Archive for Formula 1

In just one week, Renault has lost two of its sponsors. One is Dutch-based ING and the other is Spanish insurance company Mutua Madrilena. ING is no surprise really as even before the crashgate scandal they’ve announced that it would not be renewing its sponsorship contract with the company after this year’s race season, but now they’ve decided to withdraw its sponsorship with immediate effect.

”ING is deeply disappointed at this turn of events, especially in the context of an otherwise successful sponsorship. As announced on 16 February of this year, ING decided not to renew the three year sponsorship (2007-2009) contract with Renault F1 and to end its presence in Formula 1 after the 2009 season,” said ING’s press statement.

Mutua Madrilena’s statement said its withdrawal was because “the behaviour of relevant people in the team was of extraordinary seriousness and it compromised not only the integrity of the sport, but also put in danger the lives of spectators, drivers and circuit personnel, which is something that can affect the image, reputation and good name of the team’s sponsor.” The Spanish insurance company will however continue to sponsor fellow countryman Fernando Alonso, who drives for Renault.

Renault has somehow managed to get away with only a small smack on the wrist from the FIA over the whole crash-gate scandal. They’ve been handed a 2 year “suspended disqualification”. This means the disqualification will be placed on hold until the end of 2011, and it will only become active if the FIA gets a sniff of something similiar happening.

The following is the official statement from the FIA:

At an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council held in Paris on 21 September 2009, the ING Renault F1 team admitted that the team had conspired with its driver Nelson Piquet Jr. to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, in breach of the International Sporting Code and F1 Sporting Regulations.

Renault F1 stated at the meeting that it had conducted a detailed internal investigation, which found that: (i) Flavio Briatore, Pat Symonds and Nelson Piquet Jr. had conspired to cause the crash; and (ii) no other team member was involved in the conspiracy.

Having used information based on its own investigation of the incident in Marina Bay, the FIA listed the reasons why the penalty is suspended (and set to expire at the end of 2011) as opposed to an instant banishing from Formula One:

* It had accepted, at the earliest practicable opportunity, that it committed the offences with which it was charged and cooperated fully with the FIA’s investigation.?
* It had confirmed that Mr. Briatore and Mr. Symonds were involved in the conspiracy and ensured that they left the team.?
* It apologised unreservedly to the FIA and to the sport for the harm caused by its actions.?
* It committed to paying the costs incurred by the FIA in its investigation.
?* Renault (the parent company, as opposed to Renault F1) committed to making a significant contribution to FIA safety-related projects.

Nelson Piquet Jr. also apologised unreservedly to the World Motor Sport Council for his part in the conspiracy.

In addition, Flavio Briatore has been banned permanently from F1 and all FIA events. Here is a separate statement released on that matter:

The World Motor Sport Council declares that, for an unlimited period, the FIA does not intend to sanction any International Event, Championship, Cup, Trophy, Challenge or Series involving Mr. Briatore in any capacity whatsoever, or grant any license to any Team or other entity engaging Mr. Briatore in any capacity whatsoever.

It also hereby instructs all officials present at FIA-sanctioned events not to permit Mr. Briatore access to any areas under the FIA’s jurisdiction.

Furthermore, it does not intend to renew any Superlicence granted to any driver who is associated (through a management contract or otherwise) with Mr. Briatore, or any entity or individual associated with Mr. Briatore.

In determining that such instructions should be applicable for an unlimited period, the World Motor Sport Council has had regard not only to the severity of the breach in which Mr. Briatore was complicit but also to his actions in continuing to deny his participation in the breach despite all the evidence.

Flavio was the team principal for Renault but that was not the only area he was involved in when it came to F1. He was also the driver manager for Mark Webber and Heikki Kovalainen from Red Bull and McLaren respectively. They will have to look for new management and get new super licenses.

Renault’s Executive Director of Engineering Pat Symonds (who also resigned when Briatore did) has also been served a punishment – a 5-year ban.

The World Motor Sport Council declares that, for a period of five years, the FIA does not intend to sanction any International Event, Championship, Cup, Trophy, Challenge or Series involving Mr. Symonds in any capacity whatsoever, or grant any license to any Team or other entity engaging Mr. Symonds in any capacity whatsoever.

It hereby instructs, for a period of five years, all officials present at FIA-sanctioned events not to permit Mr. Symonds access to any areas under the FIA’s jurisdiction.

In determining that such instructions should be effective for a period of five years the World Motor Sport Council has had regard: (i) to Mr. Symonds’ acceptance that he took part in the conspiracy; and (ii) to his communication to the meeting of the World Motor Sport Council that it was to his “eternal regret and shame” that he participated in the conspiracy.

Nelson Piquet goes off scot-free. As for who will replace Briatore – people are saying it could be Alain Prost.

Tony Fernandes announced to Reuters that his position as the Team Principal of the new Malaysian-backed Team Lotus will not be permanent.

Obviously he had something to do with initiating the project in the first place as his Air Asia and Tune Group will be providing funding for the team, but he only intends to be in the Team Principal position to make sure Team Lotus has the “right direction, the right imaging and the right future, the right strategic plan and marketing” before stepping down after a few initial races (perhaps after Melbourne) to make way for someone much more experienced.

The team principal would most likely be a non-Malaysian. Tony himself admits that it is a tall order right now to have a Malaysian team principal right away. Even Team A1 Malaysia is head by a “Mat Salleh”, Jack Cunningham. Even for the drivers, Tony thinks there is no need for a Malaysian line-up for now.

“My personal preference would be to try to get someone with lots of experience, though he may be ending his career, who can add a lot of experience and develop the car. The right personality that can transfer knowledge and enjoy working with people is critical. There’s no point throwing someone in at the deep end if he’s not ready,” he said.

This is actually the norm with F1 teams that are starting off – the pairing of drivers is usually a young driver and someone who has more experience under his belt, such as David Coulthard in Red Bull and Giancarlo Fisichella in Force India. The young driver in Team Lotus F1’s case can be a Malaysian (such as Fairuz Fauzy, a name that keeps popping up) and the other can be someone with experience. The official and confirmed line-up is expected to be announced by the end of October.

Indy-gate, Crash-gate, lie-gate, spy-gate. Anyone watching F1 should be familiar with these terms. But have you ever wondered why the suffix gate is tagged onto all of these scandalous events?

It isn’t really an F1 thing. It all originated from an event known as the Watergate scandal back in the 1970s, which led to the resignation of US president Richard Nixon. The name Watergate was taken from the Watergate office complexes in Washington DC. Another incident soon after involving wine was reported by the media as “Winegate” (an easy connection as wine and water are both liquids we drink). But later, somehow it became the norm to add the gate suffix to other scandals such as Koreagate, Bonusgate, etc. You basically just add the word gate to a keyword related to the scandal.

F1’s latest scandal is the Crash-gate scandal which surrounds the Renault team. Things don’t look too good for them and it has resulted in Flavio Briatore and executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds leaving their team. The team will face the FIA World Motor Sport Council today in Europe. The team also announced that it will not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Basically it has been claimed that Renault ordered its struggling Brazilian driver to “accidentally” slam his car into a concrete wall so that his teammate Fernando Alonso could win the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

ING will not be sponsoring them next year and with this latest scandal, who is going to fork out the money to sponsor them next year? But first they will have to deal with what kind of punishment will be dished out today. If they’re lucky – and since the culprits have left – they can escape with a large fine and a disqualification from the constructor’s championship.

Although the 1Malaysia F1 Team would initially be based near Lotus’ hometown of Norfolk, there are plans to relocate to the Sepang International Circuit sometime in the future. Apparently the SIC has allocated between 8,000 to 12,000 hectres (er, this must be a misquote by MSM journos) of land for the F1 team’s headquarters. The site will be at the parking area before the tunnel to enter the podium building.

According to SIC CEO Razlan Razali, the HQ will be fully equipped with manufacturing and development facilities including a wind-tunnel and costs could be in the millions or even billions.

However he reiterated that these are just plans for now and it’s all only in preliminary stages. After the Raya holidays, the parties involved will sit together and have a discussion. He added that the team’s race machines could be ready in the matter of months, thanks to Lotus and other contractors and suppliers such as Cosworth, FondTech and Xtrac, who will supply the engine, aerodynamics and transmission respectively. They are not building from scratch.

Datuk Seri Najib clarified to the NST today that government support for the program would be through Proton. “If we want to export Proton and use Lotus engines, we need to show that our brand is strong and make sure they are well-known and accepted internationally. It is not merely about a sporting activity but major marketing for Proton and Malaysia,” said the PM. No figures were mentioned, as the PM said it was up to Proton to announce its involvement.

Whether you agree with this project or not, there’s no denying that everyone will be eagerly awaiting for two events in the future – the announcement of the drivers (expected to be on the 31st of October 2009), and the unveiling of the actual race machines. Word is that one will be Fairuz Fauzy and the other would be a foreigner with experience.

Source

The BMW Sauber F1 Team has been saved! Now all they need to do is wait for FIA to get approval to extend the grid list to 28 cars and they’re good to go for the 2010 race year.

Swiss-based Qadbak Investments Ltd has purchased the Swiss-based Sauber F1 team for an undisclosed sum, though a number being mentioned is in the region of £70 million. Qadbak is a company that represents interests of a few unnamed Middle Eastern investors. Qadbak also recently took over Notts County, an English football club.

An old Lotus 77 F1 car

Remember all those rumours about Lotus and Tony Fernandes entering the sport of F1? It looks like they’re true after all.

A new team entry called Team Lotus F1 run by a company called the 1Malaysia F1 Team Sdn Bhd has been accepted as the 13th and final entry on the grid, joining other newcomers such as Campos, Manor, US F1. The team will be based at the RTN factory in Norfolk which is 10 miles away from Lotus cars.

1Malaysia F1 Team’s principal will be none other than Tony Fernandes himself, with funding coming from the Tune Group, the Malaysian government (through Proton) and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs (names being mentioned include Naza’s SM Nasarudin). Norfolk-born Mike Gascoyne will be the team’s Technical Director. The man who is nicknamed “the bulldog” for his confrontational and aggressive style used to be the Technical Director for Jordan, Renault, Toyota, Spyker and most recently Force India.

Engines will be provided by Cosworth, transmissions by Xtrac and aerodynamics by FondTech. Fondtech is run by former Ferrari aerodynamicist Jean-Claude Migeot. In the future, an R&D, manufacturing and technical facility will be built at the Sepang International Circuit.

As for the drivers, they will only be announced on the 31st of October 2009. Currently six local and international drivers have been selected. I’m pretty sure at least one of the two drivers will be a Malaysian – anyone wanna take a shot at guessing who? Fairuz Fauzy?

Sadly the 13 teams does not include the current BMW Sauber team, which has been assigned a ‘14th place’ on the grid, which means it will be first in line to be slotted in in case anything happens. The FIA is currently calling for the permission to extend the grid to a total of 14 teams, which would mean 28 cars.

The Malay Mail has an insider scoop that Air Asia is considering expanding their involvement in F1 by “having their own team”. If this is true, it will probably happen only later as Air Asia is currently still in a 3-year sponsorship deal with the AT&T Williams F1 team as one of their sponsors as parts of their international brand-building efforts.

An overseas F1 news syndicator have linked Air Asia to the BMW Sauber F1 team as a potential purchaser, however Air Asia has stated that their interest in F1 is still AT&T Williams for now and they will continue sponsoring them. If Air Asia expands its role in F1 with a deeper involvement with BMW Sauber F1 it would mean a Malaysian sponsorship “tagteam” of sorts as as the team currently already has a Malaysian sponsor – Petronas.

Source

F1 fans who are eagerly anticipating the temporary return of Michael Schumacher to F1 will probably let out a sigh of disappointment after you read this piece of news – Schumi will not be driving Massa’s F1 car after all. I’m sure you know why – it’s been a source of concern for quite some time now. It’s his neck injury.

“Unfortunately I’m not able to step in for Felipe. The consequences of the injuries caused by the bike accident in February, fractures in the area of head and neck, unfortunately have turned out to be still too severe. That is why my neck cannot stand the extreme stresses caused by Formula One yet. I really tried everything to make that temporary comeback possible. I am disappointed to the core. I am awfully sorry for the guys of Ferrari and for all the fans which crossed fingers for me. All I can do now is to keep my fingers crossed for the whole team for the coming races,” said Michael on his official website.

Ferrari has announced that their test driver Luca Badoer will replace Schumacher at Valencia this month. He has been with Ferrari as a test driver since 1998.

Related Posts:
VIDEO: Massa’s first interview after his crash
Schumacher training with a F2007 race car
Michael Schumacher returns to F1!
Massa crash puts him in serious but stable condition

Felipe Massa is up and on his feet and can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of his Formula 1 car. He did an exclusive interview with the Ferrari.com official website where he talked about the crash, and Michael Schumacher driving his car, amongst other things. According to Massa, the crash was a strange sort of feeling. He knew that something had happened to him but he didn’t feel anything when it happened. He just lost consciousness and the next thing he remembered was waking up in the hospital two days later. So no, he didn’t consciously brake the car before it hit the barriers. Watch the video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: Massa’s first interview after his crash