Rediscover Formula One

Michael Schumacher confirms 3 year contract with Mercedes

Formula One Addict — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:35:11 +0000

In what was being speculated and confirmed by everyone but the man himself, its now official that Michael Schumacher will drive for Mercedes Brawn F1 team. See the video interview above before nut-head copyrights people tear it from Youtube.

Michael Schumacher at Mercedes : Where do your loyalties lie ?

Formula One Addict — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:11:45 +0000

Ok so this is a light hearted post about Michael Schumacher’s supposed move to the Mercedes team for the 2010 season. The move has already gotten Nico Rosberg a little scared about the whole thing, but we will come to that later, there is this whole issue of fan loyalty that needs to be resolved. Let us take me for example, when I started watching formula one Michael Schumacher was with Ferrari and I instantly started liking him, and since he drove a Ferrari , Ferrari became my favourite team.

Then during the period when Michael Schumacher broke his ankle and Mika Salo replaced him, the loyalties stayed with the Ferrari team and I was feeling like a true Tifosi. But Michael Schumacher’s latest move is sure to draw a lot of confusion , am I as a fan supposed to root for Michael Schumacher or Ferrari ?, I mean ever since Michael Schumacher left formula one I have always rooted for Ferrari. This isnt your average I am a Brit so I will support McLaren on every public website on the world wide web, since I am not German either things are going to be confusing.

Anyway, till I solve that paradox, Nico Rosberg is shit scared, he is proclaiming his No.1 driver status in Mercedes and how Michael Schumacher will find the going tough. His exact words being : “When you stay away from Formula One for a long time, it takes time to get used to all the trial sessions again, it is not simple.”

Meanwhile Schumacher’s camp is playing cautious, they haven’t confirmed or denied any of the rumours.

Canadian Grand Prix to make a comeback !

Formula One Addict — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:53:36 +0000

You can see the satellite photo of the Gilles Villeneuve circuit above. The circuit is pretty beautiful and built on a manmade island.

The Canadian Grand Prix is all set to make a comeback in 2010, the Canadian Grand Prix in 2010 will be held on June 13th 2010 after a gap of 1 year.

Finally one of the North American Grand Prix was saved, lets hope the same for the US Grand Prix also

Kimi Raikkonen takes hiatus from F1, Button joins McLaren F1

Formula One Addict — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:01:01 +0000

Yesterday was a huge day as far as formula one news goes, Kimi Raikkonen decided to take an year off from formula one, he is supposed to return in 2011, apparently he will be spending 2009 as a rally driver. It was becoming increasingly apparent that Kimi would be asked to leave as Alonso was slated to join the Ferrari F1 team for the 1st time. Luca di Montezemolo was very happy with his boys and praised the team of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso as the best F1 driver combo in formula one. Alonso too was very happy and quoted as saying “It’s the first time I can be part of the Ferrari world from the inside and enjoy the atmosphere. I’m impressed and happy.”

Meanwhile Alonso’s sweater seems like a fashion disaster, ok maybe not, but its cute the way he wants to fit into the Ferrari Red theme

So, moving onto Jenson Button, Jenson Button has moved onto the McLaren team from this year’s title winners Brawn GP. He was reportedly as king for too much and Brawn GP dumped him. His manager i read somewhere said that Brawn couldn’t afford him (need to cross check this). Anyway, McLaren is a total Brit team now, so all the British fans are going to be happy. Also its old blood vs new blood as the Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton rivalry is expected to touch new heights with both of them having the same car. Lets see who wins this very Britty fight

Mercedes buys Brawn GP, fans unhappy with corporate gobble !

Formula One Addict — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:46:53 +0000

In what has come as a shocker to the large number of fans of Brawn GP who were enjoying backing a new start-up sort of team and enjoyed backing that team which even won a championship with its limited resources, the Mercedes company just bought a 75% stake in Brawn GP. Mercedes already has a 40% stake in the McLaren team which McLaren is expected to buyback by 2011. So it seems like Mercedes is dumping partner McLaren for a cheaper yet more profitable team it seems. Mercedes will continue to provide engines to McLaren till 2015 though.

Brawn fans werent happy about the whole announcement, some of them comparing the Brawn GP team to silicon valley startups selling out to a big player as soon as they see some money and success. Twitter was full of F1 fans cursing Ross Brawn calling him no different from other entrepreneurs.

Anyway, this also makes the 2010 season more exciting. With Mercedes having 2 teams with good stakes and McLaren soon losing its trusty engine partner of years, it remains to be seen how new relationships would be forged as old ones fan out. Also what is up with Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen.

The official press release from Mercedes GP follows :

Mercedes-Benz will enter the Formula 1 World Championship with its own team, beginning with the 2010 season, and Daimler AG and McLaren Group will change their form of cooperation with effect as of 13 November 2009. This was announced by Daimler AG today.

Daimler AG together with Aabar Investments PJSC will take over 75.1 per cent of the Brawn GP team, with Daimler taking 45.1 per cent and Aabar 30 per cent. The rest of the 24.9 per cent will remain with the current stakeholders. With 9.1 per cent, Aabar is the biggest single shareholder of Daimler AG. This transaction is subject to the approval of the EU and the Swiss cartel authorities.

The background to this decision are the new terms and conditions for Formula 1. The Resource Restrictions set by FOTA and FIA effectively limit expenditure for the design, construction and running of the racing cars. In addition, there will be a significantly higher income available for a Formula 1 team generated by the commercial rights of the racing series following the signing of the new Concorde Agreement.

The partnership between McLaren Mercedes has been in place since 1995 and endedits 15th joint Formula 1 season in 2009. The change to the form of cooperation is taking place by mutual agreement. Mercedes-Benz and McLaren will continue to co-operate with each other and the supply of engines could continue until 2015.

The McLaren Group have set themselves new targets, especially in the automotive sector, and Daimler understands and respects these new strategic objectives. For this reason, it has been agreed that the buy-back by the McLaren Group of the 40 per cent McLaren share owned by Daimler AG will be completed by 2011.

By taking this decision, Mercedes-Benz resumes its marvellous motor racing history on the 75th anniversary of the Silver Arrows, the world’s most unique racing cars. Mercedes wants to continue the tradition in the style of these flawless Silver Arrows, which put their stamp on each era by winning the majority of the races they competed in.

“Mercedes-Benz is the most valued and best-known premium automotive brand in the world. This brand looks for competition of the utmost quality in all relevant fields in order to continually improve its performance in the face of such new challenges”, explains Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.

“Due to the new Formula 1 environment, we will face the competition in future on the most important motor sports stage with our own Silver Arrow works team. “

“Our new Silver Arrow Formula 1 team is a great sporting and technical challenge and we will tackle this with sporting spirit and full of enthusiasm.”

Mercedes-Benz will restructure their Formula 1 programme and work hard to achieve further savings, going beyond the already completed steps for significant cost reductions and improved efficiency.

Since 1995, the beginning of the partnership, McLaren and Mercedes-Benz have competed in 256 Grand Prix events and have achieved 60 victories. In 1998, 1999 and 2008, the British-German team won the drivers’ World Championships, as well as the World Constructors’ Championship in 1998. The McLaren Mercedes team became runner-up in the World Championships ten times, with five times in the drivers’ and constructors’ rankings respectively.

After winning the drivers’ title with Lewis Hamilton last year, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes finished third in the World Constructors’ Championships this year. The 2008 World Champion won two races with his current car, the MP4-24, achieving a first historic victory with the brake energy-recovery system, KERS Hybrid. No other driver scored more points in the last eight races from the season’s total of 17 races than Lewis Hamilton.

I want to thank McLaren for a successful collaboration over the last decade and a half, says Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars. For the benefit of both Mercedes and McLaren, we will continue our partnership cooperation in future. We will be rivals on-track but, off-track, we will cooperate with McLaren and the other teams in order to create the best possible product for spectators worldwide.

We look back on 15 successful years of great collaboration with McLaren; in that time, we won four world-championship titles and finished ten times as runner-up in the drivers and constructors rankings, states Norbert Haug, Vice-President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport. Since the first victory in the 1997 Australian Grand Prix, the modern Silver Arrows have achieved a total of 60 victories in 223 races to ensure that our brand symbol, the star, stands for the greatest successes in Formula 1. We thank our partner and will continue to work with McLaren based on an excellent partnership.

Mercedes Grand Prix, the management team of the former Brawn GP team, will continue to work under the leadership of Ross Brawn, who will continue in his well-known role. The Formula 1 team, as well as the engine team of Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, will be co-ordinated by Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, headed by their Vice-President, Norbert Haug.

“Brawn GP has been through an incredible journey over the last 12 months. From fighting for our survival to forging a strong relationship with Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, winning both the Constructors and Drivers World Championships, and now accepting Daimler and Aabars offer to buy our team, which will secure its future, Team Principal Ross Brawn looks back on a difficult beginning of the year which eventually turned into an extremely successful season.

“Both I and my fellow Directors at Brawn GP are incredibly proud of our staff, drivers and everyone associated with our team and thank them for their commitment, outstanding teamwork and their focus on achieving results in sometimes difficult circumstances. The senior management group will remain in place to lead our team and on behalf of everyone at Brawn GP, we are honoured to be representing such a prestigious brand as Mercedes-Benz in Formula One next year and will be working together to do our best to reward their faith in our team.”

Toyota to pull out of Formula One , Renault may follow

Formula One Addict — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:38:20 +0000

Its raining pullouts after the last round desert race at Abu Dhabi. It seems the 2009 formula one season might very well be the last season of many teams. Toyota was the latest to bite the dust and announce that they would no longer be participating in formula one from next season. The decision comes at a time when people were discussing Toyota’s long term commitment to formula one and praising it.

The FIA has asked Toyota to legally confirm its position on participating in formula one so that it can make arrangements for the 2010 season. Toyota it is believed did not give enough of notice to the FIA.

Bridgestone meanwhile has announced its departure from formula one.

The next casualty might be Renault who havent been able to rescue their team after the controversy regarding Briatore and Symonds. Even Fernando Alonso couldnt rescue the Renault F1 team. In this situation pulling out of the sport might just be the best (and only sane) option available to them.

An official statement from the Toyota team read :

TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announces it plans to withdraw from the FIA Formula One World Championship (F1) at the end of the 2009 season.

TMC, which had viewed its participation in F1 as contributing to the prosperity of automotive culture, remained dedicated to competing at the pinnacle of motor sports, even in the face of the abrupt economic changes that started last year. However, when considering TMC’s motor-sports activities next year and beyond from a comprehensive midterm viewpoint reflecting the current severe economic realities, TMC decided to withdraw from F1.

TMC leaves F1 having compiled 13 podium and 87 point finishes over eight challenging seasons since 2002 with Panasonic Toyota Racing, a full-constructor team. It views its time in F1 — in which teams put forth their best efforts to fiercely compete at racing’s highest level — as an irreplaceable experience that provided an opportunity to develop both human resources and its R&D operations. TMC expresses its deepest appreciation to its F1 fans and others for their warm support.

TMC also wants to express its heartfelt gratitude to all Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers to date and to all Toyota Motorsport GmbH employees who have helped make the team’s achievements possible. TMC intends to do its best to find a solution for those parties who will be affected by any inconvenience this decision may cause.

Drawing on its experience in F1 and other motor sports, TMC intends to move forward in developing exciting production vehicles, such as the Lexus “LFA” supercar and compact rear-wheel-drive sports cars. In motor sports, it will not only race in various categories, but will also actively contribute to further development of motor sports by supporting grassroots races and planning events in which it is easy for people to participate.

Lewis Hamilton reflects back on the Brazilian Grand Prix

Formula One Addict — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:18:43 +0000

Lewis Hamilton reflects on the race in Brazil and handing his crown to Jenson Button.

Spa-Francorchamps residents fight for track’s survival

Formula One Addict — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:24:41 +0000

The residents who live near the track of Spa-Francorchamps have taken it upon their shoulders to ensure the survival of the Belgian Grand Prix which is a regular fixture at the Spa Track. I opened my email yesterday to a statement from an association which claims to represent the residents of the area near the track :

We are an association of people who live near the track of Spa-Francorchamps and we want to confirm that we are not disturbed by the permanent work of the circuit. Could you make known our petition to your members? What do we want ? We want to be sure that the Spa-Francorchamps racing-track can continue to work for the economical future of our country !Since the last publication of the Belgian State Council, too many people think that all the persons living in Francorchamps and all around are disturbed by the noise and are against the circuit , this is not right. We are not deaf with criticisms when those are founded and justified. Our association respects all democratic initiatives, including, those defended by minorities. It’s usual that : « We follow the majority » We really feel more and more attacked by the bad publicity, the false or directed figures, that certain badly disposed people spread everywhere. “The most beautiful circuit of the World” is a real economic tool, which gives work to a significant amount of people and makes a lot of publicity and a dynamic and qualitative image of Belgium all around the world. We are for the continuity of the circuit, and that passes by an optimal exploitation and we will fight to preserve it, we are sorry for the people who don’t agree to be integrated into the local life !

Personally I love the track and my favorite grand prix has been the Belgian Grand Prix of 1998 for a long long time now and perhaps will remain my favorite forever. Lets hope we dont lose this classic track forever though !

Jenson Button and Brawn GP in contract cat and mouse game

Formula One Addict — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:19:15 +0000

Jenson Button seems to be riding high and Brawn GP look all set to pay for his success if the reports suggesting an 8 million pound pay cheque for Jenson Button are to be believed.

Ross Brawn was quoted as saying :

“Jenson’s obviously a great driver so he’s got to be a target. We want him to stay in the team and I think we’ll find a solution.
“Jenson has a contract with us but that contract is not the salary of a world champion, not the salary of a team that is in a much stronger position than it was 10 months ago.
“We’re working with Jenson to find a balance between what we can afford and what he feels is fair for his status and the contribution he can make in the future.”

There is talk in the paddock that Jenson Button could head to McLaren as Lewis Hamilton’s teammate. After he won the constructor’s championship he is hot property and the 5 million pound paycut he took after the sell-out by Honda now seems to have been a blessing in disguise for the Brit driver who couldn’t get much success in formula one till this season with Brawn GP. Brawn GP got him a winning car which was much faster than all other F1 cars and essentially gave the title in his lap.

Button just needs to keep one thing in mind, he shouldn’t play this dangerous game. He is apparently playing hard to catch. Reminds me of the saying :

“Never forget the people whom you meet on the way up, because these are the people you will meet on your way down “

Jenson Button is the 2009 FIA formula one world champion

Formula One Addict — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:13:54 +0000

It took him years, many years, many many years but Jenson Button who seemed to be headed nowhere at the start of the season has silenced his critics. He has won the 2009 formula one world championship with a 5th place finish here at Brazil. Brawn GP scored a double victory with them also snatching the 2009 constructor’s championship in their maiden year as the Brawn GP outfit. One can just imagine Honda kicking themselves in the behind for letting this winning team go, all they needed was some new inspiration and a little smart interpretation of the rules (both courtesy Ross Brawn )

In the end Felipe Massa waved the chequered flag for Jenson Button who will finally have more limelight than compatriot Lewis Hamilton, congratulations to him !