Tag Archives: F1

Adrian Sutil has made it clear that Sauber has not addressed the issue of his 2015 contract before announcing that Felipe Nasr will join Marcus Ericsson next year.

Sutil signed a firm two-year deal last year which did not require him to bring any sponsorship – and he is paid a salary by the team. Sources suggest that there are no options or any way Sauber can cancel the contract without it becoming an expensive exercise for the Swiss team.

Sauber’s view is clearly that the sponsorship income from Ericsson and Nasr will more than cover the cost of paying Sutil to not to drive – and meanwhile the German is being told that unless he walks away the team’s future is at risk.

Presumably there was some pressure from Nasr’s Brazilian sponsor to go ahead with the announcement last night before the Sutil situation was resolved, which could make things messy legally.

Meanwhile sources say that Giedo van der Garde also has a contract to race for Sauber in 2015 and the team could face two legal challenges….

“There are certain things to talk about, definitely, yes,” said Sutil today. “I mean they’ve confirmed two drivers, it doesn’t mean the drivers are going to drive, and it doesn’t mean the team are going to drive. So there’s no real change from last weekend to this weekend. It’s just an announcement, and now of course in my situation I think I have to do some talking to sort out the things.”

Asked if he thought he would be in F1 next year he said: “At the moment, I don’t know. Maybe. F1 is unpredictable, but as I said there are a few things to talk about first, and the team has to comment on the rest.”

Meanwhile he admitted that the first lap clash with Sergio Perez in Austin was disappointing.

“We didn’t speak, so he didn’t apologise. Anyway, that’s how it is. It’s a shame, it was a good chance for points. A very nice qualifying, it was good to be in Q3 finally with this car, it’s been quite a challenge this year to be honest! So we didn’t expect it. For some reason it got better and better through the qualifying session, and especially on Saturday the car was better than before. So many things to analyse.

“We’ll try of course again here. I look forward to the race weekend, big chances with the weather looking very wet, and I think everyone knows how the race can turn out here in Brazil. We’ve seen many exciting races.”

Nico Rosberg admits he made a mistake when trying to get a power boost while attempting to keep Lewis Hamilton behind him in Austin.

Rosberg wanted the boost at the end of the straight as Lewis was preparing to launch his passing move, but he inadvertently used a control that asked for boost at the next straight.

“I made a mistake because I used the wrong things to give me KERS,” he said. “I thought I was doing the right thing, but there’s a delay in that one, and if I do it with a button it’s immediate, and with a switch there’s a delay. So I never got the extra KERS, and that’s why in the last metres he got a good jump on me. That’s was a mistake that I didn’t know about.

“I went for extra boost, but the way I did it it only comes on the next straight, or it comes with a delay, so I didn’t get extra boost.”

Asked if his error had made a difference he said: “I don’t know, in that situation it would have helped of course. I think he was pretty committed anyway.

“I’m sure I could have done better. It’s a judgement thing, if I defend a lot, then he’s going to brake late on the outside, and try and get me on the next one. I thought to indicate that I’m closing the door would be enough t stop him from trying, but it wasn’t. I was part way over already, and I thought that was enough to make it clear for him that he shouldn’t try, but it wasn’t.”

Rosberg insisted that he’s not compromised by memories of Spa when in combat with Lewis: “No, definitely not.”

He said the positive outcome of the race was that he will take the title battle to the wire.

“Championship wise it’s becoming more difficult, but at the same time it’s is a definite that I have a chance in the last race to win, so with that in hand already, that’s worth a lot.”

As for winning via double points, he said: “It is what it is. I don’t care, As long as I have one more point at the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi. It’s the same for everybody.”

Bernie Ecclestone has taken the huge step of admitting in public that the distribution of funds among the F1 teams is not equitable – and that he is responsible.

Ecclestone insists that he will attempt to address the issue and try to save the ailing teams, although contracts make that difficult.

“I know what’s wrong, but don’t know how to fix it,” he told PA and other British media outlets. “No-one is prepared to do anything about it because they can’t. The regulations have tied us up. If we were in a position where we could help these teams in trouble, we would do it. But we are not allowed to.

“If one team is given $10,000, everyone has to have 10,000. The trouble with lots of regulations and lots of contracts is we don’t think long term.”
Regarding the specifics of the distribution of the F1 fund, he said: “It makes no difference to me how the money is shared out.

“If they sat down here with me now and said they want to share out all of the money they get in a different way, I would say, ‘Good, give me the bit of paper’.

“The problem is there is too much money being distributed badly – probably my fault – but, like lots of agreements people make, they seemed a good idea at the time.”

Ecclestone said it wouldn’t be easy to override the existing deals: “I would say to people getting a chunk of money that I would like to take a percentage of their performance-related payment. I would put that money together to divide among the three or four we know are in trouble, and then I would put in the same amount of money. But there would not be one team that would think it was a bloody good idea.

“In the old days, the people sitting around a table would be the guys who could say yes or no. They would ask me to sort it out and it would be sorted. But none of the modern guys can agree anything, even if they wanted to. They all have to report back to somebody.

“I’d take all the money, pay all the teams’ debts that should be paid so people haven’t suffered because of Formula One, and people haven’t got credit for Formula One.

“I’d then say this is what you are going to get next year, this is the amount of money we’ve got, and this is what is going to happen from now on in. It’s percentages. It’s a case that the people involved in the sport will have to want to look after the sport and be prepared to make some sacrifices.”