Tag Archives: F1

The family of Jules Bianchi says that there has been no change to the Frenchman’s condition after his first few weeks in hospital in Nice, while stressing that he continues to fight.

In a statement they also expressed their thanks for the messages of support they have received.

The statement read: “As we reach the conclusion of a difficult year for our family, we wanted to take this opportunity to provide a further update regarding Jules’ medical situation, per our pledge to communicate continued information, when appropriate, to his many fans.

“We will continue to provide information when it is possible to do so and our sincere appreciation to everyone who continues to pray for Jules.”

Sebastien Buemi will retain his role as Red Bull Racing’s reserve driver in 2015, the team has confirmed.

The WEC star has had the role since 2012, after his spell as a Toro Rosso race driver ended.

“We are delighted that Sébastien will once again act as our Reserve Driver,” said Christian Horner. “He’s been closely associated with the team for some years now, we value his skills very highly and we have a great working relationship with him. His experience has proved invaluable over the years and it is great to have another world champion at the team.”

“It is like being part of the family now and I have a good working and personal relationship with everyone at the team.” said Buemi. “I’m looking forward to helping with the development of the RB11 in any way I can. It should be an exciting season and I’m delighted that I will be a part of it.”

Former Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemlo has been appointed to the board of the F1 Group, main shareholder CVC has announced.

Meanwhile Bernie Ecclestone has been reappointed to the board after stepping down earlier this year during his legal dramas. He will continue as CEO having seemingly survived a difficult year with his power intact.

Montezemolo was previously on the board in his role as chairman of Ferrari, but now has a position of non-executive director in his own right.

Montezemolo is joined in a similar capacity by Paul Walsh, the former CEO of Diageo, owners of the Johnny Walker brand. Walsh, who is also a director of FedEx and Unilever, has been tipped as a replacement for Ecclestone. The appointments of both Walsh and Montezemolo commence on January 1.

For the first time in his F1 career Nico Hulkenberg is heading into a second season as a race driver with the same team, and the German says that the stability is a major boost for him.

Hulkenberg has bounced from Williams to Force India to Sauber and back to Force India over the past few seasons, and has now finally found a long-term home.

“I’m very happy and pleased to have that consistency now for once,” he told this writer. “And also emotionally wise it’s good to have this consistency It’s good that tor the first time in my career it was announced and the plans were concrete so early, so it’s actually a very comfortable situation to be in, to know what you do, then you can focus with your team on the future, you can work in the same direction. It’s a very nice feeling.”

Hulkenberg is happy with the way 2014 turned out: “There’s no discussion that leaving Sauber for Force India was the right decision, although in hindsight obviously it’s easy to say!

“I’m definitely happy. It was not a perfect year. We had a good start, and perhaps a not so good second half for various reasons. Obviously the car performance was not so good in the second half.

“In some of the later races we didn’t achieve our best potential, for whatever reason, and the other thing is I think some teams outdeveloped us. In the beginning of the year, in Bahrain, we were racing Ferraris, and beating Williams. They clearly overtook us, and were in front.

“We just lost out in development and bringing aero performance to the car. Aero is still king, even with the these new cars and new regulations. Other teams just put on more, and had a stronger development curve than us.”

Meanwhile he insists that he’s not disappointed by his failure thus far to break into one of the title chasing teams.

“I’m not frustrated about not being in a winning team. It is is what it is, you just have to hang on there and keep doing your best, and one day the opportunity will come, or not.

“I think you also have to say that the quality of drivers on the market is very high, if you look at the top teams they are employing good drivers already, so you cannot say. ‘He’s doing shit, get rid of him.’”

Having been dropped by Sauber Esteban Gutierrez has joined Ferrari as its new test and reserve driver.

He this follows in the footsteps of countryman Sergio Perez, who was part of the Ferrari Driver Academy before his move to McLaren. The Mexican has been talking to the Italian team since it became clear that he would not be staying with Sauber.

“We are pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to Esteban who, although young, has plenty of experience relating to the new generation of Formula 1 cars,” said team boss Maurizio Arrivabene. “I am sure that, with his experience, he will make an important contribution to the development work of the team in the simulator.

“Welcoming Esteban also means opening the gates of Ferrari to a driver from Mexico, a country where the Scuderia still has a lot of fans, just as was the case fifty years ago in the days of the Rodriguez brothers.”

“It is for me the beginning of a new path for my future and I’m going to do my utmost to contribute to the achievement of the targets set by the Scuderia,” said Gutierrez. “I want to thank everybody for their belief in my potential; this will bring a great opportunity for me to develop further and get to the top in the near future. With all my passion and dedication, I’m now looking forward to the start of this new venture.”

Williams has announced the appointment of former Scuderia Toro Rosso man Steve Nielsen as its new sporting manager, filling in another pieces in the puzzle as the team’s rebuilding process continues.

Nielsen, whose last day with the Italian team was on Friday, has previously worked for Tyrrell, Benetton/Renault, and Arrows. He is well known to Williams technical boss Pat Symonds.

“In this role I will be able to help ensure that our operations at the race track are maintaining the highest standards,” said Nielsen, “and that we are maximising our performance at the race track from a sporting perspective. Williams has a very talented team of people and I’m looking forward to working with them.”

Symonds added; “Steve brings a wealth of experience of the sporting side of Formula One and will help us as a team as we aim to climb further up the Championship table. He has won World Championships in the past and knows what needs to be done on a sporting level for Williams to do this again. We have a talented and ever improving race team and with Steve on board we are well placed to make further operational gains next season.”