Archive for December, 2009

We reported earlier in the day that Michael Schumacher had signed with Mercedes GP, whilst just about every news agency inthe world was reporting similar stories, there had not been an Official press release from Mercedes or the BrawnGP press site. Just under an hour ago the news became official, Michael Schumacher has signed with MercedesGP Petronas and he will be driving a Silver Arrows for the first time since he raced in DTM prior to his F1 Carrer and he will also be partnered again with team principal Ross Brawn with whom he won all seven of his Formula 1 World Championships.

For those interested, below is a transcript of the official Press release

Stuttgart/Brackley – The MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One Team can confirm today that seven-times Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher will make his racing return in 2010 with the Silver Arrows team.

With seven Drivers’ World Championships, 248 Grand Prix starts, 91 victories, 154 podium finishes and 68 pole positions, the 40-year old German needs no introduction following an illustrious and record-breaking Formula One career from 1991 to 2006 at the Jordan, Benetton and Ferrari teams.

Michael’s return to racing with MERCEDES GP PETRONAS sees his return to Mercedes-Benz Motorsport where he began his racing apprenticeship as part of the Junior Programme in 1990, racing in Group C sports cars and DTM, and sees Michael renew his partnership with Ross Brawn with whom he won all seven of his World Championships.

Today’s announcement confirms the MERCEDES GP PETRONAS driver line-up for the 2010 season with Michael partnering his compatriot, 24 year old Nico Rosberg, in the Silver Arrows cars.

Michael Schumacher: “MERCEDES GP PETRONAS represents a new challenge for me both in a sporting and a personal context. It is a new chapter in my racing career and I am really looking forward to working with my old friend Ross Brawn and my companions from my days with the Mercedes Junior Programme. I am convinced that together we will be involved in the fight for the Formula 1 World Championship next year and I am already looking forward to getting back onto the race track. For me, this partnership closes the circle. Mercedes supported me for so many years when I began my Formula 1 career and now I can hopefully give something back to the brand with the star.”

Nico Rosberg: “It is fantastic that Michael is returning to Formula One and will be my team-mate at MERCEDES GP PETRONAS. It’s a great challenge for me to be up against one of the best drivers of all time. I’m sure that we will form a very strong partnership as he will have lost none of his speed! It is also great news for our sport and the fans.”

Ross Brawn, Team Principal of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS: “I am delighted that we can confirm today that Michael will make his much-anticipated return to Formula One next year and drive for our MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team. As seven-time World Champion, Michael’s outstanding record in Formula One speaks for itself and I am looking forward to working with him again. With the completion of our driver line-up, I believe that we now have the most exciting partnership in Formula One with Michael and Nico, who provide the perfect mix of talent, experience, speed and youth. We can now turn our full attention to the preparations for the new season and everyone at MERCEDES GP PETRONAS is extremely excited about the challenge ahead. With the investment and support in our team provided by Daimler, Aabar and our new title partner Petronas, and with two such exciting drivers, we have all of the building blocks in place to have another successful season in 2010.”

Norbert Haug, Vice-President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsports: “In April 1991, when I had been in charge of the Mercedes-Benz Motorsport programme for just six months, Michael was standing beside me on the balcony one evening. Without the slightest doubt, he said in a low voice: “It’s about time that I got into Formula 1”. Michael had just turned 22 years of age and four months later, he made his debut at Spa in a Jordan. Mercedes-Benz helped him to this point and the rest is history: seven World Championship titles, more than any racing driver, 91 Grand Prix wins, more than any racing driver. Michael has more of everything than every other driver. As part of the Mercedes Junior Programme, Michael had raced in Group C sports cars and competed in a few DTM races. Ross Brawn, then our opponent at Jaguar, quickly realised Michael’s talent and they went on to win all seven of his Drivers’ World Championship titles together at Benetton and Ferrari. Our sporting ambition has always been that Michael should drive again where his professional career had started and Michael knew that. We often joked about it after the races and discussed the prospect seriously several times during the last 14 years in Formula 1. It didn’t happen in 1995, it didn’t happen in 1998 and it didn’t happen in 2005. I am delighted that it will now happen in 2010. I am very much looking forward to working with Michael and everybody at Mercedes-Benz and Daimler extends a very warm welcome to our ‘apprentice’ of 19 years ago. That apprentice is now the most successful racing driver of all time.”

Yes, as the title suggests, the BBC is reporting that Michael Schumacher is back in F1 and will form the all German driver lineup when her partners Nico Rosberg and drives for MercedesGP next year.

For Schumacher, he will be back in familiar territory with Mercedes Team principal Ross Brawn who was so instrumental in Schumacher’s success at Ferrari.

After Michael signed a revised contract with Ferrari, president Luca di Montezemolo said that he was “very close” to concluding a deal to race for Mercedes.

Ferrari have released him from his contract to enable him to race for Mercedes.

A planned comeback last year at Ferrari to replace injured Filipe Massa came un-done when a neck injury proved him unfit to race. Since then Michael has been training hard and there has been no shortage of reports that his neck injury has fully recovered and he is fit once again to race in Formula1.

Mercedes have their eye on Fellow German Sebastian Vettel, however he is unable to be released from his RedBull contact until 2012, in the meantime Schumi will race for them, possibly even for the next two seasons, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

The all-German driver lineup is something that is very important to Mercedes, and no doubt driving for a German team has been something Michael would have liked earlier in his career.

The silver arrows should be very excited to have a seven-time Formula1 world champion driving for them in their comeback season.

Michael’s spokeswoman, Sabine Kehm said she could not make any comment.

We expect an official press release from Mercedes very shortly.

According to Italian news sources and the Associated Press, Rome is set to host a round of the F1 Championship. Whilst no official date has been set, it appears that Rome will host the F1 street race starting from 2012 or 2013.

Course planner Maurizio Flammini told Sky Italia an agreement with Formula One commercial rights holder Ecclestone to include Rome on the F1 calendar has already been “done and signed”.

If the GP in Rome goes ahead, it will one of two rounds of the championship held in Italy, with Monza retaining it’s traditional place on the F1 Calendar.

Rome city authorities have been making plans for the race for more than a year and intend to use the city streets as a course, similar to the street races in Monaco and Singapore, although the race in Rome would be run during daylight hours.

A twitter site has been set up for “Formula 1 Gran Premio Roma” however there is no content so far in their twitter feed and the official website for the event is blank.

The likelihood of an official announcement before the New Year is unlikely, but it does seem sure now that a street race through Rome will go ahead.

The track has 28 corners and approximate race distance of 66 laps.
Situated in the south of Rome, the area is served by a motorway with good links to the nearby Leonardo da Vinci airport.

A video showing the track layout has been uploaded to youtube by official sources.

Further to our brief blog post in regards to the Lotus announcement that Team Principal Team Principal Tony Fernandes broke over twitter, it has now been made official.

Lotus F1 Racing has today confirmed that Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen will drive for the team in the 2010 championship, while Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy will be the reserve driver and test driver. The official announcement was made by Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon, at which Jarno, Heikki and Fairuz were also present.

Lotus have revived an old colour scheme, by using the traditional green and gold. Whilst they have not yet revealed their livery for 2010, it is obvious form the green and gold team logo that the car’s livery will most likely follow suit. In response to their logo Lotus released this official statement “The new Lotus F1 Racing logo has been developed to represent the teams future and heritage…Taking clues from the iconic Jim Clarke Type 49 the new ‘DNA’ device uses the Lotus colours in a recognizable form which is extremely flexible and will become a key element of the new team brand.”

Lotus only 3 months ago secured their 2010 entry and in that time they have their first car in production and have signed two Formula 1 race winners to drive for them, not a bad start!

Tony Fernandes (Lotus F1 Racing Team Principal) said “”I am thrilled that we have been able to sign Jarno, Heikki and Fairuz to drive for Lotus F1 Racing in our debut season. The appointment of Jarno, Heikki and Fairuz as our race drivers is a testament to the quality of our team, to our ambition and drive, and above all to our long-term vision of success in Formula 1”.

Jarno no doubt is excited to be driving for Lotus next year and said, “”It is a privilege for me to sign for the new Lotus F1 Racing team. I have been impressed by the long-term vision of the team management and technical staff.”

Meanwhile Heikki said “I can’t wait to begin working with Tony, Mike and the team they are putting together, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the welcome we will be given by Formula 1 fans around the world as we bring Lotus F1 Racing to the grid.”

No doubt it will be very exciting to see the green and gold cars back on the grid next year and with two very experienced drivers as well as the Technical expertise Mike Gascoyne brings to the team as their Chief Technical Officer, we should expect some decent results from the new team in 2010.

–

Below is a transcript from the official Q&A taken from the Lotus Press Release…

Lotus F1 Racing Driver Announcement Q&As

14 December 2009

Jarno Trulli

What were the reasons behind your decision to join
Lotus F1 Racing?

“I am really
pleased to be joining Lotus F1 Racing. It was quite a difficult situation at
the start of November with my former team withdrawing from Formula 1, but I was
convinced I would stay in Formula 1. I was in contact with Mike (Gascoyne,
Chief Technical Officer) about the possibility of joining the new Lotus team
and it became quickly clear that it would be a very good opportunity for me. I
have been in Formula 1 for many years but there is something extremely
motivating about helping to build a team from the ground level up. There is a
lot of ambition from Tony (Fernandes, Team Principal), Mike and in fact the
whole of Malaysia as a nation, and that level of enthusiasm is infectious for a
driver. I am really looking forward to the challenge.”

You are one of the longest-serving drivers in Formula 1
- how important will your experience be for the team?

“I have driven for
quite a few teams in my career, both manufacturer and independent teams, so I
have a wide range of experience. I hope that this experience will be a positive
asset for Lotus as we begin this new challenge together. We should not
underestimate the task in hand. Formula 1 in 2010 is an exciting prospect with
brand new teams, established manufacturers fighting back and of course other
young teams looking to repeat their 2009 success. Everyone will be fighting
hard for results, but we still have all our foundations to set, so we have a
lot to do.”

Do you expect the team to be immediately competitive?

“We have to set
realistic targets for the first year. We are one of the new teams, so we have
to prove ourselves and to gain respect in the paddock. We have to establish
ourselves as the best of the new teams and see what gap we have between us and
the rest. Only then will we really understand what gains we need to make during
the season. The points system has changed to reward the top ten drivers, so I
would like to see us making progress towards the top ten by Abu Dhabi.”

What do you think of the team’s approach to Formula 1
based on your previous experiences?

“Having spoken to
Tony and to Mike, as well as being in Malaysia this week, I can see a very
sensible attitude and professional approach to racing. Of course everyone
supporting the team wants results but everybody knows that will take time. We
certainly have the capabilities and the tools to do the job. I know Mike very
well from our time at other teams and I have a lot of faith in his technical
operation.”

What do you think of having Heikki as a team-mate?

“It’s great to have
a younger driver like Heikki on board. He has been in Formula 1 for a few years
now, so he has matured into a competitive and well-rounded race driver. His
experiences at other teams will certainly help Lotus F1 Racing as a whole and I
am looking forward to working alongside him. He is bringing a different
character and driving style to the team which I think will benefit all of us
during 2010.”

Heikki Kovalainen

You are entering your fourth season as a Formula 1 race driver by joining a
brand new team in Lotus F1 Racing – what factors were behind your decision to
join the team?

For me there were a
couple of major factors – Tony and Mike being the two leading figures in the
project, and the backing behind the team were both very important, and having
spoken to both of them I became aware that the whole operation has a lot of
potential, and a very good chance of being a successful team in the
future.  I saw Lotus F1 Racing as the
best choice for me to progress my career, after considering several other
options that were available to me.

What have you seen of the team so far?

I have visited the
base of the team, as well as meeting Tony and Mike, and I can see that everyone
involved is very motivated, excited and happy to be pushing this program
forwards. The team has ambitious plans for the future and everyone will see
Lotus F1 Racing in Bahrain GP as a professional, competitive yet very humble
group of intelligent individuals.

What do you think of your new team-mate Jarno?

I have known Jarno
for many years now and I think together we can push the team forwards very
quickly, and develop our car and the team in a professional way.

Do you have any specific targets for your first season
with the team?

I always race to
win and I will do everything as if I was preparing to put the car on pole, but
of course we have to be realistic and keep the focus on developing the team to
a state where we can operate like any other current top F1 team. It will not be
easy and we will have tough times at the beginning, there’s no question about
it, but as long as we keep improving all the way through the year and have the
earned respect of the other top teams on the grid, then we can be pleased about
the first year.

Does the Lotus name add any pressure on you or the
team?

Well maybe at the
beginning we will get away with some difficulties, but of course Lotus has been
a winning team in the past and, like I said earlier, the team has ambitious
plans to become successful, so after a little while we need to be making
progress to keep the Lotus name at its current high status.

Tony Fernandes

There has been a lot of speculation recently about the
driver line-up. How did you reach your decision?

“Firstly, I would
like to say this is an historic day for all us at Lotus F1 Racing as we
announce our first driver line-up. We have three drivers who I believe
complement each other excellently and who I think represent what Lotus F1
Racing and 1Malaysia is all about. That is not to say it was a straight-forward
decision because we spoke with other drivers who I rate very highly, but
ultimately we have opted for a careful mix of experience, youth and ambition.
In Jarno we have the F1 veteran who proved in 2009 that he is as quick and
determined as ever. In Heikki we have a continuing rising star who is still
hungry to prove himself, and in Fairuz we have a Malaysian national driver who
is eager to progress up the F1 ladder to fulfill the hopes of a nation. It’s
the full package if you ask me.”

What do you expect from the drivers in 2010?

“It is more a
question of what we all expect from each other rather than just from the
drivers. 2010 will be the first season for Lotus F1 Racing and we have a lot to
achieve in a short space of time. As with any new venture, it is a case of ‘all
hands on deck’. Everybody has a vital role to play but it is about bringing a
new team together and gelling. The drivers each bring different experience to
the team and I think the combination of their skills will help us quickly
establish ourselves as the ones to watch in 2010 and beyond.”

Did you ever think you would see two race winning
drivers in the team’s first season?

“I am still
pinching myself. We have not even finished our first race car, so to attract
two race winning drivers to the team is a huge achievement and honour. I think
it is a testament to our ambition and our long-term vision that we have such
talent on our books in year one. It is further proof that we are serious about
what we do and I am sure the other new teams are looking at us with some envy
right now.”

You have also unveiled the new team logo…

“We have thought
long and hard about our team brand and logo, and I am very pleased with the end
result. F1 aficionados will immediately recognise the classic green and yellow
colour of Lotus, but we have given it a modern twist which is essentially what
this team is about. We are not pretending to be the Lotus of the past, but we
are honoured to be able to bring the name back into Formula 1 at the start of a
new decade of racing. We will draw on its heritage and use it to inspire and
motivate our team, Lotus F1 Racing. I hope everybody likes the logo and enjoys
a small glimpse into the livery of our race cars for our first season.”

MercedesGP have reportedly offered Michael Schumacher $5mil to drive for the team in the 2010 championship according to various sourcing, many quoting the deal as ‘as good as perfect’. We however still remain skeptical, but no doubt whoever partners Rosberg next year will be a German driver. Norbert Haug has already stated they do not plan on announcing their second driver until the New Year, however it could also just be due to Shchumi having to tie up lose ends with his role at Ferrari. Mercedes are reportedly planning to tie him in as a sports ambassador for the group. Watch this space, we might finally Michael him in a race suit that is not red.

Vice President for Motorsport, Norbert Haug has stated that the Mercedes-Benz GP Team needs more time in order to confirm it’s second driver for 2010. German Nico Rosberg is already confirmed and has signed with he Silver Arrows however there will most likely not be an announcement on who his team-mate will be until sometime in the New Year.

A number of drivers are currently specualted to partner Rosberg at the Silver Arrows, most notably Nick Heidfeld and seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, amongst others.

Norbert stated: “We need some more time. I can’t promise you that we will announce his team-mate before Christmas. At the moment we’re examining all of our options and that just needs a lot of time.”

The probability that they sign another German to partner Rosberg is very high and the likelihood of signing Heidfeld is becoming more realistic as we approach the New Year.

After much speculation it has finally been made official that Silverstone will host the British GrandPrix for hte next 17 years. The trouble started when negotiations with Donignton fell apart due to lack of funding to develop the track. With the Donigton deal falling over, it put the British GP at risk unless a new deal with the Silverstone circuit was able to be formulated.

The deal, was announced Monday morning and is estimated to be worth £300 million. Bernie Ecclestone agreed to forgo fees of a further £60 million.

Silverstone MD Richard Phillips said, “We’ve always had the belief the British Grand Prix was an important cornerstone of Formula One but, with Bernie, you’re never quite sure. At the end of the day, though, you have to have a British Grand Prix.

“We’ve now got to sell a lot of tickets, to get out there and do similar sorts of numbers as we did this year when we had 230,000 people there over the three days, and promote the even.

BRDC president Damon Hill said, “This announcement is tremendous news. It really does cement Silverstone as a motor sport venue and is incredibly satisfying for the BRDC to cement its relationship with F1. We want Silverstone to be retained as a place for motor sport, for motor racing of all sorts, but significantly the British Grand Prix.”

As part of the deal, Silverstone must now undergo major construction work to get the facilities up to scratch in time for the 2010 race. This work will incude upgrading the pit and paddock areas as well as rebuilding pit lane. Further work after next years race will focus on redesigning parts of the track and bringing it more in-line with the super-modern F1 tracks of today.

Ecclestone said, “This will ensure the British Grand Prix is included on the Formula One calendar for many years to come, which is something I’ve always wanted to happen.”

Whilst the deal is for 17 years, if after 10 years the circuit is not able to deliver, there is a mutual break clause in the contract.

So at the very least we will see Silverstone as the home of the British GrandPrix through till 2020, hopefully till 2027 and beyond though. The 2010 round has been penciled in for the weekend of 11th July 2010.