus Racing. Since the F1 project started the former has expanded its interest in motor sport, firstly with Takuma Sato’s IRL entry, and latterly with its plan to build a millionaire’s ‘track day car’ using F1 technology.

Things have moved on again in the last couple of days. Firstly the GP2 organisers revealed that they had given a 2011 entry to an ‘Air Asia’ team, which logic suggested would be a Lotus junior project. However today Group Lotus announced that it has linked up with ART and will brand the latter’s GP2 and GP3 teams as Lotus. There is already a Fernandes-approved Lotus team in the Renault 3.5 series, run by Fairuz Fauzy.

The connections between Group Lotus and ART, co-owned by Nicolas Todt, are obvious. Aside from Bahar – brought to Ferrari by Jean Todt – the other two key people there are Serbian Miodrag Kotur and Canadian Gianni Rosato. Kotur was for many years Todt Sr’s right hand man at Maranello in a team co-ordinator role, while former Montreal hotel employee Rosato was Ferrari’s ‘Mr Fixit,’ often spotted performing a sort of bodyguard role for Michael Schumacher.

There is clearly a battle underway for the rights to use the Lotus and/or Team Lotus name in motor sport, and Malaysian politics must be playing a part, since Group Lotus is of course owned by Proton and Fernandes is one of the country’s highest profile businessmen.  While there is no firm evidence that Group Lotus now wants to get involved in F1 it’s no secret where the ambitions of Todt Jr and ART lie.

Some reports suggest that a Group Lotus/ART/Toyota Cologne relationship is being discussed. Clearly what none of those parties have is an entry for 2011. Last year Max Mosley personally ensured that Fernandes got his ultra late entry for this season, and one assumes it would take similar intervention from the current FIA President to ensure a repeat for 2011 – if that really is the plan, given the tricky timescale. I wonder if anyone involved has his phone number…

This blog reported on July 12, just after the British GP, that Fernandes had pretty much completed his deal with Hunt. Intriguingly UK government documents from the Intellectual Property Office show that Group Lotus applied on July 15 to use the name Team Lotus in connection with a raft of activities, some of them way beyond motor sport, but mostly connected with the sort of souvenirs and memorabilia that you might associate with an F1 team. 

On August 2 Hunt’s business, Team Lotus Ventures, also applied to use the name Team Lotus for similar activities.

The details can be found here:

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ohim?ohimnum=E9251497

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ohim?ohimnum=E9289737

Mexican teenager Esteban Gutierrez has been confirmed as Sauber test and reserve driver for 2011, inevitably increasingly speculation that his main backer Telmex will join forces with the Swiss team.

Gutierrez, who only turned 19 in August,  had a chance to test a BMW Sauber last December as a prize for winning the Formula BMW Europe title. He has been affiliated with the team this year in an informal junior role.  He will get his first mileage in his new job at the Abu Dhabi young driver tests after the season finale.

Gutierrez won the GP3 title this year with the ART team. He told this blog at Monza that he was in no hurry to get an F1 race seat as “I want to arrive prepared.”

Peter Sauber said: “Esteban is extremely mature for his age, and it has been a great pleasure to have him with us a great deal of the time this year as an affiliated driver. The team was rooting for him during his intelligent fighting performances in the GP3 Series. We are confident he will continue to develop strongly. With his modest manner and keen desire to learn, he has also made himself very popular among the team.”
 
Meanwhile Gutierrez says he learned from being close to the team this year: “That way I learnt a great deal about the professionalism and practical procedures in the Formula One team. Plus, in early September I had an opportunity to attend the team’s fitness camp with the two team drivers. Formula One is my ambition, and I’m really grateful to Peter Sauber for his confidence in me and my ability.”

Renault F1 tester Jerome d’Ambrosio has joined Virgin Racing and will drive on the Friday mornings of the next four Grands Prix. He’ll thus be the first Belgian to drive on a race weekend since Bas Leinders was a Minardi Friday driver in 2004. In addition he will take part in the young driver tests immediately after the Abu Dhabi GP.

Lucas di Grassi will have to sit out the sessions of the upcoming events, which will be particularly hard on the rookie, who has to learn the tracks. Co-incidentally in 2004 Di Grassi and D’Ambrosio were colleagues on the Renault Driver Development scheme, along with Heikki Kovalainen and others, although D’Ambrosio was dropped at the end of the year.

 The news shows the increasing influence of Gravity Sports Management, which is part of the Genii Group, which owns Renault F1. It must also cause some frustration for Andy Soucek, who walked away from the team when no Friday driving chances emerged, so clearly this deal must be worthwhile for Virgin. The team says that it is evaluating him and has pointed out that while it has a contract with Timo Glock for 2011, it only has an option arrangement with di Grassi.

D’Ambrosio is in his fourth year in GP2, and is currently with the Renault-affiliated DAMS team.

D’Ambrosio said: “My ultimate goal has always been to race in Formula 1 and I am delighted to get a step closer. I wish to thank Virgin Racing and Gravity Sport Management for their confidence. I won’t disappoint them. This drive is a fantastic opportunity and I am looking forward to helping the team in every way I can, as well as gaining experience on four of the most demanding tracks of the F1 calendar. Looking at the 2011 season, this will be very useful. Also, I will be very proud to wear the Belgian colours on my helmet during these official practice sessions, as it means a lot to me.”

CEO of Virgin Racing  Graeme Lowdon added: “We are very pleased to welcome Jerome to Virgin Racing and we look forward to providing him with the opportunity to drive the VR-01 during the first free practice session of the next four race weekends. He will also take part in our young driver test in Abu Dhabi at the end of the season. We have a contract with Timo Glock for another two years and an option on the services of Lucas di Grassi for next year.

“Both drivers have done an outstanding job for us in our debut season. We are always looking to progress new racing talent and the team out of which Virgin Racing was born has a long history of this. Jerome is a real racer and very deserving of this opportunity. We are looking forward to evaluating his performance with effect from next weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix. With both Jerome and Luis supporting the Team, we have two drivers with enormous future potential.”

Heidfeld had his last Pirelli test at Jerez this week

Pirelli has confirmed that Nick Heidfeld will leave his test role with the Italian company to take up his new job with Sauber.

He will be replaced by Romain Grosjean for the next test in Monza, although it’s not been confirmed who will continue the testing work after that, although inevitably Pedro de la Rosa – who brings current Bridgestone experience – had been mentioned. It remains to be seen whether Pirelli’s future customers, ie the teams, feel that Grosjean is the right man for such an important role.

Heidfeld finished his last Pirelli test at Jerez today, and his Sauber contract starts from tomorrow. Even it had been contractually possibly for him to do both jobs, the travelling involved in the upcoming five flyaways would have made it impossible.

Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Paul Hembery said: “We’d like to thank Nick for his very valuable contribution to our tyre development programme and we wish him all the best for the future. In order to avoid favouring any individual team, we have jointly decided to release Nick from his contract and now we have chosen Romain to test for us in Monza.

“He’s packed a lot of experience into a short space of time, including all our GP3 tyre development, so I’m sure he’ll be able to give us some very useful feedback. The tests here at Jerez have gone extremely well and we completed all the work that we planned over the two days. Now we move onto Monza, where our task will be to finalise the construction before we focus further on compounds.”

Brawn GP made a profit of £98.5m in 2009, according to accounts filed by current owners Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd, having made just £1.3m under Honda in 2008.

The team had sales of £234.5m – an increase of 38% over the last year under Honda. The sales figure includes sponsorship income, ‘Bernie money’ (but in essence owed from 2008, not based on 2009 performances), and payments from Honda. Sources say that one-off sponsorship deals were far more lucrative than may have appeared to outsiders.

One intriguing number suggests that Honda paid the team a total of £92.5m during the year – a figure that almost matches up with the overall profit. It’s known that Honda bankrolled the team fully until March, and in effect paid for the development of the car, but presumably the rest was a ‘dowry’ to help keep the team going.

The directors were paid £8.4m during the year, with one director – assumed to be Ross Brawn – earning £4.7m of that amount. The other directors were Nick Fry and three senior members of the former Honda team who took it over when the Japanese manufacturer pulled out, namely Nigel Kerr (finance), John Marsden (HR), Caroline McGrory (legal), plus Gordon Blair. All but Ross resigned as directors in December.

The filing also says that the directors loaned £3.4m to the team in March 2009, at a critical point in its campaign to survive. That loan was repaid during the year.

It’s also confirmed that Daimler (via Mercedes UK) and Abu Dhabi investment concern Aabar acquired 75.1% of the team between them as of December 24. Brawn and his colleagues mentioned above still own the rest.

The current shareholders, ie Mercedes, Aabar and the former Brawn directors, split a dividend of £20m between them based on the above percentages. In other words having bought the team the new owners instantly got £15m back.

Although paper figures don’t always fully reflect the real world, the profit figure will no doubt be of interest to Jenson Button, who took a massive pay cut prior to winning the World Championship, and then could not agree terms with the team for 2010.

Having said that the accounts also reveal a ‘Contract Settlement Fee’ of £10m paid to Button to formally end his Honda deal before the Brawn adventure started…

The FIA’s ‘Final Inspection’ of the Korean GP venue has been postponed by a week until Tuesday September 28.

Charlie Whiting was due to visit the track on his way to Singapore next week. However a national holiday in Korea made the logistics complicated, so he decided to postpone and go there afterwards instead.

The inspection will thus take place just 23 days before the official start of the Grand Prix meeting on Thursday October 21, rather than the 90 specified in the FIA Sporting Regulations. Whiting has however been updated with photographs of the work on a regular basis.

Although to the outside world the inspection is inevitably seen as a critical deadline, it seems that the FIA does not share that view, and it is assumed that the race is going ahead as planned even if work is not completed by September 28. In other words, the visit is unlikely to be followed by any kind of annoucement. However, that clearly doesn’t guarantee that there won’t be a last minute cancellation if work falls behind.

Incidentally, when Karun Chandhok did his demo he was not running on the final track surface. The ‘binder course’ layer that he drove on has had to be ground down since the Red Bull run took place in order to smooth out bumps. Apparently it has to be perfect, as any problems with it cannot be disguised by the final layer.

Meanwhile Tilke GmbH has sent its top asphalt man to Korea to keep an eye on progress…

Sauber has confirmed that Nick Heidfeld will replace Pedro de la Rosa for the rest of the season.

The Spaniard has not had much luck this year and has recently been overshadowed by Kamui Kobayashi. It’s worth noting too that of the remaining five tracks he does not know either Singapore or Abu Dhabi, whereas Heidfeld does. In addition his recent tests in the Pirelli-equipped Toyota have given Heidfeld a chance to get up to speed.

It remains to be seen what happens now to his Pirelli deal, because he was released by Mercedes specifically to test for the Italian tyre company on the basis that he would not be tied in any way to a current team. Logic suggests that de la Rosa – coming straight from using 2010 Bridgestones – will be a sensible choice for Pirelli to make.

In a team statement Peter Sauber said: “It was a hard decision for me to make as a Team Principal and I want to thank Pedro for his professionalism. By signing Nick we have a driver we know extremely well who will help us to further judge the comparative potential of our car.”
 
“I am surprised by the team´s decision, but I respect it and would like to wish everyone good luck for the remainder of the season,” said de la Rosa. “I still intend to be in Formula One for 2011.”
 
Meanwhile Heidfeld said: “I’m looking forward like crazy to having the opportunity to go racing again in a good car in Formula One from the Singapore Grand Prix onwards. After the last months I’m even more motivated than ever. For me it is like coming home, as I raced for seven years in total for the team from Hinwil. Without doubt I will be feeling at home straight away and this should help me to familiarise myself as soon as possible with the car. I want to thank Peter Sauber for the faith he has put in me.”